[Archived] Vs. Portsmouth Preview

[philipl]

...........Robinson

Simpson Nelsen Samba Warnock

.......Tugay Mokoena

Emerton Villanueva Pedersen

........Santa Cruz

That's our best available team imo. We won't play it though.

100% agree Scotty- that would handle the Pompey flyers down the flanks and give us the missing sparks of creativity down the middle.

I will repeat what a wrote at the beginning of this thread, this is a wierd game in which Rovers do not lose whatever the result. A win keeps us in touch with safety, anything else hastens Ince's departure.

[BRFC1995]

-------------------------ROBBO--------------------------

-------------KHIZ-----SAMBA----OOIJER---------------

EMERTON----ANDREWS-----TUGAY-----WARNOCK

----------------------CARLOS---------------------------

-------------SANTA--------McCARTHY------------------

plus points of that line up: rank bad, out of form pedersen,nelsen,moko not in it.........plenty of height at back to deal with crouch and diop.......carlos on set pieces not pedersen ever again.............no roberts,moko or pedersen to immediately squander possession................pace on the flanks.........support for strikers........no simpson to leave the right side exposed.........enough attacking threat to actually defend from the front.

negatives: Robbo and samba still make me nervous at times, johnson and belhadj give pompey good width against wing backs but hopefully that line up could keep them concentrated on defending.

I fully expect carlos on the bench, tugay on the bench, khiz on the bench with moko, simpson, and nelsen along with pedersen starting which just depresses me as its that predictable and that poor.

[Al]

Robinson

Simpson Samba Nelsen Warnock

Emerton Tugay Andrews Pedersen

McCarthy Santa Cruz

Subs: Brown, Ooijer, Mokoena, Treacy, Villanueva, Derbyshire, Roberts

That is a decent team on paper.

That's pretty close to the best we can put together from what we have availible, although I would play Oojier instead of Nelsen.

It's a long way from good enough though. That midfield is frighteningly poor. There is nobody capable of taking the weight off the defence and precious little to support the strikers going forward. Tugay will have to be on top form to get any link between midfield and the strikers and at his age that is an unfair expectation of him. We'll probably end up lumping the ball up to Santa again.

[incy wincy little spider]

Think 0-0 is our best hope. Can't see us scoring and they have a better player in almost every position on the pitch. Probably stand more chance away from home aswell and they may get nervous at the end of the game after milan result

[Hughesy]

Better player in almost every position? Rubbish!

Goalkeeper - Robinson wins

Defender - Best one on the pitch will be Samba

Midfield - Yes they win that one

Striker - Santa Cruz with a country mile.

[92er]

Better player in almost every position? Rubbish!

Goalkeeper - Robinson wins

Defender - Best one on the pitch will be Samba

Midfield - Yes they win that one

Striker - Santa Cruz with a country mile.

Wonder if Capello will agree about the keeper?

Is Defoe, who many people have said will play, more likely to score than Roque?

I've no idea about their defence.

Accrding to Radio Lancs today, Ince has said that Dunn is likely to be back on first team duties in the next 3/4 weeks.

[tcj_jones]

...........Robinson

Simpson Nelsen Samba Warnock

.......Tugay Mokoena

Emerton Villanueva Pedersen

........Santa Cruz

That's our best available team imo. We won't play it though.

Agreed, this is the same formation I was about to type.

We don't really know just yet how good a player Vilanueva is, but at least he will link midfield to attack.

[brightonrover]

The club aren't going to sack Ince win or lose at Portsmouth so get over it and back the team.

[Drunx2002]

This one has 2-0 Pompey written all over it.

They have a much more physical side than Rovers and will control the midfield.

Positive mental attitude, positive mental attitude...

[dingles staying down 4ever]

The club aren't going to sack Ince win or lose at Portsmouth so get over it and back the team.

Does that mean he'll get sacked if Rovers draw?

I agree it is time to put aside your feelings about Ince and back the players. They need all the support they can muster.

I still don't why but I still don't think Rovers will lose this game

COME ON ROVERS

[John]

I think a draw would be an OK result. I think Ince and most of the fans on here are all thinking it is imperative we do not lose this match.

We should be 'fresh' and as we know playing on a Thursday can make a difference to how you perform in the weekend match.

[Majiball]

John's right, Pompey exertions on Thursday should leave them a little tired for Sunday. I'm hoping for some over confidence after almost beating AC Milan. Whatever happens it will be a good game they concede late we score(if we score) late. They've had mixed results after european football 1 of each so far, so who knows who will turn up. Pompey also have a lack of wide-men, but are still picking up points so it should be a good battle.

[MCMC1875]

John's right, Pompey exertions on Thursday should leave them a little tired for Sunday. I'm hoping for some over confidence after almost beating AC Milan. Whatever happens it will be a good game they concede late we score(if we score) late. They've had mixed results after european football 1 of each so far, so who knows who will turn up. Pompey also have a lack of wide-men, but are still picking up points so it should be a good battle.

Can't agree. Confidence will be a bigger factor than fatigue in this match.

[skrover]

Having seen the squad on the official site I would like to see

Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock

Emerton, Tugay, Mokoena, Pedersen

Roberts, Santa Cruz

Hopefully we can match them for strength with this and perhaps use McCarthy, Andrews and Derbyshire later in the game.

[riverside returns]

Well I for one would like to see Benni and Roque leading the front line with Benni in just behnd Roque.

Robinson

Oijer, Nelsen, Samba, Warnock

Emerton, Andrews, Tugay, Pedersen

Mcarthy

Santa Cruz

[tony gale's mic]

Yeah I feel sorry for Benni, his attitude was awful last season but that's passed and he does seem to be making an effort this season. But thanks to injuries, tragedy, bad service and other unfortunate circumstances (like Olsson getting sent off last weekend) he hasn't had a chance to get back to his old form.

[Amo]

Just thought some of you might be interested in the match preview in the local Pompey rag:

'IF THEY WERE...a Mr.Men character Blackburn would be Mr Worry.

Life's one big fret with hardly a day going by without a frown. You see, there's so much worry about. There's relegation, injuries, a dodgy manager, takeover consortiums, an empty stadium. Oh and don't forget the weather, it's always grim up there.'

Heroes -

Keith Andrews : Fairytale rise for a player who six months ago was turning out for MK Dons.

Villains -

Paul Ince: Unpopular as a player, his combative nature and constant complaining saw him hated.

Even someone from BRFCS.co.uk got a mention (whoever you are):

'At a ground where Rovers had some great results over the years, it is going to be end of the Paul Ince regime hopefully.'

Comments from Ince:

'We aren't making excuses. These are facts - we've had injuries. I want to improve the team, which hopefully we will do in January, and you need time. One minute Roy Keane was resigning from Sunderland and then they go and beat us. Then next week they go and lose at home to West Ham, so it is a real rollercoaster ride. We need to be sensible and we don't need to panic. I feel we will start to get a settled side now. We've got a lot games coming up and we need to start picking up some points.'

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Having seen the squad on the official site I would like to see

Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock

Emerton, Tugay, Mokoena, Pedersen

Roberts, Santa Cruz

Hopefully we can match them for strength with this and perhaps use McCarthy, Andrews and Derbyshire later in the game.

Our team according to The Guardian.

Robinson

Ooijer

Nelsen

Samba

Warnock

Simpson

Andrews

Mokoena

Pedersen

Santa Cruz

Roberts

Say it aint so Rovers !

[Billy Castell]

I am going to be the only one to predict a tonking of Portsmouth, just to be different.

Score: 5-2 to us.

Team (my choice):

Robinson

Emerton/Andre ©/Samba/Warnock

Judge/Andrews/Mokoena/MGP

McCarthy/RSC

Of course, this is not likely to happen, but who cares?

[broadsword]

Team i would pick would be 3 5 2 ... Bert and warlock on the wings, axe minding tugay and i guess the other midfielder will be andrews. Benni and santa up front

[1864roverite]

Even someone from BRFCS.co.uk got a mention (whoever you are):

'At a ground where Rovers had some great results over the years, it is going to be end of the Paul Ince regime hopefully.'

that would be me Sir

[evukovic]

We're gonna get smashed. I can't for the life of me see anyway, other than half a dozen penalties, are we going to win this. How do you win games when you're constantly gifting goals to the opposition and your attack is devoid of any creativity?

[thenodrog]

I've a sneaky feeling there might be a win for us tomorrow.

[Al]

I am going to be the only one to predict a tonking of Portsmouth, just to be different.

Score: 5-2 to us.

Team (my choice):

Robinson

Emerton/Andre ©/Samba/Warnock

Judge/Andrews/Mokoena/MGP

McCarthy/RSC

Of course, this is not likely to happen, but who cares?

Have you not seen enough of the Andrews/Mokoena midfield partnership? The defence just miss them out and clog over the top of them. Got to have Tugay in there. At least the defenders trust him enough to give him the ball.

Oh dear why do I bother. We don't have a midfield anyway.

[John]

F**king hell!! Just looked at the table and we must get something out of this game.

Literally just dawned on me that we are in serious trouble. You can discount Spurs as they will surely move up.

Barclays Premier League : Table