Give Gary Bowyer more time!!!!!

 Blackburn Rovers vs Brighton Ewood Park 21st March KO 15:00


Well, wasn't that a thoughly depressing match?  A second successive defeat at home (0-1), and surely even the ever-upbeat Mr Gary Bowyer can judge that the 'game is up' and promotion isn't going to happen.. .
Just had a gander at Mr Bowyer's record:

Games: 102
Won:     38
Drawn   34
Lost       30

Let us compare that to Mr Alladyce (Yes, I know, he has managed more games for us already than Big Sam!)

Games:    90
Won:        32
Drawn:     24
Lost:         34

and the record as you can see is not too dissimilar; plus Gary Bowyer has had to deal with turning the club from a shambolic mess into one that can at least hold its head high again.  We need to be patient with him and give him time, another season at least!

Blackburn Rovers vs Brentford 19:45 Ewood Park

Okay I'll get it out of the way - we were stung by The Bees... .  Moving on... . Gary Bowyer said that the emotion uppermost in his mind was frustration -you said it Gary!  Frustration, that despite scoring at key times we kept conceding poor goals, frustration that as soon as we score we seem to lose the initiative, frustration that again, even after our recent burst of form, the team returned to type.  Still, things could have been worse last night - we could have been Arsenal crashing out of the Europa Cup to a vastly inferior team!

Despite many positive attributes, this Rovers team seems to have two negative modes: either freely scoring and freely conceding or not scoring and not conceding but prone to falling behind early doors.  Bowyer's main policy appears to have been playing five in midfield but this has led to the team adopting too defensive an approach.  I would hazard that the reason for this is that we don't have anyone in midfield who can burst past the main striker leading to the team tending to play in front of opposition - particulary at home.

I'm not blaming Bowyer and I don't think that there is too much wrong with the team.  We have to remember that he is very new to being a manager and he is still learning. 

The glaring need is to improve defence. Defence has been poor ever since Chris Samba and Ryan Nelson departed and the case for improving the defence has never been stronger.  Time again sloppy defensive errors and a lack of defensive concentration has cost us.  Bowyer needs to get back to basics and just make us hard to beat - and then we can kick on from there.  

A  solid defense would allow us to play with two strikers up front and would enable us to switch more nimbly between defensive and attacking formation. 4-4-2 whilst much maligned can fluidly switch either to 4-2-4 if you are attacking or a more defensive approach if the the midfield hangs back.

I rest my case for the defence!  Any (clean) feedback appreciated

Michael

Another Win! Charlton vs Blackburn Rovers The Valley 14th March 15:00 KO

Wow! fantastic another win, we are gaining momentum it seems....  Why now?  Is it the absence of Hanley?  Jordan Rhodes finding form?  Or are the Rovers' players been secret readers of my blog trying to show me up for discounting the promotion push and Rhodes' importance to the team?

Well, I'm not getting carried away, afterall we are still eight points away from touching distance with a vastly superior goal difference.  Also, I don't see why after an under-performing season we should suddenly become a championship juggernaut.   We keep losing playing to injury as well (Conway on Saturday) so the list keeps getting longer - that is sure to have an impact sooner or later.

Still, there is something about a football fan, the whiff of ever unjustifiable optimism surrounds us after a few good results, and suddenly we start to scrutinize that table again, to view the upcoming fixtures with opportunity in mind instead of fatalism.

Ok, we have four home games left - we have to win all those to stand even a ghost of a chance starting with Brentford on Tuesday night.  We definitely HAVE to win that or it is auf wiedersen and good night Premiership dream.   We should beat Brighton but then we have Forrest who are one place above us and will surely be out for revenge after we beat them earlier in the season.  Lastly, we have Millwall who may be dead and buried by then.  Beating Brentford and Forrest is a must but also a tall order.

Away from home, we have Reading, Birmingham and Huddersfield who, on the face of it, have little to play for and should all be winnable games.  However, our away form all season has been pretty dreadful.  I know that we have just won back to back away games but Charlton nearly equalized before we scored again.

So we need a motto of WIN WIN WIN! even to get into the play offs let alone come through a tough set a fixtures  there.  So I'm not convinced - still-  that we can go up but at least there are grounds (taking the game against Liverpool as well) for an interesting end to the season. 

Any (clean) comments welcome!

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Let Jordan Rhodes Go!

Hi there!

Blackburn Rovers vs Bolton Wanderers Ewood Park 11th March 2015 19:45

Well, after my first post I'm not afraid to admit it that I'm a little relieved that Blackburn Rovers won their next game, particularly as it was at home!  Where this game sits in your estimation must really depend on where you sit in the optimist / pessimist end of the spectrum.

One the one hand we struggled to score,  were too defensive (again) and were also vulnerable at the back.

On the other, we kept a clean sheet, suffered only one loss in nine matches and beat a side who appear to have a bit of a hoodoo on us, having won six of the last seven meetings.  Let us not forget also, that we had six players out  - Hanley (calf),  Duffy (knee), Dunn (calf), Low (foot) King (hamstring) and Spearing (ineligible) - and lost two players to injury during the game - Evans and Olsson!

I'm inclined to look optimistically at this, and a win, as they say, is a win.

Anyway, my main point is this: we should sell Jordan Rhodes -but not for less than £10 million.  For one thing, with debts of around the £80 million mark we need the money.  For another we need a strike partner for Rudy Gestede, someone with pace who can play off the big man.  Also, it comes down to a hunch I have about Jordan Rhodes.... Before last night goal I was hearing a lot of negative vibes about his performances and his attitude.  Can we be sure that he is happy at Ewood?  All the constant speculation about him is certain to be unsettling for the lad.

I know that some will say that selling Rhodes would send out the wrong message but it is time to be realistic.  Promotion has gone, it went probably back when we lost to Wolves at home.  We need to be looking to next season and rebuilding.  People also need to realize what kind of situation we are in debt-wise.  The days of big spending are over.  We need to box clever, act smart and that means selling high and buying low.

Jordan Rhodes is a wanted man but it is clear from our season that he does not fit into the way Rovers play, after all 14 goals from 36 appearances isn't white hot form is it?

Anyway let me know what you think... any (clean) comment is welcome!

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Lay Off Gary Bowyer!!

 My name is Michael, Blackburn Rovers keen supporter and I'm just getting into this blogging lark.  See below for my first blog entry and let me know what you think.... if you think that I'm talking tripe then let me know! All (clean) feedback welcome!

Ok, I know performances have not been good, tactics have been tooooo defensive, and the defence has had more holes in it than Swiss cheese, but it really is time to lay off Gary Bowyer.  Let's remember that he has had to sort out the choas that Steve Kean and a succession of disastrous management appointments have created.  Lets remember too, that we were heading for Divison One faster than green grass through a goose!  We need to show a bit of loyalty!!

Ok, I understand that we have got used to be certain standard of football but we have to remember that we have a young team who are still learning and the recent booing for sub par performances is just not acceptable.  As, fans we need to be supporting the team once we are in the stadium.  Fair enough, if you are thoughly naffed off with a performance, go back to the pub afterwards and have a good gripe and moan.  But we will never have the ground as Fortress Ewood again if we can't get everyone onside while the players are playing!  So my advice is that the next time someone starts booing near where you are sitting is tell them to shut up!  We have to realize that the days of Steve Kean et al are past and we need to all start pulling together.

Gary Bowyer is a good man and a good coach.  The tactics recently against Stoke and Liverpool are proof of that.  The way he used the pace of  King against a nervous, slow Stoke defence and the way he used the height of Gestede against Liverpool were spot on.  He is still quite a new manager and still learning his trade so let's give him a bit of time.  Let's face it anyway with debts of £80 million it is not as though we are going to have a queue of world class managers ready to take over!

Anyway enough of me gassing, lets hope that the lads can endorse what I'm saying tonight (Wednesday) when it is Blackburn Rovers vs Bolton Wanderers at Ewood 19:45 KO.  We need to get revenge for the earlier loss at the Macron Stadium when Blackburn Rovers completely outplayed Wanderers only for them to hit us with a sucker punch.

Wait for my full review of the game in my next update....

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Michael