Blackburn face meltdown

Paul Hunt, the Blackburn chief executive, warned five months ago in a letter to the club’s Indian owners that the future of the club could be under threat unless they sacked Steve Kean and dealt with the crisis at Ewood Park.   He said that significant changes were needed to save the club from relegation and possibly administration.

Paul Hunt, the Blackburn chief executive, warned five months ago in a letter to the club’s Indian owners that the future of the club could be under threat unless they sacked Steve Kean and dealt with the crisis at Ewood Park.   He said that significant changes were needed to save the club from relegation and possibly administration.

Hunt said that he thought that Kean ‘had lost the dressing room as well as the crowd.’  He also claimed that key sponsorship deals, such as that with Umbro, were being put at risk because Blackburn shirts were being manufactured in India in breach of the contract and that the image of the club was being diminished.   Fans/customers were being lost at an alarming rate.

Blackburn could lose about 13 of Kean’s squad as most look for new clubs and others are offloaded to help reduce the wage bill.    It has been reported that a target of a £14.5m cut in the wage bill has been set. Venky’s are said to be considering getting rid of 40 per cent of non-playing staff.

Some land around the club’s Brockhall training ground may also be sold to raise money.  Venkatesh and Balaji Rao, two of the co-owners, are to attend the final Premiership game against Stamford Bridge on Sunday as they prepare for crisis talks.   It is just as well that this game is not at home asthe owners might have received a warm reception at Ewood Park.

It appears that the bulk of the fee from the £11m sale of Samba to a Russian club in February was paid to Barclays Bank to cover a cash shortfall.   Barclays is believed to have reduced the club’s overdraft and the Bank of India has been asked to step in.   However, as Hunt points out, administration is a possible worst case scenario.