Blackburn Rovers had to wait till the final game of the season to be assured of another campaign in the top flight. The Lancashire outfit were looking to improve on a tenth place finish last season but their lack of fire power upfront was the reason why they struggled throughout the season to build a head of steam, eventually ending up in 15th position, three points clear of the trap door. Their only offensive reinforcements came in the form of the arrival of Mame Biram Diouf on loan from Man Utd and Benjani on a free in the summer. Sam Allardyce retained most of his personnel, with Samba and Nelsen forming the central defensive partnership and Salgado and Givet at full backs. Steven N’Zonzi and Phil Jones both missed for most of the first part of the season due to severe injuries. In midfield, David Dunn, Keith Andrews and Vince Grella remained plagued by muscular problems throughout the campaign while Morten Gamst Pedersen had a rather anonymous season. After a chaotic first phase, which featured some decent wins and some rather resounding defeats, Indian conglomerate Venky’s, who had taken over the club in November, decided to replace Sam Allardyce by Steve Kean. After an early exit in the FA Cup at the hands of Aston Villa in the third round, the new man was given some latitude to reshape the squad in January, with German international Jermaine Jones joining in the transfer window. He also re-signed Roque Santa Cruz back from Man City on loan while he benefited from the returns to fitness of Steve Nzonzi and Phil Jones. His most inspired move, though, was to promote David Hoillet to the starting line up on the right hand side. The livewire Canadian provided a welcome impetus in the attack in the second phase, chipping in a precious five goals. Still, Rovers kept struggling to find the net in the second half of the season, which explained their slide towards dangerous waters after Easter. Santa Cruz failed to hit the target while Kalinic hit a barren spell, along with Benjani and Diouf. Rovers were left to rely heavily on set pieces to create the danger in the opponent’s area, as they did in the Allardyce years. In the end, it was good old Jason Roberts who secured a starting spot alongside Hoillett in the attack with a good run of form in the final few weeks of the campaign. Martin Olsson and Brett Emerton kept both Pedersen and Dunn out of the starting line up as Rovers remained unbeaten after Easter to keep the drop zone at bay with a great last game at Wolves.
