Christmas Cheer For Steve Kean

Lets get one thing out of the way at the start. Blackburn fans I feel your pain. My club has gone through more bad owners than it is possible to imagine. However, whilst watching an unshaven fat man shouting abuse at Steve Kean last night I decided to search deep into my football memory to find a manager who was even more out of his depth than our Steve is. Granted, it was a hard task, mainly because most clubs have the decency to give the manager his marching orders long before he gets the opportunity to make a complete fool out of himself. I have the proof though. Merry Christmas Steve Kean, you are not the worst manager ever!

It is often stated that one of the problems Kean has is that he hasn't played the game at any great level and so doesn't have the respect of the players, but certain managers in the capital have proved that this is irrelevant if you know what you're doing. To prove that playing ability has no bearing on managerial ability we will consider the case of the worst manager in the history of English football. A man who played 62 times for England, who represented his country in the World Cup, who played for famous clubs at home and abroad and who was generally considered to be one of the best players of the period.

We also need to consider the club, Kean is working with the crazy Indian chicken farmers at a club that is quickly becoming a joke. Admittedly no one but the Venkys would have considered giving Kean the job, but lets not hide the fact that he is working at a badly run club, which can't help. The man I'm talking about worked at a well run club that had consistently punched above its weight for years. When he took the job, they had just been relegated from the Premier League and had money in the bank to push straight back up.

In less than 2 years David Platt ruined Nottingham Forest in a way no other manager has done to a club. He alienated the existing players, many of whom had been top division players for years. He blew millions of pounds on his friends from Italy, players like Gianluca Petrachi and Salvatore Matrecano who I can't even remember. He fell out with nearly all of the local media. He banished my friend Kev (who was working for student radio) from a press conference for questioning his tactics. He got no results on the pitch, achieving at best mid table mediocrity, and most telling of all he was single handedly responsible for the mountain of debt that almost sent Forest out of business. Whatever you say about Steve Kean, when he does get the boot he won't have bankrupted Blackburn.

In 2007 I went and saw a struggling Forest play at Roots Hall in League 1. When Southend took the lead the away end broke into a chant that sums up just how bad David Platt was. 7 years after he'd left the Forest fans were still singing "David Platt's a f***ing idiot!"

For all the brilliant players Manchester City have, they also have David Platt on the coaching staff. This, despite so much evidence to the contrary on the pitch, is the reason that so many people still think that the title will be heading to Old Trafford!

So Blackburn fans, keep the faith, It could be worse. Unless, after Kean leaves you see David Platt's car arriving at the training ground. If that's the case, I'd seriously consider Turf Moor!

Dave Rogers @NoLeftFoot

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