Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hoofball RIP

Blackburn Rovers beat West Brom today. Two months ago the same result would have been brute force over elegance. Big Sam over Cool Hand Roberto. Today it was an enterprising footballing side playing with daring and verve at home, against a visiting side who shipped two goals based on positive attacking play.

Apart from the goals, the happiest moments for me were the determined efforts to look for another way of getting the ball forward than a long lump. Paul Robinson playing a ball wide to a defender, for example. Even Pedersen was prepared to try a short throw instead of a predictable long one.

The first Rovers team I followed was all about Noel Brotherston and Dave Wagstaffe on the wings, with Kevin Hird and John Bailey overlapping as full backs. So it was good to see Hoilett and Olsson running at defenders with such confidence today. They were immense. And new signing Jermaine Jones really patrolled the midfield, giving Dunny room to roam like a rampaging Tony Parkes. All in all, a terrific performance.

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