Game thread: Mancs away

[withnail71]

Im not really sure where to start.

Ok, lets start with poor/mediocre players. Im not just talking about todays game, but the problem with the squad in general.

Poulsen, Konchesky,Ngog, Babel,Lucas,Skrtl,Aurelio.

 

Throw in a few decent players who have been out of form,

Torres, Gerrard, Johnson,

 

Add a player who is past it and has become a liability,

 

Carra

 

an injured player

 

Kuyt

 

 

 

and that kind of leaves us with Meireles(unknown), Reina,Agger, Maxi, who have been any good at all this season.

 

throw in a manager who , although a really nice bloke, looks out of his depth at this level, and this kind of explains why we have been so .....well,shit, this season.

 

 

Its not all bad, we have Pacheco and Suso to look forward to, they look great.

 

 

there is a general air of despondancy around the club at the minute, nothing seems capable of picking us up. the only way we are going to see any upturn in fortune is to get the club sold and get some decent players in.

It looks more and more like Torres will go in the next 12 months. he has that look of a man waiting to go.he has been lied to by those 2 cunts.

 

As for today, another piss poor performance, our 2 goals were from set pieces, there was no other way we were going to score in open play. we offered absolutely fuck all as an attacking force. we spent most of the game backs to the wall against the weakest united side for 20 years, and they should have beaten us by more.

We made berbashit look like Messi for fucks sake :telloff:

 

once again i will stress, we need to get carra off there, he is past it. i love the guy , but he needs to accept he is past it.Agger or even Wilson would be a better option.

Fuck, ive never been so depressed about our club in 39 years of supporting them.

[dennis tooth]

Played 5.

 

Roy Hodgson has parted company with Blackburn Rovers after the club hit rock bottom following a humiliating defeat at the hands of relegation rivals Southampton.

 

Hodgson wrote in his regular Saturday newspaper column only hours before the game: "The way a manager behaves in times of crisis can often be the decisive factor in determining whether a team pulls through or slides deeper into trouble."

 

Rovers fans will hope his decision to quit will not be the decisive factor leading to their relegation.

 

Two wins this season

 

The club, who won the championship only three years ago, have won only two Premiership games this season.

 

Ironically, Hodgson had been touted as the next England manager and angry Blackburn fans were mockingly chanting "Hodgson for England" towards the end of game.

 

Hodgson failed to appear at the post-match press conference, and instead, chief executive John Williams announced that he had left the club.

 

A club statement said: "Following the run of recent poor results, Jack Walker and Roy Hodgson have agreed that Roy will be leaving the club.

 

"The club are disappointed at this outcome but feel the decision is inevitable and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers."

 

Few would have expected Hodgson's Ewood Park career to end in such circumstances after he joined in a blaze of glory from Inter Milan in June 1997.

 

The former Switzerland coach had a CV which was the envy of most coaches and he was one of the hottest managerial properties in Europe.

 

He enhanced his reputation in his first season by leading Rovers into Europe.

 

He was even contacted by the German FA when they were searching for a successor to Berti Vogts.

 

Spending spree

 

Since the end of last season he spent £20m on strengthening his side, but instead of challenging for the top, he found his team battling against relegation.

 

It is expected that Hodgson's assistant Tony Parkes will be asked to take up the managerial reigns again until a successor is found.

 

The side's captain,Tim Sherwood, felt Hodgson had paid the price for the poor sequence of results.

 

Sherwood, who had his rows with Hodgson this season, said: "We had no inclination that this was going to happen.

 

"I think it's harsh to put sole blame on Roy Hodgson, but at the end of the day, results speak louder than words, and we have not been getting them.

 

"You have to respect Jack Walker's decision because the buck stops with the manager. It's Jack's club and Jack's money, and as a player and captain of this club, I respect whatever decision he makes."

[Brownie]

Roy Hodgson has parted company with Blackburn Rovers after the club hit rock bottom following a humiliating defeat at the hands of relegation rivals Southampton.

 

Hodgson wrote in his regular Saturday newspaper column only hours before the game: "The way a manager behaves in times of crisis can often be the decisive factor in determining whether a team pulls through or slides deeper into trouble."

 

Rovers fans will hope his decision to quit will not be the decisive factor leading to their relegation.

 

Two wins this season

 

The club, who won the championship only three years ago, have won only two Premiership games this season.

 

Ironically, Hodgson had been touted as the next England manager and angry Blackburn fans were mockingly chanting "Hodgson for England" towards the end of game.

 

Hodgson failed to appear at the post-match press conference, and instead, chief executive John Williams announced that he had left the club.

 

A club statement said: "Following the run of recent poor results, Jack Walker and Roy Hodgson have agreed that Roy will be leaving the club.

 

"The club are disappointed at this outcome but feel the decision is inevitable and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers."

 

Few would have expected Hodgson's Ewood Park career to end in such circumstances after he joined in a blaze of glory from Inter Milan in June 1997.

 

The former Switzerland coach had a CV which was the envy of most coaches and he was one of the hottest managerial properties in Europe.

 

He enhanced his reputation in his first season by leading Rovers into Europe.

 

He was even contacted by the German FA when they were searching for a successor to Berti Vogts.

 

Spending spree

 

Since the end of last season he spent £20m on strengthening his side, but instead of challenging for the top, he found his team battling against relegation.

 

It is expected that Hodgson's assistant Tony Parkes will be asked to take up the managerial reigns again until a successor is found.

 

The side's captain,Tim Sherwood, felt Hodgson had paid the price for the poor sequence of results.

 

Sherwood, who had his rows with Hodgson this season, said: "We had no inclination that this was going to happen.

 

"I think it's harsh to put sole blame on Roy Hodgson, but at the end of the day, results speak louder than words, and we have not been getting them.

 

"You have to respect Jack Walker's decision because the buck stops with the manager. It's Jack's club and Jack's money, and as a player and captain of this club, I respect whatever decision he makes."

 

What has that got to do with anything?

[Juan Galonso]

Wasn't Hodgson sacked in November/December with Blackburn, in his 2nd season to boot after a decent first season in charge there, not after five games? But as Brownie says what does that have to do with anything in any case? GH was sacked as France boss wasn't he? Rafa was sacked a couple of times before his success with Valencia.

[dennis tooth]

Lets see how much better it gets.

[lyricallylethal]

Wasn't Hodgson sacked in November/December with Blackburn, in his 2nd season to boot after a decent first season in charge there, not after five games? But as Brownie says what does that have to do with anything in any case? GH was sacked as France boss wasn't he? Rafa was sacked a couple of times before his success with Valencia.

 

At it again just can't help but have digs at Rafa, it is funny how these Roy lovers want it both ways, they harp on about how crap we were last season and rafas team were shit.

 

What happened to the words of Purslow about there being a feel good factor in the camp with roys appointment and other players saying it was right for Rafa to go.

 

So rafa has gone and what is your excuse now? why are you still playing shit? why can't you pass the ball? why in 3 leage away games the number of chances you have created be counted on one hand?

 

It is early days but I see nothing in terms of progression from what was a very shit season last season, i don't see any progressive tactics from Roy even the slightest improvement....... but what the hell when all else fail just blame it all on RAFA.

[Captain]

Lets see how much better it gets.

Well, it can't get much worse. Both the football and the results are shit.

 

If it doesn't get better, well . . . .

[KopOut]

Hodgson made extreme tactical errors late on - bringing Agger on, taking Raul off, together with a more defensive attitude when THE LIVERPOOL WAY is to bury the opposition when you get the upper hand.

 

I'm sorry, but Hodgson still thinks he's coaching Fulham.

 

This isn't going to work. He's a Purslow - Broughton Lakky

 

I know there are fas on here that want to give Roy 'time to bed in'. My feeling is he's already in bed with the cunts. Do we need any further evidence that today's loss, and the way we lost it? It was ours for the taking, notwithstanding a poor first half of non footy from us. we got the upper hand and Hodgson destroyed our chance. Having said that, Rafa may well have done the same!

 

God help this team - Hodgson can't.

 

BRING IN THE KING. BRING IN THE KING.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Can't be arsed reading through this thread.

 

Has anyone used the word "cunts" yet?

[TheResonator]

Not a lot to add, except I'm very surprised to see people rating Poulsen. Thought he was utterly dreadful today. Rooney had way too much room between defence and the midfield, and Poulsen was constantly committing to balls he was never going to get near and ending up way out of position. Had a hideous game imo.

[KopOut]

Our defence has already conceded 9-10 goals this season. TOTALLY FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE. We will be extremely lucky to finish in the top half of the Premier League, by season's end, SERIOUSLY, but the question is, will the Board sack Hodgson?????

[G Richards]

Just watched that. Very frustrating. I don't actually think man Utd are that good, and that's one of the most galling things. It seems we need to go behind before we spring into action or show any kind of urgency.

 

As for the team, I would play 4-1-3-2 and add a striker to play with Nando up top. He seems too isolated to me, and I'd like to see someone lend a hand. I would probably also play Lucas ahead of Poulsen as the defensive midfielder.

 

Babel need to get some game time, especially with Dirk out. This is a great chance to see what Babel can do as a right sided attacker. And if Roy won't try that, he needs to play Kelly at right back and push Johnson up to right midfield.

 

This brings me to the defence. I have been saying I've thought Carra is on the wane for a year now. I've seen signs before, but he has turned it around and bounced back with great form. But now I'm not convinced that is going to happen. If we had money we should obviously go in for a top class defender - preferably a commanding, classy, aerially dominant player - like Sami - and if he has decent pace so much the better.

 

Since we do not have money I would be tempted to put the Greek in there, even ahead of Carra. I think our best pairing will be the Greek and Agger. That is the most combative and best header, alongside the one who uses the ball the best. This may be contentious, but I think it is a better pairing than Carra/Skrtel.

 

As for where we go from here, hopefully 6 points from the next two games will see us get some confidence back. It has been a bad start, but we've had some tough games and not acquitted ourselves as well as we might.

 

Time to climb that table. Come on you reds.

 

G&H out.

[Josef Svejk]

Our defence has already conceded 9-10 goals this season. TOTALLY FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE.

 

Just don't blame Carragher. Skrtel is officially to blame.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Our defence has already conceded 9-10 goals this season. TOTALLY FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE. We will be extremely lucky to finish in the top half of the Premier League, by season's end, SERIOUSLY, but the question is, will the Board sack Hodgson?????

Are you advocating this, or just wondering out loud*?

 

If you're advocating it, I'd like to refer you to every other post I made throughout last season: sack the boss and then what???

 

If you're not advocating it, then... as you were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(*"Out loud"? Does that work on the internet?)

[Brownie]

The whole team is to blame, not individuals.

[Dracco]

I agree with this. I actually thought we played well at times and Gerrard, Meireles and Poulsen were great together. We lost the game when we took off Meireles and let them win the midfield-battle again. Stupid decision as Meireles really looked like a quality player. I think we should play the same attacking six as today for the rest of the season. They showed us today at times that they have the potential to play good football.

 

Our defence was on the other hand horrendous. I think, though, that it would do us wonders if we had Agger in the line instead of Skrtel. I am really not a big fan of him. He is too unintelligent and confused in his game.

 

I am very dissapointed that we lost today but in my opinion we could aswell have won 3-2. If we have the same approach and play with the same attack for the rest of the season as we did today in the period from 0-2 to 2-2 (plus 5-10 minutes) we really should beat the most of the teams in the league. We have the potential to play some great football, I just hope we want to aswell.

 

I think he was by a mile our best defender today.

 

Carra is finished, but have to say that Maxi is utter shit. And I am saying this for months.

[redsfan]

Been thinking is it not worth giving Wilson a go, he been extremely solid in the reserves. If the kid has got the talent why not let him show what he can do maybe against Northampton and take it from there.

[KopOut]

Are you advocating this, or just wondering out loud*?

 

If you're advocating it, I'd like to refer you to every other post I made throughout last season: sack the boss and then what???

 

If you're not advocating it, then... as you were.

 

(*"Out loud"? Does that work on the internet?)

 

Put it this way, if we don't reach seventh, it'll be the worst finish in a long time, and Hodgson's first season - he'll probably get off with a 'early days yet Roy, keep at it' because he's set his own poor benchmark - hah, that could be the cleverest thing he does all year.

 

No, I'm not advocating it really, I'm angry AGAIN, having seen a game lost, when it was realistically there to win.

 

I no there are constraints, but the team today was good enough to beat The Manure, and imo it was mistaken tactics that lost it. the buck stops with Hodgson.

[KopOut]

I NO there are constraints, but the team today was good enough to beat The Manure, and imo it was mistaken tactics that lost it. the buck stops with Hodgson.

 

jeezus wept..think I'll just sleep on it....

[danielo]

The way I saw it was that both defences were crap when got at. And that the major differences were that they had a centre forward who is in form, and that they were able to deliver better crosses to him than we were to ours.

 

Man Utd do the simple things very well. We, for the most part, do not.

[harryo63]

Disapponting.

 

An drearily average Manchester United team with an unplayable forward against a team struggling for form and only beginning to take shape under a new manager. That the result for them was never the foregone conclusion it could have been was mostly down to Gerrard and a sparkling second half performance from an £11 mil signing still getting used to his team-mates.

 

A first half performance of crippling self-conciousness, anxiety strewn passing and an inability to second guess a team-mates position gave United the initiative and again our lack of offensive passing just invited the opposition to come at us. And so our disappointing record at OT continues.

 

Roy does seems to be learning though. The Poulsen/Lucas experiment was mercifully aborted. Jovanovic was dropped, Gerrard was played deeper and looked better than he has in the last few games but some familiar problems remained. Too big a gulf between attack and midfield, defending hopelessly deep for the first half and refusing to take the initiative and play on instinct until forced to do so. Those things are only so familiar because they've been seen far too often, and not just this season either.

 

Once again, a worrying amount of players were below par. Maxi struggled, which came as a surprise after such an impressive performance midweek. Konchesky played himself into trouble half a dozen more times than is allowable at OT and Cole was largely peripheral as well. In a side still waiting to gel, four or five players struggling to impose themselves means there's trouble ahead. And so it proved.

 

Plus points? There are none. We've just lost to Man United and the pain will be with us for days. Nowhere near as long as for them after the 4-1 defeat, (and Fergusons trenchant criticsm of Rafa at the weekend can only be seen in light of the humilating defeat Benitez inflicted on him, no doubt he'll be a lot nicer about Roy now the three points are safe), but the pain will linger all the same.

 

This shouldn't overshadow a decent second half performance though.

It shouldn't overshadow the fact that Miereles and Poulsen look a better bet to get us points than Lucas and Masch last season, that Torres will come through this shocking loss of form, (it's sometimes forgotten that he's still comparatively young and has suffered some terrible injuries recently. The lad's entitled to a blip in my opinion). It shouldn't overshadow the fact that Cole remains the best signing we've made in years or that any new manager coming to a club as chaotic as ours, with the fixture list we've had would probably have struggled just as much as Roy, if not more.

 

We've been beaten and it hurts and rightly so. These type of performances are to be expected in a managers first few months at the club and that shouldn't be forgotten.

 

But, we were infinitely better today than against Man City though, in the same way that we were infinitely better against a decent Steaua team than against Robotniki as well. Despite it all, we still seem to be heading in the right direction and when this pain fades it should be a bit clearer.

 

It's going to take a fucking while though, I'm off to get pissed.

 

talking like you are pissed already

[Josef Svejk]

The whole team is to blame, not individuals.

 

Agree entirely. But, unusually for me, I'll single out Gerrard for praise. I think he looks pretty sharp so far this season. I can't think of another player who looks remotely close to being in-form...

[Captain]

I think Pepe is in good form too.

[torahboy]

I'm a little bit drunk. All I feel like doing is pissing my pants and sitting in the warm urine until it gets all cold and uncomfortable. Ohhh, bastard! Wasn't expecting the bowel movement as well. What a fucking day.

[Guest Captain Jonjo]

Not a lot to add, except I'm very surprised to see people rating Poulsen. Thought he was utterly dreadful today. Rooney had way too much room between defence and the midfield, and Poulsen was constantly committing to balls he was never going to get near and ending up way out of position. Had a hideous game imo.

 

Agreed.

 

I can imagine the comments that would of been posted had Lucas been playing and done exactly what Poulsen did. He would've been the one everyone put blame on for the defeat. With pages of comments on how shit, average he is, sideways passing etc