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The Benni McCarthy Factor…..

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Benni McCarthy, the man with two sides. One of the most technically gifted men to ever lead the Rover’s frontline, and at times, one of the most laziest. However, Sas has dug deeper, and the stats simply dont lie.

Benni McCarthy, signed from Porto in the 06-07 season for the princley sum of 3.5 million pounds, found himself in the spotlight immediately, leading the Rovers frontline. Signed as a replacement for the departed Craig Bellamy, manager Mark Hughes put faith in the man to find the goals for Rovers.

Did Benni deliver….boy did he what. In 36 starting appearances, Benni slotted 18 EPL goals. His cup form was just as good, 3 goals in the FA Cup and 3 goals in the UEFA cup showed that Benni was more then capable of scoring those goals. Then came the turning factor.

Benni was use to being the front man, the star, the man to deliver. However, in a sign of ambition and progress, another topline striker was recruited to the club, Roque Santa Cruz. It then became the Roque show, with Benni playing second fiddle to the Paraguayan. Roque notched over 20 goals, however, Benni also found his way onto the score sheet, scoring 8 from 21 games. Sure, not as prolific as his first season at Ewood, but factors need to be taken into account. He was now no longer the go to man, Roque was the new Sherriff in town. Also, of those 21 appearances, 10 were of the bench, with some less then 15 minutes…..

Last season, Benni scored more goals then what he is given credit for. 10 goals in 18 appearances, with 10 of those once again being off the bench. Underused by Paul Ince, McCarthy found new light when Sam came in, and surely, his goals were the reason we stayed up…..

Now this season Benni has only started the 1 game, but after this weekends performance surely he cant be held back any longer…..

Stats dont lie, each year, Benni has maintained a 1 in 2 goal ratio, and you know what, I’d take that from our front man every day of the week, wouldnt you??

Stats Courtesy of the Blackburn Rovers Official Website and the English Premier League official Website ( Cheers boys)

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