[Archived] Match Preview: Manchester United (october 4, Ewood Park, 17:30)

[Paul Mellelieu]

Ince got it badly wrong, leading to what was a humiliation last night.

I'm worried that the wins against Newcastle and Everton are papering over the cracks and that we're in for a very difficult season.

And Keith Andrews! No more thank you.

[imy9]

Weren't you watching on the tele Imy? If so and if you live locally then thats a bit bloody rich isn't it?

I live in Birmingham, I manage to get to local games to me every year but find it difficult to make the home games.

I am not knocking the fact that people are paying good money to watch a game of football but when the team is 2-0, is it not partly down to the fans to lift the spirits of the team rather than walk off and get home early? To get outsung by 8000 Mancs, what is the excuse? They were outnumbered 3-1, I was not there so would welcome some insight as to why this happened.

[MarkBRFC71]

I live in Birmingham, I manage to get to local games to me every year but find it difficult to make the home games.

I am not knocking the fact that people are paying good money to watch a game of football but when the team is 2-0, is it not partly down to the fans to lift the spirits of the team rather than walk off and get home early? To get outsung by 8000 Mancs, what is the excuse? They were outnumbered 3-1, I was not there so would welcome some insight as to why this happened.

I'll tell you why - because there was nothing to sing about. It can be argued that it's up to the team to lift the fans too - and a meek surrender like last night is not the way to do it. It was an embarrassment, and the only positives from the game were the performances of Jason Brown (who made some excellent saves), Pedersen (who should never be allowed to wear the shirt again - and has now guaranteed Treacy a starting spot), and Derbyshire (who finally put to bed any notion that he is good enough to start games in the Premier League).

If you aren't at the games for whatever reason, please do not criticise those who are.

[thenodrog]

I live in Birmingham, I manage to get to local games to me every year but find it difficult to make the home games.

I am not knocking the fact that people are paying good money to watch a game of football but when the team is 2-0, is it not partly down to the fans to lift the spirits of the team rather than walk off and get home early? To get outsung by 8000 Mancs, what is the excuse? They were outnumbered 3-1, I was not there so would welcome some insight as to why this happened.

Quite simply nothing to sing about. Since last January the club has been on an increasing downer imo.

[1864roverite]

In a nutshell IMY

Rovers players on that park didnt do anything that warranted a positive crowd reaction, everything they DID do was negative.

A crunching tackle after 15 seconds form Warnock was as good as it got feisty wise.

A Derbyshire shot on goal and a RSC shot on goal was as good as it ever got.

The inept display of several players in Bue and White only served as a distraction to the pouring rain.

I dont feel alone when I say that I was bored shi££e$$ in my seat from the 16th minute.

That my friend was as good as it got for me

[thenodrog]

In a nutshell IMY

Rovers players on that park didnt do anything that warranted a positive crowd reaction, everything they DID do was negative.

A crunching tackle after 15 seconds form Warnock was as good as it got feisty wise.

A Derbyshire shot on goal and a RSC shot on goal was as good as it ever got.

The inept display of several players in Bue and White only served as a distraction to the pouring rain.

I dont feel alone when I say that I was bored shi££e$$ in my seat from the 16th minute.

That my friend was as good as it got for me

Even more aggravating was the fact that we should have adopted that excellent song that Larissa sang for 90 mins before the Mancs did. btw anybody know the words?

[imy9]

I'll tell you why - because there was nothing to sing about. It can be argued that it's up to the team to lift the fans too - and a meek surrender like last night is not the way to do it. It was an embarrassment, and the only positives from the game were the performances of Jason Brown (who made some excellent saves), Pedersen (who should never be allowed to wear the shirt again - and has now guaranteed Treacy a starting spot), and Derbyshire (who finally put to bed any notion that he is good enough to start games in the Premier League).

If you aren't at the games for whatever reason, please do not criticise those who are.

As stated IMO us fans need to be even more vocal when the team is not playing well, we could be the 12 man for the team.

Again as stated was not criticising but making an observation.

[bazza]

I'm not going to bother saying what I thought about yesterdays performance because I'd end up sounding like Joe Kinnear.

You mean like:-

"Which one is Pedersen?...................You're a c***!"

[Billy Castell]

Sounds like we were really ordinary, and Man Utd were that bit better. Apart from the North London teams, the Premiership is so predictable and boring. I really hope the credit crunch kicks in and destroys Liverpool, Man Utd etc.

[Tom]

Look I don't want to criticise other fans who like myself pay weekly to go watch but I really feel people are going over the top.

It's almost like half of you are relieved we played poorly so you have a reason to bitch and whinge. Seems that now we got beat and outclassed totally by the champions of europe then the other wins must have been flukes.

I'm not for one minute suggesting its all sunshine and buttercups under Ince but I think he's taking some good steps forward here and trying to put his own stamp on things but we need to give him time and support the team 100% in that time.

People need to remember that last season under hughes was abysmal, I can't remember leaving Ewood many times with a sense of satisfaction.

[Amo]

It sounds to me like fans are not upset because we lost, but how we lost. Man United and Arsenal knew in the past that Ewood Park is not an easy place to come, and you'll have to earn the points with a few cuts and bruises along the way. But Ince's efforts against them have left us a little powderpuff and disorganised which makes losing to the big four all the more bitter.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Interesting comments on here - personally I thought United had slightly shaded a good start to the match until the referee intervened. I would agree with many - Brown doesn't have the height to deal with crosses when challenged - but that shouldn't detract from what was an obvious foul.

For me - many Rovers players heads seemed to drop after this - but if I am honest mine did to "here we go again" was my immediate thought. As Ince has already stated - goals change games - if we had gone it at half time 0-0 who knows what would have happened ?

Ince is obviously struggling to get the balance right - too gung-ho against Arsenal, too defensive against United.

A number of Rovers players where below their best, a number of United players played near their peaks - there is only going to be one result between a team costing £13m and the other £130m (excluding subs).

For anyone criticising Ince - who would you have played ? Starting with MGP seemed (before the match started) a good move, providing more defensive cover for a left back making only his second Premiership start. The rest of the team basically picks itself (given the injury status).

I still think we could have a good season. So far we have dropped points against Arsenal, United, Hull & West Ham. Of these matches - Arsenal and United were always likely to be defeats - Hull was disappointing, but better than Arsenal managed , West Ham could easily have been a win (with a more accurate spot kick).

Onwards and upwards - keep the faith

[Gav]

Simple facts are:

Under Hughes we kicked the big four and with some success.

Under Ince we're trying to match them at their own game, playing football and we're not good enough.

End of thread.

[ABBEY]

not read all posts because i will be suicidal.My thoughts were we lost today before a ball was kicked ,i dont know if its down to no passion from the players or a "caught in the headlights" by the management.WE were simply "###### scared of them",it was an embarassment.(Jack Walker would have been spinning yesterday).We have turned from the BULLYBOYS to the NANCYBOYS.(or streetfighters to ballerinas).You cant beat the utds or draw with them by sitting back and letting them come at you,YOU GET STUCK IN THEM AND FROM TACKLE ONE GET IN THEM AND LET THEM KNOW YOUR HERE!!!! WE COUNTED 32 PASSES AT ONE POINT,WE HAD 38% POSSESION 38!!!!!!

It was capatulation of the highest order,noone gave a tos yesterday.We tried to get the bbe end going when we went one down and noone apart from us in the right side sang WE ONLY SING WHEN WERE WINNING ...FACT. The substitions were baffling ,why keep one up front when your losing and boot it up to an isolated cruz.At one point the crowd got on to mgp for not chasing a ball but knox? couldnt see who put his hand up to stop him.It was ironic the biggest applause was for the yellow to samba.My mate txt me and said how glad he was he hadnt stumped up 35 quid for that bag of ######.

if we dont win the minimum id expect from the blues is passion ,commitment and hard tackles(is this not how ince played the game or is my memory cabbaged).

The chuffing roof leaked all over me as well and then the soaking after finished a ###### day off perfectly.

The only thing that has made me laugh after all the crap hes give me was imy calling the fans from the end of his remote control....classic.

[92er]

I might well return with comments on tactics etc, but one of my concerns during the match was the early leaving by substantial numbers in the BBE before the end, not for the first time and we have only played 4 league games. Are the powers that be going to react by shrugging their shoulders, or are they going to accept some criticism of what is going on?

I also noticed that Andrews appeared to be booed by a number of fans when he came on.

Roque's head seemed to drop at times in the first half when things were not going as he wanted; if I am correct, then that is of concern as he is our best player and the only one remaining of our top 3 players from last season.

[imy9]

Exactly right Abbey, I missed a game of football so that diminishes my right to have an opinion of the fans whom I am a part of...

[brfcs5359]

Ince got it badly wrong, leading to what was a humiliation last night.

I'm worried that the wins against Newcastle and Everton are papering over the cracks and that we're in for a very difficult season.

And Keith Andrews! No more thank you.

Everytime we lose we are the worst team in the League and players aren't trying!!!!!!!! And spotted pink pigs have been seen flying over Brockall. It was a high quality game with the Champions of Europe showing their class. We stayed positive, tried to push up and tried to keep going when it was getting difficult.

If Bennett had a mother and a partner, and you swapped Pederson and Derbyshire for Berbative and Rooney we would have won PLAYING POSITIVE FOOTBALL not HUGHES NEGATIVE CRAP some of you want us to go back to.

Keep going Ince.. you have my 100% support. I for one am well pleased with your management style and start. What I saw against Man Utd was a big step forward from the defensive defeatist "must pick Aaron in a 5 man defensive midfield" cr*p.

not read all posts because i will be suicidal.My thoughts were we lost today before a ball was kicked ,i dont know if its down to no passion from the players or a "caught in the headlights" by the management.WE were simply "###### scared of them",it was an embarassment.(Jack Walker would have been spinning yesterday).We have turned from the BULLYBOYS to the NANCYBOYS.(or streetfighters to ballerinas).You cant beat the utds or draw with them by sitting back and letting them come at you,YOU GET STUCK IN THEM AND FROM TACKLE ONE GET IN THEM AND LET THEM KNOW YOUR HERE!!!! WE COUNTED 32 PASSES AT ONE POINT,WE HAD 38% POSSESION 38!!!!!!

It was capatulation of the highest order,noone gave a tos yesterday.We tried to get the bbe end going when we went one down and noone apart from us in the right side sang WE ONLY SING WHEN WERE WINNING ...FACT. The substitions were baffling ,why keep one up front when your losing and boot it up to an isolated cruz.At one point the crowd got on to mgp for not chasing a ball but knox? couldnt see who put his hand up to stop him.It was ironic the biggest applause was for the yellow to samba.My mate txt me and said how glad he was he hadnt stumped up 35 quid for that bag of ######.

if we dont win the minimum id expect from the blues is passion ,commitment and hard tackles(is this not how ince played the game or is my memory cabbaged).

The chuffing roof leaked all over me as well and then the soaking after finished a ###### day off perfectly.

The only thing that has made me laugh after all the crap hes give me was imy calling the fans from the end of his remote control....classic.

What a load of crap. We have had the best start to season in 11 seasons. FACT. That includes those holding up Souness and Hughes as 'better than Ince'. Clearly that is not the case so far and nothing changed my opinion verses Man Utd.

[ABBEY]

Exactly right Abbey, I missed a game of football so that diminishes my right to have an opinion of the fans whom I am a part of...

how can you tell whats happening in the crowd? granted you can see whats on the pitch but the crowd? do me a favour.

[92er]

What a load of crap. We have had the best start to season in 11 seasons. FACT. That includes those holding up Souness and Hughes as 'better than Ince'. Clearly that is not the case so far and nothing changed my opinion verses Man Utd.

I think that someone else suggested that you share with the rest of us what you are on!

So to sum up, the worst home defeat by Arsenal since we have been in the Premiership, the worst home performance against MU that I have seen since 1965, when they scored 5 goals in the second half, a poor performance against Hull and a late goal against Fulham, with only our 2nd shot on target show we are on the right lines? I hope you are right but i don't see it.

[broadsword]

Graham, what have you been smoking?

There is zero feel-good factor about the club, we're only as high in the table as we are by a lucky win at Everton and playing a terrible Newcastle side. No real money is being invested and the squad is weaker than last year.

Last night it showed.

I;m totally fed up already and we're only just into october

[allrovertheworld]

Look I don't want to criticise other fans who like myself pay weekly to go watch but I really feel people are going over the top.

It's almost like half of you are relieved we played poorly so you have a reason to bitch and whinge. Seems that now we got beat and outclassed totally by the champions of europe then the other wins must have been flukes.

I'm not for one minute suggesting its all sunshine and buttercups under Ince but I think he's taking some good steps forward here and trying to put his own stamp on things but we need to give him time and support the team 100% in that time.

People need to remember that last season under hughes was abysmal, I can't remember leaving Ewood many times with a sense of satisfaction.

Here here...This is a Rovers message board and at the moment we sound like Newcastle or Spurs fans. Utd are awesome a great team they are physical and play fantastic football. We have matched them in the past at home and for the first 20 mins we played some good stuff. The conditions were shocking and the quality Utd had in the team can get over that. People going on about players heads going down must understand that we couldn't get the ball off them. Anyones head would go down.

I have alot of time for Ince and I am excited about the football we sometimes play.Against the lesser teams we are playing some great stuff.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Look I don't want to criticise other fans who like myself pay weekly to go watch but I really feel people are going over the top.

It's almost like half of you are relieved we played poorly so you have a reason to bitch and whinge. Seems that now we got beat and outclassed totally by the champions of europe then the other wins must have been flukes.

I'm not for one minute suggesting its all sunshine and buttercups under Ince but I think he's taking some good steps forward here and trying to put his own stamp on things but we need to give him time and support the team 100% in that time.

People need to remember that last season under hughes was abysmal, I can't remember leaving Ewood many times with a sense of satisfaction.

Good post.

It's like SpudsMad on here nowadays.

[ABBEY]

ok i give up....WE WERE CHUGGING AWSOME YESTERDAY AND HOPE WE CONTINUE IN THIS VEIN....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HERE WE COME

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Nobody is asking for that attitude to be adopted Abbey, it's simply:

Don't boo your own players.

Don't moan about everything.

Don't blame everything on Ince, he is a new manager learning the ropes. He just needs games like these to help him get the balance right between attack and defence against big teams.

Don't be so negative about everything.

Don't moan about the drummer for 10 years then when he leaves sit in your chair muttering about the atmosphere.

Bloody hell, imagine if we were in Spurs' position. Bridgend MKII.

[ABBEY]

Nobody is asking for that attitude to be adopted Abbey, it's simply:

Don't boo your own players. NEVER DONE THAT

Don't moan about everything. SO DONT MOAN ABOUT YESTERDAY?

Don't blame everything on Ince, he is a new manager learning the ropes. He just needs games like these to help him get the balance right between attack and defence against big teams....WHERE HAVE I BLAMED EVERYTHING ON INCE?

Don't be so negative about everything....I DONT

Don't moan about the drummer for 10 years then when he leaves sit in your chair muttering about the atmosphere...WE STAND FOR 90MINS AND YESTERDAY WE SANG FOR BLOODY AGES TRYIBNG TO GET THE BBE GOING AND ENDED GIVING IN

Bloody hell, imagine if we were in Spurs' position. Bridgend MKII.