[Archived] Carling Cup Qtr Fnl. Home To Arsenal

[Dunnfc]

We was unlucky tonight but i thought that the second half was brilliant, end to end and plenty of Rovers opertunities. we thought hard to get back into the game and in the second half everyone gave it there all and it was a heart felt performance apart from the first half which was indeed rovers of recent weeks. We looked as if we wanted it more in the second half and we seemed to have learnt how to close players down quicker now even though the defense looked awful in the first half i thought the 2nd half defense looked solid bar the goal which was probably a very good goal because Songs ball in to Eduardo was brilliantly timed as he knew makeshift right back Reid was struggling to get back and all he had to do was to put it one side of Nelsen and Eduardo would be through.

If we play like that but with a bit more solidarity at the back il be [rude word deleted] delighted because that performace in the extra time and second half was full of heart and spirit and it made me proud to support Rovers. If the players do that against Chelsea and lose i wont mind because i know that it was allt hey had. Brilliant football and a good advert for the club.

Credit to Arsenal though, those kids have got bright futures ahead of them i thought that Bendtner was quality.

Good to see a strong ref who let the game flow.

Rovers you made us proud.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Sick as a very sick pig, we didn't really want to win that game did we ? Well we certainly played like we didn't ! Every week I say the same thing- we start off like Rovers are playing away not the opposition, nice easy peasy play your self in lads tempo ! Whatever happened to grab them by the throat ? The first half was embarassing, nobody looked like they wanted to be out there apart from Arsenal.

We got a goal right on half time and a kick up the jacksy from Hughes and we came out looking like we meant business second half, we upped the tempo got amongst them and what do you know ? They're mortal, they don't like it up 'em do they ? Get to 2-2 and a man over, well I may as well gone home then !

Back to normal , easy peasy no pressure football , their centre half runs 25 yards with the ball and slips the striker in with our defence all at sea again- heads down , game over.

Scores

Freidel 5 Not his greatest night, can't remember him making a save.

Reid 5 Pulled on a shirt, all at sea at full back- do not repeat this experiment.

Samba 5 Good and bad but cost us at least one goal.

Nelsen 5 Looked shaky most of the time.

Warnock 5 I don't know what's gone wrong here, 6 weeks ago he looked a world beater, now he looks like Callum Davidson !

Bentley 7 Looked good when he came inside, in the second half he ran the game, did he come out for extra time ?

Savage 5 Sell, by passed by Arsenal with ease all night.

Dunn 6 Took ages to get into the game but he did eventually contribute until his glass hip ended his evening.

Pedersen 5 A slight improvement from his usual 4.

Derbyshire 5 Couldn't get in the game as a striker, he's not a winger.

Santa Cruz 8 Best centre forward since Chris Sutton, hanging on to him won't be easy.

Subs McCarthy 3 Not interested , should have been Roberts.

Mokoena 4 Didn't contribute.

Zurab ? Only on a dog watch.

One last thought - What happened to our much vaunted superior fit ness in extra time ?

[thecomebackid]

Problem is central midfield, pure & simple. No one to put their foot in at the right time & no one to put their foot on the ball at the right time. We're all over the place. Creates weak links all over the park.

[johnny boy]

Sparky whatever you say to them at half time just say it to them before the game starts, Please?

[Roar of the Rover]

We was unlucky tonight but i thought that the second half was brilliant, end to end and plenty of Rovers opertunities. we thought hard to get back into the game and in the second half everyone gave it there all and it was a heart felt performance apart from the first half which was indeed rovers of recent weeks. We looked as if we wanted it more in the second half and we seemed to have learnt how to close players down quicker now even though the defense looked awful in the first half i thought the 2nd half defense looked solid bar the goal which was probably a very good goal because Songs ball in to Eduardo was brilliantly timed as he knew makeshift right back Reid was struggling to get back and all he had to do was to put it one side of Nelsen and Eduardo would be through.

If we play like that but with a bit more solidarity at the back il be [rude word deleted] delighted because that performace in the extra time and second half was full of heart and spirit and it made me proud to support Rovers. If the players do that against Chelsea and lose i wont mind because i know that it was allt hey had. Brilliant football and a good advert for the club.

Credit to Arsenal though, those kids have got bright futures ahead of them i thought that Bendtner was quality.

Good to see a strong ref who let the game flow.

Rovers you made us proud.

Proud? Losing to a really young side who had 10 men by they way?

Rovers had a good enough to beat them Today easily, we shouldn't have been in that position in the 1st place. Our boys under estimated them and were chasing shadow for the firsy 40 minutes.

Sparky really ###### me off tonight too, why on Earth start Riedy at right back when you've got Zurab on the bench? He was at fault for all 3 goals. Ok I understand thats not his position but to make the same mistake 3 times is bullshit.

Secondly, why bring on Benni in the 90th minute, he should've bought him on around the 70th minute mark, we had the momentum, Arsenal were all over the place, he could've grabbed 1 then.

He needs to sort it out bigtime, I know it's the season of 'goodwill' but for ###### sake!

[Nate]

Rovers have only themselves to blame.

the referee is not too blame, neither is the pitch, the ball or whatever.

11 seasoned pros couldnt beat 10 kids is what it all boils down to.

Saddened by tonights exit but what a pleasure seeing that Arsenal team.

If HOYTE is available if only on loan go and get him.

Lets face it though, they aren't exactly any type of 'normal' kids. Wish we were in the same position as them!

[thecomebackid]

Lets face it though, they aren't exactly any type of 'normal' kids. Wish we were in the same position as them!

If we have any; maybe time to start playing our own 'home-grown'. Feel sorry for the fringe players; how bad must it get before any of them get a chance?

[Presty On Tour]

arsenal kids are just different gravy.

for the first 30 mins we couldn't get near them, i wanted to nail one of them from my couch i was getting so wound up!

[RevidgeBlue]

Secondly, why bring on Benni in the 90th minute, he should've bought him on around the 70th minute mark, we had the momentum, Arsenal were all over the place, he could've grabbed 1 then.

I'm as livid as you are about losing 11 v 10 in extra time but I really don't agree with you on that point.

With the original line up on the pitch we were absolutely pummeling Arsenal and as soon as Benni came on we completely lost momentum.

That's not a specific criticism of Benni, nor was Derbyshire contributing a huge amount before he came off, but it was just the way things were. I saw no reason at all to change things the way the match was going at that point.

Wasn't that upset about playing poorly (again) on Saturday and losing to a poor Wigan side.

Absolutely gutted tonight about playing much the same again in the first half against an admittedly superb set of Arsenal kids, turning it round by putting in the best 45 minutes we've seen since the start of the season, then blowing it in extra time against ten men.

[dillo_dillo]

Proud? Losing to a really young side who had 10 men by they way?

Rovers had a good enough to beat them Today easily, we shouldn't have been in that position in the 1st place. Our boys under estimated them and were chasing shadow for the firsy 40 minutes.

Sparky really ###### me off tonight too, why on Earth start Riedy at right back when you've got Zurab on the bench? He was at fault for all 3 goals. Ok I understand thats not his position but to make the same mistake 3 times is bullshit.

Secondly, why bring on Benni in the 90th minute, he should've bought him on around the 70th minute mark, we had the momentum, Arsenal were all over the place, he could've grabbed 1 then.

He needs to sort it out bigtime, I know it's the season of 'goodwill' but for ###### sake!

I totally agree with you.

I'm really disappointed!!

[RevidgeBlue]

I don't know if this is more Arsene mind games but the Times are reporting:

Arsenal (from) Fabianski; J Hoyte, Senderos, Song, Traoré, Diaby, Gilberto, Song, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo, Mannone, G Hoyte, Song, Diarra, Denilson, Lansbury, Pérez, Barazite, Gallas.

If that is the squad that has travelled, all I can say is we need our backsides kicking if we are not in the semi-final draw.

I knew we were stuffed the minute I read that.

Are you flying over from Malta to personally administer the flagellation?

[Guest WestSussexTombo]

Two things, one we should sign Justin Hoyte perminantly in january if we can as i think Emerton has let it slip this season. Two, i think Sparky was trying to give Dunn, Savage and Reid 90 mins as they hadnt played in a few and were maybe lacking match fitness. Although why Reid was played at right back is beyond me! I know he has played center back before for Millwall but this wasnt a game we should of been taking chances on and we paid for it dearly!

[USABlue]

Well at least I have read some encouraging word here about the second half. Did not see the game only saw the goals, dayum we looked horrific at the back again. Even Brad looked like he might have done better, once, maybe twice. We need to get this so called defence turned around or our 14 points to safety is going to be a loooong haul.

I thought the tackle for the sending of was nothing but intent to injure, course Mr Wenger disagrees.

Glad we don't have this distraction too, now just when will we win again. Chelsea unlikely, City unlikely, Derby, well it is Chritstmas and they will still be on their horrible run so I can expect us to do our bit and begin as always their revival.

Don't know, could be looking a bit bleak in a bit.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Problem is central midfield, pure & simple. No one to put their foot in at the right time & no one to put their foot on the ball at the right time. We're all over the place. Creates weak links all over the park.

Gotta agree to an extent - I think Savage is past his best. For me I would play Reid and Dunn. Leaving aside his positional play at right back - I think Reid is starting to look like he is getting back to fitness.

However, I don't think you can ignore how jaded Samba looks at the moment. I would leave him out for a couple of weeks, so he can recharge his batteries - a bit like Ferdinand - his speed often makes up for his poor positional sense at times - but without that sharpness he is getting found out a little.

Interesting for me tonight, seeing how obvious it is that McCarthy wants to go. Many people have had a go at Rovers for not beating ten men - as soon as McCarthy came on it seemed like we were playing with 10 men. In fact it was (in many ways) worse for Rovers - as we kept trying to pass to him - but he couldn't have been less interested if he had tried.

[Presty On Tour]

i really hate arsenal, you know.

like i know we hate all teams bar brfc but when you really hate a team, like i'm putting arsenal in my personal category of teams i really despise like man utd and chelsea!

there i've said it, got it off my chest now so back to happy days though while i'm here i must also add how the ###### drummer in the blackburn end ###### me off tonight. every time we sung he would slap his drum in some stupid tune and stop our singing, then when there was no singing from us, he wouldn't try and bang the fans into a frenzy, nah he was bloody silent, stupid muppet!!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Lets face a few hard facts:

The team we had out tonight should have been strong enough to beat these kids and especially when down to 10 men.The first 45 mins was for me yet another 'wiganesque' horror show of poor defending and no presence in midfield,like it or not Lilly Savage was made to look like what he is...an old man chasing shadows, it was f'kin embarrassing at times.Our midfield is simply not good enough and money needs to be spent in January to rectify this and quick!.

Why are we unable to perform for the first half of a game? we have seen this trait time and time and time again this season...are players not warming up properly,must they always require a half time kick up the arse?When we went 2-0 down the cameras focused on Hughes,it looked like his head was going to explode he was so angry!

For me, a game made for the bustling 'in your face' Roberts but Hughes picks lightweight Derbyshire?.Cruz......a bright beacon of light in this current shower of shyte.

Its going to take a near miracle to lift this lot for Chelsea now folks!

[Hasta]

Thank you Hughes. I didn't want a trip to Wembley and an oppurtunity for silverware anyway. Too gutted to go into full detail but 2 quick points.

1) Why Reid at RB. He's not a right back. He was at fault for goal one and played goal 3 onside. Not his fault. he's out of position. Pick Zurab. Not rocket science.

2) Why Roberts on the bench if you've fallen out with him and not going to pick him? When will he get on the pitch?????

If you're 2-0 down. Nope

If you're 2-1 down and chasing. Nope

If you're 2-2 and pushing for a winner. Nope

If you're 3-2 down and need a goal. Nope

So why pick him if you won't play him? Had we been 5-0 up he might have got on. Otherwise it's a waste and personal vendettas are costing us.

With regard to our 2 diamond jewels - MGP played better than at Wigan but Benni was dogpoo. I need to check the TV but I'm sure one of his stupid dummies on the half way line led directly to their 3rd goal just as Dunn was obviously struggling. Tool.

[RevidgeBlue]

Random points:

I thought Friedel had a poor night, rooted to his line all evening when he needed to be commanding his area at various times and should have done a lot better with the first imo.

Samba had another poor first half, second goal was entirely down to him, could have had an easy clearance with his left foot by hoofing it into row z, instead tried to slide it out elegantly with his right and completely missed it. Second half played with a lot more confidence, much more like the player we know he can be, ditto the rest of the team.

Derbyshire contributed very little bar a superb cross for the first.

Bentley contributed very little bar a superb cross for the second.

Dunn seemed to get better and better as the match went on before picking up a knock deep into injury time. Savage also much better second half, the ball that put RSC clean through was magical.

MGP, second half display was the best we've seen for a long time.

Santa, you've got to take your hat off to the lad, would love to see him playing alongside Roberts.

Overall the second half was the best we've played, probably since we pummelled Arsenal in the second half of the League game here. You should be killing the game off in extra time with a man advantage though, not losing it.

[Tris]

Why did Hughes pick such a strong team - designed to win in normal time - but leave such a blindingly obvious weak link at right back? Even at peak fitness Reid isn't much use at RB - why on earth would you put him in there against a team of awesome attacking kids who have ripped everyone to shreds in this competition - when he's not even back to 70% fitness???

That selection has cost this cup run - end of story. Zurab must be going to bed wondering why on earth he's here.

Elsewhere, much to be happy about compared with Saturday, not least MGP. Well done son. And of course Santa. Samba needs to forget his new contract and go back to basics - ie bloody defend. Nelsen will be out of the team when Oiijer is fit again if he doesn't improve.

[yellowsubmarine]

Santa Cruz 8 Best centre forward since Chris Sutton, hanging on to him won't be easy.

He has been carrying the entire team on his shoulders for the past 2 games.

The rest needs to wake up!

[Jan]

He has been carrying the entire team on his shoulders for the past 2 games.

The rest needs to wake up!

ctually I wouldn't be surprised to see Santa with duster in hand saying "do I have to do EVERYTHING myself!!!"

Having been one of the first (every week) to criticise Pedersen, I have to say that he was a lot better tonight. His corners actually went into danger areas (Bentley knew he was doing badlly so for the last couple MGP took them from the "wrong" side as well), and he did look a lot sharper. I swear I actually saw him win a ball in a tackle without falling over as well- although that could have been an optical illusion"

.

[RoversFanUSA]

Is it me or is Santa the only one besides Brad that seems to be really trying latley?

[Paul]

Well I'll probably get slaughtered for this but here goes, it's all about opinions This is the best game of football I've seen in long time. A lot of regulars missing last night, it was a game that proves you just have to keep turning up - that's how football is.

Rovers weren't that poor in the first half, Arsenal were simply awesome. At 2-0 down I'd usually be feeling very miserable but last night you had to take pleasure from watching these kids, opposition or not. Sometiems all you can do is sit back and watch, which is pretty much the only option our guys had for the first 35-40 minutes. Somewhere we dug out a goal to give us a chance in the second half when it was Rovers turn to play some good football, first, direct, pacy. Had we won it in 90 minutes the result would have been deserved for the huge effort we showed to get back on terms.

In extra time we gave it away so no complaints from me on the ed result. Must go to work now.

[Cocker]

What the hell was that last night? Why wasnt Roberts put on? Why did we get beat by some kids?

A swear at 1 point we lined up like this

Brad

Reid Nelson Warnock

Axe

Sav

Benni Bentley AND Ped

Samba

Santa

Absolute Joke. I think He is turning into Souness. Next Man U manager my arse

[American]

Agree with you Paul.

Also would like to point out that the only match these youngsters have lost in 2 seasons (the Arsenal Carling Cup Squad) is to a full strength Chelsea team in last year's final.

Hate to say it, as he is one of my favorites, but I think it's time to replace Savage. He was unable to cope with the pace.