[Archived] The Future

[BuckyRover]

Or maybe Terry Venables?

Or maybe somebody else that was good 15 years ago?

[ihateburnley]

I take pride in the fact that our club gives managers time to stamp their own influence on things, something that other clubs rarely do. However, I can't remember the last time I have felt so unsure about the management of our club and the impending feelings of doom and gloom that could be the ruin of BRFC as a top flight force. Souness and Hughes were both fighters and it was obvious that even though (certainly in Souness' case) they weren't perhaps the most popular of characters, they would be influential and lead our club to our short term targets at the very least. They seemed to have a plan in their earlier days and as a result it rubbed off on the players and the fans.

I presumed Ince would have been similar in that he was a very resolute and respected individual in his playing days. However, I get the impression he feels he is well out of his depth and feels intimidated by the media, the big-name players and the expectation that surrounds modern-day Premier League clubs. He seems nervous in interviews, he seems indecisive in his personnel choices, and he has not given us, the fans, what we wanted in the transfer market. We ALL knew what we needed as a club. We might have had slightly different orders of priority in addressing the weaknesses of our squad, but the feelings were pretty unanimous that we desperately needed some pace and creativity in midfield.

Now don't get me wrong, Keith Andrews has performed above my own personal expectations and on that note may long it continue, but Ince must take the flack for merely adding to the squad something we already had in abundance - mediocrity. That money could have been used to far greater effect, and along with the Vince Grella and Robbie Fowler signings, they just smacked of desperation and some pathetic attempt to show he was trying to make his mark on the club.

Our best players are still all those signed by our previous manager, and for me, progression and a leap forward was needed in the summer, not some bloody half-arsed attempt to get a couple of 'cheapos' in to keep the fans quiet.

I'm not happy and I don't expect Paul to be manager at Christmas.