[Archived] Wigan Vs Blackburn Rovers

[47er]

Employed Keef in a game as opposed to Sam who did it consistently. Sam thought Chimbonda was a top notch left back and Benjani a striker, Larsson is not even playing for us FFS! I only bring up Sam as it is clear you still want him here. I am willing to bet that Kean will be here next year regardless of results.

Yes--I'm afraid of that too. More "entertaining results" no doubt.

[JAL]

This exact pattern? With 42-43 points every season, and safe forevermore. He's still averaging 1.1111 points a game (and if we beat Newcastle, 1.3 which averages as 49.4 a season). I wish some people would put their razor blades back in the bathroom.

Too close for comfort.

[bluebruce]

But the fact is that what Sam achieved with us (and Bolton) over a sustained period of time is something which is VERY difficult to do with a limited budget. The last ten years of Premier League football prove this. No one has, in recent memory, achieved sustained success (ie consistently mid table and above) with attractive football on a limited budget in this league.

However, getting a few good results with a limited team and having a bit of good form in this league with not very much money isn't that hard to do - see the numerous examples of teams over the years who played some attractive football, gave the big teams a bloody nose then came back down to earth very quickly.

But we had dozens of people on here who took one look at the West Brom and Liverpool games and declared Kean to be an improvement over Sam, which was so short sighted it was unbelievable.

And the fact is that again, none of this contradicts nor supports the point I was making, nor any sub-points I made. If you're going to quote my posts, please be replying to them. You can easily delete the quote before typing.

Too close for comfort.

Ok, do you want to put the razor blades in the garage if the bathroom is too close?

[JAL]

Was sat in the South Stand opposite the Rovers fans and what fantastic support they gave to the team. It was deafening at times.The result left us all shell-shocked.Brilliant play in the first 30 minutes from Rovers and I thought we were cruising after that great goal.What a pass from Hoilett!

Second half the pitch worsened and we couldnt keep playing the expansive football we had in the first half. Salgado did trip their forward and Mike Dean evened things up with the tackle on Dunny.

We have had such contrasting football this season. Do we want the safety first of Allardyce to the fast pacy style of Kean? On balance I want the latter as Rovers were exciting to watch at times today and we could have won it just like on Wednesday. Rovers will win more than they wil lose playing the new way plus winning new admirers as Martinez acknowledged after the game.

If thats true, then Kean and Venky's have to back this up with adding top quality players and not the bargain bucket brigade otherwise its fruitless.

[True Blue & White]

This exact pattern? With 42-43 points every season, and safe forevermore.

Tell that to the 2003 West Ham team.

[tony gale's mic]

I'm glad such a flippant and obviously flagrant remark could generate such a response. That's power

That's funny, I'd say being able to argue someone down to such a point that they find other petty means to try and score points is power, but each to their own I guess.

[chris]

I'm glad such a flippant and obviously flagrant remark could generate such a response. That's power

are you quoting from schindler's list?

[47er]

They won by a single goal and had, like, two shots more on target.

If they had completely outclassed us, perhaps I'd see your point.

They had 58% of the play according to the BBC compared to our 42%.

I think we can all agree on one thing.

We are all glad Sam is no longer in charge.

Arrogance. You don't speak for me.

[True Blue & White]

They had 58% of the play according to the BBC compared to our 42%.

Arrogance. You don't speak for me.

Stats

http://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2011/02/05/england/premier-league/wigan-athletic-football-club/blackburn-rovers-football-club/944100/

[grizfoot]

They had 58% of the play according to the BBC compared to our 42%.

I wouldn't take BBC stats has gospel. I find they are often wide of the mark.

I thought we started the game very brightly and deservedly went ahead. Poor defensive mistakes and the first 15 minutes of the second half cost us dearly, apart from that there wasn't much in the game at all. The pitch also didn't help our new "total football" approach. Funnily enough in the final 10 minutes or so when we resorted to hoof ball we looked a little more dangerous but couldn't find a fourth goal. Overall thought Emerton was one of best players on the day although he's only just comeback from the Asian Cup hence why he didn't play the full game. I also thought Jermaine Jones was very reckless and seemed to give away a lot of free-kicks today, I'd say Nzonzi is much the better player and it was no suprise we looked better with him on the pitch.

Already been mentioned but it was a bit disappointing to see the majority of the team just walk straight off the pitch after the game and not even bother to thank their own supporters. Think only Nelsen, Robbo & Peds bothered to do so.

[47er]

At least the Allardyce lovers can have a good ###### tonight.

I'm not an Allardyce "lover" but I didn't and don't agree with his sacking.

Am I dancing in the streets tonight? No I'm not.

Stats

http://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2011/02/05/england/premier-league/wigan-athletic-football-club/blackburn-rovers-football-club/944100/

Well I've read it. I can only quote what I read just as you have!

[roversmum]

Surely it can't be right that the attendants for the visitor car park have their tea break at 5pm? Can it? Couldn't they have squeezed it in during the previous 90 minutes?

Has anyone got Dave Whelan's email address? No attempt to ensure safety of the DW patrons leaving the game.

Unfortunately we were delayed leaving the stadium, as some bright spark had found it very funny to lock the disabled toilet with a coin so it looked occupied. After waiting for about ten minutes, a steward came along and realised what had happened and managed to open it. So by the time we got on our way to the car park, Mr Roversmum had to ride his disabled scooter along with the traffic, as the pavements don't have access for it. When we actually got to the car park, the cars and coaches were streaming out and it was very dangerous for him negotiating the car park to get to our coach which was waiting at the back of the park. I noticed the attendants having their tea, they took no notice of our plight so I had to stop the traffic myself for John to get through.

Anyone know if there been incidents with the Rovers fans at the stadium? When I complained about the lake of beer in front of the disabled toilet they started going on about our fans, not in the context of the spilled beer but that they had been trouble.

A group of people took the nets off the seats in front of the disabled fans and stood there, didn't want to know that they might be in the way of the disabled viewing the match. The steward came and tied the nets back on at half time, but the people simply came back and untied them.

[champions1995]

At the game I shouted something like we'd not won away at Wigan since 2005 and some guy said I was wrong, he thought we won last season but it was definitely 1-1, I was certain I was right but now I'm questioning myself, can anyone confirm if I am right?

Our last win at Wigan was on New Year's Day 2007, a game i remember well, with heskey scoring an own goal, derbs hitting his first for the club and mccarthy converting a pen in a 3-0 win. It completed a good festive period for rovers after an indifferent start to the season, the victories against Reading, Liverpool, Boro and the Latics soon got us moving up the table after we were previously languishing near the foot.

[Parsonblue]

I think we can all agree on one thing.

We are all glad Sam is no longer in charge.

Sorry Bucky, but you don't speak for me. It's an academic point anyway as Sam is no longer here and we are stuck with who we are stuck with as manager. I note you likened Kean to a young Alex Ferguson prior to his arrival at Old Trafford. Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who prior to Manchester United had broken the Rangers/Celtic monopoly for the first time in a generation to lead Aberdeen to the title? Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who won the Scottish Cup a couple of times? Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who won the European Cup Winners' Cup with Aberdeen? Of course his career prior to United was similar to our own Steve Kean. That would be the Steve Kean who has spent his career in the shadow of Chris Coleman until Coleman fired him at Coventry. I can see how you would think they were both similarly qualified for taking over a Premier League club.

I'm not having a go at Kean, merely pointing out that Mrs Desai has gambled the whole future of the club on a guy whose main qualification appears to be having the right agent and being a positive thinker.

Kean is on a steep learning curve and at the moment he seems to be struggling. I have said it before and I still maintain that the diamond system that he is employing simply doesn't work with the players at his disposal. When we haven't got the ball there are acres of space in the midfield and opposition players are being allowed to run 20 or 30 yards without anybody making a challenge. If you give teams the time and space to play even the poor ones, like Wigan, are going to hurt you. Prior to today, Wigan had scored just 12 goals in 13 home games. Today they scored four in 90 minutes.

Nor have we got the forwards to make the most of an attacking game if Roque is unavailable. I thought Roberts, Diouf and Benjani were all very poor today. I still can't believe we allowed El-Hadji Diouf to leave while retaining some of the players we have done. In allowing Diouf to leave we are putting a huge amount of pressure on Junior Hoilett and today, admittedly on a very difficult pitch, he struggled after a bright start. For all our attacking play the fact remains we don't score enough goals and we concede far too many. Admittedly, there is little that Kean can do about the simple mistakes that individuals are making week after week. Samba's errors have now cost us goals against Chelsea, Villa, Spurs and Wigan in just a few short weeks.

While I would agree that Kean's approach is easier on the eye the simple fact is that you get points for winning or drawing matches. They don't award points for pretty football. Today we slipped into the bottom half of the table and with a number teams below us having a game in hand, we are being dragged back into a relegation battle. There are times when you need to grind out results and we are now at that point. A win against Newcastle next week is vital and it is to be hoped that the manager can address the shortcomings of the present system. Kean has overseen 9 League games and we have won just three of those. Two against a struggling WBA and one against a Liverpool team who were on the verge of sacking their manager.

Whilst our Plan A looks pretty we badly need a Plan B that delivers points. There is usually one team that slips down the League into the relegation places and Kean must ensure that the Rovers are not that team. We all want him to succeed, we all want him to lead the club to better things but on the evidence of the past couple of months I think the club's future is still in the balance.

[DE.]

To concede 4 against a team like Wigan is absolutely shocking, no doubt about it. The result itself probably won't have a huge impact on our overall season, but the manner of the defeat is very disappointing.

I didn't think the defence was totally at fault today. Salgado is looking older with every game and I'm not sure a year's extension was a wise move if we're going to continue playing him at right-back. Pacy players simply leave him for dead. Olsson's not a great left back but adequete. Much of the pressure on our defence comes from our ineffective and lightweight midfield. JJ is yet to make the required impact and it will be a while before Formica is ready to play. Central midfield has been our problem for nigh on three years and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Obviously if Benjani scores his awfully mistimed header and puts us 2-0 up the game likely goes in our favour. But that's the difference between a team with quality and a team without. We're the latter and make do with what we've got. As a result, we'll often lose games like this which were actually winnable.

Oh well, onto Newcastle... we're not in a relegation scrap yet, but people thinking we're unlikely to get dragged into it should hopefully get a bit of a reality check from today's result.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Sorry Bucky, but you don't speak for me. It's an academic point anyway as Sam is no longer here and we are stuck with who we are stuck with as manager. I note you likened Kean to a young Alex Ferguson prior to his arrival at Old Trafford. Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who prior to Manchester United had broken the Rangers/Celtic monopoly for the first time in a generation to lead Aberdeen to the title? Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who won the Scottish Cup a couple of times? Would that be the same Alex Ferguson who won the European Cup Winners' Cup with Aberdeen? Of course his career prior to United was similar to our own Steve Kean. That would be the Steve Kean who has spent his career in the shadow of Chris Coleman until Coleman fired him at Coventry. I can see how you would think they were both similarly qualified for taking over a Premier League club.

I'm not having a go at Kean, merely pointing out that Mrs Desai has gambled the whole future of the club on a guy whose main qualification appears to be having the right agent and being a positive thinker.

Kean is on a steep learning curve and at the moment he seems to be struggling. I have said it before and I still maintain that the diamond system that he is employing simply doesn't work with the players at his disposal. When we haven't got the ball there are acres of space in the midfield and opposition players are being allowed to run 20 or 30 yards without anybody making a challenge. If you give teams the time and space to play even the poor ones, like Wigan, are going to hurt you. Prior to today, Wigan had scored just 12 goals in 13 home games. Today they scored four in 90 minutes.

Nor have we got the forwards to make the most of an attacking game if Roque is unavailable. I thought Roberts, Diouf and Benjani were all very poor today. I still can't believe we allowed El-Hadji Diouf to leave while retaining some of the players we have done. In allowing Diouf to leave we are putting a huge amount of pressure on Junior Hoilett and today, admittedly on a very difficult pitch, he struggled after a bright start. For all our attacking play the fact remains we don't score enough goals and we concede far too many. Admittedly, there is little that Kean can do about the simple mistakes that individuals are making week after week. Samba's errors have now cost us goals against Chelsea, Villa, Spurs and Wigan in just a few short weeks.

While I would agree that Kean's approach is easier on the eye the simple fact is that you get points for winning or drawing matches. They don't award points for pretty football. Today we slipped into the bottom half of the table and with a number teams below us having a game in hand, we are being dragged back into a relegation battle. There are times when you need to grind out results and we are now at that point. A win against Newcastle next week is vital and it is to be hoped that the manager can address the shortcomings of the present system. Kean has overseen 9 League games and we have won just three of those. Two against a struggling WBA and one against a Liverpool team who were on the verge of sacking their manager.

Whilst our Plan A looks pretty we badly need a Plan B that delivers points. There is usually one team that slips down the League into the relegation places and Kean must ensure that the Rovers are not that team. We all want him to succeed, we all want him to lead the club to better things but on the evidence of the past couple of months I think the club's future is still in the balance.

Excellent well thought out post as usual. I agree with all of that.

[92er]

Rovers will win more than they wil lose playing the new way plus winning new admirers as Martinez acknowledged after the game.

Somone else produced current stats suggesting 4 wins out of 11 for Kean.

It's going to be a close run thing.

[Gav]

First 30 minutes we looked like world beaters, but bottom line is we lost again.

Kean must find some middle ground between all out attack and defence, but we'll be ok this season I'm sure, the doom merchants will have believe different, but we’ll be fine.

[DE.]

Just saw Wigan's 3rd goal on MOTD... wtf comedy defending doesn't even begin to describe it. We desperately need to tighten up defensively if we're going to get anything out of our next few games. That counts for midfield as much as the actual defence. You can't let a player happily play around with the ball just outside the goal for goodness sake.

[Steve Moss]

Obviously Sam had a long-term, tried and tested portfolio and Kean doesn't, but there isn't a whole lot he can do about that until given the chance. It only makes sense to compare records this season, IMO, with largely the same team.

On that logic they should hire me. I've coached 15 youth teams, am a positive thinker and I believe, if given the chance, that I could be a success at the Rovers.

Where do I sign?

Alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear on this guy.

Not yet ready to pull the alarm. The Newcastle match is, IMO, a vital match for Kean. If he loses at home to a depleted Spurs, loses away to Wigan and, possibly, loses to Newcastle, exactly where are we going to get 9+ points from over the balance of the season?

[sambo]

Awful. I think giving Salgado a new contract was a mistake, he can barely run and is being targeted every week as our 'weak link'.

Their 3rd goal is some of the worst defending I have seen in a long time, so many players stood off him.

[AlanK]

Bloody disgrace. Wigan have scored 13 at home all season then get 4 in one game against us.

Awful.

[cesus]

Defence had a shocking day at the office from the bit I've seen on MOTD, the 3rd goal is chin to the ground shocking! To allow the opposition room to do a few kick ups is beyond words.

[rebelmswar]

Not yet ready to pull the alarm. The Newcastle match is, IMO, a vital match for Kean. If he loses at home to a depleted Spurs, loses away to Wigan and, possibly, loses to Newcastle, exactly where are we going to get 9+ points from over the balance of the season?

Newcastle will be the turning point be it good, or bad.

[USABlue]

They had 58% of the play according to the BBC compared to our 42%.

Arrogance. You don't speak for me.

More Stats

SOme are quick to jump on something when they want to believe it, these stats agree with the other one certainley not the beeb