Blackburn Post Match Thread 2-1

[Col city fan]

Hurrah.

QED

I think you've stumbled across an accurate conclusion despite not perhaps realising it.

We have a team stuffed with hardworking 'triers' but not the quality/edge whatever to make the possession etc tell.

I believe there is a little quality in the squad but at the moment, they are not showing that finishing touch/ killer instinct - and that is a worry (for me at least - pretty football and awful results is enough for some)

This is why I was posting a couple of weeks before the start of the season that a couple of players of real quality could massively help to bring the others on.

Just look at who scored their goals today.

Massive plus for effort, youth, commitment but are we actually gonna be good enough. Simply good enough?

[Matt]

It feels bad because i'm not slagging Pearson off and i'm not saying he should go, far from it, like I said earlier I like the bloke and i'm not comparing the two but weren't we using the same excuses under Sousa? Playing well but not scoring, making double the amount of chances the opposition makes but not converting them, leaking goals at the back against the run of play ultimitely losing games?

Didn't we even have oppositions fans coming on saying we'd been unlucky and that we were the best team they've played and we'd be a 'force' when it 'clicked'?

Like I keep saying, we played well in our relegation season, but at that sentence says it was a relegation season.

It's been a few years since i've been this angry after a game, certainly a game I didn't even go to.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

im sure we will turn a corner soon. By all accounts we are playing well but giving soft goals away and not taking our chances, im sure this will change very soon

[Cat Burger]

Sorry but that's bollocks, it was never overreaching, we spent within our means until that twat Taylor came along, and if we don't think we're capable of being a midtable Premiership side with a some decent cup runs then we may as well give up now.

This is the longest we've ever spent outside the top flight and that would suggest we are punching way below our weight. We should be a Premiership club and if we're accepting midtable in the Championship we will soon become a nothing club.

I will have to politely disagree with you. The Premier League has changed a lot since we were last there, let alone when MON was at the helm. One extraordinary manager aside, who knows whether we'd have even had stability in the top division at all. I'm afraid history counts for very little. It's about money these days... Oh yes, rich owners...We have them, so does pretty much every other club in the top two divisions.

Can you explain to me why we should be a Premiership club? Our players and manager are ALL unproven at that level.

This exactly. We ran Blackburn ragged at times and we certainly don't need managerial upheavals with people playing like that for the boss.

Spot on.

[Happy Fox]

What a f**king frustrating game, we had chances but weren't ruthless enough, changes NP made were okay, but it would of been better to start Knokaert than persist with useless Dyer.

Should of at least drawn the game, but in reality the reason we lost was because of lack of taking our chances.

Must improve because Blackpool and Wolves to come are tough games and games we need to win ideally to keep on track.

[seenitall]

I presume you were on here saying the same after our pathetic displays against Reading and Bristol last year in game two and three then?... Oh no that was Sven and you liked him so that was ok.

Mate, you need to move on - justifying a shit start this year because the performances are better than last year but the results are the same is sounding a bit lame now.

Yes we were poor under Sven's start last season but in a whole year we have gone precisely nowhere points wise. It says a lot that some of our fans are now happy if we lose as long as it is an unjust defeat - jeez

[loAf]

one of the few games i get on tv out here, thought we played very well, so pretty disappointed with the result obviously. Blackburn were shite for long periods, our passing was a bit wayward at times, but on the whole a good performance, and i have no idea how the linesman got that one so badly wrong. felt both konch and RDL looked a bit shakey at times, but everyone seemed to struggle a little with the surface. anyway, keep playing like that and we should be there or there abouts. Dont normally do it, but had a gander at the rovers forum to see what they thought, although im not sure which game some of the rovers fans were watching.. just saw this?!

http://www.roverstal...=4557&start=150

robinson - 8/10 - brilliant saves, just brilliant today kept us in that, without him a loss would be recorded today

lowe - 7/10 decent game for him few nice runs good defensivley, but seriously needs to be playe in CM

givet - 9/10 brilliant from the lil french man. won almost evry header and was a force throughout.

dann - 8/10 - very good game today, apart from that mistake he did very very well, a few important blocks too.

ollson - 8/10 very good from him today, very good pacey runs caused problems, needs to work on final balls though

bruno -10/10 apart from bad first touch, he was quality, fast becoming a cult hero haha was brilliant today realy was

murphy - 9/10 brilliant passing, although at times backwards but still kept possesion very well.

ethuhu - 7/10 works very hard but lost the ball with sloppy passes a lil to often, but a decent game from him

pedersen 7/10 although he scored yes a good goal, his crosses and overall production was a little off.

gomez 8/10 linked up well with all the play that came his way, needs better service and more help uptop, good goal.

edinho - 6/10 brushed off the ball with ease, looked like a lost puppy out there, awfull passing too.

really? 8/9/10, I wouldnt have rated any of them apart from robinson above a 6! loAf

[whitlock]

Hes just a bit giddy from the win.

[lestajigs]

Just got back, we never never never get any luck never, good performance from the lads

[LJS]

Mate, you need to move on - justifying a shit start this year because the performances are better than last year but the results are the same is sounding a bit lame now.

Yes we were poor under Sven's start last season but in a whole year we have gone precisely nowhere points wise. It says a lot that some of our fans are now happy if we lose as long as it is an unjust defeat - jeez

You can't compare year-on-year at this stage of the season and expect to read anything into it. Of our first three opponents last season Coventry finished 23rd, Bristol City 20th, and Reading won the league. If two of our three opponents end up as weak as last season then the comparison can be made, but it's flawed this early on. I doubt Charlton or Blackburn will be anywhere near the bottom of the league, although Peterborough are probably going to struggle. If we are on the same points total at Christmas time as we were last season then fair enough, but let's be sensible.

Anyway, it goes without saying that we haven't done ourselves any favours with our start. Most sides finishing in the top six start more strongly than we have. That said, I've had a quick search and it turns out there is at least one example per season of clubs having three points or fewer after three games making the top six in the last ten seasons. They are as follows:

2003/04: Sunderland (3rd), Ipswich Town (5th).

2004/05: Derby County (4th)

2005/06: Crystal Palace (6th)

2006/07: Sunderland (1st)

2007/08: West Bromwich Albion (1st)

2008/09: Burnley (5th)

2009/10: Nottingham Forest (3rd), Blackpool (6th).

2010/11: Swansea City (3rd), Reading (5th).

2011/12: Birmingham City (4th)

So, for those of you who are feeling a bit depressed, cheer up, it can be done! Obviously there are problems that need ironing out. But we are early enough in the season to say "look, we've had a bit of bad luck, but we're playing well and results will come". We can't do that forever and if in the winter we're still making the same excuses then moan away. But it's August. If we can't be optimistic when we're still in the summer then what's the point? It's supposed to be fun, this football lark.

[ithuriel]

Mate, you need to move on - justifying a shit start this year because the performances are better than last year but the results are the same is sounding a bit lame now.

Yes we were poor under Sven's start last season but in a whole year we have gone precisely nowhere points wise. It says a lot that some of our fans are now happy if we lose as long as it is an unjust defeat - jeez

Meh, the performances have improved and we have added some really good players, what does need tightening up is the defence and seeing if the Nugent/Vardy strikeforce can take off now.

[Bert]

Might well be true for once, but come on, if you get a bad decision, you get a bad decision.

We didn't lose 2v1 because of a bad decision. Alright it meant it wasn't 2v2 but there was ample time to score again if Blackburn were there for the taking.

The officials didn't gift them two goals.

They gifted them the first, or the Lino did by not raising his flag when their player was obstructing kasper in an offside position.

[breadandcheese]

I'm not concerned at the moment. That defeat hurt because we played well and got nothing, but it will hurt Pearson and the players just as much. We're looking naive at the back to get caught out like we did. De Laet should have done better for their second goal, although I did think he was isolated so wonder where Morgan was.

It was disappointing that Blackburn played like the away team at home but they've got the three points, we haven't. there are enough signs of promise so I'll only start worrying after 10 games if we're not picking up points.

[Kitchandro]

I will have to politely disagree with you. The Premier League has changed a lot since we were last there, let alone when MON was at the helm. One extraordinary manager aside, who knows whether we'd have even had stability in the top division at all. I'm afraid history counts for very little. It's about money these days... Oh yes, rich owners...We have them, so does pretty much every other club in the top two divisions.

Can you explain to me why we should be a Premiership club? Our players and manager are ALL unproven at that level.

History counts for a lot when you're talking about where the club should be. Clubs like Wigan are punching above their weight because they'd never played in the top division until they got promoted in 2005, and they have the smallest fanbase in the league. We however, have one of the top 15 fanbases in the country and have spent many seasons in the top flight, so we should be very disappointed with the last 10 years.

You say money counts for a lot but then you say every club has rich owners so, essentially, you're saying it doesn't count. Besides, small clubs like QPR can have a lot of money but are you suggesting they would be at their level if they were midtable in the Premiership? Surely not.

There's no arguing Martin did an amazing job for us considering where we were when we took over, but we've had numerous midtable stints in the top flight, so us actually being there isn't a major story, it's just how far we came in a short space of time (though, lots of similar sized/smaller sized clubs are doing similar these days, are all of those doing something out of the ordinary?). And of course the league cups, that actually was out of the ordinary.

But in terms of league position? We've existed for over 125 years, in that time we've finished around 8th-10th in the top division quite a few times (and higher, too). I consider us the type of club that, long term, should be expectingand aiming to be a lower midtable Premiership side. But of course, when you've been in existence for that long, you're going to fluctuate slightly higher and slightly lower from time to time, and perhaps occassionally a lot lower or a lot higher. Under Martin we were at the higher end of what we should be expecting/aiming for, but to suggest it was punching above our weight or overrachieving is an exaggeration.

I'd be interested to know which clubs should have been finishing above us that didn't when we had MON, if we were overrachieving?

Finally, you mention football is very different now - which I don't understand because you're saying we were overrachieveing back then, which makes the current climate irrelevant, because we're in pretty much the opposite situation now. I'm not talking about the current team either, I'm talking about the wider club as a whole.

[fleckneymike]

No team deserves to be a Premier league side based on prior achievement. No side deserves success based on attendance.

We are where we are on merit and will be where we'll be on merit also, fixating on the past changes nothing.

[LJS]

History counts for a lot when you're talking about where the club should be. Clubs like Wigan are punching above their weight because they'd never played in the top division until they got promoted in 2005, and they have the smallest fanbase in the league. We however, have one of the top 15 fanbases in the country and have spent many seasons in the top flight, so we should be very disappointed with the last 10 years.

You say money counts for a lot but then you say every club has rich owners so, essentially, you're saying it doesn't count. Besides, small clubs like QPR can have a lot of money but are you suggesting they would be at their level if they were midtable in the Premiership? Surely not.

There's no arguing Martin did an amazing job for us considering where we were when we took over, but we've had numerous midtable stints in the top flight, so us actually being there isn't a major story, it's just how far we came in a short space of time (though, lots of similar sized/smaller sized clubs are doing similar these days, are all of those doing something out of the ordinary?). And of course the league cups, that actually was out of the ordinary.

But in terms of league position? We've existed for over 125 years, in that time we've finished around 8th-10th in the top division quite a few times (and higher, too). I consider us the type of club that, long term, should be expectingand aiming to be a lower midtable Premiership side. But of course, when you've been in existence for that long, you're going to fluctuate slightly higher and slightly lower from time to time, and perhaps occassionally a lot lower or a lot higher. Under Martin we were at the higher end of what we should be expecting/aiming for, but to suggest it was punching above our weight or overrachieving is an exaggeration.

I'd be interested to know which clubs should have been finishing above us that didn't when we had MON, if we were overrachieving?

Finally, you mention football is very different now - which I don't understand because you're saying we were overrachieveing back then, which makes the current climate irrelevant, because we're in pretty much the opposite situation now. I'm not talking about the current team either, I'm talking about the wider club as a whole.

Historically we are a 'yo-yo' club. I think (and I haven't looked for a while) that our average position in the pyramid is about 22nd in the pyramid, which puts us at the top end of this level. I'm a little surprised at you referring to a club like QPR as 'small'. They're a club much the same as us. Where they are now is not far off the top end of you'd expect - probably about the same as us.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Wigan, for example, are where they are because they deserve to be. And we are where we are because it's where we deserve to be. I do agree that we should be disappointed with the last ten years. By and large it has been rubbish, and almost all of it has been spent well below what we'd expect historically.

[blueharmie]

Football can be cruel sometimes and if today was a boxing match it would have been stopped! If we were serving up tripe like Birmingham at Watford then I could understand any moaners.Carry on with the performance and when strike force clicks we will be a handfull for any team and win a lot of games IMO. COYB

but it wasnt a boxong match was it, we might have played well, but we still LOST. 0 out of 6 points is not , im afraid good enough.

[THEBIGJOHNSTEADER;]

The players have got to use this huge dissapointment as motivation for the Blackpool game and thereafter. We need to go on a run of wins or we'll begin to fall back further. Reminds me a bit like the time I went on a wankathon, felt a bit weird at first but after a few poor performances I was able to knock out 5 or 6 batches a day, which is pretty good going

[Kitchandro]

Historically we are a 'yo-yo' club. I think (and I haven't looked for a while) that our average position in the pyramid is about 22nd in the pyramid, which puts us at the top end of this level. I'm a little surprised at you referring to a club like QPR as 'small'. They're a club much the same as us. Where they are now is not far off the top end of you'd expect - probably about the same as us.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Wigan, for example, are where they are because they deserve to be. And we are where we are because it's where we deserve to be. I do agree that we should be disappointed with the last ten years. By and large it has been rubbish, and almost all of it has been spent well below what we'd expect historically.

QPR - that big club which had 7,000 season ticket holders the season they got promoted?

Come one, they're poorly supported compared to us. And that is important for our expectations, how else do you decide what a clubs expectations should be? Where do fans get their long term expectations from? Yes we've yo-yoed, as have a lot of clubs with fanbases like ours. The likes of Norwich, the Sheffield clubs, West Brom, Forest, Derby, etc. The fact we've never won the FA cup is a major underachievement for us if you ask me, most clubs like the ones I just mentioned have done.

think you're right about us being 22nd in the all time league, (EDIT: it's 23rd now) which is one thing, but Preston are 4th. They aren't a Premiership style club. Forest are above us but our top flight history is more consistent, they just had a period where they majorly punched above their weight. etc, etc.

Our recent history has been crap, does that mean we should be happy with being midtable in the Championship? Because I'd say that's underachieving. In the 60's we were challenging for the title, does that mean we should be expecting Champions League football? Of course not.

I'm aware Wigan are where they are fair and square, I've no issues with that, and we are where we deserve to be. And to refer to the original point, we shouldn't expect miracles this early in the season. But I disagree that midtable in the Premiership is something that we should expect never again, because I'm confident that in the next 10-15 years we'll perform similarly for a while.

[fleckneymike]

QPR - that big club which had 7,000 season ticket holders the season they got promoted?

Come one, they're poorly supported compared to us. And that is important for our expectations, how else do you decide what a clubs expectations should be? Where do fans get their long term expectations from? Yes we've yo-yoed, as have a lot of clubs with fanbases like ours. The likes of Norwich, the Sheffield clubs, West Brom, Forest, Derby, etc. The fact we've never won the FA cup is a major underachievement for us if you ask me, most clubs like the ones I just mentioned have done.

think you're right about us being 22nd in the all time league, (EDIT: it's 23rd now) which is one thing, but Preston are 4th. They aren't a Premiership style club. Forest are above us but our top flight history is more consistent, they just had a period where they majorly punched above their weight. etc, etc.

Our recent history has been crap, does that mean we should be happy with being midtable in the Championship? Because I'd say that's underachieving. In the 60's we were challenging for the title, does that mean we should be expecting Champions League football? Of course not.

I'm aware Wigan are where they are fair and square, I've no issues with that, and we are where we deserve to be. And to refer to the original point, we shouldn't expect miracles this early in the season. But I disagree that midtable in the Premiership is something that we should expect never again, because I'm confident that in the next 10-15 years we'll perform similarly for a while.

I always assumed fans and the management set the clubs expectations by assembling a squad.

I think it's rather rude to dismiss Preston as not a Premiership style club. For a man so seemingly interested in heritage to dismiss forest's league triumph, back to back European cups and league cup success is odd.

[Cat Burger]

QPR - that big club which had 7,000 season ticket holders the season they got promoted?

Come one, they're poorly supported compared to us. And that is important for our expectations, how else do you decide what a clubs expectations should be? Where do fans get their long term expectations from? Yes we've yo-yoed, as have a lot of clubs with fanbases like ours. The likes of Norwich, the Sheffield clubs, West Brom, Forest, Derby, etc. The fact we've never won the FA cup is a major underachievement for us if you ask me, most clubs like the ones I just mentioned have done.

think you're right about us being 22nd in the all time league, (EDIT: it's 23rd now) which is one thing, but Preston are 4th. They aren't a Premiership style club. Forest are above us but our top flight history is more consistent, they just had a period where they majorly punched above their weight. etc, etc.

Our recent history has been crap, does that mean we should be happy with being midtable in the Championship? Because I'd say that's underachieving. In the 60's we were challenging for the title, does that mean we should be expecting Champions League football? Of course not.

I'm aware Wigan are where they are fair and square, I've no issues with that, and we are where we deserve to be. And to refer to the original point, we shouldn't expect miracles this early in the season. But I disagree that midtable in the Premiership is something that we should expect never again, because I'm confident that in the next 10-15 years we'll perform similarly for a while.

The club having never won the F.A Cup is disappointing, mainly because (and I don't mean to be all doom and gloom) unless there are some financial fair play rules to bring clubs onto a level playing field, we'll never win it. Just like we'll never win the Premier League and we'll never qualify for the Champions League. We might get promoted to the Premier League in the next few years, we might not.

I used to get so angry when watching/listening to City to the extent where I used to shout/scream/roll around on the floor/get the arse all day - It's just not worth it..If we get the right blend in our squad and the personality, vision and ability of the manager aligns with those qualities, we could do it. You just can't guarantee that, and as a result, I'm not going to get pissed off and bay for the manager's blood when I'm seeing effort and quality (albeit with areas to improve on) in the most competitive and unpredictable league in the world. You're right, it's been a shit ten years.

That said, you pay your money, you can bay for blood if you want to, I just don't see how it helps. In fact I see it as a hindrance.

[marbelladave]

Hes just a bit giddy from the win.

Wish I was......

[Kitchandro]

I always assumed fans and the management set the clubs expectations by assembling a squad.

I think it's rather rude to dismiss Preston as not a Premiership style club. For a man so seemingly interested in heritage to dismiss forest's league triumph, back to back European cups and league cup success is odd.

They do, for that season, but if the squad they've assembled isn't up to long term ambitions then the fans aren't happy in the long run.

There's no way Preston are a Premiership club, they haven't played in the top flight since God knows when and they don't have many fans as far as I know.

[LCFC_FAN_1995]

I can see us smashing someone soon, like blackpool did today

[dpjfox]

Iwent to the game, beforehand i would have taken a point, but at half time even though losing we were so dominant i was expecting a win. We were maybe not as dominant second half but neverthe less by far the better team quick player ratings:-

Kasper: apparantly his view was blocked for the first goal, didnt have a great deal to do, occassional weak kicking - 6

RDL - superb first half , faltered slightly when Marshall was moved to the left, but overall very competant - 7

Moore - solid enough game but we conceded 2 again so maybe i missed something -6

Morgan -as Moore

Konch - poor pass resulted in them getting the first goal, overall didnt play to his normal high standard -5

Marshall - good first half faltered slightly second but put in a decent shift - 6

King - did ok got involved throughout -6

Drinkwater - looked like he was our main man, kept the ball well most of the time -7

Dyer - had the chance to shine but didnt, quite rightly taken off -6

Vardy - worked hard looked dangerous when we attacked unlucky not to be given a second goal (didnt look offside) -7

Nugent - worked hard but didnt look as dangerous on the ball as Vardy -6

Knockaert - obviously very skillfull, occassionally too fancy, worth a start IMO -6

Danns - got stuck in but not on long enough to make a telling impression -5

Beckford - brought on too late

In summary it was a decent team performance allbeit against an average team, i cannot put my finger on why we are losing or how to change things to improve

We are due some "ladyluck" and hopefully Blackpool have used up a lot of theirs. If we continue to play to this level of performance but with a little luck in front of goal we can win next week and kickstart our season (fingerscrossed)