Blackburn Rovers fans jeered and booed Steve Kean On Saturday despite a 4-2 victory over Premier League new boys Swansea City.
Apart from demonstrating their displeasure during a win, the most unusual thing was that they also greeted a a goal celebration with boos. Four goal hero Yakubu ran over to his manager to hug him after scoring for Rovers and the fans showed their disquiet at this. It wasn’t the goal or the player however that caused the jeers, it is the dislike the fans have for their manager.
Blackburn fans feel that Kean has to go, and that they have a one-way ticket to the Championship with him at the helm. The win leaves Blackburn in the relegation zone but they are only one point off safety and a win off sixteenth place.
So why does this warrant a chorus of boos just 14 games in to the season? Well, it’s because Blackburn fans and Premiership fans have seen it all before and perversely, a victory is not what these Blackburn fans want right now. They want Steve Kean out of the door and with every three points that chance is less of a reality. Every three points are a successful outcome for Blackburn, a possible three points that sees them secure to flight status for next season, but the home contingent don’t believe.
When I said they had seen it all before in the Premier League, Avram Grant at West Ham last season is the perfect example. No West Ham fan thought that Grant was going to ensure them Premier League survival. Many felt that if Grant had been replaced by last Christmas, with the squad West Ham had, they would have survived. And that is the mindset of a lot of Rovers’ supporters. They don’t want to say I told you so, when they are watching their team in the league below next term.
Kean is a young manager and a new manager in the Premiership, but you don’t get time these days to learn your trade at the top. It’s a results business and you live and die by the W. And the win on Saturday was Blackburn’s first in the league since September 17. Amazingly though Blackburn have scored a lot of goals for a team performing so poorly. Kean’s side have scored 15 goals in their last six games in all competitions. The game they last won in September in the league was a 4-3 win over Arsenal. That is their obvious problem for all to see though, the amount of goals they also concede with 17 goals going in to their own net in the last six.
I can totally understand the Blackburn follower’s frustrations but they may actually have a manager here that can deliver them exciting attacking football. Something they haven’t seen at Ewood Park since they lifted the Premier League title in the 1990′s. If Kean can sure up his side’s defensive frailties and get his squad out of relegation danger, this guy may be a keeper.
I don’t think you are going to convince too many Rovers fans of that, but this could definitely be a case of be careful what you wish for, as Steve Kean could return one day with his new charges and show Blackburn what they let go, if indeed they do let him go.
Photo credit: Kafuffle
