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Hi folks... another game, another let down and it was another time where Rovers have been well ahead in a game and let it slip. Is it a hoodoo or something more mundane? Check out my full analysis of where our season went wrong after Ipswich at home.
Congratulations to Jordan Rhodes, who became the first Rover since Alan Shearer to score twenty goals in three successive seasons, a feat made more remarkable by the fact that the team doesn't even create much for him.
Farewell to David Dunn, a fine player whose potential has been severly hampered by injury. Dunny has been a fantastic servant to Rovers down the years, especially during the Graham Souness' tenure when he, Damien Duff and Matt Jansen headed a team of exciting talent who made their mark in Premier League.
Having reviewed the game, it looks like Rovers where undone by two good goals... however that does not mean that there weren't mistakes involved. The free kick was well struck but I feel that Eastwood should have set up the wall better. The second goal was familiar as well with noone alert enough in closing down the striker.
In short was another game that showed our season in a nutshell. Rovers dependent on two good strikers' goals, switch off a couple of times and are roundly punished
With the transfer embargo likely continuing, Gary Bowyer has to get out on the training field and sort out why these lapses keep occurring. I think that he may need a stronger pair of glasses as he has yet to identify the problem!
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Friday, 24 April 2015
Catch up time Rovers: Tue 14th April Birmingham 2 Blackburn Rovers 2; 18th April Blackburn Rovers 3 Nottingham Forrest 3; 21st April Blackburn Rovers 2 Millwall 0
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Well, it's been a busy little time again and as these games are well past I'm not going to bore you with an in depth recap. I'd rather talk about the interesting conundrum of why Rovers can have two strikers scoring 19 (Rhodes) and 20 (Gestede) goals and yet be miles (12 points) off the playoffs.
"The defense is sh*t!!!" I hear you cry... but I don't think that you can say that things are that straightforward. Yes, we have conceded 5 goals more than anyone in the playoffs but Brentford have conceded 4 more.
I would rather point at the lack of goal scorers. Now, before you storm off thinking I'm talking piffle just hear me out on this....
If you compare Watford's top six goal scorers to Rover's:
Blackburn Rovers
1 Rudy Gestede 20
2 Jordan Rhodes 19
3 Ben Marshall 6
4 Joshua King 4
5 Chris Taylor 3 1 4
6 Alex Baptiste 0 3 3
Watford
1 Troy Deeney 20
2 Odion Ighalo 20
3 Matej Vydra 14
4 Almen Abdi 9
5 F Forestieri 5
6 Daniel Tozser 5
After the top two goal scorers you have Watford's team scoring 33 goals to Rover's 17, nearly twice as many. In contrast, Watford have only conceded 6 fewer goals in defense a far less significant statistic tactically. The trouble Rovers have is that opponents know that if you stop Rovers' strikers you stop Rovers. And that is something that Rovers need to address next season.
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Catch Up time - Rovers v Liverpool (0-1) 8th April and Reading v Rovers (0-0) 11th April
Well, what remains to be said about the Liverpool game other than it was a little heartbreaking given that I thought that Liverpool looked like they were there for the taking? Rovers, reverting to a very defensive posture, decided to hang well back and prevent Liverpool and space in their own half.
I was surprised by the lack of energy (you could say even passion) on display from both sides given what was at stake. Having said that Rovers were organized and determined and kept their shape very well. Is there conflict between passion and organization? To a certain degree no doubt, but if there was error here it was to err' on the side of caution.
Oh what I would have given to see a swashbuckling display, throwing caution to the wind and pouring all over Liverpool like hungry lions! Instead, we got a measured well drilled performance that appeared to lack something of a beating heart...
We can't be too harsh though, as Rovers defended so well throughout with relatively few poor passes putting the defence in trouble - something that has dogged our play all season.
Rovers also played passages of tidy football here and there without being very fluent or articulate.
Jordan Rhodes again showed that here doesn't appear to link up terrible well in attack. To me, Rhodes is a 'fox in the box' but unfortunatately Rovers just don't give him the ball in areas were he can be effective. Once, in the first half they gave him the ball there and he managed to engineer space for himself. Rovers need to create more chances in the box if they wish to maximize Rhodes' potential.
Possibly, the less said about Reading v Rovers the better but to me Rovers went there for a draw. They created little throughout the game and managed not even one shot on target all game. Disappointing given that we played with two strikers - Rhodes and Brown.
Personally, I was particularly disappointed with Chris Brown who, we are led to believe, is battering on the door of the first team. In the first half he did little but commit a few fouls and in the second he disappeared completely!
We can say, however, that a third consecutive clean sheet is not to be sniffed at and that Hanley surely now is going to struggle to get his way back in to the team. Which may, at least, be good news for some fans!
Roll on Birmingham v Rovers and another clean sheet hopefully supplemented with one or two goals!
I was surprised by the lack of energy (you could say even passion) on display from both sides given what was at stake. Having said that Rovers were organized and determined and kept their shape very well. Is there conflict between passion and organization? To a certain degree no doubt, but if there was error here it was to err' on the side of caution.
Oh what I would have given to see a swashbuckling display, throwing caution to the wind and pouring all over Liverpool like hungry lions! Instead, we got a measured well drilled performance that appeared to lack something of a beating heart...
We can't be too harsh though, as Rovers defended so well throughout with relatively few poor passes putting the defence in trouble - something that has dogged our play all season.
Rovers also played passages of tidy football here and there without being very fluent or articulate.
Jordan Rhodes again showed that here doesn't appear to link up terrible well in attack. To me, Rhodes is a 'fox in the box' but unfortunatately Rovers just don't give him the ball in areas were he can be effective. Once, in the first half they gave him the ball there and he managed to engineer space for himself. Rovers need to create more chances in the box if they wish to maximize Rhodes' potential.
Possibly, the less said about Reading v Rovers the better but to me Rovers went there for a draw. They created little throughout the game and managed not even one shot on target all game. Disappointing given that we played with two strikers - Rhodes and Brown.
Personally, I was particularly disappointed with Chris Brown who, we are led to believe, is battering on the door of the first team. In the first half he did little but commit a few fouls and in the second he disappeared completely!
We can say, however, that a third consecutive clean sheet is not to be sniffed at and that Hanley surely now is going to struggle to get his way back in to the team. Which may, at least, be good news for some fans!
Roll on Birmingham v Rovers and another clean sheet hopefully supplemented with one or two goals!
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Leeds United 0 Blackburn Rovers 3 Elland Rd KO 3pm
A fine win for Rovers and a fine performance from debutant goalkeeper David Raya. It is evident that Bowyer has never been entirely happy with any of his goalkeepers so lets hope we have one to finally fill the gloves of our legendary Brad Friedel.
Although in the end, this was a comfortable win, Rovers still give us nervous moments at the back and let us not forget that Leeds had an early penalty appeal waived away and it took a good save from Raya later on to keep things level before the break
However, this isn't the moment to be negative and their are many positives to take from Saturday's game. Ben Marshall's performances are difficult to predict at the best of times but he looks like he may be finding a bit of form before Rovers crunch FA cup quater final replay against Liverpool. Jordan Rhodes (ever since I suggested we sell him) seems to doing his best to prove me wrong with another goal. And we kept another clean sheet to build confidence nicely.
But the most pleasing thing for me was that Rovers actually performed well against 10 men, dominated the possession (57%) and kept going for more goals when we could have coasted at two nil. The only slight niggle was that we only had 5 shots on target all game. This is one area of our game that we definitely need to improve on
Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrows game against Liverpool and all I can say to Brendan Rogers is please play Kolo Toure! His performance against Arsenal last Saturday warmed the cockles of my heart.... Come on Rovers, fans let's have that Ewood Roar back tomorrow and make our ground a seething cauldron of pressure. Afterall, Rovers have nothing to fear and everything to gain. If I was a scouse fan I would be worried!
Although in the end, this was a comfortable win, Rovers still give us nervous moments at the back and let us not forget that Leeds had an early penalty appeal waived away and it took a good save from Raya later on to keep things level before the break
However, this isn't the moment to be negative and their are many positives to take from Saturday's game. Ben Marshall's performances are difficult to predict at the best of times but he looks like he may be finding a bit of form before Rovers crunch FA cup quater final replay against Liverpool. Jordan Rhodes (ever since I suggested we sell him) seems to doing his best to prove me wrong with another goal. And we kept another clean sheet to build confidence nicely.
But the most pleasing thing for me was that Rovers actually performed well against 10 men, dominated the possession (57%) and kept going for more goals when we could have coasted at two nil. The only slight niggle was that we only had 5 shots on target all game. This is one area of our game that we definitely need to improve on
Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrows game against Liverpool and all I can say to Brendan Rogers is please play Kolo Toure! His performance against Arsenal last Saturday warmed the cockles of my heart.... Come on Rovers, fans let's have that Ewood Roar back tomorrow and make our ground a seething cauldron of pressure. Afterall, Rovers have nothing to fear and everything to gain. If I was a scouse fan I would be worried!
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