Duncan McGuire news is last thing Blackburn Rovers need right now: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Blackburn Rovers have been having a horrid time of late.

On the pitch, Rovers have only won once since the start of December in the Championship.

This form has left Rovers looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone, as they are just five points clear.

Off the pitch, and partly due to the performances on the pitch, manager Jon Dahl Tomasson is under pressure, and he was unusually stopped from taking pre-match press duties ahead of their match against Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

According to the Lancashire Telegraph, this was purely just to allow the new signings to speak to the press instead, but it still comes across as a little weird. Also add on the potential rumours of Director of Football Gregg Broughton leaving, and it seems like a mess from the outside looking in.

But the major situation at Rovers has been what is going on with Duncan McGuire, which has answered a lot of questions now the truth has emerged.

The Duncan McGuire situation as it stands

McGuire is a striker who plays for Orlando City in the MLS, and had gained strong interest in his services from Blackburn and Sheffield Wednesday.

McGuire eventually looked to be heading to Blackburn on a loan deal with an option to buy in the summer, and the signing was announced late on Deadline Day.

Rumours then came about that the deal had actually not gone through due to Rovers not submitting the paperwork needed.

Following plenty of speculation, Rovers put out a statement on their social channels stating that McGuire’s move was in jeopardy due to an ‘administrative error’ when processing his move.

A report then came out from The Athletic following Rovers’ statement, which claimed that the club had thought they had clicked the ‘submit paperwork’ button before the deadline, when they had actually pressed the ‘save’ button instead. By the time they realised their mistake, the transfer deadline had passed.

McGuire deal a massive blow to Blackburn

Rovers are in desperate need of a striker, so potentially not managing to acquire one is pretty bad news.

Sammie Szmodics is currently the joint top scorer in the Championship with 16 goals, but the attacking midfielder has scored 13 more goals than any of Rovers’ strikers. Goals at the top of the pitch are clearly lacking. Add in the deadline day departure of Niall Ennis to Stoke City and Rovers are light in depth for strikers, too.

This made the acquisition of McGuire so important, so the fact it may have fallen through due to a simple admin error is embarrassing and extremely unprofessional by the club.

Rovers' other striking options have been less than inspiring so far this campaign. Sam Gallagher has returned from injury and done well, but he is not the prolific goalscorer Rovers need.

Harry Leonard has been decent for Rovers, but at 20, he cannot be expected to be firing them in on a regular basis for a struggling side. There is also Semir Telalovic, who has failed to score so far since his move in the summer from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The pressure is already on Tomasson, and the situation surrounding McGuire (and the subsequent lack of a needed striker) sums up the mess Blackburn are in right now. It's no use to anybody being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons on this side of the window. It was avoidable and, subsequently, really unneeded as we head into the run-in.