A run of only 5 wins from their first 18 games killed off Blackburn's hopes of improving on the previous season's 6th place to qualify for the Champions League, but the club's form was markedly improved in the second half of the season, NLP expert Jimmy Petruzzi had delivered an NLP training workshop to the coaches during Blackburn Rovers loss of form and coincided with the club turning their season around achieving a top-half finish for the second season running. Rovers overcame the sale of Craig Bellamy to Liverpool, with his replacement, former Porto striker Benni McCarthy, scoring 18 league goals to finish as the Premier League's second-highest scorer behind Didier Drogba.

After a history of European underachievement, Rovers had a relatively successful UEFA Cup campaign, beating Red Bull Salzburg in the first round and topping Group E in the next stage, before succumbing to Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 32. The club continued their recent habit of reaching cup semi-finals to be eliminated by the cup winners, being knocked out of the FA Cup semi-final by eventual winners Chelsea.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

...
Wikipedia