[Archived] Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool QF Replay - 8th April 2015

[ABBEY]

Me!

How can you say that gav? A ST holder IS a Rovers fan the stayaways by definition can most definitely not be described in the same way. Stayaways / part time supporters / fleeting moments / glory hunters / bit part supporters call them what you want but they cannot come under the same description as the people that go week in week out. Im a ST holder but I don't go to away matches except once in a blue moon so I readily accept those who do are more committed than I am.

as for golfers

[thenodrog]

Weren't most of our injuries in defence? That area wasn't the problem. It was our attacking line that was ineffective, and most of our main threats (Rhodes, Cairney, Marshall) were present. Conway's been a first teamer regularly, ditto Williamson and Evans. Gestede not starting was obviously a shame, King I'm not so sure, but either way we had an £8m, 40k a week striker in their place so difficult to say we were weakened.

Henley looked good last night, and deserves a proper run in the team. It's not like we're overloaded in the RB position. Baptiste/Killa made a good central pairing. Olsson worked hard on the left, too. If that was our back four next season, with the likes of Lowe (RB), Duffy and Hanley as back up I wouldn't be too concerned.

The issue will be up top, as we're not going to get very far with Brown or Varney toiling by themselves up front.

Cost and earnings are irrelevent in judging a player. It's all about performance.

The hyperbole this morning is outstanding - the telegraph says 'when once there was chickens on the pitch now stands Lions'

We did ok but we lost let's not rewrite history, Bolton put up as much of a fight as we did and without a daft red may have beat them.

A note to remember - if Wolves beat Birmingham and we fail to beat Reading our season (a season where promotion was the aim) is mathematically over with 5 games left. That is a truly pathetic attempt.

ditto at least 15 other championship clubs.

Rubbish as per from you, how the hell can you build someones confidence up by sidelining in favour of playing a midfielder there or centre half even when they've played well Henley was thrown in and out of the side last season and yes was mostly poor leading to calls from me and others that he should be out on loan learning his trade. This season he was in and out again usually as a last resort. He's turned in some decent performances only to be pulled out again by the tinkerman to play his favs or his signings. Over recent months he's proved he's up to the task so should now be first choice.

You're wrong of course. Psychology is definitely not your strong point is it?

[DE.]

Cost and earnings are irrelevent in judging a player. It's all about performance.

It's relevant when judging who we had available and why, isn't it?

[thenodrog]

The column in the paper has no name on it, over the top is an understatement. It's all built up now to roundly criticise the fans after about 12k (8.5) turn up v Millwall then it can all be the fans fault again as GB puts the poor performance down to the lack of crowd/atmosphere.

I mentioned that last night after the match. There'll be about 11000 proper fans on for that match, whilst the plastics will be back to watching Corrie.

[roverstdt]

That is the Rovers support i love to see, even just seeing Rudy getting ready to come how Ewood Park came alive and all we could hear were "Rudy" chants, like we were about to unleash the monster on to the pitch.

I think this season we learnt a few things about the squad.

1) The Youth is Coming Through and starting to deliver: We no longer need to worry about the Right Back position. With Young Adam Henley there I have been impressed by his performances towards the back on this season and deserves a fair crack at the whip for next year. Even Simon Eastwood showed he was more than capable back up should he be required, I am not too sure who I would stick in between the sticks next year, Eastwood or Steele.

2) We need to resign Baptiste.

3) If you have to choose between Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes, I would choose Rudy every single day of the week. The man is a monster, and would suit a lot better in a 4 5 1 formation.

4) Give Killa a new contract ASAP!

5) Grant Hanley needs to step up if he wants a place back into the squad.

For me next season is now or never. We have the ability, and yes it will be hard to operate under the transfer embargo, but for me now the foundations have slowly be laid down. We have a solid right and left back, when Hanley is not present we seem to have a far more stable back 4. The midfield is a bit pick and miss and probably the one area we desperately need to improve in. Willo might have done enough in my eyes to earn an extra season at Rovers. Or else we do need to have a ball winning midfielder and an additional creative midfielder. Overall those are the only areas I really see us needing to improve in.

[Stuart]

Mahoney is on the bench due to players being injured and cup tied NOT because he has been outstanding for under 21's. Read ParsonBlue opinion on his performance this season.

Chaddy. There were 5 minutes left of our season and we have one attacking option on the bench. The problem is not Mahoney it's a manager who is chronically over-cautious. The highlight of last night was the Eastwood shot in the final minute of injury time - something that Bowyer would have prevented if he could.

[windymiller7]

The sickbag gets even more full DE

Bowyer: Win it for Gerrarrrrrrrrrrrrrd !!

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/9795976/win-fa-cup-for-steven-gerrard-gary-bowyer-tells-liverpool

Answer should have been "I don't really care. All I care about is our remaining games"

Tell me about it!

The best response I've ever heard to a question along similar veins was on Monday night after the Bristol C v Swindon game. After all but sealing their promotion to the Championship, the commentator asked one of the Bristol C players (a former Swindon player who'd been given stick off the Swindon fans all game) if he hoped Swindon would join them via the play-offs, his reply? "No!" - Good lad!

Watch that interview Gaz & learn something. You don't have to say you don't want them to win it, but "Win it for Gerrard"?? Come on!

[thenodrog]

as for golfers

I think you've done that to death now Abbey. We still had 50m pa coming in (and most going out to tarry fingered individuals) at that time. The club didn't need my money and I wouldn't give my money to the regime who were running the scam. You obviously chose to subsidise the lavish tax free lifestyle of Dastardly and Muttley but I simply couldn't do it. Should I make this my sig?

[Blue blood]

Our two full backs at times look like frightened rabbits caught in headlights and played hurried and mistimed passes to often as a result. As far as I can see both are currently punching slightly above their natural weight. They are both one or two divisions too high for their ability and if we are to consider a promotion push need replacing with better.

We were giving more and more ground and possession and a Liverpool goal was imminent imo. Bowyer had to do something otherwise the knives would have been out for him not changing things. Putting Gestede on did redress that balance somewhat as the Liverpool CH's were for the first time of the night being outmuscled, although it did also and as a consequence open up play.

Think Den puts it best as to why it was a really stupid move:

At the time he changed to 4-4-2 Chaddy, we were holding up well. We were struggling to get enough posession granted, but that change of tactics, at that time, simply demonstrated how he has no idea of how to change a game for the better. From that point we conceded the midfield to L'pool. They dragged us all over the park from then on. A good manager, seeing his team holding their own at home to a far superior bunch of players - and the game still at 0-0 - would surely have allowed Rogers to make the first move, then try to outthink him.

It looked like another pre-planned 60 minute substitution that took no account of what was happening on the field.

To be fair until the goal at least one of them (Rhodes more often than not) was dropping back. After the goal both pressed up leaving us ridiculously vulnerable. And Gestede coming on did cause them problems. Personally rather than 2 up top I think he should have put Olsson into midfield and Spurr at left back on for Conway. That way we'd have remained 5 in midfield and kept it tight and had the benefit of roughing them up a bit through Gestede.

Sometimes I think you just post the opposite to be controversial, (for example Henley was outstanding last night) and I'm not too sure how giving Liverpool so much more space can be seen as a good move, or even one Gaz was forced into making. It was a bad call.

[Stuart]

OTT in the extreme but I'd take issue with point 6 in particular. Leaving the ground I felt incredibly sad that, not only was it the end of the cup run, but that it was the last really big game we'll see for a long time and the acceleration of our decline.

Let's see what the gates are for the final few home games of the season are first.

Progress? Rebuilding? Recovery? At the moment, all that is off in the future, once Venkys are gone.

Superlative crap from the LT. The idea that we might see Rovers fans in anything close to those sorts of numbers in the league (where it matters) is rubbish. The saddest thing is that if we did we could probably walk this league. So many hangers on and non-Rovers fans in the crowd last night it's untrue.

After Liverpool scored last night the Rovers sections' voices went up several notches. Defiance in the face of adversity? Or jubilant pretend scousers as part of the charade...

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Chaddy. There were 5 minutes left of our season and we have one attacking option on the bench. The problem is not Mahoney it's a manager who is chronically over-cautious. The highlight of last night was the Eastwood shot in the final minute of injury time - something that Bowyer would have prevented if he could.

Who would you have brought Mahoney on for? Marshall? Cairney? Please. I get the point but give it a rest. I'm in no way convinced that Bowyer has the ability to take us up but don't throw yesterday's defeat at his door. Prevented Eastwood's shot? Didn't he encourage the keeper to go up?? Be fair.

[thenodrog]

Screw that 'win it for Gerrard' stuff. What about win it for Dunny? What about win it for Stilhan Petrov / Pretty sure Arsenal or Reading will have equally deserving individuals too. All I see and have ever seen in Gerrard is a good solid club pro with an excellent PR machine.

Think Den puts it best as to why it was a really stupid move:

At the time he changed to 4-4-2 Chaddy, we were holding up well. We were struggling to get enough posession granted, but that change of tactics, at that time, simply demonstrated how he has no idea of how to change a game for the better. From that point we conceded the midfield to L'pool. They dragged us all over the park from then on. A good manager, seeing his team holding their own at home to a far superior bunch of players - and the game still at 0-0 - would surely have allowed Rogers to make the first move, then try to outthink him.

It looked like another pre-planned 60 minute substitution that took no account of what was happening on the field.

To be fair until the goal at least one of them (Rhodes more often than not) was dropping back. After the goal both pressed up leaving us ridiculously vulnerable. And Gestede coming on did cause them problems. Personally rather than 2 up top I think he should have put Olsson into midfield and Spurr at left back on for Conway. That way we'd have remained 5 in midfield and kept it tight and had the benefit of roughing them up a bit through Gestede.

Sometimes I think you just post the opposite to be controversial, (for example Henley was outstanding last night) and I'm not too sure how giving Liverpool so much more space can be seen as a good move, or even one Gaz was forced into making. It was a bad call.

Whats controversial about that? Henley was outstanding but only off the ball. He handled Stirling very well but panicked with the ball at his feet and time and space around him. Too much unforced relinquishing of possession We really need better.

tbh as far as giving possession away he was not on his own. Marshall, Olsson and Evans were guily as charged last night on numerous occasions and as far as Kilgallon!! Can this bloke EVER pass to someone in the same coloured shirt?,

[Gav]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/rovers/news/12879456.Blackburn_Rovers_may_have_lost_to_Liverpool_but_they_rediscovered_part_of_their_soul/?ref=mac

Chris "Flan" Flanaghan wrote it Tomphil

1 "Blackburn Rovers may have lost the match, but they had rediscovered a part of their soul."

2 "A sell-out crowd of 28,415 and the way supporters still cheered in defeat told you that progress has been made, that now there is hope."

3 "Promotion is still a major task that lies ahead. But after two years of rebuilding, fans believed in their team again."

4 "Where once there were chickens on the pitch at Ewood, now there were lions"

5 "The roars of the Rovers fans reached fever pitch in the second half after the introduction of Rudy Gestede from the bench. Victory seemed within their grasp at that point."

6 "Heather Small’s Proud belted out at the final whistle. It could not have been more apt. This felt more like the beginning of a recovery, than the end of a cup run."

Good Grief !!!!!!!

If the Telegraph wanted to gage the feeling of real suuporters it could do worse than to read some of the comment here:

http://www.brfcc.com/mb/index.php/topic/30429-fantastic-rovers-support-v-liverpool/page-1

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Let's see what the gates are for the final few home games of the season are first.

Progress? Rebuilding? Recovery? At the moment, all that is off in the future, once Venkys are gone.

Superlative crap from the LT. The idea that we might see Rovers fans in anything close to those sorts of numbers in the league (where it matters) is rubbish. The saddest thing is that if we did we could probably walk this league. So many hangers on and non-Rovers fans in the crowd last night it's untrue.

After Liverpool scored last night the Rovers sections' voices went up several notches. Defiance in the face of adversity? Or jubilant pretend scousers as part of the charade...

Maybe one of the issues is that some fans actually believe this collection of players is good enough to go up. 'Walk the league'. I'm not so sure. That's not to say we shouldn't have come closer to promotion this season mind you. What I will say though is that progress can be measured in several ways. Success on the pitch is obviously paramount, but considering the turmoil after relegation, it is nice to at least have some degree of calm and continuity at the club. We're not in the papers for the 'wrong' reasons so to speak any more and we've now got a settled side. Its not much but it is an improvement on the Kean era at least.

[tomphil]

Cost and earnings are irrelevent in judging a player. It's all about performance.

ditto at least 15 other championship clubs.

You're wrong of course. Psychology is definitely not your strong point is it?

Don't think for one min it is Psychology though theno it's just been Bowyer floundering. strange how he didn't use the same Psychological approach regarding Hanley until he mysteriously found himself injured on the same day as Duffy

[ABBEY]

Settled ? Not next season it won't be .

[Stuart]

Who would you have brought Mahoney on for? Marshall? Cairney? Please. I get the point but give it a rest. I'm in no way convinced that Bowyer has the ability to take us up but don't throw yesterday's defeat at his door. Prevented Eastwood's shot? Didn't he encourage the keeper to go up?? Be fair.

I've already covered your points. Although I've never blamed Bowyer for losing.

To be clear, because several people seem to be struggling with this one: He did NOT encourage Eastwood to go up.

[Blue blood]

Screw that 'win it for Gerrard' stuff. What about win it for Dunny? What about win it for Stilhan Petrov / Pretty sure Arsenal or Reading will have equally deserving individuals too. All I see and have ever seen in Gerrard is a good solid club pro with an excellent PR machine.

Whats controversial about that? Henley was outstanding but only off the ball. He handled Stirling very well but panicked with the ball at his feet and time and space around him. Too much unforced relinquishing of possession We really need better.

tbh as far as giving possession away he was not on his own. Marshall, Olsson and Evans were guily as charged last night on numerous occasions and as far as Kilgallon!! Can this bloke EVER pass to someone in the same coloured shirt?,

Hardly makes Henley a weak link though does it, especially as every player struggled with that last night? Or Olsson arguably our player of the season. Bit controversial calling those two our weak links.

Equally GB was not forced into going 4-4-2.He could've done a straight swap to get Rudi on (for Rhodes) or if Conway needed to come off, push Olsson forward and bring on Spurr. And I can't recall any of the fans around me wanting Bowyer to go 4-4-2 think people were happy with how we were doing.

[majorstyre]

Enjoyed last nite....however, in the cold light of day it is so sad to see how far we have fallen and continue to fall under the V-Scum...

I know Bowyer had his hands ties with the injuries, but in my heart i still felt he could have done more tactically.....

Henley & Ollsen had excellent games in IMHO..

Marshall was poor for the most.

Rhodes i felt had a good game, considering his shortfallings - not often enough have i seen him trying to bully a centre half

obviously the dynamics changed with the introduction of Rudi, but we had to go for it at some point

Stuart - whilst not encouraging Eastwood to go forward at the end, bowyer was asked the question by the keeper and signaled his agreement

Abbey - where do you sit mate?...

Didnt hear or see any pro-venks at all

[ABBEY]

9:52am Thu 9 Apr 15 Keen O to Get Kean Out says…

French Rover wrote…

Spot-on article Chris. You summed the feelings up perfectly. Proud to be a Rovers always. It was a massive step forward for the club last night with a full house for a televised game, 180 minutes of exciting cup football against a top premiership team packed with internationals, and we only lost by one solitary goal after two battling performances backed by superb support from the Rovers fans.. Pride is definitely restored in the club, now need to go on and finish the season in a bit of style with a few more wins and then the club can get the few remaining issues sorted during the close season and prepare the squad ready for the `real push` for promotion next season. BTW why are some on here bothered by our `extra fans` who went along to Ewood last night? I welcome every last one of them, and hope that they enjoyed the game. Also big thanks to all the Rovers fans for creating such a brilliant atmosphere. Just reminds us all of what the potential support would be like for the Rovers when we get back to the premiership. Which we will. Next season.

In comparison, I watched Burnley V Spurs on Sky and you could hear people snoring! Yes totally agree. Back on the road to success, Venkys will take a lot from this - another lesson learnt about Fan Power, Once the FFP is worked around and the chequebook is out we will be competing for the PL and purchasing PL Players/Staff etc. A Personal thanks to Venkys for their continued support RTID

speechless

[EgyptianPete]

I've already covered your points. Although I've never blamed Bowyer for losing.

To be clear, because several people seem to be struggling with this one: He did NOT encourage Eastwood to go up.

I also thought that bowyer was trying to stop Eastwood,thankfully he ignored him, any way the game Babtiste outstanding, i enjoyed the atmosphere although some retard at the back of the Blackburn end was spouting crap, very bad language lots of kids around I don't think it was necessary.

As for Bowyer I think he is afraid of losing badly, sets the team up not to lose but this stops us from playing, at times in the first half Jordan won the ball passed it to Marshall who had no one to pass it to as we had no one else up front, very slow from midfield, or where they told to hold their positions, i also think the players are no where near as fit as they should be, but that's what happens with second rate coaches could also explain all the injuries and why it takes for ever to get them back again.

Still we gave Liverpool a game, the fans were tremendous pity there will only be the usual there for the next game. Here's wishing the Venkys saw what there could be, get us a proper manager slash the debts lift the embargo and get us promoted. (now off the drugs) ha ha

[blueboy3333]

I've already covered your points. Although I've never blamed Bowyer for losing.

To be clear, because several people seem to be struggling with this one: He did NOT encourage Eastwood to go up.

to be clear because you're the one struggling with it; - Eastwood looked at Bowyer as he was waving everyone else forward and Bowyer looked at him and said 'Go' and threw his arms towards the oppo's box. I watched it, it happened, it's not important except to those who want to have a childish dig at the manager.

[tomphil]

to be clear because you're the one struggling with it; - Eastwood looked at Bowyer as he was waving everyone else forward and Bowyer looked at him and said 'Go' and threw his arms towards the oppo's box. I watched it, it happened, it's not important except to those who want to have a childish dig at the manager.

Andy Bayes on radio lancs broadcast it to thousands, others in the ground had the opposite impression to you. Without seeing it again we don't know the truth so now who is being childish because people don't agree with them ?

[EgyptianPete]

Andy Bayes on radio lancs broadcast it to thousands, others in the ground had the opposite impression to you. Without seeing it again we don't know the truth so now who is being childish because people don't agree with them ?

Just heard Simon Eastwoods interview, he said the manager only wanted me to go to the halfway line, i saw his arm waving so i thought he meant go all the way (which he did) so some are half right.

[blueboy3333]

Andy Bayes on radio lancs broadcast it to thousands, others in the ground had the opposite impression to you. Without seeing it again we don't know the truth so now who is being childish because people don't agree with them ?

the person saying 'and for all those struggling with it' like a patronising clown.