[Archived] Pre-Season Friendlies

[copie]

Yeah I saw that, was more interested to see if the likes of Samba played or not

[Tom]

Samba did play he wore number 7 according to Grooby on twitter

[PAFELL]

Rovers won 5-0 V Oldham. Jason 'the goal machine' Roberts bagged a hat-trick. Adam Henley and Michel Salgado with the other 2 goals.

We lost the second game 1-0.

When Roberts got his hat trick - were the oldham players still in the changing room.

[Iceman]

just looked at the pre season pics and Andrews was pointing already

[sweet]

Benjani was in pre season training, thought his contract had ran out?

[Iceman]

Samba was smiling, thought he was unhappy?

[Guest Wen Y Hu]

Parsonblue's match report on the front page for the Kendal Town game has been updated to include the team line-ups and times of the goals, not to mention the attendance.

[Guest Wen Y Hu]

See the front page for Parsonblue's match report on the Reserves pre-season game at Bamber Bridge. The Reserves lost 2-1 but at least we seem to be giving the younger players every opportunity to develop.

[Guest Wen Y Hu]

A young Rovers side beat Preston on penalties to take the Lancashire Senior Cup on Saturday. See Parsonblue's match report on the front page here.

[Clitherover]

A young Rovers side beat Preston on penalties to take the Lancashire Senior Cup on Saturday. See Parsonblue's match report on the front page here.

I wonder where Tapkaf or whatever he was called is?

[Parsonblue]

I believe a very young Under-18 team, indeed more of an Under-17 team, did very well in the narrow defeat at Rhyl on Saturday. It would appear that playing resources are being stretched to the limit at the moment. However, the youngsters seem to be meeting the challenge head on which can only be good for the future. Filip Pivkovski, John O'Sullivan, and Anthony O'Connor are all away in international duty as is Jason Lowe and Josh Morris which, of course, simply compounds the problem.

This week, as well as the first team in Hong Kong, the Reserves are playing two games in Scotland prior to meeting Curzon Ashton on Sunday. The Under-18's have an interesting game tomorrow against Academia of Portugal before meeting Carlisle United at Brockhall on Friday morning.

The policy of fast tracking youngsters, something which Sam Allardyce was keen to develop, seems to have continued under Kean - I never thought I'd actually find something positive to say about our manager.

A word of praise must go to Gary Bowyer who is continuing the excellent work that Iain Brunskill did with the Reserves prior to stepping up to the first team. Bowyer has continued to encourage the youngsters to play an entertaining brand of football. Hopefully more fans will find the time to support the Reserves in their home matches at Leigh. Unfortunately, the past couple of seasons have seen far more away fans at these games than those supporting the Rovers.

[Guest Rovers4Good]

Anyone know why a coach carrying a Kilmarnock team was at Brockhall yest?

[Parsonblue]

Anyone know why a coach carrying a Kilmarnock team was at Brockhall yest?

Are they playing a friendly in the area? Hibernian were training at the Academy this morning prior to playing Blackpool in a friendly.

[Parsonblue]

A very young Under-18 team enjoyed a 3-2 win over Académica at Brockhall this morning. Once again, the Rovers had a couple of trialists in their line-up and it was one of these who opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Curtis Haley and Ryan Humphreys gave the Rovers a commanding three goal lead before the visitors from Portugal pulled a couple of goals back.

It was a thoroughly entertaining game and it was interesting to see the difference in styles between the two sides. The Portugese team seemed quite fluid in their line up, seemingly switching from 4-4-2, to 3-5-2 almost at will. Their players seemed to have the freedom to interchange positions throughout the game and seemed less rigid in their approach to English teams. I wouldn't have said that they were technically better, but they were different in their approach.

For the Rovers I thought the trialist who scored the penalty - sorry for not giving the name but I'm not sure if it's meant to be public knowledge at the moment - caught the eye with an energetic performance playing off the striker and picking up the ball in midfield. Hopefully, we'll get another look at him on Friday afternoon against Carlisle United.

Apparently Académica have links with Myerscough College, which is where they are based this week. They have games arranged against the College and Burnley later in the week.

[Tom]

I beleive another Rovers team lost 2-1 to a team from Rangers today, not sure who was involved though.

[Parsonblue]

I beleive another Rovers team lost 2-1 to a team from Rangers today, not sure who was involved though.

It was the Reserves. They are in Scotland this week and play a Bulgaria Under-19 team on Thursday at Rangers' training ground.

[AggyBlue]

For the Rovers I thought the trialist who scored the penalty - sorry for not giving the name but I'm not sure if it's meant to be public knowledge at the moment - caught the eye with an energetic performance playing off the striker and picking up the ball in midfield. Hopefully, we'll get another look at him on Friday afternoon against Carlisle United.

He's named on the official site, Sean Cooke, doesn't say where he's from though. Is he just a local kid?

[Parsonblue]

He's named on the official site, Sean Cooke, doesn't say where he's from though. Is he just a local kid?

He was released by Crewe Alexandra in May. He looked the best player on the field but, then again, I suspect he was older than any of his teammates. He was a member of the Crewe Under-18 side last season.

[Andy]

Sounds a lovely chap, particularly his comments on Dario Gradi and also on Amir Khan 'needing to go back to Pakistan'...

Cooke

[AggyBlue]

Sounds a lovely chap, particularly his comments on Dario Gradi and also on Amir Khan 'needing to go back to Pakistan'...

Cooke

Bl00dy 'ell our PC crusaders would blow a fuse if that's true

[den]

It was a thoroughly entertaining game and it was interesting to see the difference in styles between the two sides. The Portugese team seemed quite fluid in their line up, seemingly switching from 4-4-2, to 3-5-2 almost at will. Their players seemed to have the freedom to interchange positions throughout the game and seemed less rigid in their approach to English teams. I wouldn't have said that they were technically better, but they were different in their approach.

The top European sides have this fluidity - and have had it for some years now. It's the way the modern game should be played. 4-4-2 as a lot of fans still want to see, is so predictable - and even 4-5-1 played in a rigid manner, isn't good enough now. Pace can cause problems, as can physique, as can technique, but great movement is the real way to cause your opponents problems. The best club side ever - IMO - Barca are great technically, but it's their movement that astonishes me.

You can try to mark players with pace and you can try to mark players with technique - but you can't mark anyone if you don't see them coming.

[Mattyblue]

good to see a Rovers youth XI beat the PKE first team.

Things are looking up DAFTKAP

[Guest Rovers4Good]

Rovers won 5-0 V Oldham. Jason 'the goal machine' Roberts bagged a hat-trick. Adam Henley and Michel Salgado with the other 2 goals.

We lost the second game 1-0.

Yes they played 2 games with half the squad on one pitch and half on another and from the one i saw the football was very poor and we got beat 1-0 but let's just hope that was because they only just started training a couple of weeks before.

[savage8]

Anyone know anything about a Rovers XI playing against Harrogate Town on Wednesday night? Heard rumours round here that there is a game. Maybe the reserves or a youth team?

[Parsonblue]

Anyone know anything about a Rovers XI playing against Harrogate Town on Wednesday night? Heard rumours round here that there is a game. Maybe the reserves or a youth team?

It's the Reserve team. Probably a similar line-up to that which played at Curzon Ashton yesterday in that a number of the Under-18's might get another run out.