Fulham Away, 25th November..ko 4pm

[waggy]

just watched the highlights and the miss from mgp with his head was woeful,saying that i thought mgp had a good game.i think he should change his name back to pedersen

[MarkBRFC]

Thinks MGP is getting some unfair stick again here, he did ok yesterday i thought and i dont think Warnock would have had the same effect yesterday if someone else had been playing in front of him.

Anyway, not a bad result considering, but the way we played we really should have won this game. I think at the end of the season we'll be viewing this fixture in the "2 points lost" catagory

[LeftWinger]

I thought Pedersen was poor yesterday - but still could (should have) scored two. His basic control and touch were letting him down to often.

Also disagree with anyone saying it wasn't a penalty. If the same thing had have happened at the other end we'd have all been claiming it was a nailed on penalty. Nelsen didn't get the ball and made contact with Kamara - end of story.

On the positive side - some of our possesion play was a joy to watch. Warnock was excellent too.

[Steve]

I agree totally with Wagster, and I thought Bentley deserved a card for his dive, but so did a number of Fulham players

Kamara to name one, every time he was tackled he screamed!

[USRoverME]

I am amused by the fact that a few people have finally defended Ooijer this week.

Certainly the man is not the second coming of beckenbauer when he goes forward, but typically he supports the play well going forward. Dependable, but not incisive, which is fine when he's supporting Bentley, and you have Warnock on the other wing making attacking runs and play overlapping his winger. With the speed of Samba, we get away with attacking with our defenders more than a lot of the other squads outside the top 4, as well. After all, it seems after a bit of possession, Ooijer takes jsut about every throw on the right, in the defending or attacking zones.

and when he doesn';t move forward, he's still solid defensively. Not sure how much more you can ask of a 30+ defender.

[American Rover12]

Do you two not think that MGP was not a major contributory factor in Warnocks performance?

I'm sure Gamst did something, maybe got out of his way when Warnock was in the middle of linking passes, but then he'd just get in Bentley's way. All in all, not a good outing on his behalf.

[philipl]

Just picking up on brian potter's post about the split in the Premiership.

There is a 10 point gap between Rovers in 9th and Fulham in 12th and whilst West Ham, Newcastle and possibly Spurs and Fulham themselves may occupy the middling in between world, Brian is absolutely right about the top/bottom divide.

It is not just the table but when you watch the teams from the respective halves playing, it is terribly obvious as well. Clubs outside the top 9 have glaring exploitable weaknesses.

Incidentally, going into this week-end, the fixtures were top 10 v bottom 10.

The outcome was Top 10 won 7, drew 2 (including us- painful lost ground), lost 1 (Bolton beating the Mancs). Several of the 7 wins for the top ten were real tonkings- Everton delivered a thrashing but Liverpool and Villa really did take an afternoon stroll in the park in vanquishing their respective opponents in the north east.

[Blue blood]

Definately two points dropped yesterday. Ok there were mitigating circumstances, Benni's injury, our other injuries, reffing going against us for both goals, but really we should have got three points.

Off the back of the game I'm still not sure what to make of Ooijer - coming forward was a lot better than usual but he seemed to struggle with the pace of the Fulham forwards, constantly dragging other players out of position to cover. Certainly a right back to cover for emerton is needed in January, and is probably one of the weakest areas of cover on the pitch for us.

The defending for the second goal was poor, regardless of the offside. Also none too impressed by Peds or Moko yesterday, Peds seems an utterly different player without confidence and missed a sitter, whilst Moko's passing ability is absymal, and hinders the team. A shame really as if he could pass decently he would be a very good player.

Roberts impressed, especially considering he played virtually 90 mins coming back from an injury. Taking that and some nice touches into consideration, it'd be harsh to criticise him for a lack of sharpeness, which should improve as he gets matches under his belt.

4-5-1 was a mistake to play against fulham, and meant our usual areal threat was limited and that we had to work everthing from the wings. Another body up front would've caused a shakey Fulham all sorts of problems. Given that rovers needed a bit more presence going forward if I were Hughes I'd have brought Reid on for Moko a fair bit sooner, certainly given him another 5/10 mins to get into it and put more pressure on Fulham.

Bentley is a much better player up front than just behind the front man - although it is a role he can do - although injuries probably dictated the formation somewhat. If we are going to play 4-5-1 due to a lack of a strikers I believe having Bentley on the right, Emo at full back and Dunn in the hole would be much more effective (although dunn couldn't play yesterday.) This would not only give us more players playing in their best positions, but also would give us an extra attacking man from the back.

Emerton and Warnock, goals aside were excellent yesterday, Brad coped well and couldn't do much about the goals, whilst roberts and bentley were also very encouraging.

Fulham aren't convincing there's not one player of theirs that I would swap for any of our first 11, and even going down a goal twice we had enough opportunities to finish off a weak side. Two points dropped sadly.

[G Somerset Rover]

Picking up on the Rigters talk, I saw the team bus arrive and he was on it. Hughes really must have little faith in Rigters if we went with 4-5-1 (obviously because of no RSQ/Derbs and Roberts being unfit), with two players (both who play in the same position when Rigters can supposedly play wing/striker) coming back from lengthly spells on the bench. I'm guessing that Roberts passed a late fitness test but I think that it's safe to say that Rigters will either be sold or going out on loan come Jan.

[speeeeeeedie]

How we drew this one is beyond me. We played very well, Tugay was quiet though. Good to see Reid back too. Roll on Villa.

[roversmum]

Was disappointed with Tugs and Moko yesterday. Lot of misplaced passes all over the shop. Should have walked this match easily.

[tonygreenbank]

Thought the first half was pretty poor, although we still knocked the ball around quite well and put a couple of good moves together. To me there was a visible gap in class between the two sides throughout the game, we were on a different level than them. Second half things got going and we really should have won the game easily in the end - we wasted a lot of possesion and chances, but with only one recognized striker in the line up that was to be expected. Not sure how Sanchez saw a draw as a fair result though, Rovers were the better side by a considerable margin.

One thing that is starting to stand out to me this season is that we are now a very very good side, not in any way punching above our weight in terms of league position or results as we have done previously. The level our performances and general quality of our football is at a level that you would expect from a top side.

On top of this we must remember that depending on how you view the line up we had no fewer than six first team players missing: Dunn, Benni (from 4 mins), Santa Cruz, Derbyshire, Savage and Reid. That just highlights the work Hughes has put into building a quality squad.

Going back to the class thing, having seen most of the weekends football is anybody else starting to notice the huge gap in class that is starting to appear between the top 8 or so teams and the rest? Its almost as though the PL is breaking into two halves. Whilst its ok for us as we are lucky enough to be in the top tier of teams at the moment, sureley this cant be good for the league in the long term?

I have to agree with everything you say Brian. Rovers are becoming a very good side to watch which has rarely been the case for a long time. We have 11 very good footballers who all know their jobs, are very fit, well organised and there is an attacking mentality.

It was very unusual for Sanchez after the match to speak so highly of the club and say that we are one of the most efficient teams in the prem and that he wants Fulham to be like us in a few years time. High praise indeed!

3 points would obviously have been nice but the way we played throughout was the most pleasing aspect. I cant quite understand why some players are getting stick as everyone contributed to a real "team" performance.

[savage8]

shame Bentley was caught between shooting and passing.

Anyone else think he's suffering from a slight dip in confidence after his experiences with England and the pathetic booing he is subject to everytime he touches the ball. I have no doubt that if he had that chance last season he would've gone for goal, and scored. It's painful to hear these morons booing him. His body language (if a decision goes against him etc) seems to reflect that he's actually being affected by this, any thoughts?

[roversmum]

Yes, I'm glad someone else noticed this. He looked out of sorts and I had a feeling something wasn't quite right with him.

[OscarRaven]

Which extra striker Oscar? The only other one I can think of is Richters, who isn't, as yet, up to it. As for us going in with 4-4-2, we wont know how that would have worked out, but the possibility is that we would have been even more exposed to Fulham's attacks.

Stick by my post and (hindsight can't affect my choice - no-one can be expected to forsee an injury to Benni Mc in first 5mins) so yes if it had been me I would have gone 4-4-2 (Benni Mc and Roberts) with Rigters on the bench. I suspect 4-5-1 was more the to do with the lack of pace and talent in the midfield than our striking options.

[Ozz]

Anyone else think he's suffering from a slight dip in confidence after his experiences with England and the pathetic booing he is subject to everytime he touches the ball. I have no doubt that if he had that chance last season he would've gone for goal, and scored. It's painful to hear these morons booing him. His body language (if a decision goes against him etc) seems to reflect that he's actually being affected by this, any thoughts?

Regarding Bentley, I feel his finishing is a little instinctive, IE when he has the time and space in front of goal he is not as good as when a half chance or a snapshot finish is required.

[Fife Rover]

Santa?

Getting ready for Christmas?

[ffan]

Warnock was the best player on the pitch by a country mile, quality signing.

In the first half both sides played Rhyman League standard football. In fact I was quite disappointed with Blackburn in the first half, I thought Fulham were there for the taking and all Blackburn needed was a cool head on the pitch to knock the ball to feet instead of the aimless hoofing which both sides served up.

As anyone could see our midfield is very substandard, with only Danny Murphy earning himself some praise, Davis, Bouazza and Davies were all poor. Let's be honest Blackburns midfield wasn't too good yesterday either but the difference is Fulham have had a substandard midfield when we don't play with Alexy Smertin in the center whilst Blackburns midfield had an off day.

Roberts was good yesterday, setting himself up for a move to the Cottage ?, but I think Rovers fans will agree with me on this that Fulhams best player was Antti Niemi.

[Fife Rover]

Hughes needs to stamp that side of Bentleys game out, I hate it.

Well on top, no real threats until the last couple of minutes. Fulham being the worst second half side now has me worried, with our record of curing what is wrong with teams I am concerned. Think we will see Reid in the second half? 'tater said he was on the bench.

Absolutely right USABlue; it needs stamping out in every nook and cranny of the game. I am not too surprised to find Bentley at it though considering his Arsenal up-bringing. Hughesy needs to come down on him like a ton of bricks and make damned sure that all the players hear him as well. If any player in my day had started resorting to those tactics we, his team-mates, would have kicked his arse so hard that he wouldn't have been fit for selection for the next six months.

[Fife Rover]

In the circumstances a good point.

Our first goal was miles offside but then there was nothing to chose between the pen given against Nelsen and the pen for which Bentley was given a card for simulation for.

That dive of Bentleys' was only beaten for it's incredibly obvious ham acting by the one that Spit got against us at Ewood.

[Fife Rover]

How does one manage to post the same post four times within the space of 13 minutes?

And in each case without saying anything!

[Fife Rover]

Come again??

Thank you for that Simon; I was going to question it in similar vein but was afraid it was just my age again.

[gumboots]

Having tracked back to find out what that was about fife, I find it refers to my post about the little girl who looked like she'd stepped straight out of the Jim Carey film of the Grinch. If you haven't seen it then you wouldn't know what I'm talking about. If you have and spot her in the crowd you'll see exactly what I mean.

[gumboots]

I think it's no surprise that bentley's suffering a bit. You know you're good and playing well and you can't even make the bench for a dismal England team. Wouldn't you get a bit dispirited. I know I would. Then after the match when the summer you hoped to have has been taken away from you, the manager stands there and says "I don't know what to say". "Sorry for my incompetence in selecting and motivating you" might have been the first thing and then "I'm resigning and won't be taking a penny in compensation" would have been next but instead he just says "I don't know what to say". Fortunately Bentley is now back where he'll get proper coaching and a kick up the backside if he mopes for too long and I bet anything you like that Mark Hughes does know what to say and in no uncertain terms when necessary.

[Roar of the Rover]

I am amused by the fact that a few people have finally defended Ooijer this week.

Certainly the man is not the second coming of beckenbauer when he goes forward, but typically he supports the play well going forward. Dependable, but not incisive, which is fine when he's supporting Bentley, and you have Warnock on the other wing making attacking runs and play overlapping his winger. With the speed of Samba, we get away with attacking with our defenders more than a lot of the other squads outside the top 4, as well. After all, it seems after a bit of possession, Ooijer takes jsut about every throw on the right, in the defending or attacking zones.

and when he doesn';t move forward, he's still solid defensively. Not sure how much more you can ask of a 30+ defender.

I think Sparky shouldn't play Ooijer at RB at all, he is useless going forward, we need our full backs going forward and if they cant do that, they aren't good enough. Warnock, Cole, Finnan and Evra, just a few names from the league that do this, theres many more, it's essential. Emerton was in some good positions yesterday and when he looks up, theres nobody there to support him, therefore he had to play the ball back. This is'nt the first time Ooijer's done this, he was poor away againts Vetra.