sport news Jon Dahl Tomasson tells it like it is - as his Blackburn side hunt promotion ... trends now
The list of Jon Dahl Tomasson’s former team-mates reads like a Who’s Who of football but the Blackburn boss is aiming to outstrip them all as he makes rapid progress up the coaching ladder.
Tomasson played in six countries, winning eight trophies, including the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003, and is Denmark’s leading goalscorer with 52 in 112 games. In Italy he counted Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Andrea Pirlo, Cafu and Kaka as colleagues.
Now the Dane is adapting to life on the touchline impressively. In his first season in English football, Tomasson has Blackburn in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League against rivals with greater financial resources.
And they are one step away from Wembley. Beat Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday and Tomasson will lead his side out, 25 years after his one season at Newcastle ended with defeat by Arsenal there in the final.
He did not play against the Gunners but Tomasson’s time on Tyneside, where he scored four goals in 35 games, was the exception in a stellar career.
As a coach, he won league titles with Sweden’s Malmo in 2020 and 2021 and now, after a short hiatus, has moved to Blackburn. He arrived with big plans but it all starts with a simple principle.
Jon Dahl Tomasson has big plans for his Blackburn side in his first season in English football
The Blackburn manager (pictured in 1997) played for seven clubs and the Danish national team
‘You’re not going to win anything with stupid players,’ he explains to Sportsmail at Rovers’ Ribble Valley training base. ‘The Milan side I played in was excellent — the best in the world — but also extremely intelligent.
‘If as a player you keep your ears and eyes open, you will learn. I’m concrete about what I want, what
