Blackburn owners rule out Maradona as manager

MUMBAI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Indian owners of Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday ruled out appointing Argentine Diego Maradona as manager of the Premier League club.

Maradona's name has been in the frame since Venky's, the Indian poultry giant which acquired Rovers last month, sacked Sam Allardyce on Monday.

"I can assure you that Maradona is nowhere near to being considered. He is not in our line of thinking," Venky's chief Anuradha J Desai told Reuters from Pune where her company is based.

Desai said what the Ewood Park club needed was an experienced Premier League manager.

"We are looking out for senior manager, people with experience in the U.K. Basically, we are looking at somebody who has played in the Premier League or managed teams in the league," Desai said.

"There are lot of people who are available and we are doing a study. We don't want to make a hurried decision because if we take a manager, he should be there for a long time and do a good job.

"So that's going to take at least three months or may be two and a half months," said Desai.

"Unfortunately, we have seen that the team and the players have lot more potential than what they have achieved or the position they are in. We feel that the club should have been at least around seventh position as of now.

Blackburn are lying 13th in the 20-team Premier League table.

"With a little support, we believe we can do even better," Desai said.