[Archived] Preview of ROVERS vs. Blackpool; 19 March 2011.

[philipl]

Ultimately the only table that really matters has us in 13th.

Where it will have us come the last day none of us know. (But I think 18th)

Agreed although at 3.26 we were in 18th and the linesman's flag was all that stood between us and 19th at 3.40.

We need a huge uptick in form to stay as high as 13th.

[Tom]

Just seen the last game of the season is on the 22nd May, my wife is due our firstborn less than a week later, I don't think I can handle the stress!

Right now I feel we will go down and it's going to be an agonising 3 weeks till the next Ewood game I just feel if we drop into the bottom 3 we won't get back out.

I sense a long 10 weeks ahead!

[mattyc2422]

Not an ideal result, but in the context of Howard Webb doing his best efforts to send us down, I'm glad we came out of it with a point.

Thought Kean erred by starting Emerton and Diouf. MGP does work well as an impact player, but I think we need him for the 90.

[Commondore]

Why oh whyyyyy put Roberts on?! He did nothing. Kalinic should have been in there. Roque did sweet F.A and same applies to M.Diouf. The negative tactics and formation are a shambles. 2-2 and I am still very disappointed as it should have been a comfortable win

Roque had a very strange game. He played with his back constantly turned to goal, rarely got into the penalty area and flicked balls on when it would have been more sensible to shoot. He must have been under extremely strict tactical orders, or just completely lacking in confidence. Still, he was the key to Samba's 1-2 goal and clearly one of the players we will have to rely on in this relegation fight.

"Rovers also have fixtures against fellow strugglers Birmingham, West Ham and Wolves between now and the end of the season - but a huge hindrance is the fact Rovers' players simply haven't got the mindset for a survival battle, whereas players at West Brom, Blackpool, Wolves, Wigan and West Ham have been fighting for their top-tier lives all season, giving them an edge."

I'm sure I'm coming off as an optimistic fool at the minute but that is just rubbish.

So teams who have been poor ALL season are suddenly going to be instantly better than teams who are normally higher up the table? Pah.

Not saying the overall sentiment isn't true but that is just sour-grapes logic - at best. Sorry but I'm not taking any notice of a bitter West Brom fan. 6 points Simon Wilkes, 6 points. And still above you.

I agree. Classic example of lazy journalism, picking up a simplistically constructed opinion and sticking with it in an attempt to look relevant and in the know.

[Rover Down Under]

It was nice to see Kalinic and Rochina come off from the bench...

Niko not being on from the start was wrong, not being brought on at half-time for the absolutely useless (and has been for a LONG TIME) MB Diouf was criminal. Niko would have bagged a brace today by getting on the end of Hoilett's many low crosses in the box. What has he done wrong? If we are relegated he will move to a mid-table Prem team and start banging in 10-20 goals a season and the tears will be even more bitter for us.

[mattyc2422]

Yeah, I reckon Diouf should be shelved. He has some pace, but his finishing is pants and he doesn't seem to have much ticker for the club.

Add Givet, MGP (somehow) and Kalinic to the lineup and I'd be happy.

[47er]

Just seen it again and if Webb isn't reprimanded for that decision the whole system is corrupt.

Also Adam is a cretin I just can't understand his reaction to his goal.

Never a penalty but there will be no FA reprimand. There won't even be any reaction. 4 points lost in a week because of 2 atrocious penalty decisions by 2 different refs.

The incident where Hoilett was pulled down as his flick went on to hit the post was, ironically, far more of a penalty than the one given against us in the last minute at Fulham.

We truly are out of luck.............and going down.

[Stuart]

And which game from the forthcoming fixtures is that win going to come in???

One win lifts us to 18th in the form table even if we get it at Arsenal.

That really is a rubbish post

How do you work that one out Philip? You do realise that when we play our next match (which becomes the new Game 6, and displaces Game 1, in that sequence) that all the other teams do the same.

Unless you have a crystal ball which tells you the results of every PL game for two week's time?? In which case can I borrow it?

[92er]

Quite a number of posters have argued the 1st goal scored against us was down to a bad call by Webb. However, the build up was more a reflection of the way Kean sets up the midfield-yet another team just walking straight through it.

Up till then, we had started off well, but without creating chances from what I remember.

It was quite clear that changes needed to be made at half time and I am sure lots of people were gobsmacked when we started off with the same 11.

The subs during the 2nd half improved the team. We thought the 2 most obvious players to be replaced at half time were Diouf and Jones.However, once Phil Jones came on, JJ improved considerably, suggesting he could play better with his younger namesake.

Our feeling at the end of the match was that once again Kean started off with the wrong team, and ended up with something closer to an effective team.

So, delighted to have pegged it back to a draw, but Kean-that was a match you needed to win!!! Not good enough.

Now, I was interested to hear Gumboots saying that, according to a player on Radio Rovers, it was the captain and the players who were doing the motivation at half time. I heard Kean say on the Radio that changes had not been made at half time because he didn't want to blame the players!!!

Kevin Gallagher went on to say 3 interesing things on Radio Lancs.

He stated that at half time 2/3 players could quite easily have been subbed, which is what many fans thought.

He said he had seen Nzonzi training at Brockhall. There. he gets the ball on the floor and can pass it well. At Ewood he simply lumps it forward and is nowhere near the player he can be. He also was extremely concerned about his attitude on being subbed-which I didn't see-but he sounded quite appalled at.

He said Roque is a shadow of the player we sold to Manchester City. He believes he is most effective when coupled with another player who can pick up on the passes Roque can provide.

[BangkokRover]

As most people said why oh why did Rovers take him back. The doctors know exactly what he is like, so completely madness.

I am not surprised by how bad Rocky is but I am surprised Kean has no plan at all to play him up front with Niko.

[MarkBRFC71]

Yeah, I reckon Diouf should be shelved. He has some pace, but his finishing is pants and he doesn't seem to have much ticker for the club.

Add Givet, MGP (somehow) and Kalinic to the lineup and I'd be happy.

I take it you didn't see MGP's totally commitment-free, lazy 'cameo' yesterday then? He did nothing of note, other than at least twice fail to track back and from one of those the Lashers nearly scored. JJ and Phil Jones absolutely bollocked him twice.

If we want to stay up then there's no place for shirkers like Peds, however agree entirely about Niko. Roque is another who looks to have no fight in him and is a very pale imitation of the guy who bagged 23 goals for us long ago.

We desperately need Givet back too so Olsson can return to his proper position - bombing down the left with Junior on the right. I'd put the Jones brothers in midfield, with Niko and Rochina upfront - he might be raw but at least he's got something to prove.

[Alan75]

He said Roque is a shadow of the player we sold to Manchester City. He believes he is most effective when coupled with another player who can pick up on the passes Roque can provide.

Agreed, but Kean doesnt pick Nicko

[tmap]

There was something not right with Roque. At one point in the second half he didn't even try to get to what looked like a dead cert header. Looked like back or hip/hamstring problem to me. Unless he really just couldn't be bothered with it.

I reckon three out of the four goals yesterday were down to incorrectly-awarded free kicks/penalties, looking at the highlights on MOTD (I didn't have a good view of the one leading to our equaliser). What on earth was he thinking? Oddly though, apart from those I thought most of his decisions were OK, although he ignored an awful lot of holding and shoving in the area.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Shocking formation by Kean - again. No-one appeared to know where they were playing, what their jobs were. Even the first 20 mins, we lacked pattern to our play.

Kean has to go or we are down.

[JAL]

The first, acted like a complete moron. Immense freekick otherwise invisible.

I can't work out why celebrating with your fans is a yellow but winding up the opposition fans is fine.

Glad Andy Reid came on today he was useless and a bigger bloater than he used to be.

TCO if you leave the pitch without the referees permission its a yellow card. Did he leave the pitch when winding the fans up?

[thenodrog]

at half time I thought we were down and out, however this point could save our season.

However we have to fight for every point, sod the nice football for now, just get to 42 points and them the club can be rebuilted next season.

That should have been the way forward after the godawful WHU game at Ewood.

[JAL]

Not an ideal result, but in the context of Howard Webb doing his best efforts to send us down, I'm glad we came out of it with a point.

Thought Kean erred by starting Emerton and Diouf. MGP does work well as an impact player, but I think we need him for the 90.

Was shocked at Pedersens lack of speed and fitness.

Diouf looks like hes gone back to ManU, obviously hes been told Rovers dont want him in the summer so why should he bust a gut now knowing he wont be here in the summer, yet more managerial stupidity from a once professional Blackburn Rovers.

[Mattyblue]

'Sod the nice football'

irony is alive and well on brfcs.

[thenodrog]

Heart rate only just got below 100 - only football can do to you what that game did today.

The non-penalty and N'Zonzi's 2 misses, both easy and at crucial times, should have condemned us to defeat, so it's a point gained, but we won't stay up scraping those.

If Hoillet, Jones and Jones stay fit we gave a chance. Junior was amazing but his impact nullified by no striker making front post runs. J Jones looked the first box-to-box midfielder we've had since Flitcroft. But we need one of the strikers finds some goalscoring form to keep us up. Diouf not good enough once again; Roberts had a good cameo but we all know what happens over 90 mins; RSC I was never convinced about even when he scored 23, he wouldn't have got 10 without Bentley and a lot of his goals were inconsequential. The one thing I think Nico does well is movement in the box so it has to be him from here on in.

He's no Shearer but for some reason Kean has him bottom of the striker pile.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

I havent spent much time on this messageboard recently and I wont be wasting my time on here for much longer. The ref gifts them a penalty which even their manager agrees wasnt a foul and then Charlie Adam steps up with one of the most accurate free kicks of the season. Going in at half time we were as good as relegated but the team rallies and gets us a point after battering them for the majority of the match and the entirity of the second half. We now sit 13th. To criticise Kean for the team coming back from 2 goals down at half time is pathetic. We didn't lose two goals to poor defending or any Kean mistake.

Now, clearly 2-2 at kick off wasn't what any of us wanted and im not for a minute saying that things couldn't have gone a lot better HOWEVER, the ref did more to ruin Rovers day than Kean. We came from two goals down at half time which i predict NO ONE saw coming at the time. The players showed character and dug us out of a massive hole.

The people who are saying we should sack him this instant also seem to be the people who are demanding that Formica starts the very next game which is utter madness considering none of us have ever seen him play and he has not had one minute of prem action. You criticise Kean for team selection and yet your answer is to throw an unproven 20 year old argentinian into the team who has only had a couple of reserve games???....

To blame Kean for where we are in the table now isn't the problem. He clearly has a lot to learn and has made many mistakes. But to blame him for yesterday isn't fair. We should have got a point against Fulham and 3 against Blackpool. The reason for why we didnt was more to do with dodgy ref decisions than Kean.

Shocking formation by Kean - again. No-one appeared to know where they were playing, what their jobs were. Even the first 20 mins, we lacked pattern to our play.

Kean has to go or we are down.

We dominated them yesterday. God some people are hopeless. Yes clearly Kean is a terrible terrible manager but please dont just make cr*p up. When we go down I know Kean will be 100% to blame and if we stay up he'll be blamed for not keeping us in the top 10. But yesterday we didn't do much wrong and only lost to a shockign refereeing decision.

[joey_big_nose]

Diouf looks like hes gone back to ManU, obviously hes been told Rovers dont want him in the summer so why should he bust a gut now knowing he wont be here in the summer, yet more managerial stupidity from a once professional Blackburn Rovers.

Love the way you take pure speculation on your part and then form judgements on it. Mental!

[mattyc2422]

I take it you didn't see MGP's totally commitment-free, lazy 'cameo' yesterday then? He did nothing of note, other than at least twice fail to track back and from one of those the Lashers nearly scored. JJ and Phil Jones absolutely bollocked him twice.

Hard to tell on TV, but obviously it is a bit of a predicament. His fitness is clearly down and his attitude to football is not as it should be. With that said, we have no-one else (besides Junior) that can cause damage with a set-piece. Emerton tries, but he's 4 years past his best. Does the good outweigh the bad? Not sure. I'd be happy to go in with Junior, Jones, Jones and Olsson for the next match, depending on Phil Jones' fitness.

[Mattyblue]

Who's saying Formica should start? It's clear that he won't be starting at all this season (if ever)

[joey_big_nose]

Givet has another match out.

******* really?! That is bad news. Luckily the lashers had little to offer down the right but again and again we were totally exposed at left back as Olsson played as an auxiliary winger.

Against Arsenal we will need a solid full back or Walcott/Arshavin/Nasri will totally murder us down our left. Morris seems the only real choice available....

[thenodrog]

Not pleased at the final result, we needed the three points, it was a class example of a game of two halves.

The first half Kean led, the second purely based on the players plan and what they thought would recover the situation.

It was plain to see and it's as obvious as the nose on my face that the players have no confidence in the great impersonator.

Will we stay up?

Yes if the players come out every match like they did in the second half and believe in themselves and spurn any advise that those two bufoons try to instill.

Why Cruz & Diouf remained on the pitch is a mystery also, lack of service and lack of skill was enough for them to be replaced imo, but unfortunately the players can't substitute themselves can they...

Both Jones's worked well, Nelly had a good game and led from the back like Samba, the two dynamo's (Junior & Olsson) had a good game as well (would prefer them both on the wings as it works), Pedersen at times looked like he couldn't be arsed running half the time.

Anyways Match of the Day in a moment.

? A Pederson hater by any chance?

Pederson shamefully given Emerton and Diouffs woeful contributions came on with just 12 mins to go so half that is 6 mins.) I sensed a flaw in the team as soon as we got a free kick on the left and Emerton lined up to take it and as I predicted to my mate sent it sailing straight into the Darwen End. Given our strength in the air how on earth can our only free kick specialist be sidelined for 80 mins? Diouffs feeble attempts to replace his long throws were useless too. How ironic that ultimately we were stiffed by Adam's dead ball delivery.

imo MGP wide left and Hoillet wide on the right gave us better balance and our strikers better service than they got before he came on. We were pressing for an equalizer and pushing Bpool back so staying narrow would just have cluttered the midfield up, all he could do would be to find/make rooom by staying wide and I'm sure his orders were just that.

btw... Would you rather see Paula Radcliffe on the left perhaps sysagent? She's a damned good runner.