[Archived] Villa Semi Final 2Nd Leg

[Paul]

Show me a video with a detailed analysis showing exactly where we backed off/started playing deep and resorted to hoofball. The root of the defeat was a goal that came against the run of play, after an alleged foul on Nelsen, followed by Samba making a huge error in judgement to kill the game off for us and completely destroy our confidence (I am amazed the players managed to get 2 goals back).

You want a video with "a detailed analyis showing exactly where we backed off etc." I'm sorry Miker I have better things to do and I don't have recording of the game. I don't need a recording because I saw it with my own eyes, as did many around me. If you need a detailed analysis watch the TV.

I am sorry, but the root of our defeat is not always "resorting to hoofball" and backing off players. I don't see how closing down players would have helped us keep the lead. We were opened up by two of the quickest players in the Premier League, Agbonlahor and Young. Agbonlahor is dangerous because he can nick in between the two defenders and beat the offside trap very easily due to his speed. Young simply whipped in a cross from deep that should've been dealt with, but wasn't.

You don't understand how closing down players would have helped? Yet you point out we were opened up by two of the quickest players in the league and state Young's cross should have been dealt with. Please think about these two sentences. I didn't say "hoof ball" is ALWAYS the root of our defeats - though we have played this way all season and lost more than we have won!!

Your claim that hoofball and sitting deep was the "root" of our defeat is complete nonsense, I will debate this all day if I have to. And I'm sorry, but 6-4 against 10 men is hardly a "slaughtering".

I do agree the support seemed fantastic and was a big contrast to the Home leg.

If you feel going 2-0 up in a semi-final and then conceding 5 goals in 30 minutes is good enough then you are entitled to an opinion but I won't be hanging around to debate it all day. Take a look back at your posts during the game and you'll see why. We have just lost both legs of a semi-final with the opposition scoring 7 goals. Time to get the champagne out?

[bellamy11]

Show me a video with a detailed analysis showing exactly where we backed off/started playing deep and resorted to hoofball. The root of the defeat was a goal that came against the run of play, after an alleged foul on Nelsen, followed by Samba making a huge error in judgement to kill the game off for us and completely destroy our confidence (I am amazed the players managed to get 2 goals back).

I am sorry, but the root of our defeat is not always "resorting to hoofball" and backing off players. I don't see how closing down players would have helped us keep the lead. We were opened up by two of the quickest players in the Premier League, Agbonlahor and Young. Agbonlahor is dangerous because he can nick in between the two defenders and beat the offside trap very easily due to his speed. Young simply whipped in a cross from deep that should've been dealt with, but wasn't.

Your claim that hoofball and sitting deep was the "root" of our defeat is complete nonsense, I will debate this all day if I have to. And I'm sorry, but 6-4 against 10 men is hardly a "slaughtering".

I do agree the support seemed fantastic and was a big contrast to the Home leg.

Just got back and everyone in our group said the same - after we scored the second we played deeper and deeper and the balls went longer and longer. It's like we didn't know what to do in the situation. We dominated the first half hour by playing proper football but you could sense a sort of nervousness after the second and it all but dried up. Only when we went 5 down did we really respond by playing again.

[dixonbrfc]

nobody can say that rovers didnt give it a bloody good effort! to be leading 2-0 away at villa is something to be proud off! i dont want to blame the ref for us losing because over the 2 ties villa probably deserved it. but in big games like this you need the ref to get the big decisions right, and by letting the warnock goal stand was a kick in the teeth after some really good work from rovers, samba was silly he probably should of just let agbonlahor have the shot, but i suppose would any defender do that? the goals that came in the second half were obviously because we were short of a player on the pitch, ollson should be picked out AGAIN for another outstanding performance and a fantastic goal. WELL DONE ROVERS, it was a good display and well done to the fans who made the trip and really got behind the team!!! hopefully this kind of performance can be taken in the the leagiue now and we can really push on now!

[Seedstral]

Having just got back half an hour ago i thought i'd read what the Rovers deserters had to say on hear and between the pages of 15-30 are just laughable from the criticism about the formation before kick off to the elation after 25 mins to criticism again 15 mins later as for the 2nd half well your computer stories really are amusing. I say this as you have all called for an all out attack blitz mentality over the last couple of days as well as a 4-4-2 formation only to backtrack to by 8.15pm and say how good Big Sam's tactics were then an hour later most of you want him out again. For what its worth this to me was a throw back to the good old days when elation turned to sadness turned to belief tha we could actually do itand not accept that despite being down to 10 men we have to give in. My only bitterness in all this is that by boycotting the 1st leg meaning we only had 13000 home fans at £15 a head has cost us more than people realise and i dont mean in players wages but more like whether the Walker Trust should put more mone in to a club who's fans wont turn out in force as where will they get there return on this investment not only that who would want to buy a premier league club who not only have the cheapest season tickets but have fans who will boycott at the 1st sign of adversity. Another major factor is whcih team would have been inspired more a team with a full house behind them or a team walking out to a hallf empty stadium. I hope you all enjoyed your internet backing last night and are proud of your support to our beloved football cub!!

[Steve Moss]

. . . when elation turned to sadness turned to belief tha we could actually do itand not accept that despite being down to 10 men . . . and are proud of your support to our beloved football cub!!

Elation to sadness to belief to pride is the sequence I experienced. We fought the entire time and racked up an additional 2 goals, despite being reduced to 10 men. I haven't the slightest doubt that we would have been on the way to Wembley but for Samba's red card.

[Rover Down Under]

Well said Seedstral.

On another point while Samba was silly in his tackle can someone clarify the rule. As far as I know and have observed the rule is:

" If a player commits a foul on an opposition player in their 18 yard box a penalty is awarded. If the player is in a scoring position and is the last man a card may be shown. The colour of the card depends on the offending team. [Ammendment 1, by G Ashby, 1994] If the team is Blackburn Rovers and they are winning the game and challenging for a major trophy the card is instantaneously red. If the offending team is a "Big Club" then no action will be taken as the penalty will never have been awarded in the first place [see Rule 8.6.1 "Favouring Big Clubs"]"

Is that right?

[saxo1man30]

well done to all those fans who travelled to back the team for 90 MINUTES tonight at villa park. as has been said, i have to question at what time some of these moaners on here who were at the game, left the game? i`d suggest at 5-2 as they`ve clearly missed the admirable fight rovers put up right until villa broke away and scored with us on 100% attack.

a villa fan posted elsewhere tonight he`d never been so worried in a game his team were leading by 2 goals with 10 minutes to go. that`s the type of worry normally reserved only when playing against man u or chelsea. we are developing a `never beaten` spirit and that`s what`s needed long term. i`m now seeing progress in us as a team under sam.

[Silencio]

I was there and much of this post is nonsense. As for your attack on ABBEY I can only hope the admins/mods have a long hard look at it.

Why? Shouldn't they instead take a long, hard look at his endlessly inane posts? He might be a good Rovers fan but he does himself no favours on here does he?

[Seedstral]

To be honest the beer consuption is kicking in but to me my beloved fotball club is deserving of better supporters than we have at the moment as in my opinion the internet morons are trying to take over, Maybe our new brigade need a spell in the championship/league 1/league 2 to really appreciate what we have here as success is not agiven its a bonus!!!

[Tom 1]

I am not a fan of coming onto other clubs boards and rubbing it in peoples faces, so i'll leave it as...

I thought we were going out when it went 2-0, Blackburn played really well and am sure shoe on other foot i'd have massive grievances about our game, the only defence i'll put forward is if we'd been given one of the pens and scored it, and us all entered into this game 2-0 who knows if Blackburn would even have came into it with the same belief, this has the attention as it's second leg but over both both sets of fans would potentially have ended it with massive gripes.

Anyways, commiserations, I do think you can take many positives from the game tho, to be honest my main desire to be in this final was for City to get there and then get Gareth in the final...

Good luck for the rest of the season.

[daveoftherovers]

I am not a fan of coming onto other clubs boards and rubbing it in peoples faces, so i'll leave it as...

I thought we were going out when it went 2-0, Blackburn played really well and am sure shoe on other foot i'd have massive grievances about our game, the only defence i'll put forward is if we'd been given one of the pens and scored it, and us all entered into this game 2-0 who knows if Blackburn would even have came into it with the same belief, this has the attention as it's second leg but over both both sets of fans would potentially have ended it with massive gripes.

Anyways, commiserations, I do think you can take many positives from the game tho, to be honest my main desire to be in this final was for City to get there and then get Gareth in the final...

Good luck for the rest of the season.

Thanks Tom, I'll take most of that ta, and good luck. However, and honestly, I'm not being bitter here, I do think City or United will beat you, they have a better squad and their attacking options are at another level (As you'd expect with the money and influence they have.) However, as all the pundits (Annoyingly) say, it's a one off and you've got to be in it to win it!

Anyway, back to our club, I'm realy proud of us last night, Big Sam's tactics were SUPERB, when I saw the line up, I didn't understand it, but right from the off you could tell we were fired up for it, the players knew the system and it did the trick, Olssen caused loads of damage and tied up the left flank, (Was that really) Morten was great, so was Emo, we didn't hoof it, the set pieces worked and our 2nd and 3rd goals were great team play.

We got seen off by the ref on their first goal and Samba's genuinely wholehearted although mistimed tackle (That he probably thinks in hindsight he shouldn't have made) was the killer, upto then, we had them in the pocket and Villa were quiet and very nervous. Anyway, to stick 2 more goals in them with 10 men says that we still wanted it and we are still a proud club.

Our fans were FANTASTIC and so was our Manager and his players.

No one likes losing, but if Carlsberg did losing, it would be blue & white.

[Jan]

Why? Shouldn't they instead take a long, hard look at his endlessly inane posts? He might be a good Rovers fan but he does himself no favours on here does he?

Completely agree. I can't see much of Darth Paul's analysis that was wrong. In fact, if anything it was rather kind.

[alexanders]

Arte et Labore was restored tonight.

What a beatiful overhead kick from Martin Olsson who is turning into a real good winger. A new signing.

Niko Kalinic is a goalgetter and many of us have seen it since the first games. He is great at getting into position and will defently be a star. The new Davor Suker!

Great effort from our travelling fans, made me proud where I sat in front of the TV. "Are you Burnley in disguise" at 0-2 was great!

Up the Rovers. Onwards and Upwards.

BTW, Respect to Warnock for his quiet celebration. Proper footballer.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I've always liked Martin O'neill but I was disapointed with his attitude last night . My old coach had a saying- " Be a bad loser but a good winner ". No sign of that last night. No word in his interview as to how well his opponents played. He just wanted to bandy words with Sam about last weeks game. He came across as small minded and pedantic. A bigger man would have remembered " Winners are grinners and losers can please thereselves".

[Cocker]

I was thinking last night - (and this may have already been posted but I cant see where) What happens to the European cup place for this now? City/Man U and Villa should all get into Europe through the league. Will it goto the next place in the league or will we be given a go?

Other than that well done to the lads last night. Great game to watch. Thats why I like football and because of it the hurt of going out doesn't seem all that bad now.

How anyone can moan for the game that was played last night is beyond me.

[Guest Kamy100]

The League Cup European place will go to the Premier League if the eventually winners qualify via league placings or for the Champions League.

[Denis_B]

I've always liked Martin O'neill but I was disapointed with his attitude last night . My old coach had a saying- " Be a bad loser but a good winner ". No sign of that last night. No word in his interview as to how well his opponents played. He just wanted to bandy words with Sam about last weeks game. He came across as small minded and pedantic. A bigger man would have remembered " Winners are grinners and losers can please thereselves".

Would have been nice too to have heard Big Fat Pam say how well his team played and all that etc....... instead of whinging about the ref

[Cocker]

The League Cup European place will go to the Premier League if the eventually winners qualify via league placings or for the Champions League.

Oh well, it was a nice thought

[Montfort]

Obviously devastated that we did not go on to win after being 2 nil up but I was proud of the contribution that Blackburn made to this game. This game is one that will be remembered by neutrals and Blackburn fans for along time.

I was dissapointed with Sam for his comments after the match. Though there is some truth in what he said, the way he said it does not reflect well on himself, nor more importantly on Blackburn Rovers. If he wants to have a go at someone it should not be the ref who made an honest judgement call in almost impossible circumstances but the Villa player who allegedly deliberately cheated.

[Hughesy]

Disappointed in Sam for his words?

He simply stated the cold hard facts - the referee at 2-0 allowed a foul & handball to give Villa an edge & drag them back in the game. At that stage it was only ever going to 3-0 unless something like the bad refereeing happened. We were 2-0 up, Villa hadnt really had many chances and the 'famous atmosphere' was silent, except for the Rovers fans!

It leaves a bitter taste that once again the bigger club, when it matters gets the key decisions their way.

[Parsonblue]

Left Villa Park last night feeling very proud of the performance that the Rovers gave. A crucial decision went against us and turned the game. Again, the standard of refereeing at this level is not what it should be. The foul on Nelsen was clear and obvious and yet both the referee and linesman missed it. No problem with Samba's sending off - it was a rash tackle and he deserved what he got - although I do feel a penalty and a red card in these situations seems to be a double punishment.

The 4-5-1 system worked well in the first half and shows that it can be effective. I thought there were far more positives tonight than negatives despite the fact that we have conceded another six goals. Kalinic looked sharp in and around the area. Olsson had another excellent game and scored a superb goal. Young Nzonzi continues to look a real find while both Emerton and Pedersen looked very good in the centre of midfield.

Hopefully, this performance and the result against Fulham will now knock all talk of replacing the manager on the head and hopefully the Trust or Board will find some funds for Sam to strengthen the squad in the next week.

There was a terrific spirit both on and off the pitch last night and it needs this united effort to improve our League position during the rest of the season.

[thenodrog]

As for the comments about invading the pitch, thats just supporters being pleased to get to Wembley, which is where every club wants to be. All the small time comments seem like sour grapes.

Supporters must not be allowed onto the pitch otherwise fences will have to be installed.

Fences won't be installed cos of Hillsborough.

Your club will get severely reprimanded without a doubt.

There will have to be punishment meted out for that otherwise it will become the tip of the iceberg. Last time pitch invasion happened (WHU v Millwall) was the first time for a long time, there was punishment handed out. Obviously not strict enough cos it hasn't had any effect on your lot so I expect yours will be stricter and rightly so. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't it actually now illegal to go onto the pitch?

I'm still going to cancel my Wembley weekend plans though cos you wont be chucked out (we wouldn't fill Wembley and tragically it's down to that ) but if we were Man U / Arse / Spurs fan I'd be fully expecting to take your place. And rightly so.

As a collective you lot must be thick.

[roversfan1]

Before the game I wasnt hopefull of a win but what I wanted to see was a performance and I got that last night. Superb display and effort from all and hopefully a few more performances like this and talk of relegation will be banished. Shame that the game turned on a wrong decision but that is football and the character of the players afterwards was top drawer.

Hope the board now provides Sam with some funds to strengthen the sqaud to enable the push up the table.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Supporters must not be allowed onto the pitch otherwise fences will have to be installed.

Fences won't be installed cos of Hillsborough.

Your club will get severely reprimanded without a doubt.

There will have to be punishment meted out for that otherwise it will become the tip of the iceberg. Last time pitch invasion happened (WHU v Millwall) was the first time for a long time, there was punishment handed out. Obviously not strict enough cos it hasn't had any effect on your lot so I expect yours will be stricter and rightly so. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't it actually now illegal to go onto the pitch?

I'm still going to cancel my Wembley weekend plans though cos you wont be chucked out (we wouldn't fill Wembley and tragically it's down to that ) but if we were Man U / Arse / Spurs fan I'd be fully expecting to take your place. And rightly so.

As a collective you lot must be thick.

Sour grapes.

[Hughesy]

And we were robbed at Ewood and battered you today so.....

Que sera sera....

What a tosser - the general public of the UK & BBC disagree with you. Deluded Claret....theres a first!

Overall you deserve to be through, but last night you got very, very lucky!

Anyway, back to our club, I'm realy proud of us last night, Big Sam's tactics were SUPERB, when I saw the line up, I didn't understand it, but right from the off you could tell we were fired up for it, the players knew the system and it did the trick, Olssen caused loads of damage and tied up the left flank, (Was that really) Morten was great, so was Emo, we didn't hoof it, the set pieces worked and our 2nd and 3rd goals were great team play.

We got seen off by the ref on their first goal and Samba's genuinely wholehearted although mistimed tackle (That he probably thinks in hindsight he shouldn't have made) was the killer, upto then, we had them in the pocket and Villa were quiet and very nervous. Anyway, to stick 2 more goals in them with 10 men says that we still wanted it and we are still a proud club.

Our fans were FANTASTIC and so was our Manager and his players.

No one likes losing, but if Carlsberg did losing, it would be blue & white.

Spot on Dave.....and love the quote "No one likes losing, but if Carlsberg did losing, it would be blue & white"