[Archived] Wigan 0-3 Rovers

[1864roverite]

On New Years day 2007, Rovers travel to the home of the pie eaters in what should be a very interesting tie. Wigan have never beaten Blackburn Rovers in the league, Rovers are hovering perilously to the drop zone and Wigan have now lost 4 on the spin at home. Both clubs have injury problems with a number of key players missing - Rovers expect to be missing Nelsen, Reid and Roberts, whilst the pie eaters have speedster Henri Camara missing plus a couple of ther not so well known players out of action. That could also be compounded by the fact that the two teams both have two further games to negotiate before we lock horns at The JJB Stadium.

Traditionally, a New Years Day fixture, especially a derby fixture, would expect to attract a near sell out. These days though are different. Wigan cannot fill their stadium with home fans as they have none, Rovers will expect some 3000 fans to back them however the cost of the ticket added to the fact the festive season, the weather added to the fact that we are still in Europe may just see a crowd of around 19000 entering the stadium.

So what do we make of Wigan ? Of course the pie eater traditions of the past are totally devoted to Rugby League. that is what made the town famous. Those who follow Rugby League will have noted the demise of the once famous Cherry Whites who have had a long line of famous rugby stars amongst their ranks. A team previously to be feared of are now amongst the also rans and are currently run side by side by Dave Whelan and the JJB cashcow. Nowadays, with tv at the forefront of sport, the public are often treated to seeing Wigan Athletic on prime time SKY Sports 1. They are a team that have enjoyed the same type of fairy tale that we as Rovers fans have experienced. Wigan have made their mark in the Premiership, they have a decent young manager in Paul Jewell, they have the money to buy players but what they dont have is tradition, they dont have the fan base and they dont provide an instant attraction to the top quality stars. A slightly mirrored image of our own BRFC perhaps ?

People may just be interested in another sport that is considered top rate in this part of Greater Manchester. Its the traditional home of the pie eating championship. in this day and age though, the politically correct goons have seen fit to destroy its image basing their arguments on the health issue rather than the delightfully tasteful meat and tatty pies.

The game sees Rovers coming up against an old foe in EMEEEEEEEEEL 'esky. The well built ex England international who likes to spend most of his time diving to the floor and of course scoring against Rovers. He is a surefire bet to score if he plays and in my opinion presents the real danger to the Rovers defence of the proud unbeaten record they have against the pie men. Other players to watch out for include Leighton Baines, the man with the golden left peg and who is being coveted by a host of top clubs, Danny Landssart, a Dutch international, Arjen de Zeuwe, a mountain of a defender, Fitz Hall and Emerson Boyce are two young and upcoming defenders with bright futures and of course in goal they have the wreck of a body that is Kirkland. The most innocuously injured player ever but a keeper who clearly is a fantastic shot stopper as we witnessed at Ewood earlier on this season.

What can Rovers expect ? No doubt bouyed by their efforts versus Chelsea, Wigan will come and have a go at Rovers and make no bones about it Rovers will have to be up for the battle otherwise we will be dead and buried and safely housed amongst the relegation candidates. Wigan play a 4-4-2 formation which should suit Rovers style of defending !! With Emeeeeeel and McCullough/Jacobsen they will be a handful up front and the defence will have to be on top form. The midfield battle is intriguing. Savage versus Landssart. A Dutch master against a Welsh blonde ? Whoever comes out on top of that little battle could hold the key to the 3 points.

The Wigan defence is marshalled by Arjen, assisted by a blend of youth who have speed and are good in the air. The Rovers forwards have their work cut out to get past this lot.

I dont see many goals in this match, for me its got a draw written all over it. Rovers have proved everyone wrong at some point but with this being the final game of the festive period the players will all be on last reserves of energy.

Last season saw Rovers visit the JJB and take all 3 points very comfortably, the 5000 fans whooped as Reidy broke the net and then whinged as Dave Whelans promise of free pies didnt materialise ! He will be well up for this game and will be predicting a Wigan win, he wont let us all have a freebie believe me.

I asked a friend of mine, Phil, who is a die hard pie eater and a follower of both the JJB outfits, his views on the forthcoming game.

Being a pie eater, what flavour floats your boat ?

The traditional Wigan offering of a pie butty ! That is a meat and potato pie between two slices of Warburtons finest white !

Rugby League or football ?

Rugby does it for me but recently the performance of the team has been poor. The football side of things is great as we can see the top players/teams visiting our ground. My personal view is that the two should be seperate (rugby and football) as the pitch is atrocious. People around Wigan dont seem to get their heads around supporting football as there is no history of the club. I love the football but the oval ball is the future !

Talking about crowds, we at Blackburn have our own problems. We have seen over 5000 fans "disappear" over the past 3 or 4 seasons. Whats the story at Wigan ?

Wigan is known for Rugby, the football in the Premiership is a big bonus and its all down to Dave Whelan and his dream. Wigan used to have 3000 supporters so to get 15000 plus is a massive turnaround. We do struggle with home crowds and couldnt even give 2000 freebies away versus Man City ! I suppose cost plays a big part the average home ticket is between 32 and 36 quid whereas a rugby season ticket costs 80 quid !

Whats your current view on the two horse championship race ?

Well, I despise Chelsea and their moaning manager. They have far too much money and always score last minute goals versus Wigan as evidenced yesterday evening ! Manchester United seem to have the measure of them this season and I hope they win it. But in case and just to even the score I hate them as well !

Rumours seem to suggest a parting of the ways for the two JJB outfits, who gets the stadium, Rugby or Football ?

Its been going round that the Rugby club will move to another ground although there is no certainty in that. My own view is that the football should stay and the rugby go elsewhere a bit smaller.

Your personal view of Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn supporters have had the journey of their lives courtesy of Jack Walker. In all honesty and being a older football fan, I loved the way Blackburn have conducted themselves amongst the elite although I have laughed at your european excursions. The club had a proud history and was dying on its feet then comes along Jack, you get up via the play offs and the rest is history. Winning the league seems ages ago but to then go and win a cup was just simply amazing for you lot. I have watched your latest european adventure and your fans must be wondering how the hell you are in the bottom 5. The club is well run but is in a need of a couple of signings. I cant see you making the top 5 with your current team.

A prediction for the game ?

Head says a Wigan win, heart says otherwise. Its got to be 1-0 victory either way.

......and finally ?

A very Happy New Year to ALL football supporters.

My own prediction was for a draw, 1-1. But if Rover can beat Boro and sneak something out of the Liverpoo game it might just be Rovers good start to the new year.

[Jordan]

My own prediction was for a draw, 1-1. But if Rover can beat Boro and sneak something out of the Liverpoo game it might just be Rovers good start to the new year.

Nice Preview Roverite.

My predictions for the Chirstmas/New Year period.

Rovers 2 - Liverpool 1 (We will win this game without a shadow of a doubt)

Rovers 1 - Boro 0

Wigan 1 - Rovers 1

[Presty On Tour]

tidy job on the preview roverite.

my predictions

rovers 1-0 scousers

rovers 4-0 boro

wigan 0-2 rovers

a few goals and some clean sheets to end what has been a well good year to be a rovers fan and to start of the new year in style by demolishing the pie eaters!!

[bluewhitearmy]

rovers 0 liverpool 1

rovers 2 boro 0

wigan 0 rovers 1

nice preview btw

[Oklahoma]

Nice job, Roverite!

Rovers 1 Liverpool 1 (McCarthy and Bellamy score, Rovers fans cheer more for bellamy than they do for McCarthy)

Rovers 3 Boro 1

Wigan 1 Rovers 2

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Wigan cannot fill their stadium with home fans as they have none.....pot,kettle,black springs to mind there!!

Wigan 1 Rovers 1

P.S.

Put money on Bellamy to score for those loveable Scousers and celebrate without shame infront of the BBE

Rovers 1 Liverpool 2

[philipl]

Good preview 1864!

Too nervous to put predictions for these next three games but I think we will do alright. All three will probably be real scraps- we will be in the doodoo if we get red card or injjuries in the scouse game.

Liverpool game and we have the "benefit" of knowing the West Ham v Portsmouth result which might have dumped us into the bottom 3 at 3pm.

[Roar of the Rover]

Rovers 1 Liverpool 1 McCarthy, Riise

Rovers 2 Boro 1 McCarthy, Bentley, Yakubu

Wigan 0 Rovers 1 Pedersen

Nice Preview, it was around this time last year we really got going so lets hope we do it again!

[elwaxo]

got a feeling we'll beat liverpool. mccarthy brace

[colin]

Appreciated 1864

Thanks

[frosty]

Rovers 1-1 Liverpool

Rovers 2-1 Boro

Wigan 0-0 Rovers

[Shabani]

im boycotting their ground

£18 for a junior ticket is a disgrace

[MarkBRFC]

Cant see many Rovers fans turning up for this one some how.

Predictions..

Rovers 0 Liverpool 2

Rovers 1 Middlesboro 0

Wigan 0 Rovers 0

[glory hunter]

i'm more confident of getting somthing from an away day at wigan than i am from the home game with boro. We are the best team in the division by far at making useless managers and players look good on the day! Think Les Reed, pardew etc. Now add Southgate ! We'll beat wigan but i'll bet on heskey scoring in the 90 mins!

[RoversFanUSA]

Nice review roverite

Well i think we'll be itching to beat pool seeing as we almost hadum last time but as ive been told many times almost only counts in horse shoes and hand gernades so im hoping we turn it up and kick some ass.

Rovers2-Liverpool1

Rovers3-Boro2

Rovers2-Wigan0

And you can take that to the bank!!

[Paul]

We went last year and had a great time. With heavy heart I've decided to miss this game, my closest local derby. I won't pay the £108 it would cost to take our group, I can't recall the price last year but my attitude has hardened on the whole ticket price thing.

Rovers need to win this one plus beat Boro and get a point this afternoon.

[USABlue]

Wigan have never beaten Blackburn Rovers in the league, Rovers are hovering perilously to the drop zone and Wigan have now lost 4 on the spin at home.

The pump is primed for a Rovers loss then.

Not sure of the scores but I am sticking with my 2-4 points from the next 6 matches, anarchy will rule in the stands before Rovers begin to turn it around. It's going to get a bit ugly and I'm not looking forward to it.

[James No. 7]

2-1 win on the cards for this one, I think.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Like Paul,I was wavering with the idea of travelling to Wigan......these lads need our support.

Today's result was just the tonic!

[Jordan]

Nice Preview Roverite.

My predictions for the Chirstmas/New Year period.

Rovers 2 - Liverpool 1 (We will win this game without a shadow of a doubt)

Rovers 1 - Boro 0

Wigan 1 - Rovers 1

I wish all Rovers fans could have shared my confidence.

[tchocky]

I dunno, we might have to settle for a point from this one. I bet on us against the arse, and look what happened! Then I tried the opposite strategy against Liverpool and bet against Rovers, and look how that went! If I bet on a Wigan win/draw, then we are bound to win?

[FourLaneBlue]

Could this be Neill's last game for the Rovers? Doubt he'd play against Everton even if he was still with us by then as cup-tying him wouldn't help his value any.

Good preview 1864.

[nellybc]

i know it means nothing but in his interview after the game he said

"im contracted till the summer then im off" bold as brass

"ts up to the manager and chairman regarding the transfer window"

[joey_big_nose]

Could this be Neill's last game for the Rovers? Doubt he'd play against Everton even if he was still with us by then as cup-tying him wouldn't help his value any.

And if we get the Ukranaian fellow then surely he will be bedding down on the left and Emerton on the right.

I only saw the MOTD highlights but from that Finnan had an outstanding game. Doesn't bode well for Lucas breaking the first XI at Liverpool.

[Scotty]

i know it means nothing but in his interview after the game he said

"im contracted till the summer then im off" bold as brass

"ts up to the manager and chairman regarding the transfer window"

No he didn't.

When asked about his Rovers future he said that you'd have to ask the manager or chairman but, as far as he was concerned, he's a Blackburn player and, unless he agrees a new deal towards the end of the season, he would leave at the end of his contract in the summer. So he basically repeated what we all already knew already.