Blackburn Rovers have been plunged deeper into crisis with growing uncertainty over the future of head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson.
The former Denmark international forward has threatened to resign in the past 48 hours, citing frustration with Blackburn’s owners Venky’s over the club’s transfer activity.
Blackburn officials insisted on Wednesday evening that Tomasson “remains under contract and is still our manager”, but there is serious doubt over whether he will be in charge for Saturday’s home game against Stoke City.
Tomasson was deeply unhappy after Venky’s ordered the club’s management to pull out of a transfer deal to sign United States forward Duncan McGuire from Orlando City on transfer deadline day last Thursday.
That deal was then resurrected as a loan and was later confirmed by Blackburn, but The Athletic revealed on Saturday evening that the club had failed to register McGuire before the 11pm deadline due to an “administrative error”.
Blackburn announced on Tuesday that their request for special dispensation had been rejected by the English Football League. An appeal will be heard on Thursday.
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Tomasson, 47, signed a three-year contract as Blackburn coach in June 2022 and led the club to seventh place in the Sky Bet Championship last season, only missing out on the promotion play-offs on goal difference
This season has proved far more difficult, with Blackburn lying 18th, four places and five points above the relegation zone, having taken just two points from their last eight matches.
Tomasson was blocked from talking at a press conference last Friday. The next day, after a 2-1 defeat by Queens Park Rangers at Ewood Park, he revealed he offered to resign last summer, only for the club to plead with him to stay.
He also spoke of a “very serious situation” at Blackburn, saying “suddenly (last summer) there was a hand grenade that changed everything with the cutting of the budget”.
Last week Blackburn issued a statement “to allay concerns among our supporters regarding the latest legal proceedings and developments taking place in India involving our owners”, insisting that the outcome of a High Court hearing in Delhi “will not impact the day-to-day funding of the club in any way”.
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(Jess Hornby/Getty Images)
