[Archived] Not The Luton Town Preview.

[thenodrog]

Difference was, Derbyshire's goal turned the game whereas MGP was under far less pressure having a pop at 3-0 up.

Of the two Derbyshires was the better without doubt... taken on the run with the ball angling away from the goal when he hit it, but leaving the final strike out of the equation the best goal in terms of quality build up play was probably McArthy's.

Come to think of it though Peds free kick to Brett was stupendous, a good cross and superb leap and header from a little guy gave that goal a touch of class too.

Oh sod it who cares?

[trs]

Nice photo of Matty pointing the way http://www.sportbox.tv/photos/imagepopup.p...date=2007-01-27

[cloggyjimmybrfc]

i liked the look of their player..morgan when he came on he seemed to bring their play up a step(tho it wasnt that much),very lively and pacey,i believe leeds are after the lad.

[Bobby G]

Derbs first reminded me of Bellers first against Pompey at Fratton Park last season.

[jim mk2]

I like this report in the Times

One of Rob Hughes's better efforts; : pleasant chap, though, who has always liked Rovers.

My first visit to Kenilworth Road for more than 30 years, and it hasn't improved.

The whole match had the air of a practice game for Rovers ; they were in complete control for start to finish, were rarely tested and never looked other than very comfortable winners.

Now back to reality at Stamford Bridge .......

[John]

They were awful, really poor.

While some people may get carried away. I won't.

Bentley in the centre will not work for us - too lightweight

The axe will not have as much time to think through his simple passes.

We are going to suffer in this second half of the season because of lack of drive and power in the centre of midfield. I mean suffer in that we will still do ok but we will continue to suffer the odd blip. Any fantasy of a final place in the Uefa are now gone.

Don't blame Hughes though, blame sheer bad luck with injuries.

[Ewood Spark]

Th'observers take on events.

I notice once again that Rovers fans poor reputation for following their team away is highlighted.

[McClarky]

What a great day out yesterday was. Jonesy led us to believe that there was nothing good about Luton but I thought it was OK. We arrived at 9.30 and were welcomed into the Railway which opened early for us. The game was good, the ground was a nostalgia trip and really enjoyable and then we found several good pubs around the station after the game. It reminded me of Blackburn in many ways and had far more charactor than your average southern town.

1 messgae which came through loud and clear and that Marlon Berresford will never forget, once a Dingle always a Dingle.

[USABlue]

im trying to work out which was the better goal - Derb's first of Gamst's

I think Derb's as it was hit at pace whilst under pressure from a defender, Gamst had all the time he needed

Derbyshire's just. If you watch it it is so sweet, he actually curls it outwards away from the goal and away from the keeper but still sneaks it in at the far post. Intentional??? I like to think so. Had he just hit it true the keeper saves it. Gamsts was very very good though too, on the volley curling it past the keeper with the outside of his boot very very difficult to pull off.

[ihateburnley]

Derbyshire's just. If you watch it it is so sweet, he actually curls it outwards away from the goal and away from the keeper but still sneaks it in at the far post. Intentional??? I like to think so. Had he just hit it true the keeper saves it. Gamsts was very very good though too, on the volley curling it past the keeper with the outside of his boot very very difficult to pull off.

If you also watch, you will see that Matty doesn't even look up. He just hit and hoped for the best.

[Jimmy Jupiter]

1 messgae which came through loud and clear and that Marlon Berresford will never forget, once a Dingle always a Dingle.

Does that include McEveley?

[92er]

Does that include McEveley?

And Todd?

[Paul Mellelieu]

And David Dunn?

[pksrover]

And David Dunn?

Dunn?

[Roost]

Dunn?

As a kid e apparently supported the Dingles - a fact he seems to shy away from these days!!

[SAS]

Th'observers take on events.

I notice once again that Rovers fans poor reputation for following their team away is highlighted.

only by newell...

who is also confusing me;

hen asked about the poor attendance, Newell blamed the early kick-off, the fact that the game was televised and the Blackburn's supporters for not travelling 'in their hoards'. 'Football's expensive and we've had three home games in the week now, and [the supporters] can't just keep digging into their pockets,' he said.

hes blaming lutons crowd on having 3 home games in a week

so, city, watford, luton and chelsea away within 10days is now excuse rovers, shame on you for not turning up

how many were there, about 500 i would have thought?

[Paul Mellelieu]

I'm not sure that he supported our country cousins, but I thought he trained there as a youth.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Many moons ago (even before Jim was born) Luton became famous for it's hatmaking industry - hence the club's nickname "The Hatters". In later years, the Luton economy was dominated by Vauxhall Motors - until the car plant closed down a few years ago. At Kenilworth Road yesterday, the difference in class was equivalent to Minis versus Ferraris.

Luton were dreadful, failing to close Rovers down in all areas of the pitch. This was an industrious professional display from Rovers against a Luton side who clearly showed why they currently lie in the bottom six of the Championship. Indeed a Conference side might have put up a better fight than Luton did.

Luton is a grotty town inhabited by some rather undesirable people - who are far more likely to be wearing baseball caps, hoods or burkas than the type of traditional English bowler hats made in Luton many years ago.

The Hatters have reached the FA Cup semi-final on three occasions in the last 25 years, but were never likely to progress to the latter stages of the competition this year. In 1985, having overcome Millwall 1-0 in the quarter-final, amid disgraceful scenes, with Millwall fans running riot - hurling seats and lumps of concrete at the police - Luton played Everton in the semi-final and led 1-0 until late in the game when Everton scored twice.

In the 1988 FA Cup semi-final Luton lost 2-1 to Wimbledon at White Hart Lane and in the 1994 semi-final, two goals from Gavin Peacock gave Chelsea a 2-0 win over Luton. Strangley enough, the only manager in Luton's history to have won a trophy - the late Ray Harford who won the 1988 League Cup - was unceremoniously sacked by the club because in the words of Luton chairman David Evans, Harford "didn't smile enough at the fans".

Now why couldn't Man United have come up with that excuse over a decade ago to get rid of Fergie?

But anyway, back to yesterday's Rovers victory against a feeble Luton side. The game was barely ten minutes old when a long Emerton pass to McCarthy was knocked into space for Derbyshire to fire a right-footed shot into the corner of the net. From that moment on, the outcome of the match never looked in any doubt. There were accomplished displays from the likes of Warnock, Bentley and Pedersen, while Luton offered precious little going forward.

The second Rovers goal came from a positive run from the impressive Warnock down the left, who slid the ball into the path of MGP to whip a ball into the box for Derbyshire to knock down a header for McCarthy, who scored from a simple tap-in. Easy. The second half of the match was pretty much the same story. Emerton cut inside on the right and whipped in a ball with his left foot that was met by the young head of Derbyshire. Woeful defending by Luton. The fourth goal was a fine half-volley from MGP on the left edge of the box.

I have to say that Luton got their tactics completely wrong. They didn't press Rovers in midfield, they left huge gaps in defence and were toothless going forward. A black mark for Luton's manager - the wonderfully politically incorrect Mike Newell - who has so far managed to upset the PC brigade twice with some of his acerbic comments.

Firstly Mike hit out against female officials in football - perhaps believing they should be chained to the kitchen sink instead. According to Newell: "We have a problem in this country with political correctness, and bringing women into the game is not the way to improve refereeing and officialdom. It is tokenism for the politically correct idiots."

Secondly Newell took a well-aimed swipe at the "dirty cheating foreigners" who are coming to this country for a fat pay packet and are conning refs by diving and cheating all over the pitch. Nice one Mike. I wonder what's next from Newell. Will he be calling for a return to slavery and wearing a white pointy hat in the dugout ?

Sadly for teams like Luton, the romance of the Cup is to a certain extent dead. The last team from outside the top flight to win the FA Cup was West Ham 27 years ago in 1980. And I'm quite sure that no side from outside the Premiership will win the FA Cup in the next 27 years. Indeed, since 1992, only one team from outside the big four of Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea has won the FA Cup. That was Everton in 1995.

When the smaller clubs feel they have no hope of winning the competition, is it any wonder that crowds in the FA Cup have declined? Man United's appalling decision in 2000 to pull out of the world's oldest club competition in order to sun themselves on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro clearly didn't help the FA Cup either. The FIFA tournament in Brazil was a farcical waste of time and fans up and down the country must have questioned why that joke of a competition became more important than the FA Cup,

When did Gabby come over to the BBC?! I've clearly not been paying attention.

The voluptuous Gabby joined the BBC in the New Year and will also take up a role as part of Radio Five Live's presenting team.

Link: "Gabby outraged at being sidelined by Steve Rider on ITV"

[mrsjansen]

Did anyone see Matty Derbyshires after game interview? Take nothing away from the lad hes a good player, but when talking about his goal, he said im just glad that we won and were able to pick 3 points up.

Know something we dont, Matt?

[thenodrog]

Did anyone see Matty Derbyshires after game interview? Take nothing away from the lad hes a good player, but when talking about his goal, he said im just glad that we won and were able to pick 3 points up.

Know something we dont, Matt?

Footballer's brains are definitely in their boots aren't they? Thats the second time I've heard that today.

From somebody calling himself 'macca' in The People......

"COLE MISSES POINT

Poor, deluded Ashley Cole apparently hasn't seen any sign of a problem and doesn't believe the papers anyway. He just wants to concentrate on picking up three points this weekend.

That's three points against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, is it Ashley? Thanks, pal ... go back to counting your money."

[jim mk2]

The voluptuous Gabbyl]

You ain't see the side view mate.

Hooked nose like a Roman soldier.

Plus she brought me down from behind after the interview.

Good old Daddy's girl.

[colin]

Plus she brought me down from behind after the interview.

Good old Daddy's girl.

KY Jelly involved or was it relatively painless?

[BRFC4EVA]

only by newell...

who is also confusing me;

hen asked about the poor attendance, Newell blamed the early kick-off, the fact that the game was televised and the Blackburn's supporters for not travelling 'in their hoards'. 'Football's expensive and we've had three home games in the week now, and [the supporters] can't just keep digging into their pockets,' he said.

hes blaming lutons crowd on having 3 home games in a week

so, city, watford, luton and chelsea away within 10days is now excuse rovers, shame on you for not turning up

how many were there, about 500 i would have thought?

Official number was 725 i think.

[philipl]

The Daily Telegraph gets very enthusuastic about Rovers' attacking options. Quite apart from being the first national paper to call for Bentley to be included in the England set-up, the comments from Benni about seeing a partnership between him and Matty Derbyshire are noteworthy. I cannot remember Benni saying that about any of the other forwards he has played with at Ewood but then I haven't followed Benni's comments that closely.

I was just thinking whilst getting my breakfast that I cannot recall Rovers having won so many thumping big victories in away games in such rapid succession before in my time following them.

Wigan 3-0. Everton 4-1. Citeh 3-0. Luton 4-0 with just Watford spoiling the run and probably saving us from Sparky getting Manager of the Month.

Anyone come up with a comparable run of big away wins?

For jim and AESF- Gaby Logan in profile second picture down. Steve Rider has a reputation for being the most unpleasant and dirtiest piece of work in what is a business not known for small egos and genuinely nice people so not surprised in the least that he elbowed a new mother out of work.

[Silencio]

Gabby Logan is rubbish and not even that fit...