Why Blackburn Rovers might seriously be considering Neil Harris appointment | OneFootball

Blackburn fans may turn their noses up at a Neil Harris appointment, but there's no doubting his effectiveness in the Championship

From an outsider's perspective, seeing a team on the brink of relegation in the Championship turn to a manager in League Two to help save them seems a head-scratching idea.

However, when that manager is Neil Harris, perhaps it's not too illogical a decision to make.

That may be the route that struggling Blackburn Rovers are taking, after Alan Nixon revealed that, if their pursuit of Gary Rowett fails, current Cambridge United boss Harris could be waiting in the wings.

The 48-year-old returned to the East Anglian side last February, but couldn't help the U's remain in League One. Currently, he has the side battling for an opportunity to bounce back out of the fourth tier at the first time of asking, which is often a tricky task, as exhibited by the other three relegated sides from last season's third tier occupying places in the bottom six upon their League Two returns.

So, not only is Harris overseeing a positive campaign in the fourth tier, but he's also proven on multiple occasions that he's an apt manager at Championship level too, at both Millwall and Cardiff City.

Evidently, Neil Harris has unfinished business in the second tier, and at Blackburn, he could once again lead a struggling side to survival.

Neil Harris' managerial experience in the Championship

Harris has never disgraced himself at Championship level as a manager. He may have failed to build on successful campaigns at both Millwall and Cardiff, but by no means was he hounded out of his previous dugout stints in the second tier.

His first managerial success came in League One, though, as he guided Millwall from play-off disappointment the year before to Wembley success in the 2016/17 campaign, beating Bradford City in the final.

Then, in his first full Championship campaign, he helped the Lions to their best finish in 16 years, placing just outside the play-offs in eighth. For a Millwall side who have historically operated with one of the lowest budgets in the division, it was an impressive feat.

He may not have been able to build on that in the next season, but he still managed to keep the South London side up, which would have always been the aim.

He left in October 2019 with the club 18th, and, more importantly, with his reputation intact, as Cardiff, who were looking to bounce straight back to the Premier League in the 2019/20 campaign, hired him as manager a month later.

His win percentage took a dip in South Wales, but he still managed to lead the Bluebirds to the play-offs before departing a year later with the club mid-table.

Not a bad opening couple of jobs, but maybe not enough to sway Blackburn fans. However, his recent stint at the Den will go a long way to persuading those at Ewood Park that he'd be a good appointment.

Harris rejoined Millwall with the club just a point above the relegation zone in February 2024. From then, the Lions averaged two points per game, which is promotion-winning form, in the final 13 games to lead the club to a 13th-placed finish.

In that run were wins against the eventual promoted duo, Southampton and Leicester City, and a point against play-off side West Brom. He transformed the side and even had them in the top half midway through the 2024/25 campaign before he decided to step down. He eventually returned to Cambridge three months later, and that brings us to the present day.

The fact that Neil Harris is managing in League Two is a real point of confusion for neutral Championship fans, as the 48-year-old has always brought about either success or, at the very worst, mediocrity during his dugout spells in the second tier.

For Blackburn, they'd die for mediocrity now, as they look to battle against a return to League One for the first time since the 2017/18 campaign.

If Harris does return to the Championship, Rovers fans will be hoping that he can lead the club to a Millwall-esque run from two seasons ago, immediately evaporating the worries of finishing in the bottom three.

The Cambridge boss has worked well on lower budgets in the second tier before, and Blackburn fans will be hoping that he can work his magic again this time round.

That is, if they do appoint him. There's no doubting that he won't be the most popular of hires, given the club they'd be taking him from, but they could do a lot worse than the former Millwall manager.