Berg sacked by Blackburn after just TWO months as Ewood Park crisis deepens
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UPDATED:
13:28 GMT, 27 December 2012
Henning Berg has been sacked by Blackburn after only two months in the job at Ewood Park.
The former Rovers player replaced Steve Kean in September but has not been able to get the club firing since taking over.
Blackburn lie 17th in the table and Indian owners Venky's were hoping for a promotion push after investing in the summer.
Tim Sherwood, Tottenham's technical co-ordinator, is one of the names being considered for the vacancy.
Out: Henning Berg watched his side lose 1-0 at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day
Berg's impact
When Kean left the club were third. Today, they are 17th.
A year before he took the job, Berg said it would be 'madness' to work under Venky's and that 'no manager with credibility' would take the job on.'
Maybe he should have taken his own advice.
Games played: 10
Games won: One
Games lost: Six
Games drawn: Three
Goals scored: 10
Goals against: 18
Highest victory: 4-1 v Peterborough, November 17
Worst defeat: 4-1 v Cardiff, December 7
Win percentage: 10 per cent
Former boss Kean resigned at the end of September, claiming his position at the club was untenable.
But when he left, Blackburn were third and had only sunk to new depths under Berg.
Reports were circulating in the Indian
press on Thursday morning, with Venky's chief Balaji Rao saying: 'We
have not been doing well and dropping points and losing matches quite
often.'
Berg paid the price for Blackburn's awful form by becoming the second boss to be fired in the space of 24 hours after Nottingham Forest axed Sean O'Driscoll.
A Blackburn statement read: 'Blackburn Rovers FC has announced the departure of manager Henning Berg, assistant manager Eric Black, first team coach Iain Brunskill and goalkeeping coach Bobby Mimms with immediate effect.
'This decision has been taken following a very disappointing sequence of results. The club thanks the four men for their efforts and wishes them every success for the future.'
Pressure had been building at the
club and just a couple of weeks ago Berg had stormed out of the
Christmas party after he was made to wear a stocking on his head and
dance on stage.
It was
hoped the party for the players and more than 200 staff in a suite at
Ewood would lift morale but it backfired spectacularly.
Although Blackburn's owners have been
criticised heavily since taking over in Lancashire, they believe they
are right to act in a bid to halt the club's slide.
When the DJ decided to play some games, one of the club’s executives volunteered Berg to go up on stage.
The
43-year-old Norwegian reluctantly wore the Christmas stocking but grew
visibly angry and uncomfortable when he was made to dance as well.
Gone so soon: Berg was only appointed two months ago
Stunned
Tottenham keeper and former Blackburn hero Brad Friedel tweeted:
'I can't believe what I'm seeing going on at Blackburn. Giving a mgr 2 months I guess football never ceases to amaze at times.'
The final straw came when someone attempted to put a Michael Jackson wig on his head. Berg ripped off the stocking and left the stage.
Meanwhile, Rovers Action Group secretary Mark Fish admitted his 'great delight' at the decision to let Berg go.
He told Sky Sports News: 'He was a fantastic player for the club, but for whatever reason it just didn't work out for him here.
'It's difficult to say what. Perhaps the expectations from the fans, outside influences maybe. Henning Berg just didn't have the nous to get the job done I don't know.
'He just couldn't get the team playing, he couldn't get them fighting. But someone needs to come out now and hold their hands up.
'There were a lot of people involved in the process. A lot of good, better candidates were overlooked for this position.
'But they (Venkys) seemed determined to bring in an ex (Blackburn) player and it just hasn't worked out the way they had hoped.
'Why didn't Berg bring in his own coaching staff It was my understanding that he would bring his own people in with him.
'But as it ended up he was left with Steve Kean's men to help out. Someone has to come out and explain why this has happened.'
When asked about the remainder of the season, Fish was adamant that Rovers can still achieve their goal of promotion back to the Premier League.
'Do I think we can do it Yes. Absolutely, we've got the ability in the squad to still get the job done. You've only got to look at Reading last season.
'We need to have one of those runs. Also, the stands are empty. We need to be picking up results and getting people back through the gates again.'
