[Archived] Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United

[XLM]

Great performance, can't complain that we played out the last 15 minutes. 1 point was too valuable to lose.

Surprisingly good team selection from Kean and we were set up superbly from a tactical perspective. Until the penalty they only had 1 chance, that has to be commended.

And it shouldn't have been a penalty, the ball was already out of play, he was half way down before he reached Robbo and Robbo pulled out. There may have been slight contact after he'd started falling, but not much if there was. I thought the ref was going over to book him for diving, until I realised that I support Blackburn Rovers and we were playing Manchester United. Their players again made a show of themselves demanding a penalty and as per usual the officials obliged.

[Martin]

Well on the bright side, this will all be over on in a week or so.

And for that I will be thankful.

[Lurid Coat]

Agreed. Lose against Wolves and it plays out like this.

Wigan need to win both remaining games to go ahead of us.

Blackpool need to win final game to go ahead of us

Birmingham need to pick up two points from two games to go ahead of us.

If two of those three fail to do that, we'll squeeze through on GD.

A point or more against Wolves is the way I'd prefer to do it though

All message board members who still are nervous wrecks should take a close look at this post and breathe a little bit easier.

We usually have a terrible goal difference, thank goodness that this hasn't been the case this season

[RoversSG]

It's still too close to call in my opinion. If Birmingham picks up a win against Fulham tomorrow, we can still go down easily. If we loss to Wolves and Blackpool beats Manure, we could still go down with 40 points! Hopefully Birmingham will lose tomorrow then our odds will be improved by quite a bit.

[rookie2009]

Proud of the efforts the lads put in today..Seems referee decisions are totally against us this year imo although it was a pen today and their striker played for it..

But i dont get why people here are talking wolves (with all respect) as being barcelona like..we are more than capable of going there and getting a result there..

Tomorrow will decide alot also,anything other than a win for birmingham tomorrow puts them in as much a hole as we are in..

Keep the faith people!!

[DE.]

To be fair, although Wolves last two results have been excellent for them... let's not forget they were against West Brom and Sunderland, one of whom was on holiday and the other is just a spectacularly poor team and how they're 13th is beyond me.

We can get the result at Wolves if we play like we have done in the last few matches, I think both teams in the back of their minds will be thinking 'a draw is good enough'.

[mattyc2422]

If we had tried to go all out for the win then there was a very strong chance that we would have been picked off at the other end. They had 4 men up top so any holes in the defence would have been exploited.

Can't complain today. It was a penalty. Great performance from our team.

Agreed.

[Tom]

Would have taken a point before kick off, a loss would have been deadly seeing as Blackpool could nick a point at United, 3 points is considerably harder.

No complaints with the last 15 apart from the idiots in the crowd booing Andrews who didn't do a single thing wrong.

Robbo was idiotic for the penalty especially given the ref practically got aroused every time he got the chance to give a decision for United.

Still twitchy but still firmly in our own hands.

Lets hope one of or both Fulham and West Ham do us a favour tomorrow, if either Wigan or Brum fail to win then they are more likely to go down than us.

Oh and Mercerman, stop with the theories now yeah, remember how United would do all they could do beat us for Sam? Well they showed that in the last 10 minutes.

[Rovermatt]

Good point I suppose, especially considering our rivals' results today. Gutted to see those b@st@rds win the championship at Ewood. My hatred for them knows no depths.

[deftangel]

Like anyone, would have taken a point before the game. Disappointed we played out the last ten minutes by, at times, passing the ball across the back four. If they've got no intention of attacking, playing normally without over-committing would have carried very little risk and we might have nicked a valuable goal given our position.

It was definitelately a penalty regardless of whether Hernandez was playing for it or already on the way down. Robbo didn't and couldn't get there. A difficult one as the Mexican is very quick and we saw the results of not making a goalkeeping decision for our goal. Robbo would have had a split second to decide either way. He got it wrong on that occasion but he's a worthy player of the season.

The United reaction to the penalty was predictably disgraceful. I await the Champions League final where Barcalona do exactly the same thing and If I catch one Man Utd fan gobbing off about it they're getting both barrels. The linesman did not flag the penalty. Having re-read the rules, I'm no longer sure he's obliged to if he thinks the referee's seen it. This is problematic because it can give the impression he's changed his mind in the face of player pressure. If the lino thinks it's a penalty, he should flag straight away.

On a more positive note, we're on 40 points and I'd rather be in our position than any of the others. We played well today and Kean had the set up right. I didn't agree with taking Hoillet off so early and was utterly appalled he was unaware of the other results. Surely, that's part of his job. But if we play like we did for the first 70 minutes of the West Ham and today's game, we can get the point there we need.

[brian nelsen]

Think we may still stay up losing at Wolves if Blackpool doesn't get more than a point at Man Utd. Can't believe we didn't go for it the last 15 minutes. Players clearly ###### off with Kean when he told them to sit back.

Give it a frigging rest man. Shut up.

[martmitch]

what annoyed me also about the surrounding of the referees was that of all the utd players barking at the linesman, salgado was the only one to get booked i believe?

[John]

Good point and unlucky not to go 2 up with the header.

Overall still far too close for comfort though - if results go for us tomorrow we can breathe a little bit easier....

[Tom]

what annoyed me also about the surrounding of the referees was that of all the utd players barking at the linesman, salgado was the only one to get booked i believe?

Yep what a disgrace, Vidic and Rio ran the length of the pitch to get involved as well.

I haven't seen it back but people are saying the penalty was only given after the United protests. Dowd was shocking throughout to be fair.

This season just doesn't end

[Mercer]

Just got back.

Firstly, I hope that a point would have been enough - now there are other permutations. Let's just hope that the only time we fall into the bottom three is not on the last day. In previous weeks, results have gone for us, now it seems like we are getting the other side of the coin.

As to the match. A welcome point. For the third time in consecutive home matches, saved by the woodwork early doors. Thought United too complacent and, as such, that edge or spark was missing.

The last 15 minutes, IMO, was an affront to the integrity of football and we have forfeited the right to expect United to 'turn-up' against Blackpool next week.

Let's hope we've now done enough.

[DE.]

I thought it was a pen. It was very poor defending to allow Hernandez through in the first place and then a poor decision from Robbo to dive when Hernandez was going nowhere near the goal.

[Billy Castell]

I'd love to see a ref send a Man Utd player off for hounding them, but they're spineless fools. Gary Neville would get sent off every game I'd have refereed.

[deftangel]

The official line on sky was the referee gave the penalty but wanted to check with the linesman if Robbo had got a touch on the ball before doing so.

The linesman didn't flag but I'm unsure if he actually has to. Perhaps someone could clarify.

Either way, the surrounding of the ref is disgraceful and there are no more frequent practitioners of it in this league than Man Utd I'm afraid. I hope they enjoy being on the other end of it against Barcelona.

Goes without saying the opposite situation at Old Trafford would have had a different result.

[broadsword]

Vidic - what a ham shanker.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Like anyone, would have taken a point before the game. Disappointed we played out the last ten minutes by, at times, passing the ball across the back four. If they've got no intention of attacking, playing normally without over-committing would have carried very little risk and we might have nicked a valuable goal given our position.

It was definitelately a penalty regardless of whether Hernandez was playing for it or already on the way down. Robbo didn't and couldn't get there. A difficult one as the Mexican is very quick and we saw the results of not making a goalkeeping decision for our goal. Robbo would have had a split second to decide either way. He got it wrong on that occasion but he's a worthy player of the season.

The United reaction to the penalty was predictably disgraceful. I await the Champions League final where Barcalona do exactly the same thing and If I catch one Man Utd fan gobbing off about it they're getting both barrels. The linesman did not flag the penalty. Having re-read the rules, I'm no longer sure he's obliged to if he thinks the referee's seen it. This is problematic because it can give the impression he's changed his mind in the face of player pressure. If the lino thinks it's a penalty, he should flag straight away.

On a more positive note, we're on 40 points and I'd rather be in our position than any of the others. We played well today and Kean had the set up right. I didn't agree with taking Hoillet off so early and was utterly appalled he was unaware of the other results. Surely, that's part of his job. But if we play like we did for the first 70 minutes of the West Ham and today's game, we can get the point there we need.

Hoiletts probably not fully fit. I don't blame Kean re other results, they can be a distraction. You need to concentrate on the game in hand and play it as you see it.

Anybody know what happened with Samba ? I wouldn't have thought that was a tactical switch.

[Amo]

...

[DP]

Apparently Dowd was checking with the linesman as to whether the ball was out of play when Robinson made connection. Yeah right

I noticed this wasn't replayed in slow motion to see whether it was or not. Unlike our goal when they played from all angles to see if it could have been all over the line.

Whether the ball was out or not, it was going out and Hernandez had nothing to play for other than the penalty. The rules encourage it though, whereas in the past the ref would have waved it away. Definitely dodgy.

[Amo]

Not sure I agree with that. United were bossing us at times in the first half because we were too deep, if Nani's goal had hit the bar then the floodgates could have opened. Once we scored after their keeper flapped we started to get on top a bit but United came back and put pressure on us just before HT but luckily we held on.

Second half was a mixture really, we had the odd decent move (Olsson hit the woodwork) but United looked stronger most of the time. I thought our defensive play was overall pretty solid, thought Samba and Jones were very good especially Jones, something Kean probably has to take some credit for.

You do know we were playing the champions, right?

[Tom]

The last 15 minutes, IMO, was an affront to the integrity of football and we have forfeited the right to expect United to 'turn-up' against Blackpool next week.

But you told us you had it on good authority that United would go all out to thrash us?

Did anyone see what happened with the United fan in the BBE?

Another word on Dowd, how can he tell Robbo to hurry up taking a free kick when Hernandez is only about 6-7 yards away, and he also must be unable to see clear pushes from behind as well

[Roverdale]

Hoiletts probably not fully fit. I don't blame Kean re other results, they can be a distraction. You need to concentrate on the game in hand and play it as you see it.

Anybody know what happened with Samba ? I wouldn't have thought that was a tactical switch.

Said on TV and online that he has a 'slight knock' so I'd imagine he'll be fine for next week. Although Sky can't be taken for gospel, have to wait for a comment on it from the club I guess.