[Archived] Rovers V Coventry Fa Cup (replay) Preview

[frosty]

  rover6 said:

Where did Villaneuva play?

On the right. He had a bright first half but disappeared in the second half.

[Paul]

  Hughesy said:

But for REAL LUCK coventry would be out. 1 deflected goal for them, 2 goals for us disallowed

That's a stupid, stupid remark. Coventry dominated the second half and created their luck. Yes it was alucky goal but it's what you get for 45 minutes of pressure. The Mccarthy goal was 3 yards offside, so you can't count that as wrongly disallowed. Didn't see anything wrong with Givet's and I did think we had a shout for a penalty just before the equaliser.

[Iceman]

I didnt watch the game, and i only saw the score a few mins ago. I must say that im glad my season has started with my local club. Ive kinda lost interest and too be honest im not sure if i wll be criticised for this statement.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Rovers were totally in control of the first half and should have buried this tie.

The second half was woeful,totally abject,they got their equalizer and we looked liked frightened rabbits....yet again,why the hell cant we put in a full and decent 90 minutes performance?.This is a reply we could have done without and I REALLY dont fancy our chances down there.

A frightening insight of things to come for this club if we cant get our act together on the pitch and start winning games.....a half empty Ewood park with a team full of players who dont give a toss.

P.S.

IN THE NAME OF GOD SAM ALLARDYCE PLEASE GET RID OF KEITH ANDREWS IN THE SUMMER!!

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Nobody looked arsed. We passed it better than against Sunderland but it was scary how similar that performance was to the last time we played them. Our defence just completely switched off.

The streaker may have won us the replay with his injury time causing antics.

Very average, not enough fight.

[Paul]

  Mr. E said:

The players couldn't beat Coventry,

the referee murdered us,

but the real star of today's fiasco was BFS. What kind of manager would even consider playing proven **** like Andrews and Treacy in any match, let alone one in which we desperately need a goal? Truly mind-boggling outstanding. And at first I thought the midfield looked good - but out central midfielder actually played as a left winger, while our left back played again as a central midfielder.

Why did we get rid of Ince again?

As you never seem to go to Ewood why bother coming on here spouting your usual nonsense? I'm not a great fan of Treacey's but without him we'd have been beaten today. Warnock played in midfield to let Sam try the option of Givet at left back with Warnock in the middle, though I'd have put Dunn in the middle and Warnock on the left.

We got rid of Ince to bring in a manager who might be able to motivate the bunch of idiots we have playing in blue and white. I doubt he'll succeed but it gives us some sort of chance.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Oh yeah:

Givet was the dogs. Warnock isn't a midfielder. Treacy did well. McCarthy didn't have much service...

And finally:

Danny Simpson is terrible. I've never seen a defender who heads the ball so poorly. He springs up and it just goes anywhere. We really really need a new Right Back because he is woeful.

[ABBEY]

never thoght id see a big sams team play without passion and commitment apart from injury time...NOT GOOD ENOUGH ITS GETTTING WORSE WEEK BY WEEK .WOEFUL. .....CAN SEE US GETTING HUMILITATED NEXT WEEK AND THEY STICK 40 QUID WHERE THE SUN DONT SHINE.

[Ozz]

[Iceman]

I do feel sorry for those who pay good money, to watch profess

Ional

players dish up utter rubbish performances!

[ABBEY]

  Iceman said:

I do feel sorry for those who pay good money, to watch profess

,players dish up utter rubbish performances!

£15 TODAY IT WASNT WORTH 15P IT WAS THAT CRAP

[Paul]

For the few thousand Rovers who turned up the veil was pulled back and we got a long, painful look into our possible future. Very, very average players playing against very average opposition on a rough pitch (money will be saved everywhere possible) in front of thousands and thousands of empty seats. The second half performance was frightening. Coventry came out determined to fight back and they did with Rovers rocking on their heels as they struggled to find an answer to waves of pressure. Then the Lone Ranger arrived and the pressure intensified, whoever this guy is he turned the game for Coventry. As the second half progressed Rovers became a complete, utter and total shambles lacking any sort of passion, ability, fight or desire. God knows how we scored a goal.

If we go down, and it looks increasingly likely we will when we can't win this sort of game, the better players will leave and we will be left with the dregs on display today. These are supposed to be some of our fringe players plus some first choice. We don't have a squad with any depth at all.

There are plenty of areas to blame for our current position; the Trust for lack of investment, Ince for everything he did, Ince for selling Bentley, Williams for employing Ince, the failure to sell RSC and invest in the squad in January. The list is endless but ultimatley the responsibility lays with the PLAYERS who frankly have let this club down very badly in the last 12-14 months. For half this season they've simply hidden. They're a bunch of overpaid, selfish tossers.

I'm not angry, not depressed what I saw today was such a bleak vision of the near future it leaves me feeling nothing at all. If we go down I believe we're finished, for good.

We're going to Old Trafford next week, probably for the last time.

[brfcshabba]

I thought Warnock was a disgrace. His head dropped as soon as the first goal went in - and he was captain.

[RovertheHill]

Sat in the Jack Walker instead of the BBE today. It's very quiet, apart from incessant moaning. One guy even complained about our goal - apparently Roque's celebration was rubbish.

Simpson may be fast but he's a dodgy defender. Givet looked the part. Warnock completely ineffective in midfield today. Can't understand why Carlos was on the right and Dunny on the left. Why not swap them over, or play Warnock left and Dunn central? I thought Carlos did well. Roberts his usual nuisance creating spaces and chances but unable to take them.

We have to be better than this or we'll concede 5 or 6 against Utd

[rover6]

Did Villaneuva play RM for the whole game?

Sorry, but what is Allardyce playing at? The guy is not a winger, he doesn't have the mobility or the physical strength. Surely, putting him on the wing - the right wing as well - is a recipe for defensive Rovers mayhem down that flank, as soon as Rovers lose the ball? Makes no sense whatsoever.

Coventry are a weak Championship side. It is a crying shame that we cannot outperform them. Heck, we seemed to have struggled to simply match them.

BTW: I caught a little bit of the end of the game and it is true that the much maligned Treacy did quite well. In fact, the circumstances suited him because he was probably given orders to NOT think, but just get his head down and charge down the left and see what came of it. It's just a shame that his game falls apart as soon as he has to think for himself.

I thought Samba deserved a lot of credit for straining every sinew when he moved up front at the end. He seemed to display real guts and got the goal too.

[tony gale's mic]

Sam HAS to stop playing our midfield out of position. It's weak enough as it is and Dunny is much better down the middle.

[rover6]

Just to add, I find it worrying that Allardyce appears indifferent to overall match performances.

He'll cite chances missed, defensive mistakes and officials' errors but he does not seem to find the quality of the team performance relevant.

To me, he is reinforcing the truth of his reputation as a man who sees a football match as a set of statistics.

WHy bother with "quality of performance" when it is so difficult to distill into a number? Easier to examine, shots on target, miles covered, percentage of time ball in opposition box, percentage of times Rovers striker wins header, percentage of crosses made from various positions on the pitch etc. etc. etc.

Sad.

[incy wincy little spider]

Apparently BFS gave the players a lot of abuse after the match, every second word rhymed with duck!! Sounds like they deserved it tho

[philipl]

Well at least its a huge improvement on 1-4 this time last year!

[JAL]

  tony gale's mic said:

Sam HAS to stop playing our midfield out of position. It's weak enough as it is and Dunny is much better down the middle.

Dunny would be better off playing for Stanley than turning out for the super blue and whites

[thenodrog]

  Paul said:

For the few thousand Rovers who turned up the veil was pulled back and we got a long, painful look into our possible future. Very, very average players playing against very average opposition on a rough pitch (money will be saved everywhere possible) in front of thousands and thousands of empty seats. The second half performance was frightening. Coventry came out determined to fight back and they did with Rovers rocking on their heels as they struggled to find an answer to waves of pressure. Then the Lone Ranger arrived and the pressure intensified, whoever this guy is he turned the game for Coventry. As the second half progressed Rovers became a complete, utter and total shambles lacking any sort of passion, ability, fight or desire. God knows how we scored a goal.

If we go down, and it looks increasingly likely we will when we can't win this sort of game, the better players will leave and we will be left with the dregs on display today. These are supposed to be some of our fringe players plus some first choice. We don't have a squad with any depth at all.

There are plenty of areas to blame for our current position; the Trust for lack of investment, Ince for everything he did, Ince for selling Bentley, Williams for employing Ince, the failure to sell RSC and invest in the squad in January. The list is endless but ultimatley the responsibility lays with the PLAYERS who frankly have let this club down very badly in the last 12-14 months. For half this season they've simply hidden. They're a bunch of overpaid, selfish tossers.

I'm not angry, not depressed what I saw today was such a bleak vision of the near future it leaves me feeling nothing at all. If we go down I believe we're finished, for good.

We're going to Old Trafford next week, probably for the last time.

Always look on the bright side of life dee doo dee doo dee doo de doo..........

At least it'll help me get my handicap down.

  rover6 said:

Just to add, I find it worrying that Allardyce appears indifferent to overall match performances.

He'll cite chances missed, defensive mistakes and officials' errors but he does not seem to find the quality of the team performance relevant.

To me, he is reinforcing the truth of his reputation as a man who sees a football match as a set of statistics.

WHy bother with "quality of performance" when it is so difficult to distill into a number? Easier to examine, shots on target, miles covered, percentage of time ball in opposition box, percentage of times Rovers striker wins header, percentage of crosses made from various positions on the pitch etc. etc. etc.

Sad.

I think his interviews will not reflect his dressing room deliveries.

[tashor]

  Paul said:

For the few thousand Rovers who turned up the veil was pulled back and we got a long, painful look into our possible future. Very, very average players playing against very average opposition on a rough pitch (money will be saved everywhere possible) in front of thousands and thousands of empty seats. The second half performance was frightening. Coventry came out determined to fight back and they did with Rovers rocking on their heels as they struggled to find an answer to waves of pressure. Then the Lone Ranger arrived and the pressure intensified, whoever this guy is he turned the game for Coventry. As the second half progressed Rovers became a complete, utter and total shambles lacking any sort of passion, ability, fight or desire. God knows how we scored a goal.

If we go down, and it looks increasingly likely we will when we can't win this sort of game, the better players will leave and we will be left with the dregs on display today. These are supposed to be some of our fringe players plus some first choice. We don't have a squad with any depth at all.

There are plenty of areas to blame for our current position; the Trust for lack of investment, Ince for everything he did, Ince for selling Bentley, Williams for employing Ince, the failure to sell RSC and invest in the squad in January. The list is endless but ultimatley the responsibility lays with the PLAYERS who frankly have let this club down very badly in the last 12-14 months. For half this season they've simply hidden. They're a bunch of overpaid, selfish tossers.

I'm not angry, not depressed what I saw today was such a bleak vision of the near future it leaves me feeling nothing at all. If we go down I believe we're finished, for good.

We're going to Old Trafford next week, probably for the last time.

...and as the gillette mach 3 releases the steady trickle of claret down my increasingly pallid forearm it looks as if my visits to this cheery forum may be drawing to a sorry end

. . . . .__________________________________________

[Lathund]

  rover6 said:

Just to add, I find it worrying that Allardyce appears indifferent to overall match performances.

He'll cite chances missed, defensive mistakes and officials' errors but he does not seem to find the quality of the team performance relevant.

To me, he is reinforcing the truth of his reputation as a man who sees a football match as a set of statistics.

WHy bother with "quality of performance" when it is so difficult to distill into a number? Easier to examine, shots on target, miles covered, percentage of time ball in opposition box, percentage of times Rovers striker wins header, percentage of crosses made from various positions on the pitch etc. etc. etc.

Sad.

Actually I think his post-match comments have been much more accurate than those of Ince, Hughes and Souness. Several times he's come out and said that we need to do better in area X or Y, and unlike Hughes he's not blaming the ref every time, and unlike Souness, the absence of Lady Luck isn't the ultimate excuse. Now of course, seeing the mistakes but not correcting them isn't much better than not seeing them at all, but I think your criticism here is a bit unfair.

[Jan]

Allardyce is using the relatively unimportant games to try out players in different formations. Unlike Ince he didn't have the luxury of preseason to discover that Dunny can't play on the left, or Andrews and Simpson can't play at all.

Even so, we didn't lose- which was good.

[Eddie]

So Allardyce can't find that out in training? Or more to the point, can't watch old game tape and realise that Dunny has never been a wide player?