[Archived] Watford Preview

[Hasta]

Tell me your having a laugh, or your Dunny in disguise 'tidy on the ball' you'd fully expect every premiership player to be tidy on the ball even Watfords players were tidy on the ball. Dunny didnt play any meaningful passes forward he didnt run at the opposition like Pedersen and especially Bentley did tonight. When it came to defending or taking the ball off the opposition he just shadowed and allowed the opposition to do what ever they wanted, luckily they werent the best to punish Rovers.

There was no drive from the centre of midfield tonight, we all know what type of player the axe is, and he did it to the best of his ability but poor old Dunny couldnt instruct his weary legs to drive forward thankfully he was replaced along with Benni then and only then did things begin to improve.

I thought Dunny played well first half and was OK second, and I've been a critic of his since we were first rumoured to be resigning him. He was certainly better than MGP.

[colin]

I think Bentley is fast becoming one of the best wingers in the Premiership. Obviously not in the same class as the likes of Ronaldo etc, but I can see him playing for one of the top clubs very soon. I don't know whether to be be happy or sad at that... I love the way he can wrap his foot around the ball and seemingly cross from any position and any angle. To think, when we first signed him, I wasn't excited at all!

I'd just like to echo that sentiment. Bentley came to us as a Arsenal reject and is possibly the most improved player this season.

One of the things I like about him is the way he always seems to know where the ball is going. You know how some players have no idea. There was one wonderful example tonight when he took the ball on his chest, did a quick spin, and went round a defender and met the ball at the other end of the coming-together and stuck in a cross.

He's a nippy little winger, with the ability to get past players and has now seemingly taken over the corners from the left from MGP.

He can do free kicks too, as he proved in that England under 21, and nearly scored a pearl tonight.

I think he's going to be a really good asset for us.

[RevidgeBlue]

Some very strange opinions on here from people who I presume were not present and reliant on commentary of the game.

Roberts was excellent and fully deserved his mom award. We seem to have finally sussed the way to get the best out of him i.e. stick the ball in front of him to run on to, not to his feet with his back to goal.

Closely behind him were both Dunn, who was excellent again, and Samba.

I also thought MGP had another good game but didn't think Bentley put in one of his better performances.

The first half was superb, far better than I was expecting after Sunday. Second half was pretty anti climactic but that's maybe to be expected when you're 3-1 up against a rank poor side.

All in all very good.

[JAL]

Some very strange opinions on here from people who I presume were not present and reliant on commentary of the game.

Roberts was excellent and fully deserved his mom award. We seem to have finally sussed the way to get the best out of him i.e. stick the ball in front of him to run on to, not to his feet with his back to goal.

Closely behind him were both Dunn, who was excellent again, and Samba.

I also thought MGP had another good game but didn't think Bentley put in one of his better performances.

The first half was superb, far better than I was expecting after Sunday. Second half was pretty anti climactic but that's maybe to be expected when you're 3-1 up against a rank poor side.

All in all very good.

Another lunatic - Dunn who was excellent tonight.

[Scotty]

Some very bizarre comments tonight. I thought the whole of our midfield outplayed their opponents for most of the game. The only time Watford got on top was at the start of the second half when they tried to by-pass midfield all together.

Bentley was superb again and is my Rovers player of the season - it was just a shame that he couldn't finish his chance in the second half after beating 3 Watford defenders. The cross he put in for McCarthy's goal was as good a delivery as I think I've ever seen (followed by a great finish). Dunn played very well also and knitted the team together. He and Mokoena give a nice balance to the midfield between defence and attack. Roberts looked a big threat up front and troubled Watford throughout.

I could grumble about McCarthy's all round game and how Emerton was left marking two of Watford's biggest players for their goal, but that would be churlish.

Overall though I was pleasantly surprised at the desire and urgency we showed at the start of the game. If we can keep those levels up we could still get into the European mix yet.

[Guest shoppybrfc]

Roberts still has a very poor first touch though, hes still just a speedier version of Kuqi.

[RevidgeBlue]

Another lunatic - Dunn who was excellent tonight.

He was excellent and showed levels of fitness I suspect even those of us who were fans of his thought doubted he could ever reach. He was battling in midfield one minute, tracking back the next and making a crucial defensive clearance the next.

[JAL]

He was excellent and showed levels of fitness I suspect even those of us who were fans of his thought doubted he could ever reach. He was battling in midfield one minute, tracking back the next and making a crucial defensive clearance the next.

Sounds like a man of the match performance from Mr. Dunn, your comments seem as though he only went one way - backwards!

[USABlue]

I take it Jal voted no for Dunny to return and has to justify that. Looked to me like Roberts mis-hit the ball for his goal but it counts, good strong running by him to beat his marker I thought. On the even brighter side we can now not get whitewashed by the relegation teams.

[tcj_jones]

I only saw the replay of Roberts goal once, but to me it looked as though he might have deliberately hit the ball into the ground so that it would bounce over the keeper. If he did intend it, then it was a really clever finish.

[Cocker]

OK, who snatched a drum and launched it through the air?

Dont suppose anyone has a clip?

JAL Posted Today, 00:38

Another lunatic - Dunn who was excellent tonight.

Did you ever like Dunn when he was with us the first time round?

[bob fleming]

How poor poor poor was David Dunn tonight against next seasons championship level team?

David Dunn 4 or 5 out of ten for tonights performance = unacceptable if Rovers are to progress!

Everyone's entitled to an opinion of course it's just that the one above is utter rubbish.

Roberts, Samba, Bentley, Dunn and The Drum Thief were all excellent last night. Watford were poor.

[Alan75]

I try to read post on here with an open mind, allowing for the fact that not everyone can get to the game and they have to interpret the play from radio commentary.

Everyone will have their own opinions and see the game differently. However some of the comments regarding Dunns performance are totally out of order.

How anyone could suggest

thankfully he was replaced along with Benni then and only then did things begin to improve.

Amazing comment 80 minutes played, 3-1 up, Dunn and Benni are subbed and it improved.

[Alan75]

Red tights, southern softies.

[dillo_dillo]

I held out and got up at 4 AM. the game started at 4 AM in Japan.

It was unexciting game for me. I regretted that had got up.... happier to be asleep.

[roversmum]

bounce-Black-ability

Enjoyed this game. Nice to be back at Ewood (and actually be able to see the game and not just the bar of the goal ). Plenty of good-humoured banter at the lino who eventually got the hang of what he was supposed to be doing; usual one or two strange decisions and stray elbows missed. No complaints, all the players did their stuff and particularly enjoyed Roberts' excellent runs. Would have liked a few more goals to help our goal difference but no complaints on the whole.

Keep it up, lads. Another win on Saturday please.

Oh, and congratulations to Bert and Sarah. The programme tells us the new Emerton is a fine healthy little boy named Zach, born last week.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Some very bizarre comments tonight. I thought the whole of our midfield outplayed their opponents for most of the game. The only time Watford got on top was at the start of the second half when they tried to by-pass midfield all together.

Bentley was superb again and is my Rovers player of the season - it was just a shame that he couldn't finish his chance in the second half after beating 3 Watford defenders. The cross he put in for McCarthy's goal was as good a delivery as I think I've ever seen (followed by a great finish). Dunn played very well also and knitted the team together. He and Mokoena give a nice balance to the midfield between defence and attack. Roberts looked a big threat up front and troubled Watford throughout.

I could grumble about McCarthy's all round game and how Emerton was left marking two of Watford's biggest players for their goal, but that would be churlish.

Overall though I was pleasantly surprised at the desire and urgency we showed at the start of the game. If we can keep those levels up we could still get into the European mix yet.

Tend to agree here Scotty but I wouldn't say Bentley was superb, more like looking back to what he has been before the last couple of game - yet again though we had tthe situation where he will not pass to Emerton on the overlap and chose the option to shoot when there where players on for a pass.

Only grumble - why the hell again when 2-0 up did we go all defensive for 10 mins as it invited trouble and of course conceded a goal and why do we not leave anybody on the halfway line now when defending corners etc.

Darth

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Find Member's Posts Yesterday, 10:09 Post #43

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Group: Members

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Joined: 15-October 03

Member No.: 1,935

Samba to score first in a 4-0 win - 350/1!!

Got the twitches as well on this - 425 / 1 with Stan James - I actually put the bet on then changed my mind to Pedersen 2-0 so when we raced into the 2-0 lead I started kicking myself

[Eddie]

Bentley was superb again and is my Rovers player of the season - it was just a shame that he couldn't finish his chance in the second half after beating 3 Watford defenders. The cross he put in for McCarthy's goal was as good a delivery as I think I've ever seen (followed by a great finish).

The cross was a good one, the work to beat the man was very good, but I've certainly seen better balls.

[Shaddy]

The cross was a good one, the work to beat the man was very good, but I've certainly seen better balls.

I bet you have.

[LeftWinger]

Edited - already posted

[Eddie]

I bet you have.

Very clever.

[Darth]

Got the twitches as well on this - 425 / 1 with Stan James - I actually put the bet on then changed my mind to Pedersen 2-0 so when we raced into the 2-0 lead I started kicking myself

I put the bet on, imagine the twitches I had!

[jrabrfc]

Anybody else see that guy throw one of the drums towards the pitch in anger at the start of the second half? He was applauded by some people sitting around there, but the drummers and the other 12 year old drummer wanna-be's turned on him and the stewards had to lead him away.

They should have thrown the drummers out instead. Sunday proved you don't need a drummer to get the atmosphere going, just a good game and a crowd prepared to get behind the boys. A drummer doesn't really help things, and from sitting that close last night I wonder why nobody hasn't thrown the drum before now!

[only2garners]

“It was a disappointing way to start, but there is no question that we have been beaten by the better team and got what we deserved,” Boothroyd said. “We were well beaten by daft goals. We didn’t even make a good side work hard.”

That summed up the match last night for me. Rovers did what they had to and little more, but they didn't need to. In truth we were playing a side no better than an average Championship team so any eulogising about players' performances needs to take that into account. There are a lot of differing views about Dunn's performance above - for me it was somewhere in between - he did nothing wrong but was anonymous for long periods. I would have said that Mokoena played better as he looked to get more involved.

After some criticism of the Admiral on Sunday I spent a few minutes watching him in the second half. Whilst Samba spends a lot of time rushing round, intercepting and looking very dramatic, Nelson just concentrates on reading the game and being in the right place. His involvement therefore often looks like the ball has just come to him when in fact it's because he has read the game better than anyone else. Last night was hardly the most challenging match for him - I doubt he broke sweat for the whole of the match. (Don't know about his involvement for the Watford goal though).

PS What was with 2 minutes injury time at the end last night? It should have been 4 or 5 given three long injuries and several substitutions. Maybe the ref decided everyone had had enough.

[den]

Have three different black players, ever scored in one game for Rovers?

I would guess not.