Kidd sorry over bust-up

The Rovers boss also revealed that referee Rob Harris had not given any indication that he would be reporting the incident to the Football Association.

Though Kidd will have to sweat it out for a few days to see whether fourth official Neale Barry, who witnessed the 'verbals' at close hand, makes a report.

"I just hope the fans don't think that I let them down," said Kidd today.

"That is the last thing I would want to do.

"But it was just one of those things, there were only words spoken, no punches thrown or anything like that."

The manager did not want to go into the incident in detail but it seemed fairly obvious from the stand that Thompson, who later apologised to Kidd, provoked the confrontation by trying to get Jason McAteer into trouble with the ref.

Karlheinz Riedle had made the most of an accidental clash with McAteer leading to the touchline bust-up.

Kidd and Thompson could be carpeted by the FA but will have to wait a few days before they discover if any complaints have been lodged with the authorities.

Meanwhile, another defeat, stemming from a couple of outrageous defensive blunders, leaves Rovers uncomfortably on the edge of the drop zone. But Kidd refuses to allow any depression to show after taking over a rock-bottom side in December and steering them to within sight of safety before they slipped back into deep trouble.

"I feel for the players because when I arrived they were rock bottom but they have given themselves a chance," he said.

"Saturday was the first time I have seen anything like that happen since I came.

"You only had to see the faces in the crowd. They couldn't believe what was happening either.

"We were tidy for the first 15 or 20 minutes but then we pressed the self-destruct button.

"I thought it was all us in the second half. The players could have folded but at least they went out for the shirt.

"There are going to be plenty of twists and turns between now and the end of the season, at both top and bottom. That's always the way it pans out.

"But we are not just having big games now. I have been saying since I came here that the season goes from August to May and they are all big games in the Premiership.

"Your season doesn't just hinge on one game and you can't turn form on and off like a light switch. That's for sure.

"But I don't look on this season as a downer because I have got one of the best jobs in football. "I work for a cracking owner and have good people on the board who support me.

"What I am trying to do is to develop and build the club."

Thompson sorry over Kidd touchline bust-up

PHIL Thompson apologised to Rovers manager Brian Kidd after a dramatic touchline bust-up between the two men during a first half when Liverpool were gifted the points.

The Liverpool assistant for some reason seemed to lose his cool when ex-Red Jason McAteer - accidentally - caught Karlheinz Riedle with a flying boot and the German went down as though he had been felled by an axe.

It sparked an angry war of words in front of the tunnel with Kidd obviously infuriated by Thompson's reaction and needing to be physically restrained by his staff.

While Kidd was reluctant to talk about it, Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier described the situation as a "misunderstanding" and said it reminded him of the bitter and longstanding rivalry between his club and Manchester United.

Questioned about the confrontation, Kidd said simply: "You had better ask Phil Thompson about that one. But it had nothing to do with my frustrations (about our situation)."

Asked if Thompson had apologised to him, the Rovers boss added: "Yes, to be fair to him he did."

Later he added: "I don't go bellyaching. I don't feel sorry for myself. If you want to give me stick for what happened then people know I can take the medicine.

"The ball came over the top and McAteer didn't see Riedle. "He just clipped him then everyone was shouting at the side of the pitch.

"I was only protecting my players, I will always be there for my players." Houllier attempted to put things in context.

"It reminded me of a Manchester United-Liverpool game and I said that to Thompson at the time," explained Houllier. "It came from a misunderstanding.

"To be fair and honest Jason McAteer could not see Karlheinz Riedle coming from the back and the referee couldn't see what happened because of where he was.

"Eventually, the linesman gave the foul.

"Phil went to shake hands with Brian.

"It made me laugh more than anything, just like the Liverpool-Manchester United old days."

Rovers have withdrawn Keith Gillespie, Damien Johnson and Alan Fettis from the Northern Ireland squad for this week's friendly against Canada.

Johnson picked up a couple of knocks on Saturday, Gillespie - who was suspended - would not have played for Rovers anyway because of a calf niggle, while Fettis has chipped a bone in his hand during training.

But Callum Davidson has joined up with Scotland for their game against Germany and, despite some niggling injury problems, Lee Carsley, Jason McAteer and Damien Duff have linked up with the Republic of Ireland. Stephane Henchoz, who has been battling through the pain barrier for Rovers, has also gone to Greece with Switzerland. But it seems unlikely he will play given his groin injury.

"We can only hope they all come back okay," added Kidd.

Goals from Ben Chamberlain, Stuart Howson, Steve Foster and Ben Burgess gave Rovers Academy a 4-0 home win over Nottingham Forest in the second round of the knockout competition. They now visit Arsenal on Saturday.

The under-19s lost 1-0 at Forest in extra time.

Rovers Reserves play Stoke at Ewood tonight (kick-off 7pm). Apart from Tim Flowers they will probably field their youngest-ever side at this level.

The squad is: Flowers, Richardson, Murphy, Scates, Whittle, Brown, Fitzpatrick, Douglas, Burgess, Topley, D Dunning, Hawe, M Richards, Ryan, Foster, Stewart.

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