The Rovers Return

It does have its upsides, and I’m not just talking about the lack of cretins such as Gary Lineker, Lee Dixon et al spouting bullshit every Saturday night.

It is a time of excitement, a time of transfer talk, a time of forward planning.

Rumours come, rumours go. Will Guti sign? Who knows. Will Grella go? Who knows. Who will partner Niko next season? Who knows.

Who’s coming to Fleetwood on July 17? Who knows. Huddersfield away anyone?

There’s also the prospect of renewed rivalries. Blackpool are back in the top flight. It’s truly unbelievable to think that the Seasiders are up.

Everyone was surprised when Burnley found themselves in the Premier League last season. But Blackpool? Who do they think they are?

Congratulations all round to the Tangerines, and we look forward to planning our weekend’s excursion to the seaside. Whether we can get one of the 27 tickets available for the 350-seater stadium only time will tell, but whether that happens or not, there will definitely be a weekend at sea. Read more »

A rumour that I did not expect started today.

Sky Sports reports that Rovers’ manager Big Sam is on the West Ham board’s shortlist of replacements for Gianfranco Zola, along with Avram Grant, Dave Jones and Ian Holloway.

I, personally, can’t see Sam going down there. His wife is a proper Boltonian and a move away from the area would not appeal to her.

He’s got a good thing going at Ewood. A well run club with a top notch chairman. He’s made the team his own since he took charge and developed a good team spirit.

He’s also pretty popular with the majority of fans now.

With that in mind, why would he consider a move to a club in financial turmoil with a pair of idiots at the helm? Read more »

Now that I’ve finally stopped foaming at the mouth, I can finally put my dismay at Paul Robinson’s World Cup exclusion into words.

Fabio Capello has said, on numerous occasions, that he will make his selections for the English national team based on form.

Is that right, Mr Capello?

Let’s look at the form books then shall we.

Paul Robinson has been extremely safe for Rovers this season, pulling off numerous quality saves and has been a crucial part of a solid defensive back-line.

He has also kept 13 clean sheets. That’s more than any other English goalkeeper in the Premier League.

I’m not saying he’s perfect, and some argue he is prone to mistakes when playing for England.

Yes, he cocked up once against Russia, but he made 41 appearances for his country, and you don’t get that many through making mistakes.

In the 2006 World Cup, he kept four clean sheets, so don’t try telling me he’s not good enough.

He also plays for a team that finished 10th in the Premier League. Not one that finished bottom of the league – and would have still been bottom had they not been deducted points, don’t give me any of that romantic Pompey bollocks, they weren’t good enough whether they were skint or not – or five points clear of the relegation zone.

I’m not arguing with the inclusion of Joe Hart. He’s proved himself to be a good goalkeeper this year and could represent the future of England goalkeeping. Read more »

May 14, 1995. Where were you?

I’ll tell you where I was.

As an eight-year-old lad, just making my first forays into becoming a Rovers fan, I was sat on my Dad’s settee in Oswaldtwistle.

There, with my Dad, I was watching Rovers take on Liverpool at Anfield in the final game of the Premier League season – the third season in the league’s history.

Rovers, at that point, were two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the league. United, champions for two seasons running, were playing West Ham United at Upton Park, knowing only a win would suffice.

Throughout a frantic hour-and-a-half, my Dad was up and down, constantly flicking between the two channels to monitor the situation at both grounds. This was in the days of Sky before remote controls, so he probably got a fair bit of exercise.

Rovers took the lead through Alan Shearer. Stuart Ripley tearing down the right and playing it along the ground towards the centre spot, where Shearer slotted the ball through John Scales’s legs to put us ahead. Read more »

It’s been a night of Hollywood-style glitz and glamour at Rovers Return towers, where our judges have finally chosen their winners of this year’s awards.

It’s been a tremendous effort by all concerned at Ewood this season, but here are those that have stood out from the rest:

Player of the season

Contenders – Chris Samba, David Dunn, Steven N’Zonzi, Gael Givet

Although Rovers gave this award to Steven N’Zonzi, The Rovers Return’s award goes to man mountain Christopher Samba.

Samba has been consistently excellent this season and I expect transfer rumours about him over the coming months. He also stood in as captain while Ryan Nelsen was out and did an excellent job.

Young player of the year

Contenders – Steven N’Zonzi, Martin Olsson, Nikola Kalinic, Phil Jones

Steven N’Zonzi takes this award. After his bargain basement signing from French nobodies Amiens, the Frenchman played more games than any other outfield player for Rovers and was a very consistent performer, chipping in with a couple of goals along the way – one of which was that screamer against Everton. Read more »

A nice view - FROM THE BBC

A positive end to the season for Rovers in several ways.

First off, what a great result. A win at a ground we have been beaten on in six of our previous seven visits and the scene of the end of both our cup runs this season.

Villa are now a top side with bags of money. They had Champions League ambitions for much of the season so we had to be good today. They may have knocked us out of both cups, but we have beaten them home and away in the Premier League, which is a great feather in our cap.

I t was also the first time we’ve ended the season with a win since beating Manchester City 2-0 at Ewood at the end of the 2005/06 season.

Secondly, we’re in the top 10. Again. Apart from last season, we’ve been a top 10 side in every Premier League season since 2004/05 – the season that Souness left and Mark Hughes took his place.

This is in spite of the fact that, every season, without fail, we are tipped for relegation. This is also in spite of the fact that we have a meagre budget. Read more »

Our last chance to win outside 1974 Lancashire this season.

It’s also our last chance to win at Aston Villa this season, having been beaten there in both the FA Cup and that immense League Cup semi.

However, it does represent an opportunity to complete our third double of the season, having beaten Villa at Ewood in an impressive performance at the start of the season.

It’s also historically worth noting that, should we complete the double over Villa, it would be the first time since 1998/99 – when we were relegated – a season in which we managed to win only one away game. So, despite our poor away form, we all know anything can happen.

With Manchester United needing a win at home to Stoke to challenge for the title, Rovers still have a good chance of an almost unthinkable top-half finish.

At the end of October, when Rovers fans wanted Allardyce out after a month that saw three defeats – against Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd – who would have thought that, with one game to go, we had a pop at finishing 10th? Read more »

With Sam Allardyce as our manager, we will never be loved.

What some brand as ‘anti-football’, ‘hoofball’ or ‘thuggery’, Big Sam brands a legitimate tactic – and it’s a tactic that works.

Yesterday was yet another example of why it works.

Rovers have no money, Arsenal have lots. We have a decent Premier League team. Arsenal have a world class team. Who won? The underdogs.

Why did the underdogs win? Because we played to our strengths and attacked the few Arsenal weaknesses that do exist.

If Sam told Dunny, Keith Andrews and MGP to pass the ball fluidly and play Arsenal off the park. “Go on lads, use your flair,” we would lose … Heavily.

That’s why our tactics are more rugged and physical.

Arsenal are a team of young European pansies with a crap Polish goalkeeper. And our tactics reflected that. Be more physical, hard in the tackles. Play it long into the box and put the keeper under pressure and you give yourself a chance. Luckily, for once, we took our chances.

Arsene Whinger hates Rovers. He has done since the days of Mark Hughes, when Rovers first established themselves as a “bully boy” team.

The mere fact we are revered is a proven fact that we are feared. No one complains about Wigan’s awful brand of football, because they know Wigan are not very good and, if you put in a decent performance against them, you’ll come away with a result. Read more »