View From The Town End: Blackburn Rovers

Today we got the Blackburn view from Rovers fan Mikey Delap.

How would you sum up Blackburn's season so far?

Mixed. After starting slowly and showing little sign of tangible progress we've finally taken the plunge and changed our manager.

Thankfully results have improved in the short-term but it is early days in the reign of the new guy in charge, we're deservedly in the mid-table pack in the division... which also paints a very accurate picture of how good/bad/inconsistent performances so far.

Happy with Paul Lambert?

Yes. Most definitely.

Time will tell whether he will be a success at the club and there are no guarantees but you'd be hard pressed to find a Rovers fan who would tell you we could have done much better with the appointment of a new manager.

Given who Venky's could have appointed given their history - and boy we could have ended up with either Barry Chuckle, Shebby Singh or the cast of the Mikado in all honesty, they did a very quick and decisive job in identifying who they wanted and getting him.

Almost scarily and shockingly so.

You signed two former Reading players this summer in Hope Akpan and Danny Guthrie, how are they getting on?

I'll try to be balanced here and say "OK".

Guthrie always seems to look fairly handy when he's on the field but injuries (which won't shock you) have been niggly and prevented him from doing anything noteworthy so far.

Akpan has actually been a regular in the side. I don't mind him personally - he's a big lad who can shift himself about and certainly doesn't mind crunching into the opposition but his actual range of skill is, shall we say, limited.

I don't see a promotion side with an Akpan in midfield. Put it that way.

Any fond memories of games between the sides?

Yes absolutely, we had some crackers in the Premier League days we shared when Mark Hughes was in charge of Rovers.

The 3-3 end of season game at Ewood was a stonker - I was a big sucker for Matt Derbyshire so any game he scored in I always enjoyed.

Meanwhile the David Bentley goal at the Madejski is considered a relatively minor classic in recent rovers history of goals. Not to mention another entry in that particular award that I've just made up - Tugay's turn and half-volley in our 4-2 win over your boys at Ewood Park.

So indeed - brings it all flooding back. Thanks for that

Any not so fond ones?

A couple of very recent dour 0-0 encounters spring to mind - one at Ewood last season I had to spend about two days talking my wife into attending with me.

I'm pleased to report she has forgiven me for this undeniable crime, but it did take a fair while - the game was insanely awful and a viable cure for insomnia.

Who should Reading be wary of on Sunday?

Everybody.

I kid of course - the obvious answer is Jordan Rhodes who is in fairness going through something of a dry spell by his lofty standards. But the same rule applies with Jordan - stick him in front of goal and he'll rarely miss.

Elsewhere I'd advise you not to bother marking Craig Conway - he has a terrible cross and is a lazy bugger to say the very least. That last sentence may be sarcastic to say the very least, but I can neither confirm nor deny that at this point in time. I may have just said that to throw you off the scent.

Any Reading player you're not looking forward to facing?

Nick Blackman.

At Rovers we have a rule - if you are considered a donkey (Heskey) and/or used to play for us - you will score against us.

I'd just like to state I apply the "or" rather than the "and" in the above equation to Mr.Blackman, who we could really use in our side at present.

Score prediction?

Fence sitting klaxon on this one.

You've got a new/old boss - whilst we're proving fairly miserly in defence for a change.

So I'll say a low scoring draw. Possibly 0-0. Although I wish it to be more exciting than that!

Thanks again to Mikey and you can follow him on twitter @MikeyDelap