Blackburn Rovers have revealed this evening that they have “parted company” with manager Sam Allardyce. This follows the second-rate 2-1 defeat to a 10-man Bolton Wanderers on Sunday, leaving Rovers 13th in the Premier League table.
The official club statement reads…
“The Venky’s Group, owners of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, has today confirmed the departure of manager Sam Allardyce and assistant manager Neil McDonald with immediate effect. First-team coaching duties will be taken on by Steve Kean (currently first-team coach) for the immediate future. We have taken this decision as part of our wider plans and ambitions for the club. We would like to put on record our thanks to Mr. Allardyce for his contribution to Blackburn Rovers Football Club.”
Big Sam’s tenure as Blackburn gaffer certainly hasn’t set the world alight and this was typified in the 7-1 thrashing they received by Manchester United last month. The new Rover’s owners were obviously unhappy at recent results and may also be seeking a change of style. Big Sam’s so called ‘long-ball’ brand of football is much criticised and far from easy on the eye; statistically Rovers have the second fewest attempts at goal this season, after Birmingham, and 39% of possession overall, a lowly feat which only Stoke City can match.
In Fantasy Football terms, Blackburn have a decent run of game coming-up (WHM, STK, wba, sun, LIV) which, combined with the impetus that a new manager can often bring, could see the Ewood Park team pick-up a bit of form and propel them from mid-table mediocrity. The likes of Morten Gamst Pedersen will surely hope that the new manager will allow the side to ‘play’ through midfield areas a little more; the Norwegian has had an impressive season thus far, grabbing 75 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points and with greater creative freedom he has the potential to collect many more. An FPL ownership of just 3.6% could see him as a key Christmas “differential”.
Defensively Rovers’ players have proven much more popular, the likes of goalkeeper Paul Robinson has a 15.9% FPL ownership and Chris Samba 10.0%. While Allardyce often called for defensive security, with mixed results, a managerial change could have a negative impact on the Rovers defence, but this is of course purely speculative; we can only “wait and see”.
Football fans nationwide will be curious to find out who the Rovers’ board opt for; the likes of Alan Shearer, Martin Jol and Martin O’Neil are already being linked. It will also be interesting to see if Big Sam now gets that job at Real Madrid.
