[Archived] Fulham Preview

[rover6]

Paul, did Simpson do anything to win you over. It sounds like he had a solid game but at the moment he doesn't have the confidence to do anything meaningful with the ball. If he can continue defending well, we should be more than prepared to wait for that side of his game to come. His pace is a definite advantage over Ooijer.

Today, to my mind, was an improvement - but Ince has a lot to do to find his right team/formation. Gamst on the right was always going to be a non-starter.

[dr_awol]

Highlights here

if any one is going out on the lash tonight and will miss motd.

cheers for the link.

Am not to bothered how we won the game today, we got 3 needed points.

Derbyshire, & Villanueva must be knocking on the first team door for the NUFC game.

if matt can get a reguler run of starts i think he get the goals

it is important that we get some points from st. james park, which i think we can, as long as they don’t have a new manager to impress, btw are they even looking for a manager ?

[thenodrog]

We desperately need some quality in midfield but we've all known that for the past 2 years at least.

Roberts has lost his edge somewhat and imo Derbyshire should be starting with RSC next match. His hunger has been very evident all season.

Charlie Newhouse is not going to be much use in a 4-4-2 but is continuing to show what he showed v Grimsby that he is a real box of tricks around the penalty area. His through ball to RSC for the goal was one that had nearly come off a few minutes before and was one that no one else would have attempted. For those that have not yet seen him he is very much in the mould of Eyal Berkovitz but with a little more pace and power and he looks to be capable of being a goal threat on his own. On the down side he does display a certain naivety.

Nelsen & Co looked much better defensively but he and Warnock still seem strangers at times.

Overall a good result against a Fulham team that is a step up from the one they had last season. If I was a fan of theirs (and there weren't many) I'd want to know why they only have 75-80 minutes of running in them? They finished the match looking very tired and a yard behind our lot in most things. He must have seen the same things that I did so I was a little suprised that Woy didn't use a sub.

[Majiball]

Well after today and with Everton on the horizon, I would hope Derb's and Pineapple have stated there case for a starting berth. Derb's up with RSC, and Villa in midfield. I was pleased to see Tugay come on, he is the best passer of a ball at the club and I'm sure it helped Villa.

Good Subs today Mr Ince, and well done Robinson keep it up.

Must admit I was surprised to see MGP on the right, I thought he would start in the middle. All in all a step in the right direction.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Now that i have time to reflect on yesterday's game, there were positives and negatives for Ince to consider.

The negatives were the performances of MGP[how long can he be kept being selected?], Roberts[easy for a decent centre halves to nulify but OK against centre halves are strong but slow], Nelson[still too slow] and the midfield at times when defending looks easy for oppostion to pass through.

We still not answered the right wing berth. I think Derbs should be given a run there.

The positives now:-

i. Emerton's all action display.

ii.A clean sheet and a much improved performance by Robinson and the three other defenders. They adopted safety first when in danger, not pretty football but what was needed.

iii. A win against a team who had won three games on the trot including Arsenal. They were high on confidence and at times the difference showed but unlike last week there was a unity in the Rovers team.

iv. Treacy did not do much wrong but for periods the game bypassed him. A run in the team is essential for his development to see if this was because of nerves or if he is not good enough. It is not like Pederson is playing well in that postion either.

v. A midfielder who gets into the oppostion's penalty box in Andrews. I bet the people who slag him off are the same people who slagged Atkins off. I am not saying he is the world's best but there is something there that can be worked upon with good coaches.

vi. The performance of Carlos when he came on. A great Cameo but I think Cameo appearances is all you get from him for now as he still has to get some strength. This will come.

vii. There was evidence that Ince has learnt some of the lessons from the week before.

[Amo]

We still not answered the right wing berth. I think Derbs should be given a run there.

Derbyshire needs to be in and around the box, as proven yesterday, not pushed out wide in a position he can't play.

[thenodrog]

v. A midfielder who gets into the oppostion's penalty box in Andrews. I bet the people who slag him off are the same people who slagged Atkins off. I am not saying he is the world's best but there is something there that can be worked upon with good coaches.

My thoughts entirely ..... we should put him on one back to Milton Keynes! Yes he does get into the opponents pen areas but no matter what you say he is no more than an average player. His two bookings imo have come about because the speed that Prem players can control a ball, pass and move is beyond his experience.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I think Ince summed up what the strategy was for the game in his post match interviews, that "a clean sheet was more important today than the three points". Once it looked like we secured at least the clean sheet and the draw, Ince made the substitutions to try and win the game and it clearly worked.

After conceding 8 goals in the last two games it was vital to get a clean sheet. Surely most fans will agree our performance was a big improvement on recent games.

[Montfort]

Great improvement yesterday but there needed to be. I dont think that I will ever get over the ease with which Arsenal contained us and still managed to score 2 goals in the second half. Great to see a response from a team which i feared was disintigrating.

There are some great and perceptive posts but i would like to reinterate and add.

1 Far better performance from Warnock and Samba who had poor games last week. Back how we love to see them.

2 Did'nt think that Simpson was the same player. Stacks better performance. Hopefully more attacking role to come when defensive duties solidified ( love the bit where Nelson told him to get back into position )

3

[only2garners]

I'm probably being daft with this one but how did Fulham end up kicking off and defending the BBE in the first half? If Fulham won the toss I thought they could chose to change ends or kick off. Does this mean Rovers won the toss and chose to attack the BBE first half? Or am I hopelessly confused?

It fooled us for a minute but we assumed it was Rovers choosing to swap ends as the Blackburn End goalmouth was in full sun for the first half. By the second half both goalmouths were in shade.

Overall a competent performance for me. I suspect that if we finish above Fulham we will have a better season than most on here are currently predicting. They are a decent side with an excellent midfield and two dangerous strikers but an ordinary looking defence. They pass the ball well as you would expect from a Hodgson team but there was precious little in terms of end result, which is partly a compliment to the way the whole Rovers side defended. Clearly our priority was to shore up the defence so a wide expansive attacking game was never on the cards. Nevertheless, despite the carping about a poor first half performance we still created 5 good chances - two of them made by the man who apparently does nothing, Pedersen.

Yes - we looked much more dangerous when the substitutions were made, but we could never have started a match such as this with that formation. We can't expect Tugay to play a full 90 and Villanueva isn't ready for that either.

[Brfcrule1]

I can not believe some of you I could not find anything wrong with that performance defensively we went from zero to hero,never looked liked conceding 2 great saves from Robbo who is growing in confidence. Never looked like conceding and as an attacking force could have won by more Emo unlucky not score b4 h/t. I thought it was in at one point but needed the changes as several players looked ineffective but they made the difference "Pineapple head" had an exceptional cameo unlucky not to cap it off with a goal thought the curler was in. Defense was a lot more improved than last week Samba was immense Simpson did ok needs to work on crossing Nelly made some important challenges and Warnolk was a lot more improved. Emo was better in centre midfield Rocky improved as the game wore on Treacy did not do as much but still did ok Peds was as ever non existant Andrews was also unlucky not to score but much better roll on the barcodes with Pineapple head/Derbs as impact subs we should do them and unless I'm mistaken last year against the barcodes Derbs came off the bench to condemn the Barcodes to a defeat in the last minute hope springs eternal and hopefully we will get a similar result.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Emerton was very good in that box to box midfield role, with his athletic ability he can make those powerful runs towards the box and be a real handful.

[Montfort]

Post continued - pressed wrong key

3 Captains performance from Nelson

4 Emmerton worked his socks off and showed real flair. Deserved his shot to go in.

5 Despite the above midfield still not right. We looked so much better when Tugay came on and we someone to really put his foot on the ball, look up and make a pass. Everyone else seemed to be lifted and respond.

6 Tracy did not look out of his depth but not a match winner. perhaps a little nervous and cautios but got better as the game went on. Still young and would love to see him make his mark.

7 Jury still out on Andrews. Would have been nice if he had scored. A very winning and endearing interview on radio Rovers Wendy - You looked at home in the premiership. Andrews ( doesn't agree ) it wont be for lack of trying if i am not. from villain to hero in one bound. I think he knows the true score as do we but I hope he makes it and it will be a magnificent achievement if he does. Glad he got booked. He wasn't close enough to any one last week to get a booking. But the oppostion comes through the mid field too easily.

8 I was in heaven when Villanueva came on. Expectations were sky high. Did he dissapoint no. Did he fully live up to expectations you bet. He shows what true flair and being able to pass a ball is. His shot on goal deserved to go in. He is a true match winner and will inspire players around him. I leave the minor details like building up his strength and stamina, where he will play etc to others. I just want to see him on the pitch at some stage of a game. Hope he is on a long term contaract with impossible get out clauses.

9 Was really worried last week that ince was out of his depth. Thought he reacted well to the problems.

10 Why have we not got a replacement for Bently. Where is Tugay's replacement

11 Cant wait to see how we wil play againt Everton One swallow or a summer ?

[den]

Well deserved result.

Can't agree with the people who said we beat a good side though, because I thought Fulham were very, very poor. Maybe they've done well in previous games, but that has no bearing on their performance yesterday.

Plus points:-

Robinson's two brilliant stops, but apart from that Fulham gave him nothing to do.

Simpson had a better game than of late.

Derbyshire caused them a lot of problems when he came on.

Carlos showed a couple of nice touches.

Negatives:-

Poor team selection and substitutions from Ince. We started with two left wingers and finished with none. How Treacy stayed on so long I'll never know.

Andrews. Again, his all round game is embarrassingly poor.

I'm not someone who thinks we played well if we won, or played poorly if we lost, so I still think we have big problems. There are a lot of better sides than Fulham around. Or should I say, there aren't many sides who will play as poorly as them.

[Montfort]

Final thought.

Many say that Derbyshire cannot play on the right wing me included. But didn't he do really well their yesterday?

[den]

Final thought.

Many say that Derbyshire cannot play on the right wing me included. But didn't he do really well their yesterday?

He played mostly on the left.

[Beta Ray Bill]

Final thought.

Many say that Derbyshire cannot play on the right wing me included. But didn't he do really well their yesterday?

He was on the left wing....

[roversmum]

What a load of rubbish from those claiming we were lucky. Dont be daft, Robinson made 2 saves all game. Apart from the chances that fell to Zamora, that was about it for Fulham. We got stuck in, we played like we know we can, and Jimmy Bullard knew that when he the game was over, that he played Rovers. The bully boys were back, and i love it. Samba was back to his best, and Bert was outstanding. Andrews, did very well. He aint a Fabregas, but he looks to be working hard for the team. In fact Andrews, has been performing better than Reid,benni and Gamst, so that about says it all.

I think the fans were the most nervous, except the Ince haters of course, knowing that we needed a win. It took yet another daft decision from the Ref to wake the fans out of their stupor. Iceman is right, there were positives in that game. Bert thoroughly deserved his Man of the Match, what a performance, he took no nonsense and gave none. Everyone else put in a shift and the win was thoroughly deserved.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Derbyshire needs to be in and around the box, as proven yesterday, not pushed out wide in a position he can't play.

Strange he came on and played left wing, very effective I thought

My thoughts entirely ..... we should put him on one back to Milton Keynes! Yes he does get into the opponents pen areas but no matter what you say he is no more than an average player. His two bookings imo have come about because the speed that Prem players can control a ball, pass and move is beyond his experience.

Yes experience not ability......I know he is geting on a bit but he can learn.

Stop being negative!

[thenodrog]

Stop being negative!

I wasn't being negative I was being subjective. If you want blind faith don't come looking for it from me....

btw

..... try the bogs in the Havvy!

[Scotty]

It wasn't a great performance overall, but a lot of the credit for the win has to go down to Ince and his use of the subs.

In the first half we huffed and puffed but never really got any passing going. Fulham passed the ball better than we did, but we defended well and allowed them to create little. We played at too slow a tempo, stood off them too many times, and consequently didn't take control of the game. That said, Emerton did hit the bar following a great run and curling shot.

It was much the same story in the second half until the introduction of Tugay and Villanueva. All of a sudden we had players who played in between the lines - Tugay linked the defence to the midfield and Villanueva linked the midfield to the attack. We started passing the ball properly, through the centre of Fulham rather than over them, and started to look threatening.

Fulham played narrower and narrower as we passed our way through the middle, leaving large gaps down the wings. Again, Ince's final substitution exploited this by putting Derbyshire on the left. For the first time in the game we started to get behind Fulham's defence, with both Derbyshire on the left and Emerton/Simpson on the right getting into good crossing positions only to be let down by their final ball.

The goal was coming and it was worth waiting for. Tugay picked the ball up from the defence, played a neat pass through the middle to Villanueva, who turned and clipped a lovely 30 yard pass straight onto Santa Cruz's head. Roque's cushioned lay-off was perfectly weighted into the on-rushing Derbyshire's path, who finished classily. Fulham's heads had gone and we could have had another in the dying minutes folowing a great run and shot from Villanueva.

I don't rate Robinson. I never have and I'm not sure I ever will, but he was terrific yesterday. He didn't have a lot to do, but when called upon he made a couple of excellent saves (the save early on in the first half was top class) and handled the ball well. His kicking is also a big asset. I've still got a feeling that over the course of the season he'll end up costing us more points than he saves, but if he can keep yesterday's form up he'll prove me totally wrong - let's hope he does.

We were much-improved defensively than we were the last two games - let's face it, we couldn't have been much worse - but we still allowed Fulham plenty of free headers in our box. Zamora could, and should perhaps, have had a hat-trick. That said, we were a lot sharper to the ball than in previous weeks, with both Samba and Nelsen making a number of eye-catching interceptions.

Warnock was solid until the last half hour, at which point he got wound up by the ref, put in the tackle of the match on Pantsil, and then played like a man possessed for the rest of the game. Simpson looks a decent defensive full-back, but he needs to do more going forward before he can be classed as a good acquisition. His distribution lets him down at times and he seems reluctant to provide the overlap. He's improving though so hopefully we'll see more of his attacking side in the weeks to come.

Our midfield is still the weakest part of our team. Only Emerton out of the starting quartet looked good enough, in fact he's rapidly becoming one of our most important and consistent performers. Andrews has some good qualities - I like the forward runs he makes and he's been unlucky not to score for us yet - but he doesn't make enough challenges or use the ball well enough yet to really make a mark on the game. Again though, he's improving and it may come in time.

Out wide we were pretty poor. Pedersen looked a bit lost on the right and failed to even offer his usual inadequate contribution. Treacy seemed to lack that bit of confidence required to take the full-back on, and on the few occasions he did he fluffed the final ball. He'll need to do better if he wants to stay in the team. I was delighted though that Ince took Pedersen off first - hopefully that'll give Pedersen a kick up the arse and make him realise he's not always going to be first choice from now on.

Up front Roberts played poorly. He didn't hold the ball well enough, didn't link up with his strike partner, and came up against centre-halves who were as powerful as he was. Santa Cruz was fairly quiet, but he still showed the usual classy touches, won headers, and kept possession well. Neither player had a great deal of quality servcie to be fair.

Our subs all made a big impact on the game, with Villanueva in particular looking top class. Let's see if he can do it from the start now.

As I said earlier, Ince should take a lot of credit from this game for the use of his subs. He spotted our problems (although they were fairly glaring), brought on the right players at the right time to sort them out, and they won us the game. I particularly liked the way he brought the subs on early and gave them time to make an impact - something Hughes didn't always do. I was very surprised by the lack of response from Hodgson. It seemed to me that the goal was coming a good ten minutes before it did as we'd taken control of midfield, but Hodgson offer nothing in the way of tactical changes or substitutions to his Fulham team.

Overall it was a decent, and probably just about deserved win. Hopefully it will inject a bit of confidence into the team, and it's certainly given Ince a few selection headache's for the next game.

I wasn't happy about the appointment of Ince, I think he sounds like a bit of a d1ck whenever he's interviewed and lacks intelligence, and it's clear that he has struggled in the transfer market during the summer and we're paying for that now. However, I saw enough encouragement today to suggest that we're not going to be involved in a dog-fight at the bottom of the table. At the same time, I don't think we'll be challenging for Europe either. We lack quality in too many areas for that. I think we'll stay fairly comfortably in mid-table until January and then have to hope Ince can land a couple of players that can improve us. He's still got a fair way to go before Ince wins me over, but I was encouraged today.

[Billy Castell]

How did Treacy do?

I didn't see the game, but it sounded that we started of poorly, but came to be the better team overall. It also seemed that Zamora missed a load of sitters. A win and a clean sheet, we were spoiled yesterday.

[thenodrog]

That said, Emerton did hit the bar following a great run and curling shot.

Post scotty. The rest is spot on.

[dopper69]

Didn't realise that this was Rovers' first clean sheet at home since Feburary.

The defensive frailties stretch much further than Ince's reign.

Good result yesterday, very pleased.

[Fife Rover]

Oh. I like Roberts a lot but you have to feel that Carlos is worth a start if he is physically able. Looks like he can drift any where whcih will allow our more atheltic players (Emerton, Treacy, Andrews) to get ahead of him and exploit the space. Not really sure I have seen a player who is exactly like him to be honest. Small but not pacy, and a wand of a left foot. going to be a real bitch for other teams to deal with, no chance of marking him out, I guess we may see him get a Bullard like kicking.

I wish Tugay was seven years younger. Him and Emerton in the middle could be a decent combo.

This somes-up my feelings and fears regarding Carlos. He is quickly going to be identified by other sides as a class player, and while it is perfectly acceptable in the EPL for the "big teams" to have class players, "little teams" like Rovers are not supposed to have them. Therefore he is going to get put on the "kicking list" of the big teams, and could well end-up with a broken leg before long. He is going to get little protection from the referees playing for Rovers as we all know.

OK that is very cynical, but it is how I feel, and I really believe that there is more than just a grain of truth in my gloomy prediction. I really do hope and pray that I am wrong.