Spurs Away - 28th October

[thenodrog]

Another change so far unmentioned [i think], was Mokoena's appearance. From that moment Spurs weren't half as dangerous. A coincidence/ I think not. He was excellent.

keep up den....

Mokoena?!? What an enigma. On technical ability he couldn't pass wind never mind a bloody football BUT from the moment he came on and nullified Keane dropping deep Spurs hardly offered an attacking threat and for the last 30 mins we took almost complete control.

I think the Axe coming on directly resulted in Tugay going off. (If the pair play together Tugay must move further forward imo) Another factor not mentioned in the second half disappearence of the Yids midfield was the replacement of Malbranque with Bent. I'm still trying to work out which event contributed most to our last 20 min power play.

[Fife Rover]

Having had to wait until Footie First to make my DVD and then to analyse it afterwards means I could not give an opinion or vote for my MoM until now. However with all that now "in the can" as they used to say, I can say that I am more than a little surprised at some of the opinions being expressed on here as to the quality of Rovers play.

My take on it is that OK we did not reach the heights shown against Reading, but then Spuds are a much better side than Reading when they play, and yesterday they DID play. They were obviously fired up, and out to impress their new manager sitting in the stand. Consequently what we got was a high-tempo game with both sides playing a very good and fast passing game. Spuds were pressing very hard indeed in the first half and Rovers were necessarily pushed further back than they would have liked to be, which also meant that almost the entire energy of the Rovers midfield players was devoted to trying to mark or break-up the play of the Spuds attacking movement which was pretty much relentless. Consequently for large parts of the first half RSC found himself isolated up front, as Benni dropped back to help out the defence, and which he did with a lot of credit. That was the real Benni we saw yesterday.

Also in the first half Rovers one-touch pass and move play was joy to behold; so much so that the commentators on Sky were almost drooling about it. In playing this way the Rovers kept posession much better and thus denied Spuds access to the ball, whereas if they had taken the long ball route to get the ball forward quickly they would have found only RSC on his own and the chances of creating any real danger were minimal. Spuds would have just picked up the loose balls and started another sweeping attack on us immediately. So I think Rovers tactics were spot-on in trying to keep posession at all times and to work their way forward whenever they could whilst primarily (out of necessity) playing defensively to absorb and neutralise the constant pressure from the Spuds attacks.

OK, some of you will say we should have been doing the same attacking play on them and giving them the defensive headaches, but in the circumstances I would suggest that that was not so easy to do. Spuds were really fired up and playing for their future places, as well as being at home in front of a large crowd who were also fired up. I think Rovers did very well in absorbing their attacks and as the match wore on so Spuds (slightly) wore out in comparison to Rovers players, and with the added incentive of early in the second half needing a goal to get back in the game, and then having got that due to Benni's great strike, we eventually managed to get far more into attacking mode and in the end it payed off thanks again to another wonder strike; this time from an unexpected source. Samba for a strikers role anyone? (just joking).

All in all, I was well pleased not just with result, but with the performance as well. For me it would be very difficult to single out any one of the outfield players for MoM, although I thought a special mention is appropriate for both Ooijer and Mokoena (not "the axe" any more), but having said that, for me the man who WAS truly outstanding has to be our great keeper Brad. What a performance he gave; again!!

[John]

Whether or not they are struggling, Spurs at WHL is a difficult game to get anything of. 3 points really is a fantastic result and you can tell that even Hughes was extremely grateful for the win.

Typical smash and grab performance, in that Brad was immense, and we could have been looking at 4-5 down if he was not so good. We showed some glimpses of nice touches and passing but overall Spurs dominated the game.

Certainly, Clive Allen showed a Martin Jol tactical decision by taking Malbranque off and replacing him with a striker. There was no urgency to change the shape of the team (from their point of view) and it certainly helped us get back in the game.

Few points...... Samba is ridiculously good, Brad ditto. Apart from their first goal, Warnock continues to impress, Santa never stops working even though it was difficult for our strikers yesterday as we did not create much. Could mention more, but too tired to comment and I have pretty much repeated what others have said already.

[1864roverite]

My thnaks go to Jordan for up to date "live data" from White Hart Lane.

Stuck at a family do, no access to the radio - I decided to text the big fella who kept me updated and then as the 90 minute marker approached, I got the teletext just in time to get a call from Jordan to hear the massed celebration of Rovers fans as The Big Man Samba had screeched a winner.

So great result for us.

I still see from the press there is little mention of jsut how good a team we really. Next week sees us host Liverpoo then the short visit to old t where we are supposed the whipping boys as manure march on.

Great end to the weekend for me.

[den]

Excellent summary Fife. That's exactly how I saw the game.

John, while spurs had their moments of threat, they never threatened four or five goals, nor did they dominate the game. They dominated in spells, but so did we.

[Paul]

All in all, I was well pleased not just with result, but with the performance as well. For me it would be very difficult to single out any one of the outfield players for MoM, although I thought a special mention is appropriate for both Ooijer and Mokoena (not "the axe" any more), but having said that, for me the man who WAS truly outstanding has to be our great keeper Brad. What a performance he gave; again!!

Phew! I'm glad it's not just me. I watched this live from Albania in my local! At no time did I think we would lose and was confident we would win, in fact my prediction was we would "nick it in then last 20".... though I did mean minutes rather than seconds. I've often seen very good live games which have been slated by those who watched on TV and had decided this was an occassion where we looked worse live than on TV.

I feel the whole team performed well with the possible exception of Tugay, who didn't play badly but needs more and more space these days, played well. I felt Spurs would tire towards the end and this would give us the chance to win the match. Where we as poor as some are seeing? I can't agree at all. Thorughout the game I felt quite comfortable and confident Rovers would win.

[tcj_jones]

What Spurs have that makes them a huge threat is probably the best partnership up front in the Premier League. All you need to do is get the ball to eitrher of these guys feet, and they do the rest. Their link up play is superb. Add to that the threat of Lennon, and Spurs will always be capable of getting goals out of nothing. They just don't have a good enough midfield or enough depth in defence.

[waggy]

read that rovers had only won 2 out off 28 games away to teams in the relagation spots,make that 3

[Ricky]

to be fair to them they are the third highest scorers in the league, behind Man U and Arsenal, so i guess they were always going to threaten our goal. Just nice that we have the quality to get goals from all areas of the pitch. think the big man will contribute with a few more goalsd before the end of the season.

[daren]

Wow, I was very loud when I saw that samba'd snatched a winner. And what a winner it was! I especially liked what good team spirit was shown with everyone going over to the bench.

As for the pen - Lennon played for that. He cut in front of Warnock after getting away from him which led to an inevitable tangle of legs and went down like a sack of spuds (hahahhaa).

[Hughesy]

21 points after only 10 games! 3rd if we win our game in hand, which would put us just 2pts behind United & Arsenal!! Unbelievable!!

Hughes, Bowen, Williams you are all doing a great job! Samba & Friedel – They are priceless!

Yes we didn’t play at our best, but we won!! The team is showing tremendous spirit and the never say die attitude that is greatly appreciated by the Ewood park faithful. And what a great goal by Samba! Also a mention for Benni because his effort was one of ambition and he got his luck with deflection. I cant wait for the rest of the season and I just pray we can maintain this form!

Now we face Liverpool next weekend at home, where we beat them last season, and we can do it again! Its possible Liverpool will be without Alonso, Torres & Mascherano and they have already lost Pennant. Please Rovers, win this one for Uncle Jack and for the supporters!

[frosty]

21 points after only 10 games!

Champions League qualification form that!

[joey_big_nose]

I was at the game yesterday, a special mention for Andy C who got me and my dad the tickets which we greatly appreciated!

To be honest we played the better possession football over the course of the game but undoubtably Spurs created the better opportunities. Friedal was outstanding and the Spurs finishing was mediocre meaning that we got through with only conceding one. Lennon, Berbatov, Keane and Malbranque are all high quality players who unlocked us far more often than we stretched them, mostly on the counter attack using Lennon's incredible pace, but they were not the ones playing the more contructive positive football for most of the game.

THe atmosphere when Samba scored is the best I have ever been in!

On the other hand we controlled the ball exceedingly well. What I have found impressive is that the technique of players who are not know for their contoal and passing - I am thinking particularly of Savage and Mokoena - showed fantastic distribution and one touch play. I think there is little doubt that Mokoena has got himself a starting place against Liverpool if Savage does not recover. Pedersen also probably played himself into the team looking very threatening when he came on, Tugay (despite some good touches) maybe back on the bench. Dunn was disappointing, not showing much in the way of passing despite some good dribbling- might hold onto his place though as his attacking focus balances well with Mokoena's defensive game.

Benni was excellent, bot offensively and defensively. As per usual he had virtually no shots on goal, but in typically Benni fashion scored a screamer with his only real effort. For the first time this season I though his linkup play was better than Cruz, it will be interesting to see how their rivalry to be top striking dog will pan out (personally I think Benni is going to struggle to outperform Cruz, but there were signins yesterday that McCarthy realises inorder to compete with the South American he needs to put in more yards, which he certainly did).

Samba was brilliant, Ooijer had one of the best games I have seen him in, Warnock was okay, Emerton decent.

The depth of the squad is looking very good. Every single player who has turned out for the first XI over the last few games has looked more than capable. Ooijer's resurgence gives us three top options in central defence, Mokoena provides a holding position in midfield, Pedersen looks on the road back, Derbyshire provides a great outlet in the last twenty minutes. Reid is also cheduled to return. it is hard to imagine, short of another Walker style takeover, how things could be much better at the moment. .

I don't think we are going to take more than 2 or three points from the next two games, but I would absolutely love to be proven wrong! If we can win against those two then we suddenly become genuine challengers for CL places.

[Ozz]

Some good photos on the Offish Site, including this one !

How many Rovers fans went?

[RevidgeBlue]

How many Rovers fans went?

It appeared practically full bar the odd seat in the Rovers section and the allocation we took up was 1000 I think. Great atmosphere.

There was a very very funny song being sung about Samba by two blokes coming out of the ground but i don't think it's repeatable on here!.

[LeftWinger]

If someone had have told me that we'd be 14 points clear of Spurs with a game in hand after 10 games I'd never have believed it.

[Hughesy]

Who believes we can do it though? I DO!

Champions League qualification form that!

[John]

John, while spurs had their moments of threat, they never threatened four or five goals, nor did they dominate the game. They dominated in spells, but so did we.

Have to disagree with you on that. They created some good clear cut chances and maybe should have taken some of them better. Brad was in good form, but their finishing was questionable.

Hughes comments post-match pretty much back up what I am saying.

[Lee]

I was at the game yesterday, a special mention for Andy C who got me and my dad the tickets which we greatly appreciated!

If Andy didn't get your tickets allocated to him, ensure that you speak to the ticket office and get your details down on the database.

[krislu]

Thanks to Paul and Tris I saw the game from the stands.

The game itself was rather poor in my opinion. I thought our players took way too much time on the ball when we instead should have been bursting forward on the counter. There is a lot of which could be said about the match, but you can't come away from the fact that it was a fantastic result and a worthy end of a great weekend in London.

Friedel, Samba and Ooijer all deserves a special mention. Friedel in particular was just brilliant, and Samba also was fantastic. As the fellow infront of me shouted as we left the stands: "£20m f**** million for Bent, 400k for Samba"...repeat.....

[Billy Castell]

Don't care how we did it, we beat the other 'big club'. Ha ha ha ha ha. Hughes, Pedersen et al are too good for these jokers.

[Eddie]

Have to disagree with you on that. They created some good clear cut chances and maybe should have taken some of them better. Brad was in good form, but their finishing was questionable.

Hughes comments post-match pretty much back up what I am saying.

I agree. Had we created chances like that and Benni and Santa Cruz had missed them then we would have been far from happy. Doesn't make the three point any less enjoyable though.

[AndyC]

If Andy didn't get your tickets allocated to him, ensure that you speak to the ticket office and get your details down on the database.

no problem Ian - happy to help out fellow rovers fans!

As Lee suggests - give the club a call with your seat numbers and tell them I bought the tickets on your behalf - they can then set you up on the system with your London address.

If there's any problems - let me know and I'l lring the club.

Cheers

[AndyC]

It appeared practically full bar the odd seat in the Rovers section and the allocation we took up was 1000 I think. Great atmosphere.

There was a very very funny song being sung about Samba by two blokes coming out of the ground but i don't think it's repeatable on here!.

If it's rude - just blank out the naughty words ;-)

[thenodrog]

Interesting point that hasn't been noticed or mentioned is that Samba went up for a free kick in the 92 min. How many teams playing away in the Prem and coming back from 1-0 down would have settled for ekeing time out by the corner flag? Similarly MGP was ludicrously booked at Everton for delaying a throw in 2 mins from time whilst waving Samba forward for a throw into the box with the score also at 1-1! (btw How could that ever be interpreted as wasting time except by a completely incompetent numpty?)

One thing about this team.... away draws simply aren't good enough!