Here is the full text of a letter from Blackburn CEO Paul Hunt to Mrs Desai, 21 December 2011 as covered

in an article currently melting sportingintelligence.co m Thanks for your patience. NH Wednesday 21st December 2011 Paul Hunt Deputy CEO Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park Blackburn Lancashire Madam, I have been your senior officer at the club for 6 months now and I feel that I m ust now write to you to ask you to make some significant changes to save the clu b, perhaps from relegation but also perhaps from administration. In twenty years of the Premier League there has been only one side that was bott om of the league at Christmas that has survived relegation at the end of the sea son. With the bank closing in, I fear that they will look to foreclose and have the potential to implement financial restrictions upon the club that could (as a worst-case scenario) enforce administration. I have kept quiet for a time now out of utmost respect and I trust that you real ise that I am only emailing you now as I want what is only the best for Blackbur n Rovers and the owners. I am very much of the opinion that we can save the club and I have always been very supportive and positive towards the owners. Therefo re I hope you know that what I am saying is considered, honest, constructive and from the heart. I ask that we instigate all the changes below in this 10 point plan. If we do, t hen I guarantee that, come the summer, the club will be in a much stronger posit ion than it is now. This will give the owners the following benefits: A richer asset in the club as a whole A happy, strong and valuable playing squad Peace of mind that it is being run admirably Protection for the Venky's brand and the BRFC brand The full backing of the Premier League Deliver the community a club to be proud of A devoted team of staff 1. Promotion to CEO I am aware that that when we met in April, we said we would look at this within the first year. I believe now is the right time to promote me to CEO. The "Deput y" title is confusing to staff, supporters and media. I am confident that I now have the knowledge to be able to deliver strong progress. We have a great club, good team and an excellent range of staff that I feel can take this club forward , given the right support from the owners. Naturally, with extra responsibility I would like extra salary and I would be happy with a relatively modest increase with the promise of a good bonus and increase in salary in the summer that woul d reflect the improvement in position. I am currently the lowest paid senior clu b official in the Premier League. 2. Owners to invest in the club As you are aware Barclays have asked for the owners to put 10m into the business. This needs to happen and I am confident that this could only be a loan as we wou ld increase the value of the club significantly. With all the speculation in the press the playing staff value and overall club value is depreciating on a daily basis. By putting an end to this the owners would be protecting their investmen t, putting their trust in the executive team and the club. The position with the finances is a cause for grave concern. Auditors KPMG have put as many obstacles as they can in the way of signing off the accounts due to their concerns. We co ntinue to try and work with Barclays but they are very quickly losing patience a s we cannot give answers. We have been forced to agree to additional spending ag

ainst our wishes (Christmas hampers, sponsoring the Princes Trust event etc) and I am fearful that the situation will only get worse. During January we need additional funding to pay wages etc. Scottish club Hearts did not pay their players in November and have effectively breached their contr acts. By law (supported by FIFA) the players can now annul their contracts, seek other clubs and still chase the club for payment of their wages. Clearly, the c lub will not receive any fee for any transfers. See link http://www.dailyrecord. co.uk/football/spl/2011/12/10/hearts-stars-told-they-can-walk-away-from-club-now -over-unpaid-wages-86908-23623969/ You may also be aware that HMRC (tax authorities) have been chasing Portsmouth F ootball Club for a debt they owe. HMRC have made a technical mistake in law and therefore cannot claim the money they are owed. They will make sure of course th at the next football club that falls out of line, won t be so lucky. We need to make sure that this club is not Blackburn Rovers. 3. Manager to change and report to the CEO Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I persona lly like Steve. I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn t working and he is rea dy to go. He has lost the crowd and as a result of this evening s game has lost the dressing room as well the players no longer want to play for him. It is a shame an d disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion in who should be the new manager. The board has over 60 years foot ball experience between them, it would be a travesty not to rely on that experie nce for the biggest decision the club will make this season. The new manager sho uld now report into the board who then recommend and endorse his wishes to the o wners. Allow the board to protect the owners from the media, supporters etc. 4. Trust the executive - bring us in Give the executive team at Ewood Park, the latitude and authority to run the clu b. Everything at the club needs to come through either myself, Simon Hunt or Kar en Silk both Karen and Simon are excellent appointments. We have vast experience a nd with Vineeth as well, I am sure we have a winning team. The owners must learn to trust us. I am enjoying working with Vineeth and although he has little expe rience in football, he is quickly learning. I am trying to establish him with al l the other staff too and am introducing him to the Heads of Department on an on going basis. I don t really think for one minute that the owners will allow this clu b to go into ruin but without knowing this for sure, we need to be prudent. However, if we had more information on your plans, strategy and thoughts going forward (after assisting you in formulating that str ategy of course) then we can support and deliver growth. Without knowing the pla n, we will of course be guarded and suspicious. With our fiduciary responsibilit ies as directors, if the club goes under, the directors (including Vineeth, Mahe sh and Gandhi Babu) are all potentially personally liable for that failing and t he courts could take our houses from us. My family do not deserve this. 5. PR just from Ewood Another big issue is the PR and the fact that a lot of it in the past has come f rom India, without our knowledge. ALL press statements need to come from Ewood P ark with me as the spokesman. That way we can control all the output and protect the owners. I will take on an experienced PR consultant who will advise the boa rd/owners. It will be someone who will be aware when any negative stories are ab out to hit the press. We must now remove the club from being headline news for t he wrong reasons. A full PR strategy needs to be instigated from January 1st tha t re-engages the owners with the supporters the owners need to trust us in this re gard as we know our customers. As owners you are not protected. Use the board (a nd manager combined) as a buffer zone to the media, the bank, the fans and we wi ll protect you. I want to tell the media that what they are printing is not true but the truth is that I do not know. It is clearly evident that neither yoursel f, Bala or Venky currently feel comfortable coming to Ewood Park. If we as an ex ecutive team had more say, day to day running and authority, we would be able to support you and take all the criticism ourselves. The damaging story in the Mai l on Sunday has caused players, staff and the supporters much concern. We need t

o invest time in stopping leaks leaving the club. 6. Regular visits to India To be able to understand the strategy and to assist the owners, the executive te am of myself, Simon Hunt and Karen Silk must visit India once every two months a s a minimum. This way we can be together on all issues and help to craft them wi th our experience. I am happy for the new manager to be a part of that delegatio n and would welcome his input. I am very concerned that I have not met with you properly during the six months I have worked at the club. You have asked me to d eal with things locally but to be able to do this, as I have asked before, I nee d a greater understanding of your aspirations so I can deliver on them. If you k eep me informed and learn to trust me, I can be your mouthpiece. 7. Regular visits to Blackburn and Premier League games The owners must attend games in Blackburn as often as possible and I would sugge st that at least one of the owners is present for at least a quarter of the game s. The staff needs to meet you and get to know you too whenever I have met the own ers, I feel warm and strong and you instil in me the fight to face challenges an d win. The supporters also need to meet you and we need to get the message of so lidarity out there as quickly as possible. 8. Hire and Fire The executive team at Blackburn Rovers must be allowed to hire and fire staff. W e will of course ask for the owner s opinion for senior positions but we must be allowed the latitude in this. In Simon Williams we have someone who is agains t the owners and spreads the word wherever he can. I am disappointed I was not a llowed to remove him from post in the summer, when he and the rest of the staff were expecting it. We must act soon in this regard and look to review other posi tions and then give the staff great morale. 9. Lost revenue and brand equity We are losing fans/customers at an alarming rate. I am very concerned that fans are voting with their feet and not attending, not purchasing and not engaging wi th the club. Research shows that only 5% of ex season ticket holders will ever r eturn. We are losing sponsors and suppliers. I am concerned we will lose Umbro i f we continue to manufacture Rovers shirts in India for the RoverStar programme. Their contract specifically disallows this and we are putting at risk 800k of ann ual revenue. The Blackburn Rovers and Venky s brands are both suffering terribly. Wh ilst there are negative goings on such as protests, complaints, media stories, u nhappy fans etc, then both brands are losing brand equity and consequently, losi ng value. I am also concerned that the Premier League will intervene soon as the y may take the view that their brand is being tarnished by association too. It i s all reparable of course but we must start to act now by building bridges with fans and the media as above. 10. Support is necessary / Final thoughts I am disappointed that we have not managed to progress as I would have liked ove r the past 6 months. I for one was very excited to be given the opportunity and wanted to assist the owners in delivering strong progress for the club. However, we have been too busy fire fighting (protests, media intrusion, finance issues) to do this so far. As you know, I like to be proactive but the current climate only allows us to be reactive. I feel impotent as I am not asked by yourselves about my opinion on matters. I j oined the club to make a difference, not to sit by and simply action instruction s. I appreciate that my advice will not always be acted upon but I am disappoint ed that I am not asked. I have a great deal to contribute and have great experie nce. I won't get it right every time but will always do my best and learn from a ny mistakes. My concern is for the staff. They have put up with a lot recently and are still supportive. They live in the community and are being asked questions by their fr iends and family but cannot answer them. They are also being challenged at the g ames and when they come into contact with fans. Most are junior or part time sta ff who are feeling under pressure. I am concerned that they are going to become too stressed and will look to get jobs elsewhere. We have some great staff and c annot afford to lose them.

I may be speaking out of turn here, but I am also concerned that no one reports everything to you, that is, everyone tries to report positive news and are not o verly forthcoming when negative news needs to be told. By not having the full de tails, anyone would find it difficult to make decisions that encompass all the f acts, all of the time. I am sure that if you were exposed to the full story, no matter how negative sometimes, that you would do the right thing. I need to be a ble to report a little more readily to you and on an infinitely more regular bas is. Please don't view this as me questioning the owners unjustly. Please be reassure d that I do question things, it means I am doing things right for the club and t he owners by not accepting things lightly. This is how I work and how I must con tinue to work to get the best for Blackburn Rovers. With my experience of Blackb urn now and my previous experience at three other prominent clubs, I do feel as though my suggestions come from a position of strength and can make a huge diffe rence to life at Blackburn Rovers. I would very much appreciate an opportunity to speak with you on these points by invitation to India. Without instigating these points it will get more and more difficult to deliver progress for the club. I call on the owners to act, to pla y their part in the investment that puts all our minds at rest, and then allows me and the executive team to initiate all of the above points for the greater go od of Blackburn Rovers. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. With very best wishes for a bright future, Paul