Shebby Singh in a rush to find Blackburn Rovers a new manager
Press Association
The Guardian
The Blackburn Rovers global adviser Shebby Singh wants to have a new manager in place at the Championship club by Tuesday. Having led the protracted recruitment process to appoint Henning Berg at Ewood Park, Singh sacked the former Rovers defender last week following 57 days and 10 games in charge that produced a solitary win.
A 3-1 victory at Barnsley on Saturday ended a turbulent week on a high for Blackburn and the reserve team manager Gary Bowyer is to continue in temporary charge for the New Year's Day visit of Nottingham Forest. Singh wants Berg's successor to have as much preparation time as possible before the FA Cup third-round home tie against Bristol City on Saturday and is awaiting agreement from owners Venky's with his preferred course of action. Nuno Gomes could be offered the player-manager's role.
Mark Hughes has reportedly ruled out a return to Ewood Park under the current board, while Roberto Di Matteo, who has also been linked with the job, is not under consideration. Singh told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I have made my submissions to my bosses. They will receive it, then we will talk about it. We would like to make an appointment on New Year's Day to start the new year in the right way and to see the back of a horrible 2012."
Rovers fans reacted angrily to reports that Singh was lining up the former Aston Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald and the little-known coach Judan Ali to replace Berg and his backroom staff.
The director of operations, Paul Agnew, and the managing director, Derek Shaw, – the other board members involved in the selection process for Berg's appointment – travelled to India for meetings with Rovers' owners this week amid claims of a rift between the pair and Singh.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's 606 programme on Saturday, Singh stated his preference for an experienced manager before dismissing any ructions at Ewood. After claiming he had spent his first six months at Blackburn "fighting enemies from the outside and inside", Singh said: "As with every organisation, not everybody is always fighting the same cause. Individuals have their own agendas sometimes – this is common everywhere you go. I would say I've just been fighting the regular battles."