HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Tuesday night’s home game against Blackburn Rovers by delving into their forums.

“The times they are a changing”, “Disappointed to lose to Leeds, yes, but I’m more than happy with what I’m seeing”, “The recent improvement has been huge and fans are starting to buy into it”, “We are no longer mere participants but now control games”, “Next season can’t come quickly enough.”

Rovers’ defeat at home to Leeds on Saturday ended a run of four home wins that included the scalps of Birmingham and Middlesbrough. Rotherham’s resurgence means that they are only seven points from the drop zone but fans have seen enough quality in their play lately to be confident of safety.

“We are starting to become a handful for one and all”, “There is far better football on display now”, “We are no great shakes but we aren’t going down. On our day we will get points from anybody in this division and we will have enough games between now and the end of the season to stay safe.”

“At the start of the season I saw a club where everything was wrong. The owners were backing an unambitious manager who brought in players he could sign irrespective of our playing style. It was another season of hoofing the ball to a striker who couldn’t handle it and didn’t want to be here.

“Now we have an experienced manager who knows the way we were playing had no future and went about changing it. He will bring in a player to fit with a way of playing which is exactly right. We have gone from everything being wrong at the club to much of what we have now being right.”

Paul Lambert

“A proven leader”, “I am really impressed by Lambert since he joined”, “I am pleasantly happy with how he is shaping the team, considering we lost our star striker [Jordan Rhodes] in January. It’s a testament to his shrewd signings that we actually look a much better and stronger side now.”

“Fans are starting to realise that Lambert is the one who can take us back to where we belong”, “We finally have a man who can get us back in play-off contention”, “The transformation in the last few weeks shows what a good manager can do, even given the shambles that we were.”

“Lambert has got the players logged in to what he wants.” Rovers have admired how the former Norwich and Villa boss has quickly rebuilt the side since arriving at Ewood Park in November and are keen to make sure that the club’s owners support him in the transfer market this summer.

“From a relegation viewpoint, the pleasing thing is that Paul Lambert is making us hard to beat”, “He is turning us into a very difficult side to beat and I would be amazed if we are not at least top-six next season when he has had the summer to bring in some more quality players.”

“After years of chopping and changing, we have a method of playing that gets the ball from our end to theirs and keeps it there. The bench is stronger and substitutions are sensible and logical most of the time”, “Onwards and upwards and Venky’s [the club’s owners], it’s now up to you.”

Formation

“We are looking good and the crowd know it”, “The more we play, the better we look. It’s nice to feel optimistic”, “How good is it not to see non-stop hoofing”, “Our recent form has been fantastic. Even when we have lost or drawn, the performances have been consistently better for a long time.”

“We are starting games on the front foot for the first time in an eternity”, “This is light years away from Gary Bowyer’s Rovers. Lambert has brought steel to control a match when we are on top”, “We are witnessing a renaissance of team spirit and a feeling of connection with our team.”

The team which started against Leeds was set out in what has become a familiar diamond formation. It has given the team much needed balance and solidity although it has relied on the industry of holding midfielder Darragh Lenihan and creativity of playmaker Jordi Gomez to work effectively.

With Jordan Rhodes departed to Middlesbrough, Lambert has remodelled the team with the arrival on loan in January of midfielders Jordi Gomez and Matt Grimes and strikers Tony Watt and Danny Graham. Elliott Bennett and Simeon Jackson have also been signed on short-term contracts.

“Plenty of labore with a sprinkling of arte.” Supporters have warmed to the side’s more positive approach and they can see a balance and identity taking shape. “We have got stronger and stronger in the last half dozen games and I suspect that superior fitness has also had a lot to do with that.”

“What a turnaround. I have avoided the Rhodes debate but it is obvious we are a better all-round side”, “We are strong at the back and are far more fluid with the front two getting on to everything coming their way and laying the ball off. The gap between strikers and midfield isn’t there anymore.”

Paul Lambert opted to play a more cautious 4-5-1 with Danny Graham leading the line with three in central midfield at Burnley but this caused more problems than is solved. The striker was isolated and any counter-attacking failed with insufficient support arriving into the box in support.

“We were set up not to lose playing 4-5-1”, “We had nothing up top”, “Watching this team was difficult”, “We didn’t have a midfield that surged forward for Graham to have an outlet”, “Even when the deliveries from out wide were good, there was usually only Graham in the box.”

Tiredness

“Confidence and fitness seem to be coming back”, “As a defender, it’s great to see strikers grafting to turn your bad passes into good ones”, “Winning second ball after second ball”, “You don’t get away with walking about in this side. If you do, you end up on Middlesbrough’s bench.”

“The collective effort is what I admire most. We look solid, organised and professional.” Fans have praised the team’s new-found industry but several felt that Saturday’s defeat was partly down to tiredness, particularly late in the game, as the relentless run of recent fixtures caught up with them.

“We were tired after half-time and relaxed too much, letting balls get played down the middle or into the channels. It was daft trying that approach when the team is busted”, “The intensity and pace wasn’t there”, “A number of players looked jaded after their efforts in the past month or so.”

Blackburn 1 — 2 Leeds

“I didn’t feel we did that much wrong but was cross that we lost a winnable game”, “Typical Rovers, on the verge of something decent before reverting to type. It should bring a few of the giddier ones back down to earth”, “We deserved little from an unimaginative display where we just hoofed it.”

Sol Bamba opened the scoring for the visitors volleying home from a corner on 34 minutes before Mirco Antenucci doubled their advantage on the counter after 69 minutes. Simeon Jackson’s goal a minute from time when Leeds failed to deal with a corner proved to be no more than a consolation.

“The 4-4-2 didn’t work as we were overpowered in midfield”, “The midfielders were poor and didn’t control the game, offering little going forward and failing to protect the back four”, “There was a lot of effort but we were poor, playing lots of long balls and Leeds had an easy day.”

“We played into the hands of a physical team and were outfought today”, “The defeat highlighted that this squad is basically inadequate for putting an automatic promotion challenge together”, “Lambert has worked well with what he has got but wholesale improvements are needed all over.”

Blackburn 2 — 0 Birmingham

“A cracking win and one that was never in any doubt”, “A very pleasing result in a game that was a mentally tough test after defeat in the derby game to Burnley three days earlier”, “That was a proper home performance, dominant for pretty much the whole game”, “A really good result, well done.”

Tony Watt opened the scoring spinning to strike home on 20 minutes and fellow-striker Danny Graham capitalised on quick thinking by keeper Jason Steele three minutes later with a quick strike on the counter to give Rovers what was a fourth straight home league win last Tuesday.

“We are looking like a football team again”, “Playing some lovely football”, “A good first half and a grafting second half”, “I heard one Birmingham fan say he would get more pleasure from a traffic jam on the way home that he did from the whole match. We made them look average at best.”

Burnley 1 — 0 Blackburn

“If I had a swear box I’d be skint”, “You don’t get anywhere in football by just trying hard, you need good players and we have very few of them. This match was a prime example of where we are”, “A hard-working performance with lots of energy and enthusiasm but unfortunately very little quality.”

Rovers lost for the first time in 38 years at Turf Moor after Andre Gray’s penalty on 16 minutes proved to be the only score in a closely fought derby. The spot-kick was given when Rovers’ Shane Duffy caught George Boyd after the Clarets’ striker reacted quicker to a loose ball in the box.

“Burnley were a well-organised, functional team, nothing more. An early goal allowed them to do the basics and wait for an error from the opposition, something which usually happened at this level”, “We appreciated our effort but on the other hand the lack of quality was really dispiriting.”

“Watching this team is difficult.” With Graham isolated and playmaker Gomez having an off-day, the game developed a frustrating pattern of play for the visitors. “We dominated possession but hardly created a decent chance”, “This division is full of teams like us who work hard but have no quality.”

Goalkeepers and Defenders

“Jason Steele’s handling is spot on, his kicking is much improved and he did everything he should have against Birmingham, including an assist for Graham’s goal.” The 25-year-old ex-Middlesbrough keeper “made one magnificent save in the second half to ensure a clean sheet. Hat’s off to him”.

“Now for some consistency”, “Steele has the potential to be a good keeper but there is always a mistake there.” He was criticised for his slow reactions to Leeds’ second breakaway goal and had a difficult game in Rovers’ 5-1 home defeat to West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round last month.

“After the West Ham match when we let in five I said, ‘First job in the summer, new keeper’. What do I know? He has been superb, brilliant in fact, catching crosses and making saves”, “He commands his box, making good catches under pressure and kicking well. I hope he keeps performing like this.”

“Remember that Ben Marshall is amazing value to score at any time”, “I have made quite a bit of money off that since the turn of the year.” The 24-year-old ex-Leicester right-back “is the perfect modern full-back”, “He looks a different player now he is buying into Lambert’s methods.”

“Marshall is the one player in the side who can carry the ball”, “Great to see him in a bit of form.” He struggled against Leeds. “He kept getting into good positions and then putting in poor ball after poor ball”, “A day when he couldn’t put in a decent cross for toffee and looked tired after 10 minutes.”

Some Rovers feel that the diamond may be taking a toll on left-back Tommy Spurr. The 28-year-old “is doing well but is asked to play a slightly foreign role, being asked to make 50-yard sprints as we don’t play with natural width”, “A few times he has been flat out on the byline catching his breath.”

“Spurr has a habit of letting the ball bounce when defending and I’m nervous every time he does it.” The ex-Doncaster man “isn’t brilliant but is deceptively strong in shielding the ball”, “An honest trier here. Defensively he’s good enough up against someone as slow as he is but he lacks consistency.”

“Lambert won’t hang Shane Duffy out to dry for conceding the penalty against Burnley. He will give him the chance to make amends.” The 24-year-old ex-Everton centre-half “is a good player but his biggest problem is his lack of composure”, “He needs to work on his alertness and awareness.”

“I see a lot of promise in Duffy. He has a better touch than Hanley”, “If he could up his game in the opposition box with attacking set-pieces he could be as immense as Christopher Samba”, “He needs to get his headers on target”, He’s an integral part of the spine which Lambert is trying to build.”

Grant Hanley

“Duffy and Hanley have looked more of a partnership this season”, “They have been our most consistent performers this season”, “Hanley and Duffy bossed everything against Birmingham. The 24-year-old youth product “is turning into a really fearsome leader”, “A Rolls-Royce defender.”

“Hanley is a captain leading by example with some terrific performances”, “Reads the play superbly, is solid and makes so many decent interceptions”, “He seemed uncertain before the break but came good when Birmingham took the game to us more later on”, “He is looking imperious at the back.”

Midfielders

“I know Corry Evans has his doubters but it was a tenacious display from him, snappy in the tackle and winning a myriad of 50:50s. He didn’t allow the Birmingham midfield any time.” The 25-year-old ex-Hull man “is a very good holding player on his day who gives us a nastier streak in the middle”.

Hope Akpan “needs to be the central man putting his foot in and doing what he is good at but he can end up standing around on the edge of the midfield diamond too much.” The 24-year-old ex-Reading man “can be clueless”, “Too slow to react when on the ball and too quick to go down when tackled.”

“Matt Grimes was good when he came on against Leeds, always wanting the ball and looking to find a man with his passing.” The 20-year-old Swansea loanee “is quality and sprays the ball around nicely when given time. It remains to be seen how he goes in the thick of it when things are tight.”

“Grimes is playing in his head, not in Burnley”, “He seemed nervous and out of his depth” at Turf Moor. “Lambert was hoping his aimless passes are compensated for by some moments of quality”, “He has a mistake in him as well as impressive quality. He will make progress if he plays it simple.”

“Elliott Bennett is proving to be a useful signing.” The 27-year-old ex-Canary “runs and runs. His final ball decisions still need working on but a real grafter”, “Another good signing who has been part of our current upturn in form”, “An excellent addition to the squad, he’s tidy and breaks up play well.”

“When was the last time we saw a player run the channels like Bennett? A couple looked like lost causes but now what seems a hopeless ball can be a good one”, “However, crossing and corners are his Achilles’ heel as is anything requiring a touch of skill. His strengths are his work-rate and grafting.”

Darragh Lenihan

“I think the boy Lenihan can be top drawer one day, a real Roy Keane type player.” The 21-year-old youth product “has been superb and must be the first name on the team sheet in midfield”, “He has been a revelation for us and rightly been lauded for his performances”, “He has great potential.”

“Find of the season?”, “We certainly have a player on our hands in Lenihan”, “He has certainly come on in leaps and bounds”, “I love his battling qualities in the centre of the park”, “He is aggressive and likes a tackle but needs to learn how to keep his head against wind-up merchants.”

“What was Lenihan thinking opening up such a gap for Leeds’ second goal?”, “He was nowhere near his man and looked jaded at times”, “Play passed him by and he cost us the game”, “It was the worst game I have seen him play for us”, “He had a shocker and should have been replaced at half-time.”

Jordi Gomez

“Midfield is still our Achilles’ heel and Gomez’s last three performances have been dire. He is not the answer”, “One player who doesn’t deserve a place in the team, he doesn’t make an effort and never looks like he is compensating for it in skill”, “He needed to get into the Leeds game of be taken off.”

The 30-year-old is on loan from Sunderland and his playmaking role is vital in making either system work effectively but he has been inconsistent lately. “The most talented man on the pitch is about the worst at the moment”, “A luxury player”, “He needs a combative midfielder alongside him.”

“Gomez has obvious quality but doesn’t seem hungry enough to get the ball or impose himself on the game”, “Looked weak and lacking in application”, “Not a Big Sam player”, “He had a shocker at Burnley but you can’t drop him knowing that if he has a good game he could be the match winner.”

Strikers

“Cometh the hour, cometh the Brown”, “Chris Brown has a 30 per cent chance of slotting into an empty net under no pressure and a 10 per cent neck-down ball control rate”, “I would rather start that mascot dog or a wheelie bin than Brown. At least the bin does what it’s supposed to do.”

“Barn-door Brownie”, “Let’s have a goal, Brown. You can do it”, “He could be a hero.” The 31-year-old ex-Doncaster frontman “is a substitute to consolidate a game, not to impact it”, “One thing is for sure, he won’t be scoring any time soon. He does do a great imitation of a pitch-roller though.”

“Fair play to Simeon Jackson who gave us something different against Leeds and got himself a goal.” The 28-year-old one-time Canary joined in January on a short-term deal for the rest of the season. “He’s always a handful coming off the bench, he’s constantly around defenders winning set-pieces.”

“I enjoyed another Jackson cameo against Birmingham and I’m rooting for him. It’s funny how a bit of pace can strike fear in many defences near the end of a game. If he can keep it up I wouldn’t mind extending his contract”, “He has the pace to stretch defences instead of just trying to close up shop.”

Tony Watt

“The last couple of performances are the best I have seen Watt play for the club. He isn’t great by any stretch but there is a player in there somewhere. I think it’s just a question of fitness for him”, “He doesn’t always read where Graham wants him to be but I am sure that will improve in time.”

The 22-year-old Charlton loanee “doesn’t look match fit but does have a spark about him. He looks clumsy at the moment but it was a sharp finish for his goal against Birmingham”, “He can get a goal out of nothing”, “He has shown glimpses of talent and is slightly wasteful but he is improving.”

“The lad is about as fit as Micky Quinn is now”, “He’s not just unfit for a professional footballer. The man is overweight”, “Watt could just be a bit misunderstood. I remember Damien Duff always looking knackered off the ball but when in possession he was the best player on the pitch.”

Danny Graham

“We really need to keep Graham. He is playing superbly at the moment”, “When your forward works as hard as that, it sets the tone for the rest of the team and leaves them no excuse not to do the same. Whatever list is being made up for summer targets, there has to be a star next to his name.”

The 30-year-old Sunderland loanee “is leading the line better than anticipated and still has two or three decent years in him”, “My big worry was his hunger but he has been first class. He has shown that he’s not just up for the fight but seems to be enjoying it”, “The key to it all and must be signed.”

“Graham is such a clever player with a fantastic attitude”, “It’s good to have a player who can make the opposition back four work and get hard-working goals”, “Works his socks off and takes his goals like a Premier League striker”, “The way he gave the Brum player the slip before scoring was class.”

“I have developed a huge man-crush on Graham”, “He is a higher standard player. Just notice off the ball the little nudges, drifting players away and holding off defenders. He works tirelessly and every single ball that goes up to him sticks to him”, “He has been the tight man at just the right time.”

Rovers’ Views on ITFC and the Game

“Our record at Portman Road is awful, so I’m not optimistic about this one”, “I just can't see us getting anything sadly”, “I can't see anything past a defeat, unfortunately”, “This is our game in hand so I'd be delighted with a point to increase that gap on the bottom three.”

“This is always a tricky away game. Ipswich are a solid side at home under McCarthy and they have an excellent record in midweek fixtures.”

Rovers are not travelling with much confidence and many are pointing to a small weary squad with a hectic fixture schedule travelling a long distance.

“Ring the changes after the jaded display against Leeds on Saturday”, “If we were tired for Leeds we might be exhausted for this one”, “I would gladly take a point. Fatigue is starting to show.”

“Marshall looked like he really needed a rest on Saturday but that's the problem we have. Make a few changes and it's basically handing the game away. Play the same guys again and it's now got to the stage of risking injury or a tired defeat anyway. Bennett looked busted on Saturday as well.”

Websites

The busiest Rovers message board is the knowledgeable and well-moderated BRFCC.com.

@HarryFromBath

Photo: Action Images

The_Romford_Blue added 09:48 - Mar 14 Cheers Harry. Seems like they're just picking up under Lambert. It's crazy to think with their strike force last year they did not go up: - Gestede (Villa 5m) - Rhodes (Boro 8m) - King (Bournemouth 3.5m) - Cairney (Fulham 4m)
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jas0999 added 10:11 - Mar 14 This has home win written all over it.
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carsey added 10:33 - Mar 14 How I wish we could be saying things like the Blackburn fans are saying about Paul Lambert like happy to see the progress, things are changing for the better and the most telling one for me “How good is it not to see non-stop hoofing”. This is a must win for us to keep the little hope of playoffs alive but I am seeing a draw here.
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RyanKerry added 11:24 - Mar 14 3 points to shut up the Mick out brigade!
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LankHenners added 11:56 - Mar 14 Thanks again Harry. Whilst things can turn very quickly in this division, we need 6/6 points from our next two home games, and this one vitally as it is our game in hand. It's getting to the stage where we need to be taking advantage of teams around us slipping up somewhat, we failed to do it last Tuesday, but ground can be made tomorrow, and any team seriously chasing the playoffs would grasp that opportunity with two hands. I'll go for a win, we're still very good on a Tuesday night despite that record going. Two wins out of two, then the Easter break gives everyone time to recover and hopefully we can have Fraser and potentially McGoldrick back.

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jpring89 added 12:10 - Mar 14 We need a good confidence boosting home win here. If possible control the game look comfortable and the win never in doubt once we go ahead. I can't remember the last time that happened. Our season starts now really we can rescue it by finishing 6th regardless if we get thumped in the playoffs. Still believe we have yet to see the best of this side and nows a better time than any to start performing. COYB

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TR11BLU added 12:19 - Mar 14 Lets hope they are tired .....and we can take advantage. We need a confidence boosting win to set us up for Warnock's pumped up mob on Sat! Cheers Harry.
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Bluebell added 13:05 - Mar 14 Thanks as always Harry. Great report. I didn't realise their squad was so good. There are some names there which should mean the team is higher that they are. I wonder if they are missing Rhodes. At least he won't score against us tomorrow! I can imagine Lambert will get quite a bit of abuse. It is a game we can win as long as we play like we did against Forest.
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Seasider added 16:23 - Mar 14 Interesting what their fans had to say about previous manager:- Unambitious,who's gameplan was to hoof the ball to a striker.How good it is now not to see non stop hoofing. Hmm seems familiar,would be nice to see a bit less hoofing by Ipswich Town also;but cant see it happening with this dinosaur in charge.
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