Blackburn Rovers give Steve Kean pay rise but no contract extension

 

Steve Kean's contract at Blackburn Rovers, second bottom of the Premier League, is due to expire in 2013. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

Steve Kean has secured a pay rise at Blackburn Rovers but the club's Indian owners have stopped short of extending the manager's contract.

Kean held talks with Venky and Balaji Rao, the brothers who co-own Blackburn, in London on Sunday. A report on Tuesday claimed the under-fire Scot had been handed a two-year extension to his deal – which is due to expire in 2013 – but Rovers have instead increased his salary to about £1.5m a year.

Blackburn said in a statement: "Following recent media speculation Blackburn Rovers FC can confirm a revision to manager Steve Kean's existing contract has been completed. An agreement made in the summer has now been formalised.

"Contrary to some reports there is no change to the length of the contract. The club respects that all contracts are private and confidential and no further comment will be made."

Speculation has suggested Kean's new terms could include a reduced compensation payment to the 44-year-old should the Blackburn board bow to supporters' pressure and sack the manager. Under his previous deal, Kean was entitled to £800,000.

Blackburn's position near the bottom of the Premier League has led to protests against Kean. The Rao brothers left Wigan's DW Stadium at half-time of Saturday's game against Blackburn to return to London, after reportedly being upset by abuse hurled towards them from a small section of the visiting support.

Bizarrely, Kean had been quoted on Tuesday claiming that he was in no rush to conclude contract negotiations. At that point, the manager said: "Yes, there have been discussions about a new contract, but I have told the owners that this is an inappropriate time to conclude any new contract discussions. Instead, the real issue is for me and everyone else to concentrate on the games.

"The fact that the owners have talked to me about a new contract means that they can see what we are building here, and we hope to make others see it too."