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Stephen Kean (born 30 September 1967) is a Scottish football coach and former player who was most recently manager of Georgian club Torpedo Kutaisi. Kean played as a winger for clubs in the lower divisions of Scottish, English and Portuguese leagues in the 1980s and 1990s, before moving into coaching. After a 21-month spell in charge of Blackburn Rovers, he resigned on 28 September 2012.
He joined Swansea City on loan in 1987, at the same time as Chris Coleman. They formed a lasting professional relationship, which carried on after both of their playing days had ended.
Kean then played for Académica Coimbra in Portugal, making nine appearances, and scoring one goal in all competitions. During his time in Portugal, Kean also played for Naval.
In June 2008, it was reported that Kean was in talks with Chelsea to become assistant manager to Luiz Felipe Scolari. Kean's fluency in Portuguese from his playing days was believed to be a key reason for Chelsea's interest.
Kean is an advocate for taking younger players “out of their comfort zone” in the early stages of their career.
In 2022, Hibs fielded a youthful B team made up mostly of under-20 players against a seasoned Brechin City side from the Highland League, whose greater experience and physicality ultimately told in a 4–1 penalty shoot-out win after a 1–1 draw.
“A lot of young players who will learn from playing against men in a proper, competitive game,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News.
After the sacking of Allardyce on 13 December 2010 by new Blackburn owners Venky's, Kean was initially installed as caretaker manager but on 22 December 2010, he was appointed manager on a contract until the end of the season to prove his abilities in that position. On 4 January 2011, it was revealed by Anuradha Desai, chairperson of Venky's, that Kean would be offered a new two-to-three-year long-term contract to manage the club and on 20 January 2011, it was confirmed by Blackburn that Kean had signed a contract until June 2013. Kean's appointment was shrouded in a great deal of controversy since his agent Jerome Anderson had earlier played a major role in advising Venky's during the takeover of the club in the preceding months.Conn, David. "How an agent came to hold so much power at Blackburn Rovers" , The Guardian, 21 December 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2016.Hytner, David. "Steve Kean finds value of friends in high places at Blackburn Rovers" , The Guardian, 16 December 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2016. Furthermore, Allardyce later received "substantial", but undisclosed, damages from Kean after Kean had been recorded in a bar in Hong Kong falsely alleging that Allardyce had been sacked from his post at Blackburn Rovers because he was a crook.
Kean started brightly as manager, but ten games without a win saw Rovers dragged into relegation trouble. A 15th-place finish was secured with a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the 2010–11 Premier League season.
In November 2011, Blackburn confirmed that Kean had signed a new contract with improved terms, despite the club being in the bottom place of the league. This came despite Kean's comments less than a week earlier stating: "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". The new deal came after months of protests at the club in which fans campaigned to have Kean removed as Rovers manager as he had recorded just one league win all season. At the time, Steve Kean was Blackburn Rovers' second worst manager since 1992, with only Paul Ince scoring a lower win percentage.
Further controversy was created when Kean admitted 'forfeiting' a EFL Cup quarter-final at Cardiff City for the sake of their league form, with fans subsequently demanding a refund for the ticket price, travel expenses and money lost due to not working on the day. In December 2011, the local newspaper and MP Jack Straw joined the fans in calling for Kean's resignation ahead of a crucial home match with Bolton Wanderers. Another defeat concluded Kean's first 38 league games as Blackburn manager in which he had amassed just 32 points and left Rovers bottom of the table at Christmas. Despite all of this, Kean remained defiant by insisting that he would stay in his job long enough to fashion a revival and that he would be "100% shocked" if he was sacked.
Results were somewhat improved in the second half of the season but five successive defeats in April dragged Rovers deep into relegation trouble again with Kean having recorded just 12 wins from his 55 league games since he took over. On 7 May 2012, a home loss against Wigan Athletic relegated Blackburn Rovers to the Football League Championship and ended an eleven-year run in the top flight.
Kean left his position as Rovers' manager on 28 September 2012 with the club third in the Championship table. He declared that he had been "forced to resign" and that his position had been "untenable".
Kean was also appointed as the head coach of Brunei national football team for the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification tournament in Laos in October 2014.
Brunei DPMM clinched the S-League championship on 21 November 2015, with a 4–0 win at home to Balestier Khalsa. Kean was named as the S.League's coach of the year in 2015.
In early November it was announced that Kean would leave Brunei DPMM at the end of the 2017 S.League season, a year before his contract with the club ended.
On 26 December 2023, Kean signed a new two-year contract with Torpedo Kutaisi, becoming General Manager of the club alongside retaining the position of Head Coach.
As manager of Torpedo Kutaisi, Kean steered the side to a top-three league finish for two consecutive seasons - the first time this has been achieved in six years. The team was then able to compete in the UEFA competition, reaching stage two in the second round qualifying stage for the first time in 22 years and earning Torpedo Kutaisi team 1.4 million euros in bonus money.
Kean also led the team to victory in the Georgia Super Cup, which was only the third time the club had won the title in its history.
During his time as manager, the club achieved its highest-ever player sales, earning 850,000 euros from selling Saba Goglichidze for 450, 000 euros and Giorgi Arabidze for 400,000 euros. Kean also built sports science and data analysis departments as well as making improvements to the training base.
On 24 January 2025, Kean was appointed as Sporting Director of Torpedo Kutaisi.
He is a champion of mental health in football and has been outspoken about the impact that criticism from fans and the media can have on players, managers and other professionals.
Kean told Sky Sports that the “pressure cooker” atmosphere of Premier League football has a profound impact on the people who work in the game.
He also warned the channel about the effects that fame has on the children of leading figures in the football world, revealing that his children suffered “nasty” cyberbullying due to his role at Blackburn.
Speaking to The Scotsman, Kean said he was at his "happiest" when working to develop players, telling the newspaper: “I just love being on a training pitch."
He is also an advocate of encouraging younger players to train with the first team, which makes their game "sharper" and gives them "that little bit more bite".
On 15 August 2011, Kean was convicted of drunk driving at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court. The Court rejected his defence that his drinks had been spiked following a match against Manchester United. He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £1,800.
| + Managerial record by team and tenure | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 13 December 2010 | 28 September 2012 |
| DPMM FC | 7 November 2013 | 4 November 2017 |
| Brunei | 12 October 2014 | 20 October 2014 |
| Melbourne Victory | 19 April 2021 | 30 June 2021 |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 19 May 2023 | 21 December 2024 |
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