One of the rare times on Saturday that Blackburn was able to offer Arsenal resistance.

It is possible for a 4-0 road win to be unimpressive, even in the Premier League, but given Arsenal’s talent an Blackburn’s lack of quality on Saturday, the four goal win for the visitors was no less than should be expected.  Despite Emmanuel Adebayor’s hat-trick and a Theo Walcott performance that carried over some of his mid-week international form, Arsenal’s poor play at the back provided Blackburn with enough opportunities to give Gunners’ supporters pause.  While the dominant final score helped Arsenal ensure their shock upset at Fulham was just an aberration, Arsène Wenger’s team continued to show a weakness in center back that distinguishes them from the other Premier League contenders.

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Today, Tottenham received the first yields from the Robbie Keane sale when David Bentley agreed to move from Blackburn to White Hart Lane.  Having agreed to terms with the Rovers today, Spurs have scheduled a media conference for Thursday to unveil their new midfielder.

The price for the 23-year-old England international is expected to be £18 million.

Shortly before new manager Paul Ince was hired at Ewood Park, Bentley had handed in a request to be transferred.  Tottenham was immediatelly linked with the wantaway midfielder though their initial inquiries failed to meet Blackburn’s evaluation.  When Ince was unable to convince Bentley to say with the Rovers and Spurs sold Keane to Liverpool, Bentley’s transfer to Tottenham looked all but assured.

On Thursday, Bentley will be welcomed to the club, where he will play on the right side of a midfield led by attacking midfielder Luka Modric, another summer acquisition.  Along the right side he will be expected to link up with prospect striker Giovani Dos Santos, who was acquired from Barcelona last month.

After spending his early professional career training at Arsenal, Bentley moved to Blackburn in 2005, making his initial loan permanent one season later.  He made 132 career appearances for the Rovers over three years, occasionally seeing time in the middle of the pitch in edition to his customary right side.  He totalled 20 goals and 27 assists while working his way into the England men’s national team, for whom he’s made six appearances over the last year-and-a-half.

The rumors of the Bentley acquisition heated up after Liverpool confirmed the signing of Robbie Keane.   Spurs are said to remain in the market for a striker, a potential replacement for the wantaway Dimitar Berbatov.  Andrei Arshavin’s Zenit St. Petersburg club is said to be negotiating with Tottenham regarding a potential sale, while Valencia’s David Villa and Fluminense’s Thiago Neves continue to be linked with the club.

Former American international goalkeeper Brad Friedel completed his move from Blackburn to Aston Villa in what is likely to be the long stop in the 37-year-old’s distinguished club career.  After eight seasons with the Rovers, Friedel moves from Ewood Park for £2.5 million, completing a transfer the goalie had requested last week.   After Blackburn acquired former England international Paul Robinson from Tottenham, Friedel was cleared by new manager Paul Ince for the move to Villa Park.   The move was completed today after Friedel and Aston Villa agreed on a three-year deal.

Aston Villa finished sixth last season, one spot above Blackburn, and had been looking all summer for a replacement for Scott Carson, who moved to West Bromwich Albion after being returned to Liverpool after his Villa loan expired.  Friedel became available recently when he requested to move from Ewood Park in the wake of former manager Mark Hughes’s departure for Manchester City, where Friedel had also been removed to move.  Whereas City’s Joe Hart would have provided competition for the starting spot at City, Friedel will be assumed the starter for Martin O’Neill’s side.

Friedel will serve in front of fellow American Brad Guzan, provided the recently-acquired former Chivas USA star secures his work permit.

With Aston Villa’s Intertoto Cup victory today over Danish side Odense, Friedel one step closer to playing European soccer again, with Villa now through to second-round UEFA Cup qualifying.  Friedel had played in the UEFA Cup in the last two seasons with Blackburn, though he stood to be left out this season after Blackburn’s seventh place finish failed to qualify them for continental soccer.

Friedel leaves Rovers having made 356 career appearances with the club, including playing in every Premier League match for the club over the last four seasons.  Aston Villa is Friedel’s third Premiership side, having played for Liverpool for three seasons before shifting to Ewood Park.

Valencia striker and Spain international David Villa, the pre-Arshavin star of Euro 2008, has adjusted his Premiership aims to match his increased profile. Where he was once close to joining Juande Ramos at Tottenham, Villa is now linked with two of the league’s big four: Chelsea and Liverpool. The 26-year-old striker has admitted interest in both clubs, saying the sides “are both big clubs with lots of attraction.”

Chelsea’s place in the Villa conversation is obligatory. They are linked with every high-profile name in the transfer market. Liverpool, however, is the logical choice, with Rafa Benitez, Spain partner Fernando Torres, and a perceived need to add another threat in the attack.

The only problem with the Liverpool scenario is money. Benitez is still on a limited budget, and Villa would cost at least £20 million. There are, however, indications that Benitez’s financial limitations may be easing.

Reports surfaced last week that owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are patching up the contentious relationship that overshadowed Liverpool’s season. Partly due to this infighting, Benitez’s transfer budget has remained static for the last year-and-a-half.  Meanwhile, player wages and transfer fees have increased with league revenues. This stalemate has contributed to the perception that Liverpool is falling behind the other big four Premier League clubs. While players like Gareth Barry and David Villa are linked with Anfield, Benitez has not been able to finalize any deals, insisting that he must sell players before he can buy.  This has fueled the speculation and urgency surrounding the transfers Xavi Alfonso and Peter Crouch, amongst other Liverpool players.

One of those other Liverpool players, John Arne Riise, has agreed on a move to AS Roma. Roma will give Liverpool around £4 million as a fee for the left back, whose departure from Anfield was guaranteed after the Champions League semifinals. In a class move, club owners and coaches used the Norwegian’s departure as an opportunity to remind Liverpool fans of Riise’s contributions to the club.

With the club owners making peace, more transfer funds may become available, but until the boardroom hatchets are fully buried, the sales of Alonso and Crouch - along with the sales of pieces like Riise - will be crucial to Benitez’s restocking the club.

The main bidder for Crouch, Portsmouth, has seen their £9 million bid rejected. Crouch, who is entering the last season of his deal, has told Rafa Benitez that he wants to move on.  The lanky strike is concerned about playing time with the club and his status on the England national team. Benitez’s move to a one striker, Torres-led attack last season saw Crouch relegated to the bench last season.  Crouch wishes to move to a club where he can have a consistent place among the starting XI.

While Liverpool’s tactical change could motivate Benitez to sell Crouch, increased transfer funds from the boardroom may allow Benitez to keep Crouch. Even if those funds aren’t made available, Benitez alues Crouch at closer to £15 million, a price Pompey boss Harry Redknapp will not meet.

With Crouch out of his reach, Redknapp has expressed interest in teammate Yossi Benayoun. Benayoun is also on Manchester City’s wishlist, though he says he has no interest in moving from Anfield. Should Benitez elect to sell the Israel international, Benayoun could fetch Liverpool up to £6 million.

In the meantime, Spain’s run to the Euro 2008 semifinals has hindered Juventus and Liverpool’s ability to finalize the Xavi Alonso transfer. Though he has said he wishes to concentrate on the European Championships, Alonso has spoken throughout the tournamen of his admiration for Juventus. Being Benitez’s most valuable player to sell, the midfielder is likely to go to Le Zebre shortly after Spain ends their run. The £14 to £16 million Benitez gets from the sale, combined with a few million pounds from Liverpool, will go into Martin O’Neill’s pocket at Aston Villa, ending the prolonged and now predictable Gareth Barry-to-Anfield saga.

The Alonso and Barry dominos are also affecting Liverpool’s play for Newcastle winger James Milner. Milner spent last season on loan to Aston Villa. Now returned to Newcastle, he does not fit with Kevin Keegan’s plans. As with Barry, Benitez and O’Neill are tussling over Milner, with the Aston Villa boss eager to reacquire the 22-year-old. If O’Neill is willing to pay the rumored £8 million he’s say to have offered Newcastle, Benitez will be priced out.

With the Barry negotiations dragging out, Liverpool back-up plans have started popping-up in the news. Midfielder Rafeal van der Vaart’s performance for Holland in Euro 2008 has seen his name linked to Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. Speculation holds the Reds will jump into the Hamburg midfielder sweepstakes should Martin O’Neill continue to raise Barry’s price. Likewise, Blackburn midfielder David Bentley has seen his name attached to Anfield after handing in his transfer request last week.

Both of these names will disappear from Liverpool rumors if and when the Barry transfer is completed. Until some finality is reached in that negotiation, van der Vaart and Bentley will remain back-up plans for Benitez, who has targeted Barry all summer.

Another Liverpool back-up plan that’s emerged from Europe is Ivica Olic. The hyperactive Croatian forward, also playing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga, scored in his team’s group stage upset of Germany. He will be an option for Benitez should David Villa not come to Anfield. Olic has scored 21 goals in 48 games since moving to Hamburg from CSKA Moscow in January 2007. If he were to go to Liverpool, Olic and right wing Dirk Kuyt would combine to form the most active winger tandem in the league, sure to get under the skin of every back line in the Premiership.

Paul Ince has been named the new manager at Blackburn. The Rovers announced yesterday that they have hired Ince, who had been the manager with the Milton Keys Dons, to a three-year deal.

Ince takes over for the departed Mark Hughes, Blackburn’s previous manager who left Ewood Park for Manchester City on June 4. Ince had been mentioned with the job since its opening but was considered a fringe contender before the favorites, former Rover captain Alan Shearer and former Bolton and Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce, removed their names from consideration. The final obstacle in between Ince and the Blackburn job, a lack of a UEFA Pro License, was cleared last last week as both the League Managers’ Association and the Premier League give their blessings to the hiring.

The 40-year-old Ince takes over a Rover side that finished seventh in the Premiership, missing out on a UEFA Cup spot thanks to teams outside the league’s top seven winning automatic births from domestic cup competitions. His first job will be to try and keep one of the club’s key players, midfielder David Bentley, at Ewood Park. Bentley has been linked to Tottenham (amongst other clubs) after handing in a transfer request, saying his time at Blackburn was up and he wanted to move on to a club that would be playing in Europe. Blackburn chief executive John Williams has said it would be Ince’s decision on whether Bentley’s request will be granted.

Ince may also faces a design on striker Roque Santa Cruz. The Paraguayan, who led the club with 23 goals in all competitions, has drawn interest from other clubs a year after moving to Blackburn from Bayern Munich.

As a midfielder, Ince played fourteen seasons in England’s top leagues, appearing for West Ham, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton and most notably Manchester United, making him the second consecutive United progeny to lead the Rovers. For United, Ince make 206 appearances over six seasons, scoring 24 goals. He also spent two season with Internazionale in Serie A before returning to England in 1999 for Middlesbrough. He was a member of two Premiership and two FA Cup winning teams.

Ince also enjoyed a distinguished career for the England, registering 53 caps from 1992 to 2000 and playing in the 1998 World Cup. For seven of those appearances, Ince served as team captain.

Ince has two seasons of managerial experience. Last season with Milton Keys and 2006-07 with Macclesfield Town. For Macclesfield Town, he helped climb out of last and avoid relegation from League Two after joining them two months into the season. For 2007-08, he moved to the MK Dons and won League Two, earning his club promotion. MK Dons also won the Johnson’s Paint Trophy, given to the winner of the tournament between League One and League Two squads. The Dons finished second in League Two in goals scored while allowing the fewest.

Ince had also been linked with a move to Leicester City, though Milton Keys denied their fellow League One club permission to interview him. The Dons did not stand in the way of Blackburn, saying “”we cannot deny Paul the deserved opportunity to work in the greatest League in the world.”

In addition to becoming the first black Briton to head a Premiership squad, Ince becomes the fourth of Alex Ferguson’s former players to currently lead a team in the Premiership, joining Hughes, Roy Keane (Sunderland), and Steve Bruce (Wigan). The main question as to Ince’s abilities is a lack of experience, having been a manager for less than two seasons and never above League Two. There have also been reports that have other Premiership sides unhappy that Ince was able to get a waver on his UEFA Pro License, which the League Managers Association has given him two years to obtain.

Sam Allardyce is out of the race for the Blackburn Rovers’ manager job.

Big Sam, who had interviewed with the club last week, withdrew his name from consideration amidst opposition from the club’s fans. Having led the Bolton Wanderers for eight seasons, Allardyce felt his association with the Rover rivals would be too much for the club’s supporters to overcome.  Beyond the association with the rival wanderers, Allardyce’s defensive style of football has been criticized by Rover fans who would like to see their club playing a more positive brand of soccer.

Currently in Qatar covering Euro 2008, Allardyce had been considered the favorite to land the Blackburn job since former manager Mark Hughes left the position for Manchester City two weeks ago. He because the sole favorite when former Rover captain and current BBC pundit Alan Shearer declined to be considered for the position.

With Allardyce withdrawn from consideration, Paul Ince - the current manager with MK Dons - is the overwhelming favorite to get the position.

Former England MNT boss Steve McClaren, who had been a candidate for the position, is also out of consideration after formally accepting the managerial position with the Eredivisie’s FC Twente. The Dutch club job had been offered to McLaren last week, though the former Middlesbrough boss delayed a decision to stay in consideration for the Blackburn job.

Michael Laudrup, who left La Liga side Getafe after their season, is now a candidate for the Blackburn position after his deal with Greek club Panathinaikos broke down during contract negotiations. Formerly linked with the openings at Barcelona and Chelsea, Laudrup’s name appeared on the Rover radar when Williams flew to Europe to interview a previously unmentioned candidate, now known to be the retired Danish attacker.

Ince is still considered the strong favorite, especially after the League Managers’ Association said they would raise no objection to the hiring of Ince despite the former Manchester United midfielder not having a UEFA Pro License. The Premier League could still block Ince’s hiring based on the lack of the credential but is not expected to do.  The league allowed Middlesbrough to hire Gareth Southgate, who also lacked the certification, two seasons ago when the club replaced McLaren.

The first task of whomever is hired at Ewood will be deciding on the transfer request of midfielder David Bentley, who this weekend informed the club of his desire to move.  The club also faces the prospect of losing leading goal scorer Roque Santa Cruz, who has received interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.

Rover chief executive John Williams said earlier this week that he hoped to have a coach named by the weekend, leading to speculation that Ince is close to being hired.

In this summer’s second major blow to the Rovers, Blackburn midfielder David Bentley has handed in a transfer request at Ewood Park. The 23-year-old midfielder is looking to move to a club that will be playing in the Champions League, saying “I believe I have done as much as I can at the club.”

Rumors of Bentley’s intentions intensified after manager Mark Hughes moved from Blackburn to Manchester City, though speculation about Bentley’s aspirations has existed for some time. Tottenham has been previously linked with the winger, as has Liverpool, though his official request for transfer will likely bring other clubs into play. Speculation holds Manchester City and Chelsea to be amongst. His price is expected to be just short of what Aston Villa gets for Gareth Barry, who is over three years older.

Bentley has made his trade on the right wing for Blackburn, though he also has the ability to play through the middle. In 37 Premier League matches this season, he scored nine goals. He scored eleven overall in 46 matches, and over this three years with the Rovers has posted 27 goals in 132 all-competition appearances. He has become one of the best in the Premiership at providing service from the right, on set-pieces or otherwise. Those skills led Bentley into an informal competition for a starting spot on the English MNT with David Beckham; a competition which, to date, he has lost.

Though he has not beat out Beckham for a starting spot under new England coach Fabio Capello, Bentley has made six appearances for the national team, including his first start on February 8 in a friendly a Switzerland.

Bentley moved to Blackburn in 2006 after being trained at Arsenal, having already spent one year with Rovers on loan.

Blackburn continues to be without a manager since Hughes left for Manchester City, though Bentley has said the vacant post has not bearing on his decision.

“I discussed things with [Hughes] then and the chairman. Their (Blackburn’s) situation has changed but mine hasn’t. I need to be pushing on and that’s what I’ll be looking to do.”

Bentley is considered one of the three key players in Blackburn’s surprisingly strong finish in the Premiership. He, striker Roque Santa Cruz, and goaltender Brad Friedel led the Rovers to seventh place, which would normally qualify the team for a spot in the UEFA Cup. Their and Aston Villa’s spots went to Carling Cup winner Tottenham and FA Cup winner Portsmouth, who earned automatic bids into Europe, taking two of the league’s three UEFA Cup slots (Everton, finishing fifth, gained the other). Blackburn qualified for Europe last season via the Intertoto Cup, for which they did not qualify this season.

With the Chelsea FC position being filled earlier today, the managerial rumor mill shifts its focus to the Blackburn Rover opening.

Since Mark Hughes’s departure for Manchester City last week, two candidates had emerged as early favorites to win the job at Ewood Park.  Sam Allardyce, former manager at Bolton and Newcastle, continues to be considered while club legend Alan Shearer has withdrawn himself from consideration.

Shearer, who led the club to a Premiership title in 1994-95, is currently working as a commentator for the BBC at Euro 2008.  Upon being contacted by Rover chief executive John Williams, Shearer “politely declined” to be considered for the hire, citing his position with the BBC.

A former Rover captain, Shearer had been the fans’ favorite to replace Hughes.  His refusal to be included leaves Allardyce as the favorite, with BK Dons’ Paul Ince, former English MNT manager Steve McClaren, former Chelsea coach Henk ten Cate, and former Rover Henning Berg as the remaining candidates.  Dick Advocaat of Zenit St. Petersburg has has been less-substantially linked with the position.  Of those candidates, only Allardyce has been contacted by Williams.

The Rover job remains open amidst reports that stars David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz may leave Ewood Park.  Today, interest in Santa Cruz from Arsene Wagner and Arsenal was reported, coupling previous reports that the Paraguayan would be a target of Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.

While he had previously said his search for a replacement would be deliberate, Williams may now be faced with having to replace the popular Hughes sooner rather than later in order to start addressing the potential exodus.  Allardyce, working in Qatar as an analyst during Euro 2008, is said to be scheduled for an interview next week.

Multiple sources confirm that Middlesbrough have made an offer to Eredivisie side Heerenveen for the services of United States’ midfielder Michael Bradley.

While Everton continue to ponder a move for either Bradley or Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson, Middlebrough has made an offer of £3.2 million to Heerenveen, a club they have dealt with before in their acquisition of striker Afonso Alves last season.  Gareth Southgate’s side is thin in midfield and target Bradley as one of a couple of major acquisitions to bolster their team and fill the shoes of departed Dutch international George Boateng.

While Bradley, in an interview for FIFA’s web site, did not specifically comment on the Middlesbrough or Everton rumors, he did address the increased speculation that he will find his way to the Premiership for next season’s campaign.

“I’d love to play in the Premier League,” he told FIFA.com. “I’m aware of the rumors currently going around, and hopefully something will work out on that score.

“It would take a little bit of time to adjust, but I’m confident that I could adapt and do well.”

Bradley has also been linked with a move to Blackburn, Newcastle, Sundlerland, Bolton or West Ham.  A move to the Bundeliga also remains in the picture, with clubs Werder Bremen and Stuttgart being previously cited.