Blackburn once again the Championship's laughing stock after Appleton's sacking

 

Venky's stun supporters again by making young manager the third boss to leave Ewood Park this season after only 15 games...

 

Blackburn Rovers can be backed at 9.0 for relegation from the Championship after Michael Appleton became the third manager to leave the club this season.

 

Appleton was in charge for only 67 days and 15 games before controversial owners Venky's decided to call time on his reign. His last match was Sunday's 1-1 draw with East Lancashire rivals Burnley. That came three days after the team were knocked out of the FA Cup by Millwall in a disappointing 1-0 defeat. However, Rovers had defied expectations to get that far, famously beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the fifth round.

 

That victory was the highlight of Appleton's short reign and, since then, Rovers have gone eight games without a win. They have scored only once in their last four fixtures and a downward trajectory currently leaves them 18th in the Championship. They were backed as high as 95.0 for relegation at the start of the season but those odds have narrowed as turmoil has become the norm at Ewood and Venky's decisions continue to baffle supporters.

 

There was disbelief when they dismissed Sam Allardyce in November 2010 with the club 13th in the Premier League. They had finished an impressive tenth the previous season and were gaining a reputation as a decent mid-table outfit. Big Sam's unpopular replacement, Steve Kean, only just kept Blackburn up in 2011 and, a year later, they were relegated. At the start of this season, they were fancied to be in contention at the top of the Championship and were backed at 2.18 for promotion.

 

Promising signings were made in the summer but, although Danny Murphy was a positive influence before his relationship with Appleton soured, and Jordan Rhodes has scored 20 league goals, the combination of injuries and instability off the pitch has cost Rovers. They were third in the table when Kean finally left, claiming that he'd been forced to resign, in late September. The appointment of Henning Berg, who was popular as a Blackburn player, brought renewed optimism but his reign was even shorter and more ignominious than Appleton's: the Norwegian won only one of ten games in charge.

 

In some respects Venky's and Appleton were a perfect match. Neither have any truck with loyalty - he was their third manager of the 2012/13 season and they were the third team he'd been in charge of this term - but fans have, on the whole, greeted his sacking with disappointment. One who claims that the club are becoming a laughing stock appears to sum up the mood.

 

Victory at Arsenal aside, Appleton did little to suggest that he was Blackburn's saviour. However, most fans are astute enough to understand that nothing is gained by constantly changing the manager. When Appleton took over he mumbled platitudes about how excited he was to join an "historic club"(he was dumping Blackpool, who boast a pretty rich heritage themselves, after only 12 games) but, although Blackburn will gain nothing from living in the past, Venky's need only study historical precedents to learn that most managers need time. Venky's contradictions - their inexhaustible patience with Kean followed by trigger-happiness this season - threaten to be the ruin of a great club.

 

Fans are frustrated because they're the ones who are suffering. Players, managers and owners come and go but, snide remarks about attendances aside, the Blue and White Army are loyal and committed. They want a manager with integrity and ambition to get a fair chance to take the club in the right direction. Reserve-team coach Gary Bowyer has been put in charge for the remainder of the season and his brief is simple: use Blackburn's remaining nine games to make sure that they avoid a consecutive relegation.

 

Long term, optimists will talk about Mark Hughes. There's no reason, however, why a man who justifiably considers his pedigree to be that of a Premier League boss would want to work at Ewood under Venky's. Especially as Blackburn may soon be playing League One football.

 

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