[Archived] City Away - Monday 11 January 2010

[mellison24]

I have calmed down now since vowing to never watch Rovers again as I left the ground last night. A couple of points though. Firstly, who was that clown towards the back right of the away section who kept trying to chant "where's your driver gone"? He was an embarrassment to an otherwise excellent support. Soemone who made me laugh was a young lad a couple of rows in front of me in an away top with N'Zonzi on the back. He barely said anything then remembered there was a girl next to him at half time and suddenly started shouting and pulling at his shirt acting like he wanted to punch someone. She looked well impressed. Other than that I thought the support was excellent, especially after the third goal when the cheers became ironic. It's all too easy sometimes to depress each other and turn a bad night into something even worse. King Kennys Magic Hat? Class. More of that on Thursday!

That aside, obviously we were awful but I think it will force us into change. It is now painfully clear we cannot play with any sort of defensive mindset or we get 4,5 or 6 put past us. We have to go for it and play with two strikers and a midfield who looks to get it to them in decent positions. No more 50 yard looping "passes" that poor Kalinic and Di Santo don't have a hope with. The one moment of last night I enjoyed was when Olsson beat a man and put in a cracking cross. Obvously, MGP missed it but at that point, just for a second, I actually thought there might be a way back into the match for us. If we have a go, like we did agains Chelsea last month, even if we lose I for one won't be too hard on the team and I think that view would be shared by many in the crowd.

It's not the end of the world like some would have you believe. If only because the performances CANNOT get any worse than that!

Well said! I still think Olsson on the wing with pedersen assisting Dunn in the hole is the way to go. Both can create through the midfield, but both can also feed of long balls that are AIMED at the striker and nt just booted up as per usual. Olsson offers pace and a decent cross. Hoilett offers pace and a half-decent attempt at a cross. It's worth a go to play it on the ground.

[Tom]

One thing that wound me up last night was the bloody commentator having a sly dig at Rovers when mentioning one of the City youngsters had trials at Ewood.

[AggyBlue]

So did the Light Brigade Aggy.

The charge was a mistake, I've seen the film.

[tonyoz]

1. We cannot compete individually with teams that cost much more to assemble than ours

2. So therefore play to quieten the crowd and grind down the oppositions enthusiasm. The plan being to get to 70 mins without giving a goal away or at worst going 1 down.

3. Change tactics and personnel to effectively go at em for the last 15.

This tactic grinds down our fans' enthusiasm too. I fear that the brave season ticket initiative is being undermined by the dross being served up. The ball is launched up to a lone Di Santo - nothing exciting ever comes of that and he is quickly outmuscled. The ball is returned to our half where the likes of Tevez and Bellamy immediately create more havoc! No matter how good our defence is, this tactic of inviting quality players to have "another go" is a recipe for disaster. Hence the embarrassing wallopings we have suffered all too often this season.

For a short period around our goal, it was refreshing to see that the game can be different when we allowed other players to venture into the City half.

[tonyoz]

Emerton Andrews Dunn NZonzi and MGP could be a useful midfield IF Andrews played in his position. The trouble is he cant, he doesnt, he doesnt have the nouse to play a central berth, he hasnt the skill to read the game, he cant tackle, cant pass, cant head in fact all he can do is create havoc.

Sorry 1864, I disagree. All of these players were poor. Even Emerton, who I like, was anonymous. Andrews may have been awful but who played well? Most people don't seem to realise that the only way that you will stop Andrews from playing a major role, is to get rid of Sam.

(I am not advocating that by the way.)

[Steve Moss]

So did the Light Brigade Aggy.

While it did not end well for them personally, they demonstrated some amazing brass. And they've been immortalized in a few songs and movies so their effort was not entirely wasted.

[den]

Sorry 1864, I disagree. All of these players were poor. Even Emerton, who I like, was anonymous. Andrews may have been awful but who played well? Most people don't seem to realise that the only way that you will stop Andrews from playing a major role, is to get rid of Sam.

(I am not advocating that by the way.)

To be fair to Andrews, I don't think one single player had anything other than a stinker. Can't remember thinking that before.

[alexanders]

Just saw second half again. Actually we played some very decent stuff in this half.

We need to go out like that from the beginning.

Just saw the second half again. Actually we played some very good stuff during this half.

The only thing Sam needs to do is go out with high pressure and let the players play on the deck.

Witnessing that second half again shows that we have the personnel to do it.