Velvet rope not in Rovers reach – yet
OLD BLACKBURNIAN
THE scene is an oak panelled corridor. It’s dark, quiet and all that can be seen in the subdued light are two heavy, studded doors at either side; each with enormous brass handles. The door on the left is marked “1-12”, the door on the right “13-24”. A figure emerges from the gloom and knocks on the first door.
After a short pause, the door opens and a butler announces from inside, with some formality and indeed solemnity;
“Ah...Mr Mowbray... come on in...to be honest, we didn’t expect to see you in here again...EVER. Sit yourself down sir, over there if you’d be so kind, by that nice Mr McCann from Hull and Mr Harris from Millw...sorry, I mean Cardiff...I’ll bring you a drink...”
Mowbray strides into the room and surveys the scene. A grudging nod of acknowledgement from Garry Monk but something catches Mowbray’s eye. At one end he notices a smaller area surrounded by the obligatory velvet rope and within, is an ornate top table with champagne on chill, but only two places are set.
From behind the velvet rope, Alex Neil turns round, notices Mowbray and shakes his head in disbelief at the arrival of this new guest.
“YOU...but how? We finished you...didn’t we?” cries Neil, an expression of utter confusion crossing his brow.
Grant McCann frowns, starts to stand up but Mowbray places a hand on McCann’s shoulder and gently lowers him back into his wing-chair.
Mowbray knows that now isn’t the time to rise to this bait, Instead, Mowbray beckons the butler over.
“What do I have to do to get in there then?” asks Mowbray, emboldened by the impact of his sudden and spectacular entrance.
“Well...” hesitates the butler, “let’s just walk before we run sir and perhaps in the fullness of time, at the appropriate juncture, we can discuss admission requirements...”
If a week is a long time in politics it can be an eternity in sport, especially football.
Not that long ago, let’s be frank, Rovers’ fortunes were looking about as healthy as the chances of Watford FC handing out managerial long-service awards.
One fortunate, scrappy win and two hard-fought, but deserved wins later; nine points onto the total has put a spring back into the step of the Rovers faithful.
The Brentford performance demonstrated that the squad has quality, tenacity and skill. It helped that Rovers attack had Danny Graham as its fulcrum and pace either side from Rothwell and Armstrong. In central midfield, Evans and Travis did the hard yards and a clean sheet was a just reward for some staunch defending and solid goalkeeping.
“But can they do it on a cold, Tuesday night, away at Stoke?” is the challenge thrown out by the PFM* whenever a fancy-dan foreigner is being lauded on Sky Gillette Soccer Saturday.
Substitute “Saturday afternoon” for “Tuesday night” and Rovers demonstrated that yes, they could indeed. It wasn’t easy physically, nor was it always easy aesthetically but sometimes you have to simply applaud the outcome.
Rovers looked leggy, especially Joe Rothwell whose normal scampering, “Jack Russell enthusiastically chasing rabbits” style seemed to have transformed into more of a “plodding, aged golden retriever” here. Notwithstanding, Rovers had the measure of Stoke in the first half and a single goal lead was scant reward for periods of pressure applied.
Special mention to Corry Evans, who seemingly wanted to deliver a midfield masterclass in front of his international manager. It was the best performance I have ever seen him deliver in a Rovers shirt. He prowled, snarled and passed his way around the Stoke midfield. Whether the signings of Johnson and Holtby raised the stakes or simply these two have grown organically into their partnership, we will never know but it’s a pleasure to see.
The upturn in fortunes has coincided with the return of Darragh Lenihan to the centre of defence and another embryonic partnership seems to be blooming as Tosin seems to respond to the authority alongside him. #Adarraghbioyo
When Stoke had equalised with ten minutes remaining, Walton blotting an otherwise wellmaintained copybook by flapping at a corner; it seemed like a winner would only emerge from one direction; story of my life you might say. The Potters were increasing their pressure and Rovers looked like they might just succumb. The introduction of Bennett had solidified the right wing but had rarely threatened much in the way of attacking intent but that was to change late on.
Nyambe found Dack who threaded a pass to Bennett, who in turn outstripped his full back and pulled back a cross perfectly into the stride of the approaching Sam Gallagher. Straight from the Guardiola playbook. Twoone, six minutes plus added time for three out of three and a frenetic nine-point, eight days. Rovers held on with some aplomb and the celebrations at the end called to mind the promotion season. A band of brothers securing another away win on the march to...well, where precisely? That is the $64k question.
Can we break through to velvet rope territory?
There’s a long way to go of course but how pleasant it is to be back in the top half and looking up, for a few days at least.
A few more decent results in December and our old friend the January window comes along to tease us, like an ice-cream van parked outside a Weight Watchers meeting.
Can we add quality & press for the play-offs or will we battle just to hold onto Dack, Lenihan and Travis?
We are to be reacquainted with Wayne Rooney on Saturday, in a coaching capacity until January, Derby County’s wild card for their push to the Premier League.
Saturday’s fixture is followed by two very tough away games and so it takes on a different complexion than it appeared a couple of weeks ago...a “1-12” sixpointer. Velvet rope not quite in reach... just now.
*Proper Football Men