[Archived] Rovers Vs Villa Preview 7th Feb K.o 3pm

[Ricky]

I had to read it a couple of times to believe it Drog.

[rover6]

James Milner was available for quite cheap for any club that really wanted him, at one stage. A shame that Rovers didn't get in there.

Pace and skill is so important in the Premier League and our midfield severely lacks.

[thenodrog]

James Milner was available for quite cheap for any club that really wanted him, at one stage. A shame that Rovers didn't get in there.

Pace and skill is so important in the Premier League and our midfield severely lacks.

.... I take it you forgot to type 'pace' at the end of your post? Skill is in abundence with Dunny, Tugay, Grella, Villanueva and now spit in there.

[American]

.... I take it you forgot to type 'pace' at the end of your post? Skill is in abundence with Dunny, Tugay, Grella, Villanueva and now spit in there.

Forgot to type it at the end because he typed it in the middle of his post...

[MarkBRFC71]

After yesterday's debacle, it's long overdue that some of the so-called first teamers were dropped. Time for Sam to show us he has got the cojones to make the big decisions ....

Out should be:

Pedersen - hopeless for the last 3 seasons. Should have been shipped out long ago when we could have got a decent price.

Warnock - looked like he really couldn't be arsed yesterday. Was he one of the 3 players Sam mentioned didn't get his move in Jan? He played like he was sulking.

Andrews - simply not good enough. Why pay £2m+ for Diouf then have him on the bench for Andrews??

In:

Carlos - man of the match in the Sunderland game, deserves a chance to show us what he can do. Can't possibly be worse than Peds.

Givet - looked solid enough. Give him a go.

I would move Dunn back to the middle with Grella, although Grella was pretty dire yesterday too.

The long and short of it is we're right in a relegation battle with a very real chance of going down - have no doubt about it. Which makes our inactivity in the transfer window all the more baffling .....

[James Elliott]

Watching yesterday - Villa appeared competent, but not special. They look like (and are, for large parts) a collection of the best players from the crap teams in the PL and upper championship, whilst lacking any different class players to elevate them to European class. Maybe slightly harsh on Barry.

Very hard to beat - competence and urgency marshalled in the right way always will be.

We need genuine pace to make any sort of difference; Spit seemed promising, but we would have been a different side with a Bellamy type up front yesterday. Ped, Benni, Dunn wouldn't have ripped through them playing all day yesterday.

[John]

As predicted, we play a decent team and lose.

Not a surprise to me, we lack quality in certain areas and we have just got to hope there are 3 worse teams than us.

[philipl]

Any one of the four penalty shouts - three of which were penalties- get given and we were potentially all square yesterday.

I can only assume that for some reason (perhaps some afters with Diouf even though he only came on at HT?), Steve Bennett decided we were going to ground (we weren't) and Villa weren't (two of their FKs for sure were not legitimate).

The Roberts incident in the first half was not a pen but the McCarthy one was utterly blatant- the Villa player put both arms round Benni's neck and shoulders, leveraged himself over Benni who was rendered static and headed the ball in front of Benni's head- on the six yard line. The commentators simply said in disbelief that those are given.

I cannot recall the first penalty incident in the second half but then RSC got the run on Zat Knight who simply delivered a well-executed chop to the mouth to stop RSC going past. Roque is a player who stands and keeps going and scandalously the TV director never replayed incident from any angle except the high Jack Walker Stand camera.

Villa have now won ten away games and it is only mid-February. The problem on here is there is an "it was only Villa mindset", not we got beaten by a team in form and destined for the CL.

The Villa backline is immense and dirty and we got no protection going forwards from the ref.

We deserved to lose but the reaction here is completely disproportionate. No doubt we will deserve to lose at OT but the key to playing these teams is to set yourself up to nick it if luck goes your way. Rovers did that yesterday but luck was going Villa's way, not our's.

Incidentally, I read Jan's contribution as saying we were without hope, not that she was hoping against us.

[Exiled_Rover]

Just as a side issue, is it just me but I don't think our players have looked particularly fit under Sam and the physical difference between us and Villa yesterday in terms of power, speed and stamina seemed quite frightening.

That's what money buys you. Look at United, Chelsea and L'Arse; all full of athletes even if that's not the immediate thought that springs to mind when you think of their players. It gives them a big advantage and allows them to weather the storm of lesser teams trying to bully them.

[des]

the one thing that you need is pace and power there had it we did not and hence we lost

[Guest Kamy100]

Rovers did well to hang in the match for as long as we did, quite simply Villa were better, they were quicker, stronger and better organised than us, our players tried but Villa were just better, their work rate was just amazing. In many ways Villa are the blue print for clubs like Rovers if we want to be successful, they have had investment but not huge, huge amounts, what they have managed is to pick up good players (Milner, Young, Davies) gradually over a number of years, then MON has moulded the team to be highly organised and use the pace and power that they have in attacking positions to great effect. The way they play it is no surprise to me that they have won 10 out of their 13 away games. It may not be pretty football but it is highly effective and am sure that Villa fans aren't complaining about the direction that their club is heading.

[greggyk]

Like Hughes was doing with us.........

[Iceman]

Still think this will go down to the last game of the season. Im very worried, but i still think we wont go down. My money is still on West Brom, Stoke, and Boro or perhaps Pompey. I think i have to take a break from football now, its getting tight!

[JAL]

Just as a side issue, is it just me but I don't think our players have looked particularly fit under Sam and the physical difference between us and Villa yesterday in terms of power, speed and stamina seemed quite frightening.

The players are fit its just we've assembled players who are'nt as fast as others and ageing, they are as skillfull, but are physically missing that extra yard.

We need a couple of players thrown in that have genuine pace just to balance things out but that may cost a lot of money - oh dear back to investment or lack of it again .

[sanlorenzo]

Can someone explain Sam's logic in not starting RSC. He did not put Rover's best team on the field to start the match and he seems to avoid having to address the shorcoming in his team selection by saying Villa are a better team. I do not think that is necessarily true if he plays his best eleven. Why does he not step up and take some blame for the loss?

[Amo]

Can someone explain Sam's logic in not starting RSC. He did not put Rover's best team on the field to start the match and he seems to avoid having to address the shorcoming in his team selection by saying Villa are a better team. I do not think that is necessarily true if he plays his best eleven. Why does he not step up and take some blame for the loss?

Benni & Roberts have worked well. Roque still has to earn his place in the side.

But I think Sam will be privy to the limits of that partnership now.

[LeChuck]

Can someone explain Sam's logic in not starting RSC. He did not put Rover's best team on the field to start the match and he seems to avoid having to address the shorcoming in his team selection by saying Villa are a better team. I do not think that is necessarily true if he plays his best eleven. Why does he not step up and take some blame for the loss?

Most of us were saying that Santa Cruz would be on the bench when he returned to fitness because of the form and Roberts and McCarthy, they've been brilliant in the league for us recently.

I think yesterday will give Allardyce license to make big changes now though, and I doubt we'll see them starting together. I think (injuries permitting) that Andrews will spend the rest of the season on the bench as well.

[den]

Can someone explain Sam's logic in not starting RSC.

Sam explained it in his pre match interview. The selection was down purely to goals scored.

[Tom 1]

Young has been suspended for the last 3 games we also have our captain out (Laursen for 2 months) Carew has been out for 3 months leaving us with 1 up front for 3 months.

Also arguably our most consistent defender in Bouma out for the whole season pushing our right back to play left back and CB to play right back.

Yet we are 15 games unbeaten and won 7 away on the bounce.

Sorry this isn't a Villa thread so I am out just feel aggrieved when someone calls us boring.

Why? Who gives a ######. You think a single one wouldn't swap?

Blackburn won't go down, they're good enough to stay up, they just have to blame their manager for an awful team selection, maybe with a better one the game could have been different as there wasn't a lot in it, I just don't understand where Big Sam was going with that midfield and that's where games are won and lost. Centre backs were good tho for Blackburn.

[RevidgeBlue]

That's what money buys you. Look at United, Chelsea and L'Arse; all full of athletes even if that's not the immediate thought that springs to mind when you think of their players. It gives them a big advantage and allows them to weather the storm of lesser teams trying to bully them.

I'm not sure I agree with that, you'd have thought being as fit or even fitter than the opposition was one area that we could keep up on as it's completely free.

One area this manifests itself in is our work rate, there's no movement off the ball, when one of our players gets the ball we're completely static - no-one moving for him. When another team has the ball there's no-one pressing or closing them down.

Compare that with a team like United and whilst they are good players, they also work ten times harder than us during a match - their players never stop moving off the ball, whether to create options for the man on the ball or to close the opposition down.

[den]

I'm not sure I agree with that, you'd have thought being as fit or even fitter than the opposition was one area that we could keep up on as it's completely free.

One area this manifests itself in is our work rate, there's no movement off the ball, when one of our players gets the ball we're completely static - no-one moving for him. When another team has the ball there's no-one pressing or closing them down.

Compare that with a team like United and whilst they are good players, they also work ten times harder than us during a match - their players never stop moving off the ball, whether to create options for the man on the ball or to close the opposition down.

I was remarking all through the game Simon, that Villa won the vast majority of second, or 50/50 balls. It could be to do with one of three things - mentally second best, physically too slow or physical tiredness. I would rule out the third reason because being second to the ball was evident from the outset, plus a lot of that team hadn't played in the midweek cup game. I would suggest a combination of the first two. One thing that would have helped was a midfielder that lead by example. Someone to get stuck in and demand that the rest of the lads went with him. You know - even a Robbie Savage character, or a Howard Kendall. We don't have a character like that, do we! Our midfielders seem to accept that they're second best.

[Tom]

I'm still astonished that people think Roque deserves an automatic start regardless of how poor he's been when starting recently.

It baffles me it really does, Roberts and McCarthy have proved to be our most effective pair since sam came in, how can anyone argue with the stats?

After yesterday I would start Roque and Roberts together against Coventry and give roque a chance to win his place back.

[RevidgeBlue]

I'm still astonished that people think Roque deserves an automatic start regardless of how poor he's been when starting recently.

It baffles me it really does, Roberts and McCarthy have proved to be our most effective pair since sam came in, how can anyone argue with the stats?

After yesterday I would start Roque and Roberts together against Coventry and give roque a chance to win his place back.

By the same token, Benni was shocking yesterday.

[ABBEY]

GUTTED MISSED THE GAME !!! WAS IN HOSPITAL WITH A DRIP ATTACHED FOR 24 HOURS ON ME CHUFFING BIRTHDAY GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Jan]

I'd missed that! I seriously hope that was an error Jan.

Oops- should have been "didn't get my hopes up for"!!

Schoolgirl error.