[Archived] Pre-season

[rovers1995]

What exactly did the txt say?

[champions1995]

What exactly did the txt say?

Exact words were 'Allardyce has revealed that Ryan Nelsen has possible medial ligament damage, whilst Samba and Gally have hamstring strains. All are major doubts for next week.'

[rovers1995]

OK, thank you lets hope they won't be out for too long, or our season is doomed.

[McClarky]

If that is our 2nd string, my god but we are in trouble this season. For most of the game we had a team who would be well below standard in any league. At the end we maybe had 2 players on the park who could hold their own in the EPL. We can say that people were out of the team today but in reality that was an embarrasment. If we don't get some midfield quality in I think it's bottom 5 for us alll season.

[RevidgeBlue]

[RevidgeBlue]

Whilst I still firmly believe that we have a squad good enough to finish between 15th and 12th,

I'm sorry, where is the evidence for that?

With just a week to go before the start of the season we seem to be in complete disarray.

We don't know what our best combination is up front and are relying heavily on the tribunal hearing going our way next week.

We don't have a fit central midfielder worthy of the name and again don't seem to have any idea how these positions will be filled once the serious action starts.

As for all the other injuries today, they may just be unlucky and unavoidable but if Ince were still here I'm sure people would be shouting from the rooftops about inadequate training regimes and the players lacking basic fitness etc.

[brfc4ever]

Anybody else getting scared ?

[Silencio]

Anybody else getting scared ?

Yes.

Im really struggling to see how we are going to create any chances.

The midfield is a joke. None of Grella, Andrews or Reid have any business to be part of a Premiership club. Dunn is always injured and can't last a full game and on the wings we have the hard working but slow Pedersen and Diouf. As back up, I don't think Doran looks that promising. He seems to not have quite enough pace but I may be wrong there. Is Van Heerden good enough?

It's shocking that we are paying players like Reid, Grella and Dunn who are always injured. I worry that this is the reason we are not signing the new players we need, yet we talk about giving new contracts to Dunn and Reid.

[Tom]

Anybody else getting scared ?

Not in the slightest

If we're going of pre season everton got beat off Blackpool and City got beat in South Africa so thats 2 of the 3 relegated teams sorted.

[spencey7]

I don't normally post "match reports" or my in-depth thoughts on performances, but I was at Tannadice today, and after that game some things really need to be said.

We were absolutely abysmal. Dundee Utd are by no means a footballing powerhouse, but they outplayed us from the first minute to the last. They were stronger, faster, fitter and more creative.

ROBINSON

Pass marks, decent save from the penalty.

JONES

Woeful positioning, but some good strong challenges for a youngster.

SAMBA

Injured early but out of sorts, didn't clear his lines which led to the opening goal - much more to blame than Zurab in my opinion.

NELSEN

Again, not himself. Appalling attempt at a tackle for the penalty, although the Dundee Utd player did well.

OLSSON

A total non-entity. Tried to get forward but was barely involved in the game.

DIOUF

Played right-wing, left-wing and centre-midfield, and had no effect on the game in any position. I don't recall one decent delivery of a corner or free kick - we need Pedersen for this reason alone.

WARNOCK

Not lacking in effort but another who made no mark on the game.

GALLAGHER

I can scarcely believe I'm typing this, but Gally in centre-midfield was the best player on the pitch today. In just over 15 minutes he got stuck into tackles, tracked runners, was always available to recieve the ball and played some great passes. Literally our only creative player.

VAN HEERDEN

I have never seen a professional footballer with such an inability to follow their man. His lacksidasical efforts to do so (playing in front of a 17-year-old remember) caused utter havoc in our defence, which led to him swapping wings with Diouf. He did absolutely nothing defensively - or offensively.

DI SANTO

Has a touch of class. Some breathtaking first touches and keen to shoot (he had one tremendous effort from distance quite early on). That said, literally only one chance was created for him - which came from an aimless lump upfield from Warnock as he cleared the ball from a tackle. He should have stuck that away, but he looked very promising on the whole.

McCARTHY

Still looks heavy, which is such a shame for a player with his ability. His attitude was all over the place today, a few decisions went against him so his head went down, and he put in a late, childish tackle on a Dundee Utd defender just before being hooked.

SUBS:

BROWN

The local fans were quickly on his back for his kicking, flapped at a few crosses (great deliveries for the most part), but made a couple of decent saves to keep the score down.

KHIZANISHVILI

Not a good game, although the stick for the second goal is unwarranted - he tried his best to clear it, but it looked goalbound all the way.

HOILETT

The only thing I remember him doing was getting caught in possession. I was hoping for more.

DORAN

Seems to know the pass to make, but makes it three seconds too late. Looked out of his depth.

ROBERTS

This man cannot kick a football.

YOUNGSTERS

None of the other young subs made any sort of impression, although many hardly had the time.

FOOTBALLING STYLE

To be honest, there wasn't much of a "style" to speak of. Goal kicks always went long, any free kicks within 60 yards of the opposition goal were lumped into the box, and any passing play of any note came through Gallagher. Given how poor we look at the moment, I see no reason to expect anything other than last season's Allardyce football once again. I hope I'm wrong.

KALINIC

A minor plus-point, but it was interesting to see him with the team and joining in drills, he seems to be settling in well. He better be very, very, very good.

I've said it before and will say it again - pre-season means nothing. But I cannot ignore what I saw today. The sharpness you would expect seven days before kick-off just is not there. I know upon reading this that certain people will just write me off as a doomsayer, but on the evidence of Tannadice today, we're going to have another difficult season.

[Tom]

Thanks for the report Spencey, I would be happier if we were performing but right now there's no need to panic, if we play the way we have done today next week then by all means panic.

As you said at the end, no matter how bad it may look pre season ultimately means nothing.

My only 2 concerns however is the lack of supply that Kalinic may get, Sam should spend a hefty chunk of this week on the lookout for a good passer of the ball. The injuries are also a worry.

[47er]

If Nelsen and Samba are out,presumably the 2 centre-backs would be Zurab and Givet with Warnock at left-back. Not a disaster. Central midfield could be one though--- Nzoni and Andrews! If nothing else that would prove Andrews was a genuine Premier League player highly rated by Sam!

Seriously we need a central mid-fielder now!

[XLM]

Jesus. Chillax.

[brfcs5359]

I think SM is getting a response from Gally. I think in possession he is one of the best passers in the premier league (and an automatic Scotland regular!)

what s worrying the games Sam has earmarked for points we may be full of injuries. Everyone coming back in horrendous October and leaving the club in the bottom 5.

I believe Gally can supply us with several assists and a couple of goals early doors. I wonder if Sam took hi

off as a precaution? And lets face it you can't slag Gally off and then put inany of the others.

I also think Ollson will do well this season. The one other player to come out of pre season with credit, and he's got pace. Hebwould start with Warnock in midfield.

Kalinic and di Santos up top. Any two of 4 centre halves prefer Samba and Nelsen. Pedserson cos we need athletism/pro zone players. Ditto the awful Diouf. Give jacobsen a chance at RB tho the young lad if he is strong may be worth a shout. Robinho hogs the left so I think he will take Jacobsen to the cleaners.

Options are a holding midfield player so sacrifice Dioif. If Dunn (and he is vice captain this hear) is An automatic with Gallagher possibly playing right side ish. Playing Ollson Pederson would be the safe choice. Otherwise one of the pacy new boys.

So Sam mght be able to scrape a decent team. Whose missing. Only Emerton and Grella can hope to have a starting place?

[Gav]

I'm sorry, where is the evidence for that?

With just a week to go before the start of the season we seem to be in complete disarray.

We don't know what our best combination is up front and are relying heavily on the tribunal hearing going our way next week.

We don't have a fit central midfielder worthy of the name and again don't seem to have any idea how these positions will be filled once the serious action starts.

As for all the other injuries today, they may just be unlucky and unavoidable but if Ince were still here I'm sure people would be shouting from the rooftops about inadequate training regimes and the players lacking basic fitness etc.

Spot on Rev, I went to Sheffield last week and saw this first hand.

Lets hope things are diffrent next week, the clock is ticking.

[Parsonblue]

See below

[Parsonblue]

I'm sorry, where is the evidence for that?

The only evidence I have is just a gut instinct having watched both first team and reserve team pre-season. The big plus for us this season is the manager. It might not be pretty, and no doubt there will be plenty of moans and groans on this messageboard, but I genuinely believe that Big Sam will keep us up. On the evidence of last season he is able to squeeze out results when it matters.

While I accept that yesterdays performance and injuries are a worry I thought there were a couple of positives. Olsson looked decent at left-back, Phil Jones, an Academy player last season, came in and showed great promise at right-back. Di Santo looked lively again leading the attack. Gally, until he got injured, looked very good in midfield. Certainly, on the evidence of this pre-season I would hope that Gally is at least retained until Christmas to see if he can finally make an impact at this level.

Of course injuries will always be a problem for a club like the Rovers. We simply don't have the cash to solve our problems with the cheque book.

While I don't for one moment regard us as a top ten club anymore, simply on the financial side of things, I don't believe we are a bottom three side either. If we have a good season I believe that a 12th place finish is possible. If it's a difficult season I still believe that 15th is possible - yes it might be a struggle and there may well be times when we are in the bottom three, but at the end of the season I firmly believe that we will still be a Premier League club.

[vintageadidas]

Relegation fight - simple as!

[John]

Don't think you can/should read too much into pre-season. However, as you get closer to the proper kick off, you can only be concerned with our general preperations.

The treatment/injury table has the old favourites keeping it busy and that is probably our biggest concern, particularly Dunn and Grella. What annoys me is that this is not great surprise so what are we going to do about it? I am sure Sam is weighing it up but I will be shocked if we are not in the market for a central midfielder as there are currently too many question marks over our current lot.

Mind you, depends if we want a season of frustration or progression....

[AndyNeil]

IMO there are two things we are lacking in midfield at present - pace and creativity. Every attack (if it isnt just a ball lumped forward) is so pedestrian that teams have time to get plenty of men behind the ball. You can have all the strikers you like, but if they dont receive the right service into the box, they are going to struggle to score enough goals. Given the pace (or lack it) / injury situation at the back I can't see us winning many matches without scoring at least twice so my message to BFS is get out there and find a midfield player who has both pace and creativity.

[Dave S]

I think that this pre-season has been all about fitness. Nothing more.

All the fit players have had game time. Rovers have not actually played a full 'First Team' in any game.

We have played 442 with players out of position and an introduction of new blood.

When the season starts we will see what has been happening on the training ground, formation, team selection and tactics.

[JAL]

The only evidence I have is just a gut instinct having watched both first team and reserve team pre-season. The big plus for us this season is the manager. It might not be pretty, and no doubt there will be plenty of moans and groans on this messageboard, but I genuinely believe that Big Sam will keep us up. On the evidence of last season he is able to squeeze out results when it matters.

While I accept that yesterdays performance and injuries are a worry I thought there were a couple of positives. Olsson looked decent at left-back, Phil Jones, an Academy player last season, came in and showed great promise at right-back. Di Santo looked lively again leading the attack. Gally, until he got injured, looked very good in midfield. Certainly, on the evidence of this pre-season I would hope that Gally is at least retained until Christmas to see if he can finally make an impact at this level.

Of course injuries will always be a problem for a club like the Rovers. We simply don't have the cash to solve our problems with the cheque book.

While I don't for one moment regard us as a top ten club anymore, simply on the financial side of things, I don't believe we are a bottom three side either. If we have a good season I believe that a 12th place finish is possible. If it's a difficult season I still believe that 15th is possible - yes it might be a struggle and there may well be times when we are in the bottom three, but at the end of the season I firmly believe that we will still be a Premier League club.

I think the fans want more than just staying up, Rovers should be aiming higher than just staying up, this mindset only applies to the fans when we are in trouble. Rovers have now had a full summer almost with a new manager to address the porblems with the squad.

Its no point blaming a lack of money when they have HAD money to spend, its how wisely they have spent it and have they adressed the problems in the squad.

Staying up for a established premiership club isnt exactly setting a positive tone for the fans, finishing 12th to 15th isnt ambition. If this is the highest ambition Blackburn Rovers football club are aiming for then people around here will simply turn off if they see such high earners not doing the business on the pitch.

[spencey7]

I think that this pre-season has been all about fitness. Nothing more.

Well if that is the case (which would be ridiculous), then it has been a total failure.

Dundee Utd were streets ahead of Rovers in every department yesterday - more energetic, faster, stronger, sharper.

[Dave S]

Well if that is the case (which would be ridiculous), then it has been a total failure.

Dundee Utd were streets ahead of Rovers in every department yesterday - more energetic, faster, stronger, sharper.

Don't think it is ridiculous spencey.

Apparently this was what Allardyce did at Bolton. Preseason for fitness, training ground for tactics.

[John]

Preseason for fitness, training ground for tactics.

True from his comments last week, where he said that they have not paid much attention to tactics (but this would change and intensify as the season approaches).