Blackburn Rovers oversaw sour end for ex-Liverpool and Bolton player: View | OneFootball

Former Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers forward El Hadji Diouf was no stranger to controversy throughout his career and that was epitomised in his Rovers exit.

He joined the Lancashire club from Sunderland in January 2009, for a fee believed to be in the region of £2.8million, and was reunited with his former boss at Bolton, Sam Allardyce, in the process.

However, Allardyce was gone less than two years later and new boss Steve Kean did not take to the Senegalese forward, sending him out on loan to Rangers in the winter window.

It was the beginning of the end for Diouf's Blackburn career, one which was left on less than amicable terms.

The writing was on the wall when Kean arrived

Diouf was renowned for his off-field antics, and was far from a model professional, but the two-time African Footballer of the Year also had a knack for scoring a goal at the highest levels, if a manager could see past his persona.

Having brought him in once already at Bolton, before opting to acquire his services again at Blackburn, Allardyce was clearly one of those managers who thought they could get the most out of him and settle any external issues separately.

That meant that when Allardyce was sacked less than a year after Diouf's signing, the chances of another manager who could handle Diouf arriving at Ewood Park seemed slim. In reality, there was no chance.

The next manager, Steve Kean, was actually already in the building, as a first-team coach under Allardyce, who was first given the interim role immediately after his sacking, before being instated permanently in December 2010.

He quickly fell out of favour with the new boss. It took just a matter of weeks before Diouf was embroiled in his next scandal; this time his perceived mocking of Jamie Mackie, who had suffered a horrific injury and for which QPRboss Neil Warnock labelled the striker a "sewer rat".

His own boss did not take to the situation kindly either, dropping him in the following game, which caused friction between the pair and ultimately led to Diouf's shock loan departure to Rangers on deadline day in January 2011.

There was no route back for Diouf

Kean made clear that summer that there was to be no place for Diouf in his squad for the upcoming season after his loan at Rangers was not made permanent, having seemingly already made up his mind regarding whether the forward was a character he wanted in his dressing room, despite Diouf still having a year to run on his contract at Ewood Park.

That would not be the case for much longer, however, as Diouf made matters worse by turning up for pre-season training late, and the club subsequently terminated his contract.

This was the source of some frustration for Diouf, who felt he had been the victim of a changed attitude from Kean in his new role.

Diouf told the BBC at the time: "When he was coach, he used to talk to me all the time.

"He'd tell me I was the club's best player. Then when he became the manager, he changed his opinion of me."

That may have been the result of Kean now having to answer questions about Diouf and discipline him for his misconduct, but it was clearly never going to work for the pair once Kean became manager, and the saga ended bitterly.

Diouf didn't stop there

Undeterred by that saga, Diouf tried, and found some success, in reigniting his career first with Doncaster Rovers and latterly with Leeds United.

Things ended sourly with Blackburn and portrayed a common theme throughout Diouf's career. Only select managers, like Allardyce, knew how to handle him, and when he left, Diouf's days at Ewood Park were always going to be numbered, but fans could have perhaps wished for a less sour ending than they got.