Blackburn Rovers told to avoid appointment of ex-Sunderland figure - It would take club in the “wrong direction” | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers have been told to avoid appointing former Sunderland figure Martin Bain as their new CEO.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Blackburn have been told that appointing Martin Bain as CEO would be a mistake after he was linked with the role.

Rovers supporters have been very unhappy at the way the club has been run by the Venky's, with regular demonstrations in recent years as they try to force change.

As well as the owners, former CEO Steve Waggott came in for fierce criticism, so news of his exit back in May went down well with the majority of fans.

Blackburn consider Martin Bain for key off-field position

Now, the club are working on his successor, and reports emerged over the weekend claiming that Bain could be the man to take over.

The 57-year-old has plenty of experience in the game, with previous roles coming with Rangers, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Sunderland, whilst he also held the position of CEO at Football Sports Development Ltd, who were organisers of the Indian Super League, which is the top division in the country.

Despite that experience, Bain hasn’t always been a popular figure in his previous jobs, particularly with Sunderland, where fans were given more of an insight into his role thanks to a Netflix documentary.

Therefore, when asked by FLW about the prospect of Bain turning up at Ewood Park, it’s perhaps no surprise that FLW's Blackburn fan pundit Simon Middlehurst feels the club should look at alternatives.

“To be honest, I’m a bit unsure. If it is true, I think it’s a bad direction that Blackburn would go in with Waggott leaving.

"Now is the time for Venky’s to get someone on board who can get the fans behind the club. It’s no real secret that Rovers fans have got a massive dislike for what’s going on. Venky’s, if they want to start building their trust back, they have got to get this appointment right.

“Going for someone like Bain, would be the wrong direction completely.

"He’s not what we need, we need someone who knows football properly, who is a trustworthy individual, who knows how to keep the fans on side. That’s the direction Venky’s need to go.”

Blackburn need to try and build momentum under Valerien Ismael

After a difficult start to life under Valerien Ismael following John Eustace’s exit, things did improve during the run-in under the Frenchman, even if they missed out on the play-offs.

So, there will be a sense of excitement about how Rovers can kick-on after a full pre-season under Ismael, and it’s important he gets as much backing as possible.

Clearly, the ownership situation is far from ideal, and fans will continue to push for change, and whoever does come in as CEO needs to try and do as much as possible to repair that relationship, or enough to ensure it doesn’t become a distraction to Ismael and the players.

Of course, it’s a crucial position on a day-to-day basis as well, so it’s something Venky’s must get right, and, if it is Bain, he will need to win fans over quickly with his communication and action.