On Second Thoughts: Blackburn's title triumph

[Delima]

The Guardian

 

Excellent read, excellent assessment

 

On Second Thoughts: Blackburn's title triumph

 

Forget what the naysayers claim about 'the team that Jack built': Kenny Dalglish achieved more at Ewood Park than Jose Mourinho did in west London.

Paul Doyle

September 27, 2007 12:33 PM

 

Blackburn Rovers' class of '95 - the very mention of them usually elicits dismissive snorts, quickly followed by righteous jibes about "Jack Walker's millions", "buying the league" and "bloody diabolical football". Compare and contrast that reaction to the respect, albeit often begrudging, accorded to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Perhaps Kenny Dalglish should have worn a trendier trenchcoat?

 

Though he may never have led cops on a wild goose chase to protect a fugitive dog, Dalglish achieved more at Ewood Park than Mourinho did in fashionable London. Mourinho took over Champions League semi-finalists who already boasted world-class players and a pristine stadium - and after massive investment he shunted them up a few places in the league. Dalglish inherited a ramshackle outfit writhing at the foot of Division Two in front of home crowds of less than 10,000 - and after sizeable investment catapulted them back into the top flight for the first time in 26 years before turning them into national champions for the first time in 81. All in less than half a decade. That incredible rise should be celebrated more than Chelsea's.

 

They may have been relegated four years later, and were rarely anything other than embarrassing in Europe, but Blackburn were undoubtedly deserving champions in 1995. Yes, their win justified Walker's expenditure, but most of all it was reward for eternal qualities such as speed, power, discipline, determination, intelligence, organisation, skill and goals - 80 goals, to be precise, more than any other team in the league (and, at a rate of 1.90 per game, more than Chelsea ever mustered under Mourinho).

 

Most of those goals came from Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, both of whom had been bought for record fees. But so what? Almost all successful sides spend heavily and they're usually applauded for it - why reserve ridicule for a club who built sensibly after buying wisely when there are so many who've splurged stupidly and flopped? Newcastle, for instance, also set a record when they bought Shearer and what did they win? Nothing, because they were a defensive disaster. And how many goals did Sutton score at Chelsea after being lured there for £10m, double what Blackburn had paid for him? Sod all, because Chelsea didn't deliver any crosses. Any jackass can buy good players; it takes a shrewd eye to know which ones can be compatible, and canny work to ensure that potential is consistently fulfilled.

 

Blackburn had balance. In Stuart Ripley and Jason Wilcox they had wingers who usually raced to the by-line, occasionally cut inside, but, unlike more celebrated widemen (such as Newcastle's Tino Asprilla), almost always produced a telling pass. As did Tim Sherwood, who marshalled the middle in a way Spurs never managed to make him do, tackling imperiously and probing smartly. Mark Atkins was a competent, cheap stand-in for the crocked David Batty. They were far from long-ball merchants - indeed, Shearer's strike at Newcastle in the FA Cup, for example, was the culmination of a free-flowing move from back to front and a strong candidate for goal of the season; not hit-and-hope, then, but generally fast, powerful and direct, like the Liverpool side of the mid-70s, who, as Dalglish obviously knew, used a similar approach to establish national dominance.

 

Blackburn's defence perhaps represented Dalglish's finest achievement. Here there were no bejewelled recruits - in fact, despite Walker's money, Blackburn had been unable to cling on to David May, who defected to the swisher surrounds of Old Trafford in the summer of '94, which is also when Rovers lost erstwhile stalwart Kevin Moran to retirement. So the back line included Colin Hendry, who had missed much of the 1993-94 season through injury after being bought from Manchester City for £700,000 (exactly what City had paid for him two years earlier); Henning Berg, a bargain buy from Lillestrom; and Graeme Le Saux, salvaged from a see-saw spell at Chelsea, who would be so impressed by his transformation at Ewood Park that they would buy him back four years later for 10 times the price they'd sold him for. That trio formed a formidable understanding, and the fourth member of the back four - until the £1.5m signing of Jeff Kenna in March - tended to be Tony Gale, a freebie from mighty Wealdstone; Robbie Slater, an unheralded Australian; or Ian Pearce, another cut-price Chelsea cast-off.

 

In short, the defensive foundation on which Blackburn's title triumph was built cost roughly the same as Newcastle had paid for Darren Peacock a year previously, and far less than Liverpool had just forked out for Phil Babb and John Scales.

 

There was, of course, another reason why Blackburn had the second-best defensive record in the league: Tim Flowers. The £2.4m goalkeeper was phenomenal all campaign, never more so than in the crucial 1-0 win over Newcastle in May, a result that meant Blackburn could afford to lose at Anfield on the last day if United failed to beat West Ham. People still carp about that Newcastle match - it is, you see, one of football's most enduring, most foolish falsehoods that if you win a game after your goalkeeper makes a string of super saves, you were lucky. Goalkeepers are part of the team; they are there for a reason. If you don't get wet when it rains because you bought an umbrella, are you jammy?

 

Luck was not a significant factor in Blackburn's title triumph. For a start, two of their most expensive signings - Batty and Kevin Gallacher - missed virtually the entire season through injury and another, Paul Warhurst, broke his leg before the run-in. Also, the fact that an unprecedented four teams were to be relegated to accommodate the reduction from 22 to 20 teams meant this was perhaps the most intense season in Premiership history as sides fought for their futures. Blackburn's consistency was all the more impressive for that.

 

What's more, refereeing decisions always seemed to go against Rovers: in the Newcastle game in which they were supposedly fluky, for example, Sutton had a fine goal ruled out for an imaginary offside. In October they travelled to second-placed Nottingham Forest (Blackburn were third) and won 2-0 despite Wilcox being sent off for dropping the ball before a throw-in, a heinous act that the incredibly pernickety referee deemed worthy of a second yellow card ... though earlier Stuart Pearce had escaped a second booking after bulldozing Berg and then taunting his prostrate victim. And in both games against Manchester United, Blackburn were thwarted by injustice. They were reduced to 10 men at Ewood Park after Berg was wrongly sent off for winning the ball cleanly off Lee Sharpe - Eric Cantona scored the resultant penalty and United went on to win 4-2. And at Old Trafford, where United won 1-0, Sherwood had a goal chalked off because Shearer brushed against Roy Keane in the build-up.

 

Despite such setbacks and regular sniping from the media, rival fans and, most of all, Alex Ferguson that Blackburn would do a Devon Loch in the final straight, Dalglish's men remained wonderfully resilient. This team, as Flowers memorably ranted after the win over Newcastle, had bottle. United, who had sought to bolster their bid by forking out £6m on Andy Cole in January (more than Blackburn had paid for Sutton), did not. And not one Blackburn player got himself banned for launching a crazed kung-fu attack on a Crystal Palace lout.

[M4]

Nice read indeed, too easily forgotten. That team was a joy to watch for the two seasons they challenged and eventually won it. With of course an out of this world Shearer.

[johnnypd]

some good points made there, tho the journalist seems unneccessarily bitter, for what reason i don't know. definitely puts things in context when you think of how much chelsea have spent. tho £5m back then was probably the equivalent of £20m these days, in football terms.

[TRon]

He did fairly poorly at Newcastle though in comparison. Didn't exactly pull up any trees at Celtic either afterwards.

 

Mourinho on the other hand will undoubtedly go on to succeed again. Did anyone ever have that conviction about Dalglish when he left Newcastle?

 

 

[Cronky]

Kind of think he's overstating the case. Blackburn were the biggest spenders of their era, in the same way that Chelsea are now. Trying to make out that it was a triumph against the odds, and all down to exceptional management, is stretching things a bit.

[Parky]

Kind of think he's overstating the case. Blackburn were the biggest spenders of their era, in the same way that Chelsea are now. Trying to make out that it was a triumph against the odds, and all down to exceptional management, is stretching things a bit.

 

Aye.

 

 

...and the first stat for the prosecution is the goals stat comparison...Clearly def are way more organised now and Chelsea play a completely different kind of football. Wouldn't even win a pub argument....

 

 

 

Not that I read all of it of course.

 

 

Mourinho imo is one of the greatest managers of all time and in years to come history will bear this out.

[Canuck]

Strange how the journo mentions Newcastle almost as much as Blackburn.

[greydos]

Firstly, Tino Asprilla a wide man?

 

Secondly, i thought it was a Blackburn article not a newcaslte one!!

[Guest sittingontheball]

I was hopeful when Dalglish joined us. Losing Al and selling Sir Les didn't help I suppose.  Working with Sutton and Shearer also didn't stop him buying that French plank.

 

Among a number of moot points in the article, going from bottom of the Championship to midtable in the Prem is probably easier than going fifth to first in the Prem.  The latter is like sprinters fighting for an extra few hundredths to be the best, someone who is remembered. The former, well, Keano's just done it with Nyron Nosworthy.

[Guest dasflenst]

Also, Tino wasn't even with us in 94-95 as we signed him in Feb 96.  I think from near the bottom of the 2nd tier to Premiership Champions in about 5 years or less is pretty decent.  We could and should have done the same but never mind. 

[UV]

I stopped reading when I came to the stunning new analysis that we lost the league because we were a "defensive disaster" and Blackburn won it because they were rock solid at the back.

 

94-95

1 Blackburn Rovers 42 27 8 7 80 39 89

2 Manchester United 42 26 10 6 77 28 88

 

95-96

1 Manchester United 38 25 7 6 73 35 82

2 Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 78

 

96-97

1 Manchester United 38 21 12 5 76 44 75

2 Newcastle United 38 19 11 8 73 40 68

 

We'd concede 4 but score 5 you know.

[Keefaz]

Bizarre article. Anyone else get the impression the writer has got Newcastle on the brain?

[Guest Knightrider]

I stopped reading when I came to the stunning new analysis that we lost the league because we were a "defensive disaster" and Blackburn won it because they were rock solid at the back.

 

94-95

1 Blackburn Rovers 42 27 8 7 80 39 89

2 Manchester United 42 26 10 6 77 28 88

 

95-96

1 Manchester United 38 25 7 6 73 35 82

2 Newcastle United 38 24 6 8 66 37 78

 

96-97

1 Manchester United 38 21 12 5 76 44 75

2 Newcastle United 38 19 11 8 73 40 68

 

We'd concede 4 but score 5 you know.

 

Exactly. Shite article, al;though Blackburn did deserve credit for their title success.

 

This is a sticky point for me though, during those years many claimed we tried to buy the title like them, forgetting every penny spent on players at NUFC came through fans' pockets, unlike at Blackburn where it predominantly come from Jack Walker's pockets.

[Elliottman]

football was a lot different then too. Great achievment, but if its trying to undermine Jose, then he's wrong. jose is a class manager, and like said earlier will go on to suceed again and again.

 

[Guest firetotheworks]

Seems a bit of a pointless and highly flawed article to me. Saying that Dalglish did more in one season at Blackburn than Mourinho did in 3 at Chelsea. Utter tosh. Hmm, didnt Dalglish take over a champions league team and totally dismantle everything that was good about it? Yes.

 

Blackburn won one season and I dont remember anyone really saying that they'd bought the title and played bad football. I remember thinking Stuart Ripley in particular that season was immense. Our defence wasnt a disaster either, nor was Asprilla a winger. If a journo cant get simple details right then why should we buy into the opinions about anything else?

[Minhosa]

Can't stand Dalglish. He took a great KK side and dismantled it.

 

Any bloke who can agree to the sales of Ginola and Ferdinand after their performances the previous season should be shot with shite.

 

The worst manager in recent NUFC history imo.

[Guest Pie]

Can't stand Dalglish. He took a great KK side and dismantled it.

 

Any bloke who can agree to the sales of Ginola and Ferdinand after their performances the previous season should be shot with s****.

 

The worst manager in recent NUFC history imo.

Souness? Roeder? Gullit? He has some competition tbh

[Minhosa]

Can't stand Dalglish. He took a great KK side and dismantled it.

 

Any bloke who can agree to the sales of Ginola and Ferdinand after their performances the previous season should be shot with s****.

 

The worst manager in recent NUFC history imo.

Souness? Roeder? Gullit? He has some competition tbh

 

He has - I agree. He's still the worst of that lot. The difference is Roeder and Gullit inherited shit teams.

 

Souness was the only one who inherited a side comparable with KK's. I still hate Dalglish more though.

 

Could never fucking stand him and his miserable, mumbling interviews after games and his old Pal's act bringing in Rush, Barnes et al. Wanker.