[Archived] Paul's Progress

[dingles staying down 4ever]

It is too early to sack Ince but he must start showing signs of learning from his mistakes. He has to realise that a severe lack of pace in the team restricts the way that Rovers can play. We cannot stretch teams out to create holes or play high up the pitch against pacey teams. We cannot keep leaving the defence over exposed as they keep conceding goals.

People have commented on Nelson's comments about being too cavalier and he does have a point. He is also trying to hide though. Unfortunately his performance and Samba's was not good enough. We made far too many basic mistakes. Two goals in the first half due to the centre halves not marking. Not good enough. People have also said that winterburn has not done a coaching session yet. Why? He has been at the club for several months now.

Ince should not be in danger yet but if another month goes by and Rovers are still playing so naively then questions need to be asked and Ince may not like the answers

[Athlete]

Ince is a lightweight who should be kicked out before the damage becomes irreparable.

Show some backbone, Williams, and sack the useless git.

totally agree - he should never have been appointed in the 1st place

[walk down bolton road]

Link to that article below.

There was no shame, he stressed, in being trounced by such a good side, but their priority was to beat opponents “like Fulham and Bolton.”

Comments like this point to we will be happy with 4th from bottam and a 4th division managers attitude thats exactly what he his 4th rate.

[riverside returns]

[size="3]True rovers fans need to get behind the team. We will be playing a 'nice' Fulham team this weekend followed by two more winnable games against Everton and then the toon... There are worrying signs it is true to state but the same problems beset Samba and Nelsen at the end of last season. We conceded 4 at Big club on the last day of the season. Having conceded 4 against Arsenal, it just showed that at that particular level, you must take the chances when presented or you will be heavily punished. Arsenal are the best football and passing team in the league by far and once they have the upper hand, ball retention is easy to them and demoralising for a team like Rovers, we will not be the last to suffer at their hands this season.

Now is the time for unity and support, after all, keep talking us down and you can bet your last penny, we will struggle.

Remeber uncle jack and support his and our team through some changeable times..Come on you blues![/size]

[jim mk2]

Everything in life is relative, and no more so than in league football.

BUT BACK THE TEAM, MANAGER AND PLAYERS - let's leave the obitiaries, wailing and gnashing of teeth for the real problem times??!

What a load of blue-and-white-rose-tinted spectacled tripe.

I support the club - full stop. Not here-today-gone-tomorrow players and managers.

And my club is hurting at present because the board appointed an incompetant manager.

And along with many others I'm worried and angry that my club is needlessly heading for relegation from which there will be no return next time.

Speaking of which, why was the relegation thread locked ? And will it be reopened after we lose at home to Fulham on Saturday?

[jim mk2]

Relegation this season and I'd advise any punter to put their money on it now. All the telltale signs are there. Just as in previous relegations 1965/66, 1970/71, 1978/79 and 1998/99 Rovers are coming off the back of a relatively successful season (all top half finishes) but with signs of a fall-away at the end. As then the sense of complacency - at the top end of the club rather than among the fans - is all too evident. The loss of a key play-maker (Douglas in 1965, Kerr in 1970 and almost everyone with ability in 1998). The loss of a successful manager is always a relegation trigger - just look at Charlton or Notlob. Ince looks poorly equipped to lead a relegation fight as I suspect he will just look for scapegoats and excuses (the latter has already started). How can he bemoan the size of the squad when it has greater numbers than at anytime since the days of Uncle Jack and certainly more than MH ever enjoyed? He has filled out the squad with journeymen and has-beens not good enough to make an impact at this level. I don't believe he has a clue as to his beat 11 - always a bad sign. Midfield is just a muddle that owes more to Buggins-turn than any semblance of strategy. Why was a manager appointed who is clueless in the transfer market and failed to replace the teams creative fulcrum with nearly 2 months to do so. I could go but I'll leave others to fill in some of the otherb glaring inadequacies.

Excellent post that should be pasted on to the relegation thread.

Another sign is that as in previous relegation seasons I dread looking at the fixture list because I cannot see where the next win is coming from. Call it intuition, age, experience, or what you will but my old bones are telling me that under the present regime we are going down.

And of course I would add that I would love to be proved wrong ....

[Billy Castell]

Comments like this point to we will be happy with 4th from bottam and a 4th division managers attitude thats exactly what he his 4th rate.

Maybe we'd be better off with a Blue Square Conference manager like Martin O'Neill. At least we don't have Juande Ramos in charge! And typically, Captain Kneejerk doesn't mention an exit strategy for Ince, and no names are given as replacements.

It is mid-September, there is still time to turn it around.

[Head Rover Heels]

It is mid-September, there is still time to turn it around.

I'm personally finding it a bit weird that comments such as "turn it around" are even necessary.

We're four games in, two games of which were against teams expected to finish above us, and one against a team we seem hitorically incapable of getting a point against, and yet we have four points. Hull were in the Champions league spots yesterday.

Ok, so we're in the relegation zone thanks to a pathetic leaking of goals, but two of those were last gasp because we were chasing a game, and four came against Arsenal, a team who will put four past many other teams in this division. Yes, Ince rolled out the I haven't seen them for two weeks excuse, and this was ridiculed as it's not like we're the only team with internationals in it. However, two weeks to Ince, trying to get the team playing his new way, is different to two weeks to Wenger, who's had a good few years.

We're not looking good at the moment, but we're not looking awful either - As Nelsen implied, we are changing our methodology and that takes time - We can't allow it to take too much, but we also surely can't shout it down as though the sky is falling before we've even had a chance to see the effects.

It's been mentioned many times that the next five games will tell all, and i fully believe that - With Boro, Bolton and Fulham in there, (along with a predictable loss to Utd) we are up against teams that we would hope to be above come the end of the season - Not competing against, but above. If we come out of the other side with 8 points, then we are clearly consolidating this year, any more, and we're back on track, any less, and all that i've written there will be taken back - And then the apologists (of which i am one) need to start rethinking. But i won't do that any sooner.

[walk down bolton road]

Maybe we'd be better off with a Blue Square Conference manager like Martin O'Neill. At least we don't have Juande Ramos in charge! And typically, Captain Kneejerk doesn't mention an exit strategy for Ince, and no names are given as replacements.

It is mid-September, there is still time to turn it around.

Lets see BC Martin O Neil Aston Villa manager doing ok,Juande Ramos do you really think Spurs will be in the bottam 3 come may,and Captain Kneejerk"s exit stratergy for Ince is get shut to Newcastle hopefully,has for names we blew it with Ten Cate and Laudrup but if the job come up for grabs i am pretty sure there would be quality names.If you can"t see the writing on the wall more fool you !.

[AggyBlue]

Someone said 'Points win prizes' (I think he forgot about the Cups).

I expected three points from our first four games, a home win against Hull. So in that respect, points wise, we're doing better than I expected.

[T4E]

Maybe we'd be better off with a Blue Square Conference manager like Martin O'Neill. At least we don't have Juande Ramos in charge!

Billy, are you seriously suggesting that you'd rather have Ince over either of those two? I sincerely hope your tongue is firmly wedged in the side of your cheek.

[gumboots]

Billy, are you seriously suggesting that you'd rather have Ince over either of those two? I sincerely hope your tongue is firmly wedged in the side of your cheek.

He was presumably saying that that's where O'Neill came from - everybody has to start somewhere - and that Ramos, despite what he did in Spain, is currently bottom of the league with a team that cost more than our entire club and doesn't seem to have a clue what to do to improve matters. Spurs have won only 3 games I think it is since the Carling Cup win. We've won one already this season so in that sense we are doing better than Ramos's team.

[tchocky]

And my club is hurting at present because the board appointed an incompetant manager.

That's very subjective though. Sensible people don't label a manger incompetent after 5 games.

I'm prepared to give Ince at least 10 games. That's not to say I'm not worried though. There are mainly two things that worry me at the moment:

• Apparent lack of physical attributes as opposed to the Hughes regime of extreme fitness levels
• Lack of urgency to our play - this continental style that we are apparently trying to pull off is not going to work in this league

Things can change though. We just need to be patient, while at the same time not leave it too late should it all go pearshaped

[broadsword]

5 games isn't nearly enough, but 10 games is?

That's daft, sorry.

The team needed major investment in it over the summer, it didn't come and instead we've bought bodies to fill up the squad. And we can't do anything about it until January.

It's really not looking too clever at all.

[tchocky]

at least

[RevidgeBlue]

I think those who want Ince sacked after four games have hit on a brilliant new idea - if a new man comes in and doesn't win a minimum of three out of his first four games, we can sack him as well, and so on and so on, we'll be able to test out at least another six managers before it starts getting to the stage whereby it's too late to do anything about it!

Genius.

[Athlete]

What a load of blue-and-white-rose-tinted spectacled tripe.

I support the club - full stop. Not here-today-gone-tomorrow players and managers.

And my club is hurting at present because the board appointed an incompetant manager.

And along with many others I'm worried and angry that my club is needlessly heading for relegation from which there will be no return next time.

Speaking of which, why was the relegation thread locked ? And will it be reopened after we lose at home to Fulham on Saturday?

god forbid we lose to an ever improving Fulham side but if we do PLEASE SACK INCE

[Olveres]

I think those who want Ince sacked after four games have hit on a brilliant new idea - if a new man comes in and doesn't win a minimum of three out of his first four games, we can sack him as well, and so on and so on, we'll be able to test out at least another six managers before it starts getting to the stage whereby it's too late to do anything about it!

Genius.

Why don't the the Ince baiters just admit, they do not like Paul Ince as he is Paul Ince. He came across as an arrogant player, egotistical with all his "Guvnor" stuff. Thing is I think the media played him to be like that, he seems pretty alright to me.

[Frisky Jim]

I think those who want Ince sacked after four games have hit on a brilliant new idea - if a new man comes in and doesn't win a minimum of three out of his first four games, we can sack him as well, and so on and so on, we'll be able to test out at least another six managers before it starts getting to the stage whereby it's too late to do anything about it!

Genius.

Not suprised by that post. I think you should accept that your golden boy is actually a prize plum who is way out of his depth.

Your championing of Ince is an absolute disgrace.

[BuckyRover]

Not suprised by that post. I think you should accept that your golden boy is actually a prize plum who is way out of his depth.

Your championing of Ince is an absolute disgrace.

Supporting the manager?

Whatever next!

[Frisky Jim]

Supporting the manager?

Whatever next!

Anybody supporting Ince doesn't have Rovers' best interests at heart.

[LeChuck]

I think those who want Ince sacked after four games have hit on a brilliant new idea - if a new man comes in and doesn't win a minimum of three out of his first four games, we can sack him as well, and so on and so on, we'll be able to test out at least another six managers before it starts getting to the stage whereby it's too late to do anything about it!

Genius.

I'm absolutely certain he would have bought himself far more time if he had inspired confidence in the fans with his summer signings, but bringing in players like Fowler and Andrews (as well as the Bentley situation) have just left a lot of people wondering if he really knows what he's doing.

The only player to get excited about hasn't played a single minute in the Premiership set.

[CrazyIvan]

Anybody supporting Ince doesn't have Rovers' best interests at heart.

How on earth do you work that out?

[JAL]

The team needed major investment in it over the summer, it didn't come and instead we've bought bodies to fill up the squad. And we can't do anything about it until January.

It's really not looking too clever at all.

Too true, if the current manager has filled the squad with quantity rather than quality what confidence have we in him to bring in that much needed quality come January.

Looking forward to being suprised come January.

[Frisky Jim]

The man is a clueless buffoon, whose lack of tactical awareness rivals Brian Kidd's. Events at Ewood are certainly reminiscent of ten years ago.

We all know what happened to Rovers under Kidd....