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Hand Of God On Sunday at St James Park, Rovers probably gave their best team performance of the season by beating Newcastle United 1-0 with "sucker punch" by young teenager Paul Gallagher. Every single player in The Blue and White gave their 100%. Something Graeme Souness would be very proud of. But despite the victory and the great performance, Rovers were hit by news of an injury blow to Barry Ferguson - a dislocated knee cap. Ferguson will be out for the rest of the season and look set to join the growing list of injuries-hit players (Thompson, Reid, Amoruso). But back to the match, the backfour consisting of Neill, Todd, Babbel and Gresko stopped all incoming attacks from a Newcastle offence lead by former Ewood Park hero, Alan Shearer and a Newcastle team desperate to put aside their disappointing 1-1 draw against Leicester on Boxing Day. And I've forgotten to mention the commanding presence of Brad Friedel. The big American keeper stopped every single shot fired at him except for one, which was rightly ruled out for offside from Michael Chopra. Michael who? Never mind. The wingers, Brett Emerton and Alan Mahon also did their bit in helping out with the defending during the game. Especially Emerton, who was everywhere on the pitch. His creativeness on the right flank was one of the reasons why Sir Bobby Robson wanted to get him previously. And in front, the menacing pair of Paul Gallagher and Andy Cole were working hard to fight for every ball been crossed into the box. Former Newcastle cult hero, Andy Cole could have even got onto the scoresheet, if not for a spectacular overhead clearance by Andy O'Brien. Then came the moment of controversial in the 72nd minute as Paul Gallagher appears to have use his arms/hands to punch the ball into the Newcastle net after a cross by Emerton. The referee saw the incident clearly but still gave the goal. Isn't this The Hand Of God or what? Whether its a handball or not, it doesnt matter to us. Newcastle fans and Sir Bobby can debate for as long as they want, but the result will still stand. Rovers worked hard in this game and thoroughly deserved this victory. They certainly made mudpies out of The Magpies. Meanwhile enjoy the new year, all you Rovers fans out there! Match Stats Premiership Week 19, St James Park, 28 December 2003 Final Result Newcastle 0 ROVERS 1 Newcastle (4-4-2) Given, Hughes, Bramble, O'Brien, Bernard, Solano (Ambrose 71), Jenas, Speed (Viana 81), Robert, Shearer, Chopra (LuaLua 71). Subs Not Used : Harper, Woodgate. Rovers (4-4-2) Friedel, Neill, Babbel, Todd, Gresko, Emerton, Ferguson (Flitcroft 28), Tugay, Mahon, Gallagher (Jansen 90), Cole (Yorke 87). Subs Not Used : Enckelman, Martin Taylor Scorers Gallagher (72). Booked Todd . Attendance 51,648. Referee Mark Halsey (Lancashire). Updated by Jeffrey on 30 December 2003 at 1400. Babbel Saves Rovers Rovers needed injury time before Markus Babbel's second goal of the match earned them a 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park. In very wet conditions at Ewood Park, the home side showed more control of the midfield play in the early stages and Graeme Souness's side needed just 3 minutes to take the lead. Babbel gave Rovers the lead with a header from an accurate corner by Brett Emerton. Then the inspired Juninho scored 2 goals, one in the first half, the other in the second, to set up what was looking to be a vital away win for Steve McClaren's side and yet another embarassing home defeat for Rovers. However, deep into injury time, Rovers keeper Brad Friedel advanced into Boro's box for yet another corner by Emerton and that seemed to confuse the visitors a bit as Babbel was left unmarked to head his and Rovers' second goal for a 2-2 draw that keeps Rovers out of the bottom three ahead of Sunday's live match against Newcastle United at St James Park. Match Stats Premiership Week 18, Ewood Park, 26 December 2003 Final Result ROVERS 2 Middlesbrough 2 Rovers (4-4-2) Friedel, Taylor, Babbel, Todd, Johansson (Mahon 46), Neill, Ferguson, Flitcroft (Tugay 55), Emerton, Gallagher, Yorke (Cole 46). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Jansen. Middlesbrough (4-4-2) Schwarzer, Davies, Cooper, Southgate, Queudrue, Mendieta, Boateng, Downing, Zenden, Juninho (Greening 73), Ricketts. Subs Not Used: Ehiogu, Riggott, Maccarone, Jones. Scorers Babbel (3, 90), Juninho (31, 51). Booked Boateng , Flitcroft , Gallagher . Attendance 25,452 Referee Alan Wiley (Staffordshire). Updated by Jeffrey on 27 December 2003 at 1200. Irish Wizard Returns Not Damien Duff but Alan Mahon. Greame Souness has called back left-winger Mahon back to Rovers after a good spell whilst on loan to Divison One side Ipswich. Mahon will go straight into the squad to face Boro on Boxing Day, and will most likely start on the left of midfield. With Reid and Thompson both out, out-of-favour Alan Mahon could make his first team return. Ciccio Going? Graeme Souness has confirmed that lowly Serie A side Ancona are interested in securing the services of Corrado Grabbi. The £6.7 million signing in June 2001 has failed to settle in England and the Rovers are ready to write off their losses on the Italian striker. Souness could save up to £2 million of wages if they can offload Grabbi. Villa Sinks Rovers When Graeme Souness told the whole world, a few hours before Rovers' match against Villa, that Rovers are still able to finish in the top 6 this season, who actually believed it? Raise your hands. Well, i did. But after the game against Villa at Ewood Park, i realised that Souness is actually telling us a Christmas joke. No one really expected Villa to just brush Rovers aside so easily last Saturday. True that Villa beat Wolves (Premiership) and Chelsea (League Cup) in their last 2 games but hey, this is a team that has NOT won a single game in their last 8 away league games. Just when we thought that Rovers have finally "turned the corner" with some impressive results lately, they gave us fan a real smack in the face with a display, described by Souness as the worst ever in his 3.5 years in charge. Just some statistics to note, a few weeks ago against Spurs, Rovers finally became the last team in the Premiership to keep a clean sheet this season. This week, Rovers became the first team to chalk up 10 defeats (5 home, 5 away) in the top flight this season. What has happened to this team? So full of promises before the season began, but look at now. 16th in the league with almost half the season gone, anyone still think we can finish in the top 6? A relegation dog-fight seems more likely. Let's all hope Rovers can put up a better performance against Boro on Boxing Day. Match Stats Premiership Week 17, Ewood Park, 20 December 2003 Final Result ROVERS 0 Villa 2 Rovers (4-4-2) Friedel, Babbel, Todd, Short, Neill (Jansen 68), Gallagher (Gresko 45), Ferguson, Tugay (Flitcroft 61), Emerton, Cole, Yorke. Subs Not Used: Martin Taylor, Enckelman. Villa (4-4-2) Sorensen, Delaney, Mellberg, Dublin, Samuel, Moore (Vassell 67), Hendrie (De la Cruz 89), McCann, Whittingham, Barry (Hitzlsperger 78), Angel. Subs Not Used: Johnsen, Postma. Scorers Moore (62), Angel (75). Booked Short . Attendance 20,722 Referee Dermot Gallagher (Oxfordshire). Updated by Jeffrey on 24 December 2003 at 2200. Stubborn Rovers Hit By Iceberg Rovers came to Highbury hoping to be the first team to beat Arsenal this season. Afterall, Rovers has a wonderful record at Highbury in recent years and they were the only team to beat Arsenal home and away last season. In fact as early as 20 seconds into the game, Rovers showed why they were Arsenal's bogey team. Dwright Yorke poked a shot just wide of the Arsenal goalpost after a pass into the box from Lucas Neill. Wenger must be relieved to see that shot went wide so early in the game. For the first 10 minutes, Rovers made a slow and steady start. But they couldn't do much about Dennis Bergkamp's goal in the 11th minute. That was Arsenal's first real effort and it turned out to be the winning goal. Arsenal showed glimpses of the side that thrashed Inter a couple of weeks ago. In the second half, Arsenal struggled to find a way past a Rovers defence well-marshalled by the magnificient war-horse Craig Short. Even if Arsenal did, their final ball let them down. Rovers were proving a tough nut to crack throughout the game. Markus Babbel thought he has drew Rovers level from a Barry Ferguson farpost cross. But it was not given after the referee judged Babbel to have fouled Toure just before that. That was the closest Rovers came to scoring a goal. When the final whistle came, every Rovers fan knows that Rovers at least deserved a point from this game. In the end, Arsenal showed us why they are still the only undefeated team in the Premiership this season despite not playing to their usual high standards. But Souness should be happy with this Rovers performance despite losing as they were extremely hardworking throughout the game. Match Stats Premiership Week 16, Highbury, 14 December 2003 Final Result Arsenal 1 ROVERS 0 Arsenal (4-4-2) Lehmann, Toure, Campbell, Cygan, Cole, Ljungberg (Edu 84), Vieira, Silva, Pires, Bergkamp (Parlour 74), Henry. Subs Not Used: Keown, Kanu, Stack. Rovers (4-4-2) Friedel, Neill, Gresko (Reid 46), Short, Todd, Babbel (Baggio 82), Tugay, Emerton, Ferguson, Gallagher (Cole 57), Yorke. Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Flitcroft. Scorers Bergkamp (11). Booked Gresko , Ferguson , Babbel , Todd , Gilberto , Cygan . Attendance 37, 677 Referee Andy D'Urso (Essex). Updated by Jeffrey on 16 December 2003 at 1830. What A Rush ! Poor old Dunny, he must be wondering why did he leave his beloved Rovers for Birmingham during the summer as Rovers smacked The Blues right in the face with 4 goals in 22 second-half minutes at St Andrews yesterday. The villain yesterday was no doubt Christophe Dugarry. He got Andy Todd sent off last season, but this time round, he himself found the way back to the dressing earlier than anyone else. He was given his marching orders after 2 yellows cards. But by then Rovers already had the 3 points in the bag as supersub Andy Cole turned the game round with 2 assists in 2 mins. Barry Ferguson scored his first ever Premiership goal in the 66th minute while Lucas Neill, back from suspension slotted home his second goal of the season in the 68th minute. Then came one of the goals of the season as Tugay, who recently announced his retirement from international soccer with Turkey, drove home a stunning 25-yard strike for his first goal this campaign. That goal was in the 82nd minute. But there was still time though for our young Scottish striker Paul Gallagher to score his first goal in the senior team as he cooly lifted the ball over Maik Taylor from close range in the 88th minute. This was a victory Graeme Souness should be very proud of! Too many plus points to take out from this game. Ferguson, Tugay and Gallagher all scoring their first goals this season, first back-to-back victories (against Everton and Birmingham) and first back-to-back clean sheets. Also another amazing statistic, after last night's game, a total of 13 different players has contributed to all Rovers goals this season. (Cole, Yorke, Jansen, Gallagher, Thompson, Emerton, Ferguson, Tugay, Baggio, Neill, Gresko, Babbel, Amoruso) We have goal scorers everywhere on the pitch! Who says only Man Utd have them? So have we finally turned the corner with this morale-boosting win? We can only find out next week when we take on the unbeaten Gooners from Highbury. We beat them 2-1 last season, can we do it again? Up the Rovers! Match Stats Premiership Week 15, St Andrews, 07 December 2003 Final Result Birmingham 0 ROVERS 4 Birmingham (4-4-2) Taylor, Kenna (Cisse 79), Clapham, Tebily, Cunningham, Savage (Clemence 83), Lazaridis (Morrison 73), Johnson, Dunn, Forssell, Dugarry Subs Not Used: Bennett, John. Rovers (5-4-1) Friedel, Neill, Gresko, Short, Todd, Babbel, Tugay, Emerton, Ferguson, Gallagher, Yorke (Cole 59). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Baggio, Reid, Jansen. Scorers Ferguson (66), Neill (68), Tugay (82), Gallagher (88). Booked Dugarry , Emerton Attendance 29,354 Referee Graham Barber (Hertfordshire). Updated by Jeffrey on 07 December 2003 at 1830. No Illie, Yes McBride After confirming that Adrian Illie is not what Rovers are looking for, Souness has turned his attention to Brian McBride, striker with Columbus Crew, over a loan deal until the end of the season. Souness confirmed talks are underway with the American's agent Paul Stretford. McBride played before in the Premiership with Everton previously and has scored a couple of goals during his short spell in England last season. Gres-goal Seals Victory Rovers avenged last season's 2-1 home defeat against Spurs with a hardfought 1-0 win this time round. Slovakian international Vrastislav Gresko was the hero on Saturday when his RowZ-bound shot took a wicked deflection of Spurs' captain Steve Carr and flew past Kasey Keller and into the net. Paul Gallagher was given his debut his first ever Premiership start at the expense of Matt Jansen, who was dropped to the bench. The young striker's energy was certainly the bright spot of the match. Former Rangers team-mates Barry Ferguson and Tugay were running the midfield show as Rovers dominated throughout second half. Souness's dismissal from the sidelines took a little shine of the victory but no one was to deny this home win Rovers thoroughly deserved. This was also Rovers first clean sheet of the new season. Boy, how long have we waited for it! Souness will also have a selection headache this Saturday as Andy Cole (suspension), Lucas Neill (suspension) and Garry Flitcroft (injury) will all be back. Will young Gallagher partner Cole upfront? Will Todd still retain his place after his consistent performances in the last few games. Or will Flitcroft be restored to the midfield engine room together with Ferguson at the expense of Tugay? Come this Saturday, St. Andrews is the venue. We'll face old boys David Dunn, Damien Johnson and maybe Jeff Kenna. Hopefully this game will be shown live again. Match Stats Premiership Week 14, Ewood Park, 29 November 2003 Final Result ROVERS 1 Tottenham 0 Rovers (4-4-2) Friedel, Gresko, Short, Tugay, Babbel, Johansson (Reid 46), Todd, Gallagher (Jansen 82), Yorke, Emerton, Ferguson Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Taylor, Baggio Tottenham (4-4-2) Keller, Carr, Taricco, Anderton, Postiga (Zamora 64), Keane, Dalmat (Mabizela 64), Konchesky (Ricketts 81), King, Gardner, Richards Subs Not Used: Burch, Doherty Scorers Gresko (78). Booked Gardner Attendance 22,802 Referee Graham Poll (Tottenham :p ). Updated by Jeffrey on 02 December 2003 at 0000.