[Archived] Sunderland vs Rovers

[malk]

Another huge game coming up and what a time to get back to back wins for the first time in God knows how long!

Cattermole being out is great for us particularly with N'Zonzi out and Petrovic not looking up to scratch yet.

As for the team to put out, we're coming off the back of a great win so keep things the same (with Vukcevic as necessary)! Win this and take the confidence and settled side into the next couple of massive games.

I don't see the point in all the doom and gloom, let's get excited for a big game and get behind, at the very least, the players.

[Jarvefromossy]

Cant see us getting anything out of this with the MON factor, our away record and the fact we cant keep a clean sheet. Sunderland win unfortunately !

BTW I used to be as optomistic as some of you guys wishing for a Rovers win but the whoe Venky/Kean love fest has diminished that feeling!

[Veevs]

Sunderland win for me.. just can't see MOn letting them loose his first game in charge and the rate in which we ship goals is just plain silly, I don't think loosing Lee will be a massive issue to them they have a decent backup player in Vaughen and they will have plenty of players trying to prove they deserve a starting slot.. 3-2 to Sunderland and Kean still keeps his job.

[RibbleValleyRover]

3-0 Sunderland.

On paper they are a much better team than we are and have a lot more balance to their side. With it being O'Neill's first game in charge the players should be fired up and will be looking to impress their new manager. Another factor is that historically O'Neill's teams do have a decent record against Rovers.

[RoverMad86]

So am I the only one who thinks we might scrape a 1-0 win? We might need to go 4-5-1 though and close the game out for 85 mins and get a good old fashioned "smash and grab" win to spoil MON's party.

[bestierover]

I'm hoping for a win here.

O'Neill has not had much time to yet influence things. The first thing he will do is try to sure up the defense. May well suit us in some respects.

Anyway, I've gone for a Rovers win with Samba to score at 12/1. Worth a punt me thinks.

[1864roverite]

I think this game will show the fotballing world nd all the expert pundits just Kean lacks in tactical nouse. I dont think for a minute Rovers will be sent out to win the game and the formation will consist of a 4-5-1 in a mixed up team.

The defence may well consist of Givet Samba and Dann but its the 4th defender that will prove decisive, by that I mean the right back slot.

It appears Sunderland will have Richardson pushing into the forward slot if Bender isnt fit and thats the position that will worry Rovers because he has skill and pace to burn any Rovers defender.

Sunderland have their own problems in defence so I would ask our mate Steve to consider a 4-4-2 approach and put Sunderland on the defensive from the off, it might work with their patched up team.

I would line the back 4 up as Dann Samba Givet and Olsson (if fit), if he isnt then drop Givet back to left back, Dann central and young Henley at right back (***note HENLEY NOT HANLEY).

In the midfield Sunderland are missing their workhorse in Cattermole so they have noone to do the dirty work - this might influence the selection of Lowe in Rovers midfield alongside Pederson, Dunn and Simon. Up front I would go with Yakubu and Roberts. Yak to do the finishing and Roberts to do the buffing.

I still dont see Rovers winning as it stands because like I said Kean has no tactical nouse and will be outdone by MON.

Rovers to lose 3-1

[youandwhosearmy]

2-1 defeat, worst time to Play them because they have a new manager...

Going tho, so hope we can scrape a win.

[ABBEY]

watching in manc land before the erection givers play!!!!!

MOTLEY CRUE!!!!!!!

PREDICTION....4-0 MACKEMS, LARGE AMOUNTS OF STELLA,AMAZING DRUNKEN NIGHT AND WAKING IN HOLIDAY INN ON MONDAY MORNING RUFFER THAN MRS D FLAPS !!!!!

[jny]

watching in manc land before the erection givers play!!!!!

MOTLEY CRUE!!!!!!!

PREDICTION....4-0 MACKEMS, LARGE AMOUNTS OF STELLA,AMAZING DRUNKEN NIGHT AND WAKING IN HOLIDAY INN ON MONDAY MORNING RUFFER THAN MRS D FLAPS !!!!!

I venerate your sanguineness.

[JAL]

Just dont see Rovers getting a result here with conman Kean at the helm, a draw at best.

[ABBEY]

I venerate your sanguineness.

i really have no idea what this means? too many long words for abs lol

[Waggy76]

I still dont see Rovers winning as it stands because like I said Kean has no tactical nouse and will be outdone by MON.

I think Kean would be out done by Aleksandr the Meerkat , never mind Martin o'Neil ...........SIMPLES

[47er]

Just our luck that we get Sunderland away the week after Bruce is sacked. Might have had a chance otherwise but MON will have had them working hard all week and they will be fired up because places in the side are at stake. Fans will go off too.

This + the relief at Bruce going will give them the customary bounce clubs invariably get on these occasions.

I hope Weasel Kean uses this as an excuse because we could point out that this would happen to us if he did the decent thing!

[braddock]

I can't see us getting much here.

[Savory]

3-3

[roversfan1]

Id happily take a draw as the MON factor will kick in for the Black Cats and their players will be up for this game wanting to show the new boss what they can do.

Sadly for us Sunderland will have a real manager in charge and we wont and the score will reflect this. 3-0 to Sunderland

[malk]

3-0 Sunderland.

On paper they are a much better team than we are and have a lot more balance to their side. With it being O'Neill's first game in charge the players should be fired up and will be looking to impress their new manager. Another factor is that historically O'Neill's teams do have a decent record against Rovers.

Are they better on paper? I prefer our defence almost to a man (Lowe not being a right back is an issue but...), the Yak is proving his worth over any of their strikers and we have decent options out wide. Centre mid is our current problem, particularly with N'Zonzi out but they aren't awash with ridiculous talent either.

I think this game will show the fotballing world nd all the expert pundits just Kean lacks in tactical nouse. I dont think for a minute Rovers will be sent out to win the game and the formation will consist of a 4-5-1 in a mixed up team.

The defence may well consist of Givet Samba and Dann but its the 4th defender that will prove decisive, by that I mean the right back slot.

It appears Sunderland will have Richardson pushing into the forward slot if Bender isnt fit and thats the position that will worry Rovers because he has skill and pace to burn any Rovers defender.

Sunderland have their own problems in defence so I would ask our mate Steve to consider a 4-4-2 approach and put Sunderland on the defensive from the off, it might work with their patched up team.

I would line the back 4 up as Dann Samba Givet and Olsson (if fit), if he isnt then drop Givet back to left back, Dann central and young Henley at right back (***note HENLEY NOT HANLEY).

In the midfield Sunderland are missing their workhorse in Cattermole so they have noone to do the dirty work - this might influence the selection of Lowe in Rovers midfield alongside Pederson, Dunn and Simon. Up front I would go with Yakubu and Roberts. Yak to do the finishing and Roberts to do the buffing.

I still dont see Rovers winning as it stands because like I said Kean has no tactical nouse and will be outdone by MON.

Rovers to lose 3-1

Small grammar Nazi (well, spelling Nazi) point. It's nous not nouse.

I'd still play the same team as last week injuries permitting. Confidence and stability from a win and Lowe has the best chance to keep up with Richardson, almost certainly more than Dann. Givet is the choice for me at left back given their lack of pace on the right. This isn't the game to be playing silly buggers but if we were a bit more comfortable I'd be tempted to play Olsson on the right wing to help counter Richardson. His attacking threat comes from pace so being left footed would help him cut inside to the goal and extra help countering their most obvious threat wouldn't be a bad thing.

EDIT: I can't find any link or source for this but I'm almost certain I read somewhere that the new manager bounce is a myth. I can understand the pessimism around the board at the moment but I'm not sure how much extra O'Neill (or any manager) can get from footballers in the modern game.

[USABlue]

Not much change from this one MON will have them all fired up. Only hope we have is that they are all confused from change of managers. Embarrassing defeat I think.

[Savory]

Bendtner strugglin to be fit?

[arbitro]

I think we can go and win this game. For me the teams are very similar in their style and systems and MON will have worked on their set plays, both offensive and defensive. Having seen them on Sunday at Wolves they played on the break and whilst they will be driven forward more by their own fans. We should look to capitalise on this as I believe O'Shea and Brown are weak as a centre back pairing. Cattermole is a big loss for them and it doesn't seem that either team will have a ball winner in midfield.

Tactics should be to keep it tight for the opening 30 minutes and hopefully quieten the crowd who will be particularly noisy with a new manager and expectation levels suddenly becoming higher. As the game opens up we can hpefully utilise our more skilled and quicker players to their potential.

I'm going for a 1-0 win subject to the imposter getting his team and tactics right (big ask I know).

[Roost]

Anyone know if you can pay on the day?

Got a wedding in Tynemouth on Saturday and tempted to sneak off and catch the game(why do I put myself through this?)

[Hughesy]

We dont do too bad away and have infact drawn a few - so il go 1-1

[LeChuck]

We dont do too bad away

Hmm. How many have we won away under Kean? Two? Certainly none this season.

Maybe that's a sign of the lower standards some fans now accept due to the incompetence of the last 12 months.

[joey_big_nose]

Dreaded new manager honeymoon bounce...

Team for me

Robinson

Lowe Samba Givet Olsson

Formica Pedersen

Simon Rochina Hoilett

Yak

A defensive midfield pairing of Pedersen and Formica appears suicidal but I don't really know what other options we have in there. Formica seemed robust in the tackle against Swansea, put himself about, good technique, good passing. If he gets his positioning right it could be a shrewd move to shift him there and give his central attacking role to Rochina. As the only other option is to bring Lowe into midfield (thus exposing us down the flank) or play Dunn (simply a liability when we don't have the ball) or Petrovic (improving maybe but still not very convincing...) it seems like an okay shout.

Not sure if we will end up with that team however:-

1) Kean seems to feel compelled to play Dann when fit even though he has been much poorer than either Samba or Givet at centreback

2) Similarly Kean is a fan of both Salgado and Dunn, both of whom lack the accelration to adequately defend in this league. Salgado against Richardson in particular scares me.

On the positive side Yak is on fire, and a supporting trio of Hoilett, Rochina and Simon is pretty god damn good it has to be said. All four of those attacking players have goals in them. Lets just hope they can be disciplined and keep the shape without the ball!