[Archived] Rovers 1 West Ham 2

[trs]

Neill on the crowd reaction........

"To be honest I was disgusted with that," Neill told the BBC.

"Five-and-a-half years at the club, 100 per cent commitment, I've never gone to the papers, never complained about anything and then, when I want to further myself for my own personal benefit, whether it be backwards, sideways or forward, I get the reception I get." (quote)

Tin hat on.............but here we go!

At least he's honest, perhaps he should have just come out with the same crap as big Col eh?

I'd sooner remember the lad for giving his all for Rovers while he wore the shirt.

P.S. Colin Hendry will always be an hero before anybody has a go on that score

[b12_simon]

Of course we were exeptionally poor today. Please dont let that detract from a totally unacceptable and highly dubious performance from the referee and his assistants. How would you feel if you supported one of the clubs down there with WHU?

I'm not denying the officials were shocking. The penalty was a poor decision and their "winner" was a scandalous one! I doubt that officials are subject to "bringing the game into disrepute" charges, but allowing the goal was worthy of one.

Ref aside, though, West Ham are a dreadful side - IMO the worst I've seen at Ewood this season - and we should've had the game sewn up long before either of those incidents occurred.

Given the FA's complacency about their officials (ask Warnock, Fat Sam and Paul Jewell), Rovers can do absolutely Jack about it. The poor performances from so many of our players yesterday is something the management can and must address.

And how would I feel about this if I were a supporter of one of the relegation clubs? Exactly the same as I do as a Rovers supporter: gutted!

[Nayef]

Consecutive results to cheer us up. It certainly did me as I was typing them...

Cardiff 1 Burnley 0

West Brom 3 Burnley 0

Burnley 1 Brum 2

Ipswich 1 Burnley 1

Coventry 1 Burnley 0

Burnley 2 Sunderland 2

Burnley 0 Derby 0

Barnsley 1 Burnley 0

Hull 2 Burnley 0

Reading 3 Burnley 2

Southampton 0 Burnley 0

Burnley 0 Stoke 1

Derby 1 Burnley 0

QPR 3 Burnley 1

Burnley 1 Sheff Wed 1

Wolves 2 Burnley 1

Burnley 0 Leicester 1

Colchester 0 Burnley 0

Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 1

Southend 1 Burnley 0

Preston 2 Burnley 0

[Roost]

You know who we missed in those final 30 minutes or so...Mokoena.

Eddie, I couldnt agree more. Mokoena has come throught the tough times and is proving to be a brilliant player. I just think that Tugs and Dunn are like Lampshade & Gerrard - individually excellent, but like oil and water when they are on the pitch together.

United up next -

[Exiled_Rover]

You know who we missed in those final 30 minutes or so...Mokoena.

Or Reid, or Savage. Someone willing and able to put a foot in. The minute they brought on Mullins, our midfield vanished. It's what happens when you have two flair players with questionable workrates (for varying reasons) in the centre of the park.

[BRFC4EVA]

You know who we missed in those final 30 minutes or so...Mokoena.

Disagree, the guy we're really missing and have done all season is S Reid. Drive, passion, athletism, passing and shooting

[Eddie]

Well, yes, of course. Thing is Reid is out for the season whereas Mokoena just missed that game.

[Pugg]

Apart from the officials I think first half we were decent, and like others have said, we sat back once we took the lead. I think we thought they weren't capable of scoring from open play and so we let them have the ball, not expecting to have those decisions given against us. The second goal shouldn't have been given for several reasons, especially a hand ball by Bowyer!

However, I have to try and keep it in context. We have had a bloody good run recently and the only reason this loss is so disappointing is because it was the team at the bottom of the table and it was through poor decisions. What I will say though, is that when I found out Reid, Savage, Ooijer and Todd would be out for the season, as well as Nelsen and the axe missing. Plus players like Roberts coming back from injury and not having a run of games, I never ever thought we'd be challenging for Europe. The run we have been on recently however gave me, what I think was, false hope. With those key injuries, any suspensions or niggles are bound to affect us, like others have said, yesterday we missed an axe/Savage/Reid type player.

All in all, when I think about how I felt before our recent run, when we went out of the UEFA cup and had all those injuries, I really believe we are in a better position than I thought we would be. The result yesterday is just bitterly disappointing because of the way it happened, but is that how Arsenal feel with Warnock and the 'penalty that never was'.

On a side note, Derbyshire isn't getting slated because he is a youth player, and is full of enthusiasm/running and is still learning. How can you slate someone who is learning their trade? While Benni is a seasoned pro and sometimes looks like he is lacking enthusiasm. I'm not quite sure this is the case though, I think he is a bit like Pedersen, in that when we go in front they track back and try to help the midfield and defence, which affects their attacking play. I'd like to see Roberts have a full game, so I can properly have a look at him, and he can get a game under his belt. I'm not sure what's happened to Nonda, I thought he was eligible to play yesterday, no injury, suspension etc.

[RevidgeBlue]

I'm only just calming down after yesterday and am quite surprised at the level of criticism of our performance from some quarters.

YES, we weren't that great but frankly, prior to the controversy we didn't need to be! West Ham were so poor they'd never have got back in the game without the help of the officials.

There seemed to be a very strange agenda along the lines of "We can't let West Ham go down" being played out by the officials yesterday. Howard Webb is not an incompetent official, he's generally an outstandingly good official but the decision making of him and his sidekick on the line couldn't be explained away by mere competence yesterday.

Even before the three major decisions I got the impression that every single minor decision was going against us. I doubt any action will be taken against Webb or his assistants, it's "only" Blackburn Rovers. Can you imagine the furore though if all that had happened to Manchester United?

As for us, quite a few of our players seemed to think we only had to turn up to win yesterday. Despite that, it would probably still have been enough but for the officials. Don't think we can read too much into the remainder of the season from yesterday. Never seen anything like the decision for the 2nd "goal" in all my time watching football and probably never will again.

[tonygreenbank]

Like most Rovers fans I am still annoyed about yesterday. the old phrase "dont blame the officials form the defeat" doesnt apply. They were inept. I watched Mr Devine doing his warm up exercises and he must be seriously coming to the end of his sell-by-date and his performance showed it. Webb is a good ref but he was let down by this guy. Rovers played very well in the first half as good as they have played this season for the first 45 minutes but poor finishing and a poor disallowed goal saw to that .

This was followed by the poorest second half of the season which has probably cost us automatic Euro spot.In real time I thought Brett had got the ball but seeing it on TV it looks a penalty but the second goal was ridiculous and was described as the most contentious of the season on prem Plus.

Bentley was stupid to handle the ball as was Samba moments earlier when we were attacking but the ref didnt see it.

Benni and Dunny didnt get going and Tugay was well marked.WHAM wanted it more than us which was the most disappointing aspect of the match.

[Dan]

The onlt plus from yesterday is that I had a quid on Samba first goal at 29-1. That along with me having Mokoena last week, £64 from £2 should go some way to buying me semi final tickets

[Roar of the Rover]

So you didn't see the bunch of 15/16 year olds make their way from behind the goal to the exit area to have a go at the stewards while trying to wrestle the lad who was being ejected from the stewards grip. I saw a steward throw a punch as well, reckon I might have done the same thing myself. These chavs have no place at Ewood.

I think we've got too many chavs in Blackburn and too many in the Blackburn End who spoil it for the others

[Neil Weaver]

Some good points there Pugg now we've all calmed down a bit.

Thought we were actually decent for an hour yesterday, better than last week (vs City) for example. And West Ham weren't as poor as a few sides we've played this season eg City, Fulham (so that's a guarantee we'll get a thorough beating at Fulham next month). Defence looks sound, we actually scored off a corner, pity Benni had a "can't be arsed" day.

It's about expectations - six months ago, if someone had said we'd be without Nelsen for most of the season, Reid all season, and Savage for half a season, think most people would have settled for finishing half way in the league and getting to a semi final. Course I'm not throwing in the towel and the aim has got be get higher in the league and win the cup, but keep in touch with reality people. Paul, please don't think I'm having a go but keep in mind reality vs expectation : following Rovers is bound to have highs and lows.

[jamiebrfc]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it any thread elsewhere, but did anyone else the Burnley 'lads' who had come into Blackburn (after their match at PNE yesterday) looking for trouble. They went round all the bars trying to find their BRFC counterparts but the polics seemed to be on top of it.

[gumboots]

Jim has just come back from an injury which kept him out for the early part of the season. Yesterday is the first match I can remember seeing him at this season and I know he had to do all his fitness tests in January to be allowed to come back at all. He is close to retiement age for linesmen but therefore has to prove his fitness fully before they let him officiate.

[Manchester Blue]

I'm only just calming down after yesterday and am quite surprised at the level of criticism of our performance from some quarters.

YES, we weren't that great but frankly, prior to the controversy we didn't need to be! West Ham were so poor they'd never have got back in the game without the help of the officials.

There seemed to be a very strange agenda along the lines of "We can't let West Ham go down" being played out by the officials yesterday. Howard Webb is not an incompetent official, he's generally an outstandingly good official but the decision making of him and his sidekick on the line couldn't be explained away by mere competence yesterday.

Even before the three major decisions I got the impression that every single minor decision was going against us. I doubt any action will be taken against Webb or his assistants, it's "only" Blackburn Rovers. Can you imagine the furore though if all that had happened to Manchester United?

As for us, quite a few of our players seemed to think we only had to turn up to win yesterday. Despite that, it would probably still have been enough but for the officials. Don't think we can read too much into the remainder of the season from yesterday. Never seen anything like the decision for the 2nd "goal" in all my time watching football and probably never will again.

REvidge, I don't always agree but for me that is spot on. I've been surprised also at some of the comments about our performance especially stuff like we got what we deserved. Of course we didn't play great but we were still far better than West Ham. It reminded me of the Pompey match where the opposition was so poor we were starting to mess about a bit. The difference this time was that West Ham actually battled.

However they showed no quality, Tevez aside, and certainly deserved nothing from the game. What annoyed me most was comments from the likes of Curbishley saying we've had bad luck losing leads to Fulham and Spurs!! That's not bad luck that's simply bad play. We were cheated yesterday, of that there is no doubt and no argument.

[BlueMonday]

What annoyed me most was comments from the likes of Curbishley saying we've had bad luck losing leads to Fulham and Spurs!! That's not bad luck that's simply bad play. We were cheated yesterday, of that there is no doubt and no argument.

Amen to that brother! We wuz cheated, plain as.

[92er]

Amen to that brother! We wuz cheated, plain as.

I like Alan Curbishley and I thought he was saying something along the lines of "in our position we are not able to turn down points even though the penalty was highly dubious and the ball didn't cross the line for the 2nd goal."

Zamora got me more narked me by saying, " No I'm not going to feel sorry for Blackburn...." when i would have preferred him to say something along the lines of his manager.

[Manchester Blue]

I like Alan Curbishley and I thought he was saying something along the lines of "in our position we are not able to turn down points even though the penalty was highly dubious and the ball didn't cross the line for the 2nd goal."

Zamora got me more narked me by saying, " No I'm not going to feel sorry for Blackburn...." when i would have preferred him to say something along the lines of his manager.

If Curbishley had said that I wouldn't have minded but he actually said I don't care if the ball crossed the line as we've had hard luck all season whine whine whine. Obviously they were extremely hard done by that their players were incapable of getting at least a point at home to Spurs. No Curbishley was just as ungracious in victory as Zamora.

[AggyBlue]

Amen to that brother! We wuz cheated, plain as.

The trouble is, it's already been swept under the carpet, nothing will be done about it and it will happen to us again.

Probably in the semi.

[MarkBRFC]

If Curbishley had said that I wouldn't have minded but he actually said I don't care if the ball crossed the line as we've had hard luck all season whine whine whine. Obviously they were extremely hard done by that their players were incapable of getting at least a point at home to Spurs. No Curbishley was just as ungracious in victory as Zamora.

Its only like Robbie Savage sitting in the studio last week against citeh and saying "no im a blackburn player" when asked the question "do you feel sorry for stuart pearce"

Fact is if we had won the exact same way against west ham as they did to us yesterday none of us would care either.

[Derby Blue]

I know its a long shot but do you reckon there's any chance of the linesman publically saying that he messed up and cost us at least a point? And with it some sort of apology?

No? I didn't think so...........

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

The performance of the assistant ref at Ewood yesterday was dreadful, but to take up one particular point:

Curbishley was just as ungracious in victory as Zamora.

Newcastle fans could argue that Mark Hughes was just as ungracious in victory after our 1-0 win at St James' Park last season, when MGP punched the ball into the net with his hand. Clearly that goal shouldn't have stood either, but Hughes didn't complain about the goal afterwards.

After that match with Newcastle last January, Hughes was quoted on the BBC as saying: "Although there may have been some fortune surrounding our goal, our general play merited a winning goal however it came." (Link to the quote HERE)

So it would appear that Mark Hughes was not unduly concerned about the legality of that particular goal. The assistant ref was appalling yesterday and I'm not defending him. My point is that perhaps Hughes should condemn all illegal goals whether Rovers score them or not.

BUT TO PLAY FOUR MATCHES AGAINST THE BOTTOM THREE AND LOSE ALL FOUR can only be a reason for the staff at BRFC to take a long hard look in the mirror.

I completely agree with that. Our record against the bottom three clubs has been abysmal this season. In October we played a West Ham side at Upton Park who had lost their previous eight matches in a row. We capitulated with a hopeless feeble performance. The referee and his assistants couldn't be blamed for the defeat that day.

In December we faced a demoralised Charlton side under Les Reed at the Valley, but Rovers capitulated again and lost the match. Charlton then went on to lose 5-1 to Spurs and 3-0 at home to Liverpool (in a performance which Alan Hansen said was amongst the worst he'd ever seen from a Premiership side at home.) After Charlton then lost at home to Wycombe in the Carling Cup, Les Reed was finally put out of his misery. Quite typically, the only win of Reed's disastrous time in charge was against Rovers.

Why did we lose to Charlton? Partly I'd suggest due to the pathetic lack of commitment from the likes of Messrs McCarthy and Nonda, who couldn't be arsed to make runs or chase 50-50 balls.

In Janaury this year we went to Vicarage Road to play a Watford team with only one Premiership win to their name. Typically we lost again after another miserable performance. Our record against the bottom three clubs this season - Watford, West Ham and Charlton - reads: Played Four, Lost Four.

Even allowing for the shambles from the officialdom in charge on Saturday evening, our record against weak opposition is unacceptable. If we'd gained nine points from 12 in those four matches we'd currently be in 5th place in the table on 49 points.

Our abysmal record against weak Premiership sides is something that Mark Hughes urgently needs to address. He can start in my opinion by giving a kick up the backside to certain individuals like Benni McCarthy who went missing in the second half yesterday. For a manager who prides himself on the fitness of his players, we seem to have a few individuals in the team who don't actually like running.

In an interview recently, McCarthy said that he struggled with the pace of the Premiership game at first, but suggested that he's doing better now than at the start of the season because the ProZone stats show that he's running "a couple of miles per match".

Running "a couple of miles" in 90 minutes is nothing to be proud of. In 2005-06, the ProZone stats show that midfielders covered an average of 11.49km per game (7.14 miles) Centre-backs did the least running of any players but even they averaged just a fraction under 10km per match. (Approximately 6.2 miles).

I remember even renowned "goalhanger" Gary Lineker saying that he ran five or six miles in a match. So Mr McCarthy's "couple of miles" isn't entirely impressive.

I can fully understand the anger of Paul who gave up his time to watch this set of highly paid Rovers players, half of whom didn't appear to show the necessary desire and commitment during the match. I would excuse Stephen Warnock and the big beast Christopher Samba from any criticism. They both displayed good effort and commitment. Some of the others need to take a look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves if they did enough on Saturday.

EDITED: Jim has taken offence at my previous description of Samba, which wasn't meant in an uncomplimentary way.

[jim mk2]

the big black beast .

Is his skin colour relevant ? Why not little white weed Stephen Warnock ?

Agree with the sentiments of the post though. I had a feeling in my old bones that Rovers would put in another collective "I can't be arsed performance" against a struggling team. Tottenham showed the way to do it with their demolition of Watford.

[colin]

I know its a long shot but do you reckon there's any chance of the linesman publically saying that he messed up and cost us at least a point? And with it some sort of apology?

No? I didn't think so...........

Of course not. He'd never run the line again. Just the same as the ref when Pederson handled the ball in against the Barcodes & when Wilcox did the same against Portsmouth/Plymouth (can't remember) all those years ago.

Over 24 hours later & I'm still wanting to kick the s**t out of something, but I'm still trying to remain calm & collected.

Zen Colin, zen................................oh hello cat..............no, it's not the cat's fault...............