[Archived] Nickos Thread

[nicko]

Hook, line and sinker! Ever heard the term 'Pride comes before a fall'? Just admit it.... you were wrong at the time. You'll only make it worse for yourself in the long run if you don't. G'wan you'll feel better for it I'm sure.

btw I'm still of the opinion that if Villa had not come in once he'd decided to go that he would be at City. But just like you I'll never know for sure will I?

I will leave you to go down to the golf club and pick up a few more scoops...

Meanwhile I will get stories and info from people in the game.

And Man City would have paid for Brad by what method? Credit card? Mrs S's spare funds? Or borrowed again like they did to nab your manager?

[thenodrog]

I believe a manager should ultimately decide who he wants or you have trouble ahead. If he gets it wrong, he gets sacked in time. If the chairman or the board get it wrong, who is accountable?

JW should be. He is a paid employee not a shareholder / owner in the model of many clubs.

[TrentVilla]

Nicko any news on the RSC front and Villa's supposed interest?

[Roar of the Rover]

nicko

players I would like to come in:

RIGHT WING - Seb Larsson or Joaquin - Seb Larrson maybe

CENTRAL MID - Keightly or Annan - Not gonna happen

UPFRONT (if benni leaves) - Poldolski - Wakey Wakey!

Do you think we have a chance or will be going in for any of the above?

Nicko do you have any latest on the Sebastian Larrson saga?

[ricsipontaz]

Hello All! I am a silence reader too.

But I think Larsson is one of the best (available) Bentley's replacement (better than Pennant). Nicko any chance to Rovers can sign him?

[nicko]

Nicko any news on the RSC front and Villa's supposed interest?

All I heard is that O'Neill is dreaming about having a go. I don't think it will happen, but I would be stupid to ignore the possibility of him throwing lots of money at this.

I know how this story hit the paper on Saturday and thought it was wrong. However there IS interest from Villa - but no bid yet.

As to how it came out...I had better keep that to myself.

[thenodrog]

I will leave you to go down to the golf club and pick up a few more scoops...

Meanwhile I will get stories and info from people in the game.

And Man City would have paid for Brad by what method? Credit card? Mrs S's spare funds? Or borrowed again like they did to nab your manager?

Yup any one of them. Prob the latter. We all know that Hughes was keen and would have told BF that he wanted him and likely that BF was just as keen to go.

[nicko]

Nicko do you have any latest on the Sebastian Larrson saga?

No, I can't see the fuss. Played in a relegated team and rarely shone.

Pennant is more likely, maybe even Lennon.

Rovers might do better to take a long time over this one.

[Parsonblue]

Nicko - any more news of potential triallists coming in? Was it true they looked at a couple of young forwards last week (Swedish? maybe) - more for future development though than immediate entry into the squad?

There were four triallists who played for the Academy on Friday last against Hull City. A couple were forwards, one a midfielder and one at left-left. We've already had a few other triallists play for the Academy this pre-season and Tom Denton played for the Reserves at Stalybridge last week. This is normal for the Rovers Academy in pre-season but very few get taken on. I would expect it to be the same with those that I've seen so far.

[nicko]

There were four triallists who played for the Academy on Friday last against Hull City. A couple were forwards, one a midfielder and one at left-left. We've already had a few other triallists play for the Academy this pre-season and Tom Denton played for the Reserves at Stalybridge last week. This is normal for the Rovers Academy in pre-season but very few get taken on. I would expect it to be the same with those that I've seen so far.

I heard there were a few South Americans over as well...it's a good thing to bring in lots of players at that level.

But when there is a revolving door at the first team HQ it gets a bit more perplexing.

[Roar of the Rover]

Hook, line and sinker! Ever heard the term 'Pride comes before a fall'? Just admit it.... you were wrong at the time. You'll only make it worse for yourself in the long run if you don't. G'wan you'll feel better for it I'm sure.

btw I'm still of the opinion that if Villa had not come in once he'd decided to go that he would be at City. But just like you I'll never know for sure will I?

Cue hordes of nickoteens lining up to defend their 'Master Po'.

How can you blame Nicko for Bentley and Brad not signing? If you were in a job and getting paid £25k a week you'd be happy. You'd tell the rest of the employees your happy. So that is what Nicko reported. Brad and Bentley were both happy to stay at the club. However, what I don't think you understand is people change their minds when better offers come along. Brad got offered £50k a week, he jumped at it and therefore signed for Villa and Nicko one again reported that. He is'nt God, he can't tell the future but what he can do is inform us what is going on at Rovers on a daily basis.

Are you going to say Ronaldo never wanted to move to Real and wanted to stay at United all along?

Get Real!

No, I can't see the fuss. Played in a relegated team and rarely shone.

Pennant is more likely, maybe even Lennon.

Rovers might do better to take a long time over this one.

What is the stance with Pennant? Have Liverpool offered him to Rovers or have we inquired about him?

Is Lennon on the radar now Bentley has moved on?

[nicko]

What is the stance with Pennant? Have Liverpool offered him to Rovers or have we inquired about him?

Is Lennon on the radar now Bentley has moved on?

I think prices have been discussed with Pennant - but the clubs are miles apart.

Lennon could have been done during the Robinson-Bentley dialogue and wasn't...so he is NOT first choice. But you never know.

Like I say, it's not the best of choices for that position. So maybe hang back and see what emerges.

[DingleBaiter]

Good post Dinglebaiter.

My problem with the idea that Ince as a "delegator" is the quality of the staff he has surrounded himself with and is delegating to. Ray Mathias does not have the credentials to be running BRFC and international footballers on a day to day basis. How can you argue that his record suggests otherwise?

You may argue that Ince trusts Mathias because of the MK Dons/Macclesfield experience but that would just lead me to refer to my previous paragraph. His record is not befitting of BRFC. I had assumed that Ince would be bringing in true Premier League staff to assist him.

I would ask what exactly Ince's purpose is if he is not doing the day to day running of the club? Surely his "media persona" is more of an embarrassment than a positive point? What is your opinion on how he conducts himself?

The dealings with Castillo and Annan appear messy, we seem to seriously be targeting a poor lower division journeyman, Robinson is a poor keeper IMO and surely there is no positive angle to giving Robbie Fowler a trial. Villanueva could be good but we can't be sure of that.

I have many other concerns but these are some of the main ones...

Bish - simply, two reasons. I trust JW to make the right decisions off-field to best facilitate on-field success. Secondly, I'd like to have faith in following the incumbent for a given time and make my decision then. I do feel many folk are twisting things to suit their anti-Ince bias.

In isolation, Matthias arguably is not the highest calibre candidate for an assistant manager's position, I accept that. He's got experience in lower levels, but more that anything what's his forte? He's the guy Ince arguably trusts more than anyone, his consigliare one may say. In the bigger picture though, I think the sniping about him is a cheap shot. Fair enough if we'd had the same level of criticism with ALL previous managers, but when they brought people they brought in who they trusted (Boersma, McClair) or who they had thrust upon them (Parkes) we didn't rush to lynch them did we?

Equally, when Hughes came in, we didn't subject his backroom staff to this level of derision. Only with the benefit of hindsight do we judge who's come in, by who's gone, which isn't really fair and is jumping the gun somewhat. I'm not doubting that it isn't exactly awe-inspiring, but conversely it's not automatically a given that it will fail either.

I agree ref Fowler, although I would be amazed if he wasn't shipped out this week; Ince has given him every opportunity and more to prove himself, and whilst he may have got fit he's surely realised that he doesn't have what it takes to be any element of a success at Prem level. I can equally see that Ince would potentially be compromising himself if he offered Fowler a deal, but conversely (again) if he ships him out detractors won't applaud that, they'd just moan it took him long enough. What are the facts regarding the other guys? Andrews hasn't signed, Castillo & Annan not been taken on (yet) & Villanueva is a gamble. Anything else is just conjecture - no matter how strong the stories otherwise suggest. However, we have signed a 'proper' right back, although again the detractors will find something wrong with this (indeed anything they want to look at) as they will say he's either pants, or if he is great we will miss out on signing a proper deal for him. The pitchforkers have even been blaming Ince for the Steele affair, rather than acknowledging this must have been a good recruitment if Taggart wanted him too?

A lot of the issues about player recruitment to me is obfuscation. We're deluged with some fantastic insight on here from Nicko, but the problem with information is it can always become spin. I'd rather just see what happens, then if everyone is proved right, no biggy - they're wiser, bully for them.

What I will not try to do though, is base opinions - or worse, manipulate to suit an agenda - on assumptions, supposition, hearsay, gossip, insider knowledge, spin or whatever. Facts are rarer and rarer these days, and no matter how good the source - check out the Hutton inquiry - single sources are not altogether reliable in the scheme of things.

Ince's media personality? A cheap shot, sir, what do you want? Someone excellent with PR at the expense of anything else? Allardyce was hardly a PR maven was he? I accept that Ince doesn't come across as well as he, or some of us, would like - but he won't ever if he's not allowed to. Here's the news - the best managers aren't exactly ideal themselves...... Give him a chance - I personally hated the Penguin, he couldn't pronounce his Rs for a start. Ince is far from the finished article, but will never develop into anything we hope for if we're going to find chinks in the armour to snipe at. Why not concentrate on the positives?

Ince is there as the manager of the club, and he's assembled his team (which still may be tweaked - if Matthias for instance is as pants as people want to think, it's not unreasonable to think he may get replaced) accordingly to do the job as he best sees fit. If the team does well, they're justified - if not, they're not - simple as. However, JW, the board and most fans (hopefully) will be making their judgement with a bit more objectivity, long-sightedness & consideration than some of the knee-jerkers on here picking cheap shots.

[John]

It seems clear to me that JW has discussed with Ince how successful Hughes was with regards to bringing players on trial.

Hence, Ince following suit.

It appears like we are being managed by a novice. Fair enough, give him a chance but why should we be the guinea pigs.

[Roar of the Rover]

I think prices have been discussed with Pennant - but the clubs are miles apart.

Lennon could have been done during the Robinson-Bentley dialogue and wasn't...so he is NOT first choice. But you never know.

Like I say, it's not the best of choices for that position. So maybe hang back and see what emerges.

Lennon Pennant or Larrson. Who would you have and why?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

No, I can't see the fuss. Played in a relegated team and rarely shone.

Pennant is more likely, maybe even Lennon.

Rovers might do better to take a long time over this one.

Just glad someone agrees with me about Larrson, To paraphrase Churchill " A very modest player with a lot to be modest about ".

[DingleBaiter]

Well - I think you've hit a key point in here. Who makes the loan/stay/transfer decisions. Because we're lucky we'll ask Nicko eh?

Nicko -

Who decided Annan should be subjected to this Trial/Transfer/Loan/Lump it scenario? In your opinion will it continue? and if so what effect will it have on attracting players?

So, if the 'moving goalposts' theory is considered, the only obvious ASSUMPTION is Ince is changing it, no? If this is truly the case, I'd expect JW to give him a spanking for it.

What I struggle to accept is that it would be allowed to happen once, but certainly not twice. Rovers are well respected on the whole, especially in their integrity - so are we suggesting we'd be willing to compromise this? Seems crackers to me?

The truth always hurts someone.

Hey I spotted him yesterday on the touchline. I thought it was some old geezer who had started wandering and I was just about to help him back to his seat when I found out who he was.

Surprised someone's not posted a picture of the kitman @ Rovers and outed him as Matthias, as he's even more wrinkly & doddery

BTW did anyone see Wenger in disguise on the Breda bench yesterday?

[Ricky]

wasn't Bentley very average when relegated with Norwich Nicko????

[nicko]

wasn't Bentley very average when relegated with Norwich Nicko????

Yes, he was. However he had/has flair. I just think Larsson is ordinary.

[hawkiiz]

BTW did anyone see Wenger in disguise on the Breda bench yesterday?

no. but have a look at the official page and you will learn that jose mourinho was on the breda bench

[LDRover]

No, I can't see the fuss. Played in a relegated team and rarely shone.

Pennant is more likely, maybe even Lennon.

Rovers might do better to take a long time over this one.

Finally a bit of sanity!! What the hell would we want Larsson for? He was poor in a relegated side last year and got subbed yesterday after another uninspired showing. God knows what some of you out there are on, get a grip FFS.

Mind you, if Keith Andrews is the 'star' signing this summer, who knows?

[jim mk2]

I knew you were bone-headed, but I didn't have you down as thick.

He also thinks a Lancashire Utd team is a good idea, which shows his understanding of football.

Am hearing whispers that Villa are preparing a £10m offer for Santa Cruz.

[Ewood and I Would]

I will leave you to go down to the golf club and pick up a few more scoops...

Meanwhile I will get stories and info from people in the game.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[philipl]

He also thinks a Lancashire Utd team is a good idea, which shows his understanding of football.

Am hearing whispers that Villa are preparing a £10m offer for Santa Cruz.

I am almost beginning to feel that a bid of about 50% the value of RSC is needed to make the Ewood management wake-up and realise they are running a top half Premiership club and adjust their sights accordingly.

[Baggio]

Newcastle's local paper say Keegan hasn't given up hope of signings Warnock but the club will move for Taye Taiwo at £7.5 million if they can't get him.

Where do the links with Sebastian Larsson to Blackburn come from? Because I've seen quotes from his agent saying Newcastle have had a bid rejected and that he wants to move there.