MATCH THREAD ' BLACKBURN ROVERS V CARDIFF CITY 'MATCH THREAD

Thursday 7th August 2014

Chris Brown: Expected to be fit for Blackburn

Gary Bowyer hopes to have a full Blackburn squad to choose from when they kick off the new domestic season against Cardiff at Ewood Park on Friday night.

A sickness bug had threatened to derail Bowyer's plans but the likes of winger Ben Marshall and former Bluebirds striker Rudy Gestede appear to have overcome the illness, playing in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Oldham on Monday.

Summer signing Chris Brown has been hampered by a knee injury over the summer but is expected to declare himself available while versatile defender Alex Baptiste is set to make his debut.

Midfielder Lee Williamson sat out the friendly draw with Stoke last Sunday but returns from the one-match suspension he accrued following his red card against Bury.

Cardiff head to Lancashire with just two available centre-backs as the promotion favourites look to start life back in the Championship with three points.

Spanish defender Juan Cala is suspended for the trip after a red card in their defeat to Sunderland back in April while Ben Turner's ankle injury, sustained during the pre-season win over Yeovil, will keep him out until the international break in September.

With Steven Caulker having left for QPR it means Matt Connolly looks set to partner Mark Hudson at the heart of defence. Hudson, linked with a move to Leeds, looked to be a big doubt for the match with a muscle injury but he tweeted on Wednesday that he is 'training and fit'.

Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is keen to bring in another centre-back, will be without Gary Medel, who looks set to clinch a move to Inter Milan, and winger Craig Noone (groin) but Tom Adeyemi, who arrived from Birmingham on Thursday, is set to be involved in the squad.

Rudy played a behind closed doors friendly against oldham Monday so could see him play part Friday most probably on the bench

great work grange_end1927.

this thread must have taken a lot of time and effort, makes great viewing



hope you have the time for this all season

TEAM NEWS


Cardiff have only two available centre-backs with Juan Cala suspended and Ben Turner injured, so Matt Connolly looks set to partner Mark Hudson.
Tom Adeyemi joined in time to be eligible, but Craig Noone (groin) is out through injury.



Blackburn have a fully fit squad for the domestic season opener as winger Ben Marshall and striker Rudy Gestede appear to have overcome bugs.
Summer signings Chris Brown and Alex Baptiste are set to make their debuts.

great work grange_end1927.

this thread must have taken a lot of time and effort, makes great viewing



hope you have the time for this all season

Yes I agree keep up the good work & well done.
What happened to Super Kev wasn't he doing similar last season?

Cardiff's first game back in the Championship comes at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers on Friday.

We'll be looking to start the season well but Blackburn would be a club expecting to be challenging for promotion into the Premier League like ourselves so this live game shown on Sky Sports will be an interesting early season meeting.

Ben Marshall and our former striker Rudy Gestede, who signed for Blackburn permanently in January after a loan last season, are available after bugs so should give them a fully fit squad to select from with summer signings Chris Brown and Alex Baptiste in for debuts.

We're without suspended Juan Cala and the injured Ben Turner injured so with us limited defensively Matt Connolly will partner Mark Hudson in central defence after the club captain recovered from injury that ruined most of the last season.

Tom Adeyemi was signed in time to make his debut with him unlikely to be the only one of OGS summer arrivals that does so but injury to Craig Noone rules him out.

Blackburn ended the last Championship season without a defeat in a dozen games but we've won the last three meetings including a 4-1 win at Ewood Park in the last meeting at Blackburn in our promotion winning season as we completed the double over them.

I'll be happy if we can start this season with a win.

great work grange_end1927.

this thread must have taken a lot of time and effort, makes great viewing



hope you have the time for this all season

Yes I agree keep up the good work & well done.
What happened to Super Kev wasn't he doing similar last season?

Super Kev had 5 different alias names Meatloaf,Aile116 and a few others and be tended to be a Jack

great work grange_end1927.

this thread must have taken a lot of time and effort, makes great viewing



hope you have the time for this all season

Yes I agree keep up the good work & well done.
What happened to Super Kev wasn't he doing similar last season?

Cheers

Friday 08 08 2014

Blackburn marksman Rhodes to be outshined by former Cardiff forward at Ewood

Premier League scouts will have an eye on the Scottish sharpshooter, but it’s his goal-getting compadre who’ll impress in Lancashire goal frenzy.


Few Championship protagonists could make a better claim to be in the seasonal curtain-raiser than Blackburn after a string of goal-filled games to close the 2013/14 campaign.

No adversary in 12 has been able to get the better of Gary Bowyer’s side and, despite opponents Cardiff being ranked as one of the favourites for promotion, the layers fancy Rovers to do the business, attributing them odds of 5/4 for victory.

A price of 2/1 is on offer for Bluebirds backers, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needing a rapid accumulation of early points if he is to stave off the wrath of controversial chairman Vincent Tan.

The result at Ewood Park won’t be one that will endear the shaded Malaysian to the Scandinavian that oversaw his side’s demotion from the Premier League, with a home win featuring as one of our four best bets for the evening.



Blackburn to win @ 5/4

A side that’s won five of their last seven competitive clashes must be trusted to beat one that’s travelling to Lancashire having lost six of their previous eight road games and failed to win any of their four most recent sojourns in the second tier.

Blackburn to win and over 3.5 goals @ 13/2

Rovers have notched at least two in all but two of their last 12, augmenting their goals for column by 11 in the final trio of matches last term in games ending 4-2, 3-1 and 4-3 in their favour.

A total of seven goals were scored in Cardiff’s latest two road trips of the previous season, albeit all against them.

Rudy Gestede to score at anytime

All the pre-match hype will surround Scottish marksman Jordan Rhodes, but his French partner-in-crime signed off on 2013/14 in better knick.

He bagged six in his final three outings, taking his tally in Blackburn colours to 13 in 28 appearances.

Both teams to score @ 3/4

The Bluebirds may have struck just twice in their final six last time around, but they face a free-scoring foe here whose focus on going forward often leaves them wanting at the back.

Knowing they conceded nine times in their quintet of concluding matches, it’s very surprising to hear they didn’t lose any of them.

I've changed my mind I am going for a 3-3 draw

The likely line-ups
Blackburn (4-4-2): Robinson; Baptiste, Hanley (capt), Kilgallon, Spurr; King, Evans, Cairney, Conway; Gestede, Rhodes.

Cardiff City (4-4-2): Marshall; Brayford, Hudson (capt), Connolly, Fabio; Burgstaller, Whittingham, Gunnarsson, Daehli; Maynard, Le Fondre.

Would be interesting to see if King faces countryman Dæhli down the same side of the pitch, but King would be more likely to play left wing

I've changed my mind I am going for a 3-3 draw

He,he. I say 4-3 to Cardiff

I've changed my mind I am going for a 3-3 draw

He,he. I say 4-3 to Cardiff

1-3 cardiff. Gestede score anytime. 75-1
Monster monster.

En route to the game and the M5/M6 is 50mph and clagged up for many parts. Left CCS at 1pm and satnav says 19:10 arrival and I'm guessing that these delays will affect most of our traveling fans. Going to need a couple of swift cold ones as soon as we arrive at Ewood, 3 points please lads.

0-3, that Blackburn team doesn't look up to much, and we have some of the best players in the league imo. Looking forward to a decent win to kickstart the season!

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I am very excited for the game now! A very attacking line up from Ole hopefully we out score them tonight and then he can sort out our defensive frailties before next weekend!

Anyone have any idea what formation we are playing?
Is both maynard and le fondre playing wide or only 1 of them?

Anyone have any idea what formation we are playing?
Is both maynard and le fondre playing wide or only 1 of them?

I would say 4-3-3 with Brayford and Favio providing the width. Gunnar holding with Whittz and Mats more advanced. With a 3 man front line which will not be rivalled in this league. Really fancy a few goals for us tonight. ALF and Kenwyne have linked up very well this pre season at times.

No Guerra?

The Cheers bar in Santa a Ponsa is packed with City fans

Come on you mighty BLUEBIRDS

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Anyone have any idea what formation we are playing?
Is both maynard and le fondre playing wide or only 1 of them?

I would say 4-3-3 with Brayford and Favio providing the width. Gunnar holding with Whittz and Mats more advanced. With a 3 man front line which will not be rivalled in this league. Really fancy a few goals for us tonight. ALF and Kenwyne have linked up very well this pre season at times.

that's an incredibly ballsy line-up, when was the last time we started 3 strikers?

this is all going to depend on how good their midfield is, if they can shut off our supply we're screwed if not it'll be raining goals, lets see if gunnar has the nous to stop the balls coming through to their attack. Can't wait to see them see daehli for the first time. Score could be anything, clench your arses for a rollercoaster.

No Guerra?

He went off with a knock in the Wolfsburg game

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This is impressive! Enjoyed reading the thread.

For me, it will hinge upon stopping goals rather than scoring which shouldn't be too much of a problem with our guns up front. I hope or midfield is supportive in front of the defence. We can't afford to put them under too much pressure as there aren't replacements at the moment.

Defend well and blast away at the other end. Job done!

No Guerra?

He went off with a knock in the Wolfsburg game

Cheers. Ken Wyn has looked decent in pre season and seems to match up well with Alf

Here We Go - " Come On City "

Holy shit 1m penalty would've been so so cruel.