Singh out of tune as Rovers row heats up

A fresh storm was brewing at Blackburn Rovers last night after controversial comments from their director of football, while the team were pre-season training in Cork, ended with him being forced to make an apology after several first team players threatened to walk out.

Steve Kean’s team played out a low-key friendly with Cork City at Turner’s Cross but the real story was behind the scenes as a player revolt further disrupted their preparations ahead of the new campaign, which kicks-off on Saturday afternoon away to Ipswich Town.

Shebby Singh, the chief adviser at Ewood Park, had claimed on Friday night at a supporters’ Q&A session that Kean would be sacked if the team lost three games in a row, much to the delight of the fans who have consistently called for the manager’s head in the past 12 months. Singh’s comments left many of the players irate and after holding a meeting yesterday morning, the squad had threatened to submit transfer requests en masse unless he withdrew his comments.