[Archived] Some Thoughts On Recent Events

[chris]

A strong possibility and an unlikely scenario, in my view

did you edit this so it made less sense lol

Mrs Desai has given a new interview in the LT>

There is going to be a LOT more than £5m available for transfers in January.

any link to this interview, that sounds great news to me, money is power, I always thought that 5 million figure was insane.

[ada2020]

You can make your own judgment about things.

Thanks, I will.

Given how you seem to echo every post Phillip makes these days it may be worth you folioing your own advice once in a while.

[philipl]

Putting the pieces together, this is the current position as I see it.

1) the Nicko piece last night was a prelude to Steve Kean having his talks with Pune and coming back loaded with a big transfer budget; Kean presented as the hero.

2) Mrs D's interview in the LT has already announced the big budget so that has messed up that little PR plan cooked up by Kentaro.

3) Kentaro will supply Rovers with all our players in January as there is no other stable who will supply players to us and Kean could not attract anybody.

4) Kentaro have persuaded the Rao family to spend far more than they planned to in January and probably far more than they have actually got.

Meanwhilst, back in the rest of the world

All this has completely forgotten the existing Rovers players who are absolutely shattered that the well run club they worked for has come to this. There is still no attempt to reach out to the players currently at Ewood (this could be deliberate to increase agent activity). Rovers are perceived as a club in total crisis by the rest of football.

[dave birch]

So, philip, nothing has changed?

[Roost]

Cant seem to find the Mrs D piece in the LET.

Link anyone?

Cheers

[chris]

Cant seem to find the Mrs D piece in the LET.

Link anyone?

Cheers

I concur

[rovers_rob]

Putting the pieces together, this is the current position as I see it.

1) the Nicko piece last night was a prelude to Steve Kean having his talks with Pune and coming back loaded with a big transfer budget; Kean presented as the hero.

2) Mrs D's interview in the LT has already announced the big budget so that has messed up that little PR plan cooked up by Kentaro.

3) Kentaro will supply Rovers with all our players in January as there is no other stable who will supply players to us and Kean could not attract anybody.

4) Kentaro have persuaded the Rao family to spend far more than they planned to in January and probably far more than they have actually got.

Meanwhilst, back in the rest of the world

All this has completely forgotten the existing Rovers players who are absolutely shattered that the well run club they worked for has come to this. There is still no attempt to reach out to the players currently at Ewood (this could be deliberate to increase agent activity). Rovers are perceived as a club in total crisis by the rest of football.

The article in the LET today is positive, there is going to be more money to spend and you turn it on its head again like there is some massive conspiracy.

I think you are bang out of order with some of the things you have been saying lately.

[dave birch]

Mrs Desai, from a 64+ year old supporter of Blackburn Rovers:

Talk to John Williams. Let him be the spokes person for the club

[Roost]

Mrs Desai, from a 64+ year old supporter of Blackburn Rovers:

Talk to John Williams. Let him be the spokes person for the club

As I posted yesterday, that should already have happened. A 'rallying cry' is all we have had so far, and that coming from a man that has worked miracles at Rovers behind the scenes.

[Parsonblue]

Having read Mrs. Desai's interview in the LT, I must say that I am more confused than ever. I assumed that Sam was sacked because they didn't like his style of football and didn't want to give him money to spend in January knowing that they didn't see him as the manager in the long term.

Although I totally disagreed with that decision, Mrs Desai is the owner and one assumed that she had a replacement lined up to spend her money. In the same way that Mike Ashley has decided to take Newcastle in a different direction and thus sacked a decent manager to replace him with someone who was on board with his new approach.

However, reading Mrs. Desai's interview it is clear that Venky's have no plan B. Although she indicates that there will be more than £5 million available she has said that Kean will have the final say, after consultation with the owners, on how it will be spent. Yet, at the same time as the caretaker manager is spending her money, the owners will be "researching and looking at the various options" with regard to a new manager.

A decision on the new manager is not likely to be taken before March with Kean being given three months or so to prove he is the man for the job.

However, if results don't go well I assume Mrs Desai will appoint a new manager who will have to rescue the club with players that he didn't sign and perhaps doesn't want.

I am now more mystified than ever over Sam's sacking. Keeping him until the end of the season with £5 million to spend in January would have guranteed Premier League survival. At that point Mrs Desai could have made her change, having spent five or six months researching for a replacement.

If Mrs Desai had taken the time and trouble to talk to John Williams and taken his advice this whole fiasco could have been avoided. Clearly, she is intent on running the club her own way despite the fact that she has absolutely no knowledge of the industry that she has just bought into.

As a supporter of 50 years standing, I really do fear for the future of our great club. In just three short weeks we have gone from being a club that was well respected for its intelligent management, under John Williams, to being a national laughing stock.

One can only wish Steve Kean the best of luck because I suspect that the next three or four months will be a defining moment in the club's history. If we survive the future may well be more optimistic but if we don't it could be like 1966 when it took a quarter of a century and Jack Walker to bring top flight football back to Ewood Park.

[chris]

no one is very sharing this Christmas, where is this LT link?

[Bobby G]

Researching made me chuckle.

[47er]

So, philip, nothing has changed?

No----he's still making it up as he goes along.

[cn174]

no one is very sharing this Christmas, where is this LT link?

I *think* it appears in the actual paper first, then online shortly after. That is what happened with the Nelsen story anyway.

[chris]

I *think* it appears in the actual paper first, then online shortly after. That is what happened with the Nelsen story anyway.

I'll keep refreshing the LT site then, or do some work at work, I will decide over a cup of tea.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

No----he's still making it up as he goes along.

[Wiggy]

Having read Mrs. Desai's interview in the LT, I must say that I am more confused than ever. I assumed that Sam was sacked because they didn't like his style of football and didn't want to give him money to spend in January knowing that they didn't see him as the manager in the long term.

Although I totally disagreed with that decision, Mrs Desai is the owner and one assumed that she had a replacement lined up to spend her money. In the same way that Mike Ashley has decided to take Newcastle in a different direction and thus sacked a decent manager to replace him with someone who was on board with his new approach.

However, reading Mrs. Desai's interview it is clear that Venky's have no plan B. Although she indicates that there will be more than £5 million available she has said that Kean will have the final say, after consultation with the owners, on how it will be spent. Yet, at the same time as the caretaker manager is spending her money, the owners will be "researching and looking at the various options" with regard to a new manager.

A decision on the new manager is not likely to be taken before March with Kean being given three months or so to prove he is the man for the job.

However, if results don't go well I assume Mrs Desai will appoint a new manager who will have to rescue the club with players that he didn't sign and perhaps doesn't want.

I am now more mystified than ever over Sam's sacking. Keeping him until the end of the season with £5 million to spend in January would have guranteed Premier League survival. At that point Mrs Desai could have made her change, having spent five or six months researching for a replacement.

If Mrs Desai had taken the time and trouble to talk to John Williams and taken his advice this whole fiasco could have been avoided. Clearly, she is intent on running the club her own way despite the fact that she has absolutely no knowledge of the industry that she has just bought into.

As a supporter of 50 years standing, I really do fear for the future of our great club. In just three short weeks we have gone from being a club that was well respected for its intelligent management, under John Williams, to being a national laughing stock.

One can only wish Steve Kean the best of luck because I suspect that the next three or four months will be a defining moment in the club's history. If we survive the future may well be more optimistic but if we don't it could be like 1966 when it took a quarter of a century and Jack Walker to bring top flight football back to Ewood Park.

Very good post Parson Blue. Perhaps the most worrying of her non sensical utterings was the one about nine out of ten transfers being unsuccessful 'And that's a fact'.

Now where did she get that information from?

I wonder.

A cockney spiv?

A Swiss lawyer?

It would have been impossible for her to come to that conclusion without her advisors. She's only watched one game.

And their business relies on movement of their players.

[Mattyblue]

Having read Mrs. Desai's interview in the LT, I must say that I am more confused than ever. I assumed that Sam was sacked because they didn't like his style of football and didn't want to give him money to spend in January knowing that they didn't see him as the manager in the long term.

Although I totally disagreed with that decision, Mrs Desai is the owner and one assumed that she had a replacement lined up to spend her money. In the same way that Mike Ashley has decided to take Newcastle in a different direction and thus sacked a decent manager to replace him with someone who was on board with his new approach.

However, reading Mrs. Desai's interview it is clear that Venky's have no plan B. Although she indicates that there will be more than £5 million available she has said that Kean will have the final say, after consultation with the owners, on how it will be spent. Yet, at the same time as the caretaker manager is spending her money, the owners will be "researching and looking at the various options" with regard to a new manager.

A decision on the new manager is not likely to be taken before March with Kean being given three months or so to prove he is the man for the job.

However, if results don't go well I assume Mrs Desai will appoint a new manager who will have to rescue the club with players that he didn't sign and perhaps doesn't want.

I am now more mystified than ever over Sam's sacking. Keeping him until the end of the season with £5 million to spend in January would have guranteed Premier League survival. At that point Mrs Desai could have made her change, having spent five or six months researching for a replacement.

If Mrs Desai had taken the time and trouble to talk to John Williams and taken his advice this whole fiasco could have been avoided. Clearly, she is intent on running the club her own way despite the fact that she has absolutely no knowledge of the industry that she has just bought into.

As a supporter of 50 years standing, I really do fear for the future of our great club. In just three short weeks we have gone from being a club that was well respected for its intelligent management, under John Williams, to being a national laughing stock.

One can only wish Steve Kean the best of luck because I suspect that the next three or four months will be a defining moment in the club's history. If we survive the future may well be more optimistic but if we don't it could be like 1966 when it took a quarter of a century and Jack Walker to bring top flight football back to Ewood Park.

As always Parson you are bang on.

Watching 20 years of stabiltiy being thrown away in a week has hurt me greatly, it's all ok if we spend this mythic 5 million in January, I suppose.

[Bobby G]

Its irrelevant how much we actually spend in January. The foundations/structure of the club as well as the stability has been shaken. Potentially irreversibly.

[dave birch]

No----he's still making it up as he goes along.

Having known philip on this site for some time, I acknowledge that he has a lot of information not available to all.

Where I do have a disagreement with philip is the way information is passed down to the fans. (he may well disagree with me on this)

The Raos/Mrs Desai have totally stuffed this up from a Western point of view (understandable from their position as Indians) not understanding the way things are done in the UK, and possibly, believing the Kentaro view of English football.

Someone somewhere must know a way to inform Mrs Desai and her boys, that they are going about things in the wrong wrong way

[Kelbo]

3) Kentaro will supply Rovers with all our players in January as there is no other stable who will supply players to us and Kean could not attract anybody.4) Kentaro have persuaded the Rao family to spend far more than they planned to in January and probably far more than they have actually got.

Very interesting if that is the case, I wonder how the premiership will view the conflict of interest with Kentaro/Anderson linked with our owners?

I wonder why Mrs D wont get off her backside and come over here, Steve Kean should be with the players, motivating and preparing them for a heavy Christmas schedule?

This is an unbelievable situation, quite separate from pro or anti Sam, this is toal incompetance from our owners.

[chris]

Very good post Parson Blue. Perhaps the most worrying of her non sensical utterings was the one about nine out of ten transfers being unsuccessful 'And that's a fact'.

Now where did she get that information from?

I wonder.

Givet success has ups and down but decent player

Kalinic Fail will he come good, don't know

Nzonzi success excellent based on price

Salgado success excellent last season good free signing

Old Diouf Success added a bit of attitude to 2009/2010 season

New Diouf Success 4 goals from a loanie, not bad

Chimbonda semi-fail, but was a free so no loss

Jones Success, he didn't sign him but took the gamble to introduce him, so I'll give him some credit

Benhani semi-fail, a waste of space, but free

So essentially 6 successes in his recuitment activity and 1 major fail (2 of which were free signings)

[47er]

It probably is a time for us to suspend disbelief and try to support the players with positive comments. We've expressed our frustration, we had a bad result Saturday and a worse performance but hopefully that's as bad as it gets. A couple of wins now and a lot of this grief will dissipate.We are very close to a top 8 positin btu so is everyone else!

If the LT interview is correct and Kean does have a big transfer kitty to spend and its spent well, we should have plenty to look forward to. Sam shouldn't have been sacked, if they didn't like him we should have started afresh in the summer.But its water under the bridge now and we have to give them time now to pull this around.

Like it or lump it Mrs D isn't going away!

[Gamst]

I seldom post, but seeing as I have an essay to write and because these are particularly tumultuous times to be a Rovers supporter, I will add my opinions to the melting pot. I was initially rather excited by the takeover. It was the right time to sell the club and whilst I didn't really know anything about the new owners, their business history appeared good and I was hopeful. I think I was mainly positive as I was excited about the prospect of change. Preceding transfer windows had yielded very little and this suggested that our previous owners had lost interest/become broke/were gearing up for a sale. All in all, it had been a dull few seasons to support Rovers and the style of football adopted by Sam wasn't helping matters. Having said that, Sam did a great job to save us from relegation and establish us as a mid-table team on such a shoestring (most notably, the £0 spent in the summer) and whilst it appeared that something was brewing behind the scenes, things were going pretty well, if slightly mundanely, on the playing field.

Despite Sam's successes, I firmly believe that he is not the manager for ambitious owners with a healthy war chest. To be fair to the Rao's, I wouldn't want to entrust my hard earned cash with Sam, who would probably go out and buy a handful of 6'8 strikers, defenders and holding midfielders. So, when Sam was sacked, I was actually very positive as it felt like our owners were ambitious and pro-active. Managers invariably get the sack when new owners come in and Sam was a dead man walking in that respect, so why mess about? Don't prolong the agony and get the job done! I didn't really feel sorry for Sam as his payout was no doubt very healthy. However, over the course of the last week, my positivity has ebbed away and has been replaced by bewilderment. I had assumed that the owners would have a replacement sourced or at least have some ideas...but no, they seem totally clueless. To sack an established manager like Sam and not have a suitable replacement lined up is footballing suicide. A decision that has taken us from a mid-table team to relegation candidates. Not only that, it seems to have ruined the harmony within the playing staff and at boardroom level. Also, we must not forget the influence it has on our current and prospective fans. If I was someone looking for a team to support, I certainly wouldn't choose to support the laughing stock of the Premiership (well, maybe we are in second place behind Newcastle). I have nothing against Steve Kean, but he is not the man for this job. He has no history or signing players and no experience of managing a football team, let alone a team on the verge of crisis. We need a figurehead, someone to restore the faith of the supporters and attract new fans. Someone to steady the ship in the dressing room and to show the world that the new owners are powerful and ambitious. Even if Kean is the best coach in the world, from the point of view of the average football fan, he is a no-one. According to the new owners Sam was sacked as he didn't match the club's new ambitions. This statement was released by the Rao's when Sam was sacked and it made me think that they wanted a big name to match their big ideas. Steve kean and £5million are not big ideas and to think that this combination will see us to the top 5 is just ridiculous!! It is far more likely to see us relegated. Not because Kean is a bad coach/manager, but because it leaves the players and fans bewildered and makes the club incredibly unattractive to potential fans and players. This does not breed success!

What is really needed now is someone within the Rao family or the board to take control. We look stupid and this must be sorted out. Now is the time that we should be making the back pages for the right reasons to attract new fans in India whilst we still have the advantage of being the only Indian owned club. We should be using this honeymoon period to our advantage, not ruining our image! We need a new manager and we need a new PR strategy (or any PR at all would be nice). The naivety of the Rao's flabbergasts me... They have taken over a football club without any prior knowledge of football, they are taking advice from football agents who are commonly associated with most of the rotten aspects of our game, they sack one of England's best managers and replace him with someone who most of us have not heard of and then are surprised when we are annoyed. This scares me greatly...the future of the club lies in the balance and it appears our new owners are mad.

Rant over.

[AggyBlue]

Like it or lump it Mrs D isn't going away!

No she isn't, but plenty of supporters will