[Archived] Blackpool vs Rovers

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

If MacNamee hadn't turned up we'd have gone down to the 4th Div. This time we have signed players who are the oppositie of him: skilful but no heart or spine.

I couldn't agree more, we want a centre half in his mould. A battler who'll make opposing strikers keep looking over their shoulder.

[K-Hod]

And the 3 players are whom please?

CKR, King and Henley.

[Stonesrick]

CKR, King and Henley.

CKR - spends half the game arguing with the ref, opponents and his own teammates at times

King - got pace but runs in straight lines far too often

Henley - his lack of experience showed yesterday.

[K-Hod]

CKR - spends half the game arguing with the ref, opponents and his own teammates at times

King - got pace but runs in straight lines far too often

Henley - his lack of experience showed yesterday.

Didn't say any of them had good games per se, but I intimated that they showed at least some effort.

[wazzarover]

Just got back from the match, absolutely terrible. Until we conceeded we were looking good, we were threatening when we went forward and looked sturdy at the back, even turned to the Mrs at one point and said 'bloody hell were playing well here'. As soon as they scored we just froze and reverted to how we've been playing for 2 seasons now, blind panic, no urgency, and clueless. That boy Etuhu is the worst player I have ever seen for Rovers, clearly doesn't give a toss, no bottle, pulls out of every 50-50 tackle which allowed Blackpool to set up numerous attacks.

Haven't read through the previous pages but is anyone getting sick of the players not applauding the fans at the end of the game and just mincing off? Only saw Lowe and Pedersen come across to us but I could be wrong. You've got CKR rolling around on the floor pretending to be hurt when we're getting beat- twice! Embarrasing.

About time we sung 'your not fit to wear the shirt' too, I thought that was overdue yesterday.

[Ossydave]

Spoke with a couple of friends who are Blackpool fans and asked them for their 'unbiased assessment'.

Bottom line is, they just couldn't believe how shambolic we were, especially in 2nd half and what an open goal we missed by not taking Holloway who, in their opinion, was desperate to join Rovers.

I was speaking to a few Blackpool fans in the boozer pre match. They were saying Holloway had been rumbled for having an affair with a stripper and his missus insisted they move down south away from it all.

[winstonsmith]

Didn't go to the match, but got a text from a Blackpool fan who did who said -

" T'Rovers were OK and on top until first goal. Bad in second half and crap central defenders "

Seems a fair assessment.

[Waggy76]

I couldn't agree more, we want a centre half in his mould. A battler who'll make opposing strikers keep looking over their shoulder.

Oh for someone like him , Dann is soft doesn't like physical contact ,Hanley is just not good enough ....

Givet is good enough but a little on the small side , but makes his presence felt !

The midfield is a complete joke , get rid of the lot and start again ..For me Dunn is head and shoulders the best midfield player on the books but alas never fit !

[EWOODACE1]

i think people need to lay off hanley. he is making mistakes but he is very young and playing in a bad side. he needs a leader next to him who he can learn off

[Hughesy]

Not read anything on here so may or may not be repeating others.

I was glad to see Givet back in the side....BUT it should have been in place of Dann, the guy is a liability! EVERY single game he makes crucial mistakes!!! Its ok calling Hanley, but imagine playing centre back with that sh!tbag next to you!! He is AWFUL!!! Sell him in January.

Next I was very happy to see Vukcevic back in the side, but again I dont get whats happening on the wings. Vukcevic is right, King is a left, so why play them on their opposite sides?

King - I honestly think he's a better impact player, not a starter.

Etuhu/ Lowe - AWFUL

CKR - Frustrating, tries hard but then rolls around like a girl and moans too much.

Rhodes - No service again!! Wasting a serious talent here.

Subs - 1 sub? And that 1 sub for Vukcevic with about 17 mins to go?? Why?? It was crying out for Dunn for Etuhu, possibly Rochina & then maybe even a cameo appearance for Rosado.

2 side issues - the pitch was awful and cut up, with quite a few times the pitch moving under players feet. The 2nd point is that the ref was possibly the bigger "homer" of a ref I have seen. Gave them everything and played into their play acting hands.

Final point - most of our players deserved the chant "You're not fit to wear the shirt". Some of the other chants are abit dissapointing but expected.

[wazzarover]

Dann is an absolute liability, Etuhu is a joke. Think the latter's head is somewhere else- I can't remember a professional footballer making it so obvious he doesn't give a sh1t, how can Berg not see it?!

[bazza]

i think people need to lay off hanley. he is making mistakes but he is very young and playing in a bad side. he needs a leader next to him who he can learn off

+10

[EWOODACE1]

Not read anything on here so may or may not be repeating others.

I was glad to see Givet back in the side....BUT it should have been in place of Dann, the guy is a liability! EVERY single game he makes crucial mistakes!!! Its ok calling Hanley, but imagine playing centre back with that sh!tbag next to you!! He is AWFUL!!! Sell him in January.

Next I was very happy to see Vukcevic back in the side, but again I dont get whats happening on the wings. Vukcevic is right, King is a left, so why play them on their opposite sides?

King - I honestly think he's a better impact player, not a starter.

Etuhu/ Lowe - AWFUL

CKR - Frustrating, tries hard but then rolls around like a girl and moans too much.

Rhodes - No service again!! Wasting a serious talent here.

Subs - 1 sub? And that 1 sub for Vukcevic with about 17 mins to go?? Why?? It was crying out for Dunn for Etuhu, possibly Rochina & then maybe even a cameo appearance for Rosado.

2 side issues - the pitch was awful and cut up, with quite a few times the pitch moving under players feet. The 2nd point is that the ref was possibly the bigger "homer" of a ref I have seen. Gave them everything and played into their play acting hands.

Final point - most of our players deserved the chant "You're not fit to wear the shirt". Some of the other chants are abit dissapointing but expected.

what chants. nothing stood out that could be classed as disapointing

[RoyRover]

I was able to watch the game online and we were terrible again. Apart from Givet's disallowed goal and Vukcevic hitting the post, we created next to nothing. We have one of the best finishers around in Rhodes, but we don't give him any service and we don't provide him with support quickly enough, so he's not isolated.

It's not Berg's fault that he has inherited the team that he has, but he certainly isn't able to get the best out of them. January can't roll round soon enough. We need two central midfielders to replace the powerpuff players we have at the moment and a centre back to play with Givet. I have huge doubts if Berg is able to make us into a winning team, even if he is able to buy players in January.

[EWOODACE1]

berg quite simply has been as bad as kean if not worse. fitness still seems as bad. his selections and decisions have been somewhat bemusing and he cannot figure out how to set a team up

im also getting annoyed with the rhodes saga. i agree that we need to get him more service as he can be deadly in front of goal but if he isnt getting the service then he needs to look for the ball and then bring overs into play

[Oklahoma]

Subs - 1 sub? And that 1 sub for Vukcevic with about 17 mins to go?? Why?? It was crying out for Dunn for Etuhu, possibly Rochina & then maybe even a cameo appearance for Rosado.

That is something I can't understand and possibly one of the biggest problems I have with Berg. Everyone saw that Etuhu was just passing time, it would have been better if we were playing with 10. Other players weren't playing well.

But he only made one sub with 17 mins to go and only for phisical reasons, I believe. He left Etuhu, lowe, King (didn't do much) on the pitch and made nothing to help the team turn around the result.

[sambo]

Hanley would get cut a bit more slack if he wasn't boozing it up in Rios all the time..

[Athlete]

berg quite simply has been as bad as kean if not worse. fitness still seems as bad. his selections and decisions have been somewhat bemusing and he cannot figure out how to set a team up

the only thing you can think of is Berg doesn't have the final say on anything....

[DE.]

Hanley would get cut a bit more slack if he wasn't boozing it up in Rios all the time..

The fact he's obviously not in peak physical condition counts against him as well. He might have got away with it 15 years ago but times have changed - the very least a footballer should do in ensure he is in lean physical condition. If this is Grant in peak physical condition I genuinely wonder how in the world he has become a professional footballer.

[G Somerset Rover]

Precisely, can't believe anyone on here is backing KFC boy Hanley. He's quite clearly not taking his profession seriously.

[philipl]

Prior to the game, it was pretty clear that Blackpool have one of the most suspect defences in the division.

From what I am reading, we were unable to pressurise them.

Very worrying.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Prior to the game, it was pretty clear that Blackpool have one of the most suspect defences in the division.

From what I am reading, we were unable to pressurise them.

Very worrying.

They may have once had - but Appleton has added some steel to the defence. To be fair - some of their last ditch tackles were superb - and he does seem to have introduced a few of the "dark arts" that make a team dificult to play against.

Having said all that - we had enough chances to have at least drawn this match - even in the second half when we played poorer than in the first.

For all the doom and gloom - and I have never felt so miserable about Rovers as I do now - over 90 minutes it wasn't as bad as some are making out - but the lack of confidence after going a goal down was noticeable.

I think where most fans are disappointed - is a feeling that we have the quality within the side to beat teams like Blackpool. Possibly lack of fitness training in pre-season is hampering Berg - but even then these players should be able to put in a good 70 minutes before fitness starts to drop. The one unknown is confidence - and Berg is right that the impact of a lack of confidence can appear to be a lack of effort. Oh for the luck we had earlier in the season.

One thing were Shebby did let Berg down - if he had been appointed within a week or so - he would have had a far easier run of matches than he started with.

[JMillZz]

I was able to watch the game online and we were terrible again. Apart from Givet's disallowed goal and Vukcevic hitting the post, we created next to nothing. We have one of the best finishers around in Rhodes, but we don't give him any service and we don't provide him with support quickly enough, so he's not isolated.

It's not Berg's fault that he has inherited the team that he has, but he certainly isn't able to get the best out of them. January can't roll round soon enough. We need two central midfielders to replace the powerpuff players we have at the moment and a centre back to play with Givet. I have huge doubts if Berg is able to make us into a winning team, even if he is able to buy players in January.

Perfectly summed up in my opinion. Yes the squad is poor but Berg still ain't up to the job.

[Blandy]

What was apparent from the game on sat is that our Achilles heel is lack of confidence. For the fist 20 Mins. we weren't superb but we were comfortable and dominating Blackpool, as soon the goal went in the heads dropped. Some players then went missing, they stopped wanting the ball, stopped making runs, stopped challenging and as soon as they they did receive the ball they wanted to get rid straight away.

The total lack of confidence was evident from the throw-ins, every time we had one apart from CKR no one had the clangers to receive the ball. You can have the best team in the world but if 4/5 player stop wanting the ball any team will have problems. It was also evident the lack of leaders on the pitch, there was no communication at all and after the second goal went in the lads were a disgrace all walking back mute with their heads down.

IMO we need Dunny back in the side to try and fire some of these cowards in blue & white up.

[booth]

One thing were Shebby did let Berg down - if he had been appointed within a week or so - he would have had a far easier run of matches than he started with.

I'm not even sure Berg was on the list in the first couple of weeks.