If we had the choice of opening games we would not have wanted 3 at least of our first 4 fixtures with Portsmouth our remaining slim chance of making something encouraging happen.
My recollection is that Portsmouth don’t start too well, but not his year; they have maximum points.
If, like them, we had beaten Fleetwood away and then Shrewsbury and Crewe at home, we would be buzzing with confidence instead of stinging from the wounds we have sustained.
Tommy Rowe takes the view that merely taking more so-called “positives" without actually collected “points" as a opposed, say, to a point, is no longer good enough.
Perhaps avoiding defeat would be a step in the right direction and satisfy Rovers tolerant followers. Had we not been conditioned to expect little, more fans would be angry, but Wellens has been successful in dampening ambition.
People say “It’s only 4 games in" and ignore the precedents where bad starts often precede relegation, but after the disappointment of last season, a poor start to this one rather prolongs the suffering, especially as there was little to cheer about at Accrington. We may feel that we deserve some relief from what so far is a project which has yet to generate hope.
Maybe the individual skills of the players who seem to have problems combining will emerge when the entire unit gets into gear, but so far there are several of them that do not appear to be up to League 1 standard. Wellens is effectively asking us to believe him, rather than what we see on the pitch.
People used to moan about Halliday and Lokilo, players who could take the ball up the field and create a threat, not the best in the League, but doing something that is rarely on display in this campaign.
I should think that we will lose by 2 goals at least, so 1 (Barlow) Pompey 3.
DPL v Portsmouth
posted on 22/8/21
When we get our front three back it really will be a new era with players having to prove their worth to play.
Of course, a big defeat on Tuesday could hurt confidence that might cause a false dawn. RW says he is going to make many changes to freshen up some players and give a rest to some others.
Although I think the Extended Highlights slightly flattered us (whereas the Accrington ones did the same for them), I was encouraged by what I saw RW is trying to do. There were some good periods of play, and all that were lacking was more attempts on goal. That last pass is so critical, and having just watched highlights from all the weekend's Premier League games, even some of the top teams have the same problem!
posted on 23/8/21
Any idea who were the two teams Bogle rejected?
I like RW's comment
“At the moment we’re shopping at Harrods with Aldi money.”
I suppose that is the same as "Shopping for Champagne with Beer Money" which Pauline and I have been doing!
posted on 23/8/21
I don't think we've ever been capable of shopping at Harrods! More like Morrisons with Aldi money. On the drinks front the best we can hope for is Aldi prosecco. Which is quite good actually. Bogle is a problem but it's not his fault. Why should he be bullied into accepting any offer? I'm wondering if he'll play tomorrow night or will it be a lad from the 18s? Goodness knows what the score is going to be. Whom ever is in goal is on a hiding to nothing that's for sure.
posted on 24/8/21
Nookie, I subscribe to Decanter magazine and wish we had an Aldi near us as they seem to have many very good wines at, by USA standards, low prices. Aldi are in the USA, but not in the northwest. We have Trader Joe's that has some of the same ownership as either Aldi or Lidl.
I'm glad the Stoke game is not streamed on iFollow as it could be very embarrassing! I wonder if Jones will be sacrificed as the GK?
posted on 24/8/21
Bradford City have been mentioned, but no information beyond that. He has never been popular with the majority of fans, some of whom do not seem to appreciate the finer points of being a number 9. Early on he did really good work in winning the ball, holding it up, but getting little support from team mates or credit from those watching.
Wellens obviously does not get on with him or feels he does not need a player like him.
In the substitute appearances this term, he has been far more useful than Cukur who reminds me of the big men who you used to see upfront for teams in the 60s; all they could do was head the ball - if they could get to it before their marker. I can’t remember him even getting his head on a cross. What skill does he actually possess?
posted on 24/8/21
It could have been much worse. However, the same shot problems exists. According to the BBC stats, shots were 15 by Stoke vs. 3 and shots on target 3 vs. 1
Hope Cameron John's injury is not serious.
posted on 24/8/21
Asda (formerly part of Walmart) sell very good champagne - genuine authentic French varieties at as little as £13.50 a bottle and to me it tastes just as good as that which is twice or three times as much - it is “brut”, but fairly soft round the edges! I always a make a point of telling people which end of the market it is from and steel myself for criticism, but they usually make a point of saying how good it tastes. I never tried it on my late brother who liked vintage champagne, but personally I found the difference between his and mine marginal, so, dare I say, to me, not worth the higher cost.
I was a little worried that a bad defeat in tonight’s match might damage morale, but it sounds as though two or three of the younger players might have built some confidence in doing well. I just wish some of the goal-scoring chances could be taken, but the capability of converting opportunities is the most demanding and in-demand quality in all football.
posted on 25/8/21
Is the injury crisis just bad luck or do Rovers have an issue with player conditioning and treatment? The pre season Scotland trip leading to Covid issues didn't help but its concerning. Some positives did however come out of last night and I'm sure Richie will get there in the end. But whether the end is in League 2 or not is the question now. On the fizz front I'm a Cava fan but there are some great fizzes from all round the world other than over rated French champagne. I've tried them from Brazil, India, Italy, UK, Oz, New Zealand and South Africa and I've a feeling there may well be some in Oregon too? French Cremant and Blanquette are great too. But the Aldi ones are very good here. Cheers!
posted on 25/8/21
I'm glad there is interest in fizz! Pauline and I mainly drink Cremants/Blanquettes from France (and the occasional bottle of Champagne!), but are always on the look-out for well-priced fizz from anywhere. We have tried all the countries nookie mentioned except Brazil, and currently have a couple of favorites from Portugal (after going there in 2019). Too many wineries in Oregon make fizz, most of which are way over-priced. The cheaper ones are mainly made by the Charmat process (like most Proseccos), and there are some, gawd forbid, use forced carbonation - i.e. expensive soda pop! Those that use Methode Traditionnelle are priced at Champagne levels, so I do not buy them. There are some very good ones, but they tend to start at about $70/bottle. However, Argyle who were just about the first Methode Traditionnelle producer in Oregon, still have a vintage dated entry level fizz at about $25. They also do one left 10 years on the lees which is excellent - if you have $70 to spend!
I just watched the extended highlights from Stoke and it could easily have been much worse than 2-0. Jones was certainly ar fault for the first as he should have been able to hold on the the original shot, and was a little slow going down for the second - but he may have been somewhat unsighted.
There appear to be some emerging talent among the younger players, but we were cut open too easily.
Charlie Seaman is not bad for a guy originally signed as a back-up right back!
I agree with nookie's question "Is the injury crisis just bad luck or do Rovers have an issue with player conditioning and treatment?" Pauline was asking the same thing last year.
posted on 25/8/21
Sean O’Driscoll used to get stick for all the groin injuries we had in his time and some put that down to turning on the unyielding part-artificial pitch we had at the time. I had mused about raising a criticism on the lines of Nookie’s, but I worried that I have been a bit too negative altogether recently. However, I think that proper investigation would never take place in a world in which all events were believed to be attributable to good or bad fortune. And most of the fans still just see it as bad luck. Perhaps Gavin Baldwin is shrewd enough to either already be taking a critical look or has it in mind for future enquiry.