Steve Kean

[Alex]

I have full sympathy with the Blackburn fans. I know how painful it was under the idiots. But this seems 10 times worse. They were chugging along nicely until the Venkys came along.

It begs the question why? Whats there MO?

[Lee]

I know he's a millionaire footballer, but I feel sorry for Michel Salgado.

From reading his tweets he clearly loves the club and the fans and is completely bemused as to why he's been frozen out. Seems to reply to almost every person who contacts him too - class guy.

[CJ]

i can only assume that some of these owners take huge fees out of the club into holding companies etc

[Chris]

An extraordinary letter written in late December by Blackburn Rovers’ deputy CEO Paul Hunt to the club’s owner, Anuradha Desai, has laid bare the crisis that has been gripping the club all season.

The 2,500-word document, dated 21 December 2011 and written just hours after Rovers had lost 2-1 at home to Bolton on 20 December, details financial problems then afflicting the club, hints at a massive rift between the owners and other executives over the future of manager Steve Kean, and implores Mrs Desai to allow people she had appointed – Hunt included – to run the club.

Blackburn have never appointed a CEO to replace John Williams and so Hunt has been in de facto control at Blackburn since his own appointment last year. What the letter clearly shows, however, is that ultimately control has always rested in India.

Sportingintelligence, which has authenticated the letter as genuine, has had sight of the letter and understands it is in circulation and is likely to published in full imminently.

Hunt begins by writing: “I have been your senior officer at the club for six months now and I feel that I must now write to you to ask you to make some significant changes to save the club, perhaps from relegation but also perhaps from administration.

“In 20 years of the Premier League there has been only one side that was bottom of the league at Christmas that has survived relegation at the end of the season.

“With the bank closing in, I fear that they will look to foreclose and have the potential to implement financial restrictions upon the club that could (as a worst-case scenario) enforce administration.

“I have kept quiet for a time now out of utmost respect and I trust that you realise that I am only emailing you now as I want what is only the best for Blackburn Rovers and the owners.

“I am very much of the opinion that we can save the club and I have always been very supportive and positive towards the owners. Therefore I hope you know that what I am saying is considered, honest, constructive and from the heart.

“I ask that we instigate all the changes below in this 10 point plan.”

Regular readers of Sportingintelligence will know many of the key development’s in Blackburn’s story under Venky’s. AN ARCHIVE OF STORIES IS LINKED HERE.

Paul Hunt’s 10 point plan to save Blackburn appears to be the last throw of the dice by an executive deeply concerned about turning around a troubled ship.

Unfortunately for fans – who saw their club’s relegation confirmed last night – he was ignored.

The 10-point plan seeks clarity on Hunt’s own position, and then moves on “Owners to invest in the club”.

That section says: “As you are aware Barclays have asked for the owners to put £10m into the business. This needs to happen and I am confident that this could only be a loan as we would increase the value of the club significantly. With all the speculation in the press the playing staff value and overall club value is depreciating on a daily basis.

“By putting an end to this the owners would be protecting their investment, putting their trust in the executive team and the club. The position with the finances is a cause for grave concern.

“Auditors KPMG have put as many obstacles as they can in the way of signing off the accounts due to their concerns. We continue to try and work with Barclays but they are very quickly losing patience as we cannot give answers. We have been forced to agree to additional spending against our wishes (Christmas hampers, sponsoring the Princes Trust event etc) and I am fearful that the situation will only get worse.

“During January we need additional funding to pay wages etc.”

Point 3 of the 10-point plan is extraordinary and says Kean had not only lost the crowd but also the dressing room.

It says: “Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I personally like Steve. I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn’t working and he is ready to go.

“He has lost the crowd and as a result of this evening’s game has lost the dressing room as well – the players no longer want to play for him. It is a shame and disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion in who should be the new manager.”

Point four asks Mrs Desai to allow her executives at Ewood to run the club, point five calls for a more cohesive PR strategy, point six calls for more trips by Ewood executives to meet the stayaway owners, point seven asks the owners to visit the club more and point eight asks for the Ewood executives to hire and fire – rather than Mrs Desai making these decisions.

Point nine says: “We are losing fans/customers at an alarming rate. I am very concerned that fans are voting with their feet and not attending, not purchasing and not engaging with the club.

“Research shows that only 5% of ex season ticket holders will ever return. We are losing sponsors and suppliers. I am concerned we will lose Umbro if we continue to manufacture Rovers shirts in India for the RoverStar programme. Their contract specifically disallows this and we are putting at risk £800k of annual revenue.

“The Blackburn Rovers and Venky’s brands are both suffering terribly. Whilst there are negative goings on such as protests, complaints, media stories, unhappy fans etc, then both brands are losing brand equity and consequently, losing value.

“I am also concerned that the Premier League will intervene soon as they may take the view that their brand is being tarnished by association too. It is all reparable of course but we must start to act now by building bridges with fans and the media as above.”

The letter finishes with point 10, essentially a drawn out message of regret that the owners have not allowed the club to be run properly from Blackburn. It ends: “I look forward to hearing your thoughts. With very best wishes for a bright future, Paul.”

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2012/05/08/revealed-new-leaked-blackburn-letter-lays-bare-crisis-and-torment-inside-ewood-080501/

[sean_lfc]

Well, if it's genuine, they really are in ****ing trouble and it is even more damning that Kean was and is allowed to stay on. Lovely of the Premierleague to have done - as expected - sweet **** all. Rovers will be heading into administration at this rate. I think it's terrible, as bad as we had it, they're a smaller club and will get ****ed beyond belief. There must be some investigation made eventually into the crooked Kean, how the **** has this been allowed to be continued? Absolute staggering.

The truth will come out, just hope it won't be too late.

[dww]

I think it was proved in later games that he didn't 'lose the dressing room' no matter what else he did wrong. I hate that phrase - up there with 'no smoke without fire' as one of my least favourites.

Seems to have had some sensible things to say other than that though and clearly had the clubs best interests at heart.

[sean_lfc]

According to a pretty hardcore Rovers mate of mine, Givet was subbed at half-time because he pinned Kean to the wall and told him he was ****ing useless. The plot thickens and clearly, not everything is fine and dandy.

[Boogs]

According to a pretty hardcore Rovers mate of mine, Givet was subbed at half-time because he pinned Kean to the wall and told him he was ****ing useless. The plot thickens and clearly, not everything is fine and dandy.

Sean, as you are in Germany you may not have seen this which is on the BBC this morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18000193

[Phoenix07]

http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php/topic/26980-what-really-happened-at-half-time/page__st__20

"May I point out I am not "In The Know" and have never posted any rumours on here at anytime.

However, I can confidently shed some light on events at half-time. I sit in Block No 1, Lower Tier Blackburn End. I sit next to two lads who are Rovers representatives on the Sky Fans Forum. They are always feeding me little bits of news, but last night was very interesting.

To avoid the risk of someone at the club getting in trouble at work, I would rather not say who gave them this information, but I can confirm that it was not a player. One of the people I sit with received a text literally two minutes after the half-time whistle blew.

It was not Orr and Givet that were arguing in the dressing room.

It was not a hamstring strain.

It was nothing to with with heart palpitations.

I have it on very good authority that Givet and Kean had another almight bust up at half-time about the way we were playing. Givet subsequently refused to play after telling Kean he did not have a clue what he was doing and that his tactics were inviting pressure. The two ended with Givet pinning Kean to the wall by his neck with his forearm.

This explains perfectly why Sky felt sure they had a breaking story, the confusion in the tunnel, Sky panning to the security guard (who prevents people getting down the tunnel) talking furiously down his mike, Givet strolling out without limping and taking his seat and no other players responding to him at that time. Orr mouthing at the physio may have been in relation to the incident but I am not sure.

The same source has also stated that at half-time away at Bolton, Robbo and Roberts had a blazing row with Kean and told him he did not know he was doing. They told him they would run the team for him. Roberts immediately went to Reading and Robbo was suddenly also in bad books.

Believe what you will."

Also, from the same poster:

" I was also told that Kean completed his interview last night immediately after the game, subsequently recorded by Sky and then released maybe 30 minutes later. Kean apparently then left the ground immediately upon police advice."

Fact or Fiction? You decide.

[Lee]

No reason not to believe it really.

What a mess.

[Gingawaria]

Seems plausible.

I know a few Blackburn fans and they're genuinely worried that they'll go down again next season. Venky's will stick around until the parachute payments end and then bugger off leaving the club in a major mess.

[dww]

All seems like the sort of rumours we get about LFC to be honest. No particular reason to give it credence.

Blackburn have clearly been badly run on a number of levels and they will struggle to get back. Then the same has been said several times about teams that go down. In fact for some teams (notably Southampton and Norwich) a period of time in the wilderness has helped the club get onto a sustainable footing.

[Boogs]

It just goes to show that the FA's The fit-and-proper-person test is a complete farce along with the organisation.

[sean_lfc]

Sean, as you are in Germany you may not have seen this which is on the BBC this morning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18000193

Cheers Boogar, hadn't seen that specific article yet!

http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php/...e/page__st__20

Fact or Fiction? You decide.

It's ****ed, they're absolutely ****ed. And it's really ****ing damning to see that the cunt has just stayed in a job, especially with regards to the whole information that's come out by the CEO. Even going back to Dec 2011 when Tony Parkes did the Sky interview that I posted, even then it was ****ed.
There's something really ****ed up going on and if it weren't for the fans, no one would give a ****. The PL have said 'Yea, the Venkys are fit and proper, now **** off bothering us', counting on the FA to do something is akin to asking a toddler to come up with the Unified Field Theory, it's a real ****ing shambles. And now that they're down 'Who gives a ****, out of sight, out of mind'.

Seems plausible.

I know a few Blackburn fans and they're genuinely worried that they'll go down again next season. Venky's will stick around until the parachute payments end and then bugger off leaving the club in a major mess.

Exactly, there's something really shady about this whole thing, they've done nothing to rectify the shambles the club are in, Kean's been 18 months in charge, he's got a win percentage of 26%! They've gone down and he's STILL manager - whichever way you look at it, that ****ing reeks of foul play. Really feel sorry for the Blackburn fans, how they're completely taken the piss out of. It's not even that, a half-decently run club knows that the fans are one of the main income streams, but how they have acted upon all this means they literally don't give a ****. There MUST be some alterior motive.
It really is a sickening state of affairs, it's not like Blackburn are Liverpool with a huge world-wide following, where fans will just be replaced before you can fart and say 'Arsenal'.

[sean_lfc]

All seems like the sort of rumours we get about LFC to be honest. No particular reason to give it credence.

Blackburn have clearly been badly run on a number of levels and they will struggle to get back. Then the same has been said several times about teams that go down. In fact for some teams (notably Southampton and Norwich) a period of time in the wilderness has helped the club get onto a sustainable footing.

However, you must condede, Dave, that is doth seem quite bewildering that a manager can stay on for such an extended period, take the club down and refuse to bow out, whilst the terraces (with confirmation from opposition managers) scream down the vilest of abuse and there are huge fans campaigns that are screaming for the manager to go. We had the same with Hodgson, imagine he'd STILL be manager. Would you take that ****?