Rovers revel in historic double
BLUE-EYED BOY’S BLACKBURN VIEW
IT’S not often I’m surprised by a Rovers stat but my pal Andrew pulled a cracker out of the bag about an hour after a satisfying if at first seemingly unremarkable win at Ewood on Saturday.
“I think that’s the first time we’ve ever done the double over Blackpool,” he said, and he’s absolutely right. Unlike the northern founders of the Football League, Blackpool didn’t encounter us in the league until 1930 and up to the relatively recent Premier League victory courtesy of Brett Emerton we’d only actually ever won once at Bloomfield Road.
Blackpool might feel a little hard done to by a 7-2 aggregate over the two historic Rovers victories this season, but I doubt their fans will feel as crestfallen as I did in 1978 when Bob Hatton ran riot to seal a similar 7-3 total which had began at Ewood with a Tony Parkes penalty so underhit on a cloying surface that George Wood in goal for the Seasiders had to walk out to the six-yard line where it stopped to collect it. As in the encounter at Bloomfield earlier this season, Gary Bowyer’s side had their moments. I made their tall on-loan Newcastle man Sean Longstaff by some distance the best midfielder on the park but their lack of a finisher, or more accurately anyone to even have a do at finishing, was a failing which has been shared by so many visitors to Blackburn this season.
I firmly believe Rovers are about to go back to the Championship as League One title winners but rather than making any great impression as a team, we look more a collection of decent players with a couple of outstanding individuals able to pull out something special on any occasion.
Of the previous Rovers promotions I’ve witnessed, Gordon Lee’s 1975 champion Third division team were characterised by their mighty physical strength in a decade of brutal combat and rough pitches in the lower divisions.
Kendall’s 1980 ruunersup were underpinned by a keeper and defence (and defensive midfielders) devoid of big names, save an ageing Kendall himself, but almost super-human in their ability to keep clean sheets. Like this side they had a couple of men to produce the magic moments and clinical finishers. Often in dour 1-0 affairs.
The 1992 Dalglish side was star-studded and scintillating on its day with a fallibility unsuspected which almost derailed the fairy story. The play-offs provided a second chance to regroup and focus.
The outrageously gifted 2001 side was probably the easiest on the eye of them all and the late season wins over Burnley, Grimsby and Bolton were as close to perfection over 90 minutes as we’ve seen other than on those memorable occasions of knocking seven in in the Premier League.
We’re doing it a very different way this time. We don’t keep clean sheets that regularly, don’t physically overpower the opposition and have seldom threatened to produce displays they’ll be repeating on the nostalgia channels for years to come.
But somehow, we’re better than most of the rest and despite slack and at times careless periods like the first half against The Tangerines, we have the men to conjure up a moment such as Mulgrew and Dack did on Saturday.
We, and hundreds of teams get free-kicks in stoppage time and waste them. Imagine that setpiece half-way into Blackpool’s half a season or two ago, say, with Chris Taylor or Lee Williamson attempting to pick out Hope Akpan or Simeon Jackson.
But Mulgrew’s sublime, precision delivery – the kind we have come to expect as routine from him but which remains a unique gift at this level to hit the target so often be it shot or cross - gave the brilliant Dack his opportunity to pinch half a yard of space, work out the angles, weigh up which the point of the goal the keeper couldn’t cover was and plant the simplestlooking but requiring-ofthe-utmost deftness header home.
It looks easy when it works but if it was so simple someone like Chris Brown wouldn’t have spent a season and a half unable to find and accept such an opportunity.
Adam Armstrong is another who has offered up the big goals at big moments when required.
Enormous credit is due to Tony Mowbray for taking a calculated gamble on a player he knew well but whose career had floundered after their early success together at Coventry to the point that strugglers Bolton couldn’t find a role for him.
Armstrong’s brace on Saturday were magnificent in construction and execution and it was heartening to see the like of Evans and Bennett contribute to their creation with Dack’s lay-off for his explosive first and Conway’s pass/ Bennett’s pull-back for the third all exquisite assists.
With the Doncaster Rovers game postponed the Gillingham fixture on Saturday is our last for 12 days until Easter Thursday. Wigan and Shrewsbury will each have played three more by then. The picture will be clearer but a win on Saturday would mean our two closest pursuers would be under great pressure to take maximum points to keep up. I may be wrong but I can’t see that happening.
Happy travels to the Rovers away army.
KATERINA LEE’S CLARETS VIEW
HERE we are, back to winning ways and it feels fantastic, although marred slightly by the toxic atmosphere at Olympic Park against West Ham on Saturday.
It looked like the game would be abandoned, given that West Ham players were having to tackle fans invading the pitch and the board having to be escorted out of their seats.
It would have been truly typical that we would win quite so emphatically for it not to have counted in the end.
Negatives aside, and kind of thankfully not negatives from our club or fans, the second half of this match, we were excellent.
That never gets old to say, either.
So what’s happened? Stephen Ward and Chris Wood, that’s what.
And surely now, with Chris Wood’s brilliant performance as a substitute on for Jeff Hendrick, Dyche will stop with this ridiculous loyalty towards Hendrick.
It’s obvious to all but Dyche that Hendrick has been playing pretty terribly for us as of late.
Wood came on in his place, scored two goals and made way for Ashley Barnes’ screamer with an assist.
So put two and two together, Wood and Barnes going forward from now on could be what sees us finally reach that elusive sixth place.
Can we start to dream about Europa