Sam: Rovers have 'wasted talent'

09 March 2009 15:30
Allardyce knows how to get the best out of limited squads, having made Bolton a competitive force in the Premier League after initially struggling in the top flight.[LNB]But he sees a better standard of player in his Blackburn squad than he had in his early Premier League days with Wanderers and he just has to get them to perform more consistently.[LNB]"The relegation battle is one of the most difficult things you can face as a Premier League manager," said Allardyce, whose side are 18th in the table but just two points behind 15th-placed Stoke.[LNB]"I think the difference here is they have got the talent.[LNB]"No disrespect to my old Bolton side but there was not as much talent in it, but they were great in terms of hard work and organisation.[LNB]"The Bolton team grew into a very good all-round team, one that was not just built on team spirit, they had great skill.[LNB]"These lads at Blackburn have already got the talent but they have let it be misguided and allowed it to be wasted.[LNB]"The early years at Bolton we had to scrap for two years to stay out of trouble, with the players that wanted to play in the Premier League but knew lots of teams had more individual ability than we had.[LNB]"We had to do it with organisation. Years three, four and five became the opposite of that because we found talented, quality players."[LNB]Allardyce brought in El-Hadji Diouf, a player who was successful for him at Bolton, in January and the manager is keen to keep the majority of his squad together.[LNB]However, planning for the future is proving difficult at the moment as the club's relegation battle means they cannot yet be sure which league they will be playing in next season.[LNB]Allardyce is keen to hang on to his quality players, especially as Rovers appeared to have suffered from the loss of goalkeeper Brad Friedel to Aston Villa and midfielder David Bentley to Tottenham in the summer.[LNB]"Mark Hughes (former Rovers boss) did similar at Blackburn as I did at Bolton; he got a lot more talent than when he first came and grew that over years," Allardyce told the Lancashire Telegraph.[LNB]"We have lost two of that talent and we have to make sure we don't lose any more.[LNB]"If we do we have to replace it with more than what you lose. We are better keeping our better players now than selling them.[LNB]"I think the planning (for next season) is in its infancy but I prefer to put it on hold as much as I can.[LNB]"Certain aspects have to be talked about but it is only on a minimal basis [because] it is about making sure we stay in the Premier League.[LNB]"That will put us behind in our planning but I think that is the most important thing, concentrating on game to game and getting out of the bottom three."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk