'Millwall took cheap shots at my players', claims Blackburn Rovers manager Michael Appleton (From Lancashire Telegraph)
When news happens, text LT and your photos and videos to 80360. Or contact us by email or phone.
'Millwall took cheap shots at my players', claims Blackburn Rovers manager Michael Appleton
6:52pm Sunday 10th March 2013 in Sport
Blackburn manager Michael Appleton accused Millwall of taking "cheap shots" at his players after they emerged battered and bruised from this afternoon's goalless FA Cup quarter-final at The Den.
Scott Dann had his head bandaged after being caught by Rob Hulse's elbow in the first half and he was clattered in the head again in the second by Millwall defender Danny Shittu during a feisty clash in south-east London.
Referee Martin Atkinson dished out seven yellow cards in total with one of the worst offences committed by Shane Lowry, who sent David Bentley flying up in the air with a hefty tackle in the second half.
Bradley Orr came on in the first half for Adam Henley after he suffered an injury, but he himself had to be replaced 12 minutes later with a suspected broken rib following a challenge with Shittu.
"There were a lot of tackles flying around today and a couple of cheap shots going on out there, which is disappointing," Appleton said in his post-match press conference.
"Adam looks as if he has done his hamstring again, which is disappointing.
"Brad might have cracked a rib. He is really struggling with his breathing at the minute and is in a lot of pain.
"He is taking a lot of pain killers and we will get him scanned and X-rayed as soon as possible."
Appleton thinks Wednesday's replay will not be as physical, if the game is officiated by a "strong referee".
"As long as we get a strong referee on Wednesday I don't see there being any problem," Appleton said.
"There were a few arms flailing but that is part and parcel of the game."
Millwall hit back at Appleton's claims this evening, insisting they were not overly physical.
"Cheap shots? I don't think that was the case," Millwall boss Kenny Jackett said.
"I don't think that was my players at all."
Lions midfielder Jack Smith reacted angrily to Appleton's comments.
He said: "I didn't see any cheap shots. They seemed to fall over if we breathed on them."
Millwall had a few decent chances, but they were unable to beat Jake Kean in a match that was devoid of any real quality.
Andy Keogh struck a post in the first half, Hulse missed a sitter from six yards after the break, and frontman Dany N'Guessan was poor throughout.
Jackett, who lost Arsenal loanee Benik Afobe to a serious knee injury in midweek, admits his forwards were not up to scratch today.
"Goalscoring has been a problem for us in 2013," the Millwall boss said.
"The win was there for us. It is frustrating. In 2012 it wasn't a problem for us, but I think today showed that when we do get on top of sides, we need to score and we didn't.
"There was no lack of passion from the players, but we didn't finish. It's something that we need to improve."
The poor state of Millwall's efforts up front were summed up by the fact that their best chance came from the right boot of 32-year-old centre-back Danny Shittu.
The Nigerian unleashed a powerful 40-yard shot which Kean did well to tip over the bar.
Shittu, who scored in the fifth-round win over Aston Villa, almost scored again soon after with another piledriver.
"If that had gone in, I think I'd have gone straight to the changing room and taken my top off," he said.
Comments(27)
Truerover85
says...
7:18pm Sun 10 Mar 13
A Game of Blue & White Halves
says...
7:21pm Sun 10 Mar 13
passingfootball
says...
7:46pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Truerover85 wrote:posh didnt think so when they beat up millwall 1-5, but in the cup it is a different matter , they raise their game somehow, the type of defenders they have, runners from deep positions can really cause havoc, get them running back at their goal, give our attackers as many chances in the final third as possible
Millwall is no easy place to got. if we beat millwall at home and wigan then we could be playing in europe next year!
FCBurnley
says...
8:44pm Sun 10 Mar 13
h shame. Just before the BIG game as well.
LongWayFromHome
says...
8:46pm Sun 10 Mar 13
LongWayFromHome
says...
9:02pm Sun 10 Mar 13
FCBurnley wrote:yup a bare bones squad, game in midweek.... wont it be embarrassing if you still can't manage to be defeat us after all the injuries an additional games we have played?
Hamstrings and broken ribs...............a
h shame. Just before the BIG game as well.
please go back to sniffing your sisters pants, dingle....
Rovers till I die
says...
9:23pm Sun 10 Mar 13
FCBurnley wrote:We have enough to win next Sunday without Orr and Henley , it's a Big game for you just a formality for us ..
Hamstrings and broken ribs...............a
h shame. Just before the BIG game as well.
.Down to our walking wounded so will
be embarrassing for you if you don't get a result , think
you know it will be yet another year without a victory over
your illustrious neighbours .....
RoversSwiss
says...
9:26pm Sun 10 Mar 13
At least enough of Dunny to show that he is a much better player than Murphy, he always has been when they have played against each other over the past 15 years.
Nuttall Street
says...
9:32pm Sun 10 Mar 13
1riversider
says...
9:33pm Sun 10 Mar 13
SHYSTERS GET OUT OF OUR CLUB
handyamBRFC
says...
9:35pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Many have seen that BRFC are a really soft touch especially this season.
Many BRFC fans have themselves felt that BRFC are easy to push over.
We have no bottle.
we have weak players.
we have no fighters.
''Lions midfielder Jack Smith reacted angrily to Appleton's comments.
He said: "I didn't see any cheap shots. They seemed to fall over if we breathed on them."
Actually I'm sure all/ many other teams in the championship know about BRFC being a soft touch and hence we always get beat and beaten up.
Actually if we had fighters we would not be a this sad position not just in the league but having respect also from other teams and players.
noddy57
says...
10:18pm Sun 10 Mar 13
Angry From Accrington wrote:what a joke, appleton out gary bowyer in for the replay,,I WAS EMBARRASSED TODAY WATCHING BLACKBURN,,I HAVE SAID IT FROM DAY 1, THIS MANAGER WILL TAKE US DOWN TO LEAGUE 1, WAKE UP YOU GUYS ,,,FORTUNATELY WE ARE AT EWOOD FOR THE REPLAY,,MILLWALL ARE GARBAGE,,THE ROVERS ARE WORSE,,BOWYER IN APPLETON OUT OR ITS CURTAINS,,,ARE YOU LISTENING SHAW,,?
More shots than our players had!
MattNewcastle
says...
10:40pm Sun 10 Mar 13
handyamBRFC wrote:Totally agree
The truth about BRFC players is that they are a soft touch.
Many have seen that BRFC are a really soft touch especially this season.
Many BRFC fans have themselves felt that BRFC are easy to push over.
We have no bottle.
we have weak players.
we have no fighters.
''Lions midfielder Jack Smith reacted angrily to Appleton's comments.
He said: "I didn't see any cheap shots. They seemed to fall over if we breathed on them."
Actually I'm sure all/ many other teams in the championship know about BRFC being a soft touch and hence we always get beat and beaten up.
Actually if we had fighters we would not be a this sad position not just in the league but having respect also from other teams and players.
Appleton is getting his excuses in already.
We have probably become the smallest side in the league.
Not that height and weight is everything however if you do have strong physical players in your side they don't need a referee to protect them.
All teams that have gone up to the Premier League have feisty midfield players.
We were accused of being just such a side under Hughes, however, those fighting qualities kept us up.
Rhodes Olsson Stewart Campbell Lowe Pederson Henley
Dann and Hanley appear to be the only exceptions these days
Woeful.
But hey we are going to be a side that takes after Appleton -
Small, lightweight, clueless but hardworking
spike t
says...
10:48pm Sun 10 Mar 13
MattNewcastle
says...
10:51pm Sun 10 Mar 13
noddy57 wrote:Woudn't disagree.
Angry From Accrington wrote:what a joke, appleton out gary bowyer in for the replay,,I WAS EMBARRASSED TODAY WATCHING BLACKBURN,,I HAVE SAID IT FROM DAY 1, THIS MANAGER WILL TAKE US DOWN TO LEAGUE 1, WAKE UP YOU GUYS ,,,FORTUNATELY WE ARE AT EWOOD FOR THE REPLAY,,MILLWALL ARE GARBAGE,,THE ROVERS ARE WORSE,,BOWYER IN APPLETON OUT OR ITS CURTAINS,,,ARE YOU LISTENING SHAW,,?
More shots than our players had!
That goes for his non existent backroom staff too.
Just look at Moore's body language and input in the dugout.
Totally non existent.
As I said against Bolton I looked at Appleton and Moore at the final whistle at the Reebok. They just watched all the players walking off the pitch not a word of condolence for one of them yet ONE Blackburn official was at the entrance to the tunnel and had a quite word or pat on the back for every single Rovers player and no guesses as to who that person was and who the players responded to with the greatest displays this season..........
A Rover 45 years and over
says...
12:04am Mon 11 Mar 13
blazerafe
says...
1:56am Mon 11 Mar 13
blazerafe
says...
2:02am Mon 11 Mar 13
blazerafe wrote:Also our marking is pathetic, you cant step off like we do and expect good results. One of the reasons Robbo conceded so many goals from outside the area is because none of our players track towards the player with the ball and yet we still seem to be cut pretty thin. Millwall always made sure there were 3 players covering whoever we had on the ball and we made mistakes because of it so why cant we do the same, time and time again teams are using it to their advantage and screwing us over.
The only tackle i thought was a little reckless was the one on Bentley, but i have no idea what he was doing for most of the game. King looked way out of his depth and i cant say i was impressed with Lowe until he moved into RB. What Championship teams are learning now is that if you block off our strikers we wont do anything but hoof ball, it was a breath of fresh air to see Dunn play today and i really hope he starts Weds and Sunday. If we want to utilize Dunn we should drop King and have Pedersen and Bentley on the wings with Dunn in a AM position on a 4-4-2 Diamond formation with Jones or Williamson ahead of the back 4. The way other teams have broke us down is not through speed, so players like King, Stewart are useless in this league but with strength and attacking minded play as seen today. This isnt the PL we cant keep falling over no matter what state the oppositions pitch is in.
Rhodes and Best or whichever combo we use need to drop back into midfield and put in some tackles, not stand on the half way line and gawk.
dangerous dave
says...
8:36am Mon 11 Mar 13
God help us agaınst Burnley!!!!!
The Pundıts on the statıon that I watched the match on saıd that the Rovers would not even sustaıned a place ın the lower depths of the Premıershıp wıth no posıtıves what so ever from theır performance other than that of Scott Dann - they saıd we have quıckly become a below average Champıonshıp sıde - and as for Kıng and Bentley abysmal
OUT WITH SHAW AGNEW SINGH HENDRY COAR VENKEYS APPLETON
moh
says...
9:39am Mon 11 Mar 13
blazerafe wrote:Hope Dunn can play a full game.
The only tackle i thought was a little reckless was the one on Bentley, but i have no idea what he was doing for most of the game. King looked way out of his depth and i cant say i was impressed with Lowe until he moved into RB. What Championship teams are learning now is that if you block off our strikers we wont do anything but hoof ball, it was a breath of fresh air to see Dunn play today and i really hope he starts Weds and Sunday. If we want to utilize Dunn we should drop King and have Pedersen and Bentley on the wings with Dunn in a AM position on a 4-4-2 Diamond formation with Jones or Williamson ahead of the back 4. The way other teams have broke us down is not through speed, so players like King, Stewart are useless in this league but with strength and attacking minded play as seen today. This isnt the PL we cant keep falling over no matter what state the oppositions pitch is in.
A Darener
says...
10:21am Mon 11 Mar 13
Truerover85 wrote:We can't even play in England, this year!
Millwall is no easy place to got. if we beat millwall at home and wigan then we could be playing in europe next year!
leonm987
says...
1:48pm Mon 11 Mar 13
A Darener
says...
2:01pm Mon 11 Mar 13
leonm987 wrote:As far away as possible!
I'm missing Shaggy Singh and his comments, where is he?
fitz808
says...
2:47pm Mon 11 Mar 13
MattNewcastle wrote:what about the chat, tactic and encouragement that both moore and appleton were dishing out throughout the game. i remembered a similar comment on a previous thread (not sure if it was yours) so i made a point of watching out for it this time. and i can say every time i checked they were interacting with the players. i can only speak for the two live games i've seen since appleton arrived, but what i've seen is a manager who is as engaged and animated as any other during the game.
noddy57 wrote:Woudn't disagree.
Angry From Accrington wrote:what a joke, appleton out gary bowyer in for the replay,,I WAS EMBARRASSED TODAY WATCHING BLACKBURN,,I HAVE SAID IT FROM DAY 1, THIS MANAGER WILL TAKE US DOWN TO LEAGUE 1, WAKE UP YOU GUYS ,,,FORTUNATELY WE ARE AT EWOOD FOR THE REPLAY,,MILLWALL ARE GARBAGE,,THE ROVERS ARE WORSE,,BOWYER IN APPLETON OUT OR ITS CURTAINS,,,ARE YOU LISTENING SHAW,,?
More shots than our players had!
That goes for his non existent backroom staff too.
Just look at Moore's body language and input in the dugout.
Totally non existent.
As I said against Bolton I looked at Appleton and Moore at the final whistle at the Reebok. They just watched all the players walking off the pitch not a word of condolence for one of them yet ONE Blackburn official was at the entrance to the tunnel and had a quite word or pat on the back for every single Rovers player and no guesses as to who that person was and who the players responded to with the greatest displays this season..........
bluenick
says...
4:17pm Mon 11 Mar 13
1riversider wrote:1 w@@ker
The worst FA Cup quarter final in history!! Absolute garbage from both teams, especially BRFC. No excuses, utter c**p. Pity the poor TV channel that has to show round 2. Viewing figurs nil.
SHYSTERS GET OUT OF OUR CLUB
golazzo
says...
6:26pm Mon 11 Mar 13
Angry From Accrington says...
7:10pm Sun 10 Mar 13