Sam and Santa
Benedict Pirraglia prepares for Santa to leave town
When Paul Ince was sacked I was saddened. Potentially we had lost what could have been a great, young British manager.
You can understand the reasons why the board did what they had to do though. Six straight defeats, no win in 12 attempts and after seeing us at the JJB against Wigan it was arguably the worst performance I’ve ever seen a Blackburn team display.
Paul Ince in my opinion is not a bad manager. I recall Teddy Sheringham on Sky Sports News saying that when players don’t think a manager is up to the job or dislike him, they just keep quiet whereas the likes of our skipper, Ryan Nelsen, and David Dunn, the golden boy of Blackburn always supported him and were gutted when he was axed.
I’m sure Paul Ince will be back in management and I hope wherever he goes it works out well for him.
Welcome
But we got an early Christmas present, in the form of Big Sam Allardyce. If anybody is going to haul us out of the mess we’re in then it’s him.
At the press conference you could see he knew what was needed for our squad. He spoke of getting confidence back in the team and the ‘arm around the shoulder’ approach.
I am now excited for our festive run-in, I feel that Sam has a certain presence that our players will play for, put every last ounce of energy into games and what is more, fight for our survival. We’re in a dog scrap and it has to be said Big Sam is ready to get those gloves off.
Big Sam’s first result was something of a perfect start. Benni McCarthy was looking at his best, similar to his first season performance, and strike partner Jason Roberts tore Stoke’s back-four to pieces and both strikers got their names on the score sheet, the combination of these strikers looked deadly. Santa Cruz who?
Loyalty
Santa Cruz’s comments about wanting to leave came at a bad time. Although you can not argue with £18million plus as his performances have been somewhat lacklustre in comparison to last season.
If he wants to leave then he has no loyalty, no commitment to the cause and no heart… Something us Rovers fans do not want in our club. Santa Cruz can go for me, his effort levels also suggest his heart and head lay elsewhere.
Money from his sale could see investment in players that have hunger to do well for our club. We need a right winger desperately, as in my last blog I said Jermaine Pennant could fill the void left by David Bentley. Other signings may come in but it would have to include a striker willing to play to his full potential.
Looking forward to the festive fixtures, we face clubs around us which we must consider vital to win with regards to our survival. A new sense of confidence has risen around Ewood; Big Sam’s arrival holds the bearing on this. I am somewhat more confident and hopefully on Sunday, we will be climbing above Manchester City with us Rovers fans laughing in the face of Mark Hughes.
It’s now time for us to get out of this hole. From the players, I expect courage, guts and willingness. Yes, it may involve blood sweat and tears because boy, the Ewood faithful are up for this fight. Give us all that you can… bring it on!
Rovers ’til I die.