[Archived] Blackburn Rovers V Tottenham Hotspur

[Bobby G]

ROVERS: Robinson, Jacobsen, Nelsen ©, Givet, Chimbonda, Salgado, Nzonzi, Grella, Hoilett, McCarthy, Di Santo.

Subs: Brown (GK), Roberts, Pedersen, Andrews, Diouf, Kalinić, Jones.

TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Huddlestone, Lennon, Palacios, Crouch, Defoe, Bassong, Dawson, Kranjcar, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto.

Subs: Alnwick (GK), Hutton, Bale, Jenas, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Rose

Shocking line-up changes. But at least there are no Diouf, Andrews, Roberts. I cant understand the line-up, cause where does Salgado fit in? If its central midfield then it must be 3 central midfielders, with Hoilett and Benni on the wings and Di Santo up top.

[Miker]

Blackburn:

Robinson, Jacobsen, Nelsen, Givet, Chimbonda, Salgado, N'zonzi, Grella, Hoilett, McCarthy, Di Santo Subs: Pedersen, Andrews, Kalinic, Diouf, Roberts, Jones, Brown.

Tottenham:

Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Kranjcar, Crouch, Defoe Subs: Hutton, Pavlyuchenko, Jenas, Rose, Keane, Bale, Alnwick

[budha]

Glad to see there's no MGP, Diouf or Pedersen... but where the hell is Samba?

"Chris Samba misses the game through illness"

[Tom]

Glad to see there's no MGP, Diouf or Pedersen... but where the hell is Samba?

Samba is ill

[DE.]

Ah, if Samba's ill then that's fine. Was worried it was something like a fall-out. Wait... is Salgado playing right wing?!

[Miker]

Not too sure what to make of this line-up, but I'm strangely confident.

[FourLaneBlue]

Blackburn v Tottenham line-ups:

Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen, Nelsen, Givet, Chimbonda, Salgado, Nzonzi, Grella, Hoilett, McCarthy, Di Santo.

Subs: Brown, Roberts, Pedersen, Andrews, Diouf, Kalinic, Jones.

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Kranjcar, Crouch, Defoe.

Subs: Alnwick, Hutton, Bale, Jenas, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Rose.

Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)

So I am guessing...

Robinson

Jacobson - Nelsen - Givet Chimbonda

Salgado - Nzonzi - Grella - Hoilett

- McCarthy-

- Di Santo -

[Sysagent]

Robinson, Jacobsen, Nelsen ©, Givet, Chimbonda, Salgado, Nzonzi, Grella, Hoilett, McCarthy, Di Santo.

Salgado starts, Kalinic dropped, Samba out.

Baffling, Kalinic was our best player midweek.

At least Hoilett is back in.

Can't understand the reason Samba is out, has he picked up a knock or something in training?

Edit: Aaah he is ill is he?

Looking at that Salgado is in midfield, probably to counteract Defoe?

Kalinic being left out is a mystery ;-(

[blue and whites]

it's not strange the strikers don't score any goals. none of them have played a long line of games in a row, maby except di santo. a striker needs confidence to score goals, and they don't get that by going in and out of the team. don't really understand why kalinic isn't playing. he is far better than the other players we got at creating chances for himself!

[Pinch]

Well, Sam is trying yet another midfield assortment...worth a try. Here's hoping Di Santo/McCarthy/Hoilett can do provide some sort of attack today.

[Steve Moss]

Not too sure what to make of this line-up, but I'm strangely confident.

Ditto. I think we'll nose it, Rovers 2-1 Spurs.

. . . don't really understand why kalinic isn't playing. he is far better than the other players we got at creating chances for himself!

I think Kalinic should be playing also. But his exclusion is understandable, I think. He'll sub for McCarthy when he tires (which won't be too long). And Sam probably wants Kalanic and Di Santo paired with an experienced partner for as long as possible before he puts them out as a team. I suspect the January transfer window is when we'll start seeing Di Santo and Kalinic paired as a starting team (I hope).

[LeChuck]

No Roberts, Andrews, Diouf or Pedersen and people are still moaning?!

Salgado can't do any worse than Diouf out there, and I'm mightily relieved to see Chimbonda will up against Lennon instead of Givet.

You can't blame Sam for changing a strike force that barely mustered a shot on goal midweek, however much we all want Kalinic to start.

[RibbleValleyRover]

We could really miss Samba today, only defender we have with pace and has had some great performances against Spurs both in defence and attack.

Amazed that Niko has been dropped, our best player by quite a way against Birmingham...

Struggling to see where the goals are going to come from.

[Miker]

I'd suggest that we have two good players in McCarthy and Di Santo who aren't scoring goals and a decision has to be made whether to keep them or not in January. So I won't be surprised to see Sam stick with these 2 for the next couple of games to see what they can offer before making up his mind.

I fully expect Kalinic to only become a first team regular after this year ends.

[Amo]

Apparently Sam said Salgago is playing right midfield.

[Steve Moss]

Sweet! I think this was part of his design for Salgado all along. Sam seems to like players that can play more than one position and otherwise Salgado's hiring made little sense.

[DE.]

I suppose Salgado can be no less effective than Diouf, Andrews or Pedersen, and we know he'll give his all - that's just the type of player he is. It does harshly highlight the fact we never found an adequete replacement for Bentley though.

[RoverRich]

Kalinic should be starting whether it be with Benni or Franco so it is disappointing to see him only on the bench. With a better partner than Roberts he will score sooner rather than later, then I feel/hope we will see a goal rush from him. He is just unlucky that he ended up with Roberts as his partner which I don't understand as we have seen Benni and Roberts perform well together but yet Niko and Di Santo haven't been given a chance together. Anyway, really good to see Junior back in the starting XI as I really like his play. It is exciting to see a Rovers youngster with pace and skill. As for Salgado on the right wing... it will be very interesting but I hope he puts in a good performance and does not get slaughtered.

[jonv]

there is definitely players who will want to be playing to keep the shirt, a chance for some, this could be interesting

[Iceman]

Well the BBC thinks, we have a player by the name of Ivan Kalinic. Lol

[Mr. E]

Not too bad of a line-up, good that we're trying new things.

Again, though, I really believe we need 3 strikers instead of two.

[Steve Moss]

Hoilett plays as a striker also, per his wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hoilett

[Messi422]

Look like N'zonzi in right midfield?

[Iceman]

We seem to have started very well. Benni in the mix early on, and Grella getting stuck in

[KoNG]

Nzonzi is a real find..... Solid young lad....

Oh... And letting Benni go would be a sin.