[Archived] Nicko's Thread Part 3

[John]

As for the Mail's stories. Taking 'doing favours for your mates' to a new level...

What do you mean by that......?

[nicko]

What do you mean by that......?

I think someone has been asked to throw Peter Reid's name into the frame - possibly Alan Irvine's too.

And the Samba link sounds like an agent's tip.

I don't think there is much in either story.

[the original david brent]

I'd rather have a manager like Johnson with experience than a big name like Shearer with no experience.

Would definitely prefer Johnson over Shearer,

Well i hope you enjoy sub 20k crowds on ewood, crap atmosphere, exodus of our best players and lower table oblivion. Johnson has done a decent job for bristol city and seems an honest likeable guy, and if we were a burnley or a preston he'd be a good appointment (same with martinez,boothroyd)

shearer is a gamble, but he will bring excitement and buzz (all your favourite words) that will not have been seen since dalglish's appointment. This in turn will lead to bigger crowds, better atmosphere which often has knock on effect of improving results and thus the crowds remain strong. His appointment will also stop any supposed mass exodus. Surely RSC will think twice about spouting off about man utd if the chance came to work with one of the best strikers of this generation. And because he is a big name, he should be able to attract a couple of big names to ewood, even with a relatively small budget.

And all this talk of getting relegated under shearer...... I reckon mr bean could keep rovers up with this current squad and the likes of hull stoke bolton etc in the league!

[herbergeehh]

Any idea whether Sparky plans to get one of his signings over, Nicko? Samba, Santa Cruz? (Daily Mail claims Samba is on Sparky's wanted list)

Obviously there will be no players leaving until a new manager is found (??), and even then these players should have a solid price tag on their heads. But it would be interesting to know who Sparky wants if he's looking in our direction. Needless to say - some he can have, some he can't.

[RovertheHill]

I'd just got used to a Shearer, Newell and Flowers combo and now we're discussing Martinez and Boothroyd. Whilst we're at it let's chuck Megson in as well

[ABBEY]

dave bassett

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Martinez would be interesting from a coaching point of view , his reputation for playing attractive football ia very high , maybe as an assistant to a more senior authoritive figure who would be No 1. I wouldn't take him as a manager though. Boothroyd ????? you've got to be joking, young Sam in the making.

[nicko]

Any idea whether Sparky plans to get one of his signings over, Nicko? Samba, Santa Cruz? (Daily Mail claims Samba is on Sparky's wanted list)

Obviously there will be no players leaving until a new manager is found (??), and even then these players should have a solid price tag on their heads. But it would be interesting to know who Sparky wants if he's looking in our direction. Needless to say - some he can have, some he can't.

I don't believe this idea that all of the players will flock to Sparky.

1 - Man City don't have that much money unless they do a lot wheeling and dealing. They may even have spent a big part of their budget in the 'up front' payment for the manager.

2 - Hughes is already signing Ronaldinho and Jo if City's money men have their way. So I don't see a striker like Roque moving. I don't think Sparky fancies Bentley enough to pay £15 million - and why would your England star go there?

So, don't fret too much about players following the ex-manager.

[BuckyRover]

I reckon we should go foreign.

My shouts; Christian Gross or Jacques Santini

[j166429]

Ron Atkinson

[herbergeehh]

Why would they go there? Money, Sparky and money. Oh, and Ronaldinho. Did I mention money?

Santa Cruz, Warnock, Samba - these three are my main concerns. Bentley would be a loss, but he can be replaced, as he's the only one on a ridiculous fee.

[j166429]

Any news about the take over Nicko?

[CircoWill]

Will everyone please calm down! Out of 40 or so candidates, there are bound to be some surprises and some names we don't feel comfortable with. John Williams said yesterday that everyone of the applicants will be considered. Just because a couple of surprise names have emerged doesn't mean they'll definitely be getting the job. Some big names and some of our favourites are still in the hunt. Keep the faith, John Williams will get it right.

[krislu]

Santa Cruz, Warnock, Samba - these three are my main concerns.

Only Santa to worry about, the other two are decent at best and can surely be replaced.

[Blue n White Rover]

Only Santa to worry about, the other two are decent at best and can surely be replaced.

Interesting no club has gone for Nicky Shorey, or have I missed something. Would be a good replacement if Warnock left us.

[Hughesy]

I think its only right that the clubs look into every applicant fairly and give the top 6-8 a chance to have thier say. Im sure the two nicko has mentioned are towards the bottom of those few but you never know, they might impress at interview.

Any ideas if any of them have already held talks, im sure someone mention big sam had?

If we want to keep our better players then we have to go for a well known name.

[tony gale's mic]

Experience isn't everything though, is it? There are a bucket load of managers out there who have been around a long time, that I personally wouldn't touch with a barge pole - Bryan Robson, Warnock, Megson, etc, etc. Don't forget that possibly the most experienced manager, with one of the best CV's we ever appointed, was a flop - Hodson. Experience guarantees nothing really.

IMO, what our club needs, is someone with drawing power, - someone who can attract the quality players to Ewood Park [particularly in our case where the name of the club isn't the attraction]. That was the case with Dalglish, Souness and Hughes - world class footballers who had the drawing power. They could get the players in, absolutely vital. Sign first division players, get first division football.

From that list of candidates, which is all we have to judge the situation, who could do that? One man stands head and shoulders above all the rest IMO. That man wasn't my choice a week ago, but I'm gradually changing my mind.

Those names you mentioned are utterly irrelevant though. Did I say experience was everything? I didn't say ALL experienced managers would be good for Rovers, I said at least some experience was a must. It is a big factor, you're forgetting the day to day practical side of things and are having a ludicrously short term view of things. Experience may guarantee not much but it gives you a much bigger chance of success. Even a season or two makes a big difference. When we're a goal down at home and playing abysmally at half time to a poor team how many team talks has he given?

Shearer has never picked a team in his life, has never set tactics, has never given a half time team talk, has never signed players...maybe there's potential there but he's going to take time to find his feet. But with Rovers get it wrong for a season and we could plummet like a stone with our lack of financial clout.

How many great signings did Souness make? The two best ones he made were arguably because of his stay in Turkey (Friedel and Tugay) rather than any attraction to his name. Ironically you'll find he signed a lot of sub-par players, both during his time at Rovers and during his time at other clubs. I actually don't think Hughes' name played that big a role in Roque and Benni signing for us, like I've said before had he been a big name but completely lacking in charisma then he wouldnt have lured them in. It was the character of the man, the set up of our club, but most importantly the massive lure of the league we currently play in which were the biggest factors.

And don't tell me many of these supposed great players which Shearer will attract won't have qualms about coming to play for a novice manager. Because they will. Maybe to a lot of us Shearer is a hero but most of the rest of the football world dont revere him like we do, however much they respect his footballing abilities. And besides, money talks a lot more than having an ex-MOTD pundit as our manager, and Shearer cant magic that from thin air.

This line of thinking is only for this summer. Because when Shearer's inexperience shows, and it is highly likely it will (management is like most other things you need time to get used to it, find your strengths and weaknesses, practice giving team talks etc) and we drop down the league towards the bottom end, his name will mean absolutely nothing.

Get a good manager in, make a couple of shrewd signings, maintain our position and in the long term playing for a top half Premier League side will mean a lot more.

[Hughesy]

Nicko - any idea if Bilic is on the short list???

Thanks

[LeChuck]

Santa Cruz, Warnock, Samba - these three are my main concerns.

Jo is a 6'2 centre forward, if he arrives I don't really see why they'll want Santa Cruz also. I also think Man Utd and Arsenal will ultimately go for faster strikers then Roque, I'm quite confident he'll be here next year.

Warnock and Samba could be targets for City though. Garrido and Ball are both pretty poor at left back, so Hughes could decide he wants Warnock there. Samba would be a good Dunne replacement, but my gut feeling is that he'll be persuaded to stay at City now and that Hughes will be happy with Richards, Corluka and Dunne.

[sylar]

That would totally shock me. Almost as much as Boothroyd and Martinez.

I have noticed that Shearer and Ten Cate have been backed a bit on Betfair tonight.

As far as I am aware this was the evening when the invites were sent round...hope so.

I've actually heard from a friend of mine which have some contacts in Lyn Oslo, that rovers have made contact with Henning...unknown when they did..

[RevidgeBlue]

I am picking up worrying rumours that there are some people on the board who would rather go for the cheap and hungry option...so frankly I don't know what way this will work out now.

Puzzled.

That would be desperately disappointing but I don't think anyone could be particularly surprised by that after the way Hughes was treated.

BTW nicko, do you personally class Ince as being in that category? He's my first choice in any event.

[b12_simon]

Will everyone please calm down! Out of 40 or so candidates, there are bound to be some surprises and some names we don't feel comfortable with. John Williams said yesterday that everyone of the applicants will be considered. Just because a couple of surprise names have emerged doesn't mean they'll definitely be getting the job. Some big names and some of our favourites are still in the hunt. Keep the faith, John Williams will get it right.

Absolutely. 39 won't get the job. There'll be some impressive names we turn down, too. The eventual winner will be a good manager. Unless it's Shearer, in which case he might be a good manager.

[joeh8]

Either Mike Bassett

or Gazza

[Blue n White Rover]

That would be desperately disappointing but I don't think anyone could be particularly surprised by that after the way Hughes was treated.

BTW nicko, do you personally class Ince as being in that category? He's my first choice in any event.

What do you mean by that?

[Fife Rover]

Just to give Shearer some support, you could say that although Shearer doesn't have managerial experience, he does have experience of playing in Europe, captaining his club & country, being able to handle pressure, worked under some great managers both domestically and internationally. He's probably sat through 600+ team talks and thousands of days worth of training to have a rough idea of whats right and wrong.

What is experience these days? Does managerial experience at a lower league club mean they will be able to cope with the pressures of managing a premier league club with the big named players (take Sturrock at Saints as an example of how it went wrong), the daily media presence and the ability to attract the right players to the club?

If we look at Shearer we know that he will be able to command the respect of any player whether they are considered a big time charlie or not. He has a presence about him, especially at Blackburn where he is a legend. He has great contacts within football and more importantly he is a winner. He has admitted that he's selfish because he wants to be the best. Only special people have what Shearer has and that is the will to win whilst having the intelligence to know how to win which is the difference between good and great.

Personally I believe Blackburn will take a step back if we employ a lower league manager with experience because he won't have the right experience for us. We need someone to attract players to the club, we need someone who can put the winning belief into our players and we need someone who knows how to go about being a winner.

Give me Shearer any day of the week.

Assuming I am wrong in my belief that Shearer has no respect for Blackburn Rovers, you have made quite a good case there for taking him and he might just be very successful.

There is still the little worry that he will only be with with us for half a season though. Assuming that is how long KK lasts at SJP