Dubai: Steve Kean has told Gulf News he has no regrets from his time managing Blackburn Rovers under the club’s controversial ownership of Indian poultry firm Venkys.
The 48-year-old Scotsman who now manages in Brunei, replaced sacked Sam Allardyce midway through the 2010/11 season when Rovers were 13th in the English Premier League.
He went on to finish 15th, four points clear of relegation that season, but he couldn’t avoid relegation to the Championship the following year and ended up quitting seven games into the 2012/13 season with Rovers third in the second tier.
Three years on and the 1995 Premier League champions are still under the ownership of Venkys despite widespread criticism over their handling of the club. They have yet to return to the top flight and are currently bottom of the Championship with five points from the first eight games of the season under current coach Owen Coyle.
“I’ve not got one regret,” said Kean. “You always try to do your best with the cards your dealt. Sam left and I got the job always thinking it would only be for a couple of games, but then it became more and I got the job permanently.
“It was difficult because there were a number of senior players that had to leave and that came from the owners. They were trying to cut the wage bill.
“It never frustrated me; the manager is an employee of a club and if the club says they want to invest X amount in players, then that’s your brief.
“But if the club is cost-cutting and you have to trim the budget by selling players to clear debts, then that’s a different brief.
“You’ve just got to put a team on the pitch and try to win.
“If you’re cost-cutting then you promote youth and that’s what we did with Grant Hanley, Marcus Olsson and Junior Hoilett, all of whom were sold.
“If the club decides to sell then that’s their prerogative, you’ve just got to find the next one and that’s just the way it goes.”
Asked if he often felt stuck between irate fans and the club’s uncompromising owners during his time at Ewood Park, he replied: “The manager is always in the middle, you work for the owners and try to please the fans.
“I worked as well as I could and the players always played for me, you could see that in the dressing room, it was tough for the lads left behind, but they always performed for me.”
After Blackburn, Kean took a year out before joining Brunei DPMM who play in the Singaporean League in 2013.
He won the 2014 Singaporean League Cup in his first season in charge and followed that up with the club’s first S-League title in 2015.
In his third season, his side are currently third in the S-League with four games remaining.
“We’re not going to win the league now but we can still finish second. It’s been a big transition this season as all the clubs — apart from leaders Albirex Niigata of Japan — have gone from fielding five foreigners to three, so to still finish second despite that transition would show we have potential.
“I never expected to be working in Asia, but when I was given the chance to work for the Crown Prince of Brunei (Al Muhtadee Billah) who owns the club and will be the next Sultan, I jumped at the opportunity. He’s very supportive, attends training every day and I visit the palace every week to talk about the direction of the club. He’s a great boss to work for.
“They didn’t have an academy, sports science or analysis, but I didn’t see that as a problem as I have the experience to put it all in place. It was an opportunity to build a club and put it in the right direction. It was perfect because it was like a clean-sheet for me.
“It’s difficult because we’re like Monaco, a country within a country and the population is only 400,000, But to have won the league and cup inside three years in Singapore is pretty impressive.”
With his contract up at the end of the season, he added: “I’m not chasing to go back to the UK. I never expected to be here in the first place so I don’t know where I’ll end up next.
“I’ve always just tried to do the best job I can and if you do your job well then the interest will come, and if you don’t then it won’t.
“In football you need to keep expanding to grow. The club want me to stay but I’ll see. I’ve been happy with the progression over the last three years but if you get offers to go somewhere else you’ll consider everything, but at the moment I’m very happy.”
