FULL-TIME: Blackburn Rovers 1 Chelsea 1 (From This Is Lancashire)

Phil Jones.....A star is born!

MidlandRover85 wrote:
Phil Jones.....A star is born!

i raise a glass to that .... this guy is inspirational. but rather than be happy for draw ... i kinda feel 2 points lost ... chelsea was there for the taking. Bad decision to take kalinic off ...took off dunn , good decision but replace with emerton ? bad decisions but a lucky but hard fought draw.

miqaayil wrote:

MidlandRover85 wrote: Phil Jones.....A star is born!

i raise a glass to that .... this guy is inspirational. but rather than be happy for draw ... i kinda feel 2 points lost ... chelsea was there for the taking. Bad decision to take kalinic off ...took off dunn , good decision but replace with emerton ? bad decisions but a lucky but hard fought draw.

Could not agree more!

i think if we had someone to play along side kalinic i really think all 3 points would have been ours today! (striker a must in summer)

1st half was poor by both sides!

2nd we were the better team until the last 10 mins!

When i saw Jones on the team sheet, i hold my hands up and admit, i thought oh god, cricket score. but the boy was outstanding! just hope he can keep it up!

great result and a great debut from phil jones. the kalinic decision aside i thought sam got it spot on, whatever he said at half time had a great effect and we were a differant kettle of fish after the break. but the day belongs to jones....my prediction...a future rovers captain! well done phill keep it up

I'll go one better than that....if his debut is anything to go by and he keeps up the hard work he will be in the heart of the england defence. The guy has got the next John Terry all over him (but with a cleaner d1ck). Only by the time he reaches England level he wont be playing for us!

Great point and I take any point against a Big 4 team now even at home.
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Whilst I have been critical of Sam's style I will accept that against the Big 4 it is OK to play that way and so the fans who booed when he took Kalinic off were wrong. We had frustrated and matched Chelsea with that style and fresh legs was all that was needed and so it proved.
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It is when we play like that against non Big 4 teams I moan and rightly so because it was not pretty!
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What a debut from the young lad who must have been gutted not to be with his mates in the semi final of the F A youth cup but what a reward instead. Samba though was immense and a great example to the young lad - "There's Only One Jones!"
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And "The Skunk" owed us that superb header after failing to cover for Olsson for Chelsea's goal.
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If we show that spirit next Sunday ( And get at that Dingle defense BS!) we should collect 3 points at T'Turf and send them back to oblivion!
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31st........

Even against a poorer than usual Chelsea side it it would have been suicice to have gone with two up, reducing numbers in midfield. Kalinic was poor and Jason Roberts looked good when he came on.

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We managed to hang on in spite of a poor first half performance and matched Chelsea in the second half.

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Samba and Jones were excellent and I thought that both Salgado and Diouf had good games.

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Whatever Sam said to them at half time worked wonders. A big improvement was required and duly delivered.

Morst wrote:
Great point and I take any point against a Big 4 team now even at home. . Whilst I have been critical of Sam's style I will accept that against the Big 4 it is OK to play that way and so the fans who booed when he took Kalinic off were wrong. We had frustrated and matched Chelsea with that style and fresh legs was all that was needed and so it proved. . It is when we play like that against non Big 4 teams I moan and rightly so because it was not pretty! . What a debut from the young lad who must have been gutted not to be with his mates in the semi final of the F A youth cup but what a reward instead. Samba though was immense and a great example to the young lad - "There's Only One Jones!" . And "The Skunk" owed us that superb header after failing to cover for Olsson for Chelsea's goal. . If we show that spirit next Sunday ( And get at that Dingle defense BS!) we should collect 3 points at T'Turf and send them back to oblivion! . 31st........

my friend i disagree, managers are paid to look at the flow of the game, flow of oppoition team and our team, its ok to start with defensive style against the ohh "BIG 4" but as the game rolled on .... it did not look like that ... they were there for the taking ... low on morale and ready for slaughter ... we should have put in another striker , switch the style and went on offenive ... but no ... we just wanted to play it out , should have tried Linganzi or basturk as dunn did not look it at all ... hope we don't go defensive with birmingham and burnley ....

Solid defense from the lads in the last 15 mins!! COYB!

We played some really good stuff today and battled superbly for a point. Whether you agree with taking Kalinic off or not, we equalised after the change so shouldn't be criticised too harshly as it worked.
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When I looked at the teamsheets before the game I have to admit I feared the worst, the Superstars of Chelsea playing an injury depleted Rovers team - but we were superb and with a little luck could have won it.
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Well done to Phil Jones; what a Premiership debut against one of the best attacks in Europe. And anybody that wrote off Michel Salgado after one dodgy half against Spurs should steer clear of any kind of football management, the guy was immense today. It was good to see him win almost every battle with Anelka and co!

Cracking result today but we were very poor. Maybe Chelsea made us looked poor, Im not sure.

I thought we brought them down to our level in the second half and was delighted to see what i think was our only shot on goal go in.

Nzonzi had a nightmare too, his head wasnt there today but im sure this was a one off. Diouf had a shocker apart from the goal.

As for the booing when Kalinic come off i thought it was out of order. Why risk playing him for 90 mins in a 'bonus' game that we were expected to get beat in, when we have 2 massive games coming up. Play 2 up front in the next 2 games yes!! But not today!!!

Cracking result though boys and I raise a glass to Mr Jones tonight!!!

miqaayil wrote:

Morst wrote:
Great point and I take any point against a Big 4 team now even at home. . Whilst I have been critical of Sam's style I will accept that against the Big 4 it is OK to play that way and so the fans who booed when he took Kalinic off were wrong. We had frustrated and matched Chelsea with that style and fresh legs was all that was needed and so it proved. . It is when we play like that against non Big 4 teams I moan and rightly so because it was not pretty! . What a debut from the young lad who must have been gutted not to be with his mates in the semi final of the F A youth cup but what a reward instead. Samba though was immense and a great example to the young lad - "There's Only One Jones!" . And "The Skunk" owed us that superb header after failing to cover for Olsson for Chelsea's goal. . If we show that spirit next Sunday ( And get at that Dingle defense BS!) we should collect 3 points at T'Turf and send them back to oblivion! . 31st........

my friend i disagree, managers are paid to look at the flow of the game, flow of oppoition team and our team, its ok to start with defensive style against the ohh "BIG 4" but as the game rolled on .... it did not look like that ... they were there for the taking ... low on morale and ready for slaughter ... we should have put in another striker , switch the style and went on offenive ... but no ... we just wanted to play it out , should have tried Linganzi or basturk as dunn did not look it at all ... hope we don't go defensive with birmingham and burnley ....

I can't win - I praise us and still get stick!!
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No seriously miqaayil I love how positive you are but I would like to try it out (more positive approach) against Birmingham and Burnley first rather than Chelsea - we could have lost if we had pushed on because we did look tired in the last 10 mins - NZonzie had cramp I think?
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This is a day to praise the lads getting a point against the famous bookies Odd's!
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31st.......

Cracking result and Big Sam's tactics were spot on.I thought we were going to get a right hiding after 5 mins but we came out the second half a different team.The defending was superb and Big Chris and his debut boy were outstanding.I remember Jay Mac having similar games so lets hope Phil carries on improving and keeps his feet on the ground.

I thought every player played their heart out today, inspired by Dunny in the first half and Jones, they all really gave it a go. Salgado played some great passes as well as defending for his life. Andrews had the best game I've ever seen him play. Nzonzi was immense. And even if Diouf is slow and useless a lot of the time, he was a good outlet from defence and scored a great goal.
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All in all a magnificent performance and thoroughly deserved draw despite Sam. More please!

jogalot wrote:
I thought every player played their heart out today, inspired by Dunny in the first half and Jones, they all really gave it a go. Salgado played some great passes as well as defending for his life. Andrews had the best game I've ever seen him play. Nzonzi was immense. And even if Diouf is slow and useless a lot of the time, he was a good outlet from defence and scored a great goal.
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All in all a magnificent performance and thoroughly deserved draw despite Sam. More please!

Where you watching the same game as me pal?

I thought we were pants, Salgado, Samba and Jones did have a good game though.

Thought Diouf and Nzonzi had a shocker, how many times did they give the ball away stupidly trying to be too 'fancy'.

Great team spirit to nick the draw but a poor performance.

Morst wrote:

miqaayil wrote:

Morst wrote: Great point and I take any point against a Big 4 team now even at home. . Whilst I have been critical of Sam's style I will accept that against the Big 4 it is OK to play that way and so the fans who booed when he took Kalinic off were wrong. We had frustrated and matched Chelsea with that style and fresh legs was all that was needed and so it proved. . It is when we play like that against non Big 4 teams I moan and rightly so because it was not pretty! . What a debut from the young lad who must have been gutted not to be with his mates in the semi final of the F A youth cup but what a reward instead. Samba though was immense and a great example to the young lad - "There's Only One Jones!" . And "The Skunk" owed us that superb header after failing to cover for Olsson for Chelsea's goal. . If we show that spirit next Sunday ( And get at that Dingle defense BS!) we should collect 3 points at T'Turf and send them back to oblivion! . 31st........

my friend i disagree, managers are paid to look at the flow of the game, flow of oppoition team and our team, its ok to start with defensive style against the ohh "BIG 4" but as the game rolled on .... it did not look like that ... they were there for the taking ... low on morale and ready for slaughter ... we should have put in another striker , switch the style and went on offenive ... but no ... we just wanted to play it out , should have tried Linganzi or basturk as dunn did not look it at all ... hope we don't go defensive with birmingham and burnley ....

I can't win - I praise us and still get stick!! . No seriously miqaayil I love how positive you are but I would like to try it out (more positive approach) against Birmingham and Burnley first rather than Chelsea - we could have lost if we had pushed on because we did look tired in the last 10 mins - NZonzie had cramp I think? . This is a day to praise the lads getting a point against the famous bookies Odd's! . 31st.......

ohh pls man .. we all brothers supporting our fav rovers

absolutely ... the issue is we don't try it with teams like birmingham and burnley, seriously we really have a good team and an excellent upcomming talents ... we need to be more adventrous ... that's all i ask for ... cheers mate

talking all that , we must not take away a great result and a great performance

And there's me thinking I was a moaner... You were watching a different game, mshaw. Nzonzi won nearly everything he went for. Even Diouf tried his best. OK we weren't great with every pass but what do you expect? The mistakes weren't all that many and can be forgiven because of the heart and determination that was shown by them all.

jogalot wrote:
And there's me thinking I was a moaner... You were watching a different game, mshaw. Nzonzi won nearly everything he went for. Even Diouf tried his best. OK we weren't great with every pass but what do you expect? The mistakes weren't all that many and can be forgiven because of the heart and determination that was shown by them all.

Ha ha, nevermind, at least we got the result though and thats another point in the bag.

I just felt it was one of our 'poorer' performances and i think Chelsea probably made us look worse than what we actually were.

3 points mid week will do us nicely, i can see Kalinic starting up from with Roberts

Great performance and Jones simply superfly! Got to hand it to Big Sam, the players have great spirit and mixed up play well. Some of Nzonzi's passes were amazing too - the future's bright, it's blue and white.

jogalot wrote:
And there's me thinking I was a moaner... You were watching a different game, mshaw. Nzonzi won nearly everything he went for. Even Diouf tried his best. OK we weren't great with every pass but what do you expect? The mistakes weren't all that many and can be forgiven because of the heart and determination that was shown by them all.

I am totally with you on this one!! Maybe I've got blue and white tinted glasses on, but I think Mshaw was watching a totally different game to me. Well done boys, you showed great spirit, grit and determination and thoroughly deserved the point!

Well mshaw,seems i was watching the same game as jogalot.I actually said to my mates that if it wasn't Jones' debut,my MoM would have gone to Nzonzi.His best game, considering he was playing against a 500 zillion pound midfield. Some of you really do need a reality check.

Sorry,forgot to say, 19 year old Nzonzi

Well , well my Rovers chums. Well done with the result today a very good point.
Was it a fair result? I have heard nothing about the game , will watch MOTD2 tonight.
Well the count down is now on for part 2 of hopefully an exciting Derby.
Now is there a chance we could have 3 points please, pretty please lol.
Just so we can have a fighting chance of staying up lol. I know you want us little Clarets to go down but come on you have plenty of points on the board now , dont be greedy lol.
Anyway after next Sunday good luck for the remainder of the season . UTC

All credit to the defence for giving Jason Brown a much quieter game than he might have expected and credit to Jason himself for a fantastic save towards the end of the game.

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Nzonzi, Diouf, Salgado, Jones, Samba, Roberts all excellent. Kalinic poor for once.

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A result which should buoy us up for two more very tough games before the end of the week.

Chuffed to bits after that game. Gritty performance. To get a point was trific, thought we might have got the 3.
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MoM young Jones, oustanding.What a debut! Keep your feet on the ground young man and your future is very bright indeed.
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We battle and scrap, that's what we have to do against these Big4. Good that we didn't lie down and get rolled over.
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The whole squad deserves praise for this result. The age of the squad is getting younger, youth and experience, always a nice blend.
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Salgado was the man we hoped he might be. Spit? It was his sort of battle. Andrews? Time people got off his back. Big Chris? Outstanding.
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Looking good. Our time will come!!!!

bertiebee1 wrote:
Well , well my Rovers chums. Well done with the result today a very good point. Was it a fair result? I have heard nothing about the game , will watch MOTD2 tonight. Well the count down is now on for part 2 of hopefully an exciting Derby. Now is there a chance we could have 3 points please, pretty please lol. Just so we can have a fighting chance of staying up lol. I know you want us little Clarets to go down but come on you have plenty of points on the board now , dont be greedy lol. Anyway after next Sunday good luck for the remainder of the season . UTC

Shut up Dingle , i hope you go DOWN !

Hells bells, talk about the glass being half empty... I thought today was a magnificent result. Ok there could be said that Julie was absent in midfield and we stood off far too much but I for one wasn't expecting anything today (talk before the game was between a 2 and 4 nil loss to be honest) so it was a much welcomed and in the end deserved point.
Being sat in the rivershed could someone please confirm if brown touched the shot late on over the bar? If so then save of the season contender me thinks!

While i have got to be happy with a point against Chelsea, I thought we were poor in the first half to the point we looked like 'Rabbits cought in the headlights '
When we went at them they did not like it,Sam needs to let them off the leash, They are some good players(Rovers) ,But you can tell he is holding them back at times with the all too safe play.I agree with the above comment taking Kalinic off,WHY!,We should have gone two up front and made the defence work harder.We needed someone with some pace,And things could have been different for us.
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The second half we deserved the goal, Some little gripes, When the Chelsea player went down with nothing wrong with him ,Salgado should have gone past him and carried on with play ,And Keith doing his headless chicken routine running round, Doing a lot of finger pointing,But not getting stuck in and doing some tackling(The Keith lovers will love this).Drogba what a player, He just loves the floor, Every chance he gets, Down there he goes, You could see JR upset that he was been upstaged in that dept.
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But i must send a lot of praise to the lad Jones, He rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in, Well done, Lets just hope he now he sees more of the first team on the play today, And that when other players are fit that Sam does not put him back in the box , So to speak..But a good point against a top four team, And us heading to right side of the Prem table.

Hasslem, You comment about Sam helping Taggart out, How true your comment eh......

Just got back from the game and had the unfortunate pleasure of running into some Chelski fans also on their way back to London who amongst their anger at falling behind in the title race were full of praise for our second half performance...they said they imagined a easy 3 points after the first 15 mins...lol
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I want to put this in perspective..Chelsea are a worldclass outfit...with the exception of Turnbull their team is full of internationals...and after suffering elimination from the Champions Lge on the back of a very poor performance and Man U winning we we were looking at being on the end of a nasty backlash
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However I think we had a brilliant second half...Sam's man management with his half time team talk was clearly visable...whoever questions his ability as a manager needs to seriously look at themselves as the team I saw come out in the second half was completely different to the one that went down the tunnel at half time...
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Also to the fools who booed at Kalinic being taken off have you no shame?! I understand the frustration but Kalinic wasn't having the desired effect...if we went two up top I recon we would have been over run in midfield and be looking at a 2 or 3-0 loss...brave but good decision by Sam especially considering Kalinic will be fresher come next weekend where I rekon we could see the benefits
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Phil Jones...don't have enough superlatives to describe how immense this guy was...believe he only just started playing in the reserves 14 months ago...Premership debut against a front line that scored almost 60 goals between them? Well done son...don't wana get carried away as it only one game so no talk of England just yet but defo the promise there...so good to see Sam having the faith in the youngsters...watch out for Michael Potts he looks like an up and comer for next season
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Great games had by Salgado and Samba too...Salgado's cross for Diouf was pinpoint..take note everyone who critised his acquisition...other than the assist he was full of running and made some great tackles...Samba was fearless and confident although had my heart in my mouth when Anelka dived under pressure when through on goal
Great finish by Diouf...all I'm gona say cos thought he was poor other than the goal!
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Great result in all...gutted not to be there next week but hope the team and support do us proud

Mike Costa says:

Sorry, but Ive got to agree with MShaw about one thing. N'zonzi and Diouf were awful. We all know Spits limitations, but has anyone analysed N'Zonzis passes to see what ratio go backwards towards our goal? I know he's a defensive midfielder, but how often does he halt a potential attack by taking the easy option and passing back? He needs to be more positive.

As for BFS being some sort of tactical genius, where were the clever tactics in the first half? We were awful. Why didn't he send them out fired up for the first 45 mins, not wait until the interval to get a sense of urgency into the situation.
Thankfully the centre backs were great today. How often have we been able to say that this season? Otherwise we would have got nothing from the match

Time to cut myself a large piece of humble pie. I didn't give us a chance against Chelsea.Far play, Allardyce got his tactics spot on and each and every player gave their lot for the team.Special mention for young Phil Jones the lad looked a seasoned Pro against Drogba and deserved the man of the match award.If we can get a win on Wednesday then its going to be party time at the Turf.Well done to everybody, players and supporters alike for playing a vital part in pushing the club a point nearer to securing our Premiership status.

nzonzi was awful, he won a few headers yes but his passing was very poor. the kalinic desicion was spot on, if we had 2 strikers on we would of left gaps and probs of lost it just seemed bad at the time cause we was loosing but you have got to give credit to big sam. defence solid all game although the midfield was poor the first half, second half there was a different rovers, we pressed them all 2nd half and deservedly got are goal. anyone told me it was going to be 1-1 before the match id of bit there fingers off. now lets move on to birmingham. we gotta win or this chelsea draw counts for nothing. come on lads!!!!

Shame about the booing when Roberts came one. Typical friggin Blackburn End......Stand up for the Darwen End!!

And While Im in a bad mood. Paul Friggin Yates. If u dont know him he's on the "fans" panel in the printed version of this rag.

Paul U are the biggest boo boy Ive ever met. Just dont renew ur season ticket eh? Rovers are better off without negative people like you. And b4 anyone says....I dont give a rats arse how long he's been going on ewood....

Joey99 wrote:
Shame about the booing when Roberts came one. Typical friggin Blackburn End......Stand up for the Darwen End!!

before i start, i wasn`t one of them that were booing and i was disgusted by it aswel, but they weren`t booing Roberts, They were booing the decision to take Kalinic off,

Mind you, the ones that did boo were made to look pretty stupid as i thought it was an excellent decision at that time and fully paid dividends,

SUPPORT THE WHOLE TEAM ALL THE WAY OR GO AWAY, Simple as that,

BLUUUE ARRRMY

sick of hearing all this Bullocks about one upfront, even united and liverpool only play 1 upfront. it does work but their midfielders do support the frontman.we would get slaghtered most weeks with two upfont in this league

Dynamite. wrote:

bertiebee1 wrote:
Well , well my Rovers chums. Well done with the result today a very good point. Was it a fair result? I have heard nothing about the game , will watch MOTD2 tonight. Well the count down is now on for part 2 of hopefully an exciting Derby. Now is there a chance we could have 3 points please, pretty please lol. Just so we can have a fighting chance of staying up lol. I know you want us little Clarets to go down but come on you have plenty of points on the board now , dont be greedy lol. Anyway after next Sunday good luck for the remainder of the season . UTC

Shut up Dingle , i hope you go DOWN !

Oh come on, give the bloke a chance. BertieBee is the most sporting and charitable Burnley fan on this forum!
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So much so, in fact, that I suspect he may be a crypto-Rovers fan looking to escape the clutches of the Dark Side of the Force.
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Come on over, Bertie. You know it's where you really want to be!

Keith Myath wrote:

Dynamite. wrote:

bertiebee1 wrote: Well , well my Rovers chums. Well done with the result today a very good point. Was it a fair result? I have heard nothing about the game , will watch MOTD2 tonight. Well the count down is now on for part 2 of hopefully an exciting Derby. Now is there a chance we could have 3 points please, pretty please lol. Just so we can have a fighting chance of staying up lol. I know you want us little Clarets to go down but come on you have plenty of points on the board now , dont be greedy lol. Anyway after next Sunday good luck for the remainder of the season . UTC

Shut up Dingle , i hope you go DOWN !

Oh come on, give the bloke a chance. BertieBee is the most sporting and charitable Burnley fan on this forum! . So much so, in fact, that I suspect he may be a crypto-Rovers fan looking to escape the clutches of the Dark Side of the Force. . Come on over, Bertie. You know it's where you really want to be!

Keith hows you chap? Thanks for your comments. Dynamite's comment was quite cutting , almost had me in tears lmao.

I can assure you though Keith, i am definately not a Rovers fan lol but i do agree there are dark forces acting over Burnley at the moment lol.

I am a Burnley fan through and through( Not a Dingle, born and bred in Portsmouth), so please dont ask me to buy your lottery ticket lol.

I am a football fan too i watch all the games that are live on TV and Football First, MOTD 1/2 and anything that shows football.

I for one do not think Rovers are a long ball team. They are a team who can mix it up and play to thier strengths and weaknesses dependant upon who the opponents are.

Not always pretty but pretty football does'nt win you games. Maybe the Clarets should have tried to do the same.

Keith thanks once again for your comment and may the best team win come Sunday although im not too confident with the run were on at the moment.

Take it easy chap. UTC

This was an unexpected bonus point for sure. Why is it that Rovers only come out of their shells and play when there's nothing to lose, usually a goal behind? Most knew they were in for a mauling, so the cup-tie defending and eventual draw was a plus! Hats off to Andrews for his goal-line heroics too.

Mike Costa wrote:
Mike Costa says:

Sorry, but Ive got to agree with MShaw about one thing. N'zonzi and Diouf were awful. We all know Spits limitations, but has anyone analysed N'Zonzis passes to see what ratio go backwards towards our goal? I know he's a defensive midfielder, but how often does he halt a potential attack by taking the easy option and passing back? He needs to be more positive.

As for BFS being some sort of tactical genius, where were the clever tactics in the first half? We were awful. Why didn't he send them out fired up for the first 45 mins, not wait until the interval to get a sense of urgency into the situation.
Thankfully the centre backs were great today. How often have we been able to say that this season? Otherwise we would have got nothing from the match

Hi Mike - you have to credit the opposition (in this case of the best teams in the world!) with getting their tactics right and making it difficult for Rovers. We can't imagine that we can just do our own thing without the other team setting their stall out to nullify any threat.

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Sam won the tactical battle by turning the tables in the second half and got us back into the game.

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I thought Nzonzi had one of his better games - he was everywhere. There are not too many options for him to pass the ball forwards. He is still young and learning. I think that the whole team will be moe positive once we are mathematically safe.

I was overjoyed with the result and performance yesterday.I think most Rovers fans including myself were fearing the worst when Drogba scored.The spirit the players showed after the goal gave everyone a lift.Phil Jones looks a real prospect and being a local lad makes it even better.For me,the worst performer for Rovers scored the winner from a brilliant cross from Salgado,but who cares.We can go into the next two games full of confidence and a good chance of 6 points.C'mon you blues!

Well done Sam, surely even the doubters must be realising he is the perfect man to run a club like ours.

Not so well done to the Blackburn End again !!!!, hope the boo boys are hanging their heads in shame.

Unlike the Darwen End, your a breath of fresh air guys. Keep it going as it adds a whole new dimension to the atmosphere in the ground

I agree Phil Jones was superb and should retain his place. Sam was right to take off Kalanic as he had been ineffective. It would have been suicide to leave the defence short for 2 in attack. We blunted Celsea who have players far superior to anything we have and always will. 2nd Half we were fantastic play like that against Birmingham and that other outfit down the road and we will be safe. We can then build for next season blood a few more youngsters see what they have to offer. Reading the papers the PL appear to want to step in to Hull and restrict their transfres as the PL think they are underfunded, rubbish, just the PL making sure the elite stay ahead. I say ban MU for being so in debt also Liverpool. See where that leavesthe rest of us