[Archived] Keith Andrews - Rovers Newest Signing

[67splitscreen]

This guy has this situation pretty much right. http://blog.ireland.com/itb_soccerpb?entry=81

A very fair assessment from a fellow Irishmen.

[Amo]

I'm not Andrews biggest fan, but I don't hold him responsible for Saturday. It was the miserable tactics that left us clinging to a 0-0 draw that threw the game away.

[den]

I'm not Andrews biggest fan, but I don't hold him responsible for Saturday. It was the miserable tactics that left us clinging to a 0-0 draw that threw the game away.

No tactics will be good enough if you don't have the quality of player necessary to win games against our fellow Prem clubs.

[Atty]

ANDREWS Is championship player at best, Clearly out of his depth and his passing is terrible.

He does not offer the team anything and is invisible most games.

He has scored a couple of important goals and some fans will defend him for that like they do with the clown MGP but simple fact his he does not have the quality to play at this level.

It was a shocking decision to buy him in the first place as they say buy league two footballers get league two football.

This season has been a joke and there are serious problems at the club that need to get sorted out.

[den]

Mokoena and Andrews in midfield, wouldn't get us out of the second division.

The thing is, at least we know why Moko's there. He sits in front of the back four and allows the others in front of him to play and create. He's utterly useless at it nowadays - but what on earth is Andrews role? Is he there to be the hard man and give protection to the defence, or is he there to be the creative influence? Or is there to just run around a bit? - Serious question!

Anyone?

[QOTSA]

This guy has this situation pretty much right. http://blog.ireland.com/itb_soccerpb?entry=81

One of the guys from Setanta's Dublin office has written that, partly in response to my blog at the weekend. He was actually the guy I was referring to when I said that a few of my colleagues thought he was good enough for Ireland, so I'm not in the least bit surprised he should defend himself!

He's right that Andrews is a symbol of a failed regime and an easy target. But the other players who made mistakes for the goal at Stoke all contributed at least something positive to an awful performance.

There should be no quibbling with the performances of El-Hadji Diouf either. He was rubbish at Sunderland but, along with Chris Samba, he's been our most influential player since he joined in January.

[Amo]

No tactics will be good enough if you don't have the quality of player necessary to win games against our fellow Prem clubs.

It also doesn't help playing Benni McCarthy as a lone target man, and giving cameo appearances to Dunn & Villanueva.

[Jonnolad]

Mokoena and Andrews in midfield, wouldn't get us out of the second division.

The thing is, at least we know why Moko's there. He sits in front of the back four and allows the others in front of him to play and create. He's utterly useless at it nowadays - but what on earth is Andrews role? Is he there to be the hard man and give protection to the defence, or is he there to be the creative influence? Or is there to just run around a bit? - Serious question!

I don't know if you are aware but Andrews doesn't play in the same position every week so for the last few weeks his remit wouldn't be the same (more credit to the bloke as well therefore since his role keeps changing).

On Saturday, since he played in a right midfield position, his role would have been identical to Pedersen (except on the other side of the pitch of course); defend where necessary, get crosses in and maybe have the odd shot if possible. Your own suggested remits, "hard man and give protection to the defence" & "the creative influence" seem to more suited to a central midfielder wouldn't you say? It seems you want Andrews to do everything no matter where he plays - perhaps next week you could have a go at him for goalkeeping errors!

If we look at the stats we can see that Andrews absolutely outperformed Pedersen in an identical role so surely it would be sensible to start by seeing what's wrong with the lesser performing Pedersen before we then go onto what's wrong with Andrews (especially since Andrews is out of position).

Surely we need to prioritise the biggest problems first - wouldn't you agree that would be sensible?

So what exactly is Pedersen's role and how is he going so wrong in it?

[Jonnolad]

One of the guys from Setanta's Dublin office has written that, partly in response to my blog at the weekend. He was actually the guy I was referring to when I said that a few of my colleagues thought he was good enough for Ireland, so I'm not in the least bit surprised he should defend himself!

He's right that Andrews is a symbol of a failed regime and an easy target. But the other players who made mistakes for the goal at Stoke all contributed at least something positive to an awful performance.

There should be no quibbling with the performances of El-Hadji Diouf either. He was rubbish at Sunderland but, along with Chris Samba, he's been our most influential player since he joined in January.

I noticed that the Guardian match report (rather than a blog) had the guilt for the goal resting with Robinson:

"Bounding in off the goalkeeper's fist, the goal underlined why Allardyce wants a new number one. As Robinson's future at Blackburn is in doubt, so is Blackburn's future in the Premier League."

Unsurprisingly I haven't read a single match report that mentioned Andrews miss-pass as a reason for the goal - I haven't even read one that thought it was even worth mentioning the miss pass in fact - that's how important it was viewed by the neutrals.

[den]

Jonnolad, did you go to Stoke?

[JAL]

This guy has this situation pretty much right. http://blog.ireland.com/itb_soccerpb?entry=81

If Keith Andrews had contributed to several moments of Rovers attacking play during the Stoke and looked capable of opening up the Stoke defence whilst subdueing their midfield, Keith would have had enough brownie points for no blame whatsoever being attached to his performance from the supporters.

Sadly, Keith Andrews performance was just A.N.Other making up the numbers of the Rovers team, contributing sod all to the team, thats why he comes in for some stern criticism and rightly so.

John Williams allowed this signing to happen along with the Robbie Fowler one, when most fans vented their displeasure at the thought of a fourth division player playing premiership football - its time folks that John Williams takes along hard look at himself along with the rest of the board and ask themselves are they really upto the job anymore.

[DanLad]

I noticed that the Guardian match report (rather than a blog) had the guilt for the goal resting with Robinson:

"Bounding in off the goalkeeper's fist, the goal underlined why Allardyce wants a new number one. As Robinson's future at Blackburn is in doubt, so is Blackburn's future in the Premier League."

Unsurprisingly I haven't read a single match report that mentioned Andrews miss-pass as a reason for the goal - I haven't even read one that thought it was even worth mentioning the miss pass in fact - that's how important it was viewed by the neutrals.

Since when are the press neutral?

They've most certainly got an agenda.

There's still some mojo left in bashing Robbo.

What's newsworthy about a league 2 player playing like a league 2 player?

[OJRovers]

Johnolad - it wasn't just KA's mis-placed pass ahead of the goal which people are having a go at, it was a number of totally poor passes throughout the game.

Yes, the stats may say that MGP completed a lower % passes than Andrews, but perhaps they were more difficult passes to make.

I stuck up for Keith originally but just lately its the numerous easy passes which Andrews gives straight to their men that is frustrating.

[American]

Anyone?

His role is to provide cover to a number of positions. Unfortunately, the players he's providing cover for are never healthy (and 2 of them are out for the season and weren't replaced).

[Eddie]

No tactics will be good enough if you don't have the quality of player necessary to win games against our fellow Prem clubs.

Really? You think the quality of player available last Saturday was so poor that no manager could have got them to win?

[bubblerrovers]

Really? You think the quality of player available last Saturday was so poor that no manager could have got them to win?

100% yes, we showed no quality at all going forward, we could have played all night and we still wouldn't of created a chance. I was there and it was that bad, hence the shock from most fans who went

[Sparky Marky]

Doesn't all this just prove what a fantastic player Brett is? I think we're really missing his versatility. I presume that's him until next season?

[Eddie]

That doesn't answer my questions. Our attacking threat, or lack thereof, was a result of our set-up, not because we were totally devoid of talent. Between MGP, Diouf, Benni, Villanueva and a combination of Dunn, Grella and Tugay it should be possible to put together a side capable of looking threatening. The fact that we weren't able to play with a game plan apart from the long ball hoof towards a lone striker, a tactic we've been using for several weeks now, wasn't because our players are suddenly only able to do that, but rather they are clearly following instructions. We certainly have a weakened and rather poor looking squad at the moment, particularly in midfield, but they are still capable of winning premiership games, or at the very least capable of playing in a style that has a better chance of being successful.

[broadsword]

MGP is more interested in flower-arranging, Diouf is OK, Benni is concentrating on being a member of Pies Anonymous, and Villanueva's a diddy-man who's not suited to this league. a combination of dunn, Tugay and Grella, is that like a mix-and-match, we can pick a composite midfielder from all 3?

And "capable of looking threatening", that I think betrays your own doubts about our midfield, otherwise I think you would've said "threatening" instead.

[47er]

Really? You think the quality of player available last Saturday was so poor that no manager could have got them to win?

I believe that---------absolutely. And if we have to play that side again I cannot see where the next point will come from. you can't go into any game with no strke force and no central midfield.

[AggyBlue]

you can't go into any game with no strke force and no central midfield.

It obviously didn't look like that on Eddie's TV screen

[thenodrog]

I believe that---------absolutely. And if we have to play that side again I cannot see where the next point will come from. you can't go into any game with no strke force and no central midfield.

Exactly!

The LT report sums it all up perfectly.

[Eddie]

MGP is more interested in flower-arranging, Diouf is OK, Benni is concentrating on being a member of Pies Anonymous, and Villanueva's a diddy-man who's not suited to this league. a combination of dunn, Tugay and Grella, is that like a mix-and-match, we can pick a composite midfielder from all 3?

And "capable of looking threatening", that I think betrays your own doubts about our midfield, otherwise I think you would've said "threatening" instead.

McCarthy put in a good shift in terms of effort but he can't possibly be effective with that style, Diouf and MGP were flat, but they didn't stand much of a chance of influencing the game with the way we were set-up. For the midfield, I meant that you could have easily got 90 minutes out of 2 of those players (obviously rather have it be Dunn and Grella). I phrased it the way I did because I wanted people to see that we didn't even reach the bare minimum of what should be considered acceptable and standard for this squad of players. Of course I don't like our midfield, I've been wanting us to sign new central midfielders for a few seasons now, it was one of the reasons I thought Hughes failed in the transfer market towards the end of his time here, but I still believe that there is a way to get this team to play that would give them a chance to win and on Saturday it certainly wasn't it.

We've been hit by injuries, but we haven't changed our style of play or formation since those injuries have happened. Playing one up front with Santa Cruz or Roberts can work, but since they have been out we have simply tried to stick square pegs in round holes. Any manager really running things well wouldn't do that, can you really disagree?

It obviously didn't look like that on Eddie's TV screen

You're right, having watched the match on TV I can't possibly form a valid opinion of the proceedings.

[Paul]

You're right, having watched the match on TV I can't possibly form a valid opinion of the proceedings.

TBH Eddie you either can't or don't. TV is very one dimensional and doesn't usually give the full picture of a game - live or highlights. I don't doubt your sincerity in your remarks but those of us who go week after week see a very different picture.

Due to the way the fixtures have fallen I've seen our last four games. I can't recall anything about the WHU match, against Spurs we were a complete shambles except for the last 10 minutes when Dunn moved to the centre of midfield. Against Liverpool we didn't even try to win, we might as well have stayed home. Against Stoke we did not create a single opportunity and could still be playing now and wouldn't have scored.

On Saturday the team played and stuck to Allardyce's instructions, that was very clear. Those tactics / instructions were utterly inadequate and ignore the abilities of our squad. While we persist with them we will not score a goal because we are not creating any sort of goal scoring opportunity. It is that simple. Given Sam's tactics I hope he switches to 4 4 2 with Samba partnering McCarthy. That way we at least have a player up front capable of winning some of these high balls -we didn't win a single one at Stoke. That is the extent of the manager's tactical failure.

Now I'm not one of the fans who wants to rubbish virtually every player in the squad - some of the comments in here are ridiculous and based on "liking" rather than anything rational - but it is very clear we have serious problems which stem from four areas:

A number of players simply no longer good enough

A demotivated / demoralised atmosphere which is hindering performances

Long term injuries

Chronic loss of form

Given the chance I hope we will clear out perhaps 10 or more players in the summer, not because they are as awful as people suggest, but because their time at Rovers is over for a variety of reasons. I'd keep Robinson, Warnock, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, Zurab, Givet, Diouff and start again.

[The Harwood Yankee]

TBH Eddie you either can't or don't. TV is very one dimensional and doesn't usually give the full picture of a game - live or highlights. I don't doubt your sincerity in your remarks but those of us who go week after week see a very different picture.

Due to the way the fixtures have fallen I've seen our last four games. I can't recall anything about the WHU match, against Spurs we were a complete shambles except for the last 10 minutes when Dunn moved to the centre of midfield. Against Liverpool we didn't even try to win, we might as well have stayed home. Against Stoke we did not create a single opportunity and could still be playing now and wouldn't have scored.

On Saturday the team played and stuck to Allardyce's instructions, that was very clear. Those tactics / instructions were utterly inadequate and ignore the abilities of our squad. While we persist with them we will not score a goal because we are not creating any sort of goal scoring opportunity. It is that simple. Given Sam's tactics I hope he switches to 4 4 2 with Samba partnering McCarthy. That way we at least have a player up front capable of winning some of these high balls -we didn't win a single one at Stoke. That is the extent of the manager's tactical failure.

Now I'm not one of the fans who wants to rubbish virtually every player in the squad - some of the comments in here are ridiculous and based on "liking" rather than anything rational - but it is very clear we have serious problems which stem from four areas:

A number of players simply no longer good enough

A demotivated / demoralised atmosphere which is hindering performances

Long term injuries

Chronic loss of form

Given the chance I hope we will clear out perhaps 10 or more players in the summer, not because they are as awful as people suggest, but because their time at Rovers is over for a variety of reasons. I'd keep Robinson, Warnock, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, Zurab, Givet, Diouff and start again.

Absolutely spot on Paul. I'd probably add Ooijer, if he's not PSV bound. But the fact that, even with a fully fit squad, we probably couldnt name 11 current players worthy of the shirt highlights the major transfer work to be done in the summer. Lets just hope we still have our Premiership status to help attract some quality players, not to mention the money involved in staying up.