I had too much flair for Dalglish, says Blackburn Rovers old boy Wegerle (From Lancashire Telegraph)

I had too much flair for Dalglish, says Blackburn Rovers old boy Wegerle

6:50pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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ROY Wegerle believes his English adventure came at least a decade too early – claiming if he was playing today he could have been a superstar.

The former Blackburn Rovers striker thrilled top flight crowds in England for almost 10 years, scoring more than 50 goals in almost 200 league appearances, but believes being ahead of his time left him unappreciated by many.

The South African born American remains a cult hero among Luton Town, QPR and Coventry City fans, but he believes it was the same skill and flair that saw him idolised by some that turned his short Ewood Park stay into a nightmare.

Wegerle was brought to Rovers by Kenny Dalglish in March 1992 for £1.1million from Loftus Road and he duly helped them end the season with promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

The summer though saw the arrival of Alan Shearer, as Rovers launched their unlikely assault on the Premier League title, and with Mike Newell preferred as his strike partner, Wegerle often found himself on the fringes.

After just 22 starts and four goals, he was sold on to Coventry for £1million as part of a deal that brought Kevin Gallacher to East Lancashire.

And Wegerle admits: “I just wish I’d had a better relationship with the manager Kenny Dalglish. We had a clash of personalities and he just wouldn’t play me at all.

“I don’t believe it was the wrong move at the time. How could it have been? I was joining a team that was about to get promoted to the Premier League and who had big dreams for the future.

“Unfortunately though I was just not Kenny’s type of player. I think it was Ray Harford who persuaded him to sign me, because Ray knew what I could do from our time together at London.

“But between me and him, we couldn’t persuade Dalglish I was right for Blackburn. Kenny liked your typical ABC type strikers and I think I was too skilful and had too much flair for him. I was too different.

“If you look at when he was at Newcastle, he froze out David Ginola and there have been some others in our mould he has got rid of as well. If a manager doesn’t fancy you, you have no chance.”

Wegerle, now making a living on the professional golf mini tour in the USA, looks back on a career that also saw him play in two World Cups with great pride.

But he can’t help feeling ‘what might have been’ as well as he looks at the players in today’s Premier League.

“It would have suited my game far more,” he said. “Now teams and managers want players like me who could do something different. Back when I was playing it was more about fighting and battling.

“I moved to Blackburn Rovers to be a superstar. I believed it could happen but it didn’t. I had a good career but if I had better breaks along the way, it could have been a great career.”

Rovers entertain the club where it all started for Wegerle on Sunday, Chelsea, and, while he worries more about his drives than his goals nowadays, the Florida-based golfer keeps in touch with the ‘best league in the world’.

The 45-year-old was handed his big break in English football by Chelsea in 1986, having impressed in the College Leagues and the Major Indoor Soccer League in the States, but failed to break into the first team in his two seasons there.

“It was the same as when I was at Blackburn,” he said. “My style of football just didn’t suit Chelsea, although to be fair at the time they were fighting against relegation. So you could understand it.

“I do keep an eye on the results and it is good to see that Blackburn look like they will be staying up again.

“You always want your old sides to do well, even if you haven’t had a great time with them.

“I play too much golf to pay too much attention to the football though, although I have given up trying to make the big leagues in golf. After all the travelling I had as a footballer, I couldn’t do all that travelling again. It was too much.

“I also want to say I am not bitter towards Blackburn.

"The fans were great to me and it was obvious to me the club was going to enjoy success - although maybe not as quick as they did.

"You can’t just buy success, you need something special and Rovers had that.”