The Rovers Return

I was right over the other side of the ground for the Burnley game, so didn’t realise Rovers and Burnley fans were quite this close.

But I really wish I could have joined in this abusing of our Dingle brothers.

Credit where it's due for Big Sam

Big Sam will be looking for a big finish to a big season for Blackburn Rovers.

The Rovers supremo gets little credit from anyone, including his club’s own fans, but with the side sitting pretty in 10th position and guaranteed Premier League football next season, he has clearly done a great job.

Some recognition for the Rovers boss, and Rovers’ style, from David Anderson in today’s Mirror. In the article, Anderson recognises that Rovers are often out of sight, out of mind, when not involved in relegation battles or on course for Europe!

It’s not long ago that Rovers were punching heavily above their weight and challenging for UEFA Cup places. Mark Hughes knew it couldn’t last, that’s why he jumped ship when he did, and no one can hold that against him, although I’m sure some do.

In his final game, a disastrous performance at Birmingham saw us hammered 4-1, leaving us in seventh place, a position that, one year previously, would have given us European football. Alas, on this occasion, Aston Villa took the final spot by finishing in sixth.

His departure left Rovers with a conundrum. Take a gamble or play it safe. It was essentially a case of Ince or Allardyce, although it may not have been limited to those two particular individuals. The situation dictated that Rovers could either take a gamble on a new, up and coming manager, like they had done with Mark Hughes, or opt for a more experienced coach of the Allardyce ilk. Read more »

Fingers crossed these don’t all get taken down for whatever reason. Thanks to those responsible for the videos. What a day!

Read more »

David Dunn is blue and white!

Thirty-one years. That’s a long time in football. That’s a long time full stop. In Burnley, it must feel like centuries.

April 14, 1979 was the day our beloved neighbours came out on top in the East Lancashire Derby, running out 2-1 winners in a season that saw Rovers relegated to the Third Division.

Also on that day:

• Art Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes was number one in the charts.
• James Callaghan was Prime Minister.
• Barbara Castle was still (just) MP for Blackburn – Dan Jones was her Burnley counterpart.
• The big news was the new President in Uganda, Yusufu Lule, following the departure of tyranical dictator Idi Amine.

Yesterday’s hate-filled derby game effectively relegated our rivals, not that we care much. The primary chant being “We’re having a party when Burnley go down,” but in truth, I’ll be disappointed not to be playing this fixture next season.

Rovers were the better side from start to finish. Yes, our goal was the result of a very dodgy Mike Dean decision. But the awarding of a penalty for Martin Olsson’s dive was just considering we were denied a goal for an offside that wasn’t just minutes earlier.

It was assumed among the fans that a red card would be imminent for Brian Jensen, but apparently the referee couldn’t tell if it was Jensen or Mears that had clipped the Swede, so no cards were shown. Read more »

Matt Smith as Doctor Who.

It has been revealed that Matt Smith, who has taken on the mantle of being the new Doctor Who, with his first adventures being aired next weekend, is actually a Rover.

His dad, a Darrener, is a Rovers fan and actor Matt, who apparently had a promising career in football ahead of him before hurting his back aged 16, followed in his father’s footsteps.

Matt joins a long line of famous Rovers fans, which includes Jim Bowen, Justice Secretary Jack Straw, fashion designer and owner of the Red Or Dead label Wayne Hemingway and former World Superbike champion, and cat shooter, Carl Fogarty.

Okay, so it’s not a long line, and they’re not Hollywood legends, but it’s a start.

From the Manchester Evening News:

THE new Doctor Who Matt Smith once had visions of playing at top grounds like Old Trafford before his football future was shattered by injury.
  
He was a bright prospect in youth teams at both Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. His father had been a centre-back and his grandfather was a striker.
  
Sadly, a back problem when he was 16 cut short Matt’s career on the pitch. But now he’s swapped the Theatre of Dreams for what surely must qualify as the acting equivalent.
  
“It’s a real privilege to join such a successful show. It’s a bit like joining Man United,” maintains the young man who has reached the golden goal of playing the 11th Time Lord.
  
Matt’s dad is from Darwen, Lancashire, and, like him, his son supports Blackburn Rovers. “They are the best team on the planet,” Matt tells me. If not the Whoniverse.

 

David Dunn has been passed fit to face Birmingham.

With a lot of attention now on Sunday’s derby clash at Burnley, it may come as a surprise to you that Rovers have a game tonight, against Birmingham City.

Rovers and Big Sam will be gunning for revenge against this season’s promotion success team, who beat us 2-1 in the away tie at St Andrew’s.

If we take advantage of our solid home form, and take the momentum from our second half performance against Chelsea, a win would just about secure our Premier League status for another season.

We’ll be without a few key men in defence, but after Phil Jones’s dream debut against Chelsea and with Samba and Salgado in superb form, we should be okay. Left back is a bit of a problem area, with Martin Olsson now more of a winger, Givet out injured and Chimbonda the only other alternative, we have to watch that side.

Against Chelsea, Diouf, Andrews and N’Zonzi all had to do their share of defensive work on the left hand side, prompting my Dad to ask me if we even had a left back on the pitch. Read more »

Phil Jones was immense

In some ways it’s quite disappointing to be so euphoric about a draw, but in this Premier League era, a draw against the Chelsea powerhouse, especially when we are so injury-ravaged, was just so satisfying.

It’s also nice to know that Rovers, despite being mid-table also-rans these days, will have a massive say in this season’s title race. Having done his mate Fergie, as well as Wenger, a favour yesterday, Big Sam can now begin plotting the downfall of the remaining title challengers who have still to come to Fortress Ewood.

We’ve finally got over the Big Three hoodoo, stemming the tide of defeats that has come against Chelsea, United and Arsenal, and with our home record as it is neither United nor Arsenal will be looking forward to their trip to Ewood as the season draws to a close.

Before this game, Chelsea had put 10 past us without reply in our last four meetings. And it didn’t look good after five minutes when Drogba gave Chelsea the lead. It was calamitous defending. Defending I had expected to see, such was the extent of our treatment table.

As ever, we started very poorly. Not closing Chelsea down enough and inviting their ‘galacticos’ on to us on several occasions. Luckily for us, Chelsea were way off the pace and we improved as our confidence steadily grew throughout the match. We went on the attack a couple of times, but it was a largely uneventful first half after Drogba’s opener.

In the second half, Rovers were superb. One of the performances of the season. And eventually equalised through one of the worst players in the first half, El-Hadji Diouf. Read more »

Rovers fans have been extremely fickle for a long while.

Since the days of Jack Walker, Rovers fans have forgotten their roots and expect success constantly. We are all guilty, at times, of forgetting that without his input we would probably be battling it out with the likes of Accy every week.

But some, having tasted the ultimate prize in 1995, will not be satisfied with the way Rovers play and our at times negative “let’s just do enough to stay up” attitude.

The point I am getting to is, if you come to watch the Rovers, whether we are winning, losing or drawing, support the lads. From start to finish.

The picture here I took at the Bolton game. It looks like it must have been taken at the end of the game. But, in fact, it was taken with more than five minutes to go with Rovers 3-0 up against a local rival.

When will these people be satisfied enough to stay with the game and watch it go the distance?

I sit in the Blackburn End lower tier. Unfortunately, I sit pretty much adjacent to one of the tunnel things that brings fans out into the stands. Every single match I have the same whinge with the person next to me about the swarms of people who leave their seats and then, instead of leaving, stand at the top of the tunnel, with no regard for the fact there are people now behind them who can’t see. Read more »

Paul Robinson limps off at Spurs

So Spurs away ended in a disappointing defeat.

We were doing well enough in the first half and should have had a penalty when Dunn was brought down in the box, but Spurs never looked back after Defoe prodded in their first towards the end of the half.

The ref did his best to make enemies on both sides. How Howard Webb can be considered England’s best still remains a mystery. When he didn’t give Spurs a penalty in the second half after Bale was tripped, one can only assume he had seen a replay of the penalty he denied us in the first.

Not many positives to take from another unhappy trip to the capital. Salgado was torn apart by a very impressive Gareth Bale on Spurs’ left wing and Paul Robinson limped off, leaving us without our first choice stopper for a month.

It was great to see the response Robbo got from the Spurs fans. He’s still a legend to them and he deserves that kind of response. Read more »

Fleet Street’s inability to differentiate between Rovers and Bolton is now becoming tiresome. This is the third time I can recall seeing us being referred to as them this season.

This effort by the Daily Star has confused Bolton’s shite left back with our crocked keeper.

Absolutely shameful.