[Archived] Game Thread - Rochdale Away Pre Season

[Waggy76]

That was someone else......I doubt it though......maybe if for once he is played in his right position.....but I doubt that even more.

Goodwillies best position ,should be sat in the stand along with a few more !!!!

[RoyRover]

Usually I would say that friendlies are totally meaningless and are only useful for gaining match fitness and getting new players some game time with their new team mates. However, I would also take it for granted that we would win these games easily. If we were losing these games with a real manager in charge, I would be a bit peeved, but nothing more. But when our manager is Steve Kean and is as bad a manager as he is, it does worry me to think about what lies ahead this season under this clown. If he stays on as manager, we will be fighting relegation to League 1. That's how bad he is.

[Stonesrick]

Goodwillies best position ,should be sat in the stand along with a few more !!!!

Goodwillies best position would be to be shipped back to Scottish League Div 3

[onlyonejackwalker]

I am also of the believer that pre-season games mean little, but when you cherry pick the opposition like we have to try and win some games, score some goals, look good defensively and generate some lasting confidence, losing to lower league and non-league opposition is still a big kick in the teeth.

The one thing consistent under Kean is our abiliity to lose matches whoever the opposition and whatever the circumstances.

However in La La Land, apparently it was a very good 'workout' despite the defeat, against a talented Rochdale.

Everyone can stop worrying....

http://www.rovers.co...2860931,00.html

As to Goodwillie, I have rarely disliked a Rovers player as much as this lad and have seen some right old donkeys wearing the shirt over the years.

[davulsukur]

No pace at all mate and I am already told Murphy looks uncomfortable in a role just in front of the back four!!

As for fitness, its a massive problem under Kean, we looked unfit last year and from what I am told by a proffesssional in the finess area, we still do!!

Last season we looked woeful. Our players often looked like they were running through treacle. The most frustrating part was that Kean tried to adopt a sit back and then counter tactic but our counter attacks were so slow that the opposition easily got back and defended, or no one could simply get forward quick enough leaving the yak to hold off 3 defenders ultimately for no reason.

I genuinely don't get why or how he could mess up the fitness side of things. Did we ever look really unfit while Allardyce was in charge? (we may have but i don't recall it from memory) Why did Kean change the fitness side of things when it didn't need to be changed?

If i remeber rightly the team ended up looking massively unfit while Ince was here aswell.

[den]

Looking at the bigger picture (with Hoillet gone and Olssen's departure imminent) can anybody see any pace in the team/squad? The Championship is a more physically demanding league than the Premiership and pace and fitness is vital.

One of last seasons biggest issues to me was the general lack of fitness, typified by the number of late goals we conceded. If players aren't fit enough they will be found out as many were last season.

No pace at all - apart from maybe Best? No creativity either, in fact we're plodding on in the same direction that we have since Kean took over. Still, let's give him a clean sheet and hope something happens.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Looking at the bigger picture (with Hoillet gone and Olssen's departure imminent) can anybody see any pace in the team/squad? The Championship is a more physically demanding league than the Premiership and pace and fitness is vital.

One of last seasons biggest issues to me was the general lack of fitness, typified by the number of late goals we conceded. If players aren't fit enough they will be found out as many were last season.

One thing I have never understood is why professionals let themselves get unfit, no matter who the manager is. They lose more games, get fewer win bonuses and even at my lowly level it's just plain demoralising to be struggling in last 15 mins against fitter players. Are players like Nicky Reid and Mark Atkins the complete exception in the professional game?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We are the team to beat according to Teflon.

[rhodie]

I thought the club had brought in a fitness coach for the first team? Wonder if the Rochdale manager (Coleman) would be available to give our Numpty a few tips on how to keep the opposition out?.

[tomphil]

We are the team to beat according to Teflon.

That's just another of coco's reverse phycology lines to the lunes in Pune. He can then turn round and say wer such a big name in this division that everyone is goin out 110% to get wer scalp and kick us off the park, we just can't play wer great passing football. Mrs D thinks aw what a shame can't possibly sack him for that

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Looking at the bigger picture (with Hoillet gone and Olssen's departure imminent) can anybody see any pace in the team/squad? The Championship is a more physically demanding league than the Premiership and pace and fitness is vital.

Does Marcus Olsson count? Probably not. Goodwillie used to have a bit but not anymore. Do Nunes or Edinho have pace? Leon Best I've heard different things about and can't remember seeing him live too often.

No pace at all mate and I am already told Murphy looks uncomfortable in a role just in front of the back four!!

As for fitness, its a massive problem under Kean, we looked unfit last year and from what I am told by a proffesssional in the finess area, we still do!!

Murhphy isn't a defensive midfielder....it was usually Etuhu next to him at Fulham or maybe Sidwell.......fitness is one of our main issues....especially now we have more games.....we need to sort that out fast but I know we won't and it will cost us all season just like last year.

One thing I have never understood is why professionals let themselves get unfit, no matter who the manager is. They lose more games, get fewer win bonuses and even at my lowly level it's just plain demoralising to be struggling in last 15 mins against fitter players. Are players like Nicky Reid and Mark Atkins the complete exception in the professional game?

It's not as simple as that......they follow the manager and coaches' methods in fitness training.....they can't be expected to all do lots of extra work in their own time to be fit enough.....I'm aware of all the time off they have but even if a few took it amongst themselves to get fitter, then the rest of the team wouldn't be anyway and would let them down.....the fault lies squarely with the manager and it's another key reason he makes our players look worse than they are.

[LDRover]

In much the same way that Hughes could be lauded for the exceptional fitness of the players when he was here, Kean can be pilloried for the lack of now.

In my opinion it's about the bald pillock wanting to be matey with the players rather than having the balls to work them hard.

[davulsukur]

We are the team that gets to beat.

[RevidgeBlue]

I've kept clear of the Messageboard over the summer in an attempt to avoid the unrelenting negativity and thought I would leave it until the action actually starts. Neither have I been to any of the preseason games.

The only thing that matters is what happens when the season kicks off in earnest so OssyDave is right up to a point when he says the results of these games aren't the be all and end all. However, you wouldn't expect the teams we've been playing to be able to live with a team that was recently playing in the Premiership, demoted or not, skillwise or even in terms of fitness. Three defeats seem slightly more than a coincidence in that you might expect one freak result in there interspersed with a couple of resounding thrashings. Or maybe for us to have played the opposition off the park without being able to put the ball in the net. Neither of these seems to have happened, conversely our intended "squash guy" opposition seem to have outplayed us which does not bode well. At the moment you wonder if this season is going to mirror the half season prior to Brian Kidd's sacking when things got worse before they got better.

All that said "Kean out" chants are completely pointless before the season even starts imo. The owners should certainly have sacked him last season but didn't, therefore new season and everyone needs to start with a completely clean slate. If after five or six games its obvious that things are continuing in the same vein as last season, that's a different matter. But in my view it's not right to be on Kean's back and by extension the backs of the players, without actually seeing what unfurls on the pitch once the proper action starts.

[gumboots]

You can't have a clean slate when you show no sign of doing anything different from what you have done previously and shown absolutely no sign of learning from your mistakes or even acknowledging that what went on was in any way your fault. I didn't join in with the Kean out chants at Accrington - I don't really do chants - but they were totally deserved imo. Eventually someone will hear and act. No good supporting at the start of the season and when the inevitable happens and we lose starting anti-Kean chants. that's fickle for you and plays right into the hands of those criticising our fans as being glory hunters who can't hack the fact that we have been relegated. Pressure on Kean has to be kept up constantly until he's history.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

After all the lies and deciet,the awful results and dire football just how can you talk about a 'clean slate' Rev?

There can be no 'clean slate ' for one who has caused so much damage to this club and its support.

[arbitro]

One thing I have never understood is why professionals let themselves get unfit, no matter who the manager is. They lose more games, get fewer win bonuses and even at my lowly level it's just plain demoralising to be struggling in last 15 mins against fitter players. Are players like Nicky Reid and Mark Atkins the complete exception in the professional game?

I don't know about Rovers but most professional clubs give their players schedules to work to during the summer. The clubs give each players a heart rate monitor and after each session they download the data into a file and send it to the Sports Scientists who can check if the player has been working to the correct intensity. Of course this could be abused but clubs would soon know on the first day of training when the levels of fitness are assessed, usually by doing the bleep test.

[Kelbo]

I don't know about Rovers but most professional clubs give their players schedules to work to during the summer. The clubs give each players a heart rate monitor and after each session they download the data into a file and send it to the Sports Scientists who can check if the player has been working to the correct intensity. Of course this could be abused but clubs would soon know on the first day of training when the levels of fitness are assessed, usually by doing the bleep test.

There are different training methods and overtraining can be as bad as undertraining, differing methods which may be acceptable by some are not with others, something is clearly wrong at Rovers as we dont look a fit side at all!

[RevidgeBlue]

After all the lies and deciet,the awful results and dire football just how can you talk about a 'clean slate' Rev?

There can be no 'clean slate ' for one who has caused so much damage to this club and its support.

It's the only option. He should have been sacked but wasn't. Unfortunately that's not our call but if anyone wants to make that call, all they have to do is shell out c20m for the privilege.

For the seemingly relatively few of us who haven't turned their back on the Club for this season, the only option is to get behind the team from the first whistle of the new season and anti Kean chants before or from the off aren't consistent with that imo.

If were heading the same way after five or six games, that's completely different imo. But what if we're doing well after 5 or 6 games? Do the fans continue the chants against the manager in the hope we will cease to do well?

For the record I don't THINK we will do anything much whilst Kean remains in charge. I HOPE we do however as I couldn't really care less who the manager is if we win enough football matches to gain promotion for example.

[roversfan83]

It's the only option. He should have been sacked but wasn't. Unfortunately that's not our call but if anyone wants to make that call, all they have to do is shell out c20m for the privilege.

For the seemingly relatively few of us who haven't turned their back on the Club for this season, the only option is to get behind the team from the first whistle of the new season and anti Kean chants before or from the off aren't consistent with that imo.

If were heading the same way after five or six games, that's completely different imo. But what if we're doing well after 5 or 6 games? Do the fans continue the chants against the manager in the hope we will cease to do well?

For the record I don't THINK we will do anything much whilst Kean remains in charge. I HOPE we do however as I couldn't really care less who the manager is if we win enough football matches to gain promotion for example.

Clean slate?1?! And when we get relegated again under Kean (that WILL happen under him) do we start with another clean slate in league one, and then another clean slate in league 2, and then another in the conference, etc.

He does not deserve a clean slate and I for one will make it my business to make sure he doesn’t get one. Nice try though mr anew.

[budha]

Midfield star David Dunn is urging Rovers' fans not to read too much into friendly results.

"I spoke to Colin (Hendry) and he told me that when we won the league they lost every friendly, so that goes to show that results are not important at this stage.

http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~2861710,00.html

I couldn't find any details about our friendlies at the summer of 1994, except for the loss against Celtic. Did we lose every friendly back then?

[A cup of beans]

IFor the record I don't THINK we will do anything much whilst Kean remains in charge. I HOPE we do however as I couldn't really care less who the manager is if we win enough football matches to gain promotion for example.

Rev, I wont respond to your views on "Giving Kean a Chance and Support the players" as it is laugable and has been done to death on here.

Trust me, having endured the Accrington and Rochdale games, It is clear Rovers wont be anywhere near promotion. Players played out of position,

No pace, No movement, No fitness, No tactics, No chance.

http://www.rovers.co...2861710,00.html

I couldn't find any details about our friendlies at the summer of 1994, except for the loss against Celtic. Did we lose every friendly back then?

We either lost them all, or almost all. Difference was that many of the 1st team players were injured for that pre season.

[bob fleming]

We either lost them all, or almost all. Difference was that many of the 1st team players were injured for that pre season.

The other differences include; we weren't owned by incompetents, managed by an absolute clueless liar and we had finished second in the Premier League the previous season (rather than lose 8 of our last 9 league games).

Clean slate my arse. That's an absolute joke. This club used to have standards, now it's quite clearly run by people who don't give a damn.

[LDRover]

Well I'm quite happy to give him a clean slate and I'll quite happily launch it at his bald head from close range.

[roverandout]

pie eating fat illegitimate dunn, giving out the usual platitudes to defend his sugar daddy