Norwegian manager Henning Berg has been sacked as coach of Blackburn Rovers after only 57 days in the job, the Indian-owned English Championship club announced on Thursday. Berg signed a three-year contract on October 31 but he guided Blackburn to just one victory in his 10 matches at the helm and Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Middlesbrough was the team's fifth defeat in six matches in England's second tier.
"Blackburn Rovers FC has announced the departure of manager Henning Berg, assistant manager Eric Black, first team coach Iain Brunskill and goalkeeping coach Bobby Mimms with immediate effect," read a statement on the Blackburn website. "This decision has been taken following a very disappointing sequence of results. The club thanks the four men for their efforts and wishes them every success for the future."
As a player, Berg played an important role in Blackburn's 1995 Premier League title success, but the club's owners, Indian poultry firm Venky's, were not prepared to show him patience. Venky's director Balaji Rao was quoted in The Times of India on Thursday as saying: "We have not been doing well and dropping points and losing matches quite often. I want to go up (to the Premier League)." Wednesday's loss to Middlesbrough left Blackburn in 17th place in the 24-team Championship, eight points below the play-off places and seven points above the relegation zone.