[Archived] Rovers 0 Spurs 1

[roversmum]

Very disappointed. I'd been given some comps which I gave to a father and son, the little lad had always wanted to go and see Rovers but due to family circumstances had been unable to do so before. I'm very sad that he had to see a match like this one. And there was a spurs fan sitting next to me - granted he wasn't any trouble, but still........

To lose a soft goal to a team playing in yellow pyjamas - and much as I have respect for Robinson, why does he have to keep hoofing the ball to the moon and back?

I hope our lot are pleased with themselves. Extra training for them next week.

I'm cross and fed up, in case you didn't guess. Pah!

[tashor]

NEJ is not a left back...

Tugay and Ferguson mustn't play together in a 4:4:2...

Gally is not yet ready to start games...

Dickov is the heartbeat of our team but lacks premiership class...

We lack height and pace throughout the side...

Thompson needs to focus his talent and stop taking the wrong option at times...

Matteo is at best a barely adequate central defensive reserve...

The difference between the sides was the superb King and the occasional touches of class by the mainly ineffective Spurs side when going forwards...

Must say I thing the way many posters here vary their opinions from game to game with the subtlety of a large seesaw with an obese Hippo at each end scarcely does the footballing knowledge creditability of this board much good...

It's a marathon not a sprint...

We will stay up.

We all live in a yellow submarine.

[P.E.]

Well that was boring wasn't it?

Didn't think it was too bad of a game, the fact that spurs seemed very well organised in defence should lead to some pointers to out weakness'.

1. Why do we hoof the ball up when none of our strikers are fast or big and good in the air?

2. Why on earth do Tugay and Ferguson start in a 4-4-2? There both quite similar on where they like to sit and neither of them were that effective?

3. NJ at left back? Your having a laugh ain't you?

Admitedly it was a strange game neither team got into any sort of rhythm at all and the one main spurs attack in the second half resulted in a goal (good tackle Tugay on him there....). I think our strength lies in our wings and we need to attack teams that way but as I say we didn't get going at all.

Strangely I thought Bothroyd caused them problems as well as our fans (watch out for that ball in the blackburn end) when he was brought on.

Neill I thought played well

[Ewood Dream]

I think we really should of tried and signed Okocha in the summer. I know a lot of people were against it but he has the attacking flair and innovation we need to create something out of nothing...

[emerton]

positives was neil freidel and todd,

negatives were pretty much the rest of the side, i had my heart in my mouth when tugay was pulling at browns shirts when he was making that long run, what was he thinking when he already had a yellow?

we cant rely on having two small gritty players up front, we need either bothroyd or stead to start instead of gally because we have no targets going forward in the air, at least bothroyd can get a header and hold it up well.

hughes made the right subs but when thompson came on he was erratic, and bothroyd didn't get trhe service he required, though hes the type of player we do need in the side

[Ewood Dream]

If I recall I think 1 or 2 games ago NEJ was actually being highly praised...

[chris]

Dickov is the heartbeat of our team but lacks premiership class...

We lack height and pace throughout the side...

Thompson needs to focus his talent and stop taking the wrong option at times...

the reason that Thompson was taking the "wrong" option is because I can't remember Dickov, Jay, or any of the midfield even having one decent shot at goal, at least he had a half decent go.

This was a typical game that proves when both teams are not playing well an extra bit of quality upfront can make the difference. That's going to be the difference between pushing for the top ten and being stuck near the bottom

Thompson was probably the only player today who was likely to show that quality that Defoe and Keane have, and maybe score a 20 yard screamer or goal of high quality.

[brfcjon]

I saw the game on tely today. First for a long time due to a rather busy couple of months.... anyway.. was very disapointed with the tactical sence of the players. I mean, it should be simple 101 stuf that you "end" you attack and build uos at all costs when playing a team that plays counter attack like spurs did today. Keane and defoe are both great players. especially when given the oppotunnities they where. Lucas, fergie, tugay well everybody really needs to shoot more cross the ball higher so it doesn't hit the front man etc. and therefor restrict the oppotunities for counters. the way they played tonight with constantly trying neat 1-2 and deep passes straight through the middle is just suicede. and so it proved.

And by the way where the heck did fergie go today. when he had the ball it was obvious he has the skill. the passes are hard and quite accurate, but he did not run the game as he shold've.

And what a goal to concede. again a bit of professionalism would be nice. just make the free kick round the center of the pitch and no worries - but no... instead brown is allowed to round all the way down our end. crist sake!! Hughesy make em watch to ours of italian footbal every day for two weeks. not any longer though. we dont want the fun taken out of the beutifull game=)

Anyway. good things showing though. we could stay up yet.

cheers all

[Simon Says]

Very dissapointing.

We didn't lack effort but couldn't create hardly one goal scoring opportunity.

Another thing today confirmed, Spurs are NOT a big club and are totally and utterly boring. Once they went a goal up they had no other objective than to defend, defend, defend.

Oh and step forward Andy Todd. MOM.

[roversWASmylife]

Was optimistic about the game earlier on but really disappointed with the performance.

To be honest we never really looked like troubling Spurs, we never got hold of the game, like we did at Fulham.

I thought that we allowed Spurs too much time on the ball, for whatever reason we didn't press them as much as we have done and we were poor attacking.

No creativity, movement or urgency from anyone really, apart from Reid and Ferguson on occasions.

Defensively I thought we were ok for the majority of the game. Thought that Todd had another good game at the back and defended whatever was thrown at him.

Keane and Defoe were always going to be hard to mark but I felt we did ok handling those two.

But in the midfield, I thought we weren't good enough. Time and time again, Ferguson had possession of the ball and there were no options in front of him, resulting in Batty mode by passing it either sideways or backwards.

Tugay had a decent game, makes several good passes throughout the game and is caught in possession by Brown who ran over half the length of the pitch to set up Keane for their goal.

Spurs got the goal and defended the game out, yet we kept knocking the ball into Dickov, Bothroyd did add height to our attacking options but we never looked a threat to be honest.

What I think would do the side good is a change in midfield, that's where I think we look most un-balanced. Emerton has played well this season, but today he was poor and didn’t look suited to the left wing. Ferguson and Tugay can't play together.

What I think we should do is drop Tugay and put in a midfielder who will fight for the ball and give the ball simple, to sit in front of the back four and allow Ferguson to get forward. Too many times today Ferguson was chasing after other player giving away possession.

I'd put Douglas in midfield alongside Ferguson. Douglas showed, especially towards the end of last season where we needed a gritty performances Douglas provided that. He may not be as effective as Tugay and as good as Tugay's passing, but he gets stuck in and gives the easy ball which is what I think is missing at the moment.

Blackburn 0-1 Tottenham

[Exiled in Toronto]

No quality up front. It's true what Lawrenson and March have been saying. Despite all our possession, Spuds out-shot us 5-1 in the first half, and 4 of those were created by the forwards for themselves. Dickov, for all his good points, just doesn't have the quality to worry defenders. Annoy them, yes, but he's not going to make something out of nothing.

The other disappointment for me is Ferguson. In fact, I don't get him. Lots of poster come on here saying how good he is, but I just don't see it. And his just looking at the ball that was his that led to the goal was absolutely criminal.

I really think we'll be lucky to stay up unless Hughes is able to buy another Andy Cole in Jan - i.e. a proven striker

[American]

The other disappointment for me is Ferguson. In fact, I don't get him. Lots of poster come on here saying how good he is, but I just don't see it. And his just looking at the ball that was his that led to the goal was absolutely criminal.

I think we should play Flitty in the first half and Fergie in the second. Just like Flitty was disappearing in the beginning of the second half of most matches, Ferguson has been disappearing in the first half.

(That suggestion is sarcasm, by the way).

[Eddie]

We weren't really at the races today, having said that, I don't think we deserved to lose. Neither side really deserved a win today, but we certainly need to improve our performance. I don't think it's too much of a setback, we weren't terrible, and there were still some good signs. We just need to find that attacking spark from somewhere. In the recent games when we've attacked as a team with midfielders making good forward runs and using the full width of the field we have had it, but today it really was lacking.

[Scotty]

After the Lord Mayor's Show - a reality check for all those who thought we might hit mid-table or above at the end of season. Make no mistake, we're in a dogfight right to the death.

We kicked-off with the same team that won so well down at Fulham. Yet those very same players seemed to lack the drive, tenacity, and commitment that they showed at Fulham. Surely a team placed 17th in the league can't be complacent and arrogant?

We started sluggishly and Spurs contained us easily in the first half. However, Tottenham didn't seem that bothered about attacking and they left it to their lively forwards to create the few chances they had. In what was a dire half of football, each team only really had once chance of note - Todd volleying over for us, Defoe bringing a smart save out of Friedel for them.

We started the second half well. A good move fed the ball from the left to Gallacher in the box. His first touch, turn and shot deserved a goal but Robinson made a cracking save. That was as good as it got for us. We had plenty of possession but we failed to convert it into chances, and it was no surprise when Spurs caught us on the break and scored.

Ferguson gave Tugay a hospital pass deep in our half. Brown tackled Tugay, ran away from him with ease, ran 50 yards unopposed, brushed off Johansson when one of our players decided to make a challenge, and laid the ball back to an untracked Keane who finished easily. We never looked like coming back.

You can talk about our improved fitness all you want but if the team aren't prepared to put the effort in and play the game at a high tempo then it means sod all. We're a poor team, there's no getting away from it, and the only way we're going to get enough points to stay up is by working our socks off and negating the opposition's better quality with our higher work-rate. We couldn't be arsed today. I can only think that the team thought it was easy after winning last week.

The gulf between the forwards of the two sides was stark today. Gallacher was awful in the first half. His first touch was poor, he was easily brushed off the ball, and his passing was inept. Dickov wasn't much better. He worked hard as ever but he lacked quality and failed to link up with any of his strike partners. Only Bothroyd looked anything like good enough - and he wasn't great.

In contrast, Tottenham's forwards were superb. They found space expertly, turned our defenders with ease, and linked up together in a real partnership. Still, as Manchester Blue pointed out on the way home, I guess that's the difference between a forward line that cost £150k compared to a forward line that cost £10m+.

Tugay and Ferguson looked good on the ball but, yet again, they were found wanting in defence. Tottenham's goal came because: 1) Ferguson played a crap ball to Tugay, and 2) Tugay didn't dare tackle Brown because he'd been stupidly booked 10 minutes earlier. Neither midfielder ran back quick enough to effect the outcome. Special mention for Thompson as well who was, quite frankly, sh1te when he came on. He seemed to think he could win the game on his own and sod the team. He needs a kicking.

Spurs worked us out. They realised that most of our good play recently had stemmed from the flanks so they doubled-up on Emerton and Reid and effectively marked them out of the game for large periods. Our trouble is that we don't have a plan B when this happens. When our work-rate isn't high, when our key players are either off-from or tightly marked, then we revert back to the team Souness managed for the last year. Lots of huff and puff but no quality and no creativity.

Our defence did ok really but we still conceded a goal. Nissa can do a job at left back away from home because we don't need him to attack then. At home though, especially when we're up against a team who are defensively-minded like Spurs today, we need full-backs who can support the wide men and offer a threat. Nissa can't do that. Neill did the hard work of running with the ball to the edge of the Tottenham area but then gave it away when it seemed easier to find a shirt.

Short and Todd did ok but both of them look happier when they're in a physical battle. Today they were up against small, quick forwards and they looked uncomfortable throughout. They were turned too often and there were too many last ditch tackles and interceptions for my liking.

Tottenham aren't a good team, yet they looked much better than us today. They defended as a unit from front to back. Their back four look organised and together, they had a midfield screen in front of their back four that was hard to break down, and their wide men doubled up on our wide men and snuffed them out for large periods of the game. Up front, Tottenham's forwards looked several classes above ours.

The only way we're going to compete this season is by working our socks off and harrassing teams into mistakes. We don't have enough quality to beat teams on football ability alone. Today we didn't work hard enough and, as a result, we were well beaten by a poor team. It's going to be a long, hard season and our current 17th place would be a fantastic result come mid-May.

Edited December 5, 2004 by Scotty

[Morph]

Right, I've just got back from the match (by way of every pub in Baxenden and several of Accy's finest watering holes), and my thoughts on the game were as follows:

Nissa just isn't very good. Full stop, end of arguement. He's just rubbish.

Andy Todd is actually a pretty good defender. We should play him more often.

Jay Bothroyd is awful. He is slow and clumsy and seems totally out of synch with every other player on the pitch. If he is our third best striker we are in deep trouble.

On the whole, we were terrible. Spurs were the worst team I have seen at Ewood all season (apart from Blackburn), and for them to come away with three points is a testament to how bad we are right now. I can almost hear their team talk before the match,

"Just go out there, sit back until half time and then see if we can nick it on the break. Blackburn could shoot on goal (if they could find someone willing to have a crack) until next week and still not score, so don't worry about conceding. it'll never happen."

From what I saw tonight I am convinced that it will take a miracle for us not to go down. It's not just that we can't defend, or attack, or retain the ball for any length of time, or create problems for the opposing team, we simply don't have the ability to compete at this level. Every Rovers attack today seemed to be trapped in aspic. Slow, ponderous, two steps forward followed by one step back. What is worse is that I don't see there being enough money available to Hughes in January to rectify the situation. We need a top quality defender and a top quality striker. We can barely afford one (if reports are to be believed), let alone both. I won't say we are doomed yet, but our Premiership survival is resting on there being three worse teams in the league, and we seem to be doing everything possible to make that a difficult task right now.

In terms of plus points from today, not many. Reid looked okay, always trying. Todd must play every single match from now until the end of the season. Thommo must start in front of Tugay. That's about it really.

p.s Haven't read the previous 7 pages, waaaaay too drunk, so if I have repeated the thoughts of others, my bad.

[RevidgeBlue]

Absolutely typical Rovers, the crowd up by a huge 10% or 2,000 in relative terms, I'd taken my 2 daughters along for the first time since Duff left ............. and we get a completely flat performance.

Sorry to all you Dickov lovers out there but whilst the pint sized Scot's individual work ethic certainly can not be faulted I feel his contribution to the team is enormously over-rated. Can't compete in the air due to his size. Poor first touch hence generally unable to hold the ball up. Rarely tests the opposition keeper and most importantly seems completely unable to link up with whoever his striking partner seems to be on any given day.

I believe that if we are to have any degree of certainty of survival Dickov's role needs to be reduced to at most coming on for the last half hour to ruffle the feathers of tiring defenders.

Whilst in the meantime and in the presumed absence of a major Cole like signing in January, a successful partnership simply MUST be found between any combination of the more technically gifted forwards at the club Boothroyd/Gallagher/Stead/Jansen.

[I_saw_Batty_score]

Can the coaching staff teach the players that throw in can go forwards and that once in a while a long throw might be needed. It seemed every single "attacking" throw in went backwards.

[AndreasG]

If I recall I think 1 or 2 games ago NEJ was actually being highly praised...

There is an unwritten rule on this message board. You may criticize players when we've lost but if you for example say that Dickov is not Premier League quality after a win it's you that get's criticized.

[Paul]

Spot on, absolutely correct.

[bellamy11]

I think I went to a different game yesterday.

My criticisms are of the creativity in the side and the lack of a striker who can turn a game on its head with a moment of magic. I'm also very critical of the people who watch the team. Yesterday I was sat in my seat with a desire to punch any one of the people around me who were complaining. The very same people who praised the rejuvinated Emerton were the ones screaming at him and professing that they "always hated him".

I get home, sleep on it, and find all this written. An ever-so-slightly over-dramatised reaction to a game in which we reduced a better team (higher up the table) to counter-attacks and defending deeply. People are calling for heads - Nissa, Ferguson, Dickov this week. They praise others - Neill and Tugay this time. Yet rewind to a fortnight or so ago and Neill and Toogs would have been the first people everybody would have dropped.

Friedel was fine. Little chance for the goal.

Lucas was excellent. Went forwards whenever he could and supported Reid because he knew that Reidy doesn't bomb forwards all the time.

Short and Todd were very good. Both showed several composed touches on the ball. They cleared when necessary, passed the ball about, and gave Defoe little space all game.

Nissa was predictably bad. A very composed centre-half, it's far too much to expect him to bomb down the left, skin people and deliver a quality cross. It isn't in his job decription. You wouldn't expect Andy Todd to fly down the right and drop it on somebodies head. Defensively he was fine. The only one to chase Brown for the goal. It was actually Todd and Short who doubled up on Defoe leaving Keane unmarked. Play him at centreback or not at all. Playing him at left back last time must have set him back about a year in progression.

Emerton and Reid weren't half as good as they have been recently. Emerton has a lot of trouble crossing on his left foot. I'd like to see one of de Pedro or MGP get their acts together and sort out our left sided problem. Spurs worked hard in restricting the supply from our wingers and they did it well.

This left our central midfielders with more time and space on the ball. This really showed with the possession they both had. Tugay was very effective with the ball. Ferguson was erratic. Taking Tugay off for the rubbish Thompson was a bad move IMO because he was picking out some lovely passes.

Gallagher and Dickov were outmuscled by two very able centre-halves. Gally looks very lightweight but has the quality to find himself a chance or two. Dickov worked hard as usual but found it difficult against such big lads. Bothroyd was much more powerful and his close control is something else. However he faded towards the end after seeing a lot of the ball initially.

This was a different team who capitulated to Boro. This is a different team to the one Chelsea rolled over. For some reason a good away win has given everybody unrealistic expectations. The final ball yesterday was pitiful, but that was the only thing lacking. Playing a killer pass is one of the most difficult things in football and Spurs defended it very well. We weren't rubbish at all. When we lost the ball we got it back. Our passing in the build-up was very good. It was our presence up front that let us down, nothing more.

I'd love a big target man to come in and bully around defenders. Beattie would be above and beyond my wildest dreams. I think we'll survive whatever though. The attitude of the fans was by far and away my biggest disappointment yesterday. It wasn't constructive criticism. It wasn't lambasting an awful player. It was people finding faults in players who were trying their best and not quite getting it right.

I generally ignore the mood-swings that this mb goes through. I expect it and usually switch off. But to call yesterday the worst performance of the season and to suggest that players who have been performing well recently are rubbish on the back of one performance is out of order. Sometimes I wonder why half the people at Ewood Park bother turning up.

[jim mk2]

No ideas.

No imagination.

No flair.

No bottle.

No quality.

No points.

No hope.

[Kennysuperbuyer]

I got 10 tickets for £90 yesterday and took people along who were willing to pay £9 but had'nt been to Ewood for sometime.

Typically Rovers put on a poor display just when people are showing interest again.

They came away thinking £9 for the entertainment given yesterday was too much so theres no way they are going to pay £27.

The conclusion was again that football has been taken away from the working man and the prices charged to supporters is far too much.

I am even getting disullusioned with todays players wages, agents fees, diving. spitting etc etc.

[SouthAussieRover]

Thanks to the Murdochisation of what was once a true working mans game I rarely get to see the ###### performances we are putting in.

[Eddie]

Bellamy I think you are right on the mark with that.

I think a few on this board are being to hard on the team for yesterdays performance. It wasnt great that is true, but the only thing lacking was the ability to create chances, granted that is very important in football. Maybe it was an off day and we will see the team attacking again as a unit with good movement and creativity as they have been in recent games, if not then we have a good basis, and in the January window we will just have to try and get another striker and possibly a midfielder to add that to the team.

We lost, not great, would have been nice to win and would have really helped us out, but I think there are a lot of positives that can be taken from that game, and I'm not that worried.

[mjs]

Tugay was very effective with the ball. Ferguson was erratic. Taking Tugay off for the rubbish Thompson was a bad move IMO because he was picking out some lovely passes.

Very good comment. I was surprised by the substitution because Tugay was by far our best performer across the midfield yesterday. He was the only one likely to open up the opposition. It seems he has become something of a fall guy.

I wasn't against bringing on Thompson but why not take off the very ineffective Ferguson (whose number of poor games far outweighs his good ones). Why not stick Thommo on the right to replace Reid?

Also have to agree with Revidge regarding the comments about Dickov. Whilst his work rate and endeavour have been top class this season, I feel we will need something more in terms of quality if we are to stay out of the relegation places.

On the plus side we have only conceded one goal in the last two games and is something to build on.

I know it is stating the obvious but the quality of our January signings will be the difference between staying up and going down.