[Archived] Manchester City V Rovers Preview

[joey_big_nose]

Fantastic result!

Samba, Robinson and Jones were all sensational. Again impressed with the two Dioufs. Probably Kalinic's best game so far, although he tired. Chimbonda had a good game which surprised me.

A few have been giving Jones stick but based on his performance today I would make him a permanent fixture in midfield. Not silky but the amount of yards he covers is mind boggling, and he is strong in the air and in the tackle.

edit - Pedersen had a terrible game - and it is clear if he is off the boil we have no decent attacking fluency whatsoever. Real problem for us, particularly with injuries meaning Dunn counldn't come on.

[ABBEY]

When did we get a penny to spend?

Quality result today.

??? does wages not count as spending pennies???

[blue/white]

I'm having chest pains......difficult to watch the last 20 minutes.

F'ing great away point!

[BuckyRover]

Great result.

Didn't expect to get anything today.

[Mr. E]

Magnificent, titanic effort from the lads. Fully deserved point. Robinson was great. Samba was an absolute lion.

We had a slice of fortune with City's misses and the fact that they probably deserved a penalty when Johnson was pushed, but then we also had some decisions go against us.

We certainly deserved more than 1 point from our last 3 games, but we should really try to keep this level of performance going.

[chaddyrovers]

Very Good Point for us. great performance by us. Samba and Robinson were outstanding. And we might have score another with Kalinic and M Diouf chances. that's put me in a really good mood now.

[Clitherover]

Samba was immense from what i saw of that game, shame that last ball had to drop to Chimbonda though...

[Grabbi Graeme]

Great result and sounds like Robbo and Samba were our saviours today, wonder how much coverage we will get on MOTD tonight.

[Amo]

Good result, made all the sweeter when you predicted an absolute tonking. Kalinic showed his striker's instinct again, which he must have honed playing off scraps for Rovers. Defending was awful for their goal, but Samba showed the rest of them how it's done with an incredible performance. He also saved Robbo's bacon when he started scrambling.

[Bobby G]

I should have mentioned Samba. He was magnificent. 10/10. Captain and leader.

Givet as a center back is brilliant.

[rebelmswar]

Magnificent, titanic effort from the lads. Fully deserved point. Robinson was great. Samba was an absolute lion.

We had a slice of fortune with City's misses and the fact that they probably deserved a penalty when Johnson was pushed, but then we also had some decisions go against us.

We certainly deserved more than 1 point from our last 3 games, but we should really try to keep this level of performance going.

I tell you our defense warrants a midfield, sometimes they let in a shocking goal but at other times they are titans. So very proud today.

[American Rover12]

Huge point away today. Samba might be the name of my first born. Could have sneaked all three too, but very lucky to get the one. Still catching my breath.

[Clitherover]

The Chile Miners might have something to say about that!

Brilliant!

[The Rover of Finland]

Mega budget against 0 budget and we had a draw. Proud of the team, thanks lads!

[thenodrog]

Great result though apart from some resolute last ditch defending and some heroic goalkeeping a pretty poor performance.

Didn't need that rider.

[RIML]

Brian Kidd you're a w*nker, you're a w*nker!

Oh I love it when you expect nothing from a game and get something, mahusive point.

Gutted Nelsen went off injured, hope it's nothing serious but if it is, Jones has to play in defence ahead of Givet.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Didn't need that rider.

Our midfield was dire, no support to the striker and constantly put pressure on our defense when we couldn't keep possession. When Samba and Robinson, a defender and a goalkeeper are your best players by a mile on the day it shows where the battle for a point was won.

Fantastic point, and I’m ecstatic about it but the performance was nowhere near as good as some people are making out.

[RoverRich]

What a massive relief now the game is over! That became almost unbearable to watch towards the end but very glad to have come away with a point. We weren't completely out of it in the second half either as we did have a few chances. Heroic defending which was slightly marred by a disappointing goal to give away but the attempts we prevented from going in by Givet, Robbo and Samba more than made up for it I felt.

Salgado and Chimbonda both did their bit in each half with solid performances and Jones was fantastic in the middle. The kid never stops, never gives up and is always fighting. I have massive respect for him as it genuinely looks like he wants to give his absolute all in every game and shows he cares.

Also, good performances from M.Diouf and Niko up front. Both battled away, especially Kalinic who did well with holding the ball up on several occasions and he was another one he never seemed to give up on anything. He puts himself in the right positions so if he keeps that up the goals will soon flow.

Proud of the lads today, don't think we could have asked for much more (except for maybe some competent midfielders). The result exceeded most peoples expectations and an away point at the biggest spenders in the league is a good achievement.

[rebelmswar]

Brian Kidd you're a w*nker, you're a w*nker!

Oh I love it when you expect nothing from a game and get something, mahusive point.

Gutted Nelsen went off injured, hope it's nothing serious but if it is, Jones has to play in defence ahead of Givet.

Givet should play in the center if that is the case, Jones was fantastic with his work rate today.

Happy with Chimby boy today as well.

[tony gale's mic]

Our midfield was dire, no support to the striker and constantly put pressure on our defense when we couldn't keep possession. When Samba and Robinson, a defender and a goalkeeper are your best players by a mile on the day it shows where the battle for a point was won.

Fantastic point, and I’m ecstatic about it but the performance was nowhere near as good as some people are making out.

We were playing a team who had spent over £200m on their team away from home. The defence and goalkeeper are just as much a part of the performance as the midfield and attack.

If the result was 3-3 and our defence/goalkeeper had a bit of a shocker but Kalinic scored a hat trick and Mame Diouf set up a couple would that make the performance any better?

I thought our defence was great but we also did manage to create a good few openings going forward, obviously we're lacking a cutting edge going forward but we'll never have a cutting edge going forward against the top teams until we have a change of personnel.

[joey_big_nose]

Incidentally did anyone else feel we were being suicidal with the set pieces? We were sending up both centrebacks for all the throw ins and corners when we were ahead, and Man City were murdering us on the counter. Very strange, we didn't change it till Nelsen came off.

Oh - and I would agree that we were quite lucky in this game. Great defensive performance, but it should have been a penalty.

[Ricky]

4 points from 4 tough games. We only took 3 points from the same fixtures last season so it has to go down as a good start despite the points dropped away at bitmingham. The three points there would had had us 4th..... So following hughesy logic we're 4th in the league.... Get in!!

[T4E]

hughesy logic

That's my new favourite oxymoron.

[rebelmswar]

4 points from 4 tough games. We only took 3 points from the same fixtures last season so it has to go down as a good start despite the points dropped away at bitmingham. The three points there would had had us 4th..... So following hughesy logic we're 4th in the league.... Get in!!

Hughsey makes the sun shine for me.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Great defensive performance. As above, Samba, Robbo really showed why they are key players for Blackburn. Jones showed yet again why he can become a potential future England senior player.

I know I shouldn't really say anything after a good away point but it's another game which has left me thinking 'I wonder what we could have done if we had more creativity' because we certainly were capable of exploiting Manchester City at times today but instead we were left with scrapping for a chance infront of goal.

Anyway, great point considering how much money we spent this window and how much they spent. Also it would have impressed potential buyers too which could be crucial in the next week or so.