• McArthy went AWOl as Rovers negotiated deal with West Ham
• ‘If they want something they do anything to try and get it’
Sam Allardyce delivered a farewell blast to Benni McCarthy after Blackburn Rovers agreed a fee with West Ham United to sign the South Africa striker. McCarthy has gone AWOL this week in an attempt to force through a transfer but such action may have been unnecessary after the clubs agreed a fee believed to be £2.25m.
The 32-year-old has stayed away from training for the last three days, with some reports saying he was in Spain, and his behaviour drew the ire of the Rovers manager Allardyce, who condemned McCarthy as “unprofessional” and said his conduct is symptomatic of selfishness and disloyalty shown by many players.
“What he has done is unprofessional. It shows you that the only loyalty a player has got is to himself,” Allardyce said. “This is what we deal with today in football, there’s not such a thing as loyalty as there used to be in the older days when I was a player.
“It’s a selfish attitude they have and that’s not just about Benni, that’s all players today. If they want something they do anything to try and get it,” Allardyce said, adding that McCarthy may have been badly advised. “If he is trying to manipulate a move by staying away it’s not the right thing to do. Sometimes players will get advised wrongly and I think whoever is advising him to stay away is very wrong as he’s done himself no favours.”
Blackburn have been linked with the Turkey international Yildiray Basturk from Stuttgart, Stoke’s James Beattie and Eidur Gudjohnsen, once a player with Allardyce at Bolton and now at Monaco. Allardyce hinted at interest in them, saying: “If those players are available we may start negotiations but the first thing would be to contact the club.”
McCarthy is, of course, absent from the Blackburn squad for tomorrow’s home match with Wigan and Chris Samba is suspended but David Dunn has recovered from a knock and is available. Jason Roberts also comes back into the Rovers squad, although midfielder Vince Grella is still sidelined with a thigh strain.
Allardyce wants his players to build on the form that saw them lose 6-4 in the Carling Cup semi-final to Aston Villa despite being reduced to 10 men. He added: “If we win it’s back to back victories in the Premier League and that is incredibly important.
“Wigan are a good side but we were not clinical enough when we played them before and drew 1-1, but we should have confidence to put in a good performance at home. It was very disappointing to go out of the Carling Cup at that stage but now we have only the Premier League to concentrate on.”
Sam AllardyceBlackburn RoversTransfer windowPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk
