Chelsea V Blackburn 15 September 2007

[blackburnmad]

who Chrissie Samba, who Chrissie Samba, who Chrissie Samba. Gotta say Benni was very disappointing today and didnt look at all interested

although i like benni it seems to me that when we play chelsea since hes been there he doesnt seem to want to put any effort in his game when we played them last year in the fa cup semi he was no were to be seen does anyone else agree

[Alan75]

any news on Samba?

He has come round has been chatting to team mates and should travel home with the squad.BRFCS NEWS LINK

[roversmum]

My main worry was the lethargy. Chelsea were fast and furious and we gave the ball away so many times*. Not a good game for Bents or Morten. Benni didn't do his campaign to join Chelsea any good at all - can't see him going there ever! Savage - a legend; couple of silly tackles but very nearly won us the match and also saved them getting a goal a couple of times.

*One thing I noticed last season, we would pass a ball and the player who the ball was being passed to would stand and wait for it to come to them but before it arrived an opposition player nipped in and made off with it. Need to nip that in the bud now and go for the ball.

Not one of our best matches, but hey, we got a point!

Brad - what a hero!

[cletus]

A great result today. Not many teams got owt from Chelsea at home.

Samba injury looked bad, hope he`s ok.

Friedel was awesome again! Man of the match for me

The unbeaten run continues!

[blackburnmad]

He has come round has been chatting to team mates and should travel home with the squad.

thats good then glad to hear hes ok cant lose him for to long hes one of our best defenders

[Daremz]

Chelsea without two vitals, if only...

Well, good result for us, Chelsea were the better and that goal was no offside at all, but good to have the luck at our side this time! Samba and Friedel were fantastic, special mention goes to Warnock though. I thought he was excellent in defence, showed pace, passion and has some good football qualities. My man of the match, because Samba or Brad all the time....that's just not creative. Benni was very sloppy, MGP on form scores on a volley like that.

And Ooijer was magnificent, very concentrated when he came on. Hopefully John Coffee's head injury isn't too bad...

[John Howarth]

In Mark Hughes's post match interview he comes down on the side of the linesman by saying that the offside was correct. Cue for John Howarth to explain the decision and put us all right...........

Not having yet seen the incident, I cannot yet comment. However, does this help?

Offside Position

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

A player is in an offside position if:

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

A player is not in an offside position if:

he is in his own half of the field of play or

he is level with the second last opponent or

he is level with the last two opponents

Offence

A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

interfering with play or

interfering with an opponent or

gaining an advantage by being in that position

[roversmum]

There you have it. Offside.

[ihateburnley]

I thought Brad, Nelsen, Warnock and Samba had very good games. Emerton, Dunn, Savage and Santa Cruz played pretty well. Bentley was very quiet.

I'd look at dropping McCarthy for the next game, and what the hell is wrong with Pedersen? Today we got a good point and we defended excellently as a team, but Pedersen needs to look at himself. He and McCarthy didn't look interested whatsoever and I think they really need a kick up the arse. With very winnable games against Larissa, Portsmouth, Brum and Sunderland coming up, I think we need to look at giving Matt his chance in the team. Derbyshire looks well up for it when he comes on and I would happily sacrifice the possibility of Benni turning up for the enthusiasm and desire of Matt Derbyshire.

I was impressed with Santa Cruz aswell. He holds the ball up excellently, is good in the air, and hardly ever gives the ball away. By the looks of it both Cruz and Benni want to naturally come deep to get the ball, and I think (especially against weaker opposition) that if we play Cruz alongside Derbs, we can have Matt stood on the shoulder of their back line to use his pace to get in there.

Don't know who I would play in favour of Pedersen though. Maybe Olsen at left back and push Warnock up? I think Pedersen needs some competition as he appears to be in the comfort zone too often these days.

[broadsword]

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

Hmmm ... the ball was passed backwards, wasn't it? So that must mean he was behind the ball.

However, he was in front of second last man.

[Oakland]

He has come round has been chatting to team mates and should travel home with the squad.BRFCS NEWS LINK

thank God! , so good night and bring on Larisa...

[ihateburnley]

A player is in an offside position if:

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

If I remember correctly Kalou was between the second to last defender and the last defender (Brad) when the ball was played? Thus being offside as Roversmum has said.

[joey_big_nose]

Not having yet seen the incident, I cannot yet comment. However, does this help?

Offside Position

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

A player is in an offside position if:

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

A player is not in an offside position if:

he is in his own half of the field of play or

he is level with the second last opponent or

he is level with the last two opponents

Offence

A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

interfering with play or

interfering with an opponent or

gaining an advantage by being in that position

Um, I thought if the recieving player is behind the player who passes the ball he cannot be offside?

[Lathund]

There you have it. Offside.

No.

"A player is in an offside position if:

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent"

He was behind the ball.

[ihateburnley]

I think we should forget the offside rule altogether.

Here's looking forward to Larissa 4 - 19 Rovers.

[joey_big_nose]

Don't know who I would play in favour of Pedersen though. Maybe Olsen at left back and push Warnock up? I think Pedersen needs some competition as he appears to be in the comfort zone too often these days.

For all his shortcomings I would still play Pedersen. He gives us balance and works hard, and things like his ability in the air provide an extra dimension. And there is no way I would change the back four, they have been a sensational unit.

[joey_big_nose]

No.

"A player is in an offside position if:

he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent"

He was behind the ball.

Well spotted!

Sparky might need to reconsider his position unfortunately.

[ihateburnley]

For all his shortcomings I would still play Pedersen. He gives us balance and works hard, and things like his ability in the air provide an extra dimension. And there is no way I would change the back four, they have been a sensational unit.

I think that's sort of what my point is Joey. Pedersen normally works really hard even if he isn't playing spectacularly well. However, everytime I've seen him play so far this season, he has looked lethargic and as though his minds on something else.

[AggyBlue]

"We were celebrating, the red and black team were crying, it was a goal"

er, no Maureen, we were laughing our socks off. Ha Ha.

It was a good goal.

Fingers crossed Samba is OK.

[bryson]

I'm sorry but all you people who think the linesman sorry ref's assistant got it wrong, he didn't.

OK I watched on the TV but , as it happened, I reckoned he was offside. I was right and so was the assistant.

The ball, as numerous "action replays" showed was played forward to a player who only had Brad between himself and the goal. Simply put OFFSIDE: check it out.

Big mouth M is just that a big Mouth.

The Chelski team, which, btw, cost nigh on 100,000,000 pounds has the legs and stamina but not the guile and skill.

I thought Robbie, Chris, Ryan, Roquez and of course Brad were particularly strong. But the team played for each other and even André coming on for Chris made a superb challenge.

I will put it simply:

It was NOT offside and the whinging media bias is the only thing between us and being seen as a real presence in the Premier League.

This is my 51st season following the Rovers and I am convinced it will be one of the best I've ever experienced.

Get behind the team and we will definitely stride up to the winning rostrum in one of the three cup competitions we're involved in.

Come on Rovers.

[AggyBlue]

A player can't be offside if he is behind the ball when it is played.

No other facts matter.

[Fife Rover]

Well I wont bother repeating what several others have said about individual performances except to say that I agree with the general concensus.I feel over the 90 mins Rovers were lucky to come out of it without being beaten, but having said that we did have 2 or 3 chances of our own, and maybe should have made more of them. The best one being the peach of a cross from Bentley with his left foot after turning inside Ashley Cole and which reached MGP running in at the far post. He volleyed it into the side netting and was unlucky not to score. Then there was the Dunny effort in the second half that just whistled over the bar, and the effort by Sav that Cech had to tip over at full stretch.

For the first 20 mins we had much more posession than they did and the statistics on Setanta showed it, but then they upped the tempo and began to control the game and push us back. We never really got back on top after that, but as stated we did have our chances in isolation.

I really thought Mr Webb had a good game and his linesmen too. Maybe they got it wrong about the offside "goal" but overall they had a good game and were very fair in all the decisions I thought. Chelski committed more fouls than Rovers in the match and I think he was right with all the Yellows he gave out.

Also in spite of my impulse to wear the Rovers shirt again, I resisted and left it off, because I figured that as they had not lost a game since I first left it off (by oversight) why change things now? It worked didn't it? Once again we did not lose.

[1864roverite]

Well today I have been busy finishing the patio and laying two new drains, pointing and cleaning and my bloody back is aching. I suffered the game listening to Five live, that well known radio station that just loves to make BRFC sound like a team of degenerate thugs.

Today that changed.

Phrases like "well organised", "drilled", "positive" were used throughout the game by all of the commentators, who for once in a Rovers away game against a top team (allegedly), seemed to find only positive things to say about Mark Hughes and his Rovers team.

I have to say that I am ecstatic with a point from the Bridge. Who would have thought that little old Rovers could have played both the arse and cfc and remain unbeaten ? Add that to an excellent draw at Everton and a win at Boro.

Rovers, it seems, conceded a lot of possession but we have to remember cfc were the home team. My memory from the commentary is that cfc only really threatened when Rovers made mistakes and of course when they "scored" that goal.

Blackburn Rovers FC have made some serious big strides this season already. They have made the big boys sit up and take notice. We can mix it and we can play, moanalot conceded that and for him to say something like that shows Rovers have made the right impression.

For me now, the test comes next Sunday when we have pompy at home. A win after a positive European result will send shock waves through the league, because looking at the fixture list, Rovers can make a massive impression on the league as we roll into the end of November.

Well done Rovers, noone outside of Ewood fancied us, but hey we all do !

ps just heard the scan on the Big Man Samba is okay and he is due out of hospital to meet up with the team.

[Oakland]

Hughes + latest on Samba (Official)

[tonygreenbank]

Great pointRovers. I actually thought it was offside as the guy was clearly in front of the defensive line when the ball was crossed but hey I`m not going to be too dogmatic as the linesman thought it was. what angered me today was the posturing of the Chelsea bench which was aggressive all afternoon towards the officials. No wonder Chelsea are disliked as they tried and failed to intimidate the officials. If it was a mistake then so what it happens to every team every week. Well done rovers to remain unbeaten so far. Friedel was immense as was Samba and Nelsen and savage but I was annoyed with Mcarthy and Pedersen who went "missing" when the pressure was on.