The latest managerial sacking at Blackburn Rovers is largely the by-product of a power struggle between the club’s global adviser Shebby Singh and managing director Derek Shaw. Singh appears to have the backing of owners Venky’s and is also believed to have taken legal advice which backs his position. Singh and Shaw have not spoken since December.
The latest managerial sacking at Blackburn Rovers is largely the by-product of a power struggle between the club’s global adviser Shebby Singh and managing director Derek Shaw. Singh appears to have the backing of owners Venky’s and is also believed to have taken legal advice which backs his position. Singh and Shaw have not spoken since December.
Singh, who is believed to want to take on a semi-managerial role at the club, opposed the appointment of Michael Appleton, the third Rovers manager to be appointed this season, and believes it to be legally invalid. He would have preferred Henning Berg to be replaced by Kevin McDonald, the former Aston Villa assistant and Judan Ali, a former Arsenal trainee and occasional Bollywood star.
Appleton, for his part, was unimpressed by the value represented by the around £30,000 a week being paid to Danny Murphy, a talented but ageing player. He was also baffled by the two Portguese players signed in the summer transfer window under Singh’s direction. Neither of them made an appearance under Appleton.
The sequence of sackings at Ewood Park started with the departure of Sam Allardyce after Rovers had lost 7-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. It might be argued that such defeats do not necessarily signal the end of the world for a club.
Blackburn are justifiably a proud ‘Town’ club, founders of the Football League and the only club oustide the group of ‘top’ clubs to have won the Premier League. They are currently 18th in the Championship, and fans would have preferred to win last Sunday’s 1-1 draw against rivals Burnley, but they didn’t want more upheaval.
Inevitably, there have been a whole series of chicken jokes about owners Venky’s, although the business interests of their conglomerate extend beyond poultry. Probably one of the better ones is that a manager stays at Blackburn for a shorter time that it takes Venky’s to produce a chicken for consumption.
Blackburn fan and local MP Jack Straw has commented that it’s now near impossible to discern anything resembling a business plan at Blackburn. Attendances are falling and the Rovers Trust has offered its help the owners in return for a say in running the club.
Needless to say, no reply has yet been received. The Trust commented, ‘The owners have to face up to the fact they are entirely responsible for the situation we find ourselves in with a second successive relegation a distinct possibility.’