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Thread: Concerns for Hud's game

  1. #1
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    Jan 2008
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    Concerns for Hud's game

    I am so undecided on this game? More than any other.
    I feel things are going to swing one way of the other.

    It has a feel of bad timing. If we'd played them a month ago, I'm sure it would've been a run of the mill win. A poor, out of form side, playing an inform side.
    Now, it looks like they have started picking up wins, have gained confidence. We have been nothing short of poor for 3 games, with no wins. And a few very poor displays thrown in, and a so-so one vrs Forest. And our defence, that has never really been good enough for a sustained period, have now gone back to the poor form again. And now we have lost half of it, for a very long period.

    I hate games like Luton at home. Almost every fan put us down as an easy home win. It was a banker. I have never liked those games. Football rarely goes the way its expected to.

    Now this game? It is widely accepted we are now struggling, and we will lose this.
    Now this could happen. I feel the monumental mistake ignoring our poor defensive frailties will be a huge factor moving forwards. If this result goes badly, we then have a run of tough games. And could easily continue on for a while.
    One comment from our owners stated that if we are around the Play-Offs around Xmas time, they will find some money and back TM. With this in mind, if we are around that bottom 3 around Xmas time, then TM will be gone. No doubt about it. They have aspirations still, and keep backing us. And clearly have faith in TM.
    But they were not impressed last year, when things fell apart so badly down at Brentford, followed by 2 months of defeats. The season fell apart woefully.
    This has a big chance of repeating itself again here.
    The situation is not unexpected.
    I stayed out of all the 'oh what terrible luck losing Lenihan' rubbish I was reading.
    Lenihan has never played one full season in his career. He is injury prone.
    We knew that last season. We knew that the season before. And before that.
    This was ignored, as TM decided to buy a £5m striker who he clearly didn't fancy (or he wouldnt be playing him on the wing, or favouring a shockingly poor DG). And not buy a central defender.
    Bauer is doing really well at Preston? The guy we chased for 2 years. Not a world beater. But is he better than what we have? I would say yes. Our defence (even before we lost half of it) is back to its worst. So I am unsure why he felt that was good enough anyway?
    Was it good enough to allow 2 centre halves leave in summer (both of which were not good enough) and NOT replace them?
    Its one thing saying 'ah its ok being wise after the event'.
    No, we had a big problem last year. One of our centre halves generally misses half a season due to injury. TM knew this. I knew this. Lenihan knows this. The clubs knows this. So him missing now, at such a crucial time should be no suprise. I am just shocked he lasted this long.
    We knew he was ignoring it in summer, and felt it was odd he was signing so many forward and midfield players. Then signed a LB the day after letting the Club captain and centre half leave. And crucially, not getting a centre half.
    Young Tosin was never every going to be the answer. Not even close enough to be enough cover. And he too, appears to suffer badly with injuries.
    The fact we lost the LB Cunningham is irrelevant. Hence my comments at the time. We didnt need a LB. We have plenty of cover, and its not that crucial a position. Talk about focusing on the un-important.
    Centre half is a HUGE problem for us.
    But Tosin will now get a chance.
    To balance this up, up to last Jan, we had Smallwood playing. He was not even nearly good enough to get in the side. He was played for no reason. And simply wasn't every going to get dropped. Like Bennett now.
    Had he not been sent off away at Sheff Utd, we simply wouldn't be seeing our most crucial player, Travis.
    It sometimes takes an injury, or suspension for someone

    Up the other end, we have loads of problems. Holtby is so clearly a class above anything we have at our club. But hasnt played yet. We just are not good enough to have these players on a bench. Drop whoever needs dropping.
    Dack has been improving as a footballer for the last week, sat eating meals and walking on a beach in Dubai while getting engaged. Expect his head to be not where it should be on Sat. I wouldn't play him. Which is why I expevt him to play. Probably ahead of Holtby.

    At this very point last season we spent 2 weeks in the break, working on a system to beat Leeds. New to the division, we where hungry. And determinded.
    We lost 4-2 down at QPR and where pathetic. Or manager gave the lads the week off. Jolly nice of him.
    Personally, I'd have had them in on the Sunday. It was a disgrace of a performance.
    Seeing Bradley Dack stroll around Dubai tells me where he is as a lad. And a player, and where we are.
    Its Oct, we have been ****e for quite alot of this season. And they all got the week off. If we are unprepared vrs Hudd's, and things go wrong, this will be a factor. And another reason to add to the problems.

    The one place Dack won't improve is on a beach in Dubai. He clearly is comfortable being a second rate footballer, in a second rate division, playing for a mid-table club not really going anywhere. He gets paid well, and has found his level.
    It would take effort, and such hard work to reach the next level, the Prem.
    He will not push himself on, he wont be pushed on, he will be happy going nowhere here.
    He is focused on his Mrs, and football is secondary to this lad.
    Either way, he will walk into our side good, bad or indifferent, it doesn't matter. Even if its to the detriment to the team.

    But back to the original point, looks and sounds like this could easily go wrong on Sat. But knowing that things rarely go to plan in football, I don't think it will be the disaster people are concerned about.

    I am hoping this gives us a chance to change the system.

    I'd go 3-4-2-1

    _____________________________________________
    Walton
    Nyambe Tosin Williams

    Travis (DCM) Johnson (CM)
    Bennett (RW Downing (LW

    Dack - Holtby

    Armstrong

    ___________________________________________

    We simply have no other choice but to play 3 at the back now. I feel 4 would be a disaster.
    I also feel we finally need to dicth the winger thing, that simply doesn't work. Try 2 number 10's and try get Holtby is agame. Or start by actually playing him. Not Evans or the next player who has already been given time to show he isnt good enough.

    I just feel we lose this, or put in another woeful display, it could continue on, and will end us and TM parting ways. And this has been massively hastened due to him ignoring a gaping hole in our defence in the summer. Ignoring it was a problem area, and ignoring the injury concerns around one of the only 2 senior centre halves we had left in the entire. club.

    Nothing will be decided in one game. But this could be a turning point either way. Win, re-group, hopefully find a better centre half, move on. A loss could be part of a run we had last year. Because we ignored the defence, ignored the fact we desperately needed a proper centre half, ignored Lenihans injury prone career up to date.

    I do like Gallagher, I think he has half a chance to make it. But not on a wing.
    I just feel for £5m we could have a decent centre half. Or tried harder to get Bauer in.
    Did we need another failed striker, dumped out on a wing? Or did we desperately need to address a huge problem we had 12 months ago?
    The same mistakes are still happening, and we appear alot less hungry than this time last year. Preffering to let the lads go off to Dubai than working on a system that will beat Huddersfield.

    I am hopeful of a decent result and an upturn of form in forthcoming games. Not because of anything I have seen. But more hopefulness that sometiomes, when it looks like you will lose you infact win. And other times, you look like an absolute banker to win, and you through in a poor performance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    Perhaps for the first time I agree with a team selection.
    Fools seldom differ

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    11,680
    Quote Originally Posted by seventwo View Post
    Perhaps for the first time I agree with a team selection.
    Fools seldom differ
    How DARE you patronise me!!
    I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry Sven!! You guys know when to ignore me!!

    This above isn't a general moan, and I really have tried to be as balanced as I possibly can.

    In short, yes things look bad in a way. But I am a big believer in that, when somebody gets injured or suspended it give another a chance to come in and shine.
    Hart may well come on and be a revelation? We wouldn't have seen that if Cunningham got injured?
    Tosin may be a revelation?
    We may stumble on a formation now that actually suits everyone?

    Last season, we just would not have seen Travis until Smallwood got sent off away at Sheff Utd on New Years day.
    That's our most crucial player now I'd say.
    Who knows? This could happen now.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Champs - my big quarrel with all that is not anything to do with the detail, which seems to me a pretty accurate summary.
    Where I part company a bit is in drawing any kind of conclusions about the future from one or two games.
    You have given a good example: Huddersfield. Two points from nine games, followed by two wins. No doubt some of their fans will be saying, "Right, start of a good run." Well, it might be; it might not.
    On 21st September, some Rovers supporters started speculating about the play-offs. By the evening of October 5th, it's "Mowbray out!", and talk of us spiralling towards relegation.
    The defence looked dreadful against QPR, but has also looked very sound at times (four clean sheets). Which evidence are we supposed to draw conclusions from?
    My line has always been NOT to attempt sweeping conclusions at all, whereas some supporters seem to draw them from whatever happened in the last game!
    You only have to look at the list of results every weekend to confirm that prediction is fraught with uncertainty.
    In the long term, of course, more stable patterns tend to come to the fore, but the early talk that Leeds were going to run away with the title already looks a bit foolish.
    I have no idea what is going to happen on Saturday, but I accept that a defeat will be disastrous news for Mowbray, because the "new manager" bandwagon is rolling pretty fast now. On the other hand, a big win won't automatically put us back on track for the top six!
    Football in a league with loads of teams of roughly similar ability is frequently one step forward and two steps back (or vice-versa).
    I genuinely do try to take it "one game at a time". It's the only way to keep your sanity, and I am very sceptical when people suggest there are easy solutions. If there are and they are so obvious, why don't more managers utilise them?
    Last edited by AucklandRover; 16-10-2019 at 02:29 AM.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by AucklandRover View Post
    Champs - my big quarrel with all that is not anything to do with the detail, which seems to me a pretty accurate summary.
    Where I part company a bit is in drawing any kind of conclusions about the future from one or two games.
    You have given a good example: Huddersfield. Two points from nine games, followed by two wins. No doubt some of their fans will be saying, "Right, start of a good run." Well, it might be; it might not.
    On 21st September, some Rovers supporters started speculating about the play-offs. By the evening of October 5th, it's "Mowbray out!", and talk of us spiralling towards relegation.
    The defence looked dreadful against QPR, but has also looked very sound at times (four clean sheets). Which evidence are we supposed to draw conclusions from?
    My line has always been NOT to attempt sweeping conclusions at all, whereas some supporters seem to draw them from whatever happened in the last game!
    You only have to look at the list of results every weekend to confirm that prediction is fraught with uncertainty.
    In the long term, of course, more stable patterns tend to come to the fore, but the early talk that Leeds were going to run away with the title already looks a bit foolish.
    I have no idea what is going to happen on Saturday, but I accept that a defeat will be disastrous news for Mowbray, because the "new manager" bandwagon is rolling pretty fast now. On the other hand, a big win won't automatically put us back on track for the top six!
    Football in a league with loads of teams of roughly similar ability is frequently one step forward and two steps back (or vice-versa).
    I genuinely do try to take it "one game at a time". It's the only way to keep your sanity, and I am very sceptical when people suggest there are easy solutions. If there are and they are so obvious, why don't more managers utilise them?

    I do agree Auks. As I said above, one game won't be a deciding factor.
    My fear, if we play as badly on Sat it could continue a bad run. That could easily run on for a while.
    Things will not be ignored. He gave them all a week off. Why? If we aren't organised and up for it, more questions will be asked. 2 weeks off to get ready. Plenty of time.
    I am a huge TM fan, but everyone makes mistakes. Everyone.
    His mistake is the defence, and just not addressing it. We where always going to lose Lenihan for a long period this season. Its happened every season he has been a professional. So leaving us in the ****e again like like last season may now be one step too far.

    The owners stated they will back him in Jan, if we are around the play-offs. That will be the target.
    That doesn't mean we will get there. But we need to aiming that way.
    If we are near the bottom 3, which we would be if we went on a bad run now, then they will part company. I do have a bad feeling, that it may end up like that. I don't want it to, but I can see it happening.
    Again, I agree. We did go those 4 in 5 games without conceeding. And started to look solid.

    I watched alot of this level last season, not just us. Teams who are going nowhere (QPR, Hull etc etc) all go on long winless runs. Then go on long winning streaks. Massively inconsistent. We are very much falling into that category.
    I hate massive swings, one way of the other. The consistent sides are the ones at this level, who eventually go up.
    If you look at the bigger picture with our defence, and not just at that 4/5 game run, they have been found wanting. Conceeding way too many goals. That small spell, was just that, a small spell.
    Over a longer period, it has proved to be our achilles heal.

    To give it all some balance, I said above, I feel when we lose a player, it gives someone else a chance.
    We still wouldnt have seen Travis had Smallwood not got sent off last season. He would still be playing him now. Right or wrong. We could stumble onto a formation that suits our players.
    Also, I do feel he would have to be forced into this by injury or suspension, which is a concern.
    He doesn't appear to be seeing what is going wrong, or addressing it.

    Absolutely god knows what team he will pick on Sat. I couldn't even start to figure out what he will do.
    I know who I would play, and why.
    Who knows, Smallwood may run out in CM on Sat? Alongside Evans.

    I just feel we REALLY need to kick-start our season. Are we motivated? Are we ready? Are we organised? Will we be up for it?
    We have had 2 weeks to correct alot of this, and we are way ahead of Hudd's in terms of being a Champ side. We often got schooled in these sorts of games last seaosn. Lets see if we school them.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    7,566
    Quote Originally Posted by AucklandRover View Post
    Champs - my big quarrel with all that is not anything to do with the detail, which seems to me a pretty accurate summary.
    Where I part company a bit is in drawing any kind of conclusions about the future from one or two games.
    You have given a good example: Huddersfield. Two points from nine games, followed by two wins. No doubt some of their fans will be saying, "Right, start of a good run." Well, it might be; it might not.
    On 21st September, some Rovers supporters started speculating about the play-offs. By the evening of October 5th, it's "Mowbray out!", and talk of us spiralling towards relegation.
    The defence looked dreadful against QPR, but has also looked very sound at times (four clean sheets). Which evidence are we supposed to draw conclusions from?
    My line has always been NOT to attempt sweeping conclusions at all, whereas some supporters seem to draw them from whatever happened in the last game!
    You only have to look at the list of results every weekend to confirm that prediction is fraught with uncertainty.
    In the long term, of course, more stable patterns tend to come to the fore, but the early talk that Leeds were going to run away with the title already looks a bit foolish.
    I have no idea what is going to happen on Saturday, but I accept that a defeat will be disastrous news for Mowbray, because the "new manager" bandwagon is rolling pretty fast now. On the other hand, a big win won't automatically put us back on track for the top six!
    Football in a league with loads of teams of roughly similar ability is frequently one step forward and two steps back (or vice-versa).
    I genuinely do try to take it "one game at a time". It's the only way to keep your sanity, and I am very sceptical when people suggest there are easy solutions. If there are and they are so obvious, why don't more managers utilise them?
    Wot he said

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