[Archived] Nicko's Thread Part 3

[hawkiiz]

i think the complaints were because we seemed to be missing out on europe, but in the end we were as close as can be. problem was we have been incredibly poor against the bottom three for as long as hughes was in charge. that, and that alone is why blackburn wont play uefa next year. thats minor adjusments to motivation. if we can perform about the same next year, but beat the bottom three, we will be in europe no doubt. for that sam is by far the best choice. he is as close as we will ever get to hughes still in charge, which is what most of us really would want.

with virtually no resources available for transfers we cant appoint a manager who turn the style of play upside down. surely bentley, cruz and benni can play some exciting football but they are not anywhere near a ronaldo or fabregas (and thats the entertaining people of the top four really). with the current style of play we are top 8. who knows where we might end up with going gung-ho.

[ebenrocks]

i have a question

See Ten Cate has apparently been unveiled as Pana manager. What happens with the people who bet that he would take over at Pana?

Surely as soon as it was announced the betting companies would have paid out, so what happens when it come back as a premature announcement? Do the people have to give the money back?

[tony gale's mic]

Ok, we weren't in the bottom 3 when Hughes left, but based on last season's performances can you honestly say the football we played was better than the previous season?

I am not knocking Hughes, I agree he did a super job rebuilding from the Souness era, I just feel that he was beginning to run out of ideas. Therefore I am not overly upset he left. Remember, a couple of months ago, there were plenty of comments about Rovers' lacklustre performances on this board.

We finished 3 places higher and with more points. To play great football you need skilful and quick players. We have neither, I think Tugay's inevitable decline this season has had a fair part to play. The problem is these players are also the most expensive and we cant afford them usually. Look through our team, our best players are Bentley and Santa Cruz. Both excellent players and excellent buys but neither are brilliant to watch from an aesthetic point of view.

Great football is a luxury for a club like ours and its hardly like we were playing like 90s Wimbledon or Bolton.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

[hawkiiz]

i have a question

See Ten Cate has apparently been unveiled as Pana manager. What happens with the people who bet that he would take over at Pana?

Surely as soon as it was announced the betting companies would have paid out, so what happens when it come back as a premature announcement? Do the people have to give the money back?

i think they control it more than plain reading from the website?

[disgruntled]

I got paid out on Scolari from betfair and that was only announced by Chelsea on their website. If he changes his mind between now and when he takes over on July 1st then it is betfairs fault

[tony gale's mic]

I think they will have paid out.

Apparently Scolari hasnt formally signed for Chelsea yet either - but I still got my £210 payout from Victor Chandler this morning.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

not disappointed? why are the boards filled with "cant believe he left for ######" "clearly there is no loyalty in him" and "this is the beginning of the end. next is bents, then santa and samba, then relagation" i dont think i need to look up the actual quotes.

It is a matter of personal opinion hawkiz, mine is that it isn't the end of the world Hughes going - in fact it could be a good thing - depending on who the board appoint next. That is why football splits opinions.

hughes could have taken us further but an oportunity presented itself for him and as a professional manager he took it with both hands and left. after all he want to be the best, and for that to happen he need to test himself at a higher level.

Don't think Hughes could have taken us further next season, but again that is my opinion. What is not in question is his ability to spot a bargain transfer.

now i dont remember blackburn playing sexy football ever. as a fan i did like it when duff was doing one of his raids and ripley/gillespie the same, but for the most part whe have been a bunch of stoppers with tugay playing a great pass to bentley/gamst who crosses to cruz/benni who bang them in. these players wont suddenly suck just because its sam who tell them to do these moves rather than sparky.

So playing with wingers who get the ball at their feet and run at players ie Ripley, Duff, Sellars, Brotherston, Gillespie hey - even Windy Miller! isn't entertaining football?

[nicko]

I don't think there was a Next Panathinaikos Manager market...

If there is please let me know.

[ebenrocks]

hahaha, im sure there'll be a few in Greece

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

We finished 3 places higher and with more points. To play great football you need skilful and quick players. We have neither, I think Tugay's inevitable decline this season has had a fair part to play. The problem is these players are also the most expensive and we cant afford them usually. Look through our team, our best players are Bentley and Santa Cruz. Both excellent players and excellent buys but neither are brilliant to watch from an aesthetic point of view.

Great football is a luxury for a club like ours and its hardly like we were playing like 90s Wimbledon or Bolton.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

Fair points TGM, but IMO we were lucky to finish 3 places higher.

For me, an incoming manager such as Laudrup/Advocatt would try to achieve a better standard of football, as well as maintain/improve our league position. If they fail, then at least IMO the board have tried to move the club forward.

[hawkiiz]

valid points. especially the bargain part, which CAN turn out to be don great by sam, Henk AND ince. they all have quality that can attract the right players. maybe not big names today, but people who can grow into being a big name, like bentley, samba or nelsen.

sure good wingers are entertaining, but bentley wont be any more/less entertaining next season even if sam takes charge. long ball doesnt mean it is forbidden to run past the centre line. reid/dunn can still provide bentley with a good pass, which he can cross to santa for tap ins.

anyway i think there are three good names on the table. all for different reasons. (sam, ince and henk). but after adding up the famous checked boxes i still cant see any more suited than sam. he will stay for more than three years (if he is a success) which is crucial. he has great ambitions - desperate to win silver (why he left bolton). he is much like hughes, which is good for the players, after all its them that have to get along with the guy.

i do see his weak sides no doubt, but the pros are just too strong.

with both henk and ince there is two possible outcomes: a: they are successfull, bringing us to europe, top 10 finishes and possibly a cup trophy. then they will run away to the next club like hughes. b: they flop, and are sacked. either way "the circus of rumours and cancelled signings" are booking gigs at ewood park again in 2-3 years. thats what i fear the most.

[Brownie]

Can we expect any news tonight Nicko after the 10pm watershed ??

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

valid points. especially the bargain part, which CAN turn out to be don great by sam, Henk AND ince. they all have quality that can attract the right players. maybe not big names today, but people who can grow into being a big name, like bentley, samba or nelsen.

sure good wingers are entertaining, but bentley wont be any more/less entertaining next season even if sam takes charge. long ball doesnt mean it is forbidden to run past the centre line. reid/dunn can still provide bentley with a good pass, which he can cross to santa for tap ins.

anyway i think there are three good names on the table. all for different reasons. (sam, ince and henk). but after adding up the famous checked boxes i still cant see any more suited than sam. he will stay for more than three years (if he is a success) which is crucial. he has great ambitions - desperate to win silver (why he left bolton). he is much like hughes, which is good for the players, after all its them that have to get along with the guy.

i do see his weak sides no doubt, but the pros are just too strong.

with both henk and ince there is two possible outcomes: a: they are successfull, bringing us to europe, top 10 finishes and possibly a cup trophy. then they will run away to the next club like hughes. b: they flop, and are sacked. either way "the circus of rumours and cancelled signings" are booking gigs at ewood park again in 2-3 years. thats what i fear the most.

Let's just hope there are 4/5 names on the table

[tony gale's mic]

Fair points TGM, but IMO we were lucky to finish 3 places higher.

For me, an incoming manager such as Laudrup/Advocatt would try to achieve a better standard of football, as well as maintain/improve our league position. If they fail, then at least IMO the board have tried to move the club forward.

To be fair a league isn't like a cup - if you're better over 38 games then you're a better side IMO. And we hit the woodwork last season more times than all but 4 teams in the league or something.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to see that, and I'd love to see those names at our club. But I think they'd realise we don't have the means to buy lots of exciting young Brazilians and would be trying to finish as high up the league as possible. Look how much money those around us have, we're quite obviously the odd ones out.

[Parsonblue]

Personally don't know many fans that were that disappointed Hughes left. Towards the end it was getting like the end of Souness's reign. He'd clearly taken Rovers as far as he could.

Under Souness we played some super stuff when we had Duff, Dunn, Jansen, Cole, but towards the end it was shocking.

Ditto Hughes. The season with Bellamy and Pongolle up front we played some superb passing football - no doubt due to the size (and pace) of the front 2. Last year it reverted to pass around in our half, run out of ideas and hoof to Cruz or Roberts.

It depends on your view on how football should be played. Personally, I enjoy watching players take the opposition on using skill and pace - not kicking it over their heads and hoping for the best. If it means selling alot of average players to do that then so be it. But 3 players who could certainly play it on the deck are Bentley, Cruz and McCarthy - our most saleable assets.

I have yet to meet one fan who thinks the departure of Hughes will be beneficial to the club. Hughes played the type of football that got results and took us into Europe twice without spending any money. It wasn't always pretty but then again, we didn't always play great football when we won the title. Results were viewed as the most important factor.

Some of the most boring football I've seen at Ewood Park was played during the two seasons that Howard Kendall was manager. How he loved to nick a 1-0 win and yet attendances improved because we were winning and we won one promotion and only missed out on a second on goal average.

The new manager is going to have to improve on 7th place without any real financial backing if he is to improve on Hughes - or are we all happy to be relegated as long as we play football on the ground with skill and pace. Do you think Ewood Park will be full if we are on the way out of the Premier League no matter how attractive the football is? Are we really serious in thinking that selling Bentley, Santa Cruz, Samba, Warnock etc is really going to improve the team? Ultimately, these are the only players the new man can sell if he wants to raise a transfer fund. Or do we think there are mugs out there who are going to give us untold riches for the likes of Roberts, Gallagher, Peter, Rigters etc?

Football is a results driven industry. I don't care how attractive the football is if the new man doesn't get results the fans will soon get on his back. The reality is that Premier League football is essential for the Rovers to survive and how that is achieved isn't going to matter in the long run. If we can't find a buyer for the club while we are 7th in one of the World's top Leagues we ain't going to find one if we drop into the Championship.

[nicko]

Can we expect any news tonight Nicko after the 10pm watershed ??

No, there might be a little Allardyce tale in the morning...and how the club are worried about a fan's backlash.

The Ten Cate details will have to keep until Sunday. It's a bit too sensitive.

[RevidgeBlue]

Did Big Sam actually have his interview at Ewood today?

Any feed back from anywhere on how that may have gone?

[Blue n White Rover]

No, there might be a little Allardyce tale in the morning...and how the club are worried about a fan's backlash.

The Ten Cate details will have to keep until Sunday. It's a bit too sensitive.

Do you have any details of how his interview went today Nicko?

[nicko]

Do you have any details of how his interview went today Nicko?

I'm getting mixed messages on that one...varying from 'he's nailed on for the job' to 'he's not even had his interview.'

There is a fair amount of mis-information being pumped out every where just now.

Mind you, if he did meet them he is probably still talking.

[Blue n White Rover]

I'm getting mixed messages on that one...varying from 'he's nailed on for the job' to 'he's not even had his interview.'

There is a fair amount of mis-information being pumped out every where just now.

Mind you, if he did meet them he is probably still talking.

Oh God!!

Please be bullsh** PLEASE!!!!!!

[Hughesy]

Ajax fans give their verdict............

Taken from someone with sense on that board - "we mostly have HTC to thank for the great progress players like Babel, Sneijder, Huntelaar and Heitinga made"

[Taggart]

No, there might be a little Allardyce tale in the morning...and how the club are worried about a fan's backlash.

The Ten Cate details will have to keep until Sunday. It's a bit too sensitive.

sensitive in what respect ? sensitive in terms of personal issues that may affect someone else taking the job if HTC doesn`t take the role ? or sensitive in relation to the condition of HTC considering the progress and advancement of the offer / acceptance of the Greece role and the back lash if he backs out of this acceptance ?

I know you can`t comment in too much detail until Sunday given the nature of the beast - but at least you may be able to comment on any initial progress with HTC line of enquiry Nicko ?

[Fife Rover]

It could come down to who wants the job the most.

I don't see Ten Cate as a serious possibility.

His recent record suggests he like being in and around big European clubs and he doesn't stay anywhere for very long.

There's a saying in business that crap people leave after 18 months, as that's how long it takes for them to be found out.

The England-based candidates, currently looking for work, might well be the ones who want it most.

As someone else has said, perhaps we should want the man who most wants to be Rovers manager?

Trouble with that theory is that it will most likely lead to BFS or McClaren.

[Brownie]

sensitive in what respect ? sensitive in terms of personal issues that may affect someone else taking the job if HTC doesn`t take the role ? or sensitive in relation to the condition of HTC considering the progress and advancement of the offer / acceptance of the Greece role and the back lash if he backs out of this acceptance ?

I know you can`t comment in too much detail until Sunday given the nature of the beast - but at least you may be able to comment on any initial progress with HTC line of enquiry Nicko ?

I reckon all hell is gonna break loose in Greece when HTC arrives in Blackburn for an interview and nicko is worried about revealing the blockbuster of a story he's sitting on.

[bob fleming]

If we can't find a buyer for the club while we are 7th in one of the World's top Leagues we ain't going to find one if we drop into the Championship.

Has to be said, again, why can't we find a buyer? Are we that an unattractive proposition?

Who exactly is selling this club? The people with the most to lose (John Williams and Tom Finn)? Or The Mythical Nameless Trustees? Who recently decided to stop their £3m per annum investment (in case anyone forgot) as we quite clearly no longer need it (?!?). Either way, who has the best interests of Blackburn Rovers Football Club at heart? Maybe it's more a case of trying to safeguard their own future (see Turkey's voting for Christmas from earlier in this thread) / potentially clawing some money back (just in case like)?

Why did Shearer not fancy it after allegedly two days of talking? No bottle or little money or no money? Why did Hughes bail out to Man City? Gambled on Chelsea? Perhaps, then again - why the rush? Fergie has only two or three years left, Sir said as much.

Devil's advocate?

Too crazy to be true?

Record number of ? in a post ever ???

?