Jon Dahl Tomasson is ‘proud and excited’ after being named as Rovers head coach on a three-year deal.

Rovers’ month-long search for a new boss ended with the appointment of the Danish coach on a contract through to 2025.

The 45-year-old will be joined at Ewood Park by assistant coach Remy Reijnierse and performance director Ben Rosen. Rovers will retain the services of current backroom staff David Lowe, Ben Benson and Damien Johnson.

Tomasson and Reijnierse will begin work once a work permit, and international clearance, have been approved, with the players now back for pre-season testing.

The pair worked together at Malmo, delivering back-to-back Swedish league titles before leaving at the end of 2021.

Of his appointment at Rovers, Tomasson said: “I’m really proud and excited to be taking over as head coach of Blackburn Rovers – a club with a lot of tradition and also great ambition.”

Tomasson feels he has found the right club after getting back into management following his appointment as Rovers head coach.

Tomasson left his role with Malmo six months ago, and has since been linked with a number of jobs, including Heerenveen, QPR and Hibs, before taking up Rovers’ offer to become their new head coach.

He will start work once his international clearance and work permit have been approved, with the 45-year-old excited by the challenge ahead.

He said: “Since leaving Malmo, I have been looking for the right club and I had a lot of options, but after speaking to Steve and Gregg I got a really good feeling about the club and I knew that I had found my next opportunity.

“We have a young team here, and also a great Academy, and the owners have a clear vision, which is to develop players and become a sustainable Premier League club over time, so I’m really happy to be involved in this exciting new chapter for the club.

“For a head coach, the best thing is to work with the players and the staff, to show a direction and to work together to create an environment for the staff and the players to be successful, because at the end of the day it’s about being successful, winning as many games as possible and also develop the players, the team and the club in a positive direction.”

A distinguished playing career saw Tomasson score 52 goals in 112 caps for Denmark, winning league titles with Feyenoord and AC Milan, before hanging up his boots in 2011.

His coaching career saw him work at Roda JC, Excelsior and Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie, before working for the Denmark national team for three-and-a-half years.

He then enjoyed success at Malmo, winning 46 of his 85 matches in charge, leading them to back-to-back Swedish titles and the Champions League.

But it is working in England, where he had a short spell as a player with Newcastle United in 1997/98, that remained an ambition.

He said: “I grew up watching English football, so I know all about the passion for football here and how special football fans are in England, so it’s great to come to such a big club as Blackburn Rovers and to be involved with such passionate fans and in a really good league, which the Championship is.

“It will be a great challenge, but it’s something I’m really looking forward to being a part of.”

  • Rovers have appointed two new coaches alongside the appointment of Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Tomasson will be assisted by Remy Reijnierse, while Ben Rosen has arrived as performance director and will head up the club’s fitness work.

First-team coach David Lowe, goalkeeping coach Ben Benson and first-team technical coach Damien Johnson will retain their current roles under the new management set-up having been appointed during the tenure of Tony Mowbray.

Reijnierse is a former midfielder who played in his homeland with EVV Eindhoven and FC VVV, which is where he started his managerial career in 1986.

He spent time mangaing Netherlands Under-18s and Under-20s sides, before a successful spell as assistant head coach of the Netherlands Under-21s side, who won the 2006 and 2007 European Championships.

Reijnierse has since worked as an assistant manager to Jos Luhukay at VfB Stuttgart and in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday, spending two years at Hillsborough prior to linking up with Rovers’ new head coach in Sweden.

It was there that Tomasson aligned himself with the 60-year-old, the pair helping deliver back-to-back league titles before the pair left together at the end of last season.

Completing the team is new performance director Ben Rosen.

He started his coaching career at Southampton, where he worked his way up to be first-team lead sport scientist/strength and conditioning coach, before spending six years as head of fitness at Malmo under Tomasson.

During his time with the Swedish club, Rosen also spent four years working alongside Tomasson as head fitness coach of the Denmark national team and arrives at Rovers after a two-year spell as head of fitness and conditioning at FC Copenhagen.

Born in England, Rosen is able to take up his position straight away without the need for a work permit.

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