Rovers Vs. Pensioners

[Martin]

It will be a walk in the park for Chelsea.

0-2.

We simply can't defend at the moment.

[philipl]

The use of "we" in the Mirror now means Chelsea. Avram Grant's take on tomorrow's game.

[92er]

Steve Bennet the ref. Yes, Sky are on good form- Samba is suspended.

It will be interesting to see if anyone does a two-footed tackle and how Bennet reacts to it.

According to the Daily Telegraph today, Bennet went into the Newcastle changing rooms V Bolton and said it was an automatic red card. Since then, apparently, he has given out a number of yellow cards for these offences!!!

[1864roverite]

So its easy then. AG has given away Chelseas secret.

STOP LAMPARD AND YOU STOP US.

Mokoena to man mark Frank the gimp might just give us the edge.

[FourLaneBlue]

After losing at home to Villa, West Ham and Arsenal's second string in the past month it is hard to see us getting three points from this.

Chelsea sometimes do forget to pack their shooting boots however...a 0-0 may be our best chance of coming away with something from the game.

However this would mean a very strong defensive performance. We seemed capable of these earlier in this season but after shipping five at Wigan it would be a brave man to expect us to get a clean sheet against Chelsea...

[John]

Michael Ballack ahead of tomorrows match (from Chelsea's official site):

The Germany captain hopes to be involved as we travel to Lancashire in the hunt for some festive cheer following last week's defeat at Arsenal, but knows it will be a tough test despite our opponents' indifferent form.

'I played up there last year and we won,' he recalled. 'They are a good side, they play good football, it's not easy against them, very difficult.'

Rovers bring good memories for Ballack, as it was against them at Old Trafford that he booked our place in the FA Cup final last season, shortly before sustaining his ankle injury.

Both sides have undergone changes since the spring though, and the former Bayern Munich man is looking forward to catching up with ex-colleague Roque Santa Cruz at Ewood Park.

The Paraguayan forward has been in a fine vein of form lately, grabbing a hat-trick in last week's 5-3 defeat at Wigan, and Ballack believes it was a smart choice for him to come to England.

'He was always a big talent at Munich, he came early at 17,' Ballack said. 'He wasn't always in the first team, close to it, but everybody waited for this big flourish, but he was sometimes injured, so it was difficult for him.

'He stayed there a long time, but I think it was a good move for him. He has scored goals and done well.'

Another familiar figure for Ballack will be Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, who spent a short period at Munich himself during Ballack's childhood.

'I remember him, everybody knows him there,' Ballack said. 'He did well, and I think he enjoyed playing in Munich.

'Not many welsh people have played in the Bundesliga so that's why he was famous, and at such a big club.'

[USABlue]

Well, discussing the bully boy bit and the disciplinary stuff. My take is if we are going to continue to pick up bag fulls of yellows and reds for blowing too hard on the opponents we may as well start earning them again. I have seen THREE totally ludicrous sendings off, by the letter of the law perhaps not ludicrous but when you see what goes on in other games totally vindictive reffing in my opinion.

I have a suspicion the FA are working on a points deduction to be played by them at an appropriate time. Heh heh not being the conspiracy theorist or anything

[philipl]

Agreed- since the Man City game, our foul count has halved. There was clearly something going on behind the scenes after that game.

The problem is our card count apart from two or three games has carried on regardless.

So its time to give the opposition a right good kicking and at least get some satisfaction out of getting the cards. We have seem time and again that refs wimp out after giving the first few cards so we can get our kicks in for free then.

I think that is a fair summary of the message Graham Poll is trying to convey in that article today which is in the disciplinary thread. That and tomorrow's ref is a fashion disaster.

[andrew92]

Replace Savage with Reid, Derbyshire with Roberts, replicate last night's second half's desire and we will give them a game.

Otherwise forget it.

i disagree, i dont see mokoena and roberts leaving in january a bad thing, i dont think that roberts is good enough for where this club should be going. although he did play well when he came on the other week.

santa cruz - derbyshire

2-2

[SAS]

Well I am going to be a bit more positive and go with a draw.. !! If we do get a 'stuffing' on Sunday I suppose I'll be cheering at some point in the game as my fella is doing the half time Crossbar challenge so that's bound to bring a smile to my face

as am I hahaha, ill be happy if my kick is still air born at the 18 yard area

[thenodrog]

i dont think that roberts is good enough for where this club should be going. although he did play well when he came on the other week.

santa cruz - derbyshire

2-2

Don't you? I do. He offers the options of strength and pace, also we are hardly likely to attract a better 3rd choice striker given our transfer budget, our wage structure and our situation.

btw anybody think that the recent plethora of transfer requests is not down to babyhouse tantrums about team places but rather more about agents being informed of 'Neillesque' remuneration packages available in Jan from desperate teams near the bottom of the Prem? A move to a struggling club might not necessarily be in the best long term interests of the players but it's probably in the best short term interests of the agents.

[Wolves_Rover]

btw anybody think that the recent plethora of transfer requests is not down to babyhouse tantrums about team places but rather more about agents being informed of 'Neillesque' remuneration packages available in Jan from desperate teams near the bottom of the Prem? A move to a struggling club might not necessarily be in the best long term interests of the players but it's probably in the best short term interests of the agents.

If that's the case then it is a sad state of affairs to be sure.

[philipl]

plethora = 2

[Daremz]

This is the last match that can make up for what otherwise be a lost season.

Win = Inspiration, passion, no fear, fight-football --> Maybe a place in the top 7

Draw = Fair, self-confidence --> Top 10.

Loss = Goodbye confidence, losses all over the season, good players who leave, Season over --> 14th place.

[rovers1993]

4 Man City 18 - 34

5 Liverpool 17 - 33

6 Everton 18 - 30

7 Portsmouth 18 - 30

8 Aston Villa 18 - 29

9 Blackburn 17 - 26

10 West Ham 17 - 25

11 Newcastle 17 - 25

How in the world is this game a make or break game????

we are only 4 points away from everton who is in the top 6.

7 points away from man city who in the top 4.

we have played all the top 4 and going to play chelsea again already. we havnt played derby so we can still make up the points. even if we lose we are still 4 points away from everton!

its not like we're challenging for the title with man utd and arsenal when they RARELY slip up. we're competing for top 6 where teams do slip up just like everton has just lost against man utd today and im pretty sure they will start there blip of the season and become us now.

its not a make or break game! its only half season. still another half and we usually do well in the latter half so we are still in the fight no matter if we lose or not.

come on people be more optimistic! in sparky we trust.

bburn 2 - 1 chelski.

santa cruz and steven reid for us

lampard consolation penalty for them.

[jonv]

are you kidding Daremz?

The festive season is bringing games thick and fast but tonights game against Chelsea certainly doesn't set us up for a horrid campaign if we lose. We are going through a rough patch after a better than usual start to the season. Perhaps if we dropped a few more games at the beginning of the season we would be more understanding on the current situation. That said, we have some winnable games coming up that could get us right on track again including Derby!

January will be an interesting period and the talk seems that McCarthy could be looking to go elsewhere, but perhaps his recent form is purely down to lack of confidence, I cannot see him moving to any club higher than Blackburn and it would be stupid on his behalf, with what is to look forward this season to move to anyone lower.

A bit of encouragement and a lot of voice from our home crowd can create a true 12th man for Rovers, something that I feel has been missing as to what I can see on TV over here in Australia.

[1864roverite]

Is chat open as I cant get to the game due to knee problems ?

[Wolves_Rover]

This is the last match that can make up for what otherwise be a lost season.

Win = Inspiration, passion, no fear, fight-football --> Maybe a place in the top 7

Draw = Fair, self-confidence --> Top 10.

Loss = Goodbye confidence, losses all over the season, good players who leave, Season over --> 14th place.

Deary me, the melodramatics are out again. Season over after 18 games and 26 points? I don't think so.

[budha]

ROVERS: Friedel, Emerton, Khizanishvili, Nelsen ©, Warnock, Dunn, Tugay, Reid, Pedersen, Bentley, Santa Cruz. Subs: Brown (GK), Savage, McCarthy, Mokoena, Roberts.

CHELSEA: Cech, A. Cole, Essien, Carvalho, Shevchenko, Lampard ©, J. Cole, Mikel, Ferreira, Kalou, Alex. Subs: Hilario (GK), Ballack, Pizarro, Ben-Haim, Wright-Phillips.

Bentley behind RSC? Pretty much expected otherwise. From the official site.

[John]

Interesting no Derbs on the bench, wonder if he is just been dropped or injured.

Looks a decent team, just hope Santa is not too isolated.

[krislu]

Not sure playing Bentley in the "hole" is a good idea. They will just have Essien watching him and he won't have any problems taking Bentley out of the game. Hope its Reid on the right and not Dunny...

[Mr. E]

a 5 man-midfield isn't a bad idea, but we need Savage there not Tugay.

[krislu]

a 5 man-midfield isn't a bad idea, but we need Savage there not Tugay.

IMO we have nothing to lose in this game, so its right playing Tugay.

[Grabbi Graeme]

Swapped ends so attacking the Blackburn end first half.

Good chance from Santa blocked by Carvalho, ball flashed accross goal from resulting corner.

[rovers1993]

we're starting off extremely well! just like how we were at the start of the season! dominating chelsea!

bentley sooo close!