[Archived] Rovers V Citeh

[Amo]

My ratings:

3 - Diabolical! Sub ASAP!

4 - Bad game.

5 - Disappointing.

6 - Alright.

7 - Solid.

8 - Good game.

9 - Excellent

10 - World class.

________________

Robinson 6

Ooijer 6

Samba 7

Nelsen 7

Warnock 7

Emerton 8

Andrews 6

Tugay 6

Pedersen 7

Roberts 8

McCarthy 7

[malk]

Bugger.

With my blue specs on I have to point out that Dunne and Ireland could have walked (Tugay was fine though!), four minutes seemed a long time and the last goal looked to be pretty offside to me.

Still, it was a decent performance and once the centre mid is sorted we'll look even better. Tugs is getting on a bit and Andrews looks pretty much permanently half a yard late (thought he didn't play THAT badly) so if Dunn and Grella ever get fit we'll get quite a boost, not only to midfield but also in protecting the back four and in being a touch more creative. I personally think Vogel might overhaul Andrews soon when he gets some sharpness back.

We're now only two points from safety and need to overhaul two from any eight teams within five points of us. We've got eighteen games to do it and the next four are all winnable.

Factor in possible implosions from Portsmouth and West Ham and I'm a lot happier than I have been recently.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Gutting. We lost concentration and paid a big price. Perhaps scoring the second made us think it was game over?

Really gutting.

Also, Tyrone, did you go to the match? You clearly didn't see the great save Robinson made from a Robinho header at the start of the second half (unless it hit the post?). Looked Brad-esque.

If, if if. If only Derbs had slotted it through or ran to the corner.

On the bright side, a point. A point which, if I'm honest, I wasn't really expecting.

We have some very winnable games coming up.

Keep the faith.

[No Nay Never]

Not blaming him at all but I can't understand why Sam didnt kill 30 seconds to a minute of stoppage time by bringing on a sub ??

[Exiled in Toronto]

Negatives - we have no creativity, width or goals in midfield. We just hit it up to Roberts and Benni (who I though were excellent today) and hope they produce something - it won't work every week.

In the past we have had Bentley creating and scoring as well as Pedersen. We need to add at least 8-9 goals from midfiled throughout the rest of the season or I fear we go down.

That was my concern as well. The last 3 games Benni and Roberts haven't had one good chance fashioned by someone else, and no-one else has come even close to scoring. We get nothing from midfield and we are still dodgy at the back; City could very easily have killed the game in the first 10 mins, but thanks to 2 bad misses and a blind ref we were still in the game.

We have played 3 fellow strugglers and, although we got a welcome 5 points, we struggled in all the games to impose ourselves, i.e. the table doesn't lie; we are not any better than the teams around us.

I thought Roberts was MoM by a country mile - a great response to his miss at Sunderland. Ooijer at fault for their first, but that was the killer goal for me, it gave them hope and they have good players. Blame for the 2nd can be very widely shared: Derbs for giving it away; Emerton for surging forwards at that point and tempting him; MGP for not tackling or fouling the man with the ball; Emerton/Ooijer for leaving the scorer alone and, I must say, Sam as his late tactical switch clearly unhinged our right flank. Granted players should be able to follow instructions but I feel it we had stuck to 4-4-2 we would have seen it out.

Better than under Ince because we now have 100% effort and commitment, but I fear that won't be enough to keep us up without retooling the midfield in the transfer window.

[cn174]

Blame for the 2nd can be very widely shared: Derbs for giving it away; Emerton for surging forwards at that point and tempting him; MGP for not tackling or fouling the man with the ball; Emerton/Ooijer for leaving the scorer alone and, I must say, Sam as his late tactical switch clearly unhinged our right flank. Granted players should be able to follow instructions but I feel it we had stuck to 4-4-2 we would have seen it out.

I think it was Derbyshire not Emerton who left Robinho open. If he had stayed where he was the pass wasn't on at all, but once he'd pulled out there was so much space.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Gutting. We lost concentration and paid a big price. Perhaps scoring the second made us think it was game over?

Really gutting.

Also, Tyrone, did you go to the match? You clearly didn't see the great save Robinson made from a Robinho header at the start of the second half (unless it hit the post?). Looked Brad-esque.

If, if if. If only Derbs had slotted it through or ran to the corner.

On the bright side, a point. A point which, if I'm honest, I wasn't really expecting.

We have some very winnable games coming up.

Keep the faith.

I watched the game on Sky, so it looked to me that Wright Phillips back headed it straight onto the post , didn't look like Robinson got a touch to me.

[Inta Beaver]

Agree with all of this, Ooijer is at fault for both goals and our lack of decent RB has likely cost us the match. However, I think a right winger and centre mid would suffice, as Emerton is good enough to fill in at RB.

I think Derbyshire was at fault for there last goal more than Ooijer, why did he push out the 18yrd box to mark someone who is out of the area, when there best player is stood at back post on his own, Ooijer had moved towards the peno spot to mark a striker, Derbyshire if he had a brain would know where the danger is!!!

Also like other people have already posted, why he didn't run the ball into the corner I don't know!

Roberts was a real handful today, but I wish he could finish more than he does.

This feels like a defeat, we should have 9pts from 3 games!!!

[DE.]

I think Derbyshire was at fault for there last goal more than Ooijer, why did he push out the 18yrd box to mark someone who is out of the area, when there best player is stood at back post on his own, Ooijer had moved towards the peno spot to mark a striker, Derbyshire if he had a brain would know where the danger is!!!

Also like other people have already posted, why he didn't run the ball into the corner I don't know!

Roberts was a real handful today, but I wish he could finish more than he does.

This feels like a defeat, we should have 9pts from 3 games!!!

Have to admit when Derbs misplaced that pass I swore out loud and wondered what he was doing. He may not have bags of first team experience, but he has enough to know not to try a killer pass when you're 2-1 up with 30 seconds to go against a team with the talent of Man City. Still, Robinho should have been marked by someone... leaving him all on his own in our penalty box 30 seconds from the end is criminal, and shows why our GD is so poor.

[imy9]

Next two games for:

Rovers

Fulham (A)

Newcastle (H)

Stoke:

Liverpool (H)

Chelsea (A)

West Brom:

Villa (A)

Boro (H)

Boro:

Man Utd (A)

Sunderland (H)

West Brom (A)

I would back us to get 4 points from our games, Stoke to get Nil, Baggies to get 1, Boro to get 2.

[RovertheHill]

Gutted like everyone else but the positives are worth focusing on

- Benni is getting back to what we know he is capable of

- There were some really nice periods of good football

- It seems Gamst has gone and Pedersen is back - or at least on his way back

- Even though it knocked the stuffing out at the time I'm now quietly confident we will make it (contrast to 2 weeks ago!)

Only slightly less annoying than Ronnie Biggs scoring at the end was the moron who was on Radio Rovers and nearly had me crashing the bloody car ("not for me to comment" was one of his points - WHY DID YOU PHONE IN THEN IDIOT! )

[James No. 7]

matt derbyshire should not wear the shirt again he is clueless and crap. dosent offer anything. why the ###### not go to the corner flag with 30 seconds left. Also is it to hard for him to track back? if he wasnt a blackburn lad he would have been fired off long ago. total liability

After the last game some people wanted Roberts out, now this week Derbyshire is not fit to wear the shirt. At this rate no-one will be wearing blue and white halves by next Christmas.

This match shows up one failing for which Ince can rightly be blamed. The players show nothing like the level of fitness that they had last season. With 15 to 18 minutes remaining in regulation, the team was seriously outworked by City. Sam has said it himself (from the soccernet match report):

"I think the contribution to ourselves with errors and the fatigue of my players meant we didn't compose ourselves to keep the ball."

This game demonstrated what I always thought when Hughes' Rovers played Allardyce's Bolton: Big Sam had the tactical edge over Hughes.

There is no doubting, however, that the fitness regime under Hughes is one of the best in football. It absolutely blew away the work that was done under Ince (which would hardly have been rectified in such a short time).

I don't think Andrews had a bad game, but it does feel like he just...disappears sometimes. And other times it's like he's there just to keep the ball moving, and doesn't do a whole lot with it.

This, and he has the tendency to give the ball away very cheaply. Definitely not Premiership class. At least the likes of Mokoena, Derbyshire, Grella, etc., can impose themselves on a game.

On a more positive note, I thought Emerton had an excellent game today. He "made things happen", retained possession well, ran with the ball, and just generally demonstrated his fitness, ability, and commitment. The narrow formation is really working to his benefit. He played less as a right winger and instead weaved in and out of central midfield at times.

[bigbrandjohn]

With Nelsen out I hope he puts Andre in the middle and puts Emo at Full back. Against Robinho we need someone quick in defense and to break out and Aussies are happy to leave their calling card as well as tackle.

OOya is a central defender and a pretty good one, like Zurab he doesnt do well in that position,plus he is getting on a bit. If we buy an orthodox and experienced right back then we will solve the problem. I hear Neill is available for 100K a week

[modes98]

Soul destroying. I am happy with the point to take us off the bottom and under a previous manager we would have more than likely lost that game 2-1.

Benni and J Rob are fantastic together. Robinson was pretty good, unlucky with the first but he didn't head it across the box straight to the attacker. I just hope the way it turned out doesn't knock the team spirit at all.

It's a bit rough when you consider that if Roberts scores vs Sunderland and we hold on today, we would be 11th! IMO it just makes the Newcastle and Notlob home games must wins. Fulham could well be a handful with the best home record in the division.

[broadsword]

Gutted, so gutted.

I hate bloody Man City with a passion. Hate them.

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

If either Stoke, Boro or Spurs lose and we beat Fulham, we are out of it. Ideally they all lose.

As I said, some very winnable games coming up. 5 points from 3 games shows things are improving.

[Majiball]

Ooijer at fault for both goals,

I think it was Derbyshire not Emerton who left Robinho open. If he had stayed where he was the pass wasn't on at all, but once he'd pulled out there was so much space.

Sorry Blame is definitely with Derb's on this one. He went to close down Kompany before Sturridge had even passed the ball, Sturidges sees this and threads Robinho in. Ooijer has a man in the middle its the right midfielders job to tuck in, but Derb's is no winger. In Hindsight it may have been better to bring on vogel and leave brett out wide.

I would love to know why Ooijer went for the ball over the top by Robinho? Surely Nelsen was screaming for it?

Oh and if Hughes wants RSC we want Sturridge, great cameo.

Its a pity I wanted him to go home with his tail between his legs, instead I did after all the cheek I gave the City fans in the Pub.

We played well today, two games in three days takes some out of you. We are two points away from safety we can make it up, based on that performance. We have improved significantly we are unbeaten in 3, two clean sheets, positive signs, there is now hope.

[Bobby G]

Thing is if we are looking for 40 points to survive, how many more clubs will achieve that as well, and are we capable of actually breaking 40 points? Matches are limited...And days like today might happen again...We can count on up to 4 lost points already and this is beginning to remind me of the season we went down. I dont want to be a doom and gloom merchant here, but we have to pick up WINS asap.

[thenodrog]

I hoped for 7 points from the past 3 matches when SA was appointed. We could have so easily have had 9. We have 5. This would have been a great total under Ince but this could screw us over come May!

Basically we can level blame at Derbyshire / Ooijer / Emerton etc but the stark reallity is that their sustitutions strengthened their team whilst ours weakened our team!

To depend on a 38 year old as out best midfielder with two sick notes and the hopelessly inadequate Andrews and Mokoena for company is the root of our malaise. A midfielder of quality and a right winger in the transfer window are absolute minimum priorities!

As for City..... they never won a ball up front or in the air all match...... it's small wonder that Hughes is in for RSC so strongly.

[Fraserkirky]

Absolutely gutted !!!

Ooijer can't be the same player that I watched play for holland in the euro's just can't, the header for there first was complete suicide. Thought Mokoena diving lunge for there second was ridiculous as well. Not sure why sam didn't bring on another sub at the end to give the lads a break for 30 secs. Robo should have been quicker down on there second there is only one place that wee fanny is gonna put it.

positives were McCarthy showing Roberts work ethic, Warnock and Samba's best games of the season. By the time we play our next game we will hopefully have a new right-mid, centre mid, striker.

I hate city.

[ABBEY]

travesty,undeserved,robbed,gobsmacked,crimbo spoilt.

[stuwilky]

Can I give a medal, or a certificate or something to the pratt on the bus up to the boulevard who said "but Citeh havnt spent any money"

[JAL]

2 nil up ten minutes to go a win surely ...what do we do, lose control just what all poor teams do, Why ?.

Mokoena for Tugay (Dont use that word again)ing rubbish.

Derbyshire right wing for MaCarthy for ferks sake all control was lost as we then began to boot the ball up field aimlessly.

Just seen Gary Owen in the Fernhurst he said they were lucky no good now.

Control ????

[Paul]

Some people posting on here, who don't go to watch at Ewood for a variety of reasons, talk absolute, total rubbish. One in particular. I really don't understand why 90% of you bother because you have little to post that is worth reading.

The truth about this game is it was by far the best home performance of the season. Under Ince we would have been 2-0 down in 15 minutes or so and got totally stuffed 5 -6 - 0. Sure we've only got a point when we should have had three, same at Sunderland, yes those points would have us feeling far different tonight. But take real heart from a team that played and battled for 90 minutes, made mistakes, was exhausted due to a lack of fitness and so gave away a victory. After what we've been through this season it's hardly surprising. The game wwent away from us when Tugay went off, through tiredness or potetially geting sent off I don't know but that was the defining moment.

This was the best perfromance and most exciting match at Ewood this year. There was something to give us hope. I felt ghastly right up to the second goal and then utterly deflated by the end but I stayed and cheered, unlike thousands of others. We need to average 4 points every three games..................Allardyce has got one in the bag at the moment.

Hopefully RSC is on his way for £20m and the three or four players we nee will be with us soon. Onwards and upwards Blackburn Rovers will NOT be relegated.

[Blue n White Rover]

Gutted with the result but the most important thing for me is now we are only 2 points away from safety, compared to 2 weeks ago when it was 5! Things are improving and we are keeping the points tally ticking along which is good. Hopefully, a win at Blyth and a draw and 2 wins VS Sam's previos two clubs will make a happy start to the new year!

Is there anyone here who thinks we will get relegated?