Steve Kean ‘forced to resign’ as Blackburn manager

Steve Kean

Steve Kean’s often chaotic time in charge of Blackburn Rovers has come to an end after the Scot revealed he had been “forced to resign” with immediate effect.

Blackburn fans frequently turned on Kean as the club were relegated from the Premier League for the first time in 13 years in May, but Kean remained with the club until Friday evening, when he released a statement claiming that his position at Rovers had become “untenable.”

Rumours of Kean’s departure from Ewood Park had been circulating all week despite Blackburn currently occupying third place in the Championship table with 14 points from seven matches.They face Charlton Athletic at The Valley on Saturday.

"For reasons that I cannot discuss on legal advice, it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers football club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable," said Kean in a statement issued through his lawyers.

"I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towards an automatic promotion position back to the Premiership. I wish the club all the very best for the future."

Owners Venky’s held talks with Kean following the 2-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough last week, with the Scot claiming that the discussions had been “positive and constructive” earlier on Friday.

There was widespread surprise when Venky’s sacked Sam Allardyce and appointed first team coach Kean as manager soon after their acquisition of the club in December 2010.

The 44-year-old guided Rovers to 15th place in the 2010/11 season, but he couldn’t save them from relegation in the following campaign as they picked up just 31 points from their 38 matches. Fan protests calling for the removal of both Kean and Venky’s were common occurrences throughout the season.

During his time as Blackburn manager, Kean was convicted of drink-driving and was sued by former boss Allardyce after being caught on camera making allegations against him.

A fans' boycott against Kean and Venky's had seen Ewood Park attendances way below the norm at the start of this season, with only 13,405 - arround 9,000 down on the average crowds last season - attending the Middlesbrough match last Friday.

Mark Jones – follow me on twitter

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