[Archived] Not The Middlesbrough Preview.

[Rovers in America]

THere's another goal that Boro should have had. A sitter that they missed again. Boro should easily be sitting on 4 goals right now.

[Presty On Tour]

peterhead have scored 9 so far today!

[Rovers in America]

Back post has been open all day for Boro to exploit no matter which side is the back post, thankfully they haven't been able to with allt he chances the back post man has had today.

[Mr. E]

well I suppose a draw was a fair result - our usual weaknesses let us down, while Boro were quite good today I thought.

[tony gale's mic]

looks like we havent turned a corner after all.

[Rover Down Under]

If we make Europe by 1 point this season we will look back on this wonderful game as the Newcastle '95 penultimate game.

[Rovers in America]

The way that game was, I think we were lucky to escape with a draw. I'll take it given how many golden chances Boro had. Boro have been good on the road lately and haven't been an easy opponent when traveling, so I suppose I'll take a point vs them. We c ould have easily come out of today with no points.

[Dan Furness]

Watched 2nd half online, Ryan Nelsen was caught out a few times and but for Samba cutting out a square ball in the area the inevitable Boro goal would have been there

Very very lucky point

[joey_big_nose]

In the second half Boro should have had four!

We were the better team in terms of holding on to the ball and moving it around, but Boro just looked by far the more incisive. At the back we are all over the place, Nelsen was poor again, actually missing a few balls in the air which used toi be bread and butter to him.

I was suprised McCarthy did not get 20 mins.

1-1 is a good result in the light of the fact that we could have lost 5-1 really. We had a couple of excellent shots from Bentley but apart from them never tested the keeper despite the ball being in and around the Boro area all game.

Roberts did less in 90 mins than he did in 15 against Bolton. Bentley easily our best player. Emerton did well when he came on (I think he might end up playing central midfield quite a lot).Cruz showed skill and pace but not really any end product. Reid and Dunn were very poor. Ooijer impressed me. Warnock had an up and down game. Fredial okay. Samba easily our best defender.

[Eddie]

The reason Roberts did less is because, like Derbyshire, he is an impact player. His pace and power trouble defenders late on in the game, but over the course of 90 minutes you can just get close to him and he does nothing.

[joey_big_nose]

The reason Roberts did less is because, like Derbyshire, he is an impact player. His pace and power trouble defenders late on in the game, but over the course of 90 minutes you can just get close to him and he does nothing.

I would say partly that and partly that Boro sat so deep that he had no space to run into at all. They were all over him. Im not really sure McCarthy would have done much better to be honest, but maybe he would of found the positions in the box today to get a goal. But then if McCarthy had been playing maybe Boro wouldnt have played so deep...

[Presty On Tour]

i know we should be thankful for a point by the the sounds of things but i still feel gutted.

boro at home and with the league the way it is, 3 points today would of put us joint 4th.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We could easily have lost this game 1-5.....as before we are without guile or craft in many areas of the pitch midfield especially.

Lucky,lucky Rovers!

Europe?...no way with these turgid home performances.

[Plastic Head]

What is the opposite of a passing team......coz that's what we are, unable to string 2 passes together and haven't done since October.

A totally undeserved point, after one of the better first halves at home recently (not saying much).

Friedel. Saved us again.

Ooijer. Our best defender on the day. Certainly the favoured option in this position at the moment.

Warnock. Had an off day. Too many crosses just went no-where.

Nelsen. Simply not good enough. Badly at fault for the goal. Shame but not the player he was last season.

Samba. Some crucial last-gasp defending.

Bentley. His worst game of the season, easily. Again the final ball was poor.

Reid. Did well again without having a big impact.

Dunn. Peppered the Darwen End in the first half, then the Blackburn End in the second. Poor.

Pedersen. I can't moan about his final ball coz he never gets to that stage.

Roque. No Service. Had a good chance with a header that he fluffed. Might be carrying an injury.

Roberts. Didn't have the impact on the game he had at Bolton, kept plugging away.

Derbyshire. In the right place at the right time.

Emerton. Ran around a lot after he came on.

Hughes has a lot of work to do. the players are better than what they are showing at present. A visit to Ewood is torture at the moment.

[Guest fernhurstblue]

very lucky to get away with a point today ..... could and should have been stuffed. the defence are shocking at set pieces and to many players are playing in the comfort zone as they know there is no serious competition for places.

no sure what the solution is as there is a obvious lack of funds and no real strength in depth.

having said the above, we are 5 games undeafeted in the league, although god only knows how

[Mozzer]

i thought steven reid was our man of the match-i thought he was brilliant..

we was lucky to come away with a point..ryan nelsen again losing his marker(like last week with davies), but wheater scores-im getting concerned by nelsen-his lack of pace, and his marking is poor..

bentley wasnt that good either, nor was dunn..pedersen didnt have a great day..

was good to see roberts start..

[furryfootball]

Our performance today was so bad, can't believe Aliadiere missed in stoppage time (though obviously I'm pleased). We were lucky to get a draw, didn't deserve it. That performance was awful, really disappointed.

[BringOnNextSeason]

just been to the game.we were shocking should have easily been beaten and ryan nelsen has to be dropped. hes lost it since he came back from his injury, cost us again today for there goal and as for a captain he cant organise a ###### up in a brewery let alone our defence

[RevidgeBlue]

Never can we have been as lucky to salvage a point at Ewood.

That's three abysmal home performances in a row now following the Sunderland and Coventry games. Boro should have been three up before we equalised with our first serious effort on goal in the 76th minute, then they spurned two more sitters after that.

Boro were quick neat and inventive and looked to be a team going the right way. We looked the opposite and seemed to be reliant on hoofing high balls up and hoping something would break, or on getting a set piece in a dangerous position.

Do we really have to play a top four team like Chelsea before we put in a performance?

Or with it being the same core of players for a while now, have they got bored of listening to rollickings from Hughes?

Or are they a bit complacent knowing we don't have the cash to bring replacements in?

Whatever the explanation, we won't go down this season but we look to have problems in the medium to long term.

[den]

MOTM?

[1864roverite]

The Leyland take on the match having hobbled to and from Ewood on my crutches !

On the way I felt confident that Rovers could get the 3 points today, how wrong can one be ?

The first half can only be described as DIRE, and I mean DIRE. This had the Sunderland game, the Villa and Coventry games and the pompy game all rolled into one sorry first half. NO effort, NO guile, NO creativity and NO pride in wanting 3 points. But before I carry on, BORO were NO better than Rovers yet found themselves 1-0 up courtesy of yet more pathetic defending courtesy of our Captain Ryan Nelsen. Where he went and what he was doing when that ball was crossed is something that needs some real explanation. My own personal take is that his defensive knowledge was up his own arse as he failed to head out a simple cross which was simply dispatched into the net by an amazed David Wheater. A bit of huffing and puffing saw very very little created by Rovers and as the ref blew for half time I thought it could not get any worse and indeed based on Rovers ability to get back into games and win them from losing positions I still actually felt taht Rovers could get something out of the game.

Onto the second 45 minutes. No change, no change and no change. From nowhere Boro can count themselves unfortunate not to have been 3-0 up after 60 minutes. the miss by Tuncay is worse than Ronnie the Israeli's when he missed for Liverpoo in front of an empty net from 8 yards out. Again more huff and puff but nothing from the boots of Bentley or MGP. Boro hit the bar, Brad saved a whistler of a free kick and Samba saved the day with a crucial last ditch tackle. In fact until the entry of both Derbyshire and Brett the front line had had NO service and between RSC and Roberts had not one shot on goal between them.

Brett initiated a litle more pace and lo and behold, a swish of Roberts left foot saw the ball land at the feet of Derbysahire who calmly slotted into an empty net. Let NOONE beleive that the ball was set up for Derbyshire, it was a miskicked slice that bemused everyone including the ref, linesman and goalie. I am sure that Matty also was that stunned he had NO time to think about hitting it as with the luck we had had would no doubt have seen the shot trickle past the post !

Rovers lifted into life and had more about them. Surely there was only one winner to be had. But NO, Rovers strived as much as a team like Derby would in trying to give the game away. Thank God, the ref saw sense and blew up and an awful game was over at 1-1.

Cant really be bothered doing ratings but a few pointers follow:

Brad, solid as usual.

Nelsen - what has happened to this man. Yet another truly awful performance. I think his personal performances are affecting Sambas.

Dunny - had so much space in the first half but didnt create anything apart from hard hats in the Darren End. Faded early in the second half.

Roberts - if anyone needed evidence why he is a sub then todays performance epitomised it. Nothing but scraps but he he did set up the goal

MGP - enigma with the magic left foot. A waste of space today and if he was injured then he should never have started. Did absolutley nothing whilst on the pitch.

I was impressed with Reidy. He is getting fitter and fitter and the way he gets the ball suggests that in 2 or 3 games time he may just be the answer to the central midfield berth.

Now a question. How did Boateng finish the game on the pitch ? I counted 15 fouls alone for him.

Best bit of entertainment for me was when Aliadiare went down in front of Mark Hughes and he responded by throwing the ball at the French softarse which caused little Gareth to kick off.

So today has finished with Rovers GAINING a point rather than losing all 3.

Quite clearly, there were lots of people looking towards the directors box at potential signings/players. I didnt see anyone I recognised and as my mates wife is the head Steward in the JW stand she didnt receive anyone of particular notice.

[JAL]

The lack of speed and energy through the team is worrying, Nelsen yet again poor, but Stephen Warnock on that performance should'nt even be plying his trade in the premier league.

MGP looks ill, he looks so weak what has happened to this lad.

Second half the lack of movement upfront did us no favours at all, Cruz always coming short Roberts never in the right place at the right time coupled with a weak midfield that gets turned so easily that the pressure easily mounts on our back four.

Steven Reid did look a lot better though when Dunny went off but the amount of people criticising Dunny wasnt good at all for the future of the lad.

Only Samba and Ooijer put their names on the team sheet for the next game.

How good is Mark Hughes because Villa are a lot stronger than we are, can Hughes turn it around?

[frosty]

Lucky to escape with a point considering Boro should have been 3 up by the time Derbyshire scored.

Not so confident about the next few games either.

[RevidgeBlue]

MOTM?

I would have given it Emerton on the basis of his brief appearance as sub. I wish the rest of the side had shown the same enthusiasm and energy he did.

As for their goal it wasn't the best of defending by Nelsen but from where I was was sat it was basically down to a bad blunder by Friedel. It was a header from within the six yard box and Brad had ample time to cut it out had he come off his line.

[Iceman]

Roberts should remain a sub.he only does anything in a game when he comes off the bench to prove a point.dunny nuff said,awful and shouldnt be allowed near our midfield,he aint the player he was when he left us.he just cannot create anything and i havent seen him do anything special since we signed him.the same goes for pedersen,its time this bloke gets a kick up the backside or a kick out of ewood park. Friedel is a top top goalkeeper but with a defence who defends like a pub team no wonder we struggling at the back.