[Archived] 5th Nov Blackburn V Chelsea Preview

[Plastic Head]

At the end of the day the stats that matter are

A: We are firmly in the relegationn zone.

B : We have lost 5 out of 6 home games

C: The attendance for a game that was played at the exactly same time of season and time of day as last season, and looking at the highlights of the game was attended by less away fans than yesterday, brought an attendance drop of 4000. I reckon 5000 home fans were missing.

That will get worse. Next season we will have sub 10000 gates.

No matter what Venkean says the reality is more and more people are not coming to Ewood. Even some ST holders around me have been missing over the last 2-3 home games.

Get used to it.

[Plastic Head]

Does anybody know why Venky's weren't there yesterday after all the build up to them coming to this game? I know the opfficial owner of Man City doesn't attend the games but could our very own Chuckle brothers not get up off their arses and get to the home games? As far as I know they have attended 2 games this season, 1 of which was the Carling cup 2nd round (I think) and the other being the Arsenal game. Will we ever see Mrs Desai at Ewood again for a home game or will it be when they open their Venky's superstore over where Ewood Park used to be?

I said before the game I would slaughter a cow in the Riverside if they were there. Daisy is still happily ruminating in the field.

They will never darken the doors of Ewood again, but will continue to send the club into oblivion from their asian slum town.

Terrible, terrible people, and yet some are still happy.

Wouldn't it be interesting what the crowd reaction would be in they did a JW style address to the fans before the game.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Another thing the Venkeymob might like to consider are the post match words of Villas Boas. Along the lines of 'Blackburn away is difficult, every set piece is aimed into your penalty area'. Despite all the bullshit from Pune it seems the heart of Sam is alive and well and beating within the squad doesn't it?

And yet some of our best chances game from enterprising play down the wings !

Kean has finally realised that it is about balance - we play long ball occasionally when appropriate, down the wings and through midfield. We are nowhere near the position where we can play the ball around consistently like Arsenal - mixing it up is the definite way to go. For me the biggest disappointment of the Sam era was the we were predictable - I have no objection to the odd long ball, the long throw, or the Robinson punt into the area - just mix them up - and at last we are doing that.

[booth]

And yet some of our best chances game from enterprising play down the wings !

Kean has finally realised that it is about balance - we play long ball occasionally when appropriate, down the wings and through midfield. We are nowhere near the position where we can play the ball around consistently like Arsenal - mixing it up is the definite way to go. For me the biggest disappointment of the Sam era was the we were predictable - I have no objection to the odd long ball, the long throw, or the Robinson punt into the area - just mix them up - and at last we are doing that.

Perhaps one day he will realize that it's points that keep you in the league.

But I doubt it.

[super_arran]

Kean was deliberately ignoring Samba for several minutes before he came off.

You simply risk aggrevating the hamstring injury pulling a stunt like that.

WRONG.

I saw with my own eyes Samba signalling to the bench for a few more minutes to see if he could run if off.

But, as you usually do, believe what you want

[only2garners]

WRONG.

I saw with my own eyes Samba signalling to the bench for a few more minutes to see if he could run if off.

But, as you usually do, believe what you want

Agreed. Twice Mike Dean went to him to ask if he wanted treatment but clearly he wanted to see how it went for a few minutes.

[philipl]

Ok.

The live TV commentary presented it the way I reported it. They also said there was no attempt to ready Hanley from the point that Samba had first signalled to the bench.

[super_arran]

Ok.

The live TV commentary presented it the way I reported it. They also said there was no attempt to ready Hanley from the point that Samba had first signalled to the bench.

And that's how rumors and conspiracies start.

Why report as fact when you're just going off what you've heard rather than seen? Seems daft.

[philipl]

And that's how rumors and conspiracies start.

Why report as fact when you're just going off what you've heard rather than seen? Seems daft.

The camera panned back to Samba grimacing and waving a couple of times then showed a scene of total inaction in the Rovers technical area and Kean looking towards the Chelsea goal and not at his centre half.

For what its worth I cross checked with fans who were at the game and they concurred that it seemed the Rovers bench were not reacting to Samba's discomfort.

I wasn't at the game so I demurred to posters who were but I don't think it is as clear cut as you are making out. The Two commentators I presume were at the game and called it as they saw it- the co-commentator said Samba was struggling and the bench hadn't seemed to have noticed a good minute before the camera went in for the first close-up. Shortly afterwards Chelsea broke quickly down the Riverside touchline and a pan out showed Samba stranded on the edge of the area clearly trying to move and incapable of doing so. When the ball was cleared there was another close up of Samba holding his hamstring and the cut to the Rovers' technical area where there was no movement whatsoever. After that Samba went down and they showed him on the floor and finally some signs of life in the Rovers' benches as Hanley got called down to strip off.

[McClarky]

We really should have got something out of this game but weren't able to take our chances and again looked likely to concede every time this shadow of a Chelsea side came forward. I'm sure Kean will look for positives, and there are some from the performance, but the bottom line is we lost again and are now getting cut adrift. Ironic that us and Wigan are the bottom 2, on seeing their game today there are many similarities between the 2 teams. We both play nice football, neither has a proper goalscorer and both are weak when teams come at them. Difference might be that they have a far better manager. Expect a great game ending 0-0 in 2 weeks when we play them.

Need to win at least 3 or 4 of the next 6 which are all winnable, surely the time is right for him to go.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

The camera panned back to Samba grimacing and waving a couple of times then showed a scene of total inaction in the Rovers technical area and Kean looking towards the Chelsea goal and not at his centre half.

For what its worth I cross checked with fans who were at the game and they concurred that it seemed the Rovers bench were not reacting to Samba's discomfort.

I wasn't at the game so I demurred to posters who were but I don't think it is as clear cut as you are making out. The Two commentators I presume were at the game and called it as they saw it- the co-commentator said Samba was struggling and the bench hadn't seemed to have noticed a good minute before the camera went in for the first close-up. Shortly afterwards Chelsea broke quickly down the Riverside touchline and a pan out showed Samba stranded on the edge of the area clearly trying to move and incapable of doing so. When the ball was cleared there was another close up of Samba holding his hamstring and the cut to the Rovers' technical area where there was no movement whatsoever. After that Samba went down and they showed him on the floor and finally some signs of life in the Rovers' benches as Hanley got called down to strip off.

[philipl]

[beastlove]

A point noticed by many. For me our very worst form of the Kean era coincidede with Jensen being installed (by Delboy) at the end of January. That was when our real malaise on the pitch began.

I was thinking the same during the game. Like it or not the last few home games since Jensen left haven't been that bad. We have looked better defensively and our full backs haven't been exposed as much. We have also looked better going forward and look likely to score (with a bit more luck).The player seem to be behind Kean and are trying hard. Junior Toliet was ###### today and it was his fault for the Chelsea goal. The next game is crucial. We have to beat Wigan. If we get beat of them then I expect the axe to fall

[Parsonblue]

The camera panned back to Samba grimacing and waving a couple of times then showed a scene of total inaction in the Rovers technical area and Kean looking towards the Chelsea goal and not at his centre half.

For what its worth I cross checked with fans who were at the game and they concurred that it seemed the Rovers bench were not reacting to Samba's discomfort.

I wasn't at the game so I demurred to posters who were but I don't think it is as clear cut as you are making out. The Two commentators I presume were at the game and called it as they saw it- the co-commentator said Samba was struggling and the bench hadn't seemed to have noticed a good minute before the camera went in for the first close-up. Shortly afterwards Chelsea broke quickly down the Riverside touchline and a pan out showed Samba stranded on the edge of the area clearly trying to move and incapable of doing so. When the ball was cleared there was another close up of Samba holding his hamstring and the cut to the Rovers' technical area where there was no movement whatsoever. After that Samba went down and they showed him on the floor and finally some signs of life in the Rovers' benches as Hanley got called down to strip off.

In fairness to Kean I did see him signal to Samba to go down almost as soon as he started to feel the back of his leg. However, Samba signalled he would carry on but Kean sent Hanley out to warm up. Both Kean and Dave Fevre were on the touchline but Samba gave no sign of wanting to come off until he went down.

I know we like to have a pop at Kean but in this instance I feel that Samba ought to have gone down right away to get treatment but he didn't. I assume, like Givet against Newcastle, he thought it wasn't as serious as it has turned out to be.

[Tom]

Also after the incident I think Samba overstretched for another ball which probably did more damage

[AlanK]

We have to beat Wigan. If we get beat of them then I expect the axe to fall

We have to beat QPR, we have to beat Norwich.....we have to beat Wigan

Nope....Fail

Kean out

[Sparky Marky]

I expectedthe axe to fall last May.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Maybe Kean was sat too far away from Samba?

[thenodrog]

Maybe Kean was sat too far away from Samba?

C'mon dgs. Kean insisted in an interview afterwards that he never saw an aeroplane 500 ft above Ewood trailng a bloody great banner with his name on it so how the hell do you think he will notice an injured player?

He should have gone to Specsavers.

[Miker]

C'mon dgs. Kean insisted in an interview afterwards that he never saw an aeroplane 500 ft above Ewood trailng a bloody great banner with his name on it so how the hell do you think he will notice an injured player?

He should have gone to Specsavers.

We now know why he's such a terrible manager. He doesn't actually see what's going on at games, it's just all a blur, he just imagines what's happening in his mind.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

C'mon dgs. Kean insisted in an interview afterwards that he never saw an aeroplane 500 ft above Ewood trailng a bloody great banner with his name on it so how the hell do you think he will notice an injured player?

He should have gone to Specsavers.

To be fair it wasn't a big plane.

I was just wondering whether or not Keano had missed Big Chris's travails because he shares Flip Flop's inability to judge distance between persons at football stadiums.

[patrickvalery]

And what's the common denominator? We're still dropping points. There's no escaping that simple truth no matter how Kean, Sky Sports, MOTD, The LET or our own naive fans try to dress it up.

How long do you give Kean? Seriously, I'm asking you. It seems to me that some of our fans won't wake up until we're rotting in The Championship next season.

Topman, my apologies for the delayed reply. First time i've logged on since the post you are referring to.

I did say in that post that i felt Kean should have gone weeks ago. To be honest, i said at the time of his appointment that i didn't agree with it. I always felt he'd struggle to stamp any authority on the squad beacause of his previos coach role. The coach is the voice of reason from the manager to the players and visa versa. To this day i think he still struggles in this regard. So i take exception to being referred to as a 'naive fan'. I am fully aware of the fact we're not picking up points. It's a fact which is hard to miss. But it is also true that we have been unfortunate not to have taken more from our last two games. If, as it seems, Kean is a mainstay at Rovers, then i see little harm in trying to look for any positives. Every turd has a golden puddle. Its just hard to see sometimes.

Am i happy with the way things are going at Rovers? Unequivocally no.

[booth]

To be fair it wasn't a big plane.

:D :D

Gold!

You really couldn't miss the plane, it by far overstayed its welcome and was quite low flying. Kean saw it.

He thought he didn't see it like he thought he'd signed Hoilett on deadline day.

[stuwilky]

In fairness to Kean I did see him signal to Samba to go down almost as soon as he started to feel the back of his leg. However, Samba signalled he would carry on but Kean sent Hanley out to warm up. Both Kean and Dave Fevre were on the touchline but Samba gave no sign of wanting to come off until he went down.

I know we like to have a pop at Kean but in this instance I feel that Samba ought to have gone down right away to get treatment but he didn't. I assume, like Givet against Newcastle, he thought it wasn't as serious as it has turned out to be.

Samba chose not to go down for treatment, and my initial reaction was that he was trying to run it off.

[bennyboyt11]

Who else was just relieved not to see Anelka in the line up??