Blackburn Rovers (16th December) - Preview & Predictions

[Royal Fleet]

First preview thread including fans view, history, odds etc. If the reaction is positive, hope to make a regular thing.

The Match

Reading vs Blackburn Rovers 3pm 16th December

The Ref
Graham '3 Yellows' Poll

Current League Positions
Pos.....................Played....GD.....Pts
7.........Reading.......17........-2......26
16......Blackburn......16........-7......16

League Form - going backwards
Reading DLWWW
Blackburn LWDLL

Latest Squad News
Royals
Royals physio Jon Fearn is hopeful that skipper Graeme Murty will be fit for Saturday's visit of Blackburn.
Seol Ki Hyeon also missed the game at Watford on Saturday, and his recovery from a foot injury is a little slower, although it appears he will be available

Rovers
Blackburn will be without Stephane Henchoz for the weekend's clash with Reading after his appeal against his sending off at the weekend was rejected.
The Swiss defender was given his marching orders for a challenge on Newcastle's Obafemi Martins which referee Dermot Gallagher deemed a professional foul .

History
To the casual observer some may paint both teams with the same brush as both have been propelled from the lower leagues by a wealthy benefactor. To those closer to the teams however this is a too simplistic view.

It could be argued that Blackburn are the original ‘Chel$ea’. Steel magnate Jack Walker took over the club in 1991 having sold his Steel business to British Steel for £360m the year before. In the period that followed they twice broke the British transfer record (Shearer £3.3m in 1992 and Sutton £5m in 1994), deals which had a major influence on bringing the club the 1994-1995 Premier League title. This was not the first time the club had tasted success in a history which dates back to 1875. They have won the FA cup 6 times and the Top league 4 times in total. Most of this success came before 1928 though. Since the Premier League win they have also won the League Cup in 2002.

After the Premier League win, the side was gradually broken up resulting in the clubs demotion out of the Premier League in 1999. They spent two seasons in what was then Division One before bouncing back to the Premier League in 2001 and have been ever present since. During this second stint they have qualified for Europe on 3 occasions.

Last season they finished sixth.

Famous Fans
Jack Walker, Jack Straw (MP for Blackburn), Wayne Hemingway (Fashion designer and seemingly permanent resident on the Soccer AM sofas), Jim Bowen

Trivia
Dalglish wanted to sign a certain Zinedine Zidane, but this was blocked by Jack Walker who is quoted as saying ‘Why would you want Zidane when you have Tim Sherwood’

Match Odds - from Bet 365
Reading 11/10
Draw 11/5
Blackburn 11/5


Fans Views
What do you think of Mark Hughes?
‘He is god’ (Jan)
Great manager, tactically astute, gets the best out of his players and will do well at Man U once Ferguson retires (hopefully after he's won a cup or 2 for us). speeeeeeedie

Uefa Cup – Heaven or Hell?
Heaven to a man.


Why has your season started so indifferently?
• Injuries to key players.(Jan)
• Probably amongst other things due to the uefa cup, also the low standard of the refs haven't exactly helped us either.
Then there's several injuries, but of course that's part of the game (Daje)
• injuries and fixture pile up (jansenpresty10@wales)
• We lost our two best players - Bellamy to Liverpool and Nelsen to injury (joey_big_nose)

Who has performed above expectations for your team? And who not?
• Brett Emerton has become this seasons surprise hero, many wanted him out before the season, then he started playing as right back and is a completely different player. Hence Bert Mk2.
Morten Gamst Pedersen on the other hand has not lived up to expectations this year. We've all seen he can do so much better. Daje
• Emerton - practically every fan you spoke to couldn't wait for him to leave and him signing a contract extension instead of going to Boro was seen as a bad thing. Then Hughes made him play at right back and he's one of our best players this season. On the flip side, Morten Gamst Pederson is really struggling to find his form this year and looks like he needs a bloody good rest to be honest. (wolverine)
• David Bentley - has become a consistent performer and put in some excellent performances this season. (tcj_jones)

Why do you not sell out the ground?
Several agreed that this is the best response to that question –
• Tell you what, halve the population of Reading, halve the income of the ones left, stick a Premiership club in Henley, another in Wokingham, move Man U and Man City to Maidenhead, Liverpool and Everton to Slough and promote Pangbourne into League 2 and tell me why Reading don't sell out the Madejski.(philipl)

Also
• pubs with tv stations and armchair veiwers.(jansenpresty10@wales)
• General apathy in Blackburn coupled with so many other things (crap club shop, expensive food and drink, annoying drummers, a high number of teams in the local area, confusing ticket prices - though this is getting better).Wolverine

What do you think of Reading?
• Actually I think it's great to see you up in the PL, and I hope you stay for a while.(daje)
• Tidy outfit with a good manager. Will do well this year but will probably suffer the second season blues as the squad won't be able to cope.(Speeeedie)
• looks a half decent run club, coppell has done well and doyle was a steal at the price you paid for him. jansenpresty10@wales
• Personally, I am glad you are having a good season - it is always nice to have a new team in the Prem so we can see something different. Obviously I hope we beat you but it's nothing personal!(wolverine)#
• I cannot think of a reason why anybody would dislike Reading. Inoffensive club with some good honest players and a good manager well-exceeding all expectations this season.(tcj_jones)
• Good club who are looking to make a real fist of Premiership life. Nice to see a South East club outside of london for once.(joey_big_nose)
• Impressed,have done very well to date and deserve their league position......very little history and tradition though.(simon garners 194)
• Delighted for you. I think you are in the Premiership to stay. Coppell coming good after a long and painful management apprenticeship.(philipl)

Score prediction?
• Reading win 2
• Draw 3
• Rovers win 5

Interesting fact about the Rovers?
• only existing club to have won the FA Cup three times in a row
• Margaret Thatcher is an honorary director or something.
• We are one of only three teams to finish in every position in the top flight and no other team will ever join us
• Our highest ever attendance at Ewood of 62,255 is bigger than Liverpool fc's record crowd
• The only club in the world still to have won major trophies in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first centuries.

Overall seems a decent bunch of fans who share the dislike of the big 4.

[igoe agogo]

Trivia
Dalglish wanted to sign a certain Zinedine Zidane, but this was blocked by Jack Walker who is quoted as saying ‘Why would you want Zidane when you have Tim Sherwood’

The last time I heard this anecdote it was about Gary Flitcroft.

[SpaceCruiser]

Trivia
Dalglish wanted to sign a certain Zinedine Zidane, but this was blocked by Jack Walker who is quoted as saying ‘Why would you want Zidane when you have Tim Sherwood’

Damn right, I think they did the right thing.

[monkeyroyal]

Nice one RF. Interesting, balanced review. Cheers!

[SWLR]

Why do you not sell out the ground?
Several agreed that this is the best response to that question –
• Tell you what, halve the population of Reading, halve the income of the ones left, stick a Premiership club in Henley, another in Wokingham, move Man U and Man City to Maidenhead, Liverpool and Everton to Slough and promote Pangbourne into League 2 and tell me why Reading don't sell out the Madejski.(philipl)

Brightened up my Monday morning.

[KC Royal]

Cheers RF, this is a game I expect us to win fairly comfortably. Blackburn's away form is woeful, so bad they lost to Charlton last week!

[Forbury Lion]

General apathy in Blackburn coupled with so many other things (crap club shop, expensive food and drink, annoying drummers, a high number of teams in the local area, confusing ticket prices - though this is getting better).

Is he confusing Blackburn with Reading?

[Silver Fox]

Nice one RF. The fact about finishing in every position in the top flight could be fact of the year and I especially liked the reason why Blackburn don't sell out. I would raise an eyebrow at the inclusion of Jack Walker as a famous fan though what with him being dead and the former chairman, seems a bit of a cheat to me!

[Wax Jacket]

Nice one RF. The fact about finishing in every position in the top flight could be fact of the year

good one isn't it - who are the other three?

[higher]

Bookies are starting to sit up.We are fairly hot favourites for this one:
Courtesy bet365 (monday pm):
Reading 11/10
Draw 11/5
Blackburn 11/5

[Royal Fleet]

Thanks higher - original post updated

I have also included form, table, ref etc

[higher]

Sorry fleet.I was just putting a bet on and was pleasantly surprised when I saw the bookies seeing sense.Ehk the trouble with speed reading.Anyway its bumped a good thread up

[Horsham Royal]

Nice one RF. The fact about finishing in every position in the top flight could be fact of the year

good one isn't it - who are the other three?

And why will no other team ever join them ?

[bobby m's syrup]

Snip snip snip....
Impressed,have done very well to date and deserve their league position......very little history and tradition though.(simon garners 194)

Very little history? This from a team who started life playing at Ooozehead four years after Reading FC were formed.

That said, a visit to http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php?act=home (darn good site IMO), gives the impression of a decent and loyal bunch of fans with feet firmly on the ground. For example, their 'worst ten away grounds' feature includes Gillingham, Luton, Rotherham and that huge club on the south coast that play on an athletics track.

Bit of an unhealthy obsession with Burnley though. We may even gain a few fans from Blackburn come FAC 3 day.

[Royal Fleet]

Nice one RF. The fact about finishing in every position in the top flight could be fact of the year

good one isn't it - who are the other three?

And why will no other team ever join them ?

Presume it is because there are only 20 teams in the top flight now, not 24.

[Royal Bison]

Nice one RF. The fact about finishing in every position in the top flight could be fact of the year

good one isn't it - who are the other three?

And why will no other team ever join them ?

Top flight has reduced its number of clubs since then

[Forbury Lion]

Definately something that deserves to be a regular feature, I wouldn't be surprised if it was copied and pasted onto Blackburn messageboards and maybe even the local press.

On a slightly seperate note, Perhaps we should have a FAQ for rival fans visiting and asking the same questions.

[SpaceCruiser]

Snip snip snip....
Impressed,have done very well to date and deserve their league position......very little history and tradition though.(simon garners 194)

Very little history? This from a team who started life playing at Ooozehead four years after Reading FC were formed.

Well spotted. Anyone who says we have little history is an idiot. We have a long history, 135 years of it.

[Worthingroyal]

Some nice work there RF. Nice to see that we are well liked and popular.
I do like their response as to why they dont sell out.
As someone from the Slough area originally would love to have had Liverpool or Everton as my local team. Maybe though I would still support the Royals.....or would I!!

[Bracknell RFC]

BRFC Prediction: Royals 1 - 2 Rovers. Blackburns mixture of commitment and extra quality up front to prevail.

Double Result: Draw/Rovers.