Steven Kean: The Scapegoat of Blackburn Rovers

By the time this article is out in the world of the Internet hopefully the humane thing has been done by Venky’s and Steve Kean is unemployed. It may seem as cruel to wish this upon someone during the season to be jolly but at the minute every game at Ewood Park is like a re-enactment of each individual uprising from Africa during the spring. At the minute Steve Kean is like a statue of Gaddafi being destroyed and humiliated by the Libyan people and the owners are standing by the side with the power to stop it all but doing nothing.

Obviously Steve Kean is nothing like Gaddafi, although many Blackburn fans have treated him like a war criminal guilty of ethnic cleansing. I have felt a range of feelings for Blackburn fans starting with sympathy then empathy then anger then pity. Being angry at a man that conveniently moved into Sam Allardyce’s shoes quicker than Claudius grabbed the crown after the death of King Hamlet is understandable but booing Kean and Yakubu during a goal celebration was when my sympathies stopped. It is another example of the idiocy of fans that when they find someone or something to boo they boo anything and everything they do without justification and evidence.

I then put myself into the shoes of the Blackburn faithful and looked at the stats which are damning of Steve Kean as a manager. First they are bottom, then they lost to second bottom at home poorly, third Kean has been in charge for 38 games and won 7, lastly his defence look too dependent on Samba and attack look too dependent on Yakubu. Not two players that are going to challenge Ronaldo and Messi for the Ballon D’Or. If I was Steve Kean I would use the words of Will Young as my inspiration; ‘ I think I better leave right now before I fall any deeper‘.

But when Kean is gone and the fans have what they want, are Blackburn in a good position to stay up? It’s very debatable. It looks like Mark Hughes is the most likely culprit for the job and I think he’d do well but word on the grapevine is that Alan Shearer may get it. If this happens then I would urge every Blackburn fan to instantly grab a banner making kit, an angry mob and start a new campaign to get the new owners out because the obviously haven’t got a clue.

So far they have hired a man hated by the fans, linked the club to names way beyond their capabilities of purchasing therefore undermining the manager and humiliating the club in the national press. If they were to bring in a man whose managerial career reads a poor 8 points from 24 then we could see Blackburn following the fate of Leeds United or my beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

Speaking from personal experience I wouldn’t wish years of relegation battles and terrible running of the club upon any football fan. The Venky’s have held Kean out to dry and it will be noted by many unemployed managers looking for work but what about the players? Time and time again managers get it in the neck for doing their best and their players letting them down. Obviously not every sacking or relegation can be blamed on the eleven men because sometimes they aren’t good enough for the league they are in but what about some of the big names at Blackburn; David Dunn has become as obscure as Wayne Bridge since Kean took over, Morten Gamst Perderson has gone from being linked with United to showing as much work ethic as Harry Enfield’s infamous character Kevin the teenager, a prime example of this was Peter Odemwingie’s wonder strike at the weekend in which Perderson put as much effort into stopping him from getting past as Stringer Bell helped in getting D’Angelo get out of prison in The Wire.

David Goodwillie is rubbish, Scott Dann misses his former defensive partner Roger Johnson and Jason Roberts has scored 6 in his past 34 appearances. Many fans will blame Kean for not getting the best out of his team but cast your mind back to when Avram Grant filled the special ones shoes in a similar fashion to Kean four years ago at Chelsea. The Blues weren’t looking too good but picked up there form finishing second in the league and lost out to Manchester United in that wonderful Champions League final when English football was at its peak in Europe.

Since then Avram Grant has become the first manager to relegate two teams in two seasons; Portsmouth and West Ham. It is obvious to see that because the players at Chelsea cared about the team they played for and cared about the fellow players that they grouped together and turned it around. Can you imagine seeing that sort of togetherness at Blackburn? I didn’t think so. Whatever chapter is next for Blackburn Rovers we are sure to find out soon as the Christmas period will be one of change in the North West. But whatever happens the manager’s short-listed for the job will look at the treatment of Kean by the owners and the lack of interest from the players during dark times and wonder; Is it really worth it?

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Tagged: Blackburn Rovers, England, English Football, English Premier League, Steve Kean

Posted in: Europe