Inside Blackburn's season and two weeks that ended an era

If it was a film, would you start at the very beginning where the seeds of uncertainty are sewn, or bang in the middle where the cars are about to crash into each other and work backwards?

Ultimately, the focus of Blackburn Rovers season centres on two weeks that shaped their season and the truth is, we don't know how large the impact of that fortnight will be. The effects are still being felt in mid-May, with Gregg Broughton departing last week.

This season may be viewed as the end of 'the project'. A change in head coach, a change in Director of Football. 

A change in direction? That's still to be determined.

Tensions behind the scenes had been brewing since January 2023. Rovers missed out on Lewis O'Brien but, in truth, Jon Dahl Tomasson's anger was centred on the inability to recruit a striker.

As he aptly told Sky Sports before one match during the run-in, when asked about the significance of missing out on O'Brien: "He is a midfielder."

Rovers went into the summer with a primary objective of signing a number nine and, in hindsight, they failed. But it's also worth considering that the transfer funds stood at zero before the window opened, the budget was subsequently slashed and the head coach offered to resign before the end of June. Hardly an environment built for success.

After hitting the three-signing objective that Broughton set before July, six weeks passed with no activity, self-imposed by Venky's troubles in India. A trolley-dash finish saw Tomasson unconvinced by a lack of 'proven' Championship players.

They need players to step up from within. Enter Sam Szmodics. The talismanic forward would joke after his early glut of goals that they should rename Alan Shearer way but by the end of the season, many Rovers fans would crowd-fund for a statue of his own.

Frantic is the only way to describe Rovers' opening months of the season. 'Don't back down, double down', seemed to be Tomasson's approach after insisting Rovers preserve with their goal-hungry tactical style.

It certainly was entertaining. The 4-3 defeat at Ipswich Town, a game littered with errors and quality in the same breath, perfectly encapsulated what Rovers were all about. Kieran McKenna would be one of four managers in a row, who all conveniently won, to wax lyrical about Rovers.

A disappointing last-minute derby defeat to Preston North End was followed up with back-to-back wins to sign off November and, going into a seven-game month, Rovers were seventh. Nine wins, eight defeats, one draw, the Tomasson way.

For many, the beginning of the end, on the pitch at least, was at Hillsborough. Rovers arrived just outside the play-offs but with a list of substitutes that was more akin to a creche than a Championship bench.

Rovers lost, Tomasson was sent off and the injuries piled up. Rovers went on to win one of their seven December fixtures, conceding 18 goals in the process. The 3-0 precession on Boxing Day against Huddersfield Town was as bad as they produced all year.

"The players need help," was Tomasson's clear message on New Year's Day, following a demoralising 2-2 draw with rock-bottom Rotherham United. Four days later, club captain Lewis Travis was loaned out to Ipswich Town after months of discontent.

Yasin Ayari and Ben Chrisene arrived that same eventful Friday but this was evidence of further cracks in Tomasson's relationship with his squad. John Buckley had, similarly, been hastily rushed out after falling out of favour. Now the club captain too, despite the head coach's constant call for more Championship experience. It didn't sit well, it didn't add up.

Morale was at an all-time low after a 4-1 drubbing at The Hawthorns. Even the 5-2 FA Cup win over Cambridge United was tainted with the League One side twice taking the lead at Ewood Park, with the defence looking utterly bereft of confidence.

That led to a defining two-week period, where the true impact is still being felt. A 4-1 cup triumph over Wrexham was the sideshow, with speculation around Adam Wharton's future, who was an unused substitute.

Tomasson's tone had shifted from speaking about the rejected bid the previous Friday to addressing the speculation post-match. The writing was on the walls, the clubs were close to an agreement.

Wharton spent Tuesday morning in Whalley at Holdens & Co, five minutes from Brockhall Senior Training Centre, waiting for the green light. A club record transfer fee would follow and his qualities would shine in the national spotlight.

The messaging from various sources at Rovers was consistent, there would be no last-minute trolley dash. This was a sizeable windfall and nobody wanted it blown in the final hours of the January window.

But deals were bubbling away in the background. Broughton took the lead on finalising a £2.3million deal for Duncan McGuire. Chief Executive Steve Waggott pressed on with other domestic deals, as was common in the final days of a window.

What followed can only be described as utter chaos. The Blackburn Rovers board pulled out of any permanent transfers, McGuire ended up at Kenwood Hall in Sheffield, only to be carted down the M62 and unveiled as a Rovers player. 

Remarkably, the biggest drama hadn't even started.

Local media arrived at Brockhall the following day for Tomasson's usual Friday lunch-time press conference slot. Often, there would be Under-21 players milling around the indoor pitches directly to the right of the media room, visible through the clear windows. On this occasion, it was very quiet.

There is no set order for pre-match pressers. Sometimes Tomasson goes first, followed by a player and sometimes the other way around. Often, it depends on who is ready first after finishing training, showering and eating before making their way to speak with us.

Equally, it was not overly unusual when Billy Koumetio followed Kyle McFadzean. After all, they were both new signings so it's not unheard of for the club to give us two players.

It was when Rovers' press officer, having spent much of the time we'd been present on the phone, returned alone that it became apparent there was an issue. "That'll be all I'm afraid today gents, it's a club decision," or words to that effect. Nothing more in the way of an explanation.

It wasn't difficult to put two and two together but would it equal five? Was Tomasson so unhappy with the January window that he'd hit the roof? The reality became clear 24 hours later, as I pulled up to Ewood Park at 1pm and saw the McGuire reports and quickly established they had substance.

It was a surreal atmosphere as the news of uncertainty about McGuire's registration drip-fed around the ground. Rovers lost 2-1 at home to Queens Park Rangers and a mutiny formed as Joe Hodge fired in the visitor's second.

The press conference that followed was like one I'd never witnessed or been a part of. Tomasson was at the end of his tether, though followed the party line to some degree as to why he was blocked from speaking 24 hours earlier, with small jibes and suggestive comments thrown in to voice his displeasure.

He, unprompted, dropped the bomb that he'd offered to resign and walk away in the summer. "You'll have to ask Steve and Suhail," a cutting response when asked about McGuire. 

It was tense. Walking out of the media theatre and digesting what I'd heard, I'd have bet good money that this was the last time Tomasson would sit in that chair.

This was the aforementioned crash and it wasn't clear who would come out unscathed. It had been a collision course set from the summer and there was no way back.

By Wednesday it was apparent that Tomasson was out and John Eustace was in. 48 hours later and with 35 minutes between the announcement, that was confirmed on Friday evening.

A first win of 2024 followed, with the promise of a day off an early incentive from the new head coach when he met with the group on Saturday morning. They then beat Stoke City 3-1 and Ewood Park felt lighter.

It was short-term relief, with Eustace handed a baptism of fire. His unveiling was a little more than 24 hours before a trip to St Andrew's, you couldn't write it. Stoke was the first of nine matches in a four-week block. A relentless schedule of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.

The style at Birmingham was certainly different. Even the coaching staff were a little surprised at how literally the instructions of back-to-basics were taken.

Clean sheets and more stability followed but wins didn't. After two points from a defining week against Swansea, Millwall and Plymouth, there was the threat of things boiling over. Eustace didn't defer from his consistent message: "One game at a time."

But for those looking at the fixture list and at a team that had won once in 2024, the panic was setting in. Rovers were going to have to pull something out of the bag. 

The optimism after a morale-boosting 5-1 win at Sunderland on Easter Monday was quickly wiped out by a drubbing at Bristol City. The pressure was really on as the players arrived home in the small hours of Thursday morning, a little more than 48 hours before kick-off at Elland Road.

I'd love to say that I woke up on Saturday with a good feeling or wondered if something was in the water but I'd be lying. Plymouth had just beaten Leicester the night before, handing Leeds a further incentive to move top of the pile. 

Of the final 13 goals that Blackburn Rovers scored in 2023/24, Szmodics netted 10 of them. When the ball landed to him with ten minutes to go, the noise evaporated inside Elland Road. You could've heard a pin drop, if not for the delirious cheers from the away end to the press bench's right.

That was 30 for the season, making him the first Rovers player since Shearer to hit that landmark. Just one season that, for many, has immortalised him in blue and white.

For all the chaos off the pitch that this review has been framed around, Rovers would have been relegated without him. His goals were invaluable, he played through the pain barrier and if he does move on to pasture's new this summer, he will depart with everyone's well wishes.

That win lifted Rovers onto 49 points and, I'll be honest, I thought that might be enough. One point perhaps would do it. As it was, Birmingham went down with the highest points tally since...Rovers in 2017.

In typical Rovers fashion, they didn't get the job done until the very end. Sheffield Wednesday came to Ewood Park and won, with the host's wretched record against bottom-half teams proving costly. Ten-man Coventry somehow escaped with a point, taking survival to the final day.

Whilst the statisticians amongst us may have worked out Rovers had a four per cent chance of going down, they were away at the Champions. There was too much narrative and worry for any rational thinking.

One of the most poignant moments for me was the roar that greeted Birmingham's opener. It meant they, Plymouth and Wednesday were winning. One Leicester goal would send Rovers down, as the home fans gleefully acknowledged. "When Vardy scores, you're going down."

In the end, the only thing broken at the full-time whistle was the bottle of champagne dropped by Szmodics in the away dressing room. A gift from Vardy, with both clubs celebrating.

It would be the 30-goal hero's brace that secured Rovers safety with 53 points. Whilst the debate raged on about whether this was cause for celebration, the overwhelming feeling was relief. 

Never again, please. From seventh to within a goal of the drop within six months. A new head coach, a new style and after the exit of Broughton, it feels like a new direction. The project, at least in the guise we viewed it in, is over.

So, what's next? Well, Blackburn Rovers came out of the crash battered and bruised but with their second-tier status in tact. They are grateful for it.

They're back on the road, with a new driver at the wheel. But it's unclear which route they will now take or where their desired destination is.