[Archived] Keith Andrews - Rovers Newest Signing

[Eddie]

There are certain fans on here who have taken a dislike to the management and certain players and will find fault no matter what. No player will ever put in a perfect performance and so they will always find something to mention. At the same time, people do tend to be on a high after a win and overlook faults. In this instance, we simply haven't seen enough to judge. He was awful against Arsenal, but then so were the rest of the team (bar Robinson and maybe Emerton). He was good yesterday. Nothing fantastic, but good. If that had been Dunn, Reid or any other midfielder we simply would have put it down as a solid performance where he contributed a bit without making any major mistakes. To be honest, that is what you look and expect for from most central midfielders. If he copies and pastes that performance over 38 games then we have got good value for money. I would say he's a bit better than I had expected, but probably still not a player who will contribute too much. He looks like he could get a few goals, which is something that only Dunn also offers from central midfield, so that is a plus, but he doesn't solve any of our major problems. If he had come through the ranks or been bought from abroad or the premiership then he would simply be seen as a decent squad member and appreciated for what he is; because of his background I feel that the only way he could win over some of the fans and members of this board is if he went out and played like the best player in the premiership every week.

[tonyoz]

It was very sad to read earlier comments that keith Andrews had been booed on his introduction to the fans on Saturday.

I was disappointed by all the negative remarks about him after the match too, I thought he played pretty well. I was drawn towards the stats for the game here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...--Football.html

I was interested to see that Andrews was our most accurate passer with 46 passes at 87% success rate.

(Emerton 45 passes at 76%, Pedersen 13 passes at 66% in his hour on the pitch, Treacy 13 passes at 77%, Warnock 46 passes at 72% )

Encouragingly, 37 of Andrews 46 passes went into the forward zone (and many of them were not straight-forward balls in my opinion.)

Statistics do not tell the whole story, of course, but I think they are a more reliable guide to Andrews contribution than the blinkered prejudices of some board posters.

[CrazyIvan]

I thought Andrews was decent on Saturday. His most pleasing element is the late runs into the box, something we've missed for a long time. Even Dunny stopped doing those. He was unlucky not to score and his passing was excellent. Positionally he was suspect at times (not all the time I might add, just occasionally), on one occasion he looked like he'd fallen asleep failing to get to a poor pass that Fulham collected and had a period of attacking play. Not his fault for the poor pass but he could have got there.

He will learn and you can see that he is learning. His interplay with Tugay was superb, they worked together very well. 5 games in and he doesn't look so far out of his depth. There are people who will never think he's good enough but, given time, I think he will be.

[Hughesy]

Well I reserved judgement on him until we had aplyed a weaker opposition that Arsenal to see what I thought.

I think that again he looks promising, he is no way a league 2 standard player, his passing is quite good and he is very positive when on the ball, looks to get it forward (something we needed) and also looks to get in goalscoring positions. This lad will come good im sure. 7/10 for his performance on saturday.

[Jonnolad]

It was very sad to read earlier comments that keith Andrews had been booed on his introduction to the fans on Saturday.

I was disappointed by all the negative remarks about him after the match too, I thought he played pretty well. I was drawn towards the stats for the game here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...--Football.html

I was interested to see that Andrews was our most accurate passer with 46 passes at 87% success rate.

(Emerton 45 passes at 76%, Pedersen 13 passes at 66% in his hour on the pitch, Treacy 13 passes at 77%, Warnock 46 passes at 72% )

Encouragingly, 37 of Andrews 46 passes went into the forward zone (and many of them were not straight-forward balls in my opinion.)

Statistics do not tell the whole story, of course, but I think they are a more reliable guide to Andrews contribution than the blinkered prejudices of some board posters.

Here, here. Andrews also got man of the match in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/se...eague.blackburn

As for our own fans booing him - unbelievable. I got to the game just as it was kicking off on Saturday so I didn't hear it, if it's true though it's just disgraceful behaviour, shameful in fact.

Blinkered just isn't the word - moronic would be more suitable IMO.

[OscarRaven]

Andrews Watch: Fulham

1st half: World-beater, creative, positive and clever.

2nd half: Keith who? Totally anonymous shouldn’t have stayed on the pitch.

Happy to express my opinion on here that I don’t think he will ever amount to anything but, on a Saturday afternoon down Ewood Park he is a Rovers player who has done nothing wrong and he will get my full support until that changes.

Booing a player because of where he signed from – what sort of idiots do we have in our support?

[gumboots]

Burnley being the obvious exception there - but I agree. Unless the club is in serious doo-doo, i.e. relegation zone deep into the season with awful performances, then booing, IMO, is truly moronic. To those boo-ers, bugger off to Newcastle or stay at home and read and believe your doom and gloom stories in the papers. Amazing that some people pay for misery.

Some Spurs fans are wanting to organise a mass boo of the team it would appear. Whenever things look bad at ewood I do find it great to read the Spurs message board - they are always so cocky and were carried away by their 5-0 against roma and now look at them. Great!

[waggy]

injuries have forced paul ince to play andrews and he deserves our backing whilst playing,i thought he struggled on saturday but still a improvrment on the axe and reid

[LeChuck]

Booing a player because of where he signed from – what sort of idiots do we have in our support?

Not that I condone it in the slightest, because I don't, but we've signed lower league players before and they haven't been booed. I think a lot of people have a problem with Andrews because it feels like another 'jobs for mates' move by Ince.

[Manc Rover]

Not a world beater and his positional sense is terrible, but i thought he did ok on Sat. He was never gona be 1st choice but Ince has no choice at the moment.

Get off his back and give the lad support. Remember Super Atko, Nicky Marker etc weren't world beaters either but did a job when we needed them.

[frosty]

I was interested to see that Andrews was our most accurate passer with 46 passes at 87% success rate.

That's brilliant for a newcomer to a Premiership midfield. Even the likes of Xavi only average about a 90% pass success rate!

[92er]

I think a lot of people have a problem with Andrews because it feels like another 'jobs for mates' move by Ince.

Part of the concern about the Andrews signing is how often Ince is going to play him. If he is going to be 5th or 6th choice, then fine. But then the question is why was Ince so keen to sign him? After all JW has said Andrews was one of the first players mentioned by Ince. I certainly don't want to see him playing often, nor do I want to see him as the one player Ince won't take off even when he needs it.

[tonygreenbank]

Andrews Watch: Fulham

1st half: World-beater, creative, positive and clever.

2nd half: Keith who? Totally anonymous shouldn’t have stayed on the pitch.

Happy to express my opinion on here that I don’t think he will ever amount to anything but, on a Saturday afternoon down Ewood Park he is a Rovers player who has done nothing wrong and he will get my full support until that changes.

Booing a player because of where he signed from – what sort of idiots do we have in our support?

Oscar, I saw that totally the other way round!! Amazing that we can see things so differently. He seemed to warm to his game the longer it went on and he was playing some quick ball and kept the momentum going. I think he is doing a solid job for his team and his manager. Nelsen was again talking to him whenever there was a stoppage in play; giving him encouragement. I dont think he has looked out of his depth at all and once he settles in his new surroundings then I think we will have a good player.

[CrazyIvan]

I think Andrews is much better than some people would like to believe and would like the rest of us to believe. I'm not blind but I'm not biased either. I compare Andrews to other mid-fielders in the squad and what I'd expect a premier league mid-fielder to be and Andrews is pretty damn close. Not quite there yet but he is improving and his play at times is top drawer. There are parts of his game I think are fantastic and parts that need attention; he's not world-class but neither is he a Division 2 player.

[brightonrover]

It's the Anti-Ince brigade who aren't prepared to give Andrews a chance and who (secretly) wish that we'd been beaten by Fulham on Saturday in order to give their campaign momentum.

[Ste B]

Booing a player because of where he signed from – what sort of idiots do we have in our support?

I was thinking that at the West Ham game when a few "loyal supporters" starting singing songs about Andrews and F*** off Back to MK Dons.

[67splitscreen]

Andrews was chasing shadows for the majority of the game today and our ball retention in midfield was bloody awful. Fulham worked through our midfield on two or three occasions to create chances while we fannied around and eventually knocked it route one. Only changed when Tugay and Carlos came on, then we actually started to play.

All I can hear is people saying he did 'okay' well I'm sorry I want my central midfielder, the hub of my team, to do a little better than 'okay' especially against a team like Fulham at home.

For me, he is not and never will be good enough at this level. End of.

Very strange analysis.

[LDRover]

Very strange analysis.

Why's that then?

Blimey even the bloke in the LT said at times we were chasing shadows and looked out of our depth.

As for Andrews, can someone point to something he did in the game that they would consider 'outstanding' ? Oh and for the record I wasn't one of the fools who booed him.

[imy9]

Outstanding? No.

Good, yes...

Andrews was our most accurate passer with 46 passes at 87% success rate.

(Emerton 45 passes at 76%, Pedersen 13 passes at 66% in his hour on the pitch, Treacy 13 passes at 77%, Warnock 46 passes at 72% )

37 of Andrews 46 passes went into the forward zone.

The above data was supplied earlier in the thread. Makes a mockery of 'Andrews played crap' and mislaid a lot of his passes.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Outstanding? No.

Good, yes...

Andrews was our most accurate passer with 46 passes at 87% success rate.

(Emerton 45 passes at 76%, Pedersen 13 passes at 66% in his hour on the pitch, Treacy 13 passes at 77%, Warnock 46 passes at 72% )

37 of Andrews 46 passes went into the forward zone.

The above data was supplied earlier in the thread. Makes a mockery of 'Andrews played crap' and mislaid a lot of his passes.

plus the way he took Bullard out in his own half meaning he only got a yellow instead of a red card.

[tcj_jones]

QUOTE (Ste B @ Sep 22 2008, 17:51 ) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was thinking that at the West Ham game when a few "loyal supporters" starting singing songs about Andrews and F*** off Back to MK Dons.

Incredible, absolutely incredible. His first appearance in the Premier League and he gets that kind of reception? These people are so god damned stupid, I wouldn't dignify them with a response. These kind of people don't even deserve to be in my, or anybody with even an ounce of intelligence's presence. Idiots, absolute morons.

[mark]

reading from afar (Peru) it sounds like Andrews is doing an admirable job of making the step up, is making a big effort and could make a decent signing.

has this been suggested:

SUPER ANDREWS!

SUPER ANDREWS!

WHOA WHOA!!!

[67splitscreen]

Why's that then?

Blimey even the bloke in the LT said at times we were chasing shadows and looked out of our depth.

As for Andrews, can someone point to something he did in the game that they would consider 'outstanding' ? Oh and for the record I wasn't one of the fools who booed him

As for Andrews, can someone point to something he did in the game that they would consider 'outstanding' ? Oh and for the record I wasn't one of the fools who booed him.

What do you want for 750k, he's doing a job for the team, obviously not good enough for some.

As imy9 says, 40 out of 46 passes found a Rovers player. 37 going forward. After viewing your comment, I watched the game on Football first, after watching at Ewood, just to get a better over all perspective of his game.

Sure he's no Tugay, but give the guy a chance, He did not really do much wrong, Ok he lacks the quality of a top Prem MF. But he does put a shift in. I imagine the pressure he his feeling is immense, trying to prove he can cut it.

He's mobile enough to do the job Ince want's. He makes some good forward runs, to get into the box, and is always up behind the front line supporting them. And tracks back as is required. I can only remember once when he got caught to advanced, and Bullard got a shot away. And just one small point look at the MF out of form or injured, not a lot of choice, is there.

[philipl]

Given we have a full-on crisis of injuries and loss of form in midfield, Andrews is doing a job. Based on just 45 minutes at West Ham, Grella worried me more and Reid has been looking terminally bad for Ince whilst was inspired for Trapatoni.

There are plenty of signs that Andrews isn't going to be a Premiership quality player but he is holding his game together in the near complete absence of viable alternatives at present. Better players than Andrews will be completely by-passed by Arsenal this season.

Andrews might develop (late) and grow in which case signing him will have been inspired. However, if our current midfield roster recover fitness and something approaching their best form, Andrews won't make the bench.

The reason for the hostility is obviously the fear that Andrews might not improve and that Ince will keep playing him because he's a mate. I think that fear is a bit over done if only because Andrews looks like a straight red card waiting to happen- either when he gets "done" by a "clever" opponent suckering him into it or simply arriving too late too hard once too often.

Daft as it might seem to some people but if the Axe is not fit and Reid continues playing like a drain, we could well miss Andrews rather badly against Everton on Wednesday.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Given we have a full-on crisis of injuries and loss of form in midfield, Andrews is doing a job. Based on just 45 minutes at West Ham, Grella worried me more and Reid has been looking terminally bad for Ince whilst was inspired for Trapatoni.

There are plenty of signs that Andrews isn't going to be a Premiership quality player but he is holding his game together in the near complete absence of viable alternatives at present. Better players than Andrews will be completely by-passed by Arsenal this season.

Andrews might develop (late) and grow in which case signing him will have been inspired. However, if our current midfield roster recover fitness and something approaching their best form, Andrews won't make the bench.

The reason for the hostility is obviously the fear that Andrews might not improve and that Ince will keep playing him because he's a mate. I think that fear is a bit over done if only because Andrews looks like a straight red card waiting to happen- either when he gets "done" by a "clever" opponent suckering him into it or simply arriving too late too hard once too often.

Daft as it might seem to some people but if the Axe is not fit and Reid continues playing like a drain, we could well miss Andrews rather badly against Everton on Wednesday.

grella was not match fit so he cannot be judged on that alone. Reid has been rubbish ever since he came back from injury not just for Ince.

What are the signs that Andrews cannot be a premiership player. There were signs on Saturday that he could become a decent premiership player once he adapted to the pace of the higher level.

I agree the hostility is beacuse Ince knew him before but did not hughes bring in his own man in Savage before.