What Blackburn Rovers have been up to ahead of facing Newcastle United


 
 
 
 
 
 

Five of the last six times Newcastle United have been drawn against Blackburn Rovers in cup competitions, it is NUFC who have progressed to the next round.

Whilst that is a very positive statistic, the most bizarre one, is that Newcastle have now been drawn against Blackburn Rovers ten (TEN!) times in cup competitions during the Premier League era.

From 1993 onwards, drawn together ten times and thirteen cup games (including tomorrow night) in total during that time, including replays (no replay possible this time, as they stop in the FA Cup this season after the fourth round, so extra time then penalties if needed on Tuesday night).

Drawn together 13 times in total, Newcastle United and Blackburn, in our club’s history. Have we drawn any other club anything close to this in NUFC’s history?

As to the modern day, fair to say, Blackburn Rovers are a club with a ‘few’ problems.

Serious ongoing underlying financial problems. Blackburn Rovers also with long-term owners who aren’t exactly popular with the fanbase.

The serious financial problems coming to a head, certainly where their manager was concerned, when on the final day of the transfer window, the club’s young star player Adam Wharton was sold to Crystal Palace in a deal that could be worth up to £22m to Blackburn Rovers.

Jon Dahl Tomasson had been unhappy for a long time, the former Newcastle United striker making clear that what was happening at the club, wasn’t anything like it said in the ‘brochure’ when he took the job on. Promises of what would happen with budgets and transfer activity, not kept to.

Tomasson had offered to walk away in the summer such was his unhappiness with what was going on. However, he stuck it out until this month, the sale of Wharton and only minimal cheap and cheerful transfer business in terms of incoming in this latest window. The Danish manager saying enough was enough and left on Friday 9 February, immediately replaced by John Eustace, who had been sacked from a similar basket case club earlier this season, he had Birmingham in the play-offs but they sacked him just because Wayne Rooney became available. That worked out well…

As for new Blackburn Rovers boss Eustace, he was walking into massive problems on the pitch as well as off it.

These last 11 weeks have seen Blackburn Rovers win only one of their last 13 Championship matches.

This now leaves them only four points above the relegation zone and far to say that for the club, if not the fans, survival in the Championship is surely the club’s owners massive (only?) priority, not the FA Cup.

Not really spoken about much but as well as playing against higher quality teams, clubs from the lower divisions also have the added pressures of so many more league games to play than those in the top tier, when / if competing in the later stages of the FA Cup.

Having lost their talented manager (in my opinion) and their best player, Blackburn Rovers were always going to be up against it when facing Newcastle United.

It is simply down now to our NUFC players making the gap in quality count and also with this added advantage of a far quieter schedule ahead of the fifth round clash, compared to Blackburn Rovers.

A place in the last eight beckons, which would put Newcastle only one game (a kind home draw please!) away from Wembley and a semi-final visit, hopefully ahead of a swift return for the final!