Blackburn Rovers 'hierarchy' blamed for Michael O’Neill twist - it’s a 'circus' | OneFootball

FLW's Blackburn Fan Pundit has his say on the Northern Irishman's decision to stick with international football

Blackburn Rovers have appointed four managers since Tony Mowbray’s exit in 2022 - excluding caretakers - and now have to find another.

That is, of course, due to the fact that Michael O’Neill confirmed he will remain as Northern Ireland boss rather than take the Rovers job on a permanent basis.

While Alan Nixon first suggested O’Neill was ready to accept the Blackburn role, via his Patreon, the BBC later made it clear that his long‑term focus is firmly on leading Northern Ireland’s push for the 2028 Euros.

That said, there are doubts over whether the Venkys - and/or Rudy Gestede - ever put the right package in front of the 56‑year‑old, or whether they simply failed to offer the level of ambition needed to convince him to stay.

Blackburn Rovers 'hierarchy' blamed for Michael O'Neill twist

FLW’s Blackburn Fan Pundit, Simon Middlehurst, has his say on the news O’Neill won’t be staying on as the club’s manager, and perhaps many other Rovers fans will feel the same way.

Middlehurst told FLW, "A little bit disappointed, well, actually, very disappointed that Michael O’Neill hasn’t stayed, but not surprised at all.

"It’s just a continuous circus that is Blackburn Rovers. If I was the hierarchy at that club, I’d have done everything possible to give him what he wants to stay and make him sign. He was a breath of fresh air sort of back-end of last season, he took to Rovers fans and Rovers fans took to him, and you can see that the squad took to him as well." the Fan Pundit added.

During what can now be called a brief spell as Blackburn manager, O’Neill oversaw 15 games, winning five and losing five, as Rovers finished five points off the bottom three.

"So, it’s a shame that he’s not stayed, but again, not surprising in the slightest," Middlehurst continued, before going on to point out what he's looking for in the next appointment.

"With O’Neill out of the picture - personal number one choice - there isn’t anyone that springs to mind at the minute, but it needs to be someone that knows Championship football, that makes a massive, massive difference."

Blackburn Rovers face tough task in replacing Michael O'Neill

According to the Lancashire Telegraph, the current bookies' 'favourite' to land the Rovers job is Gary Rowett, but Middlehurst isn't too convinced.

Going further into the style of manager he would like to see at Ewood Park, Middlehurst said, "Someone that’s got that experience and a proven manager at that level as well, there’s already been a few names mentioned, but there’s no one that kind of jumps out of you.

"It’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks, but the Blackburn hierarchy need to be making decisions earlier, and sooner rather than later.

"Just get someone in before pre-season. We don’t want to be going into pre-season again with no manager," the Fan Pundit concluded.

It's worth a reminder that when Valerien Ismael left by mutual consent in February, the club "held talks" with the aforementioned Rowett, but he obviously just got relegated with Leicester City, so it remains to be seen what will happen on that front.

Even still, there's a lot of frustration that the people in charge at Ewood still haven’t convinced supporters they can and will act decisively to stop this managerial cycle repeating itself.