[Archived] Next Rovers Manager

[joey_big_nose]

No real quality managers out of work at the moment.

Michael Laudraup.

[HATRIX]

It's only any use having money if you spend it wisely. Look how much Fulham (sirry ffan) and Sunderland wasted last year.

come on you can hardly compare us to sunderland ,ricky they went out and bought players that would come to there club .Good players aren,t going to go to a fresh promoted club (bar a couple) We ,like maceo rigters said, are regarded as a top premier side in europe everyone knows of us and our rich football history so i don t really know how you can start thinking we are in a similar situation to fulham or sunderland regarding atracting top players.

[Manc Rover]

Michael Laudraup.

Roberto Mancini......Sorry, that was a joke!

[the original david brent]

I’d have Shearer and a manager with pedigree alongside him to teach him the ropes

The return of our greatest ever player would have the town buzzing again and the players on cloud 9 – we’d soon forget about Hughes.

As far as I’m concerned it’s over now, he’s gone. So like any other premiership manager I hope he does nothing. No room for sentiment in this day and age.

well said!

[Sparky Marky]

If it's Big Sam, you can kiss the Academy good bye....the Bolton Academy is shockingly bad at producing players and he was there for 10 years....

I'd like to see Michael Laudrup or maybe, maybe Mancini....

We are the 7th best side in the best league in the world, Mancini should be thankful for the opportunity...

[BlueMonday]

If it's Big Sam, you can kiss the Academy good bye....the Bolton Academy is shockingly bad at producing players and he was there for 10 years....

I'd like to see Michael Laudrup or maybe, maybe Mancini....

We are the 7th best side in the best league in the world, Mancini should be thankful for the opportunity...

Having manged in the Italian back water of Milan I'm sure he'll be coming cap in hand!

You'll be needing a small name change there son.

[Manc Rover]

Thakisn - "Hello Mark, welcome to Man City. I'm Dr Thaksin and should be in jail for human rights abusing but hey, never mind I'm your boss now.

Mark - "Hello Dr, here is my list of transfer targets..Bentley, Santa Cruz, blah blah blah"

Thaksin - "Thanks Mark but I think we should sign Ronaldinho on 200K per week so I can get my name in the papers and look like a football god"

Mark - "But i can sign many great Rovers players for that"

Thaksin - "Unless you want to follow that Swedish imposter you will do as your told"

Mark - "OK boss!" Oh damn, what on earth have I done. I didnt expect us to be 5th from bottom at xmas having just been stuffed 3-0 at Ewood!

[SuperStella]

I cant see Thaksin taking very kindly to dosile performances like FULHAM at home last season.

It will all end in tears.

Imagine the shirt sales if the legend Shearer came back!!

Laudrup is also a good shout - I’d imagine he would have a good backroom staff, and good links throughout Europe too.

[FourLaneBlue]

Why are people mentioning Coppell? The man has just been relegated from the Premiership - with a good squad - for the second time.

Even worse than this is the sheer desperation he has to talk things down so as to not to invite too much pressure onto himself. Witness Reading...they could have been in the Intertoto this season and played in Europe for the first time in their ENTIRE HISTORY yet he said no and preferred to concentrate on the league. Lot of use that was...

Souness at Rovers also saw us with a manager who tried to downplay our prospects at times in an attempt to not get hopes up too much. Then remember when Hughes came in? It was like a breath of fresh air...no more rubbish about reaching the 40 point mark being the be all and end all but instead regular updates on how the club wants Europe each year, how the club could progress and go forward. Hughes said this just a couple of months ago...

"Getting into Europe is an expectation and demand we put on ourselves. We are of the view that it is easier to lower expectations and over- achieve and if I had done that when I walked through the door then people would have been shouting from the rooftops about the job we have done.

"But, straight away, I felt we needed to raise the expectation level here and I think we have done that. If you talk about Champions League and Uefa Cup qualification and you don't achieve it, people get disappointed. But I think everybody must have dreams and hopes and we are no different,"

So what we need is someone with ambition who is willing to say we should be achieving far more than just making up the numbers. It might be damn tough to live up to that but it is what the fans what to hear.

[Eddie]

until Hughes failed to match those goals...then it was "we did well for a small club".

[Shevchenko]

More than Hughes leaving, I'm concerned about what is going to happen to the very solid backroom staff we have now. Will Hughes take Bowen and co with him to City?

[MarkBRFC]

More than Hughes leaving, I'm concerned about what is going to happen to the very solid backroom staff we have now. Will Hughes take Bowen and co with him to City?

Hopefully.

Any new manager that comes in should bring in people he knows and is comfy working with, keeping our exisiting back room staff will achieve nothing.

[Cocker]

Anyone talking about Manchini should stop now. He would command a to high wage and would want more money for players than we can provide

[FourLaneBlue]

If it's Big Sam, you can kiss the Academy good bye....the Bolton Academy is shockingly bad at producing players and he was there for 10 years....

Still better than what we have produced at Rovers this century! They have the likes of Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt in their first team that came through the Academy. Hardly amazing but other than Derbyshire (who was actually brought in from Great Harwood) we don't really have anyone at all who has come through recently.

[Presty On Tour]

mark bowen has an excellent reputation as an assistant but could he step up to the plate? it would be the easiest option but could all end in tears like brian kidd who failed.

[modes98]

mark bowen has an excellent reputation as an assistant but could he step up to the plate? it would be the easiest option but could all end in tears like brian kidd who failed.

The problem is that the other staff will leave and he has to find new ones of the same standard. Not only that the players won't get a fresh breath of life into them and it's just messy.

[FourLaneBlue]

until Hughes failed to match those goals...then it was "we did well for a small club".

He finished seventh which a year ago would have meant the Uefa Cup...this year it didn't even merit an Intertoto place. Unlucky not to get into Europe...if you think seventh place - and an increase of three places from the previous year -is failure then fine.

[Sparky Marky]

Still better than what we have produced at Rovers this century! They have the likes of Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt in their first team that came through the Academy. Hardly amazing but other than Derbyshire (who was actually brought in from Great Harwood) we don't really have anyone at all who has come through recently.

Dunn, Duff, Taylor, Beattie, Douglas, McEvely, Joe Garner.....I can't think of anymore, but I bet there is.....all playing at a good level..

Nicky Hunt is only playing for Bolton because he did come through their academy....he ain't prem quality.

Bolton's academy and facilities have long been regarded as sub-standard for a Premiership club...In my opinion this is largely down to Allardyce and his purchasing policy at Bolton.

[Ronin]

Bolton's academy and facilities have long been regarded as sub-standard for a Premiership club...In my opinion this is largely down to Allardyce and his purchasing policy at Bolton.

Same could be said about Rovers because of Hughes' purchasing policy?

[FourLaneBlue]

Dunn, Duff, Taylor, Beattie, Douglas, McEvely, Joe Garner.....I can't think of anymore, but I bet there is.....all playing at a good level..

Dunn, Duff, Taylor and Beattie all came through in the nineties and before the Academy opened I believe.

So of those in the last eight years or so we have McEveley, Douglas and Joe Garner from that list. Of those only one of them is in the top two divisions (is League One a "good level" and what we should be aiming for our brightest Academy prospects to reach?)and I don't think anyone on here would want Jay in the Rovers squad based on his performances last season.

Not that Bolton have produced much either but the suggestion that was made about it negatively affecting the Academy was daft as we have produced so little anyway in recent years.

[Sparky Marky]

Sounds like Academy's are s**t.......

[FourLaneBlue]

Sounds like Academy's are s**t.......

Based on what it produces then ours certainly has been recently.

[American]

I would go for Big Sam. Was not a fan of his in the past, but has shown he can work on a small budget. Plus, after the recent Newcastle fiasco, I see him being happy at a club like Rovers for a number of years, not leaving for a club like City or Spurs. Now if a job at one of the biggest clubs in the world became available, like Birmingham......

That being said, I'm not a big fan of his style of play, however effective, and the fact he managed Bolton.

[Blue n White Rover]

Has anyone mentioned Ronald Koeman yet?

Former Valencia manager, pretty sure he is available.

[Fife Rover]

Well, I sure hope they liquidate Man City.

Having had a few days to think it over, Fat Sam would not be the end of the world, although he is by no means my first choice. In fact, objectively, Fat Sam would probably represent the best choice out of the jobless managers now because:

1. He has shoe-string experience with Bolton, and did make some inspired signings, which suggests he has a good network of contacts.

2. He did do exceptionally well with Bolton.

3. He takes a scientific approach, and would therefore be able to harness the systems we already have put in place.

4. Sam is probably hurt by the Newcastle fiasco, and would be motivated to do well.

My biggest issue is, I (and many others here) fundamentally dislike him (attitude, bung allegations etc). But to be honest, I'm already mentally prepared for him because he's the most logical choice at this point. He is also the most logical and convenient choice.

However (and I'm really trying to find a bright spot here), that's not to say that the board will definitely appoint him because the inherent assumption we're making is that we would not make an approach to a manager who's currently in a job. Most of the speculation has been focussed on candidates who are jobless, but given our reputation in the footballing circles, we could probably tempt some who are current hired. I do not think we'll go for a continental manager, although this is mainly a gut feel. We've been pretty focused on going British in the past, and I think that will continue. But the circumstances now are probably different than when Hughes joined - we now have a much better squad technically, and the English game has evolved.

I just hope that the board will now be brave enough to look outside Britain. Spurs pretty much plucked Juande Ramos from a stronger club in Sevilla, who's to say we can't do the same? I really hope we at least speak to Mancini (although he really depended on the quality he had at Inter and its quite hard to make that lot lose), Houllier or someone like Lippi. Why not be adventurous and go for someone like Del Bosque even? The important thing is that we are brave enough to make that appointment, and not go for the convenient solution. I really do believe that a continental manager will be able to take us up one level, although funding would be important. (I suspect though that with a new manager, slightly more funds would be released.) And I would be terribly disappointed if we don't even try.

If we were to look within Britain, I would say Ince although he's untried at this level. The guy has played at the highest level and for the biggest clubs, has continental experience, and would probably belong to the breed of new-age, scientific managers. He also has an air of self-belief, which is immensely crucial to this job. He also has a good reputation as a player, which could help attract players. That said, I do not think he would figure that highly in the club's shortlist, and would probably be behind Fat Sam in the pecking order.

In sum, while I would not like it, I am prepared (read resigned) to accept Fat Sam. However, I cannot in any way accept McClaren or Jewell because those would be represent a complete regression. At least with Sam, for the reasons I've listed, I can still see a glimmer of hope. But especially with McClaren, the future is too bleak to imagine.

I reckon your post comes closest to my feelings about the possible appointment of BFS Vyeo. I agree with your points and your reasoning. However there are a couple of factors I would add that act in favour of BFS should he get the job (not that I am any more excited about the prospect than most ).

1. Should he succeed in getting Rovers to perform and remain at or above our present level he would give us continuity, something we have never had for any great length of time since WW2. This is an important consideration, because there is nothing worse than a club having to find a new manager every few years. BFS is 53 now and is a local man with roots in the area, and is unlikely to be poached by any of the "big clubs". But as he has proved with Bolton, he can achieve at the same level (or higher) as MH did with Rovers.

2. He did get Bolton playing decent football when he had the better players like Okocha, Anelka, etc so there is no reason that if he came to Rovers and we kept our present squad (Bentley excepted) he could not do it again, and take Rovers on at least at the level we are at, and possibly better it.