Rovers made to look second-rate

IT'S time for Blackburn Rovers' players to stand up and be counted, time to take responsibility for their performances and time to put an end to the entirely-justified label of 'under-achievers', which has been hanging around their necks for longer than anyone wants to remember.

If they don't, the consequences could be dire.

When things go wrong - and they have been going drastically wrong at this club for more than 18 months now - there are easy targets.

You can question the manager, his signings and selection, criticise Jack Walker and his board for promising the moon but, in the past couple of years, failing abysmally to deliver the earth.

Or you can always blame the referees and linesmen for blunders which cost vital games.

But, when it comes down to accountability, the players themselves are the ones who should carry the can.

According to the Barnsley fans, it might be just like watching Brazil. But that's no reason for Rovers to allow Neil Shipperley to look like Ronaldo.

Yet that is just what they did as they stumbled to a mind-numbing defeat which leaves them with their mantle of promotion favourites looking about as credible as a New Year's Day sales price tag on April 1.

I put it to Brian Kidd afterwards that, before the game, he would finally have been happy with the shape and personnel of the team he was able to field.

The answer was affirmative and rightly so. His injury problems had cleared sufficently to inject experience and know-how in the shape of Craig Short, Ashley Ward, new man Egil Ostenstad and, for the first time at home, Garry Flitcroft.

The side - allegedly - was a Premiership team. They had a familiar 4-4-2 formation and we sat back awaiting the 'real' start to the season.

But Barnsley made them look second rate, never mind First Division.

Shipperley, signed by Barnsley boss Dave Bassett for £700,000 in summer, is a good, honest pro - a workmanlike striker who struggled to make an impact at the highest level.

But he gave Rovers a real chasing.

And, with another visiting team showing that hard work and good organisation is enough to blunt Rovers as an attacking force, there could be some tedious afternoons ahead.

Kidd did not shy away from the facts, feeling his team had looked nervous, apprehensive and frightened. Like me, he could offer no logical explanation.

"You would never have thought, after the week we've had, that we would have turned in a performance like that," said a baffled boss.

It's easy to sympathise with him, for Rovers should have been more than capable of beating Barnsley but finished with what they deserved. The fates conspired against Kidd in his eagerness to win. He used all three subs then lost Marlon Broomes to injury for the last 15 minutes.

But that was a red herring.

Barnsley should have been ahead by the interval, as Rovers produced the occasional flowing move only to fall down where it mattered.

With the defence in disarray in the fourth minute, Adrian Moses struck a post when it would have been easier to score.

And Shipperley, claiming a foul, headed over an open goal as he moved and defenders remained static.

Rovers' only genuine opportunity came in the 34th minute when Callum Davidson played a good ball down the left.

Ostenstad did really well to make it, got past the keeper and coolly pulled the ball back to leave Ward with the goal gaping.

Lack of sharpness cost the striker as he got in a tangle but managed a decent shot which brought a magnificent save from Tony Bullock.

Two things came to mind at half-time. Rovers were putting themselves in trouble on too many occasions and, looking low on confidence, they were indecisive going forward. They added up to one big problem and, despite a bright start to the second half, they were soon in trouble.

John Filan, under pressure, punched to the edge of the penalty area, the ball was quickly returned into a crowded box and Georgi Hristov was first to the ball to score.

The substitutions did not make a deal of difference and, when Broomes was helped off, Rovers were down to 10 men.

But Ward's persistence, forcing the keeper to haul him down when the ball was running harmlessly out of play, gave them an 81st-minute lifeline.

Lee Carsley took a mean penalty, blasting it high into the net to give hope of a point.

Reality dawned four minutes later when Rovers had possession but, once again, gave it away and left acres of space behind them.

Mike Sheron cottoned on to a long ball on the Barnsley right, crossed and Ronaldo - sorry, Shipperley - struck a superb first-time shot low into the corner for a fabulous finish.

"He's got a heart like a lion," said Bassett of the game's top man.

So has Roar, the Ewood mascot, but it's on the field that Rovers need some lionhearts.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.