Blackburn Rovers (Away)

[LexKing]

vs

 

 

 

Sat 27th 15:00(UK) at Ewood Park

 

 

 

 

1. What are overally expectations for a just started season? Finishing positions for Rovers and EFC?

 

 

Sick Boy: Staying up has to be a priority but with how competitive the league is now there is no reason we can push the top half given a few good additions, Last year there was only 10 points between 8th and the drop zone, the previous year it was 30 so it shows how competitive the EPL now is. I think Everton would also fall into this group; the top 6 is pretty much set now so anything below is anyone’s for the taking.

 

mark1875: We will struggle, i will take 17th now! everton? probably midtable

 

J*B: Expectation wise, we should be fighting to finish in the top half of the table. There's a lot of crap in this league (including ourselves in that), but the ultimate aim should be to finish in the top 10. Realistically we're going to be relegated, due to Steve Kean being a total and absolute moron, and Venky's being so determined to do everything they possibly can wrong.

Everton should be aiming to finish anywhere between 10th and 6th - your not really good enough to be any higher due to lack of investment. Moyes is a good manager, but can only work with what is available to him.

 

Topman: Rovers will dragged into another relegation battle if the right action isn't taken soon. Steve Kean has proven out of his depth and has been unable to grind out results. Something needs to give sooner or later, either Venky's finally hiring an experienced manager or Rovers signing enough players for the current manager to cobble together a half-decent side.

As for Everton. You sure have problems of your own, but you have something we don't - a first-class manager. Moyes is, pound for pound, the best manager in the PL. I would have him here in a heartbeat, but I don't imagine he'd relish working under the current owners. Moyes has always been able to get that extra 10% out of his Everton sides, and while you might not reach 7th again this season, you should finish a comfortable mid-table.

 

2. What way has rovers changed from last season? Stronger/weaker etc?

 

Sick Boy: A lot in terms of bodies, we have lost the 3 loanees we had last year and then we have sold Phil Jones and Niko Kalinic, both of which we got decent money for, we have also got rid of some squad players like Benjani, Andrews and Zurab so the squad is bare at the moment. We haven’t been too active in the transfer market right now but I am sure that will be addressed before the window is shut. Goodwillie and Petrovic have both been added and have great potential. We also have Formica and Rochina to add to the squad after they didn’t feature too much last year. The important thing is to now add some decent proven players to the squad.

 

mark1875: With a 9 days of the window to go, we are weaker

 

J*B: The main differences are that last year we had Jermaine Jones on loan, and that we had Roque Santa Cruz. Although Cruz was utterly ######, and didnt score a goal, he was still ten times better than Jason Roberts, who this year is another year older, and is our first choice striker. Our first choice striker should be David Goodwille, who from what we've seen so far is ten times the player Roberts is, making him an average Premier League Striker, but again, Kean is a complete and utter moron.

 

Topman: This summer we've lost Phil Jones to Man. Utd, and Jermaine Jones went back to Schalke and was priced out of a return. They were both crucial players to us at the end of last season and formed a strong spine to the side. We're also down a couple of strikers, with Mame Diouf & Roque Santa Cruz returning to their respective clubs, although neither did much last year. We're at least three or four players short this season, so on that note, our squad is definitely weaker. It's now a desperate race to get in bodies before the window closes.

 

On the upside, we did find someone to take Keith Andrews, albeit on-loan.

 

3. What position of your squad is strongest and what position you would like to see strenghtened with some new signings?

 

Sick Boy: I would have to say Midfield but that’s mainly due to the defence and strike force being so weak. We have got some good young players in the midfield like Nzonzi, Hoilett and Olsson but also some proven PL experience in Dunn, Pedersen and Emerton. Add to that Petrovic and the incoming Vuckevic and it looks strong. The defence needs addressing in centre back position and that’s proved the case so far, we lost Phil Jones and he hasn’t been replaced, Nelsen is picking up more injuries which he cant be relied on. It is important to keep Samba what ever bids come in. The strikers need looking at, we need a goal scorer, something we have lacked since Benni McCarthy and Santa Cruz (version 1) we have bought in Goodwillie and have Rochina but its a lot of pressure to look to two young unproven players for the goals, Jason Roberts works hard and gets a few each year but he isn’t a 10-15 goals a year man that we so desperately need, our season is dependent on getting this resolved.

 

mark1875: attacking flair, wide men our strongest position, currently very weak defensively

 

J*B: Our strongest position is wherever the clueless moron in charge decides to put Junior Hoilett. Junior really is an exception talent, and is capable of winning games on his own.

 

We need to strengthen:

Left Back (We currently play Martin Olsson here, but he cannot defend. He's quite a good left winger, has pace and a couple of skills, however since we don't have a left back, we have relocated our creativity to left back.)

Centre Back (Last year we had Samba, Phil Jones and Givet. This year we've sold Jones after being promised by the owners that he wouldnt be sold, and Samba and Givet refuse to play because Steve Kean is a joke)

Right Back (Salgado is a wonderful man, and a great idol to many people around the world - he has won it all. However, he's now far too slow to be starting in the Premier League. If you've got a quick left winger your gaurenteed a goal by attacking him with pace, he's been at fault for every goal this season so far.)

Centre Midfield (We refused to buy Jermaine Jones after a successful loan spell because he was too expensive, and decided to replace him with.. Erm, nobody. Petrovic, the Serbian we have just signed is a like for like player to Steven N'Zonzi, they want to play defensive and collect the ball, and pass it onwards. He is also very tall, like N'Zonzi, and is therefore a threat with headers. What we needed to sign was somebody with a massive engine, who wasn't afraid to tackle. Jermaine Jones, for example).

Centre Forward Last year our major goal threat was Junior Hoilett, nobody else seemed to make chances for other people or themselves. Rovers fans have been begging for a quality striker to be signed. Alas we where linked with players such as Pappis Cisse (who scores for fun in Germany), and Raul (one of the most legendary goalscorers of all time, and currently still banging them in while playing in the Champions League), and ended up starting this season with our worst nightmare, Jason Roberts.

 

Topman: It's taken awhile, but we can finally say we have some exciting attacking midfielders/wide-players. With players like Hoilett, Olsson, Rochina, Formica & *fingers crossed* Vukcevic, there's plenty of craft, guile and pace to be nurtured. However, we are desperately short of firepower, with only Jason Roberts & new signing David Goodwillie as first-team strikers. Jason Roberts should be an impact sub, at best. He's great at jostling defenders and making a nuisance of himself but he can't finish his dinner. Goodwillie has potential and will need to learn fast, as there's already a lot of pressure on him, for a bargain buy. Proven PL goalscorers are out of our price range, so we're relying on signing an unknown quantity who can hit the ground running, as we did with Benni McCarthy & Roque Santa Cruz.

 

 

4. Your season havent started well, what has been the main reason for that?

 

 

Sick Boy: Injuries to our first 3 choice centre backs and no cover there and lack of a goal scorer. The team is too inconsistent, we have periods of good football and then that where they switch off and the heads drop, unfortunately in our first two games its been more of the latter.

 

mark1875: Steve Kean

 

J*B: Steve Kean and Venkys.

 

Topman: To be fair, in the first game, we had THREE first-choice defenders missing. It destroyed any structure to our side, as we had players out of position. We looked well enough going forward, but the makeshift backline had no protection from midfield and we suffered for it. Even then, we only lost by the odd goal. The Aston Villa game was a different story. We had more players available for that match, however, Kean's team selection was dubious, dropping Formica, pairing Dunn with N'Zonzi in centre-midfield and going for a 4-4-2. The team looked disorganised, lethargic and second to every ball. It didn't help that Salgado is starting to show his age, either.

However, our problems ran far deeper than those two matches. Lack of leadership at the top of the ladder. Lack of investment from the owners, who like to talk a good game but have yet to show the money to back it up. The £16m+ we received for Phil Jones, which should have been reinvested into the squad, has been used to pay off the overdraft, meaning the manager has had to juggle different transfer budgets, which is why there's been a real inconsistency in our targets.

Of course, there's the manager. He's been the one constant in the Venky's regime so far, who either have blind faith in the man or simply can't afford to boot him and hire an experienced replacement. Do I blame him for taking the job? Not really. He grabbed the opportunity of a lifetime. It took balls to take on the job, especially with all the controversy linked to him & Kentaro, and I don't doubt the guy is doing his best, but his best isn't good enough. If he's going to make it as a manager, it won't be at Rovers. It's been proven that PL assistant managers very rarely succeed as PL managers, so the odds were always firmly stacked against him.

 

5. EFC also started with a shocking defeat vs qpr at Goodison. What kind of game you expect to see at Ewood park this time?

 

 

Sick Boy: Both teams need points so I expect it to be a lively but close encounter as they normally tend to be between the two sides. I think after losing both opening games we need a win more than Everton but of course you will want to pick up some points. I think if things aren’t going our way expect a hostile crowd towards Kean.

 

mark1875: a scrappy one, neither want to lose

 

J*B: I expect we'll start quite slowly, you'll probably counter us down the left wing. Somebody will beat Salgado for pace, and slam the ball into the box for Saha (or somebody similar) to have a simple finish past Paul Robinson, who wont stand a chance.

Then, either just before or just after half time, Junior Hoilett will get annoyed and decide nobody else is worth passing too. He'll go around 3/4 of your players, then either score himself, or put in a peach of a ball that is quite literally unmissable for whichever player is stood there waiting.

Then Kean will do something ridiculous, and you'll score another two easy goals. His post match interview will be unbearable, and he'll find one statistic which we did better than yourselves on, and then claim that because of this statistic we should have won.

 

Topman: I think it will be a fairly edgy game, since both sides won't be feeling especially confident after their poor starts to the season. Hopefully, with the home advantage, Rovers can seize the initiative and grab the first goal. If we go behind early, I can imagine the crowd will be getting very restless indeed and that will only benefit Everton.

 

6. Who of your players you think will cause the main threat for EFC. Any players on EFC who you think could be causing problems for you?

 

 

Sick Boy: Hoilett is our main threat at the moment so him, he is a exciting player to watch, has pace and abilty to beat players, signing him to a new contract should be on our list of priorites too. Also if Formica plays I can see him causing you some problems, we didn’t get to see him when he signed in Janaury due to injury but in pre season and vs Wolves he looks good, has some skill and flair, can create and score goals, I am looking forward to more of him this year..For Everton, Cahill always seems to do well against us and is always a threat but should he play Louis Saha loves a goal against us

 

mark1875: Junior Hoilett and if he plays Mauro Formica will be one to watch, he is gonnabe a good player. Tim Cahill i see as your main threat.

 

J*B: Junior Hoilett is the main threat.

Arteta is always good at pulling the strings, Saha ALWAYS scores against us and Cahill is a quality player. As well as that Leighton Baines is always capable of creating something. So one of those four I guess.

 

Topman: Hoilett is unplayable on his day and will stretch your defence. Roberts could also be the perfect foil for our more talented players if he can do the donkey work upfront and buy them space.

Everton carry a strong threat, with Saha guaranteeing you at least one goal, and players like Cahill, Baines & Fellaini providing a threat from set-pieces. And there's Arteta. I've always been a big fan of Arteta. Before he went to Everton, he was linked with a move to Rovers but he we plumped for Barry Ferguson instead. That proved to be a costly mistake, as I feel Arteta would have been the perfect successor to Tugay. Rovers will need to make sure the likes of Steven N'Zonzi can keep him quiet.

 

7. Are there some hot prospects at Rovers, who could be interesting to see on action?

 

 

Sick Boy: As I mentioned Formica and Rochina I hope to see more of this year but this is a area we seem to be doing well at recently, of course Phil Jones fell into part of this but there is a lot of promise around the squad, there are those who are already in the first team like Hoilett, Olsson, Formica, Rochina, Goodwillie and Hanley, but Jason Lowe and Josh Morris will hopefully make the step up this year, both were part of the recent England U20’s squad with Lowe the captain for that side. Both had a couple of appearances for the first team last year, it will be tough for them but they have potential to step up.

 

mark1875: the two i mentioned above

 

J*B: Junior Hoilett, as well as Martin Olsson so long as you only watch him attacking. N'Zonzi is a good enough player, he'll keep the ball quite well. Goodwillie could be good, but we havent seen enough of him to judge unfortunately.

 

Topman: Junior Hoilett - Finally making the breakthrough, he's injected our side with much needed pace and trickery. Probably the one highlight of the current manager, who gave him a run in the side when he looked resigned to the bench under Allardyce.

Mauro Formica - Young Argentinian attacking midfielder with brilliant passing ability and first-touch. He scored on his debut vs. Wolves but was mysteriously dropped for the last game. Could be a big season for him.

Ruben Rochina - Another young starlet, schooled at the academy of Barcelona, he naturally has quick-feet and an eye for goal, although he has been found guilty of trying to beat one man too many. Hopefully this will improve with time.

 

 

8. And last, can you predict the result and possible scorers?

 

 

Sick Boy: With a bit of luck Samba will be back and that will tighten up the back, which if we do I hope we can nick a 1-0 win, Formica scoring! Otherwise I can see a draw but what ever happens I think it will be close with not many goals.

 

mark1875: 1-0 rovers, dont care who scores, this is a must-win for us, i don't normally believe in must-wins this early, but this is imo

 

J*B: Of course:

Everton 3 - 1 Rovers

(Saha '28, Cahill '62, Arteta '81) - (Hoilett '44)

 

Topman: Let's be positive, eh?

2 - 2

(Olsson, Dunn)

(Saha, Osman)

Edited August 22, 2011 by LexKing

[chicagoblue]

J*B just about made me lose my lunch. Poor chap.

 

"J*B: I expect we'll start quite slowly, you'll probably counter us down the left wing. Somebody will beat Salgado for pace, and slam the ball into the box for Saha (or somebody similar) to have a simple finish past Paul Robinson, who wont stand a chance.

Then, either just before or just after half time, Junior Hoilett will get annoyed and decide nobody else is worth passing too. He'll go around 3/4 of your players, then either score himself, or put in a peach of a ball that is quite literally unmissable for whichever player is stood there waiting.

Then Kean will do something ridiculous, and you'll score another two easy goals. His post match interview will be unbearable, and he'll find one statistic which we did better than yourselves on, and then claim that because of this statistic we should have won."

 

Could almost make a few changes to that script to describe Moyes' selections some days.

[MikeO]

Great job Lex!

[Lowensda]

talk about MOTD viewers, how people still see Cahill as our most threatening player, i'll never know. If Baines has a blinder, we'll score...thats how it is!

[The Beard]

A six pointer at this time of the season, oh dear!.........ah well optimism optimism optimism is my key thought all week. 3-0 to us.

[dark]

Any score so long as we win

 

1-0 to us. Saha to score.

[FairWooney]

1-1

 

Barkley to score from outside the box...had enough goes in the last game.

 

That Junior lad to score for them, they seem to like him.

 

Hopefully they all get stuffed on Fried chicken in the changing rooms as per their advert and struggle to run around the pitch so we can win.

 

Confident we won't lose, were something like 60 games without losing 2 in a row and i'll be damned if Blackburn take that record from us!

 

Hopeful forecast is a 3-0 win with a Barkley hat trick!

[Peter H]

quite a few mentions of Olsson from their fans. Ive always rated Olsson, as a winger. As a defender he is pretty w*nk to be honest. But who could take advantage of that? Should we play Osman on the right this time? I want Barkley to play in the middle. Saha should obviously be up front for this one. Seems to be a bit of a charm vs Rovers.

 

Its going to be a tight game. I think we will win it tho. 0-1 Saha.

[HalewoodBlue]

Will Everton prove Rovers bark is bigger than its bite or will it be all ®Over for the Toffees by 5pm.

Will probably see a few changes from the last outing with injuries to Becks and Cahill with Rodwell a possible doubt.

 

Howard

 

Neville Jags Distin Baines

 

Barkley Fellaini Arteta Bilya

 

Ossie

 

Saha

 

Rovers 1 Everton 2

[gzcon]

I'm going for a draw in this game 1-1. I'd love to see barkley score, it will do wonders for his confidence and he does love to have a dig.

 

Howard

 

Neville Heitinga Jagielka Baines

 

Barkley Fellaini Rodwell Arteta

 

Saha Beckford

 

I like Arteta playing out wide and I'd like to see Beckford up front with someone. Won't happen I know. Rodwell was much better in the center, never want to see him out wide again.

[HalewoodBlue]

I'm going for a draw in this game 1-1. I'd love to see barkley score, it will do wonders for his confidence and he does love to have a dig.

 

Howard

 

Neville Heitinga Jagielka Baines

 

Barkley Fellaini Rodwell Arteta

 

Saha Beckford

 

I like Arteta playing out wide and I'd like to see Beckford up front with someone. Won't happen I know. Rodwell was much better in the center, never want to see him out wide again.

 

Why no Distin?

[gzcon]

Dunno why I left him out!! Any of the three (Heitinga, Jas and Distin) in the middle would be fine by me. Jags has made a couple of mistakes recently so maybe drop him to show him he isn't untouchable?

[c1982]

Will Everton prove Rovers bark is bigger than its bite or will it be all ®Over for the Toffees by 5pm.

Will probably see a few changes from the last outing with injuries to Becks and Cahill with Rodwell a possible doubt.

 

Howard

 

Neville Jags Distin Baines

 

Barkley Fellaini Arteta Bilya

 

Ossie

 

Saha

 

Rovers 1 Everton 2

 

Why no Heitinga?

[HalewoodBlue]

 

Why no Heitinga?

 

Prefer Fellaini in there, would prefer Heitinga at centre half but there is no way Jag will be dropped

[Peter H]

 

Prefer Fellaini in there, would prefer Heitinga at centre half but there is no way Jag will be dropped

 

We shouldnt drop Jags, if he puts in one good performance an offer higher that 5 quid might appear from Obsene Wenger

[scouse]

2-0 us Becks and Barkley

[LexKing]

2-0 us Becks and Barkley

 

I think same scorers, if Becks is fit, but we cant keep clean sheet so its 2-1 for us.

 

Howard

Hibbo-Jags-Distin-Baines

Bily/Barkley-Felli-Rodwell-Arteta

Bily/Barkley

Becks/Vic

[Steve_E]

I'm hoping for something like this:

Howard

Neville Heitinga Distin Baines

Arteta Fellaini Barkley Osman

Beckford Saha(/Vic)

[LexKing]

I dont believe that we would start with 2 man upfront. Becks has some knee problems, and from Sahas tweet you can think he aint fit atm. Probably broke his ankle while waiting breakfast from toaster. And even them both were fit, i still dont think Moyes would put them out together from start. But like you said Steve_E its something you hope.

[c1982]

 

Prefer Fellaini in there, would prefer Heitinga at centre half but there is no way Jag will be dropped

 

I prefer Felli centre mid. Heitinga should be playing CB with Jags or Distin.

[cn174]

Welll im missing my first home game in about 7 years cos am watching Wigan at Wembley instead. But Im really not expecting a great deal out of the game. Ignoring our first 5 minutes vs Sheff Wed, we've been pretty awful so far.

Our defence which in previous years has looked ok is now pretty bare without jones and samba (whereever the hell he is) and we can hardly count on roberts to score us any goals. Tho the biggest problem is the utter clown in charge, im not sure how long he needs to stay, and howmany games he can lose then manage to say it was a positive performance, to prove he's a crap manager.

 

I hope we can grab sommat but I think it'll be 2-0 to everton with Saha scoring as always.

[rubecula]

Blackburn are not looking that good but then again neither are we. I hope we can do them in this match, just by the odd goal would be ok, although a good performance would help too.

 

Their lad Formica looks useful and could be a danger.

 

Not predicting score though as my predictions seem to jinx us.

 

Oh by the way Good to see you again cn174 seems a long time since we had the pleasure of your company in here. (In truth it is a while since I visited your forum too.)

Edited August 26, 2011 by Rubecula

[HalewoodBlue]

Welll im missing my first home game in about 7 years cos am watching Wigan at Wembley instead. But Im really not expecting a great deal out of the game. Ignoring our first 5 minutes vs Sheff Wed, we've been pretty awful so far.

Our defence which in previous years has looked ok is now pretty bare without jones and samba (whereever the hell he is) and we can hardly count on roberts to score us any goals. Tho the biggest problem is the utter clown in charge, im not sure how long he needs to stay, and howmany games he can lose then manage to say it was a positive performance, to prove he's a crap manager.

 

I hope we can grab sommat but I think it'll be 2-0 to everton with Saha scoring as always.

 

Switching to egg chasing, things must be bad! Should be a good game that and i will be keeping 1 eye on that game as well as this

[Hafnia]

Radical changes from Davie moyes, 3-5-2, central defensive trio of jags, heitinga and distin, baines and Neville playing as wing backs supporting the midfield trinity of barkley arteta and fellaini. Beckford and Saha up front.

 

5-3 to everton - get in!!!!!

[Avinalaff]

Some links for todays game:

 

http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/

 

VIP BOX - Browser

FIRST ROW - Browser

SPORTLEMON - Browser

SPORTZ-FOR-FREE - Browser

ATDHE - Browser

[marcopaulo]

Everton team to face Blackburn: Howard, Neville, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Heitinga, Arteta, Fellaini, Osman, Barkley, Anichebe.

EFC: Mucha, Beckford, Cahill, Vellios, Hibbert, Baxter, Bilyaletdinov

 

 

Blackburn XI: Robinson, Salgado, Olsson, Samba, Givet, Emerton, Dunn, Pedersen, N'Zonzi, Hoillet, Roberts

 

 

 

typical...samba plays

 

also heitinga in mid again..urgh

 

cahill on the bench though so osman behind the front man with barkley and areta on the wings? i'd rather he played bily on the wing and barkley in the centre with fellaini

Edited August 27, 2011 by marcopaulo

[Avinalaff]

Everton team to face Blackburn: Howard, Neville, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Heitinga, Arteta, Fellaini, Osman, Barkley, Anichebe.

 

Blackburn XI: Robinson, Salgado, Olsson, Samba, Givet, Emerton, Dunn, Pedersen, N'Zonzi, Hoillet, Roberts

 

 

 

typical...samba plays

 

also heitinga in mid again..urgh

 

 

Moyes annoys me sometimes.

 

Hibbert plays his ass off the week after Neville is slated by many, yet is dropped again. Jags gets the nod again despite being shit so far in both games. We play Anichebe on his own?

 

Why not drop Jags, put Heitinga into defence, and play Beckford in a 2 man striking partnership?

[badaids]

not a very reassuring line up, but hoping for the best against a blackburn side with problems of their own. let's kick start our season here

[Hafnia]

 

 

Moyes annoys me sometimes.

 

Hibbert plays his ass off the week after Neville is slated by many, yet is dropped again. Jags gets the nod again despite being shit so far in both games. We play Anichebe on his own?

 

Why not drop Jags, put Heitinga into defence, and play Beckford in a 2 man striking partnership?

 

Agree entirely.

 

About to stick £10 on barkley to score anytime.

[Paul 1300]

Best of luck today

Hope you get a win that will kick start your season and gain confidence