Blackburn Rovers enter the first full year of the Big Sam era. He's already put his stamp on the team - Samba as a lone center-forward anyone? - and this year should see further consolidation. They start the season injured with Nelsen, Samba, Gallagher, Emerton, Grella, Dunn, and Reid in various states of crocked. But when healthy they look to have an increasingly solid defence in front of an albeit shaky keeper. Yes, Probbo is cheap but for a reason - 79 saves; 54 goals allowed; 8 clean sheets. That's not progress you can build on.
In attack, Gamst Pedersen will have to carry over his late-season form from 2008/2009 and Diouf on the other side will have to step up his game. It will be interesting for fantasy managers to track Rovers' strikers as they just added players with something to contribute but who may not be ready to be "the man" just yet.
It all points to a rocky start for Rovers, but still nothing like the total collapse they suffered at the start of last season under the Paul Ince regime. Bet against them now though as they're likely to get it right and as with any Big Sam team, we don't bet on or against them in fantasy football. Unless we do.
Possible Starting XI: Robinson, Jacobsen, Nelsen, Samba, Givet, Pedersen, Warnock, Andrews, Diouf, Roberts, McCarthy
Players to watch:
Jason Roberts: Well, Rovers have reloaded with young strikers after RSC decided to take Citeh's money to do what he did for Rovers last year (sit on the bench and look pretty). With Di Santo in from Chelsea on loan the guy Jeremy and I are affectionately calling EEG (that's Eastern European Guy) making up the numbers - JRob and Benni McCarthy should be the undisputed starting strikeforce. When they have been healthy they've both been reasonably productive and both look to start the season that way. At 7.04 for JRob and 6.79 for Benni you could do worse now that we know that their numbers are unlikely to be dragged down by being forced into substitue appearances when RSC's knee decided it was OK to give it a go. As with most bargains that aren't newcomers to the league, neither of these guys is a lead dog but either of them is a nice complement if you're looking for an inexpensive option who has the ability to perform like a lead option for a few weeks at a stretch. The only question about JRob and Benni is how enamoured Big Sam got of the idea of a battering ram like Chris Samba playing striker on a regular basis - don't think he likes the notion? Kevin Davies anyone?
Stephen Warnock: Rovers best fantasy defender and perhaps their best defender period. At the start of his time at Rovers he was a nice bargain who was typically priced in the 5s while he produced 6+ points/match. A couple years of solid production on and he's now perhaps a little overpriced at 9.41 to start the season. We here at the blog still like him because we were big fans back before he was part of most managers' conversations (see also, Ashley Young, James Milner, John Paintsil, and Matty Taylor) but that sentimentality will only get you a paragraph in the season preview, not a spot in anyone's line-up. The one way Warnock could re-enter the conversation is if Big Sam continues to remake Rovers into his old Bolton squad and Warnock is the Matt Taylor - a defender deployed in an attacking midfield role. Sparky's version of three or four seasons ago who were brutal at the back and earned their place in the league by stringing together clean sheet after clean sheet because no one wanted to get beat up in the attacking third. Not sure Sam has had enough time for the full transition so it's probably worth passing on Warnock and hoping he drops into the 7s at some point where he might be considered a good value pick again if Rovers have a good match-up.
Gael Givet: Speaking of value picks in the defence...The transfer market has been unkind to fantasy mangers looking for inexpensive defenders to put into your line-up and just leave there all season (see Jose Bosingwa and John Paintsil from last season). In the absence of such options, you may be wondering how you're going to free up money for other positions without totally giving up the chance for points by adding a DNH defender (that's Do No Harm, i.e., someone who won't play at all). Gael Givet wasn't as bad as his 1.67 points/match average would lead you to believe. He's certainly not the next coming of John Terry but I expect that he'll produce between 3 and 4 points per match and start regularly and at 4.60, you can't really ask for much more than that. On the weeks where he doesn't play, well, he's still one of the cheapest ways to fill that D slot and get yourself some freedom to buy other players.
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