The Rovers Return

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David Dunn scores Rovers' first.

What a result.

Granted, Bolton were shocking, just awful, but two goals, a clean sheet and three points later, Rovers now sit in 11th place, just one point off the top half of the Premier League.

Indeed, if we take a point at Fulham on Wednesday night in our game in hand, we go above Burnley and into 10th place.

Back to the game, and we dominated from start to finish. Ending the away match-losing streak in style.

David Dunn’s goal was one of the best team goals you are likely to see. Robbo catching the Bolton cross, before releasing Di Santo with a superb throw. Dunn, in the meantime, set off running from the edge of the Rovers box, and Di Santo passed to Roberts on the edge of the box. With his back to goal, Roberts held off the defence, while Dunn continued his run. At the perfect moment, Roberts played it just in front of Dunn, who sublimely slotted the ball into the top corner. Fantastic. A real joy to watch.

The second was also a joy to watch, but for obvious different reasons. One of those huge slices of luck that hardly ever happens to us. As a lack of communication saw Jaaskelainen come running out of his box while Sam Ricketts headed it back into an empty net! Read more »

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Benni McCarthy scores against Bolton at Ewood in January.

As we continue to run, as fast as we can, from the perilous month that was October, tomorrow’s televised derby at Bolton is absolutely huge.

As well as local bragging rights, this match represents a real opportunity for us to take massive strides towards a safe position in the league.

Three points will see us rise from 15th (we’ve dropped a place today by not playing) to 11th, level on points with Stoke, who we see at Ewood next weekend.

On the flip side, a win for Bolton would see them move above us by a point, Rovers dropping to 16th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone – but let’s not think about that!

The form book reflects very favourably on us. Unbeaten in five against the Wanderers, and unbeaten since the last eight visits to the Breezeblock… Read more »

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Sam Allarydyce.

Sam Allardyce will miss Rovers’ next three matches, including the return to his former club Bolton, to undergo coronary surgery.

Apparently he reported chest pains last week, due to a narrowing of an artery, so he’s off to get that fixed.

It will be interesting to see how much free rein Neil McDonald gets in Allardyce’s absence…

The Rovers Return wishes Sam Allardyce a speedy recovery, and I’m sure he’ll be watching!

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Training with MK Dons? Rovers legend Tugay

I haven’t seen it anywhere else yet, but Tribal Football has said Tugay is training with MK Dons, and has been offered a coaching contract by manager Paul Ince.

Would be a strange one in my view.

I was under the impression that Tugay had gone to City to do some coaching for Mark Hughes. But it would appear that never happened.

I’m hoping that, when he does get his coaching badges, he’ll be offered a contract at Rovers, where he is still a hero and would be welcomed with open arms.

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That’s right. I have it on good authority…

Okay, so I have no proof to back up this outlandish statement. But it seems obvious to me that there’s some jiggery-pokery going on before cup draws, especially when they reach their later stages.

The FA will obviously prefer to see the ‘Big Four’ reaching the later rounds, and preferably meeting each other in the final. And surely it’s no coincidence that the draws tend to see them avoiding each other…

This all sounds like the bitter ramblings of a man who’s team has just been drawn against a Chelsea side that hammered them 5-0 recently. And to some extent, yes, that’s it.

But I maintain that, with eight teams in the draw, three of which come from the Big Four – Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea – yet none of them draw each other:

United v Spurs
Portsmouth v Villa
Rovers v Chelsea
Man City v Arsenal Read more »

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Let’s see if I can get another new song played at Ewood… This one’s not as awful as the other one either!

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Jason Roberts slots home Rovers' third.

Credit where it’s due. I, along with a large majority of Rovers fans, was having a right go at Sam Allardyce while huddling for warmth at half time at Ewood on Saturday.

One up front and 1-0 down while playing absolutely terribly, things were looking bleak.

Then Big Sam made one of the most attacking tactical changes he’s probably ever made. Removing the very much below par Pedersen and Diouf and throwing on Jason Roberts and Benni McCarthy proved to be a master stroke as Rovers dominated the second half having been extremely poor in the first.

Jason Roberts has come in for plenty of stick this season and he answered his critics in the best possible way. Yes, they were easy finishes, but he got himself into the right positions to give Rovers the equaliser and then sealed the win with the third after a wonderful link up with Benni. Read more »

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Benni McCarthy could be heading for the exit.

I like Benni McCarthy, but I do think he’s past his best. Unfortunately, when Franco Di Santo leaves, he’s about the best we’ve got, unless Nikola Kalinic turns out to be any good…

In spite of this, it appears Big Sam doesn’t rate him and will allow him to leave in January, that’s if anyone will stump up the £3.5m we want for him!

I don’t mind him going. He deserves first team football and he’s not looking likely to get that at Ewood. However, I don’t him to end up at Burnley, Bolton or Wigan.

As long as he disappears to a side that doesn’t have any local rivalry with Rovers, I’ll be satisfied. Hopefully Sam will be able to use the cash to bring in some sort of replacement, which we will definitely need if Di Santo does go back to Chelsea.

In other. slightly more distressing news. As Aston Villa continue to prove they aren’t actually that great yet, they threw away another game in the dying moments, losing 2-1 to West Ham at Upton Park.

That result sees The Irons climb out of the relegation zone and above us in the table, pushing us down to 18th!

This adds to the importance of Pompey on Saturday. Three points are desperately needed!

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Had an email from Stuart Glendinning of Tru Supporter. You may or may not remember me posting about this venture before here and here.

Dear Rovers fans

Just to let you know that we will be filming Rovers fans again this Saturday.  We’ll be at The Fox and Hounds from about 11.30 filming fans there before the Portsmouth game and we’ll be at The Aqueduct after the game.

For those of you that have already been filmed – it would be great to see you again as I need to get some written stories.  If you can spare me 5 or 10 mins that would be greatly appreciated – I’ll do the writing I just need to capture a story or two that we didn’t talk about on film.  Incidentally the videos are looking good – the passion for Rovers shines through.

Naturally we are keen to film more fans on Saturday.  There are some on this distribution list that couldn’t make it last time – hopefully we can see you on Saturday.
Also maybe you’d be kind enough to mention to some friends or relatives that support Rovers that they should come along. We have already captured some great memories but it is undoubtedly the case that the more that participate, the more stories, the more interesting the website. Read more »

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