[Archived] Blackburn Rovers v Birmingham City 9th April 2011

[Paul Mellelieu]

Oh dear. Another clueless performance against a very average team. Hoilett aside, the midfield and forwards are either inept or being set up wrong. Well they are inept and Kean is just making things worse. He had the cheek to say that we've only lost seven in forty home games on Radio Rovers! I agree with Rev that without investment we were always going to be caught out, but this situation was wholly avoidable. To stay up now will need a very strange and unlikely turn of events.

[thenodrog]

Offside everyday of the week! Bowyer was in front of the ball, in front of his own player Jerome and in front of our defending players when the ball was played.

It was a close call but it was the wrong call.

Oh well a last minute offside goal against Everton (like the time Ooijer scored) will make up for it

I'm still not certain but I am dead certain that Jones was fouled in the build up and resulted in Brum gaining posession.

[DP]

To stay up now will need a very strange and unlikely turn of events.

ha ha. Can see where you're coming from Paul but only a Rovers fan could say that now.

Wolves just lost at home 3-0 to a patched up Everton side! West Ham just went to a Bolton with 1 eye on the cup and got thumped 3-0 as well. Wigan lost again albeit against Chelsea.

We are 3 points clear of the bottom 3 which is better than before the Arsenal game. If we scrape 6 points out of the next 6 games we should, and probably will, stay up.

My biggest fear is I still don't believe Kean's got the players on his side, and he hasn't a clue who to play up front.

My hope is that when we play the 2 teams mentioned above, they aren't totally up for it and we make it count.

[cletus]

Another 2pts dropped at home

& quite frankly i cannot see us getting another home point.....so we`re gonna have to look for away points at Everton, West Ham & Wolves

If we manage to get a win at any of these grounds then maybe just maybe we might earn the right to stay up. But i`m not optimistic.

[cletus]

ha ha. Can see where you're coming from Paul but only a Rovers fan could say that now.

Wolves just lost at home 3-0 to a patched up Everton side! West Ham just went to a Bolton with 1 eye on the cup and got thumped 3-0 as well. Wigan lost again albeit against Chelsea.

We are 3 points clear of the bottom 3 which is better than before the Arsenal game. If we scrape 6 points out of the next 6 games we should, and probably will, stay up.

My biggest fear is I still don't believe Kean's got the players on his side, and he hasn't a clue who to play up front.

]My hope is that when we play the 2 teams mentioned above, they aren't totally up for it and we make it count.

Wolves & West Ham will be relishing a visit from us. I have NEVER seen a Rovers side fail to roll over when put in front of a big angry full housed away ground. Believe me Molineux (sp? ) & Upton Park will be spitting cauldrons.

[thenodrog]

As for today's game I saw Paul walking up Livesey Branch Rd. and he said it was one of the worst games of football he'd ever seen today. Hard to disagree, for me neither side showed the sort of urgency you would expect from two teams scrapping to stay up. A draw was just about the fair result although we certainly had the better of the play in the second half.

The main problem for me is that we lack quality all over the pitch, no quality in midfield and we know none of them are Alan Shearer but none of our strikers are currently performing to even the modest sort of levels they are capable. Robinson, Samba, Phil Jones Hoillett and Olsson are carrying the rest of the team and if we stay up it's essential we keep those five and a huge clearout is required everywhere else.

Another "must win" game goes begging but at least we have shown a certain amount of grit and dtermination in the last few games and if we can't win games with pretty flowing football it might be that no heavy defeats and grinding out another four or five points by hook or by crook might suffice to stay up.

For me this sort of situation was inevitable sooner or later given the lack of investment in the squad over the years. Fortunately it might just be that we can still scrape up on the "there's at least three clubs even worse than us" basis.

Personally the match was littered with mistakes because of it's very nature. Flowing football was NEVER ever going tom be on yesterday's agenda. I saw lots of determination and commitment all over the pitch from both sides which is admirable. The fact that both teams are poor Premier league standard doesn't help, and neither does the fact that we've been starved of investment from owners who had in 20 years taken us as far as they could help either. However never history cover up the fact that we were coping admirably until the Venkey mob showed up with their ignorance and pisspoor judgement of everything to do with English football.

WE NEED AN EXPERIENCED CHAIRMAN WHO IS ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM KNOW-NOTHINGS. WE NEED AN EXPERIENCED EPL MANAGER WITH THE FREEDOM TO SIGN THE PLAYERS AND USE THE TACTICS FITTING OUR PLAYERS. WE NEED INVESTMENT. WE NEED STABILITY.

Particularly galling when we had both those personnel!

[Al]

Bad luck, poor refereeing, total bullshyte.

We are where we are because of our record in the last 8 or 9 matches - drawn 3, lost the rest.

A feckin disgrace and we are going down.

I am totally p1ssed-off by what has happened to our once great club.

IMO, the lunatics are firmly in control of the asylum

Dingle strikes again. We have had four goals in the last four matches against us due to bad refereeing. Makes it hard when you start every match a goal down.

[Parsonblue]

An excellent post Paul and one that I would totally agree with. My only difference is that while I too have resigned myself to relegation I don't believe we will get a reprieve. The games against Blackpool and Birmingham have shown that, under Kean, we aren't good enough to save ourselves. We are relying on three teams getting less points than us over the next six games. Looking at the remaining fixtures of all teams, I believe that Wigan will go down but the other two places are up for grabs. I think we might need 41 points and a good goal difference to stay up and I'm not quite sure where those six points are coming from.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your remarks about Allardyce. His skill was in getting a little bit more out of players that others had written off. I believe he would have got more out of the players and kept us safe. While he might well have written off the Arsenal game, the home games against West Ham, Stoke, Newcastle, Blackpool and Birmingham would have been targeted as games to win. I'm not saying we would have won them all but even winning two or three could have made all the difference to our season.

While I can accept that many may not have liked that approach, of selecting the games to concentrate on winning while writing others off, the fact remains that his record shows that it's a method that works. I agree that the away record under Sam was poor, but the home record was excellent. Under Kean we look poor both home and away.

To those who put our present plight down to referees, I would agree that some of the decisions in recent weeks have gone against us. However, I don't buy into the conspiracy theories. Every team gets bad decisions over the course of a season but you win matches by creating chances and taking them. Yesterday, Carson was put under no pressure at all. Carr, an ageing full-back, wasn't tested by having a pacey Olsson running at him because Kean opted to stick him at full-back. Bowyer, who is no younger than Dunny, ran box to box throughout the game while Dunny puffed and panted, knowing what he wanted to do but finding his body was no longer capable of doing it.

I also agree with Mercerman, in that our once great club has been brought to its knees by decisions made by a woman who knows nothing about the game. So far her decision making with regard to the Rovers has been nothing short of disastrous and the ramifications of relegation are too painful to contemplate.

[47er]

An excellent post Paul and one that I would totally agree with. My only difference is that while I too have resigned myself to relegation I don't believe we will get a reprieve. The games against Blackpool and Birmingham have shown that, under Kean, we aren't good enough to save ourselves. We are relying on three teams getting less points than us over the next six games. Looking at the remaining fixtures of all teams, I believe that Wigan will go down but the other two places are up for grabs. I think we might need 41 points and a good goal difference to stay up and I'm not quite sure where those six points are coming from.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your remarks about Allardyce. His skill was in getting a little bit more out of players that others had written off. I believe he would have got more out of the players and kept us safe. While he might well have written off the Arsenal game, the home games against West Ham, Stoke, Newcastle, Blackpool and Birmingham would have been targeted as games to win. I'm not saying we would have won them all but even winning two or three could have made all the difference to our season.

While I can accept that many may not have liked that approach, of selecting the games to concentrate on winning while writing others off, the fact remains that his record shows that it's a method that works. I agree that the away record under Sam was poor, but the home record was excellent. Under Kean we look poor both home and away.

To those who put our present plight down to referees, I would agree that some of the decisions in recent weeks have gone against us. However, I don't buy into the conspiracy theories. Every team gets bad decisions over the course of a season but you win matches by creating chances and taking them. Yesterday, Carson was put under no pressure at all. Carr, an ageing full-back, wasn't tested by having a pacey Olsson running at him because Kean opted to stick him at full-back. Bowyer, who is no younger than Dunny, ran box to box throughout the game while Dunny puffed and panted, knowing what he wanted to do but finding his body was no longer capable of doing it.

I also agree with Mercerman, in that our once great club has been brought to its knees by decisions made by a woman who knows nothing about the game. So far her decision making with regard to the Rovers has been nothing short of disastrous and the ramifications of relegation are too painful to contemplate.

Yep-can't argue with any of this.No Givet, getting rid of Diouf, no clue!

[Mattyblue]

Parson needs his own column! Nail on head every time.

[47er]

Dingle strikes again. We have had four goals in the last four matches against us due to bad refereeing. Makes it hard when you start every match a goal down.

Wake up Al.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Yep-can't argue with any of this.No Givet, getting rid of Diouf, no clue!

Listening to Kean post match - I am sure he said that Givet didn't play as Givet didn't feel in the right frame of mind.

Diouf - let go to allow Hoilett to progress - yeh huge mistake that one. Also - who knows what negative influence on the squad from a player who has always been an "Allardyce" player

However - don't let this get in the way of your argument.

[RIML]

Parson it was Foster not Carson

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

While bashing Rovers for their performance - lets not forget this was against a team that beat Arsenal in the Cup Final - must be one of the most cynical teams I have ever seen, with a totally inept referee. Not only were their players using ever trick in the game to break up play - there was also numerous little nudges and pushes at key times (e.g. push on Jones that led to their goal).

Doesn't take away two points dropped - but everything should be viewed in perspective. People say we can't get points away at West Ham or Wolves - since when did they become more difficult places to gain points than Arsenal ? Lets get some perspective - we have some difficult matches coming up and are missing out on what appear easier points - but this has been the nature of the premiership for most teams this season.

For me the drive and commitment is still there - and a few players like Hoilett, Jones and Olsson are in really good form at the moment.

Keep the faith - COYB

[Parsonblue]

Parson it was Foster not Carson

Quite right. Must be my age.

[RIML]

Quite right. Must be my age.

No worries Some of the errors on sports' websites are quite worrying.

Look at this on Sky Sports

Player Ratings

Match Report

Notice what they say about Ben Foster and the rating, then look on the Match Report at how many shots we had on target.

[47er]

Listening to Kean post match - I am sure he said that Givet didn't play as Givet didn't feel in the right frame of mind.

Diouf - let go to allow Hoilett to progress - yeh huge mistake that one. Also - who knows what negative influence on the squad from a player who has always been an "Allardyce" player

However - don't let this get in the way of your argument.

I won't thanks. Diouf could have played on the other wing to Hoilett yesterday, did that occur to you? And if you don't know what negative influence was exerted on the squad by Diouf, why mention it? Throw a bit of mud and hope it sticks?

Diouf was one of our best and most consistent players in the first half of the season.And he always played with passion. We were winning games then. Remember that feeling?

[JMillZz]

I agree with this and this was kind of my original point before I took it off-topic with the 'offside' guff.

A lot has been made recently about referee decisions, when to focus on them completely overlooks our own deficiencies and downfalls.

Against Fulham, people say we were robbed by a late penalty, but in reality we had already conceded two weak goals (Robbo in particular would have been unhappy with both as both were saveable by his standards) and a stonewall penalty wasn't given literally just before the actual penalty was.

Against Blackpool, yes the penalty was soft but they should have been 4-0 by half time due to two disallowed goals and a beautiful free-kick from Adam (which was an undisputed foul by Jones on the edge of the box).

And today, we were poor. Poor lineup, poor tactics and poor substitutions - there was a foul in the build-up to their goal which wasn't given, but that doesn't mean that the referees are against us or that the FA are looking to secretly relegate us. It's indescribably crazy to think that either could genuinely be true.

We just weren't good enough in any of those matches and that's why we didn't win.

Absolute rubbish. Their penalty shouldn't have counted, and their goals were both offside. Why should they be allowed to score two illegitimate goals?

[booth]

I won't thanks. Diouf could have played on the other wing to Hoilett yesterday, did that occur to you? And if you don't know what negative influence was exerted on the squad by Diouf, why mention it? Throw a bit of mud and hope it sticks?

Diouf was one of our best and most consistent players in the first half of the season.And he always played with passion. We were winning games then. Remember that feeling?

Diouf, if my friends who work at Ewood are to be believed, was a big character behind the scenes as well and very well liked in the changing room. He was one of those players that would shake his fist and rally the troops. I didn't see anyone doing that yesterday.

But Givet should have played, allowing Olsson to be played on the wing. Well done SK.

[modes98]

This Larsson was the player who was going to come to Rovers in the summer and had everyone so excited? Good free kick but he didn't do much else.

I felt we looked fairly comfortable, not good but in control, until Nelsen went off. I was even thinking three points for us and all the Ws below were losing at the time, if it stays like this it's going to be a good day. When Nelsen went off we seemed to change to 4-4-2 and to lose what control we'd had of the midfield? Or was I dreaming this bit? If it was a deliberate change to 4-4-2 this seemed to be the key to our play spiralling downwards.

They didn't use him enough. Every time they broke he had acres of room on the right and got very frustrated at times. Not that putting crosses in to Jerome and Phillips would have helped their cause much, neither are massive threats in the air. His 2 free kicks were very good and some quality we have long lacked from MGP, likewise the couple of corners he took. If we could get him on a free in the summer he would be a vast improvement on the rubbish we have currently.

You know we were losing when Nelsen went off right? I think the shift was designed to try and get us a goal back which kind of worked, probably more by luck than anything else mind you. Roberts couldn't settle in alongside Rocky and it just all looked a little bit like hard work. Benjani was awful but at least it got Roberts into the game a little more. I just can't help but feel we missed a big trick in not moving Olsson up to LW on Hoilett's departure, even if dropping MGP to left back. Birmingham can't deal with pace and Carr was on a yellow. Equally they love the ball pumped into the box with 2 tall centre backs they can deal with that all day. We needed a manager to recognise the key weakenesses of the opposition and our key strengths and put them to maximum effect. Kean failed to do that well enough, they were there for the taking and we let them get away with a point.

MGP was so lazy and just didn't look bothered at all. Emerton tried a bit harder but was just slow and didn't see things happening in front of him.

Dunn needs to lose some weight and get fitter. He looked like he was treading water for 30minutes.

Just get Benjani away from the club, apart from nearly winning us a penalty the man did nothing to warrant his status as a PL striker.

[LeftWinger]

No worries Some of the errors on sports' websites are quite worrying.

Look at this on Sky Sports

Player Ratings

Match Report

Notice what they say about Ben Foster and the rating, then look on the Match Report at how many shots we had on target.

I love what they say about Roberts - 'needed more time'.

They know him too well, he's never going to make any sort of impact in 55 minutes

[PAFELL]

While bashing Rovers for their performance - lets not forget this was against a team that beat Arsenal in the Cup Final - must be one of the most cynical teams I have ever seen, with a totally inept referee. Not only were their players using ever trick in the game to break up play - there was also numerous little nudges and pushes at key times (e.g. push on Jones that led to their goal).

Doesn't take away two points dropped - but everything should be viewed in perspective. People say we can't get points away at West Ham or Wolves - since when did they become more difficult places to gain points than Arsenal ? Lets get some perspective - we have some difficult matches coming up and are missing out on what appear easier points - but this has been the nature of the premiership for most teams this season.

For me the drive and commitment is still there - and a few players like Hoilett, Jones and Olsson are in really good form at the moment.

Keep the faith - COYB

I agree, keep the faith. Teams are not going to just lie down for us - sadly. I also think the fight etc is still there.

[K-Hod]

It's alright saying look at the fixture list and not seeing where are points are coming from, I personally can see us drawing the rest of our games with the way things are!

Let's not forget though, even Paul Ince got us a win at Goodison, yet people still resign themselves to relegation......

I don't know what's happening with Givet, I really wish he played yesterday, Pedersen at times yesterday was hopeless.

I definitely agree with all sentiments about (El-hadji) Diouf though, he had been one of our best players this season.

Not quite sure how that ref yesterday (Chris Foy?) got away with that performance, ruined the game, was so stop-start, and Brum are quite possibly the most negative, cynical team to come to Ewood this year!

[Al]

Wake up Al.

Something wrong with my post? Seems a fair summary to me.

[Gav]

I won't thanks. Diouf could have played on the other wing to Hoilett yesterday, did that occur to you? And if you don't know what negative influence was exerted on the squad by Diouf, why mention it? Throw a bit of mud and hope it sticks?

Diouf was one of our best and most consistent players in the first half of the season.And he always played with passion. We were winning games then. Remember that feeling?

He was disruptive influence who threw out his toys out of the pram once Allardyce was sacked, reason enough to ship him out, he was also keeping Hoilett out of the team, which was madness.

Givet wasn't in the right frame of mind to play.