Preview: Manchester City Vs Rovers

[Shevchenko]

we just don't have that rub of the green anymore. that luck when the ball goes through the legs of a defender, takes a slight deflection etc. just then when peds volleyed it.. it used to go through the defenders leg whatnot and go in but now it just hits the defender!

You make your own luck though.

You can't wipe away lack of skill or commitment with luck.

[LeChuck]

What a player Petrov is, I couldn't believe that City got him so cheap in the summer. If only we could have sold Pedersen when he had value and brought him in. He just highlights everything that is missing in our team at the moment; pace, directness and the ability to play a killer final ball.

The only positives I can find from this game are that Berner is a capable understudy to Warnock, and Dunn in the middle seems to bridge the gaping hole that we usually have between central midfield and the striker(s).

This silly experiment with Bentley behind the front man has to stop. We have arguably one of the best strikers in the league at getting on the end of crosses, so why are we sticking our best crosser in the middle of the field? If Hughes believes that McCarthy, Derbyshire and Roberts are so poor that we have to play someone out of position instead, then all three should be sold in January and able players brought in.

[eddiewac]

cant defend, cant attack, not looking good

[G Somerset Rover]

I dunno which game the commentators are watchin but i just cant see us scoring at all so what they are on about when they say we look dangerous.....maybe to ourselves

Whats' even more annoying is that every commentator talks about Pedersen like he's Kaka. Still no effort on goal, it's unacceptable.

[T4E]

It's all so sloppy, I've lost count of how many times we've failed to complete a 2 yard pass. We've got no chance of getting back in to this.

And what the (Please don't use that word again) has happened to Gamst?! EVERYTHING he does is useless, it's almost laughable.

[Jan]

I'm glad the City players appear to be as hungover as our lot or we'd be down 5-0 by now. We are AWFUL. Hughesie PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DROP PEDERSEN!FROM A GREAT HEIGHT

Just finished your sentence- you forgot to!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

So frustrating watching our players trying to CROSS a ball.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Come on Rovers!

2-2

Now defend properly ffs!

[rovers1993]

santa cruzzzz!!!! 2 - 2! come on lads! 1 more!!!! santa cruz get your second hatrick pleasE!!!!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I bet i'm not the only one to sense another goal in this game....

Maybe it's called 'paranoia' being a Rovers fan at the mo!

[rovers1993]

based on second half only i think we would be in the top 4 for sure! why can't we play like this throughout the 90 minutes!

[sambo]

YES! ONLY HE CAN ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

AHhhhhhhhhhhhh

If Tugay scored that, I would have cried with joy.

Unfortunately, I'm still a grumpy git!

[LeChuck]

Well we've benefited from a dodgy decision for once, that goal was surely offside.

We're going to be in deep trouble should something happen to Santa Cruz.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Final Score

2-2

I don't know whether to be happy with the result or gutted with our performance.

9 teams went to City this season and lost.

We're the only team to get something from them at their place so i'm glad we managed to stop our run of defeats despite our first half performance.

[G Somerset Rover]

It wasn't offside, but I suppose if the shoe was on the other foot we'd have argued that Dunn interfered with play. A good point given that we probably had two efforts on target all game.

I'm with Le Chuck though regarding RSQ, but I'd also add that the same applies to Bentley even if he did flatter to deceive a litte today.

[Tris]

Santa has got Hughes out of jail tonight - and one point should probably have been all three. Having decided to bring in Berner for Warnock, the decision to play Zurab at right back was not enforced by injury or suspension - it was just a terrible selection mistake.

Having allowed that mistake to cost one goal was bad enough given the missed open goal that preceded it - but to allow the exact same thing to happen for a third time is just too incompetent to be glossed over.

I feel extremely sorry for Zurab - he played a blinder on Sunday and deserved to keep his place at centre half. Instead of that he's been exposed in the most ridiculous fashion. If Den can point out 4 hours before kick off that Petrov is going to destroy Zurab, what the hell have Hughes and his plethora of yes men been doing all week - watching To The Manor Born Christmas Special?? They certainly haven't been watching videos of Manchester City play football.

All that said, there have been positive signs in these last two games, let's hope that Hughes and co revert to the previous policy of playing the best players in who are in form in the correct positions, rather than defaulting to selection by salary level / form last September.

On a side issue - nice to see that Howard Webb has learnt from the Jim Devine / Carlos Tevez incident.

[T4E]

Well we've benefited from a dodgy decision for once, that goal was surely offside.

We're going to be in deep trouble should something happen to Santa Cruz.

If that was offside then so was the goal that Fowler scored at Ewood 2 years ago. Also - the ball wasn't played forward by Bentley, therefore it can't be offside.

The end result shouldn't be allowed to hide what was overall a woeful performance. We must go back to 4-4-2. Savage must come back in asap, play Dunn on the left, leave Gamst out completely. McCarthy needs a run of games if he is to get his form back - there's no point leaving him on the bench.

We must buy a right back and centre back in the window. Our defence is appalling.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Santa has got Hughes out of jail tonight - and one point should probably have been all three. Having decided to bring in Berner for Warnock, the decision to play Zurab at right back was not enforced by injury or suspension - it was just a terrible selection mistake.

...compounded by Emerton being useless on the wing and Samba offering Zurab no support whatsoever. Three choices by Hughes and all backfired.

At least he changed it around at halftime and we could even have won it.

Anyone else worried by the fact that no-one else at all apart from Santa is even coming close to scoring?

[Mr. E]

Once again I will be accused of being on "ecstasy" and "talking absolute crap", but if it can be believed our defense is actually getting worse - not only can we stop nothing but we're even scoring own goals now. Samba can not stop making mistakes, Nelsen is just sad to watch, Emerton is useless. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like Berner is that much better than Warnock either.

Dunn and Reid are useless too, and I'm sorry to say that about Dunny as he really is trying. MGP is trying hard too but just can't beat his man. Bentley once again did everything, but you can see that he's getting frustrated too. And for all the presents Santa brings us, it'd be nice if we can finally reward him and ourselves with 3 points.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

An excellent point in the circumstances.....Roque to the rescue yet again!

[herbergeehh]

About time we got that one back (re: Cissè for Liverpool), good to nick a point finally.

A few thoughts;

- tactical blunder by Hughes, he should've known what Petrov can do. To his credit he did rectify at half time, and Petrov might've been just as problematic for Emerton in the 1st half. Disappointed to see Zura being turned inside out like that, but I think we all knew his position is centre back, not fullback.

- Roque never looked dangerous, still managed to score two goals. Loving it! McCarthy did ok when he came on, at least he showed his ability to hold up the ball.

- Gamst Pedersen awful again. Treacy's suspension can't come to and end soon enough now.

- Our central midfield pairing of Reid and Dunn did ok in the 2nd half after a poor, poor 1st half. City can play the ball well, but we need to start picking up forward runs.. And we certainly can't lose possession as much as we did, passing or just first touch will need to improve.

Berner unspectacular, but did a decent job. We missed Warnock's attacking qualities though.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

I feel sorry for Santa, he is in the form of his life and we still can't win.

I think we should be happy that we played so badly and still got a point.

Also, we just broke Cities 100% home record, so it isn't Derby County nosedive time like some of you seem to be thinking.

[andrew92]

tactical mistake to play zurab but a good point in the end!! but why ohh why does roberts wonder why hes not on the pitch? wahat a miss!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

A few personal opinions on those who played today:

* 01 Friedel - Collected his crosses well. His kicking was a bit dodgy today and could have cost us a goal with a moment of madness.

* 13 Khizanishvili - Struggled against Petrov, who created both goals. Was obvious to all that he's def not a right back.

* 06 Nelsen - Looks low on confidence and struggled against pace once again.

* 04 Samba - All over the place in the first half but improved in the second half and looked like his old self at times.

* 20 Berner - Looked okay defensively considering it was his first Prem start but struggled when going forward.

* 07 Emerton - Didn't work well with Zurab but made our defence more solid in the second half. Didn't stop running but mainly due to him chasing the ball rather than running with it.

* 14 Reid - Didn't boss the park at all. Still finding the energy which was a huge part of his game prior to his injury.

* 19 Dunn - Like Reid, struggled against City's midfield. Couldn't pass the ball at all today.

* 12 Pedersen - Another average performance. No shots, no decent crosses, ran non-stop but didn't actually do anything.

* 11 Bentley - Great assists for the goals. Thankfully he must have practiced his corners as they were pretty decent for once! Looked lively when he had the ball.

* 09 Santa Cruz - MOTM performance again. Excellent player. Despite the busy schedule over the Christmas period for Santa, he's certainly proved that he's an awesome signing.

* 10 McCarthy - Looked lively when he came on. Kept possession of the ball well and worked hard to create opportunities for us. I'd give him a start against Derby.