Garry Flitcroft never imagined that he would be playing outside of the Premier League when he signed for Blackburn Rovers – and as the former midfielder says he still believes relegation would have been avoided had Roy Hodgson stayed in charge...

PREMIER League relegation was not the plan when Garry Flitcroft signed for the reigning Premier League champions for £3.5million in March 1996. Just three seasons later that became reality for Blackburn Rovers.

It was a dramatic fall from grace as Ray Harford, Roy Hodgson and Brian Kidd all failed to replicate the stunning Kenny Dalglish era at Ewood Park, leaving the club needing to plot a route back out of the Championship.

A top flight return wasn’t immediate and needed the appointment of no-nonsense Graeme Souness to mastermind promotion in 2001. Flitcroft believes had the club stayed patient with Hodgson, relegation could well have been avoided.

Hodgson was appointed Rovers boss in the summer of 1998 and enjoyed a spectacular start to his Ewood reign, guiding Rovers to second in the Premier League at Christmas time and earning European qualification that campaign.

The following season saw his dismissal in November, after a poor start, but his successor Kidd was unable to steer Rovers to safety as they dropped into the Champion-ship.

Flitcroft said: “We were brilliant for a time under Roy and got into Europe. Roy was thorough but the main reason it ended like it did was the lads wanted new deals, other clubs were approaching them and they wanted to go there and get more money.

“At the time, Blackburn had a structure and a wage that would not be broken. That causes problems because things get said and some lads were not wanting to play for the manager.

“Roy did a fantastic job, he was a superb coach but towards the end lads like Tim Sherwood wanted to leave and he probably lost the dressing room through no fault of his own. Team spirit was not there and that is what happens.

“It was a surprise to see Roy go because he was probably one of the best coaches I have ever worked with.

“A lot of the lads liked him but a few of the senior professionals drove him out.

“Brian was a fantastic coach but too friendly with his players and that was a big downfall for him. Kiddo used to pull me in and ask what was happening and I thought you can’t be doing that as a manager. The lads loved him to bits but he was too soft.

“If Roy had stayed I think we would have stayed up. There was a lot of change when Brian came in and he brought in his players. Roy had the experience and may have kept us up, I guess you never know though.”

Flitcroft missed most of the relegation campaign after suffering a knee injury in training and was forced to watch the club’s slide from the sidelines.

He admits it was a painful experience but reveals the faith Rovers showed in him during the dark times made him even more determined to repay them.

“I was about to sign a five-year deal under Roy,” said Flitcroft. “I got injured in training in the morning and was going to sign it in the afternoon. I was gutted.

“John Williams stuck by me and said ‘sign it’ anyway, thinking I was only going to be out for six weeks but it ended up being 14 months.

“Me and John got on really, really well. The interview I had with Preston the other week I spoke to John before I went in there and he gave me some good advice and was a reference. He is a good guy.

“When the club look after you like that, you want to give them something back and I did that with the 10 years service I did with them.

“I was desperate to get back playing. We believed the lads who were there were strong enough to come back up but it didn’t happen and then Souey comes in and he was great.”

Kidd was unable to mastermind an instant Premier League return and, after a brief Tony Parkes caretaker spell, Souness was named manager in March 2000.

Flitcroft said: “The club needed someone like Graeme. Everyone knows him and he came in with an aura about him. He was a mean character, even just looking at him he had a presence about him.

“I liked that because you knew from the first day what he wanted. His man management was superb. He would look after the lads and the lads wanted to play for him.

“The coaching side of it was five-a-side most days and we didn’t really do much tactical stuff, not as much as we had been, but he got a good team spirit there. The lads wanted to play for him.

Flitcroft rates the Souness era between 2000-2004 as his most successful of his Rovers decade, even though they parted company not on the best of terms.

The duo won Premier League promotion and the Worthington Cup together, with Flitcroft handed the captain’s arm band by Souness.

“We knew we had a good squad when we went back up.” said the now Chorley manager. “Graeme was a big player in it as shown by getting us back into Europe.

“He helped us win the Worthington Cup. I missed it because I was suspended and that was difficult. I had had a long term injury where I thought my career was finished so I was just happy to be playing again.

“Graeme said straight after the game ‘make sure you go and lift that trophy up’.

“Graeme and I had a great relationship and then he brought Barry Ferguson in from Rangers and promised him the captaincy. Me and Graeme fell out a little bit.

“After what I had done for him I felt it was harsh he was trying to get me out of the club. Things went sour after that and the best thing for me was when he went to Newcastle “We speak now though and I still ask him for advice. When I see him now he will give me a cuddle and we will have a laugh but I think he knows how it finished was not how he wanted either.

“My highlight was being captain of Rovers. For four years I loved every minute of it.

“It was a fantastic club. Graeme gave me the arm band and I remember his quote in the dressing room was ‘I don’t have to say anything when Garry Flitcroft is in my dressing room. He says it all for me’.”