Blackburn Rovers

"He phoned me at 3.10 PM today saying 'can I have a cup of tea tonight?' because he was coming to the game. Then he phones me at half past four and says 'I've been sacked'."

There are certain things that just don't go well together—Church and State, Peanut Butter and Jelly (my own pet peeve), Sport and Business. The problem is it always proves impossible to alienate one without affecting the other. 

So, while Big Sam may be out of a job leaving Sir Alex (among others) infuriated, the show must go on. It's what we must come to accept—global club football is past those days when it's only one-up on the franchise-model of American sports in its varied ownership structures. We can no longer ridicule a Robert Sarver for cutting costs and trading players simply because he didn't want to pay a luxury tax on every additional dollar for his franchise.

No, we must not. 

Because Chelsea was "franchised" out to Abramovich just as Eastlands was to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Just as the Glazers so shamelessly brought the concept of debt to United, so did Venkateshwara Hatcheries decide they had the vision and ability to transform Blackburn Rovers to a Top Five club in the English Premier League.

As Dileep Premachandran writes, "this is not a labor of love." If Venky's cared about the game, they might have invested in Mahindra United or Indian Football at the grassroots level.

Fault Mark Cuban all you want, but you can't deny his passion for basketball.

Fault the Sheikh at your own peril, but he's pouring in personal resources by the millions to ensure that his pet project can compete for the title.

Fault Anuradha Desai...

What? Yes. Wait. What?

The Chairperson of the VH Group and the new top dog at Ewood Park who brazenly announced that "she watches cricket, hockey sometimes but never football."

As if that wasn't conclusive enough evidence of ignorance, she went on to assert that  "I don't know a thing about football." Now, we know why this Sam "sacker" sacked Sam.

Because it's pretty darn hard to do something like that with the slightest knowledge that:

a) He took charge at Ewood Park with the club in the midst of a six-game losing streak to the end of the season where they went on a nine-match unbeaten run.

b) He then led them the next season to a respectable top-half finish. For the first time in 14 years, this included an undefeated record against the "Big Four" at home.

c) On current form, he had won four and lost three which included tough games against United and Tottenham.

And the players aren't happy either. Captain Ryan Nelsen said he was "devastated" to learn of the decision. As he further elaborated to Sky Sports News, "He (Sam) had an absolutely fantastic relationship with all of the players. Everyone respected him. He took the club out of the doldrums really. We were in massive trouble with no money. He solidified us and put us into a top-ten position, and again he did it on a shoe-string."

Blackburn now sits just a point behind Liverpool and three above Everton, not a bad position for Big Sam. Though in retrospect, we now know that he was nothing more than a walking duck (or chicken if you please) set up for a fall.

Five million pounds will not lure Diego Forlan or any other quality player, especially with the whims and fancies of a new ownership. Grandiose visions for a mid-table club will not buy that feeling in the locker room—when players know they're playing to win for a manager that believes in them and knows what he is doing.

But maybe we don't know a thing either. Maybe the Hatcheries saw something that neither of us did. Maybe they know whether the chicken came before the egg or not. 

And Sir Alex? He can only blame himself and a slumbering Dimitar Berbatov for his good friend's unceremonious departure. For when the mercurial yet maddeningly inconsistent Bulgarian decides to showcase himself, not many stand a chance.

Just like poor Sam. He never really had a chance.

Football is a devious thing. Just when you thought it was safe to stop discussing Carlos Tevez’s insistence on leaving Manchester City and start discussing Manchester United’s showdown against Arsenal, along come Blackburn with an axe... and it’s off with the head of manager Sam Allardyce, who was being punted as a future England boss just months ago.

Yes, it's big Sam—the man who made Bolton Wanderers a Premier League force to reckon with for a decade, who was forced out of Newcastle United before his time and played 450 games around the world, from Millwall to Limerick, Coventry to Tampa Bay Rowdies.

It’s not as if he was doing that badly. Blackburn are currently 13^th in a topsy-turvy Premier League winter. Allardyce and his vast backroom staff are respected for their attention to detail, their ability to produce cut-price resilience in the face of billionaire batterers.

Who sacked him? Well, Blackburn. But under the guise of their new owners “Venky’s Group” (also known as Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Limited). Yes, they are experts in chicken products in India; they certainly know how to make feathers fly. Who hatched this one up? They were the ones who said they were happy to finish mid-table and didn’t really worry too much about top honours.

So why sack Allardyce and his assistant Neil McDonald just before the Festive season fun? Why send first-team coach Steve Kean out to get them through the hectic Christmas period?

Okay, they’ve lost three out of their last five, and nobody could have been too happy to see them edged out 2-1 by a late goal against his old club Bolton. Big Sam, now 56, took it like a man. He grinned as he discussed injury time with his opposite number Owen Coyle.

Moustachioed for much of his career, the “Walrus” is not to be trifled with. They finished 10^th last season and have become a side renowned for being difficult to beat.

Big Sam certainly didn’t deserve to end up with egg on his face like this. Venky’s squawked, via a statement from Ewood Park, "We have taken this decision as part of our wider plans and ambitions for the club.”

Rubbish. They don’t know what they’re doing, so expect a Sven Goran Eriksson type appointment any day soon. Or could we see the return of Martin O'Neill, the estranged former Aston Villa boss? 

Who the hell is Neal Collins (nealcol on Twitter)? See www.nealcollins.co.uk... and watch South Africa's SuperSportHD and 3 tonight at 8.30pm before the Manchester United vs. Arsenal clash.

Venky’s Chicken, an Indian based firm, has taken over the Blackburn Rovers for roughly £23m. Although the news may not be breaking news anymore and even viewed skeptically by few, there are a few reasons to believe that if a few things falls to place , Blackburn Rovers may really be at a profit from this takeover in the long run.

When I say long run, it is purely from the footballing front. The Rovers may have won the Premier League way back in 1995 following their marvelous turn-around as they surfaced from second tier English football just three years earlier, the dream run soon turned to gloom. In 1999, even being the second richest club in all-England Blackburn Rovers became relegated. Thus, setting an unnerving precedent.

For those very familiar with the Premier League or World club football as such, should be very well aware that the best way to earn success in today’s football comes only after a  good expenditure on the squad, i.e., buying the best of talents from around the world. However, Blackburn have already failed to capitalize in that process for too long.

There may have many a reason for the debacle like poor decisions in the transfer market, inept managerial aptitude shown by Roy Hodgson etc.

Although, a takeover by the Venky’s may not be as promising to make Blackburn one of the richest football club’s in England, what the takeover can ensure is a lot of promise and should Blackburn be able to avoid relegation this season, there is no reason why after the fair play rules come into effect in three to four years time, Blackburn Rovers will not be a able to challenge for the sixth or seventh spot in the Premier League .

Here I have enlisted a few areas where both the Venky's & Blackburn Rovers will need to cash upon to improve their grip of the mid-table or even dream of challenging the best of the Top 7 in the league.

1.)    Tap the unexplored markets

One of the basic needs for Blackburn Rovers is to improve the squad. However, with a severely constrained budget and no apparent attraction of playing European Football, the Rovers have to get down to very smart scouting techniques. All they could buy would be two types of players.

The first type will be the fallen stars , which is relatively  famous players  but in considered to be past their prime or else they have to settle for young players who are talented but in-experienced. Loaning in players may also be an attractive option.

Players like Mame Birame Diouf could be surplus to Manchester United’s requirements for a few years and it is players like those that Blackburn will have to cash upon and even consider the loan with an option to buy.

Sam Allardyce will need to show in some really good scouting skills which Roy Hodgson didn’t in his earlier spell at the club. Exploring into untapped markets like Asia (Japan & Korea mainly)  & other lesser known European or even American and African may also be a very viable option.

Sam Allardyce or Big Sam as he is known,  had stated that talent-wise he is no less than even the highly respected Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. Well , its time  to show whether he really matches Wenger in eagle-eyed scouting! Especially with the fair play rules imminent, Big Sam should be able to plan for the coming 4-5 years in accordance then.

All in all the entire process has to be very exhaustive and football marketing firm, Kentaro and player-agent partner Sports Entertainment and Media Group, who are in charge at Blackburn have a massive task  ahead of them.

2) Believe : If RCD Espanyol Can, Why Can't Blackburn?

Espanyol are a unique Spanish Football club. Just like last season, even in this season so far Espanyol have earned the maximum value from the goals they have scored .

Espanyol ended the last season in the much respected La Liga at the 11^th spot (a more realistic target for Blackburn at the moment) scoring only 29 goals. The lowest no. goals as compared to any team in the La Liga . Even the relegated teams like Xerez, Tenerife and Vallaloid scored 37,40 and 38 goals respectively.

Even this season , Espanyol have so far scored only nine goals this season and have obtained a flattering 19 points from that which sees them sitting pretty at the sixth position in the La Liga (a position that Blackburn would want to get to sometime soon!)

Even Athletic Bilbao, which has scored 20 goals, are sitting below them at the moment with 16 points whereas Malaga with 15 goals are fighting off relegation and last year’s European place holders Getafe are 11^th with the 15 goals count!

The key to Espanyol’s success has been the solid defensive display which has ensured that they rarely give away the advantage once they have earned a goal advantage. 

Ewood Park is already a fortress of sorts for Blackburn Rovers and the physical aspect of football gives them some advantage when it comes to getting into feisty battles just like a few others like Stoke and Bolton.

However, they still need to get the best of even slender advantages like 1-0, because they just don’t have the arsenal to play attractive football and thump opponents as of now.

Blackburn must be realistic  as of now and Espanyol’s philosophy suits them fine but will they be able to match, well , at least they can try knowing  that it is possible!

3)  Venky’s must exploit the Indian market for revenues to build the team

Although easier said than done , India as a country has immense potential when it comes to finding a market to sell and Blackburn Rovers under Venky’s will have a great opportunity to go about in a big way if they want to.

Even Anuradha Desai, the matriarch of the family of the takeover agreed that they are looking to build a global brand in this manner and what better way to start catching attention than promoting the sport home and the brand abroad.

Mrs. Desai’s brothers Balaji and Venkateswara are also known to be football fans and the family have spent money on India internationals. So the spending may just come in, even if it doesn’t come in just now. (However, the new owners have already stated today that they are in the market for a striker!)

India is a country where another popular sport, cricket is considered as big as a religion and inspite of how the dipping the trend may be in Indian football, only in the 1960-70’s India ranked higher than the now regular World cup participants Japan and South Korea and there  is still a huge craze for the game in many counters.

Every year many a group of youngsters from India’s most famous club’s East Bengal and Mohun Bagan come to famous European academies at Arsenal or travel to Barca for friendlies or training! Even weakened  squads of Bayern Munich (actually one of the squads also had Oliver Kahn, Van Bommel and Ze Roberto) have come to India to packed stadiums!

Although Bayern Munich is a completely different proposition , the interest is certainly there  and  if properly harnessed there are huge revenues to be generated all of which could only be great for a club of Blackburn’s stature, especially if you consider that the Indian population is at least a few times that of the entire United Kingdom!

All said it must said that Venky's have a mamoth task ahead of them if they are really serious about taking the Blackburn Rovers brand and making it large . The only way of achieving it .."Arte Et Labore". (By Skill & Hard Work!).

Today Blackburn became the ninth Premiership side to come under foreign ownership, as Venky’s takeover was confirmed. They join the American-owned Manchester United, Liverpool, Sunderland and Aston Villa, the Russian-owned Chelsea, the Arab-owned Manchester City, Hong Kong-owned Birmingham and Egyptian-owned Fulham.

Blackburn are now the first ever Indian-owned Premiership club after the £46m takeover was completed early this evening. However, any Blackburn fans hoping that the new owners intend to force their way into the top echelons of the Premiership will be disappointed.

Indeed, the comments coming out of the Indian camp, particularly from Anuradha Desai, the woman who appears to be the figurehead of the bid, raised questions about their ambitions, and even their knowledge of football in general.

“We don’t expect to be in the top five of the Premier League. We will be happy to be in the top 10 to 12.” This is hardly a statement of real ambition considering they finished in the top half last season and in four of the past five years. It is not as though Blackburn are a side that are regularly battling to stay in the division.

However, she continued to explain that “our first priority is to get the club on a strong footing and back into the Premier League.” It seems a decent promise for a recently relegated side that are involved in a promotion battle in the Championship. Unfortunately, Blackburn are not in the Championship. So how they intend to get Blackburn back into the Premiership when they are already there is to be seen.

Despite these limited, and slightly confusing, ambitions, the new owners have a plan of how they intend to use the transfer market. “We won’t need to buy expensive players, we can always lease them.” Personally, I am not quite sure how the lease market for professional footballers works. There is the loan market, but if the new owners are hoping to get top quality players through loaning them, they have much to learn about football.

As we looked deeper into the details of the recent interviews with the new owners, more worrying facts begin to appear. “The acquisition has been funded by ICICI Bank,” is one such comment that raises disturbing similarities with the style of takeover that has caused so much trauma at both Manchester United and Liverpool. Whilst the scale of the loan is much smaller, the revenue of the club is similarly scaled down.

In the wake of the Portsmouth implosion and Liverpool finding themselves hours away from administration, you would hope that the Premier League has looked into the finer details of this deal in order to ensure that everything is adequate and as it seems. However, given the past record of the Premier League in such matters, my expectations are hardly high.

Furthermore, they were happy to consider the idea of ‘allowing sponsorship of Ewood Park.’ For such an historic stadium, could you possibly imagine it changing its name to the Coca Cola Coliseum, the Asda Arena, the Stadium of Npowered Light or the Poundland Pitch?

In the most recent interview, they have stated their desire to “create a whole nation of Blackburn Rovers fans in India.” However, there are two potential obstacles to this ambition. Firstly, outside of the top, famous sides, there is little interest in other Premiership clubs in areas such as India and China. Indeed, there is often the impression that fans support individual players rather than clubs themselves. With the lack of big names coming in, it may be difficult to attract the interest of Indian football fans.

Secondly, Sam Allardyce’s brand of football is hardly going to grab the attention of the casual Indian football fan. The long ball style has served Big Sam well, but it has not garnered many fans in the wider footballing community and it may be difficult to sell his brand of football to new Indian fans.

They will initially be making £5m available to buy new players in January with ‘much more’ coming in the summer. In the modern day, £5m would struggle to buy one of the top players in the Premiership. Whilst Blackburn has hardly been big spenders in recent years, it adds more fuel to the speculation that the new owners lack the knowledge about their new acquisition and the state of the league that they play in.

Although given that they have admitted that much of the reasoning behind buying a football club is to ‘help build our brand,’ maybe it is no great surprise that they are seemingly not bothered about spending big money on the club.

Now, I have absolutely nothing against foreign ownership of Premier League clubs. Whilst it is nice for clubs to be owned by English companies or owners, there is no reason why it should be any better than foreign owners. Indeed, as an Aston Villa supporter, my club has benefited hugely from the foreign ownership of Aston Villa.

However, it is crucial that foreign owners understand the scale of the English Premier League and the place of the club in the hearts of the communities that they find themselves in. Football clubs are interwoven with almost every aspect of life in almost every large town and city in England—arguably more so than in any other country in the world. And it can be difficult for new foreign owners to understand this link.

Understand this link and you will take a giant stride in gaining the support of the fans. Without the support of the fans, disquiet can spread from the stands to the players. Whatever they said, the problems off the pitch at both Portsmouth and Liverpool clearly had an impact on the pitch.

It will be important for the new owners to gain the support of the fans quickly. However, their early comments barely inspire confidence. Renaming the stadium, being funded by the banks, leasing players and returning to the Premiership are all moves which suggest they are out of touch with the basics of the industry that they have bought into. And Blackburn Rovers is not just a business, a point that they must realise quickly. For thousands of people, and for an entire city, Blackburn is a way of life.

Poultry giant Venky's have completed their takeover of Blackburn Rovers to become the first Indian owners in the Premier League.

Venky's (Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group) paid £23million for a 99.9 percent stake in the club, buying their controlling share from The Jack Walker Trust.

"We are all truly honoured to be working with such an historic club and are committed to creating a long-term financial platform which the club can use to realise its obvious potential on and off the field," Venkateshwara Rao, joint managing director of Venky's, said.

"It is as a team that this club has succeeded in the past and it is as a team that this club will achieve great things in the future."

Paul Egerton-Vernon, chairman of the Jack Walker Settlement Trustees, said: "We are very pleased to be passing on the Rovers to the Rao family.

"We have been impressed with their enthusiasm for the club and their plans and ideas for future investment to develop it further as well as their wish and commitment to preserve the legacy of Jack Walker."

Walker's investment in the club saw them crowned Premier League champions in the 1994-95 season. They were relegated four years later but returned to the top flight in 2001.

The news that Indian poultry giant, Venkateshwara Hatcheries (VH) affectionately known to all as Venky’s chicken, struck a deal to take over BlackBurn Rovers, an English Premier League (EPL) team has come like a thunderbolt out of the blue.

This is a wonderful time for Indian companies making their presence felt across the international sporting arena.

The Indian Premier League is the second most expensive league in the world.

Force India is Vijay Mallya’s acquisition in the Formula 1.

And now Blackburn Rovers join the stable of notable sporting buyouts.

"Well, if you can’t beat them, let’s buy them" is a mantra that is easy to follow!

The acquisition of Blackburn Rovers and the sizable Asian population there leads Venky’s strategic marketing advisors to look for synergies between the historic footballing franchise and the poultry giant.

This is the draft of the brain-storming session procured by WikiLeaks:

A chain of Venky’s Chicken Burger restaurants and Venky’s Chicken Tikka will soon dot the Blackburn countryside.

Once Blackburn, then the country, then the rest of Europe!

(Venky’s is a preferred supplier to the Indian outlets of McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut and Domino's.)

The cross-breeding of English and Indian chickens could lead to some very interesting egg concepts.

A mixed breed broiler chicken would be welcomed by both Indian and British chicken lovers.

Venky’s is considering launching a chicken football league of their own; the best of the breed chickens would be a part of this super league.

Maradona is being sounded out as a possible trainer, mentor, manager and coach for this unique endeavour.

This league would happen during the EPL offseason.

Maradona is also considered a serious candidate for manager of the Rovers first side.

The chicken league would alternate between the UK and India every year.

A special kind of Easter egg for Rovers fans would be available via the BlackBurn Web site.

The eggs would be decked, decorated and painted with the club insignia and would come in two varieties: raw and hard-boiled.

Season ticket holders would receive the special poultry product free of charge.

Seasoned product specialists are working on ideas that could exploit the synergies further.

Watch this space!

Quote of the day:
A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. - Robert Frost

This past weekend was a less than exciting weekend of Premiership ball with none of the shockers the first two weeks produced.

In action after their rampage from a week before was Arsenal playing against the reeling Blackburn Rovers.

Arsenal once again turned in a fine performance of slick passing and fluent football.  That is, until the second half when Cesc Fabregas was taken off the field.

Once again, Arsenal struggled without their captain on the pitch and the Rovers took full advantage of it.

Blackburn pressed for much of the last thirty minutes but simply could not find a way through. However, during the last ten minutes of play, a series of attacks by Blackburn finally managed to stay in the Arsenal box.

In two series, Blackburn players were fouled with no attempts on the ball by Arsenal in the box, and at the 82nd minute two fouls occurred back to back.

So what were the calls from referee Chris Foy?

Play on.

Not a single whistle or second look at multiple fouls inside the box when Arsenal were on their back foot.

While the crowd continually roared at every opportunity, it was those three fouls that the Blackburn players were actually appealing for and on the video replay that the commentators and home viewers were allowed to see in slow motion, it is clear that at least one penalty should have been given to Blackburn.

Considering that all the momentum was in Blackburn's favor, it is not outside of the realm of possibility that the Rover coul have least a drew, or maybe even against Arsenal.

So, for denying a team any chance of victory, despite multiple instances of being fouled, and at home no less, referee Chris Foy is the EPL villain of the week.

The Carling Cup is a truly fascinating competition.  Beyond the dream day out at Wembley stadium for the fans of teams who make the final, the competition also allows fans to see fringe players and young prospects as managers rotate squads.

In last night’s second round action a mix of veterans and young prospects featured.  World star Edgar Davids made his debut for Crystal Palace, and Premier League veterans Darren Bent and Dietmar Hamann starred for Sunderland and Milton Keynes Dons respectively.

At the other end of the scale, young stars such as Victor Moses of Wigan Athletic, and Scott Sinclair of Swansea City showed why so many view them as up and coming stars.

Premier League

Eight Premier League teams emerged safely from the second round of the Carling Cup, with Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic among the most comfortable wins.  A debut hat trick from Senegal international Mame Biram Diouf helped Blackburn see off Norwich City 3-1, and the Latics put a horrific opening to their Premier League season behind them to win 3-0 at Hartlepool.

Darren Bent spearheaded a 2-0 Sunderland victory with a brace against Colchester, and a largely reserve West Brom side won 2-0 at Leyton Orient.  The other four victorious Premier League sides scraped through courtesy of a one goal margin.

West Ham beat Oxford 1-0 at Upton Park, a game in which the Hammers made the nice gesture of slashing ticket prices to 10 pounds for adults, and five pounds for seniors and children.  A Scott Parker goal sent the crowd home happy.  Bolton Wanderers won 1-0 at Southampton courtesy of an Ivan Klasnic goal.  At the Britannia Stadium, Jon Walters’ first goal for stoke and a Tuncay Sanli strike helped the Potters edge Shrewsbury 2-1.

Wolves were the closest run of the winning Premier League sides, winning 2-1 in extra time against a plucky Southend outfit.  Richard Stearman’s winner in the last minute of extra time broke the hearts of the Shrimpers.

The only Premier League side to topple was Blackpool, who lost a 4-3 extra time thriller to an MK Dons side that included former Liverpool and Manchester City star Dietmar Hamann.  Blackpool made 10 changes from their beating at Arsenal, and Blackpool manager Ian Holloway missed the game on a reported scouting trip of a mystery player.

Championship

Just like the Premier League clubs in the second round, eight Championship teams made it safely through to the third round of the Carling Cup.  Portsmouth, Millwall and Leicester City all emerged unscathed from all-Championship encounters.

Portsmouth triumphed in a penalty shootout against a Crystal Palace team featuring the debut of Dutch star Edgar Davids.  An excellent game from Steve Morison helped guide Millwall past Middlesbrough, and a Steve Howard penalty was the difference as Leicester City beat Leeds United at Elland Road.

The second round also saw comfortable wins for Burnley, Swansea and Scunthorpe.  Burnley beat Morecambe 3-1, Swansea beat Tranmere 3-1, and Scunthorpe beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2.

Preston North End emerged with a 2-1 extra time victory at Bradford, and a David Norris volley gave Ipswich a 1-0 extra time win at Crewe.

Perhaps the most surprising development among Championship teams, was the fact that Hull City, Reading and Cardiff City were eliminated by Brentford, Northampton and Peterborough respectively.

Lower Leagues

Four teams form League One and struggling Northampton (20th in League Two) also kept their dreams of a deep cup run alive last night.  All four League One teams produced impressive upset wins.

Peterborough produced a 2-1 victory over Cardiff City at London Road.  Jay Bothroyd headed Cardiff into a first half lead, before Craig Mackail-Smith leveled on 74 minutes from a George Boyd assist.  George Boyd snatched a late winner with a 20 yard curling drive in the 88^th minute.

An extra time Lewis Guy winner dumped Premier League Blackpool out, Marcus Bean’s diving header for Brentford eliminated Hull City and Kevin Smith headed a winner to help Notts County past Watford.

Northampton , who were so far without a League One win, snatched a magnificent shootout victory away to Reading, a result they hope will give them the confidence to turn their league form around.

Player of the Night:  Mame Biram Diouf

Upset of the Night:  Milton Keynes Dons 4 – 3 Blackpool (aet)

Blackburn Rovers are set to become the latest team in the Premier League to receive new ownership as part of a big money takeover.

Indian Ahsan Ali Syed is poised to become the new owner of the Blackburn Rovers—one of only four teams to be crowned Premier League Champions—at a cost of an estimated £300 million.

Syed is said to be pledging £80-£100 million into a transfer fund for new players, and he has personally announced that he would “love to take Beckham” to Blackburn.

David Beckham will surely be glad to hear that his services are coveted by Blackburn, as he is still coming to grips with the announcement of England manager Fabio Capello that he was no longer an international option.

Beckham turned 35 last May and is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon in his left foot. There is no doubting his talent but there are questions over the productivity that he could offer to a team.

David Beckham is a global brand. He is an icon of the sport and he is the most widely recognizable and associated football player in the world. Blackburn will most definitely reap the commercial benefit that Beckham carries with him.

But it will not be anywhere close to the extent that Real Madrid or L.A Galaxy received. He will shine some light on Blackburn in other countries. but the financial benefits would not be as vast as once before.

The idea that Beckham could be used as bait to try and lure other players to Ewood Park is plausible, but how much pulling power would Beckham really have with other professionals?

On the pitch Beckham has his uses, and for both club and country Beckham has found a niche for himself to fit his lack of pace, which has further diminished over the years.

He is one of the best crossers of the ball in the game. He is also a dead-ball specialist and one of the finest passers in the game.

With that said, his fitness must be questioned after yet another foot injury and Beckham does not really fit the Blackburn or manager Sam Allardyce’s system.

Blackburn Rovers are a nitty-gritty type of team. They are built with players who are expected to get into hard tackles and fight tooth and nail for each and every challenge. Beckham is a competitor and has a great passion for the game but he does not tick any of the above boxes.

Blackburn’s midfield is a key area for the team and the warrior mentality is a must for Blackburn to strive in the system that Allardyce has implemented. David Beckham is not that type of player.

It was also hinted at that Beckham is a perfect “closer” for teams to have. He can be brought on to control games and to use possession wisely and advantageously. Blackburn are not the type of team that would ever be so dominating that they would need to just dwindle down the time.

David Beckham looks appealing from afar, but up close he really has very little to offer Blackburn Rovers or their fans.

The famous Indian tycoon, Ahsan Ali Sayed, announced his intentions to purchase Blackburn FC. He has accumulated 300 million pounds that will, according to his spokesperson, cover the purchase, club's debts, and contracts for new players.

Western Gulf Advisory (a joint Bah rein Swiss Company owned by Mr. Sayed) is planning to review the financial records of the football/soccer club. While many people talk about sports and money, I do not agree with the purchase.

The majority of the purchases of clubs by millionaires are just for love of money instead of sports. Manchester United is owned by the Glazers (who also have a stake in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

The Glazers have taken one of the most prestigious clubs and turned it into a debt-ridden one. The Glazers showed no interest in the club except for milking it of money for their own gains.

David Beckham has lent his support to the people of Manchester United who are struggling to save money and purchase it from the Glazers.

Thaksin Shinawatra's purchase of Manchester City is another example of greed. Mr. Shinawatra treated Manchester City his personal property. He treated Sven Goran Eriksson like trash and fired him when there were no victories. Shinawatra lead Manchester City to financial loss.

Scarborough Athletic, which is the successor club of the now defunct Scarborough FC, is owned by its supporters. While it has not received the publicity that Premier League clubs receive, the supporters have a say in the club.

The club itself is financially stable and has had its victories in various games. It is hoped that many clubs such as Blackburn would follow the example from Scarborough.