[Archived] Mancs V Rovers Carling Cup Second Leg

[rogerjonesgloves]

I take it you want his gloves?

378139[/snapback]

Nah, but what a keeper

[LA Rover]

I just hope the physios at Ewood can get to the bottom of his constant niggling hamstring problems.

378142[/snapback]

Check his bloody car seat.....worked for Duffer.

[greggyk]

Proud of the lads, but for some reason it didn't seem like we threw everything at United in the last 10mins? Having said that, we played some cracking footie at times and never resulted to long ball tactics(Bolton style) although maybe we should have.

Anyone else feel we needed to be more Bully Boy like, at time tonight?

Anyway, i felt Nelsen,Zurab, Tugay(despite his mistake) and Bentley stood out for me today.

If only we had Dickov at least, we may have created a few more chances.

Oh well, we have to go win the FA Cup now! Although im not sure im too interested in Saturdays game at the moment.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I think that the whole team was amazing - considering we played the whole match with 10 players. Sorry - but I don't remember Kuqi making a pass, trapping the ball, winning a header all the time he was on the pitch.

For me Reid was MOM - but I thought that the defence (excluding Gray) all had reasonable matches.

A bit sad - a fit Bellamy, and an unbiased referee and I was sure that we could now be in the final.

We soooo desperately need another striker.

One bright spot (as an England fan) - thought Rooney was by far the best player on the pitch for both matches. Don't like the bloke - but with him on form England have half a chance at the World Cup

[modes98]

An even stronger case for a striker asap.

Kuqi was pathetic, Bentley didn't do much better until kuqi came off.

Gray was ok at points and the worst passer in the world in others.

Tugay was playing very well until he stopped to think about the bus home and got robbed.

On the plus side the brad of old was in goal tonight, 2 stunning saves plus a great pen save.

Gutted to be out, just hope we win at upton park, but without another striker it's difficult to know who is going to finish the good build up play.

[mjs]

Proud of the lads, but for some reason it didn't seem like we threw everything at United in the last 10mins?

378146[/snapback]

I thought the same. Just feel we could have had more of a go last 10, despite our lack of attacking options.

Apart from that we have nothing to be ashamed of and we can do them over next week instead.

[key76]

Proud of the lads, but for some reason it didn't seem like we threw everything at United in the last 10mins? Having said that, we played some cracking footie at times and never resulted to long ball tactics(Bolton style) although maybe we should have.

Anyone else feel we needed to be more Bully Boy like, at time tonight?

Anyway, i felt Nelsen,Zurab, Tugay(despite his mistake) and Bentley stood out for me today.

If only we had Dickov at least, we may have created a few more chances.

Oh well, we have to go win the FA Cup now! Although im not sure im too interested in Saturdays game at the moment.

378146[/snapback]

disagree about bentley, he only came alive in the second half. shame about them having the extra man in poll though, knew we were in for trouble when i saw him lead the teams out for the game!!

[John]

Conceded quite a few goals over the years when tugay has been caught in possession - he did not have that good a game either but then again he had few options up the park.

Bentley shows glimpes of class and I can see why Hughes persists with him, need to get him more involved in the game - not sure if tonight when we were so direct helps.

Gray got caught out for pace - he does some nice stuff 80% of the time but can be clumsy.

Reid seems to be developing all the time and is now an important member of the squad.

When Brad retires (a long way off I hope), we have one hell of a goalkeeper to replace.

All in all a good committed performance, we are a team which never gives up. However, we are just lacking a bit of quality to make us a really good team.

[greggyk]

You have to realise though. Bentley was playing upfront on his own and linked between midfield and a forward position very well.

[des]

the defence played ok and the midfield was 50-50, not bad however there had three players in the middle and we had four.

the big big gap was the forwards, the club does need to look a fresh again at this part of the team, because tonight there were bad, not just bad, but very bad.

still there is always next year.

[ihateburnley]

Where do we start with that bloody Shefki Kuqi?

Now I know he had a 'dodgy' patch a couple of months ago when he was actually playing OK. I feel so fickle as I was one of the people who was singing his praises after the win at Boro.

But christ the guy is shyte! Let's sign one striker at least and pull Gallagher back from Stoke. Urgent action is needed and quick! Kuqi does a lot of running and so is generally perceived to be a hard working striker. This just masks his totally inept and lacklustre performances though - has there ever been another player so physically big that does not put his weight around?

I honestly thought Bellamy was going to start tonight. When I saw the lineup my heart sank. A terrible Shefki Kuqi alongside a terrible David Bentley. Alas, I looked across to the side to see who was on the bench. I nearly threw up. No Bellamy - not even another striker! Now I know we are short but why oh why did we have Mokoena on the bench at the expense of putting a young striker on?

Derbyshire, Johnson, Garner, Mr fecking Blobby - I don't care as long as we make adequate provisions to put a striker on when we inevitably need a goal. We always were going to need to attack Utd tonight and the ability to score goals was vital!

To Mark Hughes: I'm sure we all agree with pretty much everything you have done so far, and we trust you to the hilt. But please please please make some moves in the coming week. Even announce interest in a striker you have no intention of signing!!! Give the fans some hope that things are going to improve!!!

All we need is one striker to make ALL the difference. Tell the trust fund to get their cheque book out because things are looking bleak at the moment and I'm sure the last thing we all want is another season of mid-table mediocrity. The maths say that if another striker costs £3m, we only have to finish six places higher to gain that back in prize money and that's just this season! If we finish sixth well that's at least six places higher than what we must have banked on finishing.

[mjs]

the big big gap was the forwards, the club does need to look a fresh again at this part of the team, because tonight there were bad, not just bad, but very bad.

378156[/snapback]

I am sure they are well aware.

[Wolverine]

Uited were the better side tonight but seeing as thier strike force cost more than our entire squad so they should be. It was a decent effort from rovers but not enough.

We need a new striker but whoo? I admit I have been a feirce defender of Kuqi, but after tonight I must hold my hands up.

On the flip side, we shouldnt be too pesimistic. When Sparky took over, we were on our way out of the prem. Now we have been in the semi finals of a cup two years running and are still in the fa.

I look forward to the visit of Man U to Ewood as we have shown we can put up a fight without fielding or best team.

God, I was so sure tonight would be great, but it wasnt to be.

Our achievements so far are fantastic - beating Man U earlier in the season, beating Newcastle, beating Brum and avoiding relegation. That will do for me.

It was probably my fault for drinking red wine, but there is no such thing as blue wine. Hopefully I wil soon be too drunk to remeber how often we ghave tthe ball away

@#/?s

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Disapointing but the game was lost the minute Bellamy did his hamstring ( whenever that was- it seems to be permanent ). The boys battled to the end and never gave up but never really looked like creating a meaningful chance. to be honest we were totally toothless . Apart from Saha and Rooney the Red Rats looked very ordinary and a team who actually had a strike force would have had a real chance tonight, it pains me to say it but Kuqi is without a doubt the worst striker EVER to pull on the Blue and White( and I go back 45 years ).

Unusually I thought we lacked aggression and lost too many 50-50 balls tonight, although it's not easy when you're playing the officials as well. Tugay was fouled when he lost possession in the lead up to the Saha slice and what was the difference between Zurab's handball and Ferdinand's- answer- there wasn't any.

Freide -9 Outstanding- Did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Neil -6 Did o.k. but got booked arguing again ( he's never going to learn is he).

Zurab -8 Played really well , unlucky with the pen.

Nelsen -8 Top performance again, a rock.

Gray -5 It's not often you make two howlers that lead to a goal but he did.

Reid -6 Not in the game, he can' t play out wide , it's in the middle or nothing.

Savage -6 Huffed and puffed but really contributed very little.

Tugay- 7 The usual mix of great passes and heart stopping moments, should have had a free kick before the second goal.

Pedersen -5 If you wanted to know why I think he's over rated you know now.

Bentley -5 Anonymous until three quarter time when he decided to play a bit.

The Subs- Neither had much time to do much so no marks but just a remark , Peter is so left footed it's untrue and he lost the ball every time he had it , not a good first impression.

All in all a bad day at the office , all we can take away is our bravery in difficult circumstances, the board need to take a long look at our striking resources, without an addition our season is just going to fade away.

[joey_big_nose]

A real shame today. We were decent but lacked the quality up front. If we had gone out and bought (from somewhere with what cash, I know) a top class striker or Bellamy had been fit we would of stood a chance. Arguably if just Dickov was available we might have made more.

Hughes know, the board know it, the players know it, the fans know it: There needs to be a striker coming into Ewood within the next six days.

I have a feeling we may go out in the cup on Saturday but then hold steady for a top half finish, maybe even a top eight.

[AlanK]

We need a striker. Bellamy always seems to be rested " in case ".

In case of what? This is when we needed him.

######.

[rogerjonesgloves]

Disapointing but the game was lost the minute Bellamy did his hamstring ( whenever that was- it seems to be permanent ). The boys battled to the end and never gave up but never really looked like creating a meaningful chance. to be honest we were totally toothless . Apart from Saha and Rooney the Red Rats looked very ordinary and a team who actually had a strike force would have had a real chance tonight, it pains me to say it but Kuqi is without a doubt the worst  striker EVER to pull on the Blue and White( and I go back 45 years ).

Unusually I thought we lacked aggression and lost too many 50-50 balls tonight, although it's not easy when you're playing the officials as well. Tugay was fouled when he lost possession in the lead up to the Saha slice and what was the difference between Zurab's handball and Ferdinand's- answer- there wasn't any.

Freide -9 Outstanding- Did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Neil -6 Did o.k. but got booked arguing again ( he's never going to learn is he).

Zurab -8 Played really well , unlucky with the pen.

Nelsen -8 Top performance again, a rock.

Gray -5 It's not often you make two howlers that lead to a goal but he did.

Reid -6 Not in the game, he can' t play out wide , it's in the middle or nothing.

Savage -6 Huffed and puffed but really contributed very little.

Tugay- 7 The usual mix of great passes and heart stopping moments, should have had a free kick before the second goal.

Pedersen -5 If you wanted to know why I  think he's over rated you know now.

Bentley -5 Anonymous until three quarter time when he decided to play a bit.

The Subs- Neither had much time to do much so no marks but  just a remark , Peter is so left footed it's untrue and he lost the ball every time he had it , not a good first impression.

All in all a bad day at the office , all we can take away is our bravery in difficult circumstances, the board need to take a long look at our striking resources, without an addition our season is just going to fade away.

378161[/snapback]

I go back to 1966 and we've had worse than Kuqi--but not that many

I think you are harsh on several players. They were competing against players who cost 10-20 times more and only lost to a mis cue over two legs.

[ihateburnley]

I think the criticism of Gray is a bit harsh. He obviously was desperately unlucky to make that mistake when he did, but I thought his performance was more than acceptable.

Friedel was a hero once again, as were the defence in general. Nelsen was the commanding Admiral he always is, and his right-hand man Zurab is so calm and composed - an excellent defender. Neill got caught out at times but can be forgiven as he seemed to instigate a lot of our attacks down the right.

Reid gets better with every game, and can see him being a very important member of our squad in coming seasons. He's sort of an athletic Garry Flitcroft that can attack - very impressed with Reidy. Pedersen drifted in and out of the game. I feel The Ped is vastly over-rated by the media and needs to improve - but there's plenty of time for that. I think Savage had one of his quieter games, but made things tick in midfield as usual. Tugay had the proverbial game of two halfs. I thought he was excellent in the first half - spreading balls here, there every fecking where (McAteer was on Sky) - however in the second half he seemed to get knackered, misplaced passes and was at fault for the second goal.

Bentley had one of his better games. At least he got more involved but I don't think he is the answer up front - he keeps drifting outwide and crossing it in with the result of nothing. Apparently we also had another striker up front by the name of Shefki Kuqi - but let's not go down that road again.

Edited January 25, 2006 by ihateburnley

[ianb]

Where do we start with that bloody Shefki Kuqi?

Now I know he had a 'dodgy' patch a couple of months ago when he was actually playing OK. I feel so fickle as I was one of the people who was singing his praises after the win at Boro.

But christ the guy is shyte! Let's sign one striker at least and pull Gallagher back from Stoke. Urgent action is needed and quick! Kuqi does a lot of running and so is generally perceived to be a hard working striker. This just masks his totally inept and lacklustre performances though - has there ever been another player so physically big that does not put his weight around?

I honestly thought Bellamy was going to start tonight. When I saw the lineup my heart sank. A terrible Shefki Kuqi alongside a terrible David Bentley. Alas, I looked across to the side to see who was on the bench. I nearly threw up. No Bellamy - not even another striker! Now I know we are short but why oh why did we have Mokoena on the bench at the expense of putting a young striker on?

Derbyshire, Johnson, Garner, Mr fecking Blobby - I don't care as long as we make adequate provisions to put a striker on when we inevitably need a goal. We always were going to need to attack Utd tonight and the ability to score goals was vital!

To Mark Hughes: I'm sure we all agree with pretty much everything you have done so far, and we trust you to the hilt. But please please please make some moves in the coming week. Even announce interest in a striker you have no intention of signing!!! Give the fans some hope that things are going to improve!!!

All we need is one striker to make ALL the difference. Tell the trust fund to get their cheque book out because things are looking bleak at the moment and I'm sure the last thing we all want is another season of mid-table mediocrity. The maths say that if another striker costs £3m, we only have to finish six places higher to gain that back in prize money and that's just this season! If we finish sixth well that's at least six places higher than what we must have banked on finishing.

378157[/snapback]

I think we need two decent strikers to make a difference. One striker in who is immediately injured leaves us back with the present options.

[johnny boy]

A real shame today. We were decent but lacked the quality up front. If we had gone out and bought (from somewhere with what cash, I know) a top class striker or Bellamy had been fit we would of stood a chance. Arguably if just Dickov was available we might have made more.

Hughes know, the board know it, the players know it, the fans know it: There needs to be a striker coming into Ewood within the next six days.

I have a feeling we may go out in the cup on Saturday but then hold steady for a top half finish, maybe even a top eight.

378162[/snapback]

I have never really rated Dickov but boy don't you miss him when he's not there.

I am thinking wouldn't this have been an opportunity for Mr Jansen if he had been still with us.

We need one striker but who?

[Shevchenko]

Proud of the lads, but for some reason it didn't seem like we threw everything at United in the last 10mins?

378146[/snapback]

That'll be because we had nothing to throw at them.

Although we improved slightly when Kuqi came off...

[Oklahoma]

Ironic that Jansen would get some chances now.

Hopefully, we'll sign a new striker soon!!

At least one!!!

Hope Hughes can find a striker that is currently not playing that much and wants regular first team football to go to the World Cup.

[bazza]

Just got back from the pub and watched the match on TV.

Not read any of this thread.

I am so proud of our wonderful team tonight. We made them sweat and bite their fingernails to the bitter end.

Their players are slightly technically better because Man U have megabucks more than us.

But I thought we did ourselves proud tonight.

One or two years ago we would not have given them such a good game.

No disgrace tonight. They scraped through.

Sparky is doing a fantastic job. Can't wait for the league match v them at Ewood.

We have nothing to fear.

[rog of the rovers]

Its pretty disappointing to see Kuqi being made the scape goat. Alright he didn't have the best game, but neither did a few players, Neill and Gray come to mind.

We must take the positives out of the cup run, because we were effectively out two months ago when 2-0 down at Charlton yet we showed the character to go on and win 3-2! Kuqi inspired dont forget.

Middlesbrough was another success as we erased memories of Fulham and dominated against Boro. I believe that the Carling Cup win set us up well for the christmas period from which we took 9pts out of 9!

We had the positives of the home leg against Man U, Pedersen's goal and the defensive performance in the second half.

Ok tonight is a blip, but its not the end of the world! Were still in the FA cup and even if we go out of that were having a good season in the league.

I'm sure if I offered you 8th in the table and a Carling Cup Semi Final by this stage, back in August you would have bit my hand off! I know I would have been more than thrilled!

You could see Hughes at the end say to the players "chin up" and as supporters we must also hold our heads high.

Lets get behind the team at West Ham on Saturday, get behind every player! And lets beat Man United next Wednesday at Ewood.

Cheer up guys n gals!

IT COULD BE WORSE!!!!!!!

[Oklahoma]

I Hope we keep Hughes for the next years but hope the board give him a little more to work with.

Kuqi did what he could (i didn't see the match) but we still need another striker because we can't play the rest of the season with only 3.

A new quality striker could allow us to fight for Europe and possibly Champions league.