Blackburn Rovers Post Match Discussion

[Cjay]

So I rewatched the game and made some observations.

We attacked largely down the left, Firpo pushes on and he and Summerville are often within spitting distance of eachother.

But not only them, Gruev and Gray also very much focus to the left as well.

It's Marsch like at times, we make the space for us to attack so small.

So our cm is also pulling to the left, meaning we are pulling the opposition to the left a lot and condensing the space for ourselves on that side.

That leaves quite a large gap right of the pitch which on occasion Rodon runs into.

But because Gnonto drifts as well options for a pass can be limited with Roberts pushing on much less than Firpo so the attack usually stalls and it ends up going back and being recycled back over to the left eventually.

Either from Rodon back to Ampadu or Piroe who pulled into that space quite a bit or maybe Rutter who will try to turn and do his thing.

But attacks down our right are very limited, we are quite one dimensional in that respect.

We also have very little threat from cm, Gray and Gruev rarely got forward, the passes are short and safe and they seem to focus far more on covering the left side.

The gap between Gray and Gruev and Rutter can be vast making it hard for them to link at all and interplay between the 3 is basically non existent.

Piroe, Summerville, Rutter and Gnonto often made runs but they were ignored, in behind or into space, but the difficulty of linking because of the way the midfield is setup and preference for a safe pass means often good positions aren't taken advantage of.

Furthermore the space down the right is rarely exploited, we use it very rarely despite it being always on if Roberts pushed on more.

Basically we were very 1 dimensional and didn't use the whole of the pitch to its full potential.

It's different to his first Norwich team.

Used to be only 1 holding midfielder, the other was more box to box (Vrancic).

He's always had 1 full back push on stay back more (used to be Lewis with Aarons bombing forward).

Because Buendia would drift in from the right and the gap down the right for Aarons was huge, hence why he got more goals and assists than Lewis on the left.

So a lot of the attacks were focused centrally or left with Buendia helping to create the overloads after drifting in from the right.

But they had extra pass options from midfield in Vrancic and Aarons down the right from right back.

We haven't, Roberts and Gray rarely push on and the cms rarely do as well.

It must be deliberate on DF part but not sure why.

We made it very easy to defend against.

Vast spaces created on the pitch we never exploit, players in good positions ignored either because the players aren't in good positions to link or the pass is deemed risky.

[Ellandback1]

So I rewatched the game and made some observations.

We attacked largely down the left, Firpo pushes on and he and Summerville are often within spitting distance of eachother.

But not only them, Gruev and Gray also very much focus to the left as well.

It's Marsch like at times, we make the space for us to attack so small.

So our cm is also pulling to the left, meaning we are pulling the opposition to the left a lot and condensing the space for ourselves on that side.

That leaves quite a large gap right of the pitch which on occasion Rodon runs into.

But because Gnonto drifts as well options for a pass can be limited with Roberts pushing on much less than Firpo so the attack usually stalls and it ends up going back and being recycled back over to the left eventually.

Either from Rodon back to Ampadu or Piroe who pulled into that space quite a bit or maybe Rutter who will try to turn and do his thing.

But attacks down our right are very limited, we are quite one dimensional in that respect.

We also have very little threat from cm, Gray and Gruev rarely got forward, the passes are short and safe and they seem to focus far more on covering the left side.

The gap between Gray and Gruev and Rutter can be vast making it hard for them to link at all and interplay between the 3 is basically non existent.

Piroe, Summerville, Rutter and Gnonto often made runs but they were ignored, in behind or into space, but the difficulty of linking because of the way the midfield is setup and preference for a safe pass means often good positions aren't taken advantage of.

Furthermore the space down the right is rarely exploited, we use it very rarely despite it being always on if Roberts pushed on more.

Basically we were very 1 dimensional and didn't use the whole of the pitch to its full potential.

It's different to his first Norwich team.

Used to be only 1 holding midfielder, the other was more box to box (Vrancic).

He's always had 1 full back push on stay back more (used to be Lewis with Aarons bombing forward).

Because Buendia would drift in from the right and the gap down the right for Aarons was huge, hence why he got more goals and assists than Lewis on the left.

So a lot of the attacks were focused centrally or left with Buendia helping to create the overloads after drifting in from the right.

But they had extra pass options from midfield in Vrancic and Aarons down the right from right back.

We haven't, Roberts and Gray rarely push on and the cms rarely do as well.

It must be deliberate on DF part but not sure why.

I got the impression over the last few games that Rodon is less mobile. Maybe Roberts held back?

[SG90]

We would have to buy Rodon. Spurs will not loan him in the last year of his contract unless no one wants to buy him. I cannot see that happening. Regardless these are issues to chew the fat over once this season is decided and we are aware of our status. I still believe as it currently stands we have more of a likelihood of promotion than remaining in the EFL.

Good teams do not become bad teams overnight. Still plenty of twists and turns, but it is looking increasingly like it will all go down to the final game, perhaps for the top 4.

No PL team will want Rodon, especially with the fee Spurs are demanding.

[Cjay]

I got the impression over the last few games that Rodon is less mobile. Maybe Roberts held back?

No I think its the instructions.

Was the same at Norwich, one full back always pushed on far less.

[White Riot]

Our last goal from a corner was on 23/12/23 against Ipswich.

We've taken 131 corners since then

[1964white]

People keep saying we’d struggle next season if still in the Cesspit but is that definitely the case or doom & gloom talk. Yes there’ll be teams coming down who should in theory be in a strong position but this year there are potentially 4 teams in the 80s. What does that say about the rest

We'll have a more settled squad from day one next season.

Burnley, Sheff Utd, Luton or Forest don't concern me & are not as strong as Leeds, Leicester & the Saints who were relegated from the PL last season. I doubt there is an Ipswich type coming up from League One.

We managed promotion in our second season under Bielsa, so why shouldn't we achieve a similar feat next season?

No doubt the doom & gloom brigade will find a few reasons.

[1964white]

Our last goal from a corner was on 23/12/23 against Ipswich.

We've taken 131 corners since then

Incredible James.

I reckoned it was above one in a hundred I've been banging on about our set-pieces all season.

Reduce that figure to one in thirty, and we would probably be promoted by now.

Our scoring limitations are a major concern, hopefully to be resolved in the summer!

[1964white]

No PL team will want Rodon, especially with the fee Spurs are demanding.

I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Fulham, Palace or even Brighton maybe interested in Rodon, with a strong CB next to him, he would be fine.

[Cjay]

People keep saying we’d struggle next season if still in the Cesspit but is that definitely the case or doom & gloom talk. Yes there’ll be teams coming down who should in theory be in a strong position but this year there are potentially 4 teams in the 80s. What does that say about the rest

The accounts are a potential nightmare.

Won't be many clubs relegated ever who owed £190mil and were only due to receive £2mil.

Parachute payments only cover a small fraction of that, we'd need to raise £100-150mil from sales just to cover that.

Then what do we use to rebuild the squad which is likely to need pushing 10 signings with the sales, out of contracts and loan returns?

No guarantee we could raise funds by selling the loan rat's as we know they all have loan contracts so they can all go out on loan again.

Imo it isn't gloom talk it's realistic.

Those accounts make ffp failure next season a real possibility as well.

[SG90]

The accounts are a potential nightmare.

Won't be many clubs relegated ever who owed £190mil and were only due to receive £2mil.

Parachute payments only cover a small fraction of that, we'd need to raise £100-150mil from sales just to cover that.

Then what do we use to rebuild the squad which is likely to need pushing 10 signings with the sales, out of contracts and loan returns?

No guarantee we could raise funds by selling the loan rat's as we know they all have loan contracts so they can all go out on loan again.

Imo it isn't gloom talk it's realistic.

Those accounts make ffp failure next season a real possibility as well.

That was last season's accounts CJay, not this year's. Why would we still owe money on the likes of Adams and Sinisterra when we've sold them?

[SG90]

I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Fulham, Palace or even Brighton maybe interested in Rodon, with a strong CB next to him, he would be fine.

He's nearly 27 with no PL experience, and Spurs will likely demand £20-30m (which we would absolutely be foolish enough to pay) but others wouldn't.

[Cjay]

That was last season's accounts CJay, not this year's. Why would we still owe money on the likes of Adams and Sinisterra when we've sold them?

Amortisation.

Part of that £190mil will be for people like Rodrigo.

We still have to pay what we owe, if you buy a player for £20mil on a 4 year contract you pay £5mil a year over those 4 years.

If you sell him for £5mil year 3 that covers that payment but you still owe the £5mil for year 4.

And because we were skint because Radz wasn't investing we took the KP and Raph money up front presumably for cash flow (rob Peter to pay Paul).

Hence why we have so little owed to us.

We only bought in around £10mil profit last summer after what we spent so can't see that figure coming down much.

[SG90]

Amortisation.

Part of that £190mil will be for people like Rodrigo.

We still have to pay what we owe, if you buy a player for £20mil on a 4 year contract you pay £5mil a year over those 4 years.

If you sell him for £5mil year 3 that covers that payment but you still owe the £5mil for year 4.

And because we were skint because Radz wasn't investing we took the KP and Raph money up front presumably for cash flow (rob Peter to pay Paul).

Hence why we have so little owed to us.

If you sell them, they are no longer classed as liabilities in ffp, hence why Chelski need to sell a few of their long contracted players soon. Also we've paid off Rodrigo, Koch and Llorente now. James and Firpo will be this summer and the loans in 2026.

[Cjay]

If you sell them, they are no longer classed as liabilities in ffp, hence why Chelski need to sell a few of their long contracted players soon. Also we've paid off Rodrigo, Koch and Llorente now. James and Firpo will be this summer and the loans in 2026.

Maybe from a ffp perspective but from a cash flow perspective we still owe huge sums of money even this year.

Final payments for Rodrigo, Koch etc will be in our next set of accounts, last payment for them is 2024 so this year.

James, Firpo, Aaronson, Harrison, Rutter, all still will be being paid off based on contract length

The JKA saga is another nearly £50mil liability that needs paying off (no idea how that works from a ffp pov but it's still cash).

That's £10s of millions we will have to fork out for in the next set of accounts for a start.

Then our wage bill based on last accounts and relegation clauses is likely in the £40-50mil bracket.

[SG90]

Maybe from a ffp perspective but from a cash flow perspective we still owe huge sums of money even this year.

Final payments for Rodrigo, Koch etc will be in our next set of accounts, last payment for them is 2024 so this year.

James, Firpo, Aaronson, Harrison, Rutter, all still will be being paid off based on contract length

The JKA saga is another nearly £50mil liability that needs paying off (no idea how that works from a ffp pov but it's still cash).

That's £10s of millions we will have to fork out for in the next set of accounts for a start.

I agree, but in terms of cash flow it will come from the owners for now and parachute payments.

We would need to lower the wage bill next season and the biggest earners are Bamfraud, Rutter and Firpo. We have no chance of selling the former, so could see Rutter being loaned out along with Firpo. Then the current loans will be loaned again, unless no one wants them. Dallas and Cooper should save us £60k a week.

[Cjay]

I agree, but in terms of cash flow it will come from the owners for now and parachute payments.

We would need to lower the wage bill next season and the biggest earners are Bamfraud, Rutter and Firpo. We have no chance of selling the former, so could see Rutter being loaned out along with Firpo. Then the current loans will be loaned again, unless no one wants them. Dallas and Cooper should save us £60k a week.

It's doable depending on how much the 49ers can get from the investors.

But I would imagine raising tens of millions of pounds more to pump into a football club with no chance of a return in the near future isn't an easy sell.

These people aren't fans they just want returns, they aren't likely to fund us like a sugar daddy in the Championship.

I doubt despite the pr guff a 2nd season in the Championship was ever part of the plan.

You would hope they have contingencies and funding.

But it's not guaranteed.

They've invested hundreds of millions already buying us, how many more times can they go cap in hand to the investors before they say "we want some returns"?

This season is our 1 chance at being one of the richest clubs, next season far more of a lottery.

[whiteswan]

Maybe from a ffp perspective but from a cash flow perspective we still owe huge sums of money even this year.

Final payments for Rodrigo, Koch etc will be in our next set of accounts, last payment for them is 2024 so this year.

James, Firpo, Aaronson, Harrison, Rutter, all still will be being paid off based on contract length

The JKA saga is another nearly £50mil liability that needs paying off (no idea how that works from a ffp pov but it's still cash).

That's £10s of millions we will have to fork out for in the next set of accounts for a start.

Then our wage bill based on last accounts and relegation clauses is likely in the £40-50mil bracket.

Its simples. Bust FFP, spend spend spend, be 30 points clear by Jan window. Spend spend spend, be 50 points clear by end of season and take a 6 point FFP point deduction

Ps I'm partly serious. Look at Man City and the other cheats. If you can't beat 'em.....

[White Riot]

Incredible James.

I reckoned it was above one in a hundred I've been banging on about our set-pieces all season.

Reduce that figure to one in thirty, and we would probably be promoted by now.

Our scoring limitations are a major concern, hopefully to be resolved in the summer!

That was from Kagey Leon.

He also stated that our 4 central midfielders: Gruev, Gray, Kamara and Ampadu have a managed a season long total of 11 shots on target between them. That figure should be per match not per season

No wonder we rely on the same guys to score.

[Cjay]

Its simples. Bust FFP, spend spend spend, be 30 points clear by Jan window. Spend spend spend, be 50 points clear by end of season and take a 6 point FFP point deduction

Ps I'm partly serious. Look at Man City and the other cheats. If you can't beat 'em.....

Angus would never allow it Swannie

But I agree!!!

Sod it spend spend spend

[The Subhuman]

Come off it you should know better than that

Not really, I don't think Gnonto had an issue, fitness wise, at all. If his hammy was problematic he doesn't play to start with, you don't play 80 minutes on a dodgy hamstring... so the hammy wasn't the issue unless he'd indicated it was which seems very unlikely.