Guardian writers' prediction: 12th Odds to win league: 750-1
The fact that Blackburn now offer the cheapest season tickets in the Premier League may be interpreted as rare recognition by a football club of the banjaxed economy – or an even rarer admission by a football club of the gruelling fare it usually serves up. Sam Allardyce's priority has never been to entertain fans but to antagonise opponents and, after Paul Ince's brief and rocky reign at Ewood Park, he did that sufficiently to safeguard top-flight survival. It is still not clear, however, whether that achievement – hailed as "miraculous" by none other than Allardyce – was more attributable to the quality of Blackburn or the unprecedented awfulness of the relegated trio (not to mention – sod it, let's mention them – Hull and Portsmouth).
There were times when Rovers looked as shambolic under Allardyce as they had been when flopping 3–0 at Wigan in what turned out to be Ince's sack-sealer; in the miserable defeats at Anfield and the Britannia, for example, they didn't so much play as projectile-vomit. And the only virtue they needed in the vital home wins over Newcastle, Portsmouth and Wigan was the ability to accept gifts from diffident or deranged opponents. That, in fairness, was progress, which, given the club's wretched injury list, was commendable.
But Blackburn did occasionally ascend beyond being merely robustly organised and carried the sort of classy, high-powered menace that Allardyce's Bolton eventually attained – the victory at Fulham in March was as merited as it was surprising, while they deserved much more than a draw after lording it over the widely lauded West Ham later that month and, of course, were dreadfully unlucky to lose 2–1 at Manchester United after playing with admirable steel and a slickness that belied the Allardyce cliché.
Blackburn, then, clearly have some quality, which should be boosted by last night's signings of Chelsea's Franco Di Santo on loan and Nikola Kalinic for £12m from Hajduk Split. Allardyce's challenge is to coax it from them consistently. When the likes of David Dunn, Steven Reid and Brett Emerton are injured, they can't withstand being further hampered by off-days from Benni McCarthy, Jason Roberts, Vince Grella, El Hadji Diouf and Morten Gamst Pedersen.
Keith Andrews gradually emerged as a solid midfielder with a handy eye for goal but, in truth, only four players regularly excelled last season and they were all defenders – encouragingly for this term, the erstwhile loanee Gaël Givet has been secured on a permanent basis and may be deployed at left-back, allowing the zippy Stephen Warnock to shift into midfield, where he has thrived in pre-season. Ryan Nelson and Christopher Samba will continue to serve as formidably forthright central defenders. A new addition to that quartet is the right-back Lars Jacobsen, who in his fleeting appearances for Everton last season looked sound defensively and a useful bustler going forward. He could prove a shrewd free signing. Paul Robinson still suffers mishaps in goal but not frequently enough to make a new keeper an urgent requirement. Having failed to score in 40% of their matches last season, the team's most pressing need was a new striker, which Allardyce seems now to have addressed with Di Santo and Kalinic.
High morale, we are constantly told, is crucial if a team are to succeed, particularly if that team are coming off the back of a harrowing campaign and particularly if that team prefer a brand of football considered crude. Allardyce, then, will probably feel that the fixture list gives Blackburn a chance to build valuable momentum and support. Manchester City will likely still be in a muddle when they arrive for rugged treatment on the first day. Victory in that, allied to eight points from the next four games (Fulham, Sunderland, West Ham and Wolves), would probably set Blackburn up for a comfortable season – any more than that and Allardyce's talk of a Europa League place may not seem quite as outlandish as it does now. A bad start, however, would likely be compounded by a hellish October, when Blackburn must travel to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. The only home match that month is the long-awaited derby against Burnley. Lose that after a bad run and Blackburn's sights will be adjusted downwards. And there's only so long supporters will tolerate being a poor man's Stoke, no matter how much the ticket.
In: Lars Jacobsen (Everton, free), Steven N'Zonzi (Amiens, undisclosed), Gaël Givet (Marseille, £3.5m), Nikos Giannakopoulos (Asteras, £5,000), Elrio van Heerden (Bruges, free), Franco Di Santo (Chelsea, loan), Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split, £12m)
Out: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City, £17.5m), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos, £3m), Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth, free), Dean Winnard (Accrington, free), Andreas Arestidou (Shrewsbury, free), Jamie Clarke (Lincoln, free), Tony Kane (Carlisle, free), Keith Treacy (Sheffield United, loan)
