Over the last few months the vultures have been circling around Blackburn Rovers, but as a Blackburn fan, I remained optimistic that Steve Kean could turn round my club’s fortunes. What a fool I feel now.
The shambolic displays at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon and in the first half against Bolton Wanderers were the final straw. Surely it cannot take our idiotic excuse for owners much longer to come to the realisation that Steve Kean is doing a fine job of getting us relegated from the Premier League. A feat which could see the ultimate demise of this once well-respected and successful club.
The current world of football has become incredibly knee jerk and with a little luck Kean should have been able to stabilise the club and remain in the Premier League this season. The start of the season was by no means encouraging but it was individual errors that were costing Blackburn points rather than any specific managerial mistakes. There was a feeling that as long as we picked up some points against our nearest rivals, Blackburn Rovers would be fine. We have now played all six games that I felt would define our season and we have amassed just four points. One, two, three, four. Measly. We have only managed two wins in the Premier League this season and one of those was a freak result against a very inept Arsenal side who even went so far as to score two of our goals.
The more I ponder Steve Kean’s current position, the more I can feel my blood beginning to boil. When I think of how I have defended Steve Kean and his ridiculous optimism, I feel ridiculous. I thought how refreshing it was to see someone given a chance to ply his trade in the top flight and genuinely believed that the club could achieve a mid-table finish this season. The tools he inherited from Sam Allardyce were by no means world beaters but they were a stable and effective Premier League outfit; you just cannot say that now. Kean has brought in some exciting young players, yes; but there remains no sign of anything close to the marquee signing the Venkys promised when they acquired the club in late 2010. In truth, no acquisition over the last twelve months has yielded more than a wimper from fans.
Generally Kean’s approach has been to veer away from the long ball tactics so synonymous with Allardyce. While Paul Robinson still directs most free kicks that he can into the opposition’s six yard box, some of the football played during Kean’s tenure has been very easy on the eye and not something commonly associated with Blackburn Rovers. However, the inability to shore up the defence and midfield has been incredibly costly to the club. Strangely, we seem to be scoring more goals under Kean than any other manager since the infamous days of Shearer and Sutton up-front. Unfortunately the defence is haemorrhaging goals.
Quite how he can feel that David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen can run a midfield defensively is simply beyond me. Steven Nzonzi has struggled to cope with the defensive duties of three players. The three of them were together again for Saturday’s visit of West Brom and they offered little, if no resistance defensively. The back-four were simply left exposed. The addition of Scott Dann was supposed to relieve some of the pressure on Christopher Samba but due to his continual injury problems, this simply has not happened.
The North West derby at Ewood Park last night was billed as the final showdown. The loser would be the first manager sacked with both sides going into the game as the bottom two in the Premier League. Nothing less than a win should have been good enough for the owners. That wasn’t achieved and that’s that. It is time for Steve Kean to leave his post.
With Liverpool and Manchester United to play next the club needs to sort itself out quickly. We cannot afford to fall further behind and a new management team is needed at the club as soon as possible if we are to stand any chance of successfully fighting relegation.
At any other club I think this would be inevitable, however, with the blind being lead by the inept, the club’s future is very much in the balance. Unfortunately, I cannot see that changing anytime soon.
Photo courtesy of the Shropshire Star.
