The Rovers Return

What a difference a week makes.

Following my optimism that came from the win at Bolton, Rovers went and made things look shit again by throwing away games at Fulham and at home to Stoke.

At Fulham, a 3-0 defeat in a game most have said we were on top in. In fact, when my Dad asked Dunny (he’s still dry lining his house) what happened, Dunny said, “We battered them!”

As I said about the Everton match. A bad day at the office. Move on and forget about it.

Then came the Stoke game. Reverting back to one up front didn’t work in a game where had we attacked from the outset, we could well have taken the points.

Despite being the hero against Burnley, Franco Di Santo is going to have to accept some flak now. He’s constantly preferred up front instead of the other (admittedly limited) options, yet he has still only scored once.

In the past three games he has missed four one-on-ones with keepers. One at Bolton, two at Fulham and one against Stoke which would have given us the win.

Granted, we were unlucky on Saturday as both keepers were in form (Robbo for England anyone?), and N’Zonzi saw his shot come agonisingly back off the post, but the result was not good enough, especially as it would have put us back above Burnley, who’s last minute consolation saw them draw level with us on goal difference!

With any luck, we’ll up our game in the cup match with Chelsea tomorrow. A win there and a semi-final appearance would really make our season at the moment!

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The Rovers Return has been qouted in a report on the progress of Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo for goal.com
Here it is:

On-loan Chelsea striker Franco di Santo has quickly made an impression on the Blackburn Rovers staff and supporters, according to one fan.

Dan Clough, journalist and writer behind Blackburn fansite The Rovers Return, believes that after scoring his first goal for the club, against arch rivals Burnley on Sunday, the 20-year-old striker has already endeared himself to the Ewood Park faithful.

“After Sunday he’s a hero,” Clough said.

“Scoring against Burnley means he is part of Rovers’ history. We were chanting his name, so I think we like him.

“He’s skilful, quick, good on the ball and likes to take defenders on. His height is also an advantage as he’s useful with his head as well.

“Manager Sam Allardyce has been selecting his squad around the in-form David Dunn playing in the hole behind a lone striker, and it appears he enjoys playing with Dunn.”
Read more »

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Di Santo kisses his Rovers badge after being substituted in the 3-2 win over Burnley. Hope Rovers don't mind me using their picture... (Sorry)

A young Argentine from Chelsea became an instant hero on Sunday as he nodded Rovers ahead in the East Lancashire derby.
He didn’t foul Brian Jensen. It was as much a foul by the on loan striker as it was by the Burnley defender on the line who also pushed into his overweight keeper.
The fact remains, the goal stood, and Rovers fans were ecstatic.
Franco Di Santo has recently impressed for Rovers. He has become the starting striker of choice for Big Sam as Jason Roberts fell out of favour after a couple of dodgy displays on his own up front.
And with fellow Rovers hero David Dunn in the supporting role, Di Santo has flourished.
If that goal itself wasn’t enough to endear him to the Rovers faithful present at Ewood that day, who instantly began chanting the 20-year-old’s name, kissing the Rovers badge on his shirt certainly cemented his place in the heart of every Rovers fan.
We may lose him in January, but Franco Di Santo’s name is well and truly cemented into the Blackburn Rovers, and Burnley, history books.
The recent revelation that he wants to stay at Rovers comes as a timely boost for Rovers, as recent comments by Big Sam have suggested he thinks it is unlikely the striker will be allowed to stay beyond January with the transfer embargo forced upon Chelsea recently. Read more »

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Di Santo with Rovers chairman John Williams

You wait for a signing and then two come along at once…

Franco Di Santo has finally completed his loan move to Rovers and was quickly followed by ‘the future of Croatian football’ Nikola Kalinic, for £6-million.

The signings relieve a lot of the tension surrounding our apparent lack of fire power heading into the imminent start of the new season, now just under two weeks away.

According to certain sources, we may also be tying up a deal for Man City’s Benjani, who would be available for a reported £5-million, leaving us with a bit of loose change to look into strengthening other areas of the squad.

Both signings excite me, mainly because of their age. Di Santo has impressed the Chelsea management in pre-season, and they now want to see him play some first team football. Ironically, he was signed from Audax Italiano by Chelsea, where he was teammates with a certain Carlos Villanueva, but he appears to have what it takes to make it at this level. Read more »

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