I mean...Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I know "a big un and a little un up top" is a bit 1900s, but it's what we have.
WWJD? (What would Jack do?)
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I mean...Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I know "a big un and a little un up top" is a bit 1900s, but it's what we have.
WWJD? (What would Jack do?)
There are plenty of options to play the two centrally. If we’re going to persist with wing backs, 5-3-2 could work. If we’re willing to play four at the back, 4-2-3-1 with Sammy in the hole…..or go real old school with 4-4-2.
Ha!Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
The thought did occur to me too. We've a couple of decent old-style wingers. And no midfield anyway, so can it really hurt losing one? :)
Brian Clough tended to have ' work-horse " midfielders ~ He did pretty darned well on it !Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
It maybe isn't as mad as it sounds.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Would modern defenders know how to deal with it? Nobody does it anymore.
I've talked before, almost tongue in cheek, about going back to "Charltonism, red in tooth and claw". But how we have a couple of potential target men in Ferguson and Idah, a guy who can sniff out a scrappy goal in Szmodics, and no midfield worth talking about, maybe it's our best option.
Ironically the midfielders Jack was having us boot the ball over the top of were some of the best the English league had to offer. What we could do with someone like Ronnie Whelan now.
Would a Mark Kinsella and a Mattie Holland ( at their best ) be a step up from what we have now ~ ~ Probably.Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
Definately. Either would be a significant upgrade.Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
Willie Boland would get at least 50 caps if he was around today.
I think given how quickly our formations seem to get found out these days, it'd get found out pretty quickly. One of the problems of 4-4-2 today I think is the midfield battle is lost. The defenders wouldn't have anything to worry about if the ball never came to them.Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
We could go long-ball for 90 minutes, and I know it's worked in the final few minutes of games when we need to put teams under pressure. I don't know if you could really sustain that for 90 minutes though, and then improved ball retention means you're chasing a lot more shadows than Jack's teams would have been.
I'd like to see someone give it a go, mind. I don't think it's entirely cracked. I'd just rather see someone else give it a go first :)
Nicely done. It does seem like he gets involved centrally a lot more at club level. For us, Ferguson is dominating that area and Sammie has almost activity. Do Blackburn play a striker ahead of him or is he free to roam wide and then come in?Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
Ferguson did well enough, despite his obvious lack of confidence but he was really flagging towards the end of the swiss game. Would have been nice to see Sammie stay on in a different setup maybe.
I'm the same, although the team who go first will benefit most from the element of surprise.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Certainly " enjoyed " a tackle ~ ~ Some of the English lads didn't quite fancy them as much ~ ~ Different refereeing from today mind ~ ~ How many frees would there be in that 2 minutes 6 seconds today ? !Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
As seanfhear rightly points out thethreshold for a free kick is a lot lower these days. Though I think we would have had as many as England in that clip.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I have no idea if that would work today. But I wouldn't mind finding out.
I counted Andy Townsend getting 2 touches. I think what you're trying to say is: "Just look at how combative and dominant Paul McGrath was!"Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
one of the big things is how deep the England defenders are. modern defences would just push up five yards further and the keeper would be much more advanced as well. you'd never be able to pen in a team of England's quality like that. It felt also like we had better footballers: McGrath was winning everything, so we're the fullbacks Irwin and Stan. Quinn was winning more than his fair share. Moran cleaning up at the back.
2 goals in the first half today away at Sunderland….
23 for the season, he's a Premier League striker in waiting. Blackburn would probably have gone down this year if they didn't have him.
Good age profile for us as well, we have a shortage of quality players in their late 20s, he could be huge for us for the next four or five years.
Article in the Athletic where journos pick their POTY in Championship, League One and League Two.
There's a shout for Sammie in there, as well as two for Eiran Cashin and one for Dan Crowley.
Ethan Ampadu gets a shout too. Looks like he might be laying the foundations for a good career after some uneventful loans from Chelsea.
Eoin Toal receives a League One nomination and a reference to his Gaelic Football background in the copy.
Dewsbury-Hall got a Championship nomination. I reckon he's as likely as Ampadu and Toal are to play for us...
Fully expect Ampadu to return to anonymity next year when he returns to top league football (assuming Leeds go up). It's what he does. I don't think Dewsbury-Hall has any interest in playing for us, we've never heard a peep out of him. England will probably throw him a cap in a Nations League game at some point to tie him down and then never play him again. They'd probably have tried for Szmodics as well if he was a couple of years younger.
Blackburn hammered this evening and look bang in trouble,3 points above the relegation zone and still have to go to Leeds and Leicester and their 2 home games are not easy either for different reasons…..
Huge goal to beat Leeds at Elland road,massive at both ends of the table!
Nobody wants to win that division it seems. None of the top eight has more than one win in their last three games.
Can't decide if none of them want automatic promotion, or if they really, really want to be in the play offs
Had to come into work today so missed the last 15 minutes - is that 30 goals now for an Irish striker?? Incredible haul. Is there a chance that he gets picked up by a Premier League team this summer or is he at his level now?
Yup his 30th of the season and first Blackburn player to reach 30 since Shearer in 95/96.
Surely he will be bought
I thought Brentford and Fulham were interested
It's literally impossible to know if he works out at premier level.
Its funny - i was going to say he should go to a Fulham or Bournemouth where there is a bit of club stability within the Premier League context. I think that would be to his benefit as opposed to going up with a promoted club or a premier league club that is annually struggling to stay above relegation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
I do wonder about him the same way Diggs... there is a chance he goes the way of Teemu Pukki, Dwight Gayle or others of that ilk - absolutely tears it up in the Championship but struggles with the step up to the Premier League level...
That's a great little stat.Quote:
Originally Posted by JR89
Who was the last Irish player to manage it? Simon Cox got 32 in the third tier; anyone since then? Will Keane got 27 with Wigan in League One and David Connolly got 29 in the Dutch second tier. But if we exclude lower levels than Sammie, how far back are we going? Robbie Keane's most was 25 with LA Galaxy. Long got 25 in the Championship. I'm struggling on this one even with Google. It's hardly John Aldridge (31 in 1988/89) is it?
Worth noting that Szmodics 30 are across all competitions, he's on 24 in the league. Daryl Murphy scored 27 in the Championship in the 2014/15 season.
Another thing I noticed was that there were 15 Irish goals scored across the four English divisions, the SPL and the Eredivisie last night and today. 14 of the 15 were scored by players born 1998 or later, the former "Kenny's Kids" generation so to speak. Szmodics' was the only goal scored by a player older than that generation, i.e. aged 26 or over. Just another example of the gap we're still having to plug with the lack of Irish players that came through for a number of years before the 1998s and later groups emerged.
It might be Aldridge, the best I can find is Eoin Doyle, who had 30 in 2014/15, split between 25 in League One with Chesterfield, and 5 in the Championship with Cardiff, he also managed 25 with Swindon in League Two in 2019/20Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Adam Rooney had 28 in 2014/15 for Aberdeen, split across the SPL(18), Scottish Cup(4), and Europa League(6)
Unless he plays at premier level…:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
I think Everton would be a good destination,crying out for a goalscorer and will looking to move on players in the summer,could definitely see him getting a decent chance there even if they’re pretty unstable at the minute….Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
I think Szmodics could do a really good job for a lower half PL team. I'd be surprised if someone like Brentford or Everton didn't make a move for him.
Someone almost definitely will. If he was even two years younger there would be a queue for his services. And possibly not just at club level.
Makes the Championship team of the season, in a surprise to pretty much no-one I'd say.
Dewsbury-Hall there as well, though I don't know have we worked out if he's interested or just eligible?
Should be player of the season. 30 goals for an average team is some going
I think an agent and Leicester will be doing to best to knock any interest on the head - far more money to be made as an English player.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
True but he is surely miles away from England. He's still a second tier playerQuote:
Originally Posted by Jolly Red Giant
Now is the time for Steve bruce! to approach him
Is Dewsbury-Hall even eligible. When you search Dewsbury-Hall Ireland on Ireland you find about five tweets talking about it from last year. Surely we would have heard from more reliable people if he's actually eligible by now.
I quoted The42 article which said he was eligible on here about a month ago. Gavin Cooney one IIRC.Quote:
Originally Posted by JR89
Another one for Sammie. Looks like it is going to guarantee Blackburn’s safety.