Four points lost late on.

bwfc1874 wrote:

Or good enough.

True. He was actually pretty good when he first came, but recently he seemed to lose the ability to even control a simple pass, never mind make one.

A key argument for bringing Lennon to the club was that he's a hard man and a leader and as such could motivate players, where Freedman was none of those things.

Now that everything's turning to shit, it's apparently because we've not got a hard man or a leader. I know people are talking in terms of the squad when they say it, but with Lennon and Mjallby virtually on the pitch 99% of the time, do we really need a player to do the bollocking and organising?

I think the simple reason for our recent problems is the defence as individuals have just been playing shite. Mills is absolutely braindead, Dervite is sloppy and Vela has been a massive disappointment after playing so well for 3 months. I do wonder about Mjallby's role here. He's obviously a tough no nonsense ex centre half and no doubt knows what he's talking about in terms of defending, but spends a lot of time on the touchline ranting, shaking his head and waving his arms around. Is that the right way to go about building confidence in a shaky defence?

doffcocker wrote:

Now that everything's turning to shit, it's apparently because we've not got a hard man or a leader. I know people are talking in terms of the squad when they say it, but with Lennon and Mjallby virtually on the pitch 99% of the time, do we really need a player to do the bollocking and organising?

Never played football have you doff.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

doffcocker wrote:

Now that everything's turning to shit, it's apparently because we've not got a hard man or a leader. I know people are talking in terms of the squad when they say it, but with Lennon and Mjallby virtually on the pitch 99% of the time, do we really need a player to do the bollocking and organising?

Never played football have you doff.

Well I could say "well actually, yes I have", just like you can tell us you once broke the net at Deepdale. I don't suppose it matters how I respond to that question.

But let's say I've never played football. If you've already got two big mouths on the touchline telling you exactly what do to, how much difference is a third big mouth on the pitch gonna make?

doffcocker wrote:

Well I could say "well actually, yes I have", just like you can tell us you once broke the net at Deepdale. I don't suppose it matters how I respond to that question.

But let's say I've never played football. If you've already got two big mouths on the touchline telling you exactly what do to, how much difference is a third big mouth on the pitch gonna make?

For a start, they're not on the pitch. Is Feeney going to hear Lennon on the far touchline?

But it's not about the shouting, it's about having leadership and what it stands for, being scared to let the captain down.

Yeah, fuck the manager!

Who gives a shit what he thinks?

It's the captain I don't want to let down.....

Bellend.

Now, now, Bread... put away the sniper rifle. in the middle of the pitch with a stadium with thousands of spectators talking tripe, you are not going to hear two men shouting from the sideline. A player who can run up to you during the game and call you a f*****g wanker and point to where you are supposed to be, is a different proposition.

Keegan hit nail on the head! We have lacked a leader on the pitch since Nobby left! Holden would've been a great captain if he'd not been pole axed by that spitting scum arsehole!

You tell 'em, JAH!

The BN have just published an article that suggests that Lennon"can't wait for the season to end" so he can start rebuilding the team with his own players. The majority of the starting players against Rovers were Lennon signings. Make of it what you will...[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Not including our injured ones eh WL. Make if that what you will. ;-)

Half the team were loan players due to injuries! Your dislike of Lennon is getting worse Lusty

bwfc1874 wrote:

terenceanne wrote:Didn't see it last night but in general when we try to waste time ....like going into the corner etc....we don't have the players to actually keep possession. Therefore the breakaway and boom ...that's that.

And it's not just us.....most teams do the same thing...... I personally hate that particular tactic. You see that last minute goal just about every week because these fools try to piss away the time instead of continuing to play football.

Couldn't disagree more. It's not fun to watch but keeping the ball, breaking up a game and ultimately seeing out a result are vital to a winning team. PSG did an excellent job of it in the final few minutes last night.

I would probably say that PSG have better players than us wouldn't you agree? and therefore can keep possession...which is what I said above. But overall playing not to lose is generally a losing mentality. IMO

Norpig wrote:Half the team were loan players due to injuries! Your dislike of Lennon is getting worse Lusty

I don't see the relevance of why they were playing - doesn't change the fact that they were playing and that Lennon signed them which is what I wrote.
I don't dislike Lennon at all. I think he's a decent manager and I always liked him as a player. You're (both) obviously missing the point and that is that with the budgetary constraints Lennon's options are limited in the market place and if he is going to rebuild the team in the summer as alluded to in the article we can't realistically expect a better class of player than those on show at Ewood. He has signed Twardzik permanently so you can expect him to be in the new look Lennon team for example.

I think the situation is further complicated by the price of players like Slavchev and Rochinha whom he has brought in on loan but are probably beyond our price range - which is strange as managers often like to loan players with a view to signing them.
Plus we don't have many players to get rid of who would command a reasonable fee to pay for guys like these.

So the point is that if NL wants to rebuild the team he's going to have to do it on the cheap and we should keep our expectations under control - unless of course we hear anything more about the alleged Thai takeover.

terenceanne wrote:

bwfc1874 wrote:

terenceanne wrote:Didn't see it last night but in general when we try to waste time ....like going into the corner etc....we don't have the players to actually keep possession. Therefore the breakaway and boom ...that's that.

And it's not just us.....most teams do the same thing...... I personally hate that particular tactic. You see that last minute goal just about every week because these fools try to piss away the time instead of continuing to play football.

Couldn't disagree more. It's not fun to watch but keeping the ball, breaking up a game and ultimately seeing out a result are vital to a winning team. PSG did an excellent job of it in the final few minutes last night.

I would probably say that PSG have better players than us wouldn't you agree? and therefore can keep possession...which is what I said above. But overall playing not to lose is generally a losing mentality. IMO

Yes I would, but your post was directed at the tactic in general. Hence what you've said is nonsense.

Lusty it is relevant that there are so many loan players, no manager would want to have so many loans unless they were in the situation we find ourselves in. Having a lot of loans disrupts the team. He signed them because he had no other choice. If  (dare i mention his name) Dougie was still in charge he would have had to do exactly the same.

I do agree about the budget constraints though but i get the impression that Lennon can't wait to put his stamp on the team even if it means a lot of wheeling and dealing.

We're not likely to suddenly have loads of cash for signings in the closed season, so I'm expecting more of the same next year, ie loads of loans, none of whom are here with a view to signing them permanently.

I remember reading a comment from Lennon not long after he joined us where he alluded to the fact that he thought that there would be money available to strengthen the squad in January and I raised an eyebrow at the time and thought "Sucker!"

This is purely speculation on my part now but I think there's a real chance that Lennon will go to Gartside in June with a list of targets and be told "Sorry son, no cash. Get some loans in again."

And Lennon will fuck off.

Seriously.

Wanderlust wanted to keep Dougie. He was looking forward to League 1 football.

Norpig wrote:Lusty it is relevant that there are so many loan players, no manager would want to have so many loans unless they were in the situation we find ourselves in. Having a lot of loans disrupts the team. He signed them because he had no other choice. If  (dare i mention his name) Dougie was still in charge he would have had to do exactly the same.

I do agree about the budget constraints though but i get the impression that Lennon can't wait to put his stamp on the team even if it means a lot of wheeling and dealing.

Of course Freedman or any manager would have done the same although if we are already safe as Nat insists, I'd have preferred to have given the entire development team a run out had it not been a derby.

Question is "are the players Lennon has brought in on loan representative of the standard of player he is likely to target in the rebuilding?"

I think they are (barring a change in circumstances) and therefore we should expect to see a team that performs at the level on show at Rovers - although they could improve a fair bit once they got to know each other seeing as Coke and McCarthy were practically strangers.

That said, I don't think the players that Lennon has brought in are significantly better than the players we already had so I'm not expecting a huge upturn in quality.

its just my opinion but Lennon has brought in better loan players than Dougie, remember Dougie loaned and then signed Trotter and also landed us with the Irish midfielder from Palace (so insignificant i can't even remember his name)
Lennon has brought in Amos, Le Fondre and Janko who have looked decent players but again its just my humble opinion.