IT was in April when Gary Bowyer was asked to make the trip to India to meet Venky’s.

At the time, the move drew criticism from fans who felt the manager should not have been taken away from his duties preparing the first team for a vital relegation clash against Derby.

But Henning Berg’s biggest regret is that in his two months in charge, he wishes he’d done the same.

Berg was unveiled as Rovers boss on November 1 and could have gone to Pune to meet the owners, but delayed the trip.

Rovers had a busy period of fixtures, and the former title-winning defender did not want to leave his squad. But, having been sacked in December after only 57 days in charge, he now realises that was a mistake.

He had dealt with global advisor Shebby Singh as the middle man, but knows he should have travelled to India to explain his plans for the club face to face.

“I wish I had spoken directly to the owners,” Berg said.

“I spoke with them on the phone but I felt it was not right to go to India at the time because we had a hectic schedule and I didn’t want to leave the players. I wanted to prepare for the games.

“I had arranged to meet them later to talk about my plans. I thought I had time.

“But obviously with hindsight I wish I had gone earlier for the sake of my own position.

“I know Steve Kean went to India regularly and Gary Bowyer has been as well.”

Bowyer was Rovers’ development coach during Berg’s brief time as manager, stepping up to caretaker manager when Eric Black, Iain Brunskill and Bobby Mimms followed the Norwegian out of the door.

Bowyer has since been confirmed as manager, after a second successive caretaker stint.

“I think he is the right man for the club now,” Berg said. “He is a sensible choice. You are not going to attract Fabio Capello to the club at the moment.

“To bring in someone from the outside, they have to assess the squad and the finances and it takes time to make an impact.

“To make changes it takes more than one week or two weeks.

“Gary is a good man, when I was manager I had good conversations with him about football and he knows the young players.

“He did well as caretaker, particularly in that second spell when they avoided relegation.”

Berg insists Rovers still have the potential to return to the Premier League, but knows Venky’s must change how they run the club.

Last season was hampered by divisions between Singh and the duo of managing director Derek Shaw and operations director Paul Agnew – who departed yesterday.

“If the club is run in the right way I do believe Blackburn can still do well, but they have to make changes,” Berg said.

“It’s not for me to say that they should do this or they should do that, but things have to be run in the right way.

“It is a good club. They have good training facilities and a good stadium. If Cardiff and Hull can get promoted then of course Blackburn can.

“Despite everything that has happened, I still have a lot of happy memories from my time as a Blackburn player. I had a lot of success there.

“I was really proud to be the manager and working with the players and the staff. I still want to see the club do well.”

Berg still wants to return to management.

“I have spent my life in football,” Berg added. “I love football and I still want to be a manager.

“As a manager you will be lucky if you do not have some time out of the game during your career.

“I am only 43 years old and I still feel I have a lot to give.

“But of course when I go back in, I have to feel that it is right after what happened at Blackburn.

“It will never be the same again, but I have to be careful.”