[Archived] Aston Villa FA Cup game

[Amo]

Oh do me a favour. What, and you reckon a few more games in the cup will negatively impact that? Far more likely to have an effect of raising confidence levels and spurring us on. I can imagine the press conference..."yes, we went down due to losing almost all our last 14 matches. It was all down to us playing a couple of extra games in the cup!"

Didn't stop Pompey going down last year, did it?

Besides, what is the point of getting into Europe? It might affect our league position! Why enter the cup competitions at all?

So, we should have ambition for the FA Cup but not Europe?

We should have played our full-strength team. Sam didn't last year in the FA Cup, but we at least had a semi-final to look forward to.

Seven of the starting eleven vs. WBA began today's match. You can't blame Kean for using his full squad for a cup game, especially when players like Dunn can barely manage two games a week, and there are others who need match-fitness.

I really thought with bringing in Jones that the days were gone of seeing Keith Andrews starting for us.

Well, this I can't explain. Maybe Keith has comprising photos of Kean & Big Sam?

[Steve Moss]

Inconsistent performances are a worry. Its something that Sam largely could not cure, and its going to be the key element that must be sorted at the club if we are to improve.

I think its the mental attitude of some of our veterans. I seem to recall reading an article where one of the veteran players that's been around a while (I forget who) said one of the great things about Blackburn is the atmosphere in the locker room. They didn't expect to win every game and that took the pressure off. Maybe it had something to do with Sam's alleged "targeting" of matches?

In my opinion, that is the exact wrong mind set. We should expect to win, and play to win, every game. Instead we have players who inexplicably switch off, only to switch back on when things are desperate. That needs to change if we are to become a consistent top ten side, and it it means selling off some of our seasoned veterans to cut that cancer out, so be it.

Gotta agree with you. I like Kean, but alike Allardyce he doesn't seem to understand what subs to make. We should be going for this but apparently not.

I'm beginning to like Kean also. And I agree that his biggest weakness is substitutions. And a desperately needs to be improved midfield. Let's hope they do extensive post match analysis and brain storming sessions to identify and improve on our weaknesses.

Biggest mistake today - playing 2 championship players from the start (Andrews & Roberts) - bringing another championship standard player on (Gorilla).

Hope the defeats shows Kean that players like Andrews, Grella, Roberts etc need to LEAVE this club.

Agreed 100%. Andres, Grella, Roberts and EHD, are not the future of the club and are not the way forward. They need to go, clear out the oldr growth and either bring in talent (Formica?) or make room for the youngsters, who at least will have energy, postive attitudes and room for improvement.

If Kean is going to pick that crap midfield in the league expect to lose a fair few of our remaining games.

. . .

Being out of the cup means we can fully focus on the league, however i really wanted a cup run this year and I'm disapointed we are out of it.

The midfield is weak. COnsidering our targets, I think Kean and our owners know it is weak. And we still have a couple of days to correct it and keep our sites on the real goal, improving our league standing.

Well, all is forgiven if we beat Spurs next

All sins are forgiven in the warm glow of victory. Let's hope that we don't accumulate too many sins in need of forgiveness between now and then.

Just because any manager says something like that on the media doesn't mean it's actually what he really thinks.

I think many managers say one thing and do another. Soccer is a war, and if a few placed words can blind your enemy to your game plan, discontent his players or otherwise cause confusion amongst the opposition, the words will be spoken.

[jim mk2]

, we weren't going to win it and I'd rather we focus on the league. I

No point taking part then is there ?

Very disappointed about this result because I fancied us to have a good run this year. The League Cup and FA Cups are important because they are the only competitions we have a chance of winning.

The manager is to blame for today's debacle. Kean picked a poor team today and his substitutions and the timing of them were poor - and not for the first time.

[Amo]

The manager is to blame for today's debacle. Kean picked a poor team today and his substitutions and the timing of them were poor - and not for the first time.

Remind me how well we did in this game last season?

And WHO was in charge?

[FourLaneBlue]

Didn't stop Pompey going down last year, did it?

Ah, so that's why Pompey went down, they had a cup run! Nah, it wasn't even one of the factors in their demise. However, their cup run in itself turned an appalling season into one that had some silver linings for their fans. They won't forget beating Spurs in a hurry, or seeing their side at Wembley. Which is a good thing, as they won't be back there for ages.

So, we should have ambition for the FA Cup but not Europe?

You seriously read my comment and interpreted it as that?!? We should have ambition in all competitions. Apart from anything else, with a resurgent Liverpool on the verge of buying Adam/Suarez, the FA Cup is probably our only chance of qualifying for Europe. Hughes used to take the cups seriously (bar perhaps the Coventry debacle, after which we fell away somewhat in our hunt for a European place) and we had some great runs which fans will not forget.

Seven of the starting eleven vs. WBA began today's match. You can't blame Kean for using his full squad for a cup game, especially when players like Dunn can barely manage two games a week, and there are others who need match-fitness.

I don't blame him, but why Jones on the bench? Why Roberts? Why no MBD or why no starting Kalinic? It's not as if he played 90 minutes last week. Who doesn't know that Roberts never performs when starting?

Anyway...whatever. A good draw and we could have been looking towards an appearance at Wembley. Instead, we can go back to fretting about if we finish 10th or 12th.

So much for the Magic of the Cup. Knocked out by Villa in the last four cup competitions.

[only2garners]

The manager is to blame for today's debacle. Kean picked a poor team today and his substitutions and the timing of them were poor - and not for the first time.

There's a surprise - Jim blaming Kean. On substitutions he didn't have much choice with the first one. It was clear that either Andrews or N'Zonzi would be coming off as it was their first game for a long time - maybe both would have been withdrawn if Santa Cruz had not had to go off. Benjani I'll grant you - the right move but 15/20 minutes too late.

As in many games the sending-off ruined the game as a contest. Villa were already 3-1 up and comfortable, so it was easy for them to get behind the ball, frustrate us and look to hit us on the break. It has been clear over the last few weeks that we look very good going forward when given some space to run into but today showed that we have little to offer when faced with a packed defence.

[John]

Had enough of Villa!

Pretty frustrating being knocked out however half expected it even though thought the team they had out was fairly average (compared with their strongest line up) - still personally always like a good cup run.

No doubt Santa Cruz is class, he has shown that already since he's been back - however his track record of getting/being injured continues...

[jim mk2]

Remind me how well we did in this game last season?

And WHO was in charge?

Irrelevant. The manager screwed up with his team selections today and short-changed fans who are entitled to expect better.

I hate managers who do not take cups seriously and field weakened teams with one eye on the next league match.

Kean should get a phone call from India tonight to explain his actions.

[Blackburn Ravers]

Irrelevant. The manager screwed up with his team selections today and short-changed fans who are entitled to expect better.

I hate managers who do not take cups seriously and field weakened teams with one eye on the next league match.

Kean should get a phone call from India tonight to explain his actions.

Any reason why you are quick off the mark at posting when we lose but when we win we dont hear a sound from you? Just wondering.

[Mercer]

Enormously disappointing.

As soon as I saw the team, knew it was going to be a long afternoon.

I thought we were committed to fielding our strongest team. A big let down for those of us who made the trip.

As for RSC, hmmm. As players approach 30, we know that they are more injury prone and take much longer to recover from injury. Some players, like Grella, also seem to pick-up injury after injury and I fear for how many games we will see RSC in the remaining season.

For those who say it's only the Cup, we can now concentrate on the League, then total nonsense. A club like ours can go a long way in the Cup and is our likeliest route to some success. Also, disrespectful to those supporters who travelled in hope.

[BRFC1995]

N'zonzi and andrews are so far short of cutting the mustard, definitely squad players never starters both offer zilch.

couple more midfield signings before monday would be wise. May as well have given Lowe a start ahead of andrews, joke player.

[sambo]

Jim, just shut up. You're nothing but a wind up merchant with a weird tendency to feel smug and self righteous when we lose.

Sam lost the same tie last year.

Remember that year at Coventry with Big Fat Sam? Where we ragged a draw then lost a replay there? That was under Sam.

And don't say "oh we were in a relegation dogfight", because if you were to be believed, we'd be in one now. Your thread from not long ago underlined this.

Burnley have a new manager, you might fancy it there... jog on.

[DP]

Dress it up whichever way you want to, we lost away from home to a top 10 premier league side....

Hopefully, both players and manager will learn from today's mistakes.

Interesting how the biggest complaints from posters (notably FLB and Jim) are that we've got no chance of qualifying for Europe now..... hang on.... weren't we dead certs for relegation a few weeks ago????

If we're kicking ourselves at the end of the season for only finishing 8th, I for one, will be mightily impressed!

[JAL]

N'zonzi and andrews are so far short of cutting the mustard, definitely squad players never starters both offer zilch.

couple more midfield signings before monday would be wise. May as well have given Lowe a start ahead of andrews, joke player.

You can add Lowe to Andrews and Nzonzi as offering zilch.

[sambo]

Irrelevant. The manager screwed up with his team selections today and short-changed fans who are entitled to expect better.

I hate managers who do not take cups seriously and field weakened teams with one eye on the next league match.

Kean should get a phone call from India tonight to explain his actions.

So you hate Big Sam then? He did the same....

And he didn't take away games vs Man United etc seriously

[jim mk2]

Enormously disappointing.

As soon as I saw the team, knew it was going to be a long afternoon.

I thought we were committed to fielding our strongest team. A big let down for those of us who made the trip.

As for RSC, hmmm. As players approach 30, we know that they are more injury prone and take much longer to recover from injury. Some players, like Grella, also seem to pick-up injury after injury and I fear for how many games we will see RSC in the remaining season.

For those who say it's only the Cup, we can now concentrate on the League, then total nonsense. A club like ours can go a long way in the Cup and is our likeliest route to some success. Also, disrespectful to those supporters who travelled in hope.

I was thinking of making the trip today but after seeing the team Kean fielded I'm glad I stayed at home and saved my money.

Fielding such a weak team was an insult to Rovers fans and disrepectful to the FA Cup.

Kean should be given a dressing down by the owners for treating the supporters with such contempt.

[sambo]

I was thinking of making the trip today but after seeing the team Kean fielded I'm glad I stayed at home and saved my money.

Fielding such a weak team was an insult to Rovers fans and disrepectful to the FA Cup.

Kean should be given a dressing down by the owners for treating the supporters with such contempt.

Oh shut up.

Your mate Big Sam did it himself. You're so deluded and sad it is untrue.

[cn174]

I was thinking of making the trip today but after seeing the team Kean fielded I'm glad I stayed at home and saved my money.

Fielding such a weak team was an insult to Rovers fans and disrepectful to the FA Cup.

Kean should be given a dressing down by the owners for treating the supporters with such contempt.

I know you're probably just winding people up Jim, but do you think that today's line up was weaker than this which is what we played in last year's 3-1 defeat to Villa?

Brown, Chimbonda, Olsson, Salgado ( Rigters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, 76 ) , Jones, Givet, Dunn ( Khizanishvili, 54 ) , Reid, Di Santo ( Pedersen, 45 ) , Kalinic, Diouf

[92er]

I know you're probably just winding people up Jim, but do you think that today's line up was weaker than this which is what we played in last year's 3-1 defeat to Villa?

Brown, Chimbonda, Olsson, Salgado ( Rigters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, 76 ) , Jones, Givet, Dunn ( Khizanishvili, 54 ) , Reid, Di Santo ( Pedersen, 45 ) , Kalinic, Diouf

One thing to consider about last season-if I am correct-is that the League cup semis were played around the same time.

I think some changes were made as a result of that.

[Parsonblue]

A hugely disappointing performance from both the manager and players today. Kean got his selection wrong and the tactics simply gave Villa too much time and space in midfield. Playing two up front and the diamond behind, meant that we had three players immediately out of the game whenever an attack broke down. This left Andrews and Pedersen - who were both dreadful - to cover the whole of midfield with Nzonzi playing just in front of the back. Whilst Salgado and Olsson battled manfully in the full-back positions, Samba and Hanley seemed to both go missing at vital times. The fact that Villa scored from two free headers, with both our centre-backs nowhere to be seen underlined the sloppy performance from all concerned.

In the first half, we had a few chances and, to a certain extent, Villa were fortunate that we didn't make more of them. However, apart from a dreadful miss by Andrews, we offered very little threat in the second half and Villa were able to see out the game with ten men with ease.

On the evidence of today we simply don't have the players to play the system that Kean is operating. I would be happier with one up front and one playing in the hole behind the lone striker. This would give us an extra body in midfield where it is badly needed. We were fortunate that in both the games against WBA, the Albion didn't have a strike force to finish the chances they created. Today, Villa - and a very weak Villa at that - made the most of the lapses in defence and the space in midfield. It is something which Kean is going to have to address as we look very fragile in the middle of the park.

[John]

Moving forward, wonder if Kean will always play 2 strikers regardless?

Hopefully he will mix it up depending upon who is available and who we are playing against.

Think we need to accept we were playing a club with some momentum at the moment however the side they selected gave me some hope we could snatch a draw at least.

[LeChuck]

Moving forward, wonder if Kean will always play 2 strikers regardless?

Hopefully he will mix it up depending upon who is available and who we are playing against.

I completely agree.

Apparently Jensen is a 4-5-1/4-3-3 man, so hopefully we'll start utilising that formation from time to time.

[cruz]

We were fortunate that in both the games against WBA, the Albion didn't have a strike force to finish the chances they created.

You could also argue that neither do we considering we made more chances than them

[philipl]

You could also argue that neither do we considering we made more chances than them

Across the two games, WBA had more comfortably chances on and off target than us. Remember following our home win, Paul Robinson made Garth Crook's team of the week for what its worth.

Rovers v WBA

Attempts on target

Blackburn 12 West Brom 20

Attempts off target

Blackburn 5 West Brom 4

WBA v Rovers

Attempts on target

West Brom 11 Blackburn 4

Attempts off target

West Brom 10 Blackburn 2

Having dug out the stats, your comment is woefully inaccurate, cruz.

Anyway, huge let down of a performance today by all accounts. Half our regular back line was missing and seemingly it showed big time. Just hope Hanley is not set back in his development by today's mistakes.

[cruz]

When I read it, it just amused me.

Not intended as sarcasm.

Ooops wires now uncrossed. it just came across that way without a smiley

I hate managers who do not take cups seriously and field weakened teams with one eye on the next league match.

jim mk2 in "I hate Sam Allardyce" admission.