The Rovers Return

- McCarthy warns Santa – the grass isn’t always greener! Daily Mail

- Allardyce after a bargain Lancashire Telegraph

- Villanueva doesn’t regret loan move Sky Sports

- Blyth Spartans hold first EVER pre match press conference, that’s how much it means to them! News Post Leader (view video)

- Ince in running for Derby job! Derby Evening Telegraph

- Gallagher staying with Plymouth Plymouth Herald

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I have it on good authority Paul Ince had an ulterior motive when he signed as Rovers manager.

This comes from a very reliable media source, you can read it here.

“Roy Keane may be returning to management sooner than anyone had dared believe, following a conversation he allegedly had with sacked Blackburn manager Paul Ince.

Keane, who we caught up with under a railway bridge swigging meths (2007 Boots – a very good year) told this website: “I was talking to Incey (short for Incey Wincey Spider) the other day about why he wanted to go to Blackburn in the first place.”

Ince, who was the first UK black manager ever to be appointed in the top flight replied: “It’s quite simple, I am black and the team name has black in it – so it was obvious.”

Keane thought for a bit and apparently replied: “Well then I should go to Scunthorpe.”

When we told Mark Lawrenson this story he told us: “In that case I am off to manage Arsenal.”"

Happy New Year everyone! A prosperous 2009 to all, especially Sam Allardyce and everyone connected with Rovers!

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Two games and one point. Not the best outcome but at least we didn’t get beat.

At Sunderland we should have won. We had chances throughout the second half but didn’t take them. Jason Roberts missed a sitter. We could dwell on that, or we could move on and remember what an asset he is to our team.

Roberts, I don’t care what anyone says, including Jamie Partlin, is a strong, quick and powerful player. A perfect strike partner for Benni and, as I’ll talk about in a minute, scoring goals!

Moving on from the disappointment of Tyneside, the disappointment of Ewood!

An excellent performance from every one of our players against City. Read more »

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With speculation mounting over the future of our Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz I am beginning to question just how much we’d miss him.

Our performance against Stoke was a demonstration of what we are truly capable of. Forget the days of underachieving with Ince, this is a new era.

What stood out more than anything for me was the performance of Benni and Roberts. I’ve always liked Roberts, although certain mates of mine aren’t keen. He’s quick and powerful and works well with McCarthy, with who he is great friends.

With Santa Cruz out ‘injured’ it really looked as though we didn’t need him. I mean, it would be nice to have him in the side, but without him we wouldn’t be in a disastrous situation as we still have quality strikers in the side.

Derbyshire is getting better and Gally has been playing really well for Plymouth. If I was Big Sam I’d bring him back in and give him one last chance to make it at Rovers, if he doesn’t impress then sell him in the Summer. Read more »

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I’ve been meaning to blog about this week’s goings on for a while but festivities and work have both stopped me.

I’ll start from the end. Ie the match!

An absolutely terrific performance from a team bearing no resemblance to the one we saw every week under Paul Ince. Not in terms of the players on the pitch, who were largely the same as we’re used to seeing, but in terms of performance.

We looked a team with confidence, belief, passion and, probably most important of all, quality!

Whether this is a case of new manager syndrome is yet to be seen. But Allardyce has been welcomed by the fans, hopefully he’ll forgive us for the ridiculously fickle treatment we’ve given him, indeed, he was no good for us whatsoever back in the Summer! He also appears to have been welcomed by the players judging by this performance.

Not one player had a bad game and we dominated from start to finish. If you didn’t see the game then don’t believe Tony Pulis’ inexplicable comments on Sky Sports.

“We started really well and the stats say that they got in our box three times and scored three goals,” Read more »

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- Absolute shambles!

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It’s been a while since I last penned my thoughts on here. Mainly a mixture of being busy in my new job and being chronically depressed at the whole situation.

However, it’s match day, and that undying enthusiasm and optimism that fills every football supporter on the day of a game has returned. Whether you’re Grimsby playing Real Madrid, or Rovers playing Wigan, you always believe your team will come up trumps!

Today is very much make or break for the Guv’nor. The game at Wigan sees us start a huge run of games, all of which are very much winnable!

Yes, we haven’t won in ten, but we must take heart from the fact that run included games against United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, a resurgent Tottenham and Portsmouth, then Liverpool last week. The Liverpool game could have been something of a turning point. We played with character and strength, the fans got behind the team and we controlled the game in periods, the game put beyond our reach as we went all out for the equaliser and got caught on the break. Read more »

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