[Archived] Rovers V Stoke

[brfcs5359]

What's maki g the situation worse is the management. Negative negative negative. Who wants to work for a boss that says we're crap and so we do things in a crappier way in order to eak a living? This week defied sense. Win followed by rotation midweek before realisation against Stoke!

Were buying more duds and keeping the puds. Big Mac should have gone to the black cats (ince) early last season for 7mil.

Selgado who the manager kicked off for, Kalinic are not involved. Selgado is almost 25% through his contract and hasn't featured. A joke signing. Van Heerden was last seen on Lord Lucans yaght. Grella is NHS season ticket holder and when he plays he plays so deep and sideways i am just glad I don't have to watch HiTie football.

Roberts could have gone to Fulham for £3m and Andrews this season likewise for £2m. What is BF useless S doing? Diouf must be the most laughable £10m player ever. He is awful and we only paid £1m. He is useless.

The management are taking this club backwards. Death by a stealth. I think they are full of BS and excuses a la Bolton Newcastle. The next problem is di Santo. I like him, reminds me of one or two honest quality strikers we had when we were a championship club. But I bet Chelski want three times his value 7 or 8mil. So we have to pass and send him back year end presuming he stays.

[TimmyJimmy]

What amazes me - lots of people on here seem to think that Stoke are some form of push over. They weren't that last year - and looked to have improved this year.

IMO they played the perfect away performance - defending in two banks of four and then hitting us at pace on the break.

A point was fair - and our performance was no way as bad as some people are making out.

Says it all for me. Stoke were very solid and disciplined and worked like trojans.

For me Emerton stood out - his work rate was excellent, passing on the whole good - and he added much needed pace to the team.

Stepped up to the plate when Dunny went off, you could see he was determined to make a difference. Definite MoM.

Yesterday both teams were fairly toothless but it was an absorbing and energetic contest all the same between two teams that virtually cancelled each other out. imo any hope of a win for us disappeared as Dunny walked off and Roberts was preferred to Benny Mac. Stoke are strong and well organised throughout the team and especially so in defence.

Agree again. The Football First cut down version actually looked a half decent game though in real time it did suck. The commentators were saying it was an entertaining end to end match and that they couldn't believe it was goal-less. The Beeb dissed us as usual, that's a surprise. Stoke set out two banks of four and played quickly en masse on the break. Those two banks of four didn't break formation all day in defence. Very solid.

Granted N'zonzi is a decent player but if you watch the game you'll see he only passes sideways or backwards and very rarely sets up an attack.

Grella played some superb balls yesterday, some sent Roberts or Emerton through down the right wing some played straight to Robert's & Di Santos feet.

NZonzi will be a great player IMO but right now he is not involved in the game enough. He produces brief cameos and shows good skill and has all round ability but he's very quiet. Grella, I've said before I'm a fan so no surprise I think he did alright. Could do better and will do better if he gets a run of games without injury. His role (stylistically not quality wise) is Batty-esque, sit in front of the back four, break stuff up and pass simple. It's the midfield positions in front of him that are the problem.

The Sky guys were over the top saying we could have had FIVE penalties but we sure as heck should have had at least one. When teams are as equally matched as in this game then the result turns on things like his.

In times past we would have given Stoke a right good seeing to but we don't have the personnel any longer. Not sure what we can do about it - making losses and all - so we just have to get the best out of what we've got and embrace our disappointment with showings like this. Get used to it as this is how it's going to be here on out. Alternatively we can all run around shouting rabble, rabble, rabble ...

[tonyoz]

Is it only me that thinks that giving our managers money to spend is a waste of time and resources? It's like a curse. Apart from the SAS Kenny put the Champions together very cheaply, Hughes worked better with little than he is doing now with megabucks and in between all the bad moves by Harford, Hodgson, Kidd, GS and SA were the big money players. Dailly, Ostenstad, Davies, Cole, Kalinic (to date) Grabbi, MacAteer, Per Frandsen, Ferguson, Amoruso, Blake, Ward, Yorke ....... the list of overpriced players goes on and on.

Again leave out the SAS and our best signings have all been unearthed on the cheap rather than bought. Tugay, Berg, Speedie, Ripley, Freidel, Le Saux, Gale, Samba, Sherwood, Wright, Hendry, Bentley, Warnock all cost buttons whilst Duff and Dunn came through from the youth set up.

Pick two teams from those lists and imo the 'cheepies' would beat the billy big times 9 times out of 10 imo. Even with the GK's, Flowers was good and not regarded as a waste of money but even so Souey's bargain basement signing Brad Freidel is better by some distance.

To be fair there is a middle ground of expensive but OK. Jansen, Bellamy, Batty, Flitty, Gallagher, Bohinen, Warhurst etc were all good players but no better than the 'bargains'.

This is all good stuff.

[PAFELL]

What amazes me - lots of people on here seem to think that Stoke are some form of push over. They weren't that last year - and looked to have improved this year.

IMO they played the perfect away performance - defending in two banks of four and then hitting us at pace on the break.

A point was fair - and our performance was no way as bad as some people are making out.

At some point you have to give credit to the opposition. I remember under Hughes us getting bullied by Portsmouth - they basically out battled us at home. This could easily have been another of those matches - but the team (on the whole) put in the effort to ensure we won at least a point.

As for 4-5-1 - when playing against a well organised defence like Stoke - having runners from midfield can sometimes work. What is sadly lacking is consistent passing from our midfield.

For me Emerton stood out - his work rate was excellent, passing on the whole good - and he added much needed pace to the team.

Currently Stoke are the 4th best form team in the league. They are not a push over by no means - did any of us really expect the same result as last season!!!! Last season they were new to the prem - this year they are not and have gained from experience. Their manager is a pretty good and tactically shrewd manager. As you say sometimes you have to give credit to the other side - bar the dingles of course.

[ABBEY]

Ok so the stokes of the league arnt now teams we should expect beating at home....bring on chelsea .liverpoo and spurs.

[broadsword]

Totally agree.

btw Didn't the club overhaul the scouting system last season?

Did you mean this?

http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1276317,00.html

(A couple of managers ago now.)

I think Rigg is now at Man City, Downes is long gone.

Something needs to be done because the Academy is a big drain on resources, and it's not added any value to the club at all.

[super_arran]

I and plenty more don't think he played well. The reason there's not much point discussing it with yourself, is that you think everyone who disagrees with you is biased. So what's the point?

No, I think people who give an unfair account of what a player has done in a game to be biased in some way.

If you'd of said in your opinion that you thought he didn't play too well then I would of left it. But to say he was abysmal?? I just think that's a little harsh on a player who didn't actually play too badly.

Did you see the passes I was on about in my earlier post?

[den]

No, I think people who give an unfair account of what a player has done in a game to be biased in some way.

Well you're wrong. I've been going to Ewood for far too long to have bias. It's an opinion. Live with that or contradict the points being made, but stop calling all those that don't agree with you baised. To my mind I was being fair, because that's what I think.

End of, - we're clogging up a good match thread.

[super_arran]

Well you're wrong. I've been going to Ewood for far too long to have bias. It's an opinion. Live with that or contradict the points being made, but stop calling all those that don't agree with you baised. To my mind I was being fair, because that's what I think.

End of, - we're clogging up a good match thread.

Okay.

but did you see the passes??

[RoyRover]

I was extremely disappointed with the result on Saturday. It was a great chance to pick up another 3 points at home against a team at the same level as ourselves. We all saw how well the 4-4-2 formation worked against Bolton and I don't see why we reverted back to this 4-5-1 formation. If we had been playing Arsenal, then fair enough, but we weren't. Neill MacDonald said that we had picked up the majority of our points playing this system which is true. But we weren't playing particularly well in doing so. The performance against Bolton, was the best we'd played all season IMO and showed that we have more of an attacking threat with two up front. I would like to see McCarthy and Di Santo start up top, with Dunn given a free role and a Grella, N'Zonzi and Emerton being the legs in our midfield. Diouf and Pedersen offer us nothing from the flanks and don't deserve to be in the team. By playing this formation, we allow Dunn to have the free role that he has at the moment, but keep a solidity to the midfield by having a defensive midfielder like Grella and two other guys who can run all day.

[Paul]

Spot on RoyRover and exactly sums up why I was disappointed with the Stoke match. I expected the team to move on after the impressive victory at the Reebok but instead we went back into our shell and produced the same old Allardyce style. Cold and boring to watch.

[G Somerset Rover]

That's what I don't get. We played very well against Bolton and not bad first half against Fulham with a 4-4-2 and yet against Stoke at home revert back to 4-5-1. I quite like your midfield there RoyRover, the only thing we may suffer from is a lack of width. But then again we haven't had any since Bentley left so there won't be much difference there!

Last season saw a 4-4-2 with a McCarthy and Roberts combo rip apart Stoke in the first half, so why wasn't the same tactic deployed?

[Bburninhisheart]

Sorry to be bothering y'all with my question during the discussion what seems to be a disappointing effort by the team, but as you may know I live in Norway so I have problems attending all the games... Can anybody tell me if they played the Seven-song "Blackburn (Rovers in his heart)" as usual on Saturday? If so, when did they play it and did you enjoy it?

Still haven't lost at home after they started playing it, hopefully that will last forever...

[CrazyIvan]

Sorry to be bothering y'all with my question during the discussion what seems to be a disappointing effort by the team, but as you may know I live in Norway so I have problems attending all the games... Can anybody tell me if they played the Seven-song "Blackburn (Rovers in his heart)" as usual on Saturday? If so, when did they play it and did you enjoy it?

Still haven't lost at home after they started playing it, hopefully that will last forever...

Yes, they played it before the start of both halves.

[jonv]

I thought it was whiny and annoying

[CrazyIvan]

I thought it was whiny and annoying

Lets just say, imo, it's initial charm has worn off.

[waggy]

my report on the stoke game,THE BITTER IN THE WAM WAS ON TOP FORM,plus we could laugh at the dingles as the goals went in

[mellison24]

Still iffy about the Stoke game. I feel like we should have beaten them (on paper), but also feel like a draw against a side so hard to break-down is okay. I'll see it as a point gained, as I was expecting a draw. But we REALLY need to start kicking on! Chelski and Liverpool to be beaten anyone?

[JAL]

Only seeing the highlights, Nelsen looked to be completely caught out once in the first half when Andrews cleared up from Robinson and second half when a Stoke player megged Nelsen close to the corner flag which should have produced a better cross from which Stoke should have scored from.

Thats two mistakes from the Admiral to add onto the three or four at Fulham and the one at Bolton.

Ryan Nelsen is currently showing to be every bit of a liability as is Andrews and co. are.

The probabilities are Ryan Nelsen is going to allow the opposition a chance at Rovers goal at least two times per game can this carry on ?

[DE.]

Chimbonda - Givet - Samba - Jacobsen should really be our back four. Nelsen is the captain, though, so he will not be dropped.

[Neil Weaver]

and second half when a Stoke player megged Nelsen close to the corner flag which should have produced a better cross from which Stoke should have scored from.

Wasn't that Givet though? Think it was Fuller, who then rolled it across goal and the Stoke player (Whitehead I think) managed to make a complete hash of it. Might have ended up going out for a throw in.

[JAL]

Wasn't that Givet though? Think it was Fuller, who then rolled it across goal and the Stoke player (Whitehead I think) managed to make a complete hash of it. Might have ended up going out for a throw in.

No Nelsen was the player megged and Givet was the covering defender who couldnt quite catch the Stoke player as he put his cross in.

Dont ask me how it happened like this but it did.

[CrazyIvan]

Chimbonda - Givet - Samba - Jacobsen should really be our back four. Nelsen is the captain, though, so he will not be dropped.

We have too many inconsistent players at the moment. The only one who has performed consistently, in my mind, is Emerton. The others have all had in and out games and some have more variation in their games than others (Diouf). The problem is when a few players have poor games and a few others have in and out games like Saturday. Nelsen has been excellent in some games and pants in others and is generally less consistent than he was when he joined us which I guess might be age/career related. Other players are young enough to learn like Nzonzi. Hopefully, we'll get some of our current squad to perform more consistently over the rest of the season and that'll help us overcome the (to be expected) occasional poor performance by one or two players. Nobody is ever 100% consistent and it's human to see some dips in form we just seem to be having a number at the same time and some more often than they should. I count Diouf and Pedersen in that list.

[John]

We have too many inconsistent players at the moment.

Don't get me wrong, most of our players are good enough to play in the Premier League, but there is a lack of real quality within our team. We can go on about systems etc, but ultimately we have to rely on solid management and our best players staying fit in order to finish any higher than 12th (also some luck!).

[thenodrog]

Ok so the stokes of the league arnt now teams we should expect beating at home....bring on chelsea .liverpoo and spurs.

Abbey you need to get it out of your head that Stoke are a pushover for home teams. They must be bloody difficult to break down cos so far this season only Chelsea and Man Utd have let in fewer goals on their travels than Stoke City.

Spot on RoyRover and exactly sums up why I was disappointed with the Stoke match. I expected the team to move on after the impressive victory at the Reebok but instead we went back into our shell and produced the same old Allardyce style. Cold and boring to watch.

Paul your mood swings are now becoming alarming. Take some advice and try to view football as nothing more than 22 grown men chasing a bag of wind around a big field.