It’s almost a year since Indian poultry firm Venky’s took over Blackburn Rovers. Arguably it’s been one of the less successful recent takeovers in English football, certainly in the Premiership.
There was a lot of talk about Champions League qualification at the time of the takeover. Instead what one has seen is a club that was comfortably mid-table being dragged into a relegation battle. The experienced Sam Allardyce was replaced by the untried Steve Kean and it is evident that quite a lot of Blackburn supporters think that was a mistake.
It’s almost a year since Indian poultry firm Venky’s took over Blackburn Rovers. Arguably it’s been one of the less successful recent takeovers in English football, certainly in the Premiership.
There was a lot of talk about Champions League qualification at the time of the takeover. Instead what one has seen is a club that was comfortably mid-table being dragged into a relegation battle. The experienced Sam Allardyce was replaced by the untried Steve Kean and it is evident that quite a lot of Blackburn supporters think that was a mistake.
It has to be admitted that even keeping Blackburn in the Premiership is a big ask. This is a town of a little more than 100,000 people. Ever since the Jack Walker years, Blackburn have punched above their weight. Keeping home attendances above 23,000 in a recession is quite an achievement.
The fact of the matter is that the club were already doing as well as could be reasonably expected in an increasingly tough financial environment. It was a club that needed experienced owners with a knowledge of football. Too much of the early talk was about what Blackburn could do for Venky’s rather than the other way round. Involving the players in an advert for marinated chicken is just an embarrassment.
It has been a steep learning curve for Venky’s. Let’s hope it proves not to be too steep as the top flight needs clubs like Blackburn that represent the traditional home of football.