[Archived] Rovers v Sunderland Preview

[jones_rover]

I thought Formica and Hanley were immense today. I'm always impressed with Formica's workrate, the guy really puts a shift in!

[RoyRover]

Great win tonight. It could make a massive difference that we have a 6 point lead over the team in 18th. I thought Martin Olsson played well, but wasn't as convinced about his brother. I'm not sure why he has just walked into the first team, when the likes of Vukcevic and Rochina don't even get on the bench. Has anyone else noticed how few subs Steve Kean makes. I know he's been criticised for making bad ones, but when you are 2-0 up with 2 minutes to go, why not bring Modeste on or Vukcevic when he's on the bench, just to give them a bit of game time?

[doctorryan]

Sitting down the road from you mate. Listening to Talksport on my iPhone. just back from New York. 70 degrees, crystal clear sky, stunning Manhattan view out of the tunnel, oh and three priceless points to top off a great day. And talking of daylight, 6 points looks suspiciously like daylight between us and Bolton.

Hope we don't play Bolton at the weekend. Could be a strange atmosphere.

Whoops.... A misinterpretation on my part. Sorry John.

[A cup of beans]

Like Jones,Samba,Nelsen you mean? With Hoilett and N'Zonzi to come! Givet? Robinson?

what are your thoughts on the win 47er ?

What a fantastic win. Gritty and well deserved.

Hard to single anyone out for special praise, every player on the pitch gave their all and contributed to a great team performance.

He's never going to be completely accepted of forgiven (by me), but I must give credit to kean for his part in the revival.

he got us in the mess, but seems to have identified and addressed issues and that's brought about an upturn in form and results.

The inclusion of marcus ollsen looks like a masterstroke. he's not the most gifted, but he's an old fashioned chalk on the boots up and down winger.

I think his inclusion has also helped take some of the burden off hoillet and junior is taking advantage of extra space and is now excelling and almost unplayable.

villa, wolves and sunderland all struggled to cope with our pace, something that was sadly lacking for the last few years. I commented in pre season that this was the slowest blackburn squad in history.. not anymore

From what i hear.. eric black has ignited the place since his arrival. The players respect him enjoy and believe in his coaching philosophies

Id like to praise him for his work.

The turn around since bolton at home has amazed me! I didnt think we had it in us to revive ourselves.

There looks a real spirit and togetherness between the players and the confidence and self-belief has returned.

With all that's gone on, its easy to forget how young the squad is and it is giving me optimism for the future.

I'm very proud of our young team.

[joey_big_nose]

I don't blame Hoilett for not signing a new contract earlier this season, we look nailed on for relegation, but if we continue this form to the end of the season, it might not be beyond the realm of possibility that he'd stay, he's still very young, if he continues to progress he, being the focal point of the team, he'd be in a much better position to do well at a big team when he reaches his peak.

Even if we stay up teams with European football are going to want hm. I wouldn't get your hopes up - I can't see him staying even if we won every game from now to the end of the season.

[savage90]

Funny we were trying to sell Formica! I can't help but think this is solely down to the players and togetherness. Still very much against Venky's ownership. But it looks like we have the best chance of the 5 now to survive! COYB

[david_daft]

Loved the way we closed Sunderland down tonight. They were poor but we made it really difficult for them,

defended from the front all night, was a real gutsy performance tonight. Don't want to cast a downer,

but why has it taken so long?

Hoilett covered a lot of ground tonight, attacking and defending, great to see.

He's gotta play in that position for the rest of the season.

Formica did great on the right, covered lots of ground too,also looked good attacking and defending.

Dann and hanley looked solid, especially with the protection in front of them (makes such a difference}

Lowe and olsonn at full backs were like a pair of Jack Russels, closing down and hustling well, with olsonn breaking at speed at every oppotunity.

Peds and Zonz looked solid in the middle, Peds putting more good tackles in in this match than the rest of the season.

Zonz looked great driving forward, rather than his trademark sideways/backwards thing we quite often see.

Marcus olsonn also put a good shift in, his work rate making up for a lack of quality, but early days there, eh?

Yak was solid too. Held the ball up really well and took his goal well too, though was hard to miss from a(nother) great cross from Orr

A great team perfomance, though think we picked a great time to play Sunderland, we still had to do the business.

Really enjoyed tonight, well done boys.

Any news on the Bolton game? Feel it will be on, but not heard owt yet.

[waggy]

the last competative game i saw at ewood was a fa youth match,i said at the time GRANT HANLEY looked a far better player than PHIL JONES,the last few games has convinced me we have found our new braveheart.fantastic preformance last night well done.bring on the dingles

[Tom]

Yet there are still some on here that say Hanley is awful

What a tackle by Olsson by the way to prevent a tap in

[waynerovers]

Yet there are still some on here that say Hanley is awful

What a tackle by Olsson by the way to prevent a tap in

As good a tackle as you'll ever see, inch perfect, could've just as easily been a penalty or own goal.

[tonyoz]

Yet there are still some on here that say Hanley is awful

What a tackle by Olsson by the way to prevent a tap in

Hanley - pure Scottish granite that lad.

Olsson tackle - Loved the goals but that was the moment of the match for me.

[True Blue & White]

Olsson's tackle was instinctive, I think Hanley's tackle on Campbell after he chested it down in the box was better as both players were standing and there was far more potential for a pen being given. Bentner was already on the floor by the time Olsson came in...both tackles two of the best of the season though.

[Mercer]

Much needed win.

However, need to keep in perspective - we've beaten a shambolic Wolves and a Sunderland side that shot their bolt on Saturday at Everton.

Can someone tell me wtf Marcuss Olsson is doing in that team other than he is Martin's brother ? This guy is very, very average.

As I've been saying recently, no problems staying-up but next season..................

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Much needed win.

However, need to keep in perspective - we've beaten a shambolic Wolves and a Sunderland side that shot their bolt on Saturday at Everton.

Can someone tell me wtf Marcuss Olsson is doing in that team other than he is Martin's brother ? This guy is very, very average.

As I've been saying recently, no problems staying-up but next season..................

Be fair. In December, I dont think anyone expected to be six points clear of the drop zone in March. Credit is deserved all round, including the manager.

Marcus Olsson provides pace and combines well with Martin. He's not as technically gifted but he causes problems. Two 2-0 victories in a row isn't to be taken for granted. We're not safe yet but we finally seem to have a settled team and can keep a clean sheet. Things are, finally, looking up. Lets worry about next season once we're actually safe shall we.

[Roversider]

Marcus Olson adds lots of energy and looked ok in other games. I think he is worth his place as he adds to the balance of the team. He also tracks back. Who is better there at the moment? MGP played well last night in central midfield. Good display, now to heap misery on Bolton and I will be happy.

Amazing, Kean actually seems to be getting a good team spirit, maybe Samba leaving was good news.

[Howler]

A great win, who would have thought we would string together two back to back wins and clean sheets? And isn't it a bit sad that we see that as some sort of major achievement! Takes the pressure off the Bolton game as now a point is a very good result.

Any joy at the victory, the progress of the team and our good chances of survival are being tempered by the prospect of another season like this one with Kean/Venky's at the helm.

Have to also comment on the patronising 5Live commentary - one minute they were saying what a decent job Kean is doing and how he is "deservedly" winning the fans over, the next they are joking about the fact that we haven't kept a home clean sheet for almost a year and have't had back to back wins for even longer...don't they see the connection between this and the fans discontent?!

[SharrockDownSouth]

Haven't seen any of the match or highlights, but it seems to me that, whilst we've had the players to be a safely mid-table side all season, it's only now that we've actually got a "team"?

For me, this 2-0, comfortable home win is the best result of the season!

[the original david brent]

Much needed win.

However, need to keep in perspective - we've beaten a shambolic Wolves and a Sunderland side that shot their bolt on Saturday at Everton.

Can someone tell me wtf Marcuss Olsson is doing in that team other than he is Martin's brother ? This guy is very, very average.

As I've been saying recently, no problems staying-up but next season..................

Me and you must have been watching different games in recent weeks! Marcus Ollson has been a great signing. He doesnt have the raw talent of Rochina, but he makes up for that with his work ethic and endeavour. He puts a great shift on the left, does his defensive duties, gets forward, tackles, covers etc. He adds balance to the team, and combines well with his brother. He also works well with Pedersen, who is playing far better in the more central role

[rovers11]

Credit where credit is due, well done to Kean for swapping Formica for Bradley Orr who provided his second assist in two home games and provided more cover for young Jason Lowe.

That was a massive decision for me and one I thought Kean was going to get wrong. When I heard he was bringing on Orr, I thought he was going to put Lowe in midfield and put Orr at right back. That would have been a massively wrong decision, Lowe was superb against Mclean.

Don't underestimate the role Eric Black has played in making Rovers more tactically astute and this was a small example of that.

[braddock]

Any idea on Black's length of contract?

[philipl]

Phew!

Great 3 points.

[Tom]

Until Bruce gets a job I think.

Was Black at Sunderland this season?

[Mercer]

It's great to have got 2 wins on the bounce but I honestly believe that we've flattered to deceive. First half last night we were poor and let's be honest, Sunderland never really tried to get out of 1st gear until the last 10 minutes or so of the match - they were lethargic, sloppy and simply had no edge to their game, as I said earlier, they shot their bolt on Saturday.

Let's see how we fare in next 5 fixtures - Bolton away, United home, WBA away, Liverpool home & Swansea away. Would not surproise me if we lost the lot !

[Mattyblue]

For around 55 minutes it really was an appalling game.

Typical O'Neill team, happy for a 0-0 away from home and we just didn't have the nouse to break them down.

From the goal onwards I thought we played well, mainly because we now have pace in abundance, a proper goalscorer and N'Zonzi ticking the game over.

We could actually do it

[LeChuck]

Can someone tell me wtf Marcuss Olsson is doing in that team other than he is Martin's brother ? This guy is very, very average.

His pace and workrate alone make him the best of a bad bunch at the moment.

You can't deny that we've looked far more solid since he came into the team.

Hopefully he'll revert to being a cheap squad player eventually, but for now he's doing a job that we need someone to do.