[Archived] Blackburn Vs Arsenal

[Blue n White Rover]

I thought Kean was right in having a go at those protesting before the game. I thought it was a stupid idea to begin with and I bet all 200 of them were over the moon when we won.

Kean has had a lot of stick and most of it deserved. However, you have to give credit to him today. He addressed the problem of Hoillet not backing up Givet. Made a fantastic switch when majority of the fans looked baffled (Ollsson on for Rochina), and also his signing have all done the business to date.

I was away on holiday for our first 3 games, but from what the chaps around me were saying today, we've just been unlucky and the performances have all merited results. We're 5 games in and unbeaten now in 2 games and have a great chance to make that 3 on Tuesday night.

Let's get behind him, give him the support that was on display today and carry on climbing that table.

One of the best PL games I've seen in years.

Thanks Kean.

[RovertheHill]

Came away buzzing from a match for the first time in ages. Thought we did well today. Rode our luck but I remember when we beat utd 4-3 under Hughes we rode our luck then and just about hung on. Can't recall the out and out negativity then Knew I shouldn't have come on here - just taken the shine right off.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Been quite a while since a weekend has fealt this good.Just what the fans craved for,lets hope this is the start of a better turn of form for Rovers.

WELL PLAYED LADS!

[benhben]

Nice to put some goals away. For the first time in a while we have a striker that if we provide chances hell put them away.

We must however sort the defensive side of the team out. We look like we are going to conceed every time the opposition go forward.

[LeChuck]

We must however sort the defensive side of the team out. We look like we are going to conceed every time the opposition go forward.

It's all down to central midfield, we look like a youth team in there. No leadership, no direction, no authority. Givet at left back is a complete liability too, almost all opposition chances and goals come from areas he should be in. He lost the ball so many times today.

Thank God we've got Robinson, Samba and Dann behind them. They'll be so busy this season it's beyond belief. If there is a betting for most MOMs for Rovers, one of those three is a shoe-in.

[Andy]

I was away on holiday for our first 3 games, but from what the chaps around me were saying today, we've just been unlucky and the performances have all merited results.

This bit isn't true at all.

Everton we should have beaten, but is two missed penalties bad luck or poor technique?

Similarly, luck didn't make Samba give away a last minute penalty.

The other two games we were poor and deserved nothing from either.

Doesn't take anything away from today's good result, but it's important to be realistic.

[Mercer]

Great result today albeit a tad fortunate, however, will take that as it tends to even itself out over a season.

This match reminded me of last season's Liverpool match - we played the opposition at precisely the right time.

Positives today: Robbo - top class, young Lowe - we might have found ourself a very decent right back, Hoilett - always a threat, Yak - can and will score goals, though reminded me of the lads at Pleasington on a Sunday morning, even bigger than Goodwillie !!!, Olsson - this lad simply has to play.

Negatives: we were ripped to pieces at times and better teams will pulverise our naievety and openness; not only that, they gifted us 2 goals. Givet can't play left back and I would have started him in the centre with Dann after 2nd half performance at Fulham (what has Samba done to earn the right to walk back in), Petra - early days, but the lad looks a dud, Rochina - someone buy him his own ball for Christmas.

One swallow doesn't make a summer and I still feel that it's going to be a long old season if this bullsh1tter stays in charge.

[Blue n White Rover]

This bit isn't true at all.

Everton we should have beaten, but is two missed penalties bad luck or poor technique?

Similarly, luck didn't make Samba give away a last minute penalty.

The other two games we were poor and deserved nothing from either.

Doesn't take anything away from today's good result, but it's important to be realistic.

Did Everton deserve their penalty? I think not.

Anyway, it does not result in a protest against your manager. Finished.

[chris]

It's all down to central midfield, we look like a youth team in there. No leadership, no direction, no authority. Givet at left back is a complete liability too, almost all opposition chances and goals come from areas he should be in. He lost the ball so many times today.

Thank God we've got Robinson, Samba and Dann behind them. They'll be so busy this season it's beyond belief. If there is a betting for most MOMs for Rovers, one of those three is a shoe-in.

Lechuck do you think Olssen would have had the same impact had he been left back?

Was a star today

I have to say Olssen was excellent at supporting Givet too, little came down the left after he was on.

[LeChuck]

Lechuck do you think Olssen would have had the same impact had he been left back?

Probably not, but I don't think we would have been under as much pressure because Givet was constantly losing the ball and generally being given the runaround.

Olsson was excellent when he came on, so it does pose a tricky question. Personally I think Hoilett and Vukcevic should be out wide, so I'd go with Olsson at left back. But I can understand why Olsson would be in midfield after today.

[thenodrog]

........some of that blame has to go on Hoilett today for not covering him and leading to Givet being double teamed.

Formica needs to be dropped in order for Hoilett to play off the main striker (yakubu) where his defensive inadequacies wont be exposed and at the same time bring in Olsson on the left to attack with pace and double up and help Givet out. We won't keep getting away with hanging Givet out to dry every week.

[Bluefudge]

Good result today.

The centre of midfield in the first half was poor, but second half N'zonzi started to play and look a little more confident.

Thought Lowe did well at right back, in fact reminded me of an Emerton performance there.

Kean a man in your position must remember decorum!!

Do not abuse your status, little smug and arrogant, but wouldn't some of us do that in his position after today's event.

Just need to keep that second half up !!!

[Elegia]

Fair play, nothing more "positive" than a win. And we are easily pleased mr kean, a win is a win, all we ask for is for more performances like that and more wins. But whatever you do don't drop yakubu.

[aletheia]

Deep issues still not resolved.

Still feel sick listening to Kean and Roberts.

However, as Theno says, the bald one may have stumbled on a decent formation at last- the one that was on the pitch at the end. Only weakness there, would be Petro. Stroke of luck that Dunn and Gamst injured. Olssen better attacking and gives Givet cover. Lowe young, hungry, quicker, fitter than Salgado. Hoilett better behind front man. Tough on Rochina and Formica who can't be accomodated given this set up.

So the debate will go:-

See, give him more time, players are good, need time to bed in etc etc

v

club is going to hell in a handcart, underlying issues still there

[philipl]

Deep issues still not resolved.

Still feel sick listening to Kean and Roberts.

However, as Theno says, the bald one may have stumbled on a decent formation at last- the one that was on the pitch at the end. Only weakness there, would be Petro. Stroke of luck that Dunn and Gamst injured. Olssen better attacking and gives Givet cover. Lowe young, hungry, quicker, fitter than Salgado. Hoilett better behind front man. Tough on Rochina and Formica who can't be accomodated given this set up.

So the debate will go:-

See, give him more time, players are good, need time to bed in etc etc

v

club is going to hell in a handcart, underlying issues still there

Remains the case but let's just enjoy the Arsenal implosion and the rare feeling of winning a PL game!!!

[Kamy100]

Fantastic result and a very much needed three points.

The second half was superb and showed that team spirit is excellent and players are behind Kean.

Yakubu showed how much of a difference having a natural goalscorer on the pitch can have. I thought that Jason Lowe did really well at right back.

The negative is that defensively we are still not setup properly, defence is left very exposed at times, and when you play Junior and Rochina in wide positions then it leaves the full backs exposed as they provide very little defensive cover.

As Philip said above, let's enjoy the feeling of winning a game and hope that we can build on this next week at Newcastle.

[jones_rover]

Playing a 20 year old lad out of position on his second appearance sounds like a decent idea to you?

In hindsight yes ;-)

[Fraserkirky]

What a game! very proud tonight.

Kean must stay. This is a fantastic squad compared to years gone by, maybe a bit light up front but the attacking midfielders are in abundance. Very exciting.

Whoever said Hoilett is the weakest player in the team needs their head checking. took Sagna, (who is no slouch) to the cleaners today.

Rochina whilst a little rough around the edges is a fantastic prospect, did anyone see his touch and turn in the first half? breathtaking. Does over do it at times.

Despite conceding 3, Samba and Dunn are a top 10 defensive partnership. ALthough Dann's distribution is a little careless.

Givet is a bit of a liability but didnt get much help from Hoilett. Looked much smarter having the electric olsson in left mid.

Vuckevic looks a character, can tell the boy has the skills on the ball, but lost it stupidly a couple of times. Wouldn't mind seeing him in behind the Yak on tuesday.

Formica looks a little jaded but I'm still a fan.

Great game from Lowe today, Salgado's position looks frail.

N'zonzi didnt play well first half, but did very in the second. Petrovic shows flashes and I'll wait another 5 games before passing judgement on him.

All in all a great win, and off to St James's with a bit of confidence I hope.

COYB

[texasrover]

Formica needs to be dropped in order for Hoilett to play off the main striker (yakubu) where his defensive inadequacies wont be exposed and at the same time bring in Olsson on the left to attack with pace and double up and help Givet out. We won't keep getting away with hanging Givet out to dry every week.

I don't know if dropping formica for hoilett is the answer, but whatever the case hoilett needs a kick up the backside to do his defensive duties. He's making Givet look very silly to people who can't see it, when in reality he had to defend two people at once for most of the game. Find me a left back that can do that.

Nzonzi did fantastic in the middle today, and i actually think petrovic did a lot better than people think. He will come good. Didn't see simon touch the ball much, and would have loved for formicas shot to get past shez-knee (not even gonna try spelling it). It was a fantastic save.

In our goal, paul was immense, too.

As someone mentioned earlier, it's really deflating to come on here and read such negative posts after we've just beaten arsenal. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and an underperforming opposition to really kickstart your season. Lets hope it does.

[Roversi]

Petrovic will come good, he needs to bulk up a tad but he should only look at N'Zonzi who has learnt to use his size and strength in this league.

Rochina has natural raw footballing talent, yes he is a tad selfish and times but thats due to his confidence. the last player i remember who came into the league with so much ability and confidence that he over elaborated at times was Ronaldo. Rochina will learn.

if we stay up, nurture and build a team around guys like Holiett, Olsson, Dann, Samba, Lowe, Rochina, N'Zonzi, Formica i can see us being a really really good outfit in 3-4 years time

[Blue blood]

First off, regardless of managers, performances, pressers or anything else - we NEEDED 3 points and we got it. A massive, massive relief, and a vital 3 points, both for the table and psychologically as well.

Steve Kean is a lucky man. First half we were utterly destroyed. Arsenal ripped us to shreds and should have been 3 or 4 up at the break. Great goal for rovers aside, and we looked a danger every time we attacked. Sadly in the 1st half so did Arsenal and they had a lot more attacks than us. Very relieved that we were going in only a goal down at half time.

Formica needs to be dropped in order for Hoilett to play off the main striker (yakubu) where his defensive inadequacies wont be exposed and at the same time bring in Olsson on the left to attack with pace and double up and help Givet out. We won't keep getting away with hanging Givet out to dry every week.

This is it - Kean got the team selection wrong and Givet was ripped to pieces in the 1st half. No suprises both games came from the Arsenal right. Kudos for sorting it by placing Olsson at left mid who was both threatening going forwards AND provided Givet with cover. Having said that the damage could easily have been done before the change was made - and we were fortunate that it wasn't.

Equally Salgado's injury meant we had pace at rb which also I think made us less vulnerable defensively. By the second half we had - by error or design - he right team on to play the game. For the first time in the match I began to hope that we could actually do it.

Second half we did enough to deserve something from the game. We defended valiantly, and managed enough attacks to worry a truely woeful Arsenal defence. We had a few decent attacks, caused Arsenal pressure and were clinical with our chances. Sure we got a few fortunate breaks offensively, but had Yak's second goal been scored by manure or the like, the commentators would've been banging on about there being no gap between the attacker and defender, too tight to call etc.

Defensively we were lucky with the penalty, really thought that we'd blown it and it was going to be given. Kean can't complain about bad luck with that decision going in our favour. Having said that some resolute defending, and a magnificent Robinson (my MOTM) deserved the win. Bodies were thrown in the way of the ball, the players tracked back it was encouraging to see.

On Kean's signings it's still a mixed bag. On the plus side Yakubu showed more poise in one match than Roberts has shown in his entire stint at rovers. It's only 1 game but the signs are that he's a much better option that Roberts. Dann also looks a really solid defender, and very promising. Petrovic and the other lad Vuk- Simon, neither looked anything special to me, or particularly good. Nor was I too impressed with Rochina who still to me seems to lack a lot of awareness needed for the Prem, despite his talent. A few of those with question marks have to shape up more for us to have a decent season.

Overall a vital 3 points. Sickening to see how smug Kean was - if only he'd admit when we don't play well. It wasn't a great performance, we should have been dead and buried at half time, we were fortunate Arsenal were so bad and didn't expose our tactical weaknesses. This only papers over a lot of cracks and problems. Having said that it's rather nice wallpaper. COYB

[HemelRover]

Over the moon with the effort of many of the players today and the 3 points. But, for me, this result was this seasons Liverpool game.

One we came out of with 3 points against a team we wernt expecting a result from.

Like Liverpool last year, Arsenal are in a slump and off form.

Like Liverpool last year, we were actualy lucky not to concede more goals(Meterstacker should have scored with that header and that Moroccan striker should have scored at the death also), just like the missed Pen in the Liverpool game would have meant 2 less points.

Like Liverpool last year we had no control over the centre of midfield and the game was just breathlessly passing them by.

Like Liverpool last year, all this result will do is paper over the cracks and give Venkys justification to continue to back the guy who is taking credit for doing nothing during the game to try and take control of it.

Olsson should have been brought on (for either Formica or Rochina) earlier to protect Givet and give the team more balance.

Grella should have been Formica's replacement, not Simon. Grella would have at least given us some hope of protecting the lead we had fallen into.

[texasrover]

Nice to be able to say, "Today we leapfrogged Arsenal in the table".

[LeChuck]

Over the moon with the effort of many of the players today and the 3 points.

Effort was outstanding. But as you go on to say, this game can't be used as a sign of future results. Kean loves to use stats to say when we should have got a result, well here are some stats today:

Shots: 10 (5) vs. 24 (16)

Possession: 43% vs. 57%

Corners: 2 vs. 13

If that game is played 5 times we probably lose 4. Today was our day and we should enjoy as much as possible, but there are still major problems in midfield and defence.

[Fife Rover]

Great result which, to be honest, I didn't see in a million years.

I'm one of the more vocal supporters against Kean, but as he is judged on the results he gets, I have to give credit for today.

I still want him gone and have a massive dislike for the man, but he deserves credit for guiding the team to a win over a decent Arsenal side.

Really dislike his interviews - who was it who praised his 'pressers'? They are awful.

The 1% comment was bitter, inaccurate and petty - he should know better and rise above such comments.

The players are seemingly playing for him, which is a positive but if he really is to stay at Ewood much longer, he needs to work on building a relationship with the fans and refrain from lying and making stupid comments to the press.

Delighted with Yak, always liked him and Robbo had a good game.

Dann I'm undecided on - sometimes looks solid, but sometimes gives away soft possession and makes the wrong decision.

Err ....I hate to disagree with you there Andy, but if the press figure for the number on the march is accurate, then Kean was spot-on with his figure of 1%. Press say 250 on the march, attendance at Ewood today was 22,500; therefore 1% is approx 250. (225 if you want to split hairs).