[Archived] Sam vs Keano

[damo100]

Having now seen Rovers play a couple of months under Kean now, i would be interested to hear fans views on how we actually play decent football and pass the ball under Kean's regime!!

Let's not forget Sam constantly raved on about playing to (current squad's) strengths to get results no matter what!!

When you hear the player's say how much they are enjoying both training + matches, because they are allowed to express themselves,(Hoillett) it maddens me when i think of the previous 2 years of absolute 'ugly, boring, predictable' football i had to endure!!

I now feel excited when i walk down Bolton Rd, where as before it felt like i was just doing a duty, and it became a bit of a chore!!

What do you think??

[Mattyblue]

Oh no he didn't!

[Eddie]

There is little doubt that the football is better and that the players have been very vocal in expressing how much they are enjoying our new style. The test will be if we can continue to play in this way over the coming months and if Kean does well in the transfer market and brings in players who help him to achieve his goal.

Much more enjoyable and I actually look forward to our games now and I'm proud to watch us play, but we'll really have to see where we are at the end of the season and if we continue to combine good play with points before we can really start to compare Kean and Allardyce.

[chocky]

There's no contest. Kean plays football whereas Sam played hoof ball..Sam is good at what he does but it never inspires the players or the fans. if I was West Ham I'd take him on to keep them up. But don't expect to play football.

[John]

Comparisons will be always be made between the two, however it appears Kean will have the small luxury of not having to sell his best players along with financial flexiblity in the transfer market (cover Santa Cruz's £70-90k per week wages etc).

[Miker]

I'd like to see if Kean can deal tactically with playing the better, more organised teams. So far he's only got 2 wins against a struggling West Brom side, who are useless if they aren't taking their chances and another win against a Liverpool side completely demoralised. Once he's had to setup his team against more organised teams such as Stoke, Sunderland, Chelsea and Aston Villa... we've seriously struggled and that's being kind. In reality, we have been absolutely dominated by those sides and that is a huge concern for me.

I think Kean has some winnable games in the next 2 months, so hopefully he gets some good results then because I predict a very poor run of results in April.

[JAL]

I'd like to see if Kean can deal tactically with playing the better, more organised teams. So far he's only got 2 wins against a struggling West Brom side, who are useless if they aren't taking their chances and another win against a Liverpool side completely demoralised. Once he's had to setup his team against more organised teams such as Stoke, Sunderland, Chelsea and Aston Villa... we've seriously struggled and that's being kind. In reality, we have been absolutely dominated by those sides and that is a huge concern for me.

I think Kean has some winnable games in the next 2 months, so hopefully he gets some good results then because I predict a very poor run of results in April.

Spot on, the next few months are going to tell us a lot though early indications would lean towards what you are saying Miker.

Also Kean's substitutions havent really worked out for Rovers, this is another area of improvement for the Scot to work on.

But if his signings are top notch then he should be OK.

[Miker]

Also Kean's substitutions havent really worked out for Rovers, this is another area of improvement for the Scot to work on.

But if his signings are top notch then he should be OK.

Santa Cruz and Jones seem like good acquisitions to me. Santa Cruz appears to have pulled up with an injury early on though so it will be interesting to see how they work out and how injury-free they can be.

I agree about the substitutions as well, they seem quite strange and often ineffectual.

[JAL]

I view Cruz and Jones as just temporary stand ins and nothing more.

[XLM]

Hanley coming on for Salgado against West Brom, with Olsson shifting to right back and Givet moving accross to left back, worked pretty well.

Against Livepool they didn't work out fantastically but he didn't have much to play with. Doran, Morris, Linganzi, Goulon and Diouf were all on the bench who, barring possibly Morris, don't seem to be in his plans this year.

[S15]

I view Cruz and Jones as just temporary stand ins and nothing more.

So what?

[Roversi]

The spurs game will be an interesting one. i reckon Keno will line up with a 4-5-1. we cant play open against spurs because if we do we will get ripped apart. bale will be a doubt for the game but van der vaart is a class act, you give him space and he will run the game.

Robinson

Salgado Samba Nelsen Givet

Jones

Holiett Pedersen Dunn Olsson

Kalinic

Holiett and Olsson will have a busy game getting up and down the flanks. i would of played N'Zonzi for pedersen and swapped Jones and N'Zonzi around but being as he has just got back from injury 2 games in 4 days is a bit too much.

[thenodrog]

What do you think??

I'll wait until May to comment.

[Seggie]

I think its silly to start comparing at this time as well. Sam had 2 years Kean hasn't even had 2 months yet. They both have their pros and cons, Kean is new and exciting but you don't know how its going to work out, Sam is old and predictable but that brings the mediocraty on a budget we are used to, never in danger of doing anything goof or bad.

Kean shouldn't be judged even at the end of the season unless its obvious things have gone very wrong (relegation) but I don't think that will happen. I think any judgement should made at the end of next season to gage whether Steve Kean is a success or failure in regards to his appointment, at the end of the season Kean won't be able to win if he does well people will say thats down to Sam if he does bad it will be because it will be the decision to Sack Sam, so no matter what at the end of the season he will be judged negatively whatever happens by many and thats just not fair.

[blue_and_white]

It'd be nice to remember that Sam kept us up and saved the club tens of millions and possibly decades in the lower leagues before the good football obsessives decide to start rewriting history and making him out to be a bad manager.

[Miker]

It'd be nice to remember that Sam kept us up and saved the club tens of millions and possibly decades in the lower leagues before the good football obsessives decide to start rewriting history and making him out to be a bad manager.

Too late

Sam has definitely played a part in this season and in the squad available to Kean, and probably influenced some of the training techniques used by the team as well, but if Kean does well there's no reason why credit shouldn't be given to him for taking over and keep building up rather than crashing and burning.

[thenodrog]

Let's not forget Sam constantly raved on about playing to (current squad's) strengths to get results no matter what!!

When you hear the player's say how much they are enjoying both training + matches, because they are allowed to express themselves,(Hoillett) it maddens me when i think of the previous 2 years of absolute 'ugly, boring, predictable' football i had to endure!!

Sounds like you've made your mind up. As I said earlier I'll wait a little until the newness and shine wears off.

Remember though that Kean was brought into the club by Allardyce.

Remember too that Kean was first team coach when you infer that they didn't like the training.

Despite the apostrophe error Hoillett is just one player so his opinion can only be his. Also how many players ever say they hate training and playing in public? Even under Ince we heard noises of how happy the squad were and how much they were enjoying training and playing etc.

[cruz]

Just knowing that our ambitions no longer begin and end with getting long throws makes Kean the winner

[Mattyblue]

It's not even a debate at this stage, hopefully in 18 months time we will be in the midst of a succesful Kean era and we can compare.

However,if you support our CLUB you should have nothing bit gratitude for Allardyce, saved us from Ince and was well on his way to achieving 3 consecutive higher league finishes.

This was done in difficult financial circumstances and it was all in all a job well done.

We move on and hopefully the exciting performances we have witnessed continue, but the abuse Sam gets from supposed passionate and intelligent Blues beggars belief at times.

[chris]

Although I do like Kean we all know the story with Kidd, Harford.

I hope it has a happy ending but will have to wait, 50/50 at the moment for me.

Sam is a great manager, but not for a team that has any money like we "apparently" do now.

He'd be better off at a Hull City, Blackpool or Stoke where the owners are not over demanding like Venky's and boring football and overaged players come to live their final years.

[mhead]

Keano responsible for 2 of the most exciting matches since the Hughesy era (Liverpool and West brom)

Sam only let go at Villa Away in the Carling Cup Semi.

Football is a 'sport' and meant to be 'entertaining'.We could only last so long on the 'long throw in' mentality.

[chris]

Keano responsible for 2 of the most exciting matches since the Hughesy era (Liverpool and West brom)

Sam only let go at Villa Away in the Carling Cup Semi.

Football is a 'sport' and meant to be 'entertaining'.We could only last so long on the 'long throw in' mentality.

In fairness Sam did have a negative bank balance, so it was a sport about "winning", surviving.

IMO Blackburn should have been relegated a long time ago.

Thanks to Hughes and Sam we hung in the there, but done little else.

[Amo]

In fairness Sam did have a negative bank balance, so it was a sport about "winning", surviving.

Sam has spent more than Kean.

[chris]

don't start up that arguement again, he was focred to sell more value then he brought in.

Sam's team would have beaten free fall West Brom too

[jim mk2]

Football is a 'sport' and meant to be 'entertaining'.We could only last so long on the 'long throw in' mentality.

Sport is about winning, nothing else.

Alot of the matches under Ince were "entertaining" with Rovers playing pretty patterns in midfield but if losing turns you on it takes all sorts I suppose.