Just not what was expected - or deserved

Few if any of the fans at Ewood Park - supporting either side - would have expected the visitors to be 3-0 up by the break!! Add to that, that Rovers had started very brightly with their first shot on target just 4 minutes in. But Lee Novak claimed 2 goals in 6 minutes, and Blackburn were 2-0 down inside 18 minutes . Jordan Rhodes hit the woodwork , but Chris Burke added a 3rd for City just after the half hour mark, and still Rovers were playing well. Gary Bowyer must have had words in the dressing room , because the next two goals were numbers 14 and 15 for Jordan Rhodes! Both goals coming five minutes apart and the great escape looked a serious possibility. Rudy Gestede might have leveled things - but it wasn't Rovers day. And that despite an overwhelming 62% possession, and 25 shots to 11!
The Manager told RADIO ROVERS;- "First and foremost I'm very proud of our lads and our supporters. We've lost today and we've been clapped off the pitch, we drew the other day and we got booed. Forget the scoreline in that sense, we were outstanding, we were the better team by far. We've given them three poor, poor goals, the second one is from 36 yards, it is very disappointing. But I've nothing but pride for how we went about it, the fight and the sprit that they've shown really came to the fore today. At half time we said lets get the first goal, do the right things and cut out the silly mistakes and full credit to our lads they really went about it. We had the momentum, it was with us the whole game, not just the second half, in terms of how we played. It is a tough one to take because I don't think Birmingham have beat us, I think we have beat ourselves."
So surprised rather than disappointed, and proud rather than depressed. The New Year starts at Leeds United - before Manchester City at Ewood on Saturday for the FA Cup
Happy New Year!! (29th December 2013)

Clean Sheet and a point for Boxing Day

Not a classic - and not that high on entertainment value wither, but Rovers kept another clean sheet and kept closing in on a play off place. The Boxing day fixture didn't really live up to the billing, with neither Rovers or Wednesday ever showing their best. David Dunn was carrying a minor injury, so Gary Bowyer gave Rudy Gestede his first Blackburn start. Simon Eastwood made a few key saves, and Jordan Rhodes tested Kirkland at the other end. But with only 4 shots on target in the whole 90 minutes and just one for the visitors, many fans went home with little to talk about. The Manager told reporters: "There's a chorus of boos around the ground which I don't quite understand because we have to remember where we've come from, where we are now, and how much further we can go. I think points are very difficult to come by in the Championship and we have to respect the point today. We created some good chances but weren't ruthless enough in front of goal. There have been several times this season when people have said to me, 'last season we wouldn't have got the draw', so the progress we're making is decent."
With little turnaround time, it's 18th place Birmingham City on Sunday for the final fixture of 2013, and a win could put Rovers right on the tail of the top six. (26th December 2013)

Back to back wins - and second away joy

Blackburn claimed their second away win of the season, and made it back to back maximum points at Yeovil. They totally dominated the first half, but found the home keeper in fine form. A 5-0 lead not out of the question! And just before the hour mark, top scorer Jordan Rhodes made it 13 for the season, scoring what turned out to be the winner. David Dunn had started the game, and turned provider. To Yeovil's credit they piled on the pressure as the half developed, but Simon Eastwood (and the woodwork) pulled off some important saves! Rovers Manager Gary Bowyer was full of praise for Jordan, telling told BBC Sport: "Jordan is a top lad, his manners are unbelievable, he's polite and popular at the training ground. His work rate is phenomenal, he never moans or gets carried away and all he's bothered about is his next goal - it's a fantastic attitude to have.You saw today there's more than one player who will attract Premier League interest. I've got no problem with that as all of our players should want to play at the highest level. It's not just Jordan, we have a number of very good players."
Boxing say sees Blackburn at Ewood for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday which should be a great Roses battle - all live on RADIO ROVERS (21st December 2013)

LINKS: bbc.co.uk (all the details) ALSO rover.co.uk (reaction) PLUS T&T1314 & Fix1314

Back to back home win launches holiday fixtures

Ben Marshall headed home his first goal for Rovers as Blackburn made it back to back wins at Ewood Park. The start of the important Christmas period at home wasn't a classic, but started well with Jordan Rhodes on the scoresheet half way through the opening period. The gloss of the lead lost a tad when Martyn Waghorn claimed a Millwall eqiulaiser just before the break. Whatever Gary Bowyer had to say in the dressing room worked, as it only two minutes for Ben Marshall to make it 2-1, and after coming off the bench David Dunn added Rover's third with just 6 minutes left of normal time. All seemed calm and the game won when Steve Morison beat Simon Eastwood four minutes later! Eastwood made a crucial save to secure the points and despite five minutes of injury time it finished 3-2 and another 3 points moved Blackburn up to 11th.
The Manager told RADIO ROVERS postmatch:- "I'm delighted that we've won the game, but we've played a lot better than that and lost. So I'm happy that we've fought it out and ground it out and got the three points but in terms of the performance it is probably one of our worst of the season. I'm delighted with the character that they showed, they stayed in it because it was a tough battle. You are due one of them over the course of the season and that is our first one. We've played loads better throughout the season and lost a couple of games so it was important that we got the three points."
After Yeovil away next Saturday, a big Boxing day battle of the Roses sees Sheffield Wednesday cross the Pennines then it's Birmingham City for the last game of 2013 (14th December 2013)

Rovers confirm 'football fixing' arrest

It's reported that Rovers striker DJ (Dudley Junior) Campbell is one of six players being investigated by the Police looking into 'football fixing'. He was arrested on Sunday and bailed the same day 'till April 2014. In a brief statement Blackburn Rovers confirmed the news broken in Sunday papers.The said:- "Following reports in today's national media, Blackburn Rovers can confirm that striker DJ Campbell has been arrested. The club will be making no further comment on what is now an ongoing legal matter."
The story was part of an investigation by 'The Sun on Sunday' in which ex-Portsmouth player Sam Sodje told an undercover reporter he could 'arrange yellow and red cards' in exchange for cash. BBC Sport now report that "discussions are ongoing between Blackburn Rovers, their lawyers and representatives of Mr Campbell over his future at the club." (9th December 2013)

LINKS: bbc.co.uk (full story) ALSO rovers.co.uk (statement)

The draw has been made for the 3rd round of this season's FA Cup and Blackburn Rovers will be at home to the Premier League's Manchester City

The Full Draw is ....

Barnsley v Hartlepool or Coventry; Yeovil v Leyton Orient; Liverpool v Oldham or Mansfield; Nottingham Forest v West Ham; Bristol City v Watford; Southend v Millwall; Middlesbrough v Hull; West Brom v Crystal Palace; Kidderminster v Peterborough; Doncaster v Stevenage; Stoke v Leicester; Southampton v Burnley; Newcastle v Cardiff; ochdale v Leeds; Wigan v MK Dons; Charlton v Wrexham or Oxford United; Manchester United v Swansea; Port Vale v Plymouth; Norwich City v Fulham; Aston Villa v Sheffield United; Macclesfield v Sheffield Wednesday; Sunderland v Carlisle; Bolton v Blackpool; Blackburn v Manchester City; Everton v QPR; Brighton v Reading; Arsenal v Tottenham; Birmingham v Bristol Rovers or Crawley; Grimsby v Huddersfield; Ipswich v Preston; Derby v Chelsea; Bournemouth v Fleetwood or Burton

Rovers Manager Gary Bowyer was delighted with the high profile draw telling the club website:- "It is a fantastic draw for the supporters, a fantastic draw for the football club and a fantastic draw for the players. It gives the players the huge incentive of going up against some world class footballers. We've some important games to come before then so we'll be concentrating fully on the league with the busy Christmas period coming up, but the players will now certainly have something to play for to try and get in the team for that game. The City fans will undoubtedly travel in large numbers so it will be great to see Ewood full and rocking. It will be a north west derby and a fantastic spectacle for all, I'm sure that it'll be one of the first picks for television coverage."

UPDATE: Rovers game gets TV and will be played at 12:45 on Saturday 4th Januiary 2014. Ticket details released - link below

The games played the weekend 4trh & 5th January 2014

Well earned point - much improved performance

A league debut for Simon Eastwood saw the Rovers keeper keep a clean sheet and make a wonderful save that helped secure a valuable point at Loftus Road. QPR are one of the favourites for promotion back to the top flight, but Blackburn stopped them in their tracks and in the first half alone Jason Lowe, Chris Taylor and Scott Dann all came close. Jordan Rhodes worked hard up front and when needed at the back, and looked likely to score in the second half. It was also the first clean sheet of the campaign away from Ewood. And for Manager Gary Bowyer, it was just the response he was looking for after the disappointment of Tuesday night at Ipswich. He told the clubs official websIte :- "In the first half we had some great opportunities. Chris Taylor had a header, Jason Lowe had a great chance, then there was Scott Dann's header at the end of the first half and then Jordan Rhodes had a great opportunity in the second half. After Tuesday's performance, the way we spoke with the players and how they reacted we are more than delighted with the response.It is a very difficult place to come, they are a top team, I expect them to get promoted automatically, so for us to get our first clean sheet away from home I have nothing but praise for our players. We had to make the changes and the lads that came in have done terrifically well for us. Fair play to the players, but it is just frustrating that we had to go through what we went through on Tuesday to get that sort of response."
Rovers remain 13th with 24 points from the opening 19 games - Millwall come to Ewood Park next weekend. (7th December 2013)

The good news is that Jordan Rhodes is back on the score sheet - the bad news is that shipped another three goals away from home, and the games away from home seem to be causing Team GB quite a lot of trouble. It took less than 4 minutes for Luke Hyam to give the hosts the lead, before Rhodes made it 1-1 half an hour later. But then despite long periods of possession and good build up play, Rovers couldn't find another, while Town took the lead again just after the second period kicked off through Carlos Edwards, and made it 3-1 with five minutes left thanks to Frank Nouble. So yet again away from Ewood Park, there seems little joy for Gary Bowyer's men. The Manager told the BBC:- "We didn't defend their first goal well enough although I thought we were the better side before half-time and deserved our equaliser. But we gave them their second goal and their third and you can't do that. It is not as if we were cut open and they scored breathtaking goals. It is frustrating as we have kept five clean sheets at home. We have to find the mentality to do that away from home - and stop being so nice." And he told the clubs official website that the performance was "unacceptable".
And it's away again on Saturday, with QPR at Loftus Road. Rovers remain in 13th place after the midweek matches. (3rd December 2013)