[Archived] Rovers v West Brom

[benhben]

Played fantastic for about 50 minutes. Nervous start, brilliant middle to the game and dropped off at the end. With Hoilett and Olsson down the flanks we have two youngsters with alot of potential.

I used to watch the reserves at Morecambe quite regularly and Martin Olsson never looked that brillian (Alan Judge looked the pick of the bunch!). Amazing really how much he has come on.

Jones is just what weve needed, though quite similar to Nzonzi. Quite dissapointed at how quiet Kalinic was considerin he bagged two against WBA last time.

Samba has to stay. Wed never replace him with a player within our budget. Robinson easily Englands no1 at the moment.

Given the quality of the youngsters at Rovers, were only two to three players of being a very good side.

Lets just hope they keep progressing. At least there alot less pressure going into the remainder of the season given were 9pts above the drop zone.

EDIT: Sorry ive posted this in completely the wrong thread. Doh. Oh well.

[Rover Down Under]

Steve Kean's eigth game in charge and people still insist on comparing our performance, with that of a when BFS was in charge...

Surely it's time to move on, and forget the tactics employed by Sam, and concentrate on the tactics employed by Kean. It's becoming tedious, and it's been the same after every single game since Kean took charge...

Long live the Kean era, the Sam era is dead

Well said, just have to add that it is nice to see more bums on seats and board members returning and reawakening.

Overall - I recorded it and just finished watching - I thought we deserved the win, despite what the Beeb thinks (who describe it as Rovers riding their luck). Jones had a very good debut, he won't set the pitch alight but he will douse the flames the opposition try to ignite, something we have sorely missed for a good few years. Peders shot himself in the foot in the first 30 seconds by dawdling and then lost all his confidence. Dunn is getting back to his old self, at last, and I can't wax much more about our 2 starlets. Unfortunately, it won't be long before the likes of Spurs and Man U come sniffing, mammoth effort needs to be made to hang on to them.

Beating that baboon-faced crook and his expensively assembled team next week would be a massive boost for us.

[Tom]

They were saying it equalled the record of 21 before Hanley and Roberts came on so it must have reached 23.

Isn't the lad Morrison Scottish as well though so only 22.

I agree it's time to move on from talking about Sam after every game.

[Hughesy]

Today West Brom reminded me of Everton....good at passing it around, but nothing upfront. Why dont they take Roberts off us?? Please!!! You can have 2 for 1....Keith Andrews & Roberts for FREE!!

As for the game, comfortable win to be honest...always felt if we needed to go up another gear then we could & would. Great games for Olsson, Hoilett & Samba.

Robbo did what he had to again....TOO GOOD for England.

Jones looked impressive as a defensive mid, considering it was his 1st prem game. RSC also doesnt look to far off banging the goals in again either....boy that lad has some ability. Also saw some signs that him & Kalinic will be on the same wave length.

Dunn was ok - but still feel his age/ injuries are showing as he has zip in terms of pace.

MGP - SHOCKING!!! Doesnt matter whether he runs around alot or not, today he was P!SS poor!

Highlight of the day....Has to be Juniors stunning goal!!

[benhben]

Talking of Sam,

Thought he handled himself very well on Sky, and didnt have a bad word to say about the club. Would be easy to become bitter and twisted, but he seemed genuinely pleased that we got the result.

Also Sky sports match report has our passing success as 75%. Thats a fair bit higher than the low 60's we had under Sam.

[USABlue]

I'm sure he speaks highly of you too.

Another Rovers supporter thankful for a man who saved our club from oblivion and was rewarded with the sack.

But Jim I thought you did not like Souness, oh and calling Sam class is stretching it even for you.

Ok so SOuness wasn't sacked but he would have been.

My thoughts, well I ENJOYED THE FOOTBALL. Mixed up well, flair players were allowed to show their stuff, I had not actually enjoyed a game under Sam for some time, effective it may have been, well effective at ensuring mediocrity, but it was bloody awful to watch. All I have to say is keep it coming and BIG FAT WHO?

Good to hear

Am I alone in thinking Kalanic just isn't going to make the grade?

NO you are clearly not but I do have to disagree, I think he will come good and I expect him and Cruz to become quite an effective partnership.

[Sverre]

Does anyone remember what exactly Big Sam and Holloway had to say about our performance?

[braddock]

He meerly chested it to him, hardly an assist. If he learns to stay on his feet and get a good deal stronger he may make the grade. He has time on his hands but will patience run out before that?

Kalinic is in a bad run of form, but he's hardly woeful. Doesn't give the ball away in bad positions or miss sitters. Just a little anonymous at times, but he still tries his best. He'll make the grade.

[Tom]

Kalinic is in a bad run of form, but he's hardly woeful. Doesn't give the ball away in bad positions or miss sitters. Just a little anonymous at times, but he still tries his best. He'll make the grade.

He also falls over far too much, Roque and Mame has to be our first choice partnership next time out IMO.

[Seggie]

He also falls over far too much, Roque and Mame has to be our first choice partnership next time out IMO.

But sadly neither are contracted to us full time, I think giving Niko a proper run as part of an attacking line up will give him confidence to kick on

[Miker]

Re-built our team? All that really needed readdressing when he took over was a replacement for Bentley (robinson was a aqequate replacement for friedel). Other than that it was pretty much the same team hughes had managed to constantly challenge for europe with.

People need to realise the only reason we were in a relagation fight, was solely down to the poor management and lack of tactics ince deployed. Any manager worth his salt should of kept us up, with the squad hughes had built and left behind. Instead of building on what hughes had created (like ince should of), he decided to completely overhaul the type of football we played, and 'rebuild' with players that fitted his long ball, negative ideology.

Somehow, Allardyce has managed to con people into thinking he took over a terribly poor team, which isn't true. What he took over, was a good squad that had been playing under terribly poor management, and that was the reason we were in a relagation fight.

The regular team under Hughes would've been (roughly):

Friedel

Ooijer-Samba-Nelsen-Warnock

Bentley-Savage-Tugay-Pedersen

Santa Cruz-Roberts

When we started this season, out of those 11 players, we only had Samba and Nelsen remaining as the core of the team. Pedersen's still part of the core team, but playing in a different position and Roberts was out of form and out of favour.

Look at our team against West Brom... Robinson, Givet, Salgado, Jones, Olsson, Hoilett, Kalinic... even Santa Cruz is like a new signing. Completely different team, so yes we have re-built the team and it's not the same team we had under Hughes at all. I can't believe you're actually arguing this point?

[Miker]

But sadly neither are contracted to us full time, I think giving Niko a proper run as part of an attacking line up will give him confidence to kick on

I agree, he looked promising against WB, but seemed to drift away a bit towards the end. He seems to be falling over less, which is a bonus. I thought he linked up well with Santa Cruz and if they continue to play a few more games together, I think they can form a formidable partnership.

[Rover4ever]

I was completely out of touch with football and BR for about 3 weeks, didnt even know they had a match against WB yesterday.

So I open the TV, and they are showing the repeat. The first player I see is Santa Cruz, and the volume was low but could hear "Allardyce" mentioned by the commentators about 5 times in 2 minutes. So you can imagine I was really confused....

Only when they showed Kean did I know for sure it was a very recent game...

[wilyrover]

Daftest thing I heard yesterday was replacement buses replaced trains between Blackburn and Bolton due to engineering work. So yesterday we get the situation where the replacement bus from Darwen to Blackburn - full of Rovers and WBA fans - refuses to let the fans off on Bolton Road at Ewood. Instead it only stops at Blackburn Station and everybody has to make their own way to Ewood. Definitely a jobsworth driver.

[blue/white]

He could've also respectfully accepted and done a professional job, showing nothing but respect to the club that sacked him, which he did. If we're going to move on from Sam then the anti-Sam briage need to let go as much as the pro-Sam brigade. He saved us from relegation, he re-built our team and left that legacy for Kean to strengthen further, let's be respectful of that and move on. Continually attacking him for what was nothing but a job well done is just disgusting in my eyes.

well said, M! spot on. I don't understand the point of slagging the guy off --- let's be thankful that the silly way we parted company did not blow up in the club's face.

Furthermore, let's move on and enjoy the moment!

[blue/white]

But Jim I thought you did not like Souness, oh and calling Sam class is stretching it even for you.

Ok so SOuness wasn't sacked but he would have been.

My thoughts, well I ENJOYED THE FOOTBALL. Mixed up well, flair players were allowed to show their stuff, I had not actually enjoyed a game under Sam for some time, effective it may have been, well effective at ensuring mediocrity, but it was bloody awful to watch. All I have to say is keep it coming and BIG FAT WHO?

NO you are clearly not but I do have to disagree, I think he will come good and I expect him and Cruz to become quite an effective partnership.

It was also quite nice of Fox to let us see Rovers today, eh USABlue?? A rare treat.

Shocking, really--I thought there were only 6 clubs in England.

[Iceman]

Lucky for me, i get to watch around 95% of Rovers league games. About 60% of those shown later the evening or the next day.

Still maintain, that with a creative midfielder, both Niko and RSC will flourish. Quite alot of balls were still pumped up into the air, and nothing coming through the middle. I could see Kalinic still looking frustrated, as he still had to hold the ball up, with very little support.

Olsson tried to assist, but then had to track back again to cover Samba. Jones had a nervous start, but you could see his role was to sit and break up play. He made a few runs up field, made a pass and then stopped his run to stay in position.

Givet, well he was superb imo in his best position. I wouldnt be against us signing Warnock, if it allows Givet alongside Samba and Olsson to left wing.

Robbo for England!

Robbo

Salgado Givet Samba Warnock

J Jones

Hoilett Nzonzi Olsson

M Diouf RSC

[Guest linganzi]

Wba fans are of the,opinion they outsung us yesterday

[gumboots]

Wba fans are of the,opinion they outsung us yesterday

You don't get 3 points for singing though

[neophox]

I thought Olsson, Hoilett and Robbo was star players and it also showed there's plenty to come from Roque and Jones.

Jones hasn't played much lately but he didn't look out of sorts. Give him 2-3 games and I think its a great signing.

Nice to see competitions for places....Benjani cant get back to the squad despite scoring 2 against Liverpool two weeks ago, the same with Mame, maybe tactical..Nzonzo back too....

[PAFELL]

Daftest thing I heard yesterday was replacement buses replaced trains between Blackburn and Bolton due to engineering work. So yesterday we get the situation where the replacement bus from Darwen to Blackburn - full of Rovers and WBA fans - refuses to let the fans off on Bolton Road at Ewood. Instead it only stops at Blackburn Station and everybody has to make their own way to Ewood. Definitely a jobsworth driver.

As daft as it seems, but as it was a rail replacement bus, it can only stop at the rail station. It is not permitted to stop anywhere else. As it is not on a regular route. Routes, daft again to some, are 'owned' by the local council, which bus companies have to pay licences for. Having worked for a bus company I am aware that is how things work. I could go into further detail, but that is just a brief outline of the legal situation.

[Guest linganzi]

You don't get 3 points for singing though

No but even if you did I didn't hear them

[PAFELL]

Kalinic is in a bad run of form, but he's hardly woeful. Doesn't give the ball away in bad positions or miss sitters. Just a little anonymous at times, but he still tries his best. He'll make the grade.

He set up holiets goal. I also think he will make the grade. He may not be scoring goals but is doing other things for the team.

[AndyC]

video highlights from the game, for those of you that missed it.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/premier-league/video/allvideos-22327918/23940950

[Amo]

Cruel of Sky to ask Sam to comment on the match seeing he must still be hurt by his unjust dismissal at Ewood. Must also have been tough for him to see the team he created move up to 7th knowing that he should be in charge and receiving the plaudits. Thought he spoke well on Sky. The man remains a class act.

Surprise, surprise. Even when we win, you're still only interested in waxing lyrical about Big Sam. Seriously, what is it between you two?