[Archived] Peterborough United versus BRFC; 17 November 2012.

[LeChuck]

dunn with murphy would be a disaster. etuhu is ok but we'd be looking really good if we could get nzonzi back instead. is he playing at stoke?

They love him down there.

Etuhu is fine. He adds a physical presence in front of the back four and gives Murphy a bit of freedom.

I'd have Dunn as Murphy's understudy now.

[Proudtobeblue&white]

We need to put sides to the sword - gives us confidence etc - the league is still there to be won and Berg has got us playing again. Four games in and I for one am back on side big time.

[bypass06]

Posh 1, Blackburn 4: Too much class, too much money

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-1-blackburn-4-too-much-class-too-much-money-1-4495148

[K-Hod]

Absolutely excellent. Was disappointed we conceded at the end though. Clean sheet would have been huge for the confidence of the defence.

[Mike Graham]

Posh 1, Blackburn 4: Too much class, too much money

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-1-blackburn-4-too-much-class-too-much-money-1-4495148

903 Rovers fans according to the report.

[Plastics]

Well we were convincing and it was nice to finally get a game this season where we ran riot a little. The goal which we conceded was not a lapse or error by the back four and if Rochina is going to give it away then perhaps at that stage in the game with the score as it was was the ideal time. You never know, he might learn something from it. Somebody I know also pointed out that our recent resurgence has included Rochina to a decent degree and this game saw us take apart our opponents without Rochina even having a good game (fantastic assist with his sweeping ball out to Rhodes aside). It's nice to know we can rely on others to mount attacks and give us the edge going forward (in terms of before we reach Rhodes) and not be too one dimensional with the usage of our players.

Of course we were playing against a team in turmoil, but to be honest this makes it just as impressive for me. Those are the games we tend to throw away and no away game is easy in this league, or any league for that matter.

This combined with the seeming uplift and sea change within the club since Berg's arrival fills me with confidence that we may well be fighting it out towards to summit come the final furlong. Here's hoping the confidence grows.

[Howler]

Rochina made me laugh at times - some of his close control and turns were of such a class that the Peterborough players looked like they had never seen anything like it before.

However, his distribution overall was poor. Yes his pass for Rhode's second was delightful but he had so many opportunities to play it early and simple and his shooting was woeful. He also led straight to their goal with a soft pass from defence. Its OK to be wasteful when you're demolishing Peterborough, but up against the likes of Cardiff, Palace, Boro etc he will need to be more consistent.

I like him though and if he can develop a better "footballing brain" he will be devastating at this level. Interesting that Murphy specifically name checked him at the post-match interview as to what Berg had done to make the team better.

Otherwise good performance, Rhodes proved he is a natural finisher and the fullbacks were excellent.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Murphy is playing better in part to Etuhu sitting back and letting Murphy go forward

Play Dunn alongside him and you will see more of the early season Murphy I think, Etuhu gets a lot of unfair stick, he may misplace the odd pass but not that many IMO

Totally agree on Etuhu, its fans wanting a player to have everything again. If a player has everything, he doesn't play for Rovers. Defensive midfielders who can tackle, mark and break up attacks effectively, whilst also having the ability to spray it around, are a very rare breed. If Etuhu can and does only do the first, thats absolutely fine with me.

[Guest Wen Y Hu]

Parsonblue's match report is now published to the front page here.

[LeChuck]

Totally agree on Etuhu, its fans wanting a player to have everything again. If a player has everything, he doesn't play for Rovers. Defensive midfielders who can tackle, mark and break up attacks effectively, whilst also having the ability to spray it around, are a very rare breed. If Etuhu can and does only do the first, thats absolutely fine with me.

I'm not sure a large section of our fans understand what a defensive midfielder is meant to do. N'Zonzi came in for a stupid amount of criticism for his passing, yet look how he's been taken by the Stoke fans and Pulis. They love him there.

Allardyce was criticised for being direct, N'Zonzi and Etuhu criticised for playing safe passes to retain possession. I don't know if some people know what they want half the time.

Now that Murphy and Etuhu have settled in and Berg has us playing possession football, I don't think we'll lose many battles in that central midfield area this season.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Totally agree on Etuhu, its fans wanting a player to have everything again. If a player has everything, he doesn't play for Rovers. Defensive midfielders who can tackle, mark and break up attacks effectively, whilst also having the ability to spray it around, are a very rare breed. If Etuhu can and does only do the first, thats absolutely fine with me.

Well said.

[donnermeat]

Totally agree on Etuhu, its fans wanting a player to have everything again. If a player has everything, he doesn't play for Rovers.

Could the same be said about Jason Roberts' finishing??

[Mike E]

Could the same be said about Jason Roberts' finishing??

I think we all agree that if Roberts could finish, he'd be called Drogba.

[1864roverite]

I actually thought Rovers played some good stuff and I enjoyed watching the game on tv, which, for a long time hasnt been the case.

Good to see the likes of Hanley, Henley and RR making good contributions and of course JR scoring the three goals was an example of what he can bring to the game.

HB seems to have unified the players and fans, lets just hope Venkys have seen the transformation and are taking notice.

Top 6 seems the place to be for now. If Rovers can bag a few points before Xmas then the New Year brings some good hope. Looks like another half season ticket purchase as I begin to fall back in love with all things BRFC.

COYB

[Amo]

Roberts was paid to put the ball in the net. He could not.

Etuhu's role is to break-up play and keep it simple. Murphy is the pass-master.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Could the same be said about Jason Roberts' finishing??

Only when he's up top on his own.....with a partner, he brought a lot to the team....that's how I saw it.

A striker that bad at finishing can't be a lone striker and we had every right to feel aggrieved imo.

[Mike E]

Roberts scores on instinct. Give him an extra second to think and it's all ballsed up haha

[donnermeat]

That comment was meant a bit tongue in cheek. I'm firmly behind Etuhu keeping it simple and retaining possession.

But Roberts can't help he sucks at finishing

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Could the same be said about Jason Roberts' finishing??

I nearly used that as an example but unfortunately the mere mention of certain scapegoated players will immediately turn many fans against anything else you're trying to say, so didn't bother. I personally think it applies, Roberts speed and strength made him a good impact sub for me. Add finishing and he'd have played for someone better. The general point I suppose is to keep in mind we're a small premiership/quite big championship club, and our players will only ever be good at certain things, so in most cases as long as their attitude is right its better to use them accordingly rather than dismissing them as rubbish.

[chris_h]

Having been pessimistic about saturday night I was really pleased with the three points at Peterborough. Having watched the game though I was shocked at just how poor the opposition were. They cant have been helped by off field shinanigans last week but even so, they looked completely out of place in the Championship. In Lee Tomlin they have what appears to be the most physically out of shape player at that level since the mid 80s.

I like that we get the ball down and pass but I did think that we were ponderous at times as well as being a little sloppy in possession. We will need to play with a bit more zip against better opposition.

As for Jordan Rhodes, he scored five in two games last week and four of them were either a bit scruffy or tap ins. He just has the knack. He's a proper striker who knows where to be and when to be there. I loved his second goal. On one of the replays you can see how he has his head up, see's the keeper move and leave a gap at the near post and then he firmly passes the ball into the into the vacated space. I was very sceptical about the amount we paid for him but he looks worth every penny.

I doubt we play a side as poor as Peterborough again this season so saturday should be viewed in context. That said we are making game on game progress and that is really encouraging.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

In Lee Tomlin they have what appears to be the most physically out of shape player at that level since the mid 80s.

Not quite haha.

[chris_h]

Not quite haha.

He's a chunky character, Tomlin however, looks like a Sunday Leaguer who has just ran back onto the pitch after throwing up behind a bush.

[den]

I doubt we play a side as poor as Peterborough again this season so saturday should be viewed in context. That said we are making game on game progress and that is really encouraging.

No criticism of rovers whatever, but our academy lads would have given that Peterborough side a game.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I like that we get the ball down and pass but I did think that we were ponderous at times as well as being a little sloppy in possession. We will need to play with a bit more zip against better opposition.

I doubt we play a side as poor as Peterborough again this season so saturday should be viewed in context. That said we are making game on game progress and that is really encouraging.

The match was over at half time - and I think a lot of the intensity went out of Rovers play - even though we could have easily added at least another couple of goals second half. As for Peterborough - I thought they worked extremely hard, and would agree with Ferguson that they kept going in the second half and prevented (with a bit of luck and Rovers taking their foot off the pendal) a cricket score. Were they bad - or did Rovers make them look bad ? The next few matches will show how far we have progressed under Berg - but at least we can look forward to these matches with a little optimism.

[Ossydave]

He's a chunky character, Tomlin however, looks like a Sunday Leaguer who has just ran back onto the pitch after throwing up behind a bush.

Good finish though, easily their best player too on the night! Maybe that's just going to show what a bad team they are though......