Blackburn Rovers vs West Ham United: match preview

We are midway through our Northern trilogy, so once again we dust off the winter coats, fire up the sat nav and be prepared to travel. At that ridiculous kick off time of 3pm on a Saturday we face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Blackburn currently lie 13th in the league, four places and four points behind the mighty Irons. They have defeated Fulham, WBA, Birmingham and Charlton at home and tasted victory at Old Trafford and Villa Park. They have drawn with Man Ciddy and Spurs and come second best to Everton and Newcastle at home and in all their London fixtures (Chelski, L’Arse and the rip roaring, three goal scoring, best looking fans in the world team from East London).

"Freidel – Nelsen – Neill – Pedersen – Bellamy" -
the Blackburn five a side team as voted for by a straw poll on brfcs.co.uk

The gaffer is Mark Hughes, a combatitive centre forward who played for Man Yoo, Chelsea and Blackburn as well as having stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He took over the club when they were flirting with relegation and took them to league safety in his first year in charge. He is certainly a tough manager, his first change to the team routine was to introduce post match ice baths, the best way to recover after a match according to sports scientists. Just what you need in Lancashire.

In goal is US of A keeper, Brad Friedel, obtained on a free transfer from Liverpool. He has been ever present in the league this season. He is a reliable and consistent performer, capable of athleticism and is rare to make mistakes. He even managed one goal for his team, against Charlton in the 2003/04 season.

The defence will be without club captain, Andy Todd after he was dismissed for a deliberate handball last week. We will, of course, feature Thomas Repka, who was yellow carded for a very similar offence, such is the consistency of Premier League officials. The loss of Todd should not be too disruptive, he has only just returned to first team action.

The back four are likely to be Lucas Neill, an Australian signed from the Bermondsey scum at right back, Ryan Nelsen, the only New Zealander in the Premiership and popular Georgian international, Zurab Khizanishvili in the middle and former Sunderland man, Michael Gray on the left. Khizanishvili is on a season long loan from Glasgow Rangers, offering a more footballing alternative to Todd and the supporters are hopeful that the deal will be made permanent.

The midfield has been a little experimental this season, the format seems to have reverted to a 4-4-2 after trying out a five man midfield early on in the season. The first name on the list is two footed Norwegian Morten Gamst Pedersen, a stylish wide man who both creates and scores goals. He scored both of Blackburn’s goals in the victory over Manchester United though if he had been slightly more clinical against Everton last week, the result may have been different. Whatever happens in the future, he will have gained near immortal status for scoring the winning goal against arch rivals Burnley in the FA Cup last season.

The main defensive option is Robbie Savage. It is fair to say that the bond that Lily had with supporters at Leicester and Birmingham is stronger than the one he shares with the Rovers fans. He is admired but there are murmurs of discontent about the silly fouls he gives away and embarrassing incidents such as his attempt to get Jose Reyes sent off, do not endear him to all. His absence from the team for Blackburn’s best performance of the season has also raised questions about the nature of his contribution.

He is not guaranteed to start against us as he was dropped from the line up against Everton, though the outcome of that game should be enough to get him reinstated. I, for one, am grateful to him for providing one of my favourite moments of the season, the incredulous look on his face when Konch slammed him into the advertising hoardings in front of the Centenary Stand on the opening day. Stephen Reid, signed from the Bermondsey scum took his place last week, though his performances this year have been a little disappointing.

Attacking options include the ageing Turkish hippy, Tugay, whose performances may not be as devastating as they were a few years ago but he is still a class performer. His goal against Fulham earlier in the season demonstrates that he is still capable of the spectacular. Brett Emerton, the Australian international has been in and out of the side and will be hoping to keep playing prior to his first chance of an appearance in the World Cup final. Aggressive wide man, David Thompson, made his first start last week but with limited effect.

Blackburn have L’Arse forward David Bentley on a season long loan. They have been playing him on the right wing but with limited success. Last week they switched him to a more Sheringham, in the hole, role which met with more approval and the experiment may continue next week. The Rovers fans main wish for the January transfer window is an additional attacking midfielder, Celtic’s Stilian Petrov was a favourite choice.

Up front, Welshman, Craig Bellamy is the main man. He has made a good start to his Blackburn career, scoring four league goals in 10 starts. His workrate is also commendable, testament to this was his man of the match award in the recent 3-0 defeat at Highbury. The choice of striker has alternated between belly flopping Finish man mountain, Shefki Kuqi or fiery Scot Pull Dickoff who demonstrated his two footed ability at the Boleyn on the opening day of the season.

"One nil to the Bully Boys" – Ironic Blackburn chant

The team has worked hard to improve its image this season, the Spurs game when Neill was dismissed and Todd should have been seems to have been something of a turning point. Hughes first job was to distance his team from relegation and now that is not a concern and the team has had time to gel as a cohesive unit, they have reverted to football. Hughes was quick to praise the style of his team after their victory over Charlton and David Moyes described Blackburn as “one of the best passing teams in the division” after their game last week.

My prediction for Saturday is based upon years of supporting the Irons. There are some places that West Ham don’t win, they are just too far away, too Northern, history weighs too heavily against us, whatever the reason it just doesn’t happen. Ewood Park is one of those places and I can recall 4-2, 3-0 and 7-1 defeats in this particular backyard. Blackburn have been generally solid at home and think they have improved from when we last played them. I’ll have to plump for a 2-0 defeat and as usual, hope that I am wrong.

Enjoy the game.

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