Ewood Beat

Tugay deal delayed by survival bid

BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness will delay making a decision over Tugay's future until Rovers have secured their Premiership status.

The veteran Turkish international's current contract is due to expire at the end of the season.

Souness wants to offer the former Galatasaray star an extension to that deal but with Rovers' league fate still to be decided, talks have been temporarily put on hold.

"We will be talking to him. Tugay has been a great servant for us but we've got bigger things on our mind at the moment and we've already spoken to him about that," said Souness.

"We have to survive in this league."

Tugay has proved to be a popular figure at Rovers since he signed from Rangers in a £1.5 million deal three years ago.

In his first season he was part of the team which won the Worthington Cup and finished 10th in the Premiership.

He was also an integral member of the side that finished sixth last term.

This season, he has found himself in and out of the side at various intervals leading to speculation that he might favour finishing his career in Turkey.

But Souness insists the 33-year-old is happy in England and he may prefer extending his Premiership adventure.

"If you spoke to him I think he would say he sees his future here in England," said Souness.

"He likes life in England so I think his intention is to stay. His wife likes it here and so does his child."

Meanwhile, Souness has said that he currently looks upon Jon Stead as the club's number one striker.

The 20-year-old has made a big impact in the Premiership since his £1 million move from Huddersfield last month, so much so that he would appear to have jumped ahead of his more experienced team-mates, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, in the pecking order.

"Jon Stead, in the last couple of weeks, has made himself the number one striker simply by the way he has played and the goals he has got," said Souness.

"He would have been the first striker on the team-sheet if he had been fit today.

"I'm not interested in what's gone on before, I'm only interested in what's going to happen tomorrow and I think that's how you have to be in football.

"Football is all about tomorrows, it's not about yesterdays. I'm not interested in what people did yesterday.

"As daft as it sounds, we are going to miss a 20-year-old who only recently arrived at our club after playing in the Third Division."

They're pasta their best!

LIFE refuses to improve for former Blackburn Rovers misfits Dino Baggio and Ciccio Grabbi.

Last weekend former Italian international midfielder Baggio found himself forced into action as a central defender, but his experience was to no avail as Ancona were beaten 3-0 at Udinese's Stadio Friuli.

Since the pair's arrival there has been no respite in Ancona's desperate plight.

They are rooted to the foot of Serie A with just six points, eight adrift of Perugia above them and 15 away from Siena who are in 14th just above the four relegation places.

And also since the duo were taken on board at the Stadio del Conero the club have collected just one point - amazingly from a 0-0 draw at home to title-chasing Roma - and scored only one goal.

Strangely, it was not Ciccio who netted it but one of his former Ternana team-mates, fellow striker Christian Bucchi.

Still they have a nice trip ahead of them tomorrow - a meeting with Juventus in the Stadio Delle Alpi!

Out, you evil Ewood spirits!

GRAEME Souness clearly feels cursed at the moment, given Rovers' worrying league position.

But the Ewood chief was still able to make light of the situation at a recent press conference.

Souey was in full flow when a mobile phone sprang to life to the tune of the cult 1970s horror flick The Exorcist.

Quick as a flash, Souey piped up: "It's us that need an exorcist!"

Rovers have more off days

DID you know that Blackburn Rovers have been caught off-side more than any other club in the Premiership this season?

Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Paul Gallagher and company have fallen foul of a linesman's flag a whopping 112 times.

Aston Villa (111) are the only other club in the top flight to have been flagged offside more than 100 times.

Injuries could blight FA Youth Cup run

BLACKBURN Rovers' FA Youth Cup side paid a heavy price for their fifth round victory over Gillingham on Tuesday night.

Young Frenchman Tareck Sakali suffered cruciate knee ligament damage as a result of a crunching second minute challenge and the injury is likely to keep him out of action for the foreseeable future.

Former Great Harwood striker Matt Derbyshire also damaged ankle ligaments in the same game.

On top of that, skilful midfielder Peter Corvino also had surgery on a long-standing groin injury earlier this week.

All three players will now miss Rovers' quarter final clash with Manchester United, which will take place at Ewood Park next Saturday at 2pm.

Those injuries took the gloss off what was otherwise a good week for the Academy.

Rovers had to come from behind to beat a physical Gils side but Joe Garner's late winner set up a mouthwatering last eight clash with United.

A big crowd is now expected at Ewood next Saturday, particularly as the first team are without a match following their exit from the FA Cup.

Meanwhile, Rovers' Under 14s have just returned from a trip to Portugal where they took part in a prestigious youth tournament.

Rovers won three, drew one and lost two of their six games -- the two defeats coming against Porto and Sporting Lisbon.

That really hit where it hurts

GRAEME Souness certainly wasn't pulling any punches when it came to facing the media in yesterday's press conference.

One brave microphone-wielding radio journalist dared to open up the session with a question about last week's 3-2 defeat at Charlton and he got a brutally honest reply, albeit an unbroadcastable one.

Radio Journalist: "So last weekend's game must have taken a few days to get over. It must have been an appalling shock for everybody?"

Souey: "Yes, it was a kick in the b******s!"

Talk about shooting from the hip!

Betting on Brad

AFTER Brad Friedel's goalscoring exploits against Charlton Athletic last week, what price on the United States international repeating the feat again today?

Well, Rovers Bet have the answers.

A fiver on the big man against Southampton this afternoon would net you £1,000 if he popped up with the first goal.

Or what about odds of 100/1 on him scoring the last goal in the game?

A £1 bet on a 1-0 win and Friedel to score the winner would net you a whopping £950.

You never know, in a season full of incredible twists and turns, lightning could strike twice.

In Nick of time

SPEAKING of Friedel's goalscoring exploits, my colleague Nick Smith recently attended a fans' question and answer session with the American goalkeeper.

It was at the Hare & Hounds in Standish and was organised by the South Lancashire branch of the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Association.

When I asked Nick how it went, he said it went well but there were some obscure quesions that he didn't bother writing down the answers to...such as 'Have you ever scored a goal?'

"It's not like the answer to that will ever come in useful," Nick said.

So imagine his horror when, standing in for me at the Valley last week, he witnessed Friedel finding the back of the net in the defeat to Charlton.

He's still wiping the egg from his face now!

Academy's off

ALL games at Blackburn Rovers' Academy this weekend have been postponed due

to the bad weather.

The under17s had been due to entertain Manchester City today but that match, along with all other scheduled matches at Brockhall are off.