Curwood Addresses Blackburn's Chaotic Transfer Window: Frustration and Promise
Blackburn Rovers’ new chief executive Steve Curwood walked into Ewood Park two months ago and straight into a storm. The transfer window has closed, the mood is sour, and the accusation is simple: not enough done, not quickly enough.
Curwood doesn’t try to sugar-coat it.
“Everyone is frustrated,” he admitted, defending a summer that brought only four signings and ended with three deadline-day deals collapsing at the final hurdle.
Deals Agreed… Then Gone
Rovers fans watched the final hours of the window with growing anger as targets slipped away. Curwood insists the club had done the groundwork.
“Deals were on the table. Deals were agreed with players and clubs,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire.
Then the market turned ruthless.
“We can talk about morals in football, maybe there aren’t too many now and that’s what’s happened. We were gazumped at the last minute on a couple of deals, and one was a foreign one which took a bit more time than you would anticipate.”
BBC Radio Lancashire understands two of the failed moves involved Reo Hatate, who instead joined Burnley, and Brian De Keersmaecker, who chose Bristol City. For supporters, those names only deepen the sense of what might have been.
Curwood, though, is adamant the ownership backed the push.
“The investment has been there. There hasn’t been a reluctance from the board. There has been collaboration throughout the process. I think at the final hurdle we haven’t been able to get them over the line.
“Yes – it’s frustrating, we’re frustrated, and Tony (Mowbray) wanted that extra little bit of something which we haven’t managed to do.”
Mowbray’s Late Return and a Compressed Window
The backdrop to it all is a club that only settled on its manager in June.
Michael O’Neill kept Blackburn in the Championship last season while still leading Northern Ireland. He then walked away from the permanent job in mid-May. Rovers turned back to a familiar face, reappointing Tony Mowbray on 5 June.
Curwood doesn’t hide from the consequences.
He calls the window “chaotic” and points straight at the timeline.
“Ideally your manager will be in by the start of May to work out where are we going for next year,” he said. “So that timeline has been constrained somewhat, and then conflated by injuries.”
The choice was stark: move early and compromise on quality, or hold out for first-choice targets and accept the risk.
“If you want to do your deals early, maybe you can’t go after the best players sometimes. You’ve got to either wait and go for target number one with this risk, or cement one in the building because we know we can get him, like Jayden Fevrier for example.”
Rovers highlighted three or four options in several positions, but Mowbray, Curwood says, was adamant about one thing.
“Tony wants to make sure the people here want to be here and play for him. Was it the wrong thing to do to push for the specific players Tony wanted? These things happen when you try to be specific, but none of us want to just bring in players to add bodies in the building.”
Ambition and selectivity, in the end, left them exposed when rival clubs swooped.
Outgoings, Balance and Big Calls
All this played out while seven players headed out of the club in the summer. With the incoming business falling short of expectations, those exits now look even starker to some supporters.
Curwood stands by the decisions.
“You’ve got to allow the manager to make certain decisions. The squad list was top-heavy. Certain players needed game-time, like George Pratt going to Bradford.”
Rovers also resisted attempts to strip more from the core of the squad. BBC Radio Lancashire understands they turned down offers for Ryoya Morishita, Sean McLoughlin, Balasz Toth, Yuki Ohashi and Ryan Alebiosu.
So the picture is uneven: a trimmed, more streamlined group, but not as heavily reinforced as many had hoped.
A Whirlwind Start and a Promise
Curwood arrived from League Two side Fleetwood Town only two months ago. Since then, he has dealt with a transfer window, an administrator departing to another club, and a senior physiotherapist leaving.
“It’s been a whirlwind since I arrived,” the 54-year-old said. “The first 90 days will give me time to reflect and bring some of the processes this club need to improve where we are.
“We’ll be in a very different position moving into the next window, and beyond that.”
For now, that is the message to a restless fanbase: trust the process, trust Mowbray’s specificity, trust that this bruising window will harden Blackburn rather than weaken them.
The anger is real. So is the promise that January will be different.
