[Archived] News Article -> The Last Vestige Of Hope

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Blackburn Rovers may have picked up a vital win against Barnsley yesterday, but a dark cloud still looms large over Ewood Park. This last week's sacking of Henning Berg means that Rovers are now looking for a new manager for the second time in as many months — not quite what was expected from the pre-season promotion hopefuls.

Even after yesterday's win Rovers are well off the promotion places and will need to drastically improve if they are to have any chance of making the play-offs. Whilst performances and results have been disappointing, however, the Rovers faithful are far more concerned with activities taking place away from the pitch.

It seems that the power struggle at the top is continuing as Singh, Agnew and Shaw continue to fight for top-dog status. The goings-on at Ewood Park are more befitting of a soap opera than a professional football club and it doesn't look like the circus will be leaving town anytime soon.

There is a great deal of speculation suggesting that either Singh or Agnew had some influence over the team selections during Berg's tenure and that has to raise serious questions about how the club is being run.

Paul Agnew was promoted to the role of operations director in the summer and, although he has been working for Rovers for over 16 years, it is difficult to explain why the former press and public relations officer should have been entrusted with making serious decisions relating to the club's administration.

Shebby Singh, who came to the club last summer as the newly appointed global advisor of the Venky's, seemingly played a key role in the capture of Jordan Rhodes and in forcing Steve Kean out of the door. He deserves some credit for both of those achievements, but any good work he may have done is now being overshadowed by rumours that suggest that the former TV pundit has the desire to influence team selections.

In Saturday's Mirror it was reported that managing director Derek Shaw has called for Singh to be removed from his position and Shaw will be pleading his case to the owners during his trip to India. This represents a high-water mark for the in-fighting, while the club continues to carry out its business in the public domain.

Supporters had hoped that things might improve when Steve Kean resigned. However, any optimism that followed his departure has vanished and it is now apparent that the managerial position is only a small area of concern.

When viewed from a distance, the situation is farcical, but for Rovers supporters it is heartbreaking. Not long ago the club was able to pride itself on being well run and on the fact that it was respected throughout football. Results were never guaranteed and the threat of relegation from the Premier League never seemed far away, but supporters at least knew that the decision-makers had the club's best interests in mind.

Those days are long gone and experience has been replaced by incompetence. The next managerial appointment is the last vestige of hope. If, by some miracle, someone qualified for the position is appointed, then there is a chance that sensible decisions might be made regarding the team; however, even if that does happen, it is unlikely that the off-the-field problems will be resolved anytime soon.

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