[Archived] Villa Semi Final Match Preview

[JAL]

i hear Talk Sport arte stickin the knife in cos they heard we've only sold 11k home tickets. am sure that will be more by now.

same as monday night where the commentator said there was on't 450 tickets sold despite that being the figure up til 12pm that day. was quite obvious more had been sold before kick off.

if we were a media favourite it'd be spun so differently.

I'll be there thursday night, but the missing supporters have my full support for not going. What better time to show your comtempt for the football on offer than to skip a home leg semi final.

Full marks to the missing fans in giving the two fingered salute to Allardyce.

Get a new manager in for tomorrow and watch the crowd grow then.

The fans arent stupid around here to go and blindly support a losing team.

[Iceman]

I'll be there thursday night, but the missing supporters have my full support for not going. What better time to show your comtempt for the football on offer than to skip a home leg semi final.

Full marks to the missing fans in giving the two fingered salute to Allardyce.

Get a new manager in for tomorrow and watch the crowd grow then.

The fans arent stupid around here to go and blindly support a losing team.

Agree. I also think that another reason is, the fans are spending so much money on getting to games to watch @#/?. The team still has my support, and that includes Sam for now. 2 more games, and thats it. After that, if its a case of rubbish still, then its time to get rid.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Interesting that the hard-core N01 is still looking very empty!

Maybe the hardcore have more sense and don't suffer fools gladly... eh Hughesy

[ABBEY]

Spot on

Id be there even if Brian Laws was in charge!

Interesting that the hard-core N01 is still looking very empty!

Dog it will be empty its 29 hours off kick-off and its snowing!

[BPF]

I'll be there (if it's not called off)

I'm going to watch with somehat of a split loyality. If we get a lucky win it will create a false confidence in the management team and further prolong what I deem to be inevitable. But as people have said above, as a Rovers fan you support Rovers through thick and thin so I'll be 100% behind them at the end of the day.

[mellison24]

I'll be there (if it's not called off)

I'm going to watch with somehat of a split loyality. If we get a lucky win it will create a false confidence in the management team and further prolong what I deem to be inevitable. But as people have said above, as a Rovers fan you support Rovers through thick and thin so I'll be 100% behind them at the end of the day.

I cannot make it, but have handed my ticket on to my cousin and I will watch in the student bar with about a dozen others. As far as false confience goes....I think it's too late for Allardyce to live off that now. The City game was too far for me. Much like the Liverpool game under Ince for me.

[S15]

If you recall, the then manager showed a lot of flexibility in his thinking for that game and changed the formation around quite dramatically. Emerton was benched, Tugay was played 40 yards further up and Douglas was brought into what I think was a 4-3-1-2 formation. I have no expectations that our current manager will take on board the dressing room views and change anything.

His comments before the postponed game summed it up, 'This one will be cagey, we just need to make sure we're still in the tie when it finishes' Marvelous - can't wait!!

To be fair Souey was off his tits by that point, and I think to give the great man credit for 'being flexible' is being too kind.

Wild gamble/last throw of the dice would be more accurate. Fair play though, it paid off.

Let's see if Sam is wearing his lucky briefs on Thursday.

[Tris]

I'll be there (if it's not called off)

I'm going to watch with somehat of a split loyality. If we get a lucky win it will create a false confidence in the management team and further prolong what I deem to be inevitable. But as people have said above, as a Rovers fan you support Rovers through thick and thin so I'll be 100% behind them at the end of the day.

There will certainly be no split loyalty from me when I walk through the turnstiles.

Tomorrow is a home semi-final for goodness sake, it's about shouting the team on to Wembley and who knows what happens then - 90 mins from Europe??

Much as I can't wait for the day this manager leaves Ewood for good, that sentiment goes well and truly on the shelf at 8pm tomorrow.

That said, I feel that it's inevitable that if the Rovers show the same lack of attitude and fight as on Monday, and ship a couple of goals, then the crowd is bound to turn, and if it goes to a deficit of 3 or 4 at home, then I can't promise I wouldn't join in.

In that situation, the message from the fans - and the most loyal fans at that, not even the 8,000 who seem to be planning to stay away from this one - would be very loud and very clear.

[Gally]

Call me niave, but I think come kick off tomorow there will be more tickets sold than predicted. I speak for myself here but I only ever get cup tickets about 20 minutes before kick off, because there's never any chance of it selling out. I made an exception for tomorow, because I'd be very surprised if the attendence isn't well upwards of 20k

[mellison24]

To be fair Souey was off his tits by that point, and I think to give the great man credit for 'being flexible' is being too kind.

Wild gamble/last throw of the dice would be more accurate. Fair play though, it paid off.

Let's see if Sam is wearing his lucky briefs on Thursday.

Some of us have just had very late lunches, that wasn't very helpful!

[duffbear]

The way I see it is Sam's tactics do work he proved it at Bolton Problem is it was years before it started to work well and he had he eventually got the players that could play his system.

At the momment he is trying to get players to play his system regardless of there strenghs.

He has to play to there strenghts or get players that can play his system simple really!

Sam does not help himself by always blaming the team and like at portsmouth when he made the changes rather than credit the team he gave himself all the credit!

I know it sounds like I dont like Sam, but actually do like the guy and have spoken to him on several occasions and is a great guy. I think he is a good manager but he just needs to stop being stubborn and start playing to the players strenghs until he gets the players that fit into his system.

If we sacked him who would we get that is better equipped to get us out of this situation. With the exception of Hughes who I doubt would come back who can we get and it will cost us more money that we cant afford. I think we need to stick with Sam until the end of the season unless we drop into the bottom 3 and stay there for any length of time. Just remember when Hughes was here he was given a little bit of money to spend. Sam Is having to sell players and then only getting a certain perentage of that money to spend.

Problem is can Sam play any other way I think he can he proved that with the great subs when losing against Portsmouth.

We are not expected to win against Villa although I think we can but if he start with a postive team then it will get the fans behind the team and the manager from the start.

If he start with 1 up front or Anderws or Roberts starting there will be groans from the start.

Team I would pick and would really suprise Villa is

Robinson

Chimbonda Samba Givet Olson

Hoilett Nzonzi Emerton

Mcarthy

Di Santo Kalnic

I would leave Dunn on the bench as he against City he was clearly struglling for fitness.

Bring him on a half time when the opostion are a little weary either for Mcarthy if not playing well/tired/spent too long at mcdonalds the previous night or if he is playing well bring him on for Di Santo or Kalnic and push Benni up top.

If we go one up dont sit back just keep playing the same way !

[mellison24]

The way I see it is Sam's tactics do work he proved it at Bolton Problem is it was years before it started to work well and he had he eventually got the players that could play his system.

At the momment he is trying to get players to play his system regardless of there strenghs.

He has to play to there strenghts or get players that can play his system simple really!

Sam does not help himself by always blaming the team and like at portsmouth when he made the changes rather than credit the team he gave himself all the credit!

I know it sounds like I dont like Sam, but actually do like the guy and have spoken to him on several occasions and is a great guy. I think he is a good manager but he just needs to stop being stubborn and start playing to the players strenghs until he gets the players that fit into his system.

If we sacked him who would we get that is better equipped to get us out of this situation. With the exception of Hughes who I doubt would come back who can we get and it will cost us more money that we cant afford. I think we need to stick with Sam until the end of the season unless we drop into the bottom 3 and stay there for any length of time. Just remember when Hughes was here he was given a little bit of money to spend. Sam Is having to sell players and then only getting a certain perentage of that money to spend.

Problem is can Sam play any other way I think he can he proved that with the great subs when losing against Portsmouth.

We are not expected to win against Villa although I think we can but if he start with a postive team then it will get the fans behind the team and the manager from the start.

If he start with 1 up front or Anderws or Roberts starting there will be groans from the start.

Team I would pick and would really suprise Villa is

Robinson

Chimbonda Samba Givet Olson

Hoilett Nzonzi Emerton

Mcarthy

Di Santo Kalnic

I would leave Dunn on the bench as he against City he was clearly struglling for fitness.

Bring him on a half time when the opostion are a little weary either for Mcarthy if not playing well/tired/spent too long at mcdonalds the previous night or if he is playing well bring him on for Di Santo or Kalnic and push Benni up top.

If we go one up dont sit back just keep playing the same way !

When Olsson came on (and did well) he was on the wing. Pedersen also played better in the hole. I would go with the same formation but with the following players:

Robbo (or maybe we finally need to give another keeper a go?)

Jacobsen-Samba-Nelsen-Chimbonda

Hoilett-Emerton-Olsson

Pedersen

Kalinic-Benni

But Sam won't do this.

[duffbear]

When Olsson came on (and did well) he was on the wing. Pedersen also played better in the hole. I would go with the same formation but with the following players:

Robbo (or maybe we finally need to give another keeper a go?)

Jacobsen-Samba-Nelsen-Chimbonda

Hoilett-Emerton-Olsson

Pedersen

Kalinic-Benni

But Sam won't do this.

I doubt he will and even less likely to go with my team/formation in sam we trust lol

[rog of the rovers]

Wow is it December 2007 all over again?

I remember those on here calling for Ince's head and saying they'd boo from start to finish and even louder if we lost, yet at the game the atmosphere was fantastic and even though we lost I remember the players being applauded for their efforts.

Hopefully tomorrow the crowd reacts in turn and applauds and supports the players if they are putting a shift in, rather than use the platform to have a go at Sam.

[Dan Furness]

There will certainly be no split loyalty from me when I walk through the turnstiles.

Tomorrow is a home semi-final for goodness sake, it's about shouting the team on to Wembley and who knows what happens then - 90 mins from Europe??

Much as I can't wait for the day this manager leaves Ewood for good, that sentiment goes well and truly on the shelf at 8pm tomorrow.

That said, I feel that it's inevitable that if the Rovers show the same lack of attitude and fight as on Monday, and ship a couple of goals, then the crowd is bound to turn, and if it goes to a deficit of 3 or 4 at home, then I can't promise I wouldn't join in.

In that situation, the message from the fans - and the most loyal fans at that, not even the 8,000 who seem to be planning to stay away from this one - would be very loud and very clear.

Got to agree Tris,

I have voiced my opinion on Big Sam and will be happy once he has gone, but I will still be going tomorrow even though I have no motivation whatsoever due to the 'football' on display in the past few months, not weeks, months.

The 8,000 missing fans will surely give the board, manager and players an indication of how annoyed we 'as a whole' are and if, more importantly, the players and manager dont take this opportunity to prove their worth to us then it will only get worse.

[Shabani]

I'm gonna be there, coming back from uni especially and now my mate has bailed im gonna be on my own!

This might be the last Semi final we have for a while and i'd like to be there rather than be one of those that doesn't go and complains theres never anything to get excited about as a Rovers' fan.

Tomorrow we could put one big step into Wembley!! get behind the lads

[Tom]

This is massive now not just for the cup just for the confidence a win would bring ahead of a far more important game on sunday.

In my eyes the worst result would be a marginal defeat, it would effectively see us out but wouldn't put enough pressure on the board.

In my opinion to progress we simply have to win the first leg and preferably not concede.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Going tomorrow, but even if we progress Allardyce always rolls over for the top 4/6 teams so probably a pointless exercise.

Everyone should get behind the team never the less.

However, I for one certainly won't be singing 'big sam's barmy army'.....time to stick to the Uncle Jack version until Allardyce has gone.

[JAL]

Think the missing support will be needed most at VILLA park for the away leg rather than Ewood park.

[Amo]

If we get through, it'll give me an excuse visit the new Wembley.

[broadsword]

Would be cool to turn this into a poll on predicted result.

- Big win for rovers

- Narrow win for rovers

- Draw

- Narrow loss

- Big loss

Mods?

[alexanders]

After seeing second half of the city game I would go with this team tomorrow:

Jacobsen - Samba - Nelsen - Olsson

Nzonzi

Emerton - Dunn - Pedersen

Hoilett - Kalinic

Kalinic has to start , he has a very good work-ethic and is as good as Di Santo in linking play and holding up the ball. He also looks a lot more like a goalgetter and seems to always be close to the ball at rebounds, corners and free-kicks. This guy will deffo put a lot of balls in the net in the future.

Hoilett made a very good job and has the pace needed. I think he would fit playing up front together with Kalinic. They seem to understand each other quite well.

Pedersen had a very good second half and scored twice in 2 weeks. He needs to start.

Emerton and Dunn will actually give us some creative sparks from midfield. They both run around a lot and are good at going forward.

Nzonzi is best at his defensive position. When he plays that position he is able to tackle and win the ball a lot and can also pass the ball around a bit without being to adventorous.

Jacobsen had a good game up against craig bellamy and martin petrov, both whom a lot of pace as have the likes of young / downing who he will face tomorrow. He also very seldom gives the ball away and contributes going forward though he could be doing that more like the first games of the season where I was impressed with his offensive capabilities.

Samba and Nelsen are our best pair, but I would consider Givet instead of Nelsen. Nelsen is the worst hoofer out there and has always been. He is very bad at passing and was also caught out of position a lot of times against City. Givet is a liability at left-back, but is better at the centre.

IF reports are correct that Olsson is better defensively than last year I would defently start him. He provides much going forward and has pace to handle both downing and young which he showed last game against Villa. He and Gamst seems to understand each other and Gamst would be able to help Olsson out defensively.

Feel free to disagree.

My optimism is back and IF Sam Allardyce play correct tomorrow we are very able to beat Villa!

Up The Rovers!

[mellison24]

alexandrs - I ONLY disagree with the formation. Olsson played well on the left wing against City, not at LB. I've posted who I'd play somewhere so will wait until tomorrow before I post it again. Here's hoping Sam wnt be an incompetant ######.

[Presty On Tour]

QUICK QUESTION

WHAT TIME IS THE TICKET OFFICE OPEN TILL TOMORROW?

[only2garners]

QUICK QUESTION

WHAT TIME IS THE TICKET OFFICE OPEN TILL TOMORROW?

About 10 past 8 I should think.....