[Archived] Rover V Fulham 14-01-12

[USABlue]

Felt very sorry for Petrovic today, he was the best player on the pitch in his short spell. Big credit to Lowe, Givet and Hanley, they shut out Dempsey, Zamora, Ruiz, Johnson out very well.

Well done to fellow protestors of last night and today... You are a big credit and I was proud to stand with you all.

As a fanatical critic of him I also felt a bit sorry for him today. He did look alright for his brief appearance, one very nice pass out to the wing, too bad but need as needs must. Hope he is finally coming to grips with the prem. Screw all the negative people, I'm gonna enjoy this one. What more can we ask, our leader not even in the squad, lose our top scorer 20 mins in and still pull out a 3-1 win. Over the moon with tis, no one gonna spoil it for me. Come on Newcastle and a shout for City who I usually always want to lose. Maybe just maybe.......

How sweet was Nzonzi's pass to Formica for the 3rd.

[USABlue]

Even taking to one side the mysterious sending off of the Yak - was anyone else less than impressed with the referee's performance ?

Have to agree he was crap, how many handballs did he miss, Fulham player should surely have been yellowed for the Formica foul. Sendeross' challenge was borderline red too IMHO going ny the standard set on Yak. He also let go a two footed lunge by Peds without any punishment then yellows him for winning the ball. I don't get the modern game any more it's becoming for pussy's.

[LeftWinger]

[Barrymaffia]

That goal got me £14.00 for Pederson to score the first! Then my mate Dave from Chorley won £40 with the 3 1 win.. Same bets with the winnings next home win! C,mon Pederson ya useless Winker

[Brfcrule1]

Beerwins of course it was a red card because there are 2 things wrong with what he did first off his foot is raised and then you have the issue of studs showing although I agree with Kean the Yak does not have a malicious bone in his body and seems like a one off the fact remains if your foot is raised & studs showing it is a red card now if he pulled back and didn't make contact with Murphy there might have been chance of an appeal but looking at it again it is most definitely a red card and I get the impression if we appeal the FA will throw it out as a frivelous appeal just my opinion of course.

[thenodrog]

Beerwins of course it was a red card because there are 2 things wrong with what he did first off his foot is raised and then you have the issue of studs showing although I agree with Kean the Yak does not have a malicious bone in his body and seems like a one off the fact remains if your foot is raised & studs showing it is a red card now if he pulled back and didn't make contact with Murphy there might have been chance of an appeal but looking at it again it is most definitely a red card and I get the impression if we appeal the FA will throw it out as a frivelous appeal just my opinion of course.

Disagree strongly. No matter what the gin swilling old boffers come up with at Football HQ.

1. Accidental collisions should not warrant a red card. A red card imo should be for intentional violent/foul play only.

2. Red cards should be avoided at all costs in the best interests of the paying spectator and thats paramount.

[USABlue]

Disagree strongly. No matter what the gin swilling old boffers come up with at Football HQ.

1. Accidental collisions should not warrant a red card. A red card imo should be for intentional violent/foul play only.

2. Red cards should be avoided at all costs in the best interests of the paying spectator and thats paramount.

Spot on on 1 and equally so #2. The game is going to be totally sissified. It's like the game has flipped on it's head, good meaty challenges are carded with aplomb, players carded because something could have happened, but holding and pulling and pushing is allowed to go I also see an increasing number of handballs being ignored these days (unless you are Nzonzi who unwittingly get a shoulder in the way of a ball dropping from the sky) They need to be careful or the game will be forever ruined. Pedersens yellow is a shining example of a challenge that would have been brushed off a few years ago, just a good solid tackle and if the player happens to get clattered after too bad.

[AggyBlue]

He did his fair share of closing down today, put a real shift in given a tough role.

How do you know? You didn't go.

There was no closing down again and for Dunny to say it was the gameplan due to being a man down is rubbish because we've played that way for weeks.

Anyway I enjoyed the day, there didn't seem the usual tension in the BBE. It was nice to come away feeling good for a change.

[J*B]

I did not hear Dunn on the radio, but did he mention his "discussion" with the guy in the Riverside at half time? 5 minutes before half time, a guy in the second row was having a right go at Dunn, and David responded by pointing at him and gave him a mouthful back. Until the half time whistle, Dunny was continually looking over at the guy in the Riverside stand. Sure enough, as soon as the whistle went, Dunny went straight over to the guy, jumped over the advertising hoarding and beckoned the guy to him. The "supporter" went to Dunny and there was quite an exchange of views, although I could not hear anything. What was concerning, was the lack of any steward to intervene, as the supporter and Dunny were virtually nose to nose and a punch could easily have been thrown.After a good minute of "discussion", Dunny obviously advised the supporter of his thoughts and went back to the tunnel. At least one other supporter then confronted the older guy and it started to get rather heated. Where were the stewards? Nowhere.During the interval a Rovers supervisor came to speak to the troublemaker, sorry supporter. There was another confrontation when Dunny scored soon after the break, when a number of other supporters made their own comments to the supporter.

He said something along the lines off "I won't repeat the words but he was suggesting I should have been pressing more, and i took particular offense at some of his words. Fans are entitled to his opinion, and therefore I'm entitled to mine. I don't doubt him as a supporter, he spends his hard earned money for that seat, but if he is suggesting we press more while we have ten men he clearly doesn't know football. "

In other news what in gods name happened with the half time riot in the Darwen End? One minute I'm watching a VT of goals this season, the next minute there's around 100 fans crowded around police throwing bottles and burgers singing "you only ###### on your own fans" and "we're Blackburn Rovers we do what we want"?

[Josh]

He said something along the lines off "I won't repeat the words but he was suggesting I should have been pressing more, and i took particular offense at some of his words. Fans are entitled to his opinion, and therefore I'm entitled to mine. I don't doubt him as a supporter, he spends his hard earned money for that seat, but if he is suggesting we press more while we have ten men he clearly doesn't know football. "

In other news what in gods name happened with the half time riot in the Darwen End? One minute I'm watching a VT of goals this season, the next minute there's around 100 fans crowded around police throwing bottles and burgers singing "you only ###### on your own fans" and "we're Blackburn Rovers we do what we want"?

A bloke was about to light a cigarette until he got told he was on camera, he then said something along the lines of "f**k off" and then the police where called. It was embarrassing to watch, and all of this "we do what we want" crap is ridiculous, let United keep their chants

[Paul]

I did not hear Dunn on the radio, but did he mention his "discussion" with the guy in the Riverside at half time?

I didn't see any of this at the game but yes it was mentioned by Dunn on RR. You've given more detail and it sounds more serious than was made out on the radio. My impression had been a fan said something to Dunn as he came off the pitch and Dunn had walked over to reply. I presumed this took place near the tunnel. Jumping in to the concourse to confront the man is unacceptable.

Dunn's take on this was the supporter, using language he couldn't repeat, told Dunn he, and the midfield, should be closing Fulham down. Dunn's response was he couldn't know much about football as this is not way to play with ten men. The team knew what to do and were doing it. He also acknowledged he shouldn't have reacted but sometimes it's hard not to.

[Mattie456]

I didn't see any of this at the game but yes it was mentioned by Dunn on RR. You've given more detail and it sounds more serious than was made out on the radio. My impression had been a fan said something to Dunn as he came off the pitch and Dunn had walked over to reply. I presumed this took place near the tunnel. Jumping in to the concourse to confront the man is unacceptable.

Dunn's take on this was the supporter, using language he couldn't repeat, told Dunn he, and the midfield, should be closing Fulham down. Dunn's response was he couldn't know much about football as this is not way to play with ten men. The team knew what to do and were doing it. He also acknowledged he shouldn't have reacted but sometimes it's hard not to.

I was 5 rows back from this is in the riverside. It sounded to me that the mans comments were referring to his weight more than anything else.

Either way served as a great half time team talk for Dunny. Maybe we should get the fan in as our no.2!

[Stuart]

I was 5 rows back from this is in the riverside. It sounded to me that the mans comments were referring to his weight more than anything else.

Either way served as a great half time team talk for Dunny. Maybe we should get the fan in as our no.2!

Didn't hear the comments as I was sat too far back but I watched the whole incident - and the aftermath.

After Dunny had had enough of showing off by fronting a supporter (not a young lad by the way, my estimate was late 50s but the large grey beard made it hard to judge). Anyway after Dunn dismissed his with several wafts of his hand, another (much younger supporter probably one of the new age 'true supporters") confronted the bearded one and it got pretty heated with lots of shouting and finger-pointing into chests.

To his credit the older fella showed a lot of restraint otherwise it could seriously have kicked off - particularly as a crowd was forming as people made their way to the front for their half time gawp at the subs and groundsmen. That could have become quite serious, yet the stewards completely ignored the situation.

Like always though, we only get to hear 'the club's' version of events and not the fans'.

[John]

Only viewed the highlights but appears yesterday was a truly special performance?? Not seen as much optimism on here for months, think people are more elated than after the Man Utd match, is it because we only had 10 men?

[Mattyblue]

Only viewed the highlights but appears yesterday was a truly special performance?? Not seen as much optimism on here for months, think people are more elated than after the Man Utd match, is it because we only had 10 men?

I'd say so.

Lets face it, away from home Fulham are a weak outfit, however we battled bloody hard.

N'Zonzi took the game by the scruff of the neck, dominant display by him. Some excellent performances, and of course some defensive fraility.

Absolutely no faith we csn get owt at Everton, but then again I don't think the other clubs at the bottom will be pulling away anytime soon either.

[Kelbo]

It's no coincidence that we played better when Yak was sent off. The defence and midfield were forced to play the ball on the ground and couldn't hoof it forward at every opportunity. N'Zonzi was great going forward in the second half and having Olsson and Junior down the left gave us a real outlet. Goodwillie did well second half when he worked the channels and should really have scored himself before Dunny fired in. UTR!

This is the post of the day for me, we played a great pass and movement game when Yak went off, it suited us to the ground and the movement allowed the midfield to break forward and three of them scoring tells its own story, we also defended very well as a unit and for me, this was the best performance of the season.

One word of caution though, Fulham were similar to us in that they hadnt got a tackle in them in midfield, having said that, Pederson put some strong tackles in and won the ball in tight areas, but against a side with a tough midfielder, we will get caught on the break but take nothing away, great performance and Grant Hanley is getting better game by game, Givet was immense too.

A few performances like that and we will stay up!

[EWOODACE1]

brilliant display from our boys yesterday but we have to build on it. we played that well i kept forgetting through the match that we were down to 10 men. looking at it i think yak deserved the red but i dont think he intended to do it.

nobody yesterday let us down and it was good to come away from a game and feel that we won and deserved to win. lets forget kean and enjoy this one.

[Plastic Head]

My take on the red card is that Yak should have had a free-kick for a blatant barge in the back by Hangeland.

Without that push he would have controlled the ball and not had to make the challenge at all.

[hollowsr]

My take on the red card is that Yak should have had a free-kick for a blatant barge in the back by Hangeland.

Without that push he would have controlled the ball and not had to make the challenge at all.

There was hardly a barge, slight contact.

Unfortunately I think with the letter of the law it is a sending off. His foot was very high, true the ball was bouncing, but most of all he went in studs up! Everyone knows that quite often this leads to a red card

[DeadlyDirk]

Great win, especially with ten men, a lot of credit has to go to the team and Kean for that. As mentioned by others he even got the substitutions right.

The key is to follow it up now, need to get another couple of good results and maybe we can begin thinking about having a chance of staying in the division which seemed almost impossible a little while ago.

[arbitro]

A really good spirited performance with some toughness and solidarity which augers well for the rest of the season. Out of the last four league games we have had three really good performances and I feel that we have played differently in these by playing a more counter attacking game. Circumstances dictated that we played that way yesterday but I do feel that, with the players we have we are far more suited to playing on the break. Until the sending off yesterday we seemed too ponderous going forward but in the second half particuarly we attacked with pace and purpose.

Yesterday (and two out of the previous three games) have given me some hope as I had previously written us off. I wil be delighted to be proved wrong.

[Speedie Dived]

I did not hear Dunn on the radio, but did he mention his "discussion" with the guy in the Riverside at half time? 5 minutes before half time, a guy in the second row was having a right go at Dunn, and David responded by pointing at him and gave him a mouthful back. Until the half time whistle, Dunny was continually looking over at the guy in the Riverside stand. Sure enough, as soon as the whistle went, Dunny went straight over to the guy, jumped over the advertising hoarding and beckoned the guy to him. The "supporter" went to Dunny and there was quite an exchange of views, although I could not hear anything. What was concerning, was the lack of any steward to intervene, as the supporter and Dunny were virtually nose to nose and a punch could easily have been thrown.After a good minute of "discussion", Dunny obviously advised the supporter of his thoughts and went back to the tunnel. At least one other supporter then confronted the older guy and it started to get rather heated. Where were the stewards? Nowhere.During the interval a Rovers supervisor came to speak to the troublemaker, sorry supporter. There was another confrontation when Dunny scored soon after the break, when a number of other supporters made their own comments to the supporter.

I too saw this. Was walking past the guy in question at half time and over heard him saying that Dunny called him over and said "What's your problem" to which the supporter in question replied "You are my problem, you are not moving fast enough". It was in reference to Dunny closing down 3 Fulham defenders when we were down to 10 men.

Fair play to Dunny for confronting the bloke, galvanised the crowd behind him/the team.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Enjoyed yesterday. We scored at the right times with the Formica goal being a real cracker.

Dunn didn't jump onto the concourse as has been suggested, but whatever words were exchanged it seemed to galvanise Dunn into a MOM performance.

But...just how bad were Fulham?

[BigDom]

Great result yesterday...first time in a long time that I actually enjoyed watching Rovers

Seemed to make a big difference in the style with the fact that Samba was not playing...hardly any long ball ?

But, talking of Samba, how on earth does Kean have the nerve to come out with the rubbish he spouted yesterday about him going to hospital for tests when there are pictures on social media of him out shopping in Manchester ?

Yet more lies !

I just wish the club would just start telling the truth !

[adsfortheblues]

For me the game yesterday showed how important hoillet is to us, we where so dangerous on the break with ollson and hoillet combining on a number of occasions and hoillet seems to have become more intelligent in his play. As in he now does not just run like a headless chicken (pardon the punt) but now seems to know when to make te right pass and/or switch play.

People who say "let him go", "he's overrated", "can do without him" need to look at yesterday's performance from the little fella.