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!

Blackburn Rovers are delighted to announce the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager with immediate effect.

Sam has signed a three-year-contract.

A Press Conference will be held at Ewood Park at 4.00pm tomorrow (Thursday).

More after the Jump!

Well, all older feelings aside, this has to be one of the most logical and sensible choices made. Survival is key and no matter how you feel about BFS, lets get behind the team and support them 100%. The man did some great things at Bolton was some not to great things at Newcastle but I really think we’ll be able to stay up now; not too high an expectation for most I know, but it personally is my main concern right now. So how do you feel about this appointment?

UP THE ROVERS! Big Fat Sam’s Blue and White Army!!!

Now, right off the bat I’m at a disadvantage cause when this news is breaking in real time, it is still bed time here. Terrible things those time zones but here’s what we’ve got till now:

1st: This is the reason Shearer won’t be the next manager, this and he’s a Newcastle loving gobshite.
For anyone not interested in opening a tab to the link, I’ll pull a quote from the article:

“Looking back at that night at Ewood Park, I deliberately missed a few chances against Newcastle and what happens but Graham comes off the bench and before I knew it he popped in a couple of goals.

Follow after the jump for the rest of what’s up officially.

2nd: John Williams is taking this front and center. Anyone who hasn’t caught the two articles on the official site needs to, and lemme pull out the highlights. First, the statement from the club:

It is with great sadness the Board announce that Paul Ince is to leave the club. After a Board meeting yesterday it was decided to relieve Paul of his duties.

The Board, having selected Paul back in June, were desperate for him to succeed and wanted to give him as much time as possible in the unforgiving environment of Premier League management where time is such a precious commodity.

Chairman John Williams said “Three wins in 17 games has seen a squad, which finished seventh last season, fall to 19th position. We are currently in real danger of becoming detached from the pack.

“The survival of the club in the Premier League is paramount and our focus now is on finding a replacement who will be able to maintain our top division status.

“Paul will bounce back, he is a fighter and we wish him well.”

AKA: SACKED!

Also, JW is letting everyone know what the clubs goal is: “Appointing a new manager is our total focus.” he adds in a club article. “In the meantime, the day-to-day training will be carried out by Archie Knox, Ray Mathias and Karl Robinson. Our coaching staff and all of the players fully understand the importance of this weekend’s game.

“Our supporters can rest assured that we will do everything in our power to get the team climbing the Premier League table as soon as possible.”

3rd: Who’s going to come in and take over? Really, I’m asking. Who? I have no idea who would be the ideal person to lead up to safety. Maybe we can persuade old ‘Arry to come save us.

Comments, thoughts; moans and groans all go here folks. Can the club survive this season? (spoiler alert: yes, we can!)

“In the meantime, the day-to-day training will be carried out by Archie Knox, Ray Mathias and Karl Robinson. Our coaching staff and all of the players fully understand the importance of this weekend’s game.

I have a final in a few hours but will update with all the latest this afternoon.

EDIT: Actually I’ve been beaten to it. Feel free to read all the going ons at Blackburn else where on the offside:
Here on the Offside.com
as well as
Here on the Premier League Offside.

I’m sure they’ll have all the in depth coverage, until another story comes along.

This is all unacceptable. Ridiculous. Maddening. He gets no more time or chances, sack him and everyone he’s brought in and lets stay up this season!

Pederson had his best outing in recent memory and even that couldn’t help hold back Liverpool and their stay atop the League.

The general consensus based on the comments in the last entry all seem to think that BFS isn’t the answer. I agree. Also, check out this story: ~JW not saying anything is for sure-Click

What’s in store this week down at Ewood? No one knows, but as soon as it’s out there, it’ll be here.

Highlights after the jump

Watch Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool in News Online  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I don’t know how you are all dealing with this. Confusion, frustration, random little bits of anger, and the repetition of a single one worded question: “How?” How did we lose today? Again? How are we in 18th? And that all leads to one bigger question: What do we do now to fix this? Is Ince the problem? Is it the squad, coaching staff, players? John Williams? I don’t know. But the blue and white tinted glasses I wear have gone from protecting me under some blissful ignorance to confusing me so that I really don’t know what should be changed. But the fact remains that something has to. In a league with the likes of some pretty poor teams this year, there is no reason I should be worried about a relegation battle when not too long ago we were in the UEFA Cup.

Anyone any ideas? Need to vent? Just talk about it? Well I’m here for you and the comment section is too. Together maybe we can just come up with a plan to make this all right.

Blackburn Rovers chairman John Williams has vowed not to sacrifice the clubs proud family heritage in the quest to find a new owner at Ewood Park.

With more and more clubs being subjected to high profile takeover bids, with Manchester City being the latest as the Abu Dhabi United Group (and all its millions!!!) moves in to finalise the takeover of our Premier League rivals, it makes it increasingly difficult for clubs like Rovers to compete. However, despite the ongoing quest to find a new owner at Ewood Williams is adamant that Rovers WON’T sell out the club simply because a potential investor might have untold millions. The Walker Trustees want to make sure that a potential new owner comes in with the best interests of the club and the fans at heart.

I can’t resist using this blog to comment on the Man City take over and all it’s implications. Seems that in a few years we may as well all give up and go watch La Liga or Serie A – seriously.

English football is already predictable enough. You know that when Man Utd, or Chelsea or Liverpool play anyone but each other that the result is pretty much a foregone conclusion. We play Man United next week and I’ll say it now: we won’t win. Other leagues have this situation but it is not as extreme as that of the EPL, and it’s more fluid. Here success is almost solely defined by money, not good management. Teams like Rovers, Boro and Everton are probably the best run in the league and we can’t even get to the Champions League!

The Man City thing has just added to that. Football is now a game of the haves and have nots and is becoming less competitive. I’m a big fan of the NHL and the contrast in competitiveness in American sport compared to European football is startling. It makes it so much more fun and interesting, and exciting when your team wins.

Winning a normal game, to Man Utd or Chelsea fans, is just an ego booster, a bit of small comfort, a relief. When Rovers win a game it is a joy, a suprise almost. That’s what sport should be about.

A radical rethink is needed. I would be in support of salary caps, draft systems, redistribution of money to the poorer teams in an attempt to keep the league competitive.

In the meantime I’m kind of glad that we haven’t been bought out by an Arab Emirate of some sort, or an American banker or a dodgy Russian oligarch. And I’ve no idea how I’ll react if we become one of the EPL ‘haves’.

But if I do loose all hope (which I haven’t yet I stress), the hockey season starts in 3 weeks…