Blackburn Rovers Vs. Newcastle United

[Flopsy]

They have! They want a right bloody good moan.

fair enough

I'll stop moaning now

[Manchester Blue]

Just looking at those goals..

1. Bentley's strike was brilliant and executed to perfection but Shay Given was certainly showing a right footed kicker a hell of a lot to aim for.

2. A very 'picky' and slight whinge but Tugay by rights should have slid the ball to RSC (I assume) standing to his left and in a superb position instead of attempting to hit a very narrow target.

I'm pretty sure it was Pedersen to his left so in fairness he made the right choice ;-)

[roversmum]

And it was Pederson who floated the ball over to Roberts. In fairness, any one of the three could have had a successful pot, credit to Jase for giving Tugay the chance.

Well done lads!

[b12_simon]

However, if I had been in the ground I'd probably had a heart attack.

I reckon everyone left Ewood Park with a few more grey hairs. Even the 12 year old lad in front of me.

[thenodrog]

Correct Manc it was Pederson to Tugays left.... and roversmum I dont think Roberts who touched it to Tugay, I think it was the defender nicking it away from Roberts.

[Jan]

2. A very 'picky' and slight whinge but Tugay by rights should have slid the ball to RSC (I assume) standing to his left and in a superb position instead of attempting to hit a very narrow target.

It was Pedersen. Be very glad Tugay took it.

[LeftWinger]

Just wtached it again on Sky and it reaffirmed one thing - Trevor Francis is a class 1 <fill in the blank>.

Shot on target by Rovers, heading for the goal but hits the lower arm of geremi - "you can't give a penalty for that, he was only 2 yards away". Couple of minutes later, Bert uses his upper arm in the box but in a non-goal scoring position - "that's clearly a penalty".

Either both are, or both aren't.

I noticed that. How the hell could he suggest that it shouldn't have been a penalty to us - and then say that they should have had one minutes laters at the other end. If anything - I thought the Geremi hand-ball was worse - as it saved a goal. Emertons - although clumsy - was as you said in a non-scoring position.

[philipl]

Sorry LW.

Emerton was a blatant pre-meditated nasty cheat's handball within the penalty area- nailed on penalty if seen.

Geremi was a ball driven at speed with Geremi not extending his arms outwards. A penalty against Ooijer but otherwise usually not given.

[waggy]

now then a great win,much needed after wednesdays debacle,i want to know whats happened to SAMBA,he has gone from being our best player to a nervous wreck,every time the ball headed his way i worried.the mistake he made when martins put it on the roof of the net,reminded me off dailly it's a pity nelsen is still out on sunday because the big man needs a couple off games on the bench.

[stuwilky]

it's a pity nelsen is still out on sunday because the big man needs a couple off games on the bench.

Nelsen is back from suspension on Sunday isnt he?

[stuwilky]

Nelsen is back from suspension on Sunday isnt he?

Apparently not.

Bugger.

[modes98]

Apparently not.

Bugger.

Peter Suspended as well

My mate mentioned it would be 2 matches due to it being his second red of the season. I didn't think he was right though.

[frosty]

A straight red is a 3 match ban.

EDIT - Only for violent conduct!

[MarkBRFC]

A straight red is a 3 match ban.

Only if its for violent conduct.

Hence Nelson getting a 2 match ban. (1 match for the straight red & 1 match because its his second red of the season)

[Al]

A straight red is a 3 match ban.

Only for violent play.

[philipl]

Three players out on Sunday folks

Peter at the end of a three match ban for red for violent conduct

Nelsen at the end of a two match ban for a second airy fairy red of the season

Bentley at the end of a one match ban for collecting five yellows and being such an ineffectual whimp when it came to sticking one on Joey Barton.

Hope that adequately clarifies the official FIFA version of the off side rule as it stands this afternoon for all of you.

[philipl]

oops, sticky upload

[USABlue]

I am really taken aback at the amount of moaning on this thread. I thought the second half was as exhillarating a game of footy as I have seen for years. Two teams hell bent on winning, us coming back from a goal down, three cracking goals, plenty of niggle, a panto scouse villain, goalmouth scrambles, and Rovers winning. I went through every possible emotion and was completely drained at the end. Where else can you get that? It was a game to remember. Sure, we made errors, but they contributed to the tempo and emotion of the game. If people would rather watch sterile, one-sided, techinically accomplished three-nils, there's always Arsenal.

And I also don't get the ref bashing. None of his decisions took the result out of the hands of the players and we did well out of the possible penalties. Although I was screaming for a penalty at the time, I thought the replay showed he got it right on the Santa piledriver that hit the arm of the lunging defender. The Emerton incident thoguh, was a nailed on penalty: the ball was just dropping from on high, Emerton watched it all the way, then flapped his arm across the striker to hit the ball, and all in front of 7,000 eye-witnesses.

If every game at Ewood was like that, the place would soon be sold out

I agree, it was a great game, well second half, for entertainment value. I found the ref to be lopsided in his calls for Newcastle but he did well overall, no game costing clangers and kept a potential cauldron under control. The handball by them not being given was correct in my mind (those are only given against us), Carraghers against us should have been given, but in this case there was not much the defender could do, shame cos I think it had goal written all over it. Emertons should have been a penalty, why Bert does these stupid thing is beyond me. I don't think the rules make concessions for whether the ball is going to or away from goal, handball in the area is a penalty. Bert's was clearly intentional and we were lucky to get away with it.

[RovertheHill]

Sorry LW.

Emerton was a blatant pre-meditated nasty cheat's handball within the penalty area- nailed on penalty if seen.

Geremi was a ball driven at speed with Geremi not extending his arms outwards. A penalty against Ooijer but otherwise usually not given.

Normally agree with your views philip but not on this. For me if you dive in front-on then your arms form part of the "wall" and you take your chances - would be very harsh but have seen them given. As for Emerton I don't think it was pre-meditated, I think it was all in the hustle and bustle of competing for the ball. Again, would have been harsh to be given. As it was, I thought the free kick for their goal was not really a foul. If they were given every time they happened the game would be stopped every 2 minutes. Contrast it to some of the things Messers Barton, Smith and, surprisingly, Milner got away with, which you didn't really get to see on TV and frankly I think Fat Sam shouldn't have too many complaints. Agree with the earlier posters - not technically great but absolutely exciting second half - sums the prem league up really!

[RevidgeBlue]

I am really taken aback at the amount of moaning on this thread. I thought the second half was as exhillarating a game of footy as I have seen for years. Two teams hell bent on winning, us coming back from a goal down, three cracking goals, plenty of niggle, a panto scouse villain, goalmouth scrambles, and Rovers winning. I went through every possible emotion and was completely drained at the end. Where else can you get that? It was a game to remember. Sure, we made errors, but they contributed to the tempo and emotion of the game. If people would rather watch sterile, one-sided, techinically accomplished three-nils, there's always Arsenal.

And I also don't get the ref bashing. None of his decisions took the result out of the hands of the players and we did well out of the possible penalties. Although I was screaming for a penalty at the time, I thought the replay showed he got it right on the Santa piledriver that hit the arm of the lunging defender. The Emerton incident thoguh, was a nailed on penalty: the ball was just dropping from on high, Emerton watched it all the way, then flapped his arm across the striker to hit the ball, and all in front of 7,000 eye-witnesses.

If every game at Ewood was like that, the place would soon be sold out

For once I disagree with you EIT, no-one should be seduced by the flattering looking final score on Saturday - the reality was we were extremely poor (at least until Roberts came on) and probably played a lot better on Wednesday night when the scoreline ended up 0-4!

Imo the formation Sparky has tried in the last two games just doesn't work - Mokoena and Tugay are horrible as a pairing, both playing much too deep. Dunn is better in the middle and Mc Carthy and RSC don't generally work together well as a pairing, Rocky was left totally isolated with no-one within thirty or forty yards of him. We looked a totally different proposition when Roberts came on however, playing in the general vicinity of Rocky and the introduction of Reid also helped giving us some mobility and forward momentum in midfield.

All credit to Bentley for winning the game with two superb strikes, however like tnr said I feel there's still a lot more to come in terms of his all round game.

So, delighted with the result but it was definitely one we got away with having had another "bad day at the office."

Still feel we need to revert to 4-4-2 with Savage Dunn MGP and Bentley in midfield and I feel Roberts has played himself into Sunday's starting line up ahead of Benni.

[Exiled in Toronto]

For once I disagree with you EIT, no-one should be seduced by the flattering looking final score on Saturday - the reality was we were extremely poor (at least until Roberts came on) and probably played a lot better on Wednesday night when the scoreline ended up 0-4!

I'm not sure we are in disagreement; I didn't say we played brilliantly, I said it was a brilliant spectacle. Our bad day at the office combined with Newcastle's (relatively) good day at the office to make it so. But surely you are not saying you enjoyed the Villa game more? Technically accomplished performances do not often make for thrilling spectacles - it all depends what you enjoy more.

This is at the root of the appeal of football. Great games can be had at any level, whereas in, say, figure skating, its only enjoyable to watch at the very top. Wenger is trying to make football a sterile, non-contact exercise in technical skill; personally I prefer a bit of blood and thunder, or as was the case on saturday, thud and blunder, as long as we win of course.

[RevidgeBlue]

I'm not sure we are in disagreement; I didn't say we played brilliantly, I said it was a brilliant spectacle. Our bad day at the office combined with Newcastle's (relatively) good day at the office to make it so. But surely you are not saying you enjoyed the Villa game more? Technically accomplished performances do not often make for thrilling spectacles - it all depends what you enjoy more.

This is at the root of the appeal of football. Great games can be had at any level, whereas in, say, figure skating, its only enjoyable to watch at the very top. Wenger is trying to make football a sterile, non-contact exercise in technical skill; personally I prefer a bit of blood and thunder, or as was the case on saturday, thud and blunder, as long as we win of course.

I see what you're saying, I'm saying that nine times out of ten if we'd played like that we'd have been on the end of a thumping!

Agree with you the ref wasn't that bad. After we've been on the end of some big decisions as we were on wednesday night I think we've got to be careful not to be too paranoid. Generally I think Atkinson is one of the best refs at the moment.

[RevidgeBlue]

Edit: posted twice

[philipl]

Just looking at those goals..

1. Bentley's strike was brilliant and executed to perfection but Shay Given was certainly showing a right footed kicker a hell of a lot to aim for.

2. A very 'picky' and slight whinge but Tugay by rights should have slid the ball to RSC (I assume) standing to his left and in a superb position instead of attempting to hit a very narrow target.

1. It needs a sensational strike to beat a well-positioned wall and go in at the near side to the striker- in all probability that's not going to happen so the keeper tends to defend the part of the goal the free kick taker is more likely to both take aim at and get on target. Bentley got elevation, swing, pace and precise direction outside the line of the goal all correct making it a perfect free kick. Given knew he had left that part of the net unprotected and probably did so deliberately as Bentley tends to score driving across the keeper (as he demonstrated again to perfection with his second).

2. Extremely picky and pointless whinge about scoring a goal! Seen from the camera at the Darwen End, the Newcastle defender gets across the line of the shot from Tugay before it hits the back of the net so had the ball been passed any wider by Tugay to MGP, the block would have come in on the shot and the chance gone. Then it would have been a legitimate whinge as to why Tugay didn't shoot!

[roversmum]

Tugay can score as many goals as he likes and in any way he likes. I treasure every one of them.