EPL Talk » Blackburn Rovers

What Was Your Highlight of the Premier League Weekend?

The Gaffer — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:43:03 +0000

One of the advantages of Premier League clubs being more desperate for points at this stage of the season is that it means that we get to see more open matches. It also creates more end-to-end action.

This past weekend was a perfect example of this. I had the chance to watch Spurs against Blackburn, Birmingham against Everton, Hull City versus Arsenal and Sunderland against Manchester City. And except for the Tottenham match which was too one-sided in favor of Spurs, each of the other games I watched was brilliant.

There were so many wonderful moments to choose from. Adam Johnson’s moment of brilliance when he curled the ball into the top corner of the net. The way Kenwyne Jones leapt to meet the cross and glanced the ball into the back of the net. Gareth Bale and the way he made Michel Salgado look like a League One defender with his dangerous runs down the left wing and beautiful crosses. The incredible saves that Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon made. Or the way that Nicklas Bendtner, under massive pressure, scored a late winner to keep Arsenal’s title chances alive.

What, for you, was the highlight of this Premier League weekend?

Mine, and this may sound silly to some of you, was Adam Johnson’s run that he made just minutes after coming on as a substitute as he dribbled past two Sunderland players and placed a perfect pass to Roque Santa Cruz. It was a rare flash of brilliance in the Premier League, but he showed in just seconds how much potential he has and why he should be a starter for Manchester City. It was a shame that Santa Cruz butchered that wonderful piece of skill with a cross that summed up the season he’s been having.

Share your favorite moments from this past Premier League weekend in the comments section below.

Time For Capello To Restore Paul Robinson As Englands No.1

Paul Bestall — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:50:32 +0000

For me, there is only one English goalkeeper that can be England’s number one for South Africa next summer and that man is Paul Robinson. After being so badly treated at Tottenham under Juande Ramos and unfairly blamed for giving away a soft goal for England against Croatia, Robinson has finally got back to his best. He was hung out to dry by Steve Mclaren after Gary Neville’s wayward back pass bobbled over his foot.

Everyone conveniently forgot the string of saves Robinson had made to keep England in a game they were a poor second best in that night. Right now, he is playing better than any of his counterparts, with probably the exception of Steve Harper at Newcastle United and Joe Hart at Birmingham City. Forget the Robert Green argument, he’s nowhere near good enough.

Of the goalkeepers available to Capello, Robinson is head and shoulders above all others and has been for the best part of a year. David James is injured and playing for a team in free-fall, both on and off the pitch. Robert Green is bang out of form and consistently makes mistake after mistake. He also has a tendency to try and deliberately foul players whenever possible.For all his bravado and wearing “England’s number 6″ on his gloves, he’s not good enough. He’s always been poor coming off his line and his aerial ability is not the best.

Poor old Ben Foster has suffered from some rather unnecessary criticism but still can’t shift the dreadful Thomas Kuszczak from between the sticks at Old Trafford.There is no doubt that the lad can go a long way in the game, but he’s suffering from a crisis in confidence at the moment, but he’s still a better goalkeeper than Kuszczak.

Scott Carson still suffers from a lack of concentration at West Bromwich Albion and still seems to bear the scars from the defeat to Croatia in November 2007 at Wembley. For all his shot stopping ability, Carson can still make some all mighty howlers from out of nowhere and seems to have fallen away from anywhere near the England team.

Poor old Chris Kirkland simply can’t keep fit, whenever he gets on a great run of form, his long standing back injury seems to flare up and take out of the side. Despite the 9 goal mauling Wigan Athletic suffered at White Hart Lane, it’s no exaggeration to say it could have been twenty if it wasn’t for Kirkland. He showed such promise at Coventry but injuries blighted his time at Anfield and he’s never been able to shake the tag of being injury prone.

Other than Robinson and Hart, the other stand out candidate for the three places in South Africa for me is Steve Harper at Newcastle. He’s now getting the opportunity to show just how good a goalkeeper he actually is week in week out after Shay Given left last January for Manchester City. Whilst most people would have been itching for a move, Harper has shown incredible loyalty to Newcastle over the years.

After 16 years service, with 12 of those as Given’s back up, he’s incredibly only played 151 games for Newcastle, with 86 of those appearances coming in the last four seasons. He has constantly served the club with pride and is now in the form of his life. Whilst others may have viewed Given’s depature as a real blow, having a player of the ability of Harper would certainly soften the blow.

Whilst some people seem to point out that you need a great goalkeeper to win the World Cup, with the exception of Buffon in 2006, you have to go all the way back to 1982 to find a team with a world class goalkeeper that won the World Cup. Every other winner since then has had good, and in some cases distinctly average custodians between the sticks. Paul Robinson is far better than average and Capello would do well to welcome him back into the fold. With Harper and Hart, that would be a dependable and quality set of goalkeepers to choose from.

MLS Snobs Need To Give English Premier League Some Respect

The Gaffer — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:04:14 +0000

Have a friendly chat with a MLS Snob and one of the many criticisms you’ll hear from them about the Premier League is that “Sure, the top teams are exciting to watch, but the bottom has teams that actually hurt your eyes to watch.”

While in the past this was true, especially in the days when Derby County and Sunderland stunk up the Premier League, I truly believe the bottom half of the table has improved considerably in recent years, and most especially this season. As an example, consider these matches that were shown just recently on television:

Stoke City (11th place) 2-2 Wigan Athletic (14th place),
Bolton (17th place) 3-3 Manchester City (7th place),
Birmingham City (6th place) 2-1 Blackburn Rovers (12th place)
Everton (15th place) 2-2 Tottenham (5th place)

If you missed them, you should consider yourself unfortunate because each of the above matches played during the last week were classics. Last night’s game between Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers was an extremely enjoyable match to watch as Birmingham City continued to show how they’re a force to be reckoned with with an exciting attacking style led by the explosive Jerome and Benitez partnership up front.

Blackburn Rovers last night weren’t too shabby either and gave Alex McLeish’s side several scares late in the match when they almost equalized. Champagne football? Hardly. But it’s definitely a much higher caliber that many Major League Soccer matches I’ve watched this season.

The same goes for Stoke City (the team that is often held up by MLS Snobs as being the worst culprit) against Wigan Athletic from this past Saturday. The game was one of the most enjoyable matches I’ve seen in several weeks and featured plenty of spectacles including Figueroa’s long-range goal, a penalty save by Sorensen and plenty more drama.

And the list goes on and on.

In fact, I would argue that most of the entertaining football this season has been outside of the Big Four. Aston Villa, of late, has been a joy to watch and they’re quickly regaining the form that made them so dangerous last season. In what seems to have been “the forgotten game”, the match between Aston Villa and Tottenham from a few weeks ago (the one that very few people have talked about), the game featured two of the most exciting teams so far this season playing head-to-head. And, for me, it was one of the most enjoyable games of the season I’ve watched.

You can go through the entire Premier League table this season and pick out really exciting games featuring all of the teams where the clubs have played a lot more open, free-flowing football that has been attractive to watch. This season more than any other of late has featured a ton of goals and we’re still only in December. Even Portsmouth, the club that is locked down at the foot of the table, have been wonderful to watch. The football they’re playing is more like a team that’s halfway up the table. The teamwork and attitude of the Pompey side under Paul Hart (and now Avram Grant) has been impressive.

The point of my post is that when you read or hear MLS Snobs ridiculing the Premier League, ask them if they’ve actually watched any Premier League games this season and tell them to name teams. Chances are they’re living in the past and simply regurgitating information they’ve heard or read by someone elsewhere because this Premier League season is nothing like any other I’ve seen in many, many years.

The Daily Star Claims That Chelsea, Not Blackburn Won Carling Cup Match

The Gaffer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:12:51 +0000

Blogs often get the raw end of the deal from avid readers when mistakes are made in posts. That criticism is then usually coupled with a remark that belittles the blogosphere and puts daily newspapers on a pedestal as the real form of journalism. However, as we’ve indicated on several occasions, daily newspapers are guilty of mistakes too and sometimes, as in the example we’re about to show you, they’re guilty of embarrassing mistakes of cataclysmic proportions.

In Thursday’s edition of The Daily Star, a tabloid newspaper in England, “journalist” Dave Armitage has written a match report regarding Wednesday night’s exciting Carling Cup match between Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea. However, the article in question is guilty of the following horrendous mistakes:

The headline and article reports that Didier Drogba takes Chelsea into the quarter-final of the Carling Cup. However, Blackburn Rovers won the game on penalties,
The article says the final score was 2-2. Yes, the score in regulation was 2-2, but the game went into extra time and ended 3-3 and then went to penalties which Blackburn won 4-3,
The article states that by winning, Chelsea made it into the quarter-finals. The game Wednesday night was a quarter-final. By beating Chelsea, Blackburn has qualified for the semi-final of the Carling Cup!

Don’t be surprised if the article in The Daily Star is updated in the early morning hours to correct their mistakes, but a screenshot of the article is saved for posterity (see above).

I can only imagine that some poor soul got the match report at a late hour from the reporter but didn’t realize it wasn’t the final version of the story. However there should be no excuse for such a catastrophic mistake. We all have heard about the London bias and bias towards Big Four clubs, but this is taking it a little bit too far. In the meantime, congratulations to Blackburn Rovers on a well-deserved win even if The Daily Star would lead you to believe otherwise.

Poll: Which EPL Team Do You Least Look Forward To Watching On TV?

The Gaffer — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:00:25 +0000

Okay, admit it. Even though you thoroughly enjoy watching the Premier League, especially your favorite team each week, there are often times when you’re not too bothered about missing a match on television featuring teams that either don’t excite you or that you’re not interested in.

But which team in particular do you dread watching more than any other in the Premier League? Vote below and let us know.

Big Sam Sparks Rovers’ Revival

Michael Scallon — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:37:41 +0000

Allardyce's Arrival Has All But Staved Off Relegation

Who else could have saved Blackburn so effortlessly? Sat second bottom of the Premier League, five points from safety with just 13 points from 17 games, Sam Allardyce succeeded Paul Ince as Blackburn Rovers’ manager, and in less than 20 games he has made them all but safe – almost in second gear.

He took Bolton up, took them into Europe and developed them into a club so stable that even Gary Megson can keep them afloat with ease. His over-eagerness to join Newcastle perhaps has meant that he probably will be firefighting with clubs like Blackburn forever, but even that “marriage made in hell” was not as bad as first seemed: Mike Ashley sacked Allardyce with the Toon in the heady heights of 12th place, and subsequent failings have shown that Big Sam’s performance - in the cold, hard textbook of results – was in fact a relative success as he seemed - initially at least – to be able to wring the best of Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins (the latter’s brace at Bolton on opening day the highest peak of his short managership). Ashley’s happiness to jump into bed with the fans meant that he immediately replaced Sam with Kevin Keegan – a man who, even four years previously had looked to sign a host of ageing nineties’ superstars for Manchester City (Robbie Fowler, Peter Schmeichel, David Seaman, Michael Tarnat, need I go on? ) and whose work in football for three years amounted to running a childrens’ “Soccer Circus” in Glasgow. It was like replacing Fabio Capello as England manager with Glenn Hoddle – and it was shabby treatment for a manager who, whilst not putting any trees up was definitely not going to make Newcastle relegation candidates.

Of course there are mitigating factors: Newcastle were in a shocking run of form, and the “brand of football” issue raised its ugly head once the results started to turn. He is oft-mocked for his “agricultural” style at Bolton, but with signings like Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo, Nicolas Anelka and Jay-Jay Okocha, can you play completely long-ball football? His football tends to be direct, of course, but his organisation and motivation of players is second to none – at Bolton he came away with two draws from three games at Stamford Bridge during the José era, and with consecutive wins at Old Trafford in his first two seasons in the Premier League, surely he was the man to take Newcastle to the level they had slipped from since Bobby Robson left in 2005. I guess Mr Ashley had other ideas.

So Sam ended up at Blackburn. What had become (under Ince) a gung-ho football team with a brittle underbelly, became a drilled, structured outfit with an underbelly made of titanium. Benni McCarthy went from the outskirts of the side to a prolific Premier League goalscorer, Jason Roberts went from an Ade Akinbiyi impression to a spirited strike partner, and Ryan Nelsen has remembered how to defend: In other words, Blackburn are now a worthy Premier League side, who, with Big Sam at the helm can perhaps look towards Europe next season – after all, since Allardyce’s arrival, they have taken 27 points from 19 games, which is European form and would place them comfortably in seventh if taken over a whole season. He is no Mourinho, no Benitez, no Ferguson, but he has sparked a remarkable revival from a team on it’s knees, and – this becoming an increasing Big Sam trademark - has got the best out of a (relatively) small Premier League club.

Can Southgate Continue His Arsenal Hoodoo?

Paul Bestall — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:07:16 +0000

Well its one of those strange things that football sometimes conjures up some little nugget that makes you check the facts fully before you really believe it could be true For example, Liverpool never lost when Ian Rush scored until the League Cup final of 1987 against Arsenal. 145 games Liverpool went without losing when Ian Rush scored, a truly remarkable run by any standard.

Yet another little nugget may bring a crumb of comfort to those hard pressed Middlesbrough fans fighting to keep positive at the foot of the Premiership and facing a daunting task on Sunday of travelling to the Emirate Stadium to face Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has yet to beat Gareth Southgate since he became the manager of Middlesbrough. In the 5 games they’ve played since he took over in June 2006 his record reads 4 draws and 1 win over Arsenal, which is some going to be fair.

Now when you’re facing relegation, it’s things like that which can give you a little bit more belief that you can still achieve the impossible, still reach for the stars when everyone around you tells you that your place is in the gutter. Now, by any stretch of the imagination, if Middlesbrough do survive it’ll be by the skin of their teeth but a point at the Emirates at least helps immensely. The two teams directly above them in the table have tough home games to deal with on the Saturday, with Hull City entertaining Liverpool and Blackburn facing up to Wigan Athletic. Two away wins would certainly put a spring in the step of the Smoggies come Sunday morning.

Yet surely Arsenal will have too much for them won’t they? Don’t be too sure about it, if they’re going to slip up, this could be the game for Middlesbrough to take advantage of. A tough, bruising encounter against Chelsea last Saturday followed by that barnstorming mess of a game last night at Anfield would be bad enough, but to follow it up with a Champions League semi final? That’s tough by anyone’s standards, especially an Arsenal team missing important players all over the pitch.Is Wenger really going to risk more injuries with the only trophy still available to him so tantalisingly close?

With Middlesbrough sandwiched in the middle it could be the perfect fixture for the under fire Southgate, I mean what have they got to lose? Everyone’s tipped them to go down, but they could really spring a surprise on Arsene Wengers team. I know, I know, he could play the kids again, but they can sometimes get frozen in the headlights as this seasons Carling Cup showed. Fabulously swashbuckling against Sheffield United and Wigan in the early rounds, they came unstuck at Burnley in the Quarter Finals.

The full weeks rest won’t have done Boro any harm either, especially on the back of the last two games which has seen them pick up 4 precious points, and probably would have been six if it wasn’t for a certain Mark Schwarzer last Saturday. In fact they only have to look at Fulham last season to see what can be achieved with a bit of luck and some spirit. Whilst there’s no doubt it’ll be a tough order, it’s not impossible and come 3.15 on Sunday afternoon, things may seem a whole lot rosier at the Riverside Stadium.

Benitez Body Language Irks Big Sam

Brian Louie — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:21:56 +0000

It’s quite rare to find myself defending Rafa Benitez in any respect, but I think the recent comments by Sam Allardyce are more than ridiculous. After Liverpool’s 4-0 romp of his team, the Blackburn manager claims Benitez showed a “lack of respect” for failing to meet for the traditional post-game drink. In addition, he claims:

“I think if everybody has a look back at his gestures you will see them as pretty dismissive to me and the Blackburn Rovers team as a whole . . . I was hugely disappointed by those gestures. I think they were disrespectful and quite humiliating. Having looked at them again this week, I think I’m right and everybody will see why I’m complaining.

“The feeling was that he had written us off. It was open arms and then a crossover of the arms as if to suggest that was it. I admit it was a hard game, a difficult game for us, and we were well beaten by an outstanding Liverpool side. But in terms of respect, you don’t expect those sort of things to happen in a game of football. I was very, very upset by it.

“The game is hard enough as it is without a fellow manager doing what seemed to be an undermining gesture. I then waited to have a word with him after the game in his room, but as usual and unfortunately, he didn’t turn up.

“Not explaining himself by not turning up in his office really shows what he is like. The only people I saw were [Liverpool head coach] Sammy Lee and a few of the staff, but he never showed his face. That was just as disappointing as the gesture, and it typifies the man.”

“I gave him the opportunity by being courteous enough after being beaten 4-0 to go and have a drink in his room. There was no need for those sorts of gestures, and my opinion as to whether I’m right is obviously going to be speculated upon by other people, but I think I’m right.

“He would have had the opportunity to have explained himself if he had turned up in his room, but [he] didn’t, so that’s why I’m talking about it today. It’s in the past now and I’ll move on, but I just want to make everybody aware of what I consider to be a lack of respect for me, the Blackburn Rovers players and the football club as a whole

Is this really an issue? If you’ve just been beaten 4-0, do you really want to have a drink with your opposition? I love the quote “it’s in the past and I’ll move on”, but only after reviewing the video the past few days, and commenting on sideline gesticulations from nearly a week ago. Time that could be spent, I don’t know, making your team better.

There’s a misguided notion of honor and camaraderie that simply doesn’t always exist, and I don’t necessarily think it makes the game any much better. Fair play and sportsmanship are undeniably things every sport wants to impress upon future generations of players and managers. But to make something out of nothing makes Allardyce look embittered and a poor loser, and how he does not comprehend how his comments do more harm than good (at least for himself) is beyond me.

Sure, a handshake and a few words are nice, but winners hate losing, so sometimes they’re not in the mood. And, when they win, sometimes they just don’t care about sharing a glass. Of course, Allardyce may not know much about that.

Sir Alex Ferguson joins Sam Allardyce in criticising Rafael Benitez [Guardian]

The Relegation Rumble: Will Blackburn Rovers Go Down?

tyduffy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Buoyed by Mark Hughes’ overachievement and shrewd signings, Blackburn had been living in a fantasyland of consistent contention for Europe. Paul Ince transported them rudely back to small city reality. Blackburn took an admirable risk, hiring the Premier League’s first black manager, but, in this instance, it clearly backfired. You know things are dreary when Sam Allardyce becomes Midas.

Form: Sam Allardyce has revolutionized Blackburn. Since he took over Dec. 17, the club has won or drawn ten of their thirteen matches, a noticeable improvement from Ince’s brief reign. Of the three losses, two came in no shame affairs away to a resurgent Arsenal and Manchester United. Aston Villa gave them their only home defeat. Characteristic of an Allardyce team, they will battle in every match.

Schedule: Blackburn have a reasonable run of games to get points. Their home ties against Tottenham, Wigan, Portsmouth and West Brom are all winnable. Their away fixtures are a bit tougher, traveling to Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Stoke City. Though, given the Allardyce style, it’s not inconceivable they trip up a similarly physical Liverpool or Chelsea side.

Injuries: Injuries could play a role for Blackburn, where they need help, scoring goals. Benny McCarthy is probably questionable with his hamstring injury. Roque Santa Cruz seems keen to return against Tottenham, with just four goals in 17 appearances leaves much to be desired when he is fit. Diouf could help out, so could Morten Gamst-Pedersen, if he rouses from his season-long doze.

Prognosis: Blackburn will not go down. They are a comfortably mid-table team placed in a whole because of Ince. Cynical Sam’s style evokes neither beauty nor romanticism, but it’s effective. For Blackburn this season, it will also be lucrative, keeping them in the league. Newcastle may climb out, but not at Blackburn’s expense.

Hull City To Go Down?

Michael Timbury — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:59:33 +0000

Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall. When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and go to well established top flight sides like Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United and win. How dare they!

Since then however, Hull have had a bit of a reality check. Despite two very credible draws at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, a couple of resounding batterings from Manchester City and Sunderland, accompanied with some less humiliating defeats and the odd draw have seen Hull fall into thirteenth. By all means this is a respectable position but the worrying thing for Phil Brown’s side is that they are looking over their shoulder now, rather than towards the dizzy heights of Europe that their early season form suggested.

The run of form that they are in at the moment suggests only one thing; a relegation scrap. This is the last thing that they would have wanted or expected at the time of their last league win but have struggled to maintain the kind of form that shocked the world before Christmas. Credit to Brown, he acknowledged their slump and tried to shake things up by bringing in some new faces, most notably Manucho on loan from Manchester United (to replace the outgoing Marlon King) and record signing Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. The latter however seems to have backfired for the time being as Bullard required further surgery to his troublesome knee and is out for the remainder of the season having only made one substitute appearance for the Tigers.

A problem that is still rectifiable this season though is their home form. The KC Stadium has hardly been a fortress having picked up just three wins in the league there all season. Perhaps this is because it is a welcoming venue for travelling teams with nice facilities and doesn’t boast the most hostile of atmospheres. If a team is to avoid the drop, it is often their home form that will decide it. Stoke City are a good example of a side who are making the most of their home territory and in turn made themselves very difficult to beat there. Hull’s next three home games all come against sides who are in the relegation mix and the phrase ‘six pointer’ starts to take on some real meaning. Sunday’s match against a rejuvenated Blackburn Rovers is a crucial match and a win for Hull could spark a run that results in a comfortable finish to the season and doesn’t require the need for a positive result against Manchester United on the final day. Newcastle United and Portsmouth are the following home games for Hull while upcoming trips to Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Sunderland suggest that Hull should pick up enough points to survive.

Most neutrals would like to see Hull stay up, purely because of the way they shook things up in the opening weeks of the season and think it would be a waste to then throw it all away. Hull have achieved a lot in a short space of time and sending them back to the drawing board now would be harsh. However, you only stay up if you’re good enough and time will tell.