[Archived] Steve Kean

[Manchester Blue]

How? Whist I obviously don't like reading it, would say the following is fairly accurate...

they should never have sacked Allardyce, and did it in such an undignified fashion that it left a sour taste in everyone's mouth

"There's not a lot of love for Kean, either, as he appeared to stab Allardyce in the back as he stepped up from his first-team coach role, proving to be a 'yes man' in the background as the owners talked of signing Ronaldinho and breaking into the top six with a £5million transfer budget.

Venky's chairwoman Anuradha Desai has previously gone on record as saying: "We should go up in the rankings but playing well is not just about winning. The way we play is vital.

The way Blackburn play over the coming months will indeed be 'vital'

I've refrained from posting too much because if you say anything positive you're seen as being a Venky's/Kean/Chicken loving idealist, if you say something negative i accept you get many of the opposite things thrown at you and there seems no middle ground. However the amount of stick people give Kean, or willingly accept as fact when spouted by pundits or even worse is bizarre. The rumours of fighting on the training ground being one example.

I saw this article yesterday as i follow Teamtalk on twitter for their excellent score updates. I just laughed when i read it as i felt it was ill informed rubbish, simply a glib couple of lines really. I knew it would get picked up and many would use it as more evidence against Kean.

I'll tell you why I think it's rubbish John, because for starters it states we don't have the fight for the relegation battle, unlike the other teams around us. This despite the fact that in the last two games, the only real crumb of comfort you could take is the players are fighting for their lives. Quality is missing in abundance of that we can't deny but fight? Do me a favour, you can't watch the players in the last two games and say they don't care.

Secondly the stuff about Kean is quite simply unnecessary, irrelevant and mostly unsubstantiated but hey ho why not have a go at the easy target. I'm not saying he's a great manager, or even a half decent one but he doesn't deserve a lot of the stick so far. Of course there are major problems behind the scenes but to be honest at this moment in time we can only concern ourselves with the battle to stay up, nothing else matters until the end of May.

The only thing I do agree with in the article is how badly treated Allardyce was, whether you like him or not i think most would agree on that, certainly at the timing in particular. It still makes me chuckle that i read people bleating on about how harsh it was who for years have been berating him for ruining however.

Ultimately he's gone and we can't affect that we can only keep our fingers crossed we can scrape enough points to stay up but one thing you can't doubt on current evidence is the fight is there and that to me will be key. Just to put some context on things for people being so doom and gloom, last season we'd already have enough points to stay up, we're actually 2 points worse off at the same stage so not all that bad.

[John]

Fair enough, each to their own, respect your view.

The article takes into account our recent form/results have been appalling - you cannot dispute that IMO. Also, within the article they mock this new entertaining style of football stating the way we play over the next few months will be vital, cannot disagree with that – surely the goals we scored at the weekend verify that one.

I agree we have shown fight recently, however what about previously and overall over Kean’s tenure (i.e. all the games which he has been in charge) have we shown enough? Or has everyone just woken up because they have realised how close we are to the relegation zone.

A more street wise (or proven) manager, IMO, would have seen us pick up more points, especially given some of the fixtures Kean had in the early part of his reign.

Overall, I agree with most points within the article as I originally said.

[MarkBRFC71]

Complete rubbish. If that was the case he would still be playing on the wing, Sam moved him from there because he was inconsistent. He can put in balls from a dead ball situation but moving or running with the ball he fails to deliver.

He didn't really do much moving or running on Saturday either - backwards or forwards. That's much more of an issue in our present situation than the quality or lack of in his passing (for the record, he's getting ever more inconsistent in that regard IMO).

We need fighters, not shirkers.

[Mercer]

I'd like some honesty from Kean.

Who recommended Jones, Formica & Rochina and how many times, if any, had Kean seen them play ?

A colleague of mine does some youth scouting for a N.W. club and he is of the opinion that all is not well with our posse of scouts.

[martonrover]

Just to put some context on things for people being so doom and gloom, last season we'd already have enough points to stay up, we're actually 2 points worse off at the same stage so not all that bad.

But we're now shaping like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg just at the most crucial phase of the season - that is the key difference and is part of the overall context.

Yes, the players have shown 'fight' in the last two games but it is naive in the extreme to think that showing fight will be anywhere enough to get the points we need.

The bottom line is that 2-2 at home to Blackpool is a poor result as is a 3-2 defeat at Fulham, and 'oh goody' it's Arsenal away next

[Billy Castell]

By 'popular' demand, here's what I wrote:

To whom it may concern,

I have previously sent an e-mail highlighting some events regarding the deteriation of the fortunes of your new asset-Blackburn Rovers Football club. The most pressing issue in the short term is relegation, an issue that I, and many other fans believe would not have arisen had you retained the services of Sam Allardyce. As things stand, it is abundantly clear that the current manager Steve Kean is not able to do the job, and looks likely to lead our club to relegation, and the loss of an estimated £50m.

I know that Ms. Desai, and the other senior heirarchy within Venky's/VH Group have invested a lot of their trust and reputation into backing Mr. Kean, but it takes a strong person to admit they made an error. As someone who has an interest in football, and the future of Blackburn Rovers, I would like to offer some suggestions about football managers who may be available and willing to lead our club to brighter things. I offer my opinions as I see that your popularity with the fans has sunk considerably, as have Blackburn's league position and reputation. The following names should go some way to reversing this decline:

1. Felix Magath: Released from his managerial post at German club Schalke, after leading them to the Champions League. He has also managed Bayern Munich and lead Wolfsburg to their first ever league title.

2. Louis Van Gaal: Very experienced manager due to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season. He has won the Champions League with Ajax, and has managed the Netherlands, Barcelona and AZ.

3. Martin O'Neill: He has plenty of experience working at Premier League with Leicester and Aston Villa. He has a reputation for being a good motivator.

4. Michael Laudrup: Established Getafe in La Liga in Spain and managed Spartak Moscow.

5. Frank Rjikaard: Has managed the Netherlands, Barcelona and Galatasaray. He started Barcelona on their rise to become such a dominant force in world football whilst playing in a style that has won many plaudits.

Every one of these men would be a drastic improvement on Steve Kean, and should be considered for the post of manager as soon as possible. The recent 2-2 result against Blackpool was not good enough for the fans, who are very worried about the direction the club is heading. An experienced manager such as those mentioned above would be benefitial for Blackburn Rovers, Venky's and your standing in the eyes of the fans of Blackburn Rovers.

Yours Sincerely,

Billy Castell

-------------------------------------------------

I even got a response, however brief from Preenath Rao:

Dear Mr. Billy,

Your points duly noted. Will pass on the same to management.

Regards,

Praneeth Rao

[roverwhelmed]

I'd like some honesty from Kean.

Who recommended Jones, Formica & Rochina and how many times, if any, had Kean seen them play ?

A colleague of mine does some youth scouting for a N.W. club and he is of the opinion that all is not well with our posse of scouts.

It doesn't feel like all is well at any level whatsoever

Good on you Billy.

[Pete1981]

By 'popular' demand, here's what I wrote:

To whom it may concern,

I have previously sent an e-mail highlighting some events regarding the deteriation of the fortunes of your new asset-Blackburn Rovers Football club. The most pressing issue in the short term is relegation, an issue that I, and many other fans believe would not have arisen had you retained the services of Sam Allardyce. As things stand, it is abundantly clear that the current manager Steve Kean is not able to do the job, and looks likely to lead our club to relegation, and the loss of an estimated £50m.

I know that Ms. Desai, and the other senior heirarchy within Venky's/VH Group have invested a lot of their trust and reputation into backing Mr. Kean, but it takes a strong person to admit they made an error. As someone who has an interest in football, and the future of Blackburn Rovers, I would like to offer some suggestions about football managers who may be available and willing to lead our club to brighter things. I offer my opinions as I see that your popularity with the fans has sunk considerably, as have Blackburn's league position and reputation. The following names should go some way to reversing this decline:

1. Felix Magath: Released from his managerial post at German club Schalke, after leading them to the Champions League. He has also managed Bayern Munich and lead Wolfsburg to their first ever league title.

2. Louis Van Gaal: Very experienced manager due to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season. He has won the Champions League with Ajax, and has managed the Netherlands, Barcelona and AZ.

3. Martin O'Neill: He has plenty of experience working at Premier League with Leicester and Aston Villa. He has a reputation for being a good motivator.

4. Michael Laudrup: Established Getafe in La Liga in Spain and managed Spartak Moscow.

5. Frank Rjikaard: Has managed the Netherlands, Barcelona and Galatasaray. He started Barcelona on their rise to become such a dominant force in world football whilst playing in a style that has won many plaudits.

Every one of these men would be a drastic improvement on Steve Kean, and should be considered for the post of manager as soon as possible. The recent 2-2 result against Blackpool was not good enough for the fans, who are very worried about the direction the club is heading. An experienced manager such as those mentioned above would be benefitial for Blackburn Rovers, Venky's and your standing in the eyes of the fans of Blackburn Rovers.

Yours Sincerely,

Billy Castell

-------------------------------------------------

I even got a response, however brief from Preenath Rao:

Dear Mr. Billy,

Your points duly noted. Will pass on the same to management.

Regards,

Praneeth Rao

I would have put Graeme Souness on that list of managers

[Billy Castell]

I'd have made a more comprehensive list had it not been midnight when I wrote it. I wanted to keep it briefish, so the salient point of Kean being out of his depth was not lost in the text. However, Souness would not have made my particular list, unless it was a short term measure.

Obviously, nothing will come of it. Though having said that, I half expect an e-mail offering me an interview for the chairman's job the way things are going! I did get one asking if I fancied joining Mi5 a few weeks ago.

[tony gale's mic]

Even if the owners did want to change managers, none of those managers would join us. Poor team in terrible form with no opportunity to make moves in the transfer market. And little prospect of taking the clubs onwards and upwards after the summer even if we do stay up given the current owners.

God things at Ewood are depressing right now...

[BangkokRover]

I'd have made a more comprehensive list had it not been midnight when I wrote it. I wanted to keep it briefish, so the salient point of Kean being out of his depth was not lost in the text. However, Souness would not have made my particular list, unless it was a short term measure.

Obviously, nothing will come of it. Though having said that, I half expect an e-mail offering me an interview for the chairman's job the way things are going! I did get one asking if I fancied joining Mi5 a few weeks ago.

At least you got a reply, wether something now happens is anyones guess. Here is Asia its normal to email people and then have to call them a few days later to find out why they have not answered your email.

[PAFELL]

At least you got a reply, wether something now happens is anyones guess. Here is Asia its normal to email people and then have to call them a few days later to find out why they have not answered your email.

Depends on who you are emailing. Not every asian person is the same.

[herbergeehh]

Still think we did well in the window. Jermaine Jones will be handy in the run-in, as will Santa Cruz, who regardless of the lack of goals at the moment is miles ahead of our other strikers in terms of overall play. Formica and Rochina are bought for the future, which reflects their ability at the moment it seems. Rochina's reserve performances is certainly uplifting - when's the last time we had a goalscorer there? Derbyshire is the first name that springs to mind.

Not fully convinced by Kean myself, but people need to keep a cool head in some cases. We can't afford getting relegated, obviously, and sacking Sam made things more difficult. If Kean can keep us up, though, it will be interesting to see what happens. I don't think that hiring a van Gaal, Hiddink, Martin Jol type of manager necessarily is the way to go - and I think Kean can become a good manager. The key is getting the players on board, and the way to do that is winning a couple of games now these last weeks.

[broadsword]

By 'popular' demand, here's what I wrote:

To whom it may concern,

I'm tempted to write a joke one.

"The following names should go some way to reversing this minor form blip:

- The Chuckle Brothers: Experienced pair of hands, have seen it and done it all. Very media-friendly, would hold a good press conference.

- Colonel Gadaffi: Results-orientated trainer, happy to make himself unpopular in single-minded pursuit of victory

- Colonel Saunders: Knows how to get public on his side, would probably be able to make a profit out of this disaster, sorry, acquisition, somehow.

etc etc.

[Mercer]

After reading the 'Blackburn Rovers' dealings with influential agent Jerome Anderson comes under scrutiny', is there anyone out there who still thinks that Kean is his own man ?

[rebelmswar]

Nicko.

I am still holding out hope for Gav to stop using whater he is using and see the light.

[Torgeir]

Felix Magath already has a new job. I don't think it will help the team if we sack Kean now, the players seem to be behind him despite our dreadful form. I agree that Big Sam should never have been sacked though, I stressed that when he did that Venky's pulled the trigger too early and should have waited until the summer.

If he were to be sacked I would bring in a proven PL manager until the summer, then possibly look elsewhere if we want to play a more continental style. I belive George Graham would get our defending up to par in no-time.

[Kjell Sindre]

I agree that Big Sam should never have been sacked though, I stressed that when he did that Venky's pulled the trigger too early and should have waited until the summer.

I somehow fail to see this 'should not have been sacked until the summer argument'; Big Sam saved us from relegation, then steared us into a more than acceptable (some would even say great) top 10 finish. In my book this should have given Sam the chance to improve the team with some quality players and the chance (and hopefully with the result of) to finish even stronger than last season. But I guess my premise in all this is that a club should be run by a standard of prudence in addition to a minimal sense of justice/decency.

However I agree that it's no good to fire Kean. Only a very, very few people would be able to come in at this stage and actually turn tings around, and something tells me that those special ones maybe won't be interested in coming here.

[John]

I somehow fail to see this 'should not have been sacked until the summer argument'; Big Sam saved us from relegation, then steared us into a more than acceptable (some would even say great) top 10 finish. In my book this should have given Sam the chance to improve the team with some quality players and the chance (and hopefully with the result of) to finish even stronger than last season. But I guess my premise in all this is that a club should be run by a standard of prudence in addition to a minimal sense of justice/decency.

So true, nothing wrong with finishing high up the league, you get more prize money too....

[gumboots]

another one bites the dust - my daughter interviewed Ronnie Moore on Friday night - yesterday evening he and rotherham parted company. that's Baraclough and Moore in a week to add to Lee and eriksson, plus at least one other who have biten the dust shortly after she interviewed them. I've told you before the solution to getting rid of Kean is to sneak her in to interview him. Oh, and i know Barry chuckle's mobile number if you want to sound him out.

[roversmum]

Oh, my, gumboots. Now, how can we arrange it?

[Torgeir]

I somehow fail to see this 'should not have been sacked until the summer argument'; Big Sam saved us from relegation, then steared us into a more than acceptable (some would even say great) top 10 finish. In my book this should have given Sam the chance to improve the team with some quality players and the chance (and hopefully with the result of) to finish even stronger than last season. But I guess my premise in all this is that a club should be run by a standard of prudence in addition to a minimal sense of justice/decency.

I fully agree, I didn't want Sam to be sacked. But in the event that the owners were going to sack him anyway the safest thing to do would be to wait until the summer when the dust has settled a little. I think Venky's have been ill advised on a few footballing matters, but I also have no problems seeing Sam being unwilling to sign players him and his scouts were not interested in - if he really wanted to keep his job I think he would have been able to by swallowing a fair load of pride.

[Kelbo]

I fully agree, I didn't want Sam to be sacked. But in the event that the owners were going to sack him anyway the safest thing to do would be to wait until the summer when the dust has settled a little. I think Venky's have been ill advised on a few footballing matters, but I also have no problems seeing Sam being unwilling to sign players him and his scouts were not interested in - if he really wanted to keep his job I think he would have been able to by swallowing a fair load of pride.

Or by being a yes man?????

That says it all, you have stumbled on the reason Kean got the job!!

[AggyBlue]

He was on Talkshyte this morning, sounds like he'd make a good manager

He was very upbeat for some reason, does he know what fixtures we have left I wondered.

[chaddyrovers]

here is Kean interview on talksport. interview starts 22 mins in

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/listen-again/episode/25678