[Archived] Blackburn Vs Birmingham

[thenodrog]

from the indy article

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An even better bit from that article.........

"It was bad enough for Bruce that Savage was officially proclaimed star of a decidedly dull show. It was worse still that another Welshman who spurned him in January should put the result beyond doubt. City were trailing to Paul Dickov's 49th- minute penalty when Craig Bellamy scored a second for Blackburn with nine minutes remaining. The Blackburn substitute chose to go to Celtic on loan rather than sign for Birmingham following his spat with Graeme Souness after Christmas. On yesterday's evidence, his judgment - and that of Savage - can hardly be faulted."

Happy days eh?

[thenodrog]

Graveson'd be excellent........ if somebody would pay his wages. 

Crikey we would put the sh1ts up visiting teams then.

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btw as far as yesterdays match and last seasons respective fixture against Brum.....and taking off my blue andd white spex, I must say that I do like Pennant. I know he must be a bad sod to manage but we could never get near the ball when he is in control of it.

Edited October 23, 2005 by thenodrog

[Scotty]

A comfortable enough win in the end - that's 4 wins out of 5 since the defeat against Newcastle. Not many people questioning Hughes now I notice.

We seem to start games off slowly at home. I suspect Hughes wants us to keep things tight early on, but it would be nice if we got at teams straight from the off. The tempo in the first half was largely non-existant and, as a result, Brum easily contained us. Of course, the early kick-off may not help either.

We looked much sharper after half-time. We started to play more direct and Kuqi won some good flick-ons, one of which led to the penalty. It was a soft decision, we'd have been up in arms if it had been given against us, but we probably deserved some luck after last week.

After that we controlled the game, apart from a ten minute period when Bruce put on an extra midfielder and they slightly over-ran us. Bellamy's goal came at a good time though and killed the game off. It was a touch of class (great ball from Pedersen, great finish by Bellamy) in a game devoid of any real quality.

We defended well throughout, from front to back, and restricted Brum to one half-chance. It's already obvious that with Bellamy in the team we're much better than when he's not. Kuqi and Dickov work their nuts off but they don't offer anything like the same sort of threat as Bellamy does. He's a class act.

On the down-side, Bentley and Tugay were largely poor. Both of them had their moments, but they failed to really make an impact and stamp their quality on the game. Bentley seems to have lost a bit of confidence recently which is a shame as I thought he looked promising at Bolton and Old Trafford. Might be time to bring Emerton back.

We've started to beat the teams we should beat at home, which is a sign that we're becoming a decent side. Not great by any means, but decent enough. If Bellamy stays fit we've got a chance of making the top 6. If not, then we'll probably be lower mid-table. Either way, I can't see us being involved in the relegation battle any more - so I guess that's progress.

[dave birch]

We seem to start games off slowly at home.  I suspect Hughes wants us to keep things tight early on, but it would be nice if we got at teams straight from the off.  The tempo in the first half was largely non-existant and, as a result, Brum easily contained us.  Of course, the early kick-off may not help either.

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I think, Scotty, we look to how teams are going to approach us, especcially at home, so a "slow" or "nervous" start would be the norm.

I'm glad that we can play crap and win, for it was for to long that we seemed to play crap and loose.

[Neil Weaver]

Drog, agree Pennant looked pretty handy, but glad he's not at Ewood. We've got enough players with 'previous' - OK mostly on the pitch - to keep management busy.

The pen - I'm sure we've seen em not given but I thought it was clear enough. (Sarcasm mode on) And the likes of Chelsea etc get em almost every time, why shouldn't we (sarcasm mode off).

To my mind, Kuqi's doing everything that most reasonable folk could have asked for - work like a Trojan, hold the ball up, win flick ons and knock the ball down for others, put himself around and be a headache for centre backs. Doubt he'll be a major player against the top teams but he'll be fine against the lower and mid-table sides. If he gets more than about 8 goals this season I'll be pleasantly suprised, but if he carries on the way he's doing at the mo, he'll contribute to most of our goals. That'll do for me.

[roversmum]

Spot on imo Neil. Thing about Kuqi is, he puts himself about, makes a total pain of himself but doesn't whinge like Dickov.

[DanLad]

Barry Knight is noted by us and Bolton fans as being the most atrocious ref around.

However, today I thought he had a reasonably good game by his standards.

He tried as often as possible to let play flow e.g. Heskey's dive in Darwen end penalty area. He certainly wasn't card happy. At least we saw two teams of eleven play for 90 minutes. Did he book two or three of them and.......................

WOW!!    Not a single card for a Rovers player.  Am I right; am I mistaken or am I dreaming?

Shame on those of you who booed him at half time.

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Quite frankly I am astounded that anyone thought that the ref had a good game yesterday. He was awful! The standard of refereeing in the Prem is poor, but that was one of the worst I've seen.

When people whinge at the ref when they lose games its thought of as sour grapes. When you win and still think the ref was awful doesn't that speak volumes?

[Flopsy]

[/i]

Don't forget a large part of the towns pop are enjoying the festival of Ramadan.

So what? you ( and a few others) are always telling us that they dont come anyway.

And after yesterdays fare, do you blame them for not turning up?

If that games had been on PPV I'd be demanding my money back

(I also think that my Indy quote's better )

[American]

btw Charlton just gone 2-1 up at portsmouth after being 0-1 down.

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I know off topic, but anyone else enjoying watching Danny Murphy pass the ball as much as I am? Hopefully Sven remains as oblivious as he was after the Spurs/Charlton match and leaves him out of the World Cup squad, or doesn't play him.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Steve Bruce's job under threat

It couldn't happen to a nicer bloke could it?

Do I not like that man. I hope the Brummies continue to struggle and the pint-sized porn baron Sullivan gives him the bullet.

Alan Hansen on Match of the Day last night said: "Birmingham have got massive problems. They were a shambles, all over the place in defence."

It certainly wasn't a vintage spectacle at Ewood yesterday, but the three points was the most important thing. Almost fell asleep during the tedious 1st half. Fortunately it improved a bit after the break.

Alan Green on 606 last night said of the 1st half: "To say it was shocking would be an understatement."

What about Kuqi's horrendous miss during the middle of the second half ? I think my 18-month old niece could have kicked the ball with greater accuracy and conviction. It was a bloody awful shot.

Personally I think Kuqi is barely Division One class, let alone Premiership class. Some Ipswich fans were pleased to get shot of him. Yes, he runs about a lot and tries, but his first touch and control is abysmal.

He's been responsible for some shocking misses at Ewood this season against Spurs and Newcastle. I know that he scored two against West Brom, but apart from that, for me he's often been an embarrassment in the blue and white shirt.

Still, it was nice to see Mr Potato Head squirming on Match of the Day last night....

Edited October 23, 2005 by Anti Euro Smiths Fan

[tcj_jones]

For all the hard work and running Kuqi and Dickov do, they will never have the quality required to score enough goals in the premiership. Their finishing is pretty poor.

I agree AESF that Kuqi's shot was awful, but it wasn't from a good angle and I would be surprised if Bellamy could have scored from the same position.

Edited October 23, 2005 by tcj_jones

[roverthemoon]

I agree AESF that Kuqi's shot was awful, but it wasn't from a good angle and I would be surprised if Bellamy could have scored from the same position.

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He didn't, he blazed it over the bar near the end of the match.

[AggyBlue]

Bellamy did have one from a similar position, he didn't hit the target either.

[1864roverite]

Happy with the 2-0 win and the 3 points.

yes Rovers were slow in the first half but brum didnt exaclt yocme out to play did they ?

Yes Tugay was on and off as was Bentley

Yes Dickov missed a sitter and scored a 10/10 for the dive

Yes Kuqi made a nuisance of himself all game

Yes Bellers scored a deserved second

Yes we won 2-0 and fot 3 points

Yes bumley got tupped again

Yes the biggest club in Britain were very very poor by bumleys standards

[tcj_jones]

EDIT:

Difference was that Kuqi's shot was well, well off target and completely mis-hit. Bellamy's chance was slightly more difficult and he made a better fist of it than Kuqi.

Edited October 23, 2005 by tcj_jones

[Scotty]

The difference also is that Kuqi was a free transfer whereas Bellamy cost somewhere between £4-6M. And for a free transfer Kuqi's doing fine.

[roversmum]

Steve Bruce:

to compete at a different level

He'll soon be doing that

[Neil Weaver]

The difference also is that Kuqi was a free transfer whereas Bellamy cost somewhere between £4-6M.  And for a free transfer Kuqi's doing fine.

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Spot on Scotty, a point many of our posters would do well to remember. Might also be worth bearing in mind the relative transfer fees of Dickov and Bellamy when comparing their merits.

[AggyBlue]

I'm surprised none of the PC brigade have complained about this weeks chants directed at Pennant.

After all, they probably hurt his feelings. He did look a bit surprised.

Perhaps they weren't 'sick' enough for our more straight laced members to have a whinge.

[Scotty]

I'm surprised none of the PC brigade have complained about this weeks chants directed at Pennant.

After all, they probably hurt his feelings. He did look a bit surprised.

Perhaps they weren't 'sick' enough for our more straight laced members to have a whinge.

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However, I'm not at all surprised at your latest stupid post.

[BRFC4EVA]

I'm surprised none of the PC brigade have complained about this weeks chants directed at Pennant.

After all, they probably hurt his feelings. He did look a bit surprised.

Perhaps they weren't 'sick' enough for our more straight laced members to have a whinge.

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Lets just put the issue to bed, dont need to bring up Anfield again

[AggyBlue]

However, I'm not at all surprised at your latest stupid post.

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Hook, line and sinker.

My money was on you or Flopsy.

[colin]

I'm surprised none of the PC brigade have complained about this weeks chants directed at Pennant.

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Tell you what Aggy, me too.

I'm too busy complaining about straight bananas, black bin bags, European directives about left handed hampstirs, kittens with whiskers, brown paper packages tied up with string, & snow-flakes on mittens.

But (sigh) I don't suppose that is "politically correct" either.

Let's struggle on eh?

[Scotty]

Hook, line and sinker.

My money was on you or Flopsy.

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You must be sooooo proud. I guess that's what counts for a victory in Numptyland. Well done.

[AggyBlue]

Toooooo sensitive