Leon Best eyes return for Rovers in January (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Leon Best eyes return for Rovers in January
10:29am Wednesday 21st November 2012 in Football
By Andy Cryer, Blackburn Rovers reporter
LEON Best is aiming for a January Rovers return after admitting being forced to watch the first three months of the campaign from the sidelines has been ‘killing him’.
Blackburn’s £3m summer signing from Newcastle United is back doing light running after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury back in pre-season and is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation.
The 26-year-old, who has yet to kick a ball competitively for the club, knows there is still a long road to recovery ahead but is hopeful of making his long-awaited debut not long into the New Year.
He said: “Me, I am aiming for between January and February. That is what they are telling me. I will be pushing for the start of January. We will see, I would love to play on Saturday but obviously i don’t think I would be much help at the minute.
“I am glad to get the boots back on and get back running. Ever since my scars healed I was waiting to get outside. Now I am running and kicking a ball again, it is amazing, I cant wait to get back.
“It has been hard for me to not be training and joining in the banter. I feel like I am starting to get closer and being out is a step back.
“Even though I love watching all the games it kills me watching because I really want to be out there playing.”
Best revealed he could spend part of his recovery process at a specialists in Los Angeles as he bids to get back to action as soon as possible.
“You have to put the work in. I am so eager to get back, I would do everything right. I try and do too much sometimes,” he told Roversplayer.
“It is just over three months now and it has been a slow process but I am over halfway and just looking forward to getting back as soon as possible.
“The hardest thing is when they are giving you things and you can do it. You want to be given more. You have to slow yourself down.
“There is a great bunch of lads here and everyone has put an arm around me. Here and at home is important, you have to be happy. I am happy, I have a great family and I enjoy coming into work even though I’m not training or playing like I want to be.”
Best meanwhile has been left cheering his new team mates on from the sidelines and believes the improved atmosphere around the club in recent weeks can only help their promotion drive.
He said: “We have been up and down. I have very high expectations of the team and I expect the highest. It is a very hard league but it is unbelievable seeing the fans coming back because I think that is vital.
“The season I went up with Newcastle, when we played at home the fans were the 12th man. Sometimes that is what you need.
I definitely think we need to concentrate on winning as many home game as possible and getting on the winning trail.
“I understand why some fans get upset and want to show their anger. Everyone just wants us to go up, we all want the same thing.”
Comments(35)
brown cow warrior
says...
10:49am Wed 21 Nov 12
Bangkok Rover
says...
10:51am Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener
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11:09am Wed 21 Nov 12
As for Saturday.......
GET INTO 'EM!!
Joey99
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11:13am Wed 21 Nov 12
1952 rover
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11:13am Wed 21 Nov 12
xrayspex77
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11:18am Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111
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11:30am Wed 21 Nov 12
not sure if both together will work.
MatthewCA
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11:31am Wed 21 Nov 12
portolibero
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11:47am Wed 21 Nov 12
alf-abett
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11:47am Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener
says...
12:15pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Return of the Magnificent se7en
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12:17pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Rovers expects
fitz808
says...
12:22pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:i disagree here. the talk was that we were very light up front, especially with yak going. kean was banging on about getting a bit more experience and firepower in, which was where the best and gomes came in.
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
the rhodes signing was a little later and i think was one you go for if
a) you can afford it
b) you realise he has become available
i think singh would still have pushed this through even if best had been fit.
if anything i reckon the CKR loan signing was the one to make up for best's injury.
MxMave
says...
12:32pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:Best is much stronger physically. It will allow us to play a front 2 with 1 in the hole (ruben or nuno). Failing that if we play 1 up-top at least it gives Rhodes some cover for when the schedule gets thick.
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
I think CKR was brought in as the replacement for Best. You can't really say we dont need a second striker because we have one decent one. Outside of Rhodes, who else do we have in that position? CKR? *LAUGH*, Nuno 25mins Gomez and the unproven Goodwillie. What happens when Rhodes gets injured? Our season would take an absolute hammering.
I just hope Berg has the balls to play 2 up top.
ChrisDeBerg
says...
12:38pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:Rhodes was bought as an emergency quality striker to replace Best, yes, although tactically it was a different buy than Best for what he would bring to the table (Kean did not plan any tactics I'd imagine, just knew he'd scored lots of goals).
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
Rhodes is a striker that needs feeding with quick 'shootable' passes in good positions, he does not play as well playing with his back to goal, although this is something he has been working on improving.
Best plays well as a target man, he can feed good passes through defences and also has a reasonably good finish too.
In my opinion he is the perfect front man with Rhodes still leaving Nuno as a sub posibility. With Rochina sitting behind them both in a loose playing position (which is how Berg seems to be going with Rochina), we have by far the best striking force in the championship... In my eyes, a good quality striking force even for the premiership??
RTID
Road Runner Road Runner
says...
1:18pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Hunger and desire in fighting for that coveted position.
Bests impending return is what the strikers in our club want to see keep them on their toes to perform.
More quality is never enough !
Arte et labore
French Rover
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1:19pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Terrier man wrote:yes Best being fit will give the team a massive boost at the right time of the season. Imagine being a championship defender and having to play against Rhodes and Best....it would be a hard afternoon for any defense I think.
He could be like a big new January signing.
CKR could be on his way out during the Jan window if Best is fit by then.
merlinrabbit
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1:37pm Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener wrote:Yeh isnt it funny how none of these clubs have given him a job? Bet he threw his hat in for Bolton, Burnley, Blackpool Ipswich and Accy. What a prat he is.
Can't understand why Kean isn't top of the list for Chelsea. David Moyes, Sir Alex think he is the best thing since sliced bread. So they should be snapping his hand off!
True_Blue
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2:40pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
True_Blue
says...
2:40pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
True_Blue
says...
2:41pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
A Darener
says...
2:46pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Harwoodstblue
says...
3:02pm Wed 21 Nov 12
True_Blue wrote:Hi True Blue, did anything ever make sense with Venkys though ?
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
Iiii1111
says...
3:51pm Wed 21 Nov 12
True_Blue wrote:do you really think if Best had been fit and scoring goals this regime would have forked out 8m for a player?......oh, the 8m fee was inflated for Rovers benefit because they were desperate....no other team would entertain Huddersfield valuation.
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
If Best had been playing/scoring any monies spent would have been used to strengthen the team in other departments……but
, no way would they have spent 8million…….let
s all get real…the Rhodes signing was a last ditch panic signing….thankfull
y the lad looks good and the fee looks more reasonable now…..more good luck than good management on Venkeys part.
realisticrovers
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4:56pm Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener wrote:Does it really matter??
The question is would they have bought Rhodes if Best had not been Injured?
A Darener
says...
5:15pm Wed 21 Nov 12
realisticrovers wrote:Very true. All we want is for both of them turn out to be the best players the club have ever had.
A Darener wrote:Does it really matter??
The question is would they have bought Rhodes if Best had not been Injured?
CheltRover
says...
6:08pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Bangkok Rover wrote:Yes, compare this with Bradley Orr-ful's press release about not being in the team.
Good attitude Leon - really looking forward to you making an impact in the 2nd half of the season.
CheltRover
says...
6:13pm Wed 21 Nov 12
Iiii1111 wrote:Blindly you can make a negative out of having Rhodes and best in the squad? Bet you are popular at parties.
True_Blue wrote:do you really think if Best had been fit and scoring goals this regime would have forked out 8m for a player?......oh, the 8m fee was inflated for Rovers benefit because they were desperate....no other team would entertain Huddersfield valuation.
Iiii1111 wrote:sorry not with you on that one....so they spend 3mil on best then splash out 8mil on rhodes as his replacement dunt quite make sense tbh
was Rhodes not bought to replace Best.....same position! Both good players but Rhodes wouldn’t be at Rovers if it wasn’t Best’s injury…………..
not sure if both together will work.
If Best had been playing/scoring any monies spent would have been used to strengthen the team in other departments……but
, no way would they have spent 8million…….let
�
�s all get real…the Rhodes signing was a last ditch panic signing….thankfull
y the lad looks good and the fee looks more reasonable now…..more good luck than good management on Venkeys part.
blueblooded
says...
6:15pm Wed 21 Nov 12
When you look at the quality in the squad, the bench, it makes you realise how
much we lacked in a decent tactician now that we have a decent manager.
Best up front with Rhodes is a mouth watering thought. But I still want to see a team which features the Vukmeister more regularly than warming the bench. Also think CK-R should only be for injuries, he's clearly talented but not a team player. Sad, I had high hopes for him in the Rovers shirt.
Berg's Blue and White Army... COYB!
blueette
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7:30pm Wed 21 Nov 12
kazluvsrovers
says...
10:44pm Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener wrote:Hey Darener, couldn't agree with you more, quite a few managers were quick enough to call the Rovers fans and get behind Kean, none of them are bothered about him now!!!
Can't understand why Kean isn't top of the list for Chelsea. David Moyes, Sir Alex think he is the best thing since sliced bread. So they should be snapping his hand off!
kazluvsrovers
says...
10:45pm Wed 21 Nov 12
A Darener wrote:Hey Darener, couldn't agree with you more, quite a few managers were quick enough to call the Rovers fans and get behind Kean, none of them are bothered about him now!!!
Can't understand why Kean isn't top of the list for Chelsea. David Moyes, Sir Alex think he is the best thing since sliced bread. So they should be snapping his hand off!
bburnrover
says...
8:38am Thu 22 Nov 12
The media including radio presenters should reflect on what they say because it was them that turned the rest of the fans against us in our treatment of Kean even though they all knew like us that the owners were cowboys who have no idea how to operate a coconut shay never mind a football club.The main people who said things in ignorance were Talk Sport presenters A Brazil and R Aranni .Harry Redknapp.Colin Hendry the Daily Mirror sports writer ,Sky sports presenters mainly the ones who used to be users etc etc I wonder if any of them think about Kean for any of the vacancies that arise I very much doubt it.
Dan11
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5:12pm Thu 22 Nov 12
Terrier man says...
10:33am Wed 21 Nov 12