[Archived] Birmingham City Away

[Guest Kamy100]

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.

We play the same way at home, it is just that teams come to Ewood and the vast majority are happy to counter attack so us giving the ball away doesn't hurt us as much as it does away from home, it will be interesting to see how we do against Tottenham, if we give the ball away then they have the strength and pace to exploit our weaknesses.

[Exiled_Rover]

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

I'd have started Di Santo and Kalinic upfront with Junior on the right, but I don't know how fit they were feeling with just two days rest between matches. We only started creating chances at the KC when those three were on the field . As for McCarthy, well he played 60 or so minutes on Saturday (where he was awful) and he's nowhere near football shape, which is why he didn't start.

One thing that really worries me is Allardyce has said we have four strikers and he's happy with them/they're not going anywhere. In my mind we have two strikers, one of which is going back to his own club in January. McCarthy isn't fit or quick enough and Roberts is Championship standard.

[Muddboy]

Start with a crap midfield and you'll end with a crap result.

Simple really.

Can't fathom why Sam thinks starting with MGP and EHD is going to win us a game.

Pathetic when you consider the other options that Sam has.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Just back from the local Irish pub - not a classic, most of the game was a bore but if it had been played like the last 20 mins it would have been enjoyable.

Overall I thought a draw would have been a fair result. Both teams were poor. Comical defending for their first coupled with a slice of luck the way it pinged around, falling to one of theirs each time.

Chimbonda overlapped twice and lost the ball with no one covering him both times. They broke and it could have proved costly.

We can't carry Championship players at this level - Pedersen, Diouf, Andrews, Roberts and Big Sam please note.

I felt sorry for Kalinic who had a decent game - first touches, layoffs, positioning and general play good. Fresh air shot in the first half, when he should have scored, was his one blemish. Unfortunately, for most of the game he had a chocolate soldier, Roberts, alongside him.

Both wide men (you can't call them wingers) never got a cross in from the bye line all game. Cutting back and crossing or hitting it in early from deep is no good. Their defenders coped with ease. Big Sam please note.

More negatives than positives but in the last 20 mins we took the game to them and with a bit of luck we should have scored.

Fair play to our supporters - a decent turnout for an unattractive away game just before Christmas and on tv. Made themselves heard throughout.

[broadsword]

I thought Kalanic was bloody toilet, absolutely hopeless. That Hong Kong Phooey air shot was embarassing.

Couldn't wait for the match to end. If they were playing in my back garden, I wouldn't close the curtains, I'd just tell 'em to eff off.

Were they playing in slippers out there?

[Tom]

link to Sams interview

http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1906071,00.html

At least he doesn't say we deserved anything, would have been nice for him to admit he got it wrong though. I'm sure had we won there would have been a mention about the team selection.

I still can't see the reasoning in dropping Hoilett after being dangerous at Hull for someone who hasn't been dangerous since last season

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

For me the worst thing about tonight - Big Club aren't great, just a hard working bunch of players playing with confidence.

My opinion on some players :-

Diouf - get him back to Bolton, offers nothing at all, he is like Pedersen without hard work and long throws.

Pedersen - not brilliant, but worked hard

Andrews - another mixed bag from Super Keith, problem is when he plays bad he is b***dy awful

Nzonzi - ineffective at times, but at least tried to put his foot on the ball

Chimbonda - sorry, I see him more and more as the weak link in defence. Often caught up field, and when he is back, always seems to be the one playing other players onside. He partly redeemed himself with some last ditch tackles - but overall not impressed.

Nelsen/Samba - both did ok

Givet - not a left back, does ok defensively, but offers nothing going forward

Robinson - good match

Roberts - poor, but then again the passing from midfield was woeful

Emerton - did ok until injured, hope not too bad

Kalanic - control lets him down at times, but I actually think we could have a star on our hands. He would have scored if Nelsen hadn't got there first - and would have equalised in the last minute but for a player on the line, who knew nothing about it. My only worry - at the moment luck seems to be deserting him in front of goal - I hope he doesn't suffer the same crisis of confidence that eventually got to Grabbi (who was similarly unluck in his early Rovers career).

Hoilett - what a difference pace makes. I just hope that he extends his contract.

McCarthy - didn't do a great deal. But delivery from set pieces was good.

Time and time again we are losing matches in midfield - we actually started to look a lot more solid in midfield with Grella playing. He may not be everbodies cup of tea - but I feel we are a more solid team when he plays - and we missed him tonight.

We will have to play a lot better against Tottingham - or our good home record could take a battering.

[DE.]

link to Sams interview

http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1906071,00.html

At least he doesn't say we deserved anything, would have been nice for him to admit he got it wrong though. I'm sure had we won there would have been a mention about the team selection.

I still can't see the reasoning in dropping Hoilett after being dangerous at Hull for someone who hasn't been dangerous since last season

We did not lose because of "two silly mistakes", as Sam suggests, we lost because we didn't start playing until the 70th minute or so.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I thought Kalanic was bloody toilet, absolutely hopeless. That Hong Kong Phooey air shot was embarassing.

Try watching the game again - I think you will be embarrassed for referring to his air shot - as it was down to his heel being clipped by the defender behind him.

[PAFELL]

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.

I agree with getting Bentley back

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

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.

Andy Gray hates us more than Lawrensen. It gets so embarrasing at times that his co-commentator (and I use that word loosely in Gray's case) has to remind him at times that Rovers are playing. It is a common theme when Rovers are playing and Gray is commentating

[PAFELL]

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...

...

....

.....

......

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

Idiotic post - You must have watched a different game.

[ABBEY]

bentley all over the papers down here in london pleading to be realised.

[broadsword]

Idiotic post - You must have watched a different game.

?????

We were absolutely dreadful.

Keith andrews is a complete clumsoid.

[Tom]

I said it a week or two back, sell the deadwood and do whatever it takes to get Bentley back, one player like that could transform our team.

I'll chip in a tenner or so if it helps.

[broadsword]

Try watching the game again - I think you will be embarrassed for referring to his air shot - as it was down to his heel being clipped by the defender behind him.

I honestly didn't notice that. It just look like he made a right mess of it.

I must've missed his nice touches as well, I may well have fallen asleep at times during the game.

Put it down to post-match negativity.

[allanncd]

Endless aimless punts upfield. Fight balls and head tennis. This must be the worst footballing team in this league. It reminds me of 3rd Division fare in the 70s.

[ABBEY]

Endless aimless punts upfield. Fight balls and head tennis. This must be the worst footballing team in this league. It reminds me of 3rd Division fare in the 70s.

at least we played a quality forward in that div ....inch high andy crawford.

[grizfoot]

bentley all over the papers down here in london pleading to be realised.

I vote we snatch him on Saturday, Spuds wouldn't even know he's missing.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I've been avoiding watching Rovers recently, it's just too painful. My son nagged me to go to the pub to watch tonights game, I wish he hadn't .I'd have rather knocked nails into the back of my hands. I can't say that's the worst I've seen Rovers play but it's one of the worst. A hard working, confident Big Club totally put us to the sword for the first 70 minutes, we were clueless, second to every 50/50 ball, taking every pass stood still. Nobody wanted to take responsibility so they played a colleague in a worse position into trouble. We insisted om just lumping the ball forward when Kalinic showing on a couple of ocasions how dangerous he could be with the ball at his feet. It's easy to see why we don't score many goals- we never get around the side of teams. Two championship centre halfs spent the whole evening just heading and booting balls clear played straight at them.

I hope there are three teams worse than us in the Prem but at the moment I don't know who they are !

Scores

Robinson 6, didn't do much wrong but somehow he just doesn't inspire me with confidence.

Chimbonda 6, Did ok for me.

Samba 8, Thank God for this guy , I thought he dealt with Benitez quite well.

Nelsen 7, Stuck to his task but he's getting shown up for pace these days.

Givet 6, Not a left back, he got lucky late on when attempting a tackle that was never on.

Diouf 4, The guys finished, running on empty. To blame for the first goal.

Emerton 5, Looked like he went into the game injured.

Nzonzi 5, Having to do too much work recently caught up with him tonight, he looked off the pace.

Pedersen 4, Never in the game, constantly out run and out muscled by his opponents . At fault for the second goal. Made a semi retired full back look like Garrincha.

That was where this game was won and lost, this midfield will get us into big, big trouble.

Roberts 4, A stump, I've seen better centre forwards in Rochdale's league.

Kalinic 7, The first good look I've had of this lad and a liked what I saw. He's a worker who can play, good feet and a bit of pace and aggression. Of course we persisted in passing the ball at his throat. Unlucky with the header, He's desperate for a goal.

Subs

Andrews 5, He doesn't do enough often enough.

Mc Carthy 5, Didn't actually do much but worried Big Club with his mere prescence.

Hoilett 6, Should have been on at half time , for once we had a wide player prepared to run at the opposition.

[47er]

I'd have started Di Santo and Kalinic upfront with Junior on the right, but I don't know how fit they were feeling with just two days rest between matches. We only started creating chances at the KC when those three were on the field . As for McCarthy, well he played 60 or so minutes on Saturday (where he was awful) and he's nowhere near football shape, which is why he didn't start.

One thing that really worries me is Allardyce has said we have four strikers and he's happy with them/they're not going anywhere. In my mind we have two strikers, one of which is going back to his own club in January. McCarthy isn't fit or quick enough and Roberts is Championship standard.

I believe 90% of Rovers fans would have started with Di Santo and Kalinic upfront with Hoilett on the wing. I just cannot understand the selection there. I'd play Salgado in mid-field before Andrews. Slow he might be but at least he'd put his foot in and not pass to the opposition all the time. I feel really disheartened because i thought we'd got over our bad period and were starting to get something going. But to go back to the old failing players just threw it away.

[RoyRover]

It was a disappointing result. As someone has pointed out, we are losing games because of our midfield. It's just not good enough. For most of the game, we had a midfield of Diouf, Andrews, Nzonzi and Pedersen and that will never win you a game. Of that midfield, only Nzonzi should be kept and the club should look to get rid of the other three as soon as possible. Diouf was totally ineffectual, Pedersen was at falut for the second goal by ball watching and Andrews continually lost the ball. Roberts showed again, way he's better coming off the bench with something to prove rather than starting. I thought that Kalinic looked good and could have scored a few tonight. We all know that there is a lot of deadwood at the club which needs to be let go and some better quality of players bought in.

[tcj_jones]

I understand Allardyce's footballing philosophy and, when played correctly, it does work. Moving the ball quickly from front to back, loading the box, winning the second and third balls.

However, if you have the ball in your possession and are under no pressure, but with no attacking options, you don't punt a horrible looping 40 yard long ball aimlessly to no-one, you look ten yards to your right and retain possession and go from there. There is no need to give the ball away by just chipping it nowhere in particular. It gifts the opposition a chance to keep the ball.

Other problems we currently have that negate the system we play is that neither wingers provide good service to front men who aren't given long enough together to develop an understanding and who all seem completely incapable of hitting the back of the net. Finally, for a team that thrives off knock downs and second and third balls, we're getting to / winning remarkably few (although obviously we did score from one tonight).

I remarked to my friend that Diouf and Pedersen must be the worst pair of wingers playing for a team in the Premier League. It was an off-the-cuff statement, but I can't think of any team with a worse pair. When Andrews came on, I couldn't think of a worse midfield either.

We simply cannot rely on Pedersen, Diouf and Andrews to keep us in this division. They need to go and they need replacing.

It's also such a shame that right wing and left back have gone from being filled by our top players to becoming weak spots in the team. Bentley and Warnock were not adaquately replaced and it shows (I exclude CM here, because I think a trio of Grella, N'Zonzi and Dunn is actually a good standard for this division. We're just unlucky that two of the three are injured).

[Hughesy]

Poor for 30minutes - then ok until half time

2nd half - 1st 20 mins poor - then we got into the game when Hoilett & McCarthy were introduced.

Good delivery for the goal and a goal for Nelsen....who apart from that was shown up for his lack of pace and also left his man for thier crucial 2nd goal.

Kalinic did well and was very unlucky. Samba was our best defender (no suprise there), and MGP did ok. Robbo played decent too and made a good save late on.

Jerome for them was a handful...but to be honest Brum are not good - just work very hard for one another - something Roberts, Diouf & Andrews dont seem prepared to do for us.

Shame we couldnt snatch a last minute goal - not the end of the world though.

Our wingers dont provide many chances and our midfield lacks bite....it needs sorting as we cant just lay it all on Dunns shoulders.

[thenodrog]

Fat chance of that.

He made lot of changes to the team and formation tonight and not one of them paid off. Totally his fault. Hoilett and Benni were several classes above the players he put in in their place. We lived down to every stereotype of his style tonight.

He said with barely disguised glee.

Truth is we were crap for 75% of this match and if I never see Roberts and Andrews in a Rovers shirt again it will be too soon. My thoughts are that Ped and EHD are close behind on tonights performance. Our reliance on wimpy glassbacks in midfield messrs Dunny, Grella, has also bitten us on the arse as we always knew it would. Good players without a doubt but they wont ever play enough to be considered a worthwhile investment.

On the other side of the coin fair play to Brum. They have their tails well and truly up at the minute, in fact so far up that their lack of quality is disguised by their points total. They are on a good roll and their confidence is reflected in their attitudes. 3 players aside the rest of our collective bunch of lacklustre wimps, sick notes and all round waistrals need to take note. Some people may disagree but oh to be viewed as Dogs of War again! This current lot would not frighten a Girl Guides X1.