[Archived] Nikola Kalinic

[Amo]

Signings like these do nothing to justify faith in Allardyce's ability to sign good footballers.

But what about the precocious N'Zonzi and rejuvenated Chimbonda?

[bennyboyt11]

In fairness, many of the proven Premiership strikers will cost us more than £6million, it's all about taking gambles and this lad had the credentials to be a top player, maybe he won't fill out his potential but I'd rather hold out for him finding form and becoming accustom to pace and energy needed in the top level of football than decide he wasn't worth the cash and was a total waste of time.

[John]

Either Kalinic is unfit, in which case why did we sign him, or now he has arrived Allardyce realises he's not good enough. Everything else we have been told is simply a smokescreen. After 5-6 months he's either ready or not.

Don't think there is a smokescreen, I think the situation is quite simple. Up until now, for the majority of games, we have been playing one natural striker, and the one who Sam rates the most is Di Santo. Sam also said because of Dunn's good form, this has meant the other strikers have not been getting a chance (he did not envisage playing this formation at the start of the season).

Hence, Di Santo has been playing most matches, and Benni & Kalinic have been pretty much unused so far this season.

[alexanders]

I think the problem is that Roberts performed against Portsmouth and almost turned the game around for us.

After that he was hard to drop, but I think after recent performances that Nikola Kalinic is closer to the first XI than he has ever been.

[Paul]

But what about the precocious N'Zonzi and rejuvenated Chimbonda?

I agree they are OK. I think though this thread is mainly about £6m spent on a player who has contributed little to date and I'm starting to hear fans talk about him not being good enough now that he has arrived.

[Silencio]

I agree they are OK. I think though this thread is mainly about £6m spent on a player who has contributed little to date and I'm starting to hear fans talk about him not being good enough now that he has arrived.

From the evidence we have seen he has looked quite bright in recent weeks. He has a good touch and did played decently against Fulham, Utd and Chelsea. He hasn't done anything great yet but I don't think we should write him off. I think Allardyce has to find a way to play Di Santo with Dunn and another. We don't know enough about Kalinic yet but we do know that Roberts is definitely not good enough. We've known that for years.

[bubblerrovers]

Someone on here went through all Big Sams striker signings throughout his career and all but one or two where failures, looks like he can't spot a striker

[Amo]

I agree they are OK. I think though this thread is mainly about £6m spent on a player who has contributed little to date and I'm starting to hear fans talk about him not being good enough now that he has arrived.

If you're using Kalinic & Salgado as a barometer of Sam's skill in the transfer market, then you must also consider the bargains he's brought to the club.

[modes98]

I'm starting to hear fans talk about him not being good enough now that he has arrived.

Fans are so quick to put players down. We have seen very little in the way of game time from him, but what we have seen has been very good. Especially in the last few appearances. The kid goes away and does well at U21 level as well.

It isn't his fault that he is not being given a go. IMO it is because we want to stick with the "proven" players in Di Santo and Roberts, both of which are really struggling to miss the goal keeper! I know it is a long time for him to be sat around but let him play games. This is our player who we have encourage rather than put down and right off before he has really begun.

[Gav]

A club like ours cannot afford to spend 6 million on a striker and have him warming the bench or 3rd row of the JW stand.

The discontent could be heard in the Blackburn end also, he’s been with us a while now, why isn’t he starting, not strong enough is the word, surely that’s what the scouting system is for Sam.

[S15]

I must admit i am worried about the Kalinic signing. I think Allardyce went against his usual policy and it looks like it may have backfired. I think it's very rare a club like Rovers find a hot young striker at that kind of money and get it bang on. Even Sir Alex has a very mixed record with buying youth from abroad.

I think we would all agree that Alex Ferguson is a better manager than Sam Allardyce, and over the past decade Ferguson has wasted a lot of money on young players which haven't come off, the biggest difference is of course he has more leeway to do this with the lack of financial support the manager of Blackburn Rovers is going to get compared to the manager of Manchester United.

I would have preferred Allardyce to get a safe/older head in up front, and have used that £6m (which I'm sure as of right now is closer to that amount until he makes a certain amount of appearances/scores a certain amount of goals) to strengthen the midfield.

However, had he have done this, certain supporters would have complained about that transfer policy (experienced heads).

I think Allardyce's biggest strength as a manager is getting the most out of talented players. Much more so than spotting the next big thing. Perhaps if some of our support would give our manager the comfort and space to go with his natural instincts and work to his strengths, everyone will benefit.

I know Bolton did.

[alexanders]

What about singing Kalinic name song to put some pressure on the management?

[waggy]

got to play on wednesday v chelski,we should play him and junior up front,time to stop hiding behind excuses and lets see what the future of croation football is all about,would also like to see saldalgo get his knees dirty

[Sandiway Blue]

I think we need a bit of patience here.Once we get to 40 points (which has to be our first priority)then hopefully Kalinic can get some games under his belt before the end of season without any pressure on him.

[Tris]

I think Allardyce's biggest strength as a manager is getting the most out of talented players. Much more so than spotting the next big thing. Perhaps if some of our support would give our manager the comfort and space to go with his natural instincts and work to his strengths, everyone will benefit.

What like Pedersen's legendary long throw, and the Samba near post flick on? The Robinson (or Nelsen) punt to a single striker?

The totally inflexible orders that any free kick in Rovers half (even right up to the half way line) must be taken by Paul Robinson, therefore must be a long ball to a heavily defended penalty area? Or any throw in within the final third must also be a long throw into the box (with or without MGP).

His imposition of such rule-driven percentage football is actually neglecting the talents of our best players. Talented players want to be able to make their own decisions, use their talents creatively, not be straight-jacketed by a non-negotiable set of instructions.

Hence I doubt it's only the players who can't get in the side who are getting restless ... as are a growing proportion of the paying public.

[Parsonblue]

I think one of the problems with Kalinic is that he has struggled in the Reserve matches he has played. If he had scored on a regular basis when he was playing for the reserves, earlier in the season, I suspect that he might have seen more first team action. Having watched all his performances at both first team and reserve team level, my main reservation is with regard to his lack of pace. He appears to have a good touch but doesn't seem particularly quick and hasn't troubled defenders at reserve level. If Sam had thrown in him right away, I'm sure the crowd would have destroyed him in the same way that Kevin Davies was during his stay here.

Nonetheless, I agree, that at £6.5 million, the Rovers can't afford to have him sitting on the bench for much longer. With two of the largest wage earners - Salgado and McCarthy - contributing nothing I can understand the concern about a big money signing also making very little contribution. Coupled with the wage that Rigters must be on - and I suspect that is pretty decent for him to settle for reserve team football - we seem to be paying a fair amount out in wages for very little in return.

[G Somerset Rover]

I think we need a bit of patience here.Once we get to 40 points (which has to be our first priority)then hopefully Kalinic can get some games under his belt before the end of season without any pressure on him.

That's ridiculous though - we cannot spend our whole budget on a player who is not ready for the start of the season let alone once we hit 40 points. That could be May for all we know.

That £6 million quid could have been better spent on our awful central midfield or on the wings because right now it's looking like a waste of money if we never use the poor guy.

[Parsonblue]

But the real risk is to the excellent work which has been done off the field on pricing and getting fans back to Ewood. Long term and hard core ST holders are talking of jacking it in because the football is so bad. What hope is there for the new arrivals in the Darwen End? We sat in there v Stoke and there is more than a murmour of discontent.

While I can understand the frutstration with regard to Kalinic, I find it difficult to believe that any hard core supporters are thinking about walking away from the club because of the type of football we are now playing. If they are I doubt that they are hard core supporters. Indeed, there have been times during the past 50 years of supporting the Rovers when I could only dream of watching a 0-0 draw in the top division of English football.

Would I rather watch Di Santo or Frank Lord? Would I rather watch El Hadji Diouf or John Aston? Would I rather watch Morten Gamst Pedersen or Terry Shanahan? Would I rather watch Jason Roberts or Bryan Conlon? With all due respect Tris, things are nowhere near as bad as you make out. There have been far darker times at Ewood Park than today and although gates fell to 5,000 and less, the real hard core stuck with the club just like they will today.

[S15]

What like Pedersen's legendary long throw, and the Samba near post flick on? The Robinson (or Nelsen) punt to a single striker?

The totally inflexible orders that any free kick in Rovers half (even right up to the half way line) must be taken by Paul Robinson, therefore must be a long ball to a heavily defended penalty area? Or any throw in within the final third must also be a long throw into the box (with or without MGP).

His imposition of such rule-driven percentage football is actually neglecting the talents of our best players. Talented players want to be able to make their own decisions, use their talents creatively, not be straight-jacketed by a non-negotiable set of instructions.

Hence I doubt it's only the players who can't get in the side who are getting restless ... as are a growing proportion of the paying public.

Luckily I didn't have to read past the first sentence due to the fact that MGP was awful under Hughes for his last 18 months in charge, yet he persisted with him, yet Allardyce has dropped him.

Tris, simple question, do you prefer the Ince way of business, or the Allardyce one? Considering you supported Ince pretty strongly to the end, it should answer a lot about the real issue behind your somewhat clouded opinions.

[Tris]

Luckily I didn't have to read past the first sentence due to the fact that MGP was awful under Hughes for his last 18 months in charge, yet he persisted with him, yet Allardyce has dropped him.

Tris, simple question, do you prefer the Ince way of business, or the Allardyce one? Considering you supported Ince pretty strongly to the end, it should answer a lot about the real issue behind your somewhat clouded opinions.

Erm, MGP getting dropped has nothing to do with it, the long throw tactic remained even though Givet was even poorer at making it work - and of course MGP then came on anyway on Saturday.

Luckily I didn't have to read past the first sentence due to you completely avoiding the point about current tactics.

[S15]

Well the current tactics have delivered the best home record at this period in the season since we got back in the top flight, what does that say about our past managers?

The away record and form needs work, but once that improves, the top half should be a pretty comfortable and realistic target. Not too bad considering where we were this time last season is it?

So, the Ince or Sam question Tris?

[den]

I do sense what Tris does about the unhappy fans at Ewood and I reckon a big drop in ST sales could well be on the way.

I differ with Tris though on the causes. Yep, there's not too much to get excited about with the performances, but the apathy of the fans is not entirely down to the manager, - it's more to do with the inequality in the league. Not too long ago, clubs could always have hope of getting something from the top four clubs, home or away. Now, no-one gets points from them, unless they get really lucky. The top four now expect to win every game against all the clubs outside those elite clubs, home and away. Not only that, they expect to win those games every season, not just in a good year. The rest only have thier own little relegation battle to play for, - every year.

It's killing the game and the powers that could do something about it, wont.

[broadsword]

Well the current tactics have delivered the best home record at this period in the season since we got back in the top flight, what does that say about our past managers?

The away record and form needs work, but once that improves, the top half should be a pretty comfortable and realistic target. Not too bad considering where we were this time last season is it?

So, the Ince or Sam question Tris?

What makes you think away form will improve?

[John]

What makes you think away form will improve?

Because it cannot get any worse and we recently recorded a win away from home. Plus, we will be playing teams in and around us in the league (Hull, Wigan etc), so in theory, should be easier games!

Even though, no games are easy in the Premier League

[S15]

I have no idea if it will, though the last two games have suggested they might. Either way, i know one thing, the opposition won't improve, quite the opposite, so it seems logical that we will pick up a few extra points on the road.

Of course our home form is going to come under major scrutiny over the next few fixtures, but as of right now I'm pretty sure we are in and around the area where we will finish the season, hopefully we can push 2-3 positions higher and break into the top half.

Is anyone suggesting we should be doing better than this?