[Archived] Rovers v West Brom

[doctorryan]

If we keep winning he can wear a kilt and a hawaiian shirt for all I care

I have never before considered that combo. It's brilliant. I'm trying it this Halloween.

Now there's a design challenge for someone here: A blue and white styled kilt and a Rovers Hawaiian shirt. Get to it creative ones! We'll call it Doddsey's Keano combo.

[Fraserkirky]

We just are so much more entertaining now. We got some luck today but there was a few things that didnt come off for us.

Kean was smart to jiggle the back four and put Olsson at right back as Thomas was starting to wear salgado down.

Robinson-8 Gotta in the the top 3 keepers in the league. Excellent saves today.

Salgado-7 Tired as usual but 100% committed to the team. Nearly scored a cracker.

Olsson-7 First time I have seen him play well at left back. Kean has obviously told him to get foward whenever he can.

Givet-9 MOM-Brilliant game, won everything, looks a different player in the middle than lb. Good Partnership with Samba

Samba-8 Solid as a rock. Hope he stays.

Pedersen-6 SLOPPY

Dunn-7 Showed some good touches especially in the second half, not sure why he went off.

Jones-7 Immpressive debut, looks like he enjoys kicking people though, worked his socks off and looks as though he can run all day.

Hoilett-8 Should be 7, but for the strike, WOW. Kean has put faith in him and he's becoming the player we all hoped for.Shoot on sight from now on.

RSC-7 Classy touches, delighted to have him back. Looks like he wants to be here

Kalanic-7 Worked his socks off. great layoff for the goal.

Roberts- Nah, should have been Mame. Sloppy mistake on a counter attack infuriated me.(see MGP)

Hanley- Didn't need to do much.

N'Zonzi- Great to have him back.

Kean-8 The perfect team selection and formation.Mame in for roberts next time.

We need a attacking midfielder. Formica.

Well done lads

[Mr. E]

Overall good win for a new look team, which I think will get better when we get used to the changes.

[brian nelsen]

I'm hoping we re-ignite our interest in Russell Martin at Norwich. He's young and excellent. He'd be a good acquisition. Perfect cover for Salgado.

[AlanK]

Happy with that. A few lucky breaks but you earn your own luck.

As for Pederson!! If anyone was watching the game on TV and saw him give the ball away yet again for a WBA attack you may have heard Robbo bollock him " every f****@g time!" said the keeper to Gamst

[Torgeir]

Also confirmation that dunn is finished.

I thought he had an okay game. Kept trying but didn't succeed every time, same as Hoillett.

Jones impressive in his debut, he was everywhere defensively but could have become the villain if Clattenburg had given the pen West Brom deserved.

Roque is still class, unlucky not to get a goal today.

Also good to see N'Zonzi back in the squad.

[booth]

Also confirmation that dunn is finished.

Even though not one of his better games, we missed him when he went off.

[John]

Also confirmation that dunn is finished.

I thought he had a good game plus had an assist for our first goal.

[Guest linganzi]

Really? Amazing how we get different things from the same game. So tired and sloppy. Mgp pretty rubbish today too. I thought givet was mom

It was hardly an assist from dunn by the way, come on

[Andy]

I've been critical of Dunn this season - mainly because he's been largely awful, slow and off the pace - but today was one of his better games, no doubt.

It helps that he didn't have to track back much and could concentrate on going forwards.

MGP on the other hand...

[LeChuck]

I also thought Dunn was very good, he was running the show in the second half.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Impressed. Only watched the last 45 but Hoilett, RSC and Olsson all looked outstanding. We looked so much more dynamic then we have done for a long long time. Givet and Samba were solid.

Subs wise. Dunn is fragile and Salgado was taking a beating from Thomas. Understandable changes.

[trueblue]

MGP was plain awful today.. one of the worst performances I've seen him give in a Rovers shirt.

I lost count of the number of times he gave the ball away or was dispossesed all too easily.

[FourLaneBlue]

Myhill should save that, but it's still a good strike.

No, I don't think so. Not at the pace it was travelling at.

[American]

Overall good win for a new look team, which I think will get better when we get used to the changes.

Who are you and where has Mr E gone?

Agree completely, though. Also, with the Dunn debate, thought it was one of his better performances in a while, but don't think he's a 90 minute player on a regular basis anymore. Probably would have brought on Nzonzi and Mame and played a 4-5-1 at that point, if he was playing to hold the lead. Then again, we held the lead, so what do I know?

[Mozzer]

great win for us

stand out performances for me was jones and olsson - i was very impressed with jones and he really got stuck in and we have really missed that ..i hope this continues and its not just a one off performace to impress on debut

brilliant goal for hoilett aswell

its a shame santa cruz didnt score and i actually believe he will be a great signing back for us

ooo i thought pedersen was awful aswell

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

A good win with good passing football.We have some decent players in this side and I think matters will only improve.Hoilett and Olsson deserve special mention for their commitment and effort today.

SHOULD KEEP THE ROVERS KNOCKING MEDIA OFF OUR BACKS FOR A SHORT WHILE

7TH!!

[Mercer]

A bit of luck today but not complaining.

Robbo – my m.o.m. with key saves at critical times. Salgado – skinned time after time, another season might be too much for him. Samba – awesome. Jones – underwhelmed, very disappointed and looks a ‘Mr Average’, Hoilett – wow, RSC – class.

Steve Kean – needs to learn quickly about his substitutions, as per Liverpool match could have been costly including the changes in defence with 3 players changing position, a real dog’s breakfast!

[danielwhite813]

Were people watching the same game. Dunn had a brilliant game. When he went off we lost impetus

[imy9]

RSC was immense and his touch is so good, cant wait for him and Jones to get match fit as they will improve our team immensely.

We are evolving as a team and I feel the more we play the 'pass and move' way the better we will become at it, the difference between us and Blackpool, Wigan and West Brom is that I feel that we have a stronger spine defensively in Ryan, Givet, Samba and Robbo.

[Mozzer]

i agree with daniel ..the one player who constantly ran at players looking to create things

dunn and jones look a good combination -

[Roversi]

subs were correct, i thought. i thought to my self Kalinic off for roberts and n'zonzi on for dunn. low and behold, 1 mins later my prediction was correct. i then thought the last sub would be hanley on for cruz just to shut up shop, but Kean putting olsson on the left to contain thomas was a good move. un like at the hawthornes were wba had too much space and walked through our midfield, we closed down well and playing slightly narrower confining the space. Tactically, kean got it spot on today.

[danielwhite813]

Jones – underwhelmed, very disappointed and looks a ‘Mr Average’

You kidding. He was solid and broke up play, time after time. Considering it was his first prem game. You cant ask for much more

[Bobby G]

Impressive performance. Best Ive seen us attacking in long periods for a long time. Reminded me of Soueys best with the wing play. Olsson was a horse galloping back and forth, overlapping and giving width to the diamond midfield. Junior was all over across the line and JJ covered ground brilliantly. Dunn liked the roaming role and turned back the clock big-time. Only MGP didnt carry his weight. He was very poor. Worst Rovers player out there.

Defensively we were solid especially in central defense. Robbo as always came up with some big saves at crucial times.

Roque's link up with the players was better than any of our strikers in recent memory. What a first touch and smart interplay. Kalinic looked like he was getting used to having a proper partner. Was on fringes of the game. Roque faded after 60 minutes, but the work out wouldve been good for him for sure.

Overall had we won by 4, it wouldnt have flattered us to be honest. But all the breaks went for us too. Id love to see us record some form in a run of games, especially away from home.

[Tom]

You can see by reading here the difference in watching a game at the ground and on TV, namely in the verdict on Dunn coming off.

He was passing brilliantly at times but his lack of effort and inability to get back was blatant, he could barely move by the time he was subbed, correct decision to bring him off, much better from him on the ball today though.

It was similar to the Wolves game in how we started slow then took control then eased off towards the end.

-I forgot just how good Santa Cruz is, the guy oozes class his touch is superb, he tired towards the end but looked a class act.

-I liked the look of Jones as well and once he gets fully up to speed will be a real asset.

-Credit to Robbo, Samba (did I really see him attemped an Elastico?) and Givet who all looked solid.

-The two young lads are huge for us at present, give Hoilett a new contract ASAP he is the real deal.

-Pedersen had a stinker from the off

All in all very happy with today, decent end to end game in which the score could have been 6-4, the keepers both made good saves. We are starting to look like a team we are just one player (a creative midfielder) away from that.