Winning Start For Tomasson As He Adds More New Recruits

All eyes were on Ewood Park at the weekend, with both Blackburn Rovers and QPR having new managers in their respective dugouts. But, it was the home side and Jon Dahl Tomasson who came out on top, with Rovers winning 1-0 against Michael Beale’s outfit.

When Tony Mowbray departed Ewood Park after the conclusion of the 2021/22 Championship campaign, it took the club a while to land the Scot’s replacement, with the likes of Carlos Carvalhal heavily linked with the job. But in the end, the Lancashire-based side opted to hire former Newcastle United and Milan striker Tomasson, as a new era at the club dawns.

The drawn-out affair of finding a new manager to take Blackburn forward led to the club falling behind in the transfer market. And, after losing key men in Darragh Lenihan and Joe Rothwell, who joined Middlesbrough and Bournemouth, respectively, it was crucial for the club to get to work on strengthening the squad, with the aim being to finish in the top six this season.

Callum Brittain was the first significant arrival of the Tomasson era at Ewood Park, and the right back went straight into the starting eleven on Saturday, helping the team to a clean sheet on matchday one of the new campaign. And now Tomasson has followed up the signing of Brittain by adding Sammie Szmodics, an attacking midfielder from Peterborough United in a deal worth in the region of £2.5 million, as well as Liverpool youngster Tyler Morton on loan.

Both players who operate in midfield will compete with the likes of John Buckley, Adam Wharton, Ryan Hedges and Lewis Travis for starting berths in Tomasson’s 4231 system. But, Szmodics and Morton are unlikely to displace Hedges and Travis any time soon, as the two linked up before Travis unleashed a long-range effort that secured the victory against QPR at the weekend.

Blackburn were going great guns for large periods last season with Mowbray at the helm, but their form fell away, and they ended up missing out on the top six. So, it’s now up to Tomasson to enable the club to take the next step. In recent times, they’ve struggled without the services of Ben Brereton-Diaz, who was deployed in a wide left position by his new manager, with Jack Vale playing through the middle.

And, with clubs keen to take Brereton-Diaz, who is now in his final year at Ewood Park, it remains to be seen whether the Chile international will continue to ply his trade for the Lancashire outfit. Or if a move to the Premier League or even La Liga materialises. Losing Brereton-Diaz, who scored twenty-one goals in the Championship last term, would be a hammer blow for Blackburn and Tomasson, and it would push the top six dream further into the distance unless the money they get for their star man is reinvested.