You Can Put Your House On This Being A Draw - Notes for Blackburn Friday, 1st May 2015 09:12 by HarryFromBath HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Saturday’s game at Ewood Park by delving into their forums. “Ninth place. Yay!”, “Indeed, now we know how the Watford fans feel right now”, “The race for ninth place is over. We have nothing to play for next week”, “The Lancashire Telegraph are working late getting the special pull-out ready and a range of ‘Race for Ninth’ merchandise for Tuesday.” Rovers arrive into their final game of the season unbeaten in six league games, but Saturday’s draw at Huddersfield was their fourth in five games. Supporters believe their squad has failed to fulfil its potential and the current FFP transfer embargo has only added to their fears for next season. “There is no denying we have underachieved with the money pumped into the squad and the quality of the team”, “Bowyer should be embarrassed to finish mid-table with these strikers”, “Most games with this poor side are reminiscent of a middle-to-bottom order collapse in a Test match.” “Why would any player with any ambition want to stay next season? Next season will be a serious relegation battle”, “I fear for next season if we lose our front two and keep the manager in charge”, “If they were at school, the mark would be a B minus”, “Where we go from here is anyone’s guess.” The Two Strikers“The two goalscorers have been Bowyer’s ‘get out of jail’ card this season. They have papered over the cracks of the fundamental failings in other areas of the team.” There is a real fear for the next season if both of the prolific pair of Jordan Rhodes and Rudy Gestede gets sold off this summer. “Regarding Rhodes and Rudy, just enjoy them for what they are in the next few games. Under an embargo this summer and with a high chance of the two of them not being here next season, I dread to think about what we will be writing about our strike force next season.” “Losing Rhodes and Gestede would be disastrous for this football club. I would go so far as to say that losing them coupled with Bowyer’s ineptitude will put us in the bottom six next season”, “Bowyer has blown his chance as I doubt he will ever have such a prolific strike force again.” Gary Bowyer“Rovers need to be brave and bold. If Bowyer is the answer, then I sure as hell don’t know what the question is”, “I find him colourless and uninspiring and our whole football structure reflects this, including performances”, “If you are happy with mid-table security and stability, he’s your man.”  “I’m dreading what the attendances are going to be next season especially if Bowyer is in charge”, “He has stabilised the club. He has brought a sense of positivity and allowed the development of some youth players. He has had a good FA Cup run but has failed big time in the league.” Fans’ opinions of their manager are conditioned by their expectations. “As a supporter who has experienced the misery of the last four years, I won’t be calling for Bowyer’s head, for ‘only’ being ninth in the league and reaching an FA Cup quarter-final.” “Games really do happen to Bowyer, don’t they?”, “None of the defensive issues or the sloppy goals conceded have been addressed. It’s criminal that we have the two deadliest strikers in the league with Conway and Marshall behind them and still not made the play-offs at the very least.” FormationFor all of Rovers’ attacking threat, their team lacks balance. “We haven’t been good enough because we cannot control a game. You control a game by controlling possession and the pace of the game. This has to be done through midfield and the quality of our midfielders isn’t great. “Neither of our strikers can play the lone role as we just get pinned back, so we play 4-4-2 and that puts a poor midfield under pressure. Bowyer sees this and has tried to get around it dropping Rhodes or Gestede and trying Chris Brown. Unfortunately Brown is no Bergkamp, so he is stumped. “Fans look at the goals the pair score and think they are doing their job and it’s everyone else’s fault that results don’t follow. Their inability pressurises a below-par midfield. While the pair of them are scoring goals, everyone behind them is getting the run-around.” EastwoodHenleyLenihanSpurrOlssonTaylorWilliamsonEvansConwayGestedeRhodes (c)
The starting XI last Saturday against Huddersfield echoed some problems encountered in other recent games. Bowyer played his normal 4-4-2 with wingers on their natural sides, but the midfield two struggled with little cover from their strikers and this left Rovers’ makeshift defence exposed. The centre-back pairing were Tommy Spurr, a left-back and Darragh Lenihan, making his full debut. “Huddersfield were better than us and controlled the central midfield. Evans and Williamson were caught in possession numerous times”, “I expected worse with our makeshift defence.” Not Protecting Leads“I hope one day we can take a lead and keep it”, “This is getting beyond a joke. Every week we get our noses ahead but cannot hold on.”, “Funny how we take the lead and oblige the opposition with an immediate reply. No wonder we are mid-table”, “Bowyer cannot sort this issue out” “It’s embarrassing how bad we are at holding on to a lead”, “It’s absolutely pitiful”, “In the last three respective away games we have conceded the lead three times, twice and let a two-goal lead slip. These are meant to be professional players and not a pub team. It’s a disgrace.” Huddersfield 2 - 2 BlackburnRovers took a two-goal after half-an-hour lead courtesy of a Gestede shot and a Rhodes header, but the Terriers hit back with a Butterfield freekick before the break and a Joe Lolley long range shot with six minutes left. “If only Rovers could stop goals as well as we can score them.” “The equaliser was another strike from outside the box where we didn’t get close enough to them”, “Opposition teams can squeeze play into our half. We really need someone who can play behind and not just in front of their defence. They have all worked out they can play a high line against us.” Blackburn 2 - 0 Millwall“A poor game between two largely poor teams”, “An absolute bore of a game”, “Millwall were poor and we weren’t very good either”, “We got the win through their ineptness and our clinical strikers”, “What the heck was Bowyer thinking when he picked that team?” Rovers won last Tuesday week with two late strikes from Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes. “I was reminded of games under Sam Allardyce, frustration for 70-odd minutes and then leaving Ewood happy. We had a decent final 20 minutes with all three points bagged.” SteeleMarshallSpurrKilgallon (c)OlssonTaylorSpearingEvansConwayGestedeBrown
Supporters were annoyed with another of their manager’s bad habits, namely picking players out of position. They were baffled at the decision to play winger Ben Marshall at right-back when Adam Henley was available. “It’s no great surprise we’re looking shaky at right-back now, is it?” “Considering only one of the back four was playing in their natural position, it isn’t surprising at all”, “Bowyer was moaning that Olsson was the only defender in his natural position, but he cooked up a backline of Spurr at centre-back and Marshall at right-back instead of promoting anyone.” Blackburn 3 - 3 Forest“Tactically inept 4-4-2 again, we are wide open and being overrun in the middle. Lansbury hasn’t been picked up once.” The lack of protection for the back four with Rhodes and Gestede playing was in evidence as Forest cut through Rovers’ midfield and defence three times last Saturday week. “It was another game at Ewood where the visiting team had the better looking formation, better quality on the ball, were fitter, faster and better managed”, “Without Rudy we would have been destroyed by a more skilful outfit who made us look ridiculously one-dimensional at times.” “A 3-3 score line suggests an enthralling game. This was far from it. Rovers had packed up for the season and this was grim”, “It was an entertaining game due to how terrible it actually was”, “Three good goals from Gestede and some woeful defending. We were lucky to get that point.” DefenceRovers have injury problems at the back, and specifically with their centre-backs. Skipper Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy are long-term absentees, and Matt Kilgallon is also set to miss out after he was substituted with a thigh injury against the Lions. Goalkeepers“Bowyer said that Jason Steele, Simon Eastwood and David Raya will start one game each of the last three league games. I’m looking forward to Raya starting against Ipswich at home.” Three keepers have been used in Rovers last eight games, with 19-year-old youth product Raya featuring at Leeds. “If Steele is injured do you want a teenager between the sticks?”, “Raya is rated and has no shortage of suitors”, “He has the genuine potential to play regular first-team football”, “He was vocal at Elland Road, but without the experience to back up his commands with defenders care what he’s saying?” “Eastwood was pilloried after his signing from Portsmouth but has been excellent most times he has played.” The 25-year-old has featured most regularly, and has been regularly praised for his “fantastic and unbelievable saves”, “He kept us in the game in the first half against Forest.” Fans were baffled by the signing of 24-year-old Steele from Middlesbrough in January. He featured against Millwall. “There isn’t a fag paper between him and Eastwood. They are both pretty average”, “He has been inconsistent doing okay but he has shown nothing great for the most part.” Back Four“Matthew Kilgallon has been resolute at the back but don’t ask him or Spurr to bring the ball out of defence.” The 31-year-old former Sunderland man, “has been excellent for us”, “His distribution can be woeful, and he can really struggle to pass to someone in the same coloured shirt on a bad day.” Darragh Lenihan replaced Kilgallon against the Lions and started last Saturday against Huddersfield and looks set to feature on Saturday. The 21-year-old youth product “is a star in the making, comfortable in possession and grew into the game. He looked up and passed the ball, something we have desperately missed in the back four.” “To say Lenihan is a defensive midfielder, I thought he looked good at centre-back. He was very assured despite having a left-back partnering him”, “He reminded me of Michael Kean, calm and collected on the ball, just lacking a bit of strength, particularly in the air. It was an assured debut.” “Tommy Spurr was played out of position but was terribly at fault for Forest’s first goal”, “Our central defence was dire but there were mitigating circumstances as Spurr was a make-do option.” The 27-year-old ex-Doncaster left-back “is no more a centre-back than I am. He didn’t look the part”. “Adam Henley is the obvious choice for right-back but Bowyer doesn’t fancy him for some reason.” The 20-year-old youth product “did a good job stifling Raheem Sterling in the Cup game. He stuck to him like a limpet”, “He’s quick, strong and positionally excellent”, “Adds some pace at the back.” “Henley is outstanding defensively but only off the ball. He panics with the ball at his feet and with time and space around him. There is too much unforced relinquishing of possession”, “He struggled against the pace and physicality of Michail Antonio”, “It was man versus boy and painful to watch at times.” Marcus Olsson“If the question is ‘who is the most improved player this season’, then the answer is Olsson, no debate”, “He has come on in leaps and bounds”, “While our defence has been porous in the extreme, he has consistently turned in performances”, “Our best performer week-in, week-out.”  The 26-year-old Sweden International and former Halmstads man “looks a real threat going forward. I wonder if he would be better utilised as a winger”, “Left-back is one of the positives this year and it’s sorted now. As long as his form is okay, leave it as it is.” “Olsson is great going forward but the number of goals against coming from the opposing right-winger crossing and cutting in makes leads me to question his ability as a defender”, “He has the odd poor game but has shown the consistency to become a competent Championship defender.” Central Midfield“We are one-paced and lightweight in the middle of the park and we struggle to break up play”, “I have never seen a less mobile engine-room in my life”, “There was a vast open space between the centre-circle and the edge of the D in Forest’s area, where we should have been driving forward.” “All our central midfielders are one-trick ponies. Tom Cairney can pass, Jason Lowe covers a lot of ground, Corry Evans can turn invisible and Lee Williamson can get stuck in, but none can do anything else. Given that all of them play deep, I cannot see any of them being suitable in a 4-4-2 formation.” “Jay Spearing just seems to run about doing not too much”, “I was not sure he actually played against Millwall”, “He is so one-paced it’s untrue”, “[Former loanee Ryan] Tunnicliffe got better with games whereas Spearing seems to have got worse”, “Bolton fans laughed when they knew he was coming here.” The 26-year-old joined on loan from the Trotters in January. “Spearing is a quality player who can thrive in the defensive driving unit as long as he has a playmaker alongside him”, “He spent most of the Millwall game giving the ball away, but he made a cracking block at 1-0 though.” “Evans cannot defend and he cannot create.” The 24-year-old former Hull man “just isn’t a box-to-box midfielder. On a really good day he gets about from side to side but mostly operates in one area on the pitch. He’s painfully slow and doesn’t get a grip on first or second balls.” “Two minutes into the Huddersfield highlights, you will see an example of what Evans is all about. He gets skinned, doesn’t bother chasing, gives up and beckons a centre-back to come and close down”, “How he gets away with so little work is beyond belief. He’s literally a complete passenger.” “Williamson would be a useful squad player and a good pro to have around the club next season. However, he should not be viewed as a starter.” The 32-year-old former Portsmouth player “was outnumbered against Forest and had too much on his plate doing the dirty work.” “Williamson puts his foot in and wins tackles, but we need someone in the middle to drive forward”, “He has no technique at all. So often you see him think what he’d like to do, but he knows he hasn’t the skill to make a creative wide pass to the overlapping player, so he passes back instead.” Tom Cairney“Without Cairney the team is bereft of ideas. He has his detractors but without him there is no playmaker in the side”, “He has plenty of ability but no hunger in his belly or desire to succeed”, “He must be played in the middle along with a Spearing type of player.”  The 24-year-old ex-Hull man is criticised for his work rate. “He does his best Keith Andrews jogging impression rather than trying to get up and support the strikers”, “Cairney irritates me more than most, loping around the middle, hands on hips and looking like he’s rather be somewhere else.” “Cairney has no right foot, but Bowyer has played him on the right flank”, “He can be a human corkscrew”, “His inability to use his right foot is pathetic. He should be running the show in a midfield four and doesn’t get involved enough when played out wide, so what is the answer?” Wide Midfield“Josh King’s lack of fitness and form has had a big impact on the team.” The 23-year-old Norway international has recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in February and his pace has been missed. “His pace pushes defences deeper and gives us more space in midfield in which to pass the ball.” “Ben Marshall was badly at fault for three Millwall chances, failing to shepherd a ball out, failing to head clear and ball-watching.” The 24-year-old former Leicester right-winger struggled in the full-back role against the Lions. “He looked extremely vulnerable at full-back.” He played poorly against Forest. “Marshall was the stand-out can’t be bothered performer. It’s not so much the fact that he gives the ball away. It’s the fact that he just ambles back”, “We probably would have won 3-1 is he had stayed at home. He was directly responsible for two Forest goals.” Although former Blue Paul Taylor is ineligible on Saturday, the 27-year-old has started the previous two games. “He has done all right. He’s good on the ball but sometimes doesn’t know when to make the pass”, “He has played with intent and pace. If he can be consistent we should look to keep him.” “I would like to see Taylor with Rhodes as he was looking to put through the kind of balls Rhodes scores from”, “He looks to drive forward where possible”, “He was about the pick of the bunch against Millwall without doing anything particularly impressive”, “A poor man’s Jay Spearing.” Craig Conway“It has irritated me that Bowyer has been building Conway up like he’s Damian Duff when in reality he’s very ordinary. He has managed 10 assists but that should be his minimum in a 46-game season. If he was chipping in with 12 - 15 goals per season we could talk in glowing terms about him.”  “Conway puts in a real shift getting up and down both attacking and defending.” The 29-year-old former Cardiff man “does some good things but is infuriatingly inconsistent, choosing the wrong option on a number of occasions and poor deliveries on others. It’s normal service really.” Strikers“The problem we have is that next season Rhodes will create those gaps and it will be Chris Brown who has to finish which is a scary thought.” The 30-year-old former Norwich and Doncaster striker “is a big lug who is only good at putting himself in the way of the ball.” “The thought of Taylor and Brown up front is too sad to talk about”, “Brown is useless and don’t tell me he links up play because he doesn’t. He has no redeeming features”, “Under no circumstances should Brown start ahead of a fit Rudy”, “He makes Shefki Kuqi look like Christian Vieri.” Rudy Gestede“What a player Gestede is”, “That was a masterclass in brutal frontline play.” The 26-year-old Benin international and former Cardiff striker “was outstanding against Forest. His work rate and hold-up play were very good and he scored three great headed goals”, “He did what he does best.”  “The Rudy highlight header show was the end of his Rovers career. Lots of marginal Premier League clubs could use a big physical striker”, “We don’t always hold the ball well and Rudy may be the main reason for that. He’s a target man and a presence but we give the ball away too easily in attack.” “Rudy wants balls whipped in from the byline to either post for him to head past the keeper. We have spent most of the season playing for flick-ons from Rudy to Rhodes rather than this simple guaranteed source of goals”, “I reckon there will be a bidding war for him this summer.” Jordan Rhodes“Unless he scores, watching Rhodes is dire. The lad can’t play football”, “It’s fair enough to point out that he has his limitations but to say ‘he can’t play’ stretched this quite a bit”, “He is not a target man and is deficient at leading the line. He is purely a penalty-box predator.”  “Rhodes’ effort could be questioned.” The 25-year-old ex-Blue was subdued against Forest. “Did Rhodes even put a hair out of place? He was anonymous”, “The ball often bypassed him”, “Having him marked out of the game gave Rudy the time and space to head home three sitters.” “Rhodes’ lack of pace means that teams often play a high defensive line and compress play, as they don’t fear our pace on the break”, “He’s never going to beat centre-backs in the air with long punts up field or outstrip the defence for speed. Despite this his goal scoring rate is phenomenal.” “Rhodes can’t play? Dear me”, “The limitations in certain parts of his game have a significant impact on the rest of the team including the defence as we don’t have an out ball”, “Take out the penalty-box stuff and he isn’t fit to lace Brown’s boots in terms of work rate, team ethic and contribution.” Rovers’ Views on ITFC and the Game“It’s going to be real fun watching Ipswich fans celebrate reaching the play-offs, just great”, “Manna from heaven this for Gary with Ipswich coming needing a draw. All systems go then… 1-1.” The overwhelming view among Rovers supporters is that game will finish all-square. “It would certainly suit both parties. Ipswich will guarantee a play-off spot, whilst Bowyer can go to India and boast about having only lost one of the last seven matches of the season - despite only one being a win and the rest draws. It will be either 0-0 or 1-1.” “This will be a draw. Ipswich are difficult to break down and we're one of the least creative teams in the division, so we'll be relying on getting a cross or set piece onto Rudy's head for a goal. Ipswich have some threat in Sears and Murphy. Mings will give his opposing number a good battle as well.” There’s always one wind-up merchant who posted this tongue-in-cheek offering: “I think we'll beat them, Derby will win at home to Reading and Brentford will overturn Wigan by two goals. If nothing else our season will end with both sets of fans in tears.” WebsitesThe busiest Rovers forum is the BRFCC.COM Forum and additional interesting comment can be found on Roverstalk.
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