[Archived] Steve Kean

[thenodrog]

I was a big fan of Sam Allardyce and he got results but the football wasn't great. I accept this because he produced results and espically at home.

When the owners sacked him I was in shocked because I wasn't excepting this to happen. If the owners were going to do this then it was going to be in the summer when his contract was up.

But When they did I was sure that they had a manager line up or a shortlist. I thought that they would go for Martin Jol! Would play attcking football and have experience in the PL.

but wasn't excepting them to appoint rovers first team coach at all. when they did this I couldn't believe this all and thought why? What managerial experience has he got.

I think Kean won't be manager next season whether we stay up or go down. The owners wanted to qualify for european next season or season after if we stay up, so I think they will appoint a proven manager maybe with PL experience to achieve this target! Kean is not the man for sure!

Struck me that it's quite possible that someone they'd been lining up decided to give back word / or play hardball and up the asking price once they'd jumped the gun so irresponsibly. Nothing else figures other than a level of suicidal stupidity that outshines the Charge of the Light Brigade.

[thenodrog]

I also agree OneJackwalker; well done for moving the debate back to something reasonable and civil.

I see no difficulty in acknowledging what Allardyce achieved and not liking him and certain aspects of his reign: one is rational and one emotional. I respect that Walmart are the world's most successful retailer but I don't like shopping there. He kept us up and steadied a shambolic ship. But, like Gav and quite a few friends of mine, all 40-years+ supporting, I found the games mostly boring such that I would spend half the time on my laptop if it was on live or fast-forward through bits if it was tape delayed. Personally I didn't care if we finished 10th or 15th as, in this league these days, there is no qualitative difference. It's a handful of points which are more likely to come from penalties for dives and ludicrous sending offs than from any consistently better play. I respect that other fans are only motivated by the result but I like a bit of foreplay before the money shot. For the record I thought Allardyce a good man manager, a good subber, but thought he bought on the whole poorly, low budgets or not (how many of the 12+ players he brought in made any sustained impact?)

I suspect the decision to can him was also emotional rather than rational. For someone with his managerial record, he shouldn't have been sacked 3 times and unemployed for 18 months. Even at Bolton, Gartside seemed to be glad to see the back of him, so if he can irritate sections of the fanbase, he must also be capable of doing even more so to his bosses. Rich and successful people are quite prone to over-reacting to emotional issues. It probably didn't help when he met Barry White his first words allegedly were, "Eyup Char Wallah, put us another brew in there would you, there's a good lad." Well, maybe not, but I didn't get the impression he went out of his way to sell himself to his new bosses. Giving a clearly hopeless Goulon his debut at OT seemed an act of lunacy at the time and I suspect could well have triggered off the red mist coming down at the party in Pune.

I don't know who these Kean fans are; everyone can see he shouldn't be in the job. I was amazed to see the headline that Allardyce had gone but doubly amazed not to see the next day that Martin Jol or somesuch hadn't been appointed. Appointed a total novice at this level implies that you don't need any experience at all which is clearly nonsense. I don't know why people bother comparing their two records, Kean shouldn't be anywhere near the job.

I think we will stay up by the skin of our teeth and that the owners will finally see sense and get in a proper manager.

Great post Exiled.

Great post ######!

The sound of reverse gears being hurriedly crashed is deafening / sickening. Delete as appropriate. Next up waggy will be going stir crazy and sobbing uncontrollably whilst building a shrine out of empty bottles to Big Sam on some distant beach in Cambodia.

How many times was the term 'be careful what you wish for' been used on here in the past couple of years?

[imy9]

Great post ######!

The sound of reverse gears being hurriedly crashed is deafening / sickening. Delete as appropriate. Next up waggy will be going stir crazy and sobbing uncontrollably whilst building a shrine out of empty bottles to Big Sam on some distant beach in Cambodia.

How many times was the term 'be careful what you wish for' been used on here in the past couple of years?

People can change their minds, this is England 2011 after all.

You thought Hughes would be a bad manager for Rovers, look at how that turned out hey?

A shrine? This is football Theno, you are holding 'it' and 'him' in too high a regard IMO.

[onlyonejackwalker]

People can change their minds, this is England 2011 after all.

You thought Hughes would be a bad manager for Rovers, look at how that turned out hey?

A shrine? This is football Theno, you are holding 'it' and 'him' in too high a regard IMO.

I think the pro-Allardyce supporters have more than made their point. I have been as guilty as anyone, so am not claiming to be whiter than white.

Those championing change due to SA's historical links to Bolton, televised documentaries, adverse links to agents, style and entertainment issues, whatever the reasoning, have learnt that change for change's sake does not guarantee improvement.

Those that felt we could achieve mid-table safety comfortably with the same players, playing in a more attacking and attractive style, have learnt that playing better football, requires better players.

No-one is going to admit any of this of course, so the arguments go round and round.

Mistakes have been made at the club, but none of these were ultimately the fault of the fans irrespective of whether the changes were desired or not, as others took and made the key decisions.

The club has been ripped in half. Large divides created. This did and will still apply to the players as well. The dust settled a long time ago, the club desperately tried to generate some positive PR at that time to negate all the negative news releases, with longer contracts awarded to some and the likes of Samba and Salgado and Nelsen stating they were now on-board and behind all changes made. Money spent in January helped for a while.

However, some of that was just lip service and it is no co-incidence that problems have re-surfaced and Kalinic and Givet are now creating adverse publicity. God knows what the real feeling in the dressing room must be, and who is involved, but it is clear that with change comes uncertainty, with uncertainty comes a lack of understanding and confusion breeds unhappiness and a lack of belief and trust. The players in general will not be happy.

The problems exist and will get much worse if we are relegated.

Our stock chant of "Someones Blue and White Army" is not now sung on our terraces. Only Rovers fans would realise how unusual this is and the pointed abscence of our main chant tells its own story. Most will find this a little disturing and sad and it is not our way, nor good for us. I can't sing for Steve Kean and it feels crap.

I feel it admirable that in the face of considerable provocation our fans have shown such huge restraint and avoided the mass complaints / demonstrations that some would feel justified. We have very good and loyal fans and always have had.

I am new here, this forum is very busy and there are many long-standing and knowledgeable fans commenting. It is frustrating having fans at each others throats with bigger battles to fight. No-one was right, no-one was wrong, we just love the club and have our own preferences along the way.

If we could unite our fans for the run in then we would have a chance again irrespective of our tough run-in. For me, that is the main thing the club could try and achieve to assist at this time our relegation struggle. But where do you start?

[Exiled in Toronto]

Great post ######!

The sound of reverse gears being hurriedly crashed is deafening / sickening. Delete as appropriate. Next up waggy will be going stir crazy and sobbing uncontrollably whilst building a shrine out of empty bottles to Big Sam on some distant beach in Cambodia.

How many times was the term 'be careful what you wish for' been used on here in the past couple of years?

Who's reversing? Which bit of I didn't enjoy watching Rovers under him and I didn't like him don't you understand?

[Mattyblue]

If you don't like his football, fair do's, game of opinions and all that.

But, not liking his personality, who cares? He's a football manager, you don't know the bloke personally.

[Exiled in Toronto]

If you don't like his football, fair do's, game of opinions and all that.

But, not liking his personality, who cares? He's a football manager, you don't know the bloke personally.

Let's not keep going over old ground.

[chaddyrovers]

Struck me that it's quite possible that someone they'd been lining up decided to give back word / or play hardball and up the asking price once they'd jumped the gun so irresponsibly. Nothing else figures other than a level of suicidal stupidity that outshines the Charge of the Light Brigade.

then that is why you should have done a full research into who would have come to replace SA before sacking him. The owners and JA/Kentaro were at fault for this. we all know that Balaji wanted DM but the vast majority of rovers fans would have gone into up roar and probably want massive wages aswell.

Steve kean signings haven't really been quality and played much apart from JJ. RSC hasn't played much. we have since much of RR and we haven't seen MF in the match day squad. we needed players to come and pick up the pace of the straight away. any players for the future should have been signed if the summer.

I still have my doubts whether Kean will be manager next season and how much will be there to spend on players.

[DP]

Great post ######!

The sound of reverse gears being hurriedly crashed is deafening / sickening. Delete as appropriate. Next up waggy will be going stir crazy and sobbing uncontrollably whilst building a shrine out of empty bottles to Big Sam on some distant beach in Cambodia.

How many times was the term 'be careful what you wish for' been used on here in the past couple of years?

Nope, it's a great post and what most Rovers fans were thinking at the time.

[Mattyblue]

Nope, it's a great post and what most Rovers fans were thinking at the time.

No, most Rovers fans WERE NOT thinking that at the tine at all.

[rebelmswar]

Could someone please tell me what I was thinking at that time.

[HemelRover]

Could someone please tell me what I was thinking at that time.

Rebelmswar: "Mmmmmm, Donuts!"

[booth]

Was working with a Burnley fan today and he was asking why haven't there been any Kean out chants yet. He said it'd be hilarious only for the Eddie Howe situation at theirs.

How long before the crowd start getting nasty?

[tony gale's mic]

Nope, it's a great post and what most Rovers fans were thinking at the time.

It's really not.

At the time of Allardyce's sacking (before a replacement was named) the likes of EiT were very much behind the sacking.

However, a LET poll carried out showed that around 75% of Rovers fans were against the sacking, even when we were being linked with Martin Jol in the media at the same time.

It's what a small proportion of thick headed Rovers fans were thinking. Just because you were thinking the same, it doesn't make you part of the majority.

[den]

Was working with a Burnley fan today and he was asking why haven't there been any Kean out chants yet. He said it'd be hilarious only for the Eddie Howe situation at theirs.

How long before the crowd start getting nasty?

It's the feeling of hopelessness that's prevailing at the moment. There's no-one to protest to.

[Amo]

Who's reversing? Which bit of I didn't enjoy watching Rovers under him and I didn't like him don't you understand?

I'm afraid you've been lumped into the 'Anti-Sam' category now, so it doesn't matter how honest you are, unless you admit that Sam was THE MAN, you won't escape tar and feathering.

[ABBEY]

I'm afraid you've been lumped into the 'Anti-Sam' category now, so it doesn't matter how honest you are, unless you admit that Sam was THE MAN, you won't escape tar and feathering.

+1

[imy9]

It's really not.

At the time of Allardyce's sacking (before a replacement was named) the likes of EiT were very much behind the sacking.

However, a LET poll carried out showed that around 75% of Rovers fans were against the sacking, even when we were being linked with Martin Jol in the media at the same time.

It's what a small proportion of thick headed Rovers fans were thinking. Just because you were thinking the same, it doesn't make you part of the majority.

So a % of Rovers fans wanted him out to be replaced with an experienced manager who would provide better football with some transfer funds- thick headed? Plus polls are notoriously difficult to decipher, if the above scenario was provided in the form of a question how many Rovers fans would have said sack Sam? The question was should Sam have been sacked... well considering what we ended up with the end result of the poll was obvious.

[booth]

It's the feeling of hopelessness that's prevailing at the moment. There's no-one to protest to.

Sums things up well. At Ewood there's an overall feeling of helplessness at the moment. I have a feeling should Mrs Desai make another visit things may liven up.

[rebelmswar]

Sums things up well. At Ewood there's an overall feeling of helplessness at the moment. I have a feeling should Mrs Desai make another visit things may liven up.

In all honesty I have written countless emails now with varying degrees of tact.

"We will pass this along" is the most I have had back, besides one asking me to define "chickenchoker" and if I have a better method.

[booth]

How do they not see there are serious issues at the club? There's some truly idiotic and embarrassing abuse written on the Venky's Facebook page. But you would think with that amount of anger, they would recognize that things were not well and delve deeper.

One view of this thread shows that even the fans who don't think sacking Kean would be the right thing to do at this stage, don't think he should be in the job at all.

They tell us that they want the best for the club. Obviously they don't want it as much as us, so listen to the fans.

Allardyce = polarized opinion

Kean = undivided opinion that he's not right for the job

[Mattyblue]

Anybody who cares for their football club should not want a highly competent manager sacked in the midst of a potentially successful season (even if the mighty Martin Jol is lined up).

Stability is what clubs like ours need. ANY new appointment is a risk in December.

Calling for a sacking because they have a personal dislike of a bloke they have never met should not come into it, neither should the belief that the role of a professional club is to play 'football the right way'. It was painfully obvious that we had a team greater than the sum of its parts, but no, others knew better.

Selfishness is the driving force behind the anti Allardyce camp, 'I don't like the Fat Slug'. 'I hate his hoofball', 'Bolton wa***r', 'Ewood is a chore', 'I want 442', 'I want attacking football'.

I accepted the Allardyce approach because the team and club as a whole was stable and still holding its own in the toughest league in world football- THAT is what everyone should want as a 'supporter' of Blackburn Rovers FC.

[imy9]

Anybody who cares for their football club should not want a highly competent manager sacked in the midst of a potentially successful season (even if the mighty Martin Jol is lined up).

Stability is what clubs like ours need. ANY new appointment is a risk in December.

Calling for a sacking because they have a personal dislike of a bloke they have never met should not come into it, neither should the belief that the role of a professional club is to play 'football the right way'. It was painfully obvious that we had a team greater than the sum of its parts, but no, others knew better.

Selfishness is the driving force behind the anti Allardyce camp, 'I don't like the Fat Slug'. 'I hate his hoofball', 'Bolton wa***r', 'Ewood is a chore', 'I want 442', 'I want attacking football'.

I accepted the Allardyce approach because the team and club as a whole was stable and still holding its own in the toughest league in world football- THAT is what everyone should want as a 'supporter' of Blackburn Rovers FC.

I agree with the stability part, however I would argue ANY appointment at ANY time is a risk.

Chris Houghton universally acknowledged as doing an excellent job is sacked in December, replaced by an experienced premier league manager, they are now comfortable in 9th place.

Roberto Di Matteo another acknowledged as doing a good job at West Brom is sacked in February, replaced by an experienced premier league manager, they are now undefeated since and are in 10th position.

The point that I am making is that if an experienced manager arrived at Rovers following Sams sacking then I believe that we would not be in the position that we are in right now (IMO), thus fans wanting Sam gone and replaced with an experienced manager does not make them "thick"

[John]

My personal view is that there are not that many decent managers around therefore sacking an experienced/proven one, considering his previous achievements with us, is just utterly stupid.

Fair play to Venky's and their clever advisers though, clearly know what they are doing.

[Gav]

+1

+2