Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce should not be underestimated in the job he has done at Ewood Park since he took over. That is the opinion of Rovers Paul Robinson who was full of praise for his manager following the impressive performance in taking a point of ‘crisis club’ Manchester United.

Allardyce took over at a club struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League but they now sit in comfortable mid table and can look to next season with optimism. That is no small amount down to the influence of the former Newcastle and Bolton boss.

“It has been some turn around in a fairly short space of time hasn’t it?” said the former England man, “I think that’s down to the manager. You have got to give him a lot of credit”. Whilst not a universally welcomed choice to succeed Paul Ince, fans would much prefer to be looking down the league towards their rivals and looking up towards the fight for a European spot than looking up towards safety. Indeed, Robinson believes that next campaign could bring even greater rewards. “I definitely believe the club is heading in only one direction now, and that’s upwards.”

Allardyce has introduced a number of new faces to Rovers and he doesn’t intend to stop now. He is currently being linked with a possible move for Pompey defender Ben Tal Haim who may be available in the summer given Portsmouth’s financial problems. The Israeli international is reportedly on Sam’s shopping list having been the one who originally brought the star to England with Bolton.