[Archived] Huddersfield Town 3-1 FT

[Blue blood]

Like most Rovers performances, looking on last night's game things can seem either really good or really bad depending upon how you look on them. There were a fair few positives, but also a fair few negatives.

The negatives first:

Savage, runs about a lot, and breaks up the play, but his distribution was again poor, and he fluffed it several times when involved in attacking moves. Granted he breaks up the play which is an all important role (and one for which Flitty was much maligned even in his better years) but for £3 million I'm still hoping for a bit more. Mokeana seems a no frills more reliable version at present.

Neill was terrible. One of the more improved players this season, this game however saw him give the ball away with sloppy passing in some dangerous places, as well as the odd dubious tackle.

Dickov, ineffectual at best. What really annoyed me was his pass from the left wing backwards in the second half when he had a relitavely unmarked Savage in the box. Such mistakes cannot be put down to coming back from injury. Everyone else in the ground could see it was the wrong pass, and does little to suggest that he will be providing Bellamy with the through balls he needs.

Hearing that he was only in because of an injury to Gresko, i.e. we had no one else to play in that position in Hughes interview on the big screen can't have done much for Gray's moral. That's one explaination for a poor performance, where he didn't even provide the attacking verve that we've seen from him in the past.

The linesman.

The positives:

Bentley, if we could only get the guy in the game for the full 90 minutes he'd be a star. When he was in the game he provided some good attacking runs, a few good crosses, especially for the corner that resulted in Zurab's goal and a bit of verve to the side. Sadly there were periods when I forgot he was playing, but with the right coaching and age on his side, hopefully the drifting in and out of the game will soon be minimised.

Bellamy looked awesome, and a genuine threat with his pace. Rovers can rest assured that this season we have at least one quality forward.

Nelsen and Zurab were suprisingly given a fairly difficult time against the Huddersfield forwards. Maybe I'm used to seeing Nelsen playing flawlessly and thus an ordinary performance seemed so much worse from him. Zurab seemingly was equally uncomfortable, but coped with the physical stuff better then his reputation suggested he would. He also showed that we can have a threat from a corner without being a defensive liability.

I'm a tad worried where the service is going to come from for Bellamy. Dickov didn't really show any signs that there's a potential partnership there (although it is early days) whilst in the midfield only Tugay would be classed as an intelligent passer. My hopes would be on Bentley, or perhaps Emerton who provided the pass for the first goal. If he can produce these killer passes regularly then he can cut in all the time as far as I'm concerned.

Another worry was that there were several times when the ball was whipped into the penalty area and no one was there to get on the end of it. We realy need more killer instinct, especially from the midfield. Recent games I've seen in the Premiership (both with and without Rovers) show the importance of taking chances, and Rovers seem to lack the ability to really seize upon half chances and punish opponents. Arguably Rovers should have got more than 3, especially when 2-0 up, we should have punished them on the break.

Overall though a good night's work. We're through, which as City showed is the most important thing. We got three goals, and Bellamy looks like he's the real deal. Our two new deadline day signings also show signs of being valuable additions to the club. There's still a lot of work to be done though if we've to climb the Premiership table.

[1864roverite]

t4e

try the A roads

[Uddersfelt Blue]

how many times was dickov off side lastnight???

it makes u go crazy and reminds me of cole/yorke

jansen and bellamy i fancy starting on saturday!!

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Do you honestly think we will be playing two strikers at OT?

Bellamy on his own for sure.

Mokoena in front of the defence. Worked a treat last season

[BRFC4EVA]

Good result last night, and well worth the time going to Ewood. Must say tho, i was supprised with qu's outside the bbe at about 7.55pm, huge! i wonder how long they took to clear? As for the htfc fans, they only stopped coming in at half time

Some points id like to raise. Whilst i like Bentley as a player, he is very creative and excites people, i cant help but thinking is isnt a right midfielder. How many times was neill exposed down that left flank. He doesnt track back enough or solid enough in the tackle! Better played as the attacking player of 3 centre mid's.

Bellamy, is a different class to the rest of the team tho, his pace for someone who obviously isnt fully fit is quite amazing. Last night, he didnt even bother doing a trick, he simply just ran past players. I knew he was fast, but that fast!!

The linesman was embarissing actually, i felt sorry for him. Some of the decisions he made in the first half were bad, could see that quite clearly from bbe lower. However the worst was in the 2nd half when bellamy collected the ball behind defenders to run at them and was flagged LOL.

Finally the crowd. Htfc should be congradulated on their superb support. Something that lower teams will do from big towns every so often. Glad they had a goal to cheer and Abbot looks very useful. However, what was that chant they did which sounded like a series of monkeys making noises?

Glad to get through, how many prem teams either got upset or had to do ET?

[roversmum]

We noticed that chant. Good job Dwight Yorke wasn't around or he'd have wanted the lot of them banned

Now, who does everyone reckon we'll get next round? My money's on Newcastle, just to rub in last weekend's debacle!

[cletus]

Then again, whats a 120 mile round trip?

60 miles each way??

[sibbald]

They were singing "Who to be a, Who to be a terrier"

[Paul]

....... Dickov for all his faults worries defenders more, thus creating space for Bellamy.

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Must admit to being concerned about him as well ................