Saturday, September 22, 2012
Boro End Rovers Unbeaten Run
Blackburn Rovers' fans remain unconvinced. Despite remaining top of the Championship following their first defeat of the season at home to Middlesbrough manager Steve Kean has again come under fire for Rovers' poor showing over 90 minutes.
Victory for Rovers would have seen a four point gap open up over a cluster of teams sitting just below them on 13 points but it wasn't to be for the home team and the defeat has just succeeded in opening the taps of vitriol one more time and for the first time this season the chants of Kean Out echoed round Ewood Park.
Fans are still staying away in their thousands. Just over 13,000 turned up last night for the Middlesbrough game, still 10,000 short of Premier League attendances. The record signing of Jordan Rhodes and his spectacular start had given the club something of a boost but the old antagonisms remain bubbling under the surface as witnessed by the cyber schadenfreude that followed this defeat.
The club owners, chicken farmers from India, have stuck doggedly with Kean since relegation, just one bone of many contentions fans have, and the question is are they tiring of backing their man?
Rovers, with all the disquiet going on in the background, have started the season brightly with four wins and two draws in their opening half dozen games but performances have been less than stellar against opposition from mid table or below. Opponents like Barnsley (18th), Ipswich Town (23rd) and Leeds United (14th).
Middlesbrough on the other hand came into the game with nothing to show for their first three games. Yet their win propelled them up to 6th place, just two points behind Blackburn, despite boasting a negative goal difference.
Are Blackburn top because they have found the secret of winning ugly against mediocre teams? Have they just had an easy start to the season? Is the Championship a genuinely weak division?
Six games in is too early to assess the strength or otherwise of the division. A better indicator though of how well Rovers match up against the other teams will come on 3rd October when Rovers travel to Nottingham Forest.
The East Midlands club remain unbeaten and have had some serious investment over the summer. A good result there, coupled with a good performance, may convince a few of the sceptics that there is more to Rovers than doggedness and luck.
Defeat there, and a poor result away to Charlton Athletic next time out and that axe could well be being sharpened.
Victory for Rovers would have seen a four point gap open up over a cluster of teams sitting just below them on 13 points but it wasn't to be for the home team and the defeat has just succeeded in opening the taps of vitriol one more time and for the first time this season the chants of Kean Out echoed round Ewood Park.
Fans are still staying away in their thousands. Just over 13,000 turned up last night for the Middlesbrough game, still 10,000 short of Premier League attendances. The record signing of Jordan Rhodes and his spectacular start had given the club something of a boost but the old antagonisms remain bubbling under the surface as witnessed by the cyber schadenfreude that followed this defeat.
The club owners, chicken farmers from India, have stuck doggedly with Kean since relegation, just one bone of many contentions fans have, and the question is are they tiring of backing their man?
Rovers, with all the disquiet going on in the background, have started the season brightly with four wins and two draws in their opening half dozen games but performances have been less than stellar against opposition from mid table or below. Opponents like Barnsley (18th), Ipswich Town (23rd) and Leeds United (14th).
Middlesbrough on the other hand came into the game with nothing to show for their first three games. Yet their win propelled them up to 6th place, just two points behind Blackburn, despite boasting a negative goal difference.
Are Blackburn top because they have found the secret of winning ugly against mediocre teams? Have they just had an easy start to the season? Is the Championship a genuinely weak division?
Six games in is too early to assess the strength or otherwise of the division. A better indicator though of how well Rovers match up against the other teams will come on 3rd October when Rovers travel to Nottingham Forest.
The East Midlands club remain unbeaten and have had some serious investment over the summer. A good result there, coupled with a good performance, may convince a few of the sceptics that there is more to Rovers than doggedness and luck.
Defeat there, and a poor result away to Charlton Athletic next time out and that axe could well be being sharpened.
# posted by Me @ 1:49 PM 
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