[Archived] Steve Kean

[Stuart]

We are talking about our manager making ridiculous comments.

How is that not relevant?

Ah yes. Because it was tongue in cheek. So much so he had to withdraw his comments a week later.

It's a comparison between things managers say and how they are reacted to. They were laughing in the media at what Kean said, they also laughed about what Sam said. It was headline news on SSN iirc.

Yet it's not relevant.

That's me told.

Bucky, if you genuinely can't tell the difference then there's not much point anyone debating it with you.

Part of me hopes you are trolling on this one.

[John]

Bucky, as I said, just accept Sam did a good job for us, got results and try and move on (something you clearly have difficulty in doing).

[braddock]

Bucky, if you genuinely can't tell the difference then there's not much point anyone debating it with you.

Part of me hopes you are trolling on this one.

It has some relevance.

[BuckyRover]

It has some relevance.

I think it's quite telling that nobody addresses any of the points raised. They just say "not relevant".

Explain why a manager with years of experience saying stupid things that reflect badly on the club is not relevant when a novice manager says something that could be considered stupid.

[Amo]

Bucky, as I said, just accept Sam did a good job for us, got results and try and move on (something you clearly have difficulty in doing).

He didn't even bring Sam into the conversation.

It was Den, who loves to wax lyrical about someone who he apparently wasn't that keen on.

[cruz]

Personally I couldn't give a flying toothpick what Kean says, or anyone else in football for that matter. All that matters to me is what happens during the 90 minutes of a Rovers match, everything else of the spoken variety is just pointless fluff.

[Mattyblue]

I think it's quite telling that nobody addresses any of the points raised. They just say "not relevant".

Explain why a manager with years of experience saying stupid things that reflect badly on the club is not relevant when a novice manager says something that could be considered stupid.

Allardyce was making outlandish claims about himself (though I thought it was tongue in cheek, but if you say it wasn't Bucky then it wasn't) and not the club.

[Stuart]

I think it's quite telling that nobody addresses any of the points raised. They just say "not relevant".

Explain why a manager with years of experience saying stupid things that reflect badly on the club is not relevant when a novice manager says something that could be considered stupid.

Allardyce was joking and trying to make a point. Much like his "expert" comment, it was tongue in cheek. HE then went and got results.

Kean was not joking and clearly believes we can become a CL side in the next 3-4 years. If I thought he was being tongue in cheek, I'd forgive him but he isn't, and he is opening the club up to ridicule when he doesn't appear have the where-with-all to prove people wrong.

Kean talked the talk in January, HE then went on an 11 game run without a win, got lucky and we stayed up. Yet he still hasn't learned when to keep his head down.

It's like I said about Hughes, it's about credibility. Kean needs to get some BEFORE he shoots his mouth off and makes Rovers a laughing stock.

What we can all see, and he can't, is that Rovers' decline was nearly terminal through lack of investment over the last few years. He needs to shut his trap and focus on quietly going about making Rovers an established top 10 side again, within the next 3-4 years. If he can do that then he gains that credibility and respect along the way.

Ironically, if he gets anywhere close to that he'll start attracting interest from other clubs (e.g. Celtic)and will be off like a shot.

[BuckyRover]

Allardyce was making outlandish claims about himself (though I thought it was tongue in cheek, but if you say it wasn't Bucky then it wasn't) and not the club.

We aren't talking about what you or I think, it was about perception in the media.

I'm still stunned that somebody said I was obsessed with Sam.

[braddock]

Kean talked the talk in January, HE then went on an 11 game run without a win, got lucky and we stayed up.

Ha.

[Mattyblue]

We aren't talking about what you or I think, it was about perception in the media.

I'm still stunned that somebody said I was obsessed with Sam.

Allardyce made an arse of himself, Kean made an arse of himslef and the club.

[imy9]

Jisty- table does not lie, in the end we deserved to stay up and we did- Keans points total would have ensured survival this season.

[cruz]

I can't remember us having any luck in our fight to stay out of the bottom 3. Plenty of begrudgement but no luck

[Stuart]

Perhaps think of it this way Bucky:

You work in a big company and one of the old hands give you a bit of a ribbing now and again about being from Blackburn and sticking t' in front of words instead of "the". You don't like it and you don't like him much but he's a very sharp individual and has a track record of success, and he has your grudging respect. During this last year, he's raised morale and kept the company in business in the face of massive budget cuts - including keeping you in work.

Next news, the company is taken over and he's sacked and replaced with by the an office junior who keeps telling you how fantastic everything is in the company and that the company is going to top the FTSE100 in no time. The building needs serious renovation and many of the staff are close to retirement age, or regularly off sick, and the new guy keeps promising it'll be sorted and be even better than before - in no time.

You quite like the guy and he's bubbly and enthusiastic, and apparently works late a lot (well his office light is on anyway), but he often goes away on business when things are really busy and nothing really appears to be improving apart from his promises are getting grander yet still not being delivered on. Meanwhile your best sales people are handing in their notices.

You are a bit unsettled and concerned and go to see him.

He breaks off from writing his letter to the press to tell them his plans for global domination, and reassures you that everything will be alright, the new owners have pots of cash and there's a recruitment agency who are bringing in new staff. Top quality. Yet the temps and apprentices they've brought in have been mixed to say the least - one even went off sick and still got paid. Is it any wonder staff are reading the job sections online?

Don't worry he tells you. Last year, I was filing paperwork and moving desks around the office, look at me now: I'm in charge, he grins!

He then winks at you and says, "This time next year Bucky, we'll be millionaires!"

Do you believe him?

[cruz]

Terrible analogy

[Stuart]

I think it makes my point fairly vividly but thanks for your valued and well considered input.

[Miker]

I think it's quite telling that nobody addresses any of the points raised. They just say "not relevant".

Explain why a manager with years of experience saying stupid things that reflect badly on the club is not relevant when a novice manager says something that could be considered stupid.

There's a huge difference between Sam saying he could manage and be successful at a top European club if given the chance (as a sly dig at Wenger and as a defence of his managerial credentials) and Steve "Underpants Gnome" Kean making hollow statements about the new heights our club will reach with him in charge. Let's not forget he also promised he'd "match or better" the position we finished under Sam the previous season. Sure, Steve, sure. If you read the feedback in the media then Sam's comments only brought ridicule on himself, but Kean's comments have brought ridicule on the club.

[cruz]

I think it makes my point fairly vividly but thanks for your valued and well considered input.

It's a load bunk and was not worth the time it took to read let alone write

[Andy]

There's a huge difference between Sam saying he could manage and be successful at a top European club if given the chance (as a sly dig at Wenger and as a defence of his managerial credentials) and Steve "Underpants Gnome" Kean making hollow statements about the new heights our club will reach with him in charge. Let's not forget he also promised he'd "match or better" the position we finished under Sam the previous season. Sure, Steve, sure. If you read the feedback in the media then Sam's comments only brought ridicule on himself, but Kean's comments have brought ridicule on the club.

You want to watch where you put that common sense and logic around here, gets branded as being anti-Kean/Venky's/whatever.

[47er]

Bucky, as I said, just accept Sam did a good job for us, got results and try and move on (something you clearly have difficulty in doing).

Its consuming his life (again).

[Miker]

A comparison between Kean and Villas-Boas was made earlier, but the thing that struck me about Villas-Boas is that he has recently come out and talked about the good things Ancelotti has left behind at the club and how he's hoping to build on that. Whether that is actually the case remains to be seen, but that to me is absolutely key, to take control of a team that has been doing well and instead of completely re-shaping it, simply seeking to build on it. Continuity ensures a club can continue to progress because re-shaping the squad means a period of uncertainty and inconsistency that a club like ours simply cannot afford.

Funnily enough, this was the only reason I was willing to give Kean a chance initially because I felt that being part of Sam's backroom staff, he would continue the good work started before him, but as we've gone along, I'm finding more and more that rather than build on the solid foundations already established at this club, Kean is looking to "re-shape it in his own image" as per his own words. In fact, Kean's initial attempts to change the style of play last season was a failure and it wasn't until he reverted to Sam's tactics that we started to gain some momentum. This isn't due to Sam being some tactical genius, but the tactics he came up with for this team, especially at home, were successful and fitted in well with the squad mentality. Mainly because it built on the style of play and tactics we had under Hughes, something that Ince failed to do.

The concern for me here is that if we were to lose not only Jones, but Samba as well, the key components to our team would be gone and we would have to do a lot of rebuilding to get our club back on track to be a top 10 competitor. Since I, and many others, remain unconvinced by Kean... this remains to be a risk that we didn't need to take. Given Kean has been given a 3-year contract and still has 2 and a half years of it to go, I want him to do well, as sacking him and starting again would just be a pointless exercise and set us back further. This was one of the reasons that I didn't want Sam sacked back in the 09/10 season when we had a terrible run of form and calls for him to get the sack were growing quickly. To me, continuity at any club is key and incredibly important.

So it remains to be seen what Kean can achieve, but he needs to atone for a number of mistakes that have been made so far. If he plans to re-build the team in his own style, as I'm sure he does, then he needs to decide how he's going to go about it and whether building from the back is what he wants to concentrate on first, or whether he wants us to become a force to be reckoned with up front. Telling us he'll be having us play flowing football while keeping things tight at the back and challenging for top 5 is just a rubbish throwaway line that means nothing to me as a fan. Personally I don't care what he says in the media, as long as he gets the right results on the pitch, but when he's not getting the right results and goes out talking rubbish in public then we have a problem.

I believe I'm being completely reasonable with my assessment of Kean above, but people are free to disagree and I won't mind. I am hoping that this gives at least some insight into why people are so critical of Kean and can be respected for their views, rather than attacked for them.

[BangkokRover]

Top Post Miker

[Stuart]

It's a load bunk and was not worth the time it took to read let alone write

:lol:

[cruz]

:lol:

Glad you agree Jisty. Hopefully it will stop you wasting your time writing 50 lines of nonsense in the future

[Stuart]

You have time to count the lines but you still can't post a reasoned reply to the point I was making? Messageboards are clearly not for you.

I can see you struggle with metaphor, so I'll make it a bit simpler for you: Kean talks bunkum and makes you, me and the rest of the club and fans a laughing stock without being able to back up his words with actions or a record of achievement, yet you take cheap shots at my posts pointing this out, just because you don't agree?

Jog on.

EDIT: in fact jog on to the papershop and buy today's LT. Have a read of Chris Flanaghan's comments at the bottom of page 34...