[Archived] Bolton Vs Rovers

[47er]

"Ince happy with great point" says the BBC. Well I'm not. Bolton were there for the taking. When you compare the squads-------- how many Bolton players would we want? I think the answer is absolutely none Even without Dunn,Santa and Grella(hopefully) we should take this team apart. Bolton are very very poor and look like relegation fodder to me. I quite accept that on an even day we can't compete with the likes of Manu or Chelsea but if we can't even score against the likes of Bolton its going to be a long hard season. Too many changes, too many players out of position and Robbie Fowler. What the hell does Ince see in him that we can't? I doubt whether many Rovers fans think this was a great point.

2 points lost should be the real headline.

[RevidgeBlue]

Couldn't make it yesterday but surprised (or maybe not) to see the level of negative comment on here as the commentators on Radio Lancs, (who aren't usually particularly pro Rovers) seemed to view it as a relatively entertaining end to end encounter on a bit of a knife edge as to who was going to get the crucial goal.

They did also say we looked a lot better when Derbyshire and McCarthy came on.

Worrying however to see a starting line up of an out of sorts Roberts and Fowler up front, getting back to the bad old days under Souness of having to rely on the inconsiderable talents of Dickov up front.

[frosty]

Where did Carlos play yesterday?

Out on the left.

[chileandude]

If he gets used to playing as a forward I can guarantee goals and you will soon look at the £4 or £5 million as a bargain.

[RevidgeBlue]

A word on Carlos. I can't see that he's ever going to be worth the £5m agreed fee. I can see rovers either trying to reduce that fee severely, or simply sending him home.

Crikey Den, you aren't going to let the Villenueva thing lie are you?

It seemed to me in the Carling Cup game against Everton when he was playing wide on the right flank that he was a lot more effective playing centrally because when he was tight to the touchline he could only go one way and defenders could police him much easier.

It's not up to me whether Rovers pay 5m for him, (we probably won't as you say) but I wouldn't be that uncomfortable if we paid that for him tomorrow - it's hardly a huge fee by Premiership standards these days.

[laughatthedingles]

Not the best game to watch, decent enough sound from the Rovers end, could have been better consdering there was 4000 of us, but then again it wasn't exactly edge of your seat stuff on the pitch.

Thought Bolton looked the better side early on but we were on top as the game wore on, both sides main problem was the lack of any pace or quality movement up front which ultimately led to two options, the long ball and knockdown or getting crosses in which both sides centre halves coped wth superbly all afternoon.

Robinson 7 - did what he had to do well, looking like the top keeper he is now, still a couple of dodgy clearances!

Simpson 7 - grew into the game and is looked a very good right back by the end of it, however, lets not forget he had no real winger against him.

Nelsen 7 - much more like his old self, but someone please teach him not to waste possession so easily.

Samba 8 - one man mountain, thats the Samba we all love!

Ooijer 7 - there to beat Davies to every ball, did so!

Emerton 7 - never really looked like splitting Bolton in two, but he's not that sort of player, gave a good honest shift as always.

Tugay 9 - was a class apart from everyone out there.

Warnock 6 - time to move him back now.

Villanueva 7 - flashes of what he can do but gives up possession too easily, not sure if he's going to make it in the Premier League.

Fowler 5 - tried hard but he's too slow and knows it, constantly too worried about giving the ball away and therefore his first touch took him backwards all afternoon.

Roberts 6 - same old, worked hard but not good enough.

Subs:

Derbyshire 6 - not a left winger, impact player if played up front.

Andrews 7 - not sure what all the fuss is about him, came on, won tackles, kept possession. Not sure about his positioning always but if your playing one behind the striker he's a better option than Fowler!

McCarthy 7 - looked like the Benni we know, continue please!

[DP]

Wan't there, but sounds just like umpteen away games I've been to when Hughes was manager. Good battling performance but about as entertaining as an episode of Heartbeat.

[philipl]

If he gets used to playing as a forward I can guarantee goals and you will soon look at the £4 or £5 million as a bargain.

I agree with you but the problem is he is being disposessed far too easily at present. Losing posession out by the touch line is bad enough but losing in the middle of the park when your team has players forwards is suicide in the Premier League.

I think he will come good as he has natural abilities and speed of feet that few have in England but lack of stature combined with lack of technique when pressed by Premier League defenders is a big problem.

Back to the debate about whether yesterday was a good game or not. Rovers' inability to cause Bolton real problems in their goal mouth were all-to-evident and for those who were there looking for goasl chances would have been frustrated like crazy.

For me a bad game is when neither side can control the ball or string good passing moves together- yesterday that was definitely not the case and it was a far freer flowing open game than I had expected.

Yes Ince played some players out of position but the Tugay/Warnock combination is the best we have available in central midfield at present and the sheer physicality of the Bolton team would have given Olsson major problems. I was surprised that Simpson stood up so well at right back to be honest.

But in the final analysis, you only need to look at the number of Bentley assists and crosses last season to see the very simple reason why we are not so exciting going forwards as we were.

[Manchester Blue]

Because he is an unfit, lazy, fat lump of lard.

Who played the best football all day in the short time he was on the pitch and came closest to scoring. Don't ket that get in the way of your silly prejudices though. Why on earth would we want a class player who is the most likely to win us a game if Santa is out playing?

[Al]

Who played the best football all day in the short time he was on the pitch and came closest to scoring. Don't ket that get in the way of your silly prejudices though. Why on earth would we want a class player who is the most likely to win us a game if Santa is out playing?

No prejudice. I'm just going on what I've seen this season and most of last. If he's got himself fit and keeps himself interested for 90 minutes nobody will be more pleased than me.

Maybe he has stopped sulking and is prepared to put in a shift for his wages now. We shall see.

[den]

Crikey Den, you aren't going to let the Villenueva thing lie are you?

Blimey Rev, I'm only giving an opinion. I thought there would be plenty of posters who don't get to see any games, are interested in the players [particularly Carlos] and would appreciate a viewpoint.

If you really don't want that I'll lay off.

[CrazyIvan]

Well I'm sorry Ivan but if you think that was 'decent' then I give up. I'm not basing my comments on anything other than what I watched, I don't want Ince to fail and funnily enough I really want us to win games against our local rivals and no matter how I try to reason it, it was poor. However, you seem to base your comments on a Pro-Ince stance masquerading under the word 'perspective', I think you need to look a bit closer and ask if that display is even a small step forward towards the entertaining football we've been promised.

I was sat in the top tier and didn't hear one fan comment on how 'decent' a game it was, very much the opposite in fact. Now if you think differently fine, but I suggest you get those rose tinted lenses cleaned.

Pro-Ince stance? Have you read what I posted because you haven't quoted me fully have you? Have another read and then come back and say my stance is pro-Ince. You also seem to think that I think it was a good game, I don't think that as I posted but it wasn't as bad as you made it out to be. Nowhere near that bad in fact.

[den]

You also seem to think that I think it was a good game,

You can watch good games on the park. I think what people are saying is that the quality of football on offer wasn't above mediocre.

Certainly Bolton are a dire team [or they looked it yesterday]. Problem is, that if you accept that, then rovers should have been capable of making a better go of beating them. A draw was probably a fair result, but I bet the Bolton fans believe they did enough to win it. That's where my assessment of the game comes.

[Frisky Jim]

Yet another shocking performance. Inept Ince has a lot to answer for.

[CrazyIvan]

You can watch good games on the park. I think what people are saying is that the quality of football on offer wasn't above mediocre.

Certainly Bolton are a dire team [or they looked it yesterday]. Problem is, that if you accept that, then rovers should have been capable of making a better go of beating them. A draw was probably a fair result, but I bet the Bolton fans believe they did enough to win it. That's where my assessment of the game comes.

My point is that the only mediocre, in fact downright poor, play was up front for Rovers with both Fowler and Roberts unimpressive. Roberts was better than Fowler but they were not good. The other players for Rovers were better than mediocre. The game finished 0 - 0 because neither side could finish not because they didn't create chances.

[den]

My point is that the only mediocre, in fact downright poor, play was up front for Rovers with both Fowler and Roberts unimpressive. Roberts was better than Fowler but they were not good. The other players for Rovers were better than mediocre. The game finished 0 - 0 because neither side could finish not because they didn't create chances.

Roberts missed that sitter of a header and Carlos hit the top of the bar with a long shot. What other chances did we create in a hour and a half?

[gumboots]

My point is that the only mediocre, in fact downright poor, play was up front for Rovers with both Fowler and Roberts unimpressive. Roberts was better than Fowler but they were not good. The other players for Rovers were better than mediocre. The game finished 0 - 0 because neither side could finish not because they didn't create chances.

I think I agree with that. I felt that if we'd once got the ball in the net, however we did it, we would have won convincingly. Fowler looked dreadful; McCarthy looked better when he came on than he has in a while but would he have been like that if he'd started? I don't know. It wasn't boring; it was a long way from being the worst game I've seen at the Reebok between these 2 sides. It was also a long way from what I think we should be producing, but at least we looked in the main up for it. We lacked a quality finisher for most of the match. Our defence looked solid and I don't disagree with Ooijer out left marking Davis - I thought he did a very good job of that. Bearing in mind how many Davis type of goals we concede normally, keeping him quiet was one of the real keys to taking anything out of this game. I wasn't happy with the performance or the result, but I wasn't as unhappy as many here seem to be. Bolton had beaten West Ham away last time out and would have been more confident than they might otherwise have been. It was their kind of weather causing a slippy pitch and just right for one of their long ball goals with a defender slipping at the wrong moment. It didn't happen. They dropped 2 home points; we gained one away. I'll take it as another step on Ince's learning curve. He's not going to get everything right; he's not even going to get most things right but if he learns then I have no problems with him.

[philipl]

First half we cut them open down the left Ooijer to the by-line, passed to Fowler who was blocked by two and his ball back to warnock ended up with Warnock on his backside...

Right at the start of the second half Roberts missed another presentable chance.

McCarthy's snap shot into the side netting near the end. Also McCarthy about to shoot six yards out when ref stopped play after Samba had been "eased" into the post.

[RevidgeBlue]

Roberts missed that sitter of a header and Carlos hit the top of the bar with a long shot. What other chances did we create in a hour and a half?

If Roberts had have buried that sitter he should have done though, would everyone not have been thoroughly satisfied with a competent away victory?

Sounds to me a bit like you've correctly identified in the past, win and everything's great, don't win and it's lousy!

[den]

Sounds to me a bit like you've correctly identified in the past, win and everything's great, don't win and it's lousy!

There doesn't seem much point in giving opinions any more. If you want to believe it was a good game Rev, even though plenty on here said it wasn't, and even though you didn't go, what point a discussion forum?

[Frisky Jim]

If Roberts had have buried that sitter he should have done though, would everyone not have been thoroughly satisfied with a competent away victory?

Sounds to me a bit like you've correctly identified in the past, win and everything's great, don't win and it's lousy!

If, if, if.

Deal with reality, RevidgeBlue. We were awful.

[den]

If Roberts had have buried that sitter he should have done though, would everyone not have been thoroughly satisfied with a competent away victory?

What a daft question. Who's questioning an away point? - no one.

We're simply discussing the game.

[RevidgeBlue]

There doesn't seem much point in giving opinions any more. If you want to believe it was a good game Rev, even though plenty on here said it wasn't, and even though you didn't go, what point a discussion forum?

None whatsoever with that sort of attitude.

For heaven's sake den, you've been like a big kid since the new manager took over, anyone disagrees with what you say, or the general tenor of your postings you take your bat and ball home!

[den]

First half we cut them open down the left Ooijer to the by-line, passed to Fowler who was blocked by two and his ball back to warnock ended up with Warnock on his backside...

Right at the start of the second half Roberts missed another presentable chance.

McCarthy's snap shot into the side netting near the end. Also McCarthy about to shoot six yards out when ref stopped play after Samba had been "eased" into the post.

Don't remember Roberts having another chance Philip, but I might be wrong.

Naming occassions where players fell over and we were tackled as chances is going a bit too far. McCarthy's was IMO, no more than a half chance. He did well to get as close as the side netting with it.

You've got to be realistic guys, we created next to nothing.

[den]

None whatsoever with that sort of attitude.

For heaven's sake den, you've been like a big kid since the new manager took over, anyone disagrees with what you say, or the general tenor of your postings you take your bat and ball home!

Oh grow up Simon and get real.