*Evergreen Dublin defies the doubters*

Dion Dublin was so out of favour towards the end of last season that Aston Villa’s manager Graham Taylor sent the striker out on loan to Millwall in the hope that he would like life with the Lions so much that they would be daft enough to take him off the Villa Park wage bill.

But after two goals here swelled Dublin’s Premiership haul to nine in 12 matches, he might feel justified in sitting close to his phone on Saturday night in the expectation that Sven-Goran Eriksson will offer him a recall to the England side.

Eriksson, who was here to monitor the progress of Gareth Barry and Darius Vassell, might even have taken the opportunity to have a word with Dublin, who won the last of his four caps against the Czech Republic three years ago

With his 34th birthday approaching, he might be a bit long in the tooth for Eriksson’s kindergarten squad. But apart from James Beattie and Alan Shearer, who has retired from the international scene, there is no English-born striker in such a rich vein of scoring form.

Eriksson was just settling into his seat when Dublin rose to head home a free-kick from Joey Gudjonsson 90 seconds into the game. Just to prove that his threat is not all aerial, as some people might have thought, he cushioned a pass from Barry five minutes from half-time before drilling it past Blackburn’s goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Taylor said: “Dion has always been a leader and his attitude has been first class. I can’t see Sven picking him but if he has a problem on the left-hand side, which everyone keeps telling him he has, then I think Gareth is well worth a look.”

If Taylor can feel a certain smugness at getting what almost amounts to a new striker for nothing in Dublin, the feeling will be balanced by the embarrassment of paying £5m to replace him with the now out-of-favour Peter Crouch, who looks as though he was born to play in the NBA.

Dublin’s form apart, you would have thought that the socially active Eriksson would have better things to occupy his Sunday afternoons. The supporters of both sides certainly did, with Villa announcing a crowd of 29,171, their second-lowest attendance in the Premiership this season.

A big reason for that was doubtless the fact that fans could sit at home and watch the match on television, with the added bonus, given the quality of much of the play, of switching channels.

Even so, it is a worrying trend, suggesting that fans are beginning to adjust to the idea of football as a fireside game, freeing them from the trouble and expense of actually leaving home to support their team. Blackburn, admittedly shorn of many of their more exciting players, were a pale shadow of the side that won here 4-1 in the third round of the FA Cup last month, Barry completing their misery with a neatly taken goal that will have done nothing to harm his England chances.

Afterwards Graeme Souness, the Blackburn manager, said: “We weren’t at the races today. It was a miserable day for us but I was angry that Ronnie Johnsen tried to get our young defender James McEveley sent off. I thought he was a proper player but now he’s just another Johnny Foreigner, like so many of them.”

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*The Guardian*
Tuesday, 4 February, 2003

*Souness faces FA rap after blast at Johnsen*

The Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness could find himself in trouble with the Football Association following his verbal blast at Aston Villa defender Ronny Johnsen.

Souness has already requested a personal FA hearing after being charged following an altercation with the fourth official Matt Messias during Rovers’ Worthington Cup quarter-final win at Wigan in December which ended with the fiery Scot being sent from the dugout.

The former Liverpool manager did not hold back yesterday as he accused former Manchester United and Norway centre-back Johnsen of trying to get Rovers defender James McEveley sent off during his side’s 3-0 defeat at Villa Park.

McEveley was involved in a heavy challenge with the Villa full-back Mark Delaney, which forced the Wales international to be substituted with an ankle problem 10 minutes from time. But Souness’s wrath was directed at Johnsen after he protested about the challenge by McEveley to referee Mike Dean.

“I’m extremely upset with Johnsen,” said Souness. “I thought he was a proper player, but he wanted our young player [McEveley] to be sent off. It was two young lads going for the ball and Johnsen raced over to the ref to tell him to send our player off.

“I always thought he was a proper player, but now to me he’s just another Johnny Foreigner - and there are a few of those around.”