10:53am Thursday 11th April 2013
MICHEL Salgado has labelled the events that have seen Blackburn Rovers slide into the Championship relegation zone as ‘outrageous’.
The former Real Madrid full back was yesterday unveiled as director of football for Dubai Sports City but expressed his concerns over events at Rovers, who he represented between 2009 and 2012.
“The only thing I have to say about it is that it is outrageous,” said the 37-year-old.
“I speak to a lot of fans and from my point of view it’s very sad to see this amazing, historic club in this situation - facing a relegation battle in the Championship, when just two years ago they finished 10th in the Premier League with a promising group of players.
“I hope something happens where there are huge changes and Blackburn return to the Premier League.
“But the problem will not be fixed in a short time because so many changes have to be made.
“Blackburn’s situation really saddens me.”
Salgado was frozen out at the end of his spell at Ewood last year, having joined the club before the arrival of Venky’s in 2009.
“I loved my time at Blackburn, apart from the last six months, which had nothing to do with me or football,” he said.
“To be honest, when I first arrived at Blackburn it was really exciting times.
“All they spoke about was developing something really good for the future of the club.
“But everything changed in the space of two months; there were so many players in and out, the manager (Sam Allardyce) was replaced (by Steve Kean) and so many strange things began to happen at the club.”
Salgado’s last game for Rovers came in December 2011.
He said: “I remember my situation, along with three of four other guys. It was the game before Swansea in December.
“Suddenly on the Thursday before the game I got a call from the club saying they wanted to talk to me.
“I was playing all the games and was a key part of the club so from that day I couldn’t find an explanation as to why I was removed from the team.
“The squad was then almost totally dissembled and then you know the rest - Blackburn were relegated and everything is getting worse “I cannot understand why it has happened to a club like this when everything was running really well; the facilities, the fans, the history, the stadium - they have everything.”
Salgado also criticised the decision to ask current Rovers caretaker boss Gary Bowyer to travel to India this week to meet with the owners, with the club having a crucial home game against Derby on Saturday.
“I’m not surprised because the things that are happening are totally outside of football,” he said.
“The decisions are made in a different way to any other club in the world in terms of football.
“When you are playing for your life, like they are now in this relegation fight, they need to stick together, train more than ever, and prepare better than ever for the games.
“But instead of that, the manager is in Pune instead of being on the training ground.
“The decision makers should be heading over to England to talk to the manager so as not to disrupt the match preparations.
“It’s crazy and outrageous everything that has happened.”
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