Steve Kean exclusive: We deserve to be in top 10 says under-fire Blackburn boss

They are next to bottom of the Premier League. They’ve managed just one league win all season.

Some fans are in open revolt and the owners are having to fend off predatory advances from Qatar.

Yet talk to Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean and you’d think he was boss of table-topping Manchester City.

The Scot is the ultimate glass half full kind of guy and he replies, with the straightest of faces, that he can keep his job, guide Rovers to a top-10 finish and win over the mutinous supporters.

Kean’s vociferous critics at Ewood Park scoff at such bold claims, saying he’s in denial.

The Scot disagrees, and insists he isn’t alone in thinking Blackburn deserve to be in a much healthier position.

“If you look at this season and the way we’re playing, we deserve more points,” said Kean. “And that’s coming from speaking to people like Harry Redknapp. He told me he felt we deserved a point when we lost to them.

“You speak with Andre Villas-Boas and John Terry, who came in to see me after our game with them [Chelsea]. Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. They all said what a tough game we had given them.

“These guys don’t need to say that and I don’t think they say that week in, week out to other managers.

“I don’t look at this season in terms of trying to salvage something from it and I think we have a good enough squad to be in the top 10.”

Kean smiles when asked if he is lucky to be still in a job after picking up just three wins from Blackburn’s last 25 league games.

Paul Ince was sacked three years ago, ironically after losing at Wigan - which is Kean’s next fixture on Saturday - for managing just three wins from 17 league games.

Kean says the only luck he has had has been bad, with virtually every decision or break going against Rovers.

“We look forward to Wigan,” he said with typical gusto. “Sometimes if you’re not playing well and you look at a fixture, you’re not dreading it, but it can put pressure on the team and pressure on yourself.

“But we’re confident and we’re upbeat going into this game.

“We’ve got players who know how well they’re playing and we just need that little bounce of the ball and then we’ll be off and running. And we believe that’s very close.”

Kean claims Venky’s, who celebrate one year in charge on Saturday with the malcontents also calling for them to go, agree with his take on Blackburn’s predicament and remain fully behind him.

“I’m very grateful to the owners, first of all for giving me the opportunity and for supporting me now,” he said.

“What they see now is that myself, the rest of the staff and the players are so together. There are no cracks. We’ll get through this little period, as we did last season, and we’ll be stronger and better for it.

“You’ve always got to take a longer view - a season doesn’t last 10 games. The season lasts what the season lasts. I think the owners can see we’ve added value to the squad and we’ve brought in some good young players.

“So I think the owners have a lot to look forward to when they see the age of the team. In one of our last games, it was the youngest Blackburn team since 1996. So the future is bright and I think the owners know that.”

Ironically, Venky’s backing for Kean has become more resolute with each defeat and they have even offered him a pay rise in an unprecedented show of support.

This has enraged Kean’s critics in the stands, who stage sit-ins after every home game, calling for him to be axed.

Like US President Richard Nixon during the Vietnam protests, the Glaswegian claims the silent majority back him and insists he can win them over with the gutsy displays they showed against Tottenham and Chelsea.

“I’d always like to think we can win them round,” he said. “I’m not one to say we’re never going to change anybody. I’ve seen vast changes in people in my life through different experiences and I would hope that the educated fan can understand it’s a transition period for the club.

“I know the players feel that and the owners feel that. Hopefully the few fans that don’t will turn that way too.”