My thoughts on the Blackburn game

It's another game where i would have taken the point before the game, but i feel we did more than enough to earn the win. We dominated for atleast 75 mins of the game, and the only real threat they posed was from set plays.

We played the better football and creamed Blackburn, but we rode our luck because we just couldn't deal with their ariel threat. I though Williamson played a massive part as he won some vital headers. Is there any news on Simpsons injury? I'll be ****ting myself if Perch comes back....

Our fans were absolutely fantastic. Ewood isn't actually what i expected to be. It's a very nice area and a nice ground. I expected it to be an absolute **** hole. However, i was right on one thing i predicted - Blackburns fans were like most home crowds in this league, ****ing ****e. They only made a noise when they thought they'd scored with that Samba header that hit the wood work. Brilliant atmosphere from the toon fans. I enjoyed the game, and i thought the performance was excellent. At times we played football worthy of Europa, in my opinion. I think if Ben Arfa plays to expectations, and we add some quality, we could seriously push up the table.

I never thought we'd be playing football as good as this only 2 years after that shower of **** in 08/09.

My ratings -

Harper - 7 - Good performance.

Simmo - 6 - Not one of his best games, but i hope he's not injured.

Williamson - 7 - Struggled to deal with Samba, but did just enough. Good performance, strong in the air.

Coloccini - 7.5 - Despite playing against a type of side that normally sees his wither away, he did alright. He almost scored another wonder goal. He could end up being one of the toon legends if he keeps going.

Enrique - 8 - Great performance in attack and defense. Made some silly mistakes but played well overall, especially in attack. I really hope we keep him.

Barton - 9 - Excellent performance. A few poor crosses, but his dispersal of the ball around the pitch was excellent and he made some threatening deliveries. Another top class performance.

Tiote - 9.5 - Cheik Tiote.

Nolan - 7 - Some good passes and some suprising decent crosses. However, was a bit of a passenger at times. Nevertheless, he worked very hard and played his part.

Gutierrez - 7.5 - Another good performance. I'm perhaps being very generous, as his crosses were mainly poor, but he made some excellent runs, and got the ball into some threatening areas, and created chances.

Lovenkrands - 6.5 - Was decent. I don't understand why he tried to chip Robinson when he could of just smashed it. I couldn't see extremely well from the away end, but if it had gone in, it would have been a brilliant finish. Some good runs and linked up qute well with Best.

Best - 7 - Good performance.

Ranger - 7.5 - Made immediate impact, and even managed to shake of Samba a few times. Just shows how strong he is. Is the definition of impact player, but i hope he gets a start.

Kuqi - N/A - The support were brilliant, we already have 2 songs for him, one not so nice, but funny as **** song, and one decent song. He could be like Shola. ****, but still a bit of a legendary character around the area. He looked decent in the warm up. He didn't seem to win as much as i thought he would in the air, but he only played a few minutes, and he was against one of the tallest and most physical teams, so it would be unfair to judge him.

MOM - Tiote. Hard to decide between Barton and Tiote, but i chose Tiote. No reason required.

 

Surely Enrique deserves more than an 8?

 

I'm going to watch MOTD or football first today mate, so i can get another look at it. What i remember most was trying to hold my bladder every time Blackburn were taking a free kick.

 

Yes we passed the ball very well and dominated the game like you said, hopefully Ranger starts vs Birmingham.

Enrique was outstanding

1 more point towards safety

 

Yea it's what the ****ers resorted to in the second half , playing long balls. That effectively killed the game in my opinion. Although Enrique was orgasmic. Absolutely orgasmic.

I think he'll be gone in the summer , though Fat man won't be able to resist a 15m bid from Man United.

 

MUFC have not confirmed they are planning a 15 million quid bid. I've heard 8 million, 12 mil and 15. It's all paper talk. They've confirmed interest but that's it. I think Enrique, if he actually wants to play for the right reasons and not money, will stay, because if he goes to Man United, all he'll be is a bench warmer for Evra.

 

There were rumours though that Evra would retire at the end of the season , hence Man Ure's pursuit of Enrique. Anyways hope you're right and he stays though. I think I'd kill myself if I saw him wear the Man United shirt.

 

Yeah mate i'm worred too, we could lose Tiote aswell. Two of our best players gone :S

 

My personal ratings :

Harper 7 - Decent performance, didn't have much to do.
Simpson 6 - Solid display, hope he isn't injured as he's miles better than James ''Championship Quality'' Perch.
Colo 7 - Solid display, nearly scored a wonder goal, he's technique for a CB is brilliant.
Willo 6 - Solid display but struggled a bit with Blackburn's set-piece threat and looked a bit shaky at times.
Enrique 9(MOTM) - Outstanding performance. Did everything required and asked by him, looked strong, skillful, quick, powerful, direct, put in some decent passes and very decent crosses which would've been profited by someone like Carroll... Enrique was just simply superb!
Barton 7 - Good display, not one of his best match though, but his passing and work-rate was very good.
Nolan 6 - Passenger in most of the first half and improved by a significant amount in the second, made some decent passes, got into the game more and worked hard.
Tiote 8 - Very good in the first half, dictated the midfield, worked hard and looked generally ''classy'' in the second, very strong performance by him.
Guti 7 - Outshined by Enrique but still played his part, attacked the ball well, put in some good crosses and worked hard through the whole match.
Lover 6 - Good in the first half, unlucky not to get a goal and very average in the second half, shouldn't start on Tues.. I'll prefer Ranger got his chance.
Best 6 - Decent display in general, worked hard, decent movement but lacked that ''clinical'' finish.. could've scored 1 or 2... but wasn't his day.

Ranger - N/A.. looked quick and strong when he came on but didn't do anything special, should've had more than 15 mins though.

Kuqi - N/A.. should've also had a bit more than a mere 3 mins.. looked OK but can't really judge.

 

what are the Kuqi songs?

 

Resisting the Tiote and Enrique bids in the summer , will be Ashley's biggest test so far , in my opinion.

 

The commentators on Sportsnet 1 (Canada) were absolutely fawning over Enrique. "If he were at Manchester United he'd be keeping Evra out of the team" etc.

I actually immensely enjoyed the performance today. Like tish said, I'm amazed that our team is playing the brand of football it is at the moment, depleted as we are, with mainly players signed by failed manager's of our past. It's like a successful misfits team that all play for one another.

As long as we keep outplaying teams like this AND stay up, I'll be happy.

Also I thought Lovenkrands was great. Worried Samba all afternoon and made some great runs. He and Enrique generally linked up amazingly. I actually enjoyed seeing them attempting to argue like the 3 stooges because it showed how confident they were in their play. The fact that they had one error, one break-down in communication, and were distressed shows how much they care and how well they usually link up

 

Agreed it will be a big test. However I don't think it's Ashley we need to be particularly concerned about, I was generally impressed by his handling of the Carroll farce and genuinely don't think he wanted him to go...I'm more worried about the transfer requests being handed in once the wages talk. If people want to go, I don't think Ashley/Pardew etc have much choice.

 

Yeah it's going to be the pressure on the players in terms of wages that will force the issue come the summer, even if the club reject initial approaches the agents will get a sniff and start the process that unsettles the players, when a player is being told double, triple your money or more and improve your international hopes by joining a more high profile club it's bound to get to them.

 

Also I thought Lovenkrands was great. Worried Samba all afternoon and made some great runs. He and Enrique generally linked up amazingly. I actually enjoyed seeing them attempting to argue like the 3 stooges because it showed how confident they were in their play. The fact that they had one error, one break-down in communication, and were distressed shows how much they care and how well they usually link up[/QUOTE]

Really, him and Best were poor, think Kuqi, Ranger or both are worth a start at Birmingham.

 

The last article I read about Manure coming for Enrique said that manure were also looking to tie Evra down with a new contract, if that's the case would Enrique really want to gog to man u to sit on the bench?

We can only wait and see, fingers crossed we keep him

 

it's too easy to blame Ashley when there are many factors involved opposing clubs tapping up players/players putting in transfer requests etc.
my concern is the hideous agents wanting their 10/20% of a nice fat transfer and whispering crap into the players (happy were they are) ears turning their heads,the thing that amazes me and this is common practice is the fact clubs wanting a player from another team speak to the players agent first to discuss wages etc. then after that process speak to the players club and if the club refuse to sell the agent then advises the player to hand in a transfer request.effectively holding a gun to the clubs head.i'm not as green as grass to think this is a new process just think it's utter madness and the main reason behind no loyalty.