The demise of Blackburn Rovers from a staple of the Premier League to a club stuck in the middle tiers of the Football League is something that fans of the club saw coming from early on, yet have been powerless to stop.
When Venkys took over in 2009, it soon became clear that nobody involved at any level knew the first thing about running a football club, and when Steve Kean - arguably one of the most misguided appointments in Premier League history - couldn't save the club from relegation, things snowballed eventually resulting in their relegation to League One, where they play today.
Much has been said about Venkys and many stories have been told to outline just how farcical the situation at Blackburn had become, but the latest might be one of the best yet.
Nick Harris, who was a consultant for the club and occasionally dealt directly with the owners with advice for matters such as transfer targets, was speaking to Sporf about the Venkys reign and has revealed a number of frankly alarming anecdotes, including turning down Shane Long when he was leaving Reading to pursue a comically unrealistic transfer instead.
CLASSIC: @SportingIntel on when @Rovers tried to sign Raul. #FansNotNumbers @SuppDirect
Join the movement https://t.co/I1WuSC0XGp pic.twitter.com/8AsluivZQL— SPORF (@Sporf) October 2, 2017
Raul?
Raúl González Blanco, then the all-time top scorer in Real Madrid's history, was going to move to Lancashire and play for Blackburn, working under Steve Kean... Right.
Long really dodged a bullet there to be honest, as he instead moved to West Brom, and is currently in his 7th consecutive season of Premier League football.
Blackburn are currently sitting in 6th in League One with 19 points from their opening 10 games, and incredibly, Venkys are still the owners.
[via @Sporf]
