[Archived] Radosav Petrovic

[Eddie]

Why is he so crap? I don't get it.

There has to be at least one player in the team who the majority jump on and are irrationally critical of and right now it appears to be him. He's settling in and he's trying to do that in a team that is terribly out of form, it won't be easy, but he needs time and has shown enough in glimpses to believe that, if given time, he will turn out to be a good player.

[Ricky]

irrationally critical???

I don't see thta as the case. He's had a shocker of a start. he may come good, he may not. At the moment he looks like a fish out of water.

[LeChuck]

The biggest problem is that he was bought to do a role that is completely unnatural to him. He'll never be a Jermaine Jones type. He's got decent technique, a good passing range (although he's still getting to grips with the pace of the PL) and a good engine, but he's not a ball winner.

We don't have anyone in the squad that can complement his play. Unfortunately for him I can only see him playing instead of N'Zonzi and not alongside N'Zonzi because they're too similar.

He scored 9 goals in 25 league games for his previous club, so maybe we could try him as a more orthodox box-to-box midfielder in a 4-3-3 at some point. I don't think he's that bad really, he's just not the player we needed after Jones' exit. I think we all saw "6 foot 4" and "defensive midfielder" on his profile in the summer and assumed we had a replacement.

[onlyonejackwalker]

There has to be at least one player in the team who the majority jump on and are irrationally critical of and right now it appears to be him. He's settling in and he's trying to do that in a team that is terribly out of form, it won't be easy, but he needs time and has shown enough in glimpses to believe that, if given time, he will turn out to be a good player.

Although I agree Eddie that we have always criticised and jumped on players, ie Jim Branagan, Jimmy Quinn, Jason Wilcox, Ian Miller, Mark Atkins, Keith Andrews, Jason Roberts, MGP, etc to name a few and although I appreciate the kid needs time to settle, we remain in the bottom three and don't have the luxury of time to waste.

Clearly the fault lies with Kean for recruiting so many that are either not up to the task, or need huge amounts of time to find their feet. Experienced managers in the main buy players that can contribute immediately, whilst supplementing those with potential for the future. In Rochina, Formica, Pet, Simon, Rib, Anderson, Slew, GW, we have way too many not contributing NOW to the efforts of the first team. (Perhaps it's not all Kean's fault. Trying to buy quality with journeymen money was always going to be tricky and problematic).

I have seen nothing from Petrovic to suggest he is any better than what we have already and he certainly won't be forcing Nzonzi out of the team anytime soon. Looks one paced, one dimensional, crab like and lacking vision to me, and strangely looks to be very poor in the air as well. All that may be harsh based on the little game time he has played and the fact the team are struggling but it is not good to be lacking pace in the PL and he has looked very slow thinking and moving at times.

Must get and do better.

[RoyRover]

He has had a very slow start to life at Rovers. He seems to have good technique, has a decent range of passing and can get around the pitch. I can see why he would be a good player at international level where the pace is slower and the aim is to keep the ball and build slowly from the back. This style doesn't suit the Premiership and he's had a tough time adapting. He has looked slow, nervous, hesitant and off the pace when has played. It doesn't help that we've been so shocking this season. I expected more from him to be honest, but it shows how tough it is to play at this level. He isn't anything better than we've already got and despite there being signs of a good player there, we don't have the luxury to find out at the moment.

Maybe when are challenging for the 10 in the second half of the season, as Kean would have us believe, then maybe we will see him play more of his natural game. But he hasn't show anything to suggest that we don't need to go and buy another central midfielder like Jermaine Jones.

[T4E]

There has to be at least one player in the team who the majority jump on and are irrationally critical of and right now it appears to be him. He's settling in and he's trying to do that in a team that is terribly out of form, it won't be easy, but he needs time and has shown enough in glimpses to believe that, if given time, he will turn out to be a good player.

He hasn't shown glimpses of it, thats why I said it. If he had I would be happy there's a chance of him succeeding. All he's shown me so far is he can't pass and he's slower than a week in Barlinnie.

[chris]

He has had a very slow start to life at Rovers. He seems to have good technique, has a decent range of passing and can get around the pitch. I can see why he would be a good player at international level where the pace is slower and the aim is to keep the ball and build slowly from the back. This style doesn't suit the Premiership and he's had a tough time adapting. He has looked slow, nervous, hesitant and off the pace when has played. It doesn't help that we've been so shocking this season. I expected more from him to be honest, but it shows how tough it is to play at this level. He isn't anything better than we've already got and despite there being signs of a good player there, we don't have the luxury to find out at the moment.

Maybe when are challenging for the 10 in the second half of the season, as Kean would have us believe, then maybe we will see him play more of his natural game. But he hasn't show anything to suggest that we don't need to go and buy another central midfielder like Jermaine Jones.

great post, you live in the real world

[Eddie]

He hasn't shown glimpses of it, thats why I said it. If he had I would be happy there's a chance of him succeeding. All he's shown me so far is he can't pass and he's slower than a week in Barlinnie.

He's got a decent first touch and can pick a pass, I also think he has shown decent positional sense. He clearly isn't up to the speed of the game yet, but it's hard to expect a central midfielder to adapt to a new league quickly when he is in and out of the side and playing alongside a different player every week (especially when those players are often out of shape or out of form themselves).

[Kelbo]

He's got a decent first touch and can pick a pass, I also think he has shown decent positional sense. He clearly isn't up to the speed of the game yet, but it's hard to expect a central midfielder to adapt to a new league quickly when he is in and out of the side and playing alongside a different player every week (especially when those players are often out of shape or out of form themselves).

Eddie, I saw him play against Sheff Wed Reserves, my son was with me (PE teacher and Uefa B Coach) we both agreed on seeing him that he was extremely slow and unlikely to pick up the pace for Prem Football, I still agree, he doesnt appear to have enough about him to pick up the pace.

[T4E]

He's got a decent first touch and can pick a pass, I also think he has shown decent positional sense. He clearly isn't up to the speed of the game yet, but it's hard to expect a central midfielder to adapt to a new league quickly when he is in and out of the side and playing alongside a different player every week (especially when those players are often out of shape or out of form themselves).

I havent seen that in a Rovers shirt. The reason I'm surprised is that he does seem decent enough on the ball in his videos.

I'm very disappointed so far but hope for improvement.

[Majiball]

The biggest problem is that he was bought to do a role that is completely unnatural to him. He'll never be a Jermaine Jones type. He's got decent technique, a good passing range (although he's still getting to grips with the pace of the PL) and a good engine, but he's not a ball winner.

We don't have anyone in the squad that can complement his play. Unfortunately for him I can only see him playing instead of N'Zonzi and not alongside N'Zonzi because they're too similar.

He scored 9 goals in 25 league games for his previous club, so maybe we could try him as a more orthodox box-to-box midfielder in a 4-3-3 at some point. I don't think he's that bad really, he's just not the player we needed after Jones' exit. I think we all saw "6 foot 4" and "defensive midfielder" on his profile in the summer and assumed we had a replacement.

That's because he's not a J Jones type player if anything he seems more like a deep lying playmaker (excuse the FM reference). I guess we'll have to wait and see how he gets on but he's going to need to seriously step it up if he's to cut the mustard in the prem.

[JAL]

Judging this guy and were hes currently at, i'd say that Keef Andrews is a better player than Petrovic, by far.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

He has had a very slow start to life at Rovers. He seems to have good technique, has a decent range of passing and can get around the pitch. I can see why he would be a good player at international level where the pace is slower and the aim is to keep the ball and build slowly from the back. This style doesn't suit the Premiership and he's had a tough time adapting. He has looked slow, nervous, hesitant and off the pace when has played. It doesn't help that we've been so shocking this season. I expected more from him to be honest, but it shows how tough it is to play at this level. He isn't anything better than we've already got and despite there being signs of a good player there, we don't have the luxury to find out at the moment.

Maybe when are challenging for the 10 in the second half of the season, as Kean would have us believe, then maybe we will see him play more of his natural game. But he hasn't show anything to suggest that we don't need to go and buy another central midfielder like Jermaine Jones.

Agree with all this - the only game I have seen him have where he has been half decent was the second half against Newcastle.

A bigger problem may be the lack of running off the ball - as he isn't the type of player to make room for himself - but needs players to find good positions for him to pass to.

I'll give him time - but I doubt the Premiership will - we need JJ back to sort out the midfield. He would be the ideal player to bring in - he knows the club, has already adapted to the speed of the premiership previously, and is exactly what we are missing.

Judging this guy and were hes currently at, i'd say that Keef Andrews is a better player than Petrovic, by far.

Disagree - with Andrews he wasn't good enough - and was never going to be. With Petrovic we still have to find out whether he can adjust to the speed of the Premiership.

[JAL]

Disagree - with Andrews he wasn't good enough - and was never going to be. With Petrovic we still have to find out whether he can adjust to the speed of the Premiership.

A good footballer should shine immediately, this big lump has no attributes as he cant run, cant pass beyond a basic pass, cant jump, so what can he do ?

[RoyRover]

I'll give him time - but I doubt the Premiership will - we need JJ back to sort out the midfield. He would be the ideal player to bring in - he knows the club, has already adapted to the speed of the premiership previously, and is exactly what we are missing.

As much as I would like it to happen, it isn't going to happen. He's a first team regular at Schalke now, ever since Huub Stevens took over. Plus Schalke are challenging at the top of the Bundesliga. I know where I'd chose to play. Our chance to get him was at the end of last season and we blew it.

[T4E]

A good footballer should shine immediately, this big lump has no attributes as he cant run, cant pass beyond a basic pass, cant jump, so what can he do ?

Dennis Bergkamp disagrees with you.

[JAL]

Dennis Bergkamp disagrees with you.

Please explain!

Bergkamp is probably a Jerome Anderson muppet, so dont be fooled by these ex footballers that may poison your mind.

[jim mk2]

Petrovic is a slow player - physically and mentally. He does not have pace and needs too much time on the ball. He is not and never will be good enough for the Premier League and should never have been signed.

[Mattyblue]

7.5 million on a centre half we didn't need, bargain basement punts on players in the positions we did need.

Take out some more loans and give the plonker another 10 million in January please!

[Tom]

Lucky one of them punts has paid off massively or imagine where we'd be now!

[bluebruce]

Quite why you think we didn't need a centre half after selling a now (and should have been earlier) England international is beyond me. Who we should have signed though, for less money, more ability and more versatility, is Onuoha.

[Mattyblue]

We should have strenghtened the full backs and moved Givet into the centre with Nelsen and Hanley as back up.

Phil Jones spent most of last seeson in midfield, when he wasn't injured.. 7.5 mil on a centre half? Crazy.

[bluebruce]

Onuoha plays full back also, that's why I said him. Would expect him to be capable of a job in DM too actually. Neither Hanley nor Nelsen (sorry but it's true, losing his legs when he isn't injured) are good enough cover for a team as cavalier as ours. I have seen only two full games this season unfortunately, but prior to this season I've seen Givet be a liability at CB too many times. He will also clearly play full back a lot. I'd have signed Onuoha and Luke Young to fix our defensive issues. Keeping Emerton would have done us a world of good too.

[Elvis McSmithy]

Petrovic is a slow player - physically and mentally. He does not have pace and needs too much time on the ball. He is not and never will be good enough for the Premier League and should never have been signed.

bit harsh!,

i think he has more footballing ability than nzonzi for example and a lot of people rate nonzi highly(im not so kean on him, not sure what he offers other than height), petrovic just needs to bulk up a bit and get used to the pace which is a difficult thing to do at the best of times nevermind when the teams playing crud and theres no real leaders in midfielder to show him the ropes and help him adjust.

[T4E]

Please explain!

You really need me to explain that??