[Archived] BIG SAM GONE

[bazza]

I will leave that until it comes out [hopefully] in the paper.

Not sure what 'role' these people have in mind for the chap.

That's why I hesitate on saying he is seen as a manager or just a leading role.

Oh No!! It's Sepp Blatter.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

I have just woken up to this. I'm stunned and feel such a fool to have desperately wanted this take over. We are just about to get what Newcastle got only we wont be back.

Good luck Sam, you didn't desrve that.

We are f****d.

[tony gale's mic]

Oh No!! It's Sepp Blatter.

Well if Qatar can get the 2022 World Cup then Blackburn can get 2030 IMO. Final at Ewood, group matches at Witton Park and Corporation Park.

Look forward to it.

[thenodrog]

Ok, so its a big shock. We were in safe hands with Sam, that much is true. My main concern is how quickly this has happened, and how its completely anti John Williams usual style. It suggests that our Chairman no longer has any clout at our football club. Losing him would be a real blow. Sam is replaceable, I'm not sure what we our club would look like without JW.

Having said all of this, I'm excited. Atleast something is happening at our football club. Sam would have kept us comfortably between 17th and 10th. But what's the point in that? Our club finally has the cards to be able to twist, so lets give it a go. Its easy to look at Portsmouth et al and say this could ruin us, but Portsmouth also had a day out at Wembley, and won the FA Cup. I would be willing to risk some bad times in order to have a few good times like that.

Up until now, since promotion, we've been the very definition of Premier League mediocrity. Hence the contempt some of our fans feel. It looks like we're now in for a bit of a ride. I might even take my belt off.

Carling Cup? Semi Finals? Europe? Careful what youn wish for T4E.... Every other hand that you twist you bust!

[Dan]

I'm not a huge fan of Sam. However, I completely disagree with his sacking. Things had started to look up lately, in the way we have been playing. Mixing it up a bit more, rather than all percentage football. We were safe with Sam and steadily moving up the table. I want nice football, but at the end of the day staying up us more important.

I would have given him to the summer, it's a risky time to make big changes. A manager has to come in from fresh now and won't have any time to settle. If we'd done this straight after the season had finished the new manager would have a preseason to prepare. He will have to hit the ground running and get to know the players quickly. A slow start and we'll rapidly slide down the table.

I just hope we make a positive appointment, some of the names mentioned are no better than Sam. It's worrying, though exciting. It's going to began interesting month that's for sure!

[thenodrog]

Only Newcastle bounced back after relegation...

Thats only cos Mike Ashley has much more financial clout than our slumdogs.

[blue_and_white]

Ok, so its a big shock. We were in safe hands with Sam, that much is true. My main concern is how quickly this has happened, and how its completely anti John Williams usual style. It suggests that our Chairman no longer has any clout at our football club. Losing him would be a real blow. Sam is replaceable, I'm not sure what we our club would look like without JW.

Having said all of this, I'm excited. Atleast something is happening at our football club. Sam would have kept us comfortably between 17th and 10th. But what's the point in that? Our club finally has the cards to be able to twist, so lets give it a go. Its easy to look at Portsmouth et al and say this could ruin us, but Portsmouth also had a day out at Wembley, and won the FA Cup. I would be willing to risk some bad times in order to have a few good times like that.

Up until now, since promotion, we've been the very definition of Premier League mediocrity. Hence the contempt some of our fans feel. It looks like we're now in for a bit of a ride. I might even take my belt off.

Any "fan" who feels contempt at 3 top 7 finishes, 6 top half finishes, 1 cup win, 4 european campaigns and 4 cup semi-finals is utterly deluded as to size of this club. What would Bradford, Southampton, Sheff Wednesday, Charlton etc have given to experience what Rovers fans have the last decade? They'd have had their seat belts off the whole time instead of always moaning that theres something we should be doing better. Thats the problem with a lot of Rovers fans and thats the problem with Venkys sacking a perfectly competent manager like Sam. Football is a merry-go-round and sooner or later we'll replace those big clubs I mentioned down in the lower reaches. Then fans will look back on the age of Souness/Hughes/Allardyce fondly and wonder why the hell our idiot owners ever sacked one of them.

[bazza]

Shocked and gutted when I heard the news. It's all been said before on this thread. Sorry to see Sam go. All the best, BFS. I'm curious about the future unfolding before us.

However I am seriously worried about the Venkys' ways of doing things. Their PR is atrocious. They MUST have someone over here (JW is the right person) to give press conferences to pass on the correct information. They owe it to the Rovers' fans and the general public of Britain.

They have kept secret re the new ownership and now re the sacking of Big Sam.

Venkys, this is NOT the way to do things in Britain!! Communicate with us ffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :brfc:

[Kremmin]

Absolutely disgusted by this decision. Don't care who comes in. To sack Sam and for the reasons they have is not just wrong but plain stupid business. We've just jumped on a snake rather than a ladder and it might well end in the bottom three. Sam saved our bacon a couple of years back and after a fair amount of hoof ball, we'd actually started playing some reasonable football in recent times. I had every confidence of a top ten finish and relegation was not an issue. All that has now changed. A very sad day for the club. Good luck Sam, you deserved better. Hope you remember most of your time with us fondly. Good luck John Williams, you'll probably be next.

[Philvis]

Quite worried about this, I won't particularly miss the style of play, but the reasons for the sacking are ominous.

It sounds like the concerns about Kentaro's influence were valid. We now have football agents running our transfer policy. You'd think that Venkys, more than anyone, would know not to give foxes the keys to the hen house.

I can't imagine what calibre of replacement we'd get with no control over what squad he ends up with.

[T4E]

Carling Cup? Semi Finals? Europe? Careful what youn wish for T4E.... Every other hand that you twist you bust!

I'm honestly not bothered Gord. There's more to life than football. It's supposed to be a past time, a hobby. Fun. Not a chore. We won the Carling Cup in a different era. Europe again would be great, but I couldn't see it happening under Sam. Not the way he surrendered certain games before they'd even started. Not with his selective ambition. Even if we got in, we wouldn't look to win it. We'd play a weakened team and moan about the fixture pile up. What's the point?

Venkys say they're ambitious. Makes a nice change. I'm interested in seeing what they've got. If it goes pear shaped then so be it, there's nothing any of us can do about it.

For the first time in absolutely ages, we're going to go in to a transfer window being linked with some decent players, with a new sense of ambition and a brand new philosophy on the way forward. I welcome it. If ever a club needed a shake up, it's Rovers.

[Pugg]

So much for them wanting to continue with us being a family club with good morals.

[Gav]

I'm honestly not bothered Gord. There's more to life than football. It's supposed to be a past time, a hobby. Fun. Not a chore. We won the Carling Cup in a different era. Europe again would be great, but I couldn't see it happening under Sam. Not the way he surrendered certain games before they'd even started. Not with his selective ambition. Even if we got in, we wouldn't look to win it. We'd play a weakened team and moan about the fixture pile up. What's the point?

Venkys say they're ambitious. Makes a nice change. I'm interested in seeing what they've got. If it goes pear shaped then so be it, there's nothing any of us can do about it.

For the first time in absolutely ages, we're going to go in to a transfer window being linked with some decent players, with a new sense of ambition and a brand new philosophy on the way forward. I welcome it. If ever a club needed a shake up, it's Rovers.

Spot on.

[AspRover]

This whole thing is just bizarre!

I can't make sense of it at all to be honest. One thing you have to say is that there is no way that Venky's can claim the Sam was sacked for incompetence - like his methods or not he was solid to say the least. I also don't believe that they would know enough about football to decide that his style was 'too negative' (without being patronising, they're very inexperienced anyway). Also it suggests they have someone lined up to take over straight away.

I can only see this as being either to appease kentaro, I.e. to appoint a puppet who will pick and play their players, or to make a media splash to raise the profile internationally.

The names being banded around I can't see - O'neil or Jol don't fit either criteria. Shearer only makes sense because he played for us, and I think that this whole move proves that loyalty is not something these guys are particularly bothered about. I suspect that these represent the media basically having a guess based on who's currently available.

I fear we may see an unknown executive from kentaro, or a mental 'big splash' on someone like Beckham to make headlines around the world...

Neither option fills me with confidence.

I may be wrong though - fingers crossed.

(have to say, really badly handled all round so far - also, I wonder what the future holds for JW, and what he made of the whole thing)

[thenodrog]

Wont like it if we help West Ham stay up now.

Every cloud can have a silver lining. First thing WHU should do is appoint Allardyce. Spookily it's just 2 days from the second anniversary of us sacking Ince. Allardyce would need an amount of positive PR for a perceived northener to be accepted down there but their squad is easily good enough to respond to better management and get themselves out of trouble and up the table. A good season or two there and he's bang in the frame for the England job and easily more so than if he'd stayed here. I feel the future will turn out much brighter for him than us. I'm beginning to think that I've more in common with the porn brothers than this lot...... if you know what I mean.

[Claytons Left Boot]

The Lancashire Telegraph's online site hasn't been updated since very early evening but, as expected, there will be an 'exclusive Venky's interview' tomorrow. Might just buy a copy.

[brian_gallagher85]

Venkys, this is NOT the way to do things in Britain!! Communicate with us ffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :brfc:

Since when have any other club told the fans about the in depth running of their club before making it official? Also we're one of the only clubs in the Premier League not to have made a "snap" decision regarding our managers up until today.

[Mattyblue]

What new philosophy is this T4E? Ignoring the manager's wishes on players and replacing them with the Kentaro portfolio?

Your post was beyond niave.

[John]

Sacked Allardyce deserved better

It is a gamble from the Rao family to sack a manager with Allardyce's pedigree, and one they will presumably have measured carefully, but the new men at the top at Ewood Park might need to learn to walk in the Premier League before they run.

The private thoughts of Blackburn's measured and highly-respected chairman John Williams might also be revealing, as the decision to sack a manager who has steadied a club that was heading for the Championship before his arrival hardly squares with the Rovers chief's publicly stated desire for "important stability" as the new Ewood era got under way.

Former Blackburn Rovers midfield man and BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Robbie Savage said: "I know the chairman John Williams well but it's obviously the owners who have made this decision. Sam was doing a good job, what do people expect? He will be very disappointed."

It is a mood reflected by Blackburn's players, with captain Ryan Nelsen "absolutely gutted" by the decision as he hailed Allardyce's "unbelievable job".

[deryck guyler's spoon]

I'm honestly not bothered Gord. There's more to life than football. It's supposed to be a past time, a hobby. Fun. Not a chore. We won the Carling Cup in a different era. Europe again would be great, but I couldn't see it happening under Sam. Not the way he surrendered certain games before they'd even started. Not with his selective ambition. Even if we got in, we wouldn't look to win it. We'd play a weakened team and moan about the fixture pile up. What's the point?

Venkys say they're ambitious. Makes a nice change. I'm interested in seeing what they've got. If it goes pear shaped then so be it, there's nothing any of us can do about it.

For the first time in absolutely ages, we're going to go in to a transfer window being linked with some decent players, with a new sense of ambition and a brand new philosophy on the way forward. I welcome it. If ever a club needed a shake up, it's Rovers.

Continuity and stability are what make Man Utd and Arsenal successful football clubs, sacking effective managers at a whim is what makes Newcastle a joke. The difference between us and Newcastle is 30,000 per home game and an owner with deep pockets.

Venkys are treating us like a shiny new toy and have acted at haste because it hasn't been as much fun as they expected so far. We the supporters will be repenting for many years to come I fear.

[Jim Royle]

Sad day, it wasn't pretty but their was development going on, youngsters being bloodied for the first time in years. We had an identity, we were a little club with no money that outperformed many other bigger and richer clubs.

We were fairly ugly, but the media hated us and stereotyped everything we did.

Now we may be coming into money but we have lost that identity. When Jack came in it was different - he was local now we are have no soul - we are a poor mans Man City, the club could be based anywhere now.

So what now, a journey man manager:

Jol - we used to laugh at the overspending underperforming spurs team he managed

ONeill - Big Sam but with money and perhaps even more cock sure of himself

please not Shearer - and that is what I fear that the PR centred Kentaro might be driving for

then their is the rest of footballs merry go round.

We've gone from safe hands to Darren Collier

[mattyc2422]

Well, this has come as a shock. I like Sam as a bloke and whilst I wasn't a huge fan of his tactics, I thought he did a decent job. Not surprised to see him go, but surprised at the timing and the ruthlessness of the move.

I do wonder what impact this might have on the playing group. Most of the players seemed to have a quality relationship with Sam.

Keen to see who the owners have lined up. Jol?

Maaarten, whoa-oh-oh!

He comes from Amsterdam

He's better than Fat Sam!

[Iceman]

and we laughed at Newcastle, but look what has happened.

Nicko, just say who the guy is that was mentioned as the next manager. You were laughing, but at least let us cry.

never in my life, did i think we would drop to this level of doing things. We always did things in a respectable manner, and then we have these clowns doing what they did.

Venkys out!

[Majiball]

and we laughed at Newcastle, but look what has happened.

We're not as bad as them, they do it for fun up there.

[Torgeir]

New owners, new way of running things. Big Sam obviously didn't enjoy something he never had taken away from him. Let's face it, he never could choose who to sign, we never had any money.

I can live with Sam gone in the long run, and although the timing is pretty laughable, I fear now that John Williams will be departing the club fairly shortly as well - and the signs that he has no real 'power' any more is worrying to say the least. He has kept this club grounded for many years now, I hope he stays.