[Archived] Birmingham City Away

[RibbleValleyRover]

Disgraceful performance and we deserved to not pick up any points.

Thought Kalinic was our best player tonight, his link-up play was decent, he put himself about and if it wasn't for Larsson's face we would have took an undeserved point. Can't think of many players who also came out with any credit tonight.

The Spurs game is a huge one.

[graddomi88]

There is absolutly no talent in this squad.

Watching us play today, it was like watching a championship or League 1 team... no actually, the way we played today was like watching my grandma play fifa.

Worst players on the pitch:

Pedersen... absolutly dreadful (besides the one decent ball in for our goal), i hope the Celtic rumors are true and we have the sense to bite their hands off.

Nzonzi.... fouling fouling fouling. Ball to noone ball to noone... back to fouling

Kalinic... What a bloody waste of money. wasted away so many opportunities for us by fouling or straying offside.

I have nothing good to say about that performance. Terrible.

What game were you watching.

Kalinic was our best player by far today, superb link up play, won pretty much every ball played to him, looked very strong, and had one cleared off the line at the end.

We were only offside twice during the whole game so how you can say he wasted so many opportunities I have no idea.

If he had some decent players around him for a change he would be even better.

[Tom]

The thing is as soon as Hoilett came on he ran at defenders winning 2 free kicks, one of which led to the goal. That alone was far far far more than Diouf contributed in what went before.

Kalinic I thought looked good and was our best player on the night but I do worry a bit about him as theres only so long a striker can be classed as unlucky before his confidence really is shattered.

I don't think we'll go down but thats just because this league is poor now and theres some teams even worse than us.

[Exiled_Rover]

Sam must take the responsibility for this defeat. The first half was one of the most abject, suicidal performances I've witnessed from Rovers. His team selection was inexcusable in the extreme. Why on earth did we start with Diouf, Pedersen and Roberts? Three of our biggest passengers who have done nothing to justify a starting place? Why is Benni always in and out of the side, despite the fact he's the only inspirational player we have without Dunny? These are serious questions Sam needs to address.

There's no consistency to our team or our gameplan. And it's gonna cost us a few league places this season if it doesn't buck up.

Allardyce probably felt that Hoillet and Di Santo needed a rest after running their socks off for 90 minutes against Hull. Obviously, due to lack of investment, he has very few options with which to replace them.

I saw the team sheet today and thought we were in big, big trouble - the back four is fine, though I don't like Givet at left back. Ideally we'd sign a pacey left back in the transfer window and relegate Givet to the sub bench, but of course that's not going to happen.

The midfield, however, is terrible. The only way Emerton or N'Zonzi are going to be effective in a two man midfield is if the other man is a general, ala Grella (who isn't that good, but he's a class above anyone else we have there, which is saying something) and they do his running. With both of them playing together you get a lot of aimless running and no creativity. When Andrews replaced Emerton my hopes of a result went right out the window, the man isn't a Premier League standard footballer. End of story. The wide men were their typical useless selves - Diouf is taking the ###### with his performances this season. He ambles about (I'd say floats, but he's too slow to do that) all across the line, providing nothing going forward or defensively. Pedersen as per gets the ball and either loses it or slows the attack to a stand still and goes backwards. I give him credit for two wonderful set pieces, but he has to do that consistently to be worth anything to the side and he hasn't proven able to do that for a number of years.

As for the forward line, well it's tough to do anything without any service. Kalinic ran his socks off and tried to win some of the hoofs up to him, but that simply isn't his game. He's not helped by a referee that saw everything through Birmingham tinted glasses mind. He's also not helped by Roberts, who put in one of the most abject performances I've ever seen.

I felt once again Hoillet showed his qualities - play the ball to his feet and he makes things happen with his pace, close control and natural footballing instincts. He definitely still needs seasoning, but he's a player we simply have to sign if we want to progress as a team.

Overall we lost again to a mediocre, but well drilled side away from home. Same old, same old. We're in for a long hard season if Grella and Dunn continue to pick up niggly injuries and the board don't invest some money into the playing staff (which they won't).

[ebenrocks]

Very harsh on N'Zonzi, who has been forced to shoulder far more of the burden than he should because our senior players have been shambolic or injured this season. Also extremely harsh on Kalinic, who was our best player tonight by a mile and was the ONLY player in the squad to show genuine quality and attacking intent (barring when Junior came on, though Junior didn't actually do much except run at people).

Were you and I watching the same game?

there is no possible way anyone who saw that game could describe Kalinic's performance as showing 'genuine quality and attacking intent'. He was rubbish!

also, i stand by what i say about n'Zonzi, he;s usually a very good player, especially for the money we spent on him, but he just looked so lost today, and birmingham frustrated him so much that he ended up fouling over and over again.

to be fair, i should have said:

Worst players on the pitch: all the ones in white

[Presty On Tour]

We didn't turn up for the 1st 70 minutes, Brum wanted it more than us in the freezing conditions.

Diouf was terrible and should of kept the jacket on at halftime. Hoilett gave Ridgewell a workout and was scared stiff of his pace.

Kalinic was our best player by a mile, very unlucky not to score.

Roberts and Andrews should retire!

Oh and the time wasting all game from Brum was unreal! Every stoppage they were fannying about and the ref looked out of his depth to imo!

We deserved nothing and got nothing, really bad display but looking at the positive it can only get better especially if Andrews, Diouf and Roberts are nowhere near the 1st eleven.

[Alan75]

We are a team that doesnt create anything lumping the ball up field for 90min just gives the ball back to the opposition.

Even Shearer would struggle to score with the service being given.

[ABBEY]

We played badly but what's this "explain yourself" nonsense?

Kalinic must be the unluckiest striker in the league, he would have got us a point if it wasn't for Larsson's face.

FFS CHUCK WE DIDNT DESERVE A POINT....ITS BLOODY EMBARASSING ,HE DOES NEED TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF HAS TO WHY WE DONT GIVE A MONKEYS BABBONED ARSE ABOUT AWAY GAMES

[John]

Allardyce probably felt that Hoillet and Di Santo needed a rest after running their socks off for 90 minutes against Hull. Obviously, due to lack of investment, he has very few options with which to replace them.

I saw the team sheet today and thought we were in big, big trouble - the back four is fine, though I don't like Givet at left back. Ideally we'd sign a pacey left back in the transfer window and relegate Givet to the sub bench, but of course that's not going to happen.

The midfield, however, is terrible. The only way Emerton or N'Zonzi are going to be effective in a two man midfield is if the other man is a general, ala Grella (who isn't that good, but he's a class above anyone else we have there, which is saying something) and they do his running. With both of them playing together you get a lot of aimless running and no creativity. When Andrews replaced Emerton my hopes of a result went right out the window, the man isn't a Premier League standard footballer. End of story. The wide men were their typical useless selves - Diouf is taking the ###### with his performances this season. He ambles about (I'd say floats, but he's too slow to do that) all across the line, providing nothing going forward or defensively. Pedersen as per gets the ball and either loses it or slows the attack to a stand still and goes backwards. I give him credit for two wonderful set pieces, but he has to do that consistently to be worth anything to the side and he hasn't proven able to do that for a number of years.

As for the forward line, well it's tough to do anything without any service. Kalinic ran his socks off and tried to win some of the hoofs up to him, but that simply isn't his game. He's not helped by a referee that saw everything through Birmingham tinted glasses mind. He's also not helped by Roberts, who put in one of the most abject performances I've ever seen.

I felt once again Hoillet showed his qualities - play the ball to his feet and he makes things happen with his pace, close control and natural footballing instincts. He definitely still needs seasoning, but he's a player we simply have to sign if we want to progress as a team.

Overall we lost again to a mediocre, but well drilled side away from home. Same old, same old. We're in for a long hard season if Grella and Dunn continue to pick up niggly injuries and the board don't invest some money into the playing staff (which they won't).

Great summary, sadly spot on....

[Amo]

Allardyce probably felt that Hoillet and Di Santo needed a rest after running their socks off for 90 minutes against Hull. Obviously, due to lack of investment, he has very few options with which to replace them.

They could have played for an hour or whatever. That doesn't explain why Roberts usurped McCarthy anyway.

[ebenrocks]

i think i must be being dumb...

i didnt rate Kalinic atall, but then again i was getting so frustrated by rovers that maybe i missed out on his good points.

I just noticed that quite often balls were put in towards him and he fouled the defender or strayed offside, therefore ending the opportunity before it had started. Samba did it once or twice too.

I dont know, i think that performance was totally appauling from all fronts other than Robinson, Benni and Hoilett.

[RoverRich]

The annoying thing is that we could easily be level on points with Liverpool if we had taken our opportunites against Hull and not been so poor tonight. If we don't take our chances against these teams then it is going to be very tough for us and, hate to say it, but there is absolutely no chance we are going to break into the top half if we continue to play the way we do with the players we have. Certain players need a wake-up call because no-one seems bothered at the moment. Maybe they are all just getting through the games waiting for the 2 legs of the semi final but we really do need to sort ourselves out in the league.

I still can't believe just how bad Pedersen, Diouf and Roberts were tonight! Ok, Peds did a couple of good balls but that doesn't make up for what he did the rest of the game. As for Diouf and Roberts...I can't even put it into words. I will be aghast if any of those 3 start against spurs at the weekend.

Kalinic did show moments of class but he needs to put the ball in the net before people start to support him more. People are quick to be negative about him at the moment cos he seemingly can't score and that is what a striker is judged on. I like his play and I really hope for his sake he starts more often, with a decent striker (i.e. not Roberts), and scores ASAP. Also, by the sounds of things, Hoilett did well, so maybe even give these 2 a start together up front and see what happens. Hoilett should defo be ahead of Diouf and Pedersen in the pecking order now though!

[ABBEY]

Sam must take the responsibility for this defeat.

HE TAKES ALL THE GLORY FOR WINNING AND BEING THE SEXPERT OOOPS EX PERT

[RibbleValleyRover]

Biggest mistake this club has made in recent times- The sale of Bentley. Oh how Kalinic and the rest would love to get some of the service he was providing for Roque right now.

[ABBEY]

almost felt unlucky not to have nicked something from this... then you consider the first half performance and a few miss of the seasons for birmingham thrown in, agree with others that hoilett and mccarthy should definitely be starting. what the **** was diouf doing for 1st goal!!!!

Birmingham were top of the league on form going into this game lets not forget

Praying we can get something on spurs @ weekend that 3rd relegation spot is only 3 points away now

UNLUCKY? HOW? 10mins of desperdo.

[Doogs]

[Crap, boring,crap,boring,crap,boring

[ABBEY]

Allardyce probably felt that Hoillet and Di Santo needed a rest after running their socks off for 90 minutes against Hull.

puuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeze dont start that again....tired my arse.

[grizfoot]

Tonight's just underlined a few points that the majority of us already knew about our players.

- Roberts isn't good enough

- Diouf isn't good enough

- Andrews isn't good enough

- Pedersen isn't good enough in general play, but can provide something special via set-pieces.

But what was most apparent was the total lack of creative ability from Rovers tonight. Our passing was awful for large parts tonight, yes you could say Big Club did a good job at pressing the play but that still doesn't account for how poor we were. The term 'hoof ball' as never so appropriate, because I'm afraid that was our tactic and only attacking weapon in tonight's game.

Once we took off two of the 'not good enough' caterogy players in Diouf and Roberts and brought on Hoilett and McCarthy we actually did look a little more threatening going forward. But for the life me I couldn't see us scoring in open play it was only ever going to be from a corner or a free-kick. Big Club in truth really should have wrapped up the game on the counter. We could have stole a point near the end when the luckless Kalinic had his effort cleared off the line, but in truth that would have gained us an undeserved point because on overall play we where second best.

It's difficult to take many positives out of tonight's performance. No player stood out for Rovers, as for Birmingham thought the ex-Rover Ferguson totally controlled the midfield area alongside Bowyer and totally exploite dour weakness in that area. As for Jerome he was a handful all game, he seems to turn into Drogba whenever he plays us.

It's baffling that our away form is so bad compared to our home form. We look a totally different team away from home for some unknown reason.

[Thai_Rovers]

Cant stand watching Rovers play this season..........just painful to watch.

Dont understand what Sam is thinking...........never thought about he as a good manager and he never will be..

Hate Keith Andrews being in team...........useless player.........sucks...

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.......So shamed to watch..........

[DE.]

Were you and I watching the same game?

there is no possible way anyone who saw that game could describe Kalinic's performance as showing 'genuine quality and attacking intent'. He was rubbish!

also, i stand by what i say about n'Zonzi, he;s usually a very good player, especially for the money we spent on him, but he just looked so lost today, and birmingham frustrated him so much that he ended up fouling over and over again.

to be fair, i should have said:

Worst players on the pitch: all the ones in white

Kalinic was offside twice in the whole match I believe? I can't remember him fouling anybody that often. Are you sure you weren't mistaking him for another player? general consensus is that Kalinic was very good tonight. As for N'Zonzi, he was no worse than the others. The fact we're relying on him so heavily says more about our other players than it does about N'Zonzi.

[Tom]

Another point of note, people are praising the Brum midfield but its a midfield pairing of Ferguson and Bowyer, both of which many wouldn't have wanted here but both have a bit of bite and aggression in them.

Right now I wish we'd signed Alan bloody Smith to play in the middle, he would have offered so much more than Andrews does.

Luckily N'zonzi has been a lot better than expected, otherwise imagine what our midfield would have been like now.

[ada2020]

Gah, it was a terrible performance but I hate these knee-jerk reactions. We beat Chelsea and it's full steam ahead, we lose to Birmingham and we're down and out. It's always like this...

Based on our solid home form, I think we'll settle for mid-table obscurity.

Maybe your right and it is a bit knee jerk, so far though I have backed the team and manager to come good. But tell me honestly do you see it happening at the moment? What happens if our so called solid home form fades, we will be in deep ****. It isnt the only terrible performance this season is it, home or away?

I back Sam, but the fact is he keeps chopping and changing the team, the front line had no idea tonight, they were like strangers. Why play Di Santo all season so far then toss Kalanic on with Roberts, I would much rather see Kalanic with Di Santo true they have no more game time together than tonights pairing, but Roberts is absolute pap and you know it. Our defence looked so w*** early on in the season because he kept swapping and tinkering, it does appear that he doesnt know who his best team are.

If we play like that on Saturday we could be in for a right good b********, then our fantastic home form may come under scrutiny.

[Gamst]

That was really poor! We look really short of ability and pace. Relying on Dunn for attacking flair is a dangerous ploy as he is so injury prone. It is no wonder we don't score when we have so little attacking potency. Roberts and Diouf were just passengers and offered absolutely nothing!I don't think Diouf should ever play for us again and Roberts should only be used as an impact player as he is really just a strong lump and not a footballer. The goals were shambolic and really they should have had 3 or 4. Pedersen looks slow and weak, but did offer some quality from set pieces. Nzonzi was outclassed, but he is young and was playong alongside the ineffectual Andrews. Maybe he will learn something from today. Andrews just flatters to decieve... he is just plain mediocre. I have nothing against the guy as he works pretty hard, but he just isnt premierleague standard. Benni and Hoilett made a difference when they came on. Hoilett has a bit of pace, but he needs to prove that he has end product. Im not sure if Benni actually did a great deal or whether his introduction just coincided with our momentum after the goal. Whilst he has the ability, he is still too lazy/old/unfit for me. Kalinic was the only bright spark. He looks like he has a bit of class and a nice touch, he just needs more game-time to come to terms with the league. He seems to panic in critical situations. Having said that, the header near the end was bang on target and just plain unlucky. He deserves a goal in the prem as he has been so unlucky so far. The disallowed goal at OT, the numerous chances at the KC and then the misfortunes of this evening. He was denied a great chance in the first half when he kicked the defenders leg on his back swing when 6 yards out. Maybe when the break arrives we will see him bag a few goals. Saturday is a big big match and not an easy one to boot. A fit David Dunn would be a huge boost!

Furthermore, I thought Sky were extremely biased this evening! The 'expert' analyst was a Birmingham legend and went as far as admitting to being a Birmingham fan and after the match they didnt either mention us or show any Rovers interviews. The commentary even seemed to favour Birmingham. We really are unpopular and Sky are crooked.

[grizfoot]

Kalinic was offside twice in the whole match I believe? I can't remember him fouling anybody that often. Are you sure you weren't mistaking him for another player? general consensus is that Kalinic was very good tonight. As for N'Zonzi, he was no worse than the others. The fact we're relying on him so heavily says more about our other players than it does about N'Zonzi.

One of thoose offsides was a very marginal decision. He did seem to keep 'fouling' whenever the ball was hoofed forward though. I don't think that challenging in the air all the time is his sort of game, seems a lot of more comfortable with the ball at his feet. That being said I thought the referee was poor and gave some of the softest free-kicks I've ever seen.

[mjs]

Kalinic was offside twice in the whole match I believe? I can't remember him fouling anybody that often. Are you sure you weren't mistaking him for another player? general consensus is that Kalinic was very good tonight.

Kalinic was probably the only positive for me tonight.

His hold up play is good, he has a bit of pace and gets in good positions. Hopefully he will get a run and the goals will start to come.