[Archived] Sunderland Preview

[Bobby G]

Nope it was Robinson.

[waggy]

watched the game on saturday and if any game was proof % football is the wrong way off doing things this was it,how did we lose,we had 10 corners to sunderlands none.the reason is we don't have the players to play the lardarse way,how roberts was on the pitch before benny is beyond me.samba seems to be suffering from the colin hendry syndrome,after being thrown up front last season and agian on the 1st game of the season,he seems to have forgotten how to defend.

this time last year we had 4 points,now were 6 behind burnley,sort it out lardarse

[thenodrog]

1864 - if only I'd known. I was waiting in the car park at the Bull at Broughton, just outside Skipton for my son to meet me - he was stuck in a jam between Clitheroe and Gisburn. He eventually got there at 12.50 and we made it to the game 90 seconds late. I had three spare seats and must have virtually driven past you

Sounds like an advert for Blackberrys.

[CrazyIvan]

watched the game on saturday and if any game was proof % football is the wrong way off doing things this was it,how did we lose,we had 10 corners to sunderlands none.the reason is we don't have the players to play the lardarse way,how roberts was on the pitch before benny is beyond me.samba seems to be suffering from the colin hendry syndrome,after being thrown up front last season and agian on the 1st game of the season,he seems to have forgotten how to defend.

this time last year we had 4 points,now were 6 behind burnley,sort it out lardarse

I'm getting really tired of 'lardarse' from you Waggy. I wish you'd just give it up.

[thenodrog]

watched the game on saturday and if any game was proof % football is the wrong way off doing things this was it,how did we lose,we had 10 corners to sunderlands none.the reason is we don't have the players to play the lardarse way,how roberts was on the pitch before benny is beyond me.samba seems to be suffering from the colin hendry syndrome,after being thrown up front last season and agian on the 1st game of the season,he seems to have forgotten how to defend.

this time last year we had 4 points,now were 6 behind burnley,sort it out lardarse

Listening to Radio Lancs and in the 1st half Roberts was supposedly dominating the centre halves and causing them all sorts of problems. Bruce falling out with Collins very publically backs this up.

[brfcs5359]

Tonyoz's stats could be used by Jonnolad as some a weak defence of Keith Andrews as he made the most passes and had the highest pass success rate of any of the midfielders. Jonnolad is right that in that if Sam was not happy if Andrews he has now had near enough two transfer windows to replace him but if he rates highly as a midfielder then why did he spend the back end of last season being our reserve right back?

The debate about Andrews is fine but I'm afraid that is only part of the problem with Rovers at present. Bigger questions that need answering are:-

i. Are there no barn doors at Brockhall so our forwards could practice hitting them because at present it appears three of them could not hit one from a yard!

ii. Our defence has started making sloppy mistakes again.

iii. Teams have time to defend against Rovers because we aren't attacking quick enough. There is no pace in the entire team and no vision in the middle of the park as a result when we attack it is slow so the opponents aren't stretched. They just fall back into formation.

iv. Midfield as a unit is weak. Andrews and an untried 20 year old is nowhere near good enough at Premiership level. We could probably carry either of them with a decent midfielder along side but we have no money to buy one. I know Warnock is being sacrificed for the money but it is alarming that it was thought these two plus the cast of Casualty would stand up to the rigours of Premiership football. With the players available at present I suspect the only way Rovers can compete in this department is to put a third body into centre midfield and sacrifice a forward.

Fantastic post. Spot on. Keith Andrews is 1 of 11 (or more).

Sunderland are pants as I said last week. Bent was non existent as usual. This should have been three points. We switched off twice in a schoolboy manner and gave them both goals. Roberts and McCarthy's movement/lack of pace is alarming. Roberts should play without boots, they are clearly affecting his touch and shooting.

[spencey7]

Made it to Sunderland on Saturday. I wouldn't describe the omens as "positive", put it like that. If evidence were ever needed that Allardyce tactics are outdated and ineffective in 2009, then look no further than that game.

[AggyBlue]

how roberts was on the pitch before benny is beyond me.

I agree with that point waggy.

If we are looking to pounce on knockdowns in the box, Benni is the better option for me too.

[Exiled in Toronto]

In the two matches so far, Adebayor and Jones finished their chances off with aplomb. We need to see some quality from our own strikers soon.

On a related point, here is a scary set of statistics?

These are the percentages of successful midfield passes in the Sunderland game:

player (no. of passes) % success

Pedersen (27) 49

N'Zonzi (33) 52

Andrews (37) 62

Diouf (19) 53

It doesn't look like an abundance of chances are coming from this direction.

The game was shown on tape delay here yesterday so I decided to just watch Pedersen's contribution as I was just not seeing all this 'he's getting back to his best' that others seem to.

Can't comment on his off-the-ball activities, it being tv, but I think we all agree they are usually good. But as to his on-the-ball contribution for the first 55 mins until I had to go out, here it is:

Didn't beat his man once - didn't try actually

2 crosses from open play, both miles from any Rovers player

No tackles successfully made

5 shots, one weak one on target, 4 sailed over the bar

7 throw-ins and only one reached a Rovers player - and that went for a goal kick off Samba's back. Fearsome weapon we have there

1 header that weakly fell to a Sunderland player - from which we did not touch the ball again until Robbo picked the winner out of his net

4 corners, one reached a Rovers head

Since I think he got worse for the rest of the match, this is depressing stuff, especially as we will play plenty of teams better than Sunderland. I might watch it again and track Diouff as I don't buy him being worthy of a place either. We need players who are good at their primary role, not in the team because they track back or bait the opposition. The only player yesterday who earned his spot for me was Givet; everyone else either didn't contribute or made some horrendous errors

[spencey7]

The game was shown on tape delay here yesterday so I decided to just watch Pedersen's contribution as I was just not seeing all this 'he's getting back to his best' that others seem to.

The game certainly was depressing stuff Exiled, but I'm afraid I have to disagree re:Pedersen - I thought he was our best player by a country mile on Saturday.

[Exiled in Toronto]

The game certainly was depressing stuff Exiled, but I'm afraid I have to disagree re:Pedersen - I thought he was our best player by a country mile on Saturday.

Maybe so, but not as being a winger

[tcj_jones]

Eh? What really was he supposed to do, he was close to the edge of his area anyway which is where he should've been considering how high up the pitch the ball was. We'd have been moaning even more if Robbo had stood on his line like a lemon and just waited for Jones to come. Not sure why Samba tried to kick it when a head would've been much better.

Firstly, most probably don't know that I really like Robbo and am not usually critical of him. Second, I'm not gonna pretend that the goal was primarily Samba's fault for missing the ball completely and Nelsen's for being too far ahead of the rest of the back four and giving Jones space to run into.

However, Robinson was also partially at fault and was lucky not to be sent off IMO. Having played in goal most of my life prior to injury, my personal preference was to always have a starting position very close to my goal line as it's always easier to come forward than to track back. Rather than steaming out at break-neck pace to the edge of the box, he should have held back and given himself a chance in a one on one situation. He was lucky not to make contact, which he could have easily done, and also allowed Jones to just dink the ball around him. Don't make too much of this criticism though as, either way, it almost certainly would have been a goal and Samba was the one most at fault.

EDIT: Also, can people please stop quoting Jonnolad! It makes the ignore facility pointless!

[spencey7]

Maybe so, but not as being a winger

Not really his fault, Allardyce's tactics don't involve wide men playing as "wingers". Getting to the byline is not the priority, their remit is to get the ball into the opposition box as early as possible. It was similarly employed by Bolton and Newcastle during Allardyce's tenure.

[Parsonblue]

And with better finishing on Saturday spencey7, those tactics would have brought us a victory. I think the first two games have given us much to be encouraged about with regard to the season. It was interesting listening to Roy Hodgson, who has far more resources available to him than ourselves, state that his main aim is to retain Premier League status. I suspect that is true of three quarters of the teams in the Premier League. On the evidence of the first two games, when, with better finishing we would have taken something from each of them, there is no reason to suggest that we will fail to retain our Premier League status. Indeed, once we get Emerton, Grella, Dunn and Reid fit the manager is going to have a decent squad from which to select.

If Warnock goes, and Sam is given the money, I feel sure that he will have a couple of new players in mind to bring into the squad.

I really can't understand why people are depressed by the first two outings. I think we have been deseperately unlucky not to have three points or four points on the board at this stage. I've seen far worse teams represent Blackburn Rovers in the past than this present one.

[Amo]

People sound very quick to dissect our tactics, but the decider on Saturday was not the tactics but rather the lack of finishing and bloopers at the back. Still not overly convinced by Robinson. I think he's okay, but rarely top-drawer. He made it easy for Kenwyne Jones, and did the same for Stephen Ireland last week. This is by no means absolving Samba of his part on Saturday. He put the pressure on the keeper in the first place.

[waggy]

Listening to Radio Lancs and in the 1st half Roberts was supposedly dominating the centre halves and causing them all sorts of problems. Bruce falling out with Collins very publically backs this up.

i listened to scumley 2nd half on radio burnley and they could not see any empty seats,so thats your point out of the window,btw you could have come and had a pint with me

[Hughesy]

Made it to Sunderland on Saturday. I wouldn't describe the omens as "positive", put it like that. If evidence were ever needed that Allardyce tactics are outdated and ineffective in 2009, then look no further than that game.

Utter garbage (your post) - Had we taken our chances and had abit more luck, we would of come home with a 5 or 6-2 win. Or do you blame Sam for missing them chances too?? Bruce admitted we battered them, MOTD admitted it and so did just about every media person there - is it Sam's fault we had goals disallowed, hit the bar & also missed some clear chances?!

I really can't understand why people are depressed by the first two outings. I think we have been deseperately unlucky not to have three points or four points on the board at this stage. I've seen far worse teams represent Blackburn Rovers in the past than this present one.

Me too - We saw much worse for the first half of last season, and also for the last half of the season when Hughes left us.

[waggy]

hughsey both them posters made the match,your spoilt on here you should be doing pr for gary glitter/or some other serial killer,your positivity should be bottled and sold

Very early days yet but it's galling to see Ghilas looking so sharp for Hull and Kalinic so inept. We were a midges d1ck off signing Ghilas apparently. Alos even more galling was Kenwyn Jones scoring their goals when he might well have been playing in blue and white.

btw Di Santo's injury looked like a hamstring.... any news on that and how long he is likely to be out?

why was the reason we did not sign ghilas,i was told the board refused to sanction the deal

[waggy]

BLOODY HELL PEOPLE GET A FRIGGIN GRIP WE PLAYED 2 (TWO) THATS RIGHT 2 GAMES !!!!!!!

and lost two

There is a parallel here that is quite close to home for us imo. Colin Hendry was a decent centre half who like to rampage forward at every opportunity until KMD came and told him to stop charging forward and to concentrate solely on defending and nothing else.... and he turned him into one of the best CH's inn the Premiere league!

Maybe Samba's concentration is being compromised by his wanderlust, and he is being over exposed by quick breaks from opposing teams.

###### tnd i thought you knew nought about football

[super_arran]

The game was shown on tape delay here yesterday so I decided to just watch Pedersen's contribution as I was just not seeing all this 'he's getting back to his best' that others seem to.

Can't comment on his off-the-ball activities, it being tv, but I think we all agree they are usually good. But as to his on-the-ball contribution for the first 55 mins until I had to go out, here it is:

Didn't beat his man once - didn't try actually

2 crosses from open play, both miles from any Rovers player

No tackles successfully made

5 shots, one weak one on target, 4 sailed over the bar

7 throw-ins and only one reached a Rovers player - and that went for a goal kick off Samba's back. Fearsome weapon we have there

1 header that weakly fell to a Sunderland player - from which we did not touch the ball again until Robbo picked the winner out of his net

4 corners, one reached a Rovers head

Since I think he got worse for the rest of the match, this is depressing stuff, especially as we will play plenty of teams better than Sunderland. I might watch it again and track Diouff as I don't buy him being worthy of a place either. We need players who are good at their primary role, not in the team because they track back or bait the opposition. The only player yesterday who earned his spot for me was Givet; everyone else either didn't contribute or made some horrendous errors

Don't suppose you were watching for Pedersen's positive contributions?....

How's that glass lookin? half empty?

[T4E]

I'm getting really tired of 'lardarse' from you Waggy. I wish you'd just give it up.

Everytime someone responds to him we get further away from him giving it up.

[Mike Graham]

Everytime someone responds to him we get further away from him giving it up.

use "ignore"

[thenodrog]

Firstly, most probably don't know that I really like Robbo and am not usually critical of him. Second, I'm not gonna pretend that the goal was primarily Samba's fault for missing the ball completely and Nelsen's for being too far ahead of the rest of the back four and giving Jones space to run into.

However, Robinson was also partially at fault and was lucky not to be sent off IMO. Having played in goal most of my life prior to injury, my personal preference was to always have a starting position very close to my goal line as it's always easier to come forward than to track back. Rather than steaming out at break-neck pace to the edge of the box, he should have held back and given himself a chance in a one on one situation.

How many times did Brad save us in those situations? Instead of dashing headlong out and committing himself he usually stood his ground with his long arms trailing and made the striker work to get past him.

[Amo]

use "ignore"

Doesn't work. People continue to quote him...

[BuckyRover]

How constructive? Brad wouldn't have made half of those saves that Robbo made against Wigan last season. Plus he's ten years younger. Great piece of business, move on.