Sky Sports pundit blasts Blackburn Rovers’ January recruitment as ‘nowhere near good enough’

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Blackburn Rovers’ season looks to be all but over after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough last night in the Championship.

Allowing John Eustace to leave could cost promotion, with Valerien Ismael taking his place instead in the dugout. He has drawn one and lost five of his six games in charge.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
7	West BromWest Brom	39	13	18	8	48	35	13	57
8	Bristol CityBristol City	39	14	15	10	49	42	7	57
9	WatfordWatford	39	15	8	16	47	51	-4	53
10	NorwichNorwich	39	13	13	13	61	54	7	52
11	BlackburnBlackburn	40	15	7	18	42	43	-1	52
12	Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday	39	14	10	15	54	60	-6	52
13	MillwallMillwall	39	13	12	14	37	40	-3	51
14	PrestonPreston	39	10	17	12	39	46	-7	47
15	QPRQPR	39	11	12	16	45	53	-8	45

Even the presence of Todd Cantwell could not provide a spark, with Ismael suffering another defeat in a repeat of unwanted history for the Blackburn boss. He revealed what his Blackburn side don’t have that Middlesbrough do post-match.

His mistake was one of five things we learned during the game. Even though Michael Carrick had lost twice to Blackburn this term to provide cause for concern, they were ruthless on the night after Tommy Conway’s goal set them away to win.

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Sky Sports’ Chris Iwelumo lays into Blackburn Rovers’ recruitment

Burnley fans are ruthlessly mocking Blackburn, their biggest rivals, this season. The club were in the play-offs and well-placed to return to the Premier League before things unraveled regarding Eustace but also their recruitment in January, too.

That has been questioned by Sky Sports pundit Chris Iwelumo, who said: “Yeah, I would think they would make more of a positive influence.

“One goal and three assists between the six of them? It’s nowhere near good enough. I think, when you’re in the position that Blackburn are in, in January, you want to bring in less players but more quality.

“It kind of galvanises the group. It can bring something for that final push.

“Three of the last four seasons now, Blackburn have flirted with the play-offs and they have kind of fallen away towards the business end of the season.

“So, recruitment, for me, is the second most important thing after the result. I think there’s been a lot of money come into the club — where is it going?

“I look at those players and they are squad players, for me. As a manager, you probably tick them off saying, ‘they’re bringing something in.’

“But you want that extra bit of quality there, just to kick the squad on.”

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The impact of Blackburn Rovers’ January signings

On paper, Blackburn have probably shelled out a fair chunk on wages for their January additions, with the hope of then making the play-offs off the back of it.

Things are not transpiring that way whatsoever, and the risk has not paid off. But it is also fair to say their impact has been lacking totally as well.

A big summer lies ahead for Blackburn, albeit a mid-table season is not necessarily a disaster after many punters and neutrals were predicting difficulty at the bottom end of the table in 2024/25.

However, they will need far more impressive recruitment and that requires joined-up thinking behind the scenes from top to bottom; but will Blackburn get that harmony?