[Archived] Spurs Preview

[RovertheHill]

Well one preview, one win

Never thought we'd get back in that game. Ref was absolutely rubbish. I will never agree that a ball struck at that pace at that distance is a handball. Especially when the player has his hand down by his side and is attempting to move it out of the way. A fact that the ref himself confirmed when he waved play on to an almost identical incident with Robbie Keane in the centre circle. Neither was it a sending off. It would suggest to me that the ref knew he's dropped a clanger and was looking for a way to even it up. Spurs can complain all they want about that but the fact is we were 1-0 down and never looked like scoring so they only have themselves to blame for that collapse.

Samba was superb.

Thank God that first chance fell to McCarthy and not Roberts. As bone idle as he is, he is still our most natural finisher.

I hated Diouf but he seems to be our most "up-for-it" performer.

If we have an option on Givet we should tie it up now.

Tugay should spend the rest of the season trying to teach Mokoena and Andrews how to pass a ball 5 yards to your own player. Or he could stick a lump of coal up his @rse and try to make a diamond - he may have more of a chance.

Dunny is the natural successor to Tugay. If he stays fit

Great day - fans were brilliant too. Come on!!!

[Exiled in Toronto]

A massive victory for Rovers and the Long Ball Pragmatists.

It was anything but in my view. We played long ball tactics for 80 minutes and were truly dreadful. It was only when Allardyce belatedly switched Warnock and Dunn - I could not believe he persisted in Dunn wide left and Warnock centre mid for half the game - that things changed. Dunn's runs brought the fouls and the sending off. The crisp passing that replaced the hopeless crap got us the corner for the first goal.

It was the Souness era central midfield that got us back into this game, not the long ball.

And only Spurs would have given us an unchallenged open goal from a foot out in the 88th minute, for that we should be truly grateful.

[bobsterbrfc]

what happened at the end then ladies and gentlemen? i left at the full time whistle but walked down back of the riverside...?

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

Diouf and Gomes were squaring up, Diouf had to be restrained by about 500 staff.

[1864roverite]

Almost forgot to mention the Spurs superstar benchwarmer that is david bentley.

I wonder how the biggest star in English football, the supreme understudy to David Beckham an the be all and end all of ability is now feeling having only tasted the Ewood turf at the half time warm up ?

[gillibrand]

3 points is all that matters!

[Anti-Dingle-Brigade]

What happened after the match outside the BBE then?

[gumboots]

Was the Palacios sending off harsh? Not from where I was sitting. It was the third offence, the ref having had a quick word after the first. He then gets booked for the second and is stupid enough to commit the third right in front of the ref not 2 minutes after. I think he fully deserved sending off for being so stupid as to foul where he did when he did.

I like most was thinking relegation on 75 mins. The players looked like they did at Wigan, hopeless and helpless. then they got a bit of a lift from the mini scramble in the goalmouth and that, plus the changes that were made just lifted them. I felt a bit like at Everton when we survived a few years back. We're not safe yet but it was a huge result, in terms of points and the psychological boost it gives us. Only worry is that's another couple of injuries, especially if Roberts injury is a metatarsal.

[Tom]

What happened after the match outside the BBE then?

From what I gather someone was in a critical condition, not sure if they collapsed.

[only2garners]

Samba(1) only quality in the first half in blue and white.

Eh? Samba's very good at heading the ball a long way from wherever defensively. Sometimes it just needs to be cleared but often it's a powerful header straight to the opposition rather than an attempt to control and pass it. In the first half I would say that Samba was our weakest defender, continually giving away possession, often needlessly. Andrews had a bad patch early in the second half but came back again. For me it was a toss up between Givet and Nelsen for man of the match.

[Stonesrick]

Today's result doesn't mask over a truly appalling performance by us and had it been earlier in the season I would have had more to say about, but at this stage of the season, where results are all that are important, I couldn't care less! Spurs were the better team and looked more dangerous going forward. We were so bad in the first half and most of the second that it was embarrassing. It is no exaggeration to say that we looked like a Sunday League team at some stages. There penalty was a joke and it summed up the performance of the referee. I thought that Mokoena and Andrews were the worst two players on the pitch. Fair play to Samba, who really put a shift in today and was by far our best attacking option, which is quite worrying. Despite the performance, these are three invaluable points, that could make the difference at the end of the season.

Totally agree and a spot on summary. Once our survival is confirmed I am looking forward to the end of the season so that BS can get rid of the deadwood, sort out the Acadamy, bring in an assistant manager and his sports scientists and start to get this club back on it's feet. We were really fortunate today because Spurs had 10 players playing at 90%, we had 2 or 3 playing at 95%, 2 or 3 at 90% nad the rest around 50%. BS aint daft and he will know what's needed in the summer.

[gumboots]

Eh? Samba's very good at heading the ball a long way from wherever defensively. Sometimes it just needs to be cleared but often it's a powerful header straight to the opposition rather than an attempt to control and pass it. In the first half I would say that Samba was our weakest defender, continually giving away possession, often needlessly. Andrews had a bad patch early in the second half but came back again. For me it was a toss up between Givet and Nelsen for man of the match.

I gave it to Nelsen myself, but he had it last match when Samba probably deserved it so I think these things even themselves up

[Plastic Head]

The usual appalling performance from Rovers and a miracle win.

If we stay up it will finally prove that the premier League is an absolute shambles.

We were unable to complete a one-yard pass. We belted long balls up to two centre forwards in the first half and neither of them managed to win a single header. We managed 2 shots on target (if you can call them shots). Lets face if half of these wouldn't be good enough in the Championship.

All I can say is we defended well on the whole and didn't lack effort (except McCarthy).

Bentley must be shye if Lennon is better. As usual he completely wasted loads of good possesion. What a joke he plays for England.

The referee was taking the p!ss the whole match.

If we stay up god knows what we do in the summer, but well done on battling on lads.

By the way the reason there was a kerfuffle at the end was that spit was winding up the away fans.

Did anyone back Mom Mome?

[Blue n White Rover]

Interesting to hear Big Sams post-match interview. He said that Samba played as a forward until he was 17. So Sam and his assistant thought they might aswell give it ago, also said he knew Samba was very good with his feet.

What a huge result this is, no matter how poor the performance was. I'm still in shock!

From the remaining games I think a victory at Stoke away, combined with a win at Wigan/Pompey, it should see us secure our Premier League status.

Enjoy the victory

[Gamst]

We were devoid of ideas for 80 mins today, but on about 78 mins we strung several passes together for the first time in the match and then the rest is history! It was no coincidence that we started passing when Tugay and Dunn were in central midfield, made all the difference. Warnock is not a midfileder in my opinion, despite the fact that he has filled in really well there. Mokoena was absolutely useless! His main problem is that he can't play football at all, his only redeeming quality is that he works hard...I would work hard for the team, doesnt mean I would be a useful player. We may aswell not have a midfield as we just bypass it anyway. I find it unbelievable that we are having to play with moko and warnock in midfield... it has been so obvious for so long that we need some quality in the midfield but nothing gets done about it. We have several workman-like style midfielders, 1 38 yr old and the ever injurd David Dunn. Rediculous! Anyway, crucial win today and results have gone pretty well so there is hope.

[Tom]

Redknapps a grade A clown, according to his interview its all the refs fault (no mention of the penalty) and he thinks the second goal was offside. Yes Harry he was offside direct from a corner.

[novella]

Redknapps a grade A clown, according to his interview its all the refs fault (no mention of the penalty) and he thinks the second goal was offside. Yes Harry he was offside direct from a corner.

Where abouts can i view this particular interview?

[TimmyJimmy]

never been as nervous at a match in all my years of watching, the last 10 was unbelievable, screamed myself hoarse. Shouldn't have won it of course but honestly, who cares. Ref was a clown, half the team were shattered from the round the world traveling, some only got back yesterday. Benny was sick but Sam made him play, Mort's injury was a calf pull that probably stemmed from his international duties. Jason started the game in pain and it now turns out it was a broken metatarsal (waiting for a MRI to confirm that) and he couldn't run. Given that we have a ton of injured players out I think on balance that was probably as well as we could have expected them to perform. Thought Spurs players looked good, can't think of many I'd turn away from our team. Ref was a n*b, oops just said that earlier, but what a result, essential given that most of the rest have a game advantage over us. I'm sure the team will hold their nerve and see the rest of the games out - not sure I will though. Come on you blues.

[Blue blood]

Delighted with the three points - arguably the biggest 3 since Sam's been here. Certainly a massive 3 points, and you could tell that from the way the crowd and players reacted at the end (am only just getting use of my voice back).

My reading of the game was that it was a fairly even start but with us having the better chances. The penalty was the real turning point, as I thought we were just getting on top. I didn't have a great view of the pen but it seemed a tad harsh, especially given that we had a really good shout for a penalty just minutes before.

After that we were dire until the sending off. In all the buzz of the win, we should still be worried over the fact that for 60 minutes or so the standard of our play wasn't up to premiership standard. Scrappy is the biggest compliment you can say about it.

Given the referee's performance I wasn't sure if he was going to get sent off, but he was, and that totally revitalised the game. Tugs had a bit more space, and we were passing it much more effectively. Credit to rovers we got a quick equaliser, which was vital given how little time was remaining, and credit for pressing on for the winner. Given the number of chances we had vs west ham i wasn't too optimistic of us scoring 2 in ten mins, but then football is a funny old game!

A few thoughts on some players:

- Mokoena and Warnock is a creative void for rovers. Neither can really pass the ball well, so having both in the middle means that we don't retain possession anywhere near enough for the premier league.

- Dunn is not a left midfielder. He looked very out of it (bar a few good defensive tackle) until he decided to play as an extra centre mid rather than a left mid.

- Benni was shocking. I know he scored and we get little out of him but a goal, and I accept he's not a workhorse. Even so I was pretty disappointed with his effort today, ducked a few challenges.

- Was impressed with all of the defence - including Ooijer when he came on. Thought Andrew's distribution let him down a bit though. Samba did a decent job up front although he shouldn't be up there unless we're desperate, as he hasn't that predatory instinct.

- The bench/squad is woefully lacking. The fact we're reduced to chucking samba up front and dunn on the left is evidence of that. Roll on the summer when Sam can do a lot of remodelling to the squad.

- Thought Diouf had another very good game./ Some great passes, worked hard for the team, and fills the right hand side berth well. An excellent signing on these indicators.

Overall with other results going our way a great day's football for us. Feel a lot more optimistic about staying up now, although I reckon there's still a fair few twists and turns in the relegation saga to come.

[Eddie]

I actually thought Benni, Roberts and then later Samba and Diouff worked their socks off up front chasing nothing balls for 90 minutes. Even saw some of them tracking backing well into our half at times and then sprinting forward.

[Bobby G]

Diouf is one of the most hard working players and easily one of my new favorites at the club. He has quality when on the ball but has visibly lost a yard of pace and thats shocking considering he is still young at 27-28 and hasnt had serious injuries.

[philipl]

After failing to get a bunch of wins our superiority deserved, we were so overdue a lucky victory it wasn't funny.

Well the joke was on Spurs today who have been winners in distinctly jammy fashion themselves against the Rovers down the years on quite a few occasions.

The ref was in on the laugh as well- that penalty!!!

Spurs were certainly on top until Palacios was a bit unlucky to get a yellow for stumbling over into Dunn; but it was his second in as many minutes and Spurs were pretty well instantly exposed as a one man team. For all their pretty stuff and attractive interplay, they are a bit of a lightweight bunch without the Honduran. He cost a bunch from Wigan but that was the signing that has kept them up this season.

Tugay and Dunn showed that for creativity we simply don't have a midfielder who can hold a light to them. Diouf was combative and made things happen and Samba is just one amazing footballer- man of the match again by some distance. Andrews was fine whilst the Axe was very lucky not to see straight red for his chop on Palacios. Let's see if the FA look at that incident again.

Ten out of ten for spirit and never say die attitude from the Rovers. Anyone moaning about the quality of football played by Rovers today clearly doesn't understand how the league table works...

A truly fantastic win sees us sitting 5 points above Newcastle (who were beaten much easier than the 0-2 scoreline suggests despite having a goal cross the line and be missed by the officials) with a gain of 11 points in 14 games over the last relegation place under Sam. Shearer is going to have to do the same in reverse proportionately over us in the last 7 games if Newcastle are to get ahead of us now.

Don't want to push our luck but a win at Stoke and safety will be nearly there.

[Exiled_Rover]

Another shocking game, but who gives a (Please don't use that word again) about performances it's all about results at the moment.

[bazza]

Did anyone back Mom Mome?

Yes; my wife!! So three points for an amazing win when we were crap and a win @ 100/1

I am so delighted that Rovers rammed my pessimism down my throat and wifey picked a French outsider.

[nowthen]

Well chuffed with the win. Agree with most on how poor, for 75 minutes, we (and the referee) were.

I thought the atmosphere was quality, especially when we needed a lift in the 2nd half. Although I was embarrassed when quite a few near me BBE LT NO1) were chanting for Matty Derbyshire and Gallagher. Like they're the answer. Can we stop that if you're reading. The same lot are Pedersen-haters, a player who, for all his faults, we missed when he went off.