The weekend’s Championship action paled into insignificance by the big story last Friday and one of the most inevitable departures of recent times.
Steve Kean finally ended his painful tenure at Blackburn Rovers by resigning from his position as manager after 21 troubled months at the helm of the Lancashire club.
His relationship with the owners, the controversial Venky’s was always under scrutiny. The question is did he jump or was he pushed?
Fighting to no avail
On Friday morning ahead of Rovers trip to Charlton at the weekend, Kean came out fighting in his pre-match press conference.
This was after the familiar ‘Kean Out’ banners returned following the side’s first Championship loss of the season, which was a 2-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough on 21 September.
Little was known at the time but it was to be the last match of the Scot’s difficult reign.
On Friday night he was gone, issuing this statement through his lawyers.
He said: “For reasons that I cannot discuss on legal advice, it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers Football Club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable.
“I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towards an automatic promotion position back to the Premier League.”
The way the statement has come out suggests that Kean hasn’t done this of his own accord.
No winners
The fans looked delighted when they were travelling to the Valley on Saturday, where they witnessed Blackburn grab a 1-1 draw to stay in the top four of the table having lost just once so far in the league.
They never accepted Kean (pictured) as manager after he replaced Sam Allardyce in December 2010.
However, there have been no winners in this vicious game of poisonous chants as the club relinquished their Premier League status in May.
Former Blackburn striker Kevin Gallacher told BBC Radio Lancashire: “I know a lot of the fans will be out celebrating tonight (Friday).”
“But there are two halves to a football club, and they haven’t joined together at Blackburn for the last 18 months.
“They’ve got to get the boardroom right, they’ve got to get the management right and they have got to work together and not just with each other, but for the people of Blackburn.”
The Venky owners were disappointed with Kean’s decision to leave and the timing of it, less than 24 hours before a crucial game is suspect to say the least.
The owners have already indicated that they will make the new appointment without any consultation of the fans so the backlash could well continue.
Who would want the job?
As for the vacancy at Ewood Park, the question would be aimed at the applicants – why would you even want the job?
The owners haven’t got a clue about how to run a football club. Does anyone remember pledges to try and sign David Beckham and Ronaldinho when they took control in November 2010?
The new man would want total control on the playing squad and staff, transfer policy, match tactics and all the running around an everyday football club.
If they wouldn’t get that promise, they should think very carefully about what they might be letting themselves in for.
Tim Sherwood has been linked with the vacancy although he has played down the speculation in the last 24 hours.
Sherwood was captain of the Blackburn side that won the Premier League title in 1995.
Another man mentioned is former Rovers striker Alan Shearer but his managerial experience in similar circumstances at Newcastle was a disaster.
In regards to Kean, a lot of sympathy has to be offered towards his plight. He had no chance to win over the fans and was always fighting a losing battle.
The chances of the 44-year-old getting another job in football management have to been as slim at best.
Moving on without him
Eric Black took caretaker charge for the draw at Charlton on Saturday, although Blackburn did drop a position in the Championship table.
League leaders Brighton failed to pull away after they were defeated 1-0 by Birmingham at the American Express Community Stadium. Chris Burke scored the only goal to ease the pressure on Blues manager Lee Clark.
Cardiff and Wolves propelled themselves into the top three with home victories. Wolves beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Molineux while Cardiff thrashed Blackpool 3-0 to go level on points with Brighton at the top.
Having started second in the table at the start of the weekend, Huddersfield dropped to sixth after they suffered a 3-2 home defeat to a Watford side that has been short of form in recent weeks.
Craig Bryson scored the only goal as Derby County clinched victory in a feisty Midlands derby at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest.
Forest striker Dexter Blackstock was sent off, a dismissal that left manager Sean O’Driscoll ‘stunned.’
At the wrong end of the table, Peterborough United recorded their first points of the season, as an Emile Sinclair hat-trick sunk Hull City 3-1 at the KC Stadium.
They closed the gap on Ipswich Town and Millwall in the bottom three, after both sides recorded away draws at Barnsley and Burnley respectively.
NPOWER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Saturday, 29 September
Barnsley 1-1 Ipswich Town
Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Crystal Palace
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 Birmingham City
Bristol City 2-3 Leeds United
Burnley 2-2 Millwall
Cardiff City 3-0 Blackpool
Charlton Athletic 1-1 Blackburn Rovers
Huddersfield Town 2-3 Watford
Hull City 1-3 Peterborough United
Middlesbrough 1-2 Leicester City
Wolves 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Sunday, 30 September
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Derby County
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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