Kean eyes a less stressful future

Blackburn boss Steve Kean believes he is a ‘better man’ for his experience on Survival Sunday, but hopes never to have to repeat the ordeal.

Kean was handed the reins at Ewood Park after the controversial sacking of Sam Allardyce in December, with the new owners saying Allardyce was not the man to take the club to a top-four finish in the English Premier League.

Such optimism from Venky’s Group chair Anuradha Desai seemed misplaced in retrospect as Blackburn plummeted from mid-table to within a point of the relegation places ahead of their final match.

But a fine 3-2 win at Wolverhampton, who also narrowly avoided the drop, kept Blackburn in the top-flight for another season, and Kean is now plotting his raid on the transfer market to ensure the next campaign is not so perilous.

“I know I’ll be a better man for the experience of keeping Blackburn up,” the Scot told the Daily Record.

“When you go on a run of matches without winning it’s only natural you sit down and examine everything you’re doing.”

“How you cope with your problems is to simply work even harder on the training ground. Everything that’s been good for us followed on from doing that.”

“It’s an amazing feeling to have kept the club in the best league in the world. Now my ambition is to buy the players who’ll ensure we don’t have to go through another Survival Sunday a year from now.”

“Relegation affects everything at a club. But now I’m thinking optimistically about getting us into the top half and bringing a trophy to Ewood Park.”