FAN'S EYE VIEW: Red card for Palacios was the turning point
BY MIKE McKINLEY My sorry prediction of a Blackburn disaster looked way off the mark for 80 minutes or so, until the referee gave us a massive helping hand in shooting our collective feet at Ewood Park on Saturday lunchtime. Far from a game of two halves, it was one of o
My sorry prediction of a Blackburn disaster looked way off the mark for 80 minutes or so, until the referee gave us a massive helping hand in shooting our collective feet at Ewood Park on Saturday lunchtime.
Far from a game of two halves, it was one of our best away performances in a long while for nigh on the whole game.
However, once the hapless Mr Walton wafted the red card at Wilson Palacios for slipping over, we turned from triumphant to pathetic, with the recently solid back four playing like they had recently met in a pub car park.
As easy as it was to bemoan the handful of refereeing errors that looked like an attempt to even things up for a debatable penalty, we were architects of our own downfall at both ends.
Numerous opportunities were spurned to extend the lead into safety, and we fell apart once the advantage was handed to Blackburn.
Annoyingly, it kept us from passing the magical 40-point mark, and from stepping up the fight for a European place.
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All is not lost on that front, however, with West Ham the Easter visitors on Saturday.
Traditionally, this fixture means a lot to our East End chums, and with them having the chance to achieve a dream finish above us for a change, the atmosphere is bound to be lively.
It would therefore be ever so nice to burst their bubbles with a victory to teach them that even with a massive head start we can still reel them in and overtake them.
I know there are a lot of pre-season wagers that rest on the finishing positions, and a return to winning ways would be most welcome both on and off the pitch.
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