Joe Rothwell

Blackburn_Fan_Rover said:
Hi guys, Blackburn fan in peace.

Over the years I've been fortunate enough to see some great centre mids grace Ewood Park. In Rothwell you've signed a top player.

The way he picks up the ball and drives through teams is immense. He carries the ball better than anyone I've seen at Ewood. You will see for yourselves but on his day there's nobody like him, one of the most exciting players I've seen in Rovers shirt.

Supporters will tell you who can go missing- but who doesn't have the odd poor game. In his early days Mowbray only used him in cameos, citing his work-rate and positioning. Very frustrating tbh as every time he came on he was massively affecting games.

He really hit his stride this year and was an integral player for us. I think the business in Jan disrupted him and de-railed our promotion hopes.

The only other player that could carry the ball like Rothwell in a Rovers shirt was Duff- but he was a winger. Rovers fans are fickle as anything. Anyone that leaves is inconsistent and will not go on to better things in their opinion. I've no doubt he'll have poor games. But his good games will more than make up for it. He reminds me a bit of Hazard how he carries the ball- I'm sure you've watched him on Youtube.

Anyway, gutted he's left- you've got a gem. Sure he'll step up no problem- could play for Engand imo he's that uniquely talented. Enjoy him.

Good luck for the season guys
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blimey, a clear, concise, well worded and positive contribution from a visiting fan

can we sign you on a four year deal too, please?
 
Blackburn_Fan_Rover said:
Hi guys, Blackburn fan in peace.

Over the years I've been fortunate enough to see some great centre mids grace Ewood Park. In Rothwell you've signed a top player.

The way he picks up the ball and drives through teams is immense. He carries the ball better than anyone I've seen at Ewood. You will see for yourselves but on his day there's nobody like him, one of the most exciting players I've seen in Rovers shirt.

Supporters will tell you who can go missing- but who doesn't have the odd poor game. In his early days Mowbray only used him in cameos, citing his work-rate and positioning. Very frustrating tbh as every time he came on he was massively affecting games.

He really hit his stride this year and was an integral player for us. I think the business in Jan disrupted him and de-railed our promotion hopes.

The only other player that could carry the ball like Rothwell in a Rovers shirt was Duff- but he was a winger. Rovers fans are fickle as anything. Anyone that leaves is inconsistent and will not go on to better things in their opinion. I've no doubt he'll have poor games. But his good games will more than make up for it. He reminds me a bit of Hazard how he carries the ball- I'm sure you've watched him on Youtube.

Anyway, gutted he's left- you've got a gem. Sure he'll step up no problem- could play for Engand imo he's that uniquely talented. Enjoy him.

Good luck for the season guys
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Thanks for the info.

He certainly sounds like the sort of creative player we have been lacking for the last few months.
 
KingKieffer said:
See my response to CherryBare. He outperformed Lerma in virtually every area in the championship, at least statistically, I don’t see any reason why this would not be the case a level up.
The thing about Billing is that he provides goals from central midfield, that alone makes him an automatic starter you’d think in a midfield three. The other two don’t.
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Did the Athletic take into account that Lerma played out of position for the entire season?......that's why they are talking bollox...the fact they didn't know that before churning out those misleading stats really is quite poor from them....as a defensive midfielder in the PL Lerma is different class to Rothwell or any other midfielder we
have.......he'll be the first name on the team sheet every single week.
 
MB1980 said:
Very few, if any, players are better in higher division, compared to lower level... Simply makes no logical sense at all.

I suspect Stan had fitness issues, and or Pugh and Ritchie were simply undroppable and never got injured iirc.

Elphicks issue wasn;t being purely down to being too slow as such. If his other attributes were top notch, he'd have remained. It was more that his lower than average pace was exposed as his other attributes weren;t good enough to compensate for the mediocre pace. Plenty of slower than average players do fine in the PL. Of course having more pace is better, but pace alone doesn;t define someones level. Plenty of rapid players in the lower leagues.

So yes, pace does play a part, but if someones very strong in other key areas, they'll be fine in the top flight.
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Yes but Lerma was bought to be a defensive midfielder in the PL......not a creative player in the Championship....thats why he's more effective at a higher level for us.
 
charlian said:
sorry, I can't buy that! Kieffer has not have enough games to rate him. He is a giant of a man and has scored goals and if his goals to minutes on the pitch is calculated he scores something like a goal every 20 minutes, and I can't knock that....I hope he can start in some Prem games!.
I guess I should say King SP is getting the best out of him.
UTC
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Neil Dawson said:
Exactly. Too much creedence given to stats. Steve Cook made more blocks than some of Man City’s and Liverpools finest defenders in our last PL stay. You could argue he was therefore better than them. Or you could argue it’s harder to make blocks playing in a team that spends most of their life camped in their opponents half scoring.
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I agree that stats don't tell the whole story. If only we could measure stats at the really important times like when real pressure is on a player or distinguish key duals won from duals one. Maybe in the future we'll be able to by linking stats to heart rate and other key factors. Southgate chose Rashford, Sancho and Saka as penalty takers last summer because of their practice penalty stats in training, but his selection didn't take experience and resilience under pressure into account. It was interesting watching the superb Lewis Cook 'Relentless' video. Towards the end the staff seemed to be telling him that he had top stats. Obviously, the data is important when making selections to all top clubs I think , but due to current limitations of obtaining more intricate data, it's not the be all.
 
Topfarrier said:
Did the Athletic take into account that Lerma played out of position for the entire season?......that's why they are talking bollox...the fact they didn't know that before churning out those misleading stats really is quite poor from them....as a defensive midfielder in the PL Lerma is different class to Rothwell or any other midfielder we
have.......he'll be the first name on the team sheet every single week.
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He was out of position some of the time for sure, but I thought he was often alongside Cook as a deeper midfielder. Maybe I just assumed. I actually think Jeff did pretty well in more advanced roles. His link up with Solanke for the goal against Reading was incredible. He also got himself into dangerous positions. The only thing missing was more goals, especially from headers, and he shouldn't be singled out for that as plenty of players could have got more goals. For me, Jeff is a power house. He's rarely out injured, plays through pain and is incredibly fit and strong. I'd be surprised if Rothwell matches him there. I just see them as so different that it's very hard to compare them.
 
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afcblady said:
My main worry about Lerma in the premier league is that he seems to be a marked man by the referees, I’ll never forget the way Grealish got him booked when he flung himself to the ground.
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Yep and that was a second yellow. Karma will present itself to Jack I'm sure:)
 
northstandmark said:
Horses for courses.

With 3 spots in the system, having all of: Cook, Lerma, Pearson, Rothwell, Billing, Marcondes each with their different profiles all will get games.

Assuming Kilkenny goes out on loan.

If you want raw physicality to get in opposition faces, Lerma starts every time. But there are games where he isn't allowed by refs to have a sniff of a challenge.
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Indeed. Helpful too if any of our midfielders get early yellows and appear at risk of reds at half time. Quality replacements will make it less of a big deal.
 
CherryBare said:
Hardly a glowing endorsement

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/s...cherries-expert-insight-clubs-latest-recruit/
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"But it still gave him that ability ... to drive through the middle of the pitch with the ball, which is his strength.

It’s quite unique in that. He can eliminate players just by running with the ball. He’s one of them who seems like he can run as fast, if not faster, with the ball than without. That’s his real trademark to be honest."

What is it that the kids say nowadays? What's not to like?
 
Topfarrier said:
Yes but Lerma was bought to be a defensive midfielder in the PL......not a creative player in the Championship....thats why he's more effective at a higher level for us.
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Was anyone disputing that? Of course if a player is played out of their strongest position that has to be factored in, as he clearly be won't be as effective, to varying degrees depending how much out of position he is.

More likely to get away with it in a lower division of course. But that has nothing to do with whether a player is better in a higher or lower division. If a players played in a position/role he's not 100% with, he's not going to be at his best. It's like being well educated/spoken over here, then going to remote village in Spain or where ever and being called inarticulate or thick because you can barely string a sentence of Spanish together, compared with a bunch of yokels who've spoken that language their entire life.

But yes, that should have been highlighted by the author in the article if making direct comparisons.
 
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MB1980 said:
Was anyone disputing that? Of course if a player is played out of their strongest position that has to be factored in, as he clearly be won't be as effective, to varying degrees depending how much out of position he is.

More likely to get away with it in a lower division of course. But that has nothing to do with whether a player is better in a higher or lower division. If a players played in a position/role he's not 100% with, he's not going to be at his best. It's like being well educated/spoken over here, then going to remote village in Spain or where ever and being called inarticulate or thick because you can barely string a sentence of Spanish together, compared with a bunch of yokels who've spoken that language their entire life.

But yes, that should have been highlighted by the author in the article if making direct comparisons.
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I think you are slightly missing my point....as i said Lerma was bought to be a defensive midfielder in the PL.....even if he was played in his right position in the championship he still wouldn't be as effective for us as he is in the PL because the need for someone who does the job he does is far greater at that level.
 
ErikthViking said:
"But it still gave him that ability ... to drive through the middle of the pitch with the ball, which is his strength.

It’s quite unique in that. He can eliminate players just by running with the ball. He’s one of them who seems like he can run as fast, if not faster, with the ball than without. That’s his real trademark to be honest."

What is it that the kids say nowadays? What's not to like?
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Yes - and that is something we have been missing for some time
 
Topfarrier said:
I think you are slightly missing my point....as i said Lerma was bought to be a defensive midfielder in the PL.....even if he was played in his right position in the championship he still wouldn't be as effective for us as he is in the PL because the need for someone who does the job he does is far greater at that level.
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Perhaps, but not sure I agree entirely. Would you say a GK is less likely to be as effective, or maybe win an award in a top 2 team?
 
MB1980 said:
Perhaps, but not sure I agree entirely. Would you say a GK is less likely to be as effective, or maybe win an award in a top 2 team?
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Yes i would say a good goal keeper would be more effective for us at PL level than he would be in the championship where teams challenging at the top end can get away with just an average keeper......,,,the need for a good keeper is certainly more important in the PL.
 
Topfarrier said:
Yes i would say a good goal keeper would be more effective for us at PL level than he would be in the championship where teams challenging at the top end can get away with just an average keeper......,,,the need for a good keeper is certainly more important in the PL.
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Yes, but if they weren;t as important, how did he get player of the season/

Surely you;d expect him to be less involved? After all, you're suggesting defensive midfielder is less crucial.

My point is, all players are important at any level. I can see your angle though.
 
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