BENAGLIO RETIRES

Diego Benaglio, the shot stopper of the Switzerland national football team, has called time on his international career.

The 30-year old Wolfsburg man remained the no. 1 goalie for his national team for a period of over 10 years. He won a total of 61 caps for Switzerland. Benaglio played his last match in Switzerland jersey last month against Argentina in the pre quarter final round of the FIFA World Cup 2014. Continue reading BENAGLIO RETIRES

Bowyer Working Hard To Secure More Transfer Deals

The manager of Blackburn Rovers, Gary Bowyer, has said that he and his Staff are working very hard to secure a few more transfer deals before the new season begins.

Blackburn has already made one signing so far i.e. of Chris Brown (the Doncaster forward). They are very close to making another one i.e. of Luke Varney whose contract at Leeds United has finished just recently.

Bowyer is very happy with the way he has gone about his transfer business till now, but, he wants to have a few more deals in the next couple of months so that he goes into the next season with a stronger squad.

Talking to an English newspaper yesterday, Bowyer said, “There’s a lot of work being done by us at the moment. We want to have a few more good players into the squad. We have been in touch with several agents, both here in England as well as abroad. We are hoping for the best, let’s see.”

“We have got a decent squad already, but, we can make it even stronger if we tighten a few departments.”

The Blackburn Rovers were not able to finish in top 5 in the second tier of English football during the previous season. They had ended up at no. 8 in the table with 70 points. They had won 18 out of their 46 matches, had lost 12, while, the remaining 16 matches were draws. Their target in the upcoming season should definitely be the promotion to the league.

In the 2013-14 Season, the three Championship teams which managed to win the league promotion were Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City and Burnley.

The Rangers had finished 4th, while, Leicester and Burnley had finished first and second respectively in the table.

Blackburn Hopes For Keane Loan

Blackburn Rovers will be trying to get Manchester United player Michael Keane on a loan deal according to manager Gary Bowyer. After only narrowly missing out on a play-off place last season, the club will be looking to get back into the Premier league. The parachute payments will now be produced for the next two years after they have failed to get back in the first two instances. This year could be very crucial for the club, as they will find it difficult to get back into the top division without the help from the parachute payments.

Since they only narrowly missed out on a play-off place, Blackburn are expected to strengthen in only key areas of the pitch. Keane is one of targets for the club, as Bowyer looks to strengthen the attack. The 21-year-old was at the club on a temporary spell last season. After impressing heavily during this period, it now looks like Blackburn will be back in for him in the summer. Unlike short-term loans spell last season, Bowyer says that he wants to take the player on a loan deal till the end of the season.

They are now waiting for the transfer window to open on July 1 to conduct negotiations with United.

“The lad is Premier League for me – he’s got that quality. He’s a Manchester United player and they’ve got a new manager. We continue to monitor it but I fully expect Michael to be in and around Manchester United’s first team, especially over pre-season, so that they can have a good look at him,” said the manager. It looks highly unlikely that Blackburn will be providing a manager with huge transfer funds. Despite this, Bowyer will be able to strengthen the team using the loan system like many other Championship clubs.

Blackburn Aiming For Promotion next Season

Blackburn Rovers came to the brink of getting into the play-offs in the final few weeks of the season, but they now have to look at promotion from the next campaign onwards. Blackburn finished the season in the eighth position just two points behind the final play-off places. They have managed to go undefeated in the last five matches of the season. During this period, they have been one of the best attacking teams in the country. The display has delighted manager Gary Bowyer, who now looks set to be at the club into next season as well.

He has said after the final match of the season against Wigan that the players can be proud of the displays this season. He was recently happy with the attacking style of football employed at the club this campaign. Bowyer has also expressed his confidence that the club will be able to challenge for a return to the Premier League next season. Blackburn were relegated from the top division of English football a couple of years ago. They have been trying to get back, but have been unsuccessful on several occasions such as these.

The final home match of the season ended in a 4-3 win for Blackburn over Wigan athletic.

“The amount of goals we have been scoring is exciting. It’s been at the forefront of our play at the back end of the season. But what we’ve got to do is stop giving silly goals away, like we did against Wigan on Saturday. We must do that next season as well as keep. The confidence levels are very, very high but we know it’s a 46-game season. We go into the summer break with optimism,” said the manager, whose future was in doubt a few months ago. The strikers at the club scored 38 goals between them.

BACKBURN MISS OUT

Blackburn Rovers failed to earn a promotion spot as well as a play-off position in the Championship League but according to the coach of club Gary Bowyer stated that this season should still be viewed as a success and the team should build upon their recent improvements.

Rovers concluded the campaign by securing their 3rd successive triumph against Wigan Athletic as they added 3 more points to their total of 70 points which is considerably more than what they managed to secure during the previous season.

Bowyer said: “The progress we’ve made is down to a lot of people. The backroom staff and the players, they’ve really bought into what we want to try and do and achieve. We all know what this club has been through and we can’t rest, we’ve got a hell of a lot to do’’.

With the Financial Fair Play coming into full effect in January, Gary Bowyer is expected to trim the squad but the English tactician revealed that he is not under any kind of pressure on releasing some of his big and key players.

“I`ve got a trip planned to India but there`s no indication from the owners at all that we`ve got to sell any of our assets. We`ve got to trim the squad, that`s for sure, and there are additions I`d like to bring to the team. We will work very hard to make sure we have a good summer.” Bowyer added on.

There are a number of on loan players which will be returning to their parent clubs but there are others that Bowyer is interested in keeping on an extended period of time.