Blackburn's CEO search and big question after Waggott exit

The club confirmed that the 70-year-old had departed Ewood Park after seven years, last month. It was an abrupt 35-word statement which brought an end to his spell at Rovers, with the timing coming as a shock.

Waggott had been considering retirement but wanted to oversee Rovers' 150th year. Little has been publicly communicated as to why he left, though The Lancashire Telegraph reported the inside story on his departure.

Rovers have been in little rush to find a short-term replacement and are now looking for Waggott's successor. It had long been suggested that Head of Football Operations, Rudy Gestede, would take over from Waggott but that will not be the case.

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The club are using an external hiring company to find their next CEO, as they did when Waggott was appointed in December 2017. In his introductory interview after taking the job, he explained how the hiring process had worked.

“There’s a headhunting company who scour the market for people to fill posts in sport, predominantly football," he said.

“I was approached by a couple of clubs but when this one came on the radar I was extremely interested because of the size of the club, the history of the club, the whole infrastructure of the club.

“I thought that it could be an unbelievably good challenge for me.”

Chief Operation Officer, Suhail Pasha, is currently in India to see Venky's. Though the trip has not been specially planned to discuss Waggott's replacement, it's likely to be one of the many topics that will be broached.

The dynamic between Pasha and whoever takes the CEO hot seat will be interesting. He is the owner's representative and clearly yields plenty of power at the football club, as a result.

Pasha and Waggott had direct lines of communication into Venky's, whilst Gestede reports to the board from his role as Head of Football Operations. If Waggott's influence had been waning, it is hard to envisage any incoming CEO having that previous level of authority at the football club.

A LinkedIn post from Darren Simmons, who is a leading recruiter for sports executives, caught the eye of Rovers fans last week. Whilst is unconfirmed that Blackburn were the club in question, it would not be unfair to join the dots together.

Again, it would suggest that the remit for any incoming CEO would be quite diluted compared to Waggott, who would often lead negotiations and finalise transfers.

He wrote: "We’re supporting a significant football club in the North West to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer. It's quite a specific brief and is heavily focused on operations.

"The football, commercial and finance departments are performing to high standards and are covered - this role requires a calm capable leader to take ownership of stadium operations, HR, IT and associated support functions along with day-to-day internal management.

"You'll lead non-football operations across matchdays, facilities, and staffing and help build and maintain a values-led culture across departments."

It's understood Rovers are not close to an appointment but it will be fascinating to see who comes in and what their job entails.