Don't ask ....
Blackburn Rovers 0 - 4 Aston Villa
I'm still working it out - but to quote a caller to RADIO ROVERS - it was very like Alice in Wonderland - surreal!!
After some early Villa pressure it was Rovers who played some wonderful attractive football. They had shots on target and a perfectly good Benni McCarthy goal ruled off side. That was the good bit - from then on it all went very wrong. David Dunn fouled Ashley Young and from the free kick John Carew was credited with the opening goal. However if you watch the replay you might notice he doesn't touch the ball - so either a Young goal or own goal for Brad. 1-0 at the break and still all to play for ... With 50 minutes gone Ryan Nelsen was RED carded for a professional foul on Agbonlahor. Gareth Barry scored from the spot and with Rovers down to 10 men, probably no way back. With ten minutes left Ashley Young made it 3-0 and then just to rub it in sub Marlon Harewood made it four with two minutes to go. The off side rule that eliminated Benni's opener seemed not to apply to Villa. It all seems like a bad dream - and callers to the post match 'phone in criticised the officials, but also playing Bentley on the left wing and no place for Tugay or Savage who watched from the bench.
Mark Hughes told RADIO ROVERS: "It did seem to be one of those nights. We are still scratching our heads how we've lost the game 4-0. Circumstances have gone against us but for the first thirty minutes I thought we were excellent. We got the ball down and caused them problems, I think they had one strike at goal and that was probably it. But we switched off in fairness at the free-kick, they have got good delivery, they've got big guys in there and unfortunately we haven't done our jobs and they've scored. The game turned on the sending off once again, we haven't been in a position to win the game because as soon as the penalty is given, and Ryan is sent off, then it is very difficult. That is the disappointment because it kills the game for everybody. We've lost 4-0, the last two goals I have my doubts about as well, I think they were both offside.We are not going to beat ourselves up about it, 4-0 looks bad in black, but confidence won't be dented because of this, we played well enough but circumstances conspired against us."
Next up it's Newcastle on Saturday - Rovers stay 9th with 23 points - and THAT was the game in hand. (28th November 2007)
bbc.co.uk (report) AND rovers.co.uk (reaction) PLUS goals07078 AND t&t0708

Rovers come from behind twice to claim a worthy point
Fulham 2 - 2 Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn had no Roque Santa Cruz - late back from International duties - and lost Benni McCarthy just 6 minutes into the game. And with no Matt Derbyshire available - the lone striker roll fell to sub Jason Roberts who came off the bench to lead the line. Take all that on board and the result doesn't look that bad. And it was two defenders who found the target for Rovers - each occasion coming from behind. Despite a game that saw the visitors claim 66% possession, it was a penalty award to the home side that opened the scoring. Still 0-0 at the break, it then only took five minutes for the first goal. Ryan Nelsen was adjudged to have fouled Diomansy Kamara and Danny Murphy converted the spot kick (50'00). Six minutes later, Brett Emerton scored his first of the season with a close range shot (56'00) and Rovers were back on level terms. The last time the Australian found the back of the net it was scoring an own goal for Wartford last January! Today saw his 150th Premier League game.
Another 6 minutes and sloppy defending gave Diomansy Kamara the chance to give Fulham the lead again (62'00) - and Rovers were 2-1 down. Still claiming the lions share of the ball Blackburn kept pushing forward and their reward came courtesy of Stephen Warnock, when he toe pocked home a close range shot to claim a point for his side. The defender was also named the SKY man of the match.
And that's how it ended - 2-2 and Rovers unlucky not to take all three points. Mark Hughes told reporters:
"I didn't anticipate I'd lose Benni within minutes of the kick-off and it was difficult from that point on. But Jason Roberts came on and was a handful so for him to put in a performance like that was exceptional. We dominated the game and should have won it comfortably but came away with the point. Overall, we're not too disappointed."
The result leaves Rovers 9th level on points with 8th place Everton. Next up it's the game in hand against Aston Villa on Wednesday night at Ewood . (25th November 2007)
bbc.co.uk (report) AND rovers.co.uk (reaction) PLUS goals07078 AND t&t0708

Here 'till at least 2010
Mark Hughes signs new long term contract
Blackburn Rovers have announced that manager Mark Hughes has put pen to paper on a new contract that will keep him at Ewood Park until at least 2010. Then, after that date, it's followed by a 12-month rolling deal.
Chairman John Williams told the clubs official website: "The club has made significant progress during Mark's tenure and we are delighted that he has signed this new contract. It is very good news. Mark has done - and continues to do - a great job and we are very confident in his ability to drive the club forward."
Hughes was named manager of the month in October and has just seen his team make the best start in the top flight since they won the title in 94/95. They return to action away at Fulham this Sunday (16:00 kick off) for a televised game, and then it's home to Ewood for the rearranged game in hand with Aston Villa. (23rd November 2007)
bbc.co.uk AND rovers.co.ck

All good things come to an end ...
Manchester United 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers
It only took 90 seconds to spoil what could have been a good afternoon for Rovers, but Cristiano Ronaldo did the damage scoring both goals in less than two minutes apart. Chris Samba had already come really close to finding the target for Blackburn, and there were good calls two for Bentley and McCarthy. But despite playing some great football, it was the home side who seemed to get most of the decisions and to rub salt into their wounds a second yellow for Dunny saw him sent for an early bath after 52 minutes. Last year despite scoring first - four goals passed Brad Friedel in the last half hour - so this was an improvement! The defeat brought to an end the remarkable away record too - which goes right back to that game last March. But to be serious, Hughes was realistic after the game:- "Had Christopher Samba's strike gone in then who knows what would have happened, but it didn't go in. We were very much in the game in that first half but then we switched off at a set-play which is always disappointing, we didn't mark correctly and if you give Ronaldo a clear header just outside your six yard box then you are likely to pay the price, which we did. But then if you do you concede then you have to be really resolute to make sure that you don't concede immediately after. Obviously we've had experience of that this year in the UEFA Cup and it hurt us and unfortunately it has occurred again, we are going to have to learn from that."
So the 'Manager of the Month' award worked its magic again and Rovers go into another International break desperate to get back in winning ways at Fulham in two weeks time. The good news is that other results worked for Blackburn, and they stay 7th (after yesterdays games) with a game in hand. Probably a remembrance Sunday - to forget.(11th November 2007)
bbc.co.uk (report) AND rovers.co.uk (reaction) PLUS goals07078 AND t&t0708

Top Man!
Sparky gets Manager of the Month
It can often be seen as a poisoned challis - but whatever the aftermath, Mark Hughes must be proud of his award as "Barclays Manager of the Month" for October. After 8 games undefeated - and the best start to a top flight season since 1994-5, the former Rovers player, turned manager has worked wonders at Ewood Park.
Talking to reporters he realised the 'danger' of this particular honour:- "I wonder if I should be commiserated in fairness. Usually a defeat follows after you receives the award. Maybe Sir Alex refused it with the hope that they would give it to me and he would be able to overcome my team! But in all seriousness, we are very pleased about it. Obviously it is recognition for the work my staff and players have done; they have been magnificent in this last month. Perhaps we are finally turning people's opinions of us around."
The test of course is on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford .... (9th November 2007)
rovers.co.uk (full story)

Full house for hard fought point
Blackburn Rovers 0 - 0 Liverpool
If ... David Bentley's shot hadn't been inches wide ... David Dunn's hit the upright AND Rover been awarded a clear handball penalty - they could easily have won this one!! Liverpool applied plenty of pressure in the final quarter - but other than that it was much more Rovers who controlled the game. An almost capacity 30,033 enjoyed a great evening accompanied by fireworks off if not on the pitch. Perhaps it was a little too tame - but it was certainly professional. Brad Friedel denied the visitors two best chances, and despite some late changes that certainly sparked the Merseysiders into life, they couldn't break down the Rovers defense or complete their build up play.
Hughes told RADIO ROVERS: "I think we had a real foothold in the game and created a number of chances that we were a bit unlucky with. David Bentley was clean through, David Dunn great shot that hit the underside of the bar and a decent call for a penalty by all accounts. I've not seen it since but you can usually tell by the reaction of the players if they think it is a genuine claim."
And of course Rovers have now gone 8 games undefeated ahead of the next tough test at Old Trafford! (3rd November 2007)
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Rovers get home draw
Quarter final tough test
The draw for the final 8 of this years League Cup saw Blackburn Rover the penultimate team to come out of the hat. The great news is that this offered a home game, and amazingly the team they'll meet is the one who they beat 4-0 in the same round back in 2001-2. Yes Arsenal! And you'll recall that they went on to win the Worthington cup that season.
Mark Hughes scored in that game season - with a Hat trick for Matt Jansen. The boss told RADIO ROVERS he's more than happy with what will be a big game at Ewood - scheduled for the w/c 17th December.
The full draw is:
West Ham v Everton (w/c 10th Dec) ~ Man City v Spurs ~ Chelsea v Liverpool ~ Blackburn v Arsenal (w/c 17th Dec)
(3rd November 2007)

Remarkable recovery!
Aaron could be fit for Saturday
Despite concerns for the South African captain after he was stretchered off at Portsmouth, it now appears that Aaron Mokoena will be fine ... Mark Hughes told rovers.co.uk: "He's okay thankfully. He obviously got a bang on his leg, he's has a plate in it from a previous injury and as he went back onto the field of play he felt a pain which probably frightened him more than anything. So obviously he came off, but I've seen him this morning and he's walking around. He's a little bit sore but we'll see how he is tomorrow. But he's obviously not as bad as we initially thought. He feels a lot better in himself and hopefully he'll settle down and he may well be an option for us."
As reported earlier (see OCTOBER ARCHIVE), with Robbie Savage out for up to 6 weeks - Rovers will see that news as a great boost going into games with Liverpool and Manchester United. (1st November 2007)
rovers.co.uk (full story) ALSO bbc.co.uk (more) PLUS news archive 0ctober 2007