Sas catches the American turned Kiwi for the latest installment!!
Hiding in between his stolen Vince Lombardi Trophy, Babe Ruth Cap and 4 Sheep, SoCal Rover was tracked down by the notorious hunter, Sasman, who’s frequent flyer points are skyrocketing by the week…..
Step Up…..SoCal Rover!!
1)Tell us a little about yourself. Who are you, what do you do, why Rovers?
I was a well paid structural engineer in Los Angeles who quit his job a month ago and just moved to New Zealand. It’s not as hasty as it sounds as the plan was in the works for almost a year, but to say that my life is in flux is an understatement. A few years ago my LA buddies and I were talking about following a PL team when the ESPN writer Bill Simmons put out a fantastic article about his desire to do the same. We took Bill’s research and our rudimentary knowledge of the PL and narrowed our potential fan-dom to 8 teams. We eliminated the Big 4 (no one likes a front runner), Newcastle (no one likes a Geordie) and a handful of teams we thought were at risk of getting relegated. Of the 8 remaining teams we used a complicated series of drinking games to choose the Rovers. I like to think it was divine intervention.
2)With FA cup action over the weekend, Sam took the squad to Dubai. What are your thoughts?
I don’t understand the fascination with Dubai in general. But, if it’s 2 degrees in East Lancashire and 22 in the UAE then by all means chase the sun.
3)Dunn, Reid, Grella, 3 key midfielders consistently injured. Is their something in the water at Ewood Park or just a coincidence? How can we have 1 position continuouslly suffering with long term injuries!!
More than a coincidence, this is poor due diligence by our physio staff. You could also include Santa Cruz in the list of the perpetually injured who were on our books. I’ve heard that Sam has a reputation for a good physio staff but we need to look no further than Brad Friedel. He was a vocal advocate for yoga and considering he’s almost 70 years old and never gets injured, I think the proof is in the pudding.
4)Will our 2 signings in this window play any role in the run home?
By two signings you mean the Inglorious Basturk and Martin Olsson? ( I was referring to Basturk and Amine but Olsson will do!) I love the Olsson ‘signing’. I wrote him off last season after that disastrous game where he was double booked in the first half and was never heard from again. His re-emergence really brings some depth back to our squad. I actually think we’re better off with Samba out, Givet at center back and Olsson at left back. It’s much more imaginative football with actual attacking strategies that don’t involve Robo. I like Samba but when he’s in we have three plays: Robo sends a free kick toward Samba in the box, MGP long throw to Samba and MGP corner to Samba. All three end with a foul by Samba. I don’t really know what to think of our signings. I would like to see them play a bit.
5) Name the 3 men that we need performing at the top of their game to ease us away from the drop zone, and surge us up into the top half, and why?
MGP, Nelsen and Emo. Really, MGP has to maintain his form from the past month. He has been great. I think he’s our most skilled player even if it doesn’t show every week. Nelsen is obvious. He makes the fewest mental mistakes of the defenders so as long as he can keep the back 4 in line we’ll be ok. Emo because if he can get back to his form of the first half of last season we could finish 7th or 8th. If he hadn’t blown out his knee he would have been the player of the year. Warnock was great for us but Emo carried us during the Ince reign of terror.
6) Where will we finish, who will win the EPL and who will get relegated!
I think we’ll finish 9th or 10th. Chelsea wins it with offense. Manure can’t keep their pace. Arsenal, Chelsea, AV, Citeh, Tottenham and Everton will take the top 8. It will come down to us, Birmingham and Fulham for 9th. As for relegation, Pompey is toast. So glad we sold Mokoena to them in the summer. I think Burnley will escape but at Bolton’s expense. Hull is pretty inept. I don’t see them putting up too much fight without a great comeback performance from Bullard.
Fairly Optimistic there mate! Well in, another superb read
