[Archived] Some Thoughts On Recent Events

[darwenblueswearehere]

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 However, over the course of the last week, my positivity has ebbed away and has been replaced by bewilderment.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.

If your essay is as well thought out and written, it will have 'distinction' written all over it. An excellent post.

[imy9]

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.

IF by the looks of it we are changing the overall structure of the club (I am assuming A Head Coach- Steve Kean alongside a Director of football) this potentially is a stable system for the club- though it is obviously different to how we have worked before.

Head Coach states the players he wants to the DOF, who will then purchase the players he feels are beneficial for the club, if the head coach then leaves (like Jol did at Ajax), then the club has its structure in place bar say two people Head Coach and assistant.

It would also ensure that a manager cannot purchase 3 right backs, one of whom was bought to play left back even though he cant play with it! It has failed before- I can remember David Pleat had this role and did it badly but it has worked on the continent with German clubs in particular favouring it.

[Guest VENKEYSRUS]

How are things in Dingleland?

Yet another press report which encapsulates what I believe.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/rovers-owners-paying-hefty-price-for-sacking-allardyce?

hello mister fan

my friend say you noy nice my bossmaan is now big chief at blackburn,we are fan like you

lov sachin xxx

ps we win next game

[chris]

Rant over.

I'll give you a merit, purely because you went over the word limit for this essay.

[broadsword]

hello mister fan

my friend say you noy nice my bossmaan is now big chief at blackburn,we are fan like you

lov sachin xxx

ps we win next game

We got an IP address for this fella?

[imy9]

Givet success has ups and down but decent player- WILL WE GET £4 MILLION FOR HIM?

Kalinic Fail will he come good, don't know- WILL WE GET £6 MILLION FOR HIM?

Nzonzi success excellent based on price- SUCCESSFULL, WORTH A LOT MORE THAN WE PAID.

Salgado success excellent last season good free signing- THIRD RIGHT BACK WE BOUGHT ON £40k, EFFECTIVE USE OF OUR MONEY?

Old Diouf Success added a bit of attitude to 2009/2010 season- WILL WE GET MORE THAN £1 MILLION FOR HIM? 40K A WEEK IS A LOT OF MONEY.

New Diouf Success 4 goals from a loanie, not bad- WE DONT OWN HIM. HE IS A STRIKER, HOW MANY GOALS IN THE LEAGUE?

Chimbonda semi-fail, but was a free so no loss- COST £1.5 MILLION, MASSIVE FLOP!!

Jones Success, he didn't sign him but took the gamble to introduce him, so I'll give him some credit- THAT IS NOT A SIGNING!!

Benhani semi-fail, a waste of space, but free- COSTING US MONEY ON WAGES ON A YEAR CONTRACT WITH OPTION OF TWO!

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

So essentially majority of his signings have not been players that have 're sale' to them. Hughes was a master at this and we need similar styles of players. You missed out on EVH, Jacobson, Goulon, Linganzi, etc. I can see exactly what Desai was saying.

[chris]

So essentially majority of his signings have not been players that have 're sale' to them. Hughes was a master at this and we need similar styles of players. You missed out on EVH, Jacobson, Goulon, Linganzi, etc. I can see exactly what Desai was saying.

Although you make sort of a good point, some of these players, Givet, Diouf, Nzonzi, Salgado we key to us staying in this divsion and getting to a healthy 10th from 19TH!!!!!!!!!!

I still don't see his signing as that bad, but I guess someone sent her exactly what you sent me and make him look very bad.

Sam had his best players sold and was given a samll amount of funds to replace these players.

Many of these players are short term fixes that Sam added to get to 10th in the league.

So rather harsh view you and Mrs D have.

but some valid points.

[imy9]

I was not trying to be overly harsh, just stating that whereas before we had Hughes who was awesome at spotting talent on the cheap and then allowing us to sell at high prices we have not had this with Sam or Ince. I think Desai made the point that it wasnt Sam that she was blaming.

Grella, a 28 year old crock for over £4 million and Andrews a 28 year old from league 1 for over a million are not value for money.

[47er]

No she isn't, but plenty of supporters will

Only if things don't significantly improve which was the point of my post. Some cause for optimism and additionally there's the the talent coming out of the Academy.

Obviously we can't go on as we are.

[tony gale's mic]

I was not trying to be overly harsh, just stating that whereas before we had Hughes who was awesome at spotting talent on the cheap and then allowing us to sell at high prices we have not had this with Sam or Ince. I think Desai made the point that it wasnt Sam that she was blaming.

Grella, a 28 year old crock for over £4 million and Andrews a 28 year old from league 1 for over a million are not value for money.

Hughes was a rarity. There is pretty much no other manager in recent Premier League history who did what he did. Moyes in his early days with the likes of Cahill, Arteta and Lescott maybe but even he has been spending lots in the last couple of seasons.

And even with Hughes - look what he did with a significant transfer budget at City!

Most of those players were bought for less than a million, so of course they won't have any resale value.

[chris]

double post

[Kelbo]

I was not trying to be overly harsh, just stating that whereas before we had Hughes who was awesome at spotting talent on the cheap and then allowing us to sell at high prices we have not had this with Sam or Ince. I think Desai made the point that it wasnt Sam that she was blaming.

Grella, a 28 year old crock for over £4 million and Andrews a 28 year old from league 1 for over a million are not value for money.

Paul Ince signed both those!!

Mark Hughes said when he left Rovers, the days were over where he could find bargains, he stated in his words, 'I cant keep pulling Rabbits out of the hat'

[ross-shire rover]

Worrying times, but some people on here are just going way over the top. Sorry to name names but Philipl and his cohorts would still be apoplectic with rage if our new owners hired Jose Mourinho and gave him 100 million to spend in January, and SloughRover and one or two others would still find time to support Venkys if they hired Sooty and Sweep as the new management team. Then of course there are the posts from God aka Nicko and those hanging on his every word.

Actually, scrub all that. I'm secretly enjoying all the OTT comments. I suspect lots of others are too. It shows we all really really care. Just wish it was Burnley we were talking about and not Blackburn Rovers....

[chris]

I was not trying to be overly harsh, just stating that whereas before we had Hughes who was awesome at spotting talent on the cheap and then allowing us to sell at high prices we have not had this with Sam or Ince. I think Desai made the point that it wasnt Sam that she was blaming.

Grella, a 28 year old crock for over £4 million and Andrews a 28 year old from league 1 for over a million are not value for money.

Fair enough, I guess in terms of return is really is a fact. but I still thik Sam's signings were generally very cheap quick fixes to maintain satefy, with Kalinic being a big fail.

If you are thinking Mrs D objective is to have a manager that spots gems for a massive re-sale then Sam was not her man, evidently.

we really pay 1.5 for Chimbonda?

To follow Hughes and achieve massive re-sales, mission impossible maybe????

Few can do that.

[Roost]

hello mister fan

my friend say you noy nice my bossmaan is now big chief at blackburn,we are fan like you

lov sachin xxx

ps we win next game

IP Address Mods?

Or is this the first of tens of thousands of Indian Rovers Fans? If so, hello. If not, bugger off!

[den]

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.

Don't forget Wiggy's post guys.

I also now believe that Sam's sacking was nothing to do with his past transfer record, or his brand of football. Venky's do have a plan, or should I say they've been advised of a way they can make money out of BRFC - and Sam wasn't part of it.

[adopted scouser]

Don't forget Wiggy's post guys.

I also now believe that Sam's sacking was nothing to do with his past transfer record, or his brand of football. Venky's do have a plan, or should I say they've been advised of a way they can make money out of BRFC - and Sam wasn't part of it.

They'll be glad of the parachute payments when we go down, they they'll bugger off.

[Olveres]

They'll be glad of the parachute payments when we go down, they they'll bugger off.

I have pondered this being an asset stripping exercise. Sell our best players, bring in Kentaro journeymen to replace them. WE go down, THEY get the parachute payments, potentially easily covering their initial outlay, then sell us at an effective loss having in reality made money out of destroying us.

[Kelbo]

I have pondered this being an asset stripping exercise. Sell our best players, bring in Kentaro journeymen to replace them. WE go down, THEY get the parachute payments, potentially easily covering their initial outlay, then sell us at an effective loss having in reality made money out of destroying us.

Now that is a reasonable argument except arent the parachute payments made over three seasons?

[Simon Says]

Sorry if this has been asked and answered before, but did the sale of the club include Brockhall?

[adopted scouser]

Sorry if this has been asked and answered before, but did the sale of the club include Brockhall?

Probably. The new owners wanted an institution they could empathise with.

[chris]

I have pondered this being an asset stripping exercise. Sell our best players, bring in Kentaro journeymen to replace them. WE go down, THEY get the parachute payments, potentially easily covering their initial outlay, then sell us at an effective loss having in reality made money out of destroying us.

I pondered it, but its not worth discussing, its just worse case and unlikely, boarder line paranoid.

[Blue blood]

This may have been asked before but do we know/have any idea of what they CANNOT do because of jack walker's will? What protection does it offer us? Would have assumed/hoped asset stripping isn't possible due to the will.

You know I'm not too sure they do have a plan, as no matter how shocking a plan it is, it'd have more direction than currently. It reminds me of an impulse buy of a pet - maybe a dog. You like the look of it, think the odd summer walk with it would be nice, but when you take it home and realise you have to feed it, walk it every day, vet bills etc. you panic as this wasn't what you had planned.

[Guest VENKEYSRUS]

IP Address Mods?

Or is this the first of tens of thousands of Indian Rovers Fans? If so, hello. If not, bugger off!

hello mister fan

i live in pune.my fether say not to give adress.i lov you all.we win soon.we are good

lov sachin xxx

[Majiball]

hello mister fan

i live in pune.my fether say not to give adress.i lov you all.we win soon.we are good

lov sachin xxx

Are you Vinjay in disguise?