|
· Spurs fans! Find a hotel near the ground here!
· Last Year's Game - 1-0 to Spurs
· Last Year's Spursometer - 65%
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 3 2004-5
· Spurs drew at West Brom. Rovers lost 3-0 at Highbury.
Full Record of Spurs -v- Blackburn Rovers
Prem Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 11 5 2 4 12- 14 17
Away 11 5 1 5 13- 10 16
========================================
Total(Prem) 22 10 3 9 25- 24 33
========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 1) 24 16 4 4 63- 30 36
Away(Div 1) 24 5 5 14 23- 50 15
========================================
Total(Div 1)48 21 9 18 86- 80 51
========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 2) 6 5 0 1 22- 8 10
Away(Div 2) 6 2 2 2 9- 7 6
========================================
Total(Div 2)12 7 2 3 31- 15 16
========================================
Total(Prem) 22 10 3 9 25- 24 33
Total(Div 1)48 21 9 18 86- 80 51
Total(Div 2)12 7 2 3 31- 15 16
========================================
Grand Total 82 38 14 30 142-119 100
========================================
Last Six Premiership results:-
Blackburn
West Brom 1-1 Blackburn
B'mimgham 2-1 Blackburn
Blackburn 1-3 Fulham
Spurs 0-0 Blackburn
West Ham 3-1 Blackburn
Blackburn 2-1 Fulham
Spurs
Arsenal 1-0 Spurs
Spurs 5-1 A. Villa
M'brough 1-0 Spurs
Spurs 0-0 Blackburn
P'tsmouth 0-2 Spurs
Spurs 2-0 M'brough
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
1 Spurs 2 2 0 0 4-0 4 6
10 Blackburn 2 1 0 1 3-4 -1 3
"Delicate footcraft and polished science have ever characterised the Spurs play and it is not mere coincidence that at the end of the 1884-5 season the team, on the advice of Mr Bailee, of Blackburn, scratched a match and went in body to see the final of the Association Cup at Kennington Oval, between Blackburn Rovers and Queen's Park"
(extract from "The History of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 1882-1921" reprinted from the Tottenham and Edmonton Weekly Herald)
The Spurs team that enthusiastically attended that historic fixture would have included founder members such as Bobby Buckle and "Sam" Casey. Such was the level of admiration of our founders for Blackburn, that they even played in their colours in the early years of "Hotspur F.C" They saw Blackburn beat Queen's Park (Yes the same Queen's Park that still plays at Hampden Park watched by crowds of up to 600 souls) for the second year in succession, to win the FA Cup for the second of 5 victories in the 19th Century. Rovers only added one other F.A Cup in 1928.
It is of course very doubtful that Bobby Buckle & Co would travel far to watch the current representatives of Blackburn, who committed more fouls than any other Premiership team last Saturday, and have also been fined for their poor disciplinary record of last season. Here is a team being moulded in the physical style of manager Mark Hughes, with less of the skill that he used to display on the field.
Public enemies such as Savage, Bellamy and Dickov feature in Hughes' squad, but two of those will be absent this Wednesday. Craig Bellamy sustained a thigh injury last week, and Paul Dickov has yet to complete his suspension for a violent tackle during 9 minutes of a substitute appearance at Upton Park on Day One of the season.
It would be foolhardy however to dismiss Blackburn in this fixture. After all, they did score two quality goals on Saturday to send the Fulham team and their 300 fans packing back down the road to London. After such a win, the morale of Blackburn and their fans will be such that Spurs need to be on their guard and at their best.
Spurs have a good record against Rovers, and have won two out of the last three away games. Robbie Keane scored in both those games, and in fact hit his debut goal for Spurs in October 2002 at Ewood Park. Last year's winner was scored after a magnificent run by Michael Brown. There is a story suggesting he has returned to the first team squad, but he only had 45 minutes for the Reserves last week, and I would be very surprised to see Brown figure for Spurs before September.
Martin Jol has difficult choices to make, with Saturday's Chelsea game surely demanding our very best players to be at their peak, but while he might like to rest certain key players, it might not be possible to do that on Wednesday. Ledley King is due to return to fitness this week, but he might be saved for Saturday. Will Edgar Davids be rested for Chelsea? Will Robbie Keane get a start, rather than Jermain Defoe? I shan't speculate on team selection any further, but I will predict another clean sheet for Spurs, and a narrow win by 1-0. That winner may well come from Robbie Keane.
Please note that the Spurs Odyssey Match Report will not be posted until Thursday evening.
Top of page | Index to 2005-6 Match Reports
| 
