"Outrageous" - Tom Cairney on huge Blackburn Rovers regret | OneFootball

Highlights

Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Tom Cairney has aired his shock and outrage that the Ewood Park outfit failed to qualify for the Championship play-offs back in 2014/15 - labelling their downfalls nothing short of 'a disgrace'.

Cairney began his career at Hull City in 2009, but limited game time at the then-KC Stadium saw him make a loan switch to Blackburn in 2013. Impressing enough to land a full-time gig in east Lancashire, Cairney spent just one season on the permanent books under Gary Bowyer before making the move to Fulham, where he has remained ever since.

But despite his successes at Craven Cottage and in the Premier League, Cairney still looks back at his time at Ewood Park with horror and expressed his regret at not being able to secure a top-six place.

What Tom Cairney said about Blackburn's 2014/15 season

Speaking to BBC Five Live, Cairney admitted that it was nothing short of a 'disgrace' that Blackburn didn't get into the top six in 2014/15 - and that it still angers him to this day.

The Fulham midfielder said:“It’s a disgrace that we didn’t get into the top six. Honestly, it still angers me now. My old manager of that season, Gary Bowyer, rang me and we spoke about it and said it still angers me now, because two strikers with 20 or more goals in the Championship season and not get into the top six is outrageous.

“Not only that, but we had Josh King, Grant Hanley, Scott Dann, good good players.

“Ben Marshall, you probably won’t remember him, but he was such a talent at the time. And the fact we didn’t make the play-offs with that team…

“I remember we got to an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Liverpool but that was as high as it got really. It kind of disappoints me and upsets me because I feel like that could’ve been the chance for Blackburn to get back in the Premier League with that team.”

Blackburn's 2014/15 season analysed

As Cairney touched upon, Blackburn did have two strikers who achieved 20-plus goals in the Championship alone. Jordan Rhodes hit 21 goals in 45 games for the Lancashire outfit, whilst Rudy Gestede’s goals-per-game ratio was even better with 20 strikes in just 39 outings at Ewood Park.

Even the rest of the team managed to chip in with their fair share; winger Marshall hit six from the right-flank, whilst Cairney, defender Alex Baptiste and Craig Conway all bagged three throughout the course of the season.

Elsewhere, other strong Championship players featured. Marcus Olsson, Corry Evans, Hanley, and Jason Steele were all involved in over 30 league games; alongside the likes of Shane Duffy, King and Matt Kilgallon.

Results wise, it was the slow start to the season that effectively gave Rovers a mountain to climb. Just four wins from their first 10 games barely made up for a two-month unbeaten run throughout October and November, and alongside a run of just three wins from December to March, Rovers couldn’t quite keep up - falling as far as 11th before a late revival.