New deal for 'the axe'
Mokoena signs up 'till 2009
Blackburn Rovers have announced that South African International Aaron Mokoena had signed a new contract that will keep him at Ewood for a further few years. Aaron told rovers.co.uk that he considers Blackburn to be his second home ... "I am very settled and I feel I can only improve here. The setup is fantastic and the management and coaching staff really help us all. I remain very grateful to the club for giving me the chance to come over to England and play in the Premiership which I believe to be the toughest football league in the world." (2nd December 2006)
rovers.co.uk (full story)

Blackburn Rovers 2- Fulham 0
Nonda sores first home goal and Benni's back on strike
Jan Lastuvka had a rude welcome to Blackburn (& his first Premiership start) - as stand in keeper for Fulham he couldn't have been is a better position to see Shabani Nonda to find the net for his first Ewood goal. That was barely 6 minutes into the action, and followed 20 minutes later by one from Benni McCarthy as the visitors looked a shadow of the team who beat Arsenal last week. The were chances too fro Morten Gamst Pedersen - but despite his best efforts the score remained 2-0 at the break - and thanks to Brad Friedel - at the end of 90 minutes.
Rovers badly needed the 3 points, and the in sees them up to 14th place with a game in hand. Mark Hughes told RADIO ROVERS he felt it was a great performance. "It was a comfortable win in the end. I thought we caused them problems, and we dealt with them well in the second half. The points are welcome it is important that we start to get points on the board and we have done. I thought we were excellent today, there were some big performances out there. We weren't to be denied today."
McCarthy got the Man of the Match - but despite a number of key changes - Rovers gelled well as a unit. There were late chances to shine too for subs Matt Derbyshire and Sergio Peter. (2nd December 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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Feyenoord 0 - Blackburn Rovers 0
Rovers guaranteed a place in knock out stage after goalless draw in Holland
Brad Friedel gave another five star performance ... but Chris Nonda seemed to miss some golden opportunities - stopping on one occasion with the ball at his feet, and no off side flag. Rovers showed some good form in patches, but the home side - in front of 35,000 - created plenty of chances too. A couple of penalty decisions that might have gone against Rovers were ruled out, and replays showed Dutchman Andre Ooijer chested, not handled the ball.
Mark Hughes told reporters; "It was a good professional European performance. It's a difficult place to come with a vociferous crowd and decent opposition but I thought we controlled the game. We dictated the first 30 minutes, possibly let them back in it for 10 or 15 minutes either side of the break, but I always felt we were in control."
Blackburn took 2350 fans to Holland, and in the end the point was enough, with Rovers top of the group table collecting 7 points from the first 3 games.

bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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NEW SIGNING
No Bussman's holiday ...
Various websites report that Blackburn Rovers have added a young star goalkeeper to their squad. eurosport.com say that they've swooped for Cologne's Under 17 Bjorn Bussman - who's only 15! Should Bjorn sign pro terms with Rovers, the club will be in line to pay compensation.
Christoph Henkel, head of the FC Cologne youth academy said; "He's going to go to England. We're not happy about it and we don't think it's the right decision. We made him a very good offer with a view to becoming a senior player. But Bjorn opted for Blackburn." (21st November 2006)
eurosport.com ALSO SEE vitalfootball.co.uk

Tugay RED card stands
Blackburn Rovers have had their appeal for Tuguy's RED card turned down. Mark Hughes had hoped that it might be rescinded (see story below) but today (Tuesday 21st Nov) rovers.co.uk reported that the club have lost their appeal at the FA. They quote Mark Hughes as saying; "We are very disappointed indeed to have lost the appeal for we felt is was a harsh decision to send off Tugay. "
The decision turned the veteran playing from hero to villain, after he'd scored a wonder goal against Spurs on Sunday, only to see RED half an hour later.
Tugay will serve a one match ban, and Tottenham midfielder Hossam Ghaly saw appeal his appeal against also turned down. The Egyptian midfielder will serve an automatic three game ban. (21st November 2006)
rovers.co.uk (full story) ALSO SEE blackburnrovers-mad.co.uk

Blackburn Rovers 1 - Tottenham 1
Tugay scores a stunner and then sees red
The game should be remembered for a remarkable long range volley from Tugay - but will probably make headlines for his sending off and that of Hossam Ghaly + Martin Jol! Rovers weathered an early storm from the visitors, then took control of the game. The breakthrough came 22 minutes in, when Tugay picked up on a cross ball and found the target with a stunning 25 yard shot. The goal probably eclipsed a similar shot in the Basel game a few weeks ago.
After the break, Spurs seemed to show more commitment, and started to apply pressure. But things went sour when on the hour mark, Tugay was adjudged to have fouled Ghaly and was shown a RED card. Jermain Defoe converted the resulting spot kick to level the scores. At the other end what appeared like a clear hand ball by Mido went unpunished - but with 4 minutes of time added on Ghaly was shown RED for violent conduct. The Spurs Manager protested and he too was sent down the tunnel.
Mark Hughes was furious about the Tugay decision, and told RADIO ROVERS that the club might well appeal. "I didn't think it was a penalty, I thought the guy skipped inside Tugay and lost his footing, I've seen it time and time again there is very minimal contact so we feel very aggrieved to be honest. Tugay had scored a fantastic goal, had a real influence on the game in a positive way and he gets taken out of the game. We are going to have to appeal, I think it is absolutely the wrong decision and we shouldn't be penalised for that, we've been penalised twice, we shouldn't have to be three times.
Of the potential hand ball incident Hughes said:- "The guy has held his hands up as well and said it was handball, he basically said that some you get away with, some you don't. It is difficult when that happens but I have to say in the second half I thought we were magnificent."
It will be December 2nd before Rovers play in the Premiership again. The Watford game (Nov 25th) was postponed because of their cup commitments and Rovers trip to Feyenoord. (19th November 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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Blackburn Rovers 0 - Manchester United 1
Louis Saha with the goal that gave Utd all the points
A dreadful afternoon - weather-wise - saw both teams struggle with the elements. Morten Gamst Pedersen put a corner fractionally over the cross bar, while Wayne Rooney managed to miss from close range. Blackburn found the first half hard going, but still managed to keep United away from the net. In the second half, Mark Hughes men seemed to show much more determination, and genuinely put pressure on the Reds. But just after the hour, a wonderful return ball across the mouth of Brad Friedels goal found Saha coming in to tap home, and the damage was done. For Mark Hughes there were mixed emotions - loosing the game but proud of his teams efforzts. Talking on Radio Rovers Hughes said :- "Overall I was pleased with the performance, I thought it was a huge effort from everybody, we caused them problems we closed them down and didn't allow them to dictate the play. Right through the game I thought we asked questions of them and not many teams in the Premier League have done that against Manchester United. We had opportunities, obviously we hit the bar and that could have gone for us. Overall I was pleased with the level of performance and if we play like that from now to the end of the season I'll be happy."
The result leaves Rovers stuck on 12 points in 15th place - 3 away from the bottom three, and 3 off eleventh place. Next Sunday it's another home game live on SKY - Spurs are the visitors for a 16:00 GMT kick off. (11th November 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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Aston Villa 2 - Blackburn Rovers 0
Another league defeat and disputed penalty.
A lackluster performance from Rovers at Villa Park, which also saw a controversial penalty awarded against Blackburn that Mark Hughes believed the officials got wrong. The ball appeared to hit Andre Ooijer, and was then adjudged to be a hand ball, awarded by the assistant referee. Gareth Barry scored from the spot on 40 minutes leaving Rovers 1-0 down at the break. The game was put beyond the visitors just five minutes into the second half when Juan Pablo Angel made it 2-0. Blackburn created little in the match, and suffered their third successive league defeat.
Post Match Mark Hughes was frustrated by the result and the penalty decision, telling reporters :- "We think the penalty is a poor decision from the referee and his assistant. They are paid to get big decisions right - he didn't get that one right. At that time, we were comfortable. Then in the second half, Petrov has made a movement to the ball with his elbow. It struck his elbow, but the referee doesn't give that one."
Martin O'Neill seemed to agree; "I have seen the penalty again and also the incident where Petrov was involved. If you give one, you probably have to give the other."
Rovers are now in 13th place, and face table toping Manchester United on Saturday at Ewood Park (5th November 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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Blackburn Rovers 3 - FC Basel 0
Three goal thriller in the last quarter of an hour.
Another game of two distinct halves - the first one saw Brad Friedel make a couple of superb and essential saves - the second saw a different Rovers and THREE goals! Tugay scored one of his Turkish delights from at least 25 yards to brake the deadlock on 74 minutes and then it was all Rovers to the end. With three minutes to go, MGP was fouled in the area, and sub Francis Jeffers made no mistake with the penalty (2-0). We thought it was all over, and on 91 minutes it was when Benni McCarthy added to the tally with his 7th for the season - and 3rd in Europe.
The only true downside was another injury - this time to Robbie Savage who went off before he break, and will be out for a few weeks with his thigh.
Mark Hughes was full of praise for 'Man of the Match' Tugay - he told RADIO ROVERS "It was a fantastic strike from Tugay. He was excellent all night as he has been all season. We needed a little bit of magic at that point. I think we are going to get nights like that here we hope, good teams are going to come here and be organised and have a game plan and we have to be up to it. I thought today we were nice and solid, created chances and in the end got our reward for a good professional performance."
Rovers Top Group E with 6 points from their two wins. (2nd November 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
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