[Archived] Rovers V Aston Vanilla

[PAFELL]

What a result... make no mistake, that result is HUGE. To come back from 1-0 behind to beat Villa, playing the last 20 minutes with ten men... hugely proud of the lads today. The team worked their socks off and we totally, totally deserved that. We were the better team for most of the match, even when we were down to ten, and winning despite Grella's unforgivable stupidity is superb.

Dunn is our most important player by a long, long distance. The man is at the heart of everything good that we produce, and his fitness is crucial to our season. He is THE creative link. Jacobsen is also totally solid and should not be dropped for Salgado any time soon. Great to see N'Zonzi adapting so quickly to the premiership, we might have a real gem there, and it's nice to see Emerton back in the mix as well. Still not convinced with him on right wing, but you can't deny his work rate.

Overall, elated - I never thought we'd win this one. Great performance, great heart. What a rollercoaster... the joys of being a Rovers fan.

Should give them great confidence for the next few games. Villa are normally a very good side - yet Rovers beat them with ten men, having been a goal down. I think Sam has got his line up now.

[texasrover]

great result!

nzonzi is starting to look a lot more comfortable, he played a beautiful 70 yarder across the pitch under pressure when it looked like he had nobody to pass to.

chimbonda had a good game defensively, but dont think he deserved motm with the likes of dunn and disanto on the pitch.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Excellent performance and imo our best one for quite a long time. Honestly thought we were dead and buried after that first goal especially when you consider our form and performances but we saw something different today and that was fight, passion and hunger. As soon as their goal went in we came back fighting, especially in the second half when we battered them.

Solid performance allround by the team. Special praise goes to Dunny, the guy is playing like a man possessed right now and in superb form. If he keeps it up then an England call up isn't beyond the realms of possibility. Di Santo was superb, showed what is needed from a lone striker today in this formation. Jacobsen, another really solid game, can't believe we got his guy on a free, he is quality.

The confidence boost from this fightback could be huge going into a very tough run of games.

[ROVERS]

i am not sure if anyone did focus on Nzonzi game. I think he is superb, controlled the ball, did a few important interception and keeps the game simple but occasionally a brillant pass or two. ( the freaking beautiful 60+ yards pass was exqusite!) he is turning out to be a real gem!

[DE.]

N'Zonzi was solid, involved and played a few superb passes. I was very, very impressed. If he progresses on that level week in, week out, we will have a fantastic player on our hands.

[adopted scouser]

Thrilled to bits with this, thought we'd get stuffed today.

Onward and upward !

[Presty On Tour]

Chimbonda had the gloves on today, is it really that cold?

Come December he will be in full attire, Woolly hat, scarf and 10 jumpers under his shirt!

Who cares, he done well again today apart from one bad pass. Warnock who?

[KoNG]

i am not sure if anyone did focus on Nzonzi game. I think he is superb, controlled the ball, did a few important interception and keeps the game simple but occasionally a brillant pass or two. ( the freaking beautiful 60+ yards pass was exqusite!) he is turning out to be a real gem!

I was.....

Did quite a bit of single player watching. he is very composed on the ball, which seems to give him all the time on the world. Then he picks out great lines.

He's a great buy.!

[philipl]

I thought I heard Di Santo got MoM.

We are only 2 points off 7th at the moment....

[DE.]

With a game in hand on quite a few other teams.

What a difference a game can make.

Shame about the upcoming matches, but this result will be a huge confidence boost, and if we can play the big teams with the kind of heart and passion we had today we will get something from at least one of them.

[JWUpper]

bring on Europe!

[philipl]

Just seen the Agbonlahor goal again and it is truly wierd.

Agbonlahor actually does scuff the shot along the ground. It hits the goalside of the penalty spot which not only lifted it over Robbo's hand (he was going to collect it easily) but it also diverted the ball towards the post which it bobbled in off.

Same penalty spot that Dunn scored from but there has to be a question asked about how we are marking the penalty spots at Ewood!

Still on cloud nine about that win. Bish and all you other first half pratts, where are you?

Incidentally, Scholes made an even worse foul than Grella did despite being on one yellow. Guess who didn't get a second yellow...

[LeChuck]

Cracking result, really chuffed.

As seems to have been the case since Sam took over, when a game has come up that we appeared to desperately need the points from, we've delivered. Shows there is good character in this team.

It's just a shame we've got such a hard run of fixtures to come, it will be difficult to take momentum forward from this game.

[DE.]

Just seen the Agbonlahor goal again and it is truly wierd.

Agbonlahor actually does scuff the shot along the ground. It hits the goalside of the penalty spot which not only lifted it over Robbo's hand (he was going to collect it easily) but it also diverted the ball towards the post which it bobbled in off.

Same penalty spot that Dunn scored from but there has to be a question asked about how we are marking the penalty spots at Ewood!

Still on cloud nine about that win. Bish and all you other first half pratts, where are you?

Incidentally, Scholes made an even worse foul than Grella did despite being on one yellow. Guess who didn't get a second yellow...

Still doesn't absolve Grella, he deserved his red. Scholes is one of the worst tacklers i've ever seen, Grella is just slow and cumbersome.

[cletus]

Villa are a good premiership side.

I think 1 point is the most we can hope for on Saturday.

I pray for a win, but cannot see it. Hope i`m proven wrong.

My prayers have been answered

A strong gritty performance from the boys today. They had to dig deep, but deserved the 3 points in the end.

Sam`s tactics today were spot on.

BRING ON THE DINGLES!!!!

[LeChuck]

So we play 4-5-1 so that one of our players can look decent, but so that we still lose?

Nice one Eddie. You don't fancy stopping posting in the football section for a while, do you?

[Bobby G]

Everyone seems to be talking about the tactics being spot on today.

I have a comment to make. What if the tactics have been right all season but the personnel wrong? The difference Di Santo made today was immense, and so did the lack of presence of Andrews. Now replace MGP by someone just as we did during the match today and its not a bad team to have.

Diouf looked excellent on the left today. Far better than his usual right handed side performances.

[American]

Yeah surprised at that as well. Thought Dunny or Di Santo would have got it, Jacobsen been solid as well.

FT 2-1, Great result.

He needed a watch.

[DE.]

Everyone seems to be talking about the tactics being spot on today.

I have a comment to make. What if the tactics have been right all season but the personnel wrong? The difference Di Santo made today was immense, and so did the lack of presence of Andrews. Now replace MGP by someone just as we did during the match today and its not a bad team to have.

Diouf looked excellent on the left today. Far better than his usual right handed side performances.

Surely you play tactics based on the personnel available, rather than vice-versa? It's obvious to most that Roberts alone up front is not going to yield much. Di Santo made a huge difference today, played his role perfectly.

[KoNG]

Cracking result, really chuffed.

As seems to have been the case since Sam took over, when a game has come up that we appeared to desperately need the points from, we've delivered. Shows there is good character in this team.

It's just a shame we've got such a hard run of fixtures to come, it will be difficult to take momentum forward from this game.

Killer run ahead, with big 4 teams, but we also have Burnley Yeh....? And also when is the fulham game in hand.?

[Bobby G]

Anyone notice Dunny twinging at at end? I didnt think it looked like cramp. Hamstring or calf or something? Hope not.

[imy9]

I delighted, though disappointed my 3-1 win did not happen

Dunn deserves a contract, he is our best player by far and Di Santo (as Nicko alluded to at the time) is the real deal.

Aston Villa have had their best start in years and beat Liverpool away so lets not downplay this result and the scary thing is we still have players to come in and play in our first 11.

Oh by the way, we played some very nice football today, hoofball, Spencer?

[Plastic Head]

One of the more enjoyable games at Ewood recently, even before the penalty.

Villa were not good. Looking at their team I would only take Carew, Agbonlahor and Milner, the rest are not much better than what we have.

Their midfield was far too deep and that allowed us to link better with the lone forward. I think they were trying to invite us on and catch us on the break. As far as top 4 are concerned they have as much chance as we do of qualifying for the Champions League.

Nevertheless a competent display from Rovers apart from a few silly defensive errors in the first half. We even played some football at times.

The absence of Andrews certainly helped us but i'm still not convinced about the system.

The referee made a series of errors and while the sending off wasn't the worse decision he made, Grella made only 2 fouls and several similar or worse tackes than the one Grella went off for went unpunished. Did his best to spoil a good game.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Thrilled with the result and also the fact that Sam finally made the changes the team were screaming out for, ie dropping Roberts and Andrews. I was so happy that Roberts wasnt even in the starting squad!!

Di Santo/Jacobsen/Dunn/Chimbonda were brilliant. Emerton looked lively and Nzonzi looks a seriously good find. I think if you add Givet into that side then we have our best 11. Very impressed with Jacobsen and Chimbonda - together they make up for the loss of Warnock. Shame we have the tricky fixtures all up and coming, although the Burnley game is now one we can go into off the back of a decent home performance.

One of the more enjoyable games at Ewood recently, even before the penalty.

Villa were not good. Looking at their team I would only take Carew, Agbonlahor and Milner, the rest are not much better than what we have.

Their midfield was far too deep and that allowed us to link better with the lone forward. I think they were trying to invite us on and catch us on the break. As far as top 4 are concerned they have as much chance as we do of qualifying for the Champions League.

Nevertheless a competent display from Rovers apart from a few silly defensive errors in the first half. We even played some football at times.

The absence of Andrews certainly helped us but i'm still not convinced about the system.

The referee made a series of errors and while the sending off wasn't the worse decision he made, Grella made only 2 fouls and several similar or worse tackes than the one Grella went off for went unpunished. Did his best to spoil a good game.

Grella was a fool, totally deserved to get sent off, there is no excuse, you should never dive in like he did when you're on a yellow, sheer stupidity. Now means Andrews is getting a start against Arsenal. not that it makes a great deal of difference but still.

[Craigman]

We can win this with 10 men !

I thought we could win this match !

Well done Blackburn, a fantastic result.