[Archived] Liverpool 0 - 0 Rovers

[colin]

There have been some interesting games played against Liverpool over the past few years. Just creeping in under the ten-year bar was a certain game played at Anfield on 14th May 1995 when something or other happened. Can't remember what exactly, but it certainly made Anfield happy as they all stayed to applaude long after the final whistle. For which we salute them.

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Stan Collymore's infamous "bobble" shot at Ewood which completely bamboozled Tim Flowers; John Barnes amazing overhead kick and goal, also at Ewood. Amazing, because it was a super goal but also it was executed by Barnes who, by then, had started showing signs of severe pie-abuse.

Going back into the mists of time was the FA Cup game on 5th January 1991 when Liverpool came to Ewood in their heyday. This was before Uncle Jack's time and we were languishing near the bottom of the old second division and churning out results such as a 0-1 home loss to Notts County a mere 10 days before. Simon Garner scored a goal just after the start of the second half (when I was still in the damp & smelly ######-hole brick ruin, laughingly known as the "Gents Toilets" in the Blackburn End. Thanks Simon.) This was followed 44 minutes later by a ball-girl quickly chucking the ball back to a Liverpool player. The resultant cross ended up with Super Atko turning the ball into his own net followed by years of abuse for the poor sod. Naturally we lost the replay. The ever-lovable Jimmy Hill subsequently blamed the ball-girl for *not* time-wasting and then had to humbly apologise to her for being a cynical git. We all know too well what Jimmy Hill is doing nowadays. I wonder what became of that ball-girl? Perhaps she's a housewife in Haslingden or a physicist at the Cern,the world's largest particle physics laboratory. I guess we'll never know.

Possibly the greatest* match against Liverpool was on 10th January 2000 at Anfield. Still wallowing about in the middle of the old second division, but thankfully two months after Kidd was booted out and twelve days away from being thumped 5-1 at Oakwell, Rovers arrived with such luminaries as Grayson, Peacock, Dailly & Davidson. Combined value? Possibly a half-eaten pie left on the doorstep of 53 Nuttall Street.

Eight minutes from time with the score at 0-0 "Blackburn broke down the right of midfield. Per Frandsen (stop giggling at the back) spotted Blake (I won't tell you again!)in a yawning chasm where Liverpool's centre halves should have been and the Welsh striker swept home an instinctive right foot volley high beyond "electric" Sander Westervelt." (The Guardian)

Just to add to the general surrealism of that match, me & Mrs Colin gave a lift back to Manchester to a German Liverpool supporter who I happened to be working with. We dropped him off at Victoria Station in Manchester, counted to five, and then started laughing.

*only joking

More recently there has been a series of serious injuries to Liverpool players. Carragher broke a leg thanks to Lucas Neil and in the same game Milan Baros broke an ankle. This year Cisse suffered a severe break at Ewood. The Liverpool squad must be planning their excuses

Anyway, onto the Q & A with Barry who works in the same god-forsaken organisation as me.

Let's get this out of the way and the rest of this will be a downhill cruise with the wind behind your back. Tuesday 18th January. Turf Moor, FA Cup: Burnley 1 - 0 Liverpool. You must be cringing at the memory.

Not as much as Djimi 'Bambi on ice' Traore. In fairness Benitez got alot of criticism after this but the kids had got us through a couple of rounds of the Carling Cup beating Spurs and Boro and nobody complained then. The trouble with this was that it was obvious a few of the more senior players just didn't fancy it, and it doesn't matter who you are playing, if your not up for it particularly in the cup your going to get beaten.

Got any grudges against us? Lucas Neill on Jamie Carragher could be counted as a bad one, but Baros & Cisse were accidents.

Yeah, Neill can expect a 'warm' welcome from the kop particularly as he didn't play in the return match at Anfield last season although he did get sent off in the Carling Cup which amused the large travelling support. Baros was crocked by one of our own, Markus Babbel, although it was a complete accident it could only happen to Liverpool. I think we will need to take extra insurance cover out for the trip to Ewood next season - providing your still in the Premiership that is, only joking!

Obviously your current manager is not the most popular person at Anfield being an ex Manc/bluenose and a thorough pain in the **** whenever he played against Liverpool. Also wish your man with the drum at Ewood Park would stick it were the sun doesn't shine - not Burnley! I hope he doesn't read this!

We've both had Graeme Souness as manager. With us he was great for a couple of years, got rid of some dead wood, promotion, & Cardiff. Then he lost the plot. How was he at Anfield?

Souness the player is still a legend at Anfield probably the best midfielder of his generation and along with Dalglish, Hansen and co. part of the best Liverpool team I have ever seen - if Stevie G becomes half the player Souness was he would be worth all the current media hype. Unfortunately for many younger reds they can only remember Souness the manager. I remember when Souness was appointed I thought he was the right man to take over from Kenny who was clearly not a well man towards the end of his time at Liverpool. Unfortunately, Souness broke up a team too quickly that although was ageing had still won the league the year before and was 2nd in the league and in an FA Cup quarter final when Kenny left. Although Souness won the cup in 1992 he was

having his heart problems - and what finally did for him with Liverpool supporters was alongside a poor set of results, he sold his story to the s*n which post Hillsborough was the worst thing he could have done. To this day he is still referred to as Suness by many reds and he did appear to have a real problem with Liverpool when he was your manager - nobody liked his reaction and comments following the Carragher-Neill incident.

14th May 1995, a happy day for both sets of fans. Was there ever a feeling that Liverpool might not just play as well as they could, just to deny the Unmentionables the title?

The good thing about that day, apart from the obvious, was that the Mancs couldn't point any accusing fingers at Liverpool. I do remember though when Jamie Redknapp smashed in the free kick I didn't know whether to celebrate or cry. There was some debate among the fans beforehand about what the reds should do but none of us should really have worried thanks to Andy 'barndoor' Cole having one of his finest matches in a Manc shirt - his heart must have been with Blackburn even then.

Apart from J-A Riise who always plays well against us, who should Rovers be afraid of?

Morientes is class and once he gets used to the Premiership and has a proper pre-season will score lots of goals for Liverpool. Another of our Spaniards - Luis Garcia, although infuriating at times, has tended to save his best performances for home games, has some nice touches and can score goals. Riise is having his best season since joining Liverpool so your right to be worried about him.

Lucas Neill had better watch for Jamie Carragher!

...and is there a donkey in your squad?

Not really - Traore is injured at the moment! That's a bit unfair. Liverpool have got a number of players that are not good enough if we are to bridge the gap back to the so-called big 3. However, most of our squad would still walk into most other Premiership teams.

I don't think there is any special love or hate between the two clubs, so what's the general feeling of Liverpool towards Rovers as a club?

Not sure that Rovers evoke any great feelings among Liverpool supporters - I hope that doesn't sound too disrespectful. Certainly not in our top 3 or 4 of clubs we hate. I think there was a bit of rivalry there due to some of the comments Souness made when your Manager, and obviously I'm always happy to see an ex-Manc having a hard time - although I think Mark Hughes is doing a good job at the moment.

Are there any players at Rovers who have attracted your attention over the last year or so?

I would have liked Liverpool to have signed Barry Ferguson before he went to Blackburn but obviously he was no great shakes while at Ewood. Jon Stead caught the eye when he first arrived last season - and I'm glad he found his goal scoring touch at the pit last week - I think he will come good again although hopefully not next Wednesday!

Finally: What's the score going to be?

I never like to predict Liverpool scores. However, if we are going to catch our blue cousins in fourth place we need to win all of our remaining home games and a least a couple away. I hope you play like you did last season at Anfield which is one of the worst performances by an away team at Anfield I've seen.

And don’t forget to say “Thank you” for 6th March

Thank you.

And thank you Barry. A pleasure doing business with you.

[den]

Thanks Colin and Barry. A lot of work gone into that and it's appreciated.

Well done guys.

[1864roverite]

its gonna be close !

[Hughesy]

Im glad Sky has decided to show it. Saves me £40 as i can watch it in the comfort of my own home, rather than giving the scousers my money

[roversWASmylife]

Good preview colin.

I'm going for a draw, Liverpool 2 - 2 Rovers.

Same result as last time at Ewood, the games between us and them are quite open.

[DE.]

Nice preview!

I think we'll operate defensively once more, and can't see many goals going in, especially as Agent Jay isn't here this time. Though liverpool crushed Bayern leverkusen their league form isn't as fearful. They've lost 11 games I believe this season, which is the same amount as us. They have, however, won plenty more games than us, and only drawn 4 this season(one of them being against us). They have let in 30 goals, and scored 41, both superior to most teams below them. These stats suggest(particularly with our dogged defensive form as of late) a tight match. They'll be on a high from beating Bayern and we'll be on a high from beating Everton, so no advantages there.

Logic dictates a narrow liverpool win. But so did logic dictate an Everton win last sunday, and we defied that, so...

1-0 to the Rovers. Lucas Neill to grab a stunning 87th minute winner with a thunderbolt from 35 yards after robbing Garcia of possession and skinning 2 other players along the way

Edited March 11, 2005 by DE4life

[Flopsy]

Lucas Neill to grab a stunning 87th minute winner with a thunderbolt from 35 yards after robbing Garcia of possession and skinning 2 other players along the way

are you drunk? or maybe he was actually trying to pass to a Rovers player

[roversmum]

Time for Brad to continue his trend and score his seasonal goal!

We must do better than the last outing at Anfield.

Score - 1-1 Brad for us and Riise for Pool.

They will be quaking in their boots if Mokoena's playing - who's next up for injury?

[DE.]

Last monday's Guardian was very anti-Mokoena. They painted a very bad picture of our South African hardman. As long as he doesn't get himself sent off, i'm not too bothered. His reputation may soon be up there with Todd, Sav, Thommo and Dickov.

[Cocker]

DE4life Posted on Mar 11 2005, 11:45 

  Last monday's Guardian was very anti-Mokoena. They painted a very bad picture of our South African hardman. As long as he doesn't get himself sent off

He does go by the name of 'Axe man' so you can see their point

[DE.]

I didn't condemn them for it, agreed with most of what they said

[Ozz]

Is it on telly now Hughesy?

[Kennys Magic Hat]

Im glad Sky has decided to show it. Saves me £40 as i can watch it in the comfort of my own home, rather than giving the scousers my money

If ever there was a statement that highlighted why its not worth going to Premiership way matches this is it!

I was seriously thinking of going to Liverpool but nows its on TV ill be doing the exact same as Hughesy!

'Pool 1 - 2 Rovers

Baros (27) Stead (22) Dickov(pen90)

[grizfoot]

Liverpool 1-1 Rovers

Gerrard (76) -- MGP (32)

[frosty]

Liverpool 2 - 2 Rovers

Riise ( 23)------ Mgp ( 39)

Garcia ( 25)---- Mokoena ( 94 )

[Oklahoma]

0-1 MGP

[thenodrog]

Last monday's Guardian was very anti-Mokoena. They painted a very bad picture of our South African hardman.

Didn't read it but it was obviously written either by an Everton sympathiser or somebody who knows flerk all about football. His task was to compete with their strong midfield and protect the centre halves and Everton simply had no one good enough to compete with him, hence the number and quality of shots on target that Everton had.

Edited March 11, 2005 by thenodrog

[colin]

Didn't read it but it was obviously written either by an Everton sympathiser or somebody who knows flerk all about football.

Eh?

Didn't read it but...

Edited March 12, 2005 by colin

[colin]

Here's your chance to read it.

say "thank you Colin"

the report

[DE.]

In the paper there was a section below detailing how we stopped them attacking which also mentioned Mokoena. Not sure whether it's on the site or not...

[joey_big_nose]

It will be interesting to see what Hughes does in this match. Today we were rock solid but with very few ideas. The options seem to be straight forward- drop Moko and play two up or just play with one striker.

For me I will be suprised If Hughes doe not go for 451 again. Liverpool will be looking to attack and play through us so should provide a lot of space on the counter. Pedersen should be advised to help out the striker as much as possible.

So who will be that striker? It will defo be Dickov if fit, but Hughes was saying he may no tbe able to pass the fitness test for Wednesday night. I would like, just out of curiosity, to see Stead start. Dickov was great today and did the business but he does not bring the midfield or, indeed, a striking partner into the game too often. He wins lots of free kicks but they ruin the flow of the game.

Stead is no master of this either, but he is a small improvement.

On that note I expect the team to be:

                          Stead

Pedersen                          Thompson

              Flitcroft            Reid

                        Mokoena

  Johansson  Horatio  Todd  Niell

                             

                            Friedel

Subs:  Enckleman, Matteo, Emerton, Tugay, Gallagher

Injured: Savage, Dickov

1-1 (hopefully!)

[philipl]

Great preview Colin.

I'd go with that line-up jbn. Do we know if Savage might be fit?- if he is we might stand a chance of a draw.

If we have to rely on Flitty again, Liverpool will win 1-0.

[joey_big_nose]

I'd go with that line-up jbn. Do we know if Savage might be fit?- if he is we might stand a chance of a draw.

If we have to rely on Flitty again, Liverpool will win 1-0.

Savage is not going to be fit for two weeks according to his half time interview on the Beeb.

I think we do stand a decent chance if Liverpool decide to take the game to us. If I was Rafa and I had been watching Rovers recently, especially against Everton last week, I might well be tempted to put a 451 out myself but I am not sure the Liverpool fans would stand for that at home.

The formation, despite being so insipid today, is amazingly effective at preventing a passing game at all- more so when you have someone so quick, tall and strong as Moko infront of the back four. Getting the beating of him would be a task even for as inspirational a player as Gerrard.

Providing Liverpool go for a 442 I have a reasonably decent feeling about this game. I can see Pedersen, Stead, Thompson and Reid all giving them problems on the counter.

Edited March 14, 2005 by joey_big_nose

[philipl]

The Guardian is reporting that Dickov is definitely out of Wednesday's game at Liverpool because of the groin problem.

On Rovers World, Dickov said he has a muscle tear which needs about six weeks' rest to heal and that he does not need surgery.

[RoyRover]

It's going to be another hard game and on paper, it is probably the easiest game that we are going to get from the next three games. If we play like we did against Everton, then we have a chance. A draw would be a great result, considering that Liverpool are playing pretty well at the moment. Just as long as we don't play like we did last season! I'm going for a 2-2 draw.