The Matt finish!

MATT Jansen's first steps on the road to football fame and fortune were given a big helping hand by a man with firm East Lancashire connections.

Blackburn Rovers' new £4 million shooting star yesterday signed a five and a half year contract to June 2004 and instantly recalled the part played in his development during the early days at Carlisle by former Burnley assistant manager Clive Middlemass.

And Middlemass, currently chief scout at Preston, believes Rovers have signed themselves a future England international in the shape of the 21-year-old former Carlisle striker whose move back North from Crystal Palace will help solve some of the financial problems at Selhurst.

"He could well go all the way to the top and play for England," said Middlemass.

"I see no reason why not.

"When he first arrived at the school of excellence you could tell he was a player.

"In fact he was a little bit embarrassed about scoring so many goals.

"He was getting four and five goals every game and I think he was a little bit worried that the other lads thought he was greedy. "He was always going to get goals."

For his part, Jansen will never forget the role played by his first mentor.

"Clive was in charge when I went to Carlisle. He told me to go to their school of excellence at eight years old - a great fella," said Jansen.

"It was 12 or 13 years ago and he used to get me boots and stuff.

"I remember when I went to Belgium in an under-12 competition or something like that. He came to the house and gave me a new pair of football boots to take away with me.

"He was a great man and I had a lot of time for him. He helped me a lot."

While Middlemass clearly helped launch the Jansen career, the man who has figured most recently in his thinking is Brian Kidd.

"Just over a year ago a few different clubs were in for me and I spent a week training with Manchester United. That's how I got to know Brian Kidd," he explained.

"He is a great coach and I got on well with him but, for various reasons, I signed for Crystal Palace. "Brian Kidd spoke to me about his ambitions here, Blackburn are a big club with big ambitions and that's why I signed."

The chance to come to Ewood even overshadowed the temptation to possibly join Newcastle, the club he has supported since boyhood.

"Newcastle were one of the clubs in for me but the ambitions of this club were what attracted me," he explained.

"I used to go and watch Newcastle quite often. My best friend's a season-ticket holder and whenever he could pick up tickets he used to give me one.

"I watched two or three games against Newcastle here.

"It was a big temptation but there were a few clubs in. We sat down and discussed all the possibilities and ended up choosing Blackburn. I was supposed to be playing against Stockport on Saturday. I was in bed at half past eight in the morning when Steve Coppell rang and said I wouldn't be playing in the afternoon because the club had agreed a fee with Blackburn. "I was impressed and don't have any concern at all about the position in the table.

"After speaking to Brian Kidd and with the ambition of the club, the money behind it and the enthusiasm here I don't think they will go down."

Despite the fact that he is still only 21, Jansen comes across as a mature lad with his feet firmly on the ground.

And that is how Middlemass remembers him.

"Matt comes from a lovely family and he is a very level-headed lad. Very sensible and I was a little bit surprised when he went to London," he said.

"I am pleased he has come back 'home'.

"He could have signed for several clubs when he turned pro but his father made sure he signed for Carlisle."

That is an example of the kind of 'loyalty' rarely seen in the game these days.

Jansen has been tipped to go all the way to the top and he is rated an exciting prospect by many judges.

Among them are Terry Venables.

"He's a great coach. Unfortunately he hasn't had the money to spend at Palace," said Jansen.

"It hasn't worked out for him but his coaching qualities are second to none."

Now he is hoping to benefit from Kidd's guidance and a club hungry for success. "The ambition here is to win things. I have signed for six years and hopefully they will be six happy years.

"I hope we can get some silverware again and that I can play regularly and have a good career here.

"I'm a confident player and everyone has to fight for their place. Given my chance I'll do that and hopefully prove that he can't leave me out."

So what kind of a player will Rovers fans see?

"I feel I'm quick enough and I like to get the ball down and play football," he said.

"I like dribbling and going at players, so probably running with the ball is a strength."

Tony Parkes, standing in for manager Brian Kidd who was unwell, clearly feels Jansen will get his opportunity soon.

"Brian was quite impressed with him at Manchester United and he has followed his career since then.

"I think Brian actually wanted Manchester United to sign him.

"He's also one of Brian's signings. When you talk about us having a lot of strikers here, there are a lot who are not Brian's signings.

"Matt is and that must be a plus. It must put him right up the league for being in the team.

"He's a different type to many of the strikers we have and you need a balance if you are going to play two strikers up front.

"So from that point of view he has every chance of being in the side.

"He's an under-21 international, he's young and he's a Premier League player and he's got all the attributes to get to the top."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.