[Archived] Huddersfield Town vs Blackburn Rovers

[Mike E]

Also...I get the feeling Berg has a good idea about the sort of team he wants to put out. The chopping and changing every week in Kean's reign drove me crazy.

Seems like he fancies Henley and Olsson in the full back positions. Both are good examples of the modern full back, which gives me hope about the way Berg intends to set the team up. If we can get Dann and Givet settled alongside them I think we'll have a solid foundation.

Agreed there. I'd actually trust Hanley over Dann, as he was putting some EXCELLENT performances in at the back end of last season. Certainly performances that (if replicated by Dann) would've gotten us a couple more points......but that's by-the-by. I do like Hanley's no nonsense approach.

[Andy]

I predicted a score draw with Rhodes scoring!

Just wish I'd put some bloomin' money on it

[ABBEY]

Just skimmed thru earlier posts ... Pathetic .

We played bloody well and some good stuff tonight . Yes we should of seen out but can't believe we crossed the ball instead of holding the corner. Best we have played in yonks .

[Blue n White Rover]

Just back from the game. Thought it was a decent performance. Started brightly then faded as the half went on. Conceded a very sloppy first goal. Defence couldn't clear the ball and it was bouncing around for Novak to poke in.

Rhodes was again feeding off scraps. Took his goal brilliantly. This lad just needs one chance and he scores.

Penalty looked a cert for me. Clearly caught Olsson. Decent penalty from Murphy sending the keeper the wrong way. Hopefully that goal will boost his confidence. There were glimpses of the player we actually bought and he got stuck in and played a couple of decent passes.

Stand out player again was Rochina. Great shooting ability and great hold up play. His decision making isn't the best at times but will get better.

Rosado looks promising. Few neat touches although he's far from the finished article.

The equaliser was a killer. Robinson let it squirm under him. We should have won the game in added time. Where the referee got 4 minutes from, I have no idea. We were robbed.

Promising from Berg though.

Fans were magnificent.

[ABBEY]

And it was 4:50 when they scored

[dubdubdub]

And it was 4:50 when they scored

If you say we played well then we must have done!

[Blue n White Rover]

And it was 4:50 when they scored

Can you recall any injuries in second half? Just 4 substitutions which should be 1.5 minutes plus another 1 minute for general stoppages. 3 minutes max. Robbed.

[Ewood Spark]

Can you recall any injuries in second half? Just 4 substitutions which should be 1.5 minutes plus another 1 minute for general stoppages. 3 minutes max. Robbed.

The bloke next to me set the stopwatch on his phone going as 90 mins was up. Udders 2nd goal hit the back of the net at 3mins 59s precisely.

[RoverScot]

BBC site timed it at 94:05 as well. 4 mins of injury time was nonsense.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Can someone do some player ratings when they get the chance? I'm intrigued as to how most of the players did on an individual level.

[Josh]

Just back from the game. Thought it was a decent performance. Started brightly then faded as the half went on. Conceded a very sloppy first goal. Defence couldn't clear the ball and it was bouncing around for Novak to poke in.

Rhodes was again feeding off scraps. Took his goal brilliantly. This lad just needs one chance and he scores.

Penalty looked a cert for me. Clearly caught Olsson. Decent penalty from Murphy sending the keeper the wrong way. Hopefully that goal will boost his confidence. There were glimpses of the player we actually bought and he got stuck in and played a couple of decent passes.

Stand out player again was Rochina. Great shooting ability and great hold up play. His decision making isn't the best at times but will get better.

Rosado looks promising. Few neat touches although he's far from the finished article.

The equaliser was a killer. Robinson let it squirm under him. We should have won the game in added time. Where the referee got 4 minutes from, I have no idea. We were robbed.

Promising from Berg though.

Fans were magnificent.

To be fair to Robinson he was probably unlucky with the equaliser, he initially made the save but it rebounded off of Novak's trailing leg

[rog of the rovers]

My thoughts

Firstly, the fans were excellent throughout, great to see everyone getting behind Berg and I certainly have mixed feelings walking away from the game, but probably more positives than negatives.

I thought we started well and even could have been ahead after a couple of minutes, Rochina had a magnificent long range effort which was brilliantly saved by the Town keeper. We also had about 4 or 5 corners and were certainly on top, but once again a moment of sloppy defending cost us.

Scott Dann made a silly tackle when Novak wasn't really going anywhere, gave away the free kick and again sloppy defending allowed Town to take the lead,

Unlike under Kean though I thought we responded well, got back to basics, kept hold of the ball well and although the goal was a little out of the blue (great finish btw) we didn't deserve to go in behind.

Into the second half and the 46-75 minute mark were a joy to behold, kept the ball well, Murphy and Rochina linked up brilliantly in the middle of the park and we deservedly took the lead, confident penalty from Murphy.

The next ten minutes was textbook Rovers, inviting pressure which lead to a brilliant Olsson block and a great save from Robbo, but it seemed as we had weathered the storm. Substitues Simon and Rosado had some neat touches and Simon nearly scored a wonderful goal, forcing a fine save from Smithies.

The equaliser all started from a Rosado 'chip' what he was thinking I'll never know, but the ball went for a throw in, then route one where Etuhu, Hanley and Dann all went for the same ball allowing Novak to scramble home his second.

Felt gutted leaving the stadium, but similarly the green shoots of recovery are there, the style is definitely different and in Rochina and Rhodes we have Championship Match winners.

Rankings

Robinson - 6, not much to do, probably should have done better for the equaliser, but did make a great save 10 minutes earlier. Nice to see him try and build from the back.

Henley - 6, Solid again at right back, doesn't offer much going forward but better than Orr (IMO)

Dann - 6, Old fashioned Dann tonight, as poor as I've seen him in a while, gave away a sloppy free kick for their first goal. It seemed as though the booking affected his game.

Hanley - 6, Same as Dann really, looked shaky at times, although his distribution was good.

Martin Olsson - 7, Got forward well and made a brilliant block in the second half

Formica - 6, Worked hard for the team going forward and backward, end product is still lacking at times, but is a real grafter.

Murphy - 7, Best game in a Rovers shirt, linked up well with Rochina and kept things ticking over in the centre of the park. More of the same please Mr Murphy!

Etuhu - 5, I'm a big Dickson fan, but he was poor tonight, gave the ball away on a consistent basis and gave away a couple of cheap free kicks, probably shouldn't have got involved in the header leading to the equaliser.

Marcus Olsson - 7, Some nice runs and linked up well with Martin down the left, perhaps went looking for the penalty, but his pace is a real asset to the team

Rochina - 8, Ruben continues to frustrate, but he can be the difference at this level. I'll bet Huddersfield were happy to see the back of him, but to be fair to Berg he looked tired towards the end of the match. Could have scored a couple on another night.

Rhodes - 7, One chance, one goal. Can't help but feel as though a bit more service and he'd score even more. Good to see the majority of Town fans give him a good reception.

SUBS

Simon - 6, Some nice touches, did his job defensively and had a brilliant effort in stoppage time. Maybe with a couple more games he could do a job down the right hand side?

Rosado - 5, Again don't want to be too critical and he looked useful going forward, but his sloppy chip ultimately lead to the equaliser!

Not the finished article by any means, and old habits certainly do die hard, but at times (and I stress AT TIMES) we looked like a team more than capable of getting automatic promotion.

Lets not forget this is only Berg's 5th day in charge.

Bring on Saturday, get yourself to Ewood and lets keep moving forward.

[Dansher1dan]

Really heartening to see the positive reaction to the 94th minute heartbreaking hammer blow. I agree with all the sensible, mature, considered views but I am totally devastated at our inability to ensure we held onto the ball with 15 seconds to go. Any professional would (should)have the ability to retain possession of the ball, Rosado was under no pressure but tried something clever. Right at this moment that totally p****s me off, I'm spectacularly devastated at his lack of professionalism. I may regret singling out the young lad in the morning but right now it hurts like hell.

Good performance, well played Rovers, plenty of reasons for optimism under Henning...............................but sick to my stomach.

Happy days.

Felt exactly the same coming off the ground having calmed down alittle it was inexperience that made him try the through ball hopefully he's learn't a valuble lesson tonight

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Henley - 6, Solid again at right back, doesn't offer much going forward but better than Orr (IMO)

Corrected for you

Great post....just saw the goals on SSN....their first goal was a foul on Hanley I thought....Novak clearly pulled him back, much more than Balotelli tonight which was also a foul imo.

Lovely pass and finish for Rhodes'.

The penalty, he does catch our player but he looks to have played the ball first...will need to see it again and from different angles.....lovely penalty from Murphy and I'm glad it looked to have meant a lot to him...as well as being glad he apparently had a good game tonight.

Their equaliser is unfortunate.....it looked like it came of Etuhu....if not, he's miles offside....oh well, would have loved the win but a point is good considering it's only been 5 days or however long.

I'm optimistic for the season and I can't wait for Saturday....although it will be another tough test.

[Brfcrule1]

ben 1142 wrote: it was deserved. 2-2, the ref gave you that dodgy penalty which changed the game. we changed from 3 to 2 in the middle and losing our control of the centre, could have been a different game if the ref had not done that. I will take a point on this occasion though. Onwards and upwards for the Town.

You must definitely have been watching a different game to me that penalty was as clear as day Markus Olsson was in space about to pull the trigger the defender gets none of the ball inexplicably chops the boy down there was nothing dodgy about the penalty if the player goes to ground in the box he has to time it right or it's a pen you can't even argue he got any of the ball then caught Markus on the follow through look at the replay again never at any point does he take any of the ball just the man and to say it could have been a different game is just plainly insulting and it could by the same token be stated quite clearly the town 2nd equaliser should never have stood as he scored a minute after the normal regulation time of 4 mins.

[USABlue]

Palace winning big...

Mick Mccarthy have it difficult

Where's Jim?

[ImpactHTFC]

Another Huddersfield fan here. Thought a draw was a fair result, even though you feel disappointed and us delighted at the timing of the equaliser. Rhodes took his goal like we know he can - playing on the last man and finishing calmly. There weren't too many clear cut chances, you had a lot of shots from long range from Rochina who I thought was the best player on the park, we had a decent number of crosses with no one anywhere near the end of them. I thought it at the time and having seen it again, it wasn't a penalty. Lynch clearly gets the ball, and if the referee was really certain he'd have blown straight away and sent Lynch off. The ball went off at the angle of the tackle and the liner 10 yards away wasn't interested.Thought the rolls on the floor from your player were a tad excessive... A couple of scrappy goals from us but we'll take it. Decent game, nice to have some atmosphere for once and great from our point of view for Novak to get some goals whilst Vaughan and Beckford are out. All the best for the season bar 17th April.

Edit: A squashed video of goals here for anyone interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtwdXpxnvDQ&feature=share&list=UU5Q5lumNTnaDdYcoAu4uqmw

[USABlue]

Henning Berg needs to take some advice from a man who knows how to shore up leaky defences...... Eric Black. We won't get anywhere this season until we stop conceding goals - end of story.

Silly me I thought you were going to say Mick McCarthy

[rovermagic]

I can't believe how negative nearly half the posters are. Our best performance for ages. A manager 100% blue and white, who's honest and really knows what he's doing. Rochina is tops. As of course is Rhodes. Let's all get behind the club.

[RevidgeBlue]

Silly me I thought you were going to say Mick McCarthy

Ouch.

Not seen any of last night's game but my main hope was that Berg would draw a line in the sand as to what level of performance was acceptable and what was not and indeed we do we appear to have seen a marked improvement.

Delighted if Rochina and Rhodes are finally going to be a fixture up front. It's also good imo to see players who hadn't previously featured like Henley and Rosado getting a chance to stake their claim notwithstanding the latter seems to have made a silly mistake tonight.

Onwards and upwards.

[Steve Moss]

Why, is Berg deaf?

Charlton 5 2 Cardiff

Very cool.

Lets not forget this is only Berg's 5th day in charge.

A point away is excellent. Berg seems to be making progress. Looking forward to 3 points at home.

[arbitro]

Lots of optimism from me about the performance. Of course it's disappointing that we couldn't see the game out but the group I travelled with all agreed that there was a different 'feel' to the way we played, particularly in the second half. We played a passing game which for large parts was good but occasionally we gave away cheap possession. Whatever Henning is trying to do won't come overnight and we should all be patient and stop the knee jerk reactions and infantile comments. If we can be in the pack in January and Henning is allowed to bring in some new players I have no reason to believe that we won't at least make the play-offs.

I also thought that Danny Murphy looked like he was taking extra responsibility in the second half. He showed that he can be a leader as well as a very good player at this level.

Still lots of room for improvement but also plenty of heart from the overall performance.

[CapeTownRover]

im just happy that Rochina and Simon are now playing. They are quality players, and imo they offer alot more than Gamst, CKR and Dunn. Although, i think Dunn can still do a job for us.

We really need to address the service to Rhodes, because the more good service we give him, well the more he will score.

I hope Berg enters the loan market for an experienced, or at least a solid defender.

[SAS]

Another Huddersfield fan here. Thought a draw was a fair result, even though you feel disappointed and us delighted at the timing of the equaliser. Rhodes took his goal like we know he can - playing on the last man and finishing calmly. There weren't too many clear cut chances, you had a lot of shots from long range from Rochina who I thought was the best player on the park, we had a decent number of crosses with no one anywhere near the end of them. I thought it at the time and having seen it again, it wasn't a penalty. Lynch clearly gets the ball, and if the referee was really certain he'd have blown straight away and sent Lynch off. The ball went off at the angle of the tackle and the liner 10 yards away wasn't interested.Thought the rolls on the floor from your player were a tad excessive... A couple of scrappy goals from us but we'll take it. Decent game, nice to have some atmosphere for once and great from our point of view for Novak to get some goals whilst Vaughan and Beckford are out. All the best for the season bar 17th April.

Edit: A squashed video of goals here for anyone interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtwdXpxnvDQ&feature=share&list=UU5Q5lumNTnaDdYcoAu4uqmw

Why did udders fans boo Rhodes at the end when he went to clap every stand?

I was under the impression he left on good terms. He seems a very very dignified person....

[Rover_Shaun]

And it was 4:50 when they scored

When will people realise it's a MINIMUM amount of extra time?