Apparently there are no such things as "6 pointers" in football because at the end of the day, each match can really only be worth 3, however, I don't think it's stretching the truth to say that our next 2 or 3 games could become season defining. Win and we'll be feeling relatively safe in mid-table obscurity or maybe even casting a tiny hint at a late play-off push. Lose and the specter of a a very real relegation battle yet again will be looming large in our minds. Tonight sees the rarity of us playing a side currently worse off in the table than we are in the form of Blackburn Rovers. After what seemed to be a steady start for the Lancastrians, their season has gone off the boil and being just 5 points above the drop zone, their minds will no doubt be fully focused on trying to drag teams like our own fully into the mix. They do however still have the 'distraction' of the FA cup and a home tie v Newcastle to come too, so hopefully that will be enough to take their minds off the job tonight. Last time out saw Bluebirds slip to 1-0 defeat in a tight game that the City edged on chances but as with so many games this season, our hosts at the time only needed 1 shot in target to pick up the maximum points. The goal itself was semi-controversial with it possibly being offside and with us also having a goal harshly ruled out for offside it was just another one of those ‘bad days at the office’ that we seem to have plenty of nowadays. Agonisingly we have just 1 win in our last 10 games v Rovers home or away in the league and have taken some heavy defeats in that time too. That single win was our corresponding fixture last season which saw us triumph with a 1-0 score-line, but you then need to go back to 2016 for our last victory over what has become a bit of a bogey side for us. Bulut's Bulletin It never rains but it pours eh? No sooner do we get our key playmaker in chief Aaron Ramset back than he gets crocked in training again. Seemingly ruled out for at least 10 days or so, he is awaiting results of a scan on a calf injury and so will be missing from tonight's squad. It's likely that Meite is also still out with the same injury (calf) and Callum O'Dowda remains sidelined. Worries remain over Perry Ng and his hip issues and Callum Robinson appears to have fallen off the face of the earth too, so numbers are pretty thin once again with the squad overall. I'd anticipate Davie Turnbull coming back in after an insipid display by the midfield away at Norwich on the weekend and the back 4 is likely to pick itself (Ng if fit, Romeo if not, Goutas, Phillips, Collins) but outside of that it really is anyone's guess right now as Erol looks to arrest an alarming run of form that, were it not for our early points haul would undoubtedly see us struggling towards the bottom of the table. Indeed, our current form is so poor over the last 6 that we are bottom 3 in that particular segment of games. Grim reading and something that the team really need to address, hopefully starting tonight with even Erol stating that the team owe the fans a performance. What Are The Odds On That? It's Blackburn at home - say no more..... Well I Never Did you know, at tonight's game the Club are supporting LGBTQ+ History Month with Football v Homophobia, who continue to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels of football. Personally I'd much rather see us with a WWWWW+ record than LGBTQ+, but all joking aside, it's important to understand your identity, I think maybe that's why we're in crisis right now as we don't seem to have one!! Sharing The Love As per previous 2nd matches, the pickings get a little slimmer for this section, especially whilst trying to avoid players that have featured on other match threads too, so, this time out we have a bit of a Welsh hero with an unfortunate name a loan midfield player and a loan goalkeeper who had a very uneventful spell with us... Mike England His career began at Blackburn Rovers, and he quickly gained a reputation as an uncompromising central defender. Lifting the FA Youth Cup as he emerged through the ranks at Ewood Park, England eventually made the move to Spurs for £95,000 in the summer of 1966. Although qualifying for the finals of a major tournament with Wales eluded him as a player and a manager, England claimed four major honours with Tottenham Hotspur, lifting the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup up in 1971 and 1973, and the UEFA Cup in 1972. Surprisingly, his time as Wales manager was the only management position that England ever held. Awarded the MBE for his services to football, England also made a significant contribution as a player in America with the Seattle Sounders. “Coming to Seattle was one of the best decisions I ever made,” said England in 2015. However, his time at Seattle was plagued by an ankle injury which prompted his retirement, but a call from City team boss Andrews then persuaded him to make a comeback and he played through the 1975-76 season as the Bluebirds earned promotion. He scored one goal, against Halifax. He went on to manage Wales for eight years between 1979 – 1987 and earning some success, including a 4-1 win against England, but afterwards he stepped back from football and retired to North Wales with second wife Marilyn. His 'Mike England Timber Company' was established in October 1969 jointly by the former international player and manager with his next-door neighbour, sales representative John Hardman. Liam Feeney Joining on loan from this weekend’s visitors in August 2017, Feeney joined the Bluebirds on loan until 1 January 2018. He made his debut at Fulham on 9 September, coming on to set up Danny Ward for the equaliser in a 1–1 draw. His loan was extended at the request of Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock but despite some useful contributions the club didn’t pursue his signature thereafter. He was released by Blackburn at the end of the 2017–18 season, going on to sign for Blackpool in August 2018 on an initial two-year contract. Jason Brown The curious case of Jason Brown… he joined the Bluebirds on loan in March 2011 as cover for the club with injuries to both regular goalkeepers David Marshall and Tom Heaton. However, the following day, Stephen Bywater also joined on loan, and kept Brown out of the side, but despite not making an appearance during his initial spell, Cardiff decided to extend his loan until the end of the season. After returning to Blackburn at the end of his spell he joined Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen on a free transfer in July 2011. Brown retired from playing at the end of the 2014–15 season to take up the goalkeeping coach position at former club Gillingham in the summer of 2015. However, he left the club soon after to assume the role of a goalkeeping coach at Arsenal Ladies. This was followed by a move to Thai side Air Force Central as goalkeeping coach where he became caretaker manager in June 2018. The appointment was made permanent shortly afterwards, with Brown signing a contract until 2019, but he was unable to prevent the team's relegation to Thai League 2. He has also previously worked as a goalkeeping coach with the Bangladesh and Vietnam national teams. So, can we make our visitors feel the burn and finally find our way to 3 points? Will Blackburn put us in a black mood or will Fammy's famine finish as he finds the net with a flourish?? Or can Turnbull turn in a masterclass and inspire us to victory??? All I know is, even my positivity is starting to wane so the signs aren't great, but we'll all stick with it because that's what we do.... through thick and thin or rain and shine, to be a Bluebird is just divine. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!!!!!!!!! \0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/
Thanks Brizzle. The team may be in a slump but your threads continue to be top of the league. It really is important for the team to play for the shirt tonight and to give the long suffering home fans some cheer. One way or another, there'll no doubt be more talk about Bulut after tonight, but let's be behind him and his team until then. Blooooooobirds
I'm having an IT nightmare tonight so only have the BBC stats to go on. On that basis it looks an improvement. (Kiss of death)
Ok, plus side, we've stopped the run of defeats AND kept a clean sheet. Downside, where the hell are we going to find goals from???? Blackburn's form wasn't much better than our own so to come out having played better/been more dangerous isn't a particularly difficult thing to have achieved. Glass half empty tonight. Another point towards safety I suppose.
Yep it now sounds pretty abysmal. Still, the rot halted and without Ng and Rambo. He has to keep it positive for the weekend now. Blooooooobirds
Stats suggest we were the better side for the majority. According to ex-Bluebird Tommy Smith on Sky, apart from a 10 minute spell where Blackburn came into it, we were a little better/brighter... Is it time to play Grant through the middle maybe??? Can't do any worse than every other striker we have tried... Hell, I'd even give Colwill a go again up there. Can we bring back Zak Davies????
I thought we were much better first half. They didn't threaten us at all. Second half we started brightly with their keeper making a couple of good saves, Grant firing a free kick just over the bar and Goutas should have at least made their keeper work with a free header. But...... after that we struggled, couldn't find the outlets we had before and just back peddled. They brought on 3 subs to give them fresh legs. What did we do? Swapped Tanner for Bowler - made no difference at all. Turnbull and Diedhiou came on after 75 minutes and you hardly noticed they were there, Diedhiou in particular. He could be worse than Ugbo. I never accused Ugbo of being there just for the money. Diedhiou???? Why leave it so late to freshen things up? We had Ralls and the lad from Man City who could have come on and given our midfield some energy. I have to question our fitness regime. Do we have one? Do they do any training to enable them to play 90 minutes plus? Almost to a man, Goutas and Phillips apart, they all looked shattered after an hour or so and were chasing shadows. A better opponent would have left us for dead with 15 to 20 minutes to go. I hope we see Ng start on Saturday. Ralls and Turnbull must be in consideration for midfield. I hope Colwill and Grant are fit. They were our most effective players in the first hour and we need them to repeat against Stoke, but for longer.
The less said about that the better. Leaving aside player quality, that was another clear indication that the management of them is not Championship standard. Against a struggling side the starting 11 was all wrong - it was obvious after the first 15 minutes. Etete was lightweight and was getting thrown about, Bowler's one footed game was obvious, and both were still on the pitch well past the hour. Changing like for like in Tanner/Bowler - Diedhiou/Etete - Turnbull/Colwill is the mark of management devoid of any tactical variation. The game plan needed changing as well as the players. Colwill was the high spot and the £2M spent on Turnbull is wasted with him on the bench in favour of Wintle. Colwill and Turnbull would have been a far more dynamic midfield pairing especially against a poor Blackburn side. For me, Bulut has had it. He's lost and out of his Turkish comfort zone in probably the most competitive division of football in the world. I don't blame him for taking the job, but his time is likely up.
It'll highlight the lack of direction at the top once more. We'll lurch in a different direction, with a new manager, wanting different players. No progress, more money down the drain. Most of the teams that have passed us on the way up have footballing nous in the board room. Several doing better than us with far less. For all the Swans moaning about the yanks siphoning off money and not investing, I dont think that is happening, and I dont think lack of funds is the issue, they are probably suffering from the same as us. No footballing nous in the boardroom.
