[NoSkillz]

Sat. November 20, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Dover (7-4-1, 25 points, 3rd) vs. Blackburn (2-4-6, 10 points, 16th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Blackburn: 4-1
Past Meetings: 3W 1D 2L

We are HUGE favourites at home versus Blackburn, who held Sheffield Wednesday to a 1-1 draw in their last match and beat Huddersfield the game before that to escape the relegation zone. Alan Shearer, legend of the game, manages Blackburn and even engages me in the press, saying how good a job I'm doing with limited resources. Hey buddy, lets grab a beer after the game!

We outclass Blackburn in every area according to our coaching staff but we'll have to worry about complacency and hope the squad isn't looking ahead to a midweek Champions League game against Barcelona. Blackburn was quiet in the transfer window, only spending £2.9 million in total, all on Slovenian midfielder Darko Music, who has played very few games thus far for his new club. That inactivity won't get it done for a newly promoted club but again, they are out of the relegation zone…for now. Striker Sergi has four goals to lead the team but their most dangerous player is fellow striker Graham Allan, a pacy Scottish international.

Gianluca Bolis has returned to full training but I will hold him out until the Barcelona game. In other good news, striker Zoltan Bardi is match fit for the first time this year after his two international games for Hungary but I'll keep him on the bench for today - I plan on starting him for the first time against Barcelona, as Giorgos Gesios will be serving a one-game suspension in that match for yellow card accumulation. I have a few slightly tired players in the lineup today and I'll be hoping to build a lead big enough to substitute players like Salim Loucif and Neil Cairney so they're completely rested for our Champions League encounter in three days.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, K. Kalfas
S - S. Andrea, G. Gesios
Bench - J. Kuciak, P. Tjiuoro, Mancini, S. Spall, C. Murray, A. Zubizarreta, Z. Bardi

Blackburn play a defensive 4-4-2 and go with Allan and Sergi up front. No screwing around today - I tell the lads that I expect a win.

4' - Giorgos Gesios continues to be snake bitten, as he takes a great pass from Andrea near the byline, turns on a defender and shoots right at the Blackburn goalkeeper Stephen Brown. Come on Gesios! We need goals from you!

5' - My God. The ball is booted back toward our end and Claudio Contreras is blatantly taken down by Graham Allan but the ref keeps the whistle in his pocket. That allows the dangerous Allan to walk in and shoot but Wilke makes the point blank save. He's out of position on the rebound though and Blackburn's leading scorer Sergi has it. His shot? WIDE. He hangs his head as he retreats back down field. Terrible refereeing.

16' - I'm not really happy with our game so far. Blackburn has had a couple more counter chances and we're not doing enough with the ball. Shanon Andrea gets a weak shot off that's easy saved by Brown.

21' - Cairney has been very active so far and intercepts a poor pass from Blackburn and immediately feeds Gesios near centre half. He turns and uses his trademark speed to dribble into the Blackburn zone but his shot goes into the side netting.

26' - We have the ball in the middle of the field and Rocca gets it up to Gesios. He's 25 yards out and for some reason, tries to shoot on goal with his left foot but it's blocked by Blackburn's defender. It bounces back to Gesios and he touches it over to Shanon Andrea and he takes two steps to his right and fires the ball into the top corner of the goal. "A cracking effort from Andrea" screams the announcer" and we have a lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0

37' - Blackburn's left fullback Fraser Baxter misplays an aerial attempt and Arsene Bamba streaks down the left side. He crosses into Andrea and his shot is turned aside by Brown - Gesios is there for the rebound but it's blocked behind the net by a defender. We can't convert the corner.

HALFTIME - A pretty decent half I guess. We have 53% of possession and outshoot them 14-9 (5-5 on target). The announcers call it a "tremendous half" with lots of scoring opportunities. Their strikers are dangerous and we've given up too many counters. I may have to counter attack myself but for now, I'll stick with a control mentality.

46' - We get a GLORIOUS chance off the opening kick off, as we work quickly up field and Rocca sends a fantastic pass into Andrea who is in all alone. His hard blast is saved in spectacular fashion by Brown.

48' - Rocca gets the ball in the middle of the field and plays it up to Andrea, who is on the outer edge of the area. He turns and shoots but it is blocked by Blackburn's defender but the ball ricochets to Gesios. He immediately sends a GORGEOUS one touch pass through the defence back to Andrea, who rounds the keeper and easily slots the ball into the net for his second goal of the game. Great play by Gesios and we're ahead two!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0

Blackburn change to a 5-3-2 formation.

66' - We're just dominating right now but can't get that third goal past Brown. Cairney gets a great shot from distance that is stopped by Brown and Blackburn are fortunate to clear the mess before we pot another one home.

70' - I've already called for Neil Cairney to be substituted, as I look to save him for Barcelona in our upcoming Champions League game but he gets a yellow card as play continues.

71' - Cairney is off for Shaun Spall and I take out the excellent Giorgos Gesios after easily his best game of the year and bring in Zoltan Bardi.

78' - We have the ball down the right flank and Loucif and Kalfas play some give and go's. The ball comes to Andrea Rocca and he sends a wicked, curling left footed blast that hits forcefully off the far goalpost and out. Blackburn clear the ball from danger. We want a third goal! What a strike that would have been!

84' - We make our final substitution, with Aitor Zubizarreta coming on for Rocca.

88' - Shanon Andrea gets through the defence with his great speed and has a chance for the hat trick but Brown once again is up to the task. Blackburn's keeper has been sensational today.

90'+1 - Zoltan Bardi takes a pass at centre half and just SPEEDS through the defence and in on goal. His shot gets past Brown but once again, we hit the goalpost and it bounces to safety. My goodness! Bardi is still looking for his first of the season.

90'+2 - We win a corner and it's Kostas Kalfas taking the kick with Andrea Rocca substituted out. His cross is to the near post and Rayane Hamon heads it toward goal. It hits Zoltan Bardi and then bounces right to the golden boot of Shanon Andrea, who quickly kicks the ball into the net past the stunned Stephen Brown. "The smile on his face tells the whole story", the announcer says as Andrea runs to the corner flag to celebrate his HAT TRICK! DOVER GOAL 3-0

SENSATIONAL!

Dover 3 - 0 Blackburn
Goals - Shanon Andrea 3 (9.6)
Assists - Giorgos Gesios (7.4), Kostas Kalfas (7.9)
Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.4), Rayane Hamon (7.6), Claudio Contreras (7.2), Renato Gaucho (7.7), Neil Cairney (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.1)
Attendance - 14,493

One of the most dominant 3-0 games you can have and that second half was something special, as we had 21 shots (!!!!) in that half alone. For the game, we held 58% of possession and outshot them by a ludicrous 35-9 (12-5 on target) margin. Just a sick performance as we continue to show no mercy against poor teams. And what can I say about Shanon Andrea - the guy has been a revelation in his first year - we had 41 goals between Gesios and Bardi last year and this year they have ONE GOAL COMBINED. It's been Andrea all year and we're lucky to have him. Great to see Gesios have a great game and he was robbed of an assist on Andrea's first goal in my opinion. A wonderful game all around.

-- Arsenal shock Manchester United at Emirates 4-1, which propels them into 4th place and brings us level on points with United but behind them on goal differential. Despite the heavy defeat, United still have a ludicrous +27 goal differential. City defeat Spurs 4-1 to move into first place in the league, a position they're familiar with the last few years. After an off-year, lethal striker Enrique is back playing striker and scores a hat trick in the match. He has 12 goals on the year in as many league games and 21 (!!) across all competitions. Jelle Hoegee, after scoring 27 goals in 23 league games last year, has been bench fodder for City and only has 2 goals this year. City play a 4-5-1 formation so last year, they could play Hoegee up front and Enrique at midfield. This year, they've elected to go with Enrique up front and Hoegee, who can't play midfield, sits on the bench for the most part. I've scouted him, hoping to see if he's unhappy and interested in a possible move to Dover but my scouts say he'd have no interest in joining us at this time.

-- In other Premier League play, Man City beats Fulham 3-0, United knock off Chelsea by the same scoreline and Sunderland can only manage a draw against relegation candidates Derby, which allows us to move past them on the table into 3rd place.



600 Games!

-- I get some good press, as it's noted that our upcoming Champions League game against Barcelona will be my 600th game in management, all with my "beloved Dover" club. I'm taken to a screen to see other long-serving managers and I note that I'm one of only TWO managers in-game that are deemed "world-class" - it's just me and Man City's Carlo Ancelotti!



-- Shanon Andrea once again is named to the Barclays Premier League team of the week for his three goal outburst against Blackburn.



Dover Injury Update

-- Wayne Rooney is the only Dover player still injured and it will be a while before he's fully recovered from his torn hamstring.



Next Up

-- We're back to Champions League play, as we host Spanish powerhouse Barcelona at Crabble Athletic Ground.