Blackburn Rovers are expected to part ways with manager Jon Dahl Tomasson, with uncertainty over Gregg Broughton’s future at the club
Blackburn Rovers’ week has been eventful, and it’s not exactly the best preparation for their two Championship relegation six-point games, which start this weekend with Stoke City’s visit.
The team, who were the runner-ups in the Premier League in 1995, had a history of turmoil during the 14 years that Indian billionaires Venky’s owned it.
This week, however, marked the end of months of growing strain at Ewood Park and the anticipated departure of head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, who had chastised the team’s owners for drastically slashing the transfer budget in the summer after modifications to Indian tax law made it more challenging for them to supply funding.
A week prior, Tomasson was denied access to a pre-match press conference. He later smirked his way through a caustic post-match press conference, during which he claimed the club’s management had thrown a “hand grenade” at him in the summer and disclosed that he had made a free resignation offer.
John Eustace, who Birmingham City severely fired earlier this season, is expected to take his place as the team tries to stop a desperate eight-game league losing streak and stop falling into the third division.
I am aware that there is growing doubt regarding the future of highly regarded Gregg Broughton, who was named director of football two years ago with the intention of managing a shift in the club’s ethos.
“We are approaching a pivotal week – but this is just the most recent pivotal week for the team,” Ian Herbert, host of the 4,000 Holes podcast and the Rovers fan site BRFCS.com, said to i.
The newest problems stemmed from a registration difficulty around the club’s projected deadline-day signing of Duncan McGuire, a 22-year-old American international who plays for Orlando City.
The forward’s £3.1 million permanent contract was revoked just as McGuire was taking a flight from Orlando’s training camp in Mexico to Lancashire. The transfer was revived as a loan agreement with a purchase obligation, but the EFL refused to approve the change due to a registration issue, whereby Blackburn officials failed to submit the necessary papers in time to finish the switch. The deal is off after Blackburn’s appeal was denied on Thursday night.
This is the third time their transfer company has been harmed by an administrative blunder. A year ago, the club’s failure to submit documentation on time resulted in the cancellation of deals for Lewis O’Brien and Ethan Brierley.
The ridiculousness surrounding the McGuire transaction was heightened by the club’s previous £22 million sale of outstanding player Adam Wharton to Crystal Palace.
The club summoned well-known supporters and the group that their trust, We Are the Rovers, to meetings this week as a result of the ire of the fans. Five senior players, Sam Gallagher, Dominic Hyam, Aynsley Pears, Ryan Hedges, and Sammie Szmodics, unexpectedly asked to meet with them during a second summit on Tuesday. According to one of those in attendance, there was a lively discussion, with Rovers chief executive Steve Waggott also present.
Duncan Miller, a spokesman for We Are the Rovers, told me, “I have met with the CEO every other week for the last three months.”
“The CEO’s recent communications have been excellent. Regretfully, the current problem is that not all of the broader fan base agrees with what is being expressed.
“To meet the players, he requested us to attend a meeting on Monday and another meeting the following day. The player meeting went quite well. Some of the people in attendance vented their displeasure by telling them that the problems are bigger than them and that they shouldn’t be worrying about performances so much as 14 years of ownership that raises concerns.
We expressed our annoyance to them. The unity instils a glimmer of hope.
A player also confronted the CEO on exorbitant ticket costs and the McGuire incident.
Despite the best efforts of the Venky’s Group, a massive Indian company best known for operating chicken hatcheries, controversy has actually always been present. They have invested about £200 million in a team that, although a Premier League contender when they were purchased, had just recently dropped to League One.
They are unwilling to accept a sale, even if there would be buyers for the property, despite the widespread belief that poor judgement rather than malice is the primary cause of the problem sclub if it was reasonably priced.
According to Herbert, there’s a feeling that the club is going through a pivotal moment.
He remarked, “I was paradoxically happy that Tomasson said what he said on Saturday because it escalated things.”
There’s a medical comparison there: you need to address the root cause of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms since everyone in the room is ignoring it.
The fundamental reason is Venky’s. These things will go on until the club’s ownership either resolves the Indian court proceedings and releases the monies, or decides it’s too much hassle and looks to sell the club. People whose club is such a little part of their empire cannot handle you from halfway across the world.
“We need someone who wants to engage with the community and the supporters and say, ‘We’re all in this together,’ and who is interested in the day-to-day operations of the club.
“Steve Waggott is their local lynchpin, but he is merely their bulletproof vest; he has no autonomy or power.”
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