[Archived] The Dawn Of A New Era

[dave birch]

Be a bloody boring place to be if there were no messages except totally researched accurate ones. On here is like bar room speculation, one needs to sift through and seperate the wheat from the chaff. Problems only occur when gullible people place too much store in everything they read.

As for posting info etc many will have been made aware recently of the threat of legal action toward anybody posting damaging or potentially libelous stuff about the new owners and their associates (whoever they might be) . Hence a certain reluctance to name sources etc. Apparently one can only hint vaguely now. This is definitely not something that we have been used to in this country. It's a new and imo distasteful experience. Supporters messageboards are a large part of football nowadays and heavy handed threats and censorship smacks of a third world mentality with more than a whiff of dishonesty and distrust.

The result is as Glenn suggested recently, that we have to be careful how we dance down the right side of the line.

Gordon, we know that kind of threat has already happened. It wasn't from the "third world" it was from a club in the midlands (iirc) to one of its own fans.

[Mercer]

What the hell can we do about it?

Force them out or just moan about it ad infinitum.

If we did force them out then what? Who would they sell to?

Just get behind them FFS

BuckyRover - I did at the Bridge on Saturday; is that positive enough ?

[jim mk2]

Just listened to the Sunday Supplement tape for the first time and I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

Three leading football journalists with contacts throughout the game who know what has happened at the club and expressing the same sort of fears over the club's future as many Rovers supporters.

The throwaway line at the end about "back in the championship in front of 10,000" was unnecessary but not offensive.

Some people on here are too sensitive to criticism. They also need to wake up and listen to what those guys are saying.

[roversmum]

Do we have to keep going round in circles?

The title of this thread suggests The Dawn of a New Era. There will be change. Staff positions in the club will be looked at, what their job is, is the job being done effectively etc etc. Anyone acquiring a business would do the same. Whether it be through lack of funding to put plans through, some may have been in the comfort zone and could be uncomfortable due to this. If they are genuinely worried about job loss then they should be seeking professional advice about their rights and dues.

We have discussed Sam until blue in the face rather than it being in the shirt. There allegedly are plans for pre-season tours and a tournament, apart from other issues could Sam's health have coped with that?

It may make people feel superior to keep on about Kean (allegedly) going behind Sam's back but is that actually doing any good?

We know the PR has been shocking, but slowly positives are coming through in many directions.

No-one knows the extent of the Rao family's wealth except them. But one thing is clear, they are the owners of Blackburn Rovers and any amount of carping is not going to change that. Give them a chance.

[thenodrog]

Just listened to the Sunday Supplement tape for the first time and I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

Three leading football journalists with contacts throughout the game who know what has happened at the club and expressing the same sort of fears over the club's future as many Rovers supporters.

The throwaway line at the end about "back in the championship in front of 10,000" was unnecessary but not offensive.

Some people on here are too sensitive to criticism. They also need to wake up and listen to what those guys are saying.

Tape? Whats a 'tape'?

[Parsonblue]

Why am I underwhelmed by Philip L. at the moment?

I think his desire to be proved right has overtaken his desire to support BRFC.

My love is unconditional. Who is wrong?

I suspect that neither of you are wrong. Phillpl's love of the club is long standing and if he really believes that the present situation threatens the club he loves he is right to express his opinions.

My love for the club is unconditional but that does not mean that I have to love the way in which the new owners have handled affairs thus far.

As the title of this thread implies - it is the dawn of a new era. We are at the start of a journey. Nobody knows if it will end successfully or not. Some posters have greeted Venkys as if we have found some long lost El Dorado, others, like phillipl, have grave concerns about the way in which the club is going.

In truth, I don't think we will know for sure if this is going to be a success or not until well down the line. Indeed, I would think it might be eighteen months or more before we know if the new owners are capable of sustaining the Rovers in the top half of the Premier League, let alone challenging for Europe.

Venkys are at the start of a steep learning curve and their actions thus far suggest that they have much to learn about how the media works in this country. Sadly, the way in which the previous management team were removed and replaced has split opinion amongst supporters at a time when unity would be helpful. However, what's done is done and the owners and manager will need to set about winning over those supporters who have been alienated by events of recent weeks.

Personally, I take the view that managers, owners and players come and go. It's the club I support and my support for that remains unconditional. However, that is not the same as supporting owners, managers or specific players - that support has to be won by their actions on and off the field.

[thenodrog]

Why am I underwhelmed by Philip L. at the moment?

My love is unconditional. Who is wrong?

I guess he must not love you as much as you love him. Move on mhead I'm sure you'll find somebody else.

[thenodrog]

Just get behind them FFS

Not bloody likely! I'm willing to ride alongside for a time before I'd rely on your brand of blind faith .

[cruz]

As for the way Rovers are treated, ever since Jack we have been fair game to be patronised and belittled by the media.

It took 15 years before every TV report about us stopped being started with the hovis songs and tales of cobbled streets

[BuckyRover]

Not bloody likely! I'm willing to ride alongside for a time before I'd rely on your brand of blind faith .

I would say there

[thenodrog]

It took 15 years before every TV report about us stopped being started with the hovis songs and tales of cobbled streets

Thats cos the setts and tram lines behind the old Blackburn End were every directors dream shot.

[Paul]

Gordon, we know that kind of threat has already happened. It wasn't from the "third world" it was from a club in the midlands (iirc) to one of its own fans.

Coventry City

[BuckyRover]

Not bloody likely! I'm willing to ride alongside for a time before I'd rely on your brand of blind faith .

I would say there is more chance of Ed Miliband becoming PM this week than there is of you cheering Indian people. I think you have made that pretty clear over the years.

Calling the residents of the entire Indian nation untrustworthy slumdogs sort of gave your position away.

[dave birch]

Thank you Paul. Hardly "third world", but the point about saying the wrong thing remains, albeit closer to home and in the same jurisdiction.

[mhead]

Do you know I can remember watching BBC2 telling me we had signed Roy Keane. And then the next day Alex F pinched him from under our noses....and allegedly our Club Secretary had not filed the documents!!

And this led to someone leaving the Club.

The moral was that that incident happened under the Uncle Jack era, and followed shortly after him removing good old Don McKay(Full Members Cup,Colin Hendry for 35k etc). New regimes mean change and do result in mistakes. And maybe none bigger than not signing Roy Keane thru admin slowness.

However,the Uncle Jack regime did not take place under the microscopic gaze of some BRFCS members or the withering cynicism of Gordon.

[cruz]

Thats cos the setts and tram lines behind the old Blackburn End were every directors dream shot.

Even though they had been dug up for a decade they still mentioned cloth caps, whippets, smog and played the hovis tune.

Some even referred to Blackburn as a mining town

Don McKay(Full Members Cup,Colin Hendry for 35k etc).

Super Atko for £45k too. Though TP deserves the credit for turning him from a shaky right back into a midfield dynamo who chipped in with plenty of important goals

[TimmyJimmy]

What the hell can we do about it?

Force them out or just moan about it ad infinitum.

For some reason I'm reminded of Burke "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". And no, I'm not suggesting Venkys are evil before you get on your high horse again.

You remind me of the guy falling off a skyscraper roof and on passing each window was heard to be saying "so far so good".

What's the point of looking the other way and demanding that everything is 'fact'. If you had told me something in confidence and I had disclosed it on a message board because I was challenged to state 'fact' how would you feel. What if you got fired because of it how would you feel. Philip has revealed a lot that is fact it's just not always possible to disclose sources.

Surely if everything was as rosy as you maintain then why would anybody hear anything from 'behind the scenes'? Wouldn't everything be quiet and tranquil?

Stuff is happening, Philip knows it, I know it, several others know it on here, clearly you don't - but that's just the way it is, why not be a little more trusting and even interested in what may be going on in your club?

Everything heard about has a probability of being followed through to completion - but who's to say what the percentage chance actually is. Things are posted on here in good faith, if there's an 80% chance of the information being correct then that means there's a 20% chance of it not being correct, that's life. It doesn't mean that someone hasn't said something, stuff just gets changed at the last minute for a variety of reasons. Circumstances change, people are persuaded to act otherwise etc., etc..

If enough people are shouting 'fire' then there's a fair possibility that there's a fire, you could always sit it out I suppose and find out after the event. Journos are notoriously lax with their facts but if they're all saying something similar then maybe there's a grain of truth in there somewhere.

For my part I sense something highly negative in the offing. No it's not 'fact' because it hasn't happened yet, but I have been told in confidence and I'm 90% certain therefore that it will happen - but then again I'm not pulling the levers so I can't make it happen. Can I say more - no - what's the time frame - maybe by the end of the transfer window - how will you know if I am right or wrong - either way I'll post something at the end of the window. I don't fear looking bad and I refuse to look the other way.

In the mean time give this naive stuff a rest will you and stop continually disrespecting posters of good intent.

[BuckyRover]

Post it now. Let the cat out if the bag. Let us all join your clique and put me in my place.

Thanks for explaining Pareto's law for me, I'm not quite sure it can be applied to conjecture but I get what you are trying to say.

[Exiled in Toronto]

For some reason I'm reminded of Burke "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". And no, I'm not suggesting Venkys are evil before you get on your high horse again.

You remind me of the guy falling off a skyscraper roof and on passing each window was heard to be saying "so far so good".

What's the point of looking the other way and demanding that everything is 'fact'. If you had told me something in confidence and I had disclosed it on a message board because I was challenged to state 'fact' how would you feel. What if you got fired because of it how would you feel. Philip has revealed a lot that is fact it's just not always possible to disclose sources.

Surely if everything was as rosy as you maintain then why would anybody hear anything from 'behind the scenes'? Wouldn't everything be quiet and tranquil?

Stuff is happening, Philip knows it, I know it, several others know it on here, clearly you don't - but that's just the way it is, why not be a little more trusting and even interested in what may be going on in your club?

Everything heard about has a probability of being followed through to completion - but who's to say what the percentage chance actually is. Things are posted on here in good faith, if there's an 80% chance of the information being correct then that means there's a 20% chance of it not being correct, that's life. It doesn't mean that someone hasn't said something, stuff just gets changed at the last minute for a variety of reasons. Circumstances change, people are persuaded to act otherwise etc., etc..

If enough people are shouting 'fire' then there's a fair possibility that there's a fire, you could always sit it out I suppose and find out after the event. Journos are notoriously lax with their facts but if they're all saying something similar then maybe there's a grain of truth in there somewhere.

For my part I sense something highly negative in the offing. No it's not 'fact' because it hasn't happened yet, but I have been told in confidence and I'm 90% certain therefore that it will happen - but then again I'm not pulling the levers so I can't make it happen. Can I say more - no - what's the time frame - maybe by the end of the transfer window - how will you know if I am right or wrong - either way I'll post something at the end of the window. I don't fear looking bad and I refuse to look the other way.

In the mean time give this naive stuff a rest will you and stop continually disrespecting posters of good intent.

But what is the point of posting "Something bad is going to happen"? What do you expect us all to do? Run around shouting "Something bad is going to happen"?

The title of the thread is "Dawn of a new era" which it most definitely is. Stuff will happen, good and bad. It was never going to stay the same - it couldn't. The club was and is chronically and structually unprofitable. We built up a 20 million debt while selling our best players. No-one would pay 40 million for us and not change anything.

The old governance structure was designed to suit the old regime and old management style. Williams will go sooner or later because his role is redundant. Costs will be cut because we were and are losing money despite tv fees going up an average of 10%/year for the last few years. People will lose their jobs, maybe the people feeding you info. These things happen in all takeovers.

This was not a hostile takeover remember. The Trust walked away. They knew full well that the new owners were entitled to do anything they wanted after buying the club, apart from what was committed to in the sale agreement.

[XLM]

The annoying thing is, it's all just something bad. There's no quantification.

What you see as bad may well not seem bad to me. The same for everybody and some people take the rumour as fact that something bad is going to happen and they assume the worst, whatever their worst is. And if enough people repeat it, it gets passed on as fact.

Unless the rumour can be quanitified or expanded upon then it's probably best to just not bother saying it at all.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Poster: "Heard rumblings of something bad going on behind the scenes".

Next day:

Poster: "Heard rumblings of something bad going on behind the scenes".

The following day:

Poster: "Heard rumblings of something bad going on behind the scenes".

And so on...

Am I the only one who is getting sick of this?

Even if all these rumours are true and we are doomed what can we do about it? The vast majority of us aren’t involved in any part of the decision making process at Rovers; the new owners have paid for the club and can do more or less whatever they like whenever they like.

[J*B]

I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing "I know something you don't". The only person who can pull it off is Nicko, simply because he's obviously respected enough and has enough sources to work for a national newspaper. Unfortunately, unless people are going to post what they've heard, or what they believe, I'm considering it bull****.

[BuckyRover]

Yet we get stick for not saying:

"I completely trust you guys, you have not proven that you are in the know previously, but I'm going to believe everything that you post on a messageboard, you don't even need to provide facts".

So much so that not believing this and not being negative means that I'm burying my head in the sand?

It doesn't even make any sense.

[Amo]

The problem with that is that many of the club's own supporters are expressing similiar opinions about how Sam lost his job. In the same way that Sam divided opinion amongst supporters, so too have Kean and Venkys.

Funny how next to no one is making the same libel against 'King Kenny' and the way he coveted Hodgson's job.

[NookRover]

Not questioning anyones passion or love for the club but if these things that are going on behind the scenes are that bad, and appear to have serious consequences for our club let's hear what they are! Surely if they are a threat to us you want as many people to know as soon as possible in order to try and stop them happening or allowing us to voice our united concern over them! Spill the beans and we can gather our collective strength. Otherwise what's the point in telling us the sky's falling in?