Blackburn Rovers v Derby County

[Jayram]

Can anyone honestly say that the team and its performances have improved over the course of this season? I was at Reading last August and we were played off the park for the majority of the game before sneaking the win with a worldie from Lawrence. At the time we put that down to new players/tactics but apart from that purple patch in October we have been been absolutely average, game after game. No lessons seem to be learned - its groundhog day over and over.

We don't deserve to still be in with a shout of the playoffs - the players haven't earned it.  I just want the season to end now so this rotten bloated squad can be cleared out in the summer and then we'll see what Lampard is really made of.

[Ellafella]

It usually takes a lot for me to lose my enthusiasm for Derby County but last night was indescribably bad. Summed up by Lawrence's Free kick which he balloon high and wide. I really felt let down by the team. We lost to opposition who are usually so poor 55% of their stadium was rows and rows of empty seats. Dreadful evening. 

['Rambe33]

50 minutes ago, Spanish said:

 

There are so many games this season when the opposition suddenly appear in possession and in numbers right in the faces of our back four.  There has been no sign of any support from midfield for the defence particularly on the wings.  Midfield is where FL is an expert and I don't get it. 

Agree with this and it points towards an imbalance in midfield and generally all over the pitch in terms of how we are supposed to play. We play with such a lack of care and intelligence at times. When you aren't in games you have to go back to basics and take care of the ball. We just forget that we can play football and end up giving it away constantly. 

I hate to single players out but Bryson tonight was so pivotal to our downfall tonight. His aimless running, arriving too late to make challenges and then puts himself out of position killed us. It also puts more strain on Mount and detracts away from what he's good at as he has to do extra running. 

I think the little experiment with Roos needs to end now. While he's shown he's a competent keeper and step in when called upon, he doesn't half give me a scare everytime the ball is in the air. His catching and judgement has completely disappeared since the Southampton FA Cup game away. Carson back in please from now on. 

Overall I wasn't surprised we lost last night but we went down with a wimper yet again. We have a glimmer of hope left of the players as you'd expect us after the games tonight to be 6 points off the top 6 when Villa meet Rotherham. However the championship is bonkers. Win the next three Bolton (h), Brum (a), QPR (h) and it gives us hope but I just think the last three games will be too tough for us. 

I think we've shown what we are, a top 10 team. Had glimpses of brilliance but we concede far too many goals to merit being firm playoff contenders which as I've said before is disappointing sitting in a league which is so so poor. It was there for the taking. 

We will finish 8th in my opinion. 

 

[IlsonDerby]

I don’t want Lampard out. 

 

I am am going to criticise him heavily though. We have not improved since August. We looked unbeatable for 3/4 games in October and instead of progressing we’ve regressed. We’ve genuinely got worse over the course of the season. 

Where does the blame lie for that? I’d say the manager and coaching staff. 

Were over reliant on moments of brilliance from 2 players who won’t be here next season for goals and over reliant on a defender who could compete in the 100m sprint for making up for poor defending. Again not here next season. 

 

I’ve seen nothing in terms of recruitment, tactics or play (since October) to be optimistic for next year. 

 

Is it the fact that, like others have mentioned, half the playing squad won’t be here next year? If that’s the case let’s play (except for our loan players) the guys that will be here next year. 

 

Use these last 5/6 matches to try something new with next season in mind. 

 

And for Christ sake stop playing Bryson, with every performance he’s damaging his reputation as a club fan favourite! 

[WharfedaleRam]

One bright spot in a sea of misery last night was towards the end when the ref blew for offside against Keogh. Some bright sparks started singing ‘His eyes were offside, his eyes were offside, that Richard Keogh, his eyes were offside! Brilliant! Well done if the originator is on this forum!

[Richard246]

Cole is Awfull

Play 3 at the back won't be any worse with ambrose in

[MackworthRamIsGod]

5 minutes ago, Richard246 said:

Cole is Awfull

Play 3 at the back won't be any worse with ambrose in

Who is this Ambrose you speak of?

[EnigmaRam]

An I the only one that thought bringing waghorn off for Bennett was a waste of time? Time and time again a long ball was hit up to one striker with 2 or 3 big lumps marking him. Was never gonna work. Should have sacrificed a midfielder and put 2 up top to compete. Bryson was a waste of space so may aswell if played another striker for knock downs and pick up scraps.

thats 2 away games where the team play a high line which is perfect for Marriott yet he didn’t even make the bench! 

I like Frank, I hope he’s here next season but some of his team selections and tactics have been very naive this season. I hope he reflects on this during the summer and corrects this.

[cj9a408]

11 hours ago, Whitefield said:

There lies half the problem. We can’t scout our own Dack. We’ll get him in 3 years time for 8m.

And he will perform at half his capacity from there on in...

[GenBr]

2 hours ago, Inglorius said:

I don't even have the energy to respond to this thread, we are realising what the club has put in place which is a massive turnaround of managers in a short of space of time coupled with a scattergun approach to player recruitment where we have only avoided FFP sanctions by selling our ground.

We now have a novice manager in place and despite all of his previous playing credentials are seeing this naivety being translated into the football pitch in results. 

I don't think even Mel Morris is crazy enough to sack a rookie manager when we still have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs so we've got what we've got which ain't great.

Successful businessman? Morris must either be poorly advised on manager recruitment or the unluckiest man alive either way his track record of appointing managers in the last few seasons has been absolutely abysmal.

I'd take Wassall right now rather then give Morris the opportunity to have another hand in manager recruitment.

Rowett, McClaren, Clement, Pearson all out of work at the moment. Clough is the only recent one that is still managing a first team.

Dont want us to change again. Would prefer to steady the ship and settle for mid table mediocrity purely so we dont have to change the entire playing ethos of the club every year.

 

[Rampant]

Thought the Rovers #4 - Harrison Reed - was excellent and exactly the type of midfielder we need.

[Parsnip]

1 hour ago, tombomb said:

how we all feeling now we have slept on it? I feel worse about the result. ?

I'm feeling really good about it. 

Frank's proved that he's not afraid to make big, controversial decisions such as dropping his best midfielder in favour of his worst, completely ousting his best striker from the squad, sticking to his guns in turning to Nugent when a goal is needed... ok some of these decisions might not have come off last night but if they had, he'd be a genius.

It's really good.

[Ellafella]

FL is a smart bloke and finishing 8-10th won’t sit well with him; so let’s hope he’s already starting to put together a “possibles” side for next season. There’s a huge amount to do and he won’t chuck the towel in on this year until it’s certain we can’t make top 6 but we do need to start again. Let’s put last night away {and bloody hell that’s not easy } and start to be positive. 

[Nuwtfly]

A front three of Lawrence, Waghorn and Wilson should be putting goals past any defence in the Championship. In my opinion, under a better manager, they would be.

Take Leicester for example. They bring in BR and a squad full of players looking lost and blunt up top are suddenly scoring goals for fun.

Managers make a difference. Every argument I read defending FL, including the very well articulated one from @Andicis earlier in this thread, I agree with. The points made in regards to our approach in previous seasons under MM are all fair.

But equally I don't think FL should be set free from criticism because he's a) a rookie manager or b) Frank Lampard. Or even c) because we've sacked some managers in the past (how many of those were the wrong decisions?)

Neither A, B nor C make Lampard a good manager or the right appointment. Some will say he needs more time before we judge him. Fair enough. How much time is that exactly? Nine games was perfectly fine for Pearson apparently, and he got a team promoted.

 

[Malagaram]

12 hours ago, Paul71 said:

Im going to amputate my leg with a rusty saw to cheer myself up

Dont do that Paul,you might be needed in the team next match,though I will admit a one legged man could play better football than our lot.

[SSD]

If we can't bring Wilson and Mount back next season, we should start looking at a Waghorn Marriott partnership. I think it could work. Play a flexible diamond with Lawrence at the base. Easier said than done.

[Carnero]

I don't think we've won a single game that Cole has played a significant part in?

And people moan about Fozzy and Malone!

[SaintRam]

14 minutes ago, Carnero said:

I don't think we've won a single game that Cole has played a significant part in?

And people moan about Fozzy and Malone!

While that is unquestionably true, he has been noticeably good at stopping crosses coming in, and when he's in position he's pretty good at intercepting balls out to the opponents right wing. 

What I will say I've noticed is that he seems to have the problem some people have linked to coaches coming from careers that have only existed at high levels, that they overestimate our players (People said it of Clement, some have said it of Lampard).
He bombs on for an overlap that would require a pass to navigate 2-3 or more opposition players, which is bread and butter for a Champions League side for example. Said pass usually goes limply to one of those opposition players, and suddenly they're countering with Johnson or Tomori at LB.

He's out of position more often than Forsyth/Malone, is what I'm getting at. Generally, Forsyth or Malone only bomb forward with the ball, or when we're two-on-one on the left side and it's pretty safe to do so. Cole is much more aggressive.

[Premier ram]

43 minutes ago, Rampant said:

Thought the Rovers #4 - Harrison Reed - was excellent and exactly the type of midfielder we need.

yes , a tenacious , ball winning , driving force of a midfielder should be top of Franks summer shopping list . think back to Derby sides in the past who have tasted glory , they all had one , Carlin , Gemmill ,Van de Laan , Oakley, a lack of this sort of midfielder has been one of the fundamental problems this season

[Jourdan]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lampard resigns at the end of the season.

I think the enormity of the job required here will be starting to dawn on him, and in his position, it might seem appealing to duck out of harm’s way.

He is used to winning, he is used to being successful, he is used to things going to plan and things going his way. I don’t think he signed up for 40% win percentages, FFP panic, and losing roughly once every three games.

Maybe I am doing him a massive disservice, but you have to wonder where he’ll find the motivation and the stomach for a difficult rebuilding job in the Championship next season. I mean right now, he and the players can’t find it for a promotion push, despite being given so many lifelines.

The way I look at it is he’s just had a baby and he’s financially secure, would you blame him if he decided to step away and focus on his family, or go back to his comparatively stressless and more flexible media duties with his reputation relatively unharmed?

I mean we’ve been trash since December and he is still next in line for the Chelsea job...

He can do no wrong.