PL cult heroes in battle for Blackburn job for first managerial role in England

Rovers are on the lookout for a new manager to replace John Eustace, who opted to jump ship to relegation-threatened Derby earlier in the week.

The Lancashire outfit are enjoying a great season far and are in the mix to seal a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2012.

Interim boss David Lowe guided Blackburn to a 2-0 win over Plymouth to leave the club fifth in the Championship.

But now attention for the hierarchy is to bring in a permanent successor to Eustace, with Boa Morte and Boateng two surprise candidates.

Boa Morte is currently in charge of Guinea-Bissau's national team - a role he has held since March 2024.

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In his ten matches in charge, he has won just once, while drawing on four occasions and tasting defeat five times.

It's his second managerial role having previously been the head coach at Portuguese minnows Sintrense.

Though he does have plenty of coaching experience, having been the number two at Sporting Lisbon's reserve team as well as Israeli outfit Maccaiba Haifa.

And in previous years, he was Marco Silva's assistant at both Everton and Fulham - only leaving Craven Cottage to take up the Guinea-Bissau job.

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As for Boateng, his only managerial job came during the 2014/15 season where was in the dugout at Malaysian club Kelantan, where he won 18 out of his 37 matches.

But should he be successful in his quest to take over Blackburn, it would be a return to the club having coached their Under-13 side from between 2018-19.

Since then, he has been the Professional Development Coach at Aston Villa for both their U18 and U23 squads, before becoming the assistant manager for Ghana's national team.

Most recently, he was Coventry's assistant under Mark Robins, but departed in November following the appointment of Frank Lampard.

While neither Boa Morte or Boateng have managed in England, they both boast a wealth of Premier League experience.

Boa Morte was part of Arsenal's double-winning side in the 1997/98 campaign which saw them scoop the top-flight title as well as the FA Cup.

He subsequently featured for Southampton, West Ham and most notably Fulham in the Premier League.

Boateng meanwhile appeared in 384 Premier League games having enjoyed spells at Coventry, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Hull.

He is best remembered for his time spent at Boro between 2002-2008, where he helped the club win their first major honour in the form of the League Cup in 2004.

While Blackburn look to sort out their manager situation, Lowe will be preparing the club for their upcoming clash away at Swansea next weekend.