Henning Berg: Blackburn must pay ex-boss £2.25m in compensation

Former Blackburn manager Henning Berg has been awarded £2.25m in compensation after winning his claim against the club at the High Court in Manchester.

The 43-year-old was sacked in December, just 57 days into a three-year deal.

Rovers argued managing director Derek Shaw acted without the authority of owners Venky's to sanction the compensation terms agreed with Berg as part of his contract at Ewood Park.

Blackburn have also been ordered to pay £20,000 in interim costs.

The Championship club wanted to withdraw their admission that they were liable to pay Berg the full amount for the remainder of his contract, but their claim was dismissed by a judge on Monday.

Berg received £562,500 from Blackburn in February and the Norwegian will now be paid a further £843,750 - the outstanding net figure he is due.

The court heard how, at the time of the first payment to Berg, Rovers had said they were unable to pay Berg the whole sum immediately because of "cash flow difficulties", which they hoped to rectify by seeking an advance of their parachute payment from the Premier League.

In a statement released via the League Managers' Association, Berg said: "Being appointed manager of Blackburn Rovers was a great opportunity for me. The club has always had (and continues to have) a special place in my heart.

"When the club refused to honour its obligations I had no option but to take legal action.

"Fortunately, with the backing of the League Managers' Association and my fantastic legal team, the court has upheld my claim which I always expected it would.

"I now wish to place all of these events behind me and move on in my coaching career. I wish the club's players and loyal and committed supporters all the best for the future."

During the hearing, Blackburn's own lawyers admitted that the ongoing power struggle between Shaw and the Indian family was a "shambles".

BBC Sport learned earlier this month that former Preston chairman Shaw had been asked to stay away from Ewood Park while the club carried out an investigation into Berg's appointment and his subsequent pursuit of compensation.

This was refuted in a statement released on Blackburn's website on 9 April, in which the club said Shaw had the "complete backing and support" of the owners.

However, it was confirmed in court that this was not the case - Blackburn's lawyers said the two parties are in "direct conflict" - and the statement has since been removed.

Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the LMA, added: "From a wider perspective, the Football League needs to take a long hard look at the High Court's judgment in this case.

"It is unacceptable for a Football League club to allow the state of affairs to arise whereby its own case before the High Court is that its managing director is 'out of control' and operating outside the authority of the owners."

Blackburn have had five different managers this season. Steve Kean began the campaign in charge but was "forced to resign" in September, and his assistant Eric Black has a month-long spell in temporary charge before Berg, a former Rovers defender, was confirmed as Kean's permanent successor on 31 October.

After Berg was dismissed on 27 December, reserve team boss Gary Bowyer was placed in control of first-team affairs.

Michael Appleton left Blackpool in January to become Blackburn's third permanent manager of the season, but his reign lasted just 67 days before he was sacked in March, leaving Bowyer to take caretaker charge again for the remainder of the season.

Rovers, who dropped out of the Premier League in May 2012, are still not mathematically guaranteed survival in the second tier with one game of the season still to play.

However, a second consecutive relegation is extremely unlikely as it would take a heavy defeat at Birmingham on Saturday and four other results elsewhere to conspire against Rovers for them to end up in the bottom three.