[Archived] Larissa (home)

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Least you've made me smile. You coming to Portsmouth?

Actually it's not a quiz show it's some comedy impression thing.

Yeah should be! Trying to get a few Saints fans to come down with me to create a bit of a good atmosphere!

After 3....

1

2

3

Oooooh when the Saints.......

[sany]

The first leg cost us...bloody miserable

We were awful in both legs! Deservedly out..Bring on Sunday

[Tim Southampton Rover]

FFS! Steven Segal movie on now.

Is someone out there trying to make me even more f****** depressed?!

[sany]

FFS! Steven Segal movie on now.

Is someone out there trying to make me even more f****** depressed?!

[tchocky]

This is devastating.... I've just lost all motivation. How can we keep on fighting for points in the league if the aim of our labour is to play foreign mickey-mouse teams (that the players can't bother turning up for) the next season and get knocked out before the group stage?

[B.R.F.C]

FFS! Steven Segal movie on now.

Is someone out there trying to make me even more f****** depressed?!

Please keep going...3rd time you've made me chuckle in 10 minutes and given the situation thats rather impressive.

[broadsword]

This has ruined my Thursday!

[herbergeehh]

We were awful in both legs! Deservedly out..Bring on Sunday

Awful? What match were you watching tonight? Rovers was by far the best team and with a bit more luck we would be through. The tempo tired our legs in the end, but we played some really good flowing football, especially the first fifteen in the 2nd half. We did concede a silly goal though, again, which ruined our night.

[sany]

This has ruined my Thursday!

...and my month..maybe a whole year..i'm so depressed.

[sany]

Awful? What match were you watching tonight?

Probably not the same as you

[Cocker]

Awful? What match were you watching tonight? Rovers was by far the best team and with a bit more luck we would be through. The tempo tired our legs in the end, but we played some really good flowing football, especially the first fifteen in the 2nd half. We did concede a silly goal though, again, which ruined our night.

I agree with you. We were playing ok but Tugay shouldnt have been kept on and Sav should have been on sooner. As should Ped.

We needed goals tonight so why the hell the axe was anywhere near the pitch is beyond me - very bad decision there Mr Hughes

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Please keep going...3rd time you've made me chuckle in 10 minutes and given the situation thats rather impressive.

Woo a hat-trick for me! I should have played today

[Hasta]

Having just got back in it's strange that I don't feel too disappointed. I felt far worse walking from the Blues bar after the first game and I think deep down I knew we'd had it then. I think most of us did too becuase, apart from a ten minute spell after our second goal I never really got the feeling that Ewood believed. The scores over the two legs are probably correct. We deserved a pasting in the first game and on balance of play we deserved to win the game tonight. However we also deserve to have come up a couple of goals short.

Not many people played well tonight but at least you always felt you knew who was going to make things happen. Dunn, especially in the first half, has a directness that no others seems to have. He is the only midfielder who will drive at the opposition goals which led to a couple of first half shots and the penalty. Bentley had a spell early in the second half were he was causing trouble down the right hand side. However after the 2nd goal they made a switch and seemed to mark him out of the game. Both do showboat too much at times though.

Negatives. Derbyshire isnt a right winger and is ineffective in that formation out there. If the teams plaing and winning like that fine but if we persisted and hit a bad spell I fear he'd be the one being looked at. Tugay was sloppy. I'm still not convinced that he's not finally gone over the hill this season. Ooiijer scared me a bit tonight.

Overall frustrating but not a lot else we can say. I'm sure some people will moan at time wasting but they weren't that bad for a European team hanging onto a lead. 3 minutes on the board was a joke but would 4 or 5 really have made a difference. No. Exactly.

Fair play to the Monsters. They were noisy 45 minutes before the kick off and seemed to enjoy themselves all game.

And finally another tool on the pitch at full time. We had this last year. Yes i know that he only wanted a shirt or whatever but it could get the club into trouble, it makes the stewards job more difficult. Once one gets away with it everyone starts doing it. Just don't do it.

[briansol]

I'm not McCarthy's biggest fan but blaming him tonight his totally wrong. He just played 20 minutes and didn't have a single ball to work on as we struggled to get into the box.

The management got the formation totally wrong for this match which caused the first half to be a non-start. Everybody knew Larissa would be defensive and compact, which means playing 4-5-1 with no winger will not work. Both Dunn and Derbyshire drifted into the centre and left us with no width or passing option out from defence. Larissa's goal was awful defending by Ooijer, Samba and Warnock all trying to mark Friedel and noone to go for the ball.

We did get a couple of good chances, but Dunn, Derbyshire and Bentley missed goal completly.

Half time saw the formation changed to 4-4-2 with Bentley finally getting the space he needed and started getting crosses in, one which Warnock scored in "Gamst style". Nice goal and cause for hope. Larissa managed to hold and the pressure started to fade. A great deal was because Dunn was totally knackered and gave the ball away all over the pitch giving Larissa breathing space. He should've been subbed earlier.

The match ebbed out with never really getting close to getting the third goal, and we deservedly went out with. Not forgetting we could easily been 3 or 4 down after the first leg.

Mostly I blame the players for the Larissa away display, but I also think Hughes needs to be more dynamic when it comes to the tactical side of games and rotating players. He doesn't always have to play the same side that won the last game. Both Gamst and McCarthy came on to late to prove they didn't deserve to be dropped. The formation was wrong. Mourinho subbed players after 30 minutes and changed formation after 15 min if things didn't work.

Well, as somebody mentioned it could prove a blessing in disguise when it comes to our league form.

[blue phil]

Awful? What match were you watching tonight? Rovers was by far the best team and with a bit more luck we would be through. The tempo tired our legs in the end, but we played some really good flowing football, especially the first fifteen in the 2nd half. We did concede a silly goal though, again, which ruined our night.

Rubbish . We played OK for the 15 minutes you mentioned . The first leg was disgraceful ; the first half tonight was a nightmare and I was praying for Hughes to change the shape of the team long before the ref decided to make a game of it by giving us a penalty .

All in all yet another no show in a big match ; another let down for the fans when a decent amount of them turned up .

Credit to Bentley and Samba as per usual . Tugay had an off day - which you can't blame him for at his age - ; Dunn looked like he'd been back on the pies ; Derbyshire spent 45 minutes plus doing nothing out on the wing ; the Axe contributed zilch . Again the tactics should have been changed before half time .

But let's be honest - over the two legs we were lucky to remain in touch with the Greeks . They had as many chances and played the better football and could have won the tie by 2, 3 or even 4 goals .

Back to the league on Sunday . Don't expect a massive crowd .

[Hasta]

long before the ref decided to make a game of it by giving us a penalty .

Exactly what I said when it was given. However I was suprised by the replay from behind the goal shown at half time that showed it was actually a clear pen.

[Pinch]

I just had to come back for one more comment: It would be lovely if Samba would hit the damn net with some of his headers! He might've had a brace...tonight!

[Hasta]

Attendance 20741.

Like Leverkusen last year a decent crowd that goes away dissapointed which is another annoying aspect of tonight.

[Eddie]

Damage done in the first leg, but we didn't really go for it enough. Sorry to say but I think Hughes messed it up with the original formation and then waited too long to make changes. We basically didn't push for the goal enough for 45 minutes, you can't afford to do that in a game like this, particularly after going one down.

[rover6]

Disappointing but not unexpected.

Don't want to get carried away but I think our exit just goes to show that our squad is lacking in areas (and I'm not talking in terms of numbers). Tugay is so unreliable these days. Hughes' selection can be queried but I guess he wanted to stick with a winning formula.

Ah well.

[Cheeky Sidders]

Over the two legs we were poor and played well below the standard we can do. The Greeks took their chances and held on so all credit to them and George Donis. I hope they go a long way. The sad thing is none of their players would start in our team and we only have ourselves to blame for not bulldozing them out of the competition. We should have come back from Greece with a healthy lead before making sure of the job at Ewood so that we could look ahead to the group stage. As it is we've got nowt and we deserve nowt.

Special mention to the Larissa fans who did their club proud tonight. Hats off.

[jim mk2]

Decent crowd, high expectations, a chance for Rovers to show a sceptical public what they can do - and they blew it.

But after 157 years watching them, why did I expect any different ?

Wasted opportunity and we're the only British team to exit the competition. Hughes got his tactics badly wrong over both legs.

[sharptommy]

very disappointed with hughesy tonight not the lads....

why was bentley in the middle and derbyshire "out wide" in the first half?

why do the centre backs constantly play 1-2s with tugay in our half when the opposition is camping in their half?

when we need to score at least two goals....start with mokoena?

why one up front?

i remember sparky did something similar in the semi final against arsenal a few years ago, dickov up front on his own, mokoena mucking about in the middle....very unusual!

[Bing]

It was clear after 10 minutes that the system wasn't working. Derbyshire looked lost in his role and we had no width whatsoever. Emerton and Warnock were beavering away up and down the line but had no support in wide areas and thus very few options other than to go inside.

I thought Tugay had a good game throughout. A few bits of sloppy play but he hit some sublime passes and as ever was eager to get on the ball and get us playing. Mokoena worked hard but was totally unneeded tonight, he was occupying the same areas as Tugay and contributed very little.

They were a competent team, well-organised and decent with the ball. We never looked like scoring four goals as they were tactically very good.

[Hasta]

I thought Tugay had a good game throughout. A few bits of sloppy play but he hit some sublime passes and as ever was eager to get on the ball and get us playing.

Seriously??? I thought it was one of the worst displays he's put in in a long while. Caught in possision too often, the 'extravagent' passess didn't come off and a lot of the little short pointless 5 yard passes went astray too. I was amazed Dunn came off instead of him.