Allardyce - No Kalinic rush

Rovers boss allowing striker to adjust to English football

By Elliot Ball   Last updated: 9th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Allardyce - No Kalinic rush

Kalinic: Long-term investment

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Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has identified Andriy Shevchenko's Premier League failings as to why Nikola Kalinic has yet to get a regular run in the starting XI this season.

Rovers' £6million summer signing is not the first name that springs to mind when mentioning one of the UEFA Champions League's top goalscorers, but Allardyce insists the Ukrainian marksman's Chelsea career is the reason that his use of Kalinic has been sparing since joining.

Shevchenko went to Stamford Bridge in 2006 in a £30million move, but the former AC Milan goal machine struggled to adapt to the English top-tier and has been talked of being the biggest waste of money in the league's history.

With that in mind, Allardyce has limited Kalinic to seven substitute appearances in the Premier League this term and the Blackburn tactician is happy to play a waiting game with his 21-year-old forward to allow him to adjust to English football.

Sick

"You are sick to death of people asking, 'When is Niko going to play, when is Niko going to play?' said Allardyce of Kalinic, whose two goals for Rovers this season have come in the Carling Cup.

"That always happens at my level when you get anybody, on a free transfer or whether they were bought for £6million.

"We play them when they are ready and we expect the rest of the lads, who are experienced in the Premier League, to make sure we don't have to throw them in before they are quite ready.

"When they are ready and they go in, then they start getting the confidence they need to play in this league, because it is the hardest league in the world."

Shevchenko

Allardyce added in the Lancashire Telegraph: "I am not going to throw anyone in too early because they might never come back.

"I use the example of one of the best strikers in the world - Andrey Shevchenko.

"His confidence was destroyed because he got used before he was ready for the Premier League.

"The last thing we want when we spend £6million is for it not to work.

"It is not about working today or tomorrow, it is about working for the next four years of his contract."