[Archived] Rovers V Stoke

[Amo]

Simply switching back to 4-4-2 won't solve our problems.

Which is exactly the point I made when someone suggested we throw on Kalinic. Unless there's someone to create chances in the first place, changing our personnel up front wouldn't matter!

4-5-1 home or away is nothing to sneer at, provided you have the players and the organisation to play it effectively. Unfortunately it hasn't worked for us in the last few games, and like you said the much heralded 4-4-2 wasn't much better.

The problem is our lack of inspiration in the middle or out-wide whenever Dunn is unavailable/off-form.

[Shabani]

It's hard for us to have a go at the team when we had numerous chances, saw our best player go off early and don't have our manager on the touchline. If we'd have won that 1-0, which could very easily have happened people would be singing our praises, but 0-0 seems to have made people flip

We don't have the best squad, we rely on one player and have our manager 'out injured'. ideally i'd love to be higher than 12th but we should appreciate that with the little money we have a position in the centre of the best league in the country is not bad going

[John]

No need to get the violins out, but need to take into account, 3 games in 6 days is quite tough going especially with 2 of them being away, and the players coming back early hours of Thursday morning etc.

I am not agreeing with some of the decisions being made, but def a massive over reaction by some.

[super_arran]

I wonder if we are Exiled Rover. Grella was abysmal. He can't pass a ball very well, he can't tackle and he can't get near the opposition. All in my opinion of course. With him and KA in the side, we wouldn't get out of the championship.

EDIT: see Roverthehill's post above. Posted the same time as me.

No offence but did you watch the game with your eyes shut and a bag on your head?

Grella can't pass or tackle??? Have you been sniffing glue?

i'm not saying he was amazing, but he was by no means absysmal.

Seems like you have a hatred of all things Ince related

[grizfoot]

Come on, Grella was involved in the game all the time whereas Keef did his usual "standing in space so I won't have to tackle anybody" routine. He spent teh first half marking the referee.

Keef doesn't give the ball away much because he doesn't have it much....and he should be involved more than anybody in his position.

If your happy with Andrews every week then you'll have to be happy in the Championship.

Please WATCH THE GAME, NOT THE BALL. then you will see why he gets so much abuse.

As for 1 good pass in 90 minutes, that speaks for itself doesn't it.

I don't beleive he was injured, but if he is I hope it's serious/terminal.

Yes I'd agree Grella was involved more in the game, his style of play is to press the opponents and put tackles in. He does add that to our game but his total lack of pace and tendancy to lose possession in bad postions could have very well cost us today. I'd argue this is a much greater sin than Andrews infrequent but accurate passes.

I've never stated that I'm happy that Andrews is in the starting line-up because on overall performance he's of low Premiership standard and we really could do with a better quality player in central midfield alongside Nzonzi. But of the current players at our disposal we currentley don't have anyone better than Keef in my opinion.

It was one good pass in 45 minutes actually, he came off at half-time today. If you add that to a similiar pass against Fulham, he's actually created two very good one-on-one chances for Di Santo in the last two games. Which isn't bad for a player who's supposedly meant to be the worst player ever according to some people. I must admit I'm not a fan of his defending style, he does seem to deploy the ol' handing waving routine whilst not actually putting any tackles in but he does at least work-hard at tracking back. I just think all this Andrews bashing is getting a little tedious, I could understand people highlighting the poor parts of his play but then to totally disregard anything he does well just makes me think people have got some sort of personal vendetta against Keef.

[super_arran]

I think we are a very, very poor team/squad.

Management are poor.I cannot see anything but grief for the rest of the season.

Whose fault it is I don't know but we'll be lucky to stay up.

Even if season tickets remain low price for next season, who is going to buy them to watch such rubbish?

Me for one, because I support the team no matter how they play. Good, bad, ugly or all three in the same game.

I'm a Rovers supporter (you might wanna look that word up)

If watching attractive football is essential to you being a supporter; then there's a team in London that play some great stuff week in week out.

[philipl]

McDonald talked himself out of contention if anything were to happen to Big Sam, that's for sure.

[cletus]

......has it finished yet?

What was the score?

I must`ve fallen asleep

I remember coming through the turnstiles, then waking up in a cold dark ground & everyone had gone home

I caught the end of x-factor though!

[RovertheHill]

No offence but did you watch the game with your eyes shut and a bag on your head?

Grella can't pass or tackle??? Have you been sniffing glue?

i'm not saying he was amazing, but he was by no means absysmal.

Seems like you have a hatred of all things Ince related

Grella is better than Keith but he needs lots of time on the ball and is too slow. Nothing to do with Ince.

[Plastic Head]

Even as a joke thats a disgrace mate, no need for it. However bad you may think he is there's no need to hate on him on a personal level.

This is a football messageboard not Prime Ministers Questions.

We're not dealing with the death of a monarch or the collapse of the pound, it's just banter.

Boo the villain and cheer the heros.

Get real and chill.

[Seedstral]

Come on, Grella was involved in the game all the time whereas Keef did his usual "standing in space so I won't have to tackle anybody" routine. He spent teh first half marking the referee.

Keef doesn't give the ball away much because he doesn't have it much....and he should be involved more than anybody in his position.

If your happy with Andrews every week then you'll have to be happy in the Championship.

Please WATCH THE GAME, NOT THE BALL. then you will see why he gets so much abuse.

As for 1 good pass in 90 minutes, that speaks for itself doesn't it.

I don't beleive he was injured, but if he is I hope it's serious/terminal.

What a clown you!! Hoping someone gets a serious/terminal injury just because you don't rate him is pathetic and just shows how clueless you really are!!

[Tom]

Fair enough agree to disagree, I still think it was uncalled for though.

I take it you wont be sending our Keith a Christmas card this year then?

[Miker]

I don't think I'm coming back on here for a while, that result while by no means terrible, was a terrible performance and highlighted our lack of depth in a couple of areas. Although we have plenty of cover in most areas, we do NOT have a decent left winger and if Dunn is gone then we have no creative spark in midfield either (besides Andrews), but I like him more in that box to box midfielder role in our 4-5-1. Our striker partnership needs to be completely re-thought. Di Santo needs to be given a rest and Kalinic either needs to play or Roberts/McCarthy.

The performance, coupled by the posts on here have just really got me depressed. Plastic Head wanting Andrews to have a terminal illness? Grella abysmal? If that's how the fans see our players and our team then we are really in trouble, the amount of hatred shown towards these players is just awful and completely unacceptable no matter how you try to justify it.

Tony Pulis went out and said 20 points from 14 games is great and he needs 3 years to create a strong foundation in the Premier League for Stoke, I wonder how many Stoke fans would complain with that? On the other hand, we're sitting on 17 points from 14 games and Sam has had a lot less time with this team (and less money) than Pulis has had with Stoke, yet the attitudes we as fans have towards the manager and the team is just disgusting. Surely there is no hope for us because if we can't even find an ounce of support for the manager, the club or the players then why bother?

[Steve Moss]

I share some of your sympathies, Miker. On the other hand, its not as bad as all of that. Yes, there is some over-reaction. But its the same people overreacting time and again. There is plenty of support for the club, and the club's manager, on this board.

Personally, I'll be happy with 20-24 points by year end. We are well on track for that, and maybe more. We'll have a decent, if unspectacular season (unless Kalinic becomes a goal banging machine after January). I trust that its next season that Sam will have made the squad truly his, and we'll restore a lot of our pride.

[Guest Kamy100]

As poor as we were, have to give credit to Stoke. They got their tactics spot on, by essentially playing a 4-2-3-1 formation they made things very difficult for us, there was no space in central midfield and we couldn't really expose them as we lacked genuine width. Chances wise both teams were about equal, and of course we could have taken the three points at the death with the Samba chance, to me it looked as though he jumped a bit early and that led to him not being able to control is header.

So the end of a busy week for Rovers, 4 points is a decent return. Huge test next weekend against Liverpool.

[JAL]

As poor as we were, have to give credit to Stoke. They got their tactics spot on, by essentially playing a 4-2-3-1 formation they made things very difficult for us, there was no space in central midfield and we couldn't really expose them as we lacked genuine width. Chances wise both teams were about equal, and of course we could have taken the three points at the death with the Samba chance, to me it looked as though he jumped a bit early and that led to him not being able to control is header.

So the end of a busy week for Rovers, 4 points is a decent return. Huge test next weekend against Liverpool.

Rovers simply have to beat whoever they play wether it be Stoke or Barcelona.

[ABBEY]

No need to get the violins out, but need to take into account, 3 games in 6 days is quite tough going especially with 2 of them being away, and the players coming back early hours of Thursday morning etc.

I am not agreeing with some of the decisions being made, but def a massive over reaction by some.

3 games in 6 dayd..SO cHUFFIN what

I don't think I'm coming back on here for a while, that result while by no means terrible, was a terrible performance and highlighted our lack of depth in a couple of areas. Although we have plenty of cover in most areas, we do NOT have a decent left winger and if Dunn is gone then we have no creative spark in midfield either (besides Andrews), but I like him more in that box to box midfielder role in our 4-5-1. Our striker partnership needs to be completely re-thought. Di Santo needs to be given a rest and Kalinic either needs to play or Roberts/McCarthy.

The performance, coupled by the posts on here have just really got me depressed. Plastic Head wanting Andrews to have a terminal illness? Grella abysmal? If that's how the fans see our players and our team then we are really in trouble, the amount of hatred shown towards these players is just awful and completely unacceptable no matter how you try to justify it.

Tony Pulis went out and said 20 points from 14 games is great and he needs 3 years to create a strong foundation in the Premier League for Stoke, I wonder how many Stoke fans would complain with that? On the other hand, we're sitting on 17 points from 14 games and Sam has had a lot less time with this team (and less money) than Pulis has had with Stoke, yet the attitudes we as fans have towards the manager and the team is just disgusting. Surely there is no hope for us because if we can't even find an ounce of support for the manager, the club or the players then why bother?

And you think I'm bad

..loon

[Blue n White Rover]

What did everyone on here make of Emerton's performance today?

I didn't think he deserved the man of the match, he was too slow to go forward with the ball, missed a few opportunities to let Chimbonda through. I thought he drifted in a bit too much for my liking, he should be sticking out wide and pumping in the crosses for Di Santo to get on the end of. Samba was immense today. You could see our players were tired towards the end.

As for Grella, he was quite poor today after his showing against Fulham. To slow to react, stood and watched the ball in the air, thinking the ball would fall for him to his feet and lacked urgency, not too sure whether that is down to his fitness or not.

7 points from 12, is decent mid-table form, and we should be happy with that.

[Majiball]

I'm surprised that no-ones mentioned this on here.

11 Burnley 14 -12 17

12 Blackburn 14 -12 17

one more point and they are back where they belong.

I'm surprised that no-ones mentioned this on here.

11 Burnley 14 -12 17

12 Blackburn 14 -12 17

one more point and they are back where they belong.

[DE.]

What did everyone on here make of Emerton's performance today?

I didn't think he deserved the man of the match, he was too slow to go forward with the ball, missed a few opportunities to let Chimbonda through. I thought he drifted in a bit too much for my liking, he should be sticking out wide and pumping in the crosses for Di Santo to get on the end of. Samba was immense today. You could see our players were tired towards the end.

Eh?

Emerton was probably our best player, the only one close to him in terms of performance was Samba. Compared to EHD he was running at light-speed.

[Tom]

Would have been above them if West Ham didn't finish playing in their game a good 15 minutes early.

I thought Emerton was superb blue n white rover, far and away the best player on the pitch in blue and white.

[Blue n White Rover]

Eh?

Emerton was probably our best player, the only one close to him in terms of performance was Samba. Compared to EHD he was running at light-speed.

Not faulting his work ethic, he ran his socks off, however, when we needed him out wide he wasn't there, drifting into the middle to often and wasn't providing the relevant width needed if you are to play on the right of midfield. Mind you the reason maybe because our central midfield was poor so he had to come into inject some quality in there.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Didn't go today, and I've missed a few games this season. Much as I lauded Sam for the miracle of avoiding relegation last season, I'm starting to get more than a little concerned at the quality of the football. It feels like a slow death to me.

[Silencio]

There is some over reaction on here. Poor performance but a draw at home is no disaster and we are not doing too badly in terms of points.

Saying that there are still some big concerns. I struggle to see how Diouf stays in the team every week. I know Sam liked him at Bolton but he was a very different player then and there is no reason why he should be a favourite now. He is downright poor. He can hold a ball well but he does it to the extent where it has a negative effect on the team. He has no pace and absolutely no goal threat. Added to that he is a completely odious person. I would like him to be shifted as soon as possible but it seems he is a favourite with the management.

I am not too concerned with Di Santo missing chances, I think that will come and the most pressing issue we have is getting him a good partner. Roberts is not the man and that has been proven time and time again for 3 and a half years. Kalinic looks to have the talent and has looked decent in recent appearances as a sub. If Sam does not think he has what it takes after 5 months then it's very disappointing. If he does then I think it's time to get him playing because we need to add a new dimension to the side, particularly with Dunn having picked up and injury.

Midfield. There is little we can do here without selling and buying. The players we have here are not good enough and the only solution is for the board to release some funds. A left winger and a partner for N'zonzi and we can look to have a solid but unspectacular second half to the season.

I still think we have to give the manager more time and a chance to improve things in the transfer window. I just hope he has Kalinic ready to play soon because I don't think we can wait much longer...

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

There is some over reaction on here. Poor performance but a draw at home is no disaster and we are not doing too badly in terms of points.

Saying that there are still some big concerns. I struggle to see how Diouf stays in the team every week. I know Sam liked him at Bolton but he was a very different player then and there is no reason why he should be a favourite now. He is downright poor. He can hold a ball well but he does it to the extent where it has a negative effect on the team. He has no pace and absolutely no goal threat. Added to that he is a completely odious person. I would like him to be shifted as soon as possible but it seems he is a favourite with the management.

I am not too concerned with Di Santo missing chances, I think that will come and the most pressing issue we have is getting him a good partner. Roberts is not the man and that has been proven time and time again for 3 and a half years. Kalinic looks to have the talent and has looked decent in recent appearances as a sub. If Sam does not think he has what it takes after 5 months then it's very disappointing. If he does then I think it's time to get him playing because we need to add a new dimension to the side, particularly with Dunn having picked up and injury.

Midfield. There is little we can do here without selling and buying. The players we have here are not good enough and the only solution is for the board to release some funds. A left winger and a partner for N'zonzi and we can look to have a solid but unspectacular second half to the season.

I still think we have to give the manager more time and a chance to improve things in the transfer window. I just hope he has Kalinic ready to play soon because I don't think we can wait much longer...

Excellent post Bish - sums up everything very succinctly.