Just when you thought nothing else could happen to deepen the pain inflicted on Rovers’ long-suffering supporters, along comes a series of comm-ents from leading Premier League names which are at best misguided, and at worst, insulting.

Several top managers, a player and some media outlets have spoken of their disgust at the protests aimed at manager Steve Kean by Blackburn Rovers fans but fail to recognise the serious issues that has forced the Ewood faithful into such action.

The League Managers’ Association has also waded in.

It did at least acknowledge the right of supporters to protest and it had some critical messages for the club’s owners but the depth of the Rovers crisis makes its sympathies with Kean misplaced.

No-one wants to see any individual go through this kind of pain but the solution is blindingly obvious: listen to the fans and take him out of the firing line.

The stance taken by the managers themselves should perhaps be brushed aside. They are, after all, defending one of their own.

But leading figures in the pampered, and increasingly tarnished, world of Premier League football have an even bigger responsibility – and that’s to the people who pay their over-inflated wages.

In this instance they have got it wrong. This is not about an individual. It’s about a football club spiralling out of control.

The long-suffering Rovers supporters have every right to be venting their spleen following the club’s dramatic descent into chaos, as long as it is done in a responsible way.

The fans ARE Blackburn Rovers. Owners, managers and players come and go but supporters are life-members. They’ll still be here when everyone else has headed off into the well-rewarded sunset.

The supporters stump up their hard-earned cash – and in the current recession that sacrifice is all the greater – to follow the team.

Everyone under the sun, except it seems a few misguided Premier League managers, understands why the protests are so vociferous.

It’s possible to argue that some of the earlier protests were premature (although those protesters have actually proved to be right) and yes, it could be argued that a tiny minority have overstepped the mark, but this is their club and passions are running high.

On Monday this newspaper used its front page to call for Steve Kean to go and for the owners to (finally) get a grip on the club. We didn’t do that lightly. Yes, we were totally perplexed (and critical) of the decision to remove Sam Allardyce a year ago and yes, we were even more alarmed by the removal of the club’s outstanding chairman John Williams.

Rovers reporter and sports editor Andy Cryer has consistently asked the hard questions and held the club to account all year, but we still felt it was right and fair to give a new regime a meaningful period of time to pull things round.

Things have now, however, passed the point of no return. The owners have sought to govern from thousands of miles away, failed to communicate their vision in any kind of coherent, or believable, manner and as a result a massive dark cloud now hangs over the club.

Kean hasn’t been given anything like the support a new, untried, manager should have received but he has to bear his rightful share of responsibility for the lack of success on the field.

The likes of Alan Pardew, Harry Redknapp, Michael Owen and David Moyes are missing the point. Venky’s should never have allowed things to get to this point.

His removal has to be the first step in an overhaul of methods and strategy at the club and that revolution has to start now.

The latest noise coming from Ewood suggests Venky’s are looking to bring a ‘big name signing’ to East Lancashire to appease the fans. Forget the gimmicks. When will they realise we just want the club run properly?

This whole issue transcends football and that’s why the Lancashire Telegraph and others in the community are taking such a strong stance. Blackburn Rovers are hugely important to the spirit and profile of this part of East Lancashire, and that’s why even local politicians have thrown the gauntlet down to Venky’s.

Most important of all, the supporters simply don’t deserve to be witnessing the awful, and growing, chaos at their beloved Rovers.

That’s why their protests are now so right – and so justified.