[Archived] Blackburn Rovers V Tottenham Hotspur

[JAL]

Only when the referee is ######

Apart from the odd throw in today, he didnt get much else wrong.

[RovertheHill]

Apart from the odd throw in today, he didnt get much else wrong.

You're wrong. I sit in the BBE upper and from my view some of his (lack of) decisions were bewildering. And I wasn't alone. Not by a long shot

Edit - if Peter Crouch doesn't have both arms over Nelsens shoulders stopping him jump then I need to be registered blind...

[adopted scouser]

Why is Sam always laughing when we are so bleedin' awful ?

My only consolation at the moment is to laugh at the rellos as Liverpool sink, and sink, and sink

[cn174]

Just watching the highlights on MOTD.

For the first goal I thought it was a foul on Nelsen, but Chimbonda should've stopped the cross - instead he pussied out of the challenge - and Robbo should've maybe come out for it.

For the second goal there was very little Robbo could do about it.

Our lack of creating chances is really costing us. Aside from the Benni chance, which we should'v scored, we didn't many other clear cut chances. Salgado on the right wing, whatever next?!

[JAL]

You're wrong. I sit in the BBE upper and from my view some of his (lack of) decisions were bewildering. And I wasn't alone. Not by a long shot

Edit - if Peter Crouch doesn't have both arms over Nelsens shoulders stopping him jump then I need to be registered blind...

Sorry, watching the highlights on MOTD, Nelsen goes down far too easily, obviously you bought it but the referee didnt, in the end the ref was right you was wrong.

[RovertheHill]

Sorry, watching the highlights on MOTD, Nelsen goes down far too easily, obviously you bought it but the referee didnt, in the end the ref was right you was wrong.

Nope - clear foul - one of many. Robbo should have caught it/punched it anyway but doesn't stop it being a foul.

[Miker]

Complete exaggerations on this messageboard make me sick. I was angry after Stoke and angry after Birmingham at our sheer lack of determination and creativity, but today we played extremely well, we played exactly the way everyone on here has wanted us to play. We've kept the ball on the ground, passed it around well, closed down our opponents at every opportunity (especially in the first half) and showed them we meant business by being very physical and putting in some excellent challenges.

Tottenham were completely devoid of chances in the first half, and then suddenly Huddlestone takes an awful shot, which by complete fluke spins sideways and stays in and they score. It was just shattering to concede like that and you knew we weren't going to come back from that. The players gave it their all in the first half to dominate Spurs and they did, Sam got his tactics spot on and anyone who says we were awful are completely blinkered by the loss.

Today we showed why we are much stronger as a unit when we have Grella and N'zonzi in midfield, they are immense in their tackling and passing. Grella dominated the midfield today and Huddlestone and Palacious were rendered useless all game. Yes, Rover of Finland, he is a Premier League player, you camel scrotum.

The person we were missing today was Samba. Two goals from Crouch would never have come if we had Samba's presence back there to mark him and match his height. Crouch showed just why Redknapp rates him so high today because he is very difficult to deal with if you don't have a tall defender like Samba. We also missed Samba's presence at set-pieces. Samba creates chaos in the box at set pieces to give himself or the others an opportunity to score, but without him the set pieces were toothless.

All I can say about this game is that depsite the disappointing loss, which I thought was completely undeserved, we put in a good performance and I hope the players continue in that spirit over the next few weeks. We will get it right eventually, especially once Emerton and Dunn are back.

[bazza]

Apart from the odd throw in today, he didnt get much else wrong.

Re the ref; spot on JAL. I have seen a lot worse refs at Ewood. I couldn't understand him being booed off at half time and booed back on 15 minutes later.

The reffing in some of the games on Match of the Day was a lot worse.

[Steve Moss]

My biggest gripe with Sam at the moment is that he won't play Kalinic and Di Santo together, to me they have games that would compliment each other well. I can kind of understand why he doesn't want a pair of 20 and 21 year olds up top, but I still think they're the best option right now.

Absolutely. I think this is the pairing the Rovers need starting up front. I think Sam is prejudiced against youth, even if talented and hard working.

Just seeing the result again on BBC news, its an utterly embarrassing defeat.

Embarassing how? We lost but I though the squad played well. We always were a threat, though after MGP and Roberts came on the frequency of those threat opportunities seem to slow down some.

WHY do people always bring in the referee when their team has performed poorly ?

Losers always seem to blame the referee.

When the ref was cr@p? I only watched it on the television but he was obviously off his game.

At least sam didnt bring on Andrews, thats a positive I have found since 1700hrs tonight and in the solace of a few Coors lagers, a pizza and tall one.

If your listening Santa, a new midfielder please.

Andrews and EHD. Their absence made a big difference for us, largely for the positive. Now if only he had kept MGP off the pitch. As a replacement for an attacking, hard working Hoilett he did little to improve our game.

I am disappointed with the loss. However, I thought we played well (definetely better than at Birmingham). There was nothing to be embarrased about. And I agree with you, a couple of fast, good ball passing midfielders would do the squad a world of good.

[Ninjathunder]

Apart from the odd throw in today, he didnt get much else wrong.

Dawson climbed onto DiSanto's back near the halfway like bundling him over yet the referee awarded Tottenham a free kick and gave a talking to the Franco too. Inexplicable. Di Santo got nothing all afternoon - so much so I asked my mate whether the referee had served in the Falklands.

[Miker]

The Liverpool ref in particular was pretty awful, he gave a bizarre red card to Mascherano and then went crazy after that pulling out cards at every opportunity.

One other thing I forgot to mention, is the pace I mentioned before the game was evident against Spurs. We are severely weakened by the lack of pace in the side, so when we play a fast squad like Spurs, it makes life a lot more difficult for us as we are easily exposed on the counter. That's not really something Sam can change though without completely overhauling the side.

[JAL]

Nope - clear foul - one of many.

Inconclusive RovertheHill.

You may believe it, or want or find an excuse to deny it, but it was a legitimate goal. Focus on our players who could have done alot better, especially Nelsen and Robinson.

[cn174]

The Liverpool ref in particular was pretty awful, he gave a bizarre red card to Mascherano and then went crazy after that pulling out cards at every opportunity.

You should watch that challenge again - it was a bad one from Mascherano, studs up and quite high, just he come off worse.

[bazza]

Dawson climbed onto DiSanto's back near the halfway like bundling him over yet the referee awarded Tottenham a free kick and gave a talking to the Franco too. Inexplicable. Di Santo got nothing all afternoon - so much so I asked my mate whether the referee had served in the Falklands.

No. De Santo ran backwards like an express train into the Spurs player and a free kick was correctly given to them.

[JAL]

You should watch that challenge again - it was a bad one from Mascherano, studs up and quite high, just he come off worse.

Was there not also a forearm push which ended up as a forearm smash on the Pompey player.

Excellent refereeing from Boltons Lee Mason.

[Miker]

You should watch that challenge again - it was a bad one from Mascherano, studs up and quite high, just he come off worse.

I did see the studs up, but it wasn't high... it looked like he just slipped and was trying to do the splits and his foot caught Ben Haim. I think Ben Haim's reaction was because Mascherano grabbed for his throat while he was falling, rather than the studs showing. Mascherano was a fool to stay down and pretend he was hurt (if he wasn't) because he could've salvaged the situation just by getting up and apologising.

In any case, it was his first foul and it looked more like a slip turned into a bad tackle than Mascherano intentionally trying to hurt Ben Haim. It was on the halfway line and it's bizarre that the ref would give a red, there's just no need for that because it destroys the game. When reds are given to players for bad challenges on the edge of a box that's one thing, but giving a red to someone on the halfway line is just pointless. What did the ref actually achieve besides tilting the game in Portsmouth's favour?

[RibbleValleyRover]

Amazing that after the Chelsea win and Liverpool draw we thought we might have turned the corner and would be well clear of the relegation battle for this season. But the last few games have shown this side has huge problems and it all stems from our midfield.

From a defensive midfield point of view with players like Grella and N'Zonzi i think we aren't doing too badly, N'Zonzi has proved already he is capable at playing at this level and Grella when fit has had some decent performances. From an attacking point of view our midfield is @#/?, only Dunny offers that creative spark as seen with our performances since he has been injured and in particular our inability to score goals. Our wing play is atrocious, Diouf's legs have gone and Pedersen peaked 3 years ago.

You have got to feel sorry for our strikers, we create hardly anything for them and they are expected to conjure something out of thin air. How is Kalinic and Di Santo supposed to build up some form and develop their game when they get (Please don't use that word again) all service?

IF we don't buy at least one creative player in January, whether that be an attacking midfielder, playmaker or winger i believe we will get dragged into this relegation battle and there is a serious possibility of going down. At the end of the day goals are going to play a huge part in staying up and we simply aren't scoring enough of them.

For those that say we played well today, who cares? I'd rather take performances at the moment where we play crap but pick up points as we are in such a precarious situation. Some of the reviews may say we played well and gave Spurs a game, but the table shows we picked up 0 points from that fixture...

[Cortez]

Amazing that after the Chelsea win and Liverpool draw we thought we might have turned the corner and would be well clear of the relegation battle for this season. But the last few games have shown this side has huge problems and it all stems from our midfield.

From a defensive midfield point of view with players like Grella and N'Zonzi i think we aren't doing too badly, N'Zonzi has proved already he is capable at playing at this level and Grella when fit has had some decent performances. From an attacking point of view our midfield is @#/?, only Dunny offers that creative spark as seen with our performances since he has been injured and in particular our inability to score goals. Our wing play is atrocious, Diouf's legs have gone and Pedersen peaked 3 years ago.

You have got to feel sorry our strikers, we create hardly anything for them and they are expected to conjure something out of thin air. How is Kalinic and Di Santo supposed to build up some form and develop their game when they get (Please don't use that word again) all service?

IF we don't buy at least one creative player in January, whether that be an attacking midfielder, playmaker or winger i believe we will get dragged into this relegation battle and there is a serious possibility of going down. At the end of the day goals are going to play a huge part in staying up and we simply aren't scoring enough of them.

For those that say we played well today, who cares? I'd rather take performances at the moment where we play crap but pick up points as we are in such a precarious situation. Some of the reviews may say we played well and gave Spurs a game, but the table shows we picked up 0 points from that fixture...

[broadsword]

Gutted, was really looking forward to getting up to Ewood today, but instead I gfot stuck in a tunnel at Dover for 2 hours. I duly missed my connection at Euston.

I can't really tell ya how upsetting it is to be stuck in a tunnel for 2 hours with no clue as to when you'll get going again. Awful. I honestly wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[Darwen Rover]

It wasn't the worst or best performance in fairness.. However was I the only person flabbergasted at hoillett and disanto being subbed??

They were our two main (only??) threats!!

[Steve Moss]

It wasn't the worst or best performance in fairness.. However was I the only person flabbergasted at hoillett and disanto being subbed??

They were our two main (only??) threats!!

Benni almost scored a time or two also. I do think, however, it was a mistake to bring off Hoilett and Di Santo. They didn't seem wrung out and Roberts and MGP were nowhere comparable in quality.

[LeChuck]

Let's not forget Pedersen came on for Salgado.

[Steve Moss]

Let's not forget Pedersen came on for Salgado.

That's true. I thought Salgado would be coming off, but I hoped that Kalinic would be coming on in his place. Converting to a 4-3-3, with McCarthy, Di Santo and Kalinic up front. Oh well, maybe next time.

[FourLaneBlue]

Are we missing Roque? possibly, Warnock? not really, Bentley? without a shadow of doubt. To replace Bentley with Diouf was the single worst bit of business the club have ever done.

In reality we replaced Bentley originally with Andrews and Villanueva. Nobody else Ince brought in could play on the right.

Since then Diouf filled in quite well last season but has been atrocious so far this year.

We need at least one creative midfielder bringing in this January. We really need two to be honest but I cannot see us being able to afford more than one. Actually...not sure we will be able to afford even one.

[RevidgeBlue]

We played well, blah blah blah.

The referee was s****. blah blah blah.

One goal in six games, zero creativity, strikers that couldn't score in the proverbial brothel.

This can't go on, unless the manager finds someone either from within the existing staff or from outside who can find the back of the net, we will go down.

Simple as.