The Rovers Return

Rovers recently had Bulgarian striker Ivelin Popov on trial from Litex Lovech.

The 22-year-old has now gone home, with Big Sam still making his mind up whether or not to sign him.

According to his Wikipedia page:

In August 2007, Dimitar Penev called Popov in the Bulgaria national football team for the friendly match with Wales. On 2 April 2009, Popov was the first goal scorer for Bulgaria against Cyprus, scoring a goal with his wiener.

Ooh err …

(Click to enlarge and look under ‘International Career’)

Spotters badge – John Chapman

Quite how Rovers lost at Birmingham on Saturday will forever remain a mystery.

We were the better side for much of the game. We created chance after chance and were awarded a penalty.

But some shite finishing, a penalty save and some slack defending at key moments saw us lose what appeared a very winnable game.

Pedersen will be as annoyed as anyone about the penalty. Yes, it was a good save, and Ben Foster has gone on to laud it over the rest of the goalkeeping world, but it was the perfect height for him and he was a tad lucky it came out off the bar.

It was still 0-0 at that point, though, and we went on to take the lead moments later with what is fast becoming a typical Rovers goal. Stick a load of the big boys up top for a corner and aim high. Steven N’Zonzi rose highest to give us the lead.

What followed was disgraceful. Birmingham’s equaliser came from a free kick. There were three touches and it was in the net. Somehow, we were outnumbered at the back, when it was a free kick … Read more »

Apparently Coral are offering 10-3 on ex-Rover Matt Derbyshire scoring in a Birmingham win tomorrow.

I’ll give you one thing I wouldn’t accept bets on, and that’s if Birmingham were to score tomorrow, the Great Harwood lad will be the one who does it.

So that said, I’m hoping for a clean sheet.

I was disappointed when Big Sam got rid of Derbs. There was obviously something there that Allardyce just wasn’t a fan of.

He always looked handy in front of goal and could be relied on to come off the bench and grab a goal if we were struggling to find the net.

It’s ironic that, having allowed this homegrown talent to go to Greece, we ended up in a situation where we had a severe striker shortage and inability to score goals. Read more »

Ahsan Ali Syed could well be the new owner of Blackburn Rovers over the next few weeks.

He’s definitely saying all the right things. He doesn’t intend to make money, which is just as well as you’ll make naff all in football, let alone at Blackburn Rovers. He wants to “feed his passion” for football and become one of the fans at Ewood. He has already had people eyeing up property in the Blackburn area and intends to make it his second home.

The man appears to really mean business. We’ve seen it all before, going back years there was a Russian chap who’s name I forget, then Dan Williams, then Saurin Shah, but now things are really progressing.

But now, with a memorandum of understanding in place and due diligence seemingly imminent, maybe a takeover could genuinely be on the cards …

I do, however, need to weigh up both sides.

In the event of a takeover, what will happen to our club? Read more »

Ten years on. Never forget.

It was a poor game, but Big Sam knew how to carve out a a win in a match that, on paper, seemed very tough.

It took a while to get our heads round the formation when the teams came up and Samba, Nelsen AND Jones were playing. But Phil Jones showed his versatility with a rock solid display in a holding midfield role just ahead of the more experienced Nelsen and Samba.

We took an early advantage after dominating the initial exchanges when Tim Howard dropped an El Hadji Diouf header and Niko Kalinic, who took so long last season to break his duck, swivelled on the edge of the box to finish well and give Rovers the lead.

It was by no means easy for the Croat who had his back to goal when receiving the American’s early Christmas present. It’s so good for him to get this goal early on in the season and can only give him more confidence in the 37 games to come.

After taking the lead, we inevitably sat back a bit, allowing Everton to attack a bit more. But they had no way through with the trio of Samba, Nelsen and Jones seeming unbeatable. And when they went down the flanks they had Givet and Salgado to deal with who were both also excellent. Read more »

However, one man who certainly holds legendary status at Ewood Park is Tony Parkes, and it’s great news that the Sheffield born former player, coach, assistant manager and caretaker manager of Rovers has returned as a part-time scout.

Parkes was signed by Rovers from Buxton for £3,000 in 1970 and, under the one-season wonder, Gordon Lee, became an established central midfielder in the side that won the old Third Division title.

Bobby Saxton appointed Parkes as a player-coach in 1980, and he retired from playing – having made 350 appearances in 12 years for Rovers – in 1982.

Over the next 26 years, Parkes stood in as caretaker manager on six occasions. Acting as interim boss after the departures of Bobby Saxton (86/87), Don Mackay (1991), Ray Harford (96/97), Roy Hodgson (1998), Brian Kidd (99/00) and Graeme Souness (2004). Read more »

This is a game we must be looking to win, and I hope Big Sam shows this by putting out a positive side. We have no real injury worries, just issues regarding the fitness of Niko Kalinic and Chris Samba.

If it was up to me, I’d go with the new boy Diouf up front with Jason Roberts, despite his Rovers career being apparently over. But knowing Sam he’ll probably opt for a one-man frontline. It will be interesting to see how the Manchester United loanee would fare on his own.

Keep N’Zonzi and Dunn in the middle, with Pedersen and Olsson, and, despite what I’d previously said about starting with experience over youth, with Samba doubtful, Jones and Nelsen in the centre with Salgado and Givet at full back. Obviously Robbo in goal.

Everton are looking reasonably similar to last season, with only a few signings, but still have Cahill and Saha, who both seemingly enjoy scoring goals against Rovers – Saha in particular.

They’re always a tough side to go up against, but if Rovers keep it solid and tight at the back we should limit they’re opportunities. The only worry, as has been the tale for some time now, is where would the goals come from?

Hopefully Diouf will be full of them, and if Niko gets on he may start finding the net this season.

Failing that, we may just have to hope for another 35-yard scorcher from Steven N’Zonzi …

It’s finally here. The 2010/2011 Premier League season. But what does it hold for Rovers?

Season previews in the national newspapers all differ, depending on whether the pundits involved know what they are talking about.

One in the Daily Mail said we had made ‘some good signings’ and had an ‘ageing squad’. Well we’ve made one loan signing and have a squad that includes Phil Jones, Grant Hanley, Steven N’Zonzi, Amine Linganzi, Junior Hoillett, Martin Olsson … So I suppose we need to be making plans for their retirements.

Then again, does anyone actually like the Daily Mail anymore?

It is difficult, as a fan, to know what to expect from any team, but particularly Rovers.

We’ve all grumbled at a lack of incoming transfer activity and a seemingly empty transfer kitty.

But look at the squad. It’s the same squad, pretty much, that held its own against the big boys last season and capped a solid season by beating Arsenal and Villa to finish in 10th place in the world’s best division.

Granted, we’ve no Di Santo, but what did he actually do? And Benni? Forget that fat waste of space. That’s £3million West Ham are regretting frittering away on an overrated tubster who appears to have no more desire to score goals or run. Read more »