1864roverite Posted on Dec 27 2004, 10:27 jim have you been dressed as santa this chrimbo ? or have you not just had any cup of cheer or sherry ? you really need to have a dose of optimism instead of doomism for once. Happy New Year

Maybe he wanted to toughen him up himself...

Woooooohooooo! Three points, but better yet, a clean sheet. Friedel should be congratulated, thought he had a great game, made many a save. Also thought Emerton and Toogs were fantastic, though I think Emerton may have to realise that Dickov can't shoot worth a damn and just take some shots himself, he's in the penalty box enough times. Neill also played fairly well today and I thought Nissa was superb at left back. All in all a very nice performance. Good to see Gally take a nice goal, two in two for him, very nice. Hopefully he can continue this trend. Incidentally, he seems a fairly tall player, I reckon some weights would do him some good, win a few balls in the air, become really imposing. He has the foot skills to do well. Very happy, Go you good thing! ps. Memorandum to Mark Hughes - we need another striker. As much heart and work rate that Dickov has, he is severely lacking in quality. If his skill even matched half of his work rate, he'd be very good player...alas it is not the case. That penalty should never have even been allowed if his touch was of any class. For such a classless player I cannot understand why he is so greedy and takes all the shots himself. I would like to see Boothroyd and Gallagher given a go together.

Stop whingeing, us Aussies will appreciate this game more than most others, simply because we don't have to wait until 2 or 3 in the morning to get a glimpse of our beloved rovers. 11:45 pm?? bring it on, can't wait. We're looking ok going forward, I think Thommo will get more of a game this week, so hopefully our attacking options will create Fulham loads of trouble. Our defence however...undecided. As long as we don't leak 2 or 3 goals through we're in with a good show. 3 - 1 Rovers Thompson Reid Dickov

I would have to agree, Australia is a much poorer team without Craig Moore, defensively anyway, and this is a sad reflection on our nation's status, or more probably Farina's selection process. There are players available who should be given the opportunity to do a job for the national side, players like Kisnorbo and McKain and Colosimo. They are all talented and should be afforded a game here and there for assessment. Playing them against Fiji is hardly assessable. It would be like me standing at 6'4 weighing 110kgs wrestling a 9 yr old boy. Farina suffers from a similar problem as Sven Goran does, he tends to favour the old donkeys who came through the ranks with him and will not attempt to broaden the scope of the national side with untried players. These are friendlies and it is important to mould a well balanced, young, competitive and hungry side. Let's face it, Popovic, Vidmar and the like are hardly class anymore, if they ever were and will most probably not be around for the world cup if we make it. This selection policy is more than worrying, it's downright wasteful. There, I've said it.

For an Aussie Rover who barely gets the opportunity to see a highlight package of the team, this weeked bodes as a wonderful surprise. Seeing as the game starts at 5am on a Tuesday morning and I don't have cable, I'm not going to watch it live, but I'm getting it taped and by gum I'll be firmly planted on my leather couch Tuesday evening watching it. The loss on Wednesday was disappointing, let's not kid ourselves. It was a display of deplorable finishing, abysmal defence and docile abilities. The only positives were Gally knocking one in and Emerton's confidence boosting performance. Knowing that Hughes has left the majority of the first team squad out for this game allows me to once again be filled with bridled enthusiam for the Charlton game. There is quite obviously some dead wood at the club and Hughes has witnessed it first hand now and against some rather lacklustre opposition. No disrespect to Bournemouth, but they're no quality Premiership side now are they. I feel that Emerton is beginning to show the abilities and skills that he exemplified at Feyenoord and in the UEFA Cup, with each game lifting the dreaded albatross from his confidence. Bazza is in good form and getting better and Dickov has been surprisingly promising for mine. Charlton haven't themselves been lighting up the league with great performances, so I sense a come back performance by Rovers will afford them a three pointer this week. Emerton and Ferguson the scorers.

I agree with what most have said...Gresko simply does not seem to have the ability, commitment or tenacity to wear the blue and white shirt. I also think Flitcroft's days are numbered. Overall I do feel we have a competitive side and at this stage overt criticism over the squad is unwarranted. Hughes has only been there just over a week, it takes a little bit of time. If he can get the Welsh defence to tighten up tactically, he can hopefully shore ours up with a little bit of nous.

Sure there is, we can all bitch and moan and prophesise about the fortunes of players we know virtually nothing about. Or... we can sit back, cheer our boys on and give them all the support that we can, hoping that lady luck, that fat cow hiding in a shed full of Smith's Crisps, decides to smile on us and grant us our duty bound first win.

Couldn't say, I wouldn't think Foxtel would offer it though. They offer bugger all as it is, unless you want to watch Man Utd or Chelski.

This is an interesting debate. As an outsider who cannot possibly have any real emotional attachment to the championships, I have a different take on the issue To put it in my context, it would be like asking me if I would rather Rovers win the league, or Australia make the World Cup. Firstly, I am bitterly disappointed by any Rovers defeat as I yearn to see them excel and succeed, but match that with an Australian international and by heart beats Green and Gold. I guess from my point of view and I dare say many Aussies, at International level we are starved of any modicum of success. the simple prospect of us watching an international game against quality opposition is rare enough to send tingling sensations through the body. I think because you guys have a constant international scene the gap between club and country isn't so large, but here it is immensely different. Our national competition is a joke and is going through a complete restructure which I hope will improve things, but who knows. Our best players have to move to the other side of the world and for us to watch them in an international on our own soil is overwhelming. This is a concept that I doubt you would be familiar with as international football is ingrained in your culture. Don't get me wrong when the Socceroos aren't playing I bleed blue and white, but when they are Ewood and everything about it is pushed aside. Oh and by the way, bad luck. It wasn't a foul.