Kean: Owners want to give me new deal but it's not the right time

Steve Kean: 'Yes there have been talks about a new contract but the timing is inappropriate' (Getty Images)

Steve Kean, the Blackburn Rovers manager, says that he has personally decided to put new contract talks on hold while his side battles for Premier League survival.

Kean, 44, has won just six of his 33 games in charge since surprisingly taking over from Sam Allardyce last December.

Blackburn's poor performances have led to the Scot being subjected to plenty of vitriol from his own fans, with one group going as far as hiring a plane to fly over Ewood Park with the message "Steve Kean Out" trailing behind it on a giant banner.

However, the growing opposition to Kean's reign has not deterred Blackburn's owners Venky's from offering the former Fulham and Coventry assistant improved terms and, with his contract due to expire in 2013, the club are willing to offer him a new contract until 2015.

However, Kean is not willing to open talks until results improve and said: "Yes, there have been discussions about a new contract, but I have told the owners that this is an inappropriate time to conclude any new contract discussions. Instead, the real issue is for me and everyone else to concentrate on the games.

"The fact that the owners have talked to me about a new contract means that they can see what we are building here, and we hope to make others see it too.

"We need to turn the last remaining negatives into positives, and the vast majority of the fans can see that our performances deserve to be six or seven points better off and halfway up the table."