Blackburn Rovers fans are stuck in a recurring nightmare, and it may only get worse with relegation.
Blackburn are the club- and community- which are facing having the heart ripped out of them.
Yet the tragic element of their sad tale is that very few people seem to be listening, particularly in the media, so caught up are they in Steve Kean’s against-the-odds survival as boss.
Steve Kean may have had a few bright moments since the turn of the year, with wins over relegation rivals Wolves and QPR, and before that the shock win at Old Trafford, but he really should have been axed long before Christmas.
Six defeats in seven have seen Rovers sink in the mire of the relegation zone, and it really looks like there is no way back now.
A win over Wigan this weekend will give them a chance, but hope evaporated from Ewood Park a long time ago.
Defeat to Spurs was not unexpected, but the failure to have a single shot was embarrassing for all fans, and showed the squad to be Championship standard.
That is where they are heading, and fans will dearly hope the club do not plummet like so many have before them, down into League One.
Coventry City, Southampton, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Charlton Athetic, Manchester City, and Leeds United, are all once Premier League clubs which have sunk to English football’s third tier over the years, and Blackburn could follow in their footsteps.
The Venkys are fairly secretive about the exact nature of Rovers finances and their own funding, and are believed to be balancing the club precariously already.
With the television money earned from Premier Legaue football about to disappear, problems will only get worse.
The club’s top players will likely leave, Hoilett is a certainty, while Yakubu, Hanley, and Robinson are among those likely to be snapped up.
The Venkys told the club’s local newspaper the Lancashire Telegraph today that they have no intention of leaving any time soon, a body blow to Blackburn supporters who have done their best to protest against their cack-handed management of the club.
“It is not true, we have no plans to sell the club at all.”
If the Venkys are the problem, then Steve Kean is the symptom. An inexperienced manager, out of his depth, who has won just a handful of games in one and a half seasons with the club.
Fans have been protesting to get him out since the start of the season, but the Venkys simply have not listened. Had they acted and brought in a new man with fresh ideas, perhaps Rovers wouldn’t be in this mess.
The problem is, a new man would have wanted investment to sign new players, and the owners simply are not prepared to invest. So Steve Kean has remained their puppet.
In the Championship- should they arrive there, Kean may find his marching orders before a ball is kicked. The Venkys will likely want to appease fans somewhat, and they will want an experienced head to try and get them out of the situation.
Knowing them, it will probably be Avram Grant.
image: © joncandy
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