[Archived] Wigan Athletic v Blackburn Rovers-Match Preview

[RoyRover]

Anyone know if J Jones is playing first team football at present?

Yep. On returning to the club, under Ralf Rangnick he played a few games, but mostly as a sub. However, since Huub Stevens took over from Rangick a couple of weeks ago, he's been a first team regular and has started all of their Bundesliga games (five or six in a row) and one or two in the Europa League. He played the entire 90 minutes yesterday where Schalke stuffed Nürnberg 4-0.

He's been a big loss.

[Kelbo]

Out of interest, who would you have picked to play yesterday?? I thought we played Ok when we went down to 10 men (A stat you seemed to have missed in your analysis by the way) and I didn't have too many issues with the team selection considering the injuries. The performance in the first half was very poor and overall we did well to scrape a point considering the extra man that Wigan had.

In any other season you could put yesterday's result down to a one off game, but we desperately needed to win and we weren't good enough. Ince was fired when we were 4 points from safety and had failed to beat Wigan. The man has to go.

Not a question of selection, poor signings in respect of our needs and extremely poor organisation, a good manager would be saying this, look, we have to be difficult to beat, we must get bodies behind the ball when defending and react more quickly than the opposition when possession changes, at the moment we commit too many players forward and none get back quickly enough when we lose the ball, we havent a ball winner in the squad (hence the poor signings) we have too many players of a similar style.

Balance in a squad is the most important aspect of team selection and set up, the signings were made without any consideration to balance and so we are unable to select a team which can both attack and defend, we can attack but we cant defend as a team!

[adsfortheblues]

Robinson is a weak link also, people won't agree I know but I think he's a poor keeper

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

WOW, watching Goals On Sunday, and Chris Kammara has confirmed why the Venky's left at Half time. Get ready, the reason was.... It was Cold so they left. NO JOKE!

Now then,according to the commentators on Radio Lancs, the Bungle Brothers did not leave the ground at half time but simply moved seats.

[AggyBlue]

As for Kean reacting to the fans. It's a desperate reaction from a pathetic man who KNOWS the MAJORITY don't want him here. He knows he is out of his depth. He knows that the results have been awful. He knows what's going on behind the scenes at the club. He knows he won't get fired because of it.

True, He knows he wont get another job after Rovers too

[Tony Diamond Inc]

Salgado should never play a first team game again. He is a proper weak-link, and opposition managers see this as an easy route through the Rovers defence.

Lowe should start the next game.

[cn174]

Wigan fans trying to help us out...

KEAN OUT by cn174, on Flickr

[trs]

Well I hope his mates backed him up, and members from this site also.

Was with Glen on two seperate occasions yesterday.

I really wish I had been with him when it mattered.

As I tweeted earlier...Arrived in Wigan...shortly after Noon. Departed Wigan.... shortly after Midnight.Fantastic day!

[grizfoot]

The brave fightback with ten men just covered up the fact we where really poor this game. We started brightly the first twenty minutes or so but bar that we got totally dominated by one of if not the poorest team in the league. Had Wigan took even a few of the glorious chances they had in hatfuls they could have easily had 5, 6, 7 or 8 in this game. I take the point it was a makeshift defense and we where reduced to ten men. But the Wigan pressure started towards the back end of the first half where they where creating chances at will, thankfully they are a team the specialise in missing chances. If anything we improved defensively with the sending off of Dunn, sending off may have been a bit harsh considering he did only commit two fouls all game. But he really should have known better especially the way the referee was brandishing yellow cards. The game was full of mistakes, from both team defenses and through the referee and his officials. Wigan had a nailed on penalty not awarded, Wigan's first goal should have been ruled offside and our second goal obviously shouldn't have been allowed. I don't much like the all "luck" argument or the "luck is against you when down at the bottom" cliche. Truth of the matter is poor teams get in more situations to make mistakes themselves or allow the referee to do so. Wigan's defending in injury time was classic case of a team not knowing how to close out a game. Two silly fouls enabled us to take free-kicks into the box the last of which was headed out for a corner by a Wigan player when a little communication would have seen the ball headed clear and the final whistle. Then there was the crazy kick to the head of Robbo by the Wigan player, god knows what he was thinking there probably just pure panic. Fair play to Robbo though he was brave and it did atone for his error with Wigan's third goal. Then there was a great moment of panic from myself when I saw Roberts near the ball, don't let him take it please no! Thankfully it was left to Yakubu who dispatched the penalty to earn a somewhat "lucky" point.

[No Nay Never]

Robinson is a weak link also, people won't agree I know but I think he's a poor keeper

Absolute nonsense

[gumboots]

Absolute nonsense

I don't think Robinson has been playing well recently but then he is behind a poor defence and midfield who leave him with too much to do on far too many occasions. Improve his cover and I think you'll see his confidence and his shotstopping levels increase. If he knows it's down to him every time the opposition pick the ball up on the half way line then he doesn't really stand a chance.

[den]

Just watched it on MOTD. Defensively we're a shambles, We don't look like a team at all, you can't really see a shape. The back four get no protection from midfield. It's open season for the opposition midfield runners.When we go a goal up you know it's only a matter of time before the opposition score because we can't shut teams out. I've got say it but Robbo's struggling for form, I'd expect any keeper to do better on all three goals. The last one especially, I'd have been gutted letting that one in and I was only a stand in goalie. If we'd have lost to that goal I'd have cut my wrists ! Getting a kick on the head doesn't make up for those errors. It's hard to captain a team and give out bollockings when you're not playing well yourself. At least his attitude is good. We look like a team that is relegation bound. We've just played two teams that will be down there at the death, scored three goals away from home each time and come away with just two points, that's what relegation level teams do.

To get out of this mess we need to become hard to beat first and foremost, that means becoming hard to score against. The trouble is I don't think we've got the playing staff to do it, too many ball players and not enough who can put a foot in, mark up and run their blood to water. Their is light at the end of that tunnel though, Grella will be back next week, alledgedly.

Agree with every word TS.

In respect of our midfield, well they have one basic function - get the better of the opposition's midfield. Yesterday against Wigan, yes a poor Wigan who are bottom of the league, I reckon our midfield didn't win one individual battle. Wigan ran us ragged there. They made all the space, passed it better than us and threatened us all game. This, against a Rovers team where the majority of the summer signings were brought in to make us a better attractive passing side. So what does that tell us?

As for the rest of this season, well we've got ourselves into the same position as a one day cricket team who needs more than a run a ball and is seeing the run rate escalating at a rapid rate. Taking into account the number of games we'll doubtlessly lose, a draw at home or away isn't going to be enough. So, we need to win games and the only way we're going to do that isn't just a matter of improving the defence, it's a matter of getting clean sheets - and plenty of them. Unfortunately, the type of midfielders that Kean has brought into the squad don't give us any alternatives to what we have now. Yesterday, the only option on the bench that had the potential to allow us to change what we were doing, was Roberts - and only because he can knock a few players around!

So, we're in deep do, do. Kean and some fans claiming this is a better squad than we've had for some time, and that it's good enough for a much higher league position, well I just don't see it. Hope I'm wrong and we can start winning a few games, but how are we going to do that when all our eggs are in the pretty, tippy tappy kind of midfield that we have?

[philipl]

Martinez upset about our second goal

[den]

Martinez upset about our second goal

He's every right to be, because the corner was illegal.

[AggyBlue]

He's every right to be, because the corner was illegal.

It will be interesting to see what he says about it on his blog.

I thought blatant cheating was beyond Pedersen, I thought he was better than that.

[Beta Ray Bill]

He's every right to be, because the corner was illegal.

As I mentioned elsewhere, their 3rd goal was also illegal as the free kick was taken on a moving ball.

Obviously not as 'dramatic', but both the same in the letter of the law.

[brian_gallagher85]

I thought blatant cheating was beyond Pedersen, I thought he was better than that.

This the same player who punched the ball into the net at St James' a few years ago and also had that infamous dive against Arsenal a few seasons back?

[AggyBlue]

This the same player who punched the ball into the net at St James' a few years ago and also had that infamous dive against Arsenal a few seasons back?

Yes.

Come on, they pale into insignificance compared to what he did yesterday.

[j166429]

Yes.

Come on, they pale into insignificance compared to what he did yesterday.

I think this is pretty bad..;

I particularly like the last shot of him and how he reacts.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Martinez upset about our second goal

I'd be more upset about my defence if I was Martinez. They were as fast-a-sleep to the " short corner " as the referee plus the goalkeeper made a complete cock up of a pretty innocuous cross. I can't understand why Pedersen chose to run the ball in if he knew that Yakubu hadn't touched the ball. Where was the lineman ?

[brian_gallagher85]

Yes.

Come on, they pale into insignificance compared to what he did yesterday.

Really? I actually thought yesterdays wasn't that bad he at least had the excuse that he thought that Yakubu had already touched it, unlike his other to misdemeanors, but perhaps I'm wrong?

[den]

Touching it isn't enough. When I was a lad the ball had to travel one circumference.

[AggyBlue]

Really? I actually thought yesterdays wasn't that bad he at least had the excuse that he thought that Yakubu had already touched it, unlike his other to misdemeanors, but perhaps I'm wrong?

Every other premier league player would do the other 'misdemeanors', in fact I'd wager all have dived.

Not a single one has tried to get away with something so blatantly obvious.

[Puffsan]

I we have had decent owners and a decent manager i would have been appalled by how we score our 2-2 goal, but with steve kean still in charge i really dont care how we score/win, as long as we do it. It is sad, but it is how it is

[AggyBlue]

Touching it isn't enough. When I was a lad the ball had to travel one circumference.

I'm sure that's still the case Den.