Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers played out a 0-0 draw that left the two Lancashire clubs, three years after relegation from the Premier League, yet to win in five games.
Perhaps surprisingly, even early into the new season, 2015-16 has not seen any managerial changes through the English leagues with 11 clubs appointing new managers before the campaign began. However, this is a picture that can change dramatically in a brutally competitive environment like the Championship, not least among the expectant clubs which recently tasted Premier League life. And that Blackburn had to deny sacking Gary Bowyer is in itself an indictment of their current predicament – never mind the management of the club.
This may be the season where the bottom falls out of Blackburn Rovers under the unpopular ownership of India-based Venky’s. The changeover of ownership in 2010 (the trust of the late Jack Walker had funded the club for a decade) resulted in an overhaul of management structure (or rather, the dismantling of a structure that had worked quite well for years) and the replacement of Sam Allardyce with Steve Kean, who would become one of the most unpopular managers in English football and a focal point for mounting fan discontent as Blackburn finally plummeted out of the Premier League in 2012. They had spent 11 seasons in the Premier League, in which they had been a decent middle-of-the-road side with the odd European appearance and cup run, on top of seven seasons in the 90s during which they won a historic league championship on the back of big spending that transformed the English game.
Following relegation, the axe fell on Kean with neither Henning Berg nor Michael Appleton lasting long in a 2012-13 season where they both flirted with relegation danger and beat Arsenal in the FA Cup to reach the quarter-finals. It was left to Bowyer, son of Nottingham Forest stalwart Ian Bowyer, to stabilise matters on the field and Blackburn narrowly missed the play-offs the following season. Last season, however, was a frustrating one as Blackburn never really got into the play-off mix while yet again enjoying a decent cup run only to lose to Liverpool in a quarter-final replay.
In the off-season, playmaker Tom Cairney (to Fulham) and striker Rudy Gestede (to Aston Villa) were two big departures. That itself may have rung a few alarm bells and it is surprising that other eminently sellable players such as Jordan Rhodes, Craig Conway and Ben Marshall are still at the club as of now. There is not much wrong Bowyer has seemingly done, but the reality is that he faces a thankless situation caught between unpopular owners and an alienated fanbase. Unfortunately, the weakening of the squad is the inevitable result of a series of appalling decisions made not least in terms of management and recruitment since the change of ownership in 2010. How Bowyer guides the side through potentially stormy waters remains to be seen. The club’s youth may yet, as often in these situations, prove to be a silver lining.
Blackburn may well stabilise and revert to their 1980s position of consistent Second Division membership albeit quite often challenging for promotion as they were back then with limited resources. But if the squad is further decimated without adequate replacement and should fans remain alienated as a result of mismanagement (as diminished attendances will further hamper the ability to gain and retain quality), the club could find itself sucked into an even more vicious cycle.
A similar scenario may be on the cards for Bolton Wanderers. They too spent 11 years in the Premier League, much of it under Sam Allardyce. It was widely thought that when Allardyce left in 2007, Bolton would inevitably plummet. Somehow, Gary Megson and then Owen Coyle managed to keep them afloat for five more seasons. However, both then and since relegation, the litany of questionable decisions in the field of player recruitment have piled up along with the size of the club’s debt, calling the tenure of chairman Phil Gartside into question. Current owner Edwin Davies is thought to be looking to sell the club.
After replacing Coyle with Dougie Freedman, Bolton saw a surge in form late in 2012-13 that nearly gave them a play-off place and the hope that their exile from the Premier League might not be too long. Unfortunately for them, the following season saw a slump into mid-table mediocrity. It was last season that it seemingly caught up with Bolton and Freedman paid the price for a poor start, to be replaced by Neil Lennon. On one hand, it would seem that Lennon, away from the cauldron that is football in Glasgow, might find things easier going south of the border. On the other hand, the Championship is a world away from the virtually guaranteed domination of the Scottish Premier League that has been the case for Celtic in the last few years since Rangers’ bankruptcy and relegation.
In fairness, Lennon did manage to keep Bolton well clear of the relegation zone although the sheer ineptitude of the three sides that went down last season helped. He has also had to undertake the pruning of what is a very large squad for the Championship, namely clearing deadwood and reducing the club’s wage bill. Yet what is left is a picture of general mediocrity punctured by some very capable players like Mark Davies and youngster Zach Clough. Even so, the possibility that Bolton could be in for a season of struggle cannot be ruled out from here.
With Bolton and Blackburn still looking for a first win of 2015-16, the pressure on Bowyer and Lennon is expected to increase, even if both managers could be seen as operating with at least a hand tied.
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