The Danny/Dack double act issue
OLD BLACKBURNIAN
ROVERS fans: “But it’s the same plan that we used last time...and the seventeen times before that...”
GEN. Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Mowbray: “EXACTLY...& that is what is so brilliant about it. It will catch the watchful opposition totally off guard. Doing precisely what we’ve done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they’ll expect us to do this time!” (with humble apologies to Richard Curtis & Ben Elton).
For quite some time now, Rovers have been struggling to find a solution to the “Danny Graham Question”.
Graham has proved to be one of the best value for money signings made in the Venky’s-era and perhaps even further back.
The unique skills, experience and characteristics he provides sadly do not include eternal youth and are proving very difficult to replace. Of course, that was before the untimely and unfortunate injury to Bradley Dack.
Dack and Graham have proved to be quite the double-act for Rovers, instrumental in both the promotion success from League One and establishing the newly-promoted side in the Championship.
But now Tony Mowbray faces the challenge of replacing the both of them at the same time and it’s proving to be quite the conundrum.
Mowbray seems to have been a proponent of the wide-striker concept for some time.
He signed Marcus Antonsson on loan from Leeds to play wide-left and in January 2018, added his former Coventry City confidant Adam Armstrong on loan from Newcastle to play wideright. Armstrong’s pace lends itself to taking on and outpacing a full-back but he seems still to have a hankering to play through the middle.
This approach has continued in the Championship but with a changing cast list. First Ben Brereton was brought in late in the summer 2018 transfer window. Sam Gallagher, a former Rovers loanee that had worked under Mowbray at the end of the fateful relegation season returned on a permanent deal last summer. Each has been played in the wide-right role but with little success thus far.
Last Saturday, once again we enjoyed the spectacle of a 6 feet, 4 inches tall striker labouring down the right flank, trying to link up with an overlapping right-back in Ryan Nyambe, all with the intention, it seems, of providing crosses for the diminutive Adam Armstrong (5 feet, 8 inches tall). I have noted in previous columns that this is a tactic that was used by Mark Hughes; but once, in specific circumstances, aimed at allowing Roque Santa Cruz to exploit Patrice Evra’s stature. It was not the default setting.
Armstrong of late, thankfully, seems to have revelled in the opportunity to fill the goal-scoring vacuum created by Dack’s absence, but the bizarre spectacle of Rovers continually launching long balls down the middle and Gallagher trying to provide crosses from the flanks to him remains mystifying. Armstrong is most potent when running directly at retreating defenders, unsettling them with his pace and so it proved early on against Preston.
Once more Rovers hit the ground running and took an early lead against North End but there were a number of Rovers fans who insisted that tactically, the worst thing Rovers could then do on Saturday was to make that a two-nil lead, dark humour indeed. As it transpired, there was no need to worry.
Following a lengthy hold up which saw the unfortunate Corry Evans stretchered off following a painful encounter with head-high boot of Clarke, Paul Gallagher played a delightful free-kick into the Rovers box and despite the close attention of Johnson and Lenihan, perhaps inspired by Harry & Meghan, they chose that moment to choose to step back from actual defending. The knock down fell to Harrop who smashed the ball into the top right-hand corner leaving Walton helpless. The lead had lasted less than a quarter of an hour. Steve Waggott may well have attributed this goal to the presence of Preston fans in the lower tier of the Darwen End.
What then transpired was either a competitive local derby with neither side able to establish superiority or a frankly dull match in which two out of form sides struggled to find any real fluency to their play – depending upon your perspective. The highlight came before kick off when Morten Gamst Pedersen emerged from the tunnel looking as sprightly as many of the current firstteam squad and resplendent in a current Rovers shirt bearing his name and the number 12. Once more Rovers fail to better their Lancashire rivals – seven games now since a Jordan Rhodes inspired Rovers came out on top.
The outstanding contributor to this match was also a veteran “leftwinger”, the doughty Stewart Downing, another with a trusty left foot and a few years MGP’s junior, his every touch silky and considered. For those of sufficient vintage, his range of passing and ability to find a yard to cross are reminiscent of David Wagstaffe. Though Downing’s fitness levels are possibly a tad higher, Waggy’s left foot could land the ball pretty much on a given blade of grass so arguably he didn’t need to run. Rovers haven’t had much success in signing veterans in recent years but Downing has certainly halted that trend.
For Tony Mowbray, the search for a cunning plan goes on. Brereton wasn’t even in the squad on Saturday, Gallagher continues his struggle for form and Danny Graham looks a little like Ernie Wise did after Eric Morecambe’s passing, lost without his partner in crime and contemplating retirement. The January transfer window is still open but the overwhelming message coming out of Ewood is seemingly one of austerity.
Next up a trip to Hillsborough and for me, a local match that offers the prospect of being back home before 606 starts. Whether General Mowbray tries something different is open to question; after all, doing what we’ve done on nineteen previous occasions is the very LAST thing that the Owls will expect.
CRICKET
JACK Leach is leaving England’s tour of South Africa after battling a series of health issues, including a recent bout of sepsis.
The spinner has not been available for selection since arriving on tour and will return home before the last two Tests of the series to complete his recovery.
Leach was hospitalised during the previous series in New Zealand and the ECB have revealed he was suffering from sepsis which can be life-threatening in its most extreme forms.
Leach, who also suffers from Crohn’s Disease, was cleared to make the trip to South Africa but then found himself hit by bouts of flu and gastroenteritis which swept the camp last month. Head coach Chris Silverwood hopes to have him back for a spinfriendly series in Sri Lanka in March.
“It has been an unfortunate time for Jack with illness and since the Test series in New Zealand six weeks ago, he hasn’t been able to get 100 per cent fit,” he said.
“He is a great lad to have around the squad and his infectious personality and popularity will be missed.”
Leach’s Somerset team-mate Dom Bess played in the second Test win at Cape
Town and was in line to retain his place at Port Elizabeth.
Leach is the third player to depart the tour, joining Rory Burns (ankle) and James Anderson (rib).