Pope John XXIII
Vital Football Legend
Preamble
This thread is going to be rubbish because I really can't be bothered to write it and very nearly didn't bother. I particularly can't be bothered to write about Blackburn, one of the most dull, nothing clubs in the country despite their "history" and PL pedigree. I've been to Ewood. Blackburn is vile and grey, the ground instantly forgettable. I much, much preferred Blackburn when they were in the PL or in L1.
This thread will be half hearted and reflect the level of interest I have in Blackburn. If I'm honest, I would find it more interesting to write 10,000 characters about the representation of dustbins in poetry or something.
Team style
Blackburn are remarkably similar to Rotherham last week, except with some good players.
They play the standard 4-2-3-1 and have never wavered from that all season.
They are a defensive long ball team that hit the ball long to the front four, then like attacking through the middle (IE through Bradley Dack). They (Dack) likes putting through balls in for Graham to score from or Brereton to miss.
They are superb in the air with 30 aerial duels won per game (almost as good as Rotherham) and shown by their second top scorer being defender Charlie Mulgrew. They tend to average 48% possession, which fits with the more agricultural way they get the ball forward towards the front four.
They have scored as many goals as we have, but they don't tend to get a final ball in that much. Their 10 shots per game is very below the championship norm and suggests that a) they aren't that effective going forward over a game, and b) they are devastatingly effective at finishing chances they do get, or at creating a few really clear cut chances per game.
They are also very good at stealing possession and then getting the ball forward to those attacking players.
However, they lose possession easily too and have struggled to protect a lead.
They have won the same number of games as us, but only one at home; 1-0 against Brentford. They have only scored 4 goals at home in the league all season (we have 7), and while they are yet to lose at Ewood they are yet to impress either.
Players
There is a scene in Damned United where the Leeds players demand Clough tells them what they need to know about their next opponents, QPR.
"QPR? Stop Stan Bowles, that's all you need to know about QPR".
It's similar with Blackburn. Stop the corner ****er and avoid given Charlie Mulgrew a good direct free kick and chances are we'll be ok.
We have yet to see quite such a one man team yet in the league. Bradley Dack's 7.48 average rating, four goals and one assist out him miles above most attacking midfielders in this division (although Murphy at 7.41 for us is not far behind). Dack is brilliant at through balls, dribbling past defenders, putting away chances and making key passes. He's crap in the air but the rest of them make up for that. The positive for opponents (and possibly the reason he is still at Blackburn) is that, according to Blackburn forums, this is a guy with all sorts of spirit related problems (and I'm not advising he calls the Ghostbusters here) although these have not affected his form much.
Most incredibly, of Blackburn's 11 goals, Dack has been directly involved ina10 of them. Without doubt, stopping Dack is the key to stopping Blackburn today.
Ahead of him will likely be Danny Graham, who you might remember was really good at this level, then really rubbish, then went down to L1, did well and seems to be back as a decentish striker. He has two goals so far.
There aren't really any other candidates for the striker role. Dominic Samuel (24) and
Joe Nutall (21) are both youngish players who have made one appearance each, but the onus is really on Graham there. Ben Brereton has made a handful of sub appearances, all with ratings less than 6 but cannot play today.
Kasey Palmer (21) is likely to play with Dack in the midfield 3. He has one goal and like Dack, likes to dribble past players and play key passes.
Blackburn are a defensive team and as such they have Elliot Bennett, a RB/ defensive central midfielder in their attacking midfield three. He does a job going forward and has two assists, but is noted for his defensive cover in that forward line.
Sitting behind them are the double pivot if Richard Smallwood and Corry Evans. Smallwood is the aerial winner while Evans is the ball interceptor of the pair.
Blackburn's defence is very strong, if not in skill then at least in form. They have four players currently with an average rating over 7, and three of those are their central defenders and left back.
Charlie Mulgrew is a key defender for them. He is their main free kick taker (scoring one) and penalty taker (two). I believe he is left over from their relegation season, having signed from Celtic. This guy is dangerous; he scored 14 goals last season as a defender so we simply cannot afford to give away stupid free kicks in the vicinity of the box.
Derragh Lenihen partners him and is a monster at winning stuff in the air, with an average of 7 aerial duels won per game (similar to Aden Flint last season).
All in all, Blackburn are a side that defend well on their day and can shut a team out if they wish. They also score a few, but these are from just a couple of outlets; Bradley Dack, set pieces, penalties largely won by Graham. Stop Dack and avoid stupid fouls and it won't be that hard to stop Danny Graham. But scoring past a resolute Blackburn defence isn't easy and it's often easier to catch them out then they are winning as they have a tendency to switch off
Form
Blackburn have the same record as us; they have won three and lost one, with 11 goals scored (more conceded though). Their last game was a brilliant win away at Stoke, in which they were 3-0 up before Stoke came back into it (familiar?).
With us, our record against these is terrible. We last beat them in 2o13-14 under Billy Davies where we did the double over them. You have to go back to 2001 under Platt before that, and then 1999 for our away win at Ewood than tookt hem down with us effectively.
We have beaten these four times in the last 30 years and none of the last six meetings. Our last meeting was the appalling home defeat that nearly relegated us.
Karanka has never beaten these either.
Add to that, Blackburn are on a 12 month, 24 game unbeaten run at Ewood.
This is not a happy hunting ground and it's likely to be very tough for us.
Official Vatican Prediction
Infogol, as ever, believe we should be bottom with -8 points based on the XG model and give this to Blackburn by 46%-28%.
The Cherubim however say that this has a score draw written all over it and I'll bite their hand off for that
Weather
Can't even be arsed to look. It's Blackburn,so it'll be grey.
Inspirational Picture
Easy. It came out the right way for us in the end and probably worked out better for them. Not many good days like this in my 20 years as a fan, but I was happy to be on the right end of things that day against Ipswich
This thread is going to be rubbish because I really can't be bothered to write it and very nearly didn't bother. I particularly can't be bothered to write about Blackburn, one of the most dull, nothing clubs in the country despite their "history" and PL pedigree. I've been to Ewood. Blackburn is vile and grey, the ground instantly forgettable. I much, much preferred Blackburn when they were in the PL or in L1.
This thread will be half hearted and reflect the level of interest I have in Blackburn. If I'm honest, I would find it more interesting to write 10,000 characters about the representation of dustbins in poetry or something.
Team style
Blackburn are remarkably similar to Rotherham last week, except with some good players.
They play the standard 4-2-3-1 and have never wavered from that all season.
They are a defensive long ball team that hit the ball long to the front four, then like attacking through the middle (IE through Bradley Dack). They (Dack) likes putting through balls in for Graham to score from or Brereton to miss.
They are superb in the air with 30 aerial duels won per game (almost as good as Rotherham) and shown by their second top scorer being defender Charlie Mulgrew. They tend to average 48% possession, which fits with the more agricultural way they get the ball forward towards the front four.
They have scored as many goals as we have, but they don't tend to get a final ball in that much. Their 10 shots per game is very below the championship norm and suggests that a) they aren't that effective going forward over a game, and b) they are devastatingly effective at finishing chances they do get, or at creating a few really clear cut chances per game.
They are also very good at stealing possession and then getting the ball forward to those attacking players.
However, they lose possession easily too and have struggled to protect a lead.
They have won the same number of games as us, but only one at home; 1-0 against Brentford. They have only scored 4 goals at home in the league all season (we have 7), and while they are yet to lose at Ewood they are yet to impress either.
Players
There is a scene in Damned United where the Leeds players demand Clough tells them what they need to know about their next opponents, QPR.
"QPR? Stop Stan Bowles, that's all you need to know about QPR".
It's similar with Blackburn. Stop the corner ****er and avoid given Charlie Mulgrew a good direct free kick and chances are we'll be ok.
We have yet to see quite such a one man team yet in the league. Bradley Dack's 7.48 average rating, four goals and one assist out him miles above most attacking midfielders in this division (although Murphy at 7.41 for us is not far behind). Dack is brilliant at through balls, dribbling past defenders, putting away chances and making key passes. He's crap in the air but the rest of them make up for that. The positive for opponents (and possibly the reason he is still at Blackburn) is that, according to Blackburn forums, this is a guy with all sorts of spirit related problems (and I'm not advising he calls the Ghostbusters here) although these have not affected his form much.
Most incredibly, of Blackburn's 11 goals, Dack has been directly involved ina10 of them. Without doubt, stopping Dack is the key to stopping Blackburn today.
Ahead of him will likely be Danny Graham, who you might remember was really good at this level, then really rubbish, then went down to L1, did well and seems to be back as a decentish striker. He has two goals so far.
There aren't really any other candidates for the striker role. Dominic Samuel (24) and
Joe Nutall (21) are both youngish players who have made one appearance each, but the onus is really on Graham there. Ben Brereton has made a handful of sub appearances, all with ratings less than 6 but cannot play today.
Kasey Palmer (21) is likely to play with Dack in the midfield 3. He has one goal and like Dack, likes to dribble past players and play key passes.
Blackburn are a defensive team and as such they have Elliot Bennett, a RB/ defensive central midfielder in their attacking midfield three. He does a job going forward and has two assists, but is noted for his defensive cover in that forward line.
Sitting behind them are the double pivot if Richard Smallwood and Corry Evans. Smallwood is the aerial winner while Evans is the ball interceptor of the pair.
Blackburn's defence is very strong, if not in skill then at least in form. They have four players currently with an average rating over 7, and three of those are their central defenders and left back.
Charlie Mulgrew is a key defender for them. He is their main free kick taker (scoring one) and penalty taker (two). I believe he is left over from their relegation season, having signed from Celtic. This guy is dangerous; he scored 14 goals last season as a defender so we simply cannot afford to give away stupid free kicks in the vicinity of the box.
Derragh Lenihen partners him and is a monster at winning stuff in the air, with an average of 7 aerial duels won per game (similar to Aden Flint last season).
All in all, Blackburn are a side that defend well on their day and can shut a team out if they wish. They also score a few, but these are from just a couple of outlets; Bradley Dack, set pieces, penalties largely won by Graham. Stop Dack and avoid stupid fouls and it won't be that hard to stop Danny Graham. But scoring past a resolute Blackburn defence isn't easy and it's often easier to catch them out then they are winning as they have a tendency to switch off
Form
Blackburn have the same record as us; they have won three and lost one, with 11 goals scored (more conceded though). Their last game was a brilliant win away at Stoke, in which they were 3-0 up before Stoke came back into it (familiar?).
With us, our record against these is terrible. We last beat them in 2o13-14 under Billy Davies where we did the double over them. You have to go back to 2001 under Platt before that, and then 1999 for our away win at Ewood than tookt hem down with us effectively.
We have beaten these four times in the last 30 years and none of the last six meetings. Our last meeting was the appalling home defeat that nearly relegated us.
Karanka has never beaten these either.
Add to that, Blackburn are on a 12 month, 24 game unbeaten run at Ewood.
This is not a happy hunting ground and it's likely to be very tough for us.
Official Vatican Prediction
Infogol, as ever, believe we should be bottom with -8 points based on the XG model and give this to Blackburn by 46%-28%.
The Cherubim however say that this has a score draw written all over it and I'll bite their hand off for that
Weather
Can't even be arsed to look. It's Blackburn,so it'll be grey.
Inspirational Picture
Easy. It came out the right way for us in the end and probably worked out better for them. Not many good days like this in my 20 years as a fan, but I was happy to be on the right end of things that day against Ipswich
