TALK about after the horse has bolted. Blackburn Rovers were crying out for experience last season to save their season but Venky’s and Steve Kean failed miserably in their attempts to deliver.
In fact, all they did do was to get rid of most of the senior players, leaving a youthful and ill-equipped squad fighting the losing battle of staying in the Premier League.
Now, consigned to the Champ-ionship, it appears as though the owners are performing a complete u-turn on their past policy.
The signing of Danny Murphy and targetting the likes of Dan Gosling and Leon Best makes complete sense, but you can’t help scratching your heads at why it took so long for the penny to drop.
Best or Anthony Modeste? It is a no brainer. Best may be no world beater but he at least knows what English football is all about.
Had Kean and Venky’s looked at players of this ilk last season, rather than the ones they signed, perhaps we would not be in this situation now.
I think most supporters would acknowledge the capture of Murphy is finally a step in the right direction. But that is all it is. It is a start of a very long road back.
I have already stated that life is going to be even harder for the poultry giants to prove anyone wrong due to keeping faith with Kean. That decision still makes little sense to anyone.
Venky’s though this summer appear to be backing him with ‘big money’. If Murphy’s supposed wages are anything to go by, as well as the package offered to Best, there will be few clubs in the second tier spending bigger than Rovers.
Why now I hear you all say? The truth is I have no idea. If only they had properly committed last summer with the right signings and the necessary finance. The lack of logic sums up Venky’s reign.
One thing is for sure, the pressure has to be really on Kean from the off. You got the sense the beleagured boss has been unsackable for most of his Rovers’ tenure. Now, surely, that can’t be the case.
If this financial backing continues – remembering at the moment, it is only one player – then Kean simply has to succeed. For Rovers, it has to be promotion.
Failure to deliver would be a disaster for the club and that means Kean has to be accountable for results from day one.
Before anyone mentions it, I know he already should have been. But, this time, there is no excuse of not being backed and not being surrounded by his men. He is.
Shebby Singh has come in with the power to make big decisions. Perhaps, at last, there is someone at the club who will be prepared to take the necessary action.
Only time will tell.
Singh’s arrival has brought with it a couple of encouraging noises at least.
The manager believes he can succeed with his squad and his men in place so, if that continues to happen, it is up to him to prove it – and quickly.
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