Venky’s are expected to announce a £18.6m loss in their first year in charge at Blackburn Rovers. £13.8m went on transfers and agents’ fees and £4.8m was incurred in costs including pay offs to sacked manager Sam Allerdyce and other senior staff. The total payroll at the club is around £50m.
Venky’s are expected to announce a £18.6m loss in their first year in charge at Blackburn Rovers. £13.8m went on transfers and agents’ fees and £4.8m was incurred in costs including pay offs to sacked manager Sam Allerdyce and other senior staff. The total payroll at the club is around £50m.
Although the ambition of the Indian conglomerate was to turn Blackburn Rovers into a top Premiership club, should they be relegated Venky’s have apparently pledged that further funding would be available. In the meantime it is appears to be yet undecided what funds will be available in the January transfer window to avoid relegation.
The controversy about whether fans have gone too far in their campaign to oust manager Steve Kean bubbles on. It is not surprising that fellow managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson have come to his defence, although one of the points made by the fans is that Kean’s skill set is really that of a coach rather than a manager.
The Christmas Day intervention of the Bishop of Blackburn asking all concerned to remember the human being was perhaps less anticipated and represents one of the more unusual recent contributions to a football controversy.
In an interview with the local paper Blackburn legend Tony Parkes makes the point that in addition to Venky’s and Steve Kean, some of the blame for the current state of affairs must rest with the former owners, the Walker Trust: ‘They wanted to get out and were taking anyone’s money to do that.’
Of course, Venky’s are a major company in one of the world’s leading emerging economies, but their lack of former football knowledge and experience has told against them. It’s a very special world, perhaps sometimes too special, and it is easy to make costly mistakes.