Blackburn News

THE season of goodwill is nearly upon us, but you wona TMt find much of that at the Reebok at the moment, where Gary Megson clearly has problems on his hands.

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside says he is not in the business of "pressing panic buttons" after a string of poor results at the Reebok Stadium.

IN ROARING FORM: Tottenham's Jermain Defoe scored five goals, including a seven-minute hat-trick, as Tottenham overwhelmed Wigan 9-1 on Sunday.

Blackburn ended a run of 10 successive defeats on the road in the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 victory at Bolton which gave a welcome boost to the absent Sam Allardyce in the process.

SAM Allardyce is scouring Europe for a top-quality striker AND midfielder in January.

Ryan Nelsen believes Blackburn team-mate Christopher Samba can play at the very highest level but is happy to be alongside him for the foreseeable future.

Socceroos midfielder Vince Grella could make his return for Blackburn Rovers this weekend in a bid to get his injury-riddled season back on course.

A lack of goals continues to haunt hosts South Africa as the 2010 World Cup countdown reaches the 200-day mark on Sunday.

Goal-shy World Cup hosts South Africa made it more than six hours without finding the net when they were held to a goalless draw by Jamaica in a friendly on Tuesday.

BRETT Emerton insists Vince Grella has the mental toughness to turn around his Ewood Park fortunes - despite a nightmare 15-month introduction to English football.

STEVEN Reid is set to seal a month's loan switch to Championship outfit QPR today in a bid to prove he still has a Blackburn Rovers future.

BLACKBURN midfielder Steven Reid is set to join Queens Park Rangers on loan. Reid, 28, moved to Ewood Park from Millwall in July 2003 and has made over 100 appearances for Rovers.

BLACKBURN Rovers will make few bigger signings than Chris Samba's contract extension this season.

With many of the Rovers players jetting around on international duty this week, with mixed results, there can be no doubting which Rover will have the biggest smile on his face.

Blackburn defender Christopher Samba has committed his long-term future to the club.

RYAN Nelsen admitted it was a dream come true after guiding New Zealand to next yeara s World Cup finals in South Africa.

PERHAPS someone should buy Mr Capello a guide to English football grounds for Christmas - it seems pretty obvious he has no clue where Ewood Park is at the moment.

South Africa's Benni McCarthy has given his clearest indication yet he wants to quit Blackburn Rovers in January.

Paul Hart doesn't believe in publicly blasting his players. Well, Pompey fans will have demanded he tear every inch of paint off the visiting dressing room wall in that case, after his team committed defensive suicide at Blackburn.

AFTER scoring only the second goal of his Blackburn career at the weekend, Ryan Nelsen admits he would be fulfilling a lifelong dream by helping New Zealand to the World Cup on Saturday.