[Archived] Crystal Palace Preview

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I still disagree with Tyrone, I think we have the strongest Squad in the division, (as opposed to the best 11 players). I also still think there's plenty of ability within this squad at this level. However the majority of this squad has been underperforming for quite some time now, losing and bad habits and in certain cases not giving it everything have become ingrained.

I agree I think we have one of the strongest squads - but not necessarily for playing Championship football. I have been amazed at the fitness levels - and the constant pressure that teams put us under. IMO we have to play a higher line - and pressure the opposition far more than we do - it seems to be one of Kean's favourite tactics to constantly drop back - it may work in the Premiership (sorry it didn't) but in the Championship it gives the opposition the opportunity to pressurise us in our own half.

[Kelbo]

I think I read on here that Dunny stated Rovers had done very little fitness training in pre season, in my opinion (Majiball will confirm or not) pre season is the most vital part of the season, it determines your fitness levels basically for the whole season, to support this, if a player has had an injury and missed his pre season, it is always stated, after missing pre season, it will take him quite some time to catch up to the rest of the squad in both fitness and match fitness.

For me, pre season is a way of getting players to their peak of fitness, pre season games mean little if you are using it as a way of reaching peak fitness and putting tactics and set plays into games, Kean never did this from what we are told, the previous season, in pre season, the most important time was spent poncing in Pune, we needed to be concentrating at that time of pre season on fitness and tactics, for some reason, Kean didnt see that as important, I will tell you this, when I was a young player at my peak of fitness, I was mentally sharper as well. Once as season has started, after a proper pre season, then fitness training as in the pre season type, shouldnt be neccessary, the games and day to day training will keep you at the level you require, but without a good pre seasons training, you are buggered and will be a yard off the pace, whoever you are!!

[broadsword]

I looked through the squad on the official site (spit) yesterday, and couldn't recognise half of them. I swear two of the Portuguese lads are in fact the same fella.

I'm not sure we do have the strongest squad in the division, but we possibly have the least fit and least motivated.

There's a lot of work to be done undoing 2 years of neglect, mismanagement and sheer rank incompetence. I cannot see us winning automatic promotion, best hope is to try and stay in the play-off places.

I'm not writing off Berg at all after one game, but neither do I think he's the messiah. He does have a massive job on, though. And I agree with Kelbo that if you don't have a decent pre-season you are forever playing catch-up with the fitness. Especially playing two games every week.

[1864roverite]

Folks

the car crash that is the keanscum era will hover over Ewood for a long time like the ghosts of Pendle. He was allowed to run the playing staff into the ground and that is going to cost us bug time.

The team are too used to playing off the back foot and retreating to their own defensive lines rather than to promote attacking counter attack football.

The players purchased by Keanscum are not and will never be good enough for BRFC unless they get themselves fitter.

The owners were blinded by keanscums own visionary skills and horseshit.

That is the problem here.

[alexanders]

Those who have been watching the reserves. Can Paulo Jorge (gattuso) do anything in midfield?

[Doug]

We all need to put the 'it would be better if we'd got so and so as our manager' to one side. This is not the time. His job would appear to be difficult to say the least. Not only has he inherited an unfit squad that lacks any confidence, he also has to deal with the morons who run the club. This is going to take some serious strength of character. Undoing the huge cock ups will be a long job. We have to give him maybe two or three transfer windows at least. He may not be the messiah, but we have to support him like he is. His substitutions yesterday ticked the boxes for me. His team selections over the next few weeks will tell us a lot as he searches for the players who have what he wants. I presume he will be at reserve matches etc. trying to get his head round which players are fit for purpose. Come on, lets try and cut him some slack for a decent length of time. We have to change the way we view the team, its work in progress.

[OJRovers]

It's a tricky one, because if you asked any team in this league whether they would want Murphy and Etuhu in their midfield, they would say yes.

In defence of the owners, I thought these would be decent signings for the championship

The issue is that Kean has left us with no tactics or passing game, we've got no confidence with the ball and are clueless with what to do with it.

I'm hopeful that berg can give us some structure in the team.

His biggest challenge is getting performances out of our high earners, they need to get sat down and shown the dvds of how the other teams eg palace have made them look stupid.

In a way at least berg has seen this straight away in a difficult game rather than a home game.

I'd like to see Vukcevic play, maybe even Raheen Hanley or Hugo Fernandez.

A big centre forward on loan is a must. Rhodes has no chance otherwise.

When is Best due back?

[garnersfags]

I agree with many of the above observations such as lack of fitness, lack of pace etc but I must admit I did expect some sort of reaction from the players to Berg's appointment. It appears there was no reaction whatsoever so the highly paid, experienced players led by Murphy are effectively saying to Berg, 'we set the tempo and decide how to play, not you', and the younger players go along with this poisonous approach. Absolutely no desire to give 100% to ensure they will remain in the first team, or this was certainly the impression given at Palace. This is worrying and may mean that the Berg effect may take some time to become evident as his 'presence' has had zero effect (so far).

In terms of the game itself, what does Nuno gomes need to do to get a game? I understand that Black (and now Berg?) feel we are weaker defensively when he plays but he has consistently created and scored goals in every game he has played and adds a fluency to our play whenever he is on the pitch.

Many posts have cited our midfield weakness as the reason we cannot play 2 strikers but I really think it is the defence which is weak (as well as midfield). I think our only relatively solid central defensive pairing is Givet and Dann. Berg MUST find a combination and formation which can allow Gomes to play whilst remaining defensively solid. Palace proved yesterday that an attacking style married to hard work can leave the defence with little to do. It's not magic, just sound footballing tactical awareness and experience.

It looks like Black will influence team selection for a few more weeks which means Gomes will have to wait for his moment.

[Dunnfc]

Robbo

Henley dann hanley givet

Etuhu

Simon dunn mgp martin olsson

Rhodes

Kean, lowe, Marcus o, formica, rosado, nuno gomes, Rochina

By far our best team atm.

[USABlue]

One of the reasons successive managers have been loathe to play Rhodes in a 4-4-2 with some support to take the weight off his shoulders is that our midfield is so weak. We seemingly need to play 5 in midfield to hold our own because any 4 will just get over-run by the willing runners and athletic midfielders that this division is noted for. Etuhu has probably been the pick of a bad bunch. None of the rest deserve to pull on the shirt, Murphy has been the biggest flop I can remember for a long time, Barry Ferguson wasn't this bad.

Dunny is always injured, Pedersen, well, let's just say this division isn't made for him. Ollsen the supposed footballer is playing like he wants away. CKR is playing like he's made a massive mistake coming to Ewood and is just realising it. Formica just hasn't made the step up. Lowe is a willing worker but lacks other qualities. Vukevic has been out of favour that long I don't even know what sort of player he his ! He had a decent cameo yesterday by all accounts so he may be in the team for the next game. If he plays poorly as may happen because of a lack of recent game time he'll be out again and the merry go round in midfield will start all over again.

In my opinion even if Best came back this week we'd still have to play 4-5-1 because of our failings in midfield. I just hope Berg can address the problem as soon as possible. The chances of getting two good results against our friends from down the road are nil with this squad, I'd take two draws now !

Don't be silly.

[John]

Went yesterday - not seen much of us in recent times due to obvious reasons. Few thoughts below.

Cannot believe how unfit everyone is, completely out of shape - majority of players look heavy - Paul Robinson carrying a huge amount of weight, you can actually see the flab on his chest and legs......needs to be addressed ASAP.

No attacking cohesion at all, disjointed and no penetration when we have the ball. Crossing is very poor, Hanley at right back cannot cross the ball well at all, he just kicks it in hope.

Central midfield needs to be looked at it as just isn't working, both players are adjacent for too much of the time.

Rhodes needs more service or pointless playing him at the moment (well not pointless but was hardly involved at all yesterday).

Kazim Richards can F off back to Turkey, think he snubbed Berg when subbed off.

Rochina needs to play, his talent stands out - Formica too looked assured when he came on.

Lot of work ahead for Berg.

[tomphil]

Whenever you look through any of our recent opponents forums or speak to them after away games the one constant is how unfit and uninterested Rovers look. The number of comments like that on various Palace boards is alarming. We obviously already know this but other teams fans when looking at the team sheet prior to games then seeing us perform (try) are usually astounded as to how bad we are. Massive job for Berg here with the number of high paid ego's in that dressing room !

[Duffy]

I agree with many of the above observations such as lack of fitness, lack of pace etc but I must admit I did expect some sort of reaction from the players to Berg's appointment. It appears there was no reaction whatsoever so the highly paid, experienced players led by Murphy are effectively saying to Berg, 'we set the tempo and decide how to play, not you', and the younger players go along with this poisonous approach. Absolutely no desire to give 100% to ensure they will remain in the first team, or this was certainly the impression given at Palace. This is worrying and may mean that the Berg effect may take some time to become evident as his 'presence' has had zero effect (so far).

In terms of the game itself, what does Nuno gomes need to do to get a game? I understand that Black (and now Berg?) feel we are weaker defensively when he plays but he has consistently created and scored goals in every game he has played and adds a fluency to our play whenever he is on the pitch.

Many posts have cited our midfield weakness as the reason we cannot play 2 strikers but I really think it is the defence which is weak (as well as midfield). I think our only relatively solid central defensive pairing is Givet and Dann. Berg MUST find a combination and formation which can allow Gomes to play whilst remaining defensively solid. Palace proved yesterday that an attacking style married to hard work can leave the defence with little to do. It's not magic, just sound footballing tactical awareness and experience.

It looks like Black will influence team selection for a few more weeks which means Gomes will have to wait for his moment.

I think Nuno Gomez was injured for this game so he couldn't have been picked even if Berg had wanted to.

Before the game, I was actually, for probably the first time in quite a long while a little bit excited which stemmed down to the fact that we had a new manager, a fresh start if you will. Despite the result, I am still cautiously optimistic that given time, we could (at least on the pitch) start to turn a corner. The important thing to take from the Palace game was the fact that afterwards the issues and problems were recognised by our manager, when did Kean last say we have been sloppy in possession and give the ball away too much? There was also the acknowledgement that Palace undoubtedly deserved the 3 points. This is such a refreshing change from "ooh but we hit the post 3 times!"

In a way, though it was bad timing to be playing a side clearly high in confidence despite their own managerial changes, it was probably good for Berg to see a game where he saw some of the issues we have quite clearly. Rhodes, once he gets the type of service his finishing deserves should be great for us - I think he needs the support of Gomez once back and hopefully Leon Best will be a good partner for him after his recovery as sadly yesterday CKR seemed to be too far away from Rhodes to really be of support.

Bright spots of the game: good to see Vuckevic get a run out and hope that he can make some impact for the rest of the season; despite the penalty I don't think Henley did too badly and Rochina, though frustrating at times, did show that he could, with the right nuturing, be very valuable to us and he always looks keen and eagar which we really need right now.

Patience is going to be key, that and backing from the fans.

[Lancs Rover]

Those who have been watching the reserves. Can Paulo Jorge (gattuso) do anything in midfield?

I only saw one match. So a qualified, 'No'.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Don't be silly.

We'll see. Play like we have been doing lately and the trip to the Turf could be embarrassing.

Robbo

Henley dann hanley givet

Etuhu

Simon dunn mgp martin olsson

Rhodes

Kean, lowe, Marcus o, formica, rosado, nuno gomes, Rochina

By far our best team atm.

Any team with Dunny and MGP in midfield will get run ragged in this league.

[Puffsan]

I'm very surprised Berg Choosed to change formation after only being in charge for 2 days and meeting the in form team of the league. in hindsight a very bad move but at least he know knows what assets he have and what needs to be done.

not at all surprised to see henley back in the squad, never understood why he was dropped after two good spells in december. good to hear vuckcevic get some playing time also, cant wait for saturdays game which will be a tv broadcasted game here in norway

[RoverRich]

For those who know a bit more about the youngsters/reserves - do we have any centre midfielders with potential to step up to the first team? Can Raheem Hanley play in there? How is Tim Payne getting on after playing a DM role for New Zealand at the Olympics?

The reason I ask is that I just get the feeling we need someone with a bit more desire and enthusiasm in the middle of the park. We need someone who is willing to work their socks off in an attempt to prove a point. Someone with hunger rather than relying on the same old suspects who are not putting the required work ethic into such a role.

I know a lot of people are not fans of Lowe but I feel the work he puts in from CM is what we need. Although he may lack a bit of quality, I would much rather see him putting in the effort that he does than watch some others in that position. I think we need someone similar to him, especially whilst he is out injured. We need the work rate from the middle of the park to increase, for them to cover the back four whilst pushing the likes of Vukcevic, Olsson (either one) and Rochina forward to provide the quality for Rhodes to feed off.

[rovermagic]

Rhodes absolutely CAN work the channels. Look at his videos. He can feed from through balls and decent crosses. Target man the wrong idea. C Jerome also lots of pace upfront to take pressure off Rhodes. Rochina a revelation when he came on. By far our best player. Berg is a Rovers true believer and a solid honest no-nonsense guy. Two Olssons weaker defensively than one Henley. Olssons are physically weak. Unlike Zaha and their no. 7. Rhodes could do with some work in the weight room. Very few forwards- whether no 9 or 10 - get pushed off the ball as easily as he.

[rovermagic]

Shebby is mad to think Berg must bring this lot straight back up. When was the last time we out-PERFORMED anybody in this league? The support for Rovers and Berg at Palace was magnificent. The supporters will give Henning 2-3 years.

[Mercer]

Shebby is mad to think Berg must bring this lot straight back up. When was the last time we out-PERFORMED anybody in this league? The support for Rovers and Berg at Palace was magnificent. The supporters will give Henning 2-3 years.

No they wont and quite simply, IMO, we haven't got three years.

I think our finances are so perilous that it is sh1t or bust this season and it aint looking good !

[broadsword]

Who thinks we are in a false position in the league at the moment?

6th place and it's November, hmmm, that really is just clinging in there. I'm not optimistic that we'll go straight back up, I know that much. It's either this year or next year, that's our window of opportunity.

[neophox]

No they wont and quite simply, IMO, we haven't got three years.

I think our finances are so perilous that it is sh1t or bust this season and it aint looking good !

You're kidding,optimistic as usual.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Who thinks we are in a false position in the league at the moment?

6th place and it's November, hmmm, that really is just clinging in there. I'm not optimistic that we'll go straight back up, I know that much. It's either this year or next year, that's our window of opportunity.

I think there's different ways you could look at it......one way is, under the worst manager in our history, we spent the vast majority of the time in the playoff positions, and were even top of the league for a while.

In theory, no manager in world football would be worse than Kean, so the least we could expect is to average the same amount of points as we have been doing, which means we could make the playoffs.

If we were to play in the same system under Berg, we would still get more points in theory due to our players being much fitter.......add a few more for being motivated......add a few more for some of our better players in certain positions, like Henley and Vukcevic, getting more game time.

Nuno Gomes might not play too often but Rochina and even Dunn are adequate replacements......you could possibly add the January transfer window, if we even spend, but theoretically our rivals should strengthen as well.....you could argue injuries will take it's toll but the same could be argued for every club.

So in theory, we should start to pick up more points than we have been doing.....but I think now that we have a real football manager, we should start to build a team that looks to accommodate our best players, and we start playing to their strengths......the standard of finishing is generally poor.....if we keep it tight at the back, Rhodes, Nuno Gomes and Rochina alone look to have a goal in them, and we might not have to continue winning 5-3 to pick up the three points.

I think automatic promotion is achievable.....if Berg is a decent manager and gets the players fit, motivated and playing in a system that gets the best out of them.....and adds a few new faces on loan or otherwise.

[WaffleWag]

Did anyone else see CKR during the warm up? He just tangled along, like he did the entire game.

[TBTF]

No they wont and quite simply, IMO, we haven't got three years.

I think our finances are so perilous that it is sh1t or bust this season and it aint looking good !

Correct Mercer

I have heard from 3 different people now that we are suposedly losing nearly £3m a month.

My problem with that is why keep kean beyond relegation then spend spend and foist the new players and a fully blown budget on a new manager.You don't really give him a prayer which may explain why we ended up where we did(and that isnt being critical of Henning-just truthful)in the managerial process.I don't beleive a word that Shebby is saying about money to spend in january.We ca'nt even get cameron jerome in on loan because we cant pay his wages.

Where the hell are all these Portugese that Shebby brought?? Henrique, Jorge, Edinho, Rosado.Ridiculous waste of money.

I think if we slip off the pace which is highly likely the sh1t will hit the fan and i think the only Venky that wants to keep going with this charade(Balaji) will have run out of cash and start the run for the exit.

These are perilous times because nobody could buy this bag of keans with this amount of overhead and crap in it.

PS Freedman won, McCarthy won, Holloway won and Dyche won at the first attempt yesterday.Odd one out-Rovers. In Balotelli speak why is it always us ffs???