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

[AlanK]

Do you? I guess you think Sams priority is to keep BRFC up?

I'd wager his motivation is close but not quite as close we'd all like to think. There is a subtle difference imo. Sams first priority is to enhance his managerial reputation and to protect his 2m pa salary. He wants to be regarded as a Premiership manager and a good one at that, relegation with BRFC would be a black mark that he would not want. Keeping BRFC up would simply be a by-product of achieving his aims. Don't get angry though cos every manager would view the situation the same.

As does every player,coach,chairman etc. Your point is pointless.

[rover6]

As for Villanueva; he's failed the 'Carlos Kickaball' litmus test....(would he be up for it in a February midweek fixture at Coventry?). Answer: a profound No! End of season for him as he surely now knows that he'll be off in the summer.

Actually, I think Sam Allardyce failed the famous, "Can You Distinguish Your Backside From Your Elbow Litmus Test."

I think that even Brian Kidd knew that playing a slow, small, left-footed playmaker on the right wing is stupidity of epoch-making proportions.

Did Souness or Kidd ever play Matt Jansen on the right wing?????!!!!!!

[RevidgeBlue]

Did Souness or Kidd ever play Matt Jansen on the right wing?????!!!!!!

Souness played Dominic Matteo on the left wing didn't he, I reckon that's worse than playing Carlos on the right wing!

24 hours on I'm still seething about last night and I wasn't even one of the unfortunate buggers who went.

I think the people who say "It doesn't matter, it's only the reserves" are missing the bigger picture. The people who played last night were not reserves, they were integral members of the first team squad and in some instances regular starters in the first choice eleven.

That half of the first team squad didn't have the desire to muster up a half decent performance against a Championship side. Yet we're expected to believe the "other" team will be of a different mindset and suddenly come up with a stirring performance and result against a Premiership side.

I'm willing to wait until after Sunday and hope to be proved wrong but I just can't see it.

BTW I note Boro are beating The 'Ammers 2-0 in their Cup tie which should give them a huge confidence boost for their relegation fight.

[bazza]

I bet your one of those sad people that will be secretly hoping Rovers lose, just so you can come back on here on sunday afternoon and say ' I told you so'!

On the contrary, I'm really hoping to have egg all over my face. I will delight in you all laughing at me.

[roversmum]

I went. It was surreal. The players allowed themselves to be bullied into playing at Championship level (indeed, as we saw, below that). The first half of the match there were some touches of class from them, and we hoped they would build upon that. But as Sam says, in the second half they didn't run, they walked. There were some truly awful performances.

Treacy - please, put us out of our misery and find him somewhere else to play for.

Danny Simpson - worst performance I have seen from him.

Carlos, ditto.

Roberts - please, Jason, stop fouling the defenders, the refs have got wise to you and it doesn't work any more.

Olsson - no.

Samba - at least one who gave his all, head and shoulders above all the rest and not just in stature.

Zurab - one of his worst matches.

Mokoena - Coventry gave as good as they got, sent him flying!

Tugs, dear Tugs, oh dear.

Benni - didn't do much.

Jason Brown - hmmm, was he at fault for the goal?

Subs: Roque - dreaming of the big City

Warnock - tried to get some fire into proceedings

Givet - could have done with him earlier

It was obvious after the first few minutes of the match that no way we were going to score. However, like Sam I believe if that team had played to its full potential there is no way it should have lost the match.

Shocking. Demoralising. Unbelievable. Still in shock.

It's going to be a long couple of months.

[JAL]

What got me was the older players looked like they were only interested if the ball was either to feet or within a couple of inches of their feet, if it wasnt within this area especially MaCarthy and Roberts they then just jogged along with absolutely no desire to win the ball back even if the ball was still within a range of ten to fifteen yards of them.

This attitude and lack of desire from our front two then seemed to rubb off on the rest of the team.

MaCarthy and Roberts made it extremely easy for Coventry players to not only win the ball back with ease, but then build an attack against us. Maybe they both lost confidence in the players around them notably Carlos and Treacy but its no excuse for us fans who had to sit and watch this lack of desire to win the ball back.

When Cruz came on initially chasing a Coventry player that seemed to take the ball out for a thrown-in, but then after this, even he fell into the Roberts, MaCarthy mode of just jogging along with little or no attempt to win the ball back.

As Sam points out many didnt want to run.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Shocking. Demoralising. Unbelievable. Still in shock.

That's the story of our nightmare season so far, I'm afraid Mum....

The attitude of the players at the Ricoh arena on Tuesday evening clearly wasn't right. I also detect a slight change in attitude from Sam Allardyce over the last couple of days. Before the Coventry match Sam was talking about the importance of a good cup run and the fact that by beating Coventry the team would then be just two games away from a Wembley final.

Now Big Sam says: "If we had beaten Coventry, we would have had a run of Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday games over the next fortnight with the Chelsea cup game in the middle."

Allardyce says that he doesn't regret making so many changes for the Cup game on Tuesday.

Link: Sam doesn't regret changes

[thenodrog]

As does every player,coach,chairman etc. Your point is pointless.

No it isn't. Why do you say that? My post was directed at the people on here seem to think that sam and the team are all staunch BRFC supporters.

[Eddie]

No one thinks that and he was right that your point is blatantly obvious to everyone and is far from the revelation you seem to think that it is. Allardyce wants us to stay up so that he looks good, also probably because he knows he may not be in a job next year if he doesn't. He may even see that relegation would close the door on his career in management. Whatever his precise motivations, he certainly has enough to make sure that he knows Blackburn Rovers being in the premiership next season is in his interests.

How long before posters on here revert to "Ince syndrome" and start to hope for defeats as it will push Allardyce one step closer to the door.

[jw_]

I don't care what motivates Sam whether it's fear of relegation or to avoid a black mark on his career or just to look good,whatever, the main thing is that he be motivated and hopefully can motivate the team as well. Tough call? well we all know they can be capable as is evidenced by the Man U game so it's up to Sam to bring out the best in a sustained effort so stay motivated Sam. It can be done.

[thenodrog]

I don't care what motivates Sam whether it's fear of relegation or to avoid a black mark on his career or just to look good,whatever, the main thing is that he be motivated and hopefully can motivate the team as well. Tough call? well we all know they can be capable as is evidenced by the Man U game so it's up to Sam to bring out the best in a sustained effort so stay motivated Sam. It can be done.

Correct! The FA Cup is worthless to us this season and beating Coventry would have been at best a distraction. We have to prioritise and focus on the main issue.

[modes98]

JR "punches" someone

Having met the guy on a couple of occassions I can't believe he would do this. The article sounds a bit bitter and twisted considering they beat us.

[roversmum]

It was reported on Coventry's official website, I put a link to it a couple of days ago. Sam had probably given them an ear-bashing before letting them on the coach! Apparently a year or two ago Jase and his wife were arrested for a ruck after Rovers had lost a match - there is a link to than somewhere in the archives.

Know what you mean though, he is usually a real charmer, almost in Mokoena's league for charm!!

[1864roverite]

BTW I note Boro are beating The 'Ammers 2-0 in their Cup tie which should give them a huge confidence boost for their relegation fight.

At the same time Rev, it may just be their downfall. Extra game (s), potential injuries, potential suspensions and fixture congestion. It may be a trip down memory lane for them, a Wembley cup final slot and RELEGATION

[CAPT KAYOS]

At the same time Rev, it may just be their downfall. Extra game (s), potential injuries, potential suspensions and fixture congestion. It may be a trip down memory lane for them, a Wembley cup final slot and RELEGATION

It could also be potential cup final appearance and win 1864 and staying up - all ifs and could be's - I know which one I would rather be in and it aint ours.

Anti Euro Smiths Fan Posted Today, 00:53

QUOTE (roversmum @ Feb 25 2009, 21:44 )

The attitude of the players at the Ricoh arena on Tuesday evening clearly wasn't right. I also detect a slight change in attitude from Sam Allardyce over the last couple of days. Before the Coventry match Sam was talking about the importance of a good cup run and the fact that by beating Coventry the team would then be just two games away from a Wembley final.

Now Big Sam says: "If we had beaten Coventry, we would have had a run of Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday games over the next fortnight with the Chelsea cup game in the middle."

Allardyce says that he doesn't regret making so many changes for the Cup game on Tuesday.

Something I also picked up on AESF and has irritated me completely.

Devils advocate on - After the horse has bolted etc .... strikes me of 'not sure himself' - maybe the reports of walking at the end of the season have some fire to them.

Anyway, I think he should regret it and will end up doing so.

Anybody who is not worried about the result should be - for obvious reasons.

[LeftWinger]

A good cup run or result can give a team a real boost. We went into the 2002 League Cup final on the back of a run of four defeats and nearly everyone had written off our chances. After beating Spurs we went on a run of DWWLLWDWDWLW, getting 21 points from the last 12 games to finish 10th, despite looking like serious relegation candidates until the League Cup final.

I realise that the FA Cup final would be after the League has finished, but the boost of a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

[67splitscreen]

A good cup run or result can give a team a real boost. We went into the 2002 League Cup final on the back of a run of four defeats and nearly everyone had written off our chances. After beating Spurs we went on a run of DWWLLWDWDWLW, getting 21 points from the last 12 games to finish 10th, despite looking like serious relegation candidates until the League Cup final.

I realise that the FA Cup final would be after the League has finished, but the boost of a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

Quite true, not with our current MF though.

[ABBEY]

NOT BEEN ONLINE ALL WEEEK AND JUST CALMING DOWN.IM GLAD I WORKED AS THAT NIGHT I WAS ASHAMED OF EVERYTHING BLACKBURN ROVERS!!!!!

PLAYING A TEAM WITH ELEVEN CHANGES WAS SUICIDE AND ALL THOSE WHO DISGRACEFULLY WANTED US TO LOSE GOT THEIR WISH!!!! NO I DONT WANT US TO GO DOWN AND YES I WANTED TO WIN THE CUP...OOOOOOPS SORRY !!!!!

IF THESE NANCY PAMBY "SUPERSTARS" CANT HANDLE TWO GAMES IN A WEEK THEN FOOTBALL IS ON ITS ARSE BIG TIME AND SAM SHOULD PUT HIS HAND IN HIS AND THE DRESSING ROOM AND REFUND EVERY ROVERS FAN WHO WENT ON TUESDAY NIGHT BECAUSE HE HAS TAKEN THE P@@@ OUT OF THEM .THE FA CUP TRADITION ISNT ABOUT A RESERVES TEAM ITS ABOUT BLOOD .PASSION .GLORY.HISTORY.GUTS.PRIDE!!!!! NOT ABOUT OH WE MAY GET AN INJURY ,WE DONT CARE .I BET MY DAD AND GRANDAD ARE SPINNING IN THEIR GRAVES!!!!!!!

[Hughesy]

Wondered were he had been

[imy9]

I dont think it is a case of players cant play 2 games in a week, more to do with, can we do without RSC/Dunn/Grella, etc for the vital game against Hull City on Saturday?

If any of our first 11 players were injured and not able to play in our upcoming key games would we be glad to have beaten Coventry?

Dont get me wrong I wanted us to beat Coventry BUT not at the expense of PL survival. I personally think the best thing that could have happened to Rovers is Boro and Fulham winning as they will have to play more games and potentially have injured players in the upcoming games.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Dont get me wrong I wanted us to beat Coventry BUT not at the expense of PL survival. I personally think the best thing that could have happened to Rovers is Boro and Fulham winning as they will have to play more games and potentially have injured players in the upcoming games.

But here we go again with potential and ifs and buts ... we have injuries regardless so what the hell does it matter - we should be going out to win every single game with our strongest team - all this changing and injuries being picked up anyway is just disrupting team with no fluidity or coherence from one game to the next.

There is one thing in football that does ring true - and this is consistency which we will never achieve going the way we are at the moment - the only consistency we have is stumbling from one game to the next.

We need points now and yesterday - leaving people out previously has not done us any god - why should it now?

[BuckyRover]

Didn't every team that rested players in the third group match in the Euro 2008 get knocked out in the second round?

Continuity breeds success.

I hope we win on Sunday.

[JAL]

I'm critical of Chris Samba but I thought in this game he came out of it with a great deal of credit.

Samba reminds me of a young Colin Hendry (not to look at) in that hes raw, prone to the odd mistake, but has those attributes that you just feel hes going to get better as a player with experience.

Disappointed with him though when he had the ball in the centre circle second half looking around to pass to someone with Coventry team out of position looking highly vulnerable. For me Chrissy Samba should have gone on his own on an upfield foray - it was the cup.

Obviously he'd been told to keep his discipline and hold the back line until there is a set piece - he had to be brave at that moment there should have been absolutely no restrictions imposed on the big fella in that situation because fortune always favours the brave and for then all similarities to Colin Hendry they werent there then.

[AggyBlue]

If any of our first 11 players were injured and not able to play in our upcoming key games would we be glad to have beaten Coventry?

If that had happened, the very same people complaining about playing our fringe players would be the ones complaining about the stupidity of risking a vital member of the first team.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I'm critical of Chris Samba but I thought in this game he came out of it with a great deal of credit.

Samba reminds me of a young Colin Hendry (not to look at) in that hes raw, prone to the odd mistake, but has those attributes that you just feel hes going to get better as a player with experience.

Disappointed with him though when he had the ball in the centre circle second half looking around to pass to someone with Coventry team out of position looking highly vulnerable. For me Chrissy Samba should have gone on his own on an upfield foray - it was the cup.

Obviously he'd been told to keep his discipline and hold the back line until there is a set piece - he had to be brave at that moment there should have been absolutely no restrictions imposed on the big fella in that situation because fortune always favours the brave and for then all similarities to Colin Hendry they werent there then.

Spot on JAL!

Samba has all the attributes to become a top class centre back, height, pace, strength. As he gets older his decision making and positioning should get better, you have to keep in mind defenders don't usually peak until their early to mid 30's.