[Archived] Rovers 2 - 1 Sheffield United

[oozy]

I have to say I was really impressed with Samba, particularly in the second half.

MGP and Bentley produced performances the like of which we've come to expect from them.

and well done to Dunny. He hadn't done much up to the free kick but the run for the free kick just epitomises him and im sure hes going to be a success. He dont seem too overweight either.

[yellowsubmarine]

Thank God the transfer window is closed!

Gamst saved the day for us.

To be fair, the Blades deserve something from this game. We gave them a goal anyway. Hope they are happy with it.

and well done to Dunny. He hadn't done much up to the free kick but the run for the free kick just epitomises him and im sure hes going to be a success. He dont seem too overweight either.

I didnt watch the game on tv, how was the run? he dribbled past players?

[krislu]

Great to get 3points today, and what a free kick by my countryman

6 points behind 6th place, can we do it?!

1 Man Utd 25 11 1 1 33 8 8 2 2 24 10 39 60

2 Chelsea 26 9 4 0 27 8 8 2 3 18 11 26 57

3 Liverpool 26 10 3 0 25 3 5 2 6 14 14 22 50

4 Arsenal 24 7 5 0 30 9 6 1 5 15 11 25 45

5 Bolton 26 7 3 3 18 11 6 2 5 12 16 3 44

6 Reading 26 8 1 4 24 16 4 3 6 15 18 5 40

7 Pompey 26 7 4 2 20 9 3 4 6 14 16 9 38

8 Everton 25 6 4 2 19 9 3 5 5 12 14 8 36

9 Blackburn 26 6 2 5 16 16 4 2 7 14 21 -7 34

[T4E]

8 wins from the last 12 games would do it. Can we do it though? It's got to be unlikely.

[Finch]

matty is out of u21s

[joey_big_nose]

Well last year we got 63 pts to come sixth. We are currently on 34pt so to match that we need 29 pts, or about ten wins out of twelve.

If we are honest we haven't really got much of a chance. With the injuries we have I think top half would be decent.

[stuwilky]

A solid performance from Rovers against a Sheffield United side who were excellent in defence. Missed the last goal due to having to collect child from a party in Leyland at 5.15, which is bad. But still, the first was well taken, with credit needed to be given to Brett Emerton for a superb ball - in the same vein as the pinpoint Bentley cross to MGP at City. A solid performance all round, Nelsen and Zurab will hopefully be our central pairing next weekend.

A special mention for two villains today.

Firstly Mr Merriman, what an absolutely clueless pillock. Warnocks first booking was a joke, the free kick which led to their goal looked dubious. The Nelsen challenge where he clean won the ball and left a Sheff Utd player on the floor, for the ref to play on and then blow his whistle for the freekick cos the player didnt get up. Bring back Uriah Rennie, all is forgiven.

Secondly, Blackburn Rovers Commercial Department - Yet again a group of Sheffield United fans in Box 1 of the Blackburn End, after the debacles of three previous occasions this season it appears reuthfully the case that the corporate morons are more important than the casual fan. Swilling lager from bottles, offensive gestures, gloating, moronic comments - all whilst the stewards who were "dealing with it" were in there. Heads must roll for this continued farce.

[RoyRover]

Good lad Morten, you saved our bacon today. I'm glad to hear that Samba and Dunn had good games. These are three very welcome points after two straight defeats. This keeps us in touch with 6th place for sure.

[JamieUK]

I thought Samba was excellent - 2 or 3 times in front of me in the Walkersteel it looked as though he was beaten to the ball only for him to get his 6 foot legs around it! A very good full debut.

Re getting upto 6th - Will we need to get there? Its Arse v Chelsea in the League Cup final so that's a Uefa spot going to the league places. How many entries into the Uefa do England get?

[Daremz]

Come on lads, be realistic. 6th place isn't possible, with the amount of injuries we have and the way we play (without the influential players). Somewhere around 10th is just good, I think we're pretty safe after today's three-pointer.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Good lad Morten, you saved our bacon today.

Just about sums it up for me too.We looked under par today and found the Blades a hard unit to break down.

[stuwilky]

Re getting upto 6th - Will we need to get there? Its Arse v Chelsea in the League Cup final so that's a Uefa spot going to the league places. How many entries into the Uefa do England get?

3

Presuming that Arsenal and Chelsea both finish in the top 5, the league cup place with now go to the 6th place finisher in the league - 7th place will only get a UEFA place if BOTH FA Cup finalists finish in the top 6.

[frosty]

Undeserved victory I think, dont know where we'd be without Pedersen at the moment

[RovertheHill]

What a result! Shades of watching England Greece and Beckhams free-kick.

We have a back four who are effectively a new unit. With that in mind I thought they did well today. Samba looks quite good, but then so did the Axe when he first arrived - so I'll reserve judgement for a while yet! Warnock was reasonable today - he seems to turn inside a lot which takes him into traffic but he's better than what we had so you can't argue with that. His first booking was a joke - second was deserved. Speaking of joke's - the ref today at least wasn't against us - he was just incompetent. As for Sheff Utd - what a niggly little outfit. The only culture they have is agriculture. However, they were very effective in dragging us to their level even at the point where we had a very creative midfield of Pedersen, Tugay, Dunn and Bentley.

What a finish though. Dunny run resulting in the free-kick. Pedersen sublime free-kick.

On a final note - I haven't heard "Operation Ewood Park" for years - they did it in the Blackburn End today to great cheers. The last time may well have been when Dunny was here. Which leads me to believe that "Operation Ewood Park" is a code for the stewards to hide all the pies...

[AlanK]

Undeserved victory I think, dont know where we'd be without Pedersen at the moment

You make your own luck in this game. We won fair and square.

Well done boys.

[Roar of the Rover]

Not the best of performances but a wins a win and its took us to 9th

One thing that really ###### me of today was the guy at the tickets office, i wanted 1 adult ticket and 1 junior ticket and he accused me of trying to buy a junior ticket for an adult??

As it was close to kick off i really did'nt bother with him, so does anyone have an idea of what i can do sort this out, because i've pad £25 for a 15 year old? And that is not worth it at all.

And the worse thing is he did'nt even ask me what part of the stand i wanted the ticket in, i was in blackburn End Lower but he got me a ticket near the sides?

[1864roverite]

Just home in the coldness of Leyland, jhc its bloody cold !

Rovers have just stolen 2 points as the game was clearly set up for a draw, indeed some may say we stole all 3 points as Sheff Utd came to Ewood and blew a major chance to steal the 3 points on offer. United came to Ewood with a healthy backing of chip butty eating yorkshiremen and women with only one thing in mind, HOOF HOOF and HOOF.

At the outset of the game in blistering sunshine, the setting was there for Rovers to make a home bow having been away for quite a while. The feeling that Rovers could easily see off a Sheffield team grew very uneasy as they squandered 3 glorious chances to put the game away inside the first 15 minutes.

The Rovers defence, a completely new back four, stood around like strangers, noone wanted to make the decisions that mattered and we lived and survived by the skin of our teeth and the width of a post. Mssrs Samba and Nelsen didnt gel at all, Warnock was as far away from the centre two as Bert as the gap in the middle was as wide as the red sea when Moses parted it !

But, Rovers being Rovers, surged upfield and MGP despatched a fantastic header into the net, 1-0 Rovers and against the run of play. Some more suicidal passing saw Sheffield create havoc in the goal mouth and Stead scores an easy equaliser. I was wondering then how he would celebrate, he was muted and I thought for a minute that he was respecting the Rovers crowd until it dawned that the poor lad has almost forgoten on what to do as he hadnt scored that many goals recently.

So, 1-1 game definately on. the first half continued with 12 versus 12 ! Odd you might ask ? Well, the ref clearly thought he was a red shirted player whilst Tugays imaginary friend re-appeared after conning everyone that he had actually been transferred. The middle of the park was simply a place where the ball couldnt be found. Tugay and Mokoena were simply woeful. The defence were at sea, there was no solidity, no movement and the hole between the midfield and attack was as wide as the Kyber Pass. Benni had no support and had no help at all - the same for Roberts who entered the fray when Matty D sustained a thigh injury or so it appeared. What at shame for the lad with an England game coming up and a probable debut. 1-1 at half time. Surely the second half couldnt get any worse.

As the teams came out for the second half, or round two ! I thought the changes that Rovers could employ had to be in place. Hence, no changes and the game continued to huff and puff from both sides. There was no Rovers player who could put their foot on the ball and the ref seemed to side with Sheff Utd every time a 50/50 challenge went their way. I pondered the thought that Sheffiele United had not come to play football but had come to roll our pitch as their players, as big as they were spent more time rolling around than standing up.

As the game progressed, the fog descended and the temperature dropped. A mistake was going to win the game in its current climate. Something had to change and MH saw fot to give a returning David Dunn a second debut. Now ladies and gents, I love a pie or two and it has been suggested that DD also loves his meat and spud pies. He didnt half look lean and the barrel chest we previously saw on offer at Ewood 3 yrs ago has been trimmed down. He went looking for the ball but with the state of the pitch and the fact that Sheffield played a seriously long ball affair, chances were few and far between. The ref tried to help by despatching Warnock to the stands for only his second foul, that decision alone exemplified the refs own performance, he was SH^TE.

91st minute arrives and DD makes a lung bursting run towards the goal as Rovers sought the points. Foul on the edge and as the ref blew I am sure that I saw both MGP and Bentley exchange heated words as to who was taking the free kick. MGP and that magic wand that is his left foot, struck a fantastic shot into the keepers right side of the net before the fat paddy could move. 2-1 and game over.

In trying to be positive I was pleased with Samba's performance but against better opposition he may struggle. he certainly had his work cut out with both Hulse and Stead who are two of the taller Premiership strikers. Warnock did okay but a red card for his only two challenges was harsh considering the challenges that went unpunished from United players. DD looks a different player. yes he is only just getting back to full fitness but he was up for it and got a great reception.

The three things that worried me was the performance of Tugay and Mokoena together as a midfield, the lack of support for Benni and Roberts. and the defensive problems that we brought on ourselves. Maybe it is early days but there will have to be changes for the Everton game with Warnocks dismissal.

The 3 points are a blessing that sends us up to 9th place on 34 points. Looking at the table and the remaining games for the bottiom 5 one more win will suffice to ensure the jackpot money enters Rovers bank accounts for the next Premiership season.

Lets hope young Matty's injury is not too serious.

[Hasta]

]

However I'm still going to go for us winning 2-1. . Rovers 2 (McCarthy , Pedersen) Sheff Utd 1 (Stead). Roll on Saturday.

Close enough. I also practically predicted the way the game would go on the Sheff Utd boards preview here.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Good Post 1864 and nearly agree with everything but just a couple of points to add though...

The ref was worse than what you describe , there are incompetent refs and icompetent refs and he wasn't even close to that.

I don't think Sheff U where all Hoof Hoof - they did have a bit of clippity clop (far more than Notlob anyway)and but for their Arteta antics to me if they battle like they did they won't go down.

IMO - to me McCarthy was awful regardless of the lack of service, Roberts managed to get himself into the game when he came on

So to was Tugay - now he has had games where he passes to his imginable friend but today I don't think he made more than 5 passes to a team mate.

Samba looked ok once he got into the game, however I thought Hughes made a mistake by starting both him and Nelsen and I for the moment I think it will only be workable with him and Nelsen but I am looking forward to seeing how he progresses.

Bentley worked his socks off without much end result

yes we where poor today and where lucky to get the 3pts but its a win.

Bet the Sheff U supporters are gutted but it was a great following from them today.

[pksrover]

Close enough. I also practically predicted the way the game would go on the Sheff Utd boards preview here.

Hasta you should learn how to spell FriedEl and NelsEn, can't be that hard surely?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Bet the Sheff U supporters are gutted but it was a great following from them today.

About 3,500 from Sheffield....meaning only some 16,500 Rovers fans in attendance.

Its not getting any better is it folks!

[Roar of the Rover]

About 3,500 from Sheffield....meaning only some 16,500 Rovers fans in attendance.

Its not getting any better is it folks!

i wouldnt say 3,500, more around 2,500

[Jordan]

Absolutly MASSIVE result for us today. I thought we were poor today. Bentley stood out amongst most but that does not really matter when we have just got three points.

I thought Samba had a lot better second half but it will probably take him a few games to get used to the style of the Premiership. He does look a bit careless and he also seemed to get musceled of the ball by smaller apponants.

Nice to see Dunny come back and from the thirty minutes or so which he played he was up and down that pitch and putting in his fair share of tackles. It was also good to see Roberts playing again and I personally thought he did well when he came on, its a shame that Benni was not up to his usualy high standards.

[Blue blood]

The game was pretty shocking really, entertainment wise it was the worst I've seen for a while. Sheffield Utd are all long hoofs and dirty tackles and we fell right into their trap and tried matching them like for like. We created little, had over half the team playing below par yet somehow we managed a win.

The ref was poor - how the body check on Bentley or the foot in Emerton's face weren't bookings were beyond me and there were several times when the ref should have done United players for blatent time wasting. Other surprises included seeing a much improved - and more aggressive - Stead, and that the atmosphere even in the Blackburn end was poor up until we snatched a late winner.

Player ratings:

Brad - 7 not much to do but did it well. Could perhaps have distributed the ball quicker but the defence gave him few options.

Emerton - 6 quiet game but did ok defensively and supported Bentley well going forward in the first half.

Warnock - 5 disappointingly quiet. Maybe it had something to do with his early bpooking. Didn't impose himself defensively or going forward.

Nelsen - 6 looked a bit rusty, and /or tired from 3 games in a short space of time after his injury. Just about coped but wasn't his usual imposing self.

Samba - 8 my MOTM won everything in the air, got stuck in and showed some good distribution. Performance epitomised by stoping the united forward's mazy run from kick off with a crunching tackle after MGP's free kick.

Bentley - 7 some good crosses and runs - far better on the wing than inside.

Mokoena - 4 seriously, what is the point? Ok I don't expect him to be a top dribbler or anything but he must be the most ineffective midfield enforcer ever. He doesn't disrupt their play and can't pass. I want the guy to do well but he's showing me nothing at the moment. Worrying that we have to rely on him.

Tugay - 5 ineffective but at least he tried to keep it on the deck and pass it about.

MGP - 8 missed a good one on one chance in first half but is showing regular sparks of game-turning magic. Good header and an awesome free kick.

McCarthy - 5 disappointingly quiet, not sure he was really up for the battle.

Derbyshire - 6 looked lively with a few good runs before going off injured.

subs

Roberts - 7 tried to make things happen, got stuck in and an encouraging performance after a long term injury. Lasted 70 minutes.

Dunn - 6 promising signs. Showed more physical presence than the other centre mids, and the odd bit of flair.

Nonda - on too late to register. IMO Hughes should have put him on 5-10 minutes earlier.

Overall a poor performance but a welcome three points. Roberts, our wide players and Samba all providing some positives in an otherwise poor game.

[stuwilky]

i wouldnt say 3,500, more around 2,500

Which would suggest the lower tier of the Darwen End was barely half full. From where I was sat it looked significantly more full than that.