[Archived] Entertainment or Result Is All That Matters?

[BRFCS Content]

Entertainment or End Results is all that matters?

We thought that this week’s topic of the week should look at an issue which has caused heated debate on this messageboard and amongst Rovers fans in general, is being entertained more important or the end result even if that means playing pragmatic football?

In December Rovers shocked the footballing world with the sacking of Sam Allardyce. Amongst the reasons given for his sacking was that the owners were not happy with the direction that he was taking the club and that the football was not entertaining. Under Sam Rovers were able to accumulate points on a consistent basis (particularly at Ewood) however the football on show could be described as one dimensional. After Sam’s sacking Steve Kean was appointed and the football that Rovers have played has been more progressive and pleasing on the eye, results have been mixed and yielded 11 points from 10 games.

So the question GENERALLY speaking do people prefer a philosophy which was more pragmatic but almost guaranteed Premier League survival each season or the more entertaining progressive philosophy where the which adds more risks but the potential rewards are also greater.

[chaddyrovers]

results every time. I would rather win 1 nil then lose 4-3. That is where Big Sam was very good at winning a boring 1 nil.

You don't get points in the league for Entertainment, but for results and FOR winning.

Could we not have a poll on this issue to see what fans think in terms of a vote modes!!!

[Guest linganzi]

Result. Playing fancy football is a bonus along the way but you have to invest greatly

[Hughesy]

Ultimately both….but that takes time.

I agree entirely with the view that we should have stuck with Sam till the summer….however we didn’t so we move on.

No doubt our football has improved; performances against Liverpool & Tottenham have showed that – however we seem to have lost abit of our defensive steel…In the long term im confident.

[thenodrog]

Daft topic. It's not even open for debate. The promotion / relegation issues every single season prove that football is a results driven game. Neither money nor points are awarded for entertaining. Goal difference only matters if the points total is equal and goals difference owes as much to stopping goals as scoring them. Entertainment is simply a thin layer of superfluous icing at the top of the cake.

For rich clubs this might be a debate but for clubs like us trying for both is an impossible dream.

If you want entertainment go to the circus.

[CrazyIvan]

Daft topic. It's not even open for debate. The promotion / relegation issues every single season prove that football is a results driven game. Entertainment is simply a thin layer of icing at the top of the cake.

If you want entertainment go to the circus.

You don't like these debates do you?

I'd like both but I'd rather see a result than be entertained and not get one.

[Mattyblue]

Results, results, results.

Blackburn Rovers winning football matches and competing in the league is what gives me pleasure.

'What a cracking game, shame we lost 4-3' means absolutely naff all to me.

Under Sam I enjoyed beating side after side at Ewood, safe in the knowledge that by hook or by crook we would not go down.

Cracking games of football are for when I'm watching a game as a neutral, Rovers- win at all costs.

Free flowing football and results? Fantastic, but lets do the basics first, good maanger who gets the results, relegation is not an option.

[MarkBRFC71]

A happy medium?

The dirge served up by Allardyce may well have kept us up, but at the cost of any entertainment. Under his stewardship I was considering whether to bother with a season ticket for the first time in 28 years (and was far from alone in that) and going to games felt like a chore, something to endure rather than enjoy.

At least Kean is trying to get us playing football, and while results may be inconsistent as he develops the team in his image and learns the ropes of Premier League management on the hoof, he needs to be given until the end of the season at least without the Allardyce fanboys constantly calling for his head.

Sacking Sam was the right thing to do as we'd stagnated under him - however the timing was awful, and to appoint an unproven coach is a huge gamble. Time will tell if Venky's got it right, but (Saturday aside) there's no question that Kean's 11 or so games have provided more entertainment than the whole of Sam's near 2 year reign.

All IMO of course!

[Mercer]

No contest.

If you don't get results then you end up in the Championship and for a small club like Rovers, with a relatively huge wage bill, then you really are looking into the abyss. 'Entertainment' is not a currency recognised by the banks.

Ince tried it and we had some right hammerings with the world of Rovers' supporters in uproar.

Unfortunately, feels like history could well repeat itself.

The simple fact is that you have to get the best out of what you have - which Sam did - seek to develop, improve, invest wisely and steadily move on.

Bring back some sanity.

[philipl]

Matter of getting priorities right.

First results to stay on the PL gravy train.

Second entertainment.

Two things have happened which have disrupted the old equilibrium:

- firstly new owners have arrived who have little knowledge of football and the Premier League- everything points to them taking our PL position for granted (because we have been in it for so long?) and not understanding how easily it could be lost and how desperately competitive the league is. Club's which have a key weakness find it ruthlessly exploited and it seems to me the new ownership has opened several new critical weaknesses at Ewood without their investment filling an existing weakness yet- high performing new players.

- for the fans, we happily took grinding out 1-0 wins in the Kendall era because we could look at the tables and see us at the top. Now the riches of the top clubs put such ambition way beyond both us and the means of the Venky's so we cannot realistically dream of winning things in our division. That means that the "contract with the fans" switches to requiring entertainment in return for loyalty because success is ephemeral.

Hence the bonkers decision to dump Sam was not greeted with the howling rage it should have been. The entertainment side of the contract was not being honoured but the consequence of the switch has been a few Ince-like performances which will imperil our Premier League status if continued and are anything but entertaining unless you support the opposition.

[Parsonblue]

No question for me that results must always come first. Premier League survival is a delicate balancing act for many clubs and the knack of grinding out results is all so important. As philip says, we happily took boring 1-0 wins under Howard Kendall because it brought us success. I think one of the problems with Sam was that many people didn't like him personally - simply look at the facegroup opposition that was set up with regard to his possible appointment after Hughes left. Thus there was a reluctance to accept his pragmatic approach to management. However, it was a style that dragged us to safety and then took us to a highly respectable 10th position.

I also agree with philip in that I suspect Mrs Desai doesn't fully understand, as yet, how fragile our Premier League existence really is. We would all love to see entertaining football but, personally, not if comes instead of results. I would have come away from Wigan in a far happier frame of mind after seeing a 0-0 draw than I did following a 4-3 defeat.

Results must be the priority for Steve Kean and entertainment must take a backseat until we have ensured our Premier League survival for another season.

[Tom]

Results have to come first but a bit of entertainment would be nice as well.

I wasnt a fan of his style but Sam provided the first and should have remained rovers manager until summer where he could either start the rebuild or be replaced with someone to take us forward.

[roversmum]

Arte et Labore please.

The ball in the (correct) net leading to points on the table. That is entertainment.

There are going to be losses along the way, but I do NOT want to travel some distance(or indeed a few miles from home) to a match knowing that we are likely have capitulated before the ball is kicked - as happened in so many away matches last season and some of this season. Rolling over is not entertainment, particularly if it means we are on the end of a drubbing.

[47er]

Back on topic, would like to win handsomely but prefer winning in any way to losing in an entertaining fashion.

[mhead]

At some point you have to move from the Sam 'dirge' football and away capitulation to a more medium term approach built on skill and not long throw-ins.

We are now trying to do it. And like with Sam I support the team and most of all my Club thru thick and thin.

Thanks to Philip L for the reminder of the Kendall years or 1-0 as it was called....needs must then. On 32 points now surely we can go with the new flow a bit more.

[Bobby G]

Result.

No question about it.

Even the most fickle Brazilian fan wouldnt mind it if it delivers the title!

If Allardyce's so called hoof-ball got us into the top 6 and challenging for a Europa League spot, no one would even be questioning it.

But when its mid-table safety that's a bit "boring". Again Im not his biggest fan but I appreciate the work he did during the circumstances he took over and the stability he provided to the club as a whole.

Teams like us with our resources and our playing squad can NOT get away with trying to play expansive football especially when there are holes in the tactics which everyone can see, match after match.

[RovertheHill]

I used to think the football at Ewood was okay under Allardyce - and the phrase hoofball got used far more often than reality. I'm told the away matches were different though...

Obviously results are important but I'd settle for the team giving it absolutely everything for every minute of the game...

[Stuart]

This comes down to what you want to get in terms of enhancing your life from the passtime of watching football.

What supporting Blackburn Rovers does it give you?

Bragging rights with your mates / work colleagues as your club is higher in the pecking order than their clubs?

A pride from watching a team of 11 players representing, your club, your town, YOU?

The highs and lows of the emotional rollercoaster of scoring and conceding goals?

Social time to meet your mates, family, new people and have a pint or two to relax?

An excuse to shout your lungs out, swear at the ref, sing songs and generally take out all of the week's frustrations?

The amazement of watching skill and technique that you could only dream of doing yourself?

The chance to visit other parts of England and if you are lucky Europe without the need to make a family holiday out of it?

That buzz of excitement walking down Bolton Road to the ground with the pavements thronging with like minded Rovers fans, not knowing what to expect?

That great feeling you get walking back up Bolton Road following a victory - whether narrow and hard-fought or comprehensive and convincing?

Is it really all just about winning?

The only reason that this has become the staple thinking among football fans is because of the money involved in the Premier League. The more there is, the more there seems to be to lose and the more seems to be staked in the pursuit of getting it. And the greater the angst caused by the threat of losing it. Borne out by the fact that we now even have a thread specifically for the purposes of arguing, and discussing the art of arguing, with each other.

Sentimental and foolish perhaps but looking at the bigger picture (and if I can't have both)....

Football first. Result Second. (Caveat: Blackburn Rovers Football Club remains in existence for us to support).

[chris]

results, you can't win games without scoring goals anyway and I love winning both persoanlly at football and with Blackburn.

Whats the point in entertaining and losing......... your still a loser.

anyway this topic has aready been answered, Wigan was entertaining and everyone was crying after.

[Steve Moss]

Results.

[Majiball]

"Good performances breed good results"

[Andy]

Results for me, every day of the week.

Football is a competitive sport first and entertainment second.

Not only that, but potentially quite a lot of people's jobs rely on Rovers getting the results to stay in this division, so as far as Rovers are concerned, results always come before performances.

In fact, thinking about it, even when I play 5-a-side up at Guide a couple of times a week with my mates, it's all about the winning and never about how well you've played.

[Bobby G]

I'd take 1-0, defending with 10 men behind the ball every match if it meant we would be top 6 material consistently. The thing is most people should take the same as well, but there are no guarantees and thats where the split in opinion happens.

[blue_and_white]

Results.

Its like making a cake. Sort out all the boring bits first so even if it doesn't taste nice someone can eat it, then put the icing on the top. Allardyce had the cake and given a bit of money could have come up with the icing (like he did at Bolton with Okocha, Anelka and Djorkaeff). Obviously he needs more time but I'm starting to worry with Kean that all we'll ever have is a plate of icing.

[chris]

Results.

Its like making a cake. Sort out all the boring bits first so even if it doesn't taste nice someone can eat it, then put the icing on the top. Allardyce had the cake and given a bit of money could have come up with the icing (like he did at Bolton with Okocha, Anelka and Djorkaeff). Obviously he needs more time but I'm starting to worry with Kean that all we'll ever have is a plate of icing.

Because Kean is a puppet (we all know this) he has the start with the icing it looks like.

It better work too, he has never made a cake before and he has to make a great one in the wrong order.

He has helped Coleman "try" and make cakes but they got the ingredients wrong, and they never used icing either.

Here is the Cake Coleman and Kean made at Coventry: