[Archived] News Article -> 2012/13 Match Report: Rovers 1 Watford 0

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Blackburn Rovers	(0) 1 – 0 (0)	Watford
Rhodes 90 + 2
Referee: C. Boyeson		Attendance: 13,233

For the second time in a matter of days Eric Black saw his team grind out a vital win and collect another valuable three points. Whilst Black's brand of football may not always be easy on the eye, there is no doubt that he has brought a little more organisation to the side. I suspect that most would agree that whilst the football might not be free-flowing, Black has certainly tightened up the defence and made the Rovers harder to beat. The trick, of course, is to keep it tight at the back whilst playing a more expansive game in attack. However, whether Black has the players at his disposal to do this is highly debatable. Thus, for the moment, we must grateful for back-to-back wins and successive clean sheets.

With David Dunn injured and Martin Olsson dropped to the bench, Black kept faith with the players who had finished the game against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek . As well as Olsson the bench also contained a couple of unfamiliar names in Rosado, who had been on the bench on Wednesday night without getting into the action, and Raheem Hanley, who made his first appearance on the bench for the senior squad.

Like the Rovers, the visitors are a club in transition and coming to terms with foreign ownership. In the case of Watford the Pozzo family already own two other clubs — Udinese and Granada — and in Gianfranco Zola have appointed a head coach who is well versed in the demands of English football. However, the influx of sixteen new signings in the summer has led to not unexpected inconsistency and, once again, Zola rang the changes to his line-up in search of a winning formula.

With the visitors coming to terms with their new line-up and the Rovers happy to retain possession without ever really threatening the opposition goal, the first half proved to be something of a non-event. Neither goalkeeper was unduly troubled, although Bradley Orr appealed in vain for a penalty for handball when his attempt at goal bounced off a defender for a corner.

Although the Rovers forced a number of corners during the early stages, Manuel Almunia, the former Arsenal custodian, didn't seem unduly troubled and on occasions was able to come and claim them without any pressure from a Rovers player. His first real save came in the twenty-sixth minute when he spilled a long-range effort from Jason Lowe but managed to collect it at the second attempt.

In truth, the visitors offered very little going forward and on the one occasion that a shot was aimed at the Rovers goal, Paul Robinson was able to gather it with very little difficulty.

However, although the Rovers enjoyed the majority of the possession, they were unable to turn it into genuine attempts on goal. Once again, Jordan Rhodes was asked to plough a lone furrow up front with Ruben Rochina supposedly operating just behind the Scottish striker. However, for much of the half the young Spaniard dropped deeper into midfield to collect the ball and, although neat and tidy in possession, he didn't really get into positions where he would hurt the opposition.

As a result the main support for Rhodes came from Colin Kazim-Richards and unfortunately the Turkish international has been frustratingly inconsistent since he returned from injury. The pace and power he displayed in the opening two games seems to have been replaced with a more tetchy and sedate style which has incurred the wrath of referees and supporters alike. Whether he is still suffering from the after-effects of his injury is unclear, but at the moment he has yet to produce the form of the opening week of the campaign.

Kazim-Richards had a shout for a penalty rejected when he attempted to reach a cross from Morten Gamst Pedersen. However, the referee felt that the Turkish international's claims that he was pulled back were overly optimistic and waved play on.

On the brink of half-time Rhodes, who had continued to struggle as the lone striker, managed to set up a chance for Dickson Etuhu, but the former Fulham man blazed his shot well over the bar.

The Rovers suffered a blow early in the second half when Gael Givet was forced to succumb to an injury picked up in an earlier challenge. Martin Olsson replaced him but, once again, seemed out of sorts and reluctant to embark upon those rampaging runs down the wing which have become the hallmark of his game.

Although the Rovers continued to probe for an opening in the visitors' defence, there was a lack of pace and penetration about their play. Whilst sideways and backwards passes ensured that the Rovers kept possession, it meant that they made little headway. Indeed, it wasn't until the sixty-fifth minute that Almunia was forced to make a save when Kazim-Richards got on the end of a Pedersen cross but headed the ball straight into the arms of the goalkeeper.

Twelve minutes later the Rovers were literally handed the perfect opportunity to win the match when a shot from Rhodes struck the arm of Tommie Hoban and the referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot.

However, nothing is ever straightforward with the Rovers these days and there then followed a rather lengthy debate between Rhodes and Kazim-Richards over who should take the penalty. Whilst the majority of the fans no doubt fully expected Rhodes to take the kick, it was Kazim-Richards who grabbed the ball and opted to take the kick. He approached the ball in a confident fashion and then promptly smashed the spot-kick against the crossbar and Watford cleared the rebound.

Nuno Gomes replaced Pedersen and almost immediately created a chance for Rochina, who had been largely anonymous during the second half, but the Spanish youngster fired his effort high over the bar.

As the game approached its end, matters might have got worse for the Rovers, but Scott Dann was alert and prevented Troy Deeney from getting in a shot when in a good position.

As the game moved into the five minutes of injury time, the Rovers snatched the points with another wonderful piece of opportunism from Rhodes. Danny Murphy and Kazim-Richards worked the ball to Rochina, whose shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded to Rhodes. The Scottish international took one touch to control it and then crashed a left-foot effort past Almunia into the back of the net.

The final whistle brought an outpouring of relief rather than celebration as another indifferent performance had delivered a vital three points.

Once again, Black set up a team that was solid at the back and difficult to penetrate. Jason Lowe and Dickson Etuhu anchored the midfield in front of the back and thus prevented the visitors from creating the time and space required to expose the Rovers' back line.

The Rovers struggled to make things happen in the final third of the field, but up to that point they looked comfortable in possession. Once again, most of the danger came from set-pieces with Morten Gamst Pedersen whipping in crosses from corners and free-kicks which were always a threat. However, few chances were created from general play with Jordan Rhodes being left totally isolated for much of the game. The way in which he took his chance in injury time was another illustration of the fact that Rhodes is more of an old-fashioned inside-forward rather than a centre-forward. One feels that with a target man alongside him he would score more goals than he does at present with someone playing behind him. In this game Ruben Rochina continually drifted too deep and although his passes looked good at times, they were rarely of the variety that would hurt the opposition.

Although this game is not destined to live long in the memory, the fact remains that in any promotion chase the results are far more important than the performances. If the Rovers are celebrating a return to the top flight in May 2013, nobody will remember, or indeed care, about how it was achieved.

However, promotion still looks a long way off and the squad still has serious question marks about its ability to win games in sufficient numbers to achieve the goal of promotion.

There are, of course, more pressing matters for the powers that be at Ewood Park to deal with. Four weeks have passed since Kean resigned and the search for a new manager appears no nearer a solution. However, of greater concern must be the fact that the departure of Kean has not seen the crowds return to Ewood Park and there is no doubt that the general dissatisfaction and disillusionment with Venky's is having a damaging financial impact at the club. Advertising hoardings are still empty, a shirt sponsor is still lacking, match sponsorship appears at an all-time low and, of course, the fans are still staying away.

A win is said to paper over the cracks, but in the case of the Rovers it is chasms rather than cracks which have to be covered over and one can only feel that it is essential that the new manager is not only successful on the pitch but has the charisma off it to bring the fans back to Ewood Park.

Teams

Blackburn Rovers

Paul Robinson; Bradley Orr, Grant Hanley, Scott Dann, Gael Givet (Martin Olsson 56); Colin Kazim-Richards, Jason Lowe (Danny Murphy 89), Dickson Etuhu, Morten Gamst Pedersen (Nuno Gomes 78); David Dunn (Ruben Rochina 35); Jordan Rhodes
Subs not used: Jake Kean (gk), Mauro Formica, Raheem Hanley, Diogo Rosado
Caretaker Manager: Eric Black

Watford

Manuel Almunia; Lloyd Doyley, Fitz Hall, Tommie Hoban, Marco Cassetti; Jonathan Hogg, Mark Yeates (Cristian Battocchio 81), Connor Smith, Franchone (Joel Ekstrand 74); Troy Deeney, Fernando Forestieri (Alex Geijo 85)
Subs not used: Jonathan Bond (gk), Sean Murray, Matej Vydra, Ikechi Anya
Manager: Gianfranco Zola

Bookings

Blackburn Rovers – Gael Givet, Scott Dann, Ruben Rochina

Watford – Marco Cassetti


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[Mattyblue]

There are, of course, more pressing matters for the powers that be at Ewood Park to deal with. Four weeks have passed since Kean resigned and the search for a new manager appears no nearer a solution. However, of greater concern must be the fact that the departure of Kean has not seen the crowds return to Ewood Park and there is no doubt that the general dissatisfaction and disillusionment with Venky's is having a damaging financial impact at the club. Advertising hoardings are still empty, a shirt sponsor is still lacking, match sponsorship appears at an all-time low and, of course, the fans are still staying away.

Apologies for quoting you years later Parson! But oh for the days of 13,000 crowds ay?

To lose 10,000 fans in a summer was tragic for the club- the legacy of it still haunts us now.

Sacking Kean straight after the Wigan game would have given us a fighting chance of maintaining a decent level of support- another horrendous botch job by these owners.