Benni McCarthy: I can’t tell Venkys to leave Blackburn Rovers

Former Porto and South Africa striker Benni McCarthy says it’s not his place to tell the Venky family to leave Blackburn Rovers, despite the growing frustration among supporters over their ownership.

The Indian owners have faced heavy criticism at various points since taking charge in 2010, and with the club currently sitting 21st in the Championship, frustration among supporters remains high.

A 2-1 victory over Southampton at the weekend ended a five-game winless run, but it did little to silence the growing discontent directed at the Venkys.

Much was made over the summer about Blackburn’s recruitment, with several experienced Championship players – including Lewis Travis, Dominic Hyam and Callum Brittain – all departing Ewood Park.

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Setback

After a slow start, some of the new arrivals finally made their mark against the Saints, with Andri Gudjohnsen and Ryan Alebiosu both scoring their first goals for the club.

Even so, sections of the Rovers fanbase continue to voice concerns over what they see as a lack of meaningful investment in the playing squad.

However, McCarthy, in an exclusive interview with BestBettingSites.co.uk, insists it’s not his place to tell the Venky family how to run their club.

“It is what it is,” he said. “They’ve been at the club for a long time now, and it’s not really worked out the way they probably planned.

“But I’m sure if they put a bit more effort in financially, they can make it work, because they came very close last season to making the playoffs. Then they lost the manager just before the playoffs.

“I think that was a little bit of a setback. Now, if they support the manager financially and they bring in the right structure of the club, they could maybe make it work.”

Sell

He added: “But if it doesn’t work, then it’s on them to decide if they want to sell the club or not. They invested heavily since taking over the club.

“For me or anybody else to say that they must sell, or it’s time for them to sell on. I’m not in that situation to tell them anything to do.

“They own the football club, so they can do with the football club what they like.

“As a former player, it would be nice to see the club back with Premier League status again.

“If they can invest wisely and just build that football club up, they can get the football club back to where it needs to be, and that’s in the Premier League.”

Family

Reflecting on his time at Ewood Park, McCarthy spoke fondly about his spell at Blackburn – both on and off the pitch.

“I think the people were unbelievable – It was really a family club – It was a family environment,” McCarthy explained.

“They made everything really pleasant for everyone that joined the club.

“They made me really fall in love with English football because of the way they treated me – they didn’t make you feel like you were a foreigner – you were one of them.

“You were part of British culture, the local culture. That was what I loved about Blackburn as a football club.

“And the football memories… The best memory on the field was definitely our quarter-final match against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, beating Arsenal, knocking them out.

“I came on five minutes towards the end and then scored the winning goal. That was memorable.”

Read ChBenni McCarthy’s full interview at BestBettingSites.com.

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