[Archived] MATCH PREVIEW: Rovers vs Wolves

[jim mk2]

Losing at home to probable relegation rivals is the worst possible start - even a draw would have been acceptable in view of our starting line-up.

Even with our normal defence the squad is still poor in terms of numbers and quality - the owners have had all summer to fix the problem and have failed to do so.

Does anyone NOT think we will be relegated ?

[unclejack28]

Nobody will argue about the bigger picture but how did you rate Kean's subs today? Did you think Rochina for Emerton was a good sub? I personally think if Emerton was going anywhere it should have been to right back where Salgado was struggling. What about Goodwillie on for Pedersen? All well and good but who's going to get the ball up to our strike force? I would have replaced him for Roberts and in hindsight he should have started. Blackman for Formica? Fair enough Formica may have been tired but Nick Blackman is, at best, a Championship player.

Emerton was injured

[imy9]

Losing at home to probable relegation rivals is the worst possible start - even a draw would have been acceptable in view of our starting line-up.

Even with our normal defence the squad is still poor in terms of numbers and quality - the owners have had all summer to fix the problem and have failed to do so.

Does anyone NOT think we will be relegated ?

Me for starters.

37 games left.

[Majiball]

Owners and Kean really need to sort things out this week, we have plenty of up and coming young players but to be able to compete in the Premier League you need EXPERIENCE, they need to go out and sign some players with Premier League experience, there needs to be a proper blend, otherwise we are in deep trouble.

Trouble is the experience we need is not just centred around the playing squad.

[Bluefudge]

36 degrees, beer in hand.

Has all the hallmarks of having single figures points wise at the end of October.....

Long winter ahead, but hey all the fun of being rovers fans.

Think we all know this is gonna end in tears ;-)

[m0r94n]

Anyone giving Jase a ring in a bit?

[broadsword]

Owners and Kean really need to sort things out this week, we have plenty of up and coming young players but to be able to compete in the Premier League you need EXPERIENCE, they need to go out and sign some players with Premier League experience, there needs to be a proper blend, otherwise we are in deep trouble.

Exactly, and if you look at the three centre-backs who were out today, Nelsen seems increasingly injury-prone, Givet is adequate but really is a left-back and Samba could well be sold in the next fortnight.

At least it seems like Formica and Rochina can now make a significant contribution, but they need to be playing alongside established premiership players, and I doubt Dunn will make it through the season unscathed. Pedersen apparently played a whole lot better, so that's something. Emerton however isn't really up to scratch. Petrovic is highly-rated but has never played in the Premiership before and will probably need a season to adjust.

Up front, things look even worse. I just hope Goodwillie can find the back of the net.

The squad needs substantial investment within the two weeks we have left and we need to be able to blend the new signings in quickly. That will require a step change in the way Venky's go about their business after the frustrating past few weeks we have had. Without substantial investment we are in major trouble.

It's OK people writing down their first 11 and saying: "this team would give anyone a run for their money", but it's squad strength that counts and players will get injured, suspended, lose form etc. It's a squad game these days and you can't afford to have too many rookies.

[Bluefudge]

Anyone giving Jase a ring in a bit?

Think someone should......

He will tow the party line tho, early days, additions to come etc etc...

[rovers1993]

Okey, so I watched the whole match and to sum it up: Poor.

We started out brightly, both teams came out gunning and luckily we got a goal. During the first 20 minutes I felt no one has real control of the game and that will be a big problem for both teams this season. No one on the field (from both teams) could string passes together and could take control of the game. The midfield was not there at all.

Our goal was well taken and Roberts did extremely well as did Formica.

Roberts went AWOL for the second half, he just lost his head but during the first half he actually looked like a decent player!

Salgado was woeful today. Second to every ball, ball watched, slow.

They are some hope for the future as I think with Samba and Nelsen/Givet back our defence will be alot more steady and can be a rock again. With that saying, moving N'Zonzi back to midfield with Petrovic there we can control midfield against lesser opponent. Our wingers have pace to burn and are skillful. Hoilett and Rochina certainly has enough flair and creativity to create loads of chances. Formica needs to be abit more controlling but seems to do well. The only thing I fear is that we have no 'alonso,makalele,adam' type player who can sit back and spray passes around. We need that, we need a tugay type player to play instead of N'zonzi or petrovic at times as from what I can tell both of them have the same style of playing.

Also, from watching today, we don't play as a team at all. Kean brings nothing to the table and that is the main problem. We are surviving on individual skill of our players and their natural ability. It looks like everyone is just doing what they want when they want without any discipline or real tactics. With someone like Hughes, our team will be a lot better and would be able to perform AS A TEAM.

Strikers.... Goodwillie, looked decent when he came on. Can't make a full judgement yet.

So there is hope for the future... without Kean that is.

[jim mk2]

EXPERIENCE, they need to go out and sign some players with Premier League experience, there needs to be a proper blend, otherwise we are in deep trouble.

Experience (and talent) costs money - and the owners won't pay it.

We lost Phil Jones early in the summer and at around £5 - 6m Roger Johnson would have been an adequate replacement.

Now we are looking among the bargain buys and loanees - as someone said, if you buy championship type players invariably that is where you end up.

[broadsword]

Me for starters.

37 games left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8iOOJcR0aI

Think someone should......

He will toe the party line tho, early days, additions to come etc etc...

I've taken him off my twitter feed, he's unbearable. He's the Peter Mandelson of football.

[sambo]

Pathetic.

The players showed about as much passion as the majority of Ewood Park did.

Dead atmosphere, terrible football, strange tactics and the feeling of a long, long season.

I can see 19th for us this season based on today.

[BRST]

Think someone should......

He will tow the party line tho, early days, additions to come etc etc...

Definitely considering it. I would have bet everything I own on us getting beat the second I saw that lineup. "The next Chris Smalling" on the bench - obviously not up to it. Any denial of nepotism is obviously ridiculous! Injury crisis' cannot be an excuse in the first game.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Haven't seen the game so I can only comment on the result and not indvidual performances. On paper the side looked incredibly weak and one that will struggle to stay up this season, everytime I see Dunny, Pedersen and Roberts in the team I shudder. Salgado from all reports had a poor game, perhaps sides are now starting to target a clear weak link in a older player with tired legs. Maybe Emerton now has to play there? Did a great job there when Bentley was here.

Lot of work still to be done in the transfer window and still huge question marks over the manager.

[bringdunnback]

You're misinterpreting my comments. I am not saying Bruno is no good. I am responding to a comment that said we would get better with a younger right back. If the guy who says that hasn't seen him play then how does he know that? I hope Bruno is good, but it's a big assumption to make that he will improve the side when none of us have seen him play. Also the players you mentioned all had a club at the time we got them, which implies at least one team wanted their service and we had to pay them for the privilege of getting them.

That's fair enough, I never assumed Bruno would improve our side and for him to have started today would have been a huge risk unless he had done wonders in training. But having never been a fan of Salgado and him making mistakes against an albeit decent Wolves side, I can only think he will be even worse against better sides like Villa and Everton in the coming weeks. But I see your point.

Then again don't see your point regarding signing Bruno on a free and no-one else wanting him. I'm pretty sure I read that Bruno was wanted by his former club but he wanted to try Europe, correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, opinions are just that, that's what makes these messageboards so fun. The opinions that will be of interest is of those associated with Blackburn, so anyone know what Kean had to say?

[Bluefudge]

Fabulous performance on bbc world by Kean, truly had me proud to be a rover.

Clueless c&@t......

[ABBEY]

Not commenting to much on today because ripleys will say I'm negative but today was very poor! Squad poor venkys came and promised champions league and last year promised 8th and cup win,they need to spend for this to happen.jones not replaced in time for start of season as come to roost!

[bringdunnback]

Kean's comments, pretty much says what the down to earth of us thought. Injuries lost us the game and although he doesnt mention in particular Salgado, he does say 'We needed to go another ten minutes to see it out a little bit because we knew that the thing that Wolves do well are back post crosses. Then Robinson does well, bails us out with the penalty, but we lose another back post cross and then there's a scramble and they score a good goal".

Both back posts coming from Salgado's side.

[Sysagent]

Attendance was?

[tony gale's mic]

Where to start...

Firstly, yes we've been unlucky with having those players injured. HOWEVER it's not an excuse. Buying a centre back should have been a priority. Nelsen is getting on, won't be half the player he was and is no stranger to the treatment room. Even when fit Givet is often needed at left back. Hanley is inexperienced. Samba may yet leave. They've had SIX WEEKS to buy a centre back and have got nowhere - worryingly the thought hasn't even occured to them looking at the players we've been linked to recently.

Secondly, right back is also a big problem. Salgado has given two years of excellent service to the club, and considering the step down he's made so late in his career (ie motivating himself to play for us when hes done so much at Real) and his age, I think he's done better than most of us expected him to. However nothing lasts forever, and whereas once he'd only really be shown up by the best forward lines, now I think this is extending to the rest of the Premier League. Who have we signed at right back? Oh, that's right. A 28 year old player let go from a relegated side in Brazil. I'm sure he'll be more than ready to take on all comers.

Early on we did create some decent chances going forward, but once Wolves actually woke up we really didn't create very much at all. This is Wolves at home, who despite having some good players will almost certainly be in the relegation battle this season. If we're struggling to create chances at home to Wolves, exactly who are we going to create chances against? After Wolves' second goal we offered very little.

Let's not forget, the manager we have in charge is still the same man who has now got us 22 points from 22 games in charge. Steve Kean isn't a manager. Let's not keep kidding ourselves that he is. Apart from the odd game we've consistently been rubbish with him in charge. Yet some on here have selective memories and will ignore the others in favour of few games where the team did OK. Venky's could have replaced him but still they persist with him in charge.

And let's look at the bigger picture. Venky's have taken £22 million plus in transfer fees this summer. We have spent just £5 million. As far as I know, though one of the debts was called in, we are NOT remotely debt free as Venkys took on additional debts. If one of the "in the know" people wishes to correct me on that though feel free, as I'm only going on what I recall reading from some of the more reliable members of this board. I know the transfer window closes on September 1st and Petrovic and Goodwillie dont seem bad signings for the money we're paying, but we are owed some proven quality considering how much money these sales have raised and the dire state of our squad. I can't see it coming.

This business with the sponsor - you've been sucked in as far as I'm concerned. Yes the Prince's Trust would be a lovely gesture etc IF it had been a conscious decision by Venky's to go with a charity from the off. But they didn't, they completely screwed up negotiations and were left without a sponsor very close to the start of the season. Going with the charity was an act of desperation together with an attempt to dress up their incompetence at getting a sponsor as an act of philanthropy. Barcelona could afford to do it because they're Barcelona. Villa did it at a time when Randy Lerner was giving MoN a net spend of £70 million over four seasons and spending millions on redeveloping the Holte Pub. It's not surprising that now he's less willing to plough so much money into the club, they've gone back to corporate sponsorship. Will Venky's be replacing the likely £2 million this season lost from our coffers as a result? I doubt it. When the margins between success and failure are so important, if we get relegated by a point we could rue the money lost by not having a sponsor and thus missing out on signing a player who could have made that small difference.

We need lots of new players. We need a new manager. It's going to be a long season.

[RoverRich]

It is good to hear that Formica, Rochina and Goodwillie had a positive impression today and pleasing to see Formica scored as that should help him settle into Prem life. The bits and pieces I have seen of all of them have always made me think positively of them and that they can make a significant impression for us. However, one of the problems we all know is that, come next saturday against Villa, two of the above will be on the bench and Big Jase will be up front on his own whilst we all wonder where the goals are coming from.

[philipl]

So we have lost our first relegation 6 pointer at home to a very limited Wolves who had a couple of key injuries themselves.

Kean tacticaly clueless.

Home portion of the crowd well under 19,000.

Depressing and predictable.

Any Venky's there for you guys to boo at? I doubt that they were interested enough to bother putting in an appearance.

Very sound post TGM.

[imy9]

21996

[Tom]

Attendance was?

A smidgen under 22k I think

[Mc Love]

The positive was Formica, in many ways he reminds me of Matt Jansen, works hard, has very good technique and keeps things simple. He could turn out to be a gem of a player for us. Rochina on the other hand also has bags of ability and is very comfortable on the ball but at the moment he is a bit of a "flash Harry".

That has brightened up my evening somewhat