jamiemaher85 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) This weeks interview has been brought to us by the good people at www.roverstalk.com 1) Under Hughes you had a well organised team that played good football, since his departure things have stagnated slightly. Where do you think you need to strenghten in order to move forwards and is the club being run to your expectations Rover The Top: I'm not sure 'strengthening' is the problem, as we've mainly got the same set of players who've been good enough for a number of seasons - a better goalie and a right winger would help, though. The club is run well enough, although I think the board panicked in rushing the appointment of Allardyce when there may have been more suitable candidates around. mrblackbat: Stagnated isn't the word. Gone to compelte shit would be far better. Need to strengthen between the posts; get rid of Robinson cause he's beyond awful. theadore: 11 new players would be nice. We are looking generally weak. 2) Unfortunatly you have been involved in a relegation battle this year. Where do you think the blame lies for your slow start to the season? Rover The Top: We had a bright start to the season, we were high up the table after the first 6 or 7 games. But the problem was that when things started going wrong, Paul Ince refused to adapt his tactical approach to end a winless run. Basically, he didn't seem to believe in defence at all, we kept getting caught out and he wouldn't address the problem. mrblackbat: Poor choice for replacement of Hughes. Poor choices by Ince in selling our best players. Poor choice for replacement of Friedel. Poor choice in not replacing Bentley. Poor choice in appointing Ince's replacement. theadore: We've started this season.... news to me. Ince might take some of the flack, but the players who were performing last season went to pieces especially in defence. Brad Friedel must take some of the blame for our lack of points too. 3) Man City came in with some significant bids for Roque Santa Cruz in January. How highly do you rate him and how much would you be willing to part with for? Rover The Top: I think the club handled the situation sensibly - I'm a little disappointed that Mark Hughes continued to mess around making bids when he knew how strong our board would be. In January he was priceless - Rovers' survival was worth more than anyone would bid for the player. In the summer, he'll have a release clause if anyone bids a certain amount, which I believe is about as much as City eventually offered anyway. So I guess he's worth that. mrblackbat: I think Roque is invaluable at this point in the season. theadore: Money was never the point, we shouldn't be selling our best player to a rival team. But I would settle for lots. 4) Who has been a shinning star in your team this year and are there any good prospects for the future? Rover The Top: In my view, our best player has been David Dunn. But he's struggled with injuries (again) for most of the season. When he plays we look like we should have no problem staying up. Our future prospects look bleak - Martin Olsson and Keith Treacy have both had a decent amount of time on the pitch, but both seem to be lacking any real quality. We've also got a lad called Alan Judge who's away on loan at Plymouth, who I've heard good things about, and England U21 goalie Frank Fielding is on loan at Northampton, I think. mrblackbat: Not many shining stars, we're second from bottom after all. theadore: Unfortunately the poor performance from our first team has meant that we've been able to see how lacking some of our fringe players are. I'm still holding out hope for Alan Judge, but I get the feeling i'm kidding myself. 5) Everton have recently lost key midfielder Mikel Arteta. How do you think they will do without him and do you now see a greater chance of picking up a result. Rover The Top: The more first teamers you have out, the better our chances should be. But Everton have done consistently well under Moyes without having glamourous names in their side. Arteta is perhaps a big loss because he offers more flair than other players. But I still think Everton will manage without him. mrblackbat: Arteta will be a big loss for you. Certainly helps us, but probably won't be enough. theadore: As above, along with Cahill your most important player... you will have too much for us though. 6) What are your predictions for the game? Rover The Top: It'll be played under floodlights, the ref will piss off both sets of supporters, and Rovers will either win, lose or draw. mrblackbat: 2-0 Everton. theadore: WE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS!!! Edited March 2, 2009 by jamiemaher85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevO Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Good work Jamie, again. Rover The Top: It'll be played under floodlights, the ref will piss off both sets of supporters, and Rovers will either win, lose or draw. i like this guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Cheers for that Jamie, it was a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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