Blackburn Rovers Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2021/2022

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

It is hard to attract top class players to the club with Steve Kean in charge.

Tell me how you've come to that conclusion?

I want facts by the way, not some made up hocum.

djPSB

eagle eye wrote: »

Tell me how you've come to that conclusion?

I want facts by the way, not some made up hocum.

He is a low profile manager, who hasn't achieved very much in the premiership.

Venky's should have brought in a manger with a bigger reputation which would help ye attract better players.

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

He is a low profile manager, who hasn't achieved very much in the premiership.

Venky's should have brought in a manger with a bigger reputation which would help ye attract better players.

How do you know what his profile is like amongst players? Seriously he has been about, he worked in England with Coleman and in Spain with him too and as a player in Scotland and Portugal. I'm sure he has come across lots of players in his time as a coach/assistant manager. You don't know what they think of him. Its all guesswork on your part.

I'm not a fan of Steve Kean myself but he is getting an opportunity. Lets see how we are fixed at the end of the transfer window as far as signings are concerned and then after 10 games as far as how he is doing as manager.

djPSB

eagle eye wrote: »

How do you know what his profile is like amongst players? Seriously he has been about, he worked in England with Coleman and in Spain with him too and as a player in Scotland and Portugal. I'm sure he has come across lots of players in his time as a coach/assistant manager. You don't know what they think of him. Its all guesswork on your part.

I'm not a fan of Steve Kean myself but he is getting an opportunity. Lets see how we are fixed at the end of the transfer window as far as signings are concerned and then after 10 games as far as how he is doing as manager.

Yes it is all guess work on my part, based on what I've seen to date. Replacing a proven premier league manager with a relatively unknown unproven manager, who hasn't improved results since he took over. No players signed, and one of the clubs best prospects leaving. Only player they have with confirmed interest in is a free agent and they are still struggling to tie up the deal.

3 weeks until the season starts. I will be amazed if ye are going well after ten games.

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

Yes it is all guess work on my part, based on what I've seen to date. Replacing a proven premier league manager with a relatively unknown unproven manager, who hasn't improved results since he took over. No players signed, and one of the clubs best prospects leaving. Only player they have with confirmed interest in is a free agent and they are still struggling to tie up the deal.

3 weeks until the season starts. I will be amazed if ye are going well after ten games.

We signed two players in January. Rochina from Barcelona and Formica from Newell's Old Boys. Rochina is very young and only cost £1 million with a clause inserted that Barca can buy him back over the next couple of years. Formica cost £4 million.

We are going to buy players in this window. Kean said the day before yesterday that there were two substantial bids in for players. If they are not accepted then the club will move on to other targets. He said that no bids had been put in before this so any rumours you were hearing were false.

I don't remember anybody from the club ever confirming any name to this point so again that rumoured bid for an Argentinian is just that.

ctrl-alt-delete

To try and bring a bit of positivity back to this thread, A montage ( i know you can make anyone look good in these) of Formica from his Mike Newells Old Boys days . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp00wkzEYr8

Hopefully we see a little bit of this next season, he better be fit and ready to go!

Wouldn't be bad with Hoilett and Formica on the wings, we will have creativity in my opinion. Rochina looked like he could fill the hole from what I saw last season. Jones could have been our defensive midfield engine ( i still have hopes we will sign him).

We still just need the right type of striker to be there for us, a younger Robbie Keane would fit the bill nicely. I'd love to sign him still, I'm just hoping Santa Cruz doesn't come back, we need a different type of striker, we have the Santa Cruz type in Kalinic if he stays.

I'd love to see a move made for Shane Long, but then I remember the owners we have, and any sense is thrown out the window!

Lemlin

eagle eye wrote: »

Tell me how you've come to that conclusion?

I want facts by the way, not some made up hocum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Kean

There's the facts and I've already been through this earlier on this thread. Ken was assistant manager at such highly regarded clubs as Fulham, Real Sociedad and Coventry. He wasn't even assistant manager at Blackburn when Allardyce left, he was first team coach.

He was a player at Celtic (0 appearances), Alloa Athletic, Academica Coimbra (who the fook are they?), Bath City and Newbury Town. He worked with Coleman, who failed as a manager at Coventry and is now at Greek club Larissa.

As for your other replies:

1. Kean said this, the club said that. How many things have the club or Kean said now that haven't been true? Remember the whole trying to sign Ronaldinho debacle?
2. The world and its mother knows that Pavone was in Blackburn and his agent has said he wants to sign for the club. The deal has stalled though and nobody from the club is saying anything.

On good news though, at leats we didn't resign Benjani. Hooray!!!

As for the gutter trash, the Lancashire Telegraph has always been my source for news on the club.

djPSB

Lemlin wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Kean

There's the facts and I've already been through this earlier on this thread. Ken was assistant manager at such highly regarded clubs as Fulham, Real Sociedad and Coventry. He wasn't even assistant manager at Blackburn when Allardyce left, he was first team coach.

He was a player at Celtic (0 appearances), Alloa Athletic, Academica Coimbra (who the fook are they?), Bath City and Newbury Town. He worked with Coleman, who failed as a manager at Coventry and is now at Greek club Larissa.

As for your other replies:

1. Kean said this, the club said that. How many things have the club or Kean said now that haven't been true? Remember the whole trying to sign Ronaldinho debacle?
2. The world and its mother knows that Pavone was in Blackburn and his agent has said he wants to sign for the club. The deal has stalled though and nobody from the club is saying anything.

On good news though, at leats we didn't resign Benjani. Hooray!!!

As for the gutter trash, the Lancashire Telegraph has always been my source for news on the club.

At least there's one person being realistic.

eagle eye

Lol @ Lemilin saying he uses the LET for all his news and then using Wiki and not responding to stuff I put up.

I honestly don't know which of you two is worse. No point continuing to talk to people who have their minds made up to not even discuss things.

Rikand

Pavone allegedly heading to Swansea. No link, but it's up on the Ewood Parks Finest facebook page.

djPSB

To be fair, Formica looks handy.

djPSB

Just saw Matt Taylor is willing to drop down to the championship to join up with Sam Allardyce at West Ham. And Kevin Nolan did the same a few weeks ago.

I spoke yesterday about how Steve Kean is unable to attract the best players to the club due to him being a low profile manager. Allardyce is the opposite, can even convince players to drop divisions to play for his team.

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

Just saw Matt Taylor is willing to drop down to the championship to join up with Sam Allardyce at West Ham. And Kevin Nolan did the same a few weeks ago.

I spoke yesterday about how Steve Kean is unable to attract the best players to the club due to him being a low profile manager. Allardyce is the opposite, can even convince players to drop divisions to play for his team.

I like Big Sam a lot and was happy to have him at Rovers. The players you mention though both played for him for years at Bolton. You do realise that?

No doubt they will be back up next season imo. Two very good signings for West Ham, that must mean that Scott Parker is leaving.

djPSB

eagle eye wrote: »

I like Big Sam a lot and was happy to have him at Rovers. The players you mention though both played for him for years at Bolton. You do realise that?

No doubt they will be back up next season imo. Two very good signings for West Ham, that must mean that Scott Parker is leaving.

Yes I realise that, which shows he is obviously well respected by the players he has dealt with.

Why a club would replace someone like Allardyce with Kean is beyond me. I suspect Allardyce was sick of being told lies by the owners and kicked up a fuss, resulting in him getting the door. Kean is just a yes man to the new owners.

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

Yes I realise that, which shows he is obviously well respected by the players he has dealt with.

Why a club would replace someone like Allardyce with Kean is beyond me. I suspect Allardyce was sick of being told lies by the owners and kicked up a fuss, resulting in him getting the door. Kean is just a yes man to the new owners.

Lol more ludicrous thoughts from you. You really shouldn't share these with other people lest they think you are craaaaaaaaaaaaazy!

Lemlin

eagle eye wrote: »

Lol @ Lemilin saying he uses the LET for all his news and then using Wiki and not responding to stuff I put up.

I honestly don't know which of you two is worse. No point continuing to talk to people who have their minds made up to not even discuss things.

I do use the Lancashire Telegraph. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/ to be exact. What exactly is LOL about that? Look back over my posts and the majority of the news I've said has come from there.

Blackburn running out of time for Pavone - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9150761.Blackburn_Rovers_running_out_of_time_for_Pavone/
Striker left in limbo - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9146556.Striker_left_in_limbo_as_he_waits_for_Blackburn_Rovers_green_light/
No shirt sponsor - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9139959.Blackburn_Rovers_still_looking_for_shirt_sponsor/
No big name signings - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9129080.Blackburn_Rovers_owners_not_big_name_hunting/
Call for patience - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9145425.Blackburn_Rovers_in_call_for_patience/?ref=mc

As for Wiki, where else would you propose I get a history of Kean? He's not exactly well known. Is your problem that it disagrees with your bullsh!t statement "Seriously he has been about, he worked in England with Coleman and in Spain with him too and as a player in Scotland and Portugal. I'm sure he has come across lots of players in his time as a coach/assistant manager." I'm sure he has come across lots of players during his career, how many would we want to attract to Rovers from Coventry or Real Sociedad though?

And what exactly have I not responded to? Post up a short, concise list of anything you feel I haven't dealt with and I'll reply to it. I'm not going to ramble through 3 or 4 long posts though trying to cover it all.

You choose to say I haven't responded to you but you ignored all of my above post and tried to ridicule it in a few lines without answering any of what I'd said above re the owners/Kean not telling the truth and re Pavone. I posted my points in two short concise bullets and you haven't replied.

Aren't you the same lad also who said give Kean a chance last season and then came back saying he was useless at the end of the season?

flahavaj

Eagle Eye:

Lemlin

eagle eye wrote: »

I like Big Sam a lot and was happy to have him at Rovers. The players you mention though both played for him for years at Bolton. You do realise that?

No doubt they will be back up next season imo. Two very good signings for West Ham, that must mean that Scott Parker is leaving.

Jesus, either Matt Taylor or Big Sam must be Houdini.

Matt Taylor signed for Bolton on the 16th January 2008.
I wonder where Big Sam was in 2008? Not at Bolton anyway. He'd left in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Taylor_(footballer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Allardyce

I suppose you won't be happy with Wiki again? Not happy with anything which shows you're talking through your...

eagle eye

Lemlin wrote: »

Jesus, either Matt Taylor or Big Sam must be Houdini.

Matt Taylor signed for Bolton on the 16th January 2008.
I wonder where Big Sam was in 2008? Not at Bolton anyway. He'd left in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Taylor_(footballer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Allardyce

I suppose you won't be happy with Wiki again? Not happy with anything which shows you're talking through your...

Well I think that shows you that I use my memory for things and not wiki or anywhere else. Very occasionally I get it wrong like with Taylor there.

Anyways its not a big deal as Taylor is an average enough player. Hard to see where he would go if he wanted to stay in the Premier League.

Lemlin

eagle eye wrote: »

Well I think that shows you that I use my memory for things and not wiki or anywhere else. Very occasionally I get it wrong like with Taylor there.

Anyways its not a big deal as Taylor is an average enough player. Hard to see where he would go if he wanted to stay in the Premier League.

And I think it shows your memory and knowledge are very poor.
Do you think I just decided to go and source Wiki and try and find a flaw? Anyone with a decent enough knowledge of the PL in the last few years would know that Taylor moved to Bolton recently enough.

If you want to go around saying obnoxious stuff like "Lol more ludicrous thoughts from you. You really shouldn't share these with other people lest they think you are craaaaaaaaaaaaazy!" and "Lol @ Lemilin saying he uses the LET for all his news and then using Wiki and not responding to stuff I put up. I honestly don't know which of you two is worse. No point continuing to talk to people who have their minds made up to not even discuss things" then you want to make damn sure anything you're spouting is at least factually correct.

You also accused me of ignoring points of yours above and yet again have gone on to ignore a post from me above where I directly asked you for a response.

eagle eye

Lemlin wrote: »

I do use the Lancashire Telegraph. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/ to be exact. What exactly is LOL about that? Look back over my posts and the majority of the news I've said has come from there.

Nothing wrong with using the LET. I was lol'ing at you putting up a wiki link and claiming you only use the LET when I've seen you put up links from the rags in the past.
Its ok to put up those links but you have to take them with a pinch of salt. You seem incapable of doing that.

Lemlin wrote: »

Blackburn running out of time for Pavone - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9150761.Blackburn_Rovers_running_out_of_time_for_Pavone/
Striker left in limbo - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9146556.Striker_left_in_limbo_as_he_waits_for_Blackburn_Rovers_green_light/
No shirt sponsor - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9139959.Blackburn_Rovers_still_looking_for_shirt_sponsor/
No big name signings - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9129080.Blackburn_Rovers_owners_not_big_name_hunting/
Call for patience - http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9145425.Blackburn_Rovers_in_call_for_patience/?ref=mc

For a start Andy Cryer is a bit of a muppet. I can show you how little he knows about Rovers if you want. I remember reading a season review by him where he was saying that Chimbonda was at the club a couple of seasons when it was actually his first season at the club.

His versatility has seen him play central defence, right back and left back and was something of a regular in his first couple of seasons at the club.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/8164695.Blackburn_Rovers_end_of_season_report__Defence/
He does have some good articles though, but they are usually when he gets to talk to somebody at the club.
And why on earth are you so hung up on Pavone? Did we actually agree a deal with him? Is it not possible that this is just an agent trying to stir up interest in his player from other clubs? We may have talked to him but never went back to him about it. The guy was playing in the second division in Spain for a couple of seasons and went back on loan to Argentina last season. Thats hardly the type of player we should be rushing out to sign is it?

Lemlin wrote: »

As for Wiki, where else would you propose I get a history of Kean? He's not exactly well known. Is your problem that it disagrees with your bullsh!t statement "Seriously he has been about, he worked in England with Coleman and in Spain with him too and as a player in Scotland and Portugal. I'm sure he has come across lots of players in his time as a coach/assistant manager." I'm sure he has come across lots of players during his career, how many would we want to attract to Rovers from Coventry or Real Sociedad though?

Anybody can edit Wiki, never trust it to be accurate.
Edit here: You do realise that people move around from club to club and some become coaches or scouts. So when you become a manager you have contacts in a lot of different places. Just because he was at Real Sociedad mean that his contacts are specifically at that club, He would more than likely have contacts all over the Basque region and at other clubs where players and coaches moved onto from there. Same with his time at Fulham and Coventry etc.

Lemlin wrote: »

And what exactly have I not responded to? Post up a short, concise list of anything you feel I haven't dealt with and I'll reply to it. I'm not going to ramble through 3 or 4 long posts though trying to cover it all.

You choose to say I haven't responded to you but you ignored all of my above post and tried to ridicule it in a few lines without answering any of what I'd said above re the owners/Kean not telling the truth and re Pavone. I posted my points in two short concise bullets and you haven't replied.

You have a load of links posted above. There are quotes from club officials there but you choose to ignore them and run with the stuff that has no backing. You look at everything negatively. You call them liars and useless and incapable of running a club. The truth is you don't have a clue what they are capable or incapable of just like the rest of us. All we know is they have successfully built an empire in the chicken business thats worth billions. Its too early to be giving out about them the way you are. They did make mistakes early on when they came in but they have learned and haven't been saying stupid things since the beginning.
You say they have never spent any money but they did last January bringing in Rochina and Formica and then paying RSC's huge wages as well as bringing in Junior Jones on loan. Thats was a fair bit of extra cash injected. I'd guesstimate it was close to £8 million they invested last January and it could have been a lot more than that, I'm being conservative.
Its still only July. Chelsea haven't signed anybody, Arsenal have signed one player, Everton haven't signed anybody, Aston Villa have made one signing Shay Given to replace Brad Friedel but sold two of their best outfield players, Stoke have signed Woodgate on a free, West Brom have made two free signings from the Championship, Bolton have made one free signing, Wigan have signed goalkeeper Al Habsi. Its not like there has been a whole bunch of big signings at every club. Its still early in the transfer window.

Lemlin wrote: »

Aren't you the same lad also who said give Kean a chance last season and then came back saying he was useless at the end of the season?

Yes I did and I've continued to say that I'm not happy that he is still there but he has been given the opportunity now and there is nothing you or I can do about it. All we can hope is that he is capable of doing the job after having a preseason with the players and that we are wrong about him. While I'm not happy he was given the opportunity I am going to back him until such time as its clear he is not up to the job.
If he doesn't work out then there is a man sitting in his house in Manchester who I'd love to come back and take over by the name of Mark 'Sparky' Hughes. I don't think our owners will stick with him for too long if things are not going well. They have given him a great opportunity for whatever reason, lets see how it goes after having a preseason before we start sticking the knife in.

djPSB

I think the difference here is Eagle eye is an optimist, Lemlin is a realist.

eagle eye

djPSB wrote: »

I think the difference here is Eagle eye is an optimist, Lemlin is a realist.

I think you are a clueless drooler type gambler.

Yeah I certainly come across as an optimist by saying I don't like the manager and I'm willing to give the owners until the end of the window to prove themselves. I think thats just having a bit of patience and being realistic about things. I won't be responding to you anymore by the way, putting you on ignore now. I have this feeling you are just trying to keep this going longer that it needs to.

Lemlin

eagle eye wrote: »

Nothing wrong with using the LET. I was lol'ing at you putting up a wiki link and claiming you only use the LET when I've seen you put up links from the rags in the past.
Its ok to put up those links but you have to take them with a pinch of salt. You seem incapable of doing that.


For a start Andy Cryer is a bit of a muppet. I can show you how little he knows about Rovers if you want. I remember reading a season review by him where he was saying that Chimbonda was at the club a couple of seasons when it was actually his first season at the club.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/8164695.Blackburn_Rovers_end_of_season_report__Defence/
He does have some good articles though, but they are usually when he gets to talk to somebody at the club.
And why on earth are you so hung up on Pavone? Did we actually agree a deal with him? Is it not possible that this is just an agent trying to stir up interest in his player from other clubs? We may have talked to him but never went back to him about it. The guy was playing in the second division in Spain for a couple of seasons and went back on loan to Argentina last season. Thats hardly the type of player we should be rushing out to sign is it?


Anybody can edit Wiki, never trust it to be accurate.
Edit here: You do realise that people move around from club to club and some become coaches or scouts. So when you become a manager you have contacts in a lot of different places. Just because he was at Real Sociedad mean that his contacts are specifically at that club, He would more than likely have contacts all over the Basque region and at other clubs where players and coaches moved onto from there. Same with his time at Fulham and Coventry etc.

You have a load of links posted above. There are quotes from club officials there but you choose to ignore them and run with the stuff that has no backing. You look at everything negatively. You call them liars and useless and incapable of running a club. The truth is you don't have a clue what they are capable or incapable of just like the rest of us. All we know is they have successfully built an empire in the chicken business thats worth billions. Its too early to be giving out about them the way you are. They did make mistakes early on when they came in but they have learned and haven't been saying stupid things since the beginning.
You say they have never spent any money but they did last January bringing in Rochina and Formica and then paying RSC's huge wages as well as bringing in Junior Jones on loan. Thats was a fair bit of extra cash injected. I'd guesstimate it was close to £8 million they invested last January and it could have been a lot more than that, I'm being conservative.
Its still only July. Chelsea haven't signed anybody, Arsenal have signed one player, Everton haven't signed anybody, Aston Villa have made one signing Shay Given to replace Brad Friedel but sold two of their best outfield players, Stoke have signed Woodgate on a free, West Brom have made two free signings from the Championship, Bolton have made one free signing, Wigan have signed goalkeeper Al Habsi. Its not like there has been a whole bunch of big signings at every club. Its still early in the transfer window.

Yes I did and I've continued to say that I'm not happy that he is still there but he has been given the opportunity now and there is nothing you or I can do about it. All we can hope is that he is capable of doing the job after having a preseason with the players and that we are wrong about him. While I'm not happy he was given the opportunity I am going to back him until such time as its clear he is not up to the job.
If he doesn't work out then there is a man sitting in his house in Manchester who I'd love to come back and take over by the name of Mark 'Sparky' Hughes. I don't think our owners will stick with him for too long if things are not going well. They have given him a great opportunity for whatever reason, lets see how it goes after having a preseason before we start sticking the knife in.

And how exactly am I incapable of doing it? Like any football supporter, I read news stories from a variety of sites. I'm as aware as anyone that certain things can't be believed but I also remember there's that old saying that "there's no smoke without fire" which comes to mind.

Go ahead ans show me so that Andy Cryer is a muppet. I back up anything I've said with links showing what I'm basing my opinion on. Please go ahead and do the same. The lad may be a muppet but the fact is that he works for the paper where the club are located and alot of these papers tend to have good access to information.

The squad needs to be improved. I didn't want Pavone signed. I said earlier I see him as a bit part Argentine. However, as I've pointed out previously, it gets me even more worried when we can't get a bit-part Argentine, who's available on a free transfer, signed. Are you aware that the squad gone to Hong Kong boasts such 16 players with more than one PL start to their name?
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9157853.Venky_s__There_s_no_need_to_panic/
All three loanees from last season have returned to their clubs, Diouf didn't travel, Kalinic didn't travel and Phil Jones has been sold.
Also, give me a choice of Benjani or Pavone and who would you go for? Two journeymen but at least Pavone is an unknown quantity. We know exactly what Benjani can offer: little or nothing. Therefore I'd prefer the unknown quantity that might at least surprise us with something.

I am well aware of Wiki being edited but I'm also well aqare that it can be a very useful source. The one thing I am aware of is that Kean's contacts would be nothing of the sort of an established PL manager or even an established foreign manager. I already had this discussion this year on last season's thread. Name another PL club who have picked a coach from absolute obscurity like Kean and where it has worked? He hasn't even worked at a club where he'd be surrounded by top class players or management to gain the experience so that an improvement in his position would be warranted. He wasn't even assistant manager at the club for god's sake. And he didn't even have the contacts to bring his own assistant manager.

You're talking sh!te, not being conservative. You post all this drivel without even as much as a link to back any of it up and then you talk about me running with stuff that has no backing. You'd "guesstimate" 8 million. What the fook is a guesstimate? Formica cost about 3.5 million. Let's say Rochina was 1 million (although I doubt he was even that much, he's a Barcelona B team player). That's 4.5 million. So you're saying 3.5 million was spent on RSC and Jones' wages? We had each player a max of 20 weeks. 3.5 million divided by 2 is 1.75 million so you reckon each player was on 87k a week and a small club like Blackburn were paying that? The stuff you post is idiotic.

I'm pretty sure the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea aren't worried that Blackburn haven't signed anyone. The bottom line is that two clubs who weren't relegated finished below Blackburn last season - Wolves and Wigan. Wolves have signed Jame O'Hara and Roger Johnson. Two very good signings and the type of player we should be after. Wigan have signed Al-Habsi as you say but I'm pretty sure they'll be in the relegation battle come the end of the season. Wigan or Wolves haven't sold anyone of note yet (although I accept N'Zogbia will probably go). Blackburn have lost Phil Jones and look set to let Diouf and Kalinic go. The loan players have also gone back to their clubs. That leaves us with a pretty small squad. Of the clubs you have named above, the fact also remains that none have received a 20 million outlay for a player (I accept some of the fee may be in instalments but at least 10 mil has come into the club). The fact also remains that only Wigan finished below us last season. So our squad, that almost got us relegated last season, has deteoriated yet we don't look like trying to improve it. That's why fans are worrying.

I started sticking the knife in long ago (at appointment I'd say) and I'm willing to keep doing that until the fella is out of the club. He's an embarrasment to the club and a terrible manager. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see thad lad get Manager of the Season and Blackburn finish in the top six, but I'm a realist, not an idiot.

Lemlin

At last a bit of positive news (if the deal goes through that is)...

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9159223.Blackburn_Rovers_in_talks_with_Serbian_midfielder_Petrovic/

He sounds handy enough (haven't heard of him so that's all I can say) but a 22 year old with 18 international caps is exactly the type of player Rovers should be looking at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radosav_Petrovic

I'm not overly happy to see Kalinic go though. I'm still of the opinion that he's a decent player that didn't get a chance. He reminds me of Elmander at Bolton. Signed by a manager who's style of play didn't suit him.

I was hoping he'd floruish under Kean but he seems to have seen his time here as a nightmare.

A decent striker is needed sharpish. If 6 million is coming in from his sale, then that should be enough to buy a decent enough prospect. It's a decent fee to get too considering he was signed for 7 million and hasn't set the world alight.

ctrl-alt-delete

Looks handy enough alright, and a defensive minded midfielder is a big requirement, although I saw a picture of Grella chesting a ball in Hong Kong on the official website, if he didn't injure himself doing that we might have him back.

I won't be happy to let Kalinic leave, but it is certain he will now. Kean never really gave the lad a chance. Allardyce even used him sparingly, in truth he hasn't had a great run in the team. We need to spend any money we get on a striker though. I hope we have one lined up before we let him go.

Lemlin

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Looks handy enough alright, and a defensive minded midfielder is a big requirement, although I saw a picture of Grella chesting a ball in Hong Kong on the official website, if he didn't injure himself doing that we might have him back.

I won't be happy to let Kalinic leave, but it is certain he will now. Kean never really gave the lad a chance. Allardyce even used him sparingly, in truth he hasn't had a great run in the team. We need to spend any money we get on a striker though. I hope we have one lined up before we let him go.

And imagine Grella is one of our 16 man squad. We have one man to thank for Grella: Paul Ince... what a mess of a manager he was.

2.5 million is about right for a player we're taking a chance on. If he under performs at leats we haven't paid a large fee but I'd be hopeful as Serbia are fairly decent and he's 19 caps at 22.

I think Benjani is meant to be the striker we're after. My main worry was Hoilett picking up a hamstring strain. He's the man we need on the pitch. This could be a huge season for him.

ctrl-alt-delete

Lemlin wrote: »

And imagine Grella is one of our 16 man squad. We have one man to thank for Grella: Paul Ince... what a mess of a manager he was.

2.5 million is about right for a player we're taking a chance on. If he under performs at leats we haven't paid a large fee but I'd be hopeful as Serbia are fairly decent and he's 19 caps at 22.

I think Benjani is meant to be the striker we're after. My main worry was Hoilett picking up a hamstring strain. He's the man we need on the pitch. This could be a huge season for him.

Yeah I read Benjani is mulling over an offer from us, I thought we'd be shot of him, but he will be better than nothing, if only slightly!

Hoilett will be our main player this season, as you say if he picks up a knock we are in trouble. Once we have him and ollson in the team we will have chances. I am hoping Formica can produce some decent stuff, I'd imagine he will be on the opposite wing than Hoilett. Rochina looked tidy the few times I saw him, a bit of a flair player - but making room for him, if not playing him as a striker will be difficult.

Will NZonzi be fully fit for the start of this season?

mike65

:eek:

Blackburn Rovers are confident of signing up to four new players before the start of the Premier League campaign next month, with the manager, Steve Kean, insistent that the club can realistically challenge for Champions League qualification within four years.

The Lancashire club have endured a frustrating time in the transfer market so far this summer, losing the promising Phil Jones to Manchester United and Jermaine Jones back to Schalke. The striker Nikola Kalinic is also due to complete a £6m move to Dnipro while Rovers have yet to add to their squad. Kean hopes to buck that trend in the coming weeks with some timely additions, sanctioned by the club's owners, Venky's, aimed initially at securing a top-half finish ahead of a pursuit of Europe.

"We'll be spending," said Kean. "We've got a very good budget and we're looking to recruit and strengthen in areas where we've seen we have to improve from last season. It's no secret that we're looking for a striker, and we lost Jermaine, who went back to Schalke, as well so we're trying to get a central midfielder in. And we need a centre-half to replace Phil Jones. We have a fixed budget to spend but it's one that is competitive which will bring in players of good quality.

"We'll look to bring in three or four players during this window, and we don't have to sell before we buy. We've got three or four active bids in for players, and we're waiting to see if they've been accepted. Two or three are quite far down the line. We're confident we'll add to the squad and have a good season.

"To jump from where we were last season [when Blackburn secured survival on the final day] to the top four next season would be unrealistic, but the first building block will be ending up in the top half. We're positive we can do that. The owners and the fans should be excited about what we're doing here. Trying to deliver European football in three or four years for this club is achievable. We're not going to say we'll get it next year but, if we can get a foothold in the top half of the table, that's a realistic goal."

Misleading article.

He doesn't mention champions league at all.

"European football" probably means Europa cup I'd imagine.

Still a huge ask though.

Lemlin

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Yeah I read Benjani is mulling over an offer from us, I thought we'd be shot of him, but he will be better than nothing, if only slightly!

Hoilett will be our main player this season, as you say if he picks up a knock we are in trouble. Once we have him and ollson in the team we will have chances. I am hoping Formica can produce some decent stuff, I'd imagine he will be on the opposite wing than Hoilett. Rochina looked tidy the few times I saw him, a bit of a flair player - but making room for him, if not playing him as a striker will be difficult.

Will NZonzi be fully fit for the start of this season?

N'Zonzi will be, he's started today. He needs a big season. He went from being player of the season in 09-10 and being linked with Arsenal to hardly featuring last season.

Probably our best available team is currently playing against Villa in the Hong Kong Cup:

ROVERS: Paul Robinson, Michel Salgado, Martin Olsson, Chris Samba, Gael Givet, Brett Emerton, David Dunn, Steven Nzonzi, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Jason Roberts, Mauro Formica

SUBS: Mark Bunn, Grant Hanley, Zac Aley, Myles Anderson, Adam Henley, Jake Kean, Nick Blackman, Ryan Nelsen, Keith Andrews, Ruben Rochina, Junior Hoilett

The only changes I'd expect to that for the start of the would be Hoilett coming in. The bench shows how threadbare our squad is though. Formica is playing off Roberts at the minute. I'd expect to see that position be taken by Hoilett (once fit) and Emerton to drop to the bench with Formica starting on the right wing.

0-0 in the game at half time.

Good news on the Petrovic front:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/9161987.Petrovic_fee_accepted_as_Blackburn_Rovers_close_in_on_Serbian/

busyliving

Anyone see that little bust up with Dunne...what was that about?

jrochie

Game against Villa just finished, went down 1-0 to a darren bent goal. Nothing awful shocking or surprising about the game, we weren't to bad but like Lemlin said they bench was really threadbare. Only 2 subs made in the whole game, Grella & blackman came on. villa on the other hand made at least a handful of changes. The guys were saturated after 20 minutes running so you'd have expected a few more guys to get a run but obviously not the case.

Overall Villa definatly deseverd the win and we never cased them to many problems. Roberts didnt have the worst of games up front on his own, but I still think it showed how desperately we need a striker. In fact the game showed we need to bring in a few players to give us any bit of depth at all.

Lemlin

jrochie wrote: »

Game against Villa just finished, went down 1-0 to a darren bent goal. Nothing awful shocking or surprising about the game, we weren't to bad but like Lemlin said they bench was really threadbare. Only 2 subs made in the whole game, Grella & blackman came on. villa on the other hand made at least a handful of changes. The guys were saturated after 20 minutes running so you'd have expected a few more guys to get a run but obviously not the case.

Overall Villa definatly deseverd the win and we never cased them to many problems. Roberts didnt have the worst of games up front on his own, but I still think it showed how desperately we need a striker. In fact the game showed we need to bring in a few players to give us any bit of depth at all.

I doubt Kean wanted to chance subs and lose by more given the pressure that's already on him. That said, I remember going into the first game of the season last year and we hadn't won one pre-season game, Everton had won all of theirs and we won 1-0.

I'm worried about the striker situation alright. Kalinic going is a pity. I really think that he could have pulled out an Elmander type recovery and justified his signing this season.

The one saving grace about not creaing many chances is that our best creative player was on the bench (Hoilett) as he's recovering from that strain.

ctrl-alt-delete

How did Formica do then anyone who watched it?

jrochie

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

How did Formica do then anyone who watched it?

Not bad, didn't set the world alight but looked ok. Was Rochina carrying an injury by the way? Expected him to get a bit of a run.

Oh and David Dunn was very lucky nit to have picked up a pretty nasty injury, he went flying thru the air after one good move lucky he didn't land on top of his head

Lemlin

More good news...

Petrovic deal about to go through and Kalinic in limbo:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/9165050.Kalinic_stuck_in_limbo___but_Petrovic_move_close/

Hopefully Kalinic stays at Ewood.

Lemlin

Kalinic is on his way out:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/9167972.Blackburn_Rovers_accept_Kalinic_bid/

ctrl-alt-delete

Lemlin wrote: »

Kalinic is on his way out:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/9167972.Blackburn_Rovers_accept_Kalinic_bid/

I don't really want him to go, but obviously himself and Kean have their differences, seems as though he finds it so hard to get a regular run of games.

If we get what we paid, then that is fair and both parties can move on.

BBC Scotland reporting we have had a £1.7 million pound bid for Goodwillie rejected by Dundee United.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14344125.stm

BBC now reporting that an unamed club have come back with a further offer. Seems to be a fair few clubs interested in him.


Also, passed me by, but one of the young Irish lads at the club, Gavin Gunning has been given permission to trial at Scunthorpe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/scunthorpe_utd/9549039.stm

ctrl-alt-delete

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14344125.stm


Looks like Goodwillie will sign soon for an initial £2 million,

So we should soon have 1 striker in and 1 out,

We still need another one in as we will only be back where we were.

Lemlin

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14344125.stm


Looks like Goodwillie will sign soon for an initial £2 million,

So we should soon have 1 striker in and 1 out,

We still need another one in as we will only be back where we were.

Haven't heard all at much about this Goodwillie lad, is he any good? I'm not sure he's what's needed because the SPL is only about Championship level.

We are also in pursuit of a Portugese winger from PAOK apparently:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9170141.Blackburn_Rovers_up_the_ante_in_pursuit_of_winger_Vieirinha/

ctrl-alt-delete

Lemlin wrote: »

Haven't heard all at much about this Goodwillie lad, is he any good? I'm not sure he's what's needed because the SPL is only about Championship level.

We are also in pursuit of a Portugese winger from PAOK apparently:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9170141.Blackburn_Rovers_up_the_ante_in_pursuit_of_winger_Vieirinha/

He is a decent prospect, and young enough. Has not set the SPL alight by any means, but did have a good goalscoring run last year.

BBC had a video up, I'm in UK so I could see it, of a few of his goals. He had 2 very good ones, a long range speculative lob and a nice overhead kick.

He is a striker, and beggers can't be choosers can we? I suppose Shane Long is only really proven at Championship level, and I'd be delighted with him.

Goodwillie has had a rape charge dropped, and so might start adding to his 1 Scotland cap soon.

It hasn't been confirmed yet anyways, a few things holding it up, like Gunning rejecting a move there, and Goodwillie himself due 10 per cent of the fee, I think he wants that up front from Dundee United too. Supposedly had his medical yesterday, maybe Kean et al are only due back from Hong Kong yesterday or today?

jrochie

I see Keith Andrews is being allowed leave on loan now. I know he's not exactly got a lot of game time nor was he overly impressive last year, but with a squad as bare as ours is I can't really see the logic in letting him go. Especially midfield where Dunn n grella aren't going to play 30 games, hell if they get a combined 30 they would be doing well!

G.K.

Sky put this headline and picture:

Kean set for Dale loan move


I thought it meant the manager. :pac:

Paully D

Goodwillie to sign for Blackburn tomorrow, according to his agent.

Lemlin

2.8 million apparently:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9174460.Blackburn_Rovers_deals_for_Goodwillie_and_Petrovic_still_on_track/

ctrl-alt-delete

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14344125.stm

Goodwillie finally confirmed!

We might see Gunning head the other way soon too.

HyperSkypeWiper

jrochie wrote: »

I see Keith Andrews is being allowed leave on loan now. I know he's not exactly got a lot of game time nor was he overly impressive last year, but with a squad as bare as ours is I can't really see the logic in letting him go. Especially midfield where Dunn n grella aren't going to play 30 games, hell if they get a combined 30 they would be doing well!

He's turned down Leeds apparently!

djPSB

Goodwillie looks handy enough.. could be good value at that price.

Rikand

Rumor that we may have Diego Milito signing for Rovers next as the marquee striker to play alongside Goodwillie