[Archived] Preston - 23 July

[cn174]

It was a very easy goal for Davies, left unmarked in the six yard box, wasnt going to miss.

Thought that the second half was better than the first. Chris Taylor seems alright, he always wants the ball at least.

Not sure about Lowe and Marrow in central midfield though, not an inch of creativity in either of them, can only play one or the other at most.

[tomphil]

Ah, the blame culture. Are you going to sue him for ruining your coupon?

[G Somerset Rover]

Not sure about Lowe and Marrow in central midfield though, not an inch of creativity in either of them, can only play one or the other at most.

Said it at the weekend but this has to be rectified before next Sunday, We cannot have these two in centre mid and expect anything other than a relagation battle. Derby will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing that pairing.

[Colt Seavers]

I don't think we should worry too much about pre season matches.

I am worried about campbells injury as he has looked sharp and lively in the last two games.

I was disappointed that nunes and rochina were absent tonight. We need them to have a good season as they are our two danger men. Judge looked fit and motivated and i like taylors work ethic.

Marrow is a stronger, more talented version of lowe and should be included in jasons place. How he plays 90 minutes week in week out is beyond me!

We need a playmaking midfielder and we need to solve the rhodes conundrom! He is being tightly marked and is contributing next to nothing. I suspect he will struggle for goals this year and may have to battle dj for his place.

[Steve Moss]

Maybe I'm more optimistic than I should be as we were far from perfect but I can see improvement. Let's build on it on Saturday.

+1

[Kamy100]

We really need to sign a central midfielder with some technical ability, at the moment we aren't able to retain possession, thus not able to exert some control over games. Thankfully Bowyer is looking to address this but it is hard to find these type of players who can cope with the demands of the Championship.

While it would be nice to have some stellar pre-season performances, it is all about building player fitness and being ready for the Derby match.

[dave birch]

We really need to sign a central midfielder with some technical ability, at the moment we aren't able to retain possession, thus not able to exert some control over games. Thankfully Bowyer is looking to address this but it is hard to find these type of players who can cope with the demands of the Championship.

While it would be nice to have some stellar pre-season performances, it is all about building player fitness and being ready for the Derby match.

Maybe a couple of up and comers, Kamy?

[rovers11]

You guys keep talking about lack of talent, but when we talk about AVAILABLE players, our squad is better than what finished at the end of last season, bar losing Olsson.

We all talked about lack of wingers and we've signed Judge and Taylor.

We talked about a lack of centre backs, we've got Kilgallon and probably Songo'o.

We're talking about a lack of centre midfielders and that's what we're currently after.

That sums it up very nicely. The quality of CM's we sign will determine whether we can make a real push or not. The rest of our team is pretty good. Lack players that are comfortable in possession in CM. Marrow looks decent though and certainly better than Lowe. Marrow seems to actually have an impact on games whereas Lowe is invisible.

I been really impressed with Judge in pre-season from what I have seen and heard so far. Overall, think there are 5 positions up for grabs in the starting 11 (LB, LW, 2x CM, ST:

Kean

Kane Dann Hanley LB

Judge CM CM LW

Rhodes ST

[RevidgeBlue]

Won't Williamson plus one other be starting in central midfield?

Not been to any of the pre-season games but on the evidence of last season I would say that we can't expect to be challenging at the top end of the table if we have Lowe in central midfield. In my view he made Etuhu and Murphy look even worse than they actually were, not that they were that great in the first place.

On the subject of Etuhu, you'd think either he or Dunn were better options than Lowe. If Dunn is unavailable through injury already without kicking a ball in anger, then that shows the potential folly of giving him a new deal.

Rochina and Nunes absolutely have to start in the League for me, Rochina tucked in behind Rhodes, and I've always liked the look of Nunes who to my mind carries far more of a threat and an end product than the generally ineffectual King. That will provide some creativity although arguably we would still be in need of some extra quality in central midfield.

[rovers11]

Won't Williamson plus one other be starting in central midfield?

Not been to any of the pre-season games but on the evidence of last season I would say that we can't expect to be challenging at the top end of the table if we have Lowe in central midfield. In my view he made Etuhu and Murphy look even worse than they actually were, not that they were that great in the first place.

On the subject of Etuhu, you'd think either he or Dunn were better options than Lowe. If Dunn is unavailable through injury already without kicking a ball in anger, then that shows the potential folly of giving him a new deal.

Rochina and Nunes absolutely have to start in the League for me, Rochina tucked in behind Rhodes, and I've always liked the look of Nunes who to my mind carries far more of a threat and an end product than the generally ineffectual King. That will provide some creativity although arguably we would still be in need of some extra quality in central midfield.

Think Bowyer wants 2 central midfielders. A ball winner (spearing type player) and a playmaker. Williamson is a good player though. We'll look to shift Etuhu.

[Blue blood]

Dann was a passenger in too many games last season, and for a big lad is bullied easily. Exactly what you don't want out of a centre half. Davies has always been a handful (or a double handful when he played for us) but isn't a world beater. If Dann can't deal with him, he can't deal with most of the Championship strikers.

Been saying this for ages. Looks decent against less physical forwards and gets the plaudits because he has a bit better technique then your average centre half, but when the going gets tough (and physical) Dann buckles under the pressure. Personally would get rid as am sure we can find someone better for the same or less wages.

[den]

Well the transition from a squad full of players quite able to cope with football at the top level - to a squad brim full of players who would never cope with anything other than football in the lower leagues - all within two and a half seasons. That really took some doing.

The team that played last night would be facing a relegation battle. As for Bowyers signings, just as I expected. The only one to take the eye was Judge, only because he runs and works hard. Nothing really comes from it. Problem is, what is he? He's not a winger or a centre midfielder.

[Mattyblue]

Indeed den.

'We are where we are' and all that, but I left the game just in depsair at how readily 20 years of achievement has been tossed down the toilet.

To be fair, the players worked hard and it wasn't a particulary bad performance, but you look through the squad and it is now chock full of journeyman. It's the Championship, so of course, we have a puncher's chance of promotion. But we could also be marooned outside the PL for many a year.

All so unecessary. *sigh*

[alexanders]

What is journeyman?

I like that we have a chock full squad of players with bonds to Rovers: Hanley, Kean, Henley, Marrow, Judge, Lowe, Peds, Dunn etc

[K-Hod]

What is journeyman?

I like that we have a chock full squad of players with bonds to Rovers: Hanley, Kean, Henley, Marrow, Judge, Lowe, Peds, Dunn etc

Someone who has played for many clubs (in this case).

Personally, although our squad is obviously a lot poorer than it was, I still think if we can find a bit of craft in the middle of the park we can be competitive in this league.

[alexanders]

Think its less journeymen in the squad than in a long time.

[Brfcrule1]

It has been said before my cat could probably do a better job than Scott Dann.

For a CB so tall he never uses his height to any effect on the ground his passing is erratic.

Was totally at fault for Davies goal it comes straight to the heart of defence & he does nothing not even a challenge.

I hope when the season starts we see Songo'o alongside Hanley as I feel Dann is just a poor CB.

Another thing that gets me about Dann is his general observation of what's around him a ball is played in behind and he never seems to know who is running behind and never reacts to any ball played in behind.

[rovers11]

Dann has two really big flaws to his game. He gets caught out from set pieces and loses his marker a lot. He is also terrible in possession and tends to just lump it forward aimlessly.

If we could get 4-5m for him then we should snap their hand off. Kilgallon and Hanley as first choice centre backs, and buy a new lb and cd cover with the dann money.

Songoo looks like a good find and will be a replacement for givet.

[RockinRover]

On Kilgallon it's understandable if he didn't have a good game yesterday as he's been out of favour at Sunderland for the past couple of seasons so he needs to get used to playing again.

[Amo]

People need to calm their tits. Pre-season is very rarely any sort of indicator of the season ahead. We managed to get a solid run of results under Bowyer last year with arguably a weaker squad (seriously, who have we lost in midfield that made a difference? ...Murphy?). Whereas now we have people like Judge, Taylor & Marrow to give us more options, and possibly more on the way. And no, this isn't some deluded, blind optimism that we'll be tearing up the division next season, but if Bowyer is still up to the task then I don't think it will be all doom and gloom either.

[neophox]

Kilgallon and Hanley could be a good cb pair.

Bring in Songoo. Buy one or two creative midfelders.

I Think Marrow is a good signing and better than Lowe as defensive midfelder.

[Rover_Shaun]

Using Lowe as a yardstick is hardly a fair assessment. The bar would be set that low(e) even atoms would struggle to pass under it.

[rovers11]

Using Lowe as a yardstick is hardly a fair assessment. The bar would be set that low(e) even atoms would struggle to pass under it.

I think it's a very fair assessment. Lowe was a regular in our central midfield last season so we have to measure our new central midfielders against the central midfielders we had last season (and Lowe was one of them).

But, I have to agree, Lowe is a very limited player in cm. He is a very good right back though.

[West Yorks Rover]

Using Lowe as a yardstick is hardly a fair assessment. The bar would be set that low(e) even atoms would struggle to pass under it.

Amazing how the lad gets so many games for the U21s, just shows the paucity of talent available to the national team.

[Shabani]

England are utterly bereft of midfielders, when Parker Carrick Lamps Barry and Gerrard retire in a few years we'll have Jordan Henderson and Shelvey ：S