The Rovers Return

Tomorrow’s  match, at which the Rovers Return will be present, is really crucial.

A win for Rovers at Upton Park – which we haven’t achieved since 93/94 – could potentially push us into the top ten (shock horror!) while West Ham are desperate for points as they are currently level on points with the bottom three and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

There’s no McCarthy, thank God. I fear if he played he would be guarantee to burst the net with one!

We’re still missing Dunn, which is a blow, as well as Grella (surprised?) and Jacobsen, but Samba should be back in defence.

Hopefully Kalinic will carry his solid recent form into this one and I hope to see Olsson on the left as well, with Pedersen kept in the centre. Since taking Pedersen off the wing, Allardyce seems to have got the Norwegian to recapture some of the form we were used to a while back!

Reckon Sam will stick with Kalinic up front on his own with a fast attacking midfielder (that’ll be Hoilett again then) just behind. Although I’m not sure what role Basturk could be given…

I’ve just noticed the time and realised I have to set off to London in 10 minutes, so this preview is ending prematurely.

Hope to see you at the ground tomorrow!

Come on you Blues.

PS – Don’t forget to send me your tweet match reports. I’ll post them after the game. Tweet to @DanClough87, email roversreturnbrfc@googlemail.com or just leave it as a comment below, but remember to keep them to just 140 characters!

Kalinic puts Rovers 2-1 up

Good win for Rovers tonight, if not the most aesthetically pleasing… Here are the tweets – not all of them were actually sent to me, but I’ll use them anyway…

deftangel – Get involved Nikola Kalinic! #rovers – or not because he got subbed off after scoring. Our manager is a tit.

MarpleLeaf – Big result for #rovers tonight – Kalinic and Pedersen needed those goals for confidence. But will they please stop playing Black Eyed Peas

MarpleLeaf – Good on the break, rode our luck, welcome goals for MGP and Kalinic. And, hey, were mid table now

saoooo – Ye ! MGP looking closer to his best in central midfield…credit to Sam for that (can’t believe I’ve said that) !

jamesswift – Just back from Ewood. Grim performance but a win is a win. Now for match of the day! #rovers

ninjathunder – @DanClough87 back to back wins! MGP great – must be playing for move. Kalinic deserved goal gets better & better. Diouf, schmiouf – get rid!

optajoe – 9 – Nine of Blackburn’s last 10 Premier League wins have come at Ewood Park. Base.

Can’t promise any report on this one as it’s my birthday tomorrow, so unlikely to be sat at the computer!

Hopefully see you at West Ham!

Oh, and, SEVEN POINTS CLEAR OF BURNLEY. HAVE IT!

Come on you Blues!

With the social  networking site Twitter gaining popularity by the day, I’ve decided to steal a little competition I’ve spotted a few people setting up.

Starting with the Wigan match, I want you to Tweet me your 140-character match reports. Send them to @DanClough87.

If you don’t tweet, worry not. I am not being ‘tweetist’(?), if you wish to enter but don’t have Twitter, email them (sticking to the 140 characters rule) to roversreturnbrfc@googlemail.com

I’m quite intrigued to see if anyone bothers. But hopefully there could be some amusement…

What’s the prize you ask? Why it’s the sheer satisfaction of being featured on The Rovers Return…

Get Tweeting!

In recent weeks, a new group of Rovers supporters has emerged.

With the introduction of the cheap, unreserved seats in the Darwen End lower tier, as well as the ‘Big Three for £30′ offers gaining popularity, a new breed of fan has started to make its mark.

Of course, I’m referring to the newly-established Darwen End Singing Section, which is gaining in popularity.

It’s great to see some people trying to improve the atmosphere at Ewood. The introduction of the unreserved seats in the Darwen End was a great initiative by the club, not only in terms of improving the amount of fans in the ground and making football more affordable for the community, but in terms of banishing the away fans to the top tier.

This small touch improves atmosphere and, when the players can only see Rovers fans from every angle, it is sure to give them a boost.

I’ve missed a couple of home games recently, but had heard about the new singing corner, but upon seeing it for the first time at the Fulham game I was very impressed and it seems to be growing in size, which in turn makes it noisier!

It’s something that’s needed at Rovers as the Blackburn End (which is where I sit) is getting more and more on the team’s back and is very quiet if things aren’t going in Rovers’ favour.

The group, which labels itself  ’Supporters, not spectators’, now has its own website at http://blueandwhitearmy.weebly.com/ where the group makes this statement:

If you miss the songs and great atmospheres at Ewood, Why not relocate to the Darwen End to sit with like minded fans and help create a better atmosphere!

In recent seasons, with the notable exception of local derby games and the visits of the so called ‘Big 4′, the atmosphere at Ewood Park has often been missing from the ordinary domestic fixtures. When criticism of individual players and the sound of small bands of away fans can be heard instead of our songs and chants, we’re in danger of becoming spectators rather than supporters.

Dont forget to tell your friends and workmates and add to the increasing number of people singing in the Darwen End.

Benni McCarthy looks set for West Ham

EDIT: BENNI MCCARTHY HAS NOW APPARENTLY AGREED PERSONAL TERMS WITH WEST HAM

It’s been an extremely quiet transfer window so far. Not just at Rovers, but across the Premier League as a whole.

But a few snippets of speculation have emerged recently as the window enters its final week.

It was always expected to be pretty movement-free, particularly at Ewood, where no secret’s been made of the fact that funds are tight and Big Sam has to sell before he can even think about buying.

The only deals that have gone through are those of youth players Andy Haworth (Rochdale) and Marcus Marshall and Gavin Gunning (Rotherham) who have all gone out on loan.

Rovers have been linked quite regularly with Eidur Gudjohnsen and  Valdiray Basturk (Daily Mail) throughout the window. But no move is likely unless certain players leave the club.

McCarthy is being linked with a move to West Ham as new owners Gold and Sullivan look to strengthen the Hammers’ squad. Alan Nixon wrote in The Mirror that he may have to go on loan until his contract with Rovers finishes in 18 months as his recent lack of international caps means he would not get a new work permit. Read more »

With no Rovers action this weekend, I was struggling for content. That was until a work colleague forwarded me a hilarious email.

Nothing to do with Rovers. Just a disillusioned supporter of a club that has fallen from grace having a good old pop at the Premier League. Enjoy:

I take more pleasure in seeing Chelsea lose than I do in seeing QPR win at the moment.

I sat through so many matches when we were absolute dogs**t under the likes of Ray Harford and with people like Paul Bruce, Matthew Brazier and Mark Perry in the squad and I never felt like this.

The club isn’t ours anymore but moreso than that – football is just properly gash these days.

I mean really gash.

football generally.

I hate nearly everything about it these days….

I hate the Prem and the myth that it is exciting this year. ManCity breaking into the top four isn’t exciting. They spent loads of money. It’s no more exciting that Nameless C*** getting to number 1 in the charts after winning the X-Factor.

I hate the myth of Arsene’s kids. Buying some French kid when he’s 17, playing him in the League Cup and then selling him when he’s 20 after about 3 appearances in the league is NOTHING SPECIAL. Read more »

Kalinic celebrates scoring with Olsson and Pedersen

Tonight Rovers lost their sixth semi-final out of seven in the past eight years. But, as the disappointment sets in, Rovers fans can hold their heads high.

Blackburn Rovers tonight contested what will surely go down in history as a classic. Ten goals. A penalty. A red card. This game had it all.

And, had it not been for that red card, Rovers could well have booked their place in the Carling Cup Final.

It was great to see Kalinic fire home twice, even if neither goal was pretty. Those goals will undoubtedly give the Croatian’s confidence an almighty boost, which will come in handy with some massive games against sides close to us in the table coming up.

We also need Niko in form if Benni moves on, especially after West Ham declared their interest in the forward today. That’s a move that, if offered to McCarthy, I can’t see him turning down.

Unfortunately I watched the game over a computer at work while trying to churn out pages of the Scunthorpe Telegraph, so my judgement was blurred. But many Rovers fans have been complaining that there was a foul leading up to Villa’s first goal. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen it, but I’ll stand by my fellow fans and say, “What was the ref playing at?!”… Read more »

Chris Samba celebrates opening the scoring.

It only took  two months and 10 days, but I finally saw a Rovers win.

Apart from the League Cup victory on penalties and a 2-0 victory over Bolton at the Reebok, this was the first time Rovers have tasted victory since we beat Portsmouth 3-1 on November 7.

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty. But it was three priceless points and an excellent result against a side that has been turned around by former Rovers boss Roy Hodgson.

The game represented the first bits of luck we’ve had in a long time. I complained on The Rovers Return’s Facebook page about the coverage given to us by Match Of The Day 2, and I stand by that complaint as, as per usual, the pundits gave Rovers no credit whatsoever, choosing instead to focus on topics related closer to home (London)!

Anyway, what was I saying? Yes. Despite my complaining, I have to confess that both goals were a bit lucky. The first was very ugly. A scuffed corner from Benni McCarthy surprised everyone, wasn’t cleared and was prodded home by Samba. Read more »

Tonight, on BBC1′s Match Of The Day 2, from 10:55 to 11:55, according to The Radio Times:

Adrian Chiles with highlights of the day’s two Premier League games and goals from Saturday’s matches. It’s a battle of claret and blue as Aston Villa host West Ham. At Upton Park in November 2009, a red card, two penalties – one saved – and an injury-time winner gave the Hammers the win. In the day’s other game, Arsenal travel to Bolton. The Trotters are thought not to be Arsene Wenger’s favourite opponents but the Gunners have won their last six meetings. Plus 2Good 2Bad.

Oh, okay then. So there were two matches today. Not three. And definitely not one involving Rovers and Fulham.

I thought seeing us win was too good to be true, turns out I was actually dreaming…

Sam Allardyce reacts to another near miss.

As I said after the Manchester City match, ‘it’s just so predictable’.

I also said, ‘abandon optimism all ye who enter here,’ and nothing’s changed after our latest farcical episode.

One up front. Long balls. It just doesn’t work. But it doesn’t change either.

Yes, the second half was an improvement, but it’s hard not to improve on a first half that bad. Yes, we were unlucky hitting the post twice, but had they sneaked into the net it wouldn’t have been at all justified.

Rovers were beaten, convincingly, by the better team on the night. There is a second leg to contest, but given our away form this season we haven’t a cat in hell’s chance!

Villa’s goal was poor. We’ve seen it time and time again, going all the way back to Robbie Blake’s opener for Burnley all those months ago. The opposition attacker comes forward completely unopposed, able to play the ball exactly how he pleases. Then, having played it out to the right, James Milner then wanders through the middle of the Rovers box, no defender batting an eyelid, before slotting the ball home from close range with Chimbonda and co looking bemused and mouthing, “Where did he come from?” Read more »