Source: Team_Talk
Big Sam: Rovers short on firepower
Although a move to West Ham had been on the cards for some time, Benni McCarthy's eventual transfer to Upton Park was not completed until Monday due to complications over a work permit.[LNB]With a satisfactory fee for the for the 32-year-old South African finally secured Allardyce then swiftly went about trying to reinvest the money in a forward to take McCarthy's place.[LNB]But once his initial target, Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari, had chosen to join Sunderland on loan rather than sign up at Ewood Park, there was not enough time for Allardyce to seal a deal for Aruna Dindane before the window closed.[LNB]The manager revealed that Dindane, who has been on loan at Portsmouth from Lens this season, had even completed his medical at Blackburn's Brockhall training complex on Monday but had to be turned away at five o'clock as the paperwork had not been finalised.[LNB]"If I was Benni - as a player at his age - I'd want to go as well, so I've got no problems with that and in the end I've got no problems with the price that we got," Allardyce said.[LNB]"The biggest problem for us is that we didn't get anyone in to replace him.[LNB]"We tried to sign Benjani on a full-time basis but the work permit was a big problem, getting it through on time. Then it could only become a loan scenario.[LNB]"He wasn't the only player we went for - we went for many players before that but couldn't get it to a conclusion. Because Benni's transfer was so late, it was virtually impossible for us to secure one of the players that we had our eye on from abroad.[LNB]"So we finally ended up with Benjani, and he ended up going for Sunderland rather than us.[LNB]"We had to try and move quickly, because that decision was late on Monday, to try and get Aruna Dindane in and unfortunately, even though he was in the building right the way up to five o'clock, we couldn't get it through. We didn't have enough time to finish the paperwork.[LNB]"He was in the building, he had done the medical and we were trying to get a bit of leeway from the Premier League, but they wouldn't see fit to do anything for us. So when five o'clock came we just had to say, 'I'm very sorry, it hasn't happened'."[LNB]Having been ultimately defeated by what he calls a "jackass" of a transfer system, Allardyce - whose team travel to Stoke this weekend in the Premier League - now has only Nikola Kalinic, Jason Roberts and Franco Di Santo left in his squad as recognised strikers.[LNB]The manager admits the weight of expectation upon the trio has been increased by McCarthy's departure, but he is also hoping to see further contributions from some of his midfielders and defenders who have already chipped in with goals this season.[LNB]"We are short of goals so the responsibility lies with those boys (up front) converting more," Allardyce said.[LNB]"The level of goals from midfield has to be another area we look at where we say, 'where do we get our goals - the majority from our strike-force, but where else?'[LNB]"That lies with midfield players like (David) Dunn, who got five in 10 in the early part of the season, and Morten (Gamst Pedersen) who has three in the last four (league games). Ryan Nelsen has three goals this year.[LNB]"So that is what we have to add to, as well as the front men adding to their total. Everybody in midfield and some of the big lads at the back on set-pieces have to notch one or two more."[LNB]Allardyce did manage to bring in Stuttgart midfielder Yildiray Basturk during the window on loan, but the Turkey international is unlikely to feature against Stoke as he is not yet match fit.[LNB][LNB] Stoke v Blackburn. Click here to bet.
