Blackburn Rovers: Update on Slaven Bilic and Tony Mowbray talks emerges | OneFootball

A fresh development has emerged on Blackburn Rovers' managerial search involving talks with Slaven Bilic and ex-boss Tony Mowbray

Blackburn Rovers are continuing to make off-pitch plays in their bid to source a successor for Michael O'Neill after the Northern Irishman opted against extending his Ewood Park stay ahead of the 2026/27 Championship campaign, having secured survival during a brief and successful stint in East Lancashire.

A turnaround in fortunes following the appointment of O'Neill back in February would ultimately see Blackburn retain their second-tier status by five points as a 20th-placed finish ensured survival ahead of Oxford United in 22nd position.

The success of those efforts is, to no short extent, attributed to O'Neill after he steadied the ship, reverted to basics and made Blackburn tough to beat in a relegation dogfight, and while Rovers had looked to make his time on this side of Lancashire a permanent one, the 56-year-old eventually decided to focus on his international commitments with Northern Ireland - a role he was juggling alongside duties at Ewood Park.

It has left Blackburn to scour the market for a fifth permanent managerial hire in less than two-and-a-half years, and a host of names appear to be under consideration as the Venky's weigh up yet more action in the dugout.

Popular ex-Rovers boss Tony Mowbray alongside Slaven Bilic, the latter of whom has been touted with the vacancy at the Championship outfit on a number of occasions in recent times, have both been linked in reports over the last few weeks, and an update regarding the duo and potential talks to seal either appointment has now emerged.

Slaven Bilic, Tony Mowbray update emerges at Blackburn Rovers

The latest update regarding the saga has come from The Sun's Alan Nixon, who reported a fresh development via his exclusive Patreon service on Wednesday morning.

Nixon has claimed that Blackburn have made a new offer to Bilic which includes a hefty severance payment, although it's said to fall short of the ex-West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion manager's demands to receive two years' money.

Exactly where that leaves the possibility of Bilic returning to the Championship with Blackburn remains unclear, with the Croat having been repeatedly linked to this particular job.

He's clearly of firm interest to the Rovers' hierarchy, but the club's decision-makers are fearful that their advances for Bilic will fail to come to fruition once more.

According to Nixon, Bilic is yet to respond to Blackburn's latest offer and that has led to fears that he's holding out for another job, leaving the Lancashire outfit to widen their net in an effort to accelerate the process and avoid putting all of their eggs in one basket.

Separately, his report has added that contact has been made with the aforementioned Mowbray, who has been out of work since his departure from West Brom in April of last year.

The 62-year-old has, of course, enjoyed a stellar managerial career in the EFL and spent some of his best years at Blackburn, taking charge of the side for just over five years between 2017 and 2022 and helping to win promotion from League One back to the Championship before reconsolidating Rovers at second-tier level.

However, despite initial contact, it's said that Mowbray is yet to receive a formal offer from Blackburn, which could perhaps be indicative of just how interested they really are in returning the veteran boss to BB2.

With Blackburn looking to widen their net, Nixon has claimed that an unnamed senior official at the club jetted off to mainland Europe on what is only described as a "mystery mission", potentially to undertake discussions with a new unknown contender for the role, while Dave Challinor is also on the radar following his recent exit from League One play-off finalists Stockport County by mutual consent.

Blackburn Rovers must sort manager situation ASAP

Blackburn evidently want to take time to ensure the best possible successor for O'Neill is sealed, but they can ill-afford to deliberate and drag out that process ahead of a crucial summer transfer window at the club.

Once again, Rovers are likely to be up against it both in the market and once the Championship campaign commences in mid-August. The odds will be stacked against the Ewood Park side, who will be relying on yet another shrewd managerial call to keep their heads above the water of a potential relegation scrap.

The window is shortly upon us, though, and given that you really do get the sense of a squad rebuilding process taking place over the summer months, it's extremely important that Blackburn elect a manager to oversee such changes and look to initiate a fresh direction of travel in the second-tier sooner rather than later.