Fowl play goes wrong

The hosts earlier had a penalty appeal wrongly turned down by the referee when Junior Hoilett was fouled from behind by Emmerson Boyce in the second half.

Wigan rose two places to 15th,five points above the drop zone,and Wigan manager Roberto Martinez praised his players.

It doesnt seem real yet, Martinez said. Its a great feeling because you could feel the tension and it was a cagey affair. To do that and to keep a clean sheet to have that and what it means is incredible. Eight years in the Premier League. Weve been in the bottom three for a long time. They made the football club proud and the chairman proud.

There were ugly scenes at the final whistle when some fans ran onto Ewood Park. Earlier,a chicken draped in Rovers colours was released onto the field,a pointed reminder of the supporters antipathy toward owner Venkys,a chicken-meat company.

Blackburn supporters had turned the game into one long protest against manager Steve Kean and Venkys,even singing thats why were going down after midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersens free kick went straight through the box without being touched. Ive got nothing but admiration and respect for him, Blackburn defender Bradley Orr said of Kean. Its not through lack of effort but we fell short as a group of players,and its resulted in relegation.

QPR on the brink

The third team relegated will be determined in the final round on Sunday. Queens Park Rangers,another club with Indian stakeholders LN Mittal and Bolton look to be fighting it out to stay up,with QPR two points ahead but visiting Manchester City,while Bolton is at Stoke in its final match.

Post-mortem report8211;From signing Becks to chasing chickens

From being in trusted hands associated with the great local businessman Jack Walker Trust and benefactor whose finances helped Blackburn win the Premier League in 1995,relegation comes under the stewardship of absentee owners with both a geographical and philosophical disconnection from supporters8230;The Blackburn dream under Venkys was talk of Raul,Ronaldinho and David Beckham playing at Ewood Park. The reality will be played out in the Championship next season.

Phil McNulty,BBC

Rover amp; Out

If there is a blueprint for how not to run a football club,it will surely come embossed with Venkys logo. Blackburns supporters ran out of patience with the owners months ago,but having directed their ire at manager Steve Kean for most of this season,the full vent of their fury on Monday night was aimed at Venkys,with chants like Youre not fit to run the club and Venkys Out.

Mark Ogden,The Telegraph

Owners missing in action

The failure of Balaji Rao and his brother Venkatesh,both directors of the club,to even show up to watch Mondays match has done even more damage to their reputation8230;The fans misery was compounded by the sight of a plane flying overhead with a banner on its tail from local rivals Burnley that read: In Venkys We Trust Burnley.

Will Davies,Wall Street Journal India

No attempt to win

It says something that the footballers on whom Steve Kean had spent 20m were mostly on the bench. Bar one flurry midway through the second half,Blackburn made little attempt to win what should have been the game of their lives. The night required the kitchen sink to be thrown at Wigan; Blackburn managed a couple of spatulas8230;

Tim Rich,The Independent

Fans anger

Steve Kean has stretched the credulity of his local audience with his pronouncements and promises this season,although the Blackburn manager ran out of goodwill many months ago. His team merely confirmed supporters worst suspicions by producing their worst sequence of results seven defeats in eight games. Paul Wilson,Guardian