[Archived] Manchester City v Rovers Third Round Replay

[Howler]

Disagree.

They played without fear or pressure and our players will have learned some invaluable lessons tonight. They will benefit from playing against some of the best players the Premier League has to offer.

Agree with this. Players like cairney would have loved testing themselves against the best and it should spur some of our players on to improve.

As others have said, I think we did as well as could be expected. Other than Dann (injured?) and Rhodes/gestede wasn't that a first choice 11?Not sure where the complaints of a weakened team come from.

First half was excellent and second half they were just clinical, scoring with every shot. Think Robbo in goal in z2nd half would have helped keep the score down. Cairney was excellent in keeping possession and drawing fouls, only one of our players that looked on a similar level to city. Needs to play in the middle, as most of us know.

[McClarky]

For me all their goals were fairly similar, i.e. no pressure on the man putting the ball in the box and not tight enough in the box to stop them scoring. You can get away with being sloppy in our league but in the Prem they just punich you. Hanley needs to learn a big lesson from that in particular. We did well in midfield and City didn't play well but if you don't get the basics right you've no chance in a game like that. We seemed to struggle to make any impression against their defenders i the 1st half but did better later on which was encouraging. Cairney was the 1 Rovers player who looked at home, he has time to take a touch and play an intelligent pass when he gets the ball.

[rovers11]

For me all their goals were fairly similar, i.e. no pressure on the man putting the ball in the box and not tight enough in the box to stop them scoring. You can get away with being sloppy in our league but in the Prem they just punich you. Hanley needs to learn a big lesson from that in particular. We did well in midfield and City didn't play well but if you don't get the basics right you've no chance in a game like that. We seemed to struggle to make any impression against their defenders i the 1st half but did better later on which was encouraging. Cairney was the 1 Rovers player who looked at home, he has time to take a touch and play an intelligent pass when he gets the ball.

Think that's a bit harsh. The movement of those strikers was world class. It may look like poor defending but it was good forward play.

[Gav]

We've come a long way in the past 12 months which has culminated in 2 decent performances against the best side in the country.

I personally couldn't be more happy with how far we've come under Bowyer, yes he's inexperienced, yes his team selection and substitutions are suspect at times but he's seen us through a very difficult period and for that we should all be grateful.

Just a quick word on Lowe and DJ, I thought Lowe had a decent game, very busy and covers the hard yards, goes unnoticed most of the time. DJ looked sharp to say hes hardly played, and will be a good asset coming off the bench in the run in.

Things are looking up at last.

[USABlue]

They had 6 shots on target and scored 5

That was some QUALITY finishing. I am not Robbos biggest fan but I cant help but feel he gets to 3 of them. Rhodes on the end of kings chances and its 2 to us. Lowe is so programmed to pass sideways and back he even does it with a header when he is free on the six yard line. Considering who we were up against I think the lads done alright.

@#/? the cup we are going up, I liked that one. Well done all you lads and lasses who went. You made the hairs on me neck stand up. Damn I miss it sometimes.

[rickard]

City were more than a bit lucky to win so easily. I've seen (on the tele) a couple of big Premiership teams go there and get absoultely murdered (should have conceeded double figures). Seemed like tonight everything they hit went in.

Keepers still seem a bit of a concern. Don't know what the point in DJ Campbell is. I've never been impressed by King either - he's fast and not a lot else - what is he doing all day? Obviously not finishing practice (okay, maybe a bit harsh as he's "still young" - but I hope he's not gonna be one of those players that we're still sayng that about when he's past it - like Kieran Dyer and all those other England has-beens).

Apart from that I think we did pretty well - final ball was a bit crap at times and we didn't really get a lucky bounce that could have made all the difference.

Glad that some of our players were "injured" and hopefully they'll be fresh for the much more important games coming up against our play-off rivals. I'd have accepted a pasting tonight it it mean 4 points from the next 2 games.

I agree regarding Campbell. What is he supposed to be good at? He's not fast, can't keep the ball (or even get to it for that matter...) can't put the ball in the net if his life depended on it. He does not have any targetman qualities either. So just a big big waste of time and money.

King created more in 10 minutes after he came on than Campbell has done in the rest of the season. Too bad he can't score either.

[USABlue]

Take Cairney ( who was our best player by a country mile ) out of the equation and nobody really played well. Where was the fire, desire, aggression ? One player got himself booked ( least said about that soonest mended ). For long periods of the game it was like a pre-season friendly.

So we had one player who played well and only got done 5-0. Come on get real. Bigger and better teams have had their asses handed to them at the Etihad. The pace they can attack with amd the quality of their strikers is something even Europes best teams cant handle. So, cut lil ol Blackburn Rovers some slack will you.

[Parsonblue]

I agree regarding Campbell. What is he supposed to be good at? He's not fast, can't keep the ball (or even get to it for that matter...) can't put the ball in the net if his life depended on it. He does not have any targetman qualities either. So just a big big waste of time and money.

King created more in 10 minutes after he came on than Campbell has done in the rest of the season. Too bad he can't score either.

I think Campbell has shown since Christmas that he could be a valuable member of the squad when used in the right position. He was excellent at Leeds and has done well in one or two sub appearances since. In and around the area he has looked decent in playing people in and seems a handy guy to have on the bench. Like Rhodes, he can't play the lone striker role and, just like Rhodes has been in so many away games this season, he became too detached from the rest of the team. However, his goalscoring record in the Championship has been excellent up to coming to Ewood Park so he is certainly worth a place on the bench.

[had.e.nuff]

Thought we did ok last night just different class finishing but we limited them to less chances than liverpool and arsenal.Just got to put that one to bed now and hopefully kick on .

[oreilly]

great spirited performance and we can be proud of that and of our fans but it was glaringly obvious to me that we didn't deal with balls into the box.

I know we are dealing with World class forwards in the peak of their form but i felt at least 2 of those goals were avoidable. too much space was afforded to Man city in our box. I felt Robbo had things a lot more organised in the first half and he was a huge loss. well done and hopefully heads dont drop coming into the weekend

[ABBEY]

city fans here lauding over Cairney.

[FGS5635]

Cairney had another very good game drifitng in from that right hand side. Teams really struggle to pick him up at times from out there

[roversR4ever]

It was always going to be a tough ask.

Their finishing was excellent.

The biggest worry for me was losing Robo - I hope it was precautionary and that he just felt a hamstring twinge. No blame on Eastwod but do wonder if robo might have kept a couple out. Also seems to have a calming effect and be better organised in defence when he plays.

One difference between the two games for me was Gestede. Again no blame on DJ or King but Gestede was far more effective and I do think we would have kept the ball more. Mind you happy to have him fresh for the next game which is far more important in reality. Lets hope Dann and Rhodes were precautionary absences as well. If we can have Dann, Rhodes and Robo available for the next game added to Gestede then im pretty positive.

The real positive is that Cairney continues to play very well - he really is so good at keeping the ball. How we got him for £500k?

Marshall and Taylor still look to be much improved compared to early on in the season

Lowe and Williamson did well. I thought Lowe won a good amount of the ball back in that first half. Williamson shows his experience.

Also great to see Mahoney get a chance for a few mins. He really must be very highly rated and thought of. He certainly did ok as well when he got the ball.

For me there is no reason why we cant hope to get into the play offs. We are a much better team now. Add Evans hopefully in a few weeks then we could have a good strong finish to the season.

[Amo]

I think we acquitted ourselves well last night and everyone connected to the club can hold their heads up high. There's no shame losing to the best, and unfortunately that's what City are. It would've taken an almost faultless performance to get anything out of that game, such is the ruthlessness of City's first rate hitmen. Far better teams than us have visited the Etihad and had their s**t pushed in. That wasn't the case last night, and Pellegrini was magnanimous enough to admit that 5-0 flattered his side. In the first half we frustrated them into long-range efforts, Dzeko blazing over wildly from distance, before that sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time. Second half, I felt we missed Robbo's presence, but even then we could've clawed two goals back for want of better finishing. All in all, I hope it was a learning experience for our young charges and that we use the experience to kick on for the rest of the season.

[onlyonejackwalker]

I think we acquitted ourselves well last night and everyone connected to the club can hold their heads up high. There's no shame losing to the best, and unfortunately that's what City are. It would've taken an almost faultless performance to get anything out of that game, such is the ruthlessness of City's first rate hitmen. Far better teams than us have visited the Etihad and had their s**t pushed in. That wasn't the case last night, and Pellegrini was magnanimous enough to admit that 5-0 flattered his side. In the first half we frustrated them into long-range efforts, Dzeko blazing over wildly from distance, before that sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time. Second half, I felt we missed Robbo's presence, but even then we could've clawed two goals back for want of better finishing. All in all, I hope it was a learning experience for our young charges and that we use the experience to kick on for the rest of the season.

Well said. I knew there would be hysteria from some if they hammered us.

My only gripe is to lose that goal just before half-time from our own free-kick. Bowyer said the lads showed their inexperience at that moment. But he was stood on the touchline and could have insisted sufficient cover stayed back. Pellgrini looked genuinely relieved when that first goal went in and it would have been good to go zip zip at half-time and apply a little pressure to their team.

A good workout for our lads against some cracking players. I was proud of them even if others weren't.

Have to mention our travelling support yet again. Brilliant!!!!

[Mike E]

One of my bosses went last night and said it was the best atmosphere in the last 3years. It was a party and Rovers were a pleasure to watch, given who they were up against.

I only watched on TV but I agree wholeheartedly.

[Tom]

That was some QUALITY finishing. I am not Robbos biggest fan but I cant help but feel he gets to 3 of them. Rhodes on the end of kings chances and its 2 to us. Lowe is so programmed to pass sideways and back he even does it with a header when he is free on the six yard line. Considering who we were up against I think the lads done alright.

Kean the cup we are going up, I liked that one. Well done all you lads and lasses who went. You made the hairs on me neck stand up. Damn I miss it sometimes.

The first king chance was a tricky one and rhodes has been poor with headed chances in the last few games so it wouldn't be a gimme by any means but you know he would have scored the second one if he held of the defender the same way

[rog of the rovers]

Proud of the effort. A bonus match if we are being honest, I'm sure had we have gone down 0-1 at Ewood people would have settled for that.

Just too much quality in that City side. A pity we couldn't get through to half time, but a great cross from Fernandinho, bullet header from Negredo. The pass from Kolarov was sublime, Dzeko's two finishes were world class also.

No shame in defeat, great experience for the youngsters, well done to the travelling fans!

[OJRovers]

How anyone can criticise and be negative about last nights performance is beyond me. They have one of the best squads in the world. They have averaged 4 goals per game at home this season and battered Spurs, Utd and Arsenal.

We played exceptionally well and 5-0 was not a fair reflection at all. They didn't have wave after wave of attacks and carve us open at will which is what I expected. They struggled to break us down. When they did get even a sniff of goal their finishing was world class, particularly those Dzeko goals.

We didn't just lump the ball forward, we passed it well, were patient and created a few good openings. Lowe was outstanding in the middle of the park, he was everywhere. Marshall caused them problems and put in some great crosses. Cairney oozed class and I counted that he lost the ball only ONCE.

If we had Dzeko and Negredo up front and they had DJ then we would have won last night. That's how well we played.

Finally, the voice of reason.

[Phil1875]

Lessons from last night:

1) Red should never be our away kit. I know it has been for most of the last 40 years and it's associated with the great occasions like ...er ..and errr .... (Bury promotion night the exception proving rule?). No self-respecting Rovers' fan can obviously ever sing or even speak 'come on you reds' or any other colour ..... and the first corner last night was a perfect example of how it's always a let down.... Half wanted to sing 'come on you blues' and others didn't know what to do. "Yellows Yellows" has always done well in the atmos league table in the past.

2) The song "f * c k the cup we're going up" is what the FA Cup is for when you are a team like us - tragic that it wasn't heard properly last night.

3) Oil (City) will win every trophy possible by record margins for the next 5000 years with the occasional challenge from Gas (Chelsea).

4) Venkys realise they could have bought either James Milner or Tefal Lescott for their entire £24 million investment (destruction).

5) Our fans are fecking magic.

[matt83]

I had a very enjoyable day yesterday wasn't downhearted at all in spite of 5-0. Fans were great just wish we could be like that every week.

City are excellent and their strikers are clinical. Campbell had a shocker but prob made himself 30k for that booking. Henley is poor defensively. Cairney was really good. Dont fancy Eastwood at all.

So looking forward to the league its a mixed bag. The real test is against Forest and derby. If take 4 points from them and beat Barnsley so 7pts from next 3 may just start to believe. Big ask though.

[thenodrog]

Matched there work rate in the first half, good organised defensive display but something must have been said in the second half we were lousy and second to every ball and battle out battled of which there is no excuse for and the players gave up when the third went in. I personally thought Cairney was a shining light whilst good mentions to Henley and Taylor who worked hard, Spurr disappointed me, he's been my POTY so far but looked all at sea in the second half. Lowe was his usual crapy self chasing shadows and passing to the opposite team, he has legs and can run and harry but hes keaning dog kean.

Proud up till half time but the lads let themselves down in the second half, gave up too easily, when your the underdog you run 2 yards to there one yard and you win the headers and tackles - we looked bereft of any idea but a far bigger game on saturday.

You are quick to comment on Lowe being poor and yet you don't mention Williamson. He is too slow both on the ground and in the head on last nights showing. Anybody wanting to pick one deep midfielder from two will have an easy choice imo.

With a big permanent sign in the stadium, "Manchester says thanks, Sheikh Mansour", City fans are probably too embarrassed to make much noise.

Getaway! Thats cringeworthy and vomit inducing!

[FGS5635]

One silver lining to losing is at least we wont be on itv anymore this year and have to listen to the shocking plantpots they employ on there

[Ossydave]

Great day out, result was pretty much as expected.

Got to say, the bar at the Etihad is brilliant too, strange to get a choice of lager and a decent pint these days at a ground, seemed a million times more organised than the shambles at Ewood too!

Great effort by us fans, we need a decent following on Saturday though and for the remainder of the season. Oh apart from the plebs signing the Jordan Rhodes is having a party drivel, oh yeah and the scruffy goon trying to fight some bloke but the 2 women with the said bloke saw the goon off haha, oh dear oh dear.

[thenodrog]

I do find it strange that people are still picking the bones but so many haven't cottoned on to the fact that we went there last night in the full glare of the nation, to avoid media criticsm,give the fans a good day out, have a nice kick around and all without the slightest intention of doing a giant killing act to actually win the match. Our intentions to lose and not progress in the Cup to me are as plain as a pikestaff.