[Archived] Blackburn v QPR

[Shabani]

Blackburn V QPR

As Rovers embark on yet another must win game, let’s compare how to the two relegation-threatened sides conducted themselves in January

MANAGER

Blackburn

Despite his dreadful record as manager, Kean went into January and came out in February in as strong a position as ever as manager.

QPR

QPR made a bold move in sacking Neil Warnock, who since then has embarked on setting the world record for the most amount of minutes on TV since being sacked and replacing him with Mark Hughes, a proven Premier League manager with a wealth of experience

Manager – advantage QPR

SIGNINGS

Blackburn

Kean vowed that Blackburn would do all their business early on and avoid the inevitable panic buying that comes with the final few days of the window. Like most things that come out of Kean’s mouth however, it was bullshit. Kean allowed Club captain Nelsen to move to a title challenger for nothing (how does that one work?), shipped out Roberts and Andrews. In came Anthony Modeste (very much a player on the Assistant advice, compile loans players report : Striker), Olsson’s twin brother, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine and helped Hughes free up space in the wage budget to bring in AC Milan left back Taye Taiwo (192 games for Marseille, 48 caps for Nigeria) by signing QPR’s surplus-to-requirements RB Bradley Orrrrrrrr

QPR

Hughes was backed by his owners and signed proven premier league goal-scoring quality in Bobby Zamora and Dibril Cisse (both have already opened their tallys for the club), as well as highly rated LB Taye Taiwo and highly rated Nedem Onuaha from Man City.

Signings – Advantage QPR

Last matches

A tale of two red cards it would seem for QPR and Rovers in their previous matches.

Cisse (presumably desperate not to play at ewood again, who could blame him?) got himself sent off on his home debut debut and cost his side 3 valuable points against fellow strugglers Wolves. QPR 1 WOLVES 2

Givet, who it seems never watches MOTD or reads a newspaper was sent off for the 2nd time this season, this time for an ill-judged two footed lunge on Robin Van Persie. Blackburn crumbled like an old woman’s hip and went onto lose 7-1, ARSENAL 7 BLACKBURN 1

Advantage – QPR (just)

Last fixtures

The reverse of this fixture earlier in the season finished 1-1, Chris Samba (remember him??) scoring before Heidar Helguson scored without the use of his head. Salgado (remember him??) was lucky to not give a penalty away following a clumsy tackle

The last time the two sides met at Ewood was the FA cup back in 2011, Hoilett scoring the only goal in a rotten affair in front of just 10k at Ewood (magic of the cup).

Prior to that I remember winning 3-0 against them at Ewood in the FA Cup in 2006, Sergio Peter running rings around QPR and Andy Todd popping up on the score sheet

Prediction

Impossible game to predict, so I'm just going to go for 7-13

[LeChuck]

I take it Lowe is unavailable, and Samba unselectable?

The team will pretty much pick itself for this game. The only debate will probably be whether to persevere with Petrovic, who has managed to drop to standards below his early season offerings in the last two games.

Robinson

Orr Dann Hanley Olsson

Pedersen N'Zonzi Petrovic Hoilett

Dunn

Yakubu

Or...

Robinson

Orr Dann Hanley Olsson

Formica N'Zonzi Pedersen Hoilett

Dunn

Yakubu

I'd probably go for the latter, Petrovic has been atrocious. I can't see us playing any other formation unless a new injury crops up somewhere.

[G Somerset Rover]

Just a thought, but with Samba in a paddy and Givet suspended, what happens if Hanley or Dann get injured before the weekend?

I'd imagine a snowman would be of more use than Dann right now, but just putting it out there. N'Zonzi at CB again?

We'll get beat on Saturday with Dann/Hanley anyway but with one of those out if could be a humiliation.

[92er]

I take it Lowe is unavailable, and Samba unselectable?

According to the LT today, Lowe is not yet ruled out of Saturday's game.

[hesfromburn]

Well if Lowe is back I would go for:

Orr,Dann,Hanley,Henley

N'Zonzi,Lowe/Pedersen

Hoilett,Dunn,Martin Olsson

Yakubu

Think we have played much better in the past with the speed of hoilett and olsson, our squad is seriously lacking in important positions, I know that line up has little experience but we dont have much choice and the line up Kean has been going with isnt working

[winstonsmith]

Well if Lowe is back I would go for:

Orr,Dann,Hanley,Henley

N'Zonzi,Lowe/Pedersen

Hoilett,Dunn,Martin Olsson

Yakubu

Think we have played much better in the past with the speed of hoilett and olsson, our squad is seriously lacking in important positions, I know that line up has little experience but we dont have much choice and the line up Kean has been going with isnt working

With our defensive frailty, I would definitely have a goalkeeper !

[MarkBRFC71]

Sticking swith same underperforming "senior" players isn't going to keep us up - simple as that. And before people bang on about experience, it's not doing a whole lot for us so far this season? Time to be bold IMO and play some of the fringe players who've done well in fits and starts when given the chance. Out should go the deadwood - Dunn, Pedersen and Dann, and give the likes of Vukcevic, Formica and Hanley a proper run in the team. They can't possibly be any worse than the old guard. Also time for Kean to man-up and tell Samba to stop being a whingey bitch.

[joey_big_nose]

Sticking swith same underperforming "senior" players isn't going to keep us up - simple as that. And before people bang on about experience, it's not doing a whole lot for us so far this season? Time to be bold IMO and play some of the fringe players who've done well in fits and starts when given the chance. Out should go the deadwood - Dunn, Pedersen and Dann, and give the likes of Vukcevic, Formica and Hanley a proper run in the team. They can't possibly be any worse than the old guard. Also time for Kean to man-up and tell Samba to stop being a whingey bitch.

Oh come on. We got whipped by Arsenal where everyone was appalling but we played well the few games before that.

Hanley will definately play as Givet is out. If Lowe is unavailable I imagine Orr will start. Apart from that I doubt the team will change much.

I'd probably go for the latter, Petrovic has been atrocious. I can't see us playing any other formation unless a new injury crops up somewhere.

Petrovic was terrible against Arsenal but has played well before that. I can't see how shuffling Pedersen into the centre is going to improve anything against QPR. He has played well and poorly too in the middle.

[MarkBRFC71]

Oh come on. We got whipped by Arsenal where everyone was appalling but we played well the few games before that.

But we still lost. What's the point in signing players then not giving them the chance to show what they can do? We know what the old guard are capable of - and so far this season it just plain hasn't been enough. We've got nothing to lose IMO.

[3rdpillar]

we will win this.....

[broadsword]

We know what they can do, that's why they don't play. They're worse than what we already have.

[MarkBRFC71]

We know what they can do, that's why they don't play. They're worse than what we already have.

They've not had anywhere near the same opportunity as Peds and Dunny. Hanley looked shocking til he got a run of games, and then started to look the part (certainly much better than Desperate Dann has).

We have to change something because otherwise we're going down with barely a whimper. It's got to be at least worth a try.

[broadsword]

Deckchairs ... Titanic ... glug glug glug.

Until Venky's and Kean have been removed, nothing else matters. We're a championship/ league 1 club walking until then.

[LeChuck]

Sticking swith same underperforming "senior" players isn't going to keep us up - simple as that. And before people bang on about experience, it's not doing a whole lot for us so far this season? Time to be bold IMO and play some of the fringe players who've done well in fits and starts when given the chance. Out should go the deadwood - Dunn, Pedersen and Dann, and give the likes of Vukcevic, Formica and Hanley a proper run in the team. They can't possibly be any worse than the old guard. Also time for Kean to man-up and tell Samba to stop being a whingey bitch.

Dunn and Pedersen are not our worst performers at the moment. I don't know why you keep singling them out.

[ABBEY]

Well I expect the run of not beating a hughsey team since he left to carry on.

0-4!

[hesfromburn]

Well I expect the run of not beating a hughsey team since he left to carry on.

0-4!

If thats the score Kean may aswell forfeit the league!

But im expecting a win.

[Majiball]

4-0 Rovers with Steve Kean coming on late in the game to snatch the winner.

[roverandout]

for me a draw is the best we can hope for, our defence has no chance against zamora, he will eat dann and hanley alive, also depends if we give taarabat any space to play provided hes involved, i would put my money on qpr to beat us 2-1, we havent won any relegation six pointers at home this season, barely even a point, what makes people think this will be any different?

[bigbrandjohn]

4-0 Rovers with Steve Kean coming on late in the game to snatch the winner.

Agree.

[Waggy76]

I will go to this game , why ? I do not really know cannot see anything but defeat ,Kean staying in the hot seat ,a lot of crowd unrest to boot ...With Kean in his post match interview blaming the fans ..

[MarkBRFC71]

Dunn and Pedersen are not our worst performers at the moment. I don't know why you keep singling them out.

I'd say Dann has been, and that's easily solved with a deserved recall for Hanley.

Petrovic showed some signs of promise, but faded against Newcastle and was terrible (along with everyone bar Modeste) against Arsenal. However, Pedersen can't play centre midfield because he can't pass with any consistency and retain possession, and there's rarely a tackle in him. Dunny can't because his legs have gone and he's a red card waiting to happen if he tries to tackle anyone. Ideally Lowe would play there, but is Orr good enough to start at RB? So Petrovic has to play, if only by default.

Dunn was excellent against Fulham, but has looked pedestrian otherwise. Newcastle had obviously done their homework because they marked him out of the game with ease. Again, forget Arsenal. He's also basically a waste of a sub because he can't last more than 60 mins. Add to that we've got Formica who can play the same role with equal effectiveness, and dropping Dunny is an easy call.

Pedersen, goal aside, was as dire as everyone else against Arsenal, but he's hardly been anything more than average all season. He can't (won't?) tackle, his pass completion must be among the worst in the Prem (think it averages around 40-odd percent), his does try to track back but he's basically running back and forth without really affecting play. He's in the team mainly for his set-pieces, however at best only half of them are dangerous. We cannot afford passengers, and Vukcevic is probably as good at free-kicks (according to YouTube anyway! ) and certainly a better passer of the ball. Again for me it's an easy call.

The rest? There's no reason that Bunn should have been dropped as he was playing well, but Robbo hasn't really let us down. Givet (Samba aside) is our best centre-half. Olsson is handy at left back because of his pace, although he's really a left midfielder/winger and gets caught out positionally. N'Zonzi thinks he's better than he is, but he's our best CM at present. Yakubu is clearly our best striker, and Junior the most likely source of a goal - I don't think you'd drop either of those. Lowe is doing well out of position.

That's my assessment and I have no agenda - I just think it's obvious that Dann, Dunn and Pedersen are the weakest links when you look at it objectively and without sentiment - and given the current squad, the most easily replaced. I think sticking with the old guard is accepting relegation - it's probably academic anyway but I'd rather we changed a few things round and still fail rather than fail having never tried anything different.

[LeftWinger]

With our defensive frailty, I would definitely have a goalkeeper !

Arsenal 8 shots on target, 7 goals scored. Why bother?

[Brfcrule1]

MarkBrfc71 is totally right it's now about time Kean tells samba to man up and stop wingeing and do the job he is being payed to do and with that in mind the line up should be

Robbo

Orr Samba Dann Mart. Olsson

MGP N'Zonzi Petrovic Hoilett

Modeste

Yakubu

subs: Bunn,Hanley,Marcus Olsson,Vucevic,Dunn,Lowe.

that team should be more than capable of getting a result and if we somehow by the grace of god lose this one coco has to be given the bullet.

[Doug]

Robbo, Lowe, Hanley, Samba, Henley, Hoillet, Dunn, Nzonzi, Peds, Olsson, Yak

Subs: Dann, Modeste, Petrovic, Vuckovic, Bunn, Formica, Rochina

I have included Henley to free up olsson to move forward.

Hope Yak has kept fit while suspended.

Samba must play and show us what we've been missing, I'm pretty sure he will be forgiven for his antics as long as he gives his usual 100%.

Gonna predict a 3-1 Rovers win if Samba plays, if he doesn't, then a 2-2 draw.

COYB

[JAL]

Just hope there are many thousands boycotting this game and that collectively we can send the message back that they no longer have our support.