[Archived] PREVIEW : Rovers vs Leeds Utd - Saturday Feb 23rd 3.00pm

[Stuart]

At the time I thought Rekik looked to be doing a job covering CKR playing left back and left wing.

Thinking about it now, if CKR had been given licence by Appleton to go inside and even further forward, Rekik may have been asked to cover on that side. Tough ask for an 18yo though.

My thought being that if CKR was neglecting his duty then he'd have been taken off. Although, saying that, Appleton isn't known for making substitutions.

[cesus]

We are a pretty damn painful team to watch, due to injuries it's not going to get prettier anytime soon. The positives are we have a goal keeper now that actually makes saves and a centre half pairing that are on form and a throwing themselves into the game for the cause, Unfortunately that's about it!

The Murphy covering for Lowe of vice versa is pretty flawed as in my opinion it's pretty much impossible to defend either, Lowe can run and Murphy can't other than that the two of them are so far from looking like professional footballers its a joke.

CKR always frustrates the hell out of me, why does he not need to challenge in the air!?! He backs in then tries to chest everything to show off his impressive manly strength ... With a 10% success rate. He was rarely on the left side so our "rabbits in the headlights" in centre mid rarely had an out ball.

Bentley really needs to switch on to the fact he his here to whip balls into the box for Rhodes and not to try and turn championship full backs inside out and lose it on the 4th turn. He still holds the chink of light for abit of entertainment!

[danger19_80]

Harsh words on Lowe. Thought Dann and Hanley aside, he was our best player yesterday. Seemed like our only midfielder keen to drive forward and came close twice to creating goals.

Bentley was playing far too deep and every time he got in a position to cross, cut back inside or did some fancy trick which didn't pay off.

Kean's a good keeper but my god is his kicking embarrasingly bad. Needs to sort that out asap.

[AggyBlue]

Harsh words on Lowe.

I agree. He had his best game for quite a while.

Where have the Hanley knockers gone? They've been very quiet lately

[gumboots]

Lowe, it would seem, is the convenient scapegoat now that Pedersen doesn't play every game. I don't really see how he's meant to do more when there is so little else in midfield that often the only passes are square or backwards. Woiuld you pass the ball to Murphy on his current form? might as well give it straight to the opposition because that's all Murphy appears to do. Yes, he can still pick a pass like the ball he put Rhodes through on, but in the centre of the park he's hopeless.

[arbitro]

Lowe, it would seem, is the convenient scapegoat now that Pedersen doesn't play every game. I don't really see how he's meant to do more when there is so little else in midfield that often the only passes are square or backwards. Woiuld you pass the ball to Murphy on his current form? might as well give it straight to the opposition because that's all Murphy appears to do. Yes, he can still pick a pass like the ball he put Rhodes through on, but in the centre of the park he's hopeless.

Murphy was shocking yesterday and two incidents stick in my mind. He tried an audacious back-heel right in front of the Rovers technical area which went out of play and shortly after tried to pass to Rhodes who had made a run in the inside right channel. The pass ended up in the Riverside and after each one Murphy just shrugged his shoulders. At Arsenal Lowe and Williamson were the best centre midfield combination we have had and I couldn't fathom out why Appleton changed this for the Hull game.

[AggyBlue]

At Arsenal Lowe and Williamson were the best centre midfield combination we have had and I couldn't fathom out why Appleton changed this for the Hull game.

His main concern at Arsenal was containment.

Not so at Hull where he wanted to be a bit more creative, the fact it didn't happen isn't down to Appleton, he was just as mystified. The players let him down at Hull.

[cesus]

I wouldn't say Lowe is the new scapegoat at all, Lowe works so hard and everybody can see that but what people can also surely see is that the lad is petrified when in possession of the football. A fair comeback to Lowe being scared is that he is next to Murphy who is in absolutely terrible form and who would pass to him but he has other options many times and chooses to go backwards. Lowe played well at full back as his heart and work rate made him regularly one of our better players BUT heart and workrate are just a portion of what you need in central midfield you also need to WANT the ball and do something POSITIVE with it.

Murphy doesn't really deserve us to waste our breath on he isn't going to improve and will just continue to be a very expensive drain, most peoples criticism of Lowe is that we want him to improve and add the footballing side to his game and we will have a hell of a player.

[Waggy76]

Central midfield is the biggest problem we have , Murphy is FINISHED cancel his contract immediately .

Lowe may not be the answer but he tries and his mobile and yesterday , he was one of our better players ...

If Murphy had played at the Emirates we would have lost !

[arbitro]

His main concern at Arsenal was containment.

Not so at Hull where he wanted to be a bit more creative, the fact it didn't happen isn't down to Appleton, he was just as mystified. The players let him down at Hull.

It was containment at Arsenal but at Hull (against a five man midfield) and yesterday the opposition midfield were far better than ours and dominated the game. This has happened far too many times this season with a combination of Murphy and Lowe. I have always felt that generally to win matches you have to win he midfield scrap.

[Ossydave]

Christ those Darwen End clowns are horrific, what an inbred set of gimps, trot back to your own end before I get done for mass murder.

[K-Hod]

Christ those Darwen End clowns are horrific, what an inbred set of gimps, trot back to your own end before I get done for mass murder.

Glad someone else picked up on this. They were about 2 rows behind me, did my nut in!

[Tom]

Bit harsh but it did kind of quell any atmosphere that got going because people didn't want to join in with adolescent chants (not that there's an abundance of atmosphere these days anyways)

Someone though the jimmy Saville chants were hilarious so they tried a few variations without actually making it fit into a song

[levi]

Christ those Darwen End clowns are horrific, what an inbred set of gimps, trot back to your own end before I get done for mass murder.

i've got a 19 game season ticket in the darwen end because i can only make 50% of games so its the best option

they are total whoppers aren't they!

thankfully its unreserved seating so i sit as far away from the top corner as possible

[Mercer]

Think it's fairly obvious that we will miss out on even the play-offs this season.

The penny has now dropped with most fans that untold damage has been done to the playing structure over the last two years.

What price Kean, Dann, Olsson, Rhodes being at Ewood next season ?

I fear that it is going to be a long, long haul back.

I hope Shaw, Silk etc already know what cards lie on the table as the the brutal truth is that we could well be finished as a 'major' club if the Raos' plan, if they have one, extends to one season's financial support in the Championship only.

I don't think the vibes are good.

[gumboots]

I wouldn't say Lowe is the new scapegoat at all, Lowe works so hard and everybody can see that but what people can also surely see is that the lad is petrified when in possession of the football. A fair comeback to Lowe being scared is that he is next to Murphy who is in absolutely terrible form and who would pass to him but he has other options many times and chooses to go backwards. Lowe played well at full back as his heart and work rate made him regularly one of our better players BUT heart and workrate are just a portion of what you need in central midfield you also need to WANT the ball and do something POSITIVE with it.

Murphy doesn't really deserve us to waste our breath on he isn't going to improve and will just continue to be a very expensive drain, most peoples criticism of Lowe is that we want him to improve and add the footballing side to his game and we will have a hell of a player.

Problem is, how do you improve when there is nobody there to help you with your game, to talk you through a match and help you to be organised and make the right choices. A good centre mid pairing doesn't just happen - the players have to be able to work together and trust one another. Savage and Tugay worked because they both knew and accepted one another's strengths and limitations and worked together for the common good. While Lowe only has Murphy to work with, he's never going to improve. Give him an experienced hard-working partner who is going to talk him through some matches and help him sort out roles, and you might be surprised at what we see.

[DE.]

Do you think we have a good chance of going up with Lowe as a main part of our midfield, Gumboots? Because I certainly don't. He's nowhere near good enough. Unless we're just aiming for Championship consolidation now, in which case he's OK I suppose.

For what it's worth Murphy is way, way more of a disappointment than Lowe. But that's based more on his experience and the amount he's paid.

[onlyonejackwalker]

It was 0.0 wasn't it? Sounds like our defence and defensive midfield did ok to me. Lowe, Dann and Hanley were amongst our best players and the criticism heading Lowe's way is very harsh. Suggesting Murphy isn't trying is also out of order in my book, he has always been a very committed player wherever he has been whether you rare him or not.

We were outnumbered in midfield most of the match and the criticism of Lowe and Murphy today is a bit too basic to take seriously. Blame MA for playing two up top, or Campbell for doing jack all game as that is where the problem lay. If leaving yourself exposed and outnumbered centrally then the two lads upfront need to do much better holding the ball up, simple as that.

I am also in lower tier BE Block One. I thought the DE lads were great and it made a pleasant change from sitting there in near silence with about 10 of us singing. Criticising their 'material' is a bit rich considering Get Into Them and slagging the ref is the best many can come up with normally.

[gumboots]

probably not, but then we're not getting anyone better any time soon and for what it's worth, i don't think we've any chance of going up anyway. The thing is, to blame him for what he's not seems to be the current default mode around here and it seems unfair when the lad is being asked not only to do whatever job he's been picked for but sort out Murphy's messes and cover the defence and get forward in attack, in other words to be everything on the pitch in front of the defence. He may not be good enough and probably isn't but I really don't think he gets any help or support from the rest of the midfield either.

[Kelbo]

Problem is, how do you improve when there is nobody there to help you with your game, to talk you through a match and help you to be organised and make the right choices. A good centre mid pairing doesn't just happen - the players have to be able to work together and trust one another. Savage and Tugay worked because they both knew and accepted one another's strengths and limitations and worked together for the common good. While Lowe only has Murphy to work with, he's never going to improve. Give him an experienced hard-working partner who is going to talk him through some matches and help him sort out roles, and you might be surprised at what we see.

Exactly, that is how you learn the game and as you say, its no coincidence that Dann and Hanley are playing well at the moment, they have played together and formed a partnership, good partenerships at Centre Back, Central Midfield and Strikers are so important, we have the partnership at the back but not in midfield and we really need a midfielder to help Lowe through, he's no muppet, just needs help!!

[tugay02]

Murphy and Campbell weren't up to scratch yesterday overall. Thought we looked better in terms of shape with Peds on the left and Bentley on the right. Needed a Rochina in behind Rhodes for some creativity.

[1864roverite]

Molesting kids together, Jimmy is our kin nanananananana

We are so vile, he's our peaodphile

Leeds leeds leeds !

Thats about just how funny that game got yesterday.

By playing Lowe and Murpny in the central berths that is where the game was over as far as I was concerned. It didnt work n Tuesday and it cost us a defeat, yesterday, becasue Leeds had no finisher on the park, we got lucky and managed to keep our point. As a football spectacle it was atrociously poor.

I sat in the Riverside (never to be repeated I may add) and witnessed a shocking game, as bad as I saw at Hull.

Rovers had no idea, cosntantly gave away the ball, Lowe and Murphy created havoc in our own midfield whilst there was little on offer for the front men. The positive side was Hanley and Dann, a class pair of defenders who have clearly learned their early season problems.

If only we had a bit of pace in the middle, if only we had a midfielder capable of playing the central berth, if only we had a left sided player to play a killer ball.............

if only...........

[JAL]

Lowe, it would seem, is the convenient scapegoat now that Pedersen doesn't play every game. I don't really see how he's meant to do more when there is so little else in midfield that often the only passes are square or backwards. Woiuld you pass the ball to Murphy on his current form? might as well give it straight to the opposition because that's all Murphy appears to do. Yes, he can still pick a pass like the ball he put Rhodes through on, but in the centre of the park he's hopeless.

Criticism of Lowe is he doesnt always take the ball and turn forwards making forward passes, or forward movements. What he seems to do a lot of is, 'kop out' by playing it backwards to a centre back when they themselves arent blessed with good passing ability themselves. Plus, hes not shown anything at heading so far and doesnt seem to posses a good shot or a dribble. His only attribute seems to be passing, so if he wants to look better on the pitch, then those passes are going to have to go forward with far more regularity and precision if hes to prove himself a worthy first teamer in many fans eyes.

[thenodrog]

Might appear ludicrous but if we can afford £8 million for Rhodes why not make Lampard an offer he couldn't refuse?

Cos he'd refuse it.

[Hasta]

most peoples criticism of Lowe is that we want him to improve and add the footballing side to his game and we will have a hell of a player.

So the only thing wrong with the footballer Jason Lowe is he needs to improve the footballing side of his game. Err. OK. That about sums him up.