[Archived] The Dawn Of A New Era

[Mattyblue]

Nothing and noone could keep me away from Ewood, Bill Fox, the Trust, Venky's all had/have faults and if the worst came to pass I'd be in the ground demonstrating.

However, on the ground and with friends I have not heard that much out and out rebellion. A lot of grumbling yes, but the summer will be key on two fronts- season ticket prices and player purchases, get those wrong and we will have a problem.

[PAFELL]

Nothing and noone could keep me away from Ewood, Bill Fox, the Trust, Venky's all had/have faults and if the worst came to pass I'd be in the ground demonstrating.

However, on the ground and with friends I have not heard that much out and out rebellion. A lot of grumbling yes, but the summer will be key on two fronts- season ticket prices and player purchases, get those wrong and we will have a problem.

Season ticket prices are bound to go up. Maybe more than under the Trustees. After all they have been kept lower than other clubs for awhile. It would not surprise me if they were to end up being the same as other premiership clubs.

[Guest linganzi]

I did not realise there were such caveats to supporting your team? I for one believe your card is dealt and you support them whatever . Through thick and thin.

Then I will get it in perspective, I won't get bogged down with moral issues, its just a,game.

[JAL]

Infuriating to read this when the tyrany of distance prevents me from attending games and backing the club. However, having had read your posts on here, I doubt that you would be missed if a marquee signing dosn't tempt you.

The key in this is what happens during the summer as there are a lot of unhappy bunny's here in Blackburn, Lancashire, regarding Rovers stock in the community.

Regarding Marquee signing dont make me laugh Steve Kean and a top top class footballer sorry, but the two dont go together.

[thenodrog]

Infuriating to read this when the tyrany of distance prevents me from attending games and backing the club. However, having had read your posts on here, I doubt that you would be missed if a marquee signing dosn't tempt you.

You could have just left it it at that TBH

For some us who will probably, never in my lifetime, get to see Rovers at Ewood due to distance and cost I find it absolutely amazing that a "lifelong fan" would not go if they had the chance let alone stay to the end of a game a support the team.

Think yourselves bloody lucky that you get to see a decent level of football at all let alone your local team in the friggin Premier League!

You think the current ownership and manager are turning your head away, I can think of a dozen combinations that would be a lot worse.

Tell you what..... How about you two chipping in with 33% each for the cost of my season ticket. You'd gat a warm glow from supporting your club in a tiny way and I'd definitely get one then.

How about you JAL?

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Tell you what..... How about you two chipping in with 33% each for the cost of my season ticket. You'd gat a warm glow from supporting your club in a tiny way and I'd definitely get one then.

How about you JAL?

Why do you need my brass? I thought you had three bogs and an accountant? Have you fallen on hard times?

[67splitscreen]

Found this on another MB, the poster is a friend of the writer, he has a weekly column in the Accrington Observer.

All good stuff but one paragraph seems to back up some of the claims made by the .alleged scaremongers on here.

An error in the points gained also in the last four games, so I guess we must discredit the whole article.

Highlighted the paragraph.

"My thoughts go out this week to a bunch of Southend United supporters who, having journeyed 260 miles to find that their game at Stanley was shamefully called off at a preposterously late hour,rather than cut their losses with a couple of beers, diverted their coaches a few miles down the M65 to Ewood Park.

At least they were admitted for a reduced price after some negotiations because the fayre that was served up must have had them wishing they had stopped in the Crown and watched Jeff Stelling and co or gone to watch a Combination match on Wilsons.

Thankfully Newcastle were as inept in our penalty area as we were in theirs and every other conceivable area of the field. Rovers fans could have happily walked off after ten minutes and not missed a single hint of a coherent, constructive move.

How ironic that the Geordies scored after only two minutes of their game at Birmingham on Tuesday – neither side would have broken the deadlock had they played until midnight last Saturday.

Steve Kean has introduced a new, monumentally meaningless stat to a game already over-bombarded with them – be honest, when was the last time you and your mates enthused in the pub about anyone's "pass completion rate" or your manager's "win percentage"? – but even he was not able to trot out nonsense about "entries into the opposition penalty area" or any other tosh to justify a maladroit display.

His poor tactical selection saw a clumsy attempt at a diamond formation which proved beyond the capabilities of a half-fit N'Zonzi, a Hoilett whose lack of strength means his role needs to be wider, a Jermaine Jones yet to convince and a much-loved but waning Dunny whose career is in its Autumn.

Only when Emerton was introduced in a more orthodox four did the ageing Michel Salgado get some overdue and much-needed assistance attempting to contain the marauding duo Enrique and Gutierrez, supplied by a midfield trio of Barton, Nolan and Tiotte who were made to resemble Xavi, Iniesta and Pedro by our duffers.

As Kean rightly pointed out however, a clean sheet and a point is something tangible from a dismal performance, particularly as practically everyone else in the bottom half, Wolves and Everton excepted, also picked up at least a draw.

As is the way of things these days, the squad is "rewarded" for recent achievements (one point out of 12 and getting hoofed out of the FA Cup) with a trip to Dubai.

Here we are told the "integration into the group" (how did we manage before we imported American corporate bonding gobbledegook?) of Mauro Formica and Ruben Rochina will be completed before they are ready to be unleashed upon Aston Villa next week.

One hopes the poor lads are beginning to feel less manifestly displaced and disorientated than they were in the Players' Lounge after the Spurs match when they could not have looked any more confused or ill-at-ease had they found themselves requested at gunpoint to do a song-and-dance routine at an Outer Mongolian Yak farmer's wedding.

A contribution from the Latino pair would be very welcome, not least as in conversation with a football agent this week on an unrelated and more mundane matter, he let slip that it was common knowledge in his profession that Rovers' outlay on Agents' fees in the month of January ran to several million pounds, far more than the transfer fees paid out in the window.

While some of this lavish expense was for both deals that did and didn't happen, it has caused jaws to drop even among seasoned players' representatives.

I rather suspect too that Rovers aren't currently using that many different agents. All the more reason to hope that Mrs Desai's pledge that Kentaro/SEN will play a diminished role is honoured!

Having newly-bottomless pockets is one thing. Having your pants pulled down quite another.

No-one will be displeased that star turn Phil Jones has extended his contract by a further year, and we hope to see him back in the first team featuring soon. At least Rovers are assured of a hefty fee if he, or someone acting for him, does have an Andy Carroll-like change of heart.

BLUE-EYED BOY"

[Kelbo]

Good article and quite revealing as it does endorse some of the things Philip was saying, thing that gets me, why do players bother with agents, they could get quite a few bob more out of the game without them, all they need is half a brain.

[patrickvalery]

all they need is half a brain.

Guess thats the tricky bit though Kelbo.

[JAL]

Tell you what..... How about you two chipping in with 33% each for the cost of my season ticket. You'd gat a warm glow from supporting your club in a tiny way and I'd definitely get one then.

How about you JAL?

Very Interesting Thenodrog, you could have started something here. For MY 33% stake in your support, will you be OK with me in drawing up a contract of must do's for your good self to achieve, consistantly, I might add, through the season.

If so i'll be more than happy to sponsor you for this amount, provided you meet the requirements drawn up JAL.

[Mercer]

A contribution from the Latino pair would be very welcome, not least as in conversation with a football agent this week on an unrelated and more mundane matter, he let slip that it was common knowledge in his profession that Rovers' outlay on Agents' fees in the month of January ran to several million pounds, far more than the transfer fees paid out in the window.While some of this lavish expense was for both deals that did and didn't happen, it has caused jaws to drop even among seasoned players' representatives.

I rather suspect too that Rovers aren't currently using that many different agents. All the more reason to hope that Mrs Desai's pledge that Kentaro/SEN will play a diminished role is honoured!

Not surprising at all. If JW had been functioning as 'normal', I'm quite sure that huge money in fees would have been saved. I'm certain every Rovers' supporter would rather have seen those monies invested in the team. If this is correct, IMO, we aint got a lot to show for it from the window and it represents a very sad state of affairs.

[deftangel]

A contribution from the Latino pair would be very welcome, not least as in conversation with a football agent this week on an unrelated and more mundane matter, he let slip that it was common knowledge in his profession that Rovers' outlay on Agents' fees in the month of January ran to several million pounds, far more than the transfer fees paid out in the window.

While some of this lavish expense was for both deals that did and didn't happen, it has caused jaws to drop even among seasoned players' representatives.

I rather suspect too that Rovers aren't currently using that many different agents. All the more reason to hope that Mrs Desai's pledge that Kentaro/SEN will play a diminished role is honoured!

Having newly-bottomless pockets is one thing. Having your pants pulled down quite another.

That's an interesting comment given where it came from although presumably with at least half a dozen of the players getting new deals that's a significant contributory factor. The Formica deal no doubt had about as many people attached to it as well by the sounds of it.

[47er]

Its impossible to read that article without worrying but plenty will manage it!

[John]

Its impossible to read that article without worrying but plenty will manage it!

Nothing to worry about, stop being silly!

Venky's know perfectly well what they are doing - broken promises from the offer document, awful PR, continuous contradictions, no chairman, appointing a rookie manager/assistant manager, wage bill soaring out of control etc etc

No reason to be even slightly concerned...

[neekoy]

Tell you what..... How about you two chipping in with 33% each for the cost of my season ticket. You'd gat a warm glow from supporting your club in a tiny way and I'd definitely get one then.

How about you JAL?

I like you Drog but I would rather spend the money on my subscription fees so I can at least watch them

[Seedstral]

The key question here surely is:

Why does Blackburn Rovers regularly draw something like 20% of the population in its hinterland to attend matches when the 10 clubs in London draw 4% of its population to its games or Manchester draws about 10% to its two clubs?

I don't have the marketing data but the short answer is there is something special in the relationship between the town of Blackburn and the club.

Before Jack Walker, Rovers were drawing 4% in a bad season and 10% in a good season but Jack Walker changed that dynamic.

My gut feel is that Jack did two things:

- he brought success

- he brought pride to the club and town

Success is very difficult to reproduce these days; we might get a good set of draws which takes us to Wembley or at least a Wembley semi-final or a run in Europe and that might be enough to keep that additional 10% going to Ewood. Signing Messi would probably work too but Vucinic probably would not be enough of a household name in Blackburn.

However, Jack, and the Trust for that matter, engendered the sense that the club was somehow "our's" as in being part of the community. The new owners do not remotely understand this and in fact have an agenda that it is "their's" and not "our's". Of course it is "their's" but there are ways of making it "our's" as well but everything they are doing is destroying that "our's ness" about Rovers.

As I understand it, 1960 was about the sense of Blackburn could not rely on the club to represent the town with dignity and respect.

Isn't that the same sense now. There is no dignity or respect in anything much that has happened between the closure of the sale and today? In fact it has all been about the destruction of dignity and respect.

This is why it feels like a 1960 moment and the potential loss of 50% of the club's support.

All is not lost but slamming gagging orders on the players through the new contracts which is the latest development apparently is not about dignity and respect. There needs to be a fundamental re-appraisal of what is happening and an effort to understand and nurture this dynamic on the part of the ownership or season ticket sales could easily halve in number.

The key question here surely is:

Why does Blackburn Rovers regularly draw something like 20% of the population in its hinterland to attend matches when the 10 clubs in London draw 4% of its population to its games or Manchester draws about 10% to its two clubs?

I don't have the marketing data but the short answer is there is something special in the relationship between the town of Blackburn and the club.

Before Jack Walker, Rovers were drawing 4% in a bad season and 10% in a good season but Jack Walker changed that dynamic.

My gut feel is that Jack did two things:

- he brought success

- he brought pride to the club and town

Success is very difficult to reproduce these days; we might get a good set of draws which takes us to Wembley or at least a Wembley semi-final or a run in Europe and that might be enough to keep that additional 10% going to Ewood. Signing Messi would probably work too but Vucinic probably would not be enough of a household name in Blackburn.

However, Jack, and the Trust for that matter, engendered the sense that the club was somehow "our's" as in being part of the community. The new owners do not remotely understand this and in fact have an agenda that it is "their's" and not "our's". Of course it is "their's" but there are ways of making it "our's" as well but everything they are doing is destroying that "our's ness" about Rovers.

As I understand it, 1960 was about the sense of Blackburn could not rely on the club to represent the town with dignity and respect.

Isn't that the same sense now. There is no dignity or respect in anything much that has happened between the closure of the sale and today? In fact it has all been about the destruction of dignity and respect.

This is why it feels like a 1960 moment and the potential loss of 50% of the club's support.

All is not lost but slamming gagging orders on the players through the new contracts which is the latest development apparently is not about dignity and respect. There needs to be a fundamental re-appraisal of what is happening and an effort to understand and nurture this dynamic on the part of the ownership or season ticket sales could easily halve in number.

[rovermagic]

For what it's worth. I was in Mumbai last week. Organizing a research workshop on emerging economies. I tried to contact Venkys to interview them. No luck. But it would have been impossible anyway due to friction of the traffic between the cities. Pune a bit of a high tech hub. Indians cricket mad. Too hot for football. Yet many have a favorite Prem team. Almost never Rovers. The key would be go make an Indian signing. I gave a lecture at a. Art centre in Mumbai. Owner said Venkys sponsor art too. But do it sort of tastelessly, putting their logo everywhere. I think Raos will inject more money in. So we are on plane with Fulham, Bolton, Sunderland, barcodes, even Everton. After that depends on manager a lot I guess. Hughes and Coyle are very good.

[47er]

Didn't know where else to put this. I suppose its the New Era that never was!

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/watfordfc/watfordfcnews/8861327.Bassini_did_consider_Blackburn_Rovers_bid/?

[thenodrog]

Didn't know where else to put this. I suppose its the New Era that never was!

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/watfordfc/watfordfcnews/8861327.Bassini_did_consider_Blackburn_Rovers_bid/?

"Bassini said: “I was offered Blackburn Rovers, as Jerome Anderson is a good friend of mine, and I went to see some games there. There was talk of it but I decided that I wanted to be near London"

Jerome Anderson!!!??? Before Venkeys! wtf had he to do with selling us? Is his second name Rothschild?

[rovers_rob]

Jerome Anderson!!!??? Before Venkeys! wtf had he to do with selling us? Is his second name Rothschild?

Good question.

Did the Walker Trust get him involved ?

[philipl]

I think the more interesting question is did the Rao family know that their special personal advisor was possibly two timing them?

[67splitscreen]

As we know Hentaro /SEM had been trying to sell this business model way before the Raos bought into our club maybe this guy saw through it and the meddling that would be involved.

[DE.]

I think Raos will inject more money in. So we are on plane with Fulham, Bolton, Sunderland, barcodes, even Everton. After that depends on manager a lot I guess. Hughes and Coyle are very good.

After the rumnours I've heard about their finances I hope not!

[Veevs]

As we know Hentaro /SEM had been trying to sell this business model way before the Raos bought into our club maybe this guy saw through it and the meddling that would be involved.

And what a nice little business model it is.. Get someone to buy a club, charge fees for advising them too build up youngsters etc, get the pick of the kids and charge fees for finding new players, never mind getting one of your people in as manager..all with no risk to themselves... was interesting too hear Jerome Anderson was the key behind the formica signing (quote from Mr Nixon)... but that is a positive I guess unless the fees for helping us get a player were daft (guess thats were these quotes come from.

Must be the way too go for agents, although dodgy in that there must be some level of conflicting interest.

Still in two minds about Venkys/Kentaro/Jerome etc.. their PR has been awful, but they have at least spent a bit (more than we would of had from the trust) and its not in their interest to kill the club.. the big if comes from how they fund the club debt or personal funding.

I have a feeling we wont see a new chairman until the summer though, just get the feeling that when contractually (July isn't it?) they can change the overall management structure (senior level) they will. Given the sacking of SAM it looks like the board no longer have control in regards to football matters and come to think of it probably financial matters as well.

Guess it's worrying times all round.. the potential for disaster or success is at an extreme after years of stable (financially) but static business, hense the polar reactions on here.

Overall there is nothing we can do about it, and the more people who decide to stop supporting the club the harder it will be for the club as a whole.

[Kelbo]

And what a nice little business model it is.. Get someone to buy a club, charge fees for advising them too build up youngsters etc, get the pick of the kids and charge fees for finding new players, never mind getting one of your people in as manager..all with no risk to themselves... was interesting too hear Jerome Anderson was the key behind the formica signing (quote from Mr Nixon)... but that is a positive I guess unless the fees for helping us get a player were daft (guess thats were these quotes come from.

Must be the way too go for agents, although dodgy in that there must be some level of conflicting interest.

Still in two minds about Venkys/Kentaro/Jerome etc.. their PR has been awful, but they have at least spent a bit (more than we would of had from the trust) and its not in their interest to kill the club.. the big if comes from how they fund the club debt or personal funding.

I have a feeling we wont see a new chairman until the summer though, just get the feeling that when contractually (July isn't it?) they can change the overall management structure (senior level) they will. Given the sacking of SAM it looks like the board no longer have control in regards to football matters and come to think of it probably financial matters as well.Guess it's worrying times all round.. the potential for disaster or success is at an extreme after years of stable (financially) but static business, hense the polar reactions on here.

Overall there is nothing we can do about it, and the more people who decide to stop supporting the club the harder it will be for the club as a whole.

I agree with much of what you say here, there is one point I have highlighted though, in English Law, I am pretty sure, (perhaps someone with a greater knowledge of Business Law could confirm this) with a Limited Company, the board of Directors are legally responsible for the running of the club, I cant get my head round how the board cannot be responsible otherwise I am sure there would be some 'legals' going on somewhere, I still dont understand either, with the way a company works, they can operate without a Chairman.

I may be wrong on these matters as I am not experienced enough on these points but I am sure someone on here can enlighten me further.