[Archived] Vince Grella Signs

[92er]

I'm sure it's been said he trained on Thursday. He's supposed to be asking his international coach if he can be excused travelling for the next series of World Cup matches.

[joey_big_nose]

He should be coming back soon. I hope he can form a good partnership with Warnock to take the pressure off Tugay a bit. It will be a very physical duo with Grella and Steve in there! He will need to show his vaunted distribution skills.

[Sydney Rovers]

I'm sure it's been said he trained on Thursday. He's supposed to be asking his international coach if he can be excused travelling for the next series of World Cup matches.

Well he wasn't selected for the World Cup Qualifer Wednesday week.

[CrazyIvan]

Well he wasn't selected for the World Cup Qualifer Wednesday week.

He asked to be dropped from the squad so he could concentrate on getting fit. Not a bad shout in my book. I'm not club over country but going away with your country when you're not fully fit is a little silly. (Not a dig at Roque - he was made to go to Paraguay last time...)

[Eddie]

Especially when you joined a new team and picked up an injury playing for you county a couple of weeks later after one half of football.

[Blue n White Rover]

Just thought I'd bump this thread.

Grella yesterday put in a solid performance. One which we have been crying out for in ages. He was neat and tidy for most parts of the games. A few dodgy tackles here and there but its only his second PL game. Always sat in front of the back four, when Rovers were in possesion he was the one giving out to the likes of Carlos and Roque. Very encouraging performance from the Aussie.

Hopefully much more to come. Could be a bargain for £4million considering L'pool paid £20million for Mascherano

[vintageadidas]

Very impressed with him for only his second start. I ditto everything stated above and add that as an Aussie he will run himself into the ground. Look forward to seeing more of him.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Grella looked very good yesterday. Just need another midfielder and two wide players to go with him.

[Mafioso]

I didnt catch the game from the start, and as I was figuring out who started and who didnt I saw Grella pass the ball on a couple of occassions and his passing was so calm and neat I actually thought he was Tugay !

[CrazyIvan]

I was impressed with Grella. He isn't perfect but his passing was good and his tackling was impressive. I also thought he was lucky to stay on in the last few minutes and I said as much to my mate sat next to me but he looks like a good signing. It's pretty obvious the choice to stay at home and work on his fitness instead of joining up with the Aussie squad has paid dividends.

[AussieinUk]

....he looks like a good signing. It's pretty obvious the choice to stay at home and work on his fitness instead of joining up with the Aussie squad has paid dividends.

Agreed, that he looks like a good signing but sorry to be pedantic, but it wasn't Grella's choice to go or stay.. He wasn't included in the squad to play Qatar in the first place. Pim never picked him, based on his recent injury.

[CrazyIvan]

Agreed, that he looks like a good signing but sorry to be pedantic, but it wasn't Grella's choice to go or stay.. He wasn't included in the squad to play Qatar in the first place. Pim never picked him, based on his recent injury.

According to this he asked to stay at home...

[Hughesy]

Correct - Rovers asked if he could stay here, Grella said we were no1 priority until he was fit, therefore he asked the Aussies to allow him to stay.

[AussieinUk]

According to this he asked to stay at home...

Fair enough, I stand corrected... apologies

[RibbleValleyRover]

Solid performance by Grella put in some decent tackles and distributed the ball well, that pass to Emerton was superb in the first half.

Early days yet but an encouraging start so far.

[tonyoz]

That was a relief after his less than encouraging debut against WHU. He reminded me a bit of David Batty........always making himself available when team mates had the ball - then laying off simple but accurate passes. It seems he can tackle a bit too.

The biggest plus of the day I think.

[Majiball]

Well after watching the game and some time for reflection, I have to say I'm pleased Grella has joined!

He's had a solid career to date, I believe he was Parma captain for a while. Finally I can stop moaning about how our two centre halves are left exposed (it happened a lot last year).

He's gonna add some steel to our defensive three which will hopefully give us a solid base to build our play on. I was quite surprised with his technical ability its better than I thought and he showed good variety in his play. He's also quite clever his second foul was well timed hadn't he just gotten a yellow minutes before? There are times in a a game when you can get away with it and just after getting one normally works! He was always available when we had the ball and kept it moving which was nice to see.

All in all a good start.

[DingleBaiter]

The part of his game on Sat that surprised me was his range of passing - didn't he take the corner for Robbo, sorry Benedict, to score? A lot of these defensive midfielders are just crab passers, always moving it sideways. Grella made some fantastic passes with a moving ball, a la Tugay, which is a difficult enough skill for 'creative midfielders' rather than 'water carriers'. In general, people like Savage, Reid and a few others have to 'kill' a ball dead, turn, think, wait, pass and lost all the iniative.

Wonder what his detractors thought after writing him off so early, in such a definitive way? However, by the same logic, we shouldn't now think we've got the next Kaiser just yet either, like we shouldn't be labelling Keith Andrews as the next 'Roy Keane' just yet either

[joey_big_nose]

I am hoping Dunn can come back soo as I could see him and Grella being a very effective combination. If he is out for a long time then I am not sure who we can regularly play with him if we switch to 442. Andrews? Or persevere with Warnock which is probabaly more likely even though Olsson looks a bit shaky.

We have one fit forward running CM (Andrews) and 4 CMs who like to sit on the half way line (Grella, Mokoena, Tugay, Vogel). Lacking a bit of balance there.

[Hughesy]

He did very well considering it was his 1st game for 2 months. I was very happy with his performance - looks like a real battler, just what we need. Surely Ince didnt sign him.

[mattyboy6000]

him AND warnock for a home game was a bit defensive imo

[The Harwood Yankee]

I was a bit surprised they gave Grella the MOTM - thought both Emerton & Simpson had better games - but it was an encouraging performance, esp in the first half. His booking was a bit silly but overall I'm pleased that with Dunn & Reid both out, this was just the sort of positive we needed from a midfield player. As others have said, I'm not sure who'd be the best partner for him in midfield, or even if we have that player or need to be signing someone in January. Grella & Warnock is a very defensive midfield - might be ok against the likes of Boro but realistically we need more creativity, esp at home. (whoops, i see mattyboy just made that same point in the post above - great minds eh!)

[92er]

The part of his game on Sat that surprised me was his range of passing - didn't he take the corner for Robbo, sorry Benedict, to score?

I thought it was Emerton that took the corner, but I accept I could be wrong.

Our thoughts on Grella were that he started off well, but was looking off the pace even before the goal. The Boro coach came to the touch line and seemed to be having a right go at their number 8, as though he needed to be exploiting Grella more.

He looked decent in the first half, but is he worth 4mil approx-either £ or Euros isn't clear- and is he really so much better than Vogel?

On another track, he reminded me in looks to Peter Dobing!

[Al]

I thought it was Emerton that took the corner, but I accept I could be wrong.

Our thoughts on Grella were that he started off well, but was looking off the pace even before the goal. The Boro coach came to the touch line and seemed to be having a right go at their number 8, as though he needed to be exploiting Grella more.

He looked decent in the first half, but is he worth 4mil approx-either £ or Euros isn't clear- and is he really so much better than Vogel?

On another track, he reminded me in looks to Peter Dobing!

Yes I was pretty sure it was Emerton too. I think a reporter got it wrong and it escalated from there.

I thought Grella exerted a lot of influence in midfield and looked a good buy. I never rated Vogel. I thought he was lightweight and although neat and tidy never made much of an impression on the game.

[tcj_jones]

What exactly is the situation with Vogel? Does he even belong to Blackburn Rovers anymore?

I thought that Grella put in a very competent performance on Saturday. He kept things ticking over nicely. Another good Ince purchase.