Rovers' summer schedule
By Telegraph newsdesk
Blackburn Rovers have announced details of their pre-season programme.
Mark Hughes will take his squad to Wrexham for a friendly at the Racecourse Ground on July 10 (kick-off 7.45pm), before flying out to Germany for a training camp, which will include a match against Bundesliga side DSC Arminia Bielefeld on July 15 at a venue still to be arranged.
After that comes a two-legged Intertoto tie on the weekends of Jul 21/22 and 28/29.
Then Rovers face Huddersfield away on August 1 (kick off 7.45pm), and Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday August 4.
--Jeffers offer turned down
Ipswitch開價太低，主席不接受
Jeffers and Todd都是掛牌中
As for former captain Todd, he is being chased by a number of clubs, including Portsmouth and newly promoted sides Birmingham and Sunderland. He will be allowed to leave for a fee in the region of £500,000.
為了Nonda，與Roma的商談持續中。
And England youth international Andreas Arestidou has signed his first professional contract with Rovers.
The 17-year-old keeper has agreed a two-year deal after impressing as a first year scholar with the club's Academy.
Elsewhere, West Ham are reported to be interested in signing Rovers target Craig Bellamy.
With Carlos Tevez set to leave Upton Park this summer, manager Alan Curbishley is thought to be lining up Bellamy as a possible replacement.貝拉米要是去西漢姆我會恨他一輩子
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New deal for Tugay
MIDFIELD maestro Tugay has signed a new one-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.
The veteran Turk, who celebrates his 37th(！) birthday in August, was rewarded with an extended 12-month deal after playing a pivotal role for Rovers this season both in the Premiership and Europe.
His contract was due to expire this summer, but Rovers boss Mark Hughes was always willing to hold on to his peerless playmaker, who seems to show no signs of ageing in the midfield engine room.
Tugay, one of Blackburn's all-time bargain buys following his £1.3m transfer from Rangers in July 2001, has rolled back the years with a string of vintage performances.
With Robbie Savage and Steven Reid suffering long-term injuries, he has featured heavily throughout the season, playing in 40 league and cup matches in total.
And despite announcing his retirement from international football in 2003, Tugay was surprisingly recalled to the Turkey squad for a friendly in Georgia in February.
But the move to end his international exile did not go down well with Hughes, who feared the extra workload would effect his form for Blackburn.
The former Galatasaray star was also named in Turkey's squad for Euro 2008 qualifiers with Greece and Norway, but he was an unusued substitute on both occasions for Fatih Terim's men.
Now, Hughes can breathe a sigh of relief, as Tugay is set to call time on his Turkey career once and for all with a 94th and final appearance for his country against Brazil in Dortmund on June 5.
The friendly match will end an international career spanning 17 years for Tugay, who at the aged of 19, made his debut against the Republic of Ireland in May 1990.
"I recommended Tugay bowed out with a celebration match, and he told me he'd be thrilled to," said Terim.
"He is a model professional on and off the pitch. He has been a great servant to Turkish football."
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Benni eyes move <--->Savage: Don't go Benni這並不是很和平的雙方對話
Benni方：
When questioned about his future, the South African hitman, who joined Rovers from Porto for a bargain £2.5 million last summer, said: "It's not like I owe them my life or they owe me for bringing me into the Premier League, for which I am totally grateful, and they will always have a place in my heart.
"With the goals I've scored and the work I've put in, in that way I've paid back my dues.
"If something extraordinary does come and it's a big team, a Champions League team, then I would love to ask for the opportunity to try my fortunes at a higher level, at the biggest stage.
"I'm still a Blackburn player but I'd love to play in the Champions League again."
"When you come from a Champions League team you miss playing against the likes Barcelona, AC Milan and the big-shots of world football,"
"Blackburn are probably not a team that will help me with that but it's a great team, a family team and I'm loving every moment of it.
"Sometimes I do have wishes that I will one day hopefully have the chance to play Champions League football again, and hopefully that will come true.
"I'm not saying I want to leave Blackburn but if the chance did come then I'd love to have a go.
"I've felt very flattered because you play for a small team compared to the big four, to come into the hardest league and do well and get linked with one of the big four, it's amazing."
"Now there's talk of Benni McCarthy moving on to bigger and better things.
"Benni's a great lad and he's been brilliant for us this season, but I really hope he realises this is a club that's going places.
"At the end of the day, the grass isn't always greener elsewhere."
"I would have loved to have played in the Champions League for a club like Chelsea or Manchester United but I know I'm not good enough for that level.
"However, I don't agree with people saying they want to better themselves elsewhere because that's detrimental to the players we already have here - the likes of Tugay and Brad Friedel.
"Blackburn is the best club I've ever been at without a doubt.
"It's a club that's won the Premier League and we've got a great manager who can take us back into the top six again next season - I have no doubts about that.
"The big four will always be the big four but after that, I honestly don't believe there's anyone better than us and hopefully Benni will realise that."
簡言之就是隊中老大針對底下新人小弟的放話開始不爽
警告意味濃厚阿XDDDDDD
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Derbyshire: I won't be a one-season wonder
By Andy Neild
MATT Derbyshire today reflected on a magical first season in the Premiership and vowed: I'm determined not to be a one-hit wonder'.
The 21-year-old striker, who was named Blackburn Rovers' young player of the year at a special awards ceremony earlier this week, has surpassed all expectations since he was drafted into the first team at the turn of the year, scoring nine goals in 24 appearances to make himself a firm fans' favourite.
That scintillating form earned Derbyshire a new contract, and a first call-up to the England Under 21s squad, but while the young forward is understandably proud of his achievements over the last six months, he accepts the time to judge him will be next season, when Premiership defenders will be more aware of his capabilities.
"I've been delighted with the way things have gone this season. It's been beyond even my expectations," said the striker.
"Getting as many goals as I got this season was a delight for myself and if I can do that again next season, and get a bit stronger as well, then that would be great.
"The key for me now is to build on this.
"I've spoken to a couple of people about next season and the main thing is to get the games in.
"If I get the games then I'm confident I'll score goals at this level."
An injury to Jason Roberts led to Derbyshire getting his big chance at the beginning of December, and he seized it with both hands, initially making an impact from the substitutes' bench, then becoming the favoured strike-partner for Benni McCarthy for a spell, before Roberts returned to the side for the final weeks of the season.
Now the challenge for Derbyshire is to prove he can sustain that kind of form over the course of a full season, which won't be easy, particularly if manager Mark Hughes brings in another striker this summer to supplement the ones already at the club.
"That's good for me, to be honest. The more competition there is, the harder you'll work," said Derbyshire.
"If the manager brings someone else in then I'll get my head down again.
"I'm only 21 and I know I've still got a lot to prove."
In the meantime, Derbyshire, who finished the season as Rovers' second top scorer, is hoping to be selected in Stuart Pearce's England squad for the European Under 21 Championships in Holland next month.
A provisional 30-man squad has already been named and Derbyshire is in it, but that must be whittled down to 23 by Pearce on May 30.
After that, England then face Slovakia in a friendly at Carrow Road on June 5 before heading off to Holland, where their first game is against the Czech Republic in Arnhem on June 11.
"Hopefully it's a big summer for me," added Derbyshire.
"I'm in the squad so hopefully I can get a couple of games in and score a few goals.
"It's all a learning curve for me at the moment but the more games I get at the highest level, the better I'm going to become as a player."
What a breath of fresh air.--
以上消息來自http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk
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