Blackburn Rovers will pray £250k manager agreement happens | OneFootball

Blackburn must do all they can to keep Michael O'Neill, with the club reportedly ready to pay his £250k buyout to Northern Ireland.

It has been a very difficult season for Blackburn Rovers, although they have taken major steps towards safety since Michael O’Neill was appointed at Ewood Park.

In truth, it’s generally been a tough time to be a Blackburn fan since the Venky’s completed their takeover of the club in 2010, apart from a few good years under Tony Mowbray, Jon Dahl Tomasson and John Eustace.

Many believe Rovers won’t be able to kick-on until the club is sold, and they are never going to be able to compete financially with the big hitters at this level under the current regime.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful, but it’s all about bringing in the right manager, and, in O’Neill, it looks as though Blackburn have found that man.

Michael O’Neill immediately made an impact at Blackburn Rovers

When it was announced that O’Neill would take the Rovers job alongside his role with Northern Ireland, eyebrows were raised as to how it would work. As well as that, there were concerns over whether the 56-year-old could adapt to life back in club football after four years as an international boss.

Yet, whilst Blackburn still have work to do to stay up, the early signs suggest it has been an inspired appointment.

O’Neill has quickly got his message across to the players, with Rovers now very hard to beat with his back three formation.

That has given them a solid base, with four clean sheets in ten games, highlighting the excellent defensive work that O’Neill has put in on the training ground.

In total, Blackburn have picked up 15 points from O’Neill’s ten games. Obviously, it’s a small sample size, but if you took that average over a full season, the side would be comfortably inside the top ten.

It’s not just results, either. O’Neill has quickly improved players, with Tom Atcheson impressing in central defence, Balazs Toth has shown his best form since he joined the club, and Ryoya Morishita is excelling.

Blackburn must push to secure Michael O’Neill for £250,000 buyout fee

When you take everything into account, everyone connected to Blackburn must be desperate for O’Neill to commit to the club for the long-term.

The ex-Stoke chief has refused to look beyond the end of the season, with his only focus on keeping Blackburn in the league, and he had been trying to take Northern Ireland to the World Cup before they were eliminated by Italy last month.

But, it has been reported that the Championship side are trying to do all they can to convince O’Neill to stay, and they’re seemingly ready to pay the £250,000 required to buy him out of his Northern Ireland contract.

When you consider the fees that are spent on players, both in terms of wages and transfers, along with the money that goes to agents, you have to say that would be a real bargain for Rovers.

In O'Neill, they would be getting someone who can not only get results, but someone who has shown he can develop individuals, and he would back himself to unearth more gems, even on a modest budget by Championship standards.

Blackburn have got a lot wrong since Venky’s bought the club, but the decision to turn to O’Neill was undoubtedly the right one.

Now, they need to do all they can to ensure his stay is longer than 15 games, and, if it is, it will be the best £250,000 they have spent in a long time.