Blackburn v Liverpool Pre-Match Thread

[Vermilion]

Roy Hodgson has admitted he may have to rest Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres as the Reds face a hectic month.
Liverpool have to play eight games this month because of the re-arranged fixtures with Fulham and Blackpool, and that could become nine if the FA Cup third round tie with Man Utd goes to a replay. With so many games in so short a space of time Hodgson has warned fans he may have to rotate his squad.

"I think we will have to hope that the fans and supporters understand that. Fernando had a very serious knee injury, which seems to be in the past, but when you've had an injury there's always the little risk of reoccurrence," said the boss.

"And Steven, of course, is susceptible to muscle injury if he plays too many games one after the other.

"So, I've got to hope that the ones who just seem to keep going - the Duracell bunnies; the Kuyts, the Lucas Leivas of this world - can keep us going and give me a chance of giving a rest to the others.

"It's disappointing but it's not just like that for us - it's the same for all the teams in the league. We've got a couple of matches in hand to play, which doesn't help I suppose, but I think you'll find a lot of teams have a lot of matches coming up.

"Our good fortune is that the squad going into these matches is relatively whole.

"We don't have that many injuries, touch wood, so going into it our squad seems quite big and we probably have a little bit more chances of changing things around than some other teams.

"But if we are going to win games it is the Torreses, the Gerrards, the Reinas - these are the people really that are going to be the ones to get us up the table and lift us above the rest."

Oh dear, prepare to face the wrath of the media though Roy, for daring not to play one of those players, just as a preevious manager did on occasion...yes, the media will have your guts for garters, Roy!

edit: Or..maybe not.

[Chris]

You can get tickets for our end at the away supporters ticket office at Ewood if anyone wants to go.

[Shaggy]

You can get tickets for our end at the away supporters ticket office at Ewood if anyone wants to go.

Unbelievable isn't it. Normally Ewood Park is a ****ing great away, about 8000 in our end is it? This is indicative of the malaise sweeping through the club.

[Chris]

Unbelievable isn't it. Normally Ewood Park is a ****ing great away, about 8000 in our end is it? This is indicative of the malaise sweeping through the club.

Yep, just over 7k we get. Sad times but when we're playing for nothing already, dont even try and win etc I guess its not surprising. Having 9k going to Man Utd would have had an impact aswell but not this much, supposedly 2k tickets left according to a fella on RAWK.

[Craig_H]

Unbelievable isn't it. Normally Ewood Park is a ****ing great away, about 8000 in our end is it? This is indicative of the malaise sweeping through the club.

To be fair though, due to the big allocation at BRFC, tickets for our end do usually go on general sale to LFC fans, so that's no different.

If they end up unsold, that may be a different story.

[Craig_H]

Yep, just over 7k we get. Sad times but when we're playing for nothing already, dont even try and win etc I guess its not surprising. Having 9k going to Man Utd would have had an impact aswell but not this much, supposedly 2k tickets left according to a fella on RAWK.

2k left over for Old Trafford?

Offal lists it as sold out.

[Tribute]

Roy Hodgson has admitted he may have to rest Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres as the Reds face a hectic month.
Liverpool have to play eight games this month because of the re-arranged fixtures with Fulham and Blackpool, and that could become nine if the FA Cup third round tie with Man Utd goes to a replay. With so many games in so short a space of time Hodgson has warned fans he may have to rotate his squad.

"I think we will have to hope that the fans and supporters understand that. Fernando had a very serious knee injury, which seems to be in the past, but when you've had an injury there's always the little risk of reoccurrence," said the boss.

"And Steven, of course, is susceptible to muscle injury if he plays too many games one after the other.

"So, I've got to hope that the ones who just seem to keep going - the Duracell bunnies; the Kuyts, the Lucas Leivas of this world - can keep us going and give me a chance of giving a rest to the others.

"It's disappointing but it's not just like that for us - it's the same for all the teams in the league. We've got a couple of matches in hand to play, which doesn't help I suppose, but I think you'll find a lot of teams have a lot of matches coming up.

"Our good fortune is that the squad going into these matches is relatively whole.

"We don't have that many injuries, touch wood, so going into it our squad seems quite big and we probably have a little bit more chances of changing things around than some other teams.

"But if we are going to win games it is the Torreses, the Gerrards, the Reinas - these are the people really that are going to be the ones to get us up the table and lift us above the rest."

...now is it me, or has he just said he's essentially going to rest players that will win us games?

Muppet. Absolute muppet.

[Craig_H]

...now is it me, or has he just said he's essentially going to rest players that will win us games?

Muppet. Absolute muppet.

Absolutely farcical

[Chris]

To be fair though, due to the big allocation at BRFC, tickets for our end do usually go on general sale to LFC fans, so that's no different.

If they end up unsold, that may be a different story.

It sells out before the game though, Blackburn away was sold out a week before the game last year, around the same time the year before, this year we're actually selling tickets at Blackburn so theres obviously loads left and its got no chance of selling out.

2k left over for Old Trafford?

No, Blackburn.

[Craig_H]

Ah i see.

[Arn]

Not a chance that he will rest Gerrard or Torres. If they want to play then they will play IMO.

Only an excuse so he can blame it on tired players after we lost the game.

[Fernandinho]

Is it really that bad a thing if he rests them? If he pushes them too hard they could both be injured, and lets not beat around the bush... Both Torres and Gerrard are regularly injured...

Just because its Roy doesn't mean everything he does is wrong...

[RichC]

Is it really that bad a thing if he rests them? If he pushes them too hard they could both be injured, and lets not beat around the bush... Both Torres and Gerrard and regularly injured...

Just because its Roy doesn't mean everything he does is wrong...

true, but it's best to not say anything about things like this - you'd be better to monitor them game by game and training session by training session as you do the rest of the squad.

[The Birdman]

Is it really that bad a thing if he rests them? If he pushes them too hard they could both be injured, and lets not beat around the bush... Both Torres and Gerrard are regularly injured...

Just because its Roy doesn't mean everything he does is wrong...

Sorry but it does.
Even if Roy resigned it would be wrong because he should have done it sooner

[Arn]

Is it really that bad a thing if he rests them? If he pushes them too hard they could both be injured, and lets not beat around the bush... Both Torres and Gerrard are regularly injured...

Just because its Roy doesn't mean everything he does is wrong...

They should be rested and not played every game coming back from injury. The problem is that I doubt that it is Roy that will make that decision.

It will be Torres and Gerrard that make the decision. If they want to play then they will play. Can you really imagine Roy telling Gerrard or Torres that they will be benched? Do you think he is man enough to do that? Do you think he got power enough in the dressing room to do that?

Not a ****ing chance. The decision will be up to the players, not the manager.