Blackburn Rovers – August, September & October.

As can be seen from the fixture list below, our pre-season went well. Our only loss was to Manchester United, which is understandable. However, my worry was the fact that we didn’t manage any clean sheets except versus Accrington Stanley…

We have not kept any clean sheets since our match against Accrington Stanley. They say if you don’t concede, you can’t lose – unfortunately we haven’t had the chance to benefit from this old saying just yet.

Our first match of the new season was against David Moyes’ Everton. With Everton, you’re guaranteed an organised opposition who will definitely guarantee you a run for your money.

As you can see, we were down to 9 men within the first 30 minutes of the match. Fortunately for us though, we kept fighting and found ourselves 2-1 up at one point. However, Everton did eventually make a final push and steal all three points. Was I gutted about the result? Yes, of course I was. However, as can be seen from the stats on the right, the performance wasn’t too bad considering we were two men down against a very good Everton side.

Next, we were away at Norwich. Chris Houghton is another superb manager, and there was no doubt that Norwich were going to be tough at Carrow Road.

I would have taken a draw prior to the start of the game, however after seeing our performance, I was disappointed not to take all three points. Another game where our goals came from one of our wing backs. A point however was a positive result and if it wasn’t for Norwich’s Ryan Bennett being extremely solid at the back, the final result could have been different. The same couldn’t be said about our defence though.

Our next game was in the Capital One Cup, against Cardiff. How on earth we lost this match, I will never know.

Dire defending for a few seconds made eighty nine minutes of superb football go to waste. We should have finished the game off or at least gotten the draw several times, however it simply wasn’t meant to be. Very disappointed to be knocked out of the Capital One Cup so early against what was a weak Cardiff side.

Next were Roberto Martinez’s Wigan.

Wigan are always one of those bogey teams. They either do really well against you, or you demolish them. Fortunately for me, I demolished them. We still couldn’t keep a clean sheet despite the domination, and I was starting to ask questions of both my defence & Jordan Rhodes… fortunately for me though, Rochina was still on fire in a league above.

Our next game was away at Mark Hughes’ QPR. QPR were flying in the league prior to this match, if I remember correctly I believe they were 5th. It was an important game for us, which we made our mark on.

I wasn’t too disheartened about conceding two goals in this match, because QPR played well. However, failure to keep a clean sheet once again was getting problematic.

Aston Villa, another tough encounter.

A draw was a fair result, especially considering we only had ten men. However it was disappointing that we let Pizarro grab what was a soft goal to equal the scoreline.

Up next were the defending champions – Manchester City. We got demolished.

The fans were disappointed, but realistically, it wasn’t a big deal in my eyes.

Next up we were at home against Newcastle. A strong team with Papiss Demba Cisse & Demba Ba up front. However, we took the game to them. Jordan Rhodes was still goalless, but Scott Sinclair did the job as a super sub!

Our final game of October was versus Andres Villas Boas’ Tottenham Hotspur side.

It was a tough game were both defences were as bad as each other! Jason Lowe came back into the side and made an impact, it’s just a shame we cannot defend.

This is what the league looks like:

A solid 10th is something I won’t complain about. However, I WILL complain about conceding 16 goals so far, especially when we play five at the back.

Our next run of 6 games are Fulham, Stoke, West Ham, Leicester, Derby & Southampton. All of which are winnable games in my opinion. Hopefully Jordan Rhodes’ morale can sort itself out and he can start finding the back of the net, I feel sorry for the bloke!

Oh yes, another thing:

Apparently I only brought him in on loan for 3 months? I’m gutted! He was a class playmaker… I might try bringing him back in January since he enjoyed it here at Blackburn so much.

That concludes it for now, a strong start I would say, especially considering we are a promoted side. I am worried after the departure of Verratti that our midfield might slightly weaken, however only time will tell.

Thanks for reading & comments are much appreciated as always!