Blackburn-Burnley Is For The Birds

((HT: Sky Sports))

Or, more specifically, chickens...

It's no secret that, since the family that owns the Venky's franchise took over as principal owners for Blackburn Rovers, that fans have long held them responsible for the team's slide out of the Premier League.

Rovers sit in 10th in the Championship currently with Burnley fighting for a playoffs spot...

And Ewood Park became a chicken coop again just after kickoff...


The fans have had it with an ownership family that seems not to want to communicate with the community on any level about anything...

Since relegation, the club is down at least 5-million pounds in advertising revenue according to an article by ForbesIndia.

The Rovers Trust has raised 3-million of the required 10-million pounds to start the process of bidding to take the club away from the Rao family and Venky's. In November of 2013, the Lancashire Telegraph newspaper called on the family to actually start communicating with the fans and the town- something they have not done in the last few years:

Already shackled with a £54.5m debt after losing £36.5m last season, Rovers will feel the squeeze even more so next season if they remain in the Championship.

Premier League parachute payments will be halved from £16m to £8m and there is the very real prospect of the club being placed under a transfer embargo come January 2015 for failing Financial Fair Play.

It is a mess.

A mess which is all of Venky’s own doing – be it through naivety, poor advice or just rank bad decision making.

Championship clubs, under the Financial Fair Play Rules, can only lose £8m in 2013-14. Anything higher will result in a transfer embargo which would come into force on New Year's Day 2015. If a club violates FFP, but gets promoted, they'll have to pay a tax on a sliding scale- one per cent on the first £100,000 overspent to 100 per cent on anything above £10m.

All you have to do is look at the Fernandez family situation with Queens Park Rangers to see just how bad it can get for a team that spends freely.

Return Of The Chicken At Blackburn

((HT: Brooks Peck/Dirty Tackle @Yahoo!))

The HQ has chronicled the saga over at Blackburn Rovers where the fans absolutely have no positive regard for the team's owners- Venky's, the chicken magnates. Last year, during the team's relegation battle things got so bad, and the team's absolute dislike for Manager Steve Kean that a chicken got out onto the pitch in the game against Wigan...
((HT: SkySports))


Rovers were relegated and are spending the year in the Championship...
The situation hasn't improved...

Today, in the game at Ewood Park against Burnley, it happened again...


Blackburn still have a 34-year win streak over the Clarets with the 1-1 draw, but Rovers are still in a relegation battle as they're only four points out of danger.

OSG Prem: FA Cup Has More Surprises- Arsenal Out, Oldham Hanging Around

((HT: Fox Soccer/FA))

The HQ, these days, is enjoying watching live sporting events early on weekend mornings with all the soccer from across the pond...

We'll get to the early shock in a second, but League 1 mid-carder Oldham United has earned another replay with Everton after a late, late equalizer at home that wasn't without a bit of controversy...

Here's the equalizer with the answer...


But the larger surprise came from The Emirates where relegated Blackburn knocked off Arsenal 1-0 in Round 5...
Colin Kazim-Richards score in the 72nd minute gave the Gunners fans plenty of reason to boo when the game was over...


"I have said it for a while but it is about hard work, organisation and team effort. I thought the lads were fantastic," manager Michael Appleton said afterwards.

"We will enjoy that and then focus on Hull City in the league on Tuesday night. Matches like that have to be great for the confidence.

"The fans were great and I'm sure they will have a good night."

The HQ would agree on that one...

Could Bollywood Head To Blackburn...???

If the HQ was an investor in Blackburn Rovers, we would explode if this turned out to be true...

But there are reports, mainly from SkySports, that Blackburn advisor Shebby Singh may be...

"May be..."

...having talks with former Arsenal trainee, and former Bollywood actor, Judan Ali to take over for the recently sacked Henning Berg. Berg, you'll remember, lasted only 57 days and 10 games as Rovers dropped to 17th in the Championship table.

Here's what went down when Berg got booted...
((HT: SkySports/youtube))


Berg took over for Robbie Kean, who was at the helm when Rovers were relegated last season from the Premier League- and was in charge of the team for the first part of this season in the Championship.

Here's what Ali is trying to become on the pitch...
((HT: slenkyshots))


Former Aston Villa youth-team boss Kevin MacDonald is the favorite to replace Berg, though ex-QPR manager Mark Hughes, a former Rovers boss, and Phil Brown are also in the frame. Brown, the former Hull and Bolton boss, has confirmed he has applied for the job.

The HQ is waiting for the subsequent rebellion if Ali gets the gig...

More when we know more...

OSG Prem: Relegation Battle Turns Chicken At Blackburn

((HT: SkySports/youtube))

Blackburn needed a win at home at EWood Park over surging Wigan to keep from being relegated to the Championship league...

Didn't happen...

Alcaraz scored on a header late to give the Latics their 6th win in their last 8 games, but not before Rovers fans made their feelings known about how the season has ended up in the dumper...

Someone released fowl on the pitch that really should have been water fowl...


Fans of Rovers threw their season ticket books and kits (that's what we call "jerseys" here) onto the pitch and fans tried to get a piece of manager Steve Kean- who they feel is a part of the team's implosion- when the game went final. Kean, to his credit, didn't leave his post until he shook hands with as many players as he could before security whisked him away.

Blackburn Stuns ManU At Old Trafford

((HT: BarclaysPremierLeague/youtube/UpsYouCantDoThat))

The Premier League, to the HQ, is like having the new toy in the room...
And it takes a little while to explain to TBH what all this stuff is about.
This was like the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the New York Yankees at Yankees Stadium... it was that bad...

And a lot of people are already calling this the "Upset of the Season."

The short version... Blackburn Rovers are near the bottom of the standings (table) and could be relegated (demoted) if things don't turn around by the end of the year. Being sent to the nPower Championsip league could cause a loss of 60-million pounds (close to $100M) in operating revenue for a team that finishes in the bottom three.

So, Rovers, who thought about firing their coach... knocked off Manchester United 3-2 with a goal at the 80th minute.

And Dimitar Berbatov is still proving to be a pain in the butt for the Reds. A penalty of his led to the first goal...
((HT: SkySports))