Blackburn line up Sherwood after fans' enemy Kean quits

Blackburn Rovers will step up efforts to appoint Tim Sherwood as manager at Ewood Park in time for Wednesday's Championship trip to Nottingham Forest after Steve Kean on Friday resigned, claiming that his position had become "untenable".

Kean, promoted from first-team coach to manager following the dismissal of Sam Allardyce in November 2010, had looked set to hold on to his job after claiming yesterday morning that talks with Blackburn's owners, Venky's, had been "constructive".

Senior figures within the Rao family, Venky's owners, had met last weekend to discuss Kean's position after he had failed to meet a target of securing 16 points from Blackburn's first seven league games following relegation from the Premier League last season.

Having seemingly earned a stay of execution during discussions with Blackburn's owners, Kean confirmed his resignation last night via a statement released by his lawyers. The statement said: "For reasons that I cannot discuss on legal advice, it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers Football Club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable.

"I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towards an automatic promotion position back to the Premiership. I wish the club all the very best for the future."

Throughout his 22 months in charge at Blackburn, Kean was forced to overcome sustained hostility from the club's supporters.

Although Kean had fallen two points short of the 16-point target, he had nevertheless guided Blackburn to second place in the Championship, but plummeting Ewood Park crowds - the worst for 20 years - have signalled the apathy of fans and led to concerns over the club's finances.

Kean's departure proved a surprise for the Blackburn hierarchy last night, however, with managing director Derek Shaw claiming: "I have been travelling down to London and this is the first I have heard of it."

While the timing of Kean's exit was unexpected, his resignation was welcomed by the large section of Blackburn supporters who have protested against his reign, with the BRFC Action Group releasing a statement claiming "this is the day when Blackburn Rovers was liberated from the man who has brought a whole club's supporter base to their knees with tears, thoughts of helplessness and pure anguish".

Kean's relationship with the club's recently-appointed global adviser, Shebby Singh, has proven to be fractious and Singh is now expected to lead attempts to persuade Sherwood, the captain of Blackburn's 1995 title-winning team, to relinquish his position as Tottenham's technical coordinator in order to take his first steps in management.

Sherwood is admired by senior figures at White Hart Lane, however, and it is anticipated that strenuous efforts will be made to keep the 43 year-old at the club in some capacity.