Blackburn Supporters Trust issue statement on deeply concerning situation at the club

The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust issue a statement on deeply concerning situation at the club with John Eustace reportedly set to leave.

The head coach has been granted the permission to speak to the Rams after a clause in his Rovers contract was activated.

Fair to say Rovers were extremely disappointed by this, they had their say on the latest development which you can see HERE.

This picture always hits hard.

Anyone who knew Birdy knew just what Rovers meant to him. The absolute embodiment of True Blue.

Nothing has really improved since then. https://t.co/5oXy2WEMhS

— We Are The Rovers (@RoversTrust) February 10, 2025

STATEMENT:

On January 3rd, the WATR board sent the following communication to Steve Waggott:

“We are writing on the eve of one of the most important games in recent times. Rovers haven’t beaten our arch-rivals in 14 years, and the fortunes of our respective clubs have taken polar opposite paths during the time Venky’s have been our owners. Ewood Park will be full of passionate Rovers fans for the first time in many years due in no small part to the belief and togetherness that has been driven by John Eustace so far this season. Aside from being a hugely important league game this fixture could also prove to be a watershed in reconnecting the fanbase with the club.

Whatever the result, there are encouraging signs that things are improving, and the club must proactively step up its efforts in fan engagement to capitalise on this. Despite this we do have some major concerns. While we hope these prove to be unfounded, we believe it is necessary to outline our current position.

Failure to adequately invest in the playing squad during this window would make it necessary for us to change our outlook and public stance. We remain committed to supporting the team on the pitch, and to working with the staff at Ewood to ensure supporters are represented. However, it would mean that we would have to publicly call for the owners to sell the club.

To reiterate what we have said many times before, the last 2 January windows have been nothing short of farcical, and damaged the credibility of our club, owners and senior staff. Last year also seriously jeopardised our Championship status. Furthermore, the nature of our failings have led to supporters questioning the competence and motives of the owners and those within their employment. We simply cannot have another similar situation, and there are people within the club who must understand and acknowledge this. A repeat ofJanuary 2023 or 2024 will not only decimate the good work that has been done but would also likely lead to turbulence and protests against you and the owners.

Given our strong P&S/FFP position, our current league position, and the overall strength (or otherwise) of the division there are no excuses as to why we shouldn’t be signing players to give the manager and squad the best chance of success. The entire point of a football club is to compete and strive to be better. We are constantly told that the owners are committed to returning Rovers to the Premier League, and now is the time for them to back up their words with actions. For the third time in four seasons, we have a realistic chance to make at least the play offs, thanks to an impressive first half ofthe season. But this can only be achieved with investment in strengthening the playing squad. A third failure to do so during the January transfer window while nicely poised would render the relationship between the owners and the supporters untenable.

John Eustace is on record as saying the squad needs investment. You have also stated publicly that transfer funds are required and have been requested from the owners via Suhail. If funds are not forthcoming, we can only conclude that the aspirations of the owners and their representative for the football club do not match those of the management, board, players and fanbase. We believe in the club, and think that John Eustace can bring us success, but neither you nor he can succeed with one hand tied behind your backs.

Given our well documented struggles to keep within P&S limits for years,this is an opportunity which may not come around again for many years. Players that command a fee like Adam Wharton are exceptions. The legacy of that sale must be the progression of the squad to promotion challengers, it can’t be to maintain mid table mediocrity in the second tier.

We do not think decent investment in the playing side is a big ask, particularly given the transfer fees we have recouped in the last 12 months. It is a necessary expense in football, and the duty of our owners to make the team as strong as possible. The owners must understand how privileged they are to be involved in our football club. We are confident that if any of our members had their financial wherewithal they would do everything in their power to ensure Rovers were a success, and we expect the same from the Rao family. This window represents a real opportunity for them to turn the club into an asset rather than the burden they seem to currently view it as.”‍

While the club managed to bring in 6 signings, 5 of them are contracted only until the end of this season, and the short term nature of them does nothing toallay our long term concerns for the wellbeing of our club.

Evidently John Eustace is of a similar opinion. To lose a manager who has done so much good work to restore some pride and hope to our club is heartbreaking. To lose him from a playoff position to a team currently in the relegation zone is a damning indictment of everything that is wrong with our club.

There is a massive amount of completely justified anger from our fanbase at present, and fan unrest has been a near constant for the entirety of Venky’s ownership. This is hardly surprising considering the catalogue of disasters we have experienced over the last 14 years.

It’s irrelevant who is employed as a director of the club: Karen Silk, Derek Shaw, Alan Myers, Simon Hunt, Paul Hunt, Mahesh Gupta, Vineeth Errabelly, Mike Cheston, Rohan Bhagwat, Paul Agnew, Ian Silvester, have all come and gone since Venky’s took over, and none of their departures brought about change. What M Sreenivasa Rao and Gandhi Babu do is anyone’s guess. It is apparent that Steve Waggott is expected to run elements of the club without the required autonomy or backing to do so.

The one constant throughout the Venky’s tenure has been Suhail Pasha. While his title has changed in that time, his role as advisor/conduit/owners representative has remained broadly the same. With the Rao family remaining absent for over a decade he appears to hold a lot of power despite having no prior experience in football.

We feel that the only acceptable advice for Suhail to pass on to the Rao family is to finally do the right thing and sell the club. New owners who care for the club and will treat Rovers and its supporters with the respect we deserve are long overdue.

Sent on behalf of the Board of We Are The Rovers Supporters Trust

Henry Winter (@henrywinter) tweeted: The situation at Blackburn Rovers is heart-breaking for their fans specifically but it’s also a story that carries deep concerns for many in English football. It is a story about issues with ownership, spending, recruitment and communication. It’s a story about a famous, historic English club, a founding member of the Football League, which should be celebrating the 30th anniversary of its Premier League title and 150th anniversary of its foundation. But instead finds itself drifting, given brief hope by a good manager, and then crushing disappointment when he quits.

There could be a myriad reasons behind John Eustace’s departure from Rovers to Derby County: whether he couldn’t work with the Venky’s structure; the owners were too distant in every sense; signings were insufficient quality to replace the quality sold; he wanted to return to Derby, the club where he finished his playing career in 2015; and/or family reasons. Whatever the reasons, it’s an indictment of the situation that Eustace would rather be at a club fighting relegation from the Championship than a club in the play-off position. It’s fact that Venky’s have lost another capable head coach (after Jon Dahl Tomasson). And the fans lose out.

It’s also fact that Venky’s, a combination of naïve and inept, have lost a lot of money on Rovers (between £150m and £200m according to reports). Maybe they are simply holding on to the dream of returning to the Premier League.

At the very least, Rovers supporters deserve proper explanation of the situation by the board and also clarification of the owners’ ambitions, if any. There have been previous protests against the Venky’s, whose main business in India is poultry. A chicken was released on the Ewood pitch during a crunch game with Wigan Athletic in 2012 and again versus Burnley in 2014 (it’s not known whether it was the same chicken). At the very least, there are bound to be critical chants heard at The Hawthorns where Rovers play tomorrow, and particularly at Ewood against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

“We’re not a protest group,” says Katie Hull of @RoversTrust affiliated to the @WeAreTheFSA. “But from looking at social media, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were protests on Saturday, even banners. We’ve had 14 years of this. We just can’t sit back and allow things to get any worse.”

She has a message for the Venky’s. “You haven’t been to the club in 10 years now. Why do you still have us? You are causing more heartache to us. Do the right thing and sell the club. Think about the fans, they want change, they can’t cope with it any more. Think of Jack (Walker, fan and owner who passed away in 2000). Jack would be absolutely heartbroken if he’d seen what’s happened to the club he loved.”

Only 15,141 turned up for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Wolves, who brought their sold-out allocation of 4,200. “We get a lot of stick about attendance,” Hull adds. “That is primarily down to 14 years that people don’t want to attend because of the ownership.

“We are actively trying to get the club sold. People have enquired. It’s not going to be an easy process. First of all they’ve got to agree to sell it.” The Trust even fears their club could die if the Venky’s don’t sell. “There is that real possibility,” Hull says. “They are living on transfer sales (Adam Wharton and Sammie Szmodics for £27m last year). Look at other clubs in our league (with ownership issues), even Derby went through it in the past. Sheffield Wednesday are currently going through it.

“We’ve had so many years of doom and gloom and this year marks a massive year for Rovers: 30 years from the Premier League title, 150 years since we were founded, and we are continually watching our club going on a downward spiral. Sammie Szmodics kept us up last year.”

And yet Eustace’s good management kept them challenging for promotion this season. Rovers Trust also has a message to Eustace. “Be open to the fans,” Hull pleads. “I’m not expecting him to tell everything, because he won’t be able to for legal reasons. The fans deserve something even if it’s a statement. It’s hit people like a ton of bricks. The fans have supported him from day one. Fans are frustrated because when he came to the club, fans had that bit of hope. We felt he was a really good appointment. He talked about togetherness. We tried to come together and support the lads through thick and thin, and he’s simply departed with no explanation. It’s turned very sour.”

Yet Hull understands that internal club issues must have made life difficult for Eustace. “100% understand. It’s not a nice environment to be at.” Blackburn’s board points to “significant investment” in the squad but they’ve not replaced quality with quality.

The Trust also has a message for the EFL. “Do something about it. Don’t sit back and make no statement. Get someone involved. How can the EFL allow families or ownership to exist and ruin football clubs. Because it has ruined us.” Rovers aren’t ruined but clearly the ownership model and structure is failing the club. It’s another reason why so many fans are supportive of the Independent Regulator arriving later this year. “The Football (Governance) Bill is going to be amazing, a great thing when it comes in. But for us that will be too late.”

It depends who Blackburn bring in to succeed Eustace. The sadness is they have lost a good head coach – again. And a famous club continues to drift. “Supporting Rovers comes with a health hazard,” Hull sighs. #Rovers