[Archived] Are Blackburn The Least Ambitious Club In The Top Flight

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Its all getting a little too self pitying this site at the moment.

We cut our cloth accordingly and get on with the job like we always have.

[gumboots]

I'm commenting on the transfer window which was an abject failure not now. You are twisting my post to suit your reply. In any case if the new signings need me to pat them on their heads and tell them they are good boys and we really wanted them all the time they are not good enough for my team.

I have no choice but to get behind them now and you know as well as I do that my comments were aimed at the management and the trustees in particular and not the players.

If you want to comment on my posts do so on the text and not what you want to read into it.

No. You can't take the 2 things in isolation. If you say the transfer window was a failure then you are saying that what we bought was not good enough. that's not me reading anything into it. That's what you mean. We did not buy the players we needed. we bought players who are not good enough. All footballers, good bad or indifferent need support. that's why we are called supporters. they don't need you to make them feel good but they play a darned sight better if they are aware of your support and if you encourage them. We brought in some players who Ince thinks will do the job he had in mind for them therefore abject failure it cannot be. If those players fail to deliver then it is a failure, but only then.

[Ossydave]

A slightly worrying thing for me, is I don't see where our next 16M Bentley-esque sale will some from.....

Santa, maybe.

Carlos? Far too early to say.

Therefore exactly how little cash will we have to spend next season?

Just hoping we're holding some back for the January sales but I won't hold my breath.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Fans harp on about how we have prospered and done well without spending any money under Hughes: but that was under Hughes, who for me ( taking away his conduct since leaving the club) is the best manager outside of Fergie & Wenger. Hughes could produce miracles on a million or two, where as Ince clearly can’t.

Do you not think we should wait to see Ince's signings play well on a regular basis or not - prior to writing off his ability in the transfer market.

One question - one area Hughes sadly fell down (for whatever reason) was bringing through young players. How does everyone think Ince has done in this area so far ? This area is essential for Rovers long term.

[gumboots]

Do you not think we should wait to see Ince's signings play well on a regular basis or not - prior to writing off his ability in the transfer market.

One question - one area Hughes sadly fell down (for whatever reason) was bringing through young players. How does everyone think Ince has done in this area so far ? This area is essential for Rovers long term.

He gives the impression of seeing it as important in his willingness to give chances to Treacey and the others in the cup game and in the pre season friendlies. Now that could just be he wants a look at them or it could be that he too realises that in the days of megabucks City etc we need to make the best of the money we are spending on our academy. Other teams seem to find that when they trust their youngsters they do well (Villa, City, Arsenal, Boro etc). Now I know our youth team isn't up to Arsenal standard but if we are seen as a club that gives our young players a chance then perhaps, as has been said elsewher more of the players who currently opt for big spending clubs will look at us because they won't necessarily get their chances in City's team.

[thenodrog]

Boring boring BORING! Lots of moans here today. I think the Man City situation should have opened a few peoples eyes. We are a far better investment than Man City on the book value. We do not owe much on players, we own our own excellent ground and training facility yet we cannot attract a buyer. The obvious reason is that we are a small club based in a depressed Northern town with very very limited potential and a small following many of whom will not pay full price for tickets. Think about it ... the ONLY thing going for Man City is that they are a large club with POTENTIAL and there really is nothing more to it.

SO the solution is absolutely obvious .... we have to become a big club with definite potential. There really can be no argument about that. The only debate to be had is not to whinge and moan but to decide how we achieve this and move the club forward.

[almuncle]

No. You can't take the 2 things in isolation. If you say the transfer window was a failure then you are saying that what we bought was not good enough. that's not me reading anything into it. That's what you mean. We did not buy the players we needed. we bought players who are not good enough. All footballers, good bad or indifferent need support. that's why we are called supporters. they don't need you to make them feel good but they play a darned sight better if they are aware of your support and if you encourage them. We brought in some players who Ince thinks will do the job he had in mind for them therefore abject failure it cannot be. If those players fail to deliver then it is a failure, but only then.

Spot on!

[thenodrog]

Of course we are. The reason is that the trustees don't really want us at all and are paying lip service to what Jack Walker wanted the funds to be used for.

It's all about damage limitation for them and the sooner they can offload us within the terms of Jack's will they will do so. It seems to me that they don't care what division we are in as long as it doesn't cost them much money.

I know I'm beginning to sound like Vinjay but I am really angry about our abject failure in this transfer window.

Good post Al. When can we expect to see you put your bid in for the club so that you can throw good money after bad again and again into a business that simply devours funding with no return or at best very very meagre returns even for the mega successful clubs.

[OscarRaven]

Rovers are Unambitious. Statements such as "punching above our weight" support this, i.e. doing better than we deserve.

Ambitious clubs feel they deserve success, they aren't grateful for it.

That said Rovers is a safe, happy, well run little club. We all know its only a matter of time.

Unless the bubble bursts! Fingers Crossed.

[gumboots]

Punching above our weight doesn't mean doing better than we deserve. It means doing better than others might expect given what we can spend and the size of our fan base etc. We know we deserve success so if that's your definition of ambition then we have loads. we also know though that a club like ours has to work very hard for it because nobody is going to throw mega money at us.

[Athlete]

Rather silly way of judging ambition but for the record I think Wigan are therefore the most unambitious club in this transfer winodw.

Bah Humbug.

This is what the bookies now make of it :

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/englis...ship/relegation

where just above the pack for the drop according to the bookies whom are no mugs !

[gumboots]

This is what the bookies now make of it :

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/englis...ship/relegation

where just above the pack for the drop according to the bookies whom are no mugs !

They actually put us in the bottom half of the table if you count the other teams on the same odds. That's probably where we'll end up anyway - just outside the top ten but they don't really seem to see us as relegation fodder either which is what you are suggesting.

[Hasta]

where just above the pack for the drop according to the bookies whom are no mugs !

So these guys who are no mugs reckon we've got about an 11% chance of being relegated (8/1). Don't think I'll be slitting my wrists yet.

[Athlete]

So these guys who are no mugs reckon we've got about an 11% chance of being relegated (8/1). Don't think I'll be slitting my wrists yet.

but only a few weeks ago we where priced just outside the top four - but a lot can happen in a short space of time as the odds compilers watch very very closely

[Hasta]

but only a few weeks ago we where priced just outside the top four - but a lot can happen in a short space of time as the odds compilers watch very very closely

Not true at all.

When Paul Ince was appointed manager we were generally 11/1 and 12/1 to be relegated. Our odds haven't really shortened that much at all.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Who knows what ambitions our owners have as they only speak to us once in 8 years. But given the circumstances of how they became owners we should not be surprised that some see them as lacking ambition; it's a hard thing to enforce in a will after all.

I've moaned about their lack of drive before, but they seem to be the only owners we shall have for the forseeable future, so que sera sera.

[DingleBaiter]

Spot on,

read in a newspaper somewhere that our finances are not that bad at the moment with the tv money coming in and even in the past whe have only been loosing about 3.5m a year which has been covered by the walker trust.

Also we are (apparently) the most supported club considering the size of our town by locals.

Something, i think is very rare in this day an age. A true communitly club.

There's a general misunderstanding of how well-run we are as a club.

Just because we didn't sign a R winger - despite making every provision to do so - doesn't smack of lack of ambition.

'Ambition' is a cliche in football, in case you hadn't noticed.

Newcastle are ambitious. They are also badly run, mislead and gullible.

Liverpool are ambitious. But they have no money, think every season is going to be 'the one' they win the Prem. They have the four most important men at the club playing silly buggers not talking to one another, completely untenable.Their Academy is on the verge of implosion. If it wasn't for Europe, they've a manager who'd be a stunt double for Max with Paddy.

Arsenal are ambitious, but they're too well run and traditional as a club to get sucked into the spend-spend-spend of their neighbours at Stamford Bridge.

All promoted teams are ambitious, in that they usually spend-spend-spend on over-priced players that won't leave them when they drop back into the Championship.

Hull are ambitious, buying seven or eight has-beens or never-was in the hope they may stay up, whilst playing pub football.

Stoke are losing every blinking competion in terms of buying players - Christ they would have paid 2 million for Moko.

If all the above are a function of ambition, I want Rovers to be the class slacker who chewed his pencil in class day-dreaming every lesson away.

[DeadlyDirk]

Well to shortly answer the original question,

No

[Al]

No. You can't take the 2 things in isolation. If you say the transfer window was a failure then you are saying that what we bought was not good enough. that's not me reading anything into it. That's what you mean. We did not buy the players we needed. we bought players who are not good enough. All footballers, good bad or indifferent need support. that's why we are called supporters. they don't need you to make them feel good but they play a darned sight better if they are aware of your support and if you encourage them. We brought in some players who Ince thinks will do the job he had in mind for them therefore abject failure it cannot be. If those players fail to deliver then it is a failure, but only then.

OK if you want to push me I do not believe that the players we signed are good enough, with the possible exception (as I have said before) of Robinson and Carlos. That is my opinion and I am entitled to it. It is not my job to motivate them. That is the job of the people who bought them. I have paid my money as a season ticket holder and am disappointed as to how my money has been spent. Don't tell me what I should think. That is my privelige.

If you are happy that we have failed miserably to sign what we really needed, a decent RM, then that is your opinion but do not dare rubbish my opinion because I have paid my money to have it. I would be interested to know if you have forked out for a season ticket.

[colin]

OK if you want to push me I do not believe that the players we signed are good enough, with the possible exception (as I have said before) of Robinson and Carlos. That is my opinion and I am entitled to it. It is not my job to motivate them. That is the job of the people who bought them. I have paid my money as a season ticket holder and am disappointed as to how my money has been spent. Don't tell me what I should think. That is my privelige.

If you are happy that we have failed miserably to sign what we really needed, a decent RM, then that is your opinion but do not dare rubbish my opinion because I have paid my money to have it. I would be interested to know if you have forked out for a season ticket.

Al,

I'm not trying to start a fight here, and I'm a beleiver in discussions "generating more light than heat," so please take this in the manner that it if offered.

We are a small club with small finances. Like a few others we are doing OK with the money we have, we don't have the clout to sign up all these multi-million players from Real Madrid or Barcelona or Juve.

We have got some really good players over the past couple of years who have cost us next to nothing. We can all name them.

The fact that you have paid for your season ticket doesn't entitle you to a more robust opinion than anyone else. My season ticket from years ago may have paid for Kevin Davies & Cicco Grabbi. It's not something I'm going to brag about, because it just doesn't make sense.

Cheers

Colin

[RevidgeBlue]

we don't have the clout to sign up all these multi-million players from Real Madrid or Barcelona or Juve.

Not having a go at you in particular colin but whenever anyone questions the commitment of the owners we tend to get the same trite old response. "We can't afford to spend 20 or 30m on a player like Chelski or Man Ure etc..............."

No-one expects us to be shopping at Harrods and start forking out that sort of money from scratch, but we've just sold a player for a net 9 or 10 million and it's by no means unreasonable imo to replace him for a similar amount. As it turns out we don't even seem to want to spend 5 or 6m replacing him and as a result have left a glaring gap in the side.

In response to the original question, the answer has to be a resounding "yes." The owners' only ambition appears to be not spending a brass farthing in net terms. This season they've restored the 3m p.a cash injection and we've made roughly a 4m surplus on transfer dealings. Coincidental that.

What's the betting come the January transfer window we've no money as usual?

.

[DingleBaiter]

What's the betting come the January transfer window we've no money as usual?

Agreed - the money does seem a bit mysterious. Maybe it's set aside to keep Benedict in pies. Maybe that's why he's injured, he's been on the gastric band operation?

I reckon they will do a PR saying we've set aside ten million for Jan, only to sign Carlos permanently and then hope no-one else in Blackburn have the calculators working on Euros as they seem to.

Did Walters move from Ipswich yesterday? Heard someone was after him for 3 million - that's another mill coming our way to fall down back of sofa it seems.

[RevidgeBlue]

I reckon they will do a PR saying we've set aside ten million for Jan, only to sign Carlos permanently and then hope no-one else in Blackburn have the calculators working on Euros as they seem to.

IF CV turns out to be a real gem that wouldn't actually be too bad, I have this vision of him being a sensation then someone else snapping him up at the end of the loan period.

[DingleBaiter]

IF CV turns out to be a real gem that wouldn't actually be too bad, I have this vision of him being a sensation then someone else snapping him up at the end of the loan period.

Dunno, we made sure he had a crap game in Reserves on Mon night it seems to put the scouts off

Stan Ternent was there, God knows who he was watching!

I think Carlos will go the same way as that fullback from Wigan who went to Spurs then to Sunderland, i.e. sign as a loan, realise how good they are and snap them up in October knowing if we do sell him on we can cash him in.

[simdohquo]

Not Ambitious! We are in the Premier League! Top flight football in the UK. Even before Hughsey left and we got cash for Bentley... there was 10 million in the pot for new players PLUS we got cheap Season Tickets... AGAIN!

I am proud to be a Rover. I think John Williams and Paul Ince have done very well not only to sign new players but also to, and this is more demonstrative of us being an ambitious club, keep our current squad together! We were going to lose Bentley anyway, but we tried to keep him... Brad was his choice to go... Villa offered the old bloke a good deal, good luck, so long and thanks for all the fish.

We bought in Paul Robinson... England Goalkeeper, 10 years Brad's junior! Carlos V, Grella and Andrews... Ince says that these lads will improve our squad... let's at least give him the chance to prove it!

Ince & Williams have stated that they will not panic buy... good!

John Williams in particular is the unsung hero in all this... we sing of Jack, chant for Incey to wave... but it is JW that should recieve our gratitude and thanks.

You are entitled you opinions, you are entitled to moan, whinge and belly ache... but please please please don't claim this club lacks ambition, because I find that insulting. Try being constructive for once... try even to smile... it might make your day brighter... look for the positives... in the words of Messers Palin, Cleese and Idle... "Always look on the Bright Side of Life..."