Blackburn Rovers 2 - Wigan 1
Another thriller at Ewood
Some memories of the Man City game came to mind - with another game of two halves. But this time the contrast in 45's was not as great. Rovers were stunned when Emile Heskey gave Wigan the lead after less than two minutes ... And Rovers then spent the rest of the half trying to get back on level terms. 1'30 into injury time, David Bentley picked up where he left off on Thursday with a lovely shot to make it 1-1. The second half was all Rovers, despite the surprise sub of Brad Friedel for new keeper Jason Brown. He's impressed pre-season, but it was early August he last played for the first team. With 75 mins on the clock Emile Heskey was brought down in the box by Andre Ooijer, and the resulting penalty made Brown the hero of the day. Wigan sub Todorov came up to take the spot kick, but the Rovers keeper saved it once, twice and for a third time as the rebounds came in!! Five minutes later Benni McCarthy secured the game for Rovers when a Chris Kirkland error left his goal invitingly open for a simple tap in.
Mark Hughes told RADIO ROVERS "It was some game all round. The second half I thought attacking wise we really forced the issue and really wanted to win the game. In fairness to Wigan I thought they came to try and win it and that was the reason it was end-to-end, but in the end we prevailed."
The result moves Rovers to 9th in the Premiership, an ideal place to break off for the Internationals. (1st October 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND fix0607

Blackburn Rovers 2 - Red Bull SV Salzburg 0 (4-2 agg)
UEFA Cup 2nd leg ... and onwards!
Rovers survived an early scare and then put on a great performance to progress in this years UEFA Cup. Benni McCarthy made it two in two, adding to his 1st leg goal, and a brilliant shot from David Bentley saw Rovers comfortably continue the European adventure. McCarthy's goal came courtesy of MGP who threads the ball through to the corner of the area where the South African put the ball into the visitors net. Not to be outdone, David Bentley put his away from 30 yards out, over the keepers head. BBC Sport say: The strike will probably not be bettered this season, with Bentley cushioning McCarthy's headed pass on his chest before unleashing a shot from well outside the box."
Talking on RADIO ROVERS - Mark Hughes told fans: " I thought we were excellent. I thought from start to finish we really got the ball down and set the tempo and set momentum of the game, and really didn't give a good Salzburg side any encouragement whatsoever. It was a really good professional performance and a good European start we hope."
The draw for the group stages takes place next Tuesday - October 3rd. (28th September 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND UEFA 0607 AND fix0607

Middlesbrough 0 - Blackburn Rovers 1
First for Nonda - 3 points for Rovers
A first half dominated by Blackburn, included the winning goal - a first from Shabani Nonda (27 mins). The home side failed to create any serious threat, and at the break Rovers could easily have had a bigger lead. 'Boro made two half time subs, and improved as they pressured the visitors but failed to break them down. After a shaky start at Blackburn Andre Ooijer had a good game, and the back four did what was required of them. Nonda is a a none year loan from Roma, and the away tie gave him his first start. Rovers first back to back wins of the season and move up to 19th in the table.
Mar Hughes told rovers.co.uk "I thought we were excellent from start to finish. In the first half I felt we controlled the tempo of the game and some of our movement and the way we circulated the ball was as good as we've seen this year, and we created chances and problems for them all day long."
bbc.co.uk (match report) AND rovers.co.uk (min by min) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND fix0607

CARLING CUP

Carling Cup - 2006-2007
Rover get home tie ... against Chelsea!
The draw for the third round of this years League Cup was made a lunchtime, and Blackburn were the last home side to come out. They are amongst the four all Premiership games scheduled to be played w/c 23rd October 2006. And this year it's Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea.
THE FULL DRAW
Wycombe v Doncaster
Sheffield United v Birmingham
Leicester v Aston Villa
Watford v Hull
Leeds v Southend
Chesterfield v West Ham
Notts County v Southampton
Newcastle v Portsmouth
Charlton v Bolton
Liverpool v Reading
West Brom v Arsenal
Port Vale v Norwich
Everton v Luton
MK Dons v Tottenham
Crewe v Manchester United
Blackburn v Chelsea
23rd September 2006

bbc.co.uk (details) ALSO thefootball-league.co.uk (full draw) AND rovers.co.uk (background)
ALSO SEE carling0506 (all last seasons games) ALSO carling0607 (this season)

Room for another one?
Rovers linked with a return of legend Chris Sutton
Already since the transfer window closed, Mark Hughes has signed up Stephane Henchoz to help with cover for injured Ryan Nelsen. But now Europsort are linking Rovers with former star and half of the SAS - Chris Sutton. The striker made a surprise switch to Birmingham City last season, only to see his team relegated. Chris was released by Birmingham, and reports earlier in the Summer claimed he planned to build a new home in Norfolk, returning to his sporting routes and possibly Norwich City. For both The Canaries and a time at Blackburn the striker also played as a defender, which might interest Mark Hughes.
Eurosport say that three clubs are keen in making a signing, and Sutton (33) is a free agent. He was England's most expensive player when he moved to Blackburn for £5 million in 1994 from Norwich. He left for Chelsea in 1999, but success came again North of the Border at Celtic. (18th Septeber 2006)
eurosport.com (full story) ALSO Sporting-heroes.net (profile)
goaline 1997-98 (all the goals from the season) AND rrovers-news(January 2004) speculation - but too expensive

Blackburn Rovers 4 - Manchester City 2
A real game of two halves!
You'd probably want to forget the first 45 minutes of Rovers latest Ewood Park encounter - 4 goals, including two og's - some poor defensive work and few great chances. Mark Hughes obviously agreed, because he made two half time subs bringing on Aaron Mokoena and Shabani Nonda, leading to a great Benni McCarthy goal. Then the manager brought on Paul Gallgher who rewarded fans with his first senior strike for some seasons to make it 4-2. In the 2004-4 season Gally scored two league goals ,and last season out on loan at Stoke City, 12 goals in 36 games.
Praise too from Mark Hughes for 'Chris' Nonda, Brett Emerton, Benni McCarthy and Robbie Savage. The Manager told reporters "It was important we got our first win, and in particular our first at home where a lot of our success for last season was based. This will obviously help us and settle us down and I hope we can now look forward to another successful season - but that's based on the second half performance, not the first."
Morten Gamst Pedersen picked up the Man of the Match award - scoring rovers first - although it was later credited as a Trevor Sinclair og, finding the net again before the break, and helping set up McCarthy's strike. (17th September 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (reaction)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND fix0607

Red Bull SV Salzburg 2 - Blackburn Rovers 2
UEFA Cup 1st leg
Rovers came from behind to take a 2-1 lead up to injury time, then conceded a 92nd minute equalizer. But importantly for Blackburn, they scored two away goals and must go into the second leg as favorites. The first half was also interrupted with a 7 minute brake after the lights went out.
Rovers first came from a free kick and a rare Robbie Savage goal, the second courtesy of Benni McCarthy. Mark Hughes must be pleased with the chances his team created, and at least four more could easily have gone their way after the break. Mark Hughes was "slightly deflated" but thought he'd probably look back on the game more favorably. He told BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE that Tugay had a great game, and was delighted with the goals from Savage and McCarthy. Home advantage should help and of course Ewood Park's grass pitch! (14th September 2006)
bbc.co.uk (match report) ALSO rovers.co.uk (min-by-min)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND UEFA 0607 AND fix0607

Out 'till Christmas ..
Ryan Nelsen has had surgery on his injury and Rovers say he should be back in about three months. That takes the talented defender up to Christmas, and John Williams told the clubs official website "The surgeon was very happy with how it went and we now hope he recovers quickly. We believe he will come back a stronger player. Hopefully we get him back around Christmas time so he will be like a new player for us, that's the way we are viewing it."
Blackburn re-signed Stephane Henchoz last week - which should help with cover at the back. (12th September 2006)
rovers.co.uk (Full Story)

Sheffield United 0 - Blackburn Rovers 0
BUT 3 saved penalties!!
Just a point in this nil nil thriller! Not often does a game with no goals provide so many talking points - but the scoreline defiantly fails to tell the story. Rovers created few great chances - but had plenty of opportunities to take the lead. The home side two should have scored - but Brad Fireball was having another one of those amazing days when he kept everything out. "... thankfully Brad Friedel was in outstanding form today and it hasn't cost us, but on another day we won't be so lucky. " said Mark Hughes.
And that's before the penalty saves, one from Paddy Kenny and two from Brad Friedel, both sides still without a league victory this season. Lucas Neill had his penalty shot stopped and gave away one at the other end. "We are getting penalty decisions going against us that don't warrant them, the decisions today were poor and I didn't think they should have been awarded. We've got to be reasonably happy, we've come out of this game having conceded two penalties and still got a point out of it, on another day we would have lost this game."
The result takes Rovers off the foot of the table with two points form two drawn games.
rovers.co.uk (full match report) ALSO bbc.co.uk (full report) AND rovers.co.uk (reaction)
PLUS goals0607 AND t&t0607 AND fix0607

Stephane back 'On Show'
Blackburn Rovers have completed the re-signing of defender Stephane Henchoz for the rest of the season.
He began his career in his native Switzerland where he played for Stade Payerne and Bulle, before Roy Hodgson took him to Neuchetel Xamax where his career soon took off. He was to join up with Hodgson again at Ewood, coming SV Hamburg in the summer of 1997 for £3m. Despite being voted the club's player of the season in 1998-99 Rovers were relegated from the Premiership. Henchoz left Blackburn for £3.5m to join Liverpool and was signed by Gerard Houllier in the summer of 1999.
Back in 2004, Fans FC suggested that a move back to Ewood was on the cards, but after Liverpool (6 years) Stephane moved to Celtic and last season a spell at Wigan.

Welcome back after the break! (8th September 2006)
rovers.co.uk (full story)

'The GAMST'
If you enjoy watching Rovers in action & happen to be a big Morten Gamst Pedersen fan - then YouTube seems to be the place to see a whole net full!!
It appears that a fan who wishes to remain nameless has spent some time collecting loads of goal clips and editing them to music. This link takes you a collection of great from the proud Norwegian, and after watching them you'll also note links to a host more GAMST action (5th September 2006)
YouTube.com (MGP goals) NOTE THE SITE TENDS TO TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD - BE PATIENT - AND PLAYS VIDEOS IN FLASH FORMAT

Deal or no Deal ??
Reports continue to circulate about a new deal for Lucas Neill. Having succeeded in hanging on to their key defender during the Summer transfer window, now Rovers need to try and get the Australian International to sign a new contract at Ewood Park. Lucas is in his last year of his current deal, and Liverpool seem keen to continue their target from the Summer. BBC SPORT say Blackburn will offer an improved offer, after he rejected initial terms before the World Cup. John Williams said: "He did turn our first offer down before the World Cup but we will be offering him an improved version." (5th September 2006)
bbc.co.uk (full story)

Jansen tries again
Reports this morning say that former Rovers favorite Matt Jansen (now 28) is back at Bolton training with Sam's men and trying to keep fit. SKY SPORTS say that Carlisle United manager Neil McDonald is keeping tabs his situation, possibly a return to Matt's routes?
Jansen failed to rebuild his career at the Reebock last season, despite hopes that Sam Allardyce would be the spark that was needed to get things going. He cost £4 million when he moved from Crystal Palace in 1999, having been born in Carlisle in October 1977, and played for his home town team.
Good luck Matt. (4th September 2006)
vitalfootball.co.uk (bolton link) ALSO SEE Skysports.com (Carlisle link)

The hour has come ... IN and OUT
Another transfer window has closed and Rovers had quite a quiet day. It was good-bye to Jonathan Douglas (to Leeds United) and Welcome to Shabani Nonda - but much of the other speculation was just that. Former Rovers did dominate the days news - with ANDY COLE off to Portsmouth, and strike partner DWIGHT YORKE coming back from Sydney to England to play at Sunderland (on a free). Blackpool signed big BEN BURGESS from Hull earlier in the day. And Rochdale signed Rovers teenager Keith Barker on loan until the end of January.
So for Rovers - THIS window has seen ...

Shefki Kuqi leaves for Palace on the stroke of midnight. After signing Nonda, Shefki fell further down the pecking order, and having arrived on a free left for an undisclosed fee and a three year deal at Crystal Palace. rovers.co.uk say that Blackburn wish the big Finn "the best of luck". Shefki - known for his flying celebration, scored 8 goals in 41 appearances for Rovers.

IN: Jason Brown, Jason Roberts, Beni McCarthy, Francis Jeffers, Andre Ooijer and Shabani Nonda
OUT: Paul Dickov, Craig Bellamy, Jonathan Douglas, Shefki Kuqi

Still here with new deals; Ryan Nelsen, Brett Emerton, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Steven Reid, Matty Derbyshire. Also against all the newspaper odds Lucas Neill and Andy Todd are still under contract.

RULES
BBC Sport say:- After midnight on 31 August, Premiership and SPL clubs cannot sign any players, on loan or full transfers, until one minute past midnight on 1 January. This window will stay open until midnight on 31 January.
(1st September 2006)
SEE SUMMER ARCHIVE FOR ALL THE BIG TRANSFER STORIES ALSO SEE rovers.co.uk (reaction 1) AND roveres.co.uk (reaction 2)