The Three Transfers Road to Improvement: Blackburn

Eddy Hirono by Correspondent Written on June 22, 2009
BLACKBURN, ENGLAND - MAY 09:  Benni McCarthy of Blackburn Rovers celebrates after scoring the second goal from the penalty spot during the Barclays Premier League match between Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth at Ewood Park on May 9, 2009 in Blackburn, England.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

In the 15th part of my "Three Transfers" series, I look at Blackburn Rovers, a team that started the season with the hapless Paul Ince, but managed to turn their season around with the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager.

With Sam Allardyce at the helm, Blackburn fans should not have to worry much about relegation.

He managed to keep Bolton in the top half of the table for a long period of time, and I think that goes to show his managerial ability, considering Bolton offered him very limited resources to work with.

With Blackburn, I reckon Big Sam's initial aim will be to ensure that they do not get sucked into the relegation battle at any point of time during the season.

If that is the case, then the squad definitely requires strengthening in a few areas, and they might consider the following players.


RIGHT-BACK

A number of players have been used in this position this season, namely Andre Ooijer, Danny Simpson, Zurab Khizanishvili, and even Keith Andrews.

Of those four names, only two (Ooijer and Simpson) can claim to be specialist right-backs, and both will not be at Ewood Park this season.

Ooijer has confirmed he will be heading back to PSV Eindhoven, while Simpson will return to Manchester United, his parent club.

Brett Emerton, the Australian midfielder, has shown that he can do very well in the right-back position, but his high energy is better utilized in midfield. Even if Allardyce does play him on the right side of defence, a right-back is still a highly necessary signing for them, given their lack of personnel who can play there. 

As such, I would suggest that Blackburn make a new right-back their number one priority this summer. They should look no further than to Habib Beye, the Senegalese international from Newcastle. 

Solid in the tackle, and a decent option on the counter-attack, Beye would be the perfect answer for Blackburn's right-back woes.

Besides, with Newcastle recently being relegated, Beye would probably be available on a cut-price deal, as the Magpies need to sell their players to stay afloat.

Alternatively, Blackburn could try to go after Alan Hutton.

The Tottenham man is one of 87 right-backs at White Hart Lane, and might be allowed to go if the price is right.

Strong on the ball, and in the challenge, Hutton would also be a good addition to Ewood Park.

However, the drawback is that he is not quite as good when it comes to counter-attacking, and he would also definitely cost more than Beye.


STRIKER

With Roque Santa Cruz now at The City of Manchester Stadium, Blackburn will find themselves short of striking options in the coming season.

Their situation is made worse by Matt Derbyshire's desire to stay in Greece, where he has had a good spell on loan at Olympiakos.

As such, signing a striker should also be a priority for Sam Allardyce, and I think the ideal replacement for Santa Cruz would be Nikola Zigic.

Standing at 2.02m tall, Zigic is tailor-made for Sam Allardyce's long-ball style of play.

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written on June 22, 2009 Opinion

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