[Archived] Pne Away

[philipl]

For what it's worth, Nissa is a very talented central defender with a worrying concentration/confidence problem which threatens his career.

Very senseible to give him an extended run in the pre-season games.

He will sort himself out and get rid of the howlers (not today by all accounts), or

He will do Ok and be a reasonable replacement when two of Amo, Short and Matteo are injured, or

We sell him to Birmingham City

....Amo needs as much practise as he can get coming back from injury, Matteo needs to play in his new team so sticking him in as defensive midfielder will show us whether that is an option but allows Souey a proper look at the Nissa/Amo combo.

Well that's my theory....

[rover6]

Has it ever occured to you that Graeme Souness and his team of coaches know more about football than you do?

Very easy and glib point to make to put down the opinion of a fan.

But the professionals don't always get it right. For example, Steve Bruce, highly-rated manager and former great centre back thought that Martin Taylor was a Premiership standard full-back. Any Rovers fan could have told him otherwise but he found out the painful way.

If Matteo was a central midfielder he would have played there more often previously in his career. The truth is that Leeds were desperate and Matteo did an OK job there but they still went down.

Obviously, Nissa's performances in preseason have impressed Souness enough for him to look for an alternative position for Matteo than CB, rather than disrupt the Nissa-Amo partnership. But central midfield is not his natural position and hopefully Souness has realised that.

[brfcshabba]

Enjoyed today.

I would only ask for us to shoot a bit more when outside of the area. In the first half we had a go but in the second half we seem to try and walk it in the net.

and also for four kids sat behind constantly singing "Lucas Neill, Football Genius" to shut up

Other than that quite a good game. Defence looked much stronger than last year. even against a poor PNE attack.

Where is the clock and the scoreboard at PNE? I take it they cant afford or was i looking in the wrong place

[den]

Still very worried about the striker situation. Stead did OK, but Dickov looked like what he is - a first division player - and he will be the No1 choice striker along with Stead.

If either of those two get injured, we're in deep poo. If they don't get injured, we're in deep poo. Not good enough.

BTW Yorke looked exactly the same player as he was last season. He is too slow to play as a striker and the team can't afford him in midfield.

[1864roverite]

there were 3250 plus rovers fans in the ground

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Agree entirely Den, worring situation that needs to be resolved by the Ewood money men sooner rather than later.Its only one friendly game but what I saw today did nothing to convince me we are strong enough in attack.

[waggy]

we have a fortnight to sort it out,come on rovers get a front man in

[roversWASmylife]

Attacking wise we were poor.The front line we had out today was poor.

Stead has the quality in him to score many goals for us, but what he needs is a player with quality alongside him. A player I would target is Earnshaw from Cardiff. Dickov does work hard and his goals come through this, but his overall quality, passing etc isn’t good enough for the standard of the league that we will be in.

Yorke at times was good, passing and lack of pace was poor.

Gray and Ferguson were two who stood out for me. Gray consistent as ever, Barry looks like the more games he plays the better he’ll become.

I will give my overall judgement of the team once the pre-season has ended.

Edited July 31, 2004 by roversismylife

[mrsjansen]

Hello, I'm back after a long absence. Where was Matt Jansen today, and who had to go to the hospital as a precaution?

[Blackpool_Rover]

Hello, I'm back after a long absence. Where was Matt Jansen today, and who had to go to the hospital as a precaution?

Jansen played and scored at morecambe yesterday. Didnt know about the hospital, im guessing reid, looked to pick up a nasty knock and went off injured.

[greggyk]

Oh where oh where is Andy Cole when you need him??

BTW- he scored his first goal for Fulham today.

[krislu]

Still very worried about the striker situation. Stead did OK, but Dickov looked like what he is - a first division player - and he will be the No1 choice striker along with Stead.

If either of those two get injured, we're in deep poo. If they don't get injured, we're in deep poo. Not good enough.

BTW Yorke looked exactly the same player as he was last season. He is too slow to play as a striker and the team can't afford him in midfield.

Spot on den!

If we had kept Cole, I would feel quite confident that our strikers could deliver the goods this season, but now I'm just as worried as you.

As for Yorke, he is a poor as they get, really hope we can get rid of him as soon as possible!

Out:

Yorke, Flitcroft and Todd

Inn:

Quality striker and a centre midfield

I know quality players aint easy to find, but lets pray that we do..

[Hasta]

I'm not as worried as some people seem to be about today. For me we always looked a far better side in possession and looked like we might open them up wthout creating a lot. We never looked like conceding apart from when Reid fell on the ball injured and let their guy in for a 1 on 1.

I wouldn't say that PNE looked fitter than us as some people had suggested. It was blimmin hot today (my face is glowing after 90 minutes in the sun) and that affected the game quite a bit. You were never likely to see box to box breaks in that heat.

Good day out as well.

[Ossydave]

If you can see Darwen tower clap your hands.........

That's all I have to say.

[RevidgeBlue]

Lucas Neill looks very Dangerous coming forward and shooting!

Think me and Waggy have been saying this about Neill for a couple of seasons now.

Can't defend but the next "super atko" in the making.

[T4E]

Has it ever occured to you that Graeme Souness and his team of coaches know more about football than you do?

But the professionals don't always get it right.

And neither do you. But it doesnt stop you does it?

[Dr Rich]

Even the Leeds manager himself has said him and Radebe playing there was the main reason Leeds went down. What more do you want?

The manager of someone other than Leeds saying it? They have just been relegated after all. If Souness came out and said Matteo was the best midfielder in the world would that be true? If the Blackburn manager said it? What more do you want?

Matteo was superb for Leeds in defensive midfield at the tail end of last season, Radebe less so but their performances there were definitely not the reason Leeds went down, possibly if they had been playing as centre-backs instead of the poor quality players Leeds used in those positions it would have made a difference, but that has absolutely nothing to do with Matteo's ability as a central midfielder, rather it signifies the weakness of Caldwell etc as centre-backs. What percentage of Matteo's performances were due to the heart and determination he put into the relegation fight remain to be seen however.

[tchocky]

The season hasnt even started yet. But people are writing him off. Its absolutely unbelievable. Has it ever occured to you that Graeme Souness and his team of coaches know more about football than you do?

People are writing him off because he's a defender playing in midfield, against crap opposition nowhere near the pace of the PL. In addition its something he did all last season without much luck, so there's more than enough reason to be wary.

But I admire your loyalty to the man.

[waggy]

Matteo was superb for Leeds in defensive midfield at the tail end of last season, Radebe less so but their performances there were definitely not the reason Leeds went down, possibly if they had been playing as centre-backs instead of the poor quality players Leeds used in those positions it would have made a difference, but that has absolutely nothing to do with Matteo's ability as a central midfielder, rather it signifies the weakness of Caldwell etc as centre-backs. What percentage of Matteo's performances were due to the heart and determination he put into the relegation fight remain to be seen however.

i thought leeds went down because they played to many youngsters

toodle pip

[den]

Will you stop toodle pipping, like Bob says, it's bloody annoying.

[T4E]

The season hasnt even started yet. But people are writing him off. Its absolutely unbelievable. Has it ever occured to you that Graeme Souness and his team of coaches know more about football than you do?

People are writing him off because he's a defender playing in midfield, against crap opposition nowhere near the pace of the PL. In addition its something he did all last season without much luck, so there's more than enough reason to be wary.

But I admire your loyalty to the man.

Its not as much loyalty as it is just me realising that he hasnt even played a competitive game for us yet, but people are still writing him off already.

Vintage Rovers fans.

[rover6]

The season hasnt even started yet. But people are writing him off. Its absolutely unbelievable. Has it ever occured to you that Graeme Souness and his team of coaches know more about football than you do?

People are writing him off because he's a defender playing in midfield, against crap opposition nowhere near the pace of the PL. In addition its something he did all last season without much luck, so there's more than enough reason to be wary.

But I admire your loyalty to the man.

Its not as much loyalty as it is just me realising that he hasnt even played a competitive game for us yet, but people are still writing him off already.

Vintage Rovers fans.

It's an opinion. Do you realise the meaning of the word? Not everyone has to conform to your views on Matteo being the next Roy Keane.

Some people, like me, happen to think he's a centre half not a central midfielder. Jon Douglas did a reasonable job of filling in on the left flank last season - that does not mean he has suddenly become a Premiership standard winger.

[den]

Oh where oh where is Andy Cole when you need him??

BTW- he scored his first goal for Fulham today.

Can anyone think of another premiership manager, who would give their last season's top goalscorer away for free?

Mugs.

[roversWASmylife]

I thought Matteo did well in that centre midfield role yesterday.

He gives the sense of aggression in the midfield, which can allow Barry to get forward and allow Matteo just to sit in.

He gets stuck in and never realised how quick he actually was. At times yesterday he made some important tackles and is very strong on the ball.

Did Matteo and Radebe ever play together in midfield for Leeds? I thought Radebe was injured last season?

I can remember seeing Seth (£9M man) Johnson and Matteo in the midfield.

Anybody for Robert Earnshaw to partner Stead upfront?

Stead, the bigger out of the two, with Earnshaw, pacey player, who can run with the ball at defenders with pace, would only cause defenders problems all day.

[USABlue]

Interesting headlines from soccernet.com, shows how in tune some of these people are.

"Dickov sinks Preston

Preston North End 1 - 2 Blackburn Rovers

Paul Dickov scored the only goal of the game as Blackburn beat Lancashire rivals Preston under hot sun at Deepdale."

Struck me as funny.