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

[McClarky]

?!

Go and look at our starting lineup again.

Simpson and Olson were first choice full backs for a good chunk of the season, Samba and Zurab are 2 of our 4 1st team centre-backs, Axe and Tugay have played or come on in many games, Carlos & Tracey have come on loads and the front 2 have been 1st choice for several games and at least are 2 of our 3 top forwards. This ain't a reserve or a junior team and my point is that if this is the best we have outside our best 7 or 8 players then we are struggling.

[broadsword]

I have to say I'm not in the least bit surprised that we lost to Coventry. Our squad has had a serious and chronic (pick your justifications ...) lack of investment, we've sold our best players and been weakened instead of strengthened.

I can't believe people are happy that we've lost to coventry in the mistaken belief that we'll now go and beat Hull (who are desperate for a win). The best way to prepare for a game against Hull would've been to beat Coventry. Losing away to coventry is not good preparation in my book.

The season just gets worse, this won't do much for fan morale, either. We were lucky to take it to a replay.

[allanncd]

Another shabby performance from the second-strings ensures that even if relegation is avoided most of these players will be heading for the exit in the summer. Brown and Tugay and Axe all out of contract, Simpson and Villaneuva loans finished. Kish and (hopefully) Ollsson shown the door. Only Samba, Roberts and (possibly) Treacy and McCarthy are likely to survive to next season. Most of these rubber-dinghymen will go where they belong - overboard.

[sanlorenzo]

Is RSC okay? I listened to the match and heard he took a knock. Did it appear he would be unavailable for Sunday?

[McClarky]

I can't believe people are happy that we've lost to coventry in the mistaken belief that we'll now go and beat Hull (who are desperate for a win). The best way to prepare for a game against Hull would've been to beat Coventry. Losing away to coventry is not good preparation in my book.

Exactly - you get momentum by winning games not by getting beat and we are on a bad run now which isn't helped by tonight whoever was playing. With a 5 day break before the next game I see no logic in resting players anyway, surely as top athletes they are capable of performing more than once a week.

[DE.]

Brown (RESERVE)

Simpson (RESERVE)

Samba (FIRST TEAM)

Zurab (RESERVE)

Olsson (RESERVE)

Villanueva (RESERVE)

Mokoena (RESERVE)

Tugay (RESERVE)

Treacy (RESERVE)

McCarthy (FIRST TEAM)

Roberts (RESERVE)

This is the stark reality. Normally we'd line up:

Robbo

Ooijer

Samba

Nelsen

Warnock

Diouf

Grella

Dunn

MGP

McCarthy

RSC

... possibly Andrews in the middle and RSC up front alone, if away or playing a difficult home game.

There's no point linking this defeat with morale, confidence, form... or whatever, because it wasn't our premiership squad and I doubt they'll be that affected by it. It does show that our second string, which may be our Championship team next year, won't bounce back up into the Premiership. That team is likely what we'll be left with, minus Villanueva, Simpson and possibly Benni Mac. Worrying times next year... watching most of those players week in week out isn't worth thinking about.

If we lose to Hull Sunday... then panic, cry, and moan.

[John]

Tonight's result sums up what a thoroughly sad time it is to be a Rovers fan. Don't care if some people have the perception that we would not have beaten Chelsea anyway, it still would have been the quarter finals of the FA cup.

Of course the league is our number one priority, but a cup run a few years ago did not distract us in our relegation fight.

Not just tonight, but over the last couple of weeks, I have becoming more resigned to the fact that we are going down. We just don't seem capable of winning games, regardless of the opposition.

[bubblerrovers]

We're out.

Hang your head Sam Allardyce and the players.

Two attempts to beat an average Championship side.

Did we got out playing some flamboyant stuff? Fielding a bunch of exciting youngsters? Letting Villaneuva loose and playing in his best position? Developing new strategies that can be applied in the league?

Nope. Out with a whimper and nothing gained. (Except maybe Treacy will take confidence from what sounds a reasonable game).

Well done COv.

Everyone keeps saying Coventry are an average championship team can i remind you we're a CRAP premiership team, even with our strongest 11 we'd lose to at least 5 or 6 teams in the championship, If we manage to stay up i'm sure Big Sam now knows for certain 8-10 players to get rid off straight away, we don't have a youth system worth mentioning so he didn't have many options tonight

[Hughesy]

Not all that fussed that we are out, because we would be out against Chelsea anyway. However that team has the abilityto beat Coventry and the fact they didnt is their fault.

As soon as I saw Brown in goal I lost all confidence we would win.

Will be interesting to see what those that went thought. Anyway only 2 of that team will probably start on sunday - McCarthy & Samba. Not worried, but I will be if we lose to Hull.

[bazza]

That doesn't sound like the perrennially upbeat Bazza that I've met.

Win on Sunday and you'll be buzzing again.

You haven't been reading my latest posts, then.

I've become perennially downbeat. I'm as much a pessimist as you know who was/is.

[47er]

Exactly - you get momentum by winning games not by getting beat and we are on a bad run now which isn't helped by tonight whoever was playing. With a 5 day break before the next game I see no logic in resting players anyway, surely as top athletes they are capable of performing more than once a week.

In retrospect it would have been better to have played the first team in the first game and (hopefully) avoided the need to have a replay. It would have been just a normal weekly game.

[Hasta]

I really wanted a cup run and to get to Wembley. However I feel far less flat than when we got beat off Villa and Man U.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Everyone keeps saying Coventry are an average championship team can i remind you we're a CRAP premiership team

It still hasn't hit home with many on here bubble!

[Amo]

Naturally disappointing to be dumped out by a mid-table Championship side, and I don't think it'll really help the morale of the squad or the fans for the matter. Now all we have is a relegation slog for the rest of the season. Ooh well, there can be absolutely no excuses from now on at least.

[Rovermatt]

Don't care. Absolutely not a priority considering our current plight.

[McClarky]

There's no point linking this defeat with morale, confidence, form... or whatever, because it wasn't our premiership squad and I doubt they'll be that affected by it. It does show that our second string, which may be our Championship team next year, won't bounce back up into the Premiership. That team is likely what we'll be left with, minus Villanueva, Simpson and possibly Benni Mac. Worrying times next year... watching most of those players week in week out isn't worth thinking about.

If we lose to Hull Sunday... then panic, cry, and moan.

This season the starting line up today have made a combined total of 128 Premiership appearances (85 +43). How is this not our first team squad, there wasn't a player out there today who isn't in our first team squad. I doubt they have made anything like that many reserve appearances between them.

[Mr. E]

There goes our last glimmer of joy.

[Tris]

Yeah Rev. We should really panic when Simpson, Olsson, Mokoena, Tugay, Brown and Kish all turn up in the league game against Hull.

But wait, that won't happen. Because they are not our starting XI. Some don't even make the bench.

It can't be one thing and not the other. The manager has brought on our best and most expensive striker for 20 minutes and RSC has taken a knock against Coventry - no idea if it'll keep him out of the Hull game, but the fact that he's played for 20 and taken a knock blows most of the last three pages of "concentrate on the league" arguments right out of the water.

As does playing EHD in the reserves for 70 minutes tonight, where any one of Hull's soon-to-be-out-of-contract stiffs, or contract-seeking kids could have nailed him just in time for Sunday.

Either admit defeat in the FA Cup and don't bother fielding a team, or play the game to win it. It's not like the tie against Chelsea was for peanuts - the financial rewards at this stage are substantial, never mind the prestige.

The last gasp Samba goal at Ewood gave the manager another 90 minutes to rectify his mistakes, but he didn't rectify them - he made them bloody worse. This club has the proudest of all FA Cup records (23 games without defeat in the competition) and being dumped out after 180 minutes v Coventry is a sad state of affairs.

[DE.]

This season the starting line up today have made a combined total of 128 Premiership appearances (85 +43). How is this not our first team squad, there wasn't a player out there today who isn't in our first team squad. I doubt they have made anything like that many reserve appearances between them.

Sorry, but I consider our 'first team' the starting 11 we'd usually pick. 9 out of those 11 players would not start a game unless we had injuries. They're subs/reserves. All this game has shown, truthfully, is how poor our second string is, and how difficult we will find it in the Championship should we get relegated. I can't see us buying many players, we're more likely to sell, and the spine of our team will be the players we saw fail on the pitch tonight.

FWIW, I think Allardyce made a mistake bringing on players like RSC and MGP. He either wanted to win the game or he was happy to let it slip. Confusing.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Tonight's result sums up what a thoroughly sad time it is to be a Rovers fan. Don't care if some people have the perception that we would not have beaten Chelsea anyway, it still would have been the quarter finals of the FA cup.

Of course the league is our number one priority, but a cup run a few years ago did not distract us in our relegation fight.

Couldn't agree more. The FA Cup might not be special to the teams these days but for a fan a great cup run sticks with us for all our lives. We had a great chance to go through to the QF against Chelsea but instead we put out a weaker team and paid the consequences. I understand people saying that we need to concentrate on the league but we've had 25 games in the Premier League to put ourselves into a decent position so I doubt resting players for an extra few games is going to affect them that much especially when they have a longer break at the end of the season as there isn't any major tournaments.

Unfortunately today is yet another bad moment in a poor season.

Good luck Coventry, they wanted it more than us and they deserve to go through.

[rovgers]

I know its disappointing that we lost tonight but I think that some people have gone a bit overboard.

So our resevres lost to coventry!!

There wasn't this much outcry when we played an even worse coventry side last year, with a near full strength team and got stuffed 4-1.

As for the people saying that getting beat tonight will effect the players confidence before sundays game need to remember that two at the most of the starting line up from tonight will be playing on sunday.

It will be interseting to see what kind of team Hull play on thursday, I hope for extra time and a few injuries.

[bazza]

If we lose to Hull Sunday... then panic, cry, and moan.

What do you mean "if"? We will lose to Hull on Sunday. You mark my words. So start crying and panicking now.

[Atty]

I have to say I'm not in the least bit surprised that we lost to Coventry. Our squad has had a serious and chronic (pick your justifications ...) lack of investment, we've sold our best players and been weakened instead of strengthened.

I can't believe people are happy that we've lost to coventry in the mistaken belief that we'll now go and beat Hull (who are desperate for a win). The best way to prepare for a game against Hull would've been to beat Coventry. Losing away to coventry is not good preparation in my book.

The season just gets worse, this won't do much for fan morale, either. We were lucky to take it to a replay.

HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD !!!!

To much deadwood in the squad simply not good enough and the so called first team is not good enough either there is only rocky with any real quality.

If 80% of our 50 million turnovers is spent on wages to some of these players then the club (Please don't use that word again)ed. I CANT BELEVE HOW WE GONE FROM 7 IN THE LEAGUE TO THIS!!!!

My Last year as a season ticket holder the club not getting anymore money out of me unless there are some big changes at the club. I will let John Williams know exactly what I think.

[Amo]

There wasn't this much outcry when we played an even worse coventry side last year, with a near full strength team and got stuffed 4-1.

Trust me, THERE WAS. Some people still use it as a stick to beat Hughes with now.

[DE.]

Trust me, THERE WAS. Some people still use it as a stick to beat Hughes with now.

Agree, I remember being outraged that night, as was everyone. It was humiliating.