It's an early start for the travelling Rangers this Saturday as Blackburn and QPR face off in a battle between two of the division's high-flying wobblers.

Blackburn (15-9-9 WDLLDL 5th) v QPR (16-8-9 LDLLDW 3rd)

Mercantile Credit Trophy >>> Saturday February 26, 2022 >>> Kick Off 12.30 >>> Weather — Sunshine, windy, cold >>> Ewood Park, Blackburn

I’ve thought about the first meeting between these teams more than any other game this season. Certainly more than could be considered healthy for a person of normal interests and balanced lifestyle.

I actually came close to putting Blackburn in my predicted bottom three this season, before lumping on Huddersfield for the final spot — regular readers, hello to both of you, why are you still here? There's better insight to be had turning to random pages of the dictionary, closing your eyes and pointing at words. There had been murmurings about a stagnation under Moany Towbury for a while, five years in the job and long since out of credit for the recovery he did on them in League One. I rated their summer 2020 transfer window activity better than most others and yet through February, March and April last year they’d won one of 15 games, exactly the sort of post-Christmas slump this manager had suffered when he was Coventry manager. With star man Bradley Dack badly injured again, 2021/22 looked altogether tougher at Ewood Park, with fans already restless and on the turn.

They’d done better than I expected to start with, though still only won four of the first 13 games. They came to Loftus Road with the division’s new sensation, Ben Brereton-Diaz finally fulfilling that potential he had at Nottingham Forest — if only he’d changed his name and national allegiance sooner. I wondered what we’d find standing in our way that night and, as it turned out, standing in the way was plan A, B and C for the evening. Rovers came for a 0-0, with all the ambition of a high school drop out filming YouTube conspiracy videos in his mum’s basement. They were wasting time almost from the moment time started to tick and, like Barnsley and Preston before them, and Huddersfield a few weeks after, QPR cracked them satisfyingly late in the day when there was no recovery time. Ilias Chair’s beautifully struck shot, curled around a defender to unsight the goalkeeper, brought the relieved rush of “fuck you” that only comes when you’ve dragged your aching balls through 83 minutes of that goalkeeper doing the switching sides thing over every bastard goal kick.

They, frankly, got everything they deserved. Even Brereton-Diaz was asked to spend the majority of the evening wide, chasing Albert Adomah the other way — not a task anybody wanted with Albert in the form he was that night. Afterwards Mowbury was asked what exactly it had been all about and riled up against the journalists, absolutely incredulous that there could be any other way to play QPR at Loftus Road than stick ten behind the ball and hope the time runs out. He said: “We came really to frustrate and hope we could grab the points and in the end it wasn’t to be. We can grind results out away from home and I thought we could do that tonight. There was no need to come here and be too expansive and for it to be like a basketball game against a team that scores a lot of goals. We set up not to be expansive and to frustrate. That’s OK — you can get results doing that. We play totally differently at home.”

I was furious for the Blackburn fans. The Championship is a difficult league because of its logistics. The amount of teams in it, the distances you have to travel, the unworkable fixture list, the lack of room to put rearranged games, the increasingly late notice on outrageously anti-social and anti-supporter kick off changes, the state of the pitches, the quality of the refereeing, the finances, the injuries. It’s not difficult because it’s packed with good teams, you only have to sit through a few games at this level to see that. The prevailing attitude that a point away from home is always a good result, that time wasting and “shithousing” are admirable qualities, that you should really start fannying about over goal kicks and throw ins from 30 minutes in if you happen to be leading, or half time if you’re level, drives me up the wall. It’s fucking medieval. If you’re a Blackburn fan who’s travelled to London on a Tuesday night to see your perfectly safe, midtable team, still in touch with the play-offs, with one of the division’s hottest strikers up front, and you’re rewarded with that formation, that attitude, that performance, and the manager afterwards completely mystified at the suggestion you should ever have expected anything else, I say it’s time to get mad. When they subsequently lost 7-0 at home to Fulham I was waiting for the white smoke.

Not only did it never come, Rovers subsequently tore the whole division apart. They won nine of 11 games, including six in a row and a period of six clean sheets in seven games. They’ve been as high as second in the table, reeling in and surpassing a top three who at the time we met in W12 were already being touted as home, hosed and out of reach (look at West Brom now, and stop paying so much attention to October and November league tables). They did it by giving the ball away. Mowbray, who despite our oh-so-hilarious occasional nickname for him has always come across as a thoroughly likeable and decent bloke in a morally bankrupt sport, was always a total football and total possession man in his early career — his West Brom team that won the title at this level was one of the most attractive the division has seen. But Rovers have gone from the team with the most possession in the Championship to the one with the least, and built a promotion campaign on a counter attack style. Albeit, there’s a chance that his post-Christmas curse is striking again, now one win in seven and no goals in five with Brereton-Diaz deaded.

If you’d told me back then this would be third v fifth by the time we head up to bogey ground Ewood Park I’d have laughed in your face. No way. No way. And yet, here we are, blowing the dust off that Paul Rudd meme. Both teams have had a wobble of late, QPR’s incredible late win with ten men during the week felt nourishing — Rovers, at the time, losing to a team a man light in the last minute at Sheff Utd. It should now be QPR coming into this game with the confidence but given that Rangers played without a recognised striker during the week and are now above Rovers in the table I’ve just got a slight inkling and wonder whether it may be their turn to play one tight, cagey, risk-free, keep Rovers the right side of them and, if necessary and it comes down to it, try and see out a nil nil. An exciting evening of having my drunk Tweets from after the first game tossed back at me by bored Rovers fans awaits if so.

See you on the 07.30.

Links >>> Wobble, drought, injury — Interview >>> The last win — History >>> Simpson eh — Referee >>> Rovers official website >>> Official website >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Paper >>> BRFCS message board and podcast >>> Rovers Chat — Blog

Below the fold

Team News: Swap one suspended centre back for another in the QPR defence with Dion Sanderson’s brain fart ruling him out for three games on a violent conduct ban, just as Rob Dickie returns from two games out for card accumulation. There’s hope that Lee Wallace and Lyndon Dykes will be fit again after missing the last two, and Sam McCallum has now completed a 90 minutes at U23 level which in theory makes him available again for the first time since October 29 against Forest at Loftus Road. With the midweek win against Blackpool achieved despite starting without any of the three recognised strikers in the starting line up for the first time in the league this season, there will be a decision to be made about whether to persist with that set up and the Illy and Willy combination up front. George Thomas, Dom Ball and Luke Amos were all instrumental in that success off the bench, whether that’s enough for them to push for a start remains to be seen.

The future president of Chile Ben Brereton-Diaz damaged ankle ligaments in the 0-0 at West Brom last week and is out for an “unspecified period of time”. There are whispers that means the 20-goal striker is done for the season, and he’s apparently now in Dubai having some special treatment (not like Joel Lynch used to), but the QPR in me is screaming that he’ll be a surprise inclusion here and electrify the crowd after five games without a goal. Joe Rothwell-Hernandez is said to be touch-and-go after picking up an ankle injury in the midweek heartbreaker at Bramall Lane. Tyrhys Dolan-Gonzalez has made three bench appearances since returning from his own injury so could get a start here as they look for the key to ending their goal drought — he’s third top scorer behind Brereton-Diaz and Sam Gallagher-Munoz. The January additions of Ryan Hedges-Morales from Aberdeen and Ryan Giles-Rodriguez on loan from Wolves drew admiring glances from QPR fans thirsty for reinforcements, and they too are now pushing for a promotion from the bench amidst the dip in form. Full back Deyovaisio Zeefuik-Fuentes, on loan from Hertha Berlin, is back after sitting out two with a hamstring issue. Bradley Dack-Lopes played and scored in the remarkable 6-3 QPR win in this fixture at U23 level recently but is, mercifully, still said to be short of a start. The game also comes too soon for Daniel Ayala-Espinoza. Tayo Edun-Gutierrez is a long term absentee.

Elsewhere: It is tight as a mouse’s waistcoat at the top end of the Mercantile Credit Trophy. While QPR were passing up opportunities to cement their position in the play-off places against Barnsley, Millwall and Hull, many of the teams around them were playing each other. On the positive side it meant the R’s didn’t drop places, and amidst a supposed crisis and social media meltdown have now actually climbed to third with one scrappy win against Blackpool. On the negative, the cushion and game in hand we did have are now gone and we’re involved in a battle for five places which stretches all the way from Bournemouth in second down to somewhere around Preston and Stoke in thirteenth and fourteenth.

Fulham, we assume, are basically out of it now, and should win away at Cardiff this weekend. Bournemouth are currently two points ahead of us in second, but have played three games fewer. They’re at home to Stoke this weekend, probably first aboard the early-season departure to Mykonos. Three of the next four of the Cherries’ games are at Dean Court, with Stoke, Peterborough, Derby and Reading the visitors. Points aplenty there you would think, and the season will hang on them making good on that because you wouldn’t wish their run in on your worst enemy. When we come back from the international break on April 2 they play ten times in 34 days and have fixtures away at Huddersfield, West Brom, Sheff Utd and Blackburn and at home to Boro, Forest, Fulham and Millwall.

Unheralded Sporting Huddersfield haven’t lost for 14 games, and have climbed to fourth with a seriously impressive and well-executed victory at Tarquin and Rupert’s gaff last weekend. Birmingham away this weekend and Peterborough at home next looks kind, before a make-or-break run of games against West Brom, Millwall, Bournemouth, Luton and QPR. Blackburn are now fifth with their midweek conquerors Sheff Utd, seven wins and three draws from their last ten, breathing down their necks one-point back in sixth. They’re at Millwall this weekend. Their former boss Chris Wilder has Boro flying, turning around a midweek win against West Brom and surely not destined to repeat our mistake at Oakwell when they face Barnsley on the road tomorrow. Luton, ten wins in 14 games and picking up free agent Robert Snodgrass today, face Wayne Rooney’s Derby County at home. If our game at Ewood doesn’t go well, it’s not beyond the realms of strong possibility that all five teams immediately below us could win.

Media darlings Nottingham Forest have rather been left behind, now back in tenth and five points shy of the play-offs, ahead of a weekend homer with Bristol City. Coventry have gone past them with three wins in four, and face Preston Knob End at home.

Unfortunately it seems we’re in that bit of the year where Reading do just enough to stay up, two wins on the spin ahead of a weekend visit to Blackpool. Peterborough and Hull, with Grant McCann set to return to London Road as manager having been sacked by the Tigers last month, is this week’s goat rodeo. West Brom (because of course) are on Sky again, drawing 0-0 with Swanselona on Monday. Cardiff and Derby go again on Tuesday.

Referee: For a fourth time already this season, Jeremy Simpson takes Rangers this weekend. We’ve won all three with him so far having previously done very poorly. Details.

Form

Blackburn: Rovers followed their 1-0 loss at Loftus Road with a run of nine wins in 11 games, including six maximums in a row and a spell of six clean sheets in seven games which has been the foundation for a surprise promotion push. Things have gone awry since the turn of the year, however, beginning with a 3-2 cup defeat at League One Wigan. They’re now on a run of five defeats, three draws and just two wins from ten games. Since a morale boosting 1-0 televised home win against Boro at the end of January they haven’t won, or scored, for five matches and they were beaten in the last minute by ten-man Sheff Utd on Wednesday night having missed a penalty at 0-0. The picture is better at Ewood, where they have a record of 10-3-3 and have lost only one eight since that 7-0 shellacking by Fulham. Forest and West Brom are the other two sides to win on this ground along with Morecambe in the League Cup. Rovers’ 45 league goals scored puts them behind only ourselves and the top two, but Brereton-Diaz has 20 of those himself and the next top scorer is Sam Gallagher with six.

QPR: Rangers’ midweek 2-1 win against Blackpool breathed new life into the team and support base, after a tricky spell of one win in seven and none in five. QPR had gone from five consecutive away wins, to three straight defeats on the road without scoring, including losses to nil at Peterborough and Barnsley, the two worst teams in the division. The victory over Pool was the second time this season Rangers have taken maximum points from a game despite playing the second half with ten men, following the August 3-2 up at Boro. The last time time Rangers won two games with ten men in a season was 13/14 when they beat Wigan at home in March 1-0 despite Yossi Benayoun’s red, and of course Derby at Wembley in the play-off final. The last time they did it three times in a year was 10-11, beating Reading home and away and Swansea at home on Boxing Day. In both campaigns Rangers went on to win promotion. Ewood Park is unfortunately another one of those grounds for Rangers, without a win here in 11 attempts going back to 1999/00 when Stuart Wardley and Kevin Gallen bagged in a 2-0 success. They have lost nine of their last ten trips here including the last three, and won only five of 27 visits — three of those in the 1970s.

Prediction: We’re indebted to The Art of Football for once again agreeing to sponsor our Prediction League and provide prizes. You can get involved by lodging your prediction here or sample the merch from our sponsor’s QPR collection here. Last year’s champion Mick_S got the Blackpool call right, and here’s what he says this week…

“Oh God. I fancy us tomorrow because we beat another team this week beginning with B and Blackburn are in the same county. We have similar form over the last five matches apart from our midweek W so I’m going with that. 1-2 Rangers with Dunne to score because he played for a team starting with B from that county as well.”

Mick’s Prediction: Blackburn 1-2 QPR. Scorer — Jimmy Dunne

LFW’s Prediction: Blackburn 0-0 QPR. No scorer

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HantsR added 19:39 - Feb 25 In the Rovers' team news, I counted 10 double- barrelled names - is this a record?
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extratimeR added 21:44 - Feb 25 Sam Gallagher-Munoz Ho Ho!
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double_m added 09:49 - Feb 26 Indeed @extratimeR , "Sam Gallagher-Munoz" did it for me too! Thanks Clive, top work.
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GloryHunter added 11:28 - Feb 26 Had me going as well. Very funny, Clive.
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TacticalR added 12:31 - Feb 26 Thanks for your preview. When we met Middlesbrough at home that was a 'top of the form table' clash, our meeting with Blackburn is 'middle of the form table' clash.
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