[Archived] Everton 0 V Rovers 1

[Hasta]

Good result but let's not forget - the gap is closing

[Bobby G]

Ooops.

haha I was on an excitement roll and just named all the top teams,of course it should have read Liverpool,Arsenal and Man United only.

[rover6]

Against more conservative side at Ewood it might be harder to make an impression using the 451 formation, but I do not see why we should not try. We can always count on Pedersen to link up upfront and help out.

Agree with that. Against Chelsea, 4-5-1 worked well - although not well enough to get us any points. But then the following week against Middlesbrough the same formation didn't look quite so impressive at all, as we lost.

That formation can only work if the striker holds up the ball and maybe with Stead back on form, he can do that.

[Radagast]

I'll agree that Stead was awful until his superbly-taken goal. After that he looked more of a danger than he has since the first half dozen games of the season. Give him a run in the team now and see if he can sustain it.

Great result, great defensive performance (although I'll never stop clinching my arse when I see Nissa attempting to judge a dropping ball). Let's push on now.

[tonygreenbank]

Superb performance Rovers. I`ve always liked Reid as he has power , pace and a good shot at set pieces. My Man of the Match. Everybody played well today and we matched Everton all the way. Did anyone else notice that Ferguson "did" Mokeona in the second half? Absolute moron. Great goal by Stead and Thompson could have matched it later on. Surely we are safe. Highest league place this season.

[tcj_jones]

You can see in the post match interview just how much this means to Stead.  This is exactly the kind of player we need at this club.

Exactly...but he's crap don't forget.

That wasn't directed at me was it Le Chuck? I've wanted him in the team all season. Even when dickov was playing well I said I'd rather Stead in the team.

[mrsjansen]

I thought the build up on sky was interesting there was only 1 team playing according to them.

So how good was it that we made people sit up and take notice, rovers r always best when we are the underdogs, and well said to sparky after the game who commented that nobody has given us credited for what er are trying to do here.

I'm that optimistic i could even see us finishing in the bottom of the top half of the table, imagine that and an fa cup win 10 years after winning the cup.

Oh and one of the teams that are bigger than us are sat one place and onlt one point above us. hahahaha

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Stead MUST start against Leicester, this lad will come good with a sustained run in the first team again.

Looked like he was going to explode when he scored today..showed how much it really meant.

Edited March 6, 2005 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[1864roverite]

we should just go out from the 1st minute and attack, an early goal will destroy their confidence as they are poor travellers, have injury problems and are on the verge of a real relegation battle in the championship.

Go for the kill early on

[eddiewac]

Take a look at this non biased report.... http://www.setanta.com/content/setanta/web...e&noex&ref=rss&

not! Didnt realise we were playin at home!!! "The home side did look the better team in the first period!" Was I watching a different match!?! Even David Moyes admitted they deserved nothing and yet we still get biased reports coming from somewhere! I also watched it on Sky and with that pre match build up, you would have thought they were filming an Everton training match against themselves!!

Delighted for Stead! He's gotta start against Leicester now!

[Tango]

Overjoyed about the result and for Steady!

Now I'm dreaming of a mid-table finish and a cup final!

[RoyRover]

Interesting to drag up that 4-5-1 thread and see what people say now

4-5-1 is a crap formation if none of the 5 support the 1. Today, we saw that it can work when other players join the attack. It isn't the type of formation that I'd want to us to use on a regular basis. However, maybe for the next 3 league games, it will be the one which will bring us the most points. I'd like to see us play a 4-4-2 against Leicester though, with Stead and another striker.

[benhben]

YESSS STEAD, weve been wanting that to happed all season. This result was massive, with the next 3 games coming up i cant see many points! The whole team played well today, Nelsen, Reid and Stead down the middle were quality. If we are goin to play one upfront stead may be the better option as he holds the ball up better than Dikov. If we can get a decent striker next season to take the Pressure of Stead and Gally we could really see them perform.

[LeChuck]

You can see in the post match interview just how much this means to Stead.  This is exactly the kind of player we need at this club.

Exactly...but he's crap don't forget.

That wasn't directed at me was it Le Chuck? I've wanted him in the team all season. Even when dickov was playing well I said I'd rather Stead in the team.

Nah not at you, just at the people who were knocking him.

Didn't make that very clear, I admit.

[Ricky]

In the first half stead was in a similar position to the one he took up for the goal, he was pointing and shouting where he wanted the ball but MGP ran with it. I think Thommo summed it up in the post match interview when he said that Stead hadn't had great support from the midfield this season.

Hopefully we can get stead back on form starting with leicester next week

[cn_barlow]

dikovs injury might be a blessing in disguise. Hughes has to give stead an extended run in the first team now and i'm sure goals will come with that!

Is this the return of Jon Stead?! Lets hope so!!!

[Kennys Magic Hat]

Since losing to Chelsea 0-4 on the 23rd October we have conceded just 14 goals in 18 Premiership games. After then we have the best defence in the league apart from Chelsea and Man Utd.

Immense!!

Next season with an improved strikeforce we'll be top 10 :-D

[mhead]

This season with all your support WE can get to a Cup Semi-Final for the first time since I was a nipper. And Johnny Stead can take us there.Plus Aaron(a man a match) Mokoena can cement our mobile midfield to our solid defence.

Who you gonna nobble next week,Aaron.?

DON'T MISS IT!

[percy]

You can see in the post match interview just how much this means to Stead. This is exactly the kind of player we need at this club.

I was impressed with Thommo's comments in the same interview. Just after Stead had been questioned about his lack of goals and appearances, Thommo mentioned that all the lads in the squad were right behind Stead and the team's lack of creating chances for him when he (Stead) did play had also been a part of the problem.

Very impressed with the team's organisation, workrate and determination today; even if we aren't exactly providing a big threat to the other teams in terms of attacking play, we're keeping them out at the other end superbly.

Tactically, Hughes got it right today and Everton found it hard to create decent scoring chances against a very well organised and hard working Rovers team. Everyone played well, but Reid impressed me the most, putting in alot of good work at both ends of the pitch and getting invloved in alot of our best play. Flitcroft and Thompson both came back into the team to put in solid displays and Mokoena seemed to be in the right place at the right time on most occasions, protecting the back four well and winning alot of aerial battles. We didn't miss Savage and Emerton as much as I thought we might, so perhaps there's signs that Hughes is starting to build on a promising squad.

Very pleased for Stead, he took his chance very well despite seeming to struggle early on in the game and you could see from his celebrations that it meant so much to him. Hopefully that will give him the confidence to find some form get back amongst the goals. Let's hope Dickov's injury isn't as serious as it looked on Sky and he doesn't have to miss any games, he made a pretty promising start to the match and we'll need his experience and hardwork in the next few matches.

I have to admit I thought Everton would have had a bit more about them, considering their position in the league, but were pretty average at best. They'll need to do alot of work in the summer if they qualify for the CL, because based on what I've seen of them against us twice and in other games on Sky, they don't have alot of attacking options and will struggle against quality European opposition. Fair play to them so far, though, it gives the rest of the league some hope that there's still a chance for the 'smaller' clubs to compete, even without spending milions of ££ every summer.

Bring on Leicester !

[frosty]

Obviously delighted for Steadinho and the whole team. A really solid performance

[Lee]

Just 5-600 Rovers fans at Goodison according to Radio Lancs!....we ALL need to take a good long look at the level of our support for the lads IMHO.

There didn't seem as many as that to be honest.

Looks like the pubs in Blackburn will have been busy again.

It'll be the same next Sunday

[greggyk]

how many tickets sold for Sunday then lee?

[Lee]

dunno, but i'm not optimistic, I fear some fans think we've had our final.

[Gav]

I don't know about anyone else but i don't think i've ever been to Everton and seen a good sized following from the Rovers fans and i've been 4-5 times over the past 10yrs? it just seems one of them places that people don't travel to.

FA Cup game mid 80's was an exception but i missed that

I don't normally stick up for our away support because far to often its an embarrassment but being a Rovers fan has been very expensive over recent weeks and with one eye on a return to Cardiff i'm sure most are watching the pennies.

[Flopsy]

dont forget that the Everton Stewards make you feel nice and home on seats to small for pygmies with no legs