[Archived] West Brom Preview

[Mozzer]

we was winning this game-and probably would of won if mcarthy didnt get sent off..playing with 10 men is hard no matter who against-weather its championship or even league one-so getting a last minute goal against a premierleague side to earn a draw is good..

with all that has happened this summer-changing manager-players coming and going-were going pretty well in the league-we have injury after injury-havent had a settled side and yet still managing to play good football..

ince is still working things out aswell-when we get that balance right-defending well, attacking well we will be some team..

our former manager is doing really well with man city aint he-same number of points-allbeit a game in hand-over 50million spent and yet people still moan about blackburn..

[philipl]

Just read through recent contributions.

It was three weeks between Hughes leaving and Ince's appointment, not five if I remember correctly- the same gap as between Souness and Hughes.

Ince had eleven weeks between appointment and end of the transfer window. He was at Ewood for two weeks before the players reported back pre-season. I don't think it is taking 'Arry eleven weeks to get up to speed at Spuds or for that matter look at how Hughes managed the we're going bust, we're selling your players from behind your back, oops we're the richest club in the world carry-on at City. I daren't think how Ince would have coped in a similar scenario.

Very worried to read that Grella was as bad as he was at West Ham and that the goal apart, Andrews was no great shakes either. The raw statistics on the game indicate that Rovers' central midfield must have been weak and let's face it, the Baggies are the Premier League's pussy cat team now Spurs have got some backbone.

[den]

2. BM's sending off was valid and ino it is a waste of time him appealing.

You can't appeal when it's two yellows, can you?

As for the validity Gord, I could accept that much more readily, if every hand ball was punished with a yellow card, but they aren't, are they!

We've had Tugay, Savage and now McCarthy sent off for hand ball, second offences. I wonder how often that's happened to other teams?

[thenodrog]

So how can it be valid if he was pushed before the handball?

Heck! I never thought it possible but I've discovered somebody who has never heard the term 'play to the whistle'.

C'mon aggy..... How many times do you see things not given on a football field? Should everybody just pick the ball up because an official has not deemed an incident worthy of stopping play for?

[philipl]

On Benni sitting in the team coach, how extensive is the banishment when a player is sent off?

I remember reading that sent-off players are allowed no more contact with any aspect of the match.

Or perhaps Ince instantly punished him for getting himself dismissed so cheaply.

[ABBEY]

Why?

do you really need to know?

[Amo]

Playing with ten men isn't THAT crippling, so long as you organise yourselves properly to cover for the missing man.

[dopper69]

I agree, when someone such as McCarthy is the player going off it should't affect the teams defensive duties that much. Ince's half time sub cost us 3 points IMO. Tugay for Simpson, what a joke.

[Fife Rover]

Here is a polite message to all the "constant knockers" on here.

I am a real fan, who has supported Rovers for almost 63 years, and in that time if you care to look up the statistics I have witnessed every possible shade of calamitous performance right through to winning the EPL and all shades in between. So what you people are complaining about is very much insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you are just spoiled young things that have been brought up on a diet of instant gratification?

Whatever the reason I will make you an offer seeing as you are all so sick and tired of everything to do with Rovers/ Paul Ince etc. I am stuck up here nearly 250 miles away from Ewood, and just last Monday got home again from my 5th stay in hospital after again collapsing and being rushed in. I dont know how much longer I have got, but I do know that I miss not being able to get to Ewood like I used to. So if any of you that are so fedup of everything wants to let me have your season ticket at a reasonable price I would be very grateful to relieve you of the dreadful chore of going to watch what you consider dross. I will make my own arrangements for transport and overnight stays. Please PM me with any offers.

[AggyBlue]

Good post Fife. Hope you're feeling much better.

[vintageadidas]

If you really think about it, 2-2 with ten men at a ground we never do well at; it is not as bad as all you idiots are making it out to be.

I have enjoyed more football this season thus far than ALL of last season under Hughes. Yes, winning is important but so is entertaining. Many clubs around us spent heavily in the summer and last January. It was always going to knock us down a few positions so 9th or 10th is were the club is at in my opinion BUT then you realise that clubs lower than us spent big too, so do we drop down a few placws again? possibly! We are very lucky to have a Premier League club, we could easily be playing alongside the likes of Crewe.

I don't think Hughes would have done much better as this season we have had a very disjointed start with internationals, injuries and the fact that Fulham, Boro and Bolton have the ability to splash £11m on a player. The aim is to stay up this season and then PI's season starts with his OWN pre-season, players and so on.

Have any of you on this board ever started a new job? Did you fit in straight away? implement your ideas straight away? produce results straight away? I doubt you did - it took me 12 months to fully adapt to my new role and my ideas are implemented now. What makes Ince starting a new job any different?

[dopper69]

The aim is to stay up this season and then PI's season starts with his OWN pre-season, players and so on.

No, that was not the aim at the start of the season. IIRC Paul Ince stated 'we are going to build on last year, this is an excellent club' (or words to that effect). Well last year we were the 7th best team in the land and now suddenly the aim is to come outside the bottom three??

That is not acceptable. I like Ince, as a player and a manager, and really want him to succeed with BRFC. The big test will be January for me.

[den]

Take good care of yourself Fife.

[LeChuck]

As for the validity Gord, I could accept that much more readily, if every hand ball was punished with a yellow card, but they aren't, are they!

In the context of that game though it was the correct decision. By that I mean if our sending off was unjust then so was our penalty, and vice-versa. By the absolute letter of the law, both decisions were correct, and there are a few people being hypocritical in here stating that the penalty was fair but the sending off wasn't.

A cynical kick and a deliberate hand ball are both bookable offences, just as shirt pulling is a foul. We all know that a degree of common sense should be applied to situations though, and if it was used in this case then we wouldn't have had a penalty but we would have had 11 men. It's utter bias to suggest one decision was right and the other was wrong though (general comment here, not aimed at you Den).

[1864roverite]

No, that was not the aim at the start of the season. IIRC Paul Ince stated 'we are going to build on last year, this is an excellent club' (or words to that effect). Well last year we were the 7th best team in the land and now suddenly the aim is to come outside the bottom three??

That is not acceptable. I like Ince, as a player and a manager, and really want him to succeed with BRFC. The big test will be January for me.

That emphasises the point trying to be made.

Rovers were established in this league, teams were frightened of coming to play Rovers. It doesnt happen anymore, they cant wait for Rovers to turn up becuase they know there is little or no fight about the team anymore.

The will to win has diminished and two late goals recently v Boro and v WBA do not paper over the massive cracks that have appeared biger than ever.

[tonyoz]

All the best Fife, we old fogies have got to stick together!

[Al]

All the best Fife, we old fogies have got to stick together!

Same from me Fife. I've been supporting them for 60 years. Not quite as long as you.

[Exiled_Rover]

Playing with ten men isn't THAT crippling, so long as you organise yourselves properly to cover for the missing man.

It isn't? That's news to anyone that's ever played football.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Just watched the game in full and I didn't think that overall we were as bad as some are making out, apart form the first 20 mins of the 2nd half. I particulalry kept an eye on Andrews and Grella.

First half I thought we looked reasonably comfortable. We had plenty of worse first halves last season. I thought it was a clear pen and a clear handball by Benni. Most of Albion's pressure came from the endless free kicks given on the flanks. No doubt though, the half time substitution was our downfall. Emo, who was doing well, dropped back and Andrews, who I also thought was doing well, stuck out on the wing. Grella and Tugay played 5 yards apart, mostly in our D, and that was when they killed us with slick, unchallenged passing through the middle. Tugay I thought did very little.

The run up to the equaliser was just awful. Nelsen did what I have never seen before and committed 4 bad errors within the space of a minute, all of which really should have resulted in a goal, as indeed the last error did. Firstly he lost Miller who ran onto a through ball from which he hit the post. As he strolled past Nelsen, the Kiwi clearly tugged his shirt in the box. Then there was his hopeless clearance attempt that somehow just stayed out when he had the time and space to just whack it away, followed 45 seconds later by him losing Bendnar for the goal.

The second goal was also error-strewn. Warnock was AWOL when no-one challenged their right midfielder as he leisurely picked out Miller, who left Nelsen for dead and then the shot, although a rasper, was nearer the middle than the corner of the goal. Robinson beaten for pace again, but he did make up for it later.

After that we looked much better. Grella and Tugay were told to get 30 yards further up the pitch and Andrews largely abandoned his right wing exile and popped up all over the place. The Pedersen substitution worked very well as he played up front, and Emo went off because he was crippled with cramp. We had 2 or 3 really good chances while taking a few risks at the back.

The equaliser was entirely made by Andrews. He headed on to Roberts a punt out of defense; when Roberts lost it Andrews won it back with a good tackle, then took the ball on and smacked it in. I can't understand why he got slated in some of the earlier reports, apart from one bad giveaway at the back. He won the ball and had more shots than anyone else, got into their area quite a few times, and covered more yards than anyone else. It was only when he was out on the wing that he was out of things. Grella though was poor, in fact very poor.

Great save by Robbo in injury time froma power Bednar header, Nelsen being all at sea again as the cross came in.

So a point won in the end, but I fancy we might have held on for three without the half-time change.

[Fife Rover]

Well I have to say that I am indeed touched by all the good wishes and kind replies I have had to my earlier post; also to the very kind offers of help with tickets and accomodation that I have received by PM. It does do my old heart good to find that Lancashire folk are still so caring and attentive as they ever were. I will be replying to the PM's ASAP.

I am sorry to say that I will not be able to get down to Blackburn in the foreseeable future, as travelling that kind of distance is just out of the question at present. However I live in hope for a sufficient recovery to be able to make it sometime in the not too distant future.

I guess my post was born out of sheer frustration at seeing a constant stream of IMO totally unjustified moaning and unfair criticism from the same old agenda driven idiots who don't have a clue about football or how to make a perfectly reasoned and fair criticism when it is deserved. We all occasionally feel the need for the latter and this is fair enough, but the constant and unrelenting drivel being produced on a regular basis by a few diehard Ince haters is just too ridiculous and unjustified for words (well not the sort of words I would use anyway).

[Claytons Left Boot]

Well said Fife - there's a sizeable few on here who seem to have an agenda against Ince and just won't let it drop. Sometimes you have to take one or two steps back to move on forward, if indeed if what's happening now can be deemed a step backwards. It's damned depressing and one of the reasons why I tend to now post mainly in the ICBINF section.

Anyway, sorry to hear of your problems and hope you make a speedy recovery. A good few months ago you briefly talked about the Charlton away promotion match in the late 50's. A report for the 'I'm In Heaven' section. I've been hoping, ever since, that you would write your account of that fantastic game. If, and only if, you feel up to it in a few weeks, perhaps you would oblige. I've a feeling it would be one of the best posts for some considerable time.

Once again, get better soon.

[Ossydave]

Well I have to say that I am indeed touched by all the good wishes and kind replies I have had to my earlier post; also to the very kind offers of help with tickets and accomodation that I have received by PM. It does do my old heart good to find that Lancashire folk are still so caring and attentive as they ever were. I will be replying to the PM's ASAP.

I am sorry to say that I will not be able to get down to Blackburn in the foreseeable future, as travelling that kind of distance is just out of the question at present. However I live in hope for a sufficient recovery to be able to make it sometime in the not too distant future.

I guess my post was born out of sheer frustration at seeing a constant stream of IMO totally unjustified moaning and unfair criticism from the same old agenda driven idiots who don't have a clue about football or how to make a perfectly reasoned and fair criticism when it is deserved. We all occasionally feel the need for the latter and this is fair enough, but the constant and unrelenting drivel being produced on a regular basis by a few diehard Ince haters is just too ridiculous and unjustified for words (well not the sort of words I would use anyway).

Good post.

It's not just on here though, the attitude of a lot of rovers fans drives me mad. To the extent that I no longer go to Ewood more than 10 times a year. I'll end up chinning someone and its more hassle than its worth. Makes my blood boil how deluded some people are.

[CrazyIvan]

Well I have to say that I am indeed touched by all the good wishes and kind replies I have had to my earlier post; also to the very kind offers of help with tickets and accomodation that I have received by PM. It does do my old heart good to find that Lancashire folk are still so caring and attentive as they ever were. I will be replying to the PM's ASAP.

I am sorry to say that I will not be able to get down to Blackburn in the foreseeable future, as travelling that kind of distance is just out of the question at present. However I live in hope for a sufficient recovery to be able to make it sometime in the not too distant future.

I guess my post was born out of sheer frustration at seeing a constant stream of IMO totally unjustified moaning and unfair criticism from the same old agenda driven idiots who don't have a clue about football or how to make a perfectly reasoned and fair criticism when it is deserved. We all occasionally feel the need for the latter and this is fair enough, but the constant and unrelenting drivel being produced on a regular basis by a few diehard Ince haters is just too ridiculous and unjustified for words (well not the sort of words I would use anyway).

Well said. You've summed up my viewpoint in that last paragraph precisely. I am going to take a break from this site for a while because I am sick of idiots who think they know everything about Rovers and Paul Ince and who slate everything he does. Paul Ince isn't responsible for an individuals errors like Nelsen yesterday but some would like us to believe that. I'm not bothering to read half of the posts on here because of the obvious bias and downright hatred aimed at Ince by some supposed fans. I go to matches, I watch Rovers, I sing and shout and support my club. That involves supporting the manager. Some don't see it that way and some just think they are always right. There are too many people on here who have agendas and too many who are blinkered and blinded by their own opinions to see the truth, let them get on with it. I'm going to support my club the best way I know how. Get behind the team and the manager and sing and shout to be that twelth man.

I'm going to lurk but not post. Cheerio.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Well said. You've summed up my viewpoint in that last paragraph precisely. I am going to take a break from this site for a while because I am sick of idiots who think they know everything about Rovers and Paul Ince and who slate everything he does. Paul Ince isn't responsible for an individuals errors like Nelsen yesterday but some would like us to believe that. I'm not bothering to read half of the posts on here because of the obvious bias and downright hatred aimed at Ince by some supposed fans. I go to matches, I watch Rovers, I sing and shout and support my club. That involves supporting the manager. Some don't see it that way and some just think they are always right. There are too many people on here who have agendas and too many who are blinkered and blinded by their own opinions to see the truth, let them get on with it. I'm going to support my club the best way I know how. Get behind the team and the manager and sing and shout to be that twelth man.

I'm going to lurk but not post. Cheerio.

I agree with every comment and sentiment here, and in Fife's post.

Well said.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Whilst I agree that Fife and others have a point when it comes to those fans that have hated Ince from the outset and are negative after every game, don’t be too quick to tar all fans that may have problems with parts of the management or the team with the same brush.

There are those fans who have pointed out what they see are problems with the way the team is managed, current match tactics, level of performance etc. It’s their observation on what is going on and it’s a view that they are entitled to.

If someone has a problem or a view that something isn’t right, it doesn’t necessarily make them an Ince ‘hater’ or against the management team in place.