BLACKBURN Rovers legend Simon Garner has called for everyone at the football club to ‘sort it out’ - insisting there needs to be a dramatic change to make the improbable possible.
Rovers’ all time record goal scorer admits he watched events unfold at Swansea on Saturday in “disbelief” and describes the club’s Premier League peril as “self inflicted”.
Rovers will meet with disillusioned defender Gael Givet in the next few days in an attempt to sort his situation out, after he was withdrawn from Saturday’s squad at the 11th hour due to being deemed ‘not in the right frame of mind’ by boss Steve Kean.
Garner though insists both the club and the player have to bury their differences for the remaining four games of the season, as Rovers look to salvage their top flight status.
The former Rovers striker also describes Michel Salgado’s continued absence as “crazy”, with the experienced defender made unavailable by the club due to a clause in his contract that would grant him another year at Ewood if he played one more game.
Salgado himself has spoken of his frustration at being frozen out on twitter and Garner believes the slate has to be wiped clean to give Rovers their only chance of pulling off the great escape.
He said: “No one should be bigger than the football club. Not the manager, not a player, not the owners. Everything that happens should be in the best interest of the club and that is not happening.
“To have your best defender in the stands, when fit, is absolutely ridiculous. It is scandalous. I don’t care who is to blame, they simply have to sort it out and get him out there.
“I have no doubt Gael would give everything out there if asked to play. He couldn’t have done any worse than some of the players out there could he? No one is telling me some of them were in the right frame of mind.
“Too often this season we have not had our best players available and that is why we are in the position we are. It is all pretty unacceptable really and the fans deserve better.
“I’m not saying Michel Salgado has to start. He was struggling a bit but to have him not even in the squad because of contracts is plain crazy. His experience in the dressing room and his passion would be a huge asset.
“Everyone at the club needs to take a good look at themselves. The players, the manager, the owners. It is almost as though we have forgotten what is at stake here.”
Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Swansea leaves Rovers three points adrift of safety with four Premier League games left.
Norwich City visit Ewood Park on Saturday with most now tipping Rovers for the drop but Garner is adamant Rovers can still survive - if they get finally get their house in order, temporarily at least.
“We are not dead and buried yet,” he said. “But we will be if we don’t start picking our best players and stop rowing between ourselves.
“If we can win our two home games and, in normal circumstances, we should be doing that then a surprise away draw or win could even be enough.
“If I am being honest, we probably deserve to be relegated already. But we aren’t and while there is hope the fans deserve the club doing everything they can – and that means playing the best players.”
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