Boro V Rovers match thread

[Lee]

He got hit on the head by not one but two defenders. Talk about conspiracy theories.

Incidentally we played Stephen Warnock in the UEFA Cup even though he had already played in the Champions League for Liverpool in the same season.

[Fife Rover]

What It was clear that he was clattered. I thing your going a bit far there.

Yes he was clattered, but how do you or I know how hard and what the effect was? All I DO know is that about 2 years ago I slipped on an icy pavement and banged the back of my head, and actually lay unconcious for a short time in someone's front garden. I came round and managed to walk home (only about 300 yards) and discovered I had lost my glasses in the fall. My wife sent for the doc because I was apparently white as a sheet and speaking incoherently. The ambulance came for me and whisked me off to the nearest A&E dept where I was examined by a doctor and then questioned at length. The verdict was that in spite of the fact that I had made a full recovery by then and nobody could tell anything had ever happened, the Hospital would NOT allow me to go home and insisted in my staying in over night and seeing a specialist the following day. This all happened and I was then allowed home and given comprehensive instuctions on the symptons to look out for and the instruction to rest for at least 3 days.

The difference is that in Benni's case the Hospital have obviously found virtually nothing wrong with him and have allowed him to go home with the rest of the team. No staying in for observation, even as a precaution, but you can bet that he wont be training or playing again for a couple of weeks. If he does I will hold my hand up and come on here with full apology.

[Jordan]

Yes he was clattered, but how do you or I know how hard and what the effect was? All I DO know is that about 2 years ago I slipped on an icy pavement and banged the back of my head, and actually lay unconcious for a short time in someone's front garden. I came round and managed to walk home (only about 300 yards) and discovered I had lost my glasses in the fall. My wife sent for the doc because I was apparently white as a sheet and speaking incoherently. The ambulance came for me and whisked me off to the nearest A&E dept where I was examined by a doctor and then questioned at length. The verdict was that in spite of the fact that I had made a full recovery by then and nobody could tell anything had ever happened, the Hospital would NOT allow me to go home and insisted in my staying in over night and seeing a specialist the following day. This all happened and I was then allowed home and given comprehensive instuctions on the symptons to look out for and the instruction to rest for at least 3 days.

The difference is that in Benni's case the Hospital have obviously found virtually nothing wrong with him and have allowed him to go home with the rest of the team. No staying in for observation, even as a precaution, but you can bet that he wont be training or playing again for a couple of weeks. If he does I will hold my hand up and come on here with full apology.

That story explains quite a lot.

[SouthAussieRover]

The ambulance came for me and whisked me off to the nearest A&E dept where I was examined by a doctor and then questioned at length. The verdict was that in spite of the fact that I had made a full recovery by then and nobody could tell anything had ever happened, the Hospital would NOT allow me to go home and insisted in my staying in over night and seeing a specialist the following day. This all happened and I was then allowed home and given comprehensive instuctions on the symptons to look out for and the instruction to rest for at least 3 days.

Was the specialist from the psychiatric department?

Time will tell Fife though I hope no player would feign a head or neck injury.

[philipl]

Fife, you are probably forgetting that the Rovers team coach is probably better equipped for monitoring post-impact concussion than the Boro A&E unit once the Hospital has given him the initial OK. I really do not think this conspiracy theory has any legs at all.

[thenodrog]

'drog- When was the last time you saw a PL level wall "gripping" each other.

Not Blacksnape you know.

I realise that philip but you must also recognise the fact that Downing would not have scored that particular free kick at Blacksnape.

[Fife Rover]

Was the specialist from the psychiatric department?

Time will tell Fife though I hope no player would feign a head or neck injury.

I can understand that some or even most of you think Benni is the greatest thing since sliced bread. As a player so do I, but as I have said many times before I do not like his attitude, or trust his motives. I believe and am perfectly entitled to do so that he is simply using Rovers as a stepping stone to a CL club and has been since day one.

As I said in my earlier post, I am willing to be proved wrong and in fact would be overjoyed if anyone could PROVE it. I don't want Benni to go any more than any of you do. BUT; I DO expect loyalty and comittment from Rovers players for as long as they remain Rovers players. This includes NOT constantly trying to work their passage to another club, and especially very soon after arriving here.

[mike at picture]

I can understand that some or even most of you think Benni is the greatest thing since sliced bread. As a player so do I, but as I have said many times before I do not like his attitude, or trust his motives. I believe and am perfectly entitled to do so that he is simply using Rovers as a stepping stone to a CL club and has been since day one.

As I said in my earlier post, I am willing to be proved wrong and in fact would be overjoyed if anyone could PROVE it. I don't want Benni to go any more than any of you do. BUT; I DO expect loyalty and comittment from Rovers players for as long as they remain Rovers players. This includes NOT constantly trying to work their passage to another club, and especially very soon after arriving here.

I know where you're coming from there, there's something about McCarthy's body language and general demeanour that I'm not keen on.

Mark Hughes and the club are too savvy to have the wool pulled over their eyes however and McCarthy would be daft to try it on with them. I suspect that McCarthy would know that.

[Beta Ray Bill]

I can understand that some or even most of you think Benni is the greatest thing since sliced bread. As a player so do I, but as I have said many times before I do not like his attitude, or trust his motives. I believe and am perfectly entitled to do so that he is simply using Rovers as a stepping stone to a CL club and has been since day one.

As I said in my earlier post, I am willing to be proved wrong and in fact would be overjoyed if anyone could PROVE it. I don't want Benni to go any more than any of you do. BUT; I DO expect loyalty and comittment from Rovers players for as long as they remain Rovers players. This includes NOT constantly trying to work their passage to another club, and especially very soon after arriving here.

It's all very well being concerned about a player not being 100% behind Rovers, although I think you are overstating Benni's alledged disloyalty.

However, it is extremely distasteful to suggest that a player would feign a head injury to try and further his career. What if he had broken a leg, would that have been more acceptable to you?

[thenodrog]

there's something about McCarthy's body language and general demeanour that I'm not keen on.

No comment either way and I'll be glad when Sept 1 arrives and we hopefully have the same squad at our disposal, but I noticed much the same with Bellamy in the last couple of months of his stay here.

[Roost]

Brilliant result yesterday - I left The Riverside a happy man.....except:

• do we have a centre midfielder worthy of the blue & white shirt?
• Savage was very poor yesterday - the time has gone when we can thnk it is ok to have someone running round like a headless chicken
• Dunny, although looking much slimmer just does not look good enough
• That leaves Mokoena & Tugay - however much I love Tugay, is he not now too old?

I dont want to put a downer on yesterday because its a perfect start to the season, but I am worried that if Boro can overrun us in midfield, anyone can.

One Love - BRFC

[RoyRover]

[*]do we have a centre midfielder worthy of the blue & white shirt?

Yes, Steven Reid once he is fit. But it would be nice to have a quality player to play with him.

[kevinyip]

I can understand that some or even most of you think Benni is the greatest thing since sliced bread. As a player so do I, but as I have said many times before I do not like his attitude, or trust his motives. I believe and am perfectly entitled to do so that he is simply using Rovers as a stepping stone to a CL club and has been since day one.

As I said in my earlier post, I am willing to be proved wrong and in fact would be overjoyed if anyone could PROVE it. I don't want Benni to go any more than any of you do. BUT; I DO expect loyalty and comittment from Rovers players for as long as they remain Rovers players. This includes NOT constantly trying to work their passage to another club, and especially very soon after arriving here.

Fife,

I think it will be rather stupid for one to try to make sure he will not play european football so that he can join other club by letting others hurt his head. It is very very stupid. What if he broke his neck? If he want to go away I think he will just go away (just Like Bellamy, Do Bellamy need to break his leg or his neck so as to make sure he can go away?).

[joey_big_nose]

Before we get carried away accusing Benni does him participating in the UEFA mean that he cannot do CL for another club? As someone said Warnock played in CL before coming to us last season.

[mickygray316]

Excellent result yesterday, not the best performance but that will come in time. Looking forward to getting Reidy back in contention for a midfield place

Heres to another successful season under Mark Hughes, but not too successful because I don't want him to leave!

[Paul]

While I like the MOTM poll idea it's a pain having to scroll past it on every page.

[bob fleming]

Four things...

1. Fife - that's utter nonsense. No way can he feign that injury. He'd be better off in Hollywood if he could.

2. Despite that I still reckon one of Benni or Roberts will be off by the end of August. No facts, no links, nothing. Just a feeling. We've too many strikers.

3. That Santa Cruz looks different class.

4. Have to agree with Den - The Sav / Dunny combo didn't look too hot. It's a tricky one. There's defintely a case of The Axe to start and then you can pick one from three for me.

[den]

While I like the MOTM poll idea it's a pain having to scroll past it on every page.

I'm open to suggestions Paul.

Thing is, if we simply make another seperate topic, then these polls will litter all the m/b. putting the poll in another forum wouldn't attract the same interest IMO. We could cut down on the number of poll options, say offer 5 players to vote on. That would cut the physical size of the poll, - but who's brave enough to pick the 5 players?

[squaylor]

It was a great game for us away fans, although there was a fair bit of grumbling towards the end of the second half as we kept on misplacing passes in midfield. Poor old Warnock had the misfortune to concede two corners with bad back passes right in front of the away end. But the second half was great, it really reminded me just why I love going to away games. The Boro fans gave nothing, even after they scored there was that rubbish clapping thing they do and one chorus of 'You're not singing anymore' - we had the last laugh on that, though.

The game was mostly frustrating, but for once we tucked away our chances, and as others have said that was the difference. Now that he's shown what he can do in the air, we really need the wingers to get down to the byline more for Roque. Practically the only time Bentley did that was for the goal, from the quickly taken free kick (even if he's lost a step, Dunny can still read a game). Without doubt the injury to Benni was the turning point, it switched momentum to us, and scoring right away kept it there. Cracking finish from Matty, I was right in line with his shot and knew it was in the top corner as soon as it went off his boot. Great moment when all the players stopped, as if none of them could quite believe it.

So hats off to the Rovers fans there, I guess about 1800-2000, for making the noise, and our chants of 'Santa Cruz is coming to town' even made the match review in the Observer. What with Arsenal stuttering against Fulham, bring 'em on.

[roversmum]

I'm worried. Generally didn't think we cut the mustard yesterday and got lucky. Lads either have to up their game or we are going to be in trouble before long. Have turned up too many times thinking that's all they have to do to win a game. Luckily Roque and Matty are hungry but is it going to be enough? The next week will be interesting..... and we've some very tough matches looming.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Brilliant save by Brad at the end to win us the three points.

OJ did you not want me in this picture -must have taken it at half time or just at the start of the 2nd as I had just gone underneath.

As for the match we where poor , and as somebody has already said it was a bit of a backs to the wall except for the first 20 mins and if it hadn't been for Brad and some dramatic hoof at ball's to ge tthem cleared we would certainly have been beaten quite comfortably.

The injury for Benni was the master stroke of luck we needed as he had done bugger all up to them and neither had Roberts - and Fife I concur with what you say but not re the conspiracy of missing Europe.

How anybody can say Savage had a poor game is beyond me - he is not my favourite player and yes he did run around alot like a headless chicken but he made some very timely interceptions and blocks and did all the running for Dunn so how he kept going for all the match in the temperatures out there was amazing after being out for the length of time he has been.

What was blatantly obvious is that we had nobody who could pick up the ball in midfield and actually drive forward and do something with it. Dunn was poor and but for Bentley's cross for the goal, and MGP's 'handball' for Sir Matts quality finish they where very ineffective.

Warnock did ok IMO except for the couple of lapses early doors where he gave the corners away - but he was out of position alot as he was having to do the work for MGP and the only actually prepared to take on a man.

Oojer is far too slow at full back and all Roberts did was moan most of the match , probably because the Boroo defence had him in their pockets.

The worrying thing for me (as well as the midfield) overall though was Hughesy has said that we needed to hit the field running , and we have had 2 competitive games which should have shaken off alot of the rustiness - yet Boro looked far fitter than us and more eager.

As for Santa - it has been mentioned that Boro did seem startled by him and didn't know how to deal with him and certainly does look like he has something about him (class ) and time will tell.

Derbs looks sharp and for me it should be these two that start on Thursday up front regardless.

The backing from the fans was good - shame about Boro though, however this is the norm in our present day game for home fans anywhere.

Anyway enjoyed the day, it wasn't a bad game and the ref was abysmal lets just hope that even though we didn't play well we got a win - hopefully agood sign for the rest of the coming season.

[Fife Rover]

Four things...

1. Fife - that's utter nonsense. No way can he feign that injury. He'd be better off in Hollywood if he could.

2. Despite that I still reckon one of Benni or Roberts will be off by the end of August. No facts, no links, nothing. Just a feeling. We've too many strikers.

3. That Santa Cruz looks different class.

4. Have to agree with Den - The Sav / Dunny combo didn't look too hot. It's a tricky one. There's defintely a case of The Axe to start and then you can pick one from three for me.

I expected better than that from you Bob. I am sorry to have to tell you this but in this case YOU are the one that is talking nonsense. Concussion is just about the ONLY injury that you COULD feign if you were so minded. There is absolutely no way that concussion can be medically detected short of doing an X-ray examination of the skull (very reluctant to do that these days for obvious reasons) or a scan of the brain. That is why they always subject a suspected head injury patient to who does not show any physical signs of injury to a searching set of questions and some phsycolological tests as well. These are to establish whether there is any reason to suspect that there might be brain damage. And even then it would not prove that you are definitely not brain damaged. That is why they always insist on keeping you in for observation at least overnight. It is also to check for any delayed effects which are very common. I simply cannot imagine any Hospital sending a patient home with suspected concussion, unless they had first got them to sign a legal disclaimer and accept that they are discharging themselves against medical advice and at their own risk. This is standard procedure. (Check with your own doctor) Concussion is a bruising of the brain in laymens terms, and can occur with any moderately hard bang on the head.

For Benni to be sent home immediately it can only mean one of two possibillities.

1. He is not considered to be suffering any kind of possible brain damage including concussion; OR

2. He has ignored medical advice and signed a disclaimer.

If he is NOT suffering from concussion then there is no reason why he should not be fully fit to train with the squad on Monday and to be available for selection for the My Pa match.

We shall see.

[spencey7]

I know it sounds overly cynical but I have to say that I was 3/4 expecting it. I am of course referring to Benni's injury. If you care to look back to my post on the Benni McCarthy thread of Aug 8th you will see that I predicted that benni will make sure he is not available for selection for the My Pa games so as not to get himself cup-tied. He has now done just that by getting an "injury" that cannot be diagnosed easily as anything other than concussion, and as we all know that automatically means a 2 week lay off from any games/training. Nicely done Benni, especially as no one can prove a thing!

I truly cannot believe that I've just read the above post. Appalling. Regardless of whether or not Benni is determined to leave, you claim that was a "faked" injury? Have you seen the footage? Why walk back to the half-way line before collapsing? Unbelievable. I love how you're convinced you'll be proven right if the player recovers in the proper way, priceless.

Remember when John Terry was kicked in the head during last year's Carling Cup Final? He was helped off the pitch in a neck brace and given oxygen - but was back at the ground to join in the celebrations by 6pm. I suppose that was a bogus injury as well?

Grow up.

[roversmum]

Fife is just giving his opinion based on his experience.

I must admit when my son had a nasty knock on the head - fell back on concrete - and was shaking and dizzy A & E just looked him over and sent him home. I had to take him back later in the week and still they did nothing but luckily he fully recovered after a few days' rest.

[Hasta]

Remember when John Terry was kicked in the head during last year's Carling Cup Final? He was helped off the pitch in a neck brace and given oxygen - but was back at the ground to join in the celebrations by 6pm. I suppose that was a bogus injury as well?

Grow up.

Good point about JT. He was back at the ground by 6.

He then missed the next 3 games for Chelsea due to the knock on the head he had taken.

Fife obviosuly likes his conpiracy theories. Remember Roswell, 9/11, the moon landings eh Fife? The truth is out there.