[Archived] Rovers v West Brom

[Balwer]

salgado was a sensible sub, thomas was raping him.

need another right back, although Emerton is coming back in a week or so.

[Teacup]

The cover Jones offered today was great, really allowed Samba/Givet/Salgado to go up and attack. Annoying that the commentators kept calling him Olsson though lol

[Steve Moss]

Seventh! Very sweet.

On the other hand, the last third of the match, right around the time of the double substitution, is cause for concern. Something to work on.

[philipl]

Good win, well on top but needed the breaks to go our way.

Jones looks a bit raw at this level at the moment.

Roberts gave us a typically awful cameo 15 minutes!

[yankrover]

Givet's beard for motm.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

7th in the league. Sweeeeeeeet.

Jones and Santa fitted in like they were playing for us all season.

Hoilett's goal was superb.

[greco]

need another right back, although Emerton is coming back in a week or so.

my thoughts aswell, today we saw salgado´s limitation shine through. Would suit or new style, to have an olson´esque type on the right side.

special mentions to :

robbo: did excellent the times he had to.

olson: ran his socks of

samba: just all over the place

hoilett: that type of player has been missed

roque: just has more class then our other options and showed it today.

[Teacup]

It looked to me as if Kean was playing for the clean sheet towards the end. There was not as many of us forward after the second goal, but to be honest I cannot blame him, -6 we are on.

[moerpho]

Great win! And that is what I call entertainment....another 2 goals scored from open play and even though I have no nails left I'll take this over Sam's tactics every day of the week. Remember...this is more or less the same squad that didn't have enough quality to keep the ball down. Hoilett's goal was pure class! Still early days for Kean, but keep this up and Rovers will be safe by Easter. Up the Rovers!

[LeChuck]

Seventh! Very sweet.

On the other hand, the last third of the match, right around the time of the double substitution, is cause for concern. Something to work on.

The same happened against Liverpool as well. It's a worry.

We need to learn to take the sting out of games by retaining possession in later stages.

[Ricky]

Welcome 3 points without playing that well. Thought Kalinic looked more lively than rsc. Shame to see him make way.

Thought pedersen looked awful today. He's had some excellent games recently but today he was really poor.

Luck went our way but we're 7th going into the fa cup break with Wigan away coming up next. just a few more wins from safety.

[DE.]

Whew. Glad that's over. A good win, and I really enjoyed a lot of the football we played today. There's an undeniable difference between the football we play now and the football we played when Allardyce was here, and i have to say when it works like it did numerous times today it makes for bloody nice viewing. There was a period of about 20 minutes in the 2nd half where we really struggled, the substitutions were probably a mistake in hindsight.Still, WBA were largely toothless and we weren't ever truly threatened.

Best player by a mile today was Junior. What a performance from the lad. If he can get a consistant streak going he'll be a force in our team. I thought Olsson was so-so in the first half but much improved in the 2nd, a constant threat. Love having him and Junior bombing down the wings Robbo was fantastic as per, Samba also steady. Santa Cruz added a touch of real class to proceedings, he looked a little rusty but he'll get better.

Thought Salgado struggled a bit at right back, we were exposed down that flank numerous times and it was the right decision to replace him with Hanley towards the end.

MGP had an absolute nightmare. he wasn't just ineffective, he was a total liability throughout the match. He did very little right and constantly gave possession away. I've rarely seen him that bad, and hope that a performance that dire is a one off.

Jones had a solid debut, got about and looked comfortable in the 'midfield destroyer' role. Could have given away a penalty though, we got extremely lucky with that one.

The officials deserve a special mention for an unbelievably inept performance, too. For both sides, they were utterly abysmal. Infuriating to watch such poor officiating.

Overall, could have been a bit more comfortable, but I liked a lot of what I saw today.

[Miker]

I thought Santa Cruz did very well today and deserved a goal. I hope he gets back to his best and joins us next season.

[farhanology]

Does anyone here not rate Nzonzi at all? always looking lost granted playing out of position. But his sideways passing is frustrating and unforgivable, even before the injury. We have been bigging him up a little too much. What happened though to grella?

Great win though, givet was immense. The lancashire barcelona has arrived!

[Montfort]

One of the things about Aladyce's sides is that they tended to beat, at home, the teams they should beat i.e. the relegation candidates. Feel so relieved that we have won this match as I was not sure the trend would continue. Great to be 7th ( even though we have played more games than most ). Only 7 points from a champions league place but more importantly perhaps only 11 points from another season in the premiership - the main prize.

[Amo]

Can't believe some people are being harsh on a thoroughly deserved win. There's always room for improvement, but I think people are forgetting that we have a new manager with a new style, not to mention a couple of new players in the side today. It also didn't help when players *cough*Pedersen*cough* were determined to lose the ball at every opportunity.

Anyway, I'm just happy to be enjoying matches now, watching Rovers play exciting football with pace and purpose. No more routine, percentage crap. Excellent performance, three points in the bag, and up to 7th.

[Darwen Rover]

Jones was class...

[brian nelsen]

Happy, but slightly frustrated. I think we only showed our potential for maybe 15/20 mins of that match. We gave up possession too easy. Again. Santa Cruz linked play well and it was good to see him on for 90 mins. Hoilett will get better and better. Jones did the simple stuff well. Solid debut. Anyhoo, more positives than negatives. And we're trying to play the right way. In the words of Yazz and the plastic population, the only way is up.

[Guest linganzi]

Pretty good shifts put in all round . Wba were woeful although they may have had a pen

[Balwer]

my thoughts aswell, today we saw salgado´s limitation shine through. Would suit or new style, to have an olson´esque type on the right side.

don't get me wrong, I want to keep Salgado, he does some fantastic things, but we need another guy longterm anyway as he's 35 now. My point is that we need a pacey guy like Olsson when he is manned up against a pacey winger. He does a lot of things to compensate for his pace, he's the ultimate pro, but he can't fake pace.

[Teacup]

I agree Topman. West Brom were 3 points behind us before this match with a game in hand. Not exactly in a different league to us.

[Valois]

Welcome 3 points without playing that well. Thought Kalinic looked more lively than rsc. Shame to see him make way.

Thought pedersen looked awful today. He's had some excellent games recently but today he was really poor.

Luck went our way but we're 7th going into the fa cup break with Wigan away coming up next. just a few more wins from safety.

Think we have Spuds at home midweek before the Wigan game.

Hoilett absolutely class today again, Olsson good as well, but his final ball let him down a few times. Not sure how Jones got the MOM though, should have been Hoilett. Although Jones did pretty well, what we have be missing for a long time, although his challenge looked reckless on the edge of the area.

Robbo, if he isn't the best English keeper, if not keeper in the league I don't know who is at the moment.

Samba solid at the back, and Givet did well also. MGP gave the ball away far to much, and we looked a little shakey towards the last 20mins. Something we will need to improve on , just retain the ball.

Dunn looked good as well today, had a bit more licence to roam, and some real neat touches.

RSC still a bit rusty but signs of his quality shining through, same with Kali he will only get better playing up with RSC.

MGP has to be dropped against Villa, move Olsson to the left wing, and Givet back to LB.

All in all vey happy, decent enough atmosphere, and some quality football at times.

looking forward to seeing what BFS had to say on Sky Sports when I get home, and MOD2 tonight.

[deazel]

Great win, although we did have a few lucky breaks.

I thought that today's game underlined the fact that kalinic is at his best playing off a strong target man, rather than as a lone frontman where he usually resembles bambi on ice. He was sharp, skilful and a real handful for the baggies defence.

Thought that roque held the ball up beautifully, class act and he linked very with niko.

Dunny was fantastic today, linked everything together and pulled the strings beautifully. We looked a lot worse once he left the field.

hoilett and olsson were both fantastic. The pace, skill and unpredictability that they bring to our team is invaluable.

Pedersen wasn't at his best today, although he put a shift in a lot of his passing was sloppy.

Jones had fairly solid debut, although he wasn't as dynamic as i hoped he would be. Slightly one paced today, but perhaps he is just getting used to the premier league.

samba and giver were both immense, salgado was as committed as ever although Thomas had in in trouble at times.

Great win boys and keano. Onwards and upwards!!

[Guest linganzi]

Also confirmation that dunn is finished.

[Amo]

An attacking midfielder should be our first priority. I hope Venky's can pony up the money for someone like Krancjar from Spurs. Dunn and Pedersen wouldn't get a look in.