[Archived] Rovers V Everton

[tonygreenbank]

For all the stayaways you missed an absolute cracker! A fantastic night`s entertainment with rovers producing some beautiful, free flowing football from our "reserves" that had Everton in a complete spin.

Full marks to Ince and his coaching staff because they are trying to play the game the right way; plenty of movement off the ball with options to pass. Everton fans were stunned into silence as Tugay showed what a talent he still is and then allowing Carlos the legs to show off his skills.The memory of Tugay collecting a pass then chipping the ball over Osman and then round Cahill in one movement will stay with me for a long time.

We should have won that by 3 or 4 tonight.

Ooijer was immense at centre back as was Warnock in midfield. There was not a weak link anywhere as the team showed great spirit as shown at the end when there was a mass embrace between the players. Who now thinks that the players are anti-Ince? Well done to Fowler who showed some sublime touches and should really have scored. Well done lads. A happy Rover tonight.

[Hughesy]

Maybe it was the price difference? They paid £12 we paid £17. That would affect some I suppose. 5500 Scousers, 8000 or so Rovers. But the home crowd did very well in the 2nd half and made themselves heard.

Anyway I was there - was very impressed. A very weakened side you would of said against a very strong everton side/ subs.

If you look at the side and see who would normally be 1st choice starter and you would only find Warnock and possibly Simpson, thats it! To out play everton like that and to make them turn to long ball football for the last 30 minutes was very good.

In terms of the team. Top Performer without a doubt - Olsson, been saying it for months but this lad has bags of talent. Tugay was also top notch, as was Warnock, Zurab and Simspon.

Fowlers touch and passing was top, top class - nobody can doubt that and for a lad that hasnt played for a long time, he did very well. Yes he missed two chances, but had either gone in then people would of been raving as what he tried would of been great if it came off.

Ooijer did ok but I wouldnt have him 1st choice, he isnt comfortable on the ball and for me it would be Samba & Zurab.

Derbyshire - did ok, plenty of running but missed an absolute sitter, for me still only an Impact Player.

King Carlos - Once again excellent on the ball, won the ball alot too and won quite a few free-kicks. He is going to become a real asset to us. The new Tugay, with abit more skill. Also heard a few Everton fans raving about him & Warnock after the game.

2 Clean sheets in a row, 2 wins in a row and past a very good side in the cup. City, Pompey & Villa out which im very happy about - we just need to miss the top 4 for the next couple of rounds. Winner of Brighton/ Derby would be good.

[Hasta]

Maybe it was the price difference? They paid £12 we paid £17. That would affect some I suppose. 5500 Scousers, 8000 or so Rovers. But the home crowd did very well in the 2nd half and made themselves heard.

I was sat fairly central in the JW upper and to be honest the Everton fans weren't much louder than the BBurn End considering the numbers they had. I can't believe that they only paid £12 though. All tickets were surely the same price. If it was the case that it wasn't then that's disgraceful but I would imagine it's just a daft rumour. I've heard loads of people moaning over the price of this one despite the fact no-one goes to these games when it's about £12 anyway.

The defence was good.

Olsonn was good enough to allow us to risk Warnock in midfield and it worked. He played a couple of silly passes and got caught in posession but that was due to an unfamiliar position. Generally he did well.

Tugay was excellent. I think sometimes people bum Tugays game up becaus of his age and his legendary status but today he really did pull the strings.

[Hughesy]

No apparently it was £12, not sure if Everton subsidised the ticket price maybe?

For the amount they brought, they were pathetic. Ollson shut them up anyway!

[Hughesy]

Moyes Impressed by Tugay

[Presty On Tour]

A sweet birthday present indeed

I think the draw for the next round is on Saturday but can anyone confirm?

Burnley or Swansea away in the next round would make me a well happy fella!

[Exiled in Toronto]

What do you expect when Warnock was on the teamsheet in the central midfield role. Yeah it worked out on the night, but fans called it as they saw it at the time. I don't believe in this blind faith crap where you support every single decision Ince makes whether it comes to team selection or tactics.

I was expecting to get beat tonight, with all the injuries we had plus Everton playing with two supposed "midfield destroyers".

If Warnock had been picked as keeper or centre forward then you might have had a point. Hughes took 3 years to think of trying Emerton in central midfield and was hailed as a genius. Ince sees in 3 months that Warnock might fit there and is a cretin even before kick-off. Hughes puts our top scoring centre forward on the right wing and is a genius; Ince puts Matty on the left and is a cretin.

There is a middle ground between blind faith - which I don't think any poster has advocated - and criticising every decision before seeing how it plays out. Try being open-minded to some calls which are hardly revolutionary that were not made by Hughes; you might enjoy the games a bit more.

Let's face it, the vitriol spouted about Andrews, Fowler, the young players not being any good because Hughes didn't pick them and now Warnock has so far been shown to be mostly ######

[Lee]

Speaking of keepers, does anyone know who the lad was warming up infront of the Blackburn End at half time? Was it Bunn or Bussman (or however you spell it)? Either way he was another tiny keeper - much like Brown.

As for the game, I was very surprised with the team selection, but fair play to Ince it worked out well. Great result all things considered.

Working from the back:

- Brown had a decent game, though he had little to do. He looked solid when called upon, but his height really worries me especially against a side as physical as Everton.

Bjorn Bussmann, our Academy 'keeper and a German under 17 international. He was given squad number 40 on Tuesday as Brown had actually gone home ill that day.

No apparently it was £12, not sure if Everton subsidised the ticket price maybe?

I don't know who told you that but it was bullplop. They paid £17.

[RoversFanUSA]

Good times...

[tonyoz]

I was lucky enough to hear the game on Radio Rovers but what pleases me most is the obvious enjoyment of the people who actually attended the game. It seems as if you were well rewarded!

Just found these brief highlights:

http://www.ifutbal.com/videos/12400/carlin...rton-highlights

[AussieinUk]

A few points on the game;-

Surprised by the lineup and the preceeding result. By the sounds of the reports, Rovers played very well as a unit along with some decent individual displays. Full credit to PI and to the players for their performance. Very pleased to hear that Tugay in particular played a blinder and that we have attained two clean sheets back to back against PL oppostion. What do they say about things coming in three's?

I think the performance last night, illustrates that Mr Pineapple CAN play in the midfield, contrary to a few others, who (continously) state otherwise..

Again a very good result, but I'm a little nervous on the scan for Robbo's calf strain... I hope he comes through fit, for Saturday's big game against the Geordies..

Thanks also, to those for posting the Radio Rover's link and the link to the highlights, from Skysports.

Btw - Two up on the toffees this season and at least one more to go (and at home)!

(* Looks to the heavens and asks - 'Please, Please, Please - Home draw against the dingles, for the next round.')

[philipl]

It turns out we did have one midfielder cup-tied and six midfielders out injured or ill. If you sit and think about it, the wierd midfield formation pretty well picked itself in the circumstances but it worked and other managers would not have been so bold as to push Warnock up into a role he occasionally played in his Liverpool days.

Tremendous achievement by the Rovers to get the result.

Delighted that Zura and Ooijer shut Everton out so effectively and that Ollson and Simpson had great games. Ollson seems to be over the nerves and injuries which is great news. Villanueva seems to be continuing his English acclimatisation and shame that Derbs did not convert the chance to kill the game.

Fantastic that two golden oldies seem to be discovering new leases of life- well done Tugay and Fowler!

Everton seem to have blown £20m big time on Fainio and Castillo.

Hopefully this result will bring the sense of excitement back amongst the Rovers support now. A home draw against the dingles would be just sweet and unite the ranks 100%.

[Paul]

- Brown had a decent game, though he had little to do. He looked solid when called upon, but his height really worries me especially against a side as physical as Everton.

I don't get this at all. I've seen all of Brown's matches for the first team and not been concerned at any point, yet all I hear is fans banging on about his height. At 5'11" he is 3" inches shorter than Brad and 5" shorter than Robinson which I don't think is a big deal if he has the agility. If one had a concern it would be his bulk, at 98kg he looks and is a big lad. I have no problem with that and if anything it helps him "against a physical side like Everton" compare that with the light weight Robinson at 90kg and Friedel at 91kg. Brown has never let us down, why worry about him? In that last ten minutes "Shorty" Brown claimed a dangerous and high cross into the box in a manner Brad would never have done. I didn't see the Hull goal as I arrived late but from what I'm told it was either poor keeping or a great free kick!

Enough of that. This was a game to make you purr. I trundled down to Ewood out of duty rather than anticipation thinking we were in for a long an tedious night. How wrong I was. The first half was simply excellent with Rovers playing some beautiful football. Everton weren't in it at all. Everton were bound to take more of the second half as, like us, this is Moyes's only realistic chance of winning anything. Everton probably had more of the ball in the last 30 minutes but the only thing worrying me was we seemed to sit very, very deep inviting them on to us. It worked though and there was truely little threat to Rovers goal. I thought the whole team played very, very well, easily the best performance this season. Strange how in these cup games the players seem "freer" and lacking tension. I'm picking out Simpson especially for rover6! He had a really good game but in fairness the whole team need picking out.

Rovers were in control for 90 minutes, played great football and should have had two more goals if Matt and Fowler had taken the excellent chances in the second half

[LDRover]

Ince's midget gems are very very tasty!

The first thing that struck me about tonight was how much physically bigger the Everton side looked than our lot tonight. The second thing was how much better the football has been at the two Carling Cup ties than at the three Premier League fixtures so far. With no big man like RSC or Roberts to hoof a long high ball towards we sem to indulge in a neat slick passing game to feet much better to watch.

I caught about ten seconds of the manager's post match interview after the game and he said something like "tonight gave him a really positive vibe about the direction the club is heading in" and I have to agree.

Ooijer and Zurab were great at CB, Simpson had another good game at RB, and Olssen had a stormer at LB scoring a brilliant goal.

Warnock was a revelation in a makeshift midfield role and presumably his performance there, and that of Olsson have given us more options for the first team.

Tugay also played well and here's something I never thought I'd say "Robbie Fowler had a good game." Doubt he'll be a prolific scorer, but some of his link up play was extremely clever.

The only player whose performance disappointed me was Treacy. Didn't come over like a player busting a gut to win a place in the side at all.

Excellent first half with lots of slick passing football, Derbs missed a sitter with half an hour to go to kill it off and we were hanging on in the end but didn't half battle. Excellent stuff.

Only 9 Premier League teams left in....................

The only other negative was a very poor turn out from the Blackburn public - the Blackburn End and Riverside looked practically empty. If Everton fans don't mind paying 17 quid for a ticket, why do we? Everton at home - how attractive does it have to be? No doubt people will be hanging from the rafters and complaining they can't get tickets if we draw the Dingles next round.

Couldn't agree more, especially the point about the performances in the Carling Cup compared to the Prem.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Another very enjoyable cup game at Ewood,Rovers passing of the ball was quick and crisp,a joy to behold.Many changes by Ince but fair play to him for having the balls to do it and it paid off.Lovely worked goal by Olsson that was worth the entrance fee alone and overall a solid team performance.Have to say this Everton team is one of the worst I've ever seen at Ewood,totally lacking in Idea and the 6k or so Evertonians made their feeling known at the end!.....I thought our fans were great second half despite the poor numbers in attendance(when will you learn stayaways?)

Jason Brown did well in goal but please lose some of that bulk fella,not good for a Premiership footballer

BRING ON T' CLARROT B'STARDS!

[AndyC]

lets make one thing very clear.

the people supporting ince are not doing it out of blind faith and deluding themselves into thinking all is fine and dandy.

they are simply getting behind the team and the manager and WAITING to see how he turns out, rather than judging him after 2 minutes.

i guess it just really shows whether people tend to be pessimists or optimists in life.

i hope last night has done one thing - persuaded a few of the antagonists to just give him a little time before judging him

GET BEHIND HIM.

UP THE ROVERS

[bob fleming]

That was great last night. Top stuff. Both full backs bombing on, slick passing, both centre halves looked very solid, Tugay pinging the ball about effortlessly, Fowler was neat and tidy as well, Warnock did a great job in the centre. It could have been more in all honesty.

I've been critical of Ince and a few things he has said - but that's only on here. Seven games in - won 4, lost 2 drawn 1. That's good going. Not only that but we're playing a more attractive style of football in places (e.g. last night). When Ince states "it's going to take time to change things" you can see where he's coming from now. We rarely played like this under Hughes.

Time will tell of course but you've got to get down to Ewood regardless. There must have been 6,000 Everton fans on? Only 8,000 Rovers? Those who didn't go missed some good stuff. Bring on Newcastle.

[Wolverine]

Gutted I missed this but was at work all night (still am!). That's both cup games now - when is the next one pencilled in for?

Glad the performances haven't suffered following the two drubbings we got. A win like last night is a superb result for the confidence of some of our fringe players. Hopefully, we will see them coming make an impact on the first team now.

[Saltysellars]

I work with a Bradford fan who has told me that Warnock whilst on loan there, played in central midefield for most of the time he was there.

Looks like he coped with the step up in class last night no bother

[Parsonblue]

A wonderful performance from the Rovers last night and one that was finally built on a rock soild defence. Andre and Zurab were outstanding in the centre and once again proved that the ability to read the game counts for a lot at this level. Surely, it can't be long before they are given the opportunity to become the first choice pairing. It made such a change to have none of the panic that often surrounds the Samba-Nelsen combination. Both full-backs were terrific. I have always been an admirer of Olsson in the Reserves and last night he proved just what an exciting prospect he really is. The ability to play full-back or left-wing makes him a real asset to the squad and his pace will worry any defence. I haven't been impressed by Simpson so far but I thought he was magnificent last night and looks like he is growing into the role. On that performance I'm sorry we only have him loan and he continues to play like this surely the club must test United's resolve in January and try to buy him. Brown did well when he came on and his handling was sound. He looks to have shed a few pounds since pre-season and looked alot more athletic last night than he has done recently.

The central midfield combination of Tugay and Warnock really worked well. Tugay controlled the game with a constant stream of passes and, as always, made himself available to receive the ball whenever a player was under pressure. We are such a different team when he plays. Warnock looked far sharper in midfield than he has done of late at full-back.

Carlos is a player who does the unexpected but is obviously still finding his feet in the English game. At times he looked lightweight and it will be interesting to see what position the manager finally uses him in. On the other wing I thought Keith Treacy had a disappointing night. Flashes of what he can do but he seemed to be subdued by the tough tackling of Neville.

Derbyshire was is usual lively self up front and worked hard although he really ought to have scored in the second half and put the game to bed. As one who has been critical of Fowler I thought he really put in a shift last night. A week ago at Northwich he looked awful and yet last night I thought he really did a job, particularly in the second half. While the pace has clearly gone, his touch was good and his link up play was encouraging.

A very encouraging night but one that leaves the manager with several questions to be answered before he selects the team on Saturday. It will be interesting to see what he does but for last night both he and the team should be congratulated.

With regard to the attendance, I'm afraid that the economic situation in general is going to dictate the size of our crowd. I suspect that on the back of two home games and with the United game looming this was a game too many for people who have bills to pay. Sadly, clubs like the Rovers are going to feel the economic pinch far more than the big city clubs.

[Amo]

Hearing the tributes to Zurab/Ooijer, what do you think Ince is going to do now? Nelsen looks untouchable, and Samba had a decent game against Fulham. I'd like to stick with the Zurab/Ooijer combo, but I can't see it happening.

[T4E]

I don't think you can put time and effort in to working with your first choice pairing, have it pay off in terms of a clean sheet in a league game, and then drop them for the next one. From a man-management aspect the best thing to do would be to stick with Nelsen and Samba, and let Zurab and Ooijer know they're very close to getting a game if either makes a mistake.

[Boz]

Maybe it was the price difference? They paid £12 we paid £17. That would affect some I suppose. 5500 Scousers, 8000 or so Rovers. But the home crowd did very well in the 2nd half and made themselves heard.

Anyway I was there - was very impressed. A very weakened side you would of said against a very strong everton side/ subs.

If you look at the side and see who would normally be 1st choice starter and you would only find Warnock and possibly Simpson, thats it! To out play everton like that and to make them turn to long ball football for the last 30 minutes was very good.

In terms of the team. Top Performer without a doubt - Olsson, been saying it for months but this lad has bags of talent. Tugay was also top notch, as was Warnock, Zurab and Simspon.

Fowlers touch and passing was top, top class - nobody can doubt that and for a lad that hasnt played for a long time, he did very well. Yes he missed two chances, but had either gone in then people would of been raving as what he tried would of been great if it came off.

Ooijer did ok but I wouldnt have him 1st choice, he isnt comfortable on the ball and for me it would be Samba & Zurab.

Derbyshire - did ok, plenty of running but missed an absolute sitter, for me still only an Impact Player.

King Carlos - Once again excellent on the ball, won the ball alot too and won quite a few free-kicks. He is going to become a real asset to us. The new Tugay, with abit more skill. Also heard a few Everton fans raving about him & Warnock after the game.

2 Clean sheets in a row, 2 wins in a row and past a very good side in the cup. City, Pompey & Villa out which im very happy about - we just need to miss the top 4 for the next couple of rounds. Winner of Brighton/ Derby would be good.

I was going to add a reply, however no need as I agree with Hughesy's account. Although I would heap even more praise on the back four, including Ooijer who always appears to really organise the defence when in his rightful position. I would also be asking Treacy to be more assertive and not afraid to leave his foot in, especially on a full back such as Phil Chuckle, who looked to bully him all night, give him a bit back Keith. In summary...Olsson exceptional, Tugay a LEGEND, but well played the entire team, manager and all.

[Bobby G]

Moyes has credited us with playing excellently and has said that Tugay was the best player on the pitch...

[joey_big_nose]

Well Ince has certianly give himself a bit of a headache. Currently squad only these guys can be certian of their place in the XI:

Cruz - shoo in, obviously.

Emerton - You never know where he will play, but he will play somewhere.

Simpson - Only real contender for the right back slot. Ooijer is too slow.

Robinson - if fit.

And, um, thats it. Roberts, Derbyshire, Carlos and now Fowler have made decent claims to partner Cruz. Injuries in central midfield to Dunn and Grella as seriously upset the applecart there. Tugya has been brilliant but is too old to really play every game. Reid has been awful. Andrews has done okay. Mokoena has a shout. Warncok came in and did a teriffic job. Vogel is coming back from injury. Who do you pick?

On top of that we seem to now have 4 decent left sided players - Olsson, Treacy, Warnock and Pedersen (shame none of them are rightsided!). And 4 centrebacks who have all played well recently.

I guess this is what Ince was aiming for, it will push the motivation levels inside the squad to keep you place very high. But it could be hard to get a position where we have a settled team.