Adrien Silva & Fabio Nunes

[joey_big_nose]

Pedersen will be committed. He always has been and always will be. People can knock him for inconsistency and a serious drop in form and confidence over the past few years, but you know that when he goes out there that he will work hard and try.

He covers a fair bit of ground but he is not very physical, and goes missing for long periods of the season. While he is very experienced he is not a leader at all which we need. He's a nice bloke but I think it's time for him in his career at Rovers.

[T.J.Newton]

Pedersen will be committed. He always has been and always will be. People can knock him for inconsistency and a serious drop in form and confidence over the past few years, but you know that when he goes out there that he will work hard and try.

its funny, Some people are completely delusional when it comes to pedersen,

he is not inconsistant, hes prob are most consistant player- consistantly below average.

[Torgeir]

its funny, Some people are completely delusional when it comes to pedersen,

he is not inconsistant, hes prob are most consistant player- consistantly below average.

It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

I'll stick my head out and say I think Pedersen was one of our better performers throughout this past season. Offensively he's still a bit low on confidence (hasn't been the same since Bellamy came to the club) but defensively he is very good. He covers a lot of ground and is always around to make small nudges and freekicks if we're caught on the break. He's also a good header of the ball and has excellent timing in the air.

In my opinion players like Petrovic and Pedersen get slated because of their running style. They both have no momentum and look like they're running in jelly, so people get on their backs easier for it. Comparably players like the Olsson twins or Hoilett have can do small bursts/sprints and catch up lost ground in a way that the jelly brothers can't. But truth is they are equally inconsistent, if not more inconsistent.

Other than Yakubu, and Hoilett (due to his goals), which other players had a better season than Pedersen by a clear margin?

[Taggart]

It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

I'll stick my head out and say I think Pedersen was one of our better performers throughout this past season. Offensively he's still a bit low on confidence (hasn't been the same since Bellamy came to the club) but defensively he is very good. He covers a lot of ground and is always around to make small nudges and freekicks if we're caught on the break. He's also a good header of the ball and has excellent timing in the air.

In my opinion players like Petrovic and Pedersen get slated because of their running style. They both have no momentum and look like they're running in jelly, so people get on their backs easier for it. Comparably players like the Olsson twins or Hoilett have can do small bursts/sprints and catch up lost ground in a way that the jelly brothers can't. But truth is they are equally inconsistent, if not more inconsistent.

Other than Yakubu, and Hoilett (due to his goals), which other players had a better season than Pedersen by a clear margin?

He is worse than average now; he for me, was the most frustrating player in a Rovers shirt last season - I can not stand seeing player shirk challenges for fear of getting a tap on the shins. Technically he seems to have got worse; his flicks and balls in to space are poor now, corners woeful. The odd occassional freekick and his abaility to track back in the box are his redeeming qualities for me. Should not be in our starting eleven at all.

[Eddie]

In an age where football fans bemoan a lack of loyalty from players it is always sad to see fans be so overly critical of players who actually go out and do their best and fight for the club. Pedersen has stayed focused and committed at the club despite going through a period where he could have easily thrown his dummy out and pushed for a move. If for nothing else, he deserves credit for that. It's all too easy to forget that at one moment in time he was one of the most talked about midfielders in the league and almost every supporter was hoping that he would stay, now the majority want to push him out the door. You can't have it both ways.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Quite right Eddie.

[Torgeir]

He has obvious limitations as a player, but a lot of the criticism he gets is undeserved. Shirks challenges you say, I think it's the opposite - he loves to clatter into other players and actually concedes too many freekicks for my liking. But at least he's there... And that's from someone who is not a natural combative midfielder, but who in our team is? Dunn comes in dangerously at times with his studs showing. Another couple of pies and he'll get sent off on a regular basis. Lowe is all over the place and has a lot of work to do on his positional sense.

At least once every game Pedersen goes down from a knock.

I agree that he can be frustrating to watch, but I'm just arguing the fact that based on the strength of our squad that he shouldn't receive as much criticism as he does. For me he's a definite starter in the middle when we play 4-5-1.

[MarkBRFC71]

He has obvious limitations as a player, but a lot of the criticism he gets is undeserved. Shirks challenges you say, I think it's the opposite - he loves to clatter into other players and actually concedes too many freekicks for my liking. But at least he's there... And that's from someone who is not a natural combative midfielder, but who in our team is? Dunn comes in dangerously at times with his studs showing. Another couple of pies and he'll get sent off on a regular basis. Lowe is all over the place and has a lot of work to do on his positional sense.

At least once every game Pedersen goes down from a knock.

I agree that he can be frustrating to watch, but I'm just arguing the fact that based on the strength of our squad that he shouldn't receive as much criticism as he does. For me he's a definite starter in the middle when we play 4-5-1.

If we want to get relegated again then he'd be a definite starter. I said last season that a team starting with Pedersen week in-week out is a team destined for relegation and that's exactly how it panned out. Now he wasn't alone last season in being uncommitted, but was among the the worst offenders.

Not sure if you go to games, but if you do how could you miss him pulling out of challenges? Clatters into players and concedes too many free-kicks?!?!?

He got lazier and more uncommitted as the season went on; wasted two-thirds of our set pieces, watched on numerous occasions as other players RAN PAST HIM to challenge his man - unforgiveable really, especially when we were supposed to be fighting for our lives.

He was good - in 2007. Since the he's been in an ever-decreasing spiral of mediocrity.

We couldn't afford shirkers last season - we definitely can't this season. Thank him for his service and the golden moments of seasons long gone, but get rid ASAP.

[Torgeir]

If we want to get relegated again then he'd be a definite starter. I said last season that a team starting with Pedersen week in-week out is a team destined for relegation and that's exactly how it panned out. Now he wasn't alone last season in being uncommitted, but was among the the worst offenders.

Not sure if you go to games, but if you do how could you miss him pulling out of challenges? Clatters into players and concedes too many free-kicks?!?!?

He got lazier and more uncommitted as the season went on; wasted two-thirds of our set pieces, watched on numerous occasions as other players RAN PAST HIM to challenge his man - unforgiveable really, especially when we were supposed to be fighting for our lives.

He was good - in 2007. Since the he's been in an ever-decreasing spiral of mediocrity.

We couldn't afford shirkers last season - we definitely can't this season. Thank him for his service and the golden moments of seasons long gone, but get rid ASAP.

I watch almost all of them on TV.

He's not a good player, but he's getting a lot of stick while other 'purpotraters' are being let off the hook. Our squad just isn't up to par, and needs a major overhauling if we're to regain our PL status.

But, a question remains:

Who would you use instead?

[pick32]

Who is better in dead ball situations?

[Josh]

Danny Murphy

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Other than Yakubu, and Hoilett (due to his goals), which other players had a better season than Pedersen by a clear margin?

Givet and Nzonzi for sure. Orr and Hanley were better in the times they played barring Hanley at the start. The fact is he was one of the only players who ever got an extended run in the side. With no way to prove it I am still almost certain that Formica, Vukcevic, Rochina, Dunn off a striker, Henley and even Bunn would be perceived as more effective players if given the run in the team that Pedersen was given....I've not even included Goodwillie or Petrovic to emphasise my point further.

He is worse than average now; he for me, was the most frustrating player in a Rovers shirt last season - I can not stand seeing player shirk challenges for fear of getting a tap on the shins. Technically he seems to have got worse; his flicks and balls in to space are poor now, corners woeful. The odd occassional freekick and his abaility to track back in the box are his redeeming qualities for me. Should not be in our starting eleven at all.

Worth quoting again.....nail on the absolute head......the amount of times we were in a good position until the ball reached him made me want to tear my hair out.

In an age where football fans bemoan a lack of loyalty from players it is always sad to see fans be so overly critical of players who actually go out and do their best and fight for the club. Pedersen has stayed focused and committed at the club despite going through a period where he could have easily thrown his dummy out and pushed for a move. If for nothing else, he deserves credit for that. It's all too easy to forget that at one moment in time he was one of the most talked about midfielders in the league and almost every supporter was hoping that he would stay, now the majority want to push him out the door. You can't have it both ways.

In this age, fans care more about ability than anything else. Loyalty doesn't help you win games, it just affects how you feel on a personal level about the player. He used to be really good, now he isn't.....the fact that he used to be good is completely irrelevant in my eyes and the eyes of others. Chimbonda was really good at Wigan and got in the Premier League Team of the Year...would you want him back?

If we want to get relegated again then he'd be a definite starter. I said last season that a team starting with Pedersen week in-week out is a team destined for relegation and that's exactly how it panned out. Now he wasn't alone last season in being uncommitted, but was among the the worst offenders.

Not sure if you go to games, but if you do how could you miss him pulling out of challenges? Clatters into players and concedes too many free-kicks?!?!?

He got lazier and more uncommitted as the season went on; wasted two-thirds of our set pieces, watched on numerous occasions as other players RAN PAST HIM to challenge his man - unforgiveable really, especially when we were supposed to be fighting for our lives.

He was good - in 2007. Since the he's been in an ever-decreasing spiral of mediocrity.

We couldn't afford shirkers last season - we definitely can't this season. Thank him for his service and the golden moments of seasons long gone, but get rid ASAP.

Exactly....I always appreciate how people can have different perceptions of players....in fact it is one of the main reasons I read forums....just look at how players like Hoilett and Nzonzi polarise opinion.....but I can never understand when people say Pedersen is one of our hardest working players.....I would suggest he is our least.....the point about players (mostly Formica) running past him to close down players is extremely significant.

Who is better in dead ball situations?

I guess we'll never know.....his free kicks from a wide position are good.....his corners are not......if I had a fiver for everytime he took a corner that went straight to their keeper I would use the money to buy us off Venky's......he scores maximum 1 direct free kick a season......one of the most frustrating times of the whole of last season was Pedersen taking free kicks against Wigan that went absolutely nowhere.....There will be other players in our squad who will be able to take a better corner or free kick guaranteed.

[T.J.Newton]

In an age where football fans bemoan a lack of loyalty from players it is always sad to see fans be so overly critical of players who actually go out and do their best and fight for the club. Pedersen has stayed focused and committed at the club despite going through a period where he could have easily thrown his dummy out and pushed for a move. If for nothing else, he deserves credit for that. It's all too easy to forget that at one moment in time he was one of the most talked about midfielders in the league and almost every supporter was hoping that he would stay, now the majority want to push him out the door. You can't have it both ways.

1st- nobody else would buy him(or should i say pay him anything close to what rovers do/have done).

2nd- you are exagerating slightly, he was very well regarded for a season or so in the mid noughties, when he had at least little pace and was playing in a very good squad(im sure any all managers over the last 5 years would have accepted any reasonabl offer for him, but their aint been 1).

He is a very likable person(compared to most pro footballers!), his attitude and profesionalism is great but he just cant hack it when things arent going well and will struggle even more in the far more physical and dirty championship.

[Eddie]

1 - At the time when the likes of United and Spurs were rumoured to be taking a serious look at him I have no doubt that someone would have matched the wages that he is on at Ewood.

2 - He was very well regarded inside and outside Ewood Park for about two seasons. Rovers' fans then became frustrated with him when his spectacular goals dried up, but it took a while for the rest of the league to realise that this had really been his main asset.

It just annoys me that many of those who are so critical of MGP and want to force him out the door will be then turn around and be critical of Hoilett for signing a new contract or for Bellamy and Bentley for screwing the club around.

[T.J.Newton]

As for loyalty!!!!, well in these days when footballers will drop down to far more inferior divisions into strugling clubs simply because they will pay them what they want, why should we give a toss about how many years they have been at the club when we all know they would jump ship as soon as they get a better offer.

Tugay was our last great Loyal Icon, he was here because he loved it here.

[T.J.Newton]

1 - At the time when the likes of United and Spurs were rumoured to be taking a serious look at him I have no doubt that someone would have matched the wages that he is on at Ewood.

2 - He was very well regarded inside and outside Ewood Park for about two seasons. Rovers' fans then became frustrated with him when his spectacular goals dried up, but it took a while for the rest of the league to realise that this had really been his main asset.

It just annoys me that many of those who are so critical of MGP and want to force him out the door will be then turn around and be critical of Hoilett for signing a new contract or for Bellamy and Bentley for screwing the club around.

key words

1. "At the time"

2."He was very well regarded inside and outside Ewood Park for about two seasons"

me thinks you just fancy him a little, and nobody is trying to force him out as if the fans wishes mean anything to this lot anyway!, he just shouldnt be starting every game when his form is so poor.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Was watching great goals earlier with my mate and came across this screamer -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssKlZa2DnFA&feature=plcp

Skip to 4.34

I highly recommend this website, tvgolo.com, if people don't know of it.....it has highlights and also a goal of the week from almost every professional football league

As for this years' tvgolo goal of the season, it mostly concentrates on ones scored by Real Madrid, Arsenal, United etc whereas the older ones don't and just have a mixture of worldwide goals.

[Torgeir]

Givet and Nzonzi for sure. Orr and Hanley were better in the times they played barring Hanley at the start. The fact is he was one of the only players who ever got an extended run in the side. With no way to prove it I am still almost certain that Formica, Vukcevic, Rochina, Dunn off a striker, Henley and even Bunn would be perceived as more effective players if given the run in the team that Pedersen was given....I've not even included Goodwillie or Petrovic to emphasise my point further.

Orr is a steady right back, good crosses, but looks lost on the right side of midfield. N'Zonzi was a regular until he was autracious in back to back to back games when the going got tough, then spat his dummy out. Hanley had a horrible start to the season but I agree he picked up his game and steadily improved. Good prospect, but no midfielder. Formica played and did well tracking back, but wasn't able to offer as much going forward as was expected of him when we signed him. Vukcevic I would have liked to see more of as well, he put in some good performances, but we didn't see enough of him to judge him completely. Rochina needs to play higher up the pitch than in a central midfiel position, or on the wing. Absolutely nowhere defensively, and like Hoilett, gives the ball away dangerously. Dunn started every time he was fit, he's best mates with Kean but unfortunately he's a crock. Henley showed glimpses of promise but is a right/left back. And finally, Bunn is a golkeeper. Goodwillie was terrible. Petrovic given a lot of stick as well, needs more time to adapt but early signs not good.

Your post just proves how weak our squad really was and how we're crying out for midfielders at the moment. With Dunn being out injured more times than not I clearly see the need for reinforcements. But according to your list there aren't many midfield players ahead of him in the pecking order, so given that we had four places I take it you agree that it was okay to put him in the starting eleven for the majority of the season

me thinks you just fancy him a little, and nobody is trying to force him out as if the fans wishes mean anything to this lot anyway!, he just shouldnt be starting every game when his form is so poor.

The whole team was poor bar two or three players.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Orr is a steady right back, good crosses, but looks lost on the right side of midfield. N'Zonzi was a regular until he was autracious in back to back to back games when the going got tough, then spat his dummy out. Hanley had a horrible start to the season but I agree he picked up his game and steadily improved. Good prospect, but no midfielder. Formica played and did well tracking back, but wasn't able to offer as much going forward as was expected of him when we signed him. Vukcevic I would have liked to see more of as well, he put in some good performances, but we didn't see enough of him to judge him completely. Rochina needs to play higher up the pitch than in a central midfiel position, or on the wing. Absolutely nowhere defensively, and like Hoilett, gives the ball away dangerously. Dunn started every time he was fit, he's best mates with Kean but unfortunately he's a crock. Henley showed glimpses of promise but is a right/left back. And finally, Bunn is a golkeeper. Goodwillie was terrible. Petrovic given a lot of stick as well, needs more time to adapt but early signs not good.

Your post just proves how weak our squad really was and how we're crying out for midfielders at the moment. With Dunn being out injured more times than not I clearly see the need for reinforcements. But according to your list there aren't many midfield players ahead of him in the pecking order, so given that we had four places I take it you agree that it was okay to put him in the starting eleven for the majority of the season

The whole team was poor bar two or three players.

Oh right you meant midfielders.....But you originally said "Other than Yakubu, and Hoilett (due to his goals), which other players had a better season than Pedersen by a clear margin?" I'm confused but if we were playing 4-5-1 then Nzonzi was our best central midfielder last season despite having a couple bad games at the end and a few inbetween.

And then if it was a game against harder opposition, particularly away, I would rather have Lowe or Petrovic next to Nzonzi over Pedersen. If not then we should have played next to Nzonzi, 2 of Formica, Rochina and Vukcevic....maybe Dunn against a weaker side at home with him and Formica and Rochina pushing up next to Yakubu mostly. Despite keeping it tidy, Pedersen offered nothing attacking wise and barely anything defensive wise.

Formica was never properly given a run in the team in the middle but after a few games in a row he would start to influence the game more but then wouldn't be seen for a couple of weeks or would be pushed out to the right. Long story short if it was up to me Pedersen wouldn't have played a game last season.

[bluebruce]

1 - At the time when the likes of United and Spurs were rumoured to be taking a serious look at him I have no doubt that someone would have matched the wages that he is on at Ewood.

2 - He was very well regarded inside and outside Ewood Park for about two seasons. Rovers' fans then became frustrated with him when his spectacular goals dried up, but it took a while for the rest of the league to realise that this had really been his main asset.

It just annoys me that many of those who are so critical of MGP and want to force him out the door will be then turn around and be critical of Hoilett for signing a new contract or for Bellamy and Bentley for screwing the club around.

Nonsense. Pedersen has been a passenger for years now. We are under no obligation to show him any further loyalty- the last contract we gave was far too generous already. If we can find a buyer we should get shut.

That said, I have a -slight- feeling that he might be a bit better in the Championship. But it's very slight, and outweighed by what I've seen of him for about the last five or six years.

[Torgeir]

Oh right you meant midfielders.....But you originally said "Other than Yakubu, and Hoilett (due to his goals), which other players had a better season than Pedersen by a clear margin?" I'm confused but if we were playing 4-5-1 then Nzonzi was our best central midfielder last season despite having a couple bad games at the end and a few inbetween.

And then if it was a game against harder opposition, particularly away, I would rather have Lowe or Petrovic next to Nzonzi over Pedersen. If not then we should have played next to Nzonzi, 2 of Formica, Rochina and Vukcevic....maybe Dunn against a weaker side at home with him and Formica and Rochina pushing up next to Yakubu mostly. Despite keeping it tidy, Pedersen offered nothing attacking wise and barely anything defensive wise.

Formica was never properly given a run in the team in the middle but after a few games in a row he would start to influence the game more but then wouldn't be seen for a couple of weeks or would be pushed out to the right. Long story short if it was up to me Pedersen wouldn't have played a game last season.

I didn't mean midfielders only. I wanted to know your opinion, just not sure I can take it seriously if you think Goodwillie had a better season than Pedersen did. 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, we usually had four midfield spots to fill with Hoilett playing in the pocket or as a striker. Formica started 25 games, which isn't bad. Lowe had to fill in at right back for half a season. Petrovic was carried by the rest of the team and Rochina didn't get many starts, but is a luxury play we couldn't afford to play while in the bottom six. 33 games for Morten last season, he shouldn't be one of the corner stones in our team - but the quality of our squad is the problem, not the fact that he's a starter under the current circumstances. IMO of course.

[Blandy]

Just to get back to Adrian Silva; Nicko has tweeted that a fee was agreed last night and that the deal could be completed today.

Also a journo has tweeted that he was on a flight back from Zurich and spoke to Steve Kean who was on his way back from a meeting with Venky's, Kean told that there will be a lot more new signings to come.

[rovers_rob]

Alan Nixon (on twitter) seems to think that the deal to sign silva is more or less done and he could even sign today.

Hope he is right.

[davulsukur]

Andrew Cryer ‏@CryerRovers

Silva has been at Sporting today - dialogue was ongoing. Rovers stilll v hopeful.

Andy Cryers latest Tweet.

[Torgeir]

Fingers crossed, and although I haven't seen Silva in action it's evident that our midfield needs strengthening.