[Archived] Man City Preview

[Al]

If you referring to me i went to plenty of games last season and have done for many years. There are plenty of people who for some reason who cannot got to every single game, doesn't make them any less of a supporter or fan of this club. I was responding to some of the egotistical moronic comments in this thread by some posters who refused to accept the opinion of someone else because they didn't go to the game. They can have that viewpoint if they wish, just had to voice my opinion on the matter.

Getting back on topic, did anyone watch the disgraceful coverage on MOTD last night? You would have thought there was only one side playing...

Whoa easy tiger. I was jokingly referring to Gordon's remark of a follower.

However I still do not consider an armchair watcher as a supporter. If you go to matches it obviously does not apply to you.

By the way I never watch MOTD. It always made my blood boil. Football First on Sky gives you a much fairer and in depth view.

[super_arran]

In fairness that's because all the "highlight-worthy" chances were City's. I posed this question earlier and no-one replied - apart from Samba's header from a corner in the first half and the obligatory Roberts sitter in the second half, what chances did we have?

they didn't show McCarthy's freekick that went just over the bar.....that was a highlight worthy chance that didn't get televised on MOTD.

If you support the style of football more than your team winning by any means possible, why not just move to london and "support" Arsenal?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Few comments which may/may not have already been said!

Robinson: looks really confident these days and great save from Robinho (I think)

Jacobsen: solid debut, knows what he is doing

Warnock: overall did well, would be quite sad to see him go

Samba: good

Givet: class act

Pedersen: best game I have seen from him for a while

Diouf: found it at points last season, but canbe quite frustrating and sloppy. Would be interesting to see if Sam would drop him as his place has to under threat. Can be very sloppy

Andrews: OK, works hard, but still lacks quality with his distribution of the ball

Nzonzi: decent debut

Mccarthy: frustrating with some of his flicks which did not come off, but it is natural to him. Still possesses genuine quality.

Roberts: creates space and chances for himself but as per usual finishing lets him down

Overall, should not get carried away with the first game, but we looked a decent side and it was very frustrating not to get at least a point. I know people have a go at Sam's direct approach but personally I like it, plus it will get us results which is what its all about!

I would agree with everything you have here - for me Jacobsen's form dipped as the game went on - but I will allow him that as first game of season. Thought Warnock and Givet were class - especially Warnock who still played 100% with all the transer speculation. N'zonzi - early days - but best debut I have seen from a young midfield player in Rovers colours for some time - kept things simple, rarely wasted a pass, and nearly always in the right place.

I am not an Andrews basher - but thought he was possibly the weakest player - but still had a rasonable game working hard. Just hope we can get Grella, Dunn, Emo or Reid fully fit soon.

[Ossydave]

Diouf needs to concentrate on his game more than waving at fans and behaving like a circus act.

[Paul]

Not as many as i thought there would be but there were 2 sat directly in front of me towards the DE of the JW upper. Didn't disguise themselves very well - applauding the players, miming to Blue Moon and standing up and cheering when they scored the first. The old lady steward supervisor came over to them, asked if they were city fans and would they mind sitting down and not cheering again!! Unbelieveable they weren't thrown out. Things were said at half time to the stewards and eventually were asked to leave. Why this wasn't done straight away I don't know as surely they would have had an idea this would happen and would have had directives given to all the stewards.

Shocked. Might have to send my ST back in disgust

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

The spectre of Sam Allardyce has been hanging over this club since last summer. Part of the reason Ince was appointed was due to the omniprescent "anyone-but-Allardyce" vitriol at the time. I've no idea what Ince said or did in his interview to impress, but it's clear he was nowhere near ready for top flight football management (as should have been indicated during the coaching badges fiasco, but hindsight is 20/20). Regardless, Allardyce is here, and we are now being subject to the "style" of ugly, percentages football he has peddled throughout his career. Some fans are unhappy with this. Deal with it. Others are content to ignore it, kid themselves that it's not like that, the style is evolving, it's something more... I guess Bolton 2005 were a great team to watch?

The basis of this whole debate lies in Style vs Results. It appears that many fans would prefer to just have a simple scoreline in their favour on a Saturday, rather than be entertained by 90 minutes of skillful attacking play by professional footballers. Here's my key point - with this approach we will certainly not be good to watch, but also unlikely to get many scorelines in our favour. It's so outdated, one-dimensional and dependent on luck that I'm struggling to think of any Premier League teams who we will turn over. Other managers know Allardyce and know his approach, and given the weakness of our midfield teams will play through us, much like Man City yesterday. On the subject of the midfield:

Spencey - I am no fan of long ball football and would much rather us play some 'exciting' stuff - I must add that what I watched yesterday wasn't any different to the performances in Hughes's last season in charge.

The board will have been aware from the previous summer that Allardyce was not a widely popular appointment and to be honest, I am sure this is why season tickets have been reduced. Given that as a ST holder we are paying a pittance a game we can hardly complain - though we may not always appreciate what is on offer.

Whether you like it or not we are financially screwed and are punching above our weight. We still have an aging squad with plenty of average and deadwood players. None of which were purchased by Allardyce (perhaps Diouf - but that was needs must). The board have stitched him up with a smaller than expected transfer fund and wage reductions. He has been allowed to replace an £18 million forward with a £6million one and a £4 million defender (who we all thought was being paid for out of the villanueva money). The only other 'money' signing is Nzonzi for peanuts. He is then told there is no more money - How exactly is he supposed to strengthen the middle - with adequate quality?

The midfield has been a weak area for some time - an area that Hughes chose to ignore with his focus on spending our budget on strikers. There has neen no decent investment in the middle since the Souness era. As an aside is this due to Souness appreciating midfielders, Hughes strikers? In which case Allardyce should know a good defender!

As a whole Rovers fans will not accept direct, dull football for long. However in the present financial climate, without a new investor I think most appreciate that needs must and under Allardyce we will stay in the Prem. Hopefully when either wages are capped or an investor is found, we can rebuild and go back to arte et labore rather than the labore at the moment.

Untill then, cut Sam some slack. Get down to Ewood and support the boys through the sh1t times.

[RovertheHill]

In fairness that's because all the "highlight-worthy" chances were City's. I posed this question earlier and no-one replied - apart from Samba's header from a corner in the first half and the obligatory Roberts sitter in the second half, what chances did we have?

Click this link you'll be able to see. Maybe if you go to the next match you'll see for yourself too.

If you look at 2:01, 8:30, 8:48, 13:26, 16:29, 18:20, 24:44, 26:41, 27:18, 27:32, 31:52, 36:34, 36:53, 43:19, 43:50 you'll see the chances described

The second half wasn't as good as the first but you can see for yourself

[RevidgeBlue]

Spencey - I am no fan of long ball football and would much rather us play some 'exciting' stuff - I must add that what I watched yesterday wasn't any different to the performances in Hughes's last season in charge.

The board will have been aware from the previous summer that Allardyce was not a widely popular appointment and to be honest, I am sure this is why season tickets have been reduced. Given that as a ST holder we are paying a pittance a game we can hardly complain - though we may not always appreciate what is on offer.

Whether you like it or not we are financially screwed and are punching above our weight. We still have an aging squad with plenty of average and deadwood players. None of which were purchased by Allardyce (perhaps Diouf - but that was needs must). The board have stitched him up with a smaller than expected transfer fund and wage reductions. He has been allowed to replace an £18 million forward with a £6million one and a £4 million defender (who we all thought was being paid for out of the villanueva money). The only other 'money' signing is Nzonzi for peanuts. He is then told there is no more money - How exactly is he supposed to strengthen the middle - with adequate quality?

The midfield has been a weak area for some time - an area that Hughes chose to ignore with his focus on spending our budget on strikers. There has neen no decent investment in the middle since the Souness era. As an aside is this due to Souness appreciating midfielders, Hughes strikers? In which case Allardyce should know a good defender!

As a whole Rovers fans will not accept direct, dull football for long. However in the present financial climate, without a new investor I think most appreciate that needs must and under Allardyce we will stay in the Prem. Hopefully when either wages are capped or an investor is found, we can rebuild and go back to arte et labore rather than the labore at the moment.

Untill then, cut Sam some slack. Get down to Ewood and support the boys through the sh1t times.

Very good post, that's the best and most sensible defence of Sam on here I've seen. I'd forgotten about the Villenueva 5m. That's yet more money which had supposedly been set aside for transfers which vanished mysteriously into the ether.

I'd say it's unfair to blame Hughes for lack of midfielders, I'm sure over the years he would have loved to bring in the likes of Petrov and Huddlestone but I would wager the Board knocked him back for lack of funds.

[Paul]

The one thing that occurred to me after yesterday's game was that due to the way we play under Sam we rarely carve the opposition open and create gilt edged chances. The chances that come our way tend to be snap shot half chances and whoever plays up front will have to be a lot more clinical than yesterday.

Thanks Rev you've helped me realise what has been bothering me since full time about our game. I enjoyed the match, though once City scored I thought it was all over while still retaining the thought if we equalised we'd go on to win! Bizarre I know. I felt the team played well and to our strengths, trouble is those strengths are not spectacular and I disagree with those who feel we will win more than we lose playing like this. There was little wrong with the performance but it was very workmanlike and we do rely heavily on half chances without strikers of sufficient talent to put them away.

I've been surrpsied by fans refering to all the chances we created because I felt these were few and far between, I was going to argue the point earlier today until someone posted the statistic we had 19 shots / chances. This of course is the problem, one can make statistics prove anything one wishes. Revidge sums it up well, if we are getting the ball in the penalty area we will create chances of sorts, not very good ones but at least they create statistics! Trouble is we've been playing this way for a while, as our most creative players retire / get sold / lose form and it doesn't lead to winning football. Most teams will stop us scring because we lack guile and the ability to create the sort of chances Rev decsribes.

I wouldn't put too much hope on Di Santo / Kalinic because thay will have to be truely outstanding to score regularly from the opportunities our midfield "creates"

I watched the match on a poor quality big screen so picking out exactly who had the ball wasn't easy some of the time.Having said that overall I was impressed with the effort on show especially after going behind to such an early goal. The defence by and large was solid and because Nzonzi played a disciplined game in the defensive midfield role City very rarely got at our throats. I'm not bothered if he only passes it 10 yards as long as it goes to a blue and white shirt, how far did Makalele pass it ?

It's when we come to attacking play I have worries. We have nobody who can do what Ireland did at the death, run beyond the forwards and overload the opposition back four. Our wingers never get to the dead ball line, consequently all the crosses coming in are relatively easy to defend against. Our front two are not mobile enough to pull decent centre halves around, Roberts in particular is just not sharp enough, he needs six chances before he'll put one away and won't make six chances for him most games. Most of the time Toure simply ran along side him and just waited for the inevitable miscontrol of the ball. We do play the ball long too often, most of the time we're hoping for a kind bounce of the ball which yesterday we never got. In a sentence our attacking play is too obvious and predictable.

Until we can find a Berkovic, Bohinen even a Sherwood type player who can ask questions in midfield our style of play won't change.

Exactly right

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

I'd say it's unfair to blame Hughes for lack of midfielders, I'm sure over the years he would have loved to bring in the likes of Petrov and Huddlestone but I would wager the Board knocked him back for lack of funds.

.....Can't knock Hughes on his transfer record, as he had financial constraints as well...everyones frustration from manager to fans revolves around the lack of finances. Thinking about it, he brought Savage in as his talisman - but then undid all the good work by not replacing him!

[LDRover]

Diouf needs to concentrate on his game more than waving at fans and behaving like a circus act.

Exactly, couldn't agree more.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Lots of talk of the lack of imagination in our play - to an extent agree - but it is still early season and we are missing players like Dunn (who would add inventiveness) and Emerton (who would add pace), and Grella (would would add ? - not certain yet).

I was interested to see the Gally centre midfield cameo. Didn't influence the game hugely - but did try to hold the ball, create space and was always willing to take the ball. Not saying he is the answer - I have my doubts about him in a 4 man midfield - but probably worth further experiments (providing he isn't sold in the meantime).

[Kelbo]

Until we can find a Berkovic, Bohinen even a Sherwood type player who can ask questions in midfield our style of play won't change.(Quote)

But there are not many of them around now, who is there at the moment who can do that job and are available??

If we are able to Capture Salgado, I really think players of that quality can play most roles except striker, theyread the game well, have the experience and would be aware of what was required from them..

I would still give Pederson a CM role in this squad, freeing a wide position for player with some pace, which we are seriously lacking!!

Alternatively a 4 - 3 - 3 formation playing both Di Santo and Hoilett who are both reasonably quick!!

[Flopsy]

god, I miss Berkovich [drifts off into nostalgic slumber remembering that promotion year...]

Hey, positives

1) We're still above Burnley (bless you Alphabet);

2) We're not in the relegation zone;

3) I dont believe we played badly and can take a lot of positives from the game, if not the points; and

4) We could have got stuffed 1-6 at home.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I agree that creative attacking midfield players are hard to find but it's not impossible. Every World Cup throws up players from smaller nations who've got skill and work rate in abundance, weren't Palacios and Valencia first spotted that way. I know he's a centre half but Joseph Yobo was outstanding in the World cup before but it took a European club ages to make a bid for him.

I don't know every player out there, I'm not a professional scout, what I do know is that there are skillfu midfield players out there.

On the subject of giving Pedersen a whirl in central midfield, why not ? He's a good athlete, he can get up and down. His lack of acceleration won't be as obvious in midfield. He's got two good feet, a good touch and he can spot a pass. Is Andrews really going to be better ? But why didn't we try it in training or a pre season friendly first ?

Most of the old timers on here will remember how Jack Marshall had so much success with " Marshalls Missfits ". He turned Pickering From a reserve full back into the top centre forward of the day. As well he moved McEvoy from a reserve midfielder into a striker who could top the goalscoring charts with the likes of Law and Greaves. We never seem to try these things today.

[spencey7]

Spencey - I am no fan of long ball football and would much rather us play some 'exciting' stuff [rest of post removed to avoid excessive quoting!]

Thanks for your intelligent and articulate response Wing Wizard; it's reassuring to know that there are some who can still reply in such a way on this forum, as opposed to the Allardyce diciples who favour personal insults.

Interesting point that you make about Allardyce-brand football being the reason for the reduced price of season tickets. Makes sense.

Yes we are punching above our weight, that much is clear. But we shouldn't have to resort to the ugliest possible approach to football. There are teams around us who have operated on a similarly limited budget yet still manage to "entertain" more than we do (West Ham, Fulham, Wigan). Under Allardyce we don't even try. It's lowest common denominator football; archaic, out-dated and (for the most part) ineffective.

I don't believe that Allardyce has been "stitched up", there should be no room for miscommunication between a manager and a chairman with regards to the funds available to strengthen the squad. The midfield should have been made THE priority after the signing of a Roque replacement, and it hasn't been. I'm not solely blaming Allardyce for this, it's clear that the club's owners want to keep taking money out, but they should be convinced that the signing of a central-midfield player for a few million could pay for itself by our finishing further up the league.

I'm so sick of hearing that "the players aren't out there", when they ARE. Other clubs find them, and we apparently have a "vast scouting network". A vast scouting network so efficient that we've signed Elrio Van Heerden (who I am positive will be as effective as Rigters), and had to rely on Portsmouth finding our "big-name striker". I can't blame Allardyce for signing Keith Andrews - but I can blame him for turning down Fulham's offer, and his subsequent new contract.

As a whole Rovers fans will not accept direct, dull football for long.

I desperately, desperately hope so. But I'm genuinely concerned about the praise being showered upon the team (and especially Allardyce) after that first game - we were simply nowhere near good enough. I must have missed the memo which dictated that Allardyce should be absolved from all criticism, but I cannot pretend I think it's okay for us (or any team) to play like that.

Click this link you'll be able to see. Maybe if you go to the next match you'll see for yourself too.

If you look at 2:01, 8:30, 8:48, 13:26, 16:29, 18:20, 24:44, 26:41, 27:18, 27:32, 31:52, 36:34, 36:53, 43:19, 43:50 you'll see the chances described

Laughable, absolutely laughable.

Some of those "chances" are Shay Given catching corners! You're absolutely right, why on EARTH wouldn't they show those magic moments on Match of the Day??

Pull your head out of the sand.

[thenodrog]

In fairness that's because all the "highlight-worthy" chances were City's. I posed this question earlier and no-one replied - apart from Samba's header from a corner in the first half and the obligatory Roberts sitter in the second half, what chances did we have?

Better ask Given hadn't you?

[Amo]

Stop quoting Spencey. Some of us have him on ignore for a reason.

[thenodrog]

Spencey - I am no fan of long ball football and would much rather us play some 'exciting' stuff - I must add that what I watched yesterday wasn't any different to the performances in Hughes's last season in charge.

The board will have been aware from the previous summer that Allardyce was not a widely popular appointment and to be honest, I am sure this is why season tickets have been reduced. Given that as a ST holder we are paying a pittance a game we can hardly complain - though we may not always appreciate what is on offer.

Whether you like it or not we are financially screwed and are punching above our weight. We still have an aging squad with plenty of average and deadwood players. None of which were purchased by Allardyce (perhaps Diouf - but that was needs must). The board have stitched him up with a smaller than expected transfer fund and wage reductions. He has been allowed to replace an £18 million forward with a £6million one and a £4 million defender (who we all thought was being paid for out of the villanueva money). The only other 'money' signing is Nzonzi for peanuts. He is then told there is no more money - How exactly is he supposed to strengthen the middle - with adequate quality?

The midfield has been a weak area for some time - an area that Hughes chose to ignore with his focus on spending our budget on strikers. There has neen no decent investment in the middle since the Souness era. As an aside is this due to Souness appreciating midfielders, Hughes strikers? In which case Allardyce should know a good defender!

As a whole Rovers fans will not accept direct, dull football for long. However in the present financial climate, without a new investor I think most appreciate that needs must and under Allardyce we will stay in the Prem. Hopefully when either wages are capped or an investor is found, we can rebuild and go back to arte et labore rather than the labore at the moment.

Untill then, cut Sam some slack. Get down to Ewood and support the boys through the sh1t times.

Bugger off wwwm! He might end up with a near me! He's better cooped up in a dingy room somewhere miles away with his laptop.

[ROVERS]

After this match........

the golden question to answer. Why would we need a creative midfield???? if the system do not require 1.........

we actually do need better crossing from our defenders hahahaha our attacking approach bypass the entire midfield, even the wingers are not spare

Just admit that we only need a no nonsense midfielder that clear up the mess in the middle of the park, a mescherano type of player. The salgado thingy is making perfect sense now. To put a beast in the middle of the park.

MGP will be the first choice left winger because of his throws, a bonus!

Warnock would be sold, cause we don't need his attacking surge up front anymore.

Roberts and kalinic would be our first choice strikers.

Its a simple formula, classic percentage football. As fans we just need to pray for lucks!

I am not complaining

[thenodrog]

.....Can't knock Hughes on his transfer record, as he had financial constraints as well...everyones frustration from manager to fans revolves around the lack of finances. Thinking about it, he brought Savage in as his talisman - but then undid all the good work by not replacing him!

Makes me wonder where we'd be without the money that Hughes generated. But in general what a shambles the Prem league has become when even though most clubs income is way in excess of a massive £50m pa the clubs are either consigned to an annual relegation battle or to an existence of being way over their heads under the burden of massive debt. Unfortunately both ways provide serious threats to the very existence of the football club.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

There are teams around us who have operated on a similarly limited budget yet still manage to "entertain" more than we do (West Ham, Fulham, Wigan).

Must take issue there: West Ham had a billionaire owner and spent big until the credit crisis, Fulham have always been subsidised by Al Fayed (Andy Johnson) (in for Crouch this season) no need to sell star players to generate funds. Wigan have Wheelan who seems happy to bank roll if neccessary.

To be fair there's probably only Burnley with less financial clout than us - apparently they play good football, do you think they will stay up?

I don't believe that Allardyce has been "stitched up", there should be no room for miscommunication between a manager and a chairman with regards to the funds available to strengthen the squad.

So if we hadn't sold Cruz and Derbyshire, what was Sam's transfer budget then?

I can't blame Allardyce for signing Keith Andrews - but I can blame him for turning down Fulham's offer, and his subsequent new contract. LOL

I desperately, desperately hope so. But I'm genuinely concerned about the praise being showered upon the team (and especially Allardyce) after that first game - we were simply nowhere near good enough.

It WAS bettter than last year though!

Bugger off wwwm! He might end up with a near me! He's better cooped up in a dingy room somewhere miles away with his laptop.

Nah, there's no tickets left!

But in general what a shambles the Prem league has become when even though most clubs income is way in excess of a massive £50m pa the clubs are either consigned to an annual relegation battle or to an existence of being way over their heads under the burden of massive debt. Unfortunately both ways provide serious threats to the very existence of the football club.

Couldn't agree more.

[Kelbo]

West Ham ???

Has no one read todays papers, Zola walking out as he has to sell all his top players, immediately!!!!!

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

West Ham ???

Has no one read todays papers, Zola walking out as he has to sell all his top players, immediately!!!!!

Ooh lets offer 2 sheckles and a groat for Mark Noble then.

They still spent far more than us over the lst 3-4 seasons see January/Summer 07 below- I did say prior to credit crunch

Scott Parker (Newcastle, £7m)

Richard Wright (Everton, free)

Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United, 6m)

Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal, 3m)

()

Julien Faubert (Bordeaux, £6.1m)

Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, £7.5m)

Nolberto Solano (Newcastle United, undisclosed)

Teddy Sheringham (Colchester, released)

Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, £8.5m)

Matthew Upson (Birmingham, £6m rising to £7.5m)

Nigel Quashie (West Brom, £1.5m)

Calum Davenport (Tottenham, £2m)

Kepa Blanco (Sevilla, loan)

Luis Boa Morte (Fulham, £5m)

[American]

Put in a bid for Parker!