[Archived] Some Thoughts On Recent Events

[Beta Ray Bill]

Nelsen from the LT on would Allardyce would be hurt by the criticisms of Rovers needing a younger and more energetic manager:

“In all honesty I don’t really think so, do you? It would have hurt him if someone who knows the Premier League had said it."

That's pretty damning in itself.

Guess Ryan will be off soon.

[Roost]

Well I for one amd sick to the back teeth of this entire pantomime. Everything that is wrong with Premiership football has played out as though we are fast-forwarding through a new Panorama episode.

The Trust, having decided that their role no longer involved us, had one remaining duty: to sell the club to someone who would continue Jack's legacy. It now appears they sold to the first people to come up with the cash to add to their already obscenely large tax-free pile.

The new owners paid for control, so they can do what they like. They didn't want Sam to spend their money - fair enough, I wouldn't have given him 15 million of my own money either, and I don't believe anyone else on this board would have, and the Trust certainly didn't either. Easy to say 'spend' when it's not your money. But, like everyone else, I was stunned there was not a new manager lined up.

Williams has come out with one measly paragraph that said nothing. Your bosses are messing things up so you need to step up. You're still Chairman ffs: lead from the front and if it costs you your job then so be it.

Kean talks a good game but I'm sensing the whiff of personal ambition a bit too strongly at this stage of the game.

And then Nelsen comes out boo-hoo-ing about life in the trenches. A man who gets paid 2 million a year by the club to play for the club and whose last interview I heard was laughing about getting paid so much to run around and kick people. Now he's upset that his boss's, boss's, boss's boss (assuming that Finn and Williams actually do something for their large salaries) hasn't flown 5,000 miles to hold his hand. Guess what Ryan, I'm upset you haven't flown 3,000 miles to tell me why you dozed off in the 89th minute at Bolton. Just do your job.

No doubt there will be more shenanigans and incompetence to come but I've lost the will to emote about it. No doubt the club will survive all this but is this really better than watching plenty of rollicking games in a wide open Championship? Those chaps at United FC seem to have the right idea having seen a couple of their cup ties on tv here; their fans seem to have a marvelous time.

Wake me up when it's over.

'Effin well said Toronto.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Most worrying aspect of it all for me. Shows that the players know as much as us.

Just what the hell is going on. It's like an episode of Lost.

If nobody has spoken to the players, what the hell has John Williams been doing? One poxy statement. He needs to start talking, both to players and fans. I can't believe he is completetly in the dark about Venky's plans.

[Amo]

Well I for one amd sick to the back teeth of this entire pantomime. Everything that is wrong with Premiership football has played out as though we are fast-forwarding through a new Panorama episode.

The Trust, having decided that their role no longer involved us, had one remaining duty: to sell the club to someone who would continue Jack's legacy. It now appears they sold to the first people to come up with the cash to add to their already obscenely large tax-free pile.

The new owners paid for control, so they can do what they like. They didn't want Sam to spend their money - fair enough, I wouldn't have given him 15 million of my own money either, and I don't believe anyone else on this board would have, and the Trust certainly didn't either. Easy to say 'spend' when it's not your money. But, like everyone else, I was stunned there was not a new manager lined up.

Williams has come out with one measly paragraph that said nothing. Your bosses are messing things up so you need to step up. You're still Chairman ffs: lead from the front and if it costs you your job then so be it.

Kean talks a good game but I'm sensing the whiff of personal ambition a bit too strongly at this stage of the game.

And then Nelsen comes out boo-hoo-ing about life in the trenches. A man who gets paid 2 million a year by the club to play for the club and whose last interview I heard was laughing about getting paid so much to run around and kick people. Now he's upset that his boss's, boss's, boss's boss (assuming that Finn and Williams actually do something for their large salaries) hasn't flown 5,000 miles to hold his hand. Guess what Ryan, I'm upset you haven't flown 3,000 miles to tell me why you dozed off in the 89th minute at Bolton. Just do your job.

No doubt there will be more shenanigans and incompetence to come but I've lost the will to emote about it. No doubt the club will survive all this but is this really better than watching plenty of rollicking games in a wide open Championship? Those chaps at United FC seem to have the right idea having seen a couple of their cup ties on tv here; their fans seem to have a marvelous time.

Wake me up when it's over.

Word.

[chris]

And then Nelsen comes out boo-hoo-ing about life in the trenches. A man who gets paid 2 million a year by the club to play for the club and whose last interview I heard was laughing about getting paid so much to run around and kick people. Now he's upset that his boss's, boss's, boss's boss (assuming that Finn and Williams actually do something for their large salaries) hasn't flown 5,000 miles to hold his hand. Guess what Ryan, I'm upset you haven't flown 3,000 miles to tell me why you dozed off in the 89th minute at Bolton. Just do your job.

Hey Ryan, don't worry you lost a manager you were close to and clearly have great respect for, listen to him getting stupid abuse from the new owners, you have a de-motivated dressing room, your club is the laughing stock of the premier league, you have seen a professional run club fall apart, you now have an unexperienced manager and owner that think we should be a top 4 side without saying how..................... just remember your salary.

[Jim Royle]

Have we got a plan yet?

[AggyBlue]

Have we got a plan yet?

They're keeping it to themselves but trust them

[John]

The team has potential remember that.

[imy9]

The team has potential remember that.

In all seriousness it does:

Jones, Olsson, Hanley, Morris, Hoilett, Samba, Robinson, Nzonzi- 8 players who are young enough and talented enough to take the club that we love forward.

What we now need are about 5 players to support the above and the others in the squad, couple of strikers, midfielders and a defender or two would be great!

[slough_rover]

Shame Jones is out for the season as the new boss could have laid down a marker by dropping Nelsen and pair Samba with superman for the rest of the season.

[Sparky Marky]

my thoughts are that we are seriously in the shyte....this lot have no idea. From the very start of this process including Syed, Shah etc, there's always been a wiff of Portsmouth about this.......We need to pick up 6 points from the next 2 games, or I don't fancy us pulling clear of a relegation scrap and then if we are still with the same boss, anything can happen.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Hey Ryan, don't worry you lost a manager you were close to and clearly have great respect for, listen to him getting stupid abuse from the new owners, you have a de-motivated dressing room, your club is the laughing stock of the premier league, you have seen a professional run club fall apart, you now have an unexperienced manager and owner that think we should be a top 4 side without saying how..................... just remember your salary.

...and the responsibilities that come with it.

It's the preposterous sense of entitlement of premiership footballers that gets me. He's unhappy - fine. There is a (temporary) manager, a Managing Director and a Chairman all in the same effing building, so perhaps he should go and see them first. And if he gets no joy, if it's that important to him and 'the lads', then get on a plane and go to Pune rather than demand that someone who has thousands of employees and works probably 6 times longer a day than he does comes over to see him. Bleating to the press isn't leadership - it's showboating for 'the lads' rather than putting in the effort to engage with the new regime, however obnoxious they may seem to him. He thinks she doesn't know what she's doing - also fine. She probably thinks the same about him after watching the Bolton game.

[bluebruce]

...and the responsibilities that come with it.

It's the preposterous sense of entitlement of premiership footballers that gets me. He's unhappy - fine. There is a (temporary) manager, a Managing Director and a Chairman all in the same effing building, so perhaps he should go and see them first. And if he gets no joy, if it's that important to him and 'the lads', then get on a plane and go to Pune rather than demand that someone who has thousands of employees and works probably 6 times longer a day than he does comes over to see him. Bleating to the press isn't leadership - it's showboating for 'the lads' rather than putting in the effort to engage with the new regime, however obnoxious they may seem to him. He thinks she doesn't know what she's doing - also fine. She probably thinks the same about him after watching the Bolton game.

To be fair here. The sounds coming out imply to me that the Chairman, Manager etc only really see the Rao brothers (Dhesai being the true power remember) when they come to the game, and that other communication is fairly minimal. Our previous manager barely even got the chance. So it's unlikely to be as simple as telling the Chair, who tells Venkys and gets results. Similarly, I'm not even sure it would work to even go in person, though it could (how many days off training would they need for the journey, visit, return flight and recuperation though? In a busy xmas schedule? With delays to planes?). Venky's have shown one thing so far...they're very, very concerned with the press and publicity with this venture. Even if they're crap at handling it. Probably is the best place to talk about it, all considered. I take your point though.

[Paul]

Philip, you started off balanced and objective. But I'm struggling to find a single objective post off you in the last week.

I hope you can get back to your usual level of posting soon. The current posts are doing both yourself and this messageboard absolutely no justice at all.

I'm going to remove some of the posts regarding Jerome Anderson from this morning as I think you have got us in a tricky situation. You may wish to read Glenn's post about libel action again.

Apologies first because I do not wish to be thought of as teasing with this post. I'm not going to reval my sources or the information I have, however four days ago and this morning I received two pieces of information from very reliable sources. These concerned two entirely seperate matters connected with much of the discussion on various threads. Both pieces of info entirely back up things Philip has posted and others have alluded to. Anyone who doubts the scale of the crisis on which Rovers appear to be teetering on the edge is fooling themselves.

I can't comment on anything Philip says about Mr Jerome Anderson as I have never bothered to read about his activities other than on here. My personal view is Philip is providing good information which is also being confirmed by other sources in relation to how things are developing at Ewood. He may not be correct with everything he says but I believe it is all passed to us in good faith. I don't know if anything he says about Anderson is true or not.

Shooting the messenger helps no one.

[bob fleming]

I can't comment on anything Philip says about Mr Jerome Anderson as I have never bothered to read about his activities other than on here.

Jerome Anderson article from 2007

Same here - I read this earlier today though (it's probably been posted elsewhere - if so apologies).

[LeChuck]

Shame Jones is out for the season as the new boss could have laid down a marker by dropping Nelsen and pair Samba with superman for the rest of the season.

What kind of marker would that be? Nelsen has been in very good form recently.

Sadly our midfield will suffer most at the moment, which tells you how desperate we are for combative midfielders. We desperately need N'Zonzi and Grella fit.

[LWX]

Well I for one amd sick to the back teeth of this entire pantomime. Everything that is wrong with Premiership football has played out as though we are fast-forwarding through a new Panorama episode.

My sentiments exactly...

[Steve Moss]

Anyone think that the trustees might have told Venky's that we're not too far short of being a top 5 club?

If they did, I think it isn't so far from the truth. I really think 3-5 above average players, not even superstars, could transform the club into real contenders.

JW is metaphorically a dead man walking imo. Unless Preston Blue is wrong John will be ccounting down the days to his retirement and pay off.

I have more respect for John than that. I suspect that either 1) there are things behind the scenes going on that would make us smile; or, 2.) he sees himself as duty bound to go down with the ship. He does not seem to be principally motivated by money.

It's the preposterous sense of entitlement of premiership footballers that gets me. He's unhappy - fine.

Consider the possibility that Ryan Nelson genuinely loves the club. It happens on occassion. And I think Ryan is emotionally invested in the Rovers and is speaking from the heart.

[jim mk2]

Well I for one amd sick to the back teeth of this entire pantomime............. but is this really better than watching plenty of rollicking games in a wide open Championship?

A week ago you were crying out for entertainment so you should be happy watching this Christmas "pantomime" which is more than likely to be be played out in the championship next season now that you have your wish and Allardyce has gone. Those who really know their football warned the club would sink like a stone without Allardyce in charge, not least because there is no one better willing, available or capable of doing the job. Hope you enjoy the "rollicking games" in the championship. Along with our new owners, you're a joke.

[imy9]

Allardyce did an excellent job for us to be say that we WILL get relegated without him is frankly absurd.

So if we signed Martin Jol and Chris Houghton we would definately be relegated? Sam is good, the messiah he is not.

[Brfcrule1]

In this pantomime there are one or two things that don't add up the owners want top 5 football to achieve that we will need big investment definitely more than 5M. I'm sure I also read somewhere before Venkys took over they would put 10m into the kitty what I would like is to know the exact figure they will invest instead of different figures thrown about and for the owners to come out and clarify the situation. Mind you I agree with them I would not want to trust Sam with say 10M or more to find suitable players. Plus I am bemused by their differing reports about the new manager first they say we are talking to the person now they are saying Kean might be in for 2-3 months I hope the owners come out and clarify everything with this uncertainty it's even affecting the players performance on the pitch which is not good.

[slough_rover]

Allardyce did an excellent job for us to be say that we WILL get relegated without him is frankly absurd.

So if we signed Martin Jol and Chris Houghton we would definately be relegated? Sam is good, the messiah he is not.

Exactly some people seem to forget we had one of the most one dimensional managers around. He did his job of keeping us up and reiterating just how @#/? Ince was.

[Lytham]

I've not spotted anyone claiming that Sam was the messiah.

Just lots of people who thought and still think that's he's better than anyone Rovers are likely to get.

I hope that's wrong and Rovers get somebody extremely capable, but I won't hold my breath.

[Roversider]

In this pantomime there are one or two things that don't add up the owners want top 5 football to achieve that we will need big investment definitely more than 5M. I'm sure I also read somewhere before Venkys took over they would put 10m into the kitty what I would like is to know the exact figure they will invest instead of different figures thrown about and for the owners to come out and clarify the situation. Mind you I agree with them I would not want to trust Sam with say 10M or more to find suitable players. Plus I am bemused by their differing reports about the new manager first they say we are talking to the person now they are saying Kean might be in for 2-3 months I hope the owners come out and clarify everything with this uncertainty it's even affecting the players performance on the pitch which is not good.

Just a few thoughts, firstly I doubt that anyone would believe it makes sense to announce to the world how much the club has available for transfers in January. The time to judge that to be honest is after all the signings have been made. It is also a garbage time to be looking for players as Sam already testified to. I agree with your comment about trusting Sam with the money, he seemed to have a model of buying young, huge athletic types or old, experienced, expensive waged players. That might keep us afloat in the short term but we all agree we could have done with two less right backs, less average midfielders, one creative midfielder who can stay fit (sorry Dunny) and no wasters like Chimbonda. The one big gamble he made was Kalinic, hopefully that will turn out ok but the jury is very much out on that one.

Venkys clearly are taking advice from Kentaro and I know we should feel some trepidation there at least they have some knowledge of football. Steve Kean is a conundrum, he is probably more pliable than Sam but that wouldn't be hard. I had a lot of time for him but he would never be anything but rigid in his approach to signings. You can't blame owners who are being asked for millions not to want a say in who comes in. I think Steve Kean may be ok in that respect but he probably has to deal with a dressing room revolt. Even Ray Harford got that when some of the players felt they were more important than the club. At the end of it they are employees and I despair when I hear that players (the biggest winners and money sponges) want to complain and throw a tantrum.

The biggest criticism of Venkys has been the poor PR, comments in the Indian press are pounced on and, I suspect, taken out of context. There is also a bit of a language barrier, the English spoken by the owners is different than that used here in terms of emphasis. So, communication improvements will help, however, there are a number of Rovers fans who made their mind up ages ago so it will always be interpreted in the most negative way.

Time to have patience and remember that we have a team to support!

[slough_rover]

I've not spotted anyone claiming that Sam was the messiah.

Just lots of people who thought and still think that's he's better than anyone Rovers are likely to get.

I hope that's wrong and Rovers get somebody extremely capable, but I won't hold my breath.

Really? With some of the over reaction at his sacking you would have thought he was Shankly and Clough reincarnated.