Blackburn Rovers director of football Gregg Broughton has said that John Buckley’s loan departure was not done for financial reasons.
Buckley departed for Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season, with Rovers holding a recall clause in January. Manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has previously expressed his disappointment with the move.
However, Broughton revealed it was also down to the progress made of Jake Garrett.
“It was driven very little by finance,” he told The Lancashire Telegraph. “There are two parts to it, our expectation in August was that Jake Garrett would be going on loan with us having five central midfielders.
“Jon (Dahl Tomasson) felt Jake’s progress had come so far in the last six months that he was ahead of John in the pecking order. That was reflected in the playing team.
“John is a player we have invested in heavily, we gave him a new long-term contract and he is a player we fully believe in as a football club.
“He’s a player that was knocking on the door not only saying, ‘I want to be in the squad but I deserve to be starting games’.
“Something had to give and we felt John should go out on loan. We are delighted that is a Championship loan and it was also vital that we had a January recall.
“He’s away for the next three to four months and then will hopefully come back a better player in a better position to challenge for a starting place at Blackburn Rovers.”
Gregg Broughton hails Garrett’s development
Broughton went on to hail Garrett and his development, expressing that the decision with what happens is ultimately down to the manager.
“You have seen Jake really develop his creative side and he’s shown that with his goal-scoring return in games behind closed doors and in the cup competitions.
“The head coach has to make that decision if he feels Jake is ahead of John in the pecking order, my job is to ensure John’s development doesn’t stop and it continues going forward.”