The Rovers Return

Obviously, if they’re good enough and their country is participating in the World Cup, they are in South Africa, but what about those that are not?

I recently came across a blog belonging to a certain Norwegian named Morten Gamst Pedersen.

It doesn’t say much at the moment, and looks as though it may be reasonably new, but I’ve stuck it in my links section and hopefully he’ll be blogging throughout the season.

Here is a recent post he’s done about a tour of Northern Norway …

In early May me, Stig and Marchello went on a tour around northern Norway. Stig is from Finnmark, so he was helping me guide our English friend Marchello. Marchello has been in Bodø once before but he has never seen Finnmark. So I was really looking forward to show him where I come from. We started in Vadsø where I come from. Marchello is half English and half Italian, so he is accustomed to slightly warmer temperatures in early May than Vadsø can offer. But he was undaunted by 5 degrees and a bit rain from the east, so we started with a tour of the capital of Finnmark. Marchello owns several restaurants, including my favorite, the San Carlo in Manchester which is the restaurant that I eat in almost every day, so it was exciting to offer him some of the local delicacies. My cousin Jarno had prepared some seagull eggs, whale meat, reindeer meat, seal meat, king crab and smoked salmon. Read more »

Ghana 1-1 Australia

Brett Emerton played the full 90 minutes as the Aussies put their disappointing 4-0 spanking at the hands of Germany behind them with a solid performance and a good result against Ghana.

A side considered by many to be one of the best African teams at the World Cup, Ghana could have been expected to give Australia a lesson or two, but Australia showed they aren’t at this tournament just to make up the numbers.

They even had the audacity to take the lead, Brett Holman somewhat fortuitously hitting home after Mark Bresciano’s free kick was fumbled by Ghana keeper Richard Kingson.

Unfortunately for Australia, Harry Kewell handled the ball off the line, landing himself with a red card and Ghana with a penalty which Asamoah Gyan scored, precipitating the ridiculously over-exuberant celebrations that also took place in their first game against Serbia.

I’m all for goal celebrations, but only if the goal deserves it, and, in my humble opinion, scoring a penalty does not merit a 25-minute celebration.

Ghana dominated the shot count – often a deceptive figure if you ask me – but it was Australia who had the best chances, their best coming when Luke Wilkshire fired straight at Kingson when through on goal.

A draw was not ideal for Australia, but Brett Emerton and Vince Grella’s side do still harbour hopes of a place in the second round, although that requires them beating Serbia and Ghana beating Germany. Read more »

Recent speculation has strongly linked Indian businessman Saurin Shah as the frontman for a £25-million takeover bid of Blackburn Rovers.

The story was picked up and run by the nationals and it was the first piece of takeover news that seemed genuine for a while.

However, I have it on decent authority that he will not be the man to take over at Rovers.

It turns out the Saurin “doesn’t have two ha’pennys to rub together,” and that the consortium involved with the takeover consists of around 60 different people, many of whom are Shah’s family members.

Contrary to reports in the media, the deal has not reached the due diligence stage – when the club and Shah would exclusively open their books to each other to investigate whether or not the takeover is financially viable – and there are other more likely parties interested in a takeover of Blackburn Rovers plc.

It’s likely that the media broke this story more as a result of Shah, or a member of his consortium, trying to give it national focus, and it did seem a well thought out bid when the Indian link was mentioned.

After the excitement wore off, when you look at this bid, why has no one even heard of Saurin Shah in business circles? Probably because he has no real business connections, achievements or money.

The moment everyone had been waiting for came this morning, with the announcement of next season’s fixture list.

Here are some particularly juicy days to watch out for.

First game – August 14 – Everton at home

August 28 – Arsenal at home

September 25 – Blackpool away

October 23 – Liverpool away

October 30 – Chelsea at home

November 27 – Manchester United away

December 11 – Bolton Wanderers away

January 5 – Liverpool at home

January 15 – Chelsea at home

March 19 – Blackpool at home

April 2 – Arsenal away

April 30 – Bolton Wanderers at home

May 14 – Manchester United at home

Last game – May 22 – Wolverhampton Wanderers away

In only their second appearance in the competition, Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen led his side to a hard fought 1-1 draw against Slovakia – giving the All Whites their first point in the tournament.

It was a solid performance from Nelsen’s side in a game most expected them to lose, but I fear it has raised some false hopes back home.

It was an unfortunately timed game, kicking off at 12:30pm, meaning I didn’t get to see a great deal of it. From what I did see, though, skipper Nelsen performed to his usually high standard. Nothing conspicuous or particularly standout, just a solid defensive display. Read more »

Lars Jacobsen, who played the full game at right back, can feel a little aggrieved that his side didn’t hang on and take anything from the game.

It wasn’t pretty by any means – story of the tournament so far – but Denmark’s impressive, organised defence kept the attacking threat of Robin Van Persie at bay for the first half, and they should have taken the lead when Bendtner headed wide from close range – story of his career so far.

Jacobsen had little to do, but what he did have to do he did with little fuss. A solid display at the back.

However, in the second half, it took about a minute for Denmark’s inexperienced young left back Poulsen somehow managed to head the ball into his own net and, having gone behind, Jacobsen’s side never looked like getting back into it.

They conceded another goal later in the second half to seal defeat and, in a similar situation to Brett Emerton and Australia, will be pleased to have got their most difficult game out of the way and feel confident that they have the potential to get through the group with wins over Cameroon and Japan.

As for Jacobsen, again in the second half he had little to do and looked solid. However, I feel he is more useful when pushing forward, so this defensive display from Denmark didn’t give him his chance to shine as much as he could have.

Hopefully there’s more to see from Jacobsen in the tournament, and his underrated Denmark side.

England fans were left in shock on Saturday night as the unthinkable happened. We didn’t beat the Yanks.

Over-the-top expectations once again meant that the opening to our World Cup campaign is a disaster and all Brits have a sour taste in their mouths.

Yes it was a disappointing result, but with Algeria and Slovenia to play, surely we’ll finish the group with seven points?

Put it this way, if England don’t qualify then they’re definitely not as good as everyone thinks they are.

The States has gone overboard, as you can see from the front cover of the New York Post, pictured.

Back to the match itself, and it was a particularly disappointing display from England. I’m not going in for all this guff about America performing well and holding us to a draw.

We held ourselves to a draw, throwing away two vital points and making qualification that little bit more difficult.

Rob Green made an error. Fact. And I could go back to the Paul Robinson debate again here, but I won’t. I could say something about how Rob Green made more unforced errors than any other English keeper in the Premier League last season. But I won’t. And I definitely won’t mention, again, that Paul Robinson kept more clean sheets than any other English keeper in the Premier League last season. Read more »

Socceroos boss Pim Verbeek has been roundly criticised for opting to take a defensive approach, a tactic his side are not really used to, and the critics could be right.

Brett Emerton suffered as a result of this negative style, being subbed in the second half to make way for the more defensive Mile Jedinak in a move that could only be described as damage limitation.

I’ll be honest, having been out for a curry with a friend in London, we missed much of this match. Then, when we did finally get back and put the telly on, that substitution was made so I never actually saw Emerton touch the ball.

For that reason, I won’t insult you by talking about his individual performance, only that, from what I’ve read, he was about the best of a bad bunch.

What I will say about the match is that I cannot understand all the fuss over Tim Cahill’s red card. The Everton midfielder could have broken Schweinsteiger’s leg with a very clumsy challenge and deserved to go.

However, it certainly isn’t over for Australia. This was as much a fantastic performance from Germany as it was a disaster for the Socceroos.

If Germany have slapped Australia 4-0, they have the potential to smash Ghana and Serbia, while Australia have the group’s most difficult tie out of the way and can concentrate on trying to win their next two matches.

I’m not saying those games will be easy, but it’s no use thinking it’s all over after one setback.

Watch this space for a look at Lars Jacobsen’s efforts for Denmark against Holland, which is just kicking off as I write this

Well hello!

So we understand you want to buy our wonderful football club. Good luck! I just wanted to mention a few things that might not pop up in your commercial due diligence.

Also, it’s been said that you were there at the Arsenal game at the end of last season. Clearly you enjoyed it as much as we did. It was a great day and showed off Blackburn Rovers at our best. A strong and resolute team performance, securing a top ten finish. You will have witnessed great support from the fans. And you will have savoured a man of the match performance from our local hero David Dunn. You will have noticed that scruffy French kid in the wooly hat getting some award at half time, that was Steven N’Zonzi, the player of the year. Take all that in, because contained within all of it was what makes this club special.

It isn’t always like this however. The season can seem long and a grind. When we lose at Everton, Man City and Stoke it tests your faith. You will look at these wealthy players who don’t seem to be able to perform and despair. But you have to stick with it. Form can dip, the manager can seem negative and grumpy, but at heart he’s a good man. He has a good scouting network, he finds gems, like our player of the year. Don’t get your head turned by younger managers with fancy methods, something good is building at Rovers. The Academy at Brockhall is a treasure trove. Extend it. Make it the place the best kids want to come to. That’s the place where investment is needed.

Be patient. Our local talisman is an injury prone genius. Our goalkeeper was a reject who was written off but has missed out on the World Cup because he plays for an unfashionable club. But they are stars. Our stars. So is our centre half – a teenager from Chorley. They are adored. And so is our player of the year, a young man plucked from obscurity.

Our fans are usually right. When Jack Walker owned the club he didn’t like a certain type of flash player and blocked some transfers. There are players who just aren’t Rovers players, learn about that and treasure it as a core value. El Hadji Diouf should have no place in our club.

Blackburn is a multi-racial town, but Rovers supporters are mainly white working class men. This has changed a bit over the years, but don’t expect to see much of an affinity with the local Asian population without a long hard effort to win hearts and minds and don’t expect them flocking overnight. The current marketing and management team have been focused on shoring up what we have, but with your help greater links with India, with Asian communities and with other sports can expand Rovers as a brand.

You will have seen other owners of football clubs in the Premier League see their dreams shattered because they splash the money and lose it. Rovers have a heart and soul and a family spirit that is very much in touch with the roots of East Lancashire life. But it is just one aspect of our community. Build on that, extend deeper into that, and build the links with your own heritage – it could well yield commercial rewards and enbale this club to move further forward.

Be realistic about what that could be. Be modest, be strong, value quality and there is a good chance that in the future there could be a statue of you next to the one of Uncle Jack.

There are potentilly exciting times ahead. Fingers crossed, eh?

Before we get on with the real football that is next year’s Premier League season, there’s an international tournament to get out of the way.

No one really cares about it, but a few of the Rovers squad are involved, merely as a keep-fit exercise I presume, so it’s worth giving it a mention.

I do, of course, mean the football World Cup, and everyone’s excited.

Unfortunately for Rovers, a lot of our players haven’t quite made it. Keith Andrews’s Ireland, Morten Pedersen’s Norway and Zurab Khizanishvilli’s Georgia, among others, all failed to qualify, while Paul Robinson was not chosen for England and Pascal Chimbonda missed out on the France squad – no real surprise there.

Youngsters Martin Olsson and Niko Kalinic are both still in their national youth teams, Sweden and Croatia respectively, and Michel Salgado can’t find his walking stick.

However, four (soon to be three) Rovers stars will be hoping to bring glory to their nations.

Captain and centre back Ryan Nelsen will captain massive underdogs New Zealand, while Brett Emerton and soon-to-be-in-Turkey Vince Grella are in action for Australia and Lars Jacobsen will feature for Denmark.

New Zealand

Nelsen will have a job on trying to keep New Zealand in the competition beyond the group stages. Group E has pitched them against Paraguay, Slovakia and Italy, and as a realist you can’t see them progressing.

The lack of optimism isn’t helped by the fact their two best players are Nelsen and Plymouth striker Rory Fallon …

Still, every World Cup has a surprise package, and a couple of surprise results could see New Zealand surprise everyone. I doubt it, though. Read more »