Rovers finalise their pre-season games this Saturday when they entertain Dutch club NAC Breda at Ewood Park.

Although the Dutch League doesn’t kick off until the end of August, Breda have already been involved in some competitive games, so Saturday’s game should be a test for Paul Ince’s team as they prepare for the Premiership kick off next week away to Everton.

Last season Breda who play in the Eredivisie, the top division of the Dutch League, finished third on 63 points behind PSV(72 points) and Ajax(69 points) and qualified for the Intertoto Cup. However after winning their home leg 1-0, NAC Breda were eliminated from the competition when the lost 2-0 away to Rosenborg BK in Norway last month.

Tickets are now on sale for this game at £12 Adults and £5 for Senior Citizens, Juniors and Young Adult season ticket holders.

Kick off 3pm.

Everton away tickets are also on sale now for season ticket holders any remaining tickets will go on open sale from Monday 11th August.( Adult tickets £33 and £30.)

27 year old Lens French midfielder Julien Sable currently on trial at Ewood, made his Rovers debut yesterday afternoon behind closed doors against Blackpool, whilst another Frenchman, U20 international Paul Baysse and 22 year old Ghana international Anthony Annan have also arrived at Rovers for trials.

Baysse a centre back can also play on the right hand side and he joins Rovers after a season playing for French side Sedan, whilst Annan has been playing for IK Start.

Rovers yesterday completed the signing of Manchester United 21 year old defender Danny Simpson on a season long loan. Simpson made eight appearances for United last season before going out on loan to on loan to Ipswich Town.

Bobby Mimms has rejoined Rovers as their new goalkeeping coach, following the departure of Eric Steele to United.

Whilst Paul Robinson has made his debut for Rovers in the 2-1 win against Northwich Victoria, Carlos Villanueva will have to wait until he recovers from chicken pox before he makes his debut.

Rover are reported to have completed the signing of Chile’s footballer of the year Carlos Villanueva on a season-long loan deal from Audax Italiano, with an option of a permanent £4 million move.

Reports would suggest that that a number of the Rovers squad have been checked out their new team-mate on

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Spurs are reported to be close to completing the signing of Rovers want-away midfielder David Bentley, within the next 24 hours.

Sky Sports News are suggesting that Bentley will undergo a medical at Tottenham tomorrow morning

Blackburn Rovers have confirmed that they have have signed England International goalkeeper Paul Robinson for £3.5 Million. It is reported that he has signed a 5 year deal.


Last night Rovers continued their build up to the new season with their opening match in the Guadina Cup held in Portugal. They beat Benfica 3-2 with goals from Pedersen, Roberts and Emerton. Rovers take on Sporting Lisbon tonight at 9.15pm.

Brad Friedel - Voted Rovers Greatest Keeper.

Despite the fact that the vast majority of Rovers fans saw Brad Friedel as a superfluous signing when he joined, Brad has managed to become a Rovers legend winning over both the crowd and pundits. This is no mean feat considering the shadow cast by former championship winning keeper Tim Flowers, and the former player of the year John Filan.

With two quality keepers, including Filan, at the club many were wondering what Brad could bring to the team. The first things Brad gave Rovers were consistency and dependability. At the beginning of the promotion season rovers were having no problem scoring but were letting in goals with alarming regularity. Brad slotted in immediately and proved to be the final piece of the defensive jigsaw. Whilst Matt Jansen and David Dunn and the like got most of the credit, Rovers tight defence including Brad played no small part in grinding out the wins and our promotion success.

Friedel carried this consistency into the premiership, rarely if ever making a mistake and never looking out of his depth. Even Flowers would struggle to match Brad in terms of continual reliability. No howlers, few fumbles, and within his first full season Brad had firmly established a well earned reputation amongst the fans for always being on top of his game. It was during this season that Brad showed that he could impersonate superman, pulling off some fantastic saves, especially during the Worthington Cup Final. Brad was deservedly man of the match as Rovers lifted the Worthington Cup. Granted it was a team effort which won it for Rovers, but Brad did that little bit more than everyone else; from an early one on one with Ferdinand to the near point blank header late on Friedel was supurb. Cole's goal might have been the decider but it was Friedel's saves that won Blackburn the cup.

Just like it seemed impossible that Shearer in his hayday bearing down on goal would miss, it seemed impossible that Brad would not save. Time after time Brad demonstrated astounding reflexes which must have added 20 points onto Rovers tally for the season. Once again Friedel proved the difference in Rovers securing European football for the second season running. Recognition came from outside the club being named in the players premiership team of the year, and Arsene Wenger's desire for Brad to replace the departing Arsenal legend Seaman.

Like other Rovers greats Brad also performed well on an international level during his time at Rovers. To play at three world cups shows Brad's international credentials, Arguably his best World Cup came during his time with Rovers again showing his class with some fine performances and several penalty saves.

Since then Friedel has reproduced this near legendary form, but then he has had the challenge of Rovers defence to contend with. And despite this Brad has still remained one of the most consistent performers at the club. His desire and determination for the club to succeed are epitomised by his goal against Charlton, a truely classic Rovers moment.

Like Duff and Shearer before in Brad we have witnessed the best player in the premiership in that position whilst wearing a Rovers shirt, and saw a display of talent which few players possess.

Rovers have today confirmed that they have accepted a bid from an Un-named Premier League club, which is believed to be Aston Villa. Reports suggest that the bid is over £2.5 million. Rovers did confirm that the transfer is subject to their bid for a goalkeeper being accepted.

Sad day for Rovers fans as it appears that Friedel is on the verge of leaving the club, one of the greatest keepers to ever play for the clun and his shoes are going to be hard to fill.

Last night Rovers continued their preparations for the new season with a 3-1 defeat to Bundesliga newcomers TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The first half was a tight affair with both teams cancelling each other out, with the only major incident being Pedersen picking up a injury and having to come off on 34 minutes.

At half time Ince decided to make a whole host of changes and gave striker Robbie Fowler a chance to impress. However it was TSG who took the lead on 51 minutes through Christoph Janker. Rovers hit back as McCarthy volleyed home on 63 minutes. Parity last only 2 minutes as Jaissle's header squeezed past substitute keeper Jason Brown. As Rovers pushed forward for an equaliser TSG hit them on the break and Janker grabbed his second to secure victory for the Bundesliga side.

Rovers now move onto Portugal where they face Benfica on Friday and Sporting Lisbon on Saturday in a pre-season tournament.

The Lancashire Telegraph is reporting this morning that Rovers Australian international Brett Emerton has signed a new 4 year deal. Emerton is a higly regarded member of the squad due to his versatility and Paul Ince made it a priority to get him tied to a new long term deal.

Rovers fans will wake up this morning to a barrage of news linking players to the club and also away from the club.

First up The Lancashire Telegraph is running three stories:

* Legendary goalkeeper has told the paper that he wants to leave the club, with Aston Villa heavily linked with him.
* Tottenham have had a bid rejected for David Bentley
* Newcastle are on the verge of make a bid for Stephen Warnock.

It is not all doom and gloom though. The Daily Mirror reports that Rovers hope to pull off a £3.5million swoop for Chilean superstar Carlos Villanueva. Villanueva is a very highly rated attacking midfielder and would be a massive coup for the club if they could pull it off.

These and many other topics are being discussed on the messageboard.