THIS weekly column has not exactly made for the happiest reading over the past two years with the Ewood Park faithful deserving no punches being pulled as their club has been systematically taken apart.

As Steve Kean once said ‘you’re very negative Andy’, and I guess – for once – he was right. I have been very negative and will continue to be until I see real progress being made behind the scenes.

But, while there remain some real problems in East Lancashire, the last few weeks have reminded us all that there are still some great things about this football club.

A lot of very good footballing people have been seen off by this chaotic regime but a lot still remain. Gary Bowyer and Terry McPhillips are the perfect example of that.

Both have been involved in the club’s youth set up for years now, quietly going about their business and getting results without ever hitting any of the headlines.

Now they have been thrown into the public glare, having been handed the temporary reins in what seemed impossible circumstances, and have responded admirably.

Who knows if the duo have any chance of landing the job full time – in fact that looks unlikely after last night's events – but their efforts deserve to be recognised and appreciated by a club who has all too often in recent times treated employees with disdain.

Last night's statement out of the blue was hardly a good sign that they are about to treated properly though.

The way former coaches Eric Black, Bobby Mimms and Iain Brunskill were told of their dismissals recently was nothing short of scandalous. To read it on Sky Sports before being told by the club is unforgivable. We should not be surprised as we have seen countless people behind the scenes at Ewood hounded out of the club, only to find how hard it is to get adequate replacements.

Bowyer and McPhillips will know nothing is certain. They have already seen Black do the caretaker manager’s job pretty well earlier this season before being booted out unceremoniously.

That can’t happen again. The duo may not be the men for the task long term – although I am of the mind if it is not broke don’t fix it – but they need to remain a part of the club’s future.

They have already contributed massively to some of the young players we are seeing emerge in the first team and, whoever comes in needs to be told they remain part of the furniture.

Bowyer and McPhillips aren’t the only people at the club who deserve better, they are just the obvious example after their achievements. There are a number of coaches, players, and plenty of others behind the scenes, who deserve their bosses to finally start showing some loyalty.

They say ‘You don’t know what you have got until you have lost it’, and how many times have we said that about Rovers under Venky’s control.