The Sky Bet Championship season kicked-off for Rovers in disappointing fashion after they were unable to banish their opening day blues, following a dismal 2-1 defeat at home to newly-promoted Charlton Athletic.
With Rovers having not tasted victory on the opening day of a league campaign since a 1-0 home victory against Everton during the 2010-11 Premier League season, there was some optimism around Blackburn, following the summer transfer window, that Rovers could potentially break their opening day duck, against a newly-promoted outfit, who have been tipped by many to return to League One, come the end of the campaign.
The first team that walked out onto the Ewood Park turf, included debutants, Christian Walton, Bradley Johnson, Stewart Downing and Sam Gallagher, with Tosin Adarabioyo, unfit to take part, with him only participating in a single day’s training since joining the club on Wednesday.
With the new influx of blood within the side named on the teamsheet, Rovers began in a 4-2-3-1 system, with the following players: Christian Walton, Elliott Bennett, Charlie Mulgrew, Darragh Lenihan, Amari’i Bell, Lewis Travis, Bradley Johnson, Stewart Downing, Adam Armstrong and Bradley Dack, with Sam Gallagher leading the line.
The season was soon started by an optimistic roar from the Blackburn End, as Rovers kicked-off, with an expectant crowd hoping that their side can build upon an unbeaten pre-season to grab the victory where it really mattered.
Rovers controlled the possession early on and managed to forge half a chance inside the opening stages, after Amari’i Bell’s cross fell fortuitously into Sam Gallagher’s path. Unfortunately, for the new multi-million-pound striker, he was unable to make contact with the ball before he was pickpocketed by a Charlton defender.
It didn’t take long for the first booking of the game to appear as Charlton defender, Naby Sarr, was cautioned for a foul on the wing.
Some good pressure by Gallagher on the 9th minute saw Rovers win the ball back high up, deep into the Charlton half, before laying it off to Bradley Dack, who managed to avoid a few tackles, before dragging his shot wide of the mark.
The game soon fizzled out into a defence vs attack scenario, with Rovers trying their hardest to break down Charlton’s defensive/counter-attacking setup, but with little, to no avail.
Rovers edged close to opening the scoring on the 25th minute, as new signings Stewart Downing and Sam Gallagher linked up well, however the cross, aimed towards the forward by the winger, was headed away by Charlton’s centre-half, Tom Lockyer.
The 31st minute saw Rovers earn a corner that Charlie Mulgrew went over to take. The skipper’s cross was a floated one that saw Dack struggle to connect with, as the playmaker could only faintly flick it wide of the goal.
A few minutes later, Rovers caught the Addicks on the break as Gallagher led the charge with Dack and Armstrong either side of him. Although Armstrong was seemingly the more obvious choice, the centre-forward tried to slip through Dack, but his pass lacked the power it needed to avoid Charlton legs, as it was soon hoofed clear by the visitors.
Christian Walton was called into action on the 35th minute and proved why Tony Mowbray had coveted the shot-stopper for most of the summer. Lyle Taylor lead the Addicks’ counter-attack with his pace, before unleashing a curling left-footed effort that Walton palmed away convincingly.
Despite a solid save minutes before, Rovers’ new number 1 was caught out a few minutes before half-time, after some poor defensive positioning, left the on-loan Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper, exposed. The home side’s backline was at sixes and sevens as Jonny Williams drove into the box and chipped in a back-post cross that Ben Purrington needed no second invitation to finish, as he calmly poked home from inside the 6-yard box, to give the visitors an unlikely 1-0 lead.
Charlton again came on the attack soon after the restart, but were stunted by another solid save by Walton, who again denied Taylor’s effort which came from the edge of the area.
After 2 minutes of added time were allocated and played, the official Andy Woolmer called time on what had been an underwhelming, and rather disappointing first 45 minutes for Rovers.
The half-time team talks that would have ensued, would have consisted of varying emotions. Tony Mowbray’s speech would have been focussed around the poor defensive shape, and lack of creativity with the ball at their feet, which had compounded them to trail at the break.
In contrast, Lee Bowyer’s team-talk would have oozed praise and encouragement, with the former Addicks midfielder deservedly commending his players for executing their gameplan, perfectly.
After both sides returned for the second-half unchanged, it was the visitors, who were roared on by just under 1,100 fans, who got the game back underway, in the hope that they could continue their form and pick up the victory that could potentially prove vital in their quest to overcome many people’s pre-season expectations of relegation.
Rovers, however, managed to get themselves back on level terms on the 54th minute, following a well-executed corner leading to an own goal that Bradley Johnson claimed. Stewart Downing stood over the ball, before floating in a cross that Bradley Johnson met, on the penalty spot. The debutant’s well-placed header saw Anfernee Dijksteel’s attempted clearance, ricochet back off the head of his goalkeeper, Dillon Phillips, to draw the scores level again at 1-1.
From that moment on, only one team looked like they were going to clinch victory, as the Rovers crowd roared on with each attacking move their team had.
Bradley Dack came close to putting Rovers in-front, on the 56th minute, but Addicks’ ‘keeper Phillips did well to deny Rovers’ top goalscorer from the previous campaign.
The Rovers pressure intensified on the hour mark, as Downing and Armstrong combined, with the latter having his shot behind for a corner, that was soon cleared.
Bell came forward on the 64th minute, but saw his cross cleared, which, after a controlling passage of play, saw the ball recycled back out to the left-back, who hit a rocket of an effort, from around 30-yards out, which only narrowly skimmed the top of the Charlton crossbar.
The 67th minute saw the substitution tap open, as Charlton withdrew Naby Sarr and replaced him with debuting loanee, Conor Gallagher, who had signed on a season-long loan from Chelsea, yesterday. Soon after, Tony Mowbray made a double change, introducing Danny Graham and Joe Rothwell, in place of Stewart Downing and Adam Armstrong, with Sam Gallagher taking up Armstrong’s vacated wing position, in order to allow Graham to operate centrally.
The 70th minute saw Rovers produce their slickest move of the game, as Bradley Dack’s agility and skill saw him jink past a Charlton player, before sliding in Gallagher, who got beyond his full-back. With Rovers in-behind the visiting defence and Graham waiting at the back-post to prod home, Gallagher’s cutback was well intercepted by Charlton, as Rovers earnt a corner, that was soon cleared.
A few minutes after Charlton cleared, Jake Forster-Caskey fell into the referee’s notebook after tripping Bradley Johnson in the centre of the park.
Things soon collapsed for Rovers in-front of their very eyes, as following a sustained period of pressure from Charlton, which saw successive corners cleared, the Addicks soon found the breakthrough that sent their supporters into a frenzy. Forster-Caskey’s corner, was flicked on by Addicks’ captain, Jason Pearce, into the path of an unmarked Lyle Taylor, who had to improvise with a backheel to put his side back ahead at 2-1 and earn his first Championship goal of his career.
Soon after the restart, George Lapslie became the third Charlton player to have his name taken by the referee, after the 21-year old fouled Joe Rothwell.
With the Blues down and demotivated, Tony Mowbray soon made his final substitution, as John Buckley was introduced to replace Lewis Travis, in a bid to give Rovers a more attacking impetus in the centre of the park. Charlton also responded soon after, with a change of their own, as Jonny Williams made way for Albie Morgan.
The affair fizzled out into a frustrating afternoon for the home side, as the visitors shut up shop and continued their relatively solid defensive performance, whilst Rovers were left void of ideas and somewhat baffled by how they had gotten into the situation they found themselves in.
After numerous tries at breaking down the 10-man Charlton wall, referee Andy Woolmer added on 6 extra minutes to the game, due to Charlton’s feeble attempts at timewasting, but this was not before the newly-promoted side made their final change of the game, which saw Lapslie make way for newly-signed Deji Oshilaja, who arrived at The Valley from AFC Wimbledon in the summer.
Once Oshilaja made his way onto the field, Rovers continued to huff and puff, but were unable to blow Charlton’s defence in, as Lee Bowyer’s side remained resilient and, after the final whistle was blown, saw the newly-promoted outfit earn 3 valuable points, courtesy of the ‘perfect away performance’, that will go a long way in helping them secure their fate come the end of the season.
‘New season, new optimism’ was the cry from some prior to the kick-off, however the seemingly lacking improvement in the defensive area of the field, will be a cause for concern for many, let alone those within the club. Having ended last season furious with his defenders, there was some surprise over the summer, and when the teamsheet was announced, that Mowbray had opted to play with the same defenders, that had conceded a high proportion of the 69 league goals that were shipped last season. Despite cries from many to strengthen the defensive area, including a call by the manager himself at a supporters’ meeting in May, the next 5 days, until the transfer window closes on 8th August, will be very intriguing.
Although this is only the first game of the season, with the new signings still yet to gel in a competitive environment and fully understand the ins and outs required to be a Blackburn Rovers player, as well as for them to reach maximum fitness levels, there is an expectance from the Ewood Park faithful that things improve quickly, due to Rovers’ fixture list proving to be increasingly difficult, on paper.
Diverting attentions slightly towards the early league table, Rovers’ somewhat, not so shocking defeat, (given the opening day record), leaves the club lying in 17th place.
Returning to the fixture list, Rovers’ attentions now turn to preparing for an away trip to London, as Tony Mowbray’s men travel to recently-relegated Fulham, on Saturday 10th August, with kick-off at 3pm. After that, the Blues face back-to-back home games, with Oldham Athletic in the Carabao Cup first round on Tuesday 13th August, set to battle Rovers at Ewood Park at 7:45pm, before Mowbray welcomes his boyhood club Middlesbrough, who are managed by his former captain, Jonathan Woodgate, on Saturday 17th August at 3pm.
