Adam shows Shear class
BIG TIME BECKONS
IT’S not the first time a Geordie striker has set Blackburn Rovers fans’ pulses racing with an avalanche of goals.
Alan Shearer, who helped Kenny Dalglish’s side be crowned Premier League champions in 1995, is a hard act to follow but Adam Armstrong is having a real go.
He might be small in stature – just 5ft 8in – but the 23-year-old Tynesideborn forward has big hopes for Tony Mowbray’s side as they look to reclaim a spot amongst the elite.
And Kevin Gallacher, part of Rovers’ halcyon days sharing the striking duties with Shearer and Chris Sutton, believes Armstrong is a vital component in any promotion ambitions.
Rovers face Middlesbrough on Teesside today with Armstrong having struck 16 goals in 23 Championship games so far this season, equalling his return of the previous league campaign.
It is a prolific sequence which is attracting interest from the Premier League, with West Ham boss David Moyes an admirer.
Gallacher said: “He’s a key man for this campaign.
You have got to chase clubs away. I know, like most clubs, Blackburn need finances to keep them rolling.
“Every Premier League club is looking for goalscoring strikers.
“Blackburn have a natural who knows where the goal is and he needs to stay for the club to have a chance of reaching the play-offs.
“He’s been on fire this season. There are some days when you think he’s not doing it and then suddenly the ball falls in the box and he scores.
“It has taken him a little while. At first he was played as a wide forward because of his pace. Tony Mowbray’s dilemma was he had Bradley Dack scoring goals alongside Danny Graham.
“It was a case of playing him wide or not playing him at all.
“He has the pace to get behind players. But then he was probably only scoring one goal in five or six games.
“You weren’t seeing for me the real Adam Armstrong. But he did learn from it to make him a stronger player. With the injury to Dack they changed the system a bit and, wow, what a turnaround.”
It would take a bid in the region of £25million for Armstrong to even prompt a conversation with Mowbray and the Rovers board.
The club are already in talks about a new contract with his current deal having just 18 months to run. Mowbray said: “He’s a brilliant finisher and very natural off both feet.
“He’s really fast with electric speed from a standing start. Obviously anyone scoring goals regularly at this level will attract interest.”
Mowbray first brought a raw teenager who was struggling for playing time with Newcastle United to Coventry when he was in charge there.
Armstrong had joined his hometown club as a nine-year-old and been given his debut by Alan Pardew at the age of 17.
Pardew said: “I’ve given debuts to a few good 17-year-olds – Mark Noble, Jonjo Shelvey, Alex OxladeChamberlain. Adam had that kind of potential.”