[Archived] The Relegation Scrap Hots Up

[thenodrog]

Aged pessimist??

I prefer 'mature realist'.

[Scotty]

I prefer 'mature realist'.

Or "knob" for short.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Scotty

[thenodrog]

Thats the finest example of 'pot and kettle' that I have ever come across. It's rare for anybody to say this I know but well done scotty.

[Boz]

As Captain Mainwaring said "Don't panic"!

I reconciled myself at the start of the season that we would be mid table (8th to 14th). This is due to a typical good performance in one season (2005/06 for Rovers) sometimes leads to a different approach the following season from opposing clubs who might use a less expansive style of play and accept that a draw against us is a good result the following season.

I'd put Rovers alongside other clubs such as Everton, Villa, Boro, Spurs, Newcastle & City in this category who might finish anywhere from 5th to 15th. with Rovers punching far above our weight too!

Also taking into effect a good Uefa cup campaign I was willing to settle for mid table.

Mid table may at times mean 15th/16th and 6th/7th, but overall not a time to panic but an awareness of the relegation battle.

What I found enlightening was to hear last season about MH's points tally he sets. It would be interesting to see where we currently stand. Bear in mind that many of the other clubs around us will have played 15 games to our 13 after tonight.

We might have to wait till January when Ryan and Reidy hopefully return and who knows who else in the transfer window, up to now MH has always pulled a rabbit out of the hat!

So now is the time for patience rather than panic.

[philipl]

12 Fulham 14 -6 17

13 Middlesbrough 14 -6 16

14 Man City 14 -6 16

15 West Ham 14 -6 14

16 Blackburn 13 -6 13

17 Newcastle 14 -6 13

18 Sheff Utd 15 -10 13

19 Watford 14 -10 9

20 Charlton 14 -11 9

I won't comment further until we are 17th (or lower).

Edited November 29, 2006 by philipl

[Exiled in Toronto]

While I don't think we will go down, we cannot say we are too good to go down.

Scoring only 11 goals in 13 games, with 4 of those coming in a game where we should have been 4-0 down by halftime, does not bode well. Hughes has bought 4 strikers, so he owns this statistic unfortunately. We also have a central midfield, Reid included, who will be lucky to bag 5 goals between them all season. I cannot see the goals flowing given the personnel we have, and we will be kept up by a defence that IMO is good enough for a top half side.

If the Admiral doesn't come back in tip top form and something happens to Oo-err/Bert, I think we'll be in deep doo-doo.

[philipl]

If we'd lost today, we could have said good bye to pretensions about European football next season. As it is we are 9 points off fourth with two games in hand.

If we beat Charlton and Newcastle, we can sleep easy with regards to relegation worries.

[RevidgeBlue]

Newcastle 1 Reading 0 (Sibierski 23)

Now 1-1 (Harper 37)

Edited December 6, 2006 by RevidgeBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

Getting better:

HT Newcastle 1 Reading 2 (Harper again)

Elsewhere also HT West Ham 0 Wigan 0

Will take those 2 scores at full time.

[RevidgeBlue]

.........and better

West Ham 0 Wigan 1 (Cotterill 51)

Can we have full time now please?

Edit: Bugger : Newcastle penalty 2-2 (Martins 57)

On the other hand West Ham 0 Wigan 2 (Baines 58)

Still not bad. Phew, I'm going for a lie down.

Edited December 6, 2006 by RevidgeBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

Mixed night by the looks of it: West Ham 0 Wigan 2

Newcastle 3 Reading 2 (Emre)

Game very much on for Saturday.

[AxesFirstTouch]

Great news about the hammers, the more squirming smug Pardew has to do the better.

[1864roverite]

I think we at Blackburn Rovers FC have a little more to worry about than the smugness of one Alan Pardew and co

Lets get our own house in order first !

Oh, yet another club in crisis due at Ewood Park, a club that wishes itself modelled on ours in the way that it is run and in the way that is successful.

bring em on

[LeChuck]

Rev, why the fascination with Newcastle's result? You're not suggesting that they might go down, are you? There is absolutely no chance of them doing so, even if they had lost tonight.

[Fife Rover]

Rev, why the fascination with Newcastle's result? You're not suggesting that they might go down, are you? There is absolutely no chance of them doing so, even if they had lost tonight.

No, but there could well have been a chance of them losing a lot of confidence ahead of Saturday's game. Now of course we will probably see the opposite effect.

[modes98]

or after our defeat and their win it could allow them to relax and us to take advantage.

We normally get some luck against newcastle anyway.

[Billy Castell]

Yeah someone will punch it into the goal !

[Jack]

If Rovers are still near the bottom of the Prem at the end of January, you can start to worry. There's nothing to panic about yet.

[Presty On Tour]

or after our defeat and their win it could allow them to relax and us to take advantage.

We normally get some luck against newcastle anyway.

newcastle have only lost once in their last 6 visits to ewood park!!

[Billy Castell]

I know I'm being too early, but I think we'll still be in the battle to stay up until at least March if we don't pull off some good signings in Janurary. There is no composure in the team, and no exciting youth coming through. God it'll be a long horrible season.

Come Walker Trust chuck us a £6-10m to strengthen the squad!

[allan]

2 points ahead of Boro whose next 5 games include 2 against hapless, hopeless Charlton (though we deservedly lost to them 2 weeks ago) and a clash of potentially monumental proportions at Ewood. Rapidly reviving Wham also have a sequence of winnable games. So the New Year could well see Rovers looking down on only the doomed Charlton and Watford. Then January fixtures include Arsenal and Chelsea. Things are likely to get worse - much worse - before they possibly start trying to close a sizeable gaps on the teams above. What is the cause for optimism or at least the evident complacency about the transfer window? It cannot come from recent performances. Dreadful at Charlton and in the first against both Newcastle and Reading.

[Neil Weaver]

allan - http://www.samaritans.org.uk/

[USABlue]

allan - http://www.samaritans.org.uk/

allan does have a point. I keep the link in my favourites though, thanks.

On the subject of Boro, I thought they played rather well for periods last night.

Edited December 20, 2006 by USABlue

[RevidgeBlue]

The second half of the Reading game combined with several of the recent games convinced me of two things:

1) We definitely have the ability to play ourselves out of trouble

but

2) At times we also display the lack of character which is just as likely to play ourselves into trouble.

Bad news about Charlton getting beaten by Wycombe last night. Charlton under Les Reed must have been certs for one of the relegation spots, but his imminent departure from the post must be a certainty now. At Boro let's hope Steve Gibson keeps faith with Southgate as things certainly aren't clicking there either.

Slightly above us in the League, Citeh, who are dire, are getting sucked back in.

[Ricky]

I don't think they will get rid of Les Reed. I'm sure I read somewhere that he had been given a fairly long contract.