COLUMNIST KEN BUCKLEY

From my seat: Blackburn (H)

By Ken Buckley :  20/09/2009 :  Comments (18) :

After Thursdays walk in the park the manager made three changes with Heitinga, Saha, and Osman replacing Gosling, Jo and Bilyaletdinov who has now cemented his place as a true Blue top player by being ‘out injured’!. Blackburn are never easy for the Blues and with Allerdyce in charge there was always going to be a battle to win before quality could shine through and so it proved today.

We started on the front foot and a Pienaar Baines link up got Heitinga in but in putting his shot high wide and handsome he proved his shooting is on a par with Hibbert. Then just a few minutes later the excellent Pienaar spotted Osman’s run and fed him in only for his goal bound effort to be deflected narrowly wide. Then in Blackburn’s first attack Samba headed on to Diouf, who was later to have a confrontation with a young ball boy would you believe, hit the bar.

This spurred the Blues on, and on the twenty minute mark a well worked attack down the left was interrupted by a foul and Baines whipped in a low free kick and the ever mobile Saha gleefully side-footed home much to the delight of those assembled. The half continued with Blackburn favouring the bombardment route and Roberts with a strong physical presence giving our defence cause to be on their toes. Fellaini who was ever prominent in his box to box role was fed in on the right side of goal but his effort was out of keeping with the rest of his work.

The rest of the half saw the Blues play much the better football, much of which was joined up and the odd hoof was more of a ball to turn their defenders with a player running on rather than a ‘nowhere else to go ball’. 1-0 at the break and we were looking more settled but after last week at the Cottage some of us wondered how we would approach the second period.

As last week the jitters returned when early on Diouf had a cross parried by Howard and Dunn set up Andrews for a shot which Howard did well to parry away and his clearance was hooked to safety. The game then deteriorated in to a bit of a scrappy affair which was as much to do with referee Lee Mason as the players, he was continually blowing his whistle when others would have allowed advantage and generally being over officious even almost insisting on which blade of grass a free-kick should be taken from.

Good refs make the odd blunder but this one seemed poor and not up to such physical but mainly fair encounters much to the frustration of players and fans alike. Before the hour mark the Blues banished any further resistance from both Blackburn and the ref. First when Fellaini made another good run and was fed near the right corner, although in a tight situation he found a little space and put in a good cross that found Saha between his markers and in true Andy Gray fashion headed it back from where it had come and the ball nestled in the corner with Robinson stranded and the ground bouncing.

Just three minutes later it was party time as we gained a corner which Baines swung in and Saha got his head to it and the ball went to the far post where the lurking Yobo prodded home and celebrated big style with team mates and fans alike.

The Blues were now well in command and the football played showed a team in control but without undue exertion to add to the score. Fellaini and Pienaar had shots that were either saved by the keeper or blocked, Rodwell continued to dominate mid-field and on 70mins Jo replaced Saha and looked lively without promising too much.

The manager then withdrew Cahill and put Hibbert to right-back with Heitinga in midfield and Fellaini pushed on. This move demonstrated to me the talent of Rodwell as it was he who continued to orchestrate and give Heitinga an easy ride when many would think it may have been the other way around.

Blackburn were now spent and managed just one shot of venom that the alert Howard dealt with capably, Diouf was booked for a foul on Fellaini much to the crowds delight, Gosling was given 10mins in place of Osman and even with three minutes of injury time all 35,000 were relaxed and enjoyed giving the players a standing ovation at the whistle, the applause was split between appreciation for the display and relief at being out of what ‘Sky’ call the ‘Drop zone’. Overall I thought our team seems to be settling and I just wondered was it today that our season starts.

I thought today Yobo seemed more at ease alongside Distin and had a very good game, Saha without being outstanding in general play showed what an excellent goal scorer he is when fit and confident as well as moving himself up the goal-scoring charts. With a natural scorer we will always have a chance if the support is right and the way Pienaar, Rodwell and Fellaini played today in craft, bite and the ability to bring the others into the game then that support may become more evident. MotM was hard to call between these three but I think today for his ‘Messie of Goodison’ display Pienaar edges ‘The Kaiser’.

Am I upbeat today? You betcha, I enjoyed my day out and hope they continue. It will be interesting to see the line up v Hull in the Carling Cup but whatever it is we should have enough to go through and then on to rock bottom Pompey where three more points would be just the fillip needed to go into the Europa match day 2 then quickly into the ‘ Biff bang bash’ with Stoke at Goodison. Don’t these games come thick and fast, almost as quick as the money being added to the credit card account!

Still we can only go from one game to the next and hope that form, injuries and squad hold up and by the time the final whistle goes v Stoke we will be able to see what the hectic fortnight has brought us as we enter a fortnight's break.

UP THE BLUES

Reader Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment to Column articles, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.