Opprettet 11/20/2010 11:59:39 PM
Sist oppdatert 11/20/2010 11:59:39 PM
Anuradha Desai, chairperson of Venkateshwara Hatcheries, the new owners of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, strongly expressed the need to change the functioning of the club. “We need to improve the brand Blackburn Rovers. The management thus far has done a good job but has not been proactive enough. We are looking to change that,” she said.
Acquiring jersey sponsors, renaming the stadium, and hunting for co-sponsors in general will be the task at hand for the group as they will be looking to globally widen the market for the club.
“Arsenal named their stadium ‘The Emirates’ after their main sponsors. Our stadium could be called the Venky’s Stadium or could adopt the name of another sponsor. We are looking to spread the name of Blackburn Rovers wherever we can. India is our major target,” she said.
Desai will be looking to increase the popularity of the club among the Indian public by organising some exhibition matches with the Blackburn in India. “We will take a look at their calendar and when it is convenient for them we will arrange exhibition matches in India. We are also looking to start workshops where we fly down coaches of the Blackburn Academy and arrange training sessions for kids in India,” she said.
The club was bought for a 54 million pounds, of which 20 million was paid for shares, 15 million was spent for betterment of the club and 16 million was paid for clearing debts.
One million pounds will be paid to the trust of the Jack Walker settlement - the previous owners - every year for three years. This has, however, left a comparatively small sum of 5 million pounds in the kitty of Sam Allardyce, Manager of the club, from which to buy more players.
Desai, however, stated that the club will be looking to buy a striker in summer and the club is looking at Aston Villa’s John Carew and Liverpool’s David Ngog as their top targets. “According to me, money will not be the driving force that pushes this club up the table. We have the resources but are not using them to their potential. Now that we have given the club a solid support, you will see the change taking place in a couple of months. Having said that we are in the market for a striker”, she said.
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Giving more insight to her investment, Anuradha revealed that the deal is worth £54 million. Though Venky’s have bought the team, no immediate shuffling at the club’s management and the team will be seen. “We will spend some time with the present team. We will know them better before taking any hasty decision,” said Anuradha.
She also dismissed the reports of changing the coach. “Sam Allardyce is the coach of the team and he will continue his job, as we have not taken any decision to change the team or its members,” she said. “We will try to boost the confidence of the players, which is not very good right now. Our aim will be to better the current performance. It will be very impractical to say we want to see the team among the top-four teams. As of now, we want them to move up a few places,” she added.
When asked about businessman Saurin Shah’s claim that the deal was his brain child and by signing the deal without his company, Venky’s had back-stabbed him, Anuradha said that the accusation had no backing. “Saurin Shah and Co did not want to invest a penny. They had their own investment plans in mind directly with Blackburn. They had no connection with us. He was wrong in his accusations and I have proof to back my words, but I don’t want to cause him any embarrassment,” she said.
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