[Archived] Blackburn Vs. Peterbrough Preview

[CrazyIvan]

Just to add - if Reid could get back to some form and fitness he would walk into that midfield.

and if Benni could display the qualities that he did in the second half, on a regular basis what a difference he could make to the squad. There are very few better strikers in the Prem, and there's certainly no-one better in our squad than Benni when he's up for it.

I completely agree with you. Reid, fully fit and up to pace, would be a huge asset to us at the moment. Benni is magnificent and infuriating in equal measure at times. Yesterday he was excellent.

[den]

Reid disappeared under our stand when he scored - where, or to whom did he go?

[LeChuck]

I think a few people commented (with distinctly snide tones) about Sam not being visible during the game, and not doing interviews pre and post match. Here is the explanation.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

The physio/fitness guys.

[tonygreenbank]

Not quite sure where to put this but some people do need to take note. I always park my car at the Manxman and walk down but after last nights game may have to reconsider. 5 cars had their windows smashed and one of them was mine a brand new Hyundai i30. It has cost me £210 to put right today.2 unmarked police cars pulled with the autocrime team in "street" clothing to pursue their enquiries.A reminder to not leave anything visible. I had a phone charger cable in the well and they said that would alert them to possible "swag!" One couple from darwen had 3 of their windows smashed. The drive home in the rain was not pleasant! Thank goodness we won!

[Tom]

Apart from tracking back, working hard, scoring a goal, getting some good crosses in, last ditch challenges to stop an attack, covering for the left back, Linking up well with players on his side of the pitch? What did he also do well?

Winning a penalty with clever running and persistance

[Hughesy]

And missed a sitter!! although to be fair he got in the correct position to start with (Did Junior set that up?)

[Quack]

Reid disappeared under our stand when he scored - where, or to whom did he go?

He headed straight to Dave Fevre, the physio.

[92er]

I wonder if that record rivals Ossies old one at Spurs?

Hey-welcome back!!

[mellison24]

look i don't have time with numpties like you. So what if i make a slight spelling mistake or GRAMMAR mistake now and again, at least my posts are worth while!

Anyway moving onto last nights game,

Not a bad display from the lads, good to see Reidy and Kalinc get on the scoresheet. Emerton looks like he's nearly back to full fitness, which is a plus and i thought Salgado had a good game.

Lets hope for another home draw in the quarters!!!

'worth while' is actually one word....

[Rover9]

must be deaf ,hand on heart i never heard any...heard comments like ,oh no,why etc but never any boos.

I have got to agree, I sit at the back of N01 and didnt hear any boo's there was even a couple of lads getting a Keith Andrews chant going.

[roversmum]

I see Chelsea are continuing their run and have whopped Bolton 4-0. Also, Santa Cruz has got his first goal for City in their 5-1 win against Scunthorpe, and it's Arse 2 Poo 1.

[Al]

look i don't have time with numpties like you. So what if i make a slight spelling mistake or GRAMMAR mistake now and again, at least my posts are worth while!

Anyway moving onto last nights game,

Not a bad display from the lads, good to see Reidy and Kalinc get on the scoresheet. Emerton looks like he's nearly back to full fitness, which is a plus and i thought Salgado had a good game.

Lets hope for another home draw in the quarters!!!

I don't really have a problem with spelling mistakes but 'of' instead of 'have' has been repeated so many times that it was beginning to get on my wick. The mis-spelling of 'Grammar' I must admit was a bit mischievious but I do have a sense of humour and I couldn't resist the reply. Sorry if I upset you but it was too good to miss. Yes your posts are worthwhile and I promise I'll behave in the future if you don't use 'of' instead of 'have'.

[Tom]

I have got to agree, I sit at the back of N01 and didnt hear any boo's there was even a couple of lads getting a Keith Andrews chant going.

The lads seemd to be trying to get the chant going in retaliation to the boo's.

I'm in N01 and there was quite a few people booing him when he got the ball every time

[Miker]

Do you ever take off your MGP-tinted specs and wonder why the majority of Rovers fans think Pedersen is not good enough? Is it perhaps because he just isn't and you cannot see what everyone else sees?

I would love for him to get back to the Pedersen of 3-4 years ago, but he's had more than enough chances and still turns out the same dirge week-in, week-out. He's not alone in not being good enough though - stand up Messrs. Andrews and Roberts ....

Hoilett had an average first half, but got better as the game wore on.

While I don't think Andrews and Roberts are very good and agree that Pedersen is inconsistent, I find it baffling that people have these opinions of players not being good enough and that they should be sent on their way as soon as possible. In Andrews we have last year's top scoring midfielder in our team (4), in Pedersen we have our player with the most assists (8) and Roberts was our 2nd best scorer after McCarthy (7).

It might be depressing to know that they were our best lot in terms of attacking options, but this was the case last season, and to say we need to get rid of them is pointless and completely illogical. We simply do not have the resources to replace them.

[Steve Moss]

Miker, I understand your point. But the issue is not whether they are amongst the top that our team has to offer. Per lst year's stats they are, a depressing thought. The real issues are whether: 1) we can improve upon them if we were to free up their wages and maybe get something from them in transfer fees; and, 2) keeping them on the books (i.e. maintaining status quo) will help ensure long term viability in the Premier League. No. 1 is "maybe" and No. 2 is "no". If those assumptions are correct, we have to try to sell and improve as doing nothing is a disaster waiting.

[Miker]

Miker, I understand your point. But the issue is not whether they are amongst the top that our team has to offer. Per lst year's stats they are, a depressing thought. The real issues are whether: 1) we can improve upon them if we were to free up their wages and maybe get something from them in transfer fees; and, 2) keeping them on the books (i.e. maintaining status quo) will help ensure long term viability in the Premier League. No. 1 is "maybe" and No. 2 is "no". If those assumptions are correct, we have to try to sell and improve as doing nothing is a disaster waiting.

My argument though is that they're not completely useless and while I agree they have struggled this season especially against better opposition, they do seem to do considerably better in league cup matches, as well as teams that should be in and around us come the end of the season. I would be in complete agreement with most people on this if these players truly did show that they are completely useless week in and week out, but I just don't see that. Every team has these sort of problems. I remember Agbonlahor was in super form at the start of last season and then went on a barren run for I don't know how long and I'm betting some of the Villa fans were calling for his head by then, but go into this season and he's again scoring once per game.

At the moment we simply cannot afford to buy anyone, so this means either frees or loans. Who is currently available that can replace Andrews, Pedersen or Roberts that will also provide us at least 5 goals or assists by the end of the season?

In response to your 2nd point, are you saying that if we keep Pedersen, Andrews and Roberts in the team we will go down? Because I don't believe that. I don't even think we'll be struggling to avoid relegation come the end of the season. The panickers on this board have had huge overreactions to a few away losses against superior opposition, one of them where we gave a decent account of ourselves (Arsenal) and happily disregard the fact that we've also won 3 quite convincingly and were unlucky to lose 2 at the start of the season. This is with the players we currently have, so no I don't agree with your 2nd point and I do believe we can maintain our place in the Premier League and can achieve a mid-table position quite comfortably.

[Steve Moss]

. . . In response to your 2nd point, are you saying that if we keep Pedersen, Andrews and Roberts in the team we will go down? Because I don't believe that. . .

I don't believe that we will go down this year, either. With the current squad, we should be mid-table. Which is why I stated "long term viability". What grates on me is that we could be better than mid-table club if we had a stronger mid-field. If that's correct, Pedersen and Andrews have to go.

Added to that, I do not think that Pedersen and Andrews are the long term future of the club. They will not improve with time and their value on the market will only decrease as time goes on. If we are going to maximize they're value on the market, we need to sell in January. Otherwise we will be in the exact same place next year, with fewer assets available to us to get out of the fix we're in.

Pedersen has no value to us next summer as his contract expires, unless we want to renew it. I don't think renewing Pedersen's contract is a good idea. Until January, he's playing for a new contract. After January, if he thinks he's done as a Rover come summer, he'll be focused on finding himself a new club. To get decent wages at the new club he will have to leave us with a good season under his belt. Otherwise, he will be going down the football food chain rather than maintaining his place. This should be a big motivator to get him to perform. Give him a contract and he'll become complacent.

As to Andrews, I admire the man. He stays fit, shows up to play and does his best. But he is not a first string EPL midfielder and will not develop into a first string EPL midfielder. And if we can't buy the finished article, we need to buy someone who Sam can develop into the finished article.

I'm not an agent or an expert footballer. But I have to believe that we can get a couple of talented, experienced (Championship or overseas) 20-24 year olds for the sale value of Pedersen and Andrews, get similar performance out of them, and reduce the wage bill at the same time. This is a critical point as we are still 5 million over budget, if the reports are right about were a large portion of Warnock's fee went. Do we really want to maintain the status quo and be in the hole 5 million a year? I don't, especially as we aren't getting a lot of quality for the price.

[gumboots]

I'm not an agent or an expert footballer. But I have to believe that we can get a couple of talented, experienced (Championship or overseas) 20-24 year olds for the sale value of Pedersen and Andrews, get similar performance out of them, and reduce the wage bill at the same time.

Do you actually know what Championship players are going for nowadays? Even getting in some cash for Pedersen, it would I suspect take double what we would get to replace him even to buy a fairly inexperienced player. And with the pound/euro relationship it's no longer cheap to buy from one of the more established leagues abroad. There may still be value to be had but it's harder and harder to find and even fairly cheap players expect biggish wages. We cannot afford to get it wrong and find ourselves with another player who needs a six month or more period to acclimatise to the premier league, costing us money we can't afford and wages we shouldn't be paying

[ABBEY]

The lads seemd to be trying to get the chant going in retaliation to the boo's.

I'm in N01 and there was quite a few people booing him when he got the ball every time

im with rover9 im in n01 and only heard is name sang to robin hood.

[Hughesy]

Im in N02 at the back and heard very little either

[Messi422]

Any video highlights?

[Hughesy]

Try bbc iplayer - football league cup show

[arachnica]

Any video highlights?

Should do it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/8330696.stm

[den]

Im in N02 at the back and heard very little either

The booing was clear enough from the JW upper.