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9:40am Wednesday 23rd July 2008
BLACKBURN manager Paul Ince believes Robbie Fowler can still be a force in the Premier League – providing he proves his fitness.
The former England and Liverpool hitman is hoping to secure a contract with Rovers, and made his debut for the club as a second-half substitute in Monday night’s friendly with TSG Hoffenheim.
But, while some have been quick to write off the 33-year-old, Ince is of the opinion the veteran goal-poacher could still have something to offer, having been encouraged by his cameo appearance at the Kufstein Arena.
“That’s why I wanted to bring him in,” said the Rovers boss, as he reflected on his former team-mate’s contribution.
“People have said he’s past it, but when you see the runs he makes, he beats his opponent by five or six yards, and if we can find him with our passes then he’s going to score goals.
“That was his first game in eight months so you’ve got to take that into account, and he will get sharper.
“He’ll never lose those runs and that movement, and in the next couple of weeks he’ll get sharper and sharper, which is when we’ll start to see the best of Robbie Fowler.”
Revered as one of the finest strikers of his generation, Fowler was an unstoppable goalscoring machine at the peak of his powers, netting 171 goals in 330 appearances during the first of two spells at Anfield. Big money moves to Leeds United, and then Manchester City followed, before he returned to Liverpool two years ago for another stint.
However, a succession of injury problems appeared to have taken their toll on Fowler, and he struggled to reproduce the magic of old, eventually joining Cardiff last summer.
But, determined to have one last crack at the Premier League, Fowler has now linked up again with his old pal Ince, and effectively has a fortnight to prove he can still cut it at the highest level.
He took the first step towards doing that on Monday evening, when he made his comeback from the hip injury he sustained whilst playing for Cardiff last December.
And, while he didn’t exactly stand out in what was a fairly low-key team performance, he did show one or two flashes of his predatory instincts, not least when he turned inside a defender and unleashed a shot that got deflected for the corner which led to Rovers’ goal.
In the meantime, midfielder Segundo Castillo is also aiming to make a similar impression with Ince, having spent the last few days training with Rovers in Germany.
The Ecuador international linked up with the squad on Sunday, in the hope he can secure a dream move to the Premier League.
“He’s trained with us,” said Ince.
“He had a 20-hour flight to get here so it was hard to really analyse him, or have an opinion on him after the first day of training.
“But we’ve got the chance to have a closer look at him, and then we’ll go from there. I’m sure he’s good enough to play at this level but you don’t just buy players on people’s hearsay.”
John Smith, Chorley says...
11:35am Wed 23 Jul 08
RishtonSteve, Rishton says...
11:46am Wed 23 Jul 08
jinkyjase, Preston says...
11:47am Wed 23 Jul 08
Miggsy, Chorley says...
11:50am Wed 23 Jul 08
Trev Manchester, Manchester says...
12:05pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Robbie, Manchester says...
12:28pm Wed 23 Jul 08
ripleywonder, Chester says...
12:44pm Wed 23 Jul 08
ripleywonder, Chester says...
12:44pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Jarred, Bristol says...
1:03pm Wed 23 Jul 08
jukes, leicester says...
1:10pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Robbie, Manchester says...
1:49pm Wed 23 Jul 08
features, bedford says...
2:15pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Jarred wrote:Hear hear. I'm so glad others are seeing sense in this situation. People really need to get some feel of reality on these boards. What I've seen over recent weeks is so un-Blackburn Rovers. I've always been proud of our supporters but some of these reactions before the season has even started are beyond belief.
I must say I'm a bit stunned by some of the comments on here.Firstly - what the heck is wrong with Ince's backroom staff? I fail to see how Ray Mathias' CV is any way weaker than Mark Bowen's when he came in as assistant with Hughes. In many ways, its far superior. Ray actually has a half decent record managing clubs.And then who else has he brought in: Eric Steele, a very highly experienced goalkeeping coach at premiership level - Archie Knox, a coach whose knowledge and expertise should be unquestionable given the teams and managers he's worked for - Nigel Winterburn, someone who's been there, done it and has new innovative approaches to bring in.What's the problem?Next - well, its highly unlikely Friedel wanting out has anything to do with Ince, given as how Friedel was the one who spoke out about wanting the man in.I don't have the slightest idea why anyone thinks Ince is getting a beating from Bentley's ego. I fail to see how he's done anything different to what Hughes would have done.As for Fowler, we seem to be missing the fact that Ince has a heck of a lot more football knowledge than anyone posting here. He's played with some of the best players in the world, worked with some of the greatest managers - why do we think we can pass judgement on his choices before a ball has even been kicked?And heck, even if it is a mistake, so what? Bringing in one player for peanuts is the kind of mistake I can live with managers making.There are far more important things for Ince to be tested on - but we have no way to judge them until season kick-off.All this "Ince Out!" nonsense is doing is sabotaging our chances. If this gets to the terraces it will make Ince's job immeasurably harder. Any Blackburn Rovers manager deserves our support - and he will certainly have mine until and IF he proves unworthy of it.The odds are against us enough without us turning on our own manager.
Morst the 88th min Heartbreaker, Accrington says...
2:20pm Wed 23 Jul 08
RishtonSteve, Rishton says...
2:34pm Wed 23 Jul 08
jinkyjase, Preston says...
2:45pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Robbie, Manchester says...
3:04pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Morst the 88th min Heartbreaker wrote:yeh ok sweet heart what ever you say ya dried up old dingle
Not sure which is worst news. Fowler being so past it he would struggle at Burnley or Emerton signing a new contract or Robbie being as stupid as usual. The last thing we need is to much disruption to the squad after Hughes departure especially the key players like Brad who are under long contracts and should only be sold for silly offers way above market value. Robbie - yes you do have to give Ince a chance regardless of whether he turns out to be Hughes or Kidd. You sound like a Newcastle fan wanting him to leave after one pre-season kickabout defeat!
John Smith, Chorley says...
3:04pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Robbie, Manchester says...
3:47pm Wed 23 Jul 08
John Smith wrote:as it was written 09.40 and the top story was done at 12.30
How come this is no longer a lead story????????
Jason, Accrington says...
4:30pm Wed 23 Jul 08
kevin e, portugal says...
4:39pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Jason, Accrington says...
5:06pm Wed 23 Jul 08
mike rover, essex says...
5:45pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Robbie wrote:Half the team seems to want out???
anyone who knows me will tell ya i aint scared to say what i think.i know i am going to get ripped apart for saying this.. but!!INCE OUT!!!! i know we have not played a league game yet. but this whole fowler thing and half the team seems to want out, the backroom team he has brought in. its just a total joke.i fear for us this season i really do. i hope i am wrong but the way it is shapeing up, i just dont know. Williams come on man dont let the club be laughed at anymore put a stop to it please.
mike rover, essex says...
5:55pm Wed 23 Jul 08
Morst the 88th min Heartbreaker wrote:To be fair, at least Newcastle fans give the manager a couple of games, and allow them to buy some players before wanting them out.
Not sure which is worst news. Fowler being so past it he would struggle at Burnley or Emerton signing a new contract or Robbie being as stupid as usual. The last thing we need is to much disruption to the squad after Hughes departure especially the key players like Brad who are under long contracts and should only be sold for silly offers way above market value. Robbie - yes you do have to give Ince a chance regardless of whether he turns out to be Hughes or Kidd. You sound like a Newcastle fan wanting him to leave after one pre-season kickabout defeat!
kevin e, portugal says...
6:54pm Wed 23 Jul 08
gosportdunc, gosport says...
10:53pm Wed 23 Jul 08
ossy rover, oswaldtwistle says...
11:29pm Wed 23 Jul 08
gosportdunc, gosport says...
11:50pm Wed 23 Jul 08
ossy rover wrote:best thing ive read all year you should wright for the let spot on
what the hell is going on here, it seems like a few people want Ince to fail, just because they dont rate him. il be honest i dont think he was my favourite for the job, but neither was Hughsie when he was first appointed. whats all this negativity against the backroom staff, i remember not too long ago we got a couple of Alex Fergusons backroom staff to manage the team, up and coming bright sparks they were, coaching badges coming out of thier ears, future england manager and all that, but what happened relegation.and to you all, dont forget hughsies first few months in charge a couple of hammerings 4's and 5's nil and looking a complete shambles but Hughsie was given time and he managed to keep us up even though we got the tag of being bullies and the dirtiest team in the league (which we still cant get shut of).as for lower league players one of our stalwarts under dalglish was Nicky Marker nobody heard of him came from Plymouth and was steady as a rock when he played, as for kieth andrews last week John wiliams said he and Ince hadnt even discussed him but even if they have the manager lives and dies by his signings. Not all Hughsies were great kuqi, nonda, the guy from charlton (played for wolves for a bit), the other guy from charlton (fox in the box)i cant even remember thier names, plus a few others who are still at the club.also under hughsies management we let go a bright young thing joe garner why was that?hughsie was a good manager for us but he got time to develop the team how he wanted it before we became half decent.Ince also needs time if he feels he needs fowler or andrews in his side then so be it.if nothing else in fowlers case hopefully he can pass on a few tips to our current crop of strikers.this season is going to be more difficult than last, you would expect spurs, newcastle, to do a lot better than last season and some of the others who were around is this season to maintain thier positions, (and that would still have been the case with Hughsie in charge) but we still have quality in the squad and a bit of luck and a good start to the season who knows we could be chasing the top six spot again.keep the faith
Morst the 88th min Heartbreaker, Accrington says...
8:03am Thu 24 Jul 08
Robbie wrote:Super intelligent response as usual Robbie. I was beginning to think the Dingles have thousands of fans but now I realise you just call any Rovers fan who doesn't agree with you a Dingle. Good job you are not in charge of recruitment of new Rovers fans! Can you please try and stick to the point and be constructive with fellow Roverites?
Morst the 88th min Heartbreaker wrote:
Not sure which is worst news. Fowler being so past it he would struggle
at Burnley or Emerton signing a new contract or Robbie being as stupid
as usual. The last thing we need is to much disruption to the squad
after Hughes departure especially the key players like Brad who are
under long contracts and should only be sold for silly offers way above
market value. Robbie - yes you do have to give Ince a chance regardless
of whether he turns out to be Hughes or Kidd. You sound like a
Newcastle fan wanting him to leave after one pre-season kickabout
defeat!yeh ok sweet heart what ever you say ya dried up old dingle
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ripleywonder, Chester says...
10:42am Wed 23 Jul 08
Does Ince not see the bigger picture? This Fowler talk sends out a horrendous message to the rest of the premier league. 'Desperate Rovers, taking steps back, please come and sniff at all our players.'
Do you really think Roque, Bentley, Warnock and co are going to be inclined to play with this past in smackhead disgrace? Buck up your ideas Ince come on. I like his interest in these young Chilean and Equdorians but this Fowler nonsense needs to be stopped dead in its tracks. It just seems like jobs for the boys.