Blackburn Post Match Thread 2-1

[LJS]

Perspective.

This time last year we sat on three points the same as we do now and had lost two games back to back. But that is where the comparisons end.

Those two back to back losses were at home against a Reading team having an awful start and a crap Bristol City team. We went down in those games without as much as a wimper and the performances were frankly shocking. Coming home after that Bristol game I was seriously worried about us.

The last two games we've played away from home against a relegated team with a decent bunch of players still and a newly promoted team. Now considering people always say we did well under Pearson because we had momentum coming up form league one, people can't say it wasn't a tricky game.

The first game we dominated for 65 minutes, generally played well and created a hat full of chances. Today we probably bossed the game for all but the moments they scored, playing some great football in the process and making a shit load of chances and unjustly having one ruled out.

Are there things to be concerned about. Yes we need to take our chances and we need to keep switched on for the whole 90 minutes at the back even when on top. But performances do matter, just as the terrible performances against Reading and Bristol mattered then. The difference is I'm not sat here worried about our future, i'm sat her thinking with some minor tweaks we could really be on to something with this group of players.

We're are playing some exciting, bright, pacy attacking football that at times was a joy to watch. Which is a million miles from how I felt on the 17th August last year against Bristol.

I agree with this to some extent. Our start hasn't been good, but then it's early enough and the performances have been good enough not to be overly concerned. There is a caveat to that though. I seem to recall similar reactions to defeats under Sousa. Nice attacking football, lots of chances that we couldn't put away, conceding every time the opposition came at us. Another defeat or two and confidence begins to become an issue.

I'd say we need a win fairly quickly for three reasons:

a) The players need to remain confident and keep doing largely what they're doing.

b) The fans will be on the team's back if we don't, which will exacerbate the above.

c) The owners aren't shy about sacking a manager early in the season.

[Babylon]

I agree with this to some extent. Our start hasn't been good, but then it's early enough and the performances have been good enough not to be overly concerned. There is a caveat to that though. I seem to recall similar reactions to defeats under Sousa. Nice attacking football, lots of chances that we couldn't put away, conceding every time the opposition came at us. Another defeat or two and confidence begins to become an issue.

I'd say we need a win fairly quickly for three reasons:

a) The players need to remain confident and keep doing largely what they're doing.

b) The fans will be on the team's back if we don't, which will exacerbate the above.

c) The owners aren't shy about sacking a manager early in the season.

I know where you are coming from but I don't think we can compare this to that buffoon.

I only worry about b). The owners will stick with it if there are signs of promise, with Sven there were too many terrible performances to go with poor results.

[topharry123]

We played extremely well, it's just such a shame that another bad decision cost us something. Confident we will win more than we will lose/draw as long as we can keep playing like that. Defense looks a little shaky right now, but that is Pearsons strong point so I have every confidence that we can improve on that front.

[Matt]

I know where you are coming from but I don't think we can compare this to that buffoon.

I only worry about b). The owners will stick with it if there are signs of promise, with Sven there were too many terrible performances to go with poor results.

I'm not saying Pearson should be sacked, far from it, I like the bloke, he's similar to me, miserable and we need to stick with him (Within reason) till atleast Christmas however, doesn't matter if there are some good performances or not if there are too many days like today the owners will get rid.

[LJS]

I know where you are coming from but I don't think we can compare this to that buffoon.

I only worry about b). The owners will stick with it if there are signs of promise, with Sven there were too many terrible performances to go with poor results.

I'm not optimistic about the owners being impressed with promising performances. They're in this for one reason, and that's to make money. Winning games and promotion to the top flight makes them money. Playing well but being off the pace certainly won't. By the time of Eriksson's sacking last season there had been promising performances. We'd played well in beating Brighton 1-0 and we took Derby apart. A few weeks later and just three points off the play offs and he was out the door.

[The People's Hero]

Whoever said don't panic is spot on. We didn't panic under Holloway and that ended well. We were too good to go down that year and so it showed. Good job we didn't panic. Results are meaningless. Fu ck results, let's just play well and remember we are too good to go down. Too good to go down.

[smudger63]

Perspective.

This time last year we sat on three points the same as we do now and had lost two games back to back. But that is where the comparisons end.

Those two back to back losses were at home against a Reading team having an awful start and a crap Bristol City team. We went down in those games without as much as a wimper and the performances were frankly shocking. Coming home after that Bristol game I was seriously worried about us.

The last two games we've played away from home against a relegated team with a decent bunch of players still and a newly promoted team. Now considering people always say we did well under Pearson because we had momentum coming up form league one, people can't say it wasn't a tricky game.

The first game we dominated for 65 minutes, generally played well and created a hat full of chances. Today we probably bossed the game for all but the moments they scored, playing some great football in the process and making a shit load of chances and unjustly having one ruled out.

Are there things to be concerned about. Yes we need to take our chances and we need to keep switched on for the whole 90 minutes at the back even when on top. But performances do matter, just as the terrible performances against Reading and Bristol mattered then. The difference is I'm not sat here worried about our future, i'm sat her thinking with some minor tweaks we could really be on to something with this group of players.

We're are playing some exciting, bright, pacy attacking football that at times was a joy to watch. Which is a million miles from how I felt on the 17th August last year against Bristol.

The problem is, if we keep on playing the bright, pacy attacking football, and still keep on losing in the next few games, that bright, pacy attacking football will turn into nervy, scared of the ball type of football, through lack of confidence.

It will also probably see the end of another manager, and we really don`t want to go through the turmoil of another managerial change this season.

At the end of the day, how ever much we want to see exciting football, the result is the thing that really matters.

Before the game, if someone had said your going to play abysmally today but win the game, i would have took that over playing well and losing.

I don`t expect that the Blackburn fans are in the least bit concerned that they were outplayed by us, because when the final whistle was blown they had won the game.

[inckley fox]

This time last year we sat on three points the same as we do now and had lost two games back to back. But that is where the comparisons end.

Those two back to back losses were at home against a Reading team having an awful start and a crap Bristol City team. We went down in those games without as much as a wimper and the performances were frankly shocking. Coming home after that Bristol game I was seriously worried about us.

An excellent point. That said, game four last season was against Forest as opposed to an extremely strong Blackpool side - we might be lucky to be on an even keel with last season in a week's time. And a defeat = severe pressure on Pearson, regardless of the standard of the opposition.

The performances are decent (though, as you point out, far far from flawless) but if confidence dips and the sensation of it 'not going to happen for us' sets in, we could be in grave danger of another major collapse in form.

[MPH]

I actually wonder wether it would be better off switching moore and RDL around next game and playing RDL as CB... Moore isnt doing badly, as such but i cant help but think we need a bit more experience at CB...

[Matt]

Whoever said don't panic is spot on. We didn't panic under Holloway and that ended well. We were too good to go down that year and so it showed. Good job we didn't panic. Results are meaningless. Fu ck results, let's just play well and remember we are too good to go down. Too good to go down.

Wow, I think me and you are on the same page for once.

I made the point earlier saying we played quite well in the 2008/09 season, look where we ended up, playing well means **** all.

I don't think we will be relegated, however like you say many said that in 2008/09.

Good performances are nice, but lets focus on winning before we focus on playing well.

[inckley fox]

Whoever said don't panic is spot on. We didn't panic under Holloway and that ended well. We were too good to go down that year and so it showed. Good job we didn't panic. Results are meaningless. Fu ck results, let's just play well and remember we are too good to go down. Too good to go down.

We didn't panic under O'Neill after Sheffield United in '96, we didn't panic when we lost 1-6 to Ipswich in '02, we didn't panic when we finished 17th in Jock Wallace's first season, or didn't go up in O'Farrell's first full campaign. We didn't panic when Little lost back-to-back play-offs and fans spat at him during a dip in form in the 93-94 season.

But we did panic when we lost a play-off semi final two years ago. And thank God we did. Thank God we had chaps like you around to panic for us when we needed it most.

[fleckneymike]

I actually wonder wether it would be better off switching moore and RDL around next game and playing RDL as CB... Moore isnt doing badly, as such but i cant help but think we need a bit more experience at CB...

I would assume the thinking behind playing RDL in his natural position and Moore at CB is that Moore is clearly the player who will make way for a fit again St Ledger or Whitbread. If we played RDL at CB we would only have to move him out to RB upon their return which would ultimately slow down his integration into the squad.

Let's keep our knees from jerking and be a bit more philosophical. Patience is a virtue and hopefully we'll be rewarded as the season develops.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

If we don't take our chances, then we deserve to lose.

[marbelladave]

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

The simple fact is we don't.

Correct.

Another good performance, but another loss. Didn't go (watched the very good Russian? stream) so not much to say about todays performance, but this is beginning to look like a trend.

A lot of people seem pleased with the performance, just like on tuesday, wonder how long this will last......

On tuesday I thought we lacked composure and despite all the possession failed to get the game under control, looked similar today but I am sure those who went can put me straight......

[MrFox781]

Played well, just couldn't find the end product.

43 games left, long way to go.

COYB. Lets really get behind the guys next saturday against Blackpool.

:scarf:

[The People's Hero]

The point I'm making which a few of you appear to be a little too dense to grasp is that satisfying ourselves with good performances and assuming that things will come good for no other reason than 'we deserve it' or simply 'we'd like it go' is a very very dangerous attitude.

NP has a hell of a lot of work to do. Time to earn his money.

I realise this isn't the blue mongie way and that I'm meant to just clap and dream and assume it will all be better 'next week' but 'next week' isn't me. I'm a man of action and a man of results, I don't really deal in maybes, perhapses or hopefullys.

[Matt]

Played well, just couldn't find the end product.

43 games left, long way to go.

COYB. Lets really get behind the guys next saturday against Blackpool.

:scarf:

Yeah, very long, thats kinda what i'm dreading....

[cc_star]

Correct.

Another good performance, but another loss. Didn't go (watched the very good Russian? stream) so not much to say about todays performance, but this is beginning to look like a trend.

A lot of people seem pleased with the performance, just like on tuesday, wonder how long this will last......

On tuesday I thought we lacked composure and despite all the possession failed to get the game under control, looked similar today but I am sure those who went can put me straight......

Exact opposite from the stream I saw... Our passing and composure (for a change) were spot on and the game was well under control apart from the fact they scored 2 of their only 3 shots. Whereas Robinson played a blinder and won the game for them, and when it wasn't Robinson on 3 occasions a defender was there to kick it off the line

[Raw Dykes]

We didn't panic under O'Neill after Sheffield United in '96, we didn't panic when we lost 1-6 to Ipswich in '02, we didn't panic when we finished 17th in Jock Wallace's first season, or didn't go up in O'Farrell's first full campaign. We didn't panic when Little lost back-to-back play-offs and fans spat at him during a dip in form in the 93-94 season.

But we did panic when we lost a play-off semi final two years ago. And thank God we did. Thank God we had chaps like you around to panic for us when we needed it most.

I've run out of rep points, but this deserves a +1.

It hurts to see us lose when we play so well. It's worse when it happens twice in a few days, but I've been really pleased with the performances.

I've seen so many comments today along the lines of, "a defeat is a defeat - doesn't matter how well you play, it's still 0 points." Someone even said they'd have preferred it if we'd been thrashed, because then you can work on improving. Ridiculous. This is football. Goals are difficult to score. Because of this, the better side doesn't always win. If we can carry on playing like we did today, our luck will change soon. I hate to bemoan our misfortune, but I really think it's justified at the moment.

So, we've only got 3 points from 3 games. I'm not really bothered at this stage. I can see the signs of a great Leicester side in the making and I just hope it continues, because we will be up there if most of our performances are around the level they were for the last 135 minutes we've played.

[Kitchandro]

Wow, I think me and you are on the same page for once.

I made the point earlier saying we played quite well in the 2008/09 season, look where we ended up, playing well means **** all.

I don't think we will be relegated, however like you say many said that in 2008/09.

Good performances are nice, but lets focus on winning before we focus on playing well.

I think you mean 07/08

It's true though, we need to sort out our failure to win games we should sooner rather than later. We need to maintain the level of performance in some respects but obviously there are crucial problems that have stopped us getting points in the last 2 games. Even if we have just been massively unlucky in front of goal, the ones we've conceded have been avoidable, and there's no getting away from that.

It is also true though that it is no time to panic. If, in 5 games were are still making the same excuses, I will be worried. The next few games are huge if we don't want to drop off the pace early, as we've done so in recent seasons.

[fleckneymike]

I'm a man of action and a man of results, I don't really deal in maybes, perhapses or hopefullys.

You sound like a really 1 dimensional character from a Dan Brown novel.

'I'm a man of action' he typed as his impotent rage grew.

[Captain...]

The point I'm making which a few of you appear to be a little too dense to grasp is that satisfying ourselves with good performances and assuming that things will come good for no other reason than 'we deserve it' or simply 'we'd like it go' is a very very dangerous attitude.

NP has a hell of a lot of work to do. Time to earn his money.

I realise this isn't the blue mongie way and that I'm meant to just clap and dream and assume it will all be better 'next week' but 'next week' isn't me. I'm a man of action and a man of results, I don't really deal in maybes, perhapses or hopefullys.

We could focus on the negatives, but there really weren't that many, the first goal was a bit of class after a mistake by Konch, the second was after a fortunate deflection and another quality finish. Of the chances we missed Nugent should have scored his point blank header, but credit to Robinson and Vardy should have done better with the one he curled wide, other than that we were stopped by some very good last ditch defending and goal keeping.

Our general play and chance creation was excellent against a team of internationals with a lot of premiership experience, if we perform like that we will win 9 times out of 10 and if we were high on confidence and on a bit of a run then we would have buried those chances and more.

[chris_lcfc_85]

Some people on here are unbelievable, we've played 3 games!!!

Whilst its frustrating, many many positives today. With some half decent officials, we'd be chatting about at least a draw, possibly a win. The manager asked the players to give 110% which they've done but lady luck not with us. 3 points is very very unlucky after 3 games but not disaster, we've played very well so lets not get too downbeat or overreact with stupid comments for christ sake!!

The only questionable decision NP has made so far is to bring Beckford on in the 90th min... surely either do it straight after their goal or not bother. Anyhow, onwards and upwards, long old season (Remember Reading didnt start great last year)

[Captain...]

I've run out of rep points, but this deserves a +1.

It hurts to see us lose when we play so well. It's worse when it happens twice in a few days, but I've been really pleased with the performances.

I've seen so many comments today along the lines of, "a defeat is a defeat - doesn't matter how well you play, it's still 0 points." Someone even said they'd have preferred it if we'd been thrashed, because then you can work on improving. Ridiculous. This is football. Goals are difficult to score. Because of this, the better side doesn't always win. If we can carry on playing like we did today, our luck will change soon. I hate to bemoan our misfortune, but I really think it's justified at the moment.

So, we've only got 3 points from 3 games. I'm not really bothered at this stage. I can see the signs of a great Leicester side in the making and I just hope it continues, because we will be up there if most of our performances are around the level they were for the last 135 minutes we've played.

Me too, otherwise I would have +1ed the crap out of that.

[seenitall]

Watched the stream and obviously don't agree that it was a fantastic performance. BBC site says we had 43% possession to their 57% and I'd say they are not far wrong. Vardy looked good when he woke up and more importantly actually had the ball played to him and Knockeart looks great. De Laet looked like a schoolboy when Pederson turned him and Konch, as stated before, was all over the place, especially for their first goal. Arguably, the decision to take Drinkwater off cost us the game as Danns was off the pace and giving the ball away (his mistake to start the second goal for them)

So, tactically, why not play Knocky from the start (Dyer was pointless as ever) - it means that Andy King (who is reborn) will get better service but more importantly, having Marshall and Knocky will get the ball to Vardy, who looks strong (don't know about his first touch in the opening games but it was spot on today)

Less route 1 than I thought but ironically, with Vardy up against two of the smallest central defenders ever, it might have been a good idea - but does Nige have good ideas?