Blackburn Rovers

Ewood Park will tonight see a game that could prove crucial at either end of the Premier League table.

Blackburn Rovers sit one place outside the relegation zone, currently level on points and goal difference with Queens Park Rangers. Meanwhile Manchester United can stretch their lead at the summit to five points.

Rovers plight was helped by an unlikely 3-2 victory at Old Trafford late last year, a result that seemed to stir some kind of belief in Steve Kean’s players.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side however, have conspired to take advantage of Manchester City's slump to overturn them at the top of Premiership.

Blackburn

Weekend results have once again put a bit of pressure on this team with Queens Park Rangers and Wigan, perhaps surprisingly, sealing victories.

Bolton also picked up three points at a seemingly doomed Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Kean has fielded the same eleven for the last three games, and one man who is key in the quest for survival is Yakubu.

The Nigerian has 14 Premier League goals so far this term and is looking to add to the two he notched up against United last time by hitting a hat-trick this time round. He said:

"Scoring against United is always special, they're one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"To score two that day at Old Trafford was a great feeling. You always want to be at your best when you play the biggest clubs.

"But I always think I can score, no matter which club I am playing against.

"Whenever I get the ball I believe I can score.

"After I get my first goal I always feel I can go on and get a second. That's what happened at Old Trafford. Maybe I can do it again, to go one better and get a hat-trick against United. “That would be great for me."

United

Manchester United are ominously hitting at precisely the right time, losing just one of their last 16 games and winning 14.

Wayne Rooney has also found that scoring touch, firing 17 in 17 and being given a 40-goal target by his manager who has said:

“Wayne is doing well. His scoring form is something like 17 goals in 17 games and I hope he gets to 40.

“There are eight games left and he can average at least a goal a game, you would take that and reasonably expect that. And he might get two goals in one match.

“The only way he could be Footballer of the Year is to keep scoring right to the end of the season. Yet Van Persie has had an exceptional season with his goals, he is a great player.

“But for us in the closing weeks of the season, Wayne can make the difference.”

Another man earning his boss's praise is David De Gea, who was dropped earlier this season for two gaffes against tonight's opposition.

However three consecutive league clean sheets have given the Spaniard much needed confidence, as his side look to improve their record at Ewood Park.

Rooney has spoken of the desire of the incentive within the camp to secure a 20th title and that it will mean a little more to beat their nearest rivals to the honour.

A win tonight put them well on the road to achieving that feat.

Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni could well end up as the English Premier League's top goalscorer at the end of the season, after his four-goal haul against Swansea City showed he's in the form of his life.

Like most footballers, Yakubu, at 29, has hit his peak form athletically, having better strength, energy, muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness than he has ever had before.

And it's certainly paying dividends with seven goals in his last five matches.

In the game against Swansea at Ewood Park, Yakubu's enhanced physical game, combined with his innate talent, helped ease the pressure on under-fire boss Steve Kean.

For his first goal, the Nigeria international's energy and willingness to run found him in a great position to brilliantly curl home the opener.

His third came about due to good positioning and that characteristic out-muscling of the defender in an aerial challenge.

And of course, when a player is feeling so good physically, they feel good mentally, too. Yakubu's fourth forced a confident, cheeky penalty to wrong-foot Swansea 'keeper Michel Vorm.

Such goals have been characteristic of Yakubu's play this season, with the imposing forward able to dominate weak defences with ease.

It's why he has gotten so many goals recently and also why his goal-scoring history this season has been erratic and inconsistent.

On his Premier League debut for Blackburn Rovers, at home to Arsenal, Yakubu scored twice. Quite logical considering the Gunners' defence at the time was at its weakest—physically and mentally—especially when playing away from the Emirates.

But in the three games that followed, the Nigerian couldn't even score in a brothel.

Why? He was up against Newcastle United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, playing only 20 minutes against the latter, three teams with some of the best defensive records in the Premier League, especially Newcastle at St. James' Park.

But after playing 70 minutes in the following game against Norwich City at Carrow Road, Yakubu scored and won the Man of the Match award, with the Canaries' defence having conceded eight goals in five home games before that match.

In the next game at Ewood Park, he played the full 90 minutes but wasn't given any good service and couldn't find the net.

The opponents? A resurgent Chelsea determined to work harder than ever to prove a point, with Andre Villas-Boas' men surprisingly tough defensively away from home, conceding just five goals in six away games before this match.

But in the match after that, away from home, Yakubu again notched a brace and won the Man of the Match award.

And the opposition this time was Wigan Athletic, a notoriously poor team this season with a weak defence. Yakubu took advantage to full effect.

Following the Wigan game, Yakubu once again couldn't get a goal, despite playing the full 90 minutes.

The Nigerian was up against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, with goals always at a premium on any visit to Stoke.

And in his ninth appearance in the campaign, Saturday's home encounter with Swansea, a team that has conceded 15 goals in their seven away matches this term, Yakubu completely destroyed their weak backline.

Two things are clear from Yakubu's form: he's virtually always guaranteed to score against poor defences and the most physically weak defenders are the ones who tend to concede the most goals. 

So what sets Yakubu Aiyegbeni apart from the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Robin Van Persie or Wayne Rooney?

Whilst they may be more naturally-talented forwards playing in better teams and scoring more consistently, the one thing they don't have on Yakubu is the ability to physically demolish weaker defenders.

Athletic performance is one of, if not the most important, factor in the Premier League today.

Out of any striker in England's top-flight, it seems Yakubu is quite possibly the best athlete or the optimum athlete with the ability to prolifically score.

Therefore, if he continues to punish weak defences with a flurry of goals like he has been doing this season, Nigeria's third highest-ever goalscorer could end up as the top dog in the Premier League come the end of the season.

After all, Dimitar Berbatov ended up as top scorer for Manchester United last season as he scored a bucket load against the less-skilled Premier League defenders.

It may be something of a wacky notion, but Yakubu Aiyegbeni to score more than the likes of Rooney, Van Persie and Aguero? Why not.

Blackburn were efficiently quiet on the last day of the transfer window as they signed defender Scott Dann from Birmingham and Yakubu from Everton.

Right now, Blackburn does not have any points in three games at the Premier League and were deemed by some pundits as being doomed this season and having a high chance of relegation already.

Dann brings another enforcer in the back four as he joins Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen, and the three together could help the Rovers from giving up a ton of goals this season.

Yakubu is the second signing at the forward position this summer for Steve Kean after David Goodwillie joined from Dundee United earlier in the summer.

The Nigerian has scored 112 total goals throughout his time in England which started in 2002 with Portsmouth and has seen him have spells at Middlesbrough, Everton and Leicester City.

Those two alongside Jason Roberts, David Hoilett and Ruben Rochina form a decent group of forwards.

With the way other relegation candidates have looked so far and the lack of moves that clubs like Swansea and Norwich have made towards the end of the window, it looks like Blackburn now has a squad that can contend for a finishing spot between 11th and 15th place in the Premier League.

After a tumultuous season on and off the field in 2010/11 resulting in a 15th place finish in the Barclay's Premier League, Steve Kean's Blackburn Rovers are now faced with critical decisions to make in the close season. Most notably regarding player recruitment.

New Indian owners Venky's have promised Glaswegian manager Steve Kean a £10 million war chest plus any monies received from outgoing transfers in his search for incoming players.  The recent sale of local boy Phil Jones to Manchester United for £16.5 million and the likely imminent departure of defensive stalwart Chris Samba places added pressure on the inexperienced Scot to build a team capable of Premier League survival in 2011/12.

Despite a disappointing 2010/11 Premier League campaign, there were glimpses of exciting talent developing within the Ewood Park ranks. The emergence of young attacking talents Martin Olsson and Junior Hoilett in particular provided a pace and penetration not seen since the days of Damien Duff. 

The central midfield partnership of Stephen Nzonzi and Shalke loanee Jermain Jones also showed significant promise, particularly prominent in the critical 0-0 away result at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal in early April.

In order to be successful in the Premier League, the importance of pace is becoming increasingly apparent. A Blackburn Rovers midfield containing Pederson, Dunn, Andrews and Emerton as featured at times during 2010/11 is clearly hugely lacking in pace.  Steve Kean needs to bear this in mind when devising a workable formation for the 2011/12 season. 

The 4-2-3-1 formation seems to suit the players currently at Steve Kean's disposal and could be bolstered further by a few key additions to the squad.  This formation is largely based on fielding two defensive midfielders (Jones and Nzonzi to Brazil's Melo and Gilberto Silva) supplemented by attacking wingers and a playmaker (Hoilett to Brazil's Kaka) working behind a strong central striker.

In order to add pace to the squad Shaun Wright-Phillips could be attained from Manchester City to fill the right wing role with Olsson occupying the left wing position.  Junior Hoilett would also fit naturally in the playmaker role behind a central striker. Jason Roberts' power and strength would seem to fit the central striker role but a bid for Tottenham Hotspur's Peter Crouch may be advisable.  The pace and guile of Olsson, Hoilett and Wright-Phillips latching on to the flicks and hold up play of Peter Crouch would give problems to many Premier League teams.

In the central defensive positions an attempt should be made to sign the impressive Roger Johnson from relegated Birmingham City with Gael Givet occupying the other central defensive position.  In the full back positions Michel Salgado should remain at right back while at left back an attempt to attain Stephen Warnock from Aston Villa should be made. Paul Robinson's excellent form as goalkeeper means this position remains unchanged.

On the substitute bench January 2011 transfer window signings Ruben Rochina and Mauro Formica can be given further time to acclimatise but could eventually easily slot into either the playmaker or winger positions if necessary.  Amongst others, Kalinic, Dunn, Emerton, Hanley, Pederson and Nelson could compete for the other substitute positions.

Operating under this formation the formidable central midfield partnership of Nzonzi and Jones would give freedom to the buccaneering fullbacks Salgado and Warnock to get forward in support of the pace and trickery of Olsson, Hoilett, Wright-Phillips et al. 

It is of my opinion that this mode of play would fulfill Venky's mission statement to bring both successful results and an exciting style of play back to Ewood Park.  Whether this will be achieved in 2011/12 remains inconclusive at this stage, but it should be a fascinating chapter in the club's history.

When Manchester United takes the field on Saturday afternoon against Blackburn Rovers, the chance to overtake Liverpool’s title record is in United's own hands.

At the beginning of the Premiership era, it seemed it would take decades for anyone to take Liverpool down from the throne of English football. United have dominated the Premiership so thoroughly that they've always looked the most likely to do it, but if the footballing Gods had played their hand differently, it could be a different team challenging the record. Fans could be getting fed up with a different club always winning, and complaining of another team always buying their way to the title. Step forward, Blackburn Rovers.

In 1992, Manchester United began the first ever Premiership season with an long overdue ascent back to the top of the mountain in England. In the same year United won for the first time since 1967, Blackburn Rovers finally achieved promotion back to top flight football for the first time in 26 years and were looking to make up for lost time.

Having acquired a reputation for being a yo-yo club in the old Second Division, (finishing in fifth place in 1990 then 19^th the year later, for example), the club were never expected to be a serious threat for the title.  But then, Jack Walker arrived.

The takeover was too late to save Rovers from finishing in dismal 19^th place in the Second Division at the end of the 1990–91 season, but the new owner immediately made millions of pounds available to spend on new players and appointed Kenny Dalglish as manager. Though they didn’t manage to win the league in 92, they still managed to reach the playoffs, keeping out Charlton Athletic by three points and going on to win the playoff final, defeating  Leicester City one goal to nil.

Blackburn was finally back, just in time for the debut of the Premier League. In a statement of intent, they splashed out on £3.5 million, then an English record, on the hottest young property in English football, Alan Shearer. Walker also had Ewood Park refurbished, giving the ground a new look. Blackburn were building a star studded club as quickly as possible, turning themselves into the Manchester City of the early 90’s.

Many eyes were on Blackburn in their first season in the top flight, and they showed enough potential to hint that they could be a force in the years to come.  Finishing the season in fourth place, they landed just a point outside of qualifying for the UEFA cup. Blackburn recorded some quality victories, beating previous champions Leeds 3-1, which is impressive considering where they were playing the year before.

For the 1993-94 season, management strengthened the squad again, bringing in reliable goalkeeper Tim Flowers and David Batty, who had been part of Leeds United's title winning squad. That season, they meant business. Manchester United retained the title, but Blackburn pushed them all the way, and after the two league games for both clubs Blackburn had won one and drawn the other. They had finished the season just eight points behind United, and if the past few seasons had shown anything, it was that Blackburn kept making progress.

Chris Sutton turned out to be the missing piece of the Blackburn puzzle. The young striker from Norwich paired well with Shearer, and the two (affectionately known as the SAS) scored for fun, netting 49 goals between them as Rovers won their first league title in 81 years.

The title went down to the wire on the last day of the season; it was either Blackburn’s or Manchester United’s to win. In one of the most remarkable days in Premier League history, Shearer netted his 34^th goal of the season to give Blackburn the lead against Liverpool, and West Ham opened the scoring against Manchester United at Upton Park. United deservedly leveled through Brian McClair and Liverpool came back to defeat Blackburn in the final minute. United, however, failed to score the crucial winning goal, and Blackburn could finally celebrate the title and an illustrious spot in the Champions League next season.

When Jack Walker took over as owner in 1991, Blackburn were a struggling side in the old Second Division who had been outside the top flight since 1966 and had not won a major trophy since 1928. They were playing in antiquated surroundings at Ewood Park, with three of their four stands dating from before the First World War, and all of a sudden they found themselves the richest, star studded jewel in England’s footballing crown.

Taking a team from near the bottom of the Old Second Division to the top of England had only taken four years. The rest of the country wondered what could stop them the following season, and could only imagine who they would buy next. Blackburn Rovers era of dominance in English football had surely begun.

Then, it all went wrong. Things just didn’t go quite to plan in the 1995-96 season, with no big names coming into Ewood Park. In the summer of '95, the great Kenny Dalglish left the managerial role, and after a disappointing season Blackburn finished in sixth place and embarrassingly crashed out of the Champions League at the first stage. The football they played was poor, Sutton was injured for most of the year, and they looked a completely different side from the one that had walked away with the title the previous year.  Blackburn promised to bounce back, but things were about to get worse.

In 1996, Blackburn's prolific scorer Alan Shearer decided to leave Rovers to join his hometown club Newcastle United for a record fee of £15 million. It signaled the beginning of an even worse slide for Blackburn, this time finishing 13^th. The title win just two seasons prior felt a lifetime away.

The Shearer sale was seen as the biggest factor in Blackburn's lowest top flight finish since they returned to the elite in 1992, but his old strike-partner Chris Sutton helped keep the club alive. Sutton recovered well from a drastic loss of form triggered by a spate of injuries the previous season, and the acquisition of Swedish striker Martin Dahlin at the end of the season enhanced Blackburn's attack and gave fans hope for a higher finish the next time 'round.

The climb upwards had begun again. After the lows of the previous season, Blackburn managed to climb back up the table and finish a respectable sixth, even looking like genuine title contenders again during the course of the season. The fans had something to cheer about again, sensing a return to the top. How wrong they were.

Four years earlier, Blackburn Rovers were Premiership champions. Just one year earlier, they had qualified for the UEFA Cup. They were still among some observers' picks for title challengers, but this faith was badly misplaced. In 1999 Blackburn Rovers finished 19^th and were consequently relegated from the Premier League. All the rebuilding work had been undone, and now management had to start again.

Blackburn managed to keep most of their squad, and were tipped for an immediate return to the Premier League, but it was not to be. Keeping with their recent tradition of under performing, they stayed in the second tier for several years before returning to the top flight. Blackburn have been a permanent fixture in the Premiership for ten years now, often flirting with relegation (like this year) and even finishing sixth a few times, but Rovers have never recaptured their status of one of the biggest clubs in the league. Attendance has fallen as well, but a League Cup win in 2002 reminded fans of that winning team in '95.

So this Saturday, you’ll forgive the fans at Blackburn if a few look at the fixture with United and remember when it used to mean so much more. After all, it could have been them deciding the League title for themselves instead of feeling like a stepping stone, nearly everyone expecting a United Victory.

The 90’s was a stage made for Blackburn. All the work put into bringing the club back earned them a rightful championship, and it could have been Blackburn Rovers poised to become the most dominant team in Premiership history.

Blackburn Rovers could have been a feared name in European and world football, but sadly a lot of young fans won’t remember Blackburn as one of only four teams to win the Premiership. That one successful year has been well and truly been banished to the history books.

It could have been so much more for them, but it just wasn’t to be. I’m sure older Blackburn fans still greatly enjoy the memories and fondly look back to when, for one year, Blackburn Rovers ruled the land.

"He want results and Sam has taken up the challenge. He deserves a chance."

Venky's chairwoman Anuradha Desai, Friday 26th November 2010

With the confirmation that Blackburn Rovers' former "interim" manager has now become the long term manager and we can now begin to contemplate that maybe Sam Allardyce, the manager we all love to hate, was correct when he claimed that he was the victim of a swindle.

In fact, it would appear that the vastly experienced Allardyce was knifed in the back by one of the very coaches that he brought to Blackburn in 2009. If this was the case, just how deep did Steve Kean himself plunge the knife into that big, broad, back of Sam Allardyce?

On December 13th 2010, almost 2 years to the day since he became manager of Blackburn Rovers following the dismissal of Paul Ince, and only 24 days since Blackburn was purchased by new owners, the man they call "Big Sam" was sacked. 9 days later on December 22nd, Steve Kean was appointed as a temporary manager.

The new owners of the club, Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group, described by investinuk.net as "a poultry firm based in Pune, India [that] specializes in poultry farming and pharmaceuticals", decided that they wanted the club to play attacking, attractive football and challenge at the upper echelons of the Premier League and apparently Big Sam was not the man(ager) they believed whom could deliver any of these goals.

That may not sound suprising to football people who know that Allardyce would stick pins in his eyes rather than allow his teams to play attractive free flowing football, however it soon became apparent that the new owners of Blackburn Rovers had never seen a game of football in the flesh. They had seen the odd clips on TV but they had never attended a live football match until about a month ago.

Because of this, it was hard to see where they were coming from with regard to their possible knowledge of tactics and styles of the game. Either way, following a string of poor results that culminated with a 7-1 demolition at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Big Sam had been shown the door.

The other side of the coin however is that had Blackburn of beaten Bolton in what turned out to be Allardyce's final game, then Blackburn would have leaped into 6th in the league.

However the real surprise was to come in the replacement. Enter Steve Kean, a little known coach whom Allardyce had brought to Blackburn during the 2009/10 preseason. He was/is best known for being Chris Coleman's trusty number two during their time together at Fulham, Coventry and Real Sociedad but had never held a managerial role before.

Days after the sacking in an interview with The Sun, Allardyce claimed that he might well have been the victim of a stitch-up within the club, claiming he had only met the new owners on a couple of occasions and on neither of those times did they have a proper in depth talk about football related matters.

Usually, this wouldn't turn any heads, but in the days after Big Sam's sacking, it became clear that Venky's were being advised on the football side of things by a group called SEM, a sport agency owned by the agent Jerome Anderson who used to be, believe it or not, an announcer at the old Highbury ground in his youth.

The real coincidence in all of this is that Steve Kea is a client of Jerome Anderson and SEM, and it is widely reported that when the new owners gave Big Sam a list of transfer targets, all of them were players registered to SEM and he refused to sign any of them.

Maybe that is a coincidence but Steve Kean's number two, John Jensen, the ex-Arsenal player, is also a client of Mr Anderson and SEM, made all the more murkier by Steve Kean admitting that it was NOT his choice to bring Jensen to Blackburn and that he had never spoken to Jensen prior to his arrival as HIS number two. Strange that a manager would pick someone whom he has never worked with as his assistant don't you think?

STILL don't believe there's anything to it? Well try this on for size. In May 2007, Manchester City were brought by the exiled Thai PM, Thaksin Shinawatra. Guess who was advising them on the players to sign and whom duly signed 8 players for City in just under a month? Yep, Mr. Anderson. Who was instrumental in getting his mate Sven Goran Eriksson the job at City that season? Not Sven's agent, Athole Still, who when asked about Sven's impending appointment actually denied the claim that Sven was to be the next City manager as he had not heard anything about it.

It seems that Mr. Anderson has a habit of being the person to introduce wealthy foreigners to needy football clubs, almost acting as a footballing pimp. "Bring me the money, ill bring you a good time".

Blackburn currently sit 11th, 5 points out from the relegation zone. If they begin the rapid decent towards the Premier League trapdoor, people will automatically begin the talk of "What if Sam was there, would they be doing so poorly?"

But, if they can steadily climb up the table, people will be inclined to ask if they would have been doing so well under Allardyce. One thing is for certain, the whole situation at Blackburn remains very cloudy, and until the truth comes out, people, like myself, will continue to speculate exactly what influence Jerome Anderson and SEM have at Ewood Park.

Blackburn vs West Bromwich

West Bromwich Albion finally managed to snap their seven-game losing run with a victory over Blackpool last weekend. Roberto di Matteo must be happy to see his team winning once again after it looked like they couldn't buy a victory.

Blackburn, however, suffered a defeat in their last match against Chelsea, but it was a rare blemish. It was the kind of form that resulted in caretaker manager Steve Kean being rewarded with a new contract, one that will see him as the manager of the club till 2013.

Steve Kean has signed Roque Santa Cruz from Manchester City on a season-long loan deal. He is expected to add to a frontline that is more than capable of destroying West Bromwich Albion. It was exactly the result that was achieved when the two sides met earlier in the season, with Blackburn winning comfortably by three goals to one.

The biggest worry for Steve Kean will be the injury to David Dunn, who was taken off in the match against Chelsea. Ryan Nelsen is also some cause of concern for Steve Kean. Jonas Olsson has recovered sufficiently from his injury and will be starting for the Baggies.

Blackburn vs West Brom kicks off at 17:00 CET at Ewood Park

Bolton vs Chelsea (Jan. 25, 2011)

Bolton are struggling to get results of late, which initially began with a defeat a Stamford Bridge the last time these teams met. They now have the chance to avenge their loss when the Blues visit the Trotters at the Reebok Stadium.

Chelsea's form seems to have returned after two consecutive clean sheets and victories. The likes of John Terry have been coming out and speaking of the faltering title challenge already. The aim for the title seems to be the last thing on Carlo Ancelotti's mind, whose main job is to ensure Champions League qualification by finishing no less than fourth.

While Chelsea have not signed any new players in the January transfer window so far, Bolton Wanderers recently completed the signing of David Wheater from Middlesbrough. He is expected to have some say in the proceedings.

Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, is sweating on the fitness of key duo Frank Lampard and John Terry. Frank Lampard injured his calf muscle midweek, while John Terry has had to cope with a resurfacing of his back problem. The participation of both seems to be a major doubt for Chelsea.

Bolton vs Chelsea kicks off at 21:00 CET at the Reebok Stadium

Blackburn Rovers earned only their third away win and their seventh win of the season as they maintained their mid-table place in the game on Tuesday against West Bromwich Albion.

WBA have been a surprise package this season but were noticeably blunted without Chris Brunt, who has figured prominently for them in terms of chance creation, with only Nani having provided more assists prior to the match.

The Baggies did however have a good recent record against Blackburn and were looking to continue Rovers' away misery, as Blackburn had not won away from home since the 25th of September, when they triumphed at Blackpool.

Blackburn Rovers have been in reasonable nick as well, the side at present comfortably mid-table and producing fairly steady form at home.

This probably being part of the reason that most were shocked at the sudden firing of Sam Allardyce, who had turned the fortunes of the playing side around in his tenure as manager.

Acute betrayal by the organisation in all senses of the words. Something we have begun to grow more used to as the years pass, little uproar now, as people grow accustomed to such treachery.

A manager who re-energized the team when he took over, a team that were in danger of relegation.

He had stabilized the playing staff and put together a team unit that could play effective and competently rendered football in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, which is no mean feat.

Nonetheless, he was betrayed and thrown to the fickle hand of fate, regardless of the dedicated work he had put in, trying to make the club competitive.

One of his last interviews actually had him saying he was confident they would climb further up the table, only for him to be sacked a few weeks later, in a vehement piece of boardroom skulduggery. 

Something that certainly did not pass the attention of Ryan Nelsen, the New Zealander, a man of principles who was openly derisive of the new owners' decision to send Allardyce looking for a new job. He was quoted as saying,   

"Everybody says this is football, and that's the world we live in and all that, but what's happened to Newcastle and what's happened now is a real shame," Nelsen said.

"I know how much energy, how much time and passion the manager put into Blackburn, and Neil McDonald as well, so when you've been let go like that, I can imagine it's incredibly disappointing.

"I feel so sorry that it's been handled like this."

Obvious disappointment and anger below the polished veneer of the press release, which at the same time as showing the owners how he feels, maintains his respect for the club.

Rovers had had a torturous time of it on the road since way back in Blackpool, and were taken to pieces at Old Trafford, some even suggesting that that result could have had something to do with the sacking of Allardyce.

Even though the sacking actually reeks of naivete on the part of the new owners, who sacked a manager who would have definitely kept them up and who was putting together a capable campaign that could have even ended with the team in Europe.

Instead, they created unnecessary instability that has cost the club points, in the form of a home draw and home defeat before this when they had before these matches enjoyed relative stability at Ewood Park.

The last home match before these two was a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, presided over by the now-departed Allardyce.

The rear-guard action in the win against WBA was particularly determined after two-goal hero Kalinic was sent off for a ridiculous tackle on Paul Scharner.

Nelsen himself was in the thick of it, showing he is quite capable of going about his work with the recent tumultuous events stored away in the file cabinet of his mind was clearly not distracted.

The Antipodean center-half played well and was a sterling example of the attitude required to maintain the advantage they had garnered for themselves through the course of the match.

It was a shot in the arm for Manager Steve Kean, who did not enjoy the home game on Saturday, as his team was pushed aside by an industrious and capable Stoke side.

Hardly a fitting introduction for the newly appointed boss, owner Venky's giving him a short contract to see what he is capable of in the days preceding Stoke's visit.

The win on the road, however, had Blackburn's traveling faithful asking for a wave near the end of the match, which was a rather sudden about-face after the crowd's reaction to him in the past few weeks.

He seems to have a team that have finally decided that though they may disagree with the events as they transpired, they have to carry on doing their job, as it is an important part of the lives of the fans that follow the side and the people who are part of the organisation, and of course, they as players representing the club and its tradition.

Ryan Nelsen has proven before that he can inspire, of course with the excellent run to the World Cup finals he enjoyed with the New Zealand team, and their undefeated World Cup, drawing with three teams expected to imperiously swipe them aside.

This fighting spirit will be vital in the coming rounds, as the league is extremely high pitched and eagerly contested, with no obvious whipping boys and several sides that have pulled splendid upsets out of the bag.