It's been on the cards pretty much all season, they've been tipped to at least struggle in the league which they duly obliged to. Protest after protest, the Ewood Park faithful rallied to force Steve Kean and/or Venky's out of their club, and very much like Blackburn's survival bid it was unsuccessful.
Blackburn fans have come in for a massive of stick this season from all sides. You don't have to go far on the Internet to find groups of people blaming the fans for the clubs plight, this is quite frankly ridiculous.
Let's start at the beginning of this debacle and the sacking of Sam Allardyce. After taking over from Paul Ince midway through the 2008 - 2009, Allardyce took Blackburn from the relegation mire to a finishing position of 15th. The next season steady progress was made and remaining unbeaten against the league 'Big Four' and finishing a respectable 10th.
It was in the 2010/2011 season On the back of a 7-1 loss at Old Trafford to future champions Manchester United and a 2-1 loss to Bolton at home, the new owners Venky's decided that a fresh approach was needed. This despite the club was laying in 13th place in the Premier League and with a seemingly strong enough squad to resist relegation.
With Kean in charge, Rovers struggled to 15th in the table, only securing their league status on the last day of the season.
Rovers fans have had to put up with a lot. The transfer rumours surrounding the club, who's new multimillion pound owners had promised world class signings, became laughable, an ageing and declining Ronaldinho was offered over £21 million over 3 years to be their first major signing, he subsequently moved to Flamengo in Brazil.
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| Venky's chiefs Anuradha Desai, Balaji Rao and Venkatesh Rao |
The clubs new chairman was co-owner Anuradha Desai who admitted shortly after buying the club that she knew "very little about football".
However, she has defended her position: "The impression is I've never watched a football match.
"I've not watched in a stadium but I have been watching the World Cup in India. I have watched hundreds of cricket matches but not live - it's all on TV. To say I don't have any knowledge would be wrong. I am a good listener.
"The fans have to trust us and give us some time and you will see for yourself that we are sincere people, very passionate about the football team and football club and our fans. We will not let you down."
These words will definitely stick in the throats of Blackburn fans as they did trust the clubs new owners but these much promised world class signings never came.
The only major signings made to strengthen the team were striker David Goodwillie and midfielder Radosav Petrovic arriving, from Dundee United and Partizan Belgrade, respectively. They were then followed by the £8 million signing of Birmingham defender Neil Dann, Bradley Orr a £1.8 defender from QPR and Marcus Olsson on a free transfer from Halmstads.
Former captain Ryan Nelson was allowed to leave on a free to Spurs and the club cashed in on want away captain Chris Samba when he moved to money driven Russian club Anzi for £12.5 million. Weak, inexperienced signings joined a structurally pathetic team and first team regulars such as Morten Gamst Pederson, Paul Robinson and Yakubu even looked drained and form and class dried up and deserted them. Only Junior Hoillet seemed to show any sort of level of skill with a football, which surely means he too will move in the summer.
Former captain Ryan Nelson was allowed to leave on a free to Spurs and the club cashed in on want away captain Chris Samba when he moved to money driven Russian club Anzi for £12.5 million. Weak, inexperienced signings joined a structurally pathetic team and first team regulars such as Morten Gamst Pederson, Paul Robinson and Yakubu even looked drained and form and class dried up and deserted them. Only Junior Hoillet seemed to show any sort of level of skill with a football, which surely means he too will move in the summer.
All Blackburn's problems can be summed up in their recent away game at Tottenham, in which they had only 27% possession and not a single shot. The only stat they beat Tottenham for was that they committed 3 times more fouls than their opponents. They were dispatched 2-0 in a game in which would have been more appropriate for Spurs to wearing training kit.
It was through ALL of this that Rovers kept a tidy enough support both home and away, the fans unwavering in their love for Rovers. That is worth keeping in mind, a supporter loves a club, not a manager or chairman but the entity of the club itself. Much like the ultras of both European and South American football, they see themselves as the only permanent fixture at the club and will outlive players,managers and owners alike.
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| The now famous Ewood Chicken |
I will admit, I personally felt that against Wigan the supporters could have done a better job of getting behind the team. The chants against Venky's and Kean started from minute 1 and only subsided when a chicken (kitted out in a Blackburn flag) was released on the pitch. As soon as it was removed, it started up again.
Bradley Orr admitted after the match that negativity from the stands had affected the team, and sided with his manager saying that despite the torrent of abuse rained down on him, Kean had "given it all" and been "outstanding" as a manager, although I'm not sure he could have done anything else. Although he spoke on behalf of the dressing room and apologised for the relegation, nothing covers up what has been a disastrous season.
Kean has to leave, whether by resignation or sacking. The man is out of his depth and tactically, he seems hapless and more Chuckle Vision than Premier League. Whether Venky's go is another question completely, they need to be brave and front up. They need to sort out the squad which will surely lose their 'big guns' and come clean with the supporters about how the club will be run.
Saying that though, all I can see is Venky's doing what they've done all year and leave a right fowl smell.
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