[Archived] The Nancy Boys Are Coming

[OhmiBRFC]

looking good

will people that faced each other in groups not be kept apart?

[murray92]

What is most concerning is that Hughes said wewere the better team and DESERVED the win. What game was he watching? We looked ###### poor from the off, and totally lacking in ideas. Injuries has without doubt played a big part in this, but I just hope Hughes doesn't GENUINELY believe we were the better team /good tonight.

It was like watching the first half vs the Geordies all over again, and we were lucky their finishing was so bad.

I really, really hope Hughes is slating them for that display and that was just for the cameras what he said. This display WILL not suffice in the premiership.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Match report

Blackburn have done well to advance. But the fans do not seem to share their enthusiasm for the competition - and the team could attract a crowd of only 12,568 to Ewood Park for this final group game.

[rover6]

What is most concerning is that Hughes said wewere the better team and DESERVED the win. What game was he watching? We looked ###### poor from the off, and totally lacking in ideas. Injuries has without doubt played a big part in this, but I just hope Hughes doesn't GENUINELY believe we were the better team /good tonight.

Strange that. Hughes has implied we were the better team but it sounds like we played downright awful.

[elwaxo]

Match report

Blackburn have done well to advance. But the fans do not seem to share their enthusiasm for the competition - and the team could attract a crowd of only 12,568 to Ewood Park for this final group game.

football365.......hmmm......what a strange thing to put in a match report.....our attendences are well documented, this reporter must have been bored by the game then......

4 confirmed tonight of the 8 teams that will go into our pot for the next round......

Feyenoord

H. Tel Aviv

Zulte -Waregem

Fenerbahce

by the way....who the hell are zulte waregem.....the sound portuguese?

[elwaxo]

4 confirmed tonight of the 8 teams that will go into our pot for the next round......

Feyenoord

H. Tel Aviv

Zulte -Waregem

Fenerbahce

by the way....who the hell are zulte waregem.....they sound portuguese?

[Baz]

by the way....who the hell are zulte waregem.....they sound portuguese?

Belgians - near the border with France

[Jordan]

by the way....who the hell are zulte waregem.....they sound portuguese?

Edited - Baz beat me to it!

Edited December 14, 2006 by Jordan

[Fife Rover]

derbyshire and benni played well upfront i thought, benni drops deep and doesn't get caught offside then ya see!!

derbyshire isn't a target man who will out muscle the centre half but he makes some smart runs down the channels and behind the defence!!

it it just me or do eurosport hate us? the commentry was @#/? again!!

No it isn't just you. That was the most disgraceful and deliberate anti-Blackburn commentary team I have ever heard, and the two twits in the Ewood studio were no better. Tim Sherwood and Tony Cascarino. Throughout the whole match they (the commentary team) were making snide remarks about Rovers play and Hughes anti-ref campaign (so called). They actually implied Rovers are suffering from paranoia on the subject of refs and officials. And the obvious disappointment in their voices when Lucas scored! Unbelievable. :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:

Edited December 14, 2006 by Fife Rover

[herbergeehh]

Belgians - near the border with France

Sounds like a nice away trip

[Baz]

I quite fancy Portugal (Braga) myself, never been there before, looks nice, and locals seem friendly too!

Belgium wouldnt be too bad though - I just dont fancy a trip to Tel-Aviv

[colin]

I don't think I've been *that* close to falling asleep at Ewood before.

We were bobbins, but luckily, so were Nancy.

Tummy-rubbish all round.

[Jordan]

I quite fancy Portugal (Braga) myself, never been there before, looks nice, and locals seem friendly too!

Belgium wouldnt be too bad though - I just dont fancy a trip to Tel-Aviv

Istanbul is not the nicest place either to watch football.

There appears to be some more appealing ties in the other groups Spain, France, Portugal etc.

[Fife Rover]

I think we will all take the same performance and the same result at Reading at this point won't we?

If we repeat that performance at Reading the only thing we will get is a damned good thrashing!

[tonygreenbank]

It showed to me tonight that the people saying give Peter a chance over MGP are living in cuckoo land. Peter had a chance tonight to show what he could do but was awful along with our other reserves. Nolan got better as the game progressed but it was scary stuff.Nancy were the better team but were powder puff in front of goal.Hope Toddy is OK for Saturday.

[USABlue]

No it isn't just you. That was the most disgraceful and deliberate anti-Blackburn commentary team I have ever heard, and the two twits in the Ewood studio were no better. Tim Sherwood and Tony Cascarino. Throughout the whole match they (the commentary team) were making snide remarks about Rovers play and Hughes anti-ref campaign (so called). They actually implied Rovers are suffering from paranoia on the subject of refs and officials. And the obvious disappointment in their voices when Lucas scored! Unbelievable. :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:

It's really getting quite old, from the refs, the media and the pundits. I saw the highlights of Pedersons goal against the Geordies, what a cracker I thought the commentators were quite ho hum about it. Now I listen to the Commentary on the Spurs goals and the bloke was going effing nuts about what a great goal, with every one.

Why can European officials manage to ref us in a reasonably fair manner but in the Prem we get all this borderline/phantom stuff called against us. I'm not paranoid am I?

4 confirmed tonight of the 8 teams that will go into our pot for the next round......

Feyenoord

H. Tel Aviv

Zulte -Waregem

Fenerbahce

I'm not fancying ANY of those, I was hoping for something abit "sexier"

[elwaxo]

I quite fancy Portugal (Braga) myself, never been there before, looks nice, and locals seem friendly too!

Belgium wouldnt be too bad though - I just dont fancy a trip to Tel-Aviv

portugal is well nice.....my aunt and cousin live there.....the one strange thing i saw was the packs of dogs and the noise they make at night.....they dont like cats too...they all looked pretty mangy and f*cked up........on the football front....not sure how good there club sides are...well the ones thatll be in uefa cup....unless one of their champions league flops are in!

[AxesFirstTouch]

Gally did well when he got the ball ( which wasnt often thanks to a crap midfield ), he played some good pass'es and skinned their left back near the start of the match then putting in a superb cross.

Peter is just not very good, not impressed at all, and I can now see why Hughes hasnt rested MGP for Peter.

[Paul]

Just arrived back home.

Lets just say that result is a freak of nature !

A totally crap game were we were clearly second best in EVERY department, we go and score in the 92nd minute and its a wantaway Lucas Neill that notches a fantastic finish. IRONY at its best.

So you would swap Brad for Lapierre?

Interesting how people can see a game so differently. I've never seen Nancy play and only knew several people on here rated them highly. I arrived at Ewood expecting a very difficult game. Despite this Sparky had chosen to start with just 4 recognised first choice outfield players, the rest of the side being second choice players and youngsters. Fair enough, we'll either get stuffed or it'll be a glorious win!

It's true Rovers didn't play well but this was a side without six regulars, has probably never played together before, and in a strange formation. Add to this Nancy had no interest in winning this game, the referee and linesman were determined to whistle or flag everything plus the slightest physical contact resulted in a free kick. Had Todd stayed on the defence would have looked more solid, Nolan did OK but he was clearly nervous and has a way to go, there's hope for him. Given all this its no surprise we put in a very average performance. To say we were second best is grossly unfair and doesn't take account of the circumstances of this match. If we'd been offered some competition on the park then we could judge these players.

Nancy proved to be a very, very poor side, totally lacking in any urgency or competitive spirit. If this is the level of competition we can expect I see no reason why Rovers cannot progress further, even reaching the final. I know little of the remaining teams but to date we haven't seen a side, home or away, seriously threaten us. Salzburg are the only ones to give us a game of football yet. Of the remaining teams we can potentially draw, in the next round and going by reputation alone, I guess Auxerre, Besiktas, and Fenerbache could be considered a threat.

This UEFA cup experience is new to most of us, for me it has opened a door on European football I haven't seen for many, mnay years. My feeling is the UEFA cup is 90% populated by poor teams you've never heard of, most of them play unimaginative, no contact football. The officials are unlikely to allow any form of physical contact. In many respects it's no wonder the attendances are poor, this simply isn't the football we are used to watching. In fact a second division team will give the fans a better game in the FA Cup. If this is second-string European football it's no wonder the PL, for its myriad faults, is considered the best in the world, most of this lot are simply awful.

I'm enjoying the success but it's clear we have to wait for the fimal rounds for the sort of European nights I remember from my childhood. The competition is a money-making exercise, a ridiculous format, and designed to make the national leagues more competitive by providing "the rest" with something to play for. Ironically I suspect most of the clubs lose money hand over fist in this competition..

I hope we win it and I won't be judging any of our youngsters on last night's match

Edited December 14, 2006 by Paul

[Ricky]

My comments from watching it on the box.

To be fair, yet again, we had a l;enient ref. They should definitely have had a en in the first half, they also had a good shout for one in the second half.

Lucas was lucky he didn't make contact with Kim when he went through and hit the post. He made a lunge for a ball that he was never going to get. He was last man and would have been off.

Derbyshire's movement was good, he kept making intelligent runs down the channels and pulled the CB's out of position. I'm sure he would love playing with Tugay, unfortunately the midfielders were not getting the ball in behind the defence enough.

I didn't actually know Bentley was playng until 35 minutes had gone. The camera zoomed in on him and it was the first I had seen of him all match.

Nolan came in and did ok, I thought Jay did ok as well. He got caught a couple of times but looked bright going forwards.

I'm dissapointed with the way Lucas reacted to the goal. He had not played well and hasn't for a few games now. He's bound to take a bit of stick, he should be big enough to handle it. He had a good opportunity to win over some fans in the BBE but ruined it. All he had to do was celebrate the goal with the rest of the players. Instead he made all of the effort to run to the BBE and have a go. Shame really.

To be honest I thought the commentators had a point. We were poor last night and got away with it. We were also lucky to not be well behind against Basle but somehow got a 3-0 out of that one.

I'm not sure what game Hughes was watching, but we weren't the better team last night. At least that's it now until mid feb when I can look forward to another European trip. Book me a room Orvil, I've got permission to give Valentines day a miss this year, so I will be off away again.

[rover6]

Gally did well when he got the ball ( which wasnt often thanks to a crap midfield ), he played some good pass'es and skinned their left back near the start of the match then putting in a superb cross.

Peter is just not very good, not impressed at all, and I can now see why Hughes hasnt rested MGP for Peter.

We know Peter can do better. We know that from the Millwall tie and the impact he's made in sub appearances - especially last season. The circumstances were difficult. Ideally, if you want to integrate a player into team to see how good they are, you need the regulars around him to give him a platform.

[stuwilky]

We know Peter can do better. We know that from the Millwall tie

What Millwall tie? You mean QPR?

Edited December 14, 2006 by stuwilky

[ptholt]

My player ratings and general comments after sitting up till 2am to watch this..... a damn good cure for insomnia tho!

Awful game, we didn’t get going at all till 60th minute, they looked ok, like a mid table prem side at there best they were very quick up front which caused problems all night for our slow coaches. The ref helped our cause no end, a prem ref could have given them 2 or 3 pens, weve had less dodgy ones against us than several that weren’t given last night.

Hilarious part was they had there 3rd choice keeper playing according to eurosport in his first ever professional game……. So heres a footie manager question for you, the commentators said he looked VERY nervous in the warm up so would you 1 attack him with men close on set pieces and shots flying in from everywhere or 2 have one shot in 65 minutes to give him a nice gentle start to his professional career, ill let you guess which rovers did. We couldn’t string more than three passes together without giving it away, off the park or HOOFED up the pitch, was shambolic.

Basically we looked a very average championship side that got some dodgy decisions our way for once and got em with a sucker punch with the second last kick of the game. There manager was going MENTAL and refused to shake Hughes hand…

Bring on benfica away please cos I DEFO want to go to that or braga as there only a few hours away.

Brad – kept us in it, imo was rovers mom

Mcevely – pretty average squad player, couldn’t cope with the speed of there attack and his forward distribution was poor, made a couple of good challenges and blocks, gave away a lot of fouls.

Todd – ok at the back defending, slaughtered for pace, forward distribution was long ball or nothing, long ball the whole time he was on the pitch, or had the misfortune to pass to axe who would give it straight back or loose it. –replaced by Nolan

Ooijer – ok, I don’t remember him doing much at all of anything….. from the rest of his team mates performance this may be a good thing??

Neill – gave away some VERY bad fouls, could have had a pen or 2 against him, did nothing but long ball going forward for first 65mins usually to no one, off the pitch or the opposition. Forward distribution was AWFUL was moved to centre def when todd went off then started doing some really dodgy cruyff turns in the box maybe barca scouts turned up at half time… well taken goal tho.

Nolan – no idea who he was, looked ok ish, some nice touches, not many long balls thank god. Good experience for him.

Peter – pretty average, pinned back by there right back criten struggled to make any impact at all, very few crosses, not much penetration and no possession, kinda sums rovers up all night actually, taken off for mgp. (Criten red dwarf? was one of there two best players who should have been mom, great defending, great attacking and available for 2 million euros apparently…..good replacement for neil methinks)

Lily sorry sav – normal sav, runs like a girl, didn’t really get his passing going did ok ish.

Axe – THE WORST midfielder at rovers ive seen in the last 10 years, even georgios donis had better touch and final ball! I know hes south African who are better at rugby than football, but his tackles belong on the rugby pitch and someone tell him in this game you can pass forward!!! His first touch is non existent, his passing is complete rubbish, hes about 40 seconds later than everyone else to the ball, about 4 minutes late when he tackles, gives away far to many free kicks and gets far to many cards, my 8yr old is a better footballer than this guy, how he is worth a new contract i do not know, he must have some embarrassing polaroids and be black mailing someone...

Bentley – didn’t even touch the ball till 30 minutes and I mean didn’t touch it. Not particularly his fault, guys behind were HOOFING it up the park for the youngsters to chase leaving him in no mans land. Came into it more in second half when mh must have reminded neil that there was a guy in front he could pass on the floor to and did have a few good efforts.

MGP – came on like the return of pele, did very little after that, one good attempt and managed to distract a few players in the build up to neills goal by rolling around in there box.

Gallacher – spent on all night chasing long balls from the back like a headless chicken, must have done wonders for his confidence NOT. Taken off for benni.

Benni – came on, did nothing but moan at Derbyshire for getting in his way, seemed more worried about derbyshires presence than doing anything else.

Derbyshire – spent most of his night chasing lost long ball causes passed into the middle of nowhere or straight to the opposition. Had two good chances, looked ok, but again a drain on the confidence of a youngster who had scored 8 in 8 in the reserves.

[G Somerset Rover]

I liked the look of that Kim guy last night. I think he could do a job in the Prem as he is lightening quick and looked good at playing on the shoulder of the defence (something we lack). Does anybody who watches French football know how much he would be valued at?

A poor game of football-and I personally thought, like the Basle game, that we could have easily have fallen two or three behind. Given that we blooded a fair few youngsters though I wasn't holding out much hope for an improved performance from us.

Finally, I too am puzzled at Hughes' comments again. We didn't deserve the win, although Nancy weren't great either, and his post match interviews are becoming a recurring theme. Fair enough blame our injuries and poor officiating but please don't make out that we're playing well when we're clearly not. Perhaps this is one of the reasons as to why people are poking fun at Hughes right now?

[ptholt]

I liked the look of that Kim guy last night. I think he could do a job in the Prem as he is lightening quick and looked good at playing on the shoulder of the defence (something we lack). Does anybody who watches French football know how much he would be valued at?

A poor game of football-and I personally thought, like the Basle game, that we could have easily have fallen two or three behind. Given that we blooded a fair few youngsters though I wasn't holding out much hope for an improved performance from us.

Finally, I too am puzzled at Hughes' comments again. We didn't deserve the win, although Nancy weren't great either, and his post match interviews are becoming a recurring theme. Fair enough blame our injuries and poor officiating but please don't make out that we're playing well when we're clearly not. Perhaps this is one of the reasons as to why people are poking fun at Hughes right now?

Tony cascarino was in the studio for eurosport last night who played at nancy, he was saying kim has blistering pace to burn but cannot finish, scored 1 all last season in 31 games if my sleep addled memory was correct.