WE ARE no nearer to knowing who will be Blackburn’s new manager and this is now going to have an impact on recruitment for the new season.

Rovers are going to miss out on players who are available, whether they are ones who finished the season at Ewood Park, or ones who have been released by other clubs.

If you are an out-of-contract player at Blackburn at the moment then you and your agent will be sitting down and looking at other options.

Even if you want to stay at Blackburn, the fact that there is no manager to decided whether they want to offer you a contract will lead you to exploring options. As a result Rovers will miss out on keeping their best players this summer.

Danny Graham is an example. I know he wasn’t a Blackburn player but it was clear he wasn’t going to stay at Sunderland, he came to Blackburn and put himself in the shop window.

He became an advert for himself and he did it so professionally that he will not be short of offers for next season now.

He said he enjoyed his time at Blackburn but with no manager and no clarity he will be exploring options and he may well leave because nothing has been put in place for him at Ewood Park.

It would be a real shame if Blackburn were to miss out on a player of his quality because we couldn’t get a manager in place.

It will be slightly different for the guys that are under contract.

Grant Hanley has been linked with a move but he is away just now with Scotland and he will probably be enjoying his time away from Rovers and with the international team.

Having said that I have no doubt that players will be having a word in his ear and saying ‘if my manager wants you at our club would you be interested?’ But the one good thing about not having a manager or any clarity at the top is it makes it difficult to sell players!

What Rovers need and need quickly is a manager and some clarity at the top in terms of someone who can communicate with the new manager and the owners, someone who knows the budget for next year and someone who the fans can see as a chief executive.

At the moment there isn’t any of that and when you are due back for pre-season in four weeks that doesn’t bode too well.

Four weeks is not a long time in football and as a result the fans will be less and less optimistic about the season ahead.

Football clubs sometimes forget that the fans make the club and at the moment, from speaking to people in and around Blackburn, there is precious little optimism around Ewood Park and that won’t change until a new manager is appointed.