[Archived] Rovers 1 Wigan 1

[jim mk2]

Nelsen's last-ditch tackles, interceptions and general reading of the game were a bit more than "OK". He was also having to do the work of two men: Zurab is not physically strong enough for the Premiership IMO.

I thought Hughes got it wrong tonight. Wigan's success away from home this season is no secret so I would have expected him to counter their tactics. Only in the last ten minutes or so did Rovers provide any sort of threat.

PS: judgment has no middle "e".

[Nate]

Why do we always play a long ball in the box when Kuqi isn't playing? Bellamy and Dickov are combined height of about 7 foot!

[The Harwood Yankee]

PS: judgment has no middle "e".

396219[/snapback]

Sorry to champion the evidently omniscient with superior pedantry but yes it does. It can be spelt either way.

[Florida Rover]

Watching the replay tonight here in the States with the benefit of instant replay of my own choosing and random thoughts(apologize for the length):

*We won alot of corner kicks early but MGP does not seem to put a very intelligent cross in many times and more often thatn not he will have a go at the direct attempt to score(which seems to not make his team mates very happy)

*Wigans first corner should not have been allowed as Savage did not touch the ball and both the mr dowd and the linesman missed it full stop

*at 26 minutes in,Bentley provided a nice cross (his only one !) low across the top of the box which skipped past Sav to Dickov who scuffed his shot which rebounded off a Wigan defender back to Savage who laid off to Dickov who really should have shot but he passed over to Lucas who had his shot blocked out for a corner.At this point mr dowd got really red faced while lecturing Bellamy.He looked genuinely angry did mr dowd !

*31 minutes Dickov is fouled by Scharner and this was really persistent infringement but since he was playing on yellow mr dowd is reluctant to send him marching.So how does this Scharner bloke react to said lecture?On the ensuing free kick by MGP as the ball is floated over and plucked from the air by Filan,Scharner takes out Dickov AGAIN while Dickie is up in the air going for the ball!Penalty claim?you bet.

*MGP's goal was a dubious disallowment as it does not on replay appear Dickov fouls him contact on shoulder to shoulder is slight

*42 minutes Clever through ball to Savage by Dickov

*Stupid foul after a mistake heading the ball by Reis which leads to their first disallowed goal which hits De Zeeuw's arm and Roberts was in an offside position on replay

*First half stoppage time corner came off of Roberts left leg from Zurab but is not seen that way by mr dowd

*Based on the last two games,for me,Dickov doesn't need to start again(I wonder if the nodrog was right in that FSP's agent rebuffed long term overtures form Rovers so Sparky has left him out) for me I'd rather see FSP up top with Bellamy on what little I know

*What a cheeky little back heel from Roberts(cantona will like that for his next NIKE commercial)

*56 minutes the linesman calls Bellamy for a phantom offsides however his shot was saved by Filan anyway

*Roberts swings his elbow intentionally on Neill(Sent off for a similar action earlier this year at Everton i'm told)

*We look very shaky defensively in the first 20 minutes of the second half!

*Bellamy should have done beter with the header in the 66th minute

*69th minute barrelling down on goal,Kuqi...

*How is there not a penalty called in the 71st minute when Bellamy is plainly knocked off his feet chasing the the ball

*73rd minute Oh,Bellamy tough reaction flick type header

74 th minute chimbonda knocks ball out for corner with his hand but not really a penalty claim

*78 th minute Neill beaten but Johanssen missed badly into row Z

*Not a pretty goal but hey we will take it!!By the Way,the announcers ( esp Tony Gale) totally defend the goal and says "Yes, a crunching challenge by Lucas Neill but the keeper had already spilled the ball"

*Could have won it late but we avoided defeat in a game we did not even come close to playing our best in.So here is to full points for us on the South Coast!!

Florida Rover

[mode_m]

Sorry to champion the evidently omniscient with superior pedantry but yes it does. It can be spelt either way.

396225[/snapback]

I'm not too happy with the result as I was expecting more out of Blackburn tonight, but Wigan came out strong and played well. I think I would agree with the refs decision regarding the Wigan goal being called back, Roberts was offside, and in my opinion an active player in the play.

Regarding the judgement versus judgment...why does everybody feel so compelled to correct everyone's spelling and grammar? From what I know the two spellings are simply an American spelling and a British spelling, the American one being without the 'e'. Who really cares though honestly? Are we all being marked on our spelling or talking about the game?

[Bobby G]

Thought by the end of it we didnt deserve more than a point so we cant complain. Wigan defended so deep and didnt leave us any spaces.

I thought bring Kuqi on was a great move but Tugay on the other hand didnt get any time on the ball.

Nelsen was massive, Friedel made one brilliant save but Reid for me, in the second half was great. He ran the show I thought.

Next game, Id bring in Todd, Emerton, and possibly Pongolle and definitely no Tugay in the away game.

[philipl]

Why are people so surprised - when teams play a similar game to what we do (i.e. quick closing down, denying space) we haven't the quality to take advantage of superior possession. However, I had a feeling that we may lose this match - and then get a win on the south coast (lets hope I am right).

Rather than criticise Rovers - lets give a little credit to Wigan.

It was important that we didn't lose - this makes it difficult for Wigan to catch us now - and also means that Bolton have to win both of their matches in hand to overtake us.

396163[/snapback]

I have been having a good laugh at the contributions by people like revidge blue and tcj.

At least DMTP got last night into perspective. Of course its two points dropped but it could turn into the most extraordinarilly valuable point gained. My take:

- Nelsen was incredibly good and Zura handled himself pretty well given Roberts had singled him out for some very rough stuff.

- Kuqi was much better than recent games and took the goal sensibly but he's not Prem class.

- Bentley wasted his chance

- Savage had a good game

- Bellamy was not going to score last night; combination of not getting his half chances (he had at least four) quite right and a brilliant Filan save at the end.

But last night was about Wigan- they were perfectly prepared and played some good stuff at times; they will be a handful for anyone who plays them including Arsenal on the last day of the season, and

The officials who were awful. It says a huge amount for the professionalism and quality of both sides that last night at least resembled a game of football. In the first half Dowd was blowing for anything and I doubt that as many as one third of the linesmen and refs' decisions were correct by the time we reached half time. I know Wigan's first half goal should not have been struck off but there was nothing wrong with MGP's goal either and had that stood giving us the lead it would have produced a different game. I also think that Bellamy was unfortunate not to win a second half penalty but equally Kuqi's goal came from a good old-fashioned 1920's style assault on the keeper.

Edited April 4, 2006 by philipl

[Paul]

Firstly Bellamy was fouled from what seemed to be at least three yards inside the box. There was probably a valid case for it being only obstruction (Ie indirect free kick) but amazingly the officials bottled out and gave a free kick on the edge of the area.

396204[/snapback]

Does the obstruction law still exist? In my book every game I see is riddled with obstruction. What we now define as great defending, as the player shields the ball over for a goal-kick, is not great defending but blatant obstruction which should result in an indirect free kicj at least 50% of the time.

[Biddy]

Does the obstruction law still exist? In my book every game I see is riddled with obstruction. What we now define as great defending, as the player shields the ball over for a goal-kick, is not great defending but blatant obstruction which should result in an indirect free kicj at least 50% of the time.

396235[/snapback]

Especially times like last night where the defender watches the player not the ball and they end up sheilding a good three feet away from the ball.

I honestly hate whatever rule it is that allows this.

Edited April 4, 2006 by Biddy

[OJRovers]

In the end a point was good for Rovers - however bar a superb save from Filan (Bellamy shot) we would've got all 3 points.

- The linesman on the Walkersteel side was AWFUL. I can't remember any decisions he got right. How much do these guys get paid? He should be fined if Jewel is going to be.

- Sav played well as did Reidy.

- Goes without saying that Nelson was immense.

- I think that Zurab did ok with Roberts he is a real handful and apart from the goal was kept quite quiet.

- If that MGP goal had been allowed I think we'd have comfortably won the game so Jewel is lucky that they had one goal allowed before us.

- Pongole back in next game for me.

[Radagast]

A very frustrating and ultimatelty disappointing perfromance overall, but the doom and gloom around here is a little over the top. As Flopsy said, we started and finished the game with genuine purpose and only a little shortage of luck stopped us getting the ball over the line earlier. Well, luck and shocking officiating - both the referee and the linesman who disallowed the Wigan goal were just terrible. Wigan will feel very hard done by, but so should we - Gamst's goal came just as our early period of ascendency was beginning to fade. Our tails would have been up again and who knows what could have happened after that. But then again I guess I've got a cheek to be complaining after the goal that was actually given somehow stood (we'd all be spitting blood if it had happened at the other end).

The Wigan goal was just sodding typical on an evening of such frustration - what Neill was playing at when we were forced to concede the corner that eventually led to Roberts' insolent finish I'll never know.

[Ozz]

The tone was set by a the ref awarding a free kick after 1.6 seconds from the kick off!

The corner that lead to their goal came from an offside pass!

Both dissallowed goals were good!

Ref missed two penlties for Rovers, both on Bellamy!

Our equaliser was a foul!

BTW, how good is Pascal Chinbonda? If Neill leaves, sign him up.

Kuqis goal could just be worth a lot of money come the end of the season, erning us a point.

And yes, we we pretty crap for the majority of the game.

[key76]

The corner that lead to their goal came from an offside pass!

I thought that as well. The ref was so concerned with booking Dickov's needless foul that he missed his linesman standing there flag raised for offside for a ages, but then ignored him and gave a corner!!!

Edited April 4, 2006 by key76

[roversmum]

Why do we always play a long ball in the box when Kuqi isn't playing? Bellamy and Dickov are combined height of about 7 foot!

396223[/snapback]

Strange. At least if we must do, have someone ready for the rebound and play it back in.........

Sav was brilliant when he woke up towards the end of the match, if he had played like that all match we would have won it easily.

Have no idea how more Wigan players did not end up in the book. Our lads will be nursing some bruises this morning!

I like Dickov but I'm disappointed with his contribution last night.

Stevie Read missed two good chances

It all seemed very flat last night. Don't think the players were really in tune with each other - frustration probably.

Best players - Ryan and Mickey Gray

And Kuqi - yes we all know he 'isn't a Premiership player' but he gets stuck in and that was a vital goal.

Right lads, come Saturday you know what you have to do....................

Oh, and let's hope Phil Dowd is somewhere else far, far away

Edited April 4, 2006 by roversmum

[Montfort]

The match was somewhat dissapointing as we did not play as well as we can do and we are a better side than Wigan. However, I was impressed with Wigan. I thought they battled very well and picked up a lot of loose ball. I can se now why they have done so well this season.

On the positive side, I thought Blackburn did well to manufacture a goal when it would have been far easier to loose the match.

Glad Kuqi scored. I like him. It is a waste of time cataloging what he cant do. But he is a striker who can score goals and we should be pleased about that. I think his goal return from the number of starts is quite reasonable isn't it.

[Atomicrover]

Especially times like last night where the defender watches the player not the ball and they end up sheilding a good three feet away from the ball.

I honestly hate whatever rule it is that allows this.

396240[/snapback]

You are allowed to place your body between player and ball, but not to hold your arms out to increase effective "shield" area. Ball must be within playing distance of defending player at all times.

[Tony Diamond Inc]

Ryan Nelsen and Mickey Gray were the only two who deserved their paypacket last night, the rest were playing like Souness was still the gaffer!

[thenodrog]

The corner that lead to their goal came from an offside pass!

396249[/snapback]

I thought that as well.  The ref was so concerned with booking Dickov's needless foul that he missed his linesman standing there flag raised for offside for a ages, but then ignored him and gave a corner!!!

396250[/snapback]

To all you Sky viewers......

Did Sky commentators / pundits not mention the linesman / ass ref standing with his flag up for ages before Neil gave away the corner from which they scored? I certainly never saw or heard it mentioned after the game.

How many times to piggin refs overule offside decisions ffs? Never! And why should they thats what the linesme / ass refs are for!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

First of all Kudos to a hard working Wigan side,its clear to see that their placing in the Prem is no fluke,they work hard for each other and are difficult to break down when they have the lead.

Rovers were second best for long periods of the game last night,second to every poor long ball we tried to play to our front men,Bellamy was fed on scraps and looked frustrated,Dickov?... the less said the better.

We just weren't up to scratch but that's football at its most frustrating,you cant expect to win every game.Its my personal opinion that we are simply not good enough for Champions league,compare our present performances with that of the beautiful,free flowing,almost exhibition football that Arsenal are playing at present and we dont even come close.All credit to Sparky for having a pop at 4th spot but lets be realistic eh,a Uefa cup place would have been beyond the expectation's of most at the start of the season!

The officiating was some of the worst I've seen in a long while.

Just keep going Rovers,its been a great season so far.

P.S.

Did Kavanagh get a pair of knickers with that hair cut of his!!

[AggyBlue]

You are allowed to place your body between player and ball,

396260[/snapback]

Isn't that what lucas did for our goal?

Ball must be within playing distance of defending player at all times.

396260[/snapback]

I think the defending player should be in possession of the ball, ie touched it, before he is allowed to shield.

This would eliminate the obstuctions when letting the ball run out of play.

[Eddie]

We just weren't up to scratch but that's football at its most frustrating,you cant expect to win every game.Its my personal opinion that we are simply not good enough for Champions league,compare our present performances with that of the beautiful,free flowing,almost exhibition football that Arsenal are playing at present and we dont even come close.All credit to Sparky for having a pop at 4th spot but lets be realistic eh,a Uefa cup place would have been beyond the expectation's of most at the start of the season!

396266[/snapback]

I think we all agree that we won't be upset if we only get UEFA, but there is still a chance of more. As for how we aren't up to the scratch of the wonderful stuff Arsenal are playing at the moment based on what we did last night, you are right. However, a few weeks ago Arsenal weren't up to the stuff we were playing. When in form they are a better side than us, for most of this season they haven't been in form. The league table doesn't lie after 32 games and we deserve to be level on points with them.

[pg]

Just saw the replay and IMO there was no way that Kuqi's goal should have been allowed.

Then again, I'm a keeper... and we always stick up for our own

[thenodrog]

BTW, how good is Pascal Chinbonda? If Neill leaves, sign him up.

396249[/snapback]

Excellent player. MGP was snuffed out of the game. I liked Bullard too. He's their Savage. Speaking of whom, I dont think Sav and Reid ever play well together in the middle. The forwards get little service and have to feed off the scraps provided by great long balls supplied by our defenders. We need either a creative midfielder to play with Sav (and they are like hens teeth and well expensive) OR alternatively 2 better wide men to provide creativity. Reid can be one (just) although last night when Bentley went off and Tugay came on Reidy stuck religiously to his centre-mid role cluttering up the middle for Tugay and Sav and leaving acres on the right wing! The team became totally imbalanced. Can nobody captain the side properly? (Notice that when Reid) eventually did go wide he made the goal!

As for MGP, if he couldn't take massive long throws and score the odd free kick he'd be playing in the stiffs every week. Bentley has no position to call his own, never has had and is simply a utility / bench man, whilst Emerton is just plain addled. I do notice that Neil plays much much better with Emo than Bentley as he tracks back to perform defensive duties far better than Bentley does.

[waggy]

the linesman flag was up for a foul by dickov in the move before the corner,hope that settles that little tiff.

if there is such a thing as a 'get out off jail card' we used it last night.

apart from the 1st 20 mins we never played football,it was all kick and rush,the officials are being lambasted but we benifited more by there bad decisions.

dickov and kuqi 'your having a laugh'

i thought wigan were more or less our equals,and for the upteenth time i still think we are punching above our weight.

18k home fans again,well the ones i left in town settling down for a night off warmth and beer,made the right decision

[ihtd]

We were shocking last night, it was like watching Souness over again for some parts. the lads looked worried, paniced when they had possession. Savage played liek Lilly Savage and as for Dickov he might as well have stayed at home. Pongo should have played instead of him but there a whole thread dedicated to that so i shall not go any further with that point.

Nelsen earnt his moneylast night for sure and his bit of defending that led to their corner which they scored from was superb. He is in a class of his own.

Gray played well but i am getting fed up of him running with the ball inside when he gets forward. He runs down the wing, see's a defender and then runs into the middle of the pitch instead of trying to beat the man.

Brad also pulled off a very instinctive save which to me shows how valuable he is to us, as Enks wouldn't have made that save.

IMO it was two points dropped as i had us down as winning that match but in terms of the performance we were lucky to even get a point, barring the first ten mins and the last ten mins, were we could have run riot.