[Archived] Groundhog January - Rovers V Villa

[JAL]

Sam said that the semi final is the number one priority for January, the team will be much changed today.

Find that comment from big Sam extremely disappointing.

[DanLad]

Sam said that the semi final is the number one priority for January, the team will be much changed today.

In which case I'm quite confident of a win today and a defeat on Tuesday...

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Find that comment from big Sam extremely disappointing.

Why? surely it makes complete sense to rest some players ahead of a far bigger game on tuesday? Id certainly leave out a load of first teamers if it helps our chances of winning the first leg of the semi.

[joey_big_nose]

I am interested to see what sort of wacky team we put out for this one.... Emerton, Dunn, Hoilett, Pedersen, Di Santo, McCarthy rested I guess in advance of tuesday.

My guess:-

------------------Kalinic

Olsson------Van Heerden----Diouf

---------NZozni--------Andrews

Givet----Nelsen-------Samba----Chimbonda

-----------------Robinson

We get a 3-1 dicking....

[Bobby G]

Blackburn: Brown, Chimbonda, Givet, Salgado, Diouf, Jones, Olsson, Dunn, Reid, Kalanic, Di Santo.

VILLA: Guzan; Beye, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Downing, Delph, Reo-Coker, A Young; Delfouneso, Heskey.

They have a very strong line-up out, so we are in big trouble Id say.

Im shocked Dunn is starting this game.

At least our young strikers start.

Lets see if Reid can still hack it at the Premier League level.

[Miker]

Why are they either showing all the games on tv or on online streams EXCEPT for the blackburn vs villa game? Surely it's more exciting than Burnley vs MK Dons...

[Shabani]

So how many tickets have we sold for this game? 30 ish?

Anyone who attends this game has my utmost respect

[Majiball]

Blackburn: Brown, Chimbonda, Givet, Salgado, Diouf, Jones, Olsson, Dunn, Reid, Kalanic, Di Santo.

VILLA: Guzan; Beye, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock; Downing, Delph, Reo-Coker, A Young; Delfouneso, Heskey.

They have a very strong line-up out, so we are in big trouble Id say.

Im shocked Dunn is starting this game.

At least our young strikers start.

Lets see if Reid can still hack it at the Premier League level.

Fair do's both are resting players.

---------------Brown----------------

Salgado----Jones-----Givet----Chimbonda

Diouf------Reid-------Dunn-----Olsson

-----------Di Santo--Kalinic---------

At least we get to see the two up front today. Is it on the radio? My usual sources have let me down so any help would be sound in locating a radio station?

[Bobby G]

We are starting with 4 of our regulars.

They have 6 of them starting.

I fear for Salgado against Downing's pace.

[hollowsr]

Fair do's both are resting players.

---------------Brown----------------

Salgado----Jones-----Givet----Chimbonda

Diouf------Reid-------Dunn-----Olsson

-----------Di Santo--Kalinic---------

At least we get to see the two up front today. Is it on the radio? My usual sources have let me down so any help would be sound in locating a radio station?

Is it just me who thinks Salgado may be right wing again, Diouf on the left wing and Olsson and Chimbonda as full backs? I could be wrong but who knows. Also why the hell is Dunn starting this game?

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Dunn starts..!? bringing him on in the second half is understandable, but starting is a risk we dont need to take i think.

[joey_big_nose]

Shocked that Dunn is starting. Bold move by Sam. Massive game for Jones and Olsson. I hope Diouf can put in some sort of performance.

To be honest team does not seem that much worse than our first eleven - shows how average we have been recently.

[hollowsr]

Subs: Robinson (GK), Pedersen, Khizanishvili, Doran, Hoilett, Gunning, Rigters.

[John]

Don't mind that team line up. Got a bit of pace and players who will work hard.

[Majiball]

Is it just me who thinks Salgado may be right wing again, Diouf on the left wing and Olsson and Chimbonda as full backs? I could be wrong but who knows. Also why the hell is Dunn starting this game?

You could well be right, its just as likely.

I pray to God Dunn is 100% ready for this is he pulls up again????

[Amo]

Good to see Di Santo & Kalinic having a crack.

I'd like the side to be:

Brown

Chimbonda - Jones - Givet - Olsson

Reid - Dunn - Salgado - Diouf

Di Santo - Kalinic

[Bobby G]

Salgado is actually in midfield it looks like. Very weak midfield other than Dunn.

Givet is the captain. On the bench our attacking options are Junior, Doran and Rigters. Zurab finds his way there too.

[hollowsr]

Good to see Doran and Gunning on the bench for us, would rather have one of the Academy lads in midfield than Dunn, have a very bad feeling about him playing today!

[DeadlyDirk]

Bit of a strange team selection, good to see Di Santo and Kalinic starting together though, hope they can get some service.

Very shocked at Dunn, I can only think he's either 100% fit or why in the hell is he playing? Surely you'd give him a reserve game if he just needs a run out, not an FA Cup Clash against a side going for the top 4. If Dunn gets injured in this game then it's bad management and BFS will be in for the ear bashing of a lifetime.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Crazy playing Dunn, it's an accident waiting to happen.

[bobsterbrfc]

To be fair Big Sam might be thinking about making sure Dunny doesn't waste Tuesday night "finding his touch" and is letting him get that out of the way today.

[RoversSG]

Does anyone know where i can listen to this match? BBC don't seem to have this match. Thanks.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Bit of a strange team selection, good to see Di Santo and Kalinic starting together though, hope they can get some service.

Very shocked at Dunn, I can only think he's either 100% fit or why in the hell is he playing? Surely you'd give him a reserve game if he just needs a run out, not an FA Cup Clash against a side going for the top 4. If Dunn gets injured in this game then it's bad management and BFS will be in for the ear bashing of a lifetime.

Given player availability - I am very pleased at the selections.

At last we will see Kalanic and Di Santo together - and playing Dunn (though a risk) gives them an outside chance of some decent service. Pairing Givet with Jones is a good ploy - as Givet's positional sense is probably the best out of all our central defenders.

IMO Sam has taken a deliberate ploy of avoiding a replay - we will either exceed expectations and Kalanic and Di Santo (or maybe Dunn) will lead us to a win or (more likely) it will all come unstuck against a more experienced Villa side. Funny thing - if both were fully fit and playing at the top of their game Reid and Dunn would be a decent central midfield pairing - just a shame that both players careers have been harmed by injuries.

[Guest Kamy100]

Interesting selection. Dunn, Reid and Diouf all experienced premier league midfielders, great to see Di Santo and Kalanic up front.

[Blue blood]

Suprising selection. Good news about Dunn being fit, and Di Santo and Kalinic starting together.

However am somewhat suprised by many of the selections - not sure that Salgado is good enough at rm, and as others have said would worry about his pace at full back. Prefer jacobsen imo. Also as others have said it's a massive risk starting Dunn. Even more of a risk starting him AND reid, as the odds are one of them will break down.

Hopefully rovers will suprise me with a win, but not sure this line up will be too successful. Villa aren't looking quite as formidable as usual and a couple of losses hopefully will have lowered the team's confidence.