Source: PA
Allardyce vows to take it steady
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce believes a takeover of the club could bring "great success" to Ewood Park - but has vowed he will not start paying over the odds for players if he is handed a large transfer budget.
Rovers are in discussions with Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed over a proposed £300million takeover and on Tuesday released a statement confirming they had held "a cordial and productive meeting" with representatives of the Bahrain-based lawyer's investment firm Western Gulf Advisory.
Despite Syed's wish to complete the buyout before the transfer deadline on August 31 - so as to allow some of the initial £80-100million he has pledged for new players to be spent - Allardyce said on Wednesday that having spoken with Blackburn chairman John Williams, he does not see a deal being finalised that soon.
The manager acknowledges that exciting times could lay ahead for the Lancashire outfit, but is not letting himself get carried away - and insists he will remain grounded even if he suddenly finds himself with a lot of money to spend.
"I have to persuade the new owners - if it happens - that we have got to do it relatively slowly, not 'bang, bang, bang, bang'," Allardyce said. "That is a little too quick to turn a football club round to being successful. You try and do it as quick as you possibly can, but you want to do it by making sure you sign the quality of player at the right price.
"Even though we might have millions and millions to spend, we still have to negotiate the right price and not over-spend for a player that is not worth the money. If he goes and plays at Ewood Park, we have paid £10million or £20million for him and the fans see him on the pitch and say that he is not worth it, then straight away you are going to have a negative response to the money we have spent. That is the sort of thing you have got to try to avoid, but if we can avoid that, it could bring great success to Blackburn Rovers."
