It means we now have 4 quality strikers on the books with Di Santo, Benni, Jason Roberts, and Dioufy. With Gally probably going to be sold but Nikola Kalinic a possible singing it means our striking woes are gone for the start of this season.

We haven’t even dropped near half of the RSC sale, and we have all this money to spend of Kalinic and another midfielder. So this gives us this week and next to bolster and strengthen our starting squad in the middle of the park. Exciting times, and things are looking promising.

We do need these reinforecemnts though, as N’zonzi and van Heerden will probably need ressie time before even being considered for the starting XI. A new, quality midfielder who will walk right into the team and start is still pretty necessary in my opinion. However, with this striker situation having been resolved, things are looking up for the start of this term. As always, UP THE ROVERS!

We’ve looked at a ton of strikers and have graced the football hot sheets’ back pages many times this summer. Lets take a look at some of the strikers we’ve been linked to this summer shall we…..
We were in for Ruud, but that quickly fell through. Then we were out of the race for Crouch before the race even started. Then it was crafty old vet Vieri’s turn for a chance to shine at Ewood. But he pulled a no show and is now playing poker. Some one wanted a move for Bent, so of course we were linked to him straight away, for a hefty £13million sum no less. Glad we missed that one. Then we inquired about Benjani, followed by an unsuccessful attempt to lure Niko Zigic from Valencia.

More recently, the signing of Algerian international Kamel Ghilas fell through before it became serious as the striker from Celta Vigo failed his medical.

Now we play a waiting game. After writing on a report in the Mirror, Rovers are still waiting on the arrival of Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo on season long loan. Even Benni Mac, who is working on his fitness all summer, would love to see the strike force bolstered, even if it means a cut in his own playing time.

So everyone from Big Sam right down to myself is eager to see who we can bring in to increase our goal count for next season. With a little more than 2 weeks till kickoff, who can we hope to see walking out onto the pitch in the famous Blue and White Halves? I might not know exactly who right now, but I have faith that it will be someone who can do a job for us up front, and move us back up the table where we belong.

Big Sam has come out and said he would like to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy from Real Madrid. Seriously? Maybe. A declaration of our intent this season and transfer market? Definitely. Maybe seriously for him though.

“The sort of salary he would be on at Real Madrid may be beyond us. But maybe he wants to come and play in England again and take less of a salary – then we’d be interested.”

Yeah, I’d be interested to, so interested I’d get him name right on my shirt. A name like Ruud’s would fill seats, sell jerseys, and be like a Becks for the Galaxy, only hopefully not a tool.

His injuries would be an issue though. We just got rid of RSC with a “bum knee.” We wouldn’t even talk to Owen (unlike ManUre) because Sam said:

“I need a striker that’s going to be available for 30 games next season. That’s not happened for Michael over the last four years.”

So would Ruud be able to meet that demand? The jury is still out.

What this does do though, is let all of Europe know we’re in it. We have some cash, but we’re not gonna over pay, not even for Ruud van Nistelrooy. So we’ve brought in some people, we have some people coming back, which are kind of like new signings too. I still stand by the fact that we need a big na,e goal scorer, but hopefully we’ll still have some cash to get a decent name midfielder.

The 4-4-2 is the way to be, and Doiuf could play right with MGP on the left. So a winger isn’t top priority in my book, especially with Elrio around for depth.

Sure we just signed N’zonzi but he’s unproven at this level, and everyone knows we have super injury problems with our CM so if we could have a decent level starter walk into our CM and start for us, that’d be huge.

We saw the results of our last poll, and it sounds like most people agree with me, so for the poll this time, we’ll simply just go with a Ruud question. Yay? Nay? Let me know, and as always; UP THE ROVERS!

Would you like to see Ruud here?(poll)

Rovers can confirm that Roque Santa Cruz has this afternoon completed a transfer to Manchester City for an undisclosed fee.

Finally the end of the Roque saga and the beginning of the “Who the hell are we gonna buy with this loot / I can’t believe Man Citeh really paid that much for a broken striker” age can begin.

Very exciting. Happy Trails Roque!

Now I will be a little sad to see the threat that is Roque go. I will not be upset one bit to see him go though. He had a stellar first season with us, but MH seemed to blow too much smoke up his arse and ever since then, his interviews and reports begging for a move to a “bigger club” have been a prick and a prick to the side one too many times.

I am definitely looking forward to the funds we would have if this sale goes through, a huge summer for the club could be in the works.

Is anyone else going to be sad about this Roque departure? Any strikers you would love to (realistically) see at the club? Let me know. UP THE ROVERS!!

John Williams: Taking Names and Cutting Wages – Setanta (but how much longer will they be around?)

Signing number 2!! Nikos Giannakopoulos from Asteras Tripolis. Try saying that Three times fast. – SkySports (Post on him coming soon.)

Zurab to Gala? – Mirror

VILLANUEVA SAD IT’S ALL ROVER (I swear I didn’t write that, it was too good to change) – Daily Star

Hunting Zigic?? – SkySports

Onto more important things. The next bits of news have come straight from sources who directly spoke to players last night at the End of the Year Awards dinner for the club. No BS here; just Facts!

Rovers nab Givet

John Williams has confirmed an agreement of terms between Marseille and Rovers for our new favorite boy Givet. He will be signing a new four year deal soon.

Warnock rubbishes reports of leaving

Sources who spoke to Warnock said he is very happy at Rovers and he isnt going anywhere saying that the rumors are “all paper crap.”

Players say their goodbyes to Tugay, Villanueva and….Santa Cruz?

Does this mean he’s definitely out the door? We shall see.

Tugay retiring

We all knew he was done, so this puts to rest any rumors of him playing back at Gala. He’s staying in the area and will probably work on his badges for a few years before coming back to Rovers.

Wa wa wee wa. Lots of reports.

Happy Trails

Andre Ooijer’s long speculated departure back to PSV Eindhoven has been confirmed by the club as well by the Dutchman on the offish site. I for one will always think fondly of the defense man, and think he was always a very vital part of the back line. 29 start 2 sub appearances 2 goals and No red cards and 2 assists this season. Not too shabby. Extremely happy with Gael Givet though as a replacement, the man has been immense. Rovers need to sign him but that’s another post for another day. Still, best of luck to Andre back home at PSV, thanks for the 3 years of service.

Carlos Villanueva. Ah, we barely knew thee. Reports here(click) and here(different click) have reported that King Carlos, the favorite pineapple head, has signed a deal with Al Shabab. Skill and touch were never a question about the boy, but speed and physicality were always two department that the Rovers management never seem to think he had enough of. Thanks for the effort Mr. Chile.

ROVERS SLASH SEASON TICKET PRICES

Boom. Slashed. The Rovers love their fans, and this ridiculous “Crucial 3″ program the Rovers launched brought in about 4000 extra heads at Ewood. Class. Rovers saw how successful this worked and good on the Trust and the Club (and John Williams) for making great football more accessible to the masses.

WBA Sunday

So the last game of the term. A very, very, long and winding road. Some ups, and a lot of downs. But we’re safe, and we’ve made it. Now, time to earn another 750K and hopefully move up a slot on the league table. WBA has already been relegated so they are ours for the taking. Time to drop some knowledge:
IN: Ooijer and Givet should be back.
Out: The Admiral (torn a calf muscle), Roque(giving an interview in Paraguay) and Roberts (fractured metatarsal).

So, here’s to a good weekend. For the Americans reading, have a safe Memorial Day weekend. Let’s go out on a high this season Rovers!

“I have to say I thought if we could have come away with a 0-0 it would have been a fantastic point for us because at the end of the day we didn’t really create as much as I expected today.

That pretty much sums it up for the day the Rovers had against Stoke. The loss leaves us hangin by a thread in 17th place just 3 points clear of the drop. Our next game is against Wigan at Ewood Park on April 26th.

Some RSC news though. This lovely story appeared in my RSS reader yesterday. He really gets on my nerves sometimes. Who does he think is going to buy him with that knee of his? No one, not even MH. Whatever. Highlight of the lone goal from yesterdays game after the jump.

Striker Jason Roberts is hopeful about retuning to this starting XI this term while battling a stress fracture affecting his third metatarsal. He remains optimistic and will helpfully be ready for the Wigan game.

The Stoke game is this Saturday and Vince Grella is hoping to play apart. Hvaing played for the reserves this week, the midfielder is anxious to get a run out and prove himself. He told the official website, “I still have six games where I want to give my contribution, whether it is big or small, to Blackburn.” Promising to hear. A little added depth never hurt anyone.

Stoke’s form has been quite good in the last 6 matches. D W L W W D go the order of their last results, taking 11 points from a possible 18. Rovers will hopefully bring the same fighting spirit they had against Spuds (and didn’t have against L’pool) to the Britannia. My optimism is high though as the the news of the traveling fans making the trip will mean the Rovers will have some great support. From the O-site:

Rovers will have the backing of almost 3000 supporters from Lancashire down for the game, the offer of free away travel combined with a game of huge importance means all of the tickets allocated to the club have sold out.

Exciting.

Benni Mac will hopefully get the start and Samba will hopefully play defense as Rovers look tp climb the ladder up from 16th and add to the 4 point safety they cling onto. UP THE ROVERS!