[Archived] Blackburn Rovers v Cardiff City 7th December 2012

[Jimmy612]

A lot of people cutting Rhodes slack on here yet I'm far from convinced.

He invariably gets either muscled out of it or his touch lets him down with his back to goal and it's vital that he holds it in this system.

He has no pace to stretch a defence and if we do break from midfield seems to run away from the ball with his back to the ball rather than making an angle on the half turn. CKR, for all his faults, made good links between midfield and attack today, something I've rarely seen from Rhodes.

Granted, he can finish given the chances but I fail to see why we've shelled out 8 million for him.

I agree. He's a poacher yes, but he doesn't offer enough to the team.

But again I can't blame him. It was just another example of illegitimates with no logical thought process. If ever there was an example of buying a player without thinking about the squad as a whole this was it. 8 million pounds on a player who doesn't fit our system. Hilarious really how moronic the decision making at Ewood is.

Lowe is decent.

Thick sod gave away a needless freekick and got himself booked for the first goal. He'd get a huge bollocking from me for that. Gifting an opportunity for them to put the ball into our box because he was having a shitfit.

[LDRover]

You've just answered your own question.

8 million for someone who can only play in the penalty box? In a system where we play one up front?

[Mercer]

Absolutely hopeless.

Sadly, Berg seems well out of his depth.

In Sky interview, said Cardiff had more experience - excuse me, you had Gael, Simon, CKR & MGP starting the match sitting on the bench. You picked the feckin team !

Some say 4-1 was an injustice - it was, should have been 5, 6 or even 7.

Men against boys, yet again.

No more excuses for Berg.

McCarthy inherited an Ipswich side that couldn't buy a win - he's delivered 13 points from 7.

Berg 6 points from 8 games including 3 home losses on the bounce. Makes Ince and Kean look like SAF !

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Blackburn 1 Cardiff 4 ; all that matters

Exactly.

A lot of people cutting Rhodes slack on here yet I'm far from convinced.

He invariably gets either muscled out of it or his touch lets him down with his back to goal and it's vital that he holds it in this system.

He has no pace to stretch a defence and if we do break from midfield seems to run away from the ball with his back to the ball rather than making an angle on the half turn. CKR, for all his faults, made good links between midfield and attack today, something I've rarely seen from Rhodes.

Granted, he can finish given the chances but I fail to see why we've shelled out 8 million for him.

But we signed him knowing what kind of player he is. He's a player who needs a Leon Best/Jason Roberts up-top beside him and one who needs early service from the wings.....or nice balls played through the middle.

We're providing him with none of those so I'm not expecting too much.....most of our players are under-performing currently....but at least he scores goals.

He's young and will probably improve his all-round play but most strikers rely on service anyway and we're struggling to create chances due to the lack of movement, non-existent crosses and no creativity through the middle.

We need to just play Formica or Vukcevic next to Lowe....it's the best we can do at the moment.

Either that or play kind of a 4-3-3/4-5-1 like we did at Turf Moor two/three seasons ago with Martin Olsson and either Kazim or Vukcevic either side of Rhodes.....and 3 in the middle.....Formica, Lowe and Murphy for example.

[Amo]

I thought we would win the game when it was 1-1 but yet again we cant defend for s##t!!!

Dann and Hanley were awful. Etuhu was afwul.

Lowe is decent.

Thought CKR was our best player and again we dont create chances for Rhodes again.

we need a leader at centre back and need midfielder with leadership qualities and energy in January.

I would play Givet and Henrique at centre back next week.

Stop being so negative and back the team FFS!

[LDRover]

Point taken LD but where the hell would we be without him!

Don't even want to contemplate it SG.

It's a shower of sh1te and needs cleansing from top to bottom.

[JAL]

Its been a good week in training though !

[47er]

My only thought is that he is trying to field a settled defence. The only concern with Givet is his comparative lack of height - but IMO we need his experience more now than ever.

Our biggest problem is the lack of balance in the squad - Rochina, Formica, Simon, Gomes - best position behind a lone striker - and we have a striker who is best with somebody playing alongside him. Rhodes is a brilliant goal scorer - but he was just another purchase that wasn't thought through. Though Berg isn't doing too great at the moment - we do have a lot of luxury players who don't dove tail with each other.

Down to those stupid owners keeping Kean on. Once they kept him on over the summer we were doomed for another year even though he's belatedly gone.

[adsfortheblues]

Down to those stupid owners keeping Kean on. Once they kept him on over the summer we were doomed for another year even though he's belatedly gone.

No it was down to them appointing another "somebody" rather than a "MANAGER"

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Thick sod gave away a needless freekick and got himself booked for the first goal. He'd get a huge bollocking from me for that. Gifting an opportunity for them to put the ball into our box because he was having a shitfit.

For me he was fouled by Bellamy so I can understand his frustration - just in the same way that their second goal should have been disallowed for a high foot on CKR. Though Cardiff were for large parts of the game by far the better team - I can't help but feel that all the luck we got in the early part of the season is coming back to haunt Berg. Not saying our performances are great by any means - but we aren't currently getting the drop of the ball, rub of the green etc. at the moment. Early season teams had numerous chances against us - and missed most - Cardiff apparently had four shots on target !

[ABBEY]

8 million for someone who can only play in the penalty box? In a system where we play one up front?

Didn't do Ian rush's career any arm tho

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We swore blind we did not want/could not afford another 'rookie' as manager..........

[Waggy76]

Didn't do Ian rush's career any arm tho

Yes ..We ain;t got Kenny Dalglish though ..

How many goals did Joe Craig score for us ?

[LDRover]

Didn't do Ian rush's career any arm tho

Rush had pace Abbey, it was only when he lost it that he became bang average.

[Parsonblue]

I never thought I would end up being grateful to Steve Kean for the points he gained early in the season. However, on the evidence of recent performances those points might be vital in keeping us in this League. Shebby was quoted as saying only automatic promotion was good enough and, although we are still over a fortnight away from Christmas, that particular ship has already sailed without us. So Shebby, where do we go from here? One thing is for sure we are certainly not going back to the Premier League. It is heartbreaking to see a great club brought to its knees by an Indian family who have got rid of a Premier League manager and players and replaced them with a bunch of has-been's, never will be's and a collection of show ponies who are simply not suited to life in the Championship. I fear it is going to take years to rebuild what Venkys have so carelessly tossed away and I suspect it is going to get worse before it gets better, if indeed it ever does get better.

[LeChuck]

Didn't do Ian rush's career any arm tho

Totally different game then though, managers don't allow teams to carry players who can only operate in the penalty box anymore.

[Devon Rover]

I never thought I would end up being grateful to Steve Kean for the points he gained early in the season. However, on the evidence of recent performances those points might be vital in keeping us in this League. Shebby was quoted as saying only automatic promotion was good enough and, although we are still over a fortnight away from Christmas, that particular ship has already sailed without us. So Shebby, where do we go from here? One thing is for sure we are certainly not going back to the Premier League. It is heartbreaking to see a great club brought to its knees by an Indian family who have got rid of a Premier League manager and players and replaced them with a bunch of has-been's, never will be's and a collection of show ponies who are simply not suited to life in the Championship. I fear it is going to take years to rebuild what Venkys have so carelessly tossed away and I suspect it is going to get worse before it gets better, if indeed it ever does get better.

+ lots

[roversfan99]

Exactly.

But we signed him knowing what kind of player he is. He's a player who needs a Leon Best/Jason Roberts up-top beside him and one who needs early service from the wings.....or nice balls played through the middle.

We're providing him with none of those so I'm not expecting too much.....most of our players are under-performing currently....but at least he scores goals.

He's young and will probably improve his all-round play but most strikers rely on service anyway and we're struggling to create chances due to the lack of movement, non-existent crosses and no creativity through the middle.

We need to just play Formica or Vukcevic next to Lowe....it's the best we can do at the moment.

Either that or play kind of a 4-3-3/4-5-1 like we did at Turf Moor two/three seasons ago with Martin Olsson and either Kazim or Vukcevic either side of Rhodes.....and 3 in the middle.....Formica, Lowe and Murphy for example.

Disagree, we need to play 4-4-2 with Kazim and Rhodes as that is the only way to get the best from Rhodes.

I would play Dunny in central midfield with preferably Murphy, if that leaves us open I'd change 1 of them. Formica and Vukcevic are not central midfielders, and Dunny and Murphy have some know how.

[Amo]

Formica and Vukcevic are not central midfielders

No, that's why he plays centrally for Montenegro?

[roversfan99]

He's an attacking midfielder, not one who plays in a 2. We know that Dunny has the quality, the experience and the passion, so he's a better option IMO.

Vukcevic should be played wide right if at all.

[den]

McCarthy inherited an Ipswich side that couldn't buy a win - he's delivered 13 points from 7.

I haven't seen enough of Ipswich's squad Mercerman, but he wouldn't do that here. He wouldn't take this squad into the Prem.

[blueboy3333]

Just got home after my first match this season. I'm cold, tired and depressed having just seen the worst Rovers team since the early 80's. Cardiff's away record is quite poor but we made them look like Barca at times. TBH Cardiff were quite average, however they kept their shape, closed down all over the pitch and had quality in Bellamy, Noone and Whittingham. They also have a good manager.

As for us:-

Robinson - 3 (the reactions and reflexes of a man twice his age. He needs selling)

Henley - 7 (very good defensively, not the best going forward yet. will be a cracking player.)

Olsson Mtn - 6 (thought he played well defensively. which is rare)

Dann&Hanley - 0(the dumb and dumber of Ewood)

Formica - 5 - not a right midfielder. should play behind rhodes or not at all

Lowe - 5 - Worked really hard but can't pass the ball. League 1 standard.

Etuhu 0 - what's the point?

King - 7 - worked hard, improved 2nd half, a winger played out of position in 1st half

Olsson Mrks - clueless. League 1 standard at best

Rhodes 4 - No service. Deceptively slow!

As for Berg, he picked the wrong team again, and spent the game just stood there with his hands in his pockets looking depressed. i know the keaning feeling Henning. He's about as inspirational as Kean was.

As for 12k attendance. hahahahah. JW was practically empty. BBE was like a sparsely populated morgue. Ditto the riverside. I went in the darwen end and was the oldest by about 20 years. nice hot dog though.

Shebby Singh is a c o c k.

Venkys are scum.

It only cost a tenner.

Never Again.

[Amo]

He's an attacking midfielder, not one who plays in a 2. We know that Dunny has the quality, the experience and the passion, so he's a better option IMO.

Again, not true.

And you undermine your own argument saying that Dunn should play in a midfield two!

[Mercer]

Just got home after my first match this season. I'm cold, tired and depressed having just seen the worst Rovers team since the early 80's. Cardiff's away record is quite poor but we made them look like Barca at times. TBH Cardiff were quite average, however they kept their shape, closed down all over the pitch and had quality in Bellamy, Noone and Whittingham. They also have a good manager.

As for us:-

Robinson - 3 (the reactions and reflexes of a man twice his age. He needs selling)

Henley - 7 (very good defensively, not the best going forward yet. will be a cracking player.)

Olsson Mtn - 6 (thought he played well defensively. which is rare)

Dann&Hanley - 0(the dumb and dumber of Ewood)

Formica - 5 - not a right midfielder. should play behind rhodes or not at all

Lowe - 5 - Worked really hard but can't pass the ball. League 1 standard.

Etuhu 0 - what's the point?

King - 7 - worked hard, improved 2nd half, a winger played out of position in 1st half

Olsson Mrks - clueless. League 1 standard at best

Rhodes 4 - No service. Deceptively slow!

As for Berg, he picked the wrong team again, and spent the game just stood there with his hands in his pockets looking depressed. i know the keaning feeling Henning. He's about as inspirational as Kean was.

As for 12k attendance. hahahahah. JW was practically empty. BBE was like a sparsely populated morgue. Ditto the riverside. I went in the darwen end and was the oldest by about 20 years. nice hot dog though.

Shebby Singh is a c o c k.

Venkys are scum.

It only cost a tenner.

Never Again.

Feck me - you sure you were watching the match ?

Don't know where on earth that leaves us then !

[roversfan99]

I agree but at least Dunn is used to English football and will always give his all.

People seem to think that bringing in Vukcevic will make everything better. You can't bring in someone with barely any experience in England and chuck him besides

Lowe.

Givet is the main one we are missing.