WHEN it comes to Blackburn Rovers, there are few people as qualified as Tony Parkes to cast an eye over the Ewood Park situation and have his say.

So when ‘Mr Blackburn’ says he fears for the direction the club are heading in, you know the time has come to sit up and take notice.

‘Parkesy’ bleeds blue and white after 35 years at the club. He joined the playing staff at the age of 21 and went on to make almost 400 appearances for the club.

He then went on to become a coach, assistant manager, caretaker boss – several times – and a scout and still cares passionately about ‘his club’.

As Rovers head to Anfield this afternoon in deep Premier League peril, Parkes knows what a boost a shock victory on Merseyside would be, but he also knows the club’s problems won’t be put right by one freak result.

He said: “It would be a massive boost for Blackburn Rovers to win at Anfield.

“It is almost not about Anfield though. It is about the next 20 odd games and Venky’s proving themselves as owners of the football club.

“It is not about going to Anfield and winning. Are we going to have enough quality to win enough games to stay up? This is the big test for Venky’s.

“We need new players. I’m not talking about players worth £500,000 or £1million, we have already signed them.

“We now need three of four players of real quality and they cost. Venky’s have to start putting their money into it.

“If they are going to back Steve Kean, which I fear they are going to, then they need to back him with money. They have yet to show they are prepared to do that.

“The problem is if they do decide to sack Steve Kean, which looking from the outside I don’t think they will, then the new manager would demand a lot of reassurances before taking the job. It is hard to see them getting these at the moment.”

Parkes, 62, was part of Rovers’ last and only Premier League Anfield victory in 1993, when Mike Newell scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory.

Despite, just one cup win at Liverpool since, Parkes insists defeat is not inevitable and is also adamant bottom of the table Rovers can still survive.

“The stats are not always important so why can’t we go there and get a win?,” said Kean.

“Rovers do have a lot of injuries though and some of their main players are having to play out of position.

“We have shown we have a goal in us but we have also show we will concede as well and maybe a lot of that is to do with the club having so many injuries.

“Our situation is not impossible. West Bromwich Albion showed that. They may be the only side who have recovered from being bottom at Christmas but the fact they did shows that we can.”

Parkes though has joined the calls for a change in manager and insists the club’s dramatic fall from grace can only be put down to three groups of people.

He said: “There are three groups of people to blame for the situation the club are in. The manager, Venky’s and the Walker Trust.

“It has to be remembered the Walker Trust were the people who brought them in. They wanted to get out and were taking anyone’s money to do that. All three have a lot to answer for.

“Steve Kean will never turn the fans in his favour. That chance was gone a long time ago.

“The fans are the people who ultimately get managers the sack, so surely that has to happen with Steve Kean. It is all very well saying it is only a minority who are against him but it isn’t.

“As a Blackburn Rovers fan through and through it is very difficult to see the club in this situation. You wonder what is going to happen at the end of all this?

“We have people running the club who know nothing about football and they have got rid of all the people who could have helped them.

“It beggars belief how people who know nothing about this football club have come in and taken apart everything that was good about it. Venky’s have to get real.

“They may like the manager but he is going to take the football club down.”