Blackburn Rovers: fair play, or fowl?

November, 2010. A fateful date. For Blackburn Rovers FC, and from a more selfish perspective, I suppose, for Indian football. It was when the V H Group, or Venky’s, as we know them, brought Rovers for 23 million quid.

Blackburn Rovers owners Venkatesh Rao and Balaji Rao look on during the Barclays Premier League.

The takeover of a perennially overachieving club, just about staying afloat, was complete. The Indian fowl and poultry giants had managed to acquire a stake in a Premier League club, thus perhaps establishing a precedent for many other Indian companies to follow suit. It was a move that was expected to throw Indian football, and footballers, into the limelight. To perhaps, someday, provide a chance for an Indian kid to play in the Premier League. It was, to put it in a slightly, well, exaggerated fashion, a license to dream! It was also an opportunity for an Indian Corporate to set their feet on stranger shores, and to see how well their partnership with English football, in general, would work out.

Thus, when the takeover was complete and all the excitement had died down, one expected the owners to get straight to business. To bring in a few new faces to replace some of the old legs, give a boost to the existing youth systems, and generally give the club a bit of a facelift. Basically to get to business. And get to business they did. Just not in the way one expected. The rather shocking decision to give their existing manager Sam Allardyce the sack provoked typical outrage from the Rovers fans, and some rather incredulous reactions from the likes of Sir Alex and other top-flight managers. To sack a man who had a guided an underfunded club, being run on little more than a shoestring budget, to a tenth place finish in the best league on the planet, and a Carling Cup semifinal the previous year, was a feat in itself. Perhaps the owners and Big Sam did not share a common ideology on how to take the club forward. So perhaps one could let them off the hook there. But instead of appointing another equally experienced manager who had the know-how on how to extract the best out of an underfunded, overachieving team, they went on to appoint Steve Kean, a relatively unheard-of Scot, who was promoted from first-team coach to manager. Some would rather cynically point out that this was perhaps a ploy from Venky’s to cut their wage bill. Others backed the move then, hoping it would prove a master-stroke. Either way, it was a very, very controversial decision.

Fast forward to April 2012, and it became painfully obvious that Kean was, whether through his own fault or otherwise, unable to keep Blackburn from spiralling down toward that gaping abyss, the relegation zone. And then they were gone. On the seventh of May, 2012, following their loss to Wigan, Blackburn went down. Down, after eleven years spent in England‘s top flight.

One could be forgiven for wondering if Mr. Kean would retain his job for the next season. What with all the passionate cries of ‘Kean Out’, and even some cries of ‘Venky’s out’, and with the release of chickens onto the turf at Ewood park, the end seemed inevitable for Kean. A foregone conclusion, some would say. Yet,despite poor results on the field, owners Venky’s remained loyal off it, giving Kean two contract extensions and providing him with decent funds in the transfer market.

A common sight at Ewood Park, as fans protest against their former manager and club owners.

This support was in stark contradiction to what was displayed by the Rovers’ faithful. At a time when their support was most needed by their players, they were hardly in the mood to stand by their team. Frequently calling for Kean’s sacking, the fans were often accused to be the prime perpetrators of a hate culture at Ewood Park, often resulting in rallies against the management. Some would argue that the poor performance of the club on the pitch, combined with the…unnecessary, sacking of Allardyce was a contributing factor. Even so, it was clear that the fans were in no frame of mind to put up with what they were being dished out. And post-relegation, the cries for giving Kean the boot had reached fever-pitch. And yet, he stayed. And he was involved in Blackburn’s much publicized 8 million pound acquisition of Jordan Rhodes, heading into the Championship season. And with due respect to Mr.Kean, they started off well, assimilating 16 points from a possible 21.

Yet, the support, the goodwill was hardly forthcoming. Despite a decent start to the season, and despite having a squad that looked like it could easily take that step back up into the Premier League, the fans remained vengeful. This was seen in the poor attendances at Ewood Park earlier this season. Poor attendances, to revolt against the owners and the staff. These poor turnouts led to a concern over the finances available to the club, and concern over their depleting coffers. Yet the axe never fell on Kean, and Venky’s continued to trust in him, and themselves continued in their capacity as owners.

But eventually, his time was to come. And come it did. Although, again, not in the way one would expect .In the last week of September ’12, amid concerns of fan revolt, and depleting finances, Kean tendered his own resignation. And it came in a very sad, abrupt fashion. Just when one thought that things, on the pitch at least, were taking a turn for the better. And yet some accused him of chickening out (forgive the pun).

Although, for his rather graceful exit under pressure, one must cut him some slack.Indeed, his final words were,”It is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable.I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towards an automatic promotion position back to the Premiership. I wish the club all the very best for the rest of the season.”

Blackburn manager Steve Kean looks on before the Barclays Premier league game.

The fans, as expected, welcomed his resignation, and a statement from the BRFC Action Group read,“Following 654 days as manager, 373 days since the first protest, 74 matches, 37 defeats, one forfeit, one relegation, a third board of directors, three assistant managers and a community in mourning, today will go down as the day when Blackburn Rovers was liberated from the man who has brought a whole club’s supporter base to their knees with tears.” There might be an element of truth in there. Perhaps we must feel for the fans too.Or is their statement simply exaggerated? Make of it what you will.

Some would argue that his resignation has come in both too early, and too late. Too early into a long, arduous Championship campaign which must culminate in promotion, to save the club from a Portsmouth/Leeds United type of situation. And too late, because the club are no longer plying their trade against the big boys in the top flight.

The blame, of course, cannot be placed squarely on the shoulders of Kean. Perhaps it was gross mismanagement by Venky’s, and their ignorance in football related matters that put Blackburn in such a mess in the first place.

As far as the future of the former Premiership champions is concerned, one can only hope for the best. Notwithstanding the Indian connection(which, actually, may be in jeopardy itself), one does not like to see clubs like Blackburn; hard-working disciplined, and having the desire to make the best of what they have, languishing in the lower divisions. With the likes of Ian Holloway and Tim Sherwood being linked with the vacant managerial position, one can only hope that the club gets back on its feet again, and soon.Because whoever steps in to fill the vacancy at Ewood Park, will have quite a ‘bird’en, err, burden to bear.