Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn trio accept new deals
Matt Derbyshire, Stephen Warnock and Martin Olsson have agreed new contracts with Blackburn, which will run until the summer of 2012. England under-21 striker Derbyshire and former Liverpool defender Warnock have featured regularly this season. Swedish left-back Olsson, however, made only his second Premier League appearance when he came on as a sub in Saturday's 3-1 win over Derby. Rovers have enjoyed a successful season and currently lie seventh in the table. "It is a massive thing to be offered a new contract and when you see how the club is progressing, then you want to be a part of that - and things are going well, so I can't really argue," said Warnock, who cost just more than £1m when he joined Rovers last year. "When I was at Liverpool I was in and out of the squad and in and out of the team and it was hard to take because you think you are good enough to play - but coming here, the manager has given me a great opportunity and I like to think that I've taken it." Derbyshire said he was "ecstatic" about the new deal, while Olsson has set his sights on further establishing himself next season. "It is what I've been working hard for, to get a contract for the first team," he told the club's website. "I've been in the squad a lot of times and on the bench too in some games; my aim for next season is to be more involved and play a few more first team games. "I'm learning all the time, every day, in training and I'm delighted the manager has shown this faith in me."

Hughes set to hold Man City talks
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes has been given permission to hold talks with Manchester City after Sven-Goran Eriksson parted company with the club. The Welshman has guided Rovers into Europe twice, but recently indicated his long-term ambitions might not be satisfied at Ewood Park. A Blackburn statement said City had made an approach to talk to Hughes. "Mark has made it clear to the board he would like the opportunity to talk to Manchester City," it said. "In view of this, the board have decided reluctantly to give permission subject to terms and conditions acceptable to Blackburn Rovers being agreed with Manchester City in advance." Former Wales boss Hughes has impressed during his three-and-a-half year spell at Ewood Park, guiding Rovers to seventh in the Premier League last season. He also led the club to its first FA Cup semi-final in 40 years in 2004 and another in 2007. Earlier this year, the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker was one of the front-runners to succeed Sam Allardyce as Newcastle manager before Kevin Keegan took the job. And only last week, he had been tipped to take over at Chelsea after Avram Grant was sacked.

Blackburn sign Man Utd's Simpson
Blackburn Rovers have captured defender Danny Simpson from Manchester United on a season-long loan. The 21-year-old right-back made eight first-team appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson's side last season. Simpson has had loan spells with Sunderland, Ipswich and Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp in the past. He becomes Paul Ince's third signing since his appointment at Ewood Park, following Chilean Carlos Villanueva and England keeper Paul Robinson. And the former Red Devils midfielder has revealed he is hoping to sign two more players before the start of the season. Ince said: "There's another couple of targets we are looking at and we hope to bring them through the door in the next couple of weeks."

Bunn poised for Blackburn switch
Northampton goalkeeper Mark Bunn is poised to join Premier League side Blackburn, subject to a medical. The Cobblers have agreed an undisclosed fee with Paul Ince's side for the 23-year-old, who began his career in the Tottenham Hotspur youth team. He spent four years with Northampton and also had a loan spell at Kettering. Rovers chairman John Williams told Radio Lancashire: "We have agreed a fee with Northampton for Mark Bunn. The player will have a medical on Sunday." Bunn's probable final game for Northampton was a notable one, with the Cobblers beating Bolton in the Carling Cup at the Reebok Stadium. In May, Northampton placed a £1m price tag on Bunn following interest from Nottingham Forest, while he also spent a short time training with Manchester City.

Ince angry over Wilkins comments
Blackburn manager Paul Ince has criticised Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins over his claims that Rovers were over-physical and aggressive. Ince confronted Wilkins after the Blues' 2-0 defeat at Ewood Park. He said: "For him to come out with that garbage about us trying to put them on their backsides and that we are over-physical - we weren't like that. "Of course I was a physical character as a player but all the teams I have managed have played football." Wilkins had said before the match that it would be "one of aggression" because Blackburn played in the image of their manager, who was a tough-tackling midfielder in his playing days. However, his fears proved ungrounded, although the heavy first-half rain and standing water on the pitch caused problems for the players. Nicolas Anelka scored in either half to put the Blues level on points with Liverpool at the top of the table on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's 60th birthday. But Ince was furious at Wilkins's post-match remarks, adding: "I just said to him 'next time you are going to say something make sure you get your facts right'. "I told him that in no uncertain terms." Ince praised Paul Robinson, who made a string of fine saves to deny Chelsea in the first half. But the England keeper could do little to stop Anelka's deflected effort from Jose Bosingwa's drive for Chelsea's opener. "The performance of my 'keeper was fantastic, as far as I am concerned he's back to his best. "There was an element of luck to both their goals and in the second half we really took the game to them and were by far the better team. "Their first goal killed us really - I don't know if it hit his (Anelka's) hand or his side but we have had no luck at all this season." Wilkins said the Chelsea players had proved a point after the midweek Champions League defeat against Roma, and did well in testing conditions of driving rain. He said: "A lot of people would have said we might slip up today especially when they saw the conditions so there was a lot of pride in this performance."

Allardyce hopeful over Santa Cruz
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce remains hopeful of keeping star striker Roque Santa Cruz at Ewood Park this season. Rovers have already rejected a bid of £12m from Manchester City for the 27-year-old Paraguayan, and Allardyce insisted: "We do not want to sell him." He told Radio 5 Live: "After declining the offer we haven't received contact from Manchester City since." Asked about the difficulty of finding a replacement he added: "It would cause a huge amount of panic and inflation." Allardyce had earlier said that it would take £40m - roughly the cost of relegation - to tempt Rovers to sell. However, he qualified his statement, saying: "I don't think anyone is going to offer us £40m for Roque Santa Cruz." Allardyce told talkSPORT: "If it was offered, I think I would have to take it. I don't think the board would take too kindly to me saying 'No, I'm still not taking that'." He added: "The value of Roque as a player for us is far greater than what anyone could give us in terms of money. "The money is no good to me at this stage of the season." City boss Mark Hughes signed Santa Cruz in 2007 when he was in charge of Rovers, and has so far been rebuffed in his efforts to capture the former Bayern Munich forward again. It was widely thought the pair would be reunited in the January transfer window, but Allardyce is desperate to hang on to his player. Blackburn are 17th in the Premier League table, and are only outside the relegation places on goal difference.

Blackburn Rovers in ongoing talks with Ahsan Ali Syed
Blackburn Rovers say they have held a "cordial and productive meeting" with Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed's company over a proposed takeover. Bahrain-based Syed, owner of Western Gulf Advisory, confirmed on Monday he was keen to buy the Lancashire club. He said he could give manager Sam Allardyce a transfer kitty of £100m. Blackburn said talks were "ongoing" after Syed had voiced plans to complete his takeover of the Premier League club within two weeks. But the club managed by Sam Allardyce, which began the season with a win over Everton, declined to comment further. Syed, 36, is reported to have about £300m to spend on the takeover, a sum that would both cover the club's debts and allow new players to be bought. He claims he does not want to buy the club for its business potential but to fuel his "passion" for football. Blackburn are currently run by the trustees of former owner Jack Walker's estate. Steel magnate Walker thrust Blackburn into the big time in the 1990s by funding a lavish spending spree. They notably won the Premier League title in 1995 with the goals of two big-money signings Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, but have struggled to compete at the top end of the table since Walker's death 10 years ago. The trustees, along with investment bank Rothschild, have been searching for a new owner for the last three years. Syed claims to have signed a memorandum of understanding with Blackburn allowing him an exclusive four-week period for negotiations and due diligence. Yet he is hoping to complete a deal before the transfer window shuts at the end of August to allow Allardyce to sign new players. "Between £80 and £100m is what I'd be allocating for players, but I'm not saying that there is not talent in the team. The talent is already very good," said Syed. "Right now Big Sam has done a fantastic job with very limited resources. If I can give him some good resources I'm pretty confident he could work wonders." Syed has also said he will not set Allardyce lofty and unrealistic targets and will not interfere directly with team matters. He is also keen to revamp the 31,000-capacity Ewood Park stadium.

Rovers have chairman options
The owners of Blackburn Rovers insist that they have 'some options' as they search for a new chairman following John Williams' decision to leave Ewood Park. Williams stepped down last Friday to end a 13-year association with the one-time Premier League champions. Venky's, who bought Blackburn in November, are now looking for a suitable replacement. "We are trying to find a good experienced chairman and we do have some options," Venky's director of marketing, Vineeth Rao, told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Blackburn owner Anuradha Desai claimed Williams left because he had 'lost interest' following the sacking of Sam Allardyce. Desai, the chairperson of Venky's, went on to suggest that Williams did not see eye-to-eye with Allardyce's replacement, Steve Kean. And she added that Jerome Anderson, head of the SEM/Kentaro agency who helped broker the takeover of Blackburn, is not a candidate for the chairmanship.

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