BRIAN Kidd has made no secret of the fact that he stepped into the managerial minefield with Blackburn Rovers because he relished the challenge - the chance to be his own man.

When the final whistle signalled the end of the game against his old club Manchester United last week, the man who stepped out of Alex Ferguson's shadows knew that a major challenge had become a massive one as Rovers must start again from the Nationwide League.

Relegation hurt him. Sad to say, it maybe hurt a manager who has been in office only five months rather more than some of his players.

"It's absolute rubbish for anyone to say that it might be a good thing to go down and rebuild," he said.

"There is only one place to be and that is the Premiership.

"That is where I wanted to do my rebuilding and it is a huge disappointment to me that we will be doing it in the Nationwide."

Even in such a short time, Kidd has conveyed the impression of preaching a gospel Rovers fans needed to hear in these dark and depressing times.

Words such as hunger, desire, passion, commitment and - a favourite - "we and us" are part of this manager's everyday vocabularly.

And it is that, allied to a fervent - though certainly not arrogant or conceited - belief in his own character, strength and ability that will drive him on.

Already the inquests have started as Rovers failed, this time, to paper over the cracks.

If there is one thing Kidd reveals he does want to happen following the sad sequel of events which sent Rovers down it is to find permanent solutions to take the club forward again, not short-term damage-limitation measures.

"We have had the players in and a meeting with the staff, going right back to the start of the season and pre-season - trying to decide what's gone on and trying to dissect the season," he said.

"Could we have done any more? There have been some searching questions asked, which I think is the right thing to do.

"It's vitally important we get our own house in order.

"There have to be policies put in place and it's up to the club which way it wants to go."

For all the other problems, the over-riding factor has been injuries to key players, often leaving the club to field inexperienced yougsters. "That is not fair on them but being without so many seasoned professionals as been a killer for us really," he said. And the sale of Tim Sherwood was ill-timed to say the least but Kidd pointed out that, at the time, he thought he would be getting Garry Flitcroft back and that Billy McKinlay would not need an operation.

It was a crucial stage of the season.

"I told Tim I didn't want him to go," he said.

"But he wanted to leave. There had been a lot going on before I came which I can't really comment on but there was a contract on the table for him and if he had wanted to stay he could have signed it.

"When I really knew we had a battle on to stay up was when I found out that Flitty would not be available and that Billy was going to need an operation."

Inevitably, the injuries told in the end and the situation leaves Kidd facing not simply a fine-tuning exercise but a major overhaul on an unbalanced squad.

"I don't think that's in question," he said. "I am sure people who know far more about Blackburn than I do will tell you that.

"Even if it wasn't me, I would be saying to the boss that he needs to start getting the structure right and rebuilding it.

"I've talked about getting a heartbeat and a spirit back into the club and I'll be making suggestions to Mr Walker and the board for the good of Blackburn, not for individuals. Rovers is the important thing as far as I am concerned.

"I cannot stress enough that it is not about individuals, the club is bigger than all of us."

It would be easy for Kidd to point an accusing finger at those who left the mess he inherited and, when you look at the points accumulated, over a longer period he might well have claimed safety.

But he is a bigger man than that.

He is also a realist.

"It's not for me to criticise what's gone on in the past. All I can go on is what I know from December," added.

"And there's very little that can be taken out of our season that is positive. I would be telling lies if I said anything else.

"There have been more minuses than pluses that's for sure.

"And I wasn't being disrepectful to the fans after the United game when everybody was telling me go out there on the pitch.

"What have I done? Zilch, we are going in the Nationwide League."

Perhaps the boss will take a deserved bow if he leads Rovers back to the Premiership, but he will be the first to tell you there is much to do before that goal can be achieved.

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