Blackburn Rovers vs Ipswich Town, Saturday 19th January 15.00 Kick off.

[JacknOry]

If Rotherham can muster 18 shots on goal against this lot, it would suggest that as long as we play on the front foot we should be creating plenty. Yes they finally got a win and have brought in a few players but lets take the three points that we really should be. 

[Parsonblue]

11 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

You know better than that Jim, it's 11 versus 11 on Saturday. That's all that matters. I ended up playing on the losing side in plenty of games were we were going to win in a canter.

If your mental attitude isn't right before you know it you've handed the initiative to your opponents and it's not easy to get it back.

Totally agree Tyrone.  There are no certainties in football.  You, like me, will well remember the games against WHU over Christmas in 1963.  8-2 win away on Boxing Day and a couple of days later, with everyone expecting a double-figure job we lose 3-1 at home.  

I fully expect a really tough game on Saturday with Ipswich needing a win to keep in touch with the teams just above the relegation zone.  I hope for a win but wouldn't be surprised by a draw or totally shocked by a defeat.  It's the unpredictability that makes the Championship such an interesting League.

[J*B]

There's no way he will pick more than his "two and a half forwards". You can totally forget any formation which includes Graham, Armstrong, Dack and Rothwell. 

 

One from:

Graham

Nuttall

Brereton

 

One from:

Rothwell

Armstrong

 

Then Dack.

[roversfan99]

47 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Totally agree Tyrone.  There are no certainties in football.  You, like me, will well remember the games against WHU over Christmas in 1963.  8-2 win away on Boxing Day and a couple of days later, with everyone expecting a double-figure job we lose 3-1 at home.  

I fully expect a really tough game on Saturday with Ipswich needing a win to keep in touch with the teams just above the relegation zone.  I hope for a win but wouldn't be surprised by a draw or totally shocked by a defeat.  It's the unpredictability that makes the Championship such an interesting League.

Whilst obviously mentality plays a key role and shocks can happen, there is no reason not to be frustrated, annoyed and dissappointed at anything other than 3 points tomorrow. You need to be targetting no less than maximum points when playing bottom of the league at home in any league.

You mention the unpredictability of the league and you are right but there is plenty of crap near the bottom, of which Ipswich are bottom of.

[blueboy3333]

10 hours ago, not exactly Scarface said:

Sorry about the FA Cup last night.  Wanted you to do it, seriously, hoped you'd have a good run and make the later rounds.   It's a shame but going to extra time worked in our favour to a small extent as your players only have a short time to rest and we'll be more fresher for when the time arises.

Not sure about what to expect.   A trip to Blackburn provides some vivid memories such as the 1994 last game escape and winning in the FA Cup soon after when you were League Champions.    We'll field some new players that have come in and many seem excited about Lambert (he has written a letter to the fans thanking them for their support and patience)     After the rubbish that came before the only way is onwards. 

Has a tendency to play one up front and hope that is thrown aside for when we visit.   I can see it now, Sears Keane or Jackson up front, with Lankester and Quaner to bring on as further options.   I'm worried about Dack and Graham as I see them as good players who can cause opposition sides a number of problems but we'll see how it goes.    We have to win given our situation, running out of games and points in the weeks ahead.   Not saying it'll be easy but I think we can give you a game regardless of our league placing.   Probably bring a good number up too.     There's something of a feel good factor about the club right now even if the threat of League One hangs over the team like a massive shadow.   

 

 

 

 

Has Lambert mentioned he once went to watch Pep's Barcelona/Bayern Munich teams train?

[blueboy3333]

42 minutes ago, J*B said:

There's no way he will pick more than his "two and a half forwards". You can totally forget any formation which includes Graham, Armstrong, Dack and Rothwell. 

 

One from:

Graham

Nuttall

Brereton

 

One from:

Rothwell

Armstrong

Conway

 

Then Dack.

More realistic, although he may go full Tony and play Conway on one side, Bennett on the other and Dack up front. 

[blueboy3333]

2-0, 3-0, 2-2, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-0. 

Ipswich's last 7 away games. Anyone thinking it's acceptable not to win this game against what is an incredibly poor Ipswich side needs to adjust their expectations. 

[DE.]

There's nothing unpredictable about Ipswich. They're extremely poor and their only wins have either been total flukes or against similarly poor teams who have usually had the better of the game against them. This is as bad of a team as you're going to come up against in the Championship, and bringing in a few desperados in on a free isn't going to change that.

Unfortunately for us, Mowbray's managerial style means that we play the same way regardless of the quality of the opposition, making the majority of games a 50/50 affair. So despite Ipswich being a terrible team I fully expect we will allow them to have an even game against us, worrying about their left back or whatever overanalysis will come into play to hinder what should be a commanding performance against a team nailed on for the drop.

I still think the scoreline will read a fairly comfortable victory for Rovers, but the stats will show we gave Ipswich too much respect.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

You can always count on Rovers to give struggling opponents a helping hand. I was there for the 3-1 home defeat two or three days after we won 8-2 away at West Ham, after that debacle you realise that anything is possible in football ! There was a cartoon in the Daily Express that Saturday morning showing a bloke selling cricket style scorecards instead of programmes outside Ewood Park ! I think the players believed that.  We need to come out with all guns blazing, get our foot on their throat and keep it there. We need to be thinking we're playing Burnley not Ipswich. Will we ?

Edited January 18, 2019 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[MarkBRFC]

15 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We need to come out with all guns blazing, get our foot on their throat and keep it there. We need to be thinking we're playing Burnley not Ipswich. Will we ?

No.

First halves have been pretty dull at Ewood all season, I just can't understand people who seem to think Mowbrays teams start on the front foot, it couldn't be further from the truth. 

Theres only been three Rovers league goals scored all season in the first half at Ewood, with only one from open play.

Nine of our thirteen home league games so far have been 0-0 at half time.

I think 0-0 is a good bet for the full time score tomorrow, lots of huff and puff, a few golden chances missed, before we run out of steam on 70ish mins and invite some pressure on ourselves, a couple of good saves from Raya will secure us a point.

Edited January 18, 2019 by MarkBRFC

[Bigdoggsteel]

Here's what will happen 

• We will be all over them for the opening 20 minutes, but won't take our chances
• On their first foray into our half one of their players will either score a long range worldy or a deflection
• We will be shell shocked and may even concede again
• We battle back and almost win the game, miss more chances and settle for a point 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Bigdoggsteel

[JHRover]

These are the sort of games that could mark a turning point in our season. We're on the borderline at present - an ever so slim chance of gatecrashing the top 6 push and could realistically finish anywhere between top six and bottom six (assuming we don't embark on a disastrous run and get sucked into trouble).

With our run of fixtures over January and February we should smell a glorious chance to put serious points on the board and put ourselves into a good position, at the very least getting ourselves to effective safety by the end of Feb so we can (in theory at least) begin to prepare for the summer and next season to hit the ground running.

Win this one, preferably well, and it marks an excellent start to 2019, 9 points from 9 and gives us that optimism that we might, just might, have an exciting end to the season looking upwards. Fail to win this and it would be a big disappointment and undo the good work of WBA and Millwall wins.

Ipswich's only 3 wins this season have been Swansea away (fluke) and Wigan/Rotherham 1-0 at home (narrow wins against awful away sides). They're entering last chance saloon and need to string a few wins together to give themselves hope of surviving.

I agree that whilst we should be looking at a relatively comfortable win we just don't do those sort of things here and at best I feel it will be a narrow ground out single scoreline victory, more likely a drab 0-0 or 1-1 after the exploits of midweek.

I suppose whatever happens it is nice to be going into these games not under immense pressure as we have been the last two seasons.

[Hasta]

Be careful what you say. Spies everywhere.

 

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/35295/we-should-simply-not-be-worrying-about-playing-ipswich-at-home--notes-for-blackburn-rovers

[DE.]

27 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Be careful what you say. Spies everywhere.

 

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/35295/we-should-simply-not-be-worrying-about-playing-ipswich-at-home--notes-for-blackburn-rovers

Whoops. Good thing I can't be idenitifed by my profile on here. I hope. 

[Exiled in Toronto]

34 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Be careful what you say. Spies everywhere.

 

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/35295/we-should-simply-not-be-worrying-about-playing-ipswich-at-home--notes-for-blackburn-rovers

Dear God, there’s a bloke who needs to get out more. It’s bad enough reading through the tosh on here when you are a Rovers fan.

[JacknOry]

1 hour ago, Hasta said:

Be careful what you say. Spies everywhere.

 

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/35295/we-should-simply-not-be-worrying-about-playing-ipswich-at-home--notes-for-blackburn-rovers

Haha, probably a bit of all of us in there. Surely that is plagiarism though?

As for their comments at the bottom - I am pretty certain they by majority would be saying the same thing if positions in the table were the opposite. If you cannot be confident or expect to win at home against the bottom club that has won 3 games all season and taken just 1 point in their last 7 away games, which games can you be?

Edited January 18, 2019 by JacknOry

[RoverKyle]

22 hours ago, only2garners said:

I'm afraid it is my opinion and sadly, it's the only one I've got. Although in this case there were one or two more on the game thread who agreed Smallwood played well.

Maybe I've missed some outstanding performance away from home but I've not seen anything from Rothwell that could be described as a positive impact. I wonder whether it's the old adage about a player sat on the bench getting better and better in fans' minds as they see the shortcomings of those on the pitch.

I've not been overly impressed with him either. I think the last time I thought he genuinely had an impact was Bolton away.

[booth]

On 16/01/2019 at 12:13, K-Hod said:

I've not deliberately forgotten him from the list above, but I've deliberately tried to forget he was ever here.....

Sorry to stir bad memories but which was the game where he did about 20 consecutive mistakes in our own box then gave away a penalty?

I've honestly never seen such ineptitude from a footballer. I'm still convinced he wasn't actually a footballer. It wouldn't be surprising considering it wasn't a proper manager that signed him.

[MarkBRFC]

22 hours ago, only2garners said:

I'm afraid it is my opinion and sadly, it's the only one I've got. Although in this case there were one or two more on the game thread who agreed Smallwood played well.

Maybe I've missed some outstanding performance away from home but I've not seen anything from Rothwell that could be described as a positive impact. I wonder whether it's the old adage about a player sat on the bench getting better and better in fans' minds as they see the shortcomings of those on the pitch.

I think that is absolutely correct to be honest.

Rothwell started the season really well, had a good cameo against Millwall, then played really well in the home games against Reading and Brentford. I think those games are still fresh in peoples minds.

When he's started since he hasn't really done a great deal, I too thought he was poor against Sheffield Utd. Although you could argue it's difficult for him to impact games when he starts once in a blue moon.

How do players like Rothwell, Downing etc keep there match fitness up when they never play for the first team, can't play for the U23's and have no reserve games to fall back on? Seems very strange to me.

Edited January 18, 2019 by MarkBRFC

[Husky]

I have a feeling this is going to be as bad as the Millwall game. Lumbering Lambert will come for the draw with a hope of a hoofball winner and cautious Tony will play not to lose. Both managers will be getting their excuses in early by bigging up the opposition.

At least it's not going to rain.

[Mattyblue]

I thought up to 3 over aged players could play in the U23s, Mowbray just chooses not to.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Mattyblue

[USABlue]

On 17/01/2019 at 02:32, Mellor Rover said:

Why do i have the horrible feeling at 2pm we will see a midfield 2 of Smallwood/Evans... Perfect opportunity to go for the throat early on and get at them with some pace. 

                          Raya

Nyambe         Mulgrew         Lenihan       Bell

                  Travis          Reed (if fit)

Rothwell             Dack           Armstrong

                         Graham

Going to be interesting to see.who he picks.  I have a feeling the extra time on Tuesday is going to be Mogga's excuse to go with his 2 faves of Smallwood and Evans.  I will allow him that ONE.  Although personally I think a young lad like Travis should be fine.  I'll be bothered but will let it slide.  However, if he drops our Travis for the next game in favour those 2 then I join Mercer in his Mowbary out campaign.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

10 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

2-0, 3-0, 2-2, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-0. 

Ipswich's last 7 away games. Anyone thinking it's acceptable not to win this game against what is an incredibly poor Ipswich side needs to adjust their expectations. 

Top statting. 

Lambert is dour and his teams tend to follow suit bar a lucky run at Norwich. Fully expect to pump this lot tomorrow. 

[DeeCee]

4 - 0 Dack hatrick, positive vibes ?

 

[Sparks Rover]

22 minutes ago, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

Top statting. 

Lambert is dour and his teams tend to follow suit bar a lucky run at Norwich. Fully expect to pump this lot tomorrow. 

That's what should happen, but knowing us , fairly decent chance of a boost up the table against a poor team.....bound to be a draw or hard fought win by one goal.  Raya will chuck one in somewhere along the way