[Archived] Birmingham Preview

[Ozz]

It's a good job I'm concentrating more on singing than the games this year because the football is ######.

It's not that bad really is it?

[Andy]

Of course it's not.

We beat a decent Everton side with a fantastic defensive performance and then today outplayed Birmingham at their place, putting some decent possession football on whilst doing so, and came away with a defeat due an outstanding performance by their 'keeper.

We look a solid unit and a lot more efficient than this time last year.

It's going to be interesting to see how we progress as a team, particularly with the young lads coming through and theres loads of reason for optimism.

[darwenblueswearehere]

Of course it's not.

We beat a decent Everton side with a fantastic defensive performance and then today outplayed Birmingham at their place, putting some decent possession football on whilst doing so, and came away with a defeat due an outstanding performance by their 'keeper.

We look a solid unit and a lot more efficient than this time last year.

It's going to be interesting to see how we progress as a team, particularly with the young lads coming through and theres loads of reason for optimism.

Spot on, couldn't agree more with this post.

[Bobby G]

Cant be more frustrated. We were by far the better side, had more of the ball and dominated the better chances. Desperately unlucky, cause we werent clinical enough. Very painful to swallow with Arsenal coming up, having to lose to such a poor Birmingham side who will be lucky to come close to 10th.

[bazza]

Just watched MOTD. We seemed to play well and were unlucky not to get anything from the game.

Ped's penalty was well struck and brilliantly saved.

Robbo was beaten by a snapshot which bounced just in front of him. No blame in my opinion.

Judging by the highlights, we should have won that game. Was it a bit like Sunderland away last season?

[artemorethanlabore]

It's painful losing, but I can't help being upbeat despite the loss. Clearly we were the better team, but even then you need the roll of the dice and we didn't have that today. As the season continues, probfully we will have our share of undeserved wins. In any case, the future looks blue-'n'-white! As the above posters, I think the team looks solid, there's certainly plenty of young, exciting talent and with money from a takeover spend wisely, knock-on-wood, there's a real chance of this team reaching the levels of us under Hughes, or, punch-a-tree, higher. Roll on!

[Mr. E]

the only good thing is that we have a game coming up on Tuesday and a chance to set things right pretty quickly.

[beerwins]

the only good thing is that we have a game coming up on Tuesday and a chance to set things right pretty quickly.

This cant be MR E Rovers lose and no negativity, no end of the world scenario.

Ok you can untie him now the games over, somebody tell him the result.

[RibbleValleyRover]

the only good thing is that we have a game coming up on Tuesday and a chance to set things right pretty quickly.

Problem is we might rest pretty much all that side that played today against Norwich in mid week. Personally i would start with most of the team that played today, especially the defense to get those defensive lapses out of their system. Resting them all and then going into the Arsenal game might not be wise at all.

[American Rover12]

Of course it's not.

We beat a decent Everton side with a fantastic defensive performance and then today outplayed Birmingham at their place, putting some decent possession football on whilst doing so, and came away with a defeat due an outstanding performance by their 'keeper.

We look a solid unit and a lot more efficient than this time last year.

It's going to be interesting to see how we progress as a team, particularly with the young lads coming through and theres loads of reason for optimism.

That's a quality post. Agree with all of that, except maybe the reason for defeat.

Was it a bit like Sunderland away last season?

In terms of shock having not won? Worse, i think. It took me a little while to realize we had lost haha.

[Mr. E]

This cant be MR E Rovers lose and no negativity, no end of the world scenario.

Ok you can untie him now the games over, somebody tell him the result.

You mean you don't see why it's easier to feel more optimistic now rather than last season? The team has grown stronger, we're playing better, we have exciting takeover news going on...

[Miker]

We had some great moments last night, especially in the second half. I thought Diouf had a brilliant game, he was in inspired form showing strength, vision and good distribution to get our plays going. I'm actually really pleased we have him now.

Kalinic was unlucky once more... I'm betting on him hitting the post at least 5 times this season!

[Exiled_Rover]

Sam on creativity....

Allardyce was irked by the suggestion that Rovers missed David Dunn's creative flair after the midfielder sat out a return to his former club with a groin injury.

When asked if the Ewood Park club needed to bring in new additions to support Nikola Kalinic: "You must have been at a different game!

"If you look at the amount of attempts we had in their box, it's far greater than Birmingham City's."

I thoroughly dislike that man. Kalinic CONSTANTLY has two defenders in his face with nobody coming up to support him. It's a thankless task.

I wouldn't be surprised, with the gift of hindsight, if he turned down the Rovers move. I don't think he realised what he was getting himself in for.

[Exiled_Rover]

Just watched MOTD. We seemed to play well and were unlucky not to get anything from the game.

Ped's penalty was well struck and brilliantly saved.

Robbo was beaten by a snapshot which bounced just in front of him. No blame in my opinion.

Judging by the highlights, we should have won that game. Was it a bit like Sunderland away last season?

No. We have absolutely nobody in midfield that keeps possession. As a result we never dictate games. Sure we carved out a few half chances, but you're asking a lot of Kalinic to battle away against two big centre halves for 80 minutes AND snaffle any half chance that comes his way. He's good, but he's not world class.

The defence was solid, bar two lapses in concentration. Jones, however much I dislike him in midfield, actually adds some steel to the side. He breaks up play nicely - though that's N'Zonzi's job. You have two players doing the same thing really.

Olsson was anonymous. Diouf was tidy, but he's wasted out wide - his lack of pace means that a) he can never get up to support Kalinic and he can never take advantage of his skill and beat the fullback. Pedersen was good until his penalty miss, then he disappeared. Diouf MkII and Hoilett did nothing.

Birmingham City are not a good side - they had three chances and stuck away two. However, we weren't clearly the better team. We play some absolutely dire football. It might look good on the stats sheet and on MOTD after being heavily edited (oooh look at all the chances we created!), but for 90 minutes it's dreadful to watch.

[philipl]

Of course it's not.

We beat a decent Everton side with a fantastic defensive performance and then today outplayed Birmingham at their place, putting some decent possession football on whilst doing so, and came away with a defeat due an outstanding performance by their 'keeper.

We look a solid unit and a lot more efficient than this time last year.

It's going to be interesting to see how we progress as a team, particularly with the young lads coming through and theres loads of reason for optimism.

Thanks for that Andy.

Puts things into perspective.

I was fuming after the loss yesterday but now realise it was the relatively rare sensation of having lost a game we really should have won on any objective measure of play. Last year up until February, I was fuming at away defeats simply because we were horribly awful.

[Ricky]

Philip, I car shared with 2 Birmingham fans yesterday who couldn't believe they'd won that game. Their keeper got man of the match which probably says something about te game as well.

[Majiball]

Just got back from Birmingham, incredibly frustrated at how we somehow managed to loose this game. Goodness knows how Birmingham have the unbeaten home record that they do, they were nothing special and looked distinctly average at best.

I was suprised at how open the game was. I thought it would be a really cagey game, but it was relitavely open, with both teams having chances (although few good chances). I thought rovers had the better of the first 20-25 minutes and bossed brum, creating a few chances and restricting Birmingham to aimless punts forward. We faded as the half went on and Birmingham came back into it, but a stronger finish to the half left me encouraged that we were in good shape for at least a point.

The penalty changed the game imo. Don't think it was a good penalty by Pedersen, a nice hight and too close to the keeper, but equally damaging was that it knocked the stuffing out of Peds. Up until then I thought he had been excellent, with some nice passes, but afterwards was rather more out of the game.

Credit for the team keeping going, and a good goal. However conceding as quickly as we did afterwards was criminal, and manner in which we did even more so. To be fair with Jones off injured there were probably a bit of confusion as to who was marking whom, but leaving two men in the penalty area unmarked after a free kick was asking for trouble, and Birmingham duely punnished us.

The second, I thought Robbo was a tad unlucky with the bounce, it bobbled awkwardly for him, but really their player should have been closed down long before he shot. After that Rovers panicked and just started hoofing it forward. I've no problem with the long ball game, and up until the goal for us, it was working fine. But there is a marked difference between us keeping it tight and waiting to release players at the right moment, as we did prior to our goal, and the aimless punts forward at the first opportunity. As it was, we still might have got something if we'd have been a bit sharper at our set pieces (one Foster flap falling to Pedersen in particular) but the way we played after going behind just smacked of desperation and a team that had run out of ideas.

Player wise I thought Diouf had a good game, and I was also pleasantly suprised by Salgado. I thought Kalinic worked his socks off, and until the penalty Pedersen looked good. I thought Olsson had an off day, and Jones and N'Zonzi though protecting the defence well, perhaps didn't contribute enough going forwards to relieve the pressure on Peds, Diouf and Kalanic to produce. The team is really crying out for another creative midfielder, and I feel with a bit more guile in the centre of the park we'd have probably had 3 points.

Nice review. Firstly it was very good yesterday to see us perform better away from home, the old adage "another day" most certainly applies. I was pleased to see that we have started to make teams think about what we are doing, ped's varied his throws and we created opportunities from them, variation was also present in our play. I have to Echo the thoughts of some on here that Kalinic should be on penalties. Its almost always an inspirational/game changing moment to the opposition should they be missed. Kalinic needs to get as many goals as quickly as possible, so he gets his confidence, who knows what may have happened with his chance had he already scored a goal?

The first half saw for me a much better away rovers, we played a bit and mixed it up and if anything once we got going we looked like the home team. Praise must go to the fans there as on the tele I could only hear Rovers chants. But that was when we needed to score and I was disappointed but heartened to go in 0-0. Once we scored though we changed our tune a little and our belly was exposed yet again. Most of us know we have to play 3 in the middle, its our weakest area and the extra man helps with that issue. But even with 3 we lack a crucial ingredient there, experience. The 3 lads in the main did well but their lack of experience in those roles was exposed yesterday. You cannot get as close as they do to the back line without inviting shots from the opposition, midfield for me is our Achilles heel at present.

We did resort to getting it forward once their second went in, which I did find puzzling as if anything B.Diouf had been our best creator in open play and I felt we should have been looking to work the ball to him more. Birmingham seemed quite happy dealing with the direct ball forward. But you have to take heart from it all, its been a while since we went away from home and came back feeling we had been the better team. We didn't go there to defend for 90 minutes, we tried to take the game to them and if not for foster having an inspired performance we would most certainly have 6 points by now.

Despite the same scoreline as last season, progress was made yesterday and hopefully the players feel that way about it as well and can carry that into the next performance in the league. But the one thing that was really highlighted yesterday as an area for improvement is in the middle. As others have said we desperately need a "player" in the middle, a passer, a tempo man. With one of those I'm not so sure we would have been so direct once we were chasing the game. But credit where its due we did alright yesterday and most certainly should have gotten a point, on a different day we would have.

[Parsonblue]

Birmingham City are not a good side - they had three chances and stuck away two. However, we weren't clearly the better team. We play some absolutely dire football. It might look good on the stats sheet and on MOTD after being heavily edited (oooh look at all the chances we created!), but for 90 minutes it's dreadful to watch.

From where I was sat at Birmingham, I felt that we were clearly the better team. I felt we played some decent stuff at times and were unfortunate not to win. We missed some chances, Foster was excellent and our 'keeper again showed his weakness with long range shots - for me those were the reasons we lost.

[Majiball]

From where I was sat at Birmingham, I felt that we were clearly the better team. I felt we played some decent stuff at times and were unfortunate not to win. We missed some chances, Foster was excellent and our 'keeper again showed his weakness with long range shots - for me those were the reasons we lost.

Until we get a player in the middle who can lead the others we will struggle. they get too close to the back line at times and invite the shots. Whilst Robbo should have done better with the shot it should never have happened in the first place. Its too much for our experienced back line to marshal themselves and the midfield, this is one thing that Andrews does bring onto the pitch.

Trouble is the type of central player we need is basically the complete midfielder. Passer, creator, attack minded as well as defence, a leader & an organiser. Not cheap.

[tcj_jones]

On Kalinic's header off the post. I think he was unlucky and that it was a harder chance than first appearances would suggest because Samba knocked him completely off balance just as he was getting his head to it.

[The Gull]

Those complaining about our style of play away from home are part of the 20% of people who will never be pleased. Alternatively you have 20% who will always be happy and the rest can swing either way.

From the extended highlights I watched we mire than deserved something out of that on chances created. Remember it is not whether you have the ball nut what you do when you have it.

We haven't got a Tugay in the team to control the game and Dunn was missing also, do people expect Jones and N'zonzi to turn in to Gerrard and co?

There are positives to take from a defeat which is not what we could say about a lot of our away games last season.

Pedersen unlucky with his pen really and Foster pulled of a few good saves which kept them in the game.

[Amo]

I thoroughly dislike that man. Kalinic CONSTANTLY has two defenders in his face with nobody coming up to support him. It's a thankless task.

I see where you're coming from. How often is Kalinic put through 1 vs. 1 with the keeper? I seriously can't think of an occasion. He manages to shoot with his back to goal, or scramble efforts from set-pieces, but no clear-cut opportunities.

[Majiball]

I see where you're coming from. How often is Kalinic put through 1 vs. 1 with the keeper? I seriously can't think of an occasion. He manages to shoot with his back to goal, or scramble efforts from set-pieces, but no clear-cut opportunities.

But he's never going to get those type of chances until we learn to step up. Look at brums first goal yesterday.

We clear the ball forward to kalinic and when we do the majority of our players are in our box.

The ball comes back and we are all still in our box. We stay far too deep at times and if we'd stepped up another 5-10 yards the ball would have been a nothing ball, or they would have been offside.

On Kalinic though he has to get a lot of credit for N'zonzi'z goal, he holds back 2 players one being foster and that played a big part in the ball going in the back of the net.

[Amo]

But he's never going to get those type of chances until we learn to step up. Look at brums first goal yesterday.

I agree. It's apparent we lack a midfield player BUT our tactics are also at fault. Lesser teams than us manage to put strikers through on goal.

[thenodrog]

Just watched MOTD. We seemed to play well and were unlucky not to get anything from the game.

Ped's penalty was well struck and brilliantly saved.

Robbo was beaten by a snapshot which bounced just in front of him. No blame in my opinion.

Judging by the highlights, we should have won that game. Was it a bit like Sunderland away last season?

A snap shot from a player who had the freedom of the park and didn't have a Rovers player between him and the goals and you can't apportion any blame bazza? Well I can.

The salient points to note here is that....

1. Jones was off the field for treatment the first goal and the vastly experienced Rovers defence did not deem it necessary to adapt and to cover for him. There was a country mile between Samba and Salgado.

2. Jones had been subbed before the second. I'm fairly certain that if he'd still been on the opportunity would not have been presented to Gardener.

Having said that I was not there to see the full match and see how the tactics unfolded or to know whether or not he had had to be taken off through injury. Maybe someone who was there (and who doesn't sing and chant insults at the opposing fans all the match) might expand upoin that? Point being that our preffered formation functions a hell of a lot better with either Jones or Grella sitting deep and protecting the back four in a role that Ivan Campo excelled for Allardyce's Bolton teams.