Henning Berg and the poisoned chalice

Henning Berg is soon to be unveiled as the Blackburn manager, according to the Daily Mirror, and in so doing will be firmly grasping what is surely a poisoned chalice.  The Norwegian is a firm fan's favourite after two spells at the club during '93 - '97 and then '00 - '03.  He has coached in Norway at Lyn Oslo and Lillestrom but this will be his first appointment in England.  

And what a place to start....  Steve Kean left the club last month and even the hardest hearted football fan would struggle not to sympathise with him.  Yes, the club was relegated from the Premiership but his job was made extremely difficult by the owners, India's answer to Bernard Matthews (but for chickens) and his life was made difficult by the Rovers' fans who held him responsible for everything that was going wrong at the club.

I'm not Steve Kean's biggest fan but I am impressed by his reslove and I'm surprised he lasted so long.  Having fans chanting for him to get out even when he was winning in the Premiership and then doing well in the Championship can't have been easy and if anything precipitated the poor results.  Maybe the club's relegation is what those "fans" deserved.  A united club is a happy club and therefore a more successful club.

I hope that Henning Berg gets a bit more sympathy from the "fans" of the club.

Peter Stickney

Follow @peterstickney