Oliver Petersen asks who will fill the considerable void left by Mark Hughes at Ewood Park…
Mark Hughes has left Blackburn Rovers football club in good shape. They are an established Premier League outfit of good standing, who have the potential to be taken to the next level, should the right man be appointed as his replacement.
The club have apparently unsurprisingly received more than 40 applications for the manager’s job and intend to make a decision with the next ten days.
Fans’ favourite, Alan Shearer, age 37, has been linked with the job since he retired as a player, almost as often as he’s been mentioned regarding a possible return to Newcastle as their boss. However, officials at Blackburn have refused to confirm if Shearer’s name was on the list of applicants. Shearer is currently working as a television analyst and is known to be working towards his Uefa Pro Licence. Seeing fellow international strikers from his generation such as Jurgen Klinsmann and Marco van Basten slide into management with relative ease, can only have further motivated the former England number nine.
Meanwhile, ex-England and Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren, 47, has admitted he would jump at the chance to rebuild his reputation at Ewood Park. His appointment is likely to be met with mixed reaction, seeing he did himself no favours in his position at the helm of the national team, and few fans seem willing to forgive and forget at this stage.
Former England and Manchester United midfielder, Paul Ince, 40, has been patiently waiting in the wings, plying his trade in the lower leagues with Macclesfield Town and now Milton Keynes Dons. Ince is highly rated by many but his appointment would undoubtedly be made with a certain level of risk, considering his lack of management experience at the top level.
Ex-Bolton and Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce, 53, and Zenit St. Petersburg’s UEFA cup winning coach Dick Advocaat, 60, are also rumoured to be on the list, but many Blackburn fans have voiced concern over having to endure watching Big Sam’s style of football at Ewood each week.
Advocaat certainly has the greatest management CV of those publicly rumoured to be on the list, but while his signature would be something of a coup for the north-west club, it’s seen to be somewhat unlikely at this stage.
As always, ex-players will be thrown into the hat. Sometimes with reason, and at other times through sheer bias of fans or club officials, for players for whom they still retain a soft spot.
Three interesting ones mentioned have been ex-Scotland centre back Colin Hendry, 42, the former Blackpool and Clyde manager; World Cup winning midfielder Ossie Ardiles, 55, who has managed 14 clubs covering nearly all the continents, and Chris Coleman, 37, who is at Coventry City but is reportedly itching to get back amongst the big time clubs in the Premier League.
Whoever the new man may be, one of his first tasks - if his appointment doesn’t come too late - might be to persuade Rovers’ stars from leaving. Stephen Warnock has openly admitted his frustration at Hughes’ departure, saying the former Barcelona and Bayern striker was the main reason he came to the club and signed a new long term contract. Meanwhile, David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz have both been linked with moves away from Ewood Park, possibly following Hughes south down the road to Manchester. Other stars like Morten Gamst Pedersen and Benni McCarthy will be waiting patiently to see who the next man to take up the reigns will be.
While at first thought it’s no surprise to learn that the application list is 40-men strong, on thinking it through, it does take some expansive rationalising as to who might be on it. Does a list of such type include people the club take seriously into consideration, or does that mean a group of people including any old joker off the street whose able to access the club website, jot down their address and have the audacity to apply? Surely not. But then why announce this list of 40? There can’t surely be 40 managers who on the one hand genuinely feel they’re in a position to take over the role, and on the other hand also believe that they’re in the running to perhaps be given an interview. Wouldn’t it be simpler for everyone if clubs just came out and told the fans who was on these lists? Obviously that’s extremely unlikely to happen, but it would make for some great chat around the living room table.
At least fans of Blackburn Rovers and the Premier League in general, have been given a timeframe. While in one way ten days is not too long, in the other, one might say that there is copious time for speculation. And so may it begin.
Oliver Petersen
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