[Archived] Bolton Game 0-1

[Kiwiwannabe]

Bennett totally ruined the match and should be punished like the cheating Bolton g*ts.

I very much doubt anything will happen about Diouf and I haven't seen it again yet. Nothing can happen with Nolan because he was booked for it. But it doesn't matter anyway, because the FA aren't going to take 2 points off Bolton.

And don't even get me started on Big Sam's comments.....

[Blue and White]

1)Mokoena looks like a great player to me.

2)The only player that I can say I was displeased with was Matteo.

3)We didn't deserve to lose this game.....and now there are some tough ones ahead. But we're good enough to

get a few points from them.

1)....Just curious, were u watching the game with your eye's closed?.....

2).....Cant believe i am saying this, but i thought he actually played quite well. did a few nice things

3).....if we cant take points of bolton, who looked very ordinary, i have my serious doubts about being "good enough" within the next month against the top teams

1) and what did he do wrong ? He looked strong and tactically oriented, he didn't look like he was going to give the ball away every time he had posession of it, he didn't make many mistakes. Which is more than you could say for the rest of our defenders. for years.

2) Like giving the ball away in our final attack and ending our last hope ?

3) If it wasn't for Diouf's cheating we would have gotten something from this game.

Edited January 24, 2005 by Blue and White

[Duffers]

what a load of sh1te - Dickov wasn't even playing tonight and hes already being made the scapegoat. He is by far and away the best value for money signing that anyone got last summer and all this @#/? about bringing Tristan in but perhaps not Carew or maybe Mccarthy - be greatful that we got a striker scoring 7 prem goals for £150 000.

[krislu]

How bad do we need a new striker?!

Whatever we manage to get from Ferguson should be spent on a quality striker. I know Thompson was very poor today, but I do belive we can manage with Savage, Thompson, Tugay and Flitty for the rest of the season.

[mrsjansen]

I think the fact that the ref has said no comment means he knows he was wrong.

Either that or Birmingham have paid him the money we paid them.

prat, prat, prat, prat

[rock steady]

its bad enough when the likes of henry/pires et al exagerrate contact in the box to try and win pens, but the way diouf invented the contact was something else altogether. cheating dickh ead

[RoyRover]

God I feel sick. Diouf is a cheat of the highest order and something should be done about him. It pi**es me off so much to see diving like that happening and players getting away with it. Cheating bo**ocks!

As for the game, both teams were poor and neither deserved the 3 points. The limited amount of chances came our way, but that wouldn't have justified us winning the game. Our strikers tonight were dreadful and the midfield lacked any creativity. The work ethic of the team isn't wasn't in question tonight, we just never looked like opening Bolton up. We lacked Ferguson and Tugay's ability to pick out a pass. However, I doubt our strikers would have gotten onto the end of any passes tonight, because they were shocking, especially Gallagher and Bothroyd. Our two wingers didn't have a sniff all night and was surprised that Hughes didn't bring on Reid, to try and freshen things up.

Defensively we are looking quite good, although I'd drop Matteo as soon as I'd drop Diouf (but that's in a different context ). Todd is playing so well at the minute. The bottom line is that we need something better up front, with Ferguson in the being the creative influence in the centre of the park.

On another note, Savage had a decent debut. He worked hard, won the ball back well and made some good tackles. I wasn't expecting much more from him to be honest.

[tchocky]

Cheating scumbag aside, from the commentry tonights match only serves to underscore how desperately we need another striker.

Indeed. Jemal is bizarrely looking the best of the rest now.

[ABBEY]

well what can you say ,not seen it on tv awaiting sky ports news as we speak but i got a text off a nobender who hates rovers and he says we were cheated .....LITTLE SCROAT ....HE SHOUDNT HAVE BEEN ON THE PITCH AFTER THE ELBOW,AND 2 MINUTES LATER HE ALBEIT LAMELY LASHED HIS ARM OUT AGAIN NR THE BLACKBURN END

[James No. 7]

Lady Luck, where art thou?

I am absolutely fuming. Diouf was diving all day, all over the park, and the referee Steve Bennett wasn't paying them.

Then, all of a sudden, he falls over in the penalty box and he awards a penalty kick...of which, by the way, I immediately thought was not a penalty, and the television replay confirmed that it should not have been paid.

Well before that controversial decision, I imagined that if I was in a Rovers shirt on the field, I would have a serious talking to him. He was absolutely disgraceful!

Friedel didn't do a thing wrong with his penalty save -- his palming it to Diouf was merely unlucky.

Overall, both Blackburn and Bolton deserved nothing more than a point each.

They were fairly even throughout the match, although we did edge them a little, but failed to show that class in the final third.

Saying that, we really missed Dickov. His importance to Rovers at the moment was clear for all to see.

We simply don't have any other decent (and in-form) strikers. Stead's confidence looks shot at the moment; Bothroyd has been poor every time I have seen him play; Gallagher is still young and learning the trade; and Jansen isn't what he used to be.

Jemal Johnson was enthusiastic when he came on, and I feel that with some Premiership experience he could turn out to be a good player.

However, we must bring in a decent striker, in addition to Dickov, to help his development.

He won't be helped by what we have at the moment, unfortunately.

I must say that I was impressed by the performances of some of our players.

Morten Gamst Pedersen played well in the first half, and yet again showed his silky skills.

David Thompson was absolutely fantastic in the centre of midfield, and worked very hard. I rate him as our best player.

The likes of Emerton, Neill, and Mokoena had average games. Todd played a good game, as usual.

Savage had an average game as well, but he deserves to be given time to adjust to Blackburn's style of play.

He showed quite a bit of commitment for the cause, though, which is a good sign.

I have mixed feelings on Dominic Matteo. At times he did some good, but then at other times he made my blood boil.

What made me particularly angry was his attitude in our second-last attack.

He had the ball in the second half, and basically just stood there with the ball at his feet, which allowed a Bolton player to come from behind and take it.

If it was any other player, they would have long have made a determined move.

Matteo had the determination and commitment of a log.

In conclusion, I stress the need for a decent to quality striker to be bought or loaned in before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

I am still very much worried about getting relegated to the Championship, and only that new striker will lower my stress level.

Edited January 24, 2005 by James No. 7

[jim mk2]

Sam Allardyce tonight apologised for the behaviour of El Hadji Diouf and promised to discipline the forward as a warning to other diving players who con referees.

"Diouf clearly dived for the penalty, allowing us to score and win a match that we did not deserve, and I just won't tolerate that sort of thing at my club. It has to be stamped out of football.

"I apologise unreservedly for his behaviour to Mark Hughes and Blackburn players and supporters who must be very upset at losing a game that may be crucial to their chances of avoiding relegation.

"Of course I shall be contacting the Premier League and ask them to hand the point back to Blackburn that we gained by default and I shall also be asking them to make an example of Diouf.

"It has been a very bad night for football."

Of course Allardyce said none of these things, refusing even to condemn his player for what was clearly a dive.

Football is a sick sport.

[Maverick]

Just seen the pictures from the game. Diouf is a cheat and should be band from one or two games for his acting. Hope FA would start to look at this and give correct punishment.

The albow on MGP should also be looked at by the FA.

[jim mk2]

Well done to Gary Speed for his honesty.

The Bolton midfielder said: “I’ve just seen it (the TV replay) and no, it doesn’t look like a penalty.

"It’s amazing, Diouf got it, he never gets any fouls. That obviously wasn’t a penalty. Blackburn won’t be happy but we’ll take it.

“Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t but that’s only our second or third penalty this year. It was probably a poor game to watch but we are happy with three points.”

[rog of the rovers]

what a load of sh1te - Dickov wasn't even playing tonight and hes already being made the scapegoat. He is by far and away the best value for money signing that anyone got last summer and all this @#/? about bringing Tristan in but perhaps not Carew or maybe Mccarthy - be greatful that we got a striker scoring 7 prem goals for £150 000.

What?

I think everyone agrees we missed him tonight, of was I at the wrong game?

Friedel-6 out of ten

Neill-5

Mokoena-5

Todd-5

Matteo-4

Emerton-5

Savage-6

Thompson-5

Pedersen-5

Bothroyd-3

Gallagher-3

Stead-4

Johnson-4

[James No. 7]

...

Of course Allardyce said none of these things, refusing even to condemn his player for what was clearly a dive.

...

My opinion of him has turned right around, right after I saw him put his fist in the air in triumph after the final whistle.

[krislu]

David Thompson was absolutely fantastic in the centre of midfield

Edited January 24, 2005 by krislu

[Shevchenko]

The albow on MGP should also be looked at by the FA.

Not to mention the elbow on Todd and the assault on Sav.

[RoyRover]

Morten Gamst Pedersen played well in the first half, and yet again showed his silky skills.

Must have missed that one.

[rog of the rovers]

Kevin Nolan's tackle was unacceptable also

[Eddie]

Sam Allardyce tonight apologised for the behaviour of El Hadji Diouf and promised to discipline the forward as a warning to other diving players who con referees.

"Diouf clearly dived for the penalty, allowing us to score and win a match that we did not deserve, and I just won't tolerate that sort of thing at my club. It has to be stamped out of football.

"I apologise unreservedly for his behaviour to Mark Hughes and Blackburn players and supporters who must be very upset at losing a game that may be crucial to their chances of avoiding relegation.

"Of course I shall be contacting the Premier League and ask them to hand the point back to Blackburn that we gained by default and I shall also be asking them to make an example of Diouf.

"It has been a very bad night for football."

Of course Allardyce said none of these things, refusing even to condemn his player for what was clearly a dive.

Football is a sick sport.

Good god for a second I thought that was serious and that I had seen something different.

[Quack]

Let's not beat about the bush, Rovers were poor - Bothroyd / Gally could still be playing on an empty pitch and would not have scored, Savage was lucky to still be on the pitch and did Lucas hand ball in the area late in the game? We really do need to keep Fergie and get a striker imo.

I am incandescent at Winky Wanderers attitude - Spit should have been off for the elbow, Haim looked as if he had felled by a lumbar jack on several occasions but the worst offence was the 2 footed lunge a la Gerrard by Nolan on Savage - that could have snapped his leg in 2 and all he gets is a yellow card. The " penalty " was a farce - spit fell 2-3 metres after going around Brad - he should join the Olympic Diving Team. If that is how they play in Bolton, thank goodness I follow another team , I would be mortified to admit to following that bunch of thespian divers.

[1864roverite]

well my view is as follows.

There is not a lot of positives I can take out of this game, we were absolutely crap

friedel - needs to come for more crosses.

niell - did okay and was probably our best attakcing player

todd - steady defender, again showed composure when elbowed

mokoena - did a lot better than against cardiff

emerton - showed glimpses but not enough support

thompson - cannot play in the middle, that is clearly obvious

SAVAGE - did okay on his debut

pederson - good start but faded. Why cant he run at defenders when the opportunity is there ?

gallagher - was he on the pitch ?

bothroyd - load of rubbish the big soft southern nonce.

stead - needs an injection of confidence and a serious break from the first team

johnson - probably did more than both Gally and bothroyd did together. a fine debut from the youngster.

the game was an awful spectacle, an awful display and a sparse crowd from both sets of fans. JHC 20k for a local derby match versus Bolton ?

a few pointers I picked up on.

If Shrek wants a new donkey for his new film then look no furhter than bothroyd. The boy is a shocking example of a young player in the big time. Whoever gave him the latest emeeeele 'eskey video needs shooting. 6ft 3 plus and he cant win a header, cant stand on his feet, cant run, cant shoot, cant pass in fact just what does he do apart from take up a place in the first 11 ?

Gally is clearly unable to play alongside this muppet of a centre forward. Rovers need to ditch him now.

Stead needs faming out away from the club if only to get him playing 90 minutes regularly.

Dickov is going to need a striker alongside him and Rovers have no option but to loan a half decent player/journey man - Carew/Mccarthy/Euell - someone who can just score a goal from the centre forward position.

Thompson is NOT the man to play inside alongside Savage. He is clearly short of nouse in the middle. I doubt whether tugay could also. Ferguson was sorely missed and is that player we need.

Defensively again okay. Even big Dom played well.

I am distraught at the result as My Wife, Daughter and Father in Law are all bolton and being in the house with them right now makes me wants to throw them all out in the cold of night, christ even the dog has it in for me tonight !

the one shining light ???? my new Adidas gloves kept my hands nice and warm

[Obbien]

Morten Gamst Pedersen played well in the first half, and yet again showed his silky skills.

Must have missed that one.

I just read that MGP was rated MOM by a jury at Ewood...

[Lathund]

Wasn't it Nolan who elbowed MGP early in the second half as well?

[Hasta]

Still on his feet. What happens next?