[Archived] Villa Semi Final 2Nd Leg

[mellison24]

By the way, we played 4-5-1 didn't we up until the sending off?

Yeah, but with a more pressing yet PASSING game. All credit where it's due!

[Guest andrewpickup]

Jesus we sound like burnley, we got beat but we deserved better, we played well. However its true. As people previously have said, I'm proud too. Everyone worked their role well. Dunn was a bit limp, olsson was superb, pederson seemed to suit the centre with his industry, samba was rash as peahead would not have finished

We went to a team who have spent a fortune and took them all the way. Don't forget we were in control and if it was not for a middle aged man incapable of doing a job we would be going to wembley. He took that from us.

Sam won the managers too, he told it the way it was. Martin o'neil just sounded like a bbc bogtrotter in his love in with gary. What is it you have done again really in the game?

Also a pitch invasin. Kick em out

[PAFELL]

....because we scored 2 consolation goals after Villa had effectively killed of the tie? That's what we're supposed to be proud of? What the hell?

Rovers took the game to Villa - they lost - yes. But they went down fighting. This is what they have not been doing all season. Maybe now the season can start. Sometime you have to take the positives - even though they are sometimes slim. Kalinic's confidence will have grown tonight as should Olsson's. Even Pedersen in the middle surprised me. robbo played well as well tonight. Hate the result - but somebody had to lose, but they lost with a fight and didn't just give in.

[Holtenderinthesky]

WELL DONE ROVERS!!! Well played lads, you made us really fight for that. You should be proud of your performance. However, Sam needs to keep it shut, I know that a lot of you lot are angry with him for all sorts of reasons and rightly so imo. Tonights graceless exit form the big man was embarrassing, blaming the ref for losing 7-4 on agg....?

Anyway, well played and see you in May.

[Plastic Head]

Just back from the cesspit of humanity that is Birmingham.

F===ing brilliant effort from the TEAM tonight.

Don't give a sh!te about the result, we know who should have won the game.

Tried to "have a word" with some villa pillocks but they seemed a little wary of some old school "banter". A load of kids and foreigners won't win you many battles you ham fisted morons...

About time we held grudges again, let's not tolerate this referee at Ewood, and we know what to do when we beat birmigham villa at home next don't we???

Well done to all who played tonight and let's take this forward to the rest of the season.

Only negative was a terrible 90 mins by Givet despite his effort. Not good enough but never mind eh.

[modes98]

Back from the game after a bit of talking the game through.

So proud of the way we fought and for the rovers fans who gave everything for 90mins as well.

The only point I was concerned at was 0-2 up dunn dropped deep, everyone went narrow and we gave Villa the advantage back. When we needed to keep attacking a Villa team that had offered nothing we failed to do so and let them back in, with what I can only describe as A blatant foul on the admiral. Then the penalty, well Samba shouldn't have made the tackle, let the guy have a shot and if he scores we go and attack them for 60mins with 11 men, instead of 10 men and a suspension against Wigan.

But for that a pretty faultless performance, which in a game where we let in 6 is a strange thing to say.

Kalinic and Olsson were brilliant. Dunn did nothing. Defence looked shaky but we had to attack. Midfield, what is one of them? Well we had one for a change.

Shame we aren't going to Wembley but we gave a damn good account of ourselves and hopefully Sam learnt a bit about the team tonight, that attacking can work! Viva la attack!!!

[Hughesy]

Hope they get a nice big fine for allowing their fans on the pitch too!

[villadan]

Well done lads I would also be proud to be a Rover tonight, that was a fantastic game and I think we (Villa) really felt the pressure from the start and just never got going up until you scored your second.

All this nonsense about a push before the goal, these things happen in football only last week your lot got a free kick for Chimbonda punching the ball out of his own box, no need to blame the ref for your lot not being at Wembley.

How many of you were there in the end? their looked like their may have been a few more than the 1.5k that was being banded about.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season

[Hughesy]

Well done lads I would also be proud to be a Rover tonight, that was a fantastic game and I think we (Villa) really felt the pressure from the start and just never got going up until you scored your second.

All this nonsense about a push before the goal, these things happen in football only last week your lot got a free kick for Chimbonda punching the ball out of his own box, no need to blame the ref for your lot not being at Wembley.

How many of you were there in the end? their looked like their may have been a few more than the 1.5k that was being banded about.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season

Cheers and good luck in the final......far more than 1500 thats for sure!

As for the picky stuff - Chimbonda was 'pushed' by Heskey & Agbonlawhore went over Samba before he even got near him.....therefore neither were penalties - today you got lucky & even the BBC agreed it seems!

[Tom]

TONIGHT WE GOT OUR ROVERS BACK!!!

Please sam continue with an attacking mentality - Olsson on the left & Kalinic upfront offer us so much more.

Hopefully but I wont get too optimistic just yet knowing rovers.

One swallow does not a summer make.

Can we take this passion and style forward to next wednesday?

Well done lads I would also be proud to be a Rover tonight, that was a fantastic game and I think we (Villa) really felt the pressure from the start and just never got going up until you scored your second.

All this nonsense about a push before the goal, these things happen in football only last week your lot got a free kick for Chimbonda punching the ball out of his own box, no need to blame the ref for your lot not being at Wembley.

How many of you were there in the end? their looked like their may have been a few more than the 1.5k that was being banded about.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season

Ta Dan, over 2 legs you deserved it although I would say you got fortunate tonight with the first goal for sure.

Ah well, no time to dwell for us now, onwards.

[mattyc2422]

Not as happy as some about today's game, but certainly very proud.

Need to play Olsson, Kalinic and N'Zonzi for the rest of the season. The first two were superb.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

To be honest we would have got slaughtered by one of the mancs in the final so to lose in the manner that we have done tonight is no bad thing. Several players have shown that there is enough potential in this squad to not only stay up but to play decent football.

Tonight was a Rovers performance which made the fans proud. Id go as far to say that the result was irrelevent. They showed more character this evening then many Rovers sides have done in the past 6/7 years.

Kalinic has a feather of a first touch, Olsson made Cuellar look pathetic for the first 25 minutes and Gamst displayed the creative flair we know he can provide. Nelsen made an error or two but wore his heart on his sleeve and Robinson made several world class saves.

This is a Rovers team that iam proud to support.

[saxo1man30]

`How many of you were there in the end? their looked like their may have been a few more than the 1.5k that was being banded about`

i`m willing to bet there was a few birmingham fans in with the rovers fans..

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

13. ABBEY - YOU ARE UNDOUBTEDLY THE BIGGEST LOSER ON THIS WEBSITE - THE BEST PART OF A DECADE READING YOUR SELF INDULGENT CAPS-LOCK RIDDLED CRAP HAS REALLY WORN THIN NOW. THE QUALITY OF THE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING IN YOUR POSTS REALLY SHOWS YOU UP AS THE LOW IQ IDIOT THAT YOU ARE. TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND MAYBE GET COUNSELLING THERE ARE CLEARLY SOME ISSUES HERE. Do the mods have the balls to delete any posts in caps that this clown continues to post as I am sick of the poor etiquette it displays...would the younger posters get away with it???

An unnecessary and unpleasant personal attack on Abbey. You've complained about caps-lock and have asked the mods to delete such posts, but personal attacks on other board members are also against board rules too. Should the mods delete your post as well?

I'd suggest that calling somebody a "low IQ idiot", "the biggest loser on this website" and "take a look in the mirror and maybe get counselling" undoubtedly falls into the category of a personal attack, which is against board rules.

If there was a Rovers fan on this website with learning difficulties, dyslexia or dysgraphia would you also describe them as a "low IQ idiot" for their poor spelling? If not, why do you feel it's acceptable to attack Abbey for his poor spelling?

There's no doubt that Abbey is a big Rovers fan who has supported the club for many years since he was a young lad. He is not however a fan of the current manager Mr Allardyce who has gone on a run now of just one win in our last 14 matches in all competitions and I believe it's currently one win in our last 17 away matches.

Please forgive me for not doing cartwheels and jumping for joy over our abysmal record in recent months. We've also now lost in our last five successive cup semi-finals. (Three Carling Cup semi-finals in 2003, 2006 and 2010 and two FA Cup semi-final defeats against Arsenal in 2005 and Chelsea in 2007.)

Much of the criticism from many different board members on this website towards Mr Allardyce in recent months has been wholly justified in my view given our dreadful run of form and a number of ghastly unacceptable performances.

The fact that Rovers scored a couple of consolation goals tonight after being 5-2 down when the match was effectively all over doesn't alter my bitter disappointment at losing yet another semi-final, our fifth in a row.

We did admittedly play some decent football (for a change) in the match tonight at Villa Park and the third goal from Martin Olsson was very good - the type of goal from open play that's been a rarity this season. It was nice to see a well-taken goal - but ultimately though it was just a consolation goal. The match was all over at that point. Yes, we came back from 5-2 down to 5-4. But did people honestly think we could make it 5-6 and take it into extra-time?

Conceding six goals in a cup semi-final isn't a cause for rejoicing and back-slapping in my view. If a number of Rovers fans are proud of the performance tonight then to me that just shows how utterly unacceptable many of our other recent performances have been.

[Holtenderinthesky]

Just back from the cesspit of humanity that is Birmingham.

F===ing brilliant effort from the TEAM tonight.

Don't give a sh!te about the result, we know who should have won the game.

Tried to "have a word" with some villa pillocks but they seemed a little wary of some old school "banter". A load of kids and foreigners won't win you many battles you ham fisted morons...

About time we held grudges again, let's not tolerate this referee at Ewood, and we know what to do when we beat birmigham villa at home next don't we???

Well done to all who played tonight and let's take this forward to the rest of the season.

Only negative was a terrible 90 mins by Givet despite his effort. Not good enough but never mind eh.

Cesspit, Birmingham? And Blackburn is what? Monte Carlo? And we were robbed at Ewood and battered you today so.....

Que sera sera....

[Silencio]

Cesspit, Birmingham? And Blackburn is what? Monte Carlo?

Que sera sera....

Ha ha ha!

[gort1987]

What a game! Fair play you had us, and me, worried plenty of times during the game. I thought you played well, although you can't defend.

Oh and well done to your fans who made the journey, they sang for much of the game. I was stood below them and there was good banter, my personal highlights being the 'are you burnley in disguise' sang back once we turned it round to 3-2 and your fan's 'Heskey's sh*t my lord' followed by Heskey scoring and our 'Heskey scored my lord'. You played your part in a cracking atmosphere, anyone who says our fans were crap is suffering from sour grapes. The only quiet periods were at 0-2 and when you got back in it towards the end and we wee sh*tting ourselves! When all sides of the ground sang together it was loud as ######, although the flags were gay.

[jim mk2]

It's the small errors that make the difference between good players and the best players, and the difference between winning and losing matches.

For instance, Dunn failed to keep track with Warnock for the 1st goal, while Samba failed to stay on his feet and use his body to put Agbonlahor off balance for the 2nd.

Top-class players playing for the elite clubs would not have made those mistakes, or if they did they would find themselves dropped. Rovers do not have that luxury.

[Grabbi Graeme]

Cesspit, Birmingham? And Blackburn is what? Monte Carlo? And we were robbed at Ewood and battered you today so.....

Que sera sera....

Certainly didn't batter us when we went 2-0 up, your first goal should of been chalked off as there was a foul on Nelsen, the penalty and sending off I dont have any complaints about, but 10 v 11 it was always going to be difficult for us, anyway enjoy your day at Wembley, I hope your players are happy when they get their losers medals.

As for the better place to live I would always take Blackburn, I go to Birmingham at least 3 times a month and that is 3 times too many.

[McAds]

Tried to "have a word" with some villa pillocks but they seemed a little wary of some old school "banter". A load of kids and foreigners won't win you many battles you ham fisted morons...

What an idiot you are.

But anyway...

I can’t have all this ‘ref stopped us’ that’s come from the Fat Yam-Yam. Things have a funny way of evening themselves out in football. Last week we should have had two penalties, this week Agbonlahor puts his hand’s on Nelson’s back and no foul is given. That’s karma for you.

I’d be disappointed to be honest with Nelson for falling over. A big bloke like him should struggle to be toppled by a little fella like Gabby with a genuine push, so for him to topple over after only slight contact would aggrieve me. Was it a foul? Probably, but then again, you could have been coming to Villa Park 3-0 and not 1, but we didn't get the penalties and you didn't get the free kick.

We were woeful in the first half an hour and you really gave it a good go, making for some fantastic entertainment. A proper semi-final.

As for the comments about invading the pitch, that’s just supporters being pleased to get to Wembley, which is where every club wants to be. All the ‘small time’ comments seem like sour grapes.

[Guest andrewpickup]

Cesspit, Birmingham? And Blackburn is what? Monte Carlo? And we were robbed at Ewood and battered you today so.....

Que sera sera....

You silly c##t you made a mess of beating pound shop blackburn who nobody wanted there with ten men and help from a ref. Now you can go to wembley so oneil can add nothing to his overrated career

[Paul]

Where to begin?...............

I was there and much of this post is nonsense. As for your attack on ABBEY I can only hope the admins/mods have a long hard look at it.

To talk about the game, which is the point of this thread, rather than attacking long standing fellow fans. I'm confused and don't really know what to make of it. At 6-4 the BBC are hailing this as a great match, was it? I'm not so sure. Late arriving I walked up the steps as the first goal went in, tried to get to my seat and failed so ended up stood three-quarters of the way back on the steps with hundreds bouncing around me. At 2-0 the fans were going crazy, after getting knocked down in the celebrations (it's great standing on the steps in an all seater stadium) I found an empty seat with the flask and rug brigade - I must be getting old.

The truth of this match for me is we went 2-0 up playing some good football, even if it was 4-5-1 it was far better than I feared as I raced down the M6 trying to make kick off. Then we concede 5 goals in 30 minutes. I didn't see a push on Nelsen at the match and haven't seen the TV replays so can't comment on that. I do know for certain we went 2-0 up and then started to back off thus handing the initiative to Villa. We had them dead and buried yet aren't professional enough to hold a 2-0 lead till half time. I don't know if Allardyce sent out instructions or the players made the decision but the simple fact is we backed off Villa and reverted to hoof ball. This was the root of the defeat. Villa walked through our defence for 30 minutes.

At 5-2 we still kept trying which has to be a positive but then what else could the team do? The alternative was to get beat 8-2. I think pride took over. I don't know or understand what went wrong. it could be Allardyce, the players, the referee? I do know we've been stuffed 6-4. Another large number of goals conceded away from home. I don't feel proud at all, we were slaughtered and on BBC1. Fantastic. This defeat does not set us up for the rest of the season as some are suggesting.

The support was magnificent. Well done to all who went.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Cesspit, Birmingham? And Blackburn is what? Monte Carlo? And we were robbed at Ewood and battered you today so.....

Que sera sera....

You battered 10 men at home 6-4. Dont get cocky. And if you close your eyes, Blackburn does look a bit like Monte Carlo actually.

Have to say that other than Milner, i wasnt really impressed by Villa. Young and Agbonlahor were poor throughout. Shame as they clearly have talent. They deserved to go through but I reckon they'll get a beating in the final. Guzan in goal was a shambles.

[Miker]

I don't know if Allardyce sent out instructions or the players made the decision but the simple fact is we backed off Villa and reverted to hoof ball. This was the root of the defeat. Villa walked through our defence for 30 minutes.

At 5-2 we still kept trying which has to be a positive but then what else could the team do? The alternative was to get beat 8-2. I think pride took over. I don't know or understand what went wrong. it could be Allardyce, the players, the referee? I do know we've been stuffed 6-4. Another large number of goals conceded away from home. I don't feel proud at all, we were slaughtered and on BBC1. Fantastic. This defeat does not set us up for the rest of the season as some are suggesting.

The support was magnificent. Well done to all who went.

Show me a video with a detailed analysis showing exactly where we backed off/started playing deep and resorted to hoofball. The root of the defeat was a goal that came against the run of play, after an alleged foul on Nelsen, followed by Samba making a huge error in judgement to kill the game off for us and completely destroy our confidence (I am amazed the players managed to get 2 goals back).

I am sorry, but the root of our defeat is not always "resorting to hoofball" and backing off players. I don't see how closing down players would have helped us keep the lead. We were opened up by two of the quickest players in the Premier League, Agbonlahor and Young. Agbonlahor is dangerous because he can nick in between the two defenders and beat the offside trap very easily due to his speed. Young simply whipped in a cross from deep that should've been dealt with, but wasn't.

Your claim that hoofball and sitting deep was the "root" of our defeat is complete nonsense, I will debate this all day if I have to. And I'm sorry, but 6-4 against 10 men is hardly a "slaughtering".

I do agree the support seemed fantastic and was a big contrast to the Home leg.

[Miker]

By the way, we played 4-5-1 didn't we up until the sending off?

It was actually a 4-3-2-1

Robinson

Chimbonda-Samba-Nelsen-Givet

Emerton-N'zonzi-Olsson

Dunn-Pedersen

Kalinic

Basically, Olsson and Emerton were wingbacks, and Dunn and Pedersen were playing further up in the centre behind Kalinic. I like that formation, as it probably gets the most out of both Olsson and Emerton, if we stick with them in the starting 11.