Blackburn Rovers Football Club

May 23 2003: Blackburn confirm that Dean Saunders has been appointed as the club's new first team coach.

May 16 2003: Winger Keith Gillespie and centre back Henning Berg have been released by Blackburn Rovers.

May 15 2003: Newcastle's injury prone beanpole striker Carl Cort is to be offloaded in the summer, with Sir Bobby desperate to get him off the payroll. Though still fairly young his constant injury problems are seen as a burden the Toon can do without.
    Blackburn and Birmingham are both considering a bid for him, with Blackburn almost certain to lose Damien Duff and Hakan Suker not staying they are in need of a boost to their attacking options - though Souness is only prepared to offer a pay as he plays contract.

May 11 2003: Blackburn's young defender James McEveley has signed a new 4 year contract.

May 5 2003: Graeme Souness has confirmed that Turkish international striker Hakan Sukur will leave Blackburn in the summer, as they cannot afford him.

May 1 2003: The English Premier League Team of the Year is:
     Goalkeeper: Brad Friedel of Blackburn Rovers

     Defender: Stephen Carr of Tottenham Hotspur
     Defender: Sol Campbell of Arsenal
     Defender: William Gallas of Chelsea
     Defender: Ashley Cole of Arsenal

     Midfielder: Patrick Vieira of Arsenal
     Midfielder: Paul Scholes of Manchester United
     Midfielder: Kieron Dyer of Newcastle United
     Midfielder: Robert Pires of Arsenal

     Striker: Thierry Henry of Arsenal
     Striker: Alan Shearer of Newcastle United

Apr 30 2003: Bournemouth have 21 year old winger Mark Williams of Brentford, striker Andrew Bell of Blackburn Rovers, midfielder Graham Ward of Wolves and defender Chris Nunn of Charlton on trial.

Apr 3 2003: The news that Auxerre have told Khalilou Fadiga that he is available for £2 million has caused a virtual stampede of clubs to Guy Roux's door. Liverpool, Man City, Blackburn, Chelsea and Middlesbrough in the English Premiership just to name a few have all immediately been in contact with Auxerre over the highly coveted left winger.

Apr 3 2003: Wycombe are giving a trial to Wimbledon midfielder David Hallett and Blackburn Rovers striker Andrew Bell.

Mar 31 2003: Alan Kelly has signed a 1 year contract extension with Blackburn Rovers.

Mar 28 2003: Defender Gordon Greer has joined Stockport County on loan until the end of the season from Blackburn Rovers.

Mar 28 2003: Chesterfield have signed Blackburn's 21 year old midfielder Jonathon Douglas, on loan until the end of the season.

Mar 27 2003: Blackburn Rover's Darren Hockenhull has signed for Rochdale on loan.

Mar 21 2003: Arsenal centre back Igor Stepanovs is being tracked by Blackburn Rovers, who are desperately short of defensive cover for an aging back line. The Latvian international has barely figured in Arsene Wenger's plans this season and would welcome a move to a club where he could play regularly.

Mar 11 2003: Blackburn Rovers' left back Stig Inge Bjornebye has been forced to retire after suffering a fractured eye socket in training.

Mar 6 2003: Manchester United will again try to sign Blackburn's flying winger Damien Duff - if they can persuade Rovers to cash in on him then they will allow Ryan Giggs to leave. With the United fans dissatisfied with Giggs level of performances over the last couple of years Ferguson feels that now is the time for Giggs to move on.
      Giggs will be joined at the Old Trafford exit door by both the Neville brothers with Ferguson feeling that they are behind Ferdinand, O'Shea, Silvestre and Brown in the United pecking order and that maybe they have gone a bit stale at the club.

Mar 4 2003: Sheffield United have signed 24 year old right sided defender John Curtis on a 3 month loan from Blackburn Rovers.

Feb 28 2003: Darlington have signed two players from Blackburn Rovers on a months loan. They are striker Jimmy Corbett and full back Darren Hockenhull.

Feb 20 2003: Craig Hignett has been offered the chance to get his career back on track with a loan move to SPL side Hibernian. The struggling Scottish side need someone to score goals, and Hignett is one of the few midfielders who regularly score goals for their team. The problem may well be persuading Higgy to take a pay cut to join the side - though it is thought that Hibs will offer the Blackburn midfielder the chance of a permanent deal at the end of the season, if he impresses between now and then.

Feb 16 2003: Blackburn Rovers have been approached by Cardiff City - they would like to buy young forward Marc Richards, who is on loan at Swansea at the moment. They have been extremely impressed with him and would like to bring him in in the summer.

Feb 14 2003: Coventry have completed the loan signing of Blackburn striker Matt Jansen. The ex-England U21 international is also capable of playing on the left wing.

Feb 13 2003: Craig Short has signed a 1 year contract extension, keeping him at Blackburn until the end of next season.

Feb 9 2003: Blackburn manager Graeme Souness has said that he will loan Matt Jansen out to regain match fitness, as soon as Hakan Sukur is back from injury.

Jan 31 2003: Blackburn Rovers have completed the loan signing of Parma defender Vratislav Gresko. The 25 year old will spend the rest of the season at Ewood Park.

Jan 29 2003: Portsmouth sign Tottenham midfielder Tim Sherwood until the end of the season. The 33 year old will cost a fee if Pompey gain promotion. He has 3 England caps and a League Championship winners medal from his time at Blackburn Rovers. Spurs paid £4 million for him from Rovers, who only paid £500,000 for him from Norwich. 

Jan 25 2003: Southampton have released Moroccan defender Tahar El-Khalej, and they have told Kevin Davies that his contract will not be renewed at the end of the season.
    El-Khalej is 34 and has won 99 caps for Morocco but has failed to appear in the Saints first team since September.
    Davies was once valued at £7m by Blackburn Rovers but after a nightmare period there his form has vanished and he has been unable to capture a first team place - even while out on loan.

Jan 24 2003: Sunderland will turn to Blackburn's left sided midfielder Alan Mahon in a bid to strengthen their squad. Wilko knows the Black Cats squad is in desperate need of strengthening and that Rovers are willing to let Mahon go - Wilkinson sees Mahon as the perfect player to play behind the front two.

Jan 21 2003: Blackburn Rovers have confirmed that they have made an inquiry about bringing in Slovakian full back Vratislav Gresko on loan.

Jan 19 2003: Blackburn Rovers' goalie Brad Friedel has deservedly been named US Player of the Year for 2002.

Jan 17 2003: Darren Dunning has joined Macclesfield Town on a months loan from Blackburn Rovers. The 22 year old has just returned from a 2 month loan with Torquay United.

Jan 10 2003: Arsenal have inquired about Blackburn Rover's American international goalkeeper, Brad Friedel. Friedel has been in the form of his life for the last few years and has been absolutely outstanding for Rovers and the USA since signing on a free from Liverpool in November 2000.
    He has over 70 caps and has represented his country in 2 Olympics and 2 World Cups, he also won the Worthington Cup last season with Blackburn. With Arsenal looking for a long-term solution to their goalkeeping problems the ex-Galatasaray man is an option - if they can get Rovers to agree to sell him.

Dec 30 2002: Monaco will attempt to bring in Blackburn Rovers' striker Egil Ostenstad as soon as the transfer window opens. Ostenstad might not be too keen on a move however as he has just forced his way back into the Rovers first team this season.
    Souness took Ostenstad to Blackburn in exchange for club record signing, Kevin Davies in August 1999 from Southampton. Souness was also the one who took the Norwegian international to Saints from Viking Stavanger.
    Things didn't go well for Ostenstad at first and he spent 2000/2001 season out on loan at Manchester City in an attempt to get some first team football. This season things have gone much better for Ostenstad and he has impressed watching Monaco scouts with his attitude and workrate.

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