[Archived] Middlesbrough Vs Rovers Preview

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Be quiet.

You have only been here 5 minutes.

All I am saying, is that a we can't blame a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough on the 30th January on Ince. He is long gone.

Or should we blame Ince's results on Hughes and they way he left the team?

Same as we can't blame him for throwing points away against Man City, Bolton and Sunderland.

You're getting on my nerves, a period of silence from you would be much appreciated. I've only been here 49 years.

[BuckyRover]

I am not saying what you think I am.

I am saying, that we can't blame Ince for things that are happening now on the pitch. We missed a penalty against West Ham which gave Ince his first defeat. The blame for that lies with Ince.

We missed a penalty on Wednesday and couldn't get the three points. The blame for that lies with Sam. I am not going to blame every bad result from now on, on Ince. When do you think the blame shifts from Ince to Allardyce?

Sam appears to like Andrews more than Ince did!

You're getting on my nerves, a period of silence from you would be much appreciated. I've only been here 49 years.

09/12/04 is not 49 years

It is just over 4 years. No need to be sensationalist.

I think we can beat Villa on Wednesday. I really wish we could bag an inspirational signing though. It might lift the squad so as to turn half chances into goals. Then we would be laughing.

[grizfoot]

The point at least keeps us above Middlesborough. Out of the bottom half we are the team on best form I'd say, you've got the likes of Pompey and Hull who sem to be in free fall only a few points away.

Really do fancy us to get something against Villa. All the remaining home games are winnable as well as the two away games at Hull and Stoke. So this point today was a good point in opinion although it is slightly worrying we are not turning dominate performances into wins.

Still unbeaten under Big Sam though.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I am not saying what you think I am.

I am saying, that we can't blame Ince for things that are happening now on the pitch. We missed a penalty against West Ham which gave Ince his first defeat. The blame for that lies with Ince.

We missed a penalty on Wednesday and couldn't get the three points. The blame for that lies with Sam. I am not going to blame every bad result from now on, on Ince. When do you think the blame shifts from Ince to Allardyce?

Sam appears to like Andrews more than Ince did!

09/12/04 is not 49 years

It is just over 4 years. No need to be sensationalist.

I think we can beat Villa on Wednesday. I really wish we could bag an inspirational signing though. It might lift the squad so as to turn half chances into goals. Then we would be laughing.

I'm not talking about being on this internet ###### I'm talking about watching Rovers. You know, getting off your comfy chair and actually going down to the ground. Give it a rest matey you're boring me.

[Blue n White Rover]

09/12/04 is not 49 years

It is just over 4 years. No need to be sensationalist.

I think he meant his age

[JAL]

If we do survive this season there is going to have to be a major rethink with regard the financing of the playing staff. I think today showed just how weak we are in the centre of midfield and on the left wing. Once again, we have no one to put pressure on Pedersen to keep him on his toes, while Dunn - who has injury problems - and Tugay - at 38 - remain our best central midfield pairing.

Regarding Pedersen I think bringing Diouf in will push MGP hard, and if hes not doing it we could well see big Sam going for 4-3-3 formation with Diouf being the left sided forward of the three.

The icing on the cake this transfer window would be a stronger quaility central midfielder than what we currently have.

[Hughesy]

Our energy levels seemed impressive, by the end Boro couldn't keep the ball.

A key poing here. We are looking fitter with each game and seem to be getting stronger as games go on. Bolton players were shattered against us on wednesday and the same happened to boro today.

Yes we didnt win, but lets take the positives. Solid defence, another clean sheet, unbeaten under sam. Dunn back, Grella still fit, RSC looking abit more interested again.

[gumboots]

I am not saying what you think I am.

I am saying, that we can't blame Ince for things that are happening now on the pitch. We missed a penalty against West Ham which gave Ince his first defeat. The blame for that lies with Ince.

We missed a penalty on Wednesday and couldn't get the three points. The blame for that lies with Sam. I am not going to blame every bad result from now on, on Ince. When do you think the blame shifts from Ince to Allardyce?

Sam appears to like Andrews more than Ince did!

09/12/04 is not 49 years

It is just over 4 years. No need to be sensationalist.

I think we can beat Villa on Wednesday. I really wish we could bag an inspirational signing though. It might lift the squad so as to turn half chances into goals. Then we would be laughing.

We're not playing Villa till the weekend. It's sunderland on Wednesday.

[Tom]

Again people are over dramatising it, sure a win would have been great and we aren't in a great position but we are far from doomed and in fact wont be until probably the last game or 2. If we draw our game in hand we should be out of the bottom 3.

Roberts should have scored but didn't do mych wrong with it really just lacked power. Another day we're walking away with a comfortable win. Credit to Sam with some chances taken we could have had maximum points in his reign, also 6 clean sheets in 8 is amazing for a team that was leaking goals before. Promising signs.

Stokes result was a bit of a freak i still see them and WBa going down leaving the final place between us, Boro, Pompey and Toon, the latter 2 look to be in freefall.

Things will probably look bad in a few weeks time but I see them picking up before the final day of the season.

I hope.

[Brfcrule1]

watching the game on footy first on sky have to say defensively we look quite solid and never looked like conceding so the defence is nicely shored up. In terms of attacking threat we have major problems have never seen such a one sided game and the team who are on top not converting any opportunities must be a record thought Santa cruz did alright and get the impression the way he played even if he does not get his move will be professional in his help to get us out of the situation we are in,was unlucky when the ref gave handball as it was never he chested it down. Him and McCarthy did ok considering they did not have much service but really as for Roberts a decent striker would have buried that header yes it was a good save but if Roberts had put more pace and more direction on the ball it would have been enough to go in and that is where I feel our problem lies our back up strikers Roberts etc are not up to the job. I bet Sam is thinking I wish I had not let Derbyshire go out on loan to Greece even he would have scored that header! and I am beginning to think that might have been a mistake but correct me if I'm wrong SA can end the loan deal at anytime and bring him back if needed? might also be worth getting Gallagher back from his loan spell we might need all hands to the pump if we fail to get out of this position. For all those that slant EHD before he has played yes his temperament in the past is poor but at the end of the day he is our player and is in an area we desperately struggle in. I still feel as tho more midfielders are needed because until Tugay/Dunn came on we had no creativity in our play whatsoever and I feel as tho Pederson is on borrowed time and Emo is no right winger either. Was absolutely shocked we had 9 corners in the game and every one of Pederson's corners were awful did not even get near to the man SA must work with him to do better from them as it seems certain the ball goes back to the opposition

here's hoping before Monday 5pm a midfielder or two will be arriving.

[Iceman]

We got 1 point, and thats 1 point more than what West Brom, Pompey, Spurs and City got. We unbeaten in 8, and as long as we pick up points and the teams around us lose then we will be alright. I would still like to see us get a win now, but the confidence is very high and with Diouf now here we will become even better. Keep the faith!

[Bobby G]

You have to look at it this way. If we have a chance to win 6 games from our last set of matches, then so do any and all of the others. Its very feasible. I am hoping that 40 points is enough, cause that would mean 5 wins and 2 draws. But the result from yesterday seems far worse in the light of today morning, especially as it was well within grasp.

[Paul]

I don't think it's looking good for Newcastle...Their remaining fixtures:

Newcastle v Sunderland

West Brom v Newcastle

Newcastle v Everton

Bolton v Newcastle

Newcastle v Man Utd

Hull v Newcastle

Newcastle v Arsenal

Newcastle v Chelsea

Stoke v Newcastle

Tottenham v Newcastle

Newcastle v Portsmouth

Liverpool v Newcastle

Newcastle v Middlesbrough

Newcastle v Fulham

Aston Villa v Newcastle

They have to go to West Brom, Bolton, Stoke and Spurs, all of whom will fancy their chances, and they've got to play The Big Four and Villa as well. With Owen crocked again, performances getting gradually more abysmal and the biggest laughing stock in the Premiership in charge, I think I'd rather be a Rover than a Barcode.

Can't help feeling you're being hopelessly optimistic there. Do you realise of our remaining 15 fixtures are against the same sides Newcastle play? We have WHU, City and Wigan whereas they have Bolton, Boro, Sunderland - all of whom we have just played and failed to beat.

First I believe we will stay up, more through other sides' failures than our successes it has to be said. Logic though says we are going down. We have to play the current top six, well the current top 11 in fact, but you know what I mean, and as Villa and Everton are home games we have to hope for two points out of those games, the fixtures against the "big four" will be defeats. That leaves us with 9 games against lesser teams where we must get some wins. Draws are not the answer. We are going to need 5, yes FIVE, wins from Hull, Fulham, WHU, Spurs, Stoke, Wigan, City, Pompey, WBA. It is a very, very tall order and to be logical about it there is little in our recent performances to suggest this team has five wins in it. In the last four games we have failed to beat teams of similar or poorer quality so where those five wins come from is debatable.

The Fulham game is crucial, lose that and we have an even bigger roblem. As I said I still believe we will stay up but increasingly it will rely on three other sides performing even more badly than Rovers. I think the biggest plus we can find at the moment is we are improving overall though it has to be said the first hour against Bolton was as poor as anything Ince served up.

Personally I feel three of the following will be relegated WBA, Boro, Rovers, Newcastle, Stoke. Doing better than Newcastle could be enough to save us.

[chocky]

Well we should have won that one but another draw.But we have to be happy in the way that Sam has got the player playing as a team again..If Sunderland can do us a favour and win today we will go above newcastle and be out of the bottom three without lifting a finger. . We are in a precarious postion but are playing good football again. There are teams around us who seem to be in turmoil. I think we will get out of this mess.

[philipl]

Paul's post above has cheered me up no end.

Seriously- it is very rational but loses sight of three clubs at the last paragraph:

"Personally I feel three of the following will be relegated WBA, Boro, Rovers, Newcastle, Stoke. Doing better than Newcastle could be enough to save us."

I think he underestimates the marshmallow qualities of Spurs, ably exploited by a Notlob side that has sold but not yet bought and was depleted by injuries yesterday.

Hull blew a glorious opportunity to stop their free fall yesterday and I wonder if the rumour posted on here that Bullard is seriously injured again is true.

And Pompey's problems look overwhelming and terminal.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Paul's post above has cheered me up no end.

Seriously- it is very rational but loses sight of three clubs at the last paragraph:

"Personally I feel three of the following will be relegated WBA, Boro, Rovers, Newcastle, Stoke. Doing better than Newcastle could be enough to save us."

I think he underestimates the marshmallow qualities of Spurs, ably exploited by a Notlob side that has sold but not yet bought and was depleted by injuries yesterday.

Hull blew a glorious opportunity to stop their free fall yesterday and I wonder if the rumour posted on here that Bullard is seriously injured again is true.

And Pompey's problems look overwhelming and terminal.

I agree Philip but the one problem I've got is Rovers have to lose at some stage. It is how Rovers respond to a defeat that is concern. Rovers have gone 8 games unbeaten and are still in the bottom three.

[chocky]

Paul's post above has cheered me up no end.

Seriously- it is very rational but loses sight of three clubs at the last paragraph:

"Personally I feel three of the following will be relegated WBA, Boro, Rovers, Newcastle, Stoke. Doing better than Newcastle could be enough to save us."

I think he underestimates the marshmallow qualities of Spurs, ably exploited by a Notlob side that has sold but not yet bought and was depleted by injuries yesterday.

Hull blew a glorious opportunity to stop their free fall yesterday and I wonder if the rumour posted on here that Bullard is seriously injured again is true.

And Pompey's problems look overwhelming and terminal.

Portsmouth not included in there? If anything they are the more likely to go down than any of those.

[Brfcrule1]

also what was fairly evident yesterday was a serious lack of midfielders I think with better wingers santa/Benni would get more goals here's hoping SA has a midfielder or 2 up his sleeve and if I never here the name P.Ince I will be glad what a fool to let Bentley go without a replacement come on Sam maybe a cheeky Kightly bid

[RevidgeBlue]

I didn't see yesterday's game, but I'm starting to fear the worst, we're registering far too many draws, can't score away from home, and look incapable of putting together the two or three back to back wins needed to propel ourselves out of trouble.

Against Bolton it seemed to me that we still had most of the same problems we had under Ince. A centre back playing at right back, a right back playing at right wing, a central midfield pairing that wasn't good enough and zero creativity in the absence of a 38 year old who blows hot and cold these days, or the injury prone Dunn.

I've thought for a while that our survival chances could hinge on keeping Dunn fit until the end of the season. The introduction of Diouf will hopefully give us a better balance on the right allowing Dunn to provide a bit of creativity in the engine room.

I'm still very disappointed we didn't go much further towards strengthening the side in the window with the very future of the club in its present form at stake. Also that Derbyshire seemingly had to be sacrificed to bring Diouf in but I suppose this tends to show the wage budget is stretched to breaking point and if we survive a lot of dead wood has to go in summer.

[philipl]

There is a split of oipinion between those who saw yesterday's game (or at least the 2nd half) and those who didn't.

The latter are far more worried.

[gumboots]

There is a split of oipinion between those who saw yesterday's game (or at least the 2nd half) and those who didn't.

The latter are far more worried.

I left the ground thinking we had had it and were looking like relegation candidates for certain. then i calmed down and realised that we had never been troubled and were only prevented from scoring (and therefore winning because the Boro didn't have a goal in them), by a golaleeper with a point to prove who played very well at most points in the game and got lucky at others (The one he saved with his feet from Santa Cruz could have gone anywhere) W e need to keep playing well and we can still avoid relegaton. It won't be easy or comfortable for us and could run till quite late in the season, but we should still be ok.

[Montfort]

The question is how happy or sad to be about our present position. Yesterday sums it up. We drew but went down into the bottom three. We are playing quite reasonably but the others around us are hanging on too and we cant seem to shake free. I think we need renewed positive thoughts. Come on the Rovers. Having not beaten the " easier" teams perhas we can surprise the "better" teams

[Exiled_Rover]

I didn't see yesterday's game, but I'm starting to fear the worst, we're registering far too many draws, can't score away from home, and look incapable of putting together the two or three back to back wins needed to propel ourselves out of trouble.

Against Bolton it seemed to me that we still had most of the same problems we had under Ince. A centre back playing at right back, a right back playing at right wing, a central midfield pairing that wasn't good enough and zero creativity in the absence of a 38 year old who blows hot and cold these days, or the injury prone Dunn.

I've thought for a while that our survival chances could hinge on keeping Dunn fit until the end of the season. The introduction of Diouf will hopefully give us a better balance on the right allowing Dunn to provide a bit of creativity in the engine room.

I'm still very disappointed we didn't go much further towards strengthening the side in the window with the very future of the club in its present form at stake. Also that Derbyshire seemingly had to be sacrificed to bring Diouf in but I suppose this tends to show the wage budget is stretched to breaking point and if we survive a lot of dead wood has to go in summer.

The Diouf signing is huge, however disliked he is. He provides creativity and pace, two things the side lacks. It also allows Emerton to drop back to right back where he's far more effective.

[jim mk2]

The Diouf signing is huge, however disliked he is. He provides creativity and pace, two things the side lacks. It also allows Emerton to drop back to right back where he's far more effective.

....... except Emerton might have a serious injury suffered in yesterday's match.

[Exiled_Rover]

Well unless it's career threatening I'm sure we'll see him at right back with Diouf infront of him at some point.