[Archived] Relegation Watch

[thenodrog]

I'm stunned at the negativity...

Just accept that we are already down DE4like............. and anything else will be a bonus!

[patrickvalery]

I think its very strange how people complicate football. They seem to view it as unparralled to any other profession.

We're better than whoever. Whoever are better than us.

Footballers don't have statistical values for each given attribute. The Championship Manager generation would have you believe so, but its simply not true. Barring a few players, this bunch performed consistantly in the top ten under Hughes. Did this give these players the unconditional right to be considered greater than every other player in sides beneath them? Absolutely not. Just as now we are in the bottom 3 they should not be considered worse than players in sides above us.

It comes down to desire, attitude and confidence. The difference between players who make the grade and those who don't is very marginal. Often one or more of the afore mentioned aspects makes the difference. It is for this reason we are where we are now. There was little desire, poor attitude and low confidence. This all comes from the loss of Hughes, Bentley and Friedel and the appointment of Ince. This side didn't become regular UEFA Cup qualifies because of raw talent. Neither did they become relegation fodder because of the lack of it.

This is the same reason we see numerous top quality players going to Newcastle and performing poorly. The law of everages says they can't all be bad signings. Its simply a weight of expectation from the fans, poor management and negative press attention which affects their performances.

Footballers are human beings. If they think they can get away without putting in a good days work they will. I think under Ince they could get away with it and did. Under Allardyce they can't. And they have shown an improvement. No doubt about it. We don't have any of the worlds special players. But neither do most of the sides in the PL. But Allardyce is slowly turning things round with good solid players at his disposal. Will he be able to do it quickly enough? Who knows? If he doesn't its hardly his fault. He could do little to dictate the timing of his appointment. But he has given us hope. I for one am grateful for this small pleasure. Because 2 months ago we didn't even have that.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Samba.....Rovers 'too good' to go down

[PAFELL]

Just accept that we are already down DE4like............. and anything else will be a bonus!

It will be wba,boro and spuds that will go down. Spuds run in is as bad as rovers.

[DE.]

We want to stay in the Premier League because basically we are too good to go down.

I appreciate his confidence, but it's not true ... no team is 'too good' to go down... quality only counts as long as the heart and desire is there as well.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I appreciate his confidence, but it's not true ... no team is 'too good' to go down... quality only counts as long as the heart and desire is there as well.

To be fair to Samba - that is what he says in the full interview.

Personally I think it is too close to call. Logically we are better than at least three teams in this league - but if we are in the bottom three come the end of the season we will deserve to be there.

My only hope - but for a little more luck (and skill) we would have won virtually every match under Sam.

This stage of the season - it starts to become a mixture of luck, skill and effort. Luck we can't do anything about - but the players better show more effort than they did against Coventry

[roversmum]

The effort and motivation left the squad for some reason very early last year. The last match of the season against Birmingham was shocking and I still shudder about it.

Things looked rosy at the start of the new season with the win over Everton but old ways were quickly reverted to - lack of motivation and concentration for 90+ minutes per match. Unfortunately, despite the advent of Big Sam and the recent undefeated run it is pretty obvious these two bogeys are still with us.

I only wish I knew what the cure is.

[TimmyJimmy]

woe woe and thrice woe - what a bunch of pussies. The thing that will take us down (and I agree it's a very real possibility) is the negative garbage spouted on here. It's infectious. Start saying out loud that we are going to fail and we will. Isn't the crowd supposed to be the extra man. Look at the past few seasons, teams that were dead and buried survived not because bad players suddenly became good players they simply remembered how to be positive and aggressive. That came from the managers and the crowd. We now have a good manager, but we don't have a good crowd and we need one badly. Keep on talking this negative sh*t and breathing our own fumes and it will be a self fulfilling prophecy. Save the girly no backbone stuff until the close season and in the meantime get on to the Blackburn End and try to remember how to sing - especially when the going gets tough.

[jim mk2]

I only wish I knew what the cure is.

It's obvious Mum : new, youthful players. The present squad has grown old and tired together.

[patrickvalery]

woe woe and thrice woe - what a bunch of pussies. The thing that will take us down (and I agree it's a very real possibility) is the negative garbage spouted on here. It's infectious. Start saying out loud that we are going to fail and we will. Isn't the crowd supposed to be the extra man. Look at the past few seasons, teams that were dead and buried survived not because bad players suddenly became good players they simply remembered how to be positive and aggressive. That came from the managers and the crowd. We now have a good manager, but we don't have a good crowd and we need one badly. Keep on talking this negative sh*t and breathing our own fumes and it will be a self fulfilling prophecy. Save the girly no backbone stuff until the close season and in the meantime get on to the Blackburn End and try to remember how to sing - especially when the going gets tough.

In almost total agreement. My previous post eluded to this. The side isn't a bad one and shouldn't be considered so. We've lacked effort at times but confidence comes from the support.

We are our own worst enemy at times. We stamp our feet when people call us a small club. But some fans (and it has to be said previous managerial regimes) use it as an excuse when it suits.

I firmly believe this club needs to learn how to self promote. We are a fantastic club with a proud history and tradition. But for too long we've seemed to wallow in self pity. I think i recall Souness saying what a feat it was for a club of our size and stature to have won the Carling Cup. This was during the immediate post match celebrations!!

[67splitscreen]

It will be wba,boro and spuds that will go down. Spuds run in is as bad as rovers.

Some would argue worse, they have a Wembley final and UEFA matches to contend with.

A few bookings and injuries to key players, suddenly things go from grey to black, and bottom of the Prem again, not this weekend though I fear.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

It's obvious Mum : new, youthful players. The present squad has grown old and tired together.

Sadly agree about tired together.......Squad with the exception of Tugay isn't that old.

Hughes and the club should have started the operation last season and contunued the rebuild this. I have said several times before that one of the reasons Hughes left was that he'd seen the end of his squad's shelf life but for whatever reason hadn't done much about it. He then cleared off at the earliest opportunity to save his career before Rovers decline became terminal. Opposite of Souness who probably hung 18 months too long.

Sadly the life boat Hughes left on appears to have sprung a leak.

[AggyBlue]

Interestingly SSN have done their own end of season predictions based on current form.

They had Stoke, Middlesboro and Portsmouth in the bottom three.

We were very comfortable finishing in 12 place.

[roversmum]

Sadly agree about tired together.......Squad with the exception of Tugay isn't that old.

Hughes and the club should have started the operation last season and contunued the rebuild this. I have said several times before that one of the reasons Hughes left was that he'd seen the end of his squad's shelf life but for whatever reason hadn't done much about it. He then cleared off at the earliest opportunity to save his career before Rovers decline became terminal. Opposite of Souness who probably hung 18 months too long.

Sadly the life boat Hughes left on appears to have sprung a leak.

Agree absolutely with Jim and Dingles. However, we are in the middle of transfer windows, so nothing can be done right now, we have to wee with the willy we've got as someone once said .

I was looking for a cure in respect to motivating the current bunch in order to get us out of trouble

[Ozz]

I was looking for a cure in respect to motivating the current bunch in order to get us out of trouble

Like the chance to play in Cup Semi/Final at Wembley?

[MCMC1875]

The effort and motivation left the squad for some reason very early last year. The last match of the season against Birmingham was shocking and I still shudder about it.

Things looked rosy at the start of the new season with the win over Everton but old ways were quickly reverted to - lack of motivation and concentration for 90+ minutes per match. Unfortunately, despite the advent of Big Sam and the recent undefeated run it is pretty obvious these two bogeys are still with us.

I only wish I knew what the cure is.

A good clear out in the summer Mum - always does the trick!

[den]

It comes down to desire, attitude and confidence.

To a point. It is very important though, but not as important as being talented in the first place.

woe woe and thrice woe - what a bunch of pussies. The thing that will take us down (and I agree it's a very real possibility) is the negative garbage spouted on here.

It's talent and application from the players that win games Timmy, not the posters on here.

As for the old discussion of whether the crowd lifts the team, or vice versa, - well it takes a bit of both. The crowd could do more I agree. The Blackburn end in particular has been deathly quiet of late. - but - the fans in general have been served an absolutely woeful mix of negative, uninspirational football for a long time now. It had got, for many people, not the exciting day out it can be. Plenty of fans had got to the point where they really weren't looking forward to their football any more - me included.

The bottom line is, that it's absolutely nothing to do with anyone on here, that Rovers will put out their worst team at Old Trafford tomorrow, for a long, long time. Midfield especially.

It's the manager, players and owners who have the real influence on results, not the fans.

[incecticide]

woe woe and thrice woe - what a bunch of pussies. The thing that will take us down (and I agree it's a very real possibility) is the negative garbage spouted on here. It's infectious. Start saying out loud that we are going to fail and we will. Isn't the crowd supposed to be the extra man. Look at the past few seasons, teams that were dead and buried survived not because bad players suddenly became good players they simply remembered how to be positive and aggressive. That came from the managers and the crowd. We now have a good manager, but we don't have a good crowd and we need one badly. Keep on talking this negative sh*t and breathing our own fumes and it will be a self fulfilling prophecy. Save the girly no backbone stuff until the close season and in the meantime get on to the Blackburn End and try to remember how to sing - especially when the going gets tough.

Can't agree with anything you've said there... I for one am a season ticket holder sat in the pocket of fans who DO still stand and sing in the BB End, whether we're winning or losing. I'll back the players and sing my heart out from minute 1 to 90, but I reserve the right to express my frustrations on here when we're still bottom 3 and look likely to go down. Fans can speculate about who's better than who all day long, but unless we start winning games against whichever team we come up against, we're going to get relegated, and that's the cold, hard truth of the matter. At the moment we're statistically better than two teams in the league, and that might not be true in just over 24 hours unless our boys pull their socks up.

The idea that "the negative garbage spouted on here" is what will relegate us is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on here. If that were the case then by the same token Newcastle "Sack The Board" United should've been relegated a long, long time ago and Hull should be winning the league.

[CAPT KAYOS]

To a point. It is very important though, but not as important as being talented in the first place.

It's talent and application from the players that win games Timmy, not the posters on here.

As for the old discussion of whether the crowd lifts the team, or vice versa, - well it takes a bit of both. The crowd could do more I agree. The Blackburn end in particular has been deathly quiet of late. - but - the fans in general have been served an absolutely woeful mix of negative, uninspirational football for a long time now. It had got, for many people, not the exciting day out it can be. Plenty of fans had got to the point where they really weren't looking forward to their football any more - me included.

The bottom line is, that it's absolutely nothing to do with anyone on here, that Rovers will put out their worst team at Old Trafford tomorrow, for a long, long time. Midfield especially.

It's the manager, players and owners who have the real influence on results, not the fans.

Totally agree den - however I just have the canny (looney) feeling we are going to get something out of the UTD match.

ozziejones Posted Today, 12:06

QUOTE (roversmum @ Feb 20 2009, 09:58 )

I was looking for a cure in respect to motivating the current bunch in order to get us out of trouble

Like the chance to play in Cup Semi/Final at Wembley?

indeed oj - at last somebody else on the same wavelength as me and Abbey

[Alan75]

The fans in general have been served an absolutely woeful mix of negative, uninspirational football for a long time now. It had got, for many people, not the exciting day out it can be. Plenty of fans had got to the point where they really weren't looking forward to their football any more - me included.

It's the manager, players and owners who have the real influence on results, not the fans.

Agree fully, as den states, this has been going on for some time, way before Sam and Ince.

I made a consious decision last year, after 30 years not to renew my season ticket. It was nothing to do with cost it was

more so that the players did not show any commitment.

[MCMC1875]

indeed oj - at last somebody else on the same wavelength as me and Abbey

and me!

[roversmum]

A good clear out in the summer Mum - always does the trick!

Why wait? On my way with the senna pods now...

[CrazyIvan]

Why wait? On my way with the senna pods now...

Ex-Lax United?

[Wolverine]

Interestingly SSN have done their own end of season predictions based on current form.

They had Stoke, Middlesboro and Portsmouth in the bottom three.

We were very comfortable finishing in 12 place.

I tried the premier league predictor on BBC and came up with almost the same situation, except Stoke instead of Portsmouth went down.

Our run in is difficult and if we get relegated, it will be deserved. However it is not the impossible task it seems to be referred to as so often.

The players and the fans need to show how much we want to stay in the top flight.

[incecticide]

However it is not the impossible task it seems to be referred to as so often.

The players and the fans need to show how much we want to stay in the top flight.

Of course we want it, but the recent argument centres around how likely we are to stay up - the confusing optimism of some vs the realism of others - the fact is that although not impossible, our run-in sees us face far superior teams than those we've struggled against recently. We are playing better than we were - we're creating chances and conceding less, but those chances aren't being converted. Unless something changes, we're going down, and my question still stands - what have the optimistic few on here seen that suggests something WILL change?