[Archived] "you Bottled It"

[Paul Mellelieu]

Disappointed to see this article popping up on Newsnow. Makes us sound like a load of moaners.

[Alan75]

If you think thats moaning then be greatful I didnt post my true feeling last night.

The truth hurts,

Make no mistake the wins against relegation candidates Derby and Sunderland only papered over the cracks, that started in October. Rovers are lucky that they picked up points early in the season as this current down turn in performance would ensure a relegation battle.

[Paul Mellelieu]

How were we "lucky" to pick up points? We played well and deserved them. Let's just look at the league form of late:

Chelsea - good performance, deserved at least a point

City - Good second half, could have won the game in the last five minutes

Derby - Routine win

Sunderland - Poor showing, but we won.

Hardly relegation form.

[Fife Rover]

How were we "lucky" to pick up points? We played well and deserved them. Let's just look at the league form of late:

Chelsea - good performance, deserved at least a point

City - Good second half, could have won the game in the last five minutes

Derby - Routine win

Sunderland - Poor showing, but we won.

Hardly relegation form.

I'm with you Paul M. However, I can understand (but don't condone) the mass anger and frustration brought on by yesterday's display and the general slump in reliability and form for a majority of the squad over the last couple of months. There is quite obviously something badly amiss in the Rovers camp and as I have already spoken at length on this subject in my earlier post in this thread I won't repeat myself here. See my answer to Dan's post at 22.29 yesterday.

[roversmum]

Alan's article expresses the feelings of many fans.

The team has not played to their potential for much of the matches mentioned, Paul, and have maybe been fortuitous in the results you mention. Of the four matches you quote for two and three-quarters of them the showing was poor and in truth unacceptable. It is not good enough. The players need to take a look at themselves and sort it out. These guys are being paid good money to play for our beloved club and need to get out of the comfort zone. We would like endeavour for the whole match please and relating to yesterday, at least some of it.

The fans' frustration (and, it seems, Hughes') is that we all know they can do so much better. It is difficult to see why a team that had such a good start to the season has suddenly crumbled. Alan is correct in that continued poor performances could easily lead to a relegation battle.

Alan's further article on the subject here also hits the nail on the head.

[Alan75]

Paul, I'm glad that your glass is half full.

I'll reiterate that if it hadnt been for the points picked up before October we would have been in a right pickle now.

To say that Derby was a routine win is true, but we were lucky that Brad saved the penalty, otherwise Derby would have been 2-0 up and their heads wouldnt have dropped.

The game against Sunderland was dire, but we were lucky that we got a penalty and they missed theirs

The team is carrying to many passengers who arent up for a battle.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The manager and players are NOT beyond criticism and they ruddy well have to accept that.The 'performance' yesterday was nothing short of abysmal and well below the standards we have set ourselves.We were humiliated and players need to wake up and smell the coffee!

I am sorry If you dont like the fans booing Mr Hughes but they pay their hard earned money and are damn well entitled to express their feelings.

[bubblerrovers]

How were we "lucky" to pick up points? We played well and deserved them. Let's just look at the league form of late:

Chelsea - good performance, deserved at least a point

City - Good second half, could have won the game in the last five minutes

Derby - Routine win

Sunderland - Poor showing, but we won.

Hardly relegation form.

Let me tell you

City - we scored a clear offside goal, amazed didn't concede more

Derby - if not for brad would of lost

Sunderland - see above

[Blueboy Downunder]

sorry bubble i disagree with your "clear offside" view of the goal at city, where i presume that you are referring to the late equaliser from roque. from the cross, the only player to touch the ball was roque....nobody else and as the law states, you are offside when you touch the ball, so dunny was in an offside position but did not touch the ball.

[mattyboy6000]

we've not been playing great, but we're still ok- re. the city game, if we'd have started the game with the team that started the 2nd half we would have won comfortably

so it's not all doom and gloom

however, if team aren't bothered about the fa cup, i cannot fathom how clubs have the audacity to take money off their fans for such games

[LeftWinger]

sorry bubble i disagree with your "clear offside" view of the goal at city, where i presume that you are referring to the late equaliser from roque. from the cross, the only player to touch the ball was roque....nobody else and as the law states, you are offside when you touch the ball, so dunny was in an offside position but did not touch the ball.

Isn't there something about attempting to play the ball - not just touching it?

I personally thought it was a fair goal - but can see both sides of the argument - due to a very vague rule.

[Hasta]

I've just re-read my drunken rantings from last night on the Coventry thread and, surprisingly, I agree with everything I put.

If we carry on performing to the level we have done for the last 6 weeks we will finish bottom half, forget Europe. If we performed like that all season we'd be in a relegation fight.

All is not lost. Fortunately with the transfer window now open we have a golden opprtunity to salvage this.

[greggyk]

I'll reiterate that if it hadnt been for the points picked up before October we would have been in a right pickle now.

.

But we did!!! Because we were playing very well and deserved them. We have not suddenly turned into a bad side

[RevidgeBlue]

How were we "lucky" to pick up points? We played well and deserved them. Let's just look at the league form of late:

Chelsea - good performance, deserved at least a point

City - Good second half, could have won the game in the last five minutes

Derby - Routine win

Sunderland - Poor showing, but we won.

Hardly relegation form.

Paul, sorry, disagree with you totally

Wigan worst performance ever seen from a Premiership side?

Chelsea, yes, rare good performance

City, poor performance but just about deserved a point in the second half

Derby, on any other day we would have gone 2-0 down and lost but for Friedel saving the penalty. Nelsen and Mokoena would also have been sent off more often than not.

Sunderland, worse than Wigan game? Would never have scored from open play.

Coventry , worse than Sunderland game?

It's just not good enough. We won't go down due to points already in the bank but we won't accumulate many more either playing like this.

[Hasta]

We have not suddenly turned into a bad side

The players haven't become bad players and we haven't got a bad squad. However at the moment we are looking a bad side. Sometimes teams go on bad runs where they don't get the results they deserve. We're on a bad run and getting exactly what we deserve.

Yesterdays result was always on the cards with recent displays. Anyone who didn't think so had their head in the sand.

[stuwilky]

Isn't there something about attempting to play the ball - not just touching it?

I personally thought it was a fair goal - but can see both sides of the argument - due to a very vague rule.

The law refers to interfering with play, not touching the ball.

In the same manner that Mr Cisse was clearly interfering with play when he swung for the ball at Ewood, when Fowler went on to score, then so was David Dunn when he jumped for the ball prior to Roque heading it in.

[philipl]

"Bottled it" article was/is fair and accurate.

The Prem clubs not taking the Cup seriously article probably fails in a historic context.

Yesterday was a very average 3rd Round day in FA Cup terms of number of top flight teams getting knocked out by lower league opposition in the 3rd round. Last season and the one before were unusual in the number of Prem clubs suffering but the draws for the 3rd round in the last two seasons were equally exceptionally uninteresting compared with yesterday which had scope for up to a dozen reasonably probable upsets (Boro at Bristol City, Pompey at Ipswich were two I had half expected but didn't happen).

Third round day comes straight after the Festive period and is the highlight of the season for many non-Prem clubs but a nightmare to be negotiated for Prem clubs.

If you look at Everton losing at home to Oldham, they have the Carling Cup semi-final on Tuesday and are still in the UEFA Cup as well as enjoying a very good Preiership season. So I cannot blame Moyes for running a weakened side- in fact with Prem places individually now worth the same in prize money as getting knocked out in the FA Cup quarter final and there being no "easy" Prem games any more in which to blood youngsters, playing a team two divisions below you has to be the time to take a look. But Everton's is a special case.

You can only start querying the Premiership's attitude if there are more than one casualty amongst Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle this afternoon.

As far Rovers, it wasn't a case of not taking it seriously- Dunn, Reid and Santa Cruz were ruled out by injuries as was Derbyshire from the starting line-up whilst cup-tying is a serious issue if we are trying to get £2m+ for Sav and £4m for Roberts. Putting it simply, that Rovers team was plenty good enough to beat Coventry but were complete and utter rubbish on the day after much improved league performances against City and Chelsea and two OK but got-the-points performances against Derby and Sunderland.

[USABlue]

You know I can deal with the rantings and ravings, I've done my bit and the team AND manager deserve all the criticism they get of late. What I can not deal with is this totally asinine IF crap being bandied about. The suggestions of IF Brad had not save the penalty are damn stupid. He DID save the penalty and we DID win the game. Are some of you just looking for things to have a go about, I think you are and most of it from the usual suspects too. How about throwing a few IFs with a positive spin on them. Heres one IF we had scored half of the chances we created against Derby before they scored the them scoring the penalty would not have mattered. IF, of course Brad did not save it. Oh no that would not suit would it. Come on get real have a moan about the current plight by all means. If we didn't have a good moan when we were crap then we wouldn't be real fans would we but let's keep it real. Plenty of other IFs that IF they had come to fruition we'd be 10 point s clear at the top by now, ludicrous.

Are there any links to this "bottled it" article? Also I keep hearing, have been for about 7-8 years now, how TV is going to kill the Prem, it does not seem to be does it? It may be hurting the smaller clubs such as us where people would rather sit in the pub than go support their local team. I also suspect it tends to make fans of these smaller clubs more critical too, when you get to watch the likes of Man Yoo and Arse every week on telly it sort of raises thebar a bit for your own team don't you think.

Never mind found the article

[Flopsy]

if we'd have scored a couple of teh chances that hit the woodwork yesterday what would have happened?

If? If?

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. Its facts and the facts are

1) We've not been playing well since Hughes won Manager of the Month

2) We've had quite a few games where we've been beaten when really we deserved a point

3) recently we've been playing a bit crap but got 7 points over the festive season

4) Yesterday we were well ebaten by a good championship side.

5) Tugay and Mokeana are not a very good cm pairing

[RevidgeBlue]

You know I can deal with the rantings and ravings, I've done my bit and the team AND manager deserve all the criticism they get of late. What I can not deal with is this totally asinine IF crap being bandied about. The suggestions of IF Brad had not save the penalty are damn stupid. He DID save the penalty and we DID win the game. Are some of you just looking for things to have a go about, I think you are and most of it from the usual suspects too. How about throwing a few IFs with a positive spin on them. Heres one IF we had scored half of the chances we created against Derby before they scored the them scoring the penalty would not have mattered. IF, of course Brad did not save it. Oh no that would not suit would it. Come on get real have a moan about the current plight by all means. If we didn't have a good moan when we were crap then we wouldn't be real fans would we but let's keep it real. Plenty of other IFs that IF they had come to fruition we'd be 10 point s clear at the top by now, ludicrous.

It works both ways though doesn't it, you don't seem to have an objection to Paul saying we MIGHT have got a point against Chelsea or we MIGHT have beaten City if the game had gone on for 120 mins etc.

[Beta Ray Bill]

You know I can deal with the rantings and ravings, I've done my bit and the team AND manager deserve all the criticism they get of late. What I can not deal with is this totally asinine IF crap being bandied about. The suggestions of IF Brad had not save the penalty are damn stupid. He DID save the penalty and we DID win the game. Are some of you just looking for things to have a go about, I think you are and most of it from the usual suspects too. How about throwing a few IFs with a positive spin on them. Heres one IF we had scored half of the chances we created against Derby before they scored the them scoring the penalty would not have mattered. IF, of course Brad did not save it. Oh no that would not suit would it. Come on get real have a moan about the current plight by all means. If we didn't have a good moan when we were crap then we wouldn't be real fans would we but let's keep it real. Plenty of other IFs that IF they had come to fruition we'd be 10 point s clear at the top by now, ludicrous.

So true. There seems to be a general sentiment that if we get points in poor performances these don't matter, and anything older than the last week or two doesn't matter.

Would someone say at the end of the season if we hadn't picked up 50 odd points over the season, we'd have been relegated? So they shouldn't witter on about the performances at the start of the season being the only thing that's saving us now. The season is 38 matches plus cup competitions, not just a random selection of matches over a certain period of weeks.

Remember up until mid December, if matches fincished at half time, Fulham would have been top of the league!

I sometimes think that if we won the Premiership again, all some Rovers fans would say is "we'll get slaughtered in the Champions League".

[USABlue]

if we'd have scored a couple of teh chances that hit the woodwork yesterday what would have happened?

If? If?

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. Its facts and the facts are

1) We've not been playing well since Hughes won Manager of the Month

2) We've had quite a few games where we've been beaten when really we deserved a point

3) recently we've been playing a bit crap but got 7 points over the festive season

4) Yesterday we were well ebaten by a good championship side.

5) Tugay and Mokeana are not a very good cm pairing

You referring to me post or the others?

I was wondering too just how much of an impact the whole Manager of the Month award has had. Remember leading up to that Mark Hughes was being hailed as the second coming by the TV and the Press. Little or no credit ever seemed to go to the players, I wonder if there is a wee bit of sour grapes or feeling under appreciated going on.

In a perspective from some on this board, not my own views.

On your point two, It does not matter how well you play you have to win

On your point three, So we got 7 points we played crap and should have lost IF....

So when we lose playing well we moan cos it's all about winning, when we win playing crap we moan because IF A or B had happened we would have lost and we did not deserve to win so let's have another moan.

I can't figure it out, can you Flopsy?

[USABlue]

It works both ways though doesn't it, you don't seem to have an objection to Paul saying we MIGHT have got a point against Chelsea or we MIGHT have beaten City if the game had gone on for 120 mins etc.

At least it is a bit upbeat, why are we seeking out things to be depressed about our team, isn't there enough as it is. We should have had a point against Chelsea, but we did not and that is that though how well we might have played tends to become secondary when we lose it seems. With some when we win it's still not good enough, seems to be the way it is. So with some folks there is just no pleasing them and with some there is no killing their enthusiasm, just throwing my bit in to the mix.

Yesterday I was so mad I wasn't gonna come back on here for a month, by about tea time I was here hoping for word of better things... wrong place to come it seems, but I am ready for our next game and looking forward to it. It's footy and I love it and Love my team. Sure you do too, we just express it differently. Jims not been around much someone has to fill those shoes .

[Alan75]

Well I appear to have ruffled a few feathers with the article.

I try to be as positive as I can about the Rovers in the News section, and I often have to hold back my true thoughts after the paine of a defeat, however, even I cant bury my head in the sand all the time.

When the players are playing well I will praise them, but when they are under performing with a couldnt care less attitude they need to be made aware of the fact that they cheating the paying public, not only those at the ground but also those that have paid their tv subscriptions.

[1864roverite]

We lost a cup tie with a bedraggled team made up of tired players and fringe players. We were on a gamble/hiding to nothing playing such a team and Mark hughes decision to play whateveer formation they were meant to be playing should still have been more than good enough to beat Coventry.

The players that were out on that pitch simply didnt perform and they can only know the reasons why. By all accounts Zurab was pretty pathetic, as were mgp and tugay, benni and mokeona.

I can live without the FA Cup this season and for me, the proof will be in the pudding when we visit Breezeblock next Sunday.

I think 3 points eeked out there will see this cup game consigned to history as a freak result.

MOVE ON FELLOW BLUES, we werent the only ones to get a shocker