Source: Team_Talk
Allardyce banking on Rovers stay
Rovers currently occupy a precarious perch just a point above the Premier League relegation zone with nine games remaining.[LNB]However, with almost half the division still embroiled in the basement battle, the fight for survival looks set to go down to the wire.[LNB]Allardyce is confident Rovers can prevail in their quest to remain a top flight outfit, but hopes he will be given the opportunity to make amends should they slip into the Championship.[LNB]"It depends on whether they want me," he said in the The Guardian.[LNB]"Chairmen at various clubs might have a plan for not being in the Premier League but I am planning that we will be in it.[LNB]"I just want to keep Blackburn up this year - and that would be a major achievement, having taken over when we were second bottom, six points away from safety.[LNB]"Our points per game since then is equal to what you would need for a top-10 finish over the course of a season.[LNB]"We are on track and the players know they are on track, while other teams around us are still on a downward spiral, struggling to find consistency."[LNB]One of the sides around them is Allardyce's former club Newcastle.[LNB]The Magpies are currently without a full-time manager as Joe Kinnear recovers from a heart bypass operation and Allardyce believes the lack of leadership at St James' Park could prove costly.[LNB]"They need a manager," he said.[LNB]"If Joe hasn't fully recovered, and I sincerely hope he does, then at this stage of the season and in this position your manager is crucial.[LNB]"That's nothing against Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood (interim coaches) but all the players there know they are not the manager.[LNB]"You need a manager because he goes a long way to towards deciding whether you stay up or get relegated - by his plan of action, by his selection process, by his substitutes, by his motivating."[LNB][LNB] Barclays Premier League - Relegation Trios. Click here to bet.[LNB]
