Arsenal 3 v 0 Rovers - Cup Semi Final

[Big A]

I had a great day yesterday, only spoiled by missing the first quarter because the train broke down and was forty five minutes late. I missed the Dickov "goal" and from watching MOTD it looks like we were unfortunate there.

From what I saw of the first half we didn't seem to carry much threat going forwards although i thought we had a number of questionable offsides given against us and the referee was fully conned by the Arsenal player's over exaggeration throughout the game.

3-0 was harsh and we played quite well without really looking threatening for the first 85 minutes. Friedel was excellent as usual and I thought Emerton played well when he came on, much better than Thompson from what I saw who always gives the impression of never fully being in control.

Neill and Matteo were like black and white. Matteo was solid defensively but awful going forward while I thought Neill had a good game offensively. Unfortunatly he let his guard slip at times defensively.

Reid looked good as well but we really lacked a creative spark and a forward presence. Dickov does his best but sometimes he's just too small to play the lone striker role properly. I'd have preferred Hughes to have left MGP on the left in the second half and bought on Stead, MGP's not a striker really. Tugay would have livened things up and would have been a gamble but he could have made something happen and in the cup you might as well lose 3-0 as lose 1-0.

Having said all that I was proud of my team today and proud of the fans too. We didn't deserve 3-0 and we caused Arsenal a few problems as evidenced by their play acting and the fact that in the second half they were commiting as many fouls as we were. Not a disaster as some doom mongers were portraying it and a fun day out.

Now let's make sure of safety.

[JAL]

For me the most pleasing thing yesterday was when Arsenal scored the second goal and everyone knew the game was over, the Rovers fans stood up and cheered which i thought was magnificent - made me feel proud to be a Rover !

[tcj_jones]

Watch the replay - Todd's eyes were on the ball all the time.

Van Persie turned into him. Todd was NOT to blame.

I thought Neill was at fault for all 3 goals.

1. Nowhere to be seen at right back

2. Turned easily by Van persie

3. Headed the ball directly into Vierra's path

Thank God for Brad, it could've been 5 or 6 - but there ya go.

to blame lucas for any of those goals is obsurb and you seem to be jumping on the "oh lets blame lucas for everything" band wagon.

No, we're are not blaming everything on Neill, just what was his fault. As Trawden Blue says, he was at fault for all three goals, but the first was particularly bad - leaving Toure free at the back post for him to pass it along our six yard box. As if that was bad enough, he did EXACTLY the same thing in the second half! This time there were two Arsenal players there and luckily didn't score. I'm getting just as sick as all the guys complaining about people using Neill as a scapegoat are, because he is not being used as a scapegoat, he is just a liability.

[Ozz]

Had to smile at the signing drunk/tramp outside gate 2/3. Anyone else see him?

I seen him!

He was singin `Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool"

I told Liverpool weren`t playing today, and after a brief pause, he continued "Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool..."

[Gareth]

From the Observer

Arsenal are in their fourth FA Cup final in five years, Blackburn are in disgrace. Not content with ruining this FA Cup semi-final with their negative football and relentless fouls, Rovers even spoilt the afternoon of double goalscorer Robin van Persie when Andy Todd elbowed him in the face as he turned to celebrate his second

Nice to see a balanced report from a southern newspaper!

[nottsrover]

The whole article is unbelievable. Even tries to link the empty seats with unattractive football. Idiot!

If we hadn't have got stuck in this season we would have been beaten 5 or 6 nil.

[eddiewac]

Nah, the goals weren't Neill's fault!! How can he mark 2 people! If anyone is to blame, it's Thompson, he was shocking! He didn't track back, and never went onto the wing! There was one point where Neill was going up the wing and Thompson was taking his time in the middle of the park so Neill had to run up the wing!

Surprise surprise, none of the papers noticed the diving by the Arsenal players! Some of the challenges we did were pretty bad, but i'd rather our team was competing and did one or two mistimed challenges then dive about and time waste!

[rovernik]

11.15 thought i was easily gonna be at the match in time, 11;25 hard shoulder with a blown out tyre! unbeleivable, got to cardiff just as the match was finishing, tickets £90, towed £145, new tyre £40 petrol £50, just to be told by an arsenal fan 'you got stuffed mate', anyone wanna buy 2 unused tickets????

[Eddie]

That really is unlucky. I missed the start due to traffic as well (though I was just going home to watch it on TV) so never even saw Dickov's disallowed goal or even seen it mentioned, which I find quite amazing. Until it was said a while back, despite having watched the match from about the 25th minute, seen the half-time and full-time analysis as well as reading a lot of papers and match reports I haven't even seen the smallest mention.

[mattyboy6000]

I'm bloody sure Tugay could have managed to run his socks off for half an hour.

aah well..

[1864roverite]

Now then heres my view after a day on the ###### and a superb day out in the Prinicipaility.

First of all EVERY Rovers fan can take pride, the fans were superb and around Cardiff both pre and post match, the city was just a colourful Blue and White, very little arse in the pubs and no sign of maks or barcodes !

Rovers were undone by a far classier team however they didnt deserve to lose 3-0.

The game passed us by with the constant stopping of the game by cynical and petty fouls from both teams and despite being comfortable we lose a goal right on half time.

From that point we were always up against it.

Those blaming Lucas take a long hard look at Thompsons role. He is the only Rovers player that should be blamed, running around like a clown, although granted he did have a good first 10 minutes ! He should clearly have been sent off in the first half but got lucky. He is NOT the player he used to be.

The game was summed up by a serious lack of atmosphere from the Gooners. 3 chants all game, each for every goal and the odd rendition of Arsenal ! Compared to the constant singing, flag waving northern monkies !

I didnt mind losing yesterday, I was lucky enough to be there. The thing that DID get to me was the sight of the young girl in front of me, probably no more than 12 yrs of age, breaking down in tears as the final whistle went. Her mum and dad should be proud of her. It brought tears to the eye seeing that kid in that state and it brought home that BRFC have young supporters that LOVE the club.

After the game we had a serious session around the city, having been on the razz since 0500hrs it was a long time. Ask Leftwinger, he had a great day out.

One of the funniest sights to recall was outside a pub called the slug and lettuce, the Rovers fan that was so drunk he could hardly stand up providing constant entertainment for the hordes massed in the pub and street a class act I hope he survived the journey home !

worst part of the day ? NOTHING enjoyed it fully although on our way home we had a serious bit of entertainment.

Anyone wanna see my dog ?

(its a long tale but a funny one )

[Rovermatt]

From the Observer

Arsenal are in their fourth FA Cup final in five years, Blackburn are in disgrace. Not content with ruining this FA Cup semi-final with their negative football and relentless fouls, Rovers even spoilt the afternoon of double goalscorer Robin van Persie when Andy Todd elbowed him in the face as he turned to celebrate his second

Nice to see a balanced report from a southern newspaper! 

I shall be sending a letter to The Observer. I would encourage all on here to do the same. This hysterical bias against our club is unacceptable. I may have said that I don't care on the previous thread but the snide insults from the national media, directed at our club, are really not on. We deserve some semblance of credit for reaching this stage of competition, but instead we are subjected to the same tired old vendettas which have plagued us for ten years.

sport@observer.co.uk

I just sent mine off. I hope I voiced most of our frustrations.

"As a Blackburn fan I was disappointed to read The Observer's view of our semi-final against Arsenal. Lacking any sort of journalistic integrity, the report would not have looked out of place on the pages of the generic, tiresome tabloid media. For months now, accusations of thuggery and corruption of the game have been levelled at the aggressive side that Hughes has built. As time has passed these have been churned out in various guises, none of which have been particularly accurate. The audacious Rovers ploy to disrupt Arsenal's flow may have upset those expecting an easy afternoon for Wenger's theatrical tell-tales. For any one of the attending Lancashire folk (so vilified for their lack of numbers) this was a proper approach when facing a dangerous opponent. It is a telling indictment that competitive play is no longer welcomed in that most English of cup competitions, while the continental penchant for play acting is so readily ignored. Perhaps the criticism and derison only applies to those uppity teams with the smaller budgets?"

Edited April 17, 2005 by Rovermatt

[Al]

The report in the Sunday Mail is similar. Everybody hates us.

[americanrover]

just sent a nasty letter to the Observer. it felt great getting my anger out

[vindaloobob]

I would expect that sort of trash from the mail, however the guardian/observer are normally have a little bit more sense and I usually find their reviews to be pretty much spot on. This is a disgrace tho! Email sent!

[greggyk]

Had to smile at the signing drunk/tramp outside gate 2/3. Anyone else see him?

I seen him!

He was singin `Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool"

I told Liverpool weren`t playing today, and after a brief pause, he continued "Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool..."

I got my photo taken with him. He effin stunk of ###### though! Anyone see a 4ft Jim Royle lookalike handing out leaflets and a man making bird noices trying to sell something.

btw, the reason why the press are so against Rovers is because of Mark Hughes having a go at them all last week.

When we beat Palace on Wednesday, the press will once again jump on the rovers bandwagon and say how good we are. Just like they did in the lead up to yesterdays game.

Anyway, not too gutted. I bet the people who let our club down are more gutted than those who did go.

And who were the lucky people who got robbie savages shirt in the warm down about 30mins after the game finished

[tmap]

I have to admit, all this negative press has spoilt the day a little.

I had a wonderful day out yesterday. It was disappointing to lose, but we shaded the first half with some good passing football, and the 3-0 score was because Arsenal were just too savvy once Matteo had gone off and we had to push forward. As someone said above, the highlight, oddly, was when Arsenal scored their second goal, and we belted out "keep the blue flag flying high" with real passion. It brought a tear to my eye.

My main impressions of the match were of Arsenal players' tiresome tendency to fall over and yet make miraculous recoveries, but also of some brilliant play by them and two really top class goals, as well as the astonishing quietness of their fans even away from The Library. I brought a couple of closet Arsenal fans with me (sorry!) and they were well impressed with our support and with the Rovers' resilience and had a great time.

And yet now I'm supposed to believe that our support was crap and that our players were a disgrace, and even that we were "taunted" by the Arsenal supporters. Erm... I've never seen such vehement bile directed at any club by any reporters. It's a systematic destruction of the team and of the supporters and regardless of the fact that it's nonsense it will inevitably create trouble.

I will write to Rob Hughes at the Sunday Times once I've calmed down a little, but what will he care? They know their audience, they chose their story, why do they care about upsetting us?

Forever and ever, we'll follow our team....

Edited April 17, 2005 by tmap

[mhead]

Its been a very long and exciting week and we must not forget that we might be getting slagged off but everyone is talking about us.

Last time we lost 3-0 in the FA Cup was 1960 and we lost 15,000 supporters. This time we'll stick together and be even stronger next season.

Enjoyed every minute.The flag was brilliant and we do need it again on Wednesday night.

FOREVER AND EVER..

[Quack]

We had a great day out - up at 4am clearing snow off the car and over to Ewood - apparently a coach did not turn up - hope those people got down safely.

In Cardiff enjoyed walking around the city, stewards were very helpful - even the police enjoyed a joke !

I would agree with Rovers mum - superficially the ground is fantastic but the hidden parts are really moth eaten.

To the match, slightly disappointed with the teams negative approach, it would have been good to bring Tugay on and Stead looked bright.

Instead of the FA cup semifinal it was more like the Blackburn Boxing Club against the European / African Olympic Diving team - Lehman was hardly touched by Emerton but I thought he may need emergncy surgery. Viera was a dirty piece of grass when given the chance and I cannot comment politely on Pires the ballerina.

On balance a fantastic trip , Rovers support was absoultely superb - even when we went down to the third goal - bring on the Palace.

[roversWASmylife]

The negative press is a bit harsh on us, just like the day after we played Chelsea.

Do the bigger teams expect us to roll over and let them play? Grow up.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the day had a great laugh with other Rovers fans on the train going down to Cardiff and back.

Thought 3-0 was a bit harsh on us, Arsenal were always the favourites and their quality showed in the end.

We could have had a possible penalty shout, when Reid was pulled back by Vieira and was clipped on his heel.

In the end, I think most we all had a good day out, brings in a bit of money as well.

[brfcshabba]

One deep blight on the day. Some crass, insulting joke of a radio presenter on Talksport - and NOTE MY SPELLING:

What players have Blackburn produced? Who have they had since BRYN Douglas? Who is this Bryn Douglas? oh there was Fred Pickering but he had to go to Everton to make any progress. This guy went on to suggest our average home support was around 11000. He then asked a Rovers fan who rang in "Don't you think it would be better for the future of the game overseas if it's an Arsenal-Man Utd final?":

I heard that too. It was Mike Parry who seems to think every thing he says is right. It was Andy Townsend next to him who didn't exactly help the matter by agreeing with him.

[Rover4ever]

For positive press we will have to do a Crystal Palace or Norwich. i.e. concede 3 goals in the first half-hour and take the rest of the match to recover.

The media somehow doesnt like a 'smalltown' club trying to win against their darlings. Maybe it was winning the premiership, but we have ambitions few clubs of our size have. Most clubs our size would be more than happy with an FA cup semi appearance. But not us, we were looking to win the whole thing.

As I said winning the title and the League cup has raised our expectations beyond that of the average Norwich or Southampton fan.

We have won more in the past 10 years than Spurs or Newcastle, but that disturbs the strict imaginary hierarchy the media caters to.

[mrsjansen]

Was too tired to come on here last night, but now have had a full nights sleep wanted to make a few comments.

It was a great day out yesterday, apart from the result, couldn't beleive that there was snow on all the cars, left Ewood about 5.30 and can't remeber most of the journey there as we slept, stopped at the services as 7.05 to a mass of blue and white, the cue was that long in the sgop thought we would nip to the garage for a paper only to find 2 people serving, and I'm convinced one was a snail, she even told us that they wheren't expecting this. Must'nt have realised that there was a semi final on!?!

Arrived at a gloriously sunny Cardiff, was a bit surprised to see that the stadium didn't have a car park and we where in fact parked near the ground.

We didn't have to worry about getting lost, we just followed the hourdes of blue n white all going in one direction.

I too saw the drunk while we mingled outside the ground waiting for the doors to open, also one sole random Newcastle fan, don't know if anyone actually told him he had turned up on the wrong day. The doors finally opened and after climbing god knows how many steps to get into the arena we then had to climb more steps to get to our seats. Completley blown away by the stadium, one poor guy who was sat just a bit behind us had to be helped back down the stairs bu st Johns ambulance. Hope he was ok.

Thought we played well, and the see of blue n white did every rovers fans and players proud, it brought a lump to my throat. This was our day and no one was going to ruin it.

Didn't deserve to be beaten 3-0 and we wheren;t as physical as the press and everyone made out. I think that teams are jumping onto that bandwagon and doing everythingi.e diving to make us out to be a dirty team.

Like the goalie who dived when Pederson went near him and he didn't even get booked.

Heard radio 5 on the coach on the way back and the presenter said he thought the atmosphere was a bit flat(!) but that the Rovers fans were the only ones to be heard after we went 2-0 down. Proud of everyone in blue n white yesterday. Lets keep it up on Weds.

[BRFC4EVA]

For positive press we will have to do a Crystal Palace or Norwich. i.e. concede 3 goals in the first half-hour and take the rest of the match to recover.

When push comes to shove, we will be playing prem football next season and these 2 prob and certainly 1 of them wont. No matter what the media says, they cant sent us down with mere words and we should be a prem club for years to come. The media will forget about all this crap by the end of next season whereas relegation affects clubs for yrs to come.

Pride and Passion after that 2nd goal was incredible. Arse fans, take a look

[Ewood Spark]

Good to hear 'The Wild Rover' being belted out on the tannoy before the teams came out.......it's something I've been on a personal crusade to get played at Ewood for years.