Source: Daily_Mail
Is rookie Steve Kean the Premier League's first unsackable boss?
The Indian billionaires who own Blackburn Rovers have guaranteed rookie manager Steve Kean that he will not be sacked for the two-and-ahalf years of his contract with the Premier League club.[LNB]Anuradha Desai, boss of the parent company whose subsidiary, Venky's London Ltd, bought Blackburn in a £43million deal in November, said: 'Steve Kean will be safe in his job for the duration of that contract, whatever happens.[LNB]'I guarantee that. Without stability you cannot have success, and this provides stability. It's the way we work.'[LNB]Special report - The Bollywood billionaires at Blackburn Extra time: Steve Kean suffers at Chelsea but his job is safe[LNB]Making the 43-year-old, who had never managed a club before his appointment at Blackburn, 'sackproof' is an extraordinary move at a time of an unprecedented wave of dismissals across English professional football. A total of 23 managers have lost their jobs this season, with 11 departing from their clubs between December 29 and January 10 alone.[LNB]Rovers lie 11th in the Premier League table this morning following yesterday's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Desai insists there is no irony in making Kean unsackable, despite the controversial dismissal of Blackburn's previous manager, the high-profile Sam Allardyce, on December 13.[LNB]During an exclusive interview at their home in Pune, in India, Desai and her brothers, Venkatesh and Balaji Rao, who together own the VH Group and Venky's, claimed that their view of Rovers' future had clashed with Allardyce's, but they added that they have a 'shared vision' with Kean.[LNB]The family and Allardyce are bound by a confidentiality agreement about his departure that prevents both parties from talking about the sacking in anything but general terms.[LNB]Venkatesh Rao, whose family business is worth about £2billion, says they will spend 'as necessary' and 'a lot over time' but he is reticent about citing figures. He expects Rovers to sign 'four or five' players during this month 'and more in summer'.[LNB]The family have a wish-list of top Brazilians and hope to sign one 'marquee' player soon. They offered former World Cup star Ronaldinho £20m in wages over three years but last week he opted to return to Brazil with Flamengo instead.[LNB] One that got away: Blackburn lost out to Flamengo in race to sign Ronaldinho[LNB]In the long term, the Rao family would like to recruit and develop young players from Brazil and Argentina - as well as locally - and Kean's linguistic skills are a small contributory factor to his permanent appointment. He speaks several languages, including fluent Portuguese.[LNB]'We have been very impressed with Steve Kean,' said Venkatesh Rao. 'He works hard; he's energetic; he's open and honest; he's enthusiastic about improving himself and the club; he shares our vision.[LNB]'Our ideas match and the synergy matches. We think it's a win-win.[LNB]'It goes without saying that we will not sack Kean. I am a passionate believer that if someone has a positive attitude then they'll have a positive outcome. There are people working for us across India who have been with our company for three or four decades, since our father started the business. We put our faith in people and work together to succeed.' [LNB] Chelsea 2 Blackburn 0: Ivanovic and Anelka put Blues back into top fourChange your 'nasty' side! Kean wants Diouf to change after row with QPRAll the latest Blackburn news, features and opinion[LNB] [LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Sam Allardyce Places: Argentina, India, Brazil
