Blackburn Rovers CEO Steve Curwood Addresses Transfer Window Frustrations
Steve Curwood did not try to sugar-coat it. “Everyone is frustrated,” the new Blackburn Rovers CEO admitted, as he stepped into the storm around the club’s summer transfer business.
Rovers ended the window with just four new signings and a fanbase asking how a crucial summer for a Championship club with ambitions of stability – and more – had unravelled so awkwardly. Three separate deals collapsed on deadline day. The mood turned quickly.
Curwood, only two months into the job after arriving from League Two side Fleetwood Town, insists the criticism should not be aimed at a lack of backing.
“The investment has been there,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire. “There hasn’t been a reluctance from the board. There has been collaboration throughout the process. I think at the final hurdle we haven’t been able to get them over the line.”
Those final hurdles proved costly. “Deals were on the table. Deals were agreed with players and clubs,” Curwood said. Then came the sting. “We were gazumped at the last minute on a couple of deals, and one was a foreign one which took a bit more time than you would anticipate.”
BBC Radio Lancashire understands two of the failed moves involved Reo Hatate, who ultimately joined Burnley, and Brian De Keersmaecker, who went to Bristol City. For supporters, those names only sharpen the sense of what might have been.
Curwood pointed to the chaos of the window and the late reset in the dugout. Michael O’Neill had kept Blackburn in the Championship last season while also juggling his job as Northern Ireland manager, but he turned down the permanent post in mid-May. That pushed Rovers back towards a familiar face: Tony Mowbray, reappointed on 5 June.
That date matters. Recruitment plans rarely survive a managerial change unscathed.
“Ideally your manager will be in by the start of May to work out where are we going for next year,” Curwood said. “So that timeline has been constrained somewhat, and then conflated by injuries.”
Blackburn had a choice: move early and safely, or wait and swing at the top targets.
“If you want to do your deals early, maybe you can’t go after the best players sometimes,” Curwood explained. “You’ve got to either wait and go for target number one with this risk, or cement one in the building because we know we can get him, like Jayden Fevrier for example.”
Mowbray, back in charge and determined to shape the squad in his image, pushed for specifics rather than stop-gaps.
“We might highlight three or four targets, but Tony wants to make sure the people here want to be here and play for him,” Curwood said. “Was it the wrong thing to do to push for the specific players Tony wanted? These things happen when you try to be specific, but none of us want to just bring in players to add bodies in the building.”
That stance has left Blackburn light in some areas after seven players departed in the summer. Curwood, though, stands by the decisions to let them go.
“You’ve got to allow the manager to make certain decisions,” he said. “The squad list was top-heavy. Certain players needed game-time, like George Pratt going to Bradford.”
Rovers were not simply sellers. BBC Radio Lancashire understands the club turned down offers for Ryoya Morishita, Sean McLoughlin, Balasz Toth, Yuki Ohashi and Ryan Alebiosu, a clear sign that the hierarchy did draw a line to protect what they already had.
Off the pitch, it has been no quieter. Curwood described his first weeks as “a whirlwind” – a transfer window to navigate, an administrator leaving for another club, and a senior physiotherapist moving on as well. The club has been trying to reshape itself while the clock ticked relentlessly towards deadline day.
“The first 90 days will give me time to reflect and bring some of the processes this club need to improve where we are,” the 54-year-old said. He has asked supporters for patience, for room to breathe, and for trust that this bruising window will not set the tone for his tenure.
Curwood is adamant that Blackburn will not stand still. “We’ll be in a very different position moving into the next window, and beyond that,” he promised.
The frustration is real. The gaps in the squad are obvious. The question now is whether Mowbray and Curwood can turn this messy, “chaotic” summer into the foundation of something more coherent when the window opens again.
