Blackburn Rovers beat Arsenal 1-0 to leapfrog them to FIFTH PLACE in the English Premier League!!!
Usually, this fixture would have been a battle of champion-hopefuls vs relegation-strugglers. It's not a matter of WHETHER Arsenal will win, and rather BY HOW MANY GOALS Arsenal will win.
THE man
How times have changed for Blackburn Rovers under Mark Hughes!!
For the first time in seasons, this fixture held some significant value as it turned out to be a potential 'six-pointer' for both clubs, who are now actually competing neck-to-neck for a Champions' League place.
(yes, laugh all you want you ignorant gits)
As a Blackburn Rovers fan, I am damn proud of how the management of Mark Hughes' team has transformed this small club into actually a good team competing in the premiership.
They may not have the fan base, the money or reputation of the 'big' boys (eg. chelski, man yoo, Liverfool, arse-nal, spuds and newkarchng), but they certainly up there in terms of management, preparation and professionalism. (It has one of the best youth academies in England)
It is easy for guys who support Man Utd, Arsenal or Liverpool to laugh at Blackburn. "haha loser club, hahahahah small club."
Yes of course, it is indeed a small club.
But it is far from being a 'loser club'.
Despite the town of Blackburn having a population of around 105,085, it has an average attendance of 26,006 (2005). That's 24.7%!!
Granted, there will be fans from other cities and countries, but this high percentage attendance per capita makes Blackburn Rovers one of the best supported clubs in relation to its town size.
It is easy for guys to just pick a big team, and say out the acheivements the club had. But what we are dealing here is
the expectations of the team VS the actual performance of the team
For that, I can't say that Man Utd fans, Arsenal fans or liverpool fans can be really happy about. This season alone, I think West Ham, Wigan and Blackburn fans will be more proud than their Manyoo or arsenal counterparts.
Small attendance --> Less money --> harder to buy or attract better players --> harder to achieve higher placings --> less money --> u know what I mean.
So despite the odds stacked against them, they've still managed to 'over-achieve' and has won the EPL in 1995, League Cup and 10th place in 2003 and 6th place in 2004.
How's that for a small club??
Compare that to the likes Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa, who always call themselves 'big' clubs.. What have they won in the modern era?? Then how do they justify the BIG-ness?
Now you know why I am so proud of the Rovers.
So before you laugh at Blackburn, think again.. is the club you support exceeding expectations like Blackburn exceeding everyone's??
If not, I suggest you shut your mouth up =)
Arte Et Labore!!
(I know for non-football fans this sounds childish, but mature football fans would know what I'm talking about)
Aniwae I'm going for my wisdom teeth extraction @ Alexandra Hospital tomorrow. 3 teeth at one go!!!
Zai many-day MC haha!
