The Rovers Return

Benni McCarthy looks set for West Ham

EDIT: BENNI MCCARTHY HAS NOW APPARENTLY AGREED PERSONAL TERMS WITH WEST HAM

It’s been an extremely quiet transfer window so far. Not just at Rovers, but across the Premier League as a whole.

But a few snippets of speculation have emerged recently as the window enters its final week.

It was always expected to be pretty movement-free, particularly at Ewood, where no secret’s been made of the fact that funds are tight and Big Sam has to sell before he can even think about buying.

The only deals that have gone through are those of youth players Andy Haworth (Rochdale) and Marcus Marshall and Gavin Gunning (Rotherham) who have all gone out on loan.

Rovers have been linked quite regularly with Eidur Gudjohnsen and  Valdiray Basturk (Daily Mail) throughout the window. But no move is likely unless certain players leave the club.

McCarthy is being linked with a move to West Ham as new owners Gold and Sullivan look to strengthen the Hammers’ squad. Alan Nixon wrote in The Mirror that he may have to go on loan until his contract with Rovers finishes in 18 months as his recent lack of international caps means he would not get a new work permit. Read more »

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Sam Allardyce reacts to another near miss.

As I said after the Manchester City match, ‘it’s just so predictable’.

I also said, ‘abandon optimism all ye who enter here,’ and nothing’s changed after our latest farcical episode.

One up front. Long balls. It just doesn’t work. But it doesn’t change either.

Yes, the second half was an improvement, but it’s hard not to improve on a first half that bad. Yes, we were unlucky hitting the post twice, but had they sneaked into the net it wouldn’t have been at all justified.

Rovers were beaten, convincingly, by the better team on the night. There is a second leg to contest, but given our away form this season we haven’t a cat in hell’s chance!

Villa’s goal was poor. We’ve seen it time and time again, going all the way back to Robbie Blake’s opener for Burnley all those months ago. The opposition attacker comes forward completely unopposed, able to play the ball exactly how he pleases. Then, having played it out to the right, James Milner then wanders through the middle of the Rovers box, no defender batting an eyelid, before slotting the ball home from close range with Chimbonda and co looking bemused and mouthing, “Where did he come from?” Read more »

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Not saying I necessarily agree with it, but this post by Miller11 on the Lancashire Telegraph website is absolutely genius:

To the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen:

Is this Allardyce?
Or is this just fantasy?
Caught in a poor team,
Try to hoof it to victory,
Open your eyes,
Just stop telling lies and see,
We’re just a poor team, we have no quality,
Because its easy come, easy go,
Just like that Elrio,
Any way the Blues scores, doesn’t really matter to me,
To me.

Grella, just skinned a man,
Put the ball between his legs,
But he slipped and now he’s dead.
Givet’s game has just begun,
But Nelsen’s gone and thrown it all away.
Roberts!!! Oooohh!!!
Didn’t mean to make us lose,
He couldn’t score if we played til tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on, cos we are Blackburn Rovers. Read more »

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It's not the first time the media has forgotten it's a good few years since Allardyce managed Bolton.

Looks like Owen Coyle isn’t going to Bolton, as Rovers gaffer Sam Allardyce has now moved to The Trotters.

That is, if you believe ESPN Soccernet where it states:

14.06: Wigan forward Olivier Kapo has joined French Ligue 1 side Boulogne on loan until the end of the season.

13.52: Bolton boss Sam Allardyce wants Eidur Gudjohnsen and Koo Ja-cheol, according to Goal.

13.14: City are also planning to keep Roque Santa Cruz. Mancini said: “For me, he is important to the team.”

13.11: Roberto Mancini has no interest in selling Micah Richards. “I rate him very highly, he has played for England and has great potential for the future,” he said. “It is important that he stays.” Richards was linked with Tottenham, although ESPN Soccernet understands there has been no contact between the clubs.

12.50: Seems Mauro Zarate is edging further and further towards the exit door at Lazio. His brother and agent has hit out at Lazio coach Davide Ballardini in Corriere dello Sport after he criticised Zarate. Sergio Zarate says either Ballardini makes a public apology or either Zarate or Ballardini leaves the club. Arsenal have been linked with the Argentinean forward, although that may well not be true.

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Sam Allarydyce.

Sam Allardyce will miss Rovers’ next three matches, including the return to his former club Bolton, to undergo coronary surgery.

Apparently he reported chest pains last week, due to a narrowing of an artery, so he’s off to get that fixed.

It will be interesting to see how much free rein Neil McDonald gets in Allardyce’s absence…

The Rovers Return wishes Sam Allardyce a speedy recovery, and I’m sure he’ll be watching!

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In case you didn’t see this, although it was last week. United boss Alex Ferguson sees Rafa Benitez’s blatant undermining of Big Sam as the perfect opportunity to have another pop at the Liverpool gaffer.

Only just spotted this video:

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Tomorrow’s game at Stoke, on paper, would appear to be crucial, and yes, a result would be appreciated!

However, this isn’t the game that’s going to save our season. We still have four points between ourselves and the bottom three, and our three home games are the important ones.

Newcastle travel to Spurs, so hoping for a favour from the Cockneys. Boro host Fulham so former boss Roy Hodgson could do us a real favour by turning them over.

Having said that, we are still well able of relying on our own results to ensure our safety, and that’s what Sam has to concentrate on doing tomorrow. Read more »

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Ooooh ‘eck. It’s been a while. Need to get my act sorted out here!

Although I haven’t reflected on the last few weeks on here, I have still been watching the Rovers, I haven’t thrown the towel in!

Things, although precarious, aren’t as bad as they seem. With a long way still to go we are in a favourable position and are not yet reliant on other results going our way.

Big Sam has firmly established himself at Ewood and the team do look like they have fight in them, although at times it would seem there’s more fight in a wet kipper. It’s this inconsistency that provides us with our only minor worry. Read more »

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Argh it’s been hectic and I’ve been a very bad blogger. Let’s start at the beginning, usually a good idea:

Bolton at home: Conclusions

- Something seems to be wrong with Big Sam’s pre-match team talks. We were shite here, absolutely diabolical, and we weren’t much better against Newcastle in the first half. He seems to do something right at half time though!

- Kevin Davies, I’d love to rip his face off. Fat waste of money. As soon as he scored I was straight down for a pint!

- In the second half we were superb. If we were to play like that for the whole game we’d have walked it. Unfortunately we didn’t.

- Is Benni allergic to Jussi Jaaskelainen? This isn’t the first time the Finn has saved his penalty! It was a shite penalty though… Read more »

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Cracking quote in The Sun from Allardyce:

“When we went to Blyth, which is just north of Newcastle, for our FA Cup tie I was told I was going to get it and I’ve never signed so many autographs and posed for so many photos.

“There was the odd one shouting “you fat *******” but I get that wherever I go”

The article itself makes a very good point. Allardyce receives an awful lot of stick from the Geordies from his time up there.

Yes, he spent a lot of money but, as this article points out, he did a better job than the current incumbent and his predecessor.

Given time I reckon Big Sam would have been succesful with Newcastle. But bollocks to them let’s hope he’s succesful with us!

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