Kean wants Hendry on Blackburn Rovers staff (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Kean wants Hendry on Blackburn Rovers staff

9:50am Thursday 31st May 2012 in Sport By Chris Flanagan , Sports reporter

BLACKBURN Rovers manager Steve Kean is in talks to add club legend Colin Hendry to his staff.

Kean is starting to make plans for next season after remaining as manager following meetings with Venky’s in India two weeks ago, even though Venkatesh Rao has since said that a final decision on his future could be taken later this summer.

The Lancashire Telegraph understands the Scot is looking into the possibility of adding to his staff and has approached Hendry over a possible role at the club.

It is understood that a specific role has not yet been offered but it seems most likely that Hendry would work in a coaching capacity with the first team.

Kean already has Eric Black as assistant manager and Iain Brunskill as first-team coach, but may see Hendry’s defensive knowledge as a useful addition to his backroom staff.

The Rovers boss has already stressed the need for an improvement defensively after the club conceded 78 goals in 38 Premier League games on the way to relegation from the top flight.

Hendry earned the nickname ‘Braveheart’ for his heroic performances in the Rovers back line during nine years at the club, either side of a spell at Manchester City.

He most notably played a key role in Rovers’ Premier League title triumph in 1995, making 399 appearances for the club in total.

Following retirement he moved into management with Blackpool in 2004 but was relieved of his duties following a poor run of results.

He moved on to become assistant boss at Boston United and then manager of Scottish club Clyde but resigned from his post at the Scottish club in 2008 when his wife Denise became ill, dying a year later.

Hendry remains based in the north west of England and is likely to be eager to help out his former club if the right role can be found for him.

Work is underway to relay the playing surface at Ewood Park.

The grass has been removed from the pitch this week and will now be re-seeded in time for next season.

Groundsman Steve Patrick, who will celebrate 25 years with Rovers next season, said: “I felt that last season’s pitch was as good as anything we’ve had in recent memory and next year’s will be as good as anything in the Championship, if not better.”

A Deloitte survey has shown that Rovers’ revenue was the sixth highest in the north west during the 2010/11 season.

Rovers’ revenue of £57.6m was the same as the previous year and put them behind Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Everton and Bolton.

That revenue, however, is now likely to drop following relegation from the Premier League.