[Archived] Rovers V Man United Preview and Match Thread

[Paul Mellelieu]

spirited but very limited performance. The trap door is creaking open.

[bazza]

I expected to lose and we did. But we held them for 80 minutes which was commendable.

I can understand Kean not making any subs at 0-0 but why no subs when one or two nil down?

I could bang his head against a wall.

I haven't heard his post match interview but I hope the interviewer asked him why no subs.

Also Webb is a shocking ref; utterly clueless.

Hanley MOM closely followed by Orr and Dann. Peds was p**s poor again.

[savage90]

The game was crying out for subs with 20 minutes to go. Dunn and Formica would have been perfect, but it would have taken balls to change it. The Yak had stopped moving and the midfield was struggling. Kean decided for whatever reason not to change things...ok, but once 1-0 down I was certain he'd bring someone on... particularly Dunn. It was clear the players heads had gone (understandably so) but Dunny would have given them a much needed lift and he should have gone on with instructions to do so. Kean should have taken control here yet failed to make any changes. He hid and had no impact during play. Fergie did the exact opposite and nailed it. Fair enough with far better players but we matched them tonight for long periods and there's no reason our subs couldn't have done similar... if shown some faith!

[EWOODACE1]

the funny thing was he was about to bring dunn on. he started getting changed and utd scored. he then told dunn to get back changed again

[Sparky Marky]

Marcus Ollson wouldnt have made a pro here.....talk about nepotism. Totally out of his depth.

[Jimmy612]

By the way I wish we would stop allowing away fans in the box behind n01 and let them wind up home fans as they please.

Two sets of numpty fans there! Saw the Ginger United fan goading the Rovers fans but why on earth did the fans let it distract them from the game? Why so intent on getting them thrown out? Morons

[Doug]

How some of you can slate Peds after that performance is beyond me. There were several players on that pitch who didn't come close to his performance.

Most imortantly he was playing RIGHT MID, why? We all know he is all left foot! But, how much did he help Orr out and set up a few chances from his set pieces.

All you posters begging for Lowe to play midfield, he was poor! RB is his best position at the moment.

As I posted earlier, Orr should be RM and Lowe RB if we are to play them both.

Peds is our only player available who can play 90 mins next to Nzonzi.

Marcus Olsson was well out of his depth and Nzonzi was ok but showed signs he is getting frustrated with what's around him!

That team we fielded is well out of it's depth, we all know that, but, if De Gea hadn't had his best game for Utd the result may have been different.

[EWOODACE1]

How some of you can slate Peds after that performance is beyond me. There were several players on that pitch who didn't come close to his performance.

Most imortantly he was playing RIGHT MID, why? We all know he is all left foot! But, how much did he help Orr out and set up a few chances from his set pieces.

All you posters begging for Lowe to play midfield, he was poor! RB is his best position at the moment.

As I posted earlier, Orr should be RM and Lowe RB if we are to play them both.

Peds is our only player available who can play 90 mins next to Nzonzi.

Marcus Olsson was well out of his depth and Nzonzi was ok but showed signs he is getting frustrated with what's around him!

That team we fielded is well out of it's depth, we all know that, but, if De Gea hadn't had his best game for Utd the result may have been different.

i agree that some other where bad but pederson didnt help orr at all. the amount of times he dived in (and not by tackling but just running passed them) was ridiculas. in open play pederson has offerd little for quite a long time now and why he is a defo starter is beyond me. marcos olsson is the same. he offers very little bar pace but he cant cross or actually beat a man and seems to slip quite a lot. both our wide men where useless tonight

[thenodrog]

spirited but very limited performance. The trap door is creaking open.

As far as I am concerned this match was almost totally irrelevent. Barring a miracle we were always going to get beaten against MU. I know we ran em to 81 mins but the spirit and effort put in was completely wasted against that lot..... it should have been put in last week against our relegation rivals in a six pointer! The prem is no place for tea and sympathy and hail fellows well met scenario. Kean's psychology is pathetic. He'll never make a football manager as long as he has a hole in his arse.

"Rovers boss Steve Kean believes they showed enough to suggest they are capable of avoiding the drop. "If we can play at that standard for next seven games - not for 80 mins but 90 - we'll get plenty of wins," he said."

What a bloody plonker.

How some of you can slate Peds after that performance is beyond me. There were several players on that pitch who didn't come close to his performance.

Don't you know that since Andrews cleared off that MGP is the current scapegoat? We simply have to have one at all times you know. Personally I'm of the opinion that Robinson should have saved their first goal.

[EWOODACE1]

As far as I am concerned this match was almost totally irrelevent. Barring a miracle we were always going to get beaten against MU. I know we ran em to 81 mins but the spirit and effort put in was completely wasted against that lot..... it should have been put in last week against our relegation rivals in a six pointer! The prem is no place for tea and sympathy and hail fellows well met scenario. Kean's psychology is pathetic. He'll never make a football manager as long as he has a hole in his arse.

Don't you know that since Andrews cleared off that MGP is the current scapegoat? We simply have to have one at all times you know.

im not a peds fan but i got in massive argument with the guys around me as everything he does is met with anger. but he does need to be dropped. i also didnt like andrews but the way he was treated by our fans was disgusting

[Doug]

i agree that some other where bad but pederson didnt help orr at all. the amount of times he dived in (and not by tackling but just running passed them) was ridiculas. in open play pederson has offerd little for quite a long time now and why he is a defo starter is beyond me. marcos olsson is the same. he offers very little bar pace but he cant cross or actually beat a man and seems to slip quite a lot. both our wide men where useless tonight

He is playing completely out of position. Lowe should be RB, Formica RM and Peds Left centre or LM, and, if you watch it again, just watch how many times he does cover Orr rather than Marcus in the first half who was in no mans land all the time! We do not have any midfielders available to do a proper job other than Nzonzi and Peds, if played in their proper positions.

Petrovic, Vuckevic, Rochina, Grella, Dunny are either not good enough, no legs or will incur an appearance bonus.

[USABlue]

Another showing where our numpty manager may not have cost us the game but he certainly gave us no chance of winning. I too was questioning the lack of subs, 20 mins to go you could tell it needed freshening up. How much more do we have to put up with from this plonker, any one else sense us rolling over harmlessly at West Brom. We ARE relegated IMHO. I hate this Kean fella I can not stand to see him on the sideline with his clueless look on his face, he is the poster child for lost and clueless.

As far as I am concerned this match was almost totally irrelevent. Barring a miracle we were always going to get beaten against MU. I know we ran em to 81 mins but the spirit and effort put in was completely wasted against that lot..... it should have been put in last week against our relegation rivals in a six pointer! The prem is no place for tea and sympathy and hail fellows well met scenario. Kean's psychology is pathetic. He'll never make a football manager as long as he has a hole in his arse.

"Rovers boss Steve Kean believes they showed enough to suggest they are capable of avoiding the drop. "If we can play at that standard for next seven games - not for 80 mins but 90 - we'll get plenty of wins," he said."

What a bloody plonker.

Don't you know that since Andrews cleared off that MGP is the current scapegoat? We simply have to have one at all times you know. Personally I'm of the opinion that Robinson should have saved their first goal.

Spot on Gordon, the Bolton match was disgraceful but I suspect another one coming this weekend. Doomed I tell you we are doomed

[Commondore]

Marcus Olsson is the new Jonathon Douglas, a player brought in during a relegation battle to do a very specific job and then hopefully disappear into some lower division. He's got the heart and workrate but very little else.

I thought all our players played adequately today, but as they produced very little of real class United could punish us when they finally did. Kean set the team up correctly but surely he could have thrown Goodwillie on for Orr or Olsson when they scored their first?

[meerkat]

I read that we get a 2 million addon bonus from the Phil Jones transfer if Man utd win the league.

Hmmmmm

[Stuart]

Two sets of numpty fans there! Saw the Ginger United fan goading the Rovers fans but why on earth did the fans let it distract them from the game? Why so intent on getting them thrown out? Morons

Really? You think your fellow fans are morons because they react to being abused in the home end by away fans? Have a word with yourself.

I suppose you also think that the clubs priorities are right then in only worrying about security and keeping the peace by targeting the home fans, eh?

Maybe the seat thrown on the pitch by the scum fans should have been handed back to the offender with an apology for shoddy workmanship?

If groups stand in the away end at OT, they are frogmarched out one-by-one until they get the message. It took a scum supporter running on the pitch before any action was taken.

This club now welcomes away fans more than home fans. Probably because they pay more. Doesn't mean we have to like it.

[McClarky]

I would put Peds back on the left for the last few games. Marcus does very little and Peds covers the winger better and we really need his set piece delivery as that's our main source of goals. Stick Dunn in the centre and........ oh sorry we probably can't afford that can we as he would probably need to be substituted at some point. This club is heading towards financial meltdown and they are worried about a couple of grand in bonuses that might give us a chance of staying up and not losing countless millions, great businessmen.

[alexanders]

Why not making any subs is beyond me. As someone else mentioned it was Sunderland away again. It was only a matter of time before United would get a goal (soft soft goalkeeping). We were getting way to deep. Cant say 100% it would work, but I think I would replace Marcus Olsson with Formica or maybe with Modeste and gone 4-3-3 with Modeste-Yakubu-Hoilett to keep the ball when we got it.

Other than that I am positive about staying up if we can continue to keep it tight and hit on the break. Think Nzonzi and Robinson underperformed last night.

[neophox]

I have to say that Pedersen is one of the best players this season in our midfeld with Nzonzi. I think they should play toge,ther. Pedersen lacks pace nowadays and should be used in central midfeld. But I have to admit that yesterday Kean should had subbed Marcus Olsson and Pedersen and tried with Rochina and Dunn. Maybe Goodwillie in the end for Yakubu who looked wasteful.

[laughatthedingles]

It appears to have escaped quite a few people's attention that Mr Goodwillie wasn't on the bench last night, something to do with waiting to be sentenced.

[Bobby G]

Excellent tactics, excellent performance for me. Didnt make our chances count (maybe half chances at times).

Very disappointed that no subs/changes were made as players were getting tired either just before but DEFINITELY after conceding a goal.

No smoke without fire.

[Hasta]

MYTHBUSTER - MGP covers the winger and helps the full back.

No he doesn't. He's too slow that Evra and whoever else was on that wing danced round him every time - very similar to Odemwingie walking past him this season to score. That's why Orr ended up giving him a bollocking after only about 15 minutes. Didn't do much good as it continued all half.

If MGP couldn't throw the ball a long way he wouldn't be in the side - which sums it all up really.

(edit - obviously whether he would actually be in the side depends on the terms of his contract re bonuses etc... and how vociforous he is in the dressing room).

[Ralfinho]

Pedersen was caught a lot of times last night ball watching and with Evra pulling out to the touchline Pedersen followed the ball & player leaving a gap the most times Rooney was running into which was inviting attack after attack from them. He is NOT a cetral midfielder.

I was also shocked at the lack of subs, when we went 1 down we were still playing as if it was 0-0 and I turned to the guy who sits next to me and said, I'd take Marcus Olsson & Pedersen off and replace with Dunn & Formica. And I saw Dunny warming up then recalled to the dugout and I said to my mate "here's my first prediction coming right" then the rest is history!!!! I hope is isnt true that we cant even afford to stick on subs now. If that is the case then I hope all the Rao family rot in hell

[bradeagle]

Played well? Will pick points at a fast rate if we keep playing like that? have you not been saying that since last august?

Anyway like another person commented 30% of the ball at home is not playing well. We may have defended well but we resembled a san marino or andorra type team who just pack the defence and give it straight back to them when we win it. If Hernandez had have scored his chance in the first 5 mins god knows how many it would have been. It was always gonna be once they break through we would have to come out and they would utilise the space. Luckily it was only 5 mins of that!

[adsfortheblues]

What I notices was the amount of times nzonzi was getting frustrated with umpteen passes going astray from his team mates, most notably pedersen. I felt for the lad last night and I think he showed his frustration to the max when he pushed jones (could and maybe should have seen red for that). Robinson, henley, hanley, givet, Orr should be the back line Olson isn't good enough at left back! Then we should have Lowe and nzonzi protecting the back 4 with hoillet, Martin Olson, rochina and the yak going forward

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

as opposed to losing?

We played virtually the same tactics at Old Trafford - remind me what the score was ?