[Archived] Relegation Watch

[Paul Mellelieu]

Has anyone factored in that we've won two league games since Sam took over?

[Hughesy]

Glass half empty?

Has anyone factored in we have only lost 2 games - Both to top 4?

[imy9]

Has anyone factored in that we've won two league games since Sam took over?

Has anyone factored in that we have lost TWO league games since Sam took over- against top 4 sides.

[Hughesy]

Has anyone factored in that we havent lost to any of our rivals under sam?

[bellamy11]

Definitely see the point about not losing, but I'd much rather have won 4 and lost 4 personally. Determined draws and not dropping too many points to our rivals is not going to keep us up - we need points on the board now.

[Lurid Coat]

Just did the BBC table predictor and thought I was pretty realistic, borderline pessimistic, when predicting our scores - ended up with us finishing 10th with 45 points

Hull 1 - 1 Blackburn

Blackburn 1 - 1 Everton

Fulham 1 - 2 Blackburn

Arsenal 3 - 0 Blackburn

Blackburn 1 - 0 West Ham (they don't have a striker capable of scoring goals anymore - looking really bad at the moment, and if we ever are to break our West Ham hoodoo, this season should be it)

Blackburn 1 - 1 Tottenham

Liverpool 2 - 0 Blackburn

Stoke 0 - 1 Blackburn

Blackburn 2 - 1 Wigan

Man City 0 - 0 Blackburn

Blackburn 2 - 1 Portsmouth

Chelsea 2 - 0 Blackburn

Blackburn 2 - 0 WBA

Bottom five of West Ham (40 pts), Portsmouth (38), Newcastle (38 - they have a horrible run-in), Middlesbrough (31), Stoke (30) and West Brom (25).

Good thing I'm not a betting man

[Eddie]

Most of your results are ok, although I'd have us beating Hull and losing to Spurs and City and probably a draw with Wigan.

[thenodrog]

Has anybody factored in that with just a few injuries to key players we are 'fact'?

[Balwer]

Has anybody factored in that with just a few injuries to key players we are 'fact'?

You could say that about every team, except maybe Man U.

[Paul Mellelieu]

We won't stay up unless we start winning games. Draws, except the top teams are not enough now.

[SoccerHQ]

We won't stay up unless we start winning games. Draws, except the top teams are not enough now.

Well since Big Sam has come in you've beaten Stoke and Barcodes at home and gone away to Boro and Sunderland and drawn so that's 8 points you've got from relegation rivals.

If you continue that trend against the likes of Hull, West Brom, Pompey, Spurs, Stoke etc then you will stay up as while obviously you're adding to your own points tally, you're also taking away points from these sides so will reduce their chances of getting to 40.

[Paul Mellelieu]

We last won six weeks ago.

[SoccerHQ]

Bolton hadn't won for months before they won something like 4 out of their last 5 to stay up. Same for Fulham aswell last season.

[Amo]

Just did the BBC table predictor and thought I was pretty realistic, borderline pessimistic, when predicting our scores - ended up with us finishing 10th with 45 points

Yeah but did you only predict OUR results?

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

Just did the BBC table predictor and thought I was pretty realistic, borderline pessimistic, when predicting our scores - ended up with us finishing 10th with 45 points.

Fulham 1 - 2 Blackburn

As Fulham have the second best home record in the Premiership this season, after Man United, I think predicting an away win at Craven Cottage is being optimistic - though of course I would love it to happen.

Another thing is starting to become apparent to me, we can't afford to be too negative in the remaining games. Draws won't keep us up.

Yourself and Paul Mellelieu are right to highlight the fact that we've been drawing too many games and we desperately need wins on the board.

To compare our current record with local rivals Bolton, Gary Megson's team have lost more matches this season than Rovers - Bolton having lost 14 games and Rovers having lost 12 matches so far.

The vital difference is that Bolton have won more matches than us, having won 9 games compared with Rovers only having won 5 matches. Wins keep teams in the Premiership and we've simply failed to win enough games so far. Despite having lost more games than Rovers, Bolton are 7 points ahead of us now and obviously in a much more comfortable position than we're in.

I feel there were too many pats on the back, too many plaudits, congratulations and optimism after the unbeaten run that Sam Allardyce initially had. At the end of the day the team were drawing too many games and needed more wins.

I fear that some of those draws and lost points could come back to haunt the team at the end of the season. One obvious example was the 0-0 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, when Jason Roberts had a shocking terrible miss towards the end of the match. I was disappointed to see Roberts smiling after the miss. Did he not realise how crucial those sort of clear-cut gilt-edged chances are at the end of a match?

The shocking miss was bad enough. To then see Roberts grinning afterwards was another kick in the teeth for me. The optimists on here said how well Rovers had done to get a draw away from home at Sunderland. Under the circumstances a draw was very much two points lost.

The 2-2 draw against Man City was incredibly disappointing, having been 2-0 up with just five minutes to play. The lack of maturity, intelligence and defensive organisation from the Rovers team in not being able to hold on to a 2-0 lead with five minutes to go was bitterly disappointing.

The 0-0 draw away to Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium was another missed opportunity. We were the better team on the day and had the better chances, but couldn't convert them. That match was a vital relegation six-pointer and another two points dropped.

We've had just one win in our last seven Premiership matches. That simply isn't good enough and it desperately needs to change fast.

Our last seven Premiership games have been:

Sunderland 0 Blackburn 0

Blackburn 2 Man City 2

Blackburn 3 Newcastle 0

Blackburn 2 Bolton 2

Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 0

Blackburn 0 Aston Villa 2

Man United 2 Blackburn 1

So as I said, I feel there were too many pats on the back given for some of the draws and for Sam's initial unbeaten run. A win and a loss in two games is worth more in terms of points than two draws.

The game against Hull on Sunday is massive and perhaps the biggest match that Rovers have had for five years, since we were knee-deep in a relegation battle in 2004, under Graeme Souness. I hope that Sam and the team are fully aware of how vitally important a win is.

3 points against Hull would give Rovers a big lift, as well as dragging Hull further into the relegation mire. If Hull were to win the match it would be disastrous. Let's hope that the Rovers players are fully up for it....

[TimmyJimmy]

love all these comments from sensible concerned supporters, they may be on opposite sides but they are all generated from the same concern for the team. As I said for me the only thing keeping me sane is that if we win our next game and get out the bottom three then all we have to do is no worse than the bottom three. They win then we can win, they lose then we can lose, they draw we can draw etc. If we better their performances then so much the better (though not required) but surely we can't do worse?! Come on guys say something positive to me, alcohol only goes so far.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

I agree with Theno that if Rovers are to have any chance of staying up then we must stay injury free and keep the 4-5-1 formation employed on Saturday.

It worked for Hughsie the last time we were in this predicament and we only had Dickov up front.

I think the key for Rovers is to keep it tight. I maybe critical of Sam's attacking theories but on the whole our defence has tightened up a great deal since the three goals a game days of Mr. Ince. Granted with one or two little hiccups.

I think 5 in midfield is a must but unfortunately we've already lost one key midfielder in Emerton, we must pray that the remaining ones stay fit. If one of the injury prone stars tweaks another muscle, I suspect they may have played their last games in the Premiership for Rovers.

[SamDingle]

I've just done the BBC predictor too.

On mine, results don't suddenly change just because you really want them to and you end up relegated.

Then it says you freefall through the Championship and enter administration. Big Sam leaves to set up a coaching school with other visionaries like Howard Wilkinson and Aidy Bothroyd. Big Ron Atkinson emerges from exile and takes over.

After starting League One on -10 you struggle, with few offers coming in for £20m - rated megastar Cruz. You enter April facing a relegation 6-pointer with Leeds, the massivest ever game outside the Champions League. You lose that.

Down in football's basement (I know it well) life is no bed of roses but attendances hold up at around the 24,000 mark because basically that's your hardcore support. Old boy Paul Ince, with good experience of this standard, is called in following Ron's departure. A brave rearguard action sees you playing Leyton Orient on the final day with a chance to save yourselves.

That's as far as the BBC predictor goes. Just a case of wait and see now.

[bob fleming]

Thanks Sam. How did we get on at Hull?

[SamDingle]

Thanks Sam. How did we get on at Hull?

Lost 1-0. Your car breaks down on the way home.

Forewarned is forearmed.

[bob fleming]

Your car breaks down on the way home.

It is playing up a little bit I'll give you that, but it's just the accelerator sticking a bit. Nothing serious surely? I'll let you know.

Oh, by the way. We'll win. Not sure how, but we'll win and we're not going down either. Put that in your fantasy prediction pipe and smoke it.

[1864roverite]

Funnily enough he fails to mention that as we cartwheel down the league, we have already extinguished everything claret and blue, have sold their ground to a low quality housing association and have given their players new jobs at Tesco as trolly dollies. This has now allowed the local clouncil to divert funds that were in place to replace broken windows and a shattered town every once in a while to be made useful in a good cause - making new roads out of Burnley into Yorkshire only !!

@#/? Sam and you know it

[Hughesy]

I've just done the BBC predictor too.

On mine, results don't suddenly change just because you really want them to.

Oh well if we only lose 2 out of next 8 then thats fine with me.

Also if it doesnt change - it looks like that gap is staying the same, because unless the 6 fingered dingles start winning again, they wont be coming up!

[incecticide]

Our accountant just did it and has us finishing 7th

It'll be interesting to look back on this thread at the end of the season and see who was nearest... has anyone got us going down yet?!

[Ricky]

Just did the predictor and ended up with us mid table. Had Boro, West Brom and Hull going down.

I don't think I was too generous with our results.

Hull D

Everton W

Fulham L

Arsenal L

West Ham W

Spurs W

Liverpool L

Stoke D

Wigan W

Man City L

Pompey W

Chelsea L

West Brom W