The Rovers Return

The minute's silence for John Taylor.

Before the game, Big Sam said we would go out and take three points for John Taylor. He delivered his promise.

It was a poignant and sombre occasion. On walking into the ground things seemed somewhat downbeat. Quiet. Eerily quiet.

There was a crowd gathered round Jack Walker’s statue. There usually is, made up of fans that don’t go to every game, or those who’ve come from abroad, taking a quick photo as a souvenir. But this was different.

On closer inspection, fans were gathered round a tribute to John. A fitting tribute. Using our biggest ever fan as the base for a tribute to one who lost his life so tragically.

The minute’s silence was almost beautifully observed, apart from one knobhead Hull fan who started singing part way through. I hope he was thrown out or given a good hiding.

As for the match, Rovers won comfortably. Far more comfortably than the 1-0 scoreline suggests.

It was a cracking goal by Martin Olsson. Really well worked. Nicely held up by Kalinic, who played another blinder despite not managing to register on the scoresheet, before Olsson got through, took it right to the byline and finished well. Whether it came off Myhill or not, he had to do well to keep it on the pitch from that angle!

Unfortunately, despite that solid start, the goals didn’t flow. Although the chances did.

A long ball into the box, headed on by Nelsen, was well turned over the bar by Myhill. It wasn’t easy by any means, but had the Rovers skipper managed to get any direction on it it would have flown in. Now I’ve typed this I can’t help but think that actually happened before the goal. The beauty of not taking notes there I suppose …

Then came the pivotal moment. The sending off of George Boateng. Now Hull City fans, players and Phil Brown all stress it was a harsh sending off. But I’m sorry, it wasn’t.

Having seen the incident in normal time, Boateng came from behind and clattered into Pedersen’s head. It was a dangerous incident and the referee made the correct decision. Despite all their protestations. Anyway, Paul McShane, I am told, should have been sent off at some point for an incident I didn’t see, and City were well on the back foot before the sending off.

In the second half, Gael Givet’s header from three yards was straight at Myhill who produced a good save to tip the ball on to the bar before Brett Emerton, after good work to get himself one-on-one with the keeper, fired straight at him.

Hull never posed a serious threat to the Rovers goal however and we hung on to secure three priceless points, making it three wins in three at Ewood.

It was another solid display and we looked good in every area. We certainly didn’t look anywhere near a relegation contender.

Kalinic was, once again, superb. He is possibly the least graceful football I have ever clapped eyes on, but he is a constant thorn in the defence’s side and always looks dangerous. City knew he was dangerous. That was clear from their defensive tactic of having Anthony Gardner batter him every time he got near the ball. For a team that were, as the Hull Daily Mail put it, ‘bullied’ by Rovers, Gardner certainly gave as good as they got and somehow avoided being booked for a long, long time before the referee wised up to his persistent fouling of Niko.

Another excellent performance was that of Michel Salgado. The Spanish pensioner has come in for a lot of stick since signing, mainly because he’s not really had a good game as yet, but he was exceptional. Seemed a bit quicker than normal and defended well. But his best moments were when he was on the attack. Put it this way, after seeing the line-up my Dad was unhappy. Slagging Salgado off rotten, but by the end of the game he was, quite happily, eating humble pie. In my view, Salgado was man of the match.

Olsson, who was given the man of the match award, continued his reinvention in midfield. He really is turning into a quality player and, if the defensive side of his game can develop with experience, we really do have a top notch player on our hands. The young Swede has recently revealed he almost quit Rovers when he wasn’t doing too well. Thankfully he didn’t and now we’re reaping the benefits.

Special mentions also to Keith Andrews and El Hadji-Diouf, both of whom have come under fire, be that justified or not, but the pair put in solid displays here.

Lots of promise from this performance and another home game we should win coming up next in the shape of Bolton. The lads have got a fair old break until then though, and have jetted off to Dubai. Oh, to be a footballer …