Chelsea vs. Blackburn Rovers

**Mondy** · 08-27-2003, 03:59 AM

The Venue :

Stamford Bridge Football Stadium. London. U.K.

The Date :

Saturday, 30th August, 2003.

The Time :

3:00 p.m. Kick Off

The Occasion :

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers

Some History :

In the summer, Chelsea bought Blackburn Rover's highly rated Irish winger, Damien Duff for the sum of £17m as part of Roman Abramovich's new empire. This is the first time that Damien Duff will face his old club, where he came through the youth ranks, and was a fans favourite.

Blackburn Rovers started the season with a 5-1 thrashing of Wolves, then they typically drew 2-2 away to local rivals Bolton Wanderers. In their most recent game, they went down 3-2 at Home to Manchester City in a very indifferent display.

Chelsea have spent around £100m on new players following the takeover of billionaire tycoone Roman Abramovich. They have made a solid start to the season with 2-1 wins away at Liverpool and at home to Leicester as well as sweeping away their oponents in the Champions League qualifiers.

Mondola's Predictions :

I reckon Blackburn Rovers are gonna get stuffed, I am afraid. If so, it will be the first time I have ever seen them lose ! [img]images/smilies/icon_cry.gif[/img]

Your Predictions ?

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**Mondy** · 08-27-2003, 03:14 PM

Hmm, no football fans here eh ?

Maybe that's where I am going wrong. [img]images/smilies/headscratch.gif[/img]

Nah, bugger it, that can't be right ! COME ON YOU B-L-U-E-S !!!

**Mondy** · 09-01-2003, 12:30 AM

Final Score : Chelsea 2 - 2 Blackburn Rovers

I got totally fubarred, but enjoyed myself singing, "What a waste of money" over and over again at all of the Rovers players.

Favourite Chant ?

"You'll always be a Rover" Everytime Damien Duff gave the ball away.

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wahwah · 09-03-2003, 10:04 AM

Last local gig this Friday Mondola...then I give up on you! The Standard, Walthamstow, London, E17.

**Mondy** · 09-04-2003, 12:41 AM

Skint as a skint bastard mate !

Just can't be done for a while I'm afraid !

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You have a great one ! [img]images/smilies/rock.gif[/img]

Plus, when I see you again, I want to see you with my brother(s) and friends. Ya know, Van Halen fans !

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**Mondy** · 09-05-2003, 01:43 AM

2004 Qualifiers this weekend, so there's no club football.

England will be playing Macedonia on Saturday. We have an injury-hit squad, so Everton striker Wayne Rooney may well start. Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerard, and Manchester City winger Trevor Sinclair are out, as is Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes. Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham faces a late fitness test, so we're really relying on the experience from other players, and the goals from Liverpool striker Michael Owen to pull us through !

May be a blessing in disguise. Let's hope the boys do the business...

Three Lions On A shirt...
Jewels Rime Still Gleaming...
30 Years Have Hurt...
Never Stopped Me Dreaming...

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wahwah · 09-06-2003, 01:43 AM

Come on ENGERLANDDDDDD! I'm a Boro fan for me sins...you have to support where you're from in my book (sadly!)

**Mondy** · 09-08-2003, 12:17 AM

Never a truer word wahwah !

There's only one criteria you use for which team you will support - geography ! You find the nearest one to where you were born, and then support 'em !

Funnily enough, I have Middlesbrough as my team in a Premiership Pontoon game that I am organising. Bloody Blackburn Rovers have been the first team to win the pot so far this season ! [img]images/smilies/icon_rant.gif[/img]

England match wasn't too bad at all. Let's hope they manage to win again on Wednesday night !

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**Mondy** · 09-15-2003, 10:02 AM

Been a bit slack on the updating of this thread. Ah well, there's not that many people really interested in it anyway...

England update

England managed to beat both Macedonia and Liechtenstein in order to get enough points to put them into a very healthy position. They now need to go to Turkey and get a draw which will give them one point, which will be enough for them to win their group and gain automatic progress to the European 2004 Championships in Portugal. Should they lose, they may come second and would have to go into play offs.

However, with our bad history of hooligans and the violence associated with them, the English F.A. have turned down their allocation of tickets for this potentially explosive encounter, and have told England fans to stay away. However, England fans were told to stay away from the other away qualifier, yet 500 fans still turned up.

Experts are predicting that fans will still turn up in Istanbul, Turkey, by the thousands. Newspaper reports have shown how easy it is for English fans to obtain tickets to the game, and the Turkish F.A. has announced that there will be no segregation of fans.

Should there be any serious trouble, then England stand the real possibility of being booted out of the Competition because of their fans behaviour. Not only would this be an embarassing situation for the F.A., it could also mean the financial ruin of the English F.A. which would be relying on ticket sales from the Championship for much needed funds.

Only time will tell what will happen out there next month...

Blackburn Rovers update

Well, we lost 3-1 to Liverpool at home this weekend. A terrible result for us, but we still remain in the top half of the Premiership table (just). However, the result was marred for the Liverpool by the fact that two of their players got seriously injured from tackles by Blackburn players.

Liverpool striker Baros got tackled fairly by Blackburn defender Markus Babble. There was nothing wrong with the challengs, but Baros fell awkwardly and broke his ankle and had to be stretchered off. Ironically, Markus Babbel is on loan at Blackburn from Liverpool, and used to sit next to Baros in the Liverpool dressing room. So he was quite distraught at the end of the match.

Blackburn Defender Lucas Neil performed a horror tackle on Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. This earned him a red card, an instant sending off. Jamie Carragher was also stretchered off the pitch and it was later confirmed that he had sustained a broken leg and will be out of the game for 6 months.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has publicly condemned Lucas Neil, saying that it was a coward's tackle.

Hopefully we will be able to get a better result away to Portsmouth this weekend...

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**Mondy** · 09-19-2003, 02:36 AM

Time for another update.

Liverpool Shenannigans

It's really hotted up recently, what with Gerrard Houllier (Liverpool Manager) calling Lucas Neill's (Blackburn Rovers defender) tackle on Jamie Carragher (Liverpool Defender) "cowardly".

Graham Sounness (Blackburn Rovers manager) hit back saying that Gerard Houllier had never played at the very highest level, so he wouldn't fully understand tackling.

Gerard Houllier responded angrily and suggested that Lucas Neil was not a gentleman. He also questioned Graham Souness feelings towards Liverpool.

Lucas Neill has issued a statement saying that he is sorry for Jamie Carragher, but he is not sorry he made the tackle. He says that he went for the ball, and that he will always go for the ball. In this case he was late, the challenge was reckless, and he deserved to be sent off. However, he states that the current row over this tackle will not make him shy away from tackles in the future. He says that he will still be committed, he will still go for 50/50 tackles, and he will continue to do so for the good of the team.

Graham Sounness has said that he is puzzled by Gerrard Houlliers response because he was polite to him after the game. He says that the first he heard of Jamie breaking his leg was on Sunday. He can't understand why Gerard is being like he is and why he has said some of the things that he has. He states that he has no ill-feeling towards Liverpool, in fact, because he played there for so many years, he says that his best years and memories in football will be associated with the club. He is now looking for an apology from Gerard Houllier.

On top of this, when Graham Sounness was manager of Liverpool, he sacked the now assisstant coach, a cause for more bad blood between Sounness and Houllier.

Also, the Managers Association has stepped in and said that the two Managers should behave like gentlemen and are prepared to step in should they need to.

I can't see either of them backing down, so it looks like it will just fuel the fires of dislike between the two.

This Weekend's Fixtures

Blackburn are away to Portsmouth. After losing 3-1 to Liverpool, we'll be looking for a good win. However, Portsmouth are riding high at the moment, and their veteran striker, 37 Year Old Teddy Sheringham, is scoring for fun at the moemnt. It will not be an easy game at all ! I pray we get a good result, because we are slipping away at the moment. I type this whilst wearing my Blackburn Rovers top, and kiss the badge for good luck [img]images/smilies/icon_thumb.gif[/img]

Manchester United meet Arsenal on the weekend. Both were involved in Champions League duty on the weekend. Manchester United won their game 5-0, Arsenal lost their game 3-0. Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger has vowed that Arsenal will take out their frustration on Manchester United. So it stands to be a great game.

But, as one of my friends, a Tottenham Hotspur supporter said, "Both of these Football Teams are scum, so lets just hope for a high injury count !"

I can't wait for kick off !!!

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**Mondy** · 09-20-2003, 09:27 AM

Blackburn won 2-1 !!! Guess who scored the first goal ?

Lucas bloody Neill !!!

Last week villain [img]images/smilies/icon_evil.gif[/img], this week hero [img]images/smilies/icon_bowdown.gif[/img]

Up to 9th in the table on 8 points. It could be worse I suppose !

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**Mondy** · 09-27-2003, 03:40 PM

Blackburn Rovers didn't play on Saturday, as they Host Fulham on Sunday.

However, Arsenal beat Newcastle United 3-2 on Friday night to stay top. Manchester United replied to the disgraceful scenes involving the physical abuse of Van Nistelrooy during the 0-0 draw between Arsenal and Manchester United by beating Leicester 4-1 at home thus keeping up the pressure on Arsenal.

Van Nistelrooy, who was at the centre of cheating and getting Arsenal's Patrick Viera sent off, thus prompting the abuse he suffered at the end of the match, scored a hat-trick (3 goals in a match), which earned me shit loads of points as I have him in my Fantasy Football League team !

But, amazingly, Middlesbrough managed to beat Southampton. This will please wahwah, and myself, as I have Middlesbrough in my Premiership Pontoon at work.

Let's hope for a win for Blackburn Rovers today, after the dissapointing 3-1 defeat in the Uefa Cup. Gary Flitcroft and Barry Ferguson return to the side. They will be welcomed.

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**Mondy** · 09-28-2003, 03:22 PM

Bloody Hell !

Fulham came to frustrate us, and hit us on the break. They did this well ! I didn't see the full game, only the highlights. However, it seemed ene to end stuff.

Only difference being that when they broke, they scored. We didn't take our chances.

Andy Cole missed. Well, he chipped the 'keeper but hit the woodwork. Brett Emerton's rasping shot was saved. David Thompson shot wide, and Krespo's free kick was well saved.

All I have to say about the result, is why did we buy Lorenzo Amorouso ? [img]images/smilies/headscratch.gif[/img] [img]images/smilies/icon_confused.gif[/img] In all the goals I have seen us concede, he is at fault nearly every time. [img]images/smilies/icon_doh.gif[/img]

HE IS THE WEAKEST LINK !!! [img]images/smilies/icon_rant.gif[/img]

Roll on next week, when we travel to Leeds who haven't scored in their last 3 matches. Also, we haven't won in our last 3 home matches, so it's a blessing that we are playing away !

**Mondy** · 10-16-2003, 09:04 AM

Well, it's all gone a bit Pete Tong (wrong) for Blackburn Rovers at the moment.

Although playing fairly well, we just can't seem to score, or defend, so we're on a bad losing streak.

Just got dumped out of the UEFA Cup last night. Our defence is so injured at the moment that we had to recall Andy Todd from playing in the first division. We have long term injuries to Markus Babbel and Craig Short, Lorenzo Amorouso is still settling in and the only reliable defender out there is Gresko.

On top of this, Andy Cole cricked his neck getting out of bed. This meant that we had to rely on Corrado (Ciccio) Grabbi up front, a striker who has only scored 2 goals since he has been at the club; and Matt Jansen, who is still regaining confidence and sharpness following his recovery from a Coma caused by a motorcycle crash.

So, goals were hard to come by, though the chances weren't. Chance after chance was wasted last night, but eventually Matt Jansen put the hardest chance of all into the back of the net. This was after Matt Jansen had put wide, Corrado Grabbi had put wide (he was substituted just after half time), and David Thompson had hit the bar a few times.

We were now 3-2 down on aggregate, needing another goal to go through to the next round. After this, manager Graeme Souness decided to take off Gresko and put on Dino Baggio. This meant that Stephen Reid had to drop back in defence. Reid tried to play the ball out of defence, got caught in posession, and the ball was swept into the back of the net.

Now we needed two goals just to take the match into extra time ! Unfortunately, we put wide a few more times, and David Thompson crashed a free kick against the bar.

We could have done with the win in order to build up confidence, regardless of whether we would go through to the next round or not. But a 1-1 draw meaning a 4-2 loss on aggregate means we are still chasing that much needed win.

On Monday, we face Charlton Athletic in The Premiership, so hopefully, the boys can work on the training ground on sorting the defence out and getting in some shooting practice. Hopefully, Andy Cole will have recovered in order to spearhead our attack once again.

Can't wait until Craig Short comes back from injury, and Lucas Neill serves his suspensions for his red card. I think that will bring a much needed stability to the defence !

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**Mondy** · 12-04-2003, 12:39 AM

Well, we haven't won for ages, and find ourselves at the wrong end of the table. Our run of results has been :

Blackburn Rovers 0 - 1 Charlton Athletic
Southampton 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers
Leicester City 2 -0 Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers 2 - 1 Everton
Manchester United 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers <===== We were fuckin' ROBBED !!!
Blackburn Rovers 1 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur

Why are we so shite ? [img]images/smilies/dunno.gif[/img]

Well, there's a few reasons. Our strikers couldn't hit a barn door from 20 metres and our defenders aren't, well.....defending !!!!

Frustrating as hell !!! [img]images/smilies/icon_rant.gif[/img]

But at least we are out of the relegation zone (bottom three).

I still maintain that we have been playing well, we just need to convert our possession into goals and stop being so leaky at the back !

Away to Birmingham City on the weekend, so it's the first time that former favourite, David Dunn will face Rovers in his new Birmingham City side. They have made themselves very hard to beat recently and are high up the table. So it will be a difficult game...

----------------P--W-D-L--F---A---GD--Pt
Chelsea-----14-11-2-1-28--9--+19--35
Arsenal------14-10-4-0-28-10-+18--34
Man-Utd-----14-10-1-3-25-9--+16--31
Fulham-------14--6-4-4-24-18--+6--22
Charlton-----14--6-4-4-20-17--+3--22
Liverpool-----14--6-3-5-21-15--+6--21
Newcastle---14--5-5-4-20-19--+1--20
Birmingham--14--5-5-4-12-14---2---20
Man-City-----14--5-3-6-22-19--+3--18
Middlesbro'---14--5-3-6-12-15---3--18
Bolton---------14--4-6-4-13-19---6--18
Southampton-14--4-5-5-10--9--+1--17
Leicester------14--4-3-7-22-22---0--15
Portsmouth---14--4-3-7-17-20---3--15
Tottenham----14--4-3-7-13-18---5--15
Blackburn---14--4-2-8-19-24---5--14
Aston-Villa----14--3-5-6-11-17---6--14
Everton-------14--3-4-7-15-19---4--13
Wolves--------14--2-5-7--9-27--18--11
Leeds-Utd-----14--3-2-9-12-33--21--11

Where :
<ul type="square">[*]P = Games Played[*]W = Games Won[*]D = Games Drawn[*]L = Games Lost (Blackburn are doing particularly well in this department)[*]F = Goals Scored (For)[*]A = Goals Conceded (Against)[*]GD = Goal Difference (F - A)[*]Pt = Points accumulated so far (3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss)[/list]
You won't believe how long it took me to type this post....

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