Venkys decision at Blackburn Rovers in 2010/11 will forever haunt the club: View | OneFootball

The Venky's appointed Steve Kean in December 2010 and it proved a disastrous move

Once a giant of English football, Blackburn Rovers have endured some tough times recently, particularly since being relegated from the Premier League in 2012.

Their fall from grace has coincided with the arrival of controversial owners Venky's, who took over the club during the 2010/11 season, and it's fair to say that the family who made their fortune from poultry farming haven't always been the most popular amongst the Ewood Park faithful.

However, one of their worst decisions came during the 2010/11 season, not long after taking over the club, and it set the tone for what's turned out to be one of the most tumultuous ownership reigns in English football.

The Venky's sacked experienced manager Sam Allardyce in December 2010 after over two years at the helm and appointed his assistant Steve Kean, initially as a caretaker boss, before making it permanent soon after.

It's fair to say this proved a poor move, and Blackburn are arguably still feeling the effects of it now.

Appointing Steve Kean will forever haunt Blackburn Rovers

Allardyce was sacked with Blackburn in 13th place in the Premier League, by no means a bad position, but the club's new owners wanted to go in a different direction after a couple of poor results, and Kean, who had been assistant manager at Ewood Park since the summer of 2009, was given the job on a caretaker basis.

However, just over a week after being appointed as caretaker boss, Kean was given the job until the end of the season to prove his worth, only to be given a long-term contract just a month later.

It seemed as if the Venky's didn't really know what they were doing, and it's fair to say that Kean's appointment proved that.

His appointment was shrouded in controversy, with it reported that his agent, Jerome Andersen, had played a major role in advising the Venky's during their takeover, leading to suggestions that was why he was given the job.

Things weren't great on the pitch either, and after a 10-game winless run, Rovers were dragged into a relegation battle and only survived on the final day of the season after an away win to Wolves.

Meanwhile, Kean was also forced to pay substantial damages to Allardyce after labelling him a 'crook', so it's fair to say that things weren't going well for the Rovers boss.

Things got even worse during the 2011/12 season, and Rovers were relegated from the Premier League after finishing 19th in the Premier League, and Kean admitted to forfeiting a League Cup quarter-final away to Cardiff City to concentrate on the league, much to the dismay of the club's supporters.

Kean was largely deeply unpopular with supporters, and it was clear that he was out of his depth, but Venky's persisted, and it ultimately cost them their Premier League status.

He eventually left the club in September 2012, claiming his position was untenable, but it was too little too late, and the damage had been done.

Blackburn Rovers have never recovered from Steve Kean's reign

Blackburn are yet to return to the Premier League since Kean took them down in 2012, and they were even relegated to League One in 2017, and while that's not necessarily Kean's fault, the club have never recovered from their decision to appoint him.

He had no experience of being a first-team manager at any level, so sacking Allardyce to replace him with Kean proved an incredible bit of naivety from the Venky's, and helped make them deeply unpopular at Ewood Park.

Since leaving Blackburn, Kean has managed a range of clubs in obscure locations, showing he probably wasn't a suitable manager for a Premier League club.

Blackburn were a stable Premier League club until the Venky's took over, having spent just two years outside the top-flight since it was formed in 1992, and had even won the league in 1995.