[Archived] Rovers Hit The Headlines

[BRFCS Content]

Published: Monday, 28 March 2011

Rovers Hit The Headlines

by Kamy

Rovers have been at the centre of more media attention and speculation over the weekend with stories of manager Steve Kean getting sacked and impending financial disaster rounded off by an attack from a Daily Mirror columnist, who suggested that most people will not care if Rovers go down.

Friday lunchtime saw a story break that Steve Kean was about to be sacked. It seems that the source for this was speculation on social networking site Twitter, which led to the odds on Steve Kean being sacked falling considerably. This was picked up by media outlets and speculation mounted concerning Steve Kean's position. Venky's were forced to come out for a second time in a matter of weeks and give Kean the dreaded vote of confidence. Co-owner Venkatesh Rao told Sky Sports News that Kean still had their full backing. Sources at Venky's have told BRFCS that it is inconceivable that Kean would be sacked at this stage of the season and that Venky's support him. Sources at Brockhall have also confirmed that the players are "100%" behind the manager.

Yesterday journalist Alan Nixon reported in The People that relegation could stretch Venky's financial resources due to players who have recently signed new contracts not having relegation clauses inserted into their contracts and who therefore would not see their wages cut if Rovers were relegated. Venky's sources have again indicated that whilst relegation would be a disaster for the club, it would not result in a financial collapse.

Finally, yesterday saw Mirror columnist Michael Calvin issue a harsh critique of the club and the owners and their advisors SEM and Kentaro, highlighting the involvement of Jerome Anderson and then likening manager Steve Kean to a Thunderbirds puppet. In his column he also said: "In an ideal world Wolves, a proper club run by a proper football man, Mick McCarthy, will save themselves by sending Rovers down, on the last day of the season. And no one will care a jot.". While it is true that the way Venky's have handled things since the takeover has been poor, this latest attack shows a total lack of respect for the club, the good people who work at Ewood and the fans.

Calvin's suggestion that others will not care a jot about Rovers getting relegated may be there for effect and designed to provoke reaction, yet it underestimates how much Rovers fans do care about the club and their fears for the well-being of the club should Rovers get relegated. With no further breaks for international fixtures until the end of the season, Rovers now face eight weeks of a battle with their destiny firmly in their own hands. Fans will be hoping that Steve Kean and the players can turn the fortunes of the club round so as to secure Premier League survival and allow the club to address its problems in a more stable environment.

[chocky]

Him and a tew other spiteful journalists. We mustn't let ourselves be put down by these people but Kean should use these comments to galvanise the squad to survive in the premier league. We have been the hate target for the press before and will be again.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Disgraceful and uneccessary comments by Calvin...but what else have we come to expect?.Nicko has himself commented that we are seen as an easy target by the media.

THE KNIVES ARE OUT FOR ROVERS.

[b12_simon]

Michael Calvin has a point, up to a point: we don't have many fans in the media.

That said, this is the journalistic equivalent of writing "BRFC R SHYTE" on a bus shelter. No surprises that this cobblers should be published in The Mirror, an utter toilet of a newspaper.

[BangkokRover]

Disgraceful and uneccessary comments by Clein...but what else have we come to expect?.Nicko has himseld commented that we are seen as an easy target by the media.

THE KNIVES ARE OUT FOR ROVERS.

Don't worry we are no longer a laughing stock as we are trying to sign RVN. Oh dear talk about pouring fuel on the fire.

Cheers

BKR

[cloggyjimmybrfc]

As these muppets just took sams old wanted list out the bin and decided to use it ?..or as kean flew out with it and the dagger him and anderson used.?...what a crock of shoite!...crocky now horse face............who needs enemies when you have novices running our club......more journalistic nonsense to be continued....

[thenodrog]

Can't exactly say that the Venkey mob haven't invited ridicule, scorn and derision can we? If it had been their intention to turn us into a joke of a club they couldn't have done the job any better could they?

[cloggyjimmybrfc]

Even a dingle couldnt have messed our club up better than chicken run.

[1864roverite]

who cres what is written in the mirror ?

Shyte paper for shyte people if you ask me.NOTHING is worth reading in that rag unless it is written by Mr Nixon with attached quotes.

[JAL]

If Rovers are to continue to act like a set of clowns, then we can't really have any complaints, can we now.

[tony gale's mic]

Sorry but all this "media conspiracy" nonsense by most of the people on here I find a little embarassing.

We laughed as hard as anyone when Newcastle, Leeds and Portsmouth went down to due to terrible ownership. Had that been about any other club in our circumstances it would have got approval by most.

The people who deserve the focus of our anger are the owners, not the journalists.

[Mercer]

Sorry but all this "media conspiracy" nonsense by most of the people on here I find a little embarassing.

We laughed as hard as anyone when Newcastle, Leeds and Portsmouth went down to due to terrible ownership. Had that been about any other club in our circumstances it would have got approval by most.

The people who deserve the focus of our anger are the owners, not the journalists.

Can't agree more!

[JAL]

Sorry but all this "media conspiracy" nonsense by most of the people on here I find a little embarassing.

We laughed as hard as anyone when Newcastle, Leeds and Portsmouth went down to due to terrible ownership. Had that been about any other club in our circumstances it would have got approval by most.

The people who deserve the focus of our anger are the owners, not the journalists.

Think what we need is for the media to go even further in their criticisms, thats if the result arent forthcoming in the next few weeks.

[John]

If you act as stupid as Venky's then you are asking for abuse - also associating yourselves so closely with a football agent is asking for trouble as we are finding out first hand.

Total madness.

[yeti-dog]

Pathetic article by a so-called journalist seemingly unable to differentiate between amateurish off-field antics and the life-blood of the club,the fans.

[Mattyblue]

Exacty yeti, Venky's deserve ridicule, we the fans deserve respect.

And no tony, I didn't laugh at Portsmouth's fans.

[roverwhelmed]

Exacty yeti, Venky's deserve ridicule, we the fans deserve respect.

And no tony, I didn't laugh at Portsmouth's fans.

Absolutely. I met some on the way to the cup final, just happened to be in London at the time, and said I hope things turn out for them. There were many football supporters, from several different clubs and not one jeer.

As it should be.

[RIML]

Pathetic article by a so-called journalist seemingly unable to differentiate between amateurish off-field antics and the life-blood of the club,the fans.

It's funny that the title states "if" and then the last part states "will" the clown can't even make up his mind.

I'd love to sing something like 'no one likes us, we're not arsed' I just thought I'd change it slightly so we're not copying other team's songs

This could be said about any team in the league, singling Rovers out, nothing new there!

[Guest linganzi]

Fat little bitter little men with tiny c##ks and a messy divorce , only interested in spurs and west ham , briefly raising their heads to patronize the likes of burnley and Blackpool when they are in the top leagues and will lap it up and play the game.

We don't need them , we don't care , what we certainly don't need is tabloid journos using this board feeding off scraps to flesh out their stories then get all aggressive and high and mighty when. In sensitive times we question why they are playing such an inappropriate game of devils advocate .

[tony gale's mic]

Exacty yeti, Venky's deserve ridicule, we the fans deserve respect.

And no tony, I didn't laugh at Portsmouth's fans.

I didn't laugh at the fans. At the time I said that the club deserved everything it got but the fans didn't deserve it.

This guy isn't laughing at the fans either.

[patrickvalery]

I didn't laugh at the fans. At the time I said that the club deserved everything it got but the fans didn't deserve it.

This guy isn't laughing at the fans either.

Spot on TGM. The club and some of its staff got what it/they deserved. I have had some very nasty encounters with some idiot Pompey fans simply by proximity. But on the whole, they didn't deserve the hit. As Rovers fans we share the same right. But we won't have the privilege of fighting relegation with a patched up side which the Brits love as the perpetual underdog

[waggy]

BUT MOST OF YOU FOOLS WANTED VENKYS,YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW

[Manc Rover]

You can't blame journo's having a pop at us. If another prem club had idiotic owners, would you be offering opinion if reports about that club we're far from complimentary? Venky's have made us an easy target and every decision they make appears to be wrong, they are an embarrassment and unfortunately the writing is on the wall!

[philipl]

This whole episode underlines the fact the Rovers need professional and influential PR and have not had anything remotely adequate for donkey's years.

Paul Agnew PR has manifestly failed- a good PR company stops most stuff like this from ever being printed in the first place.

[Kamy100]

This whole episode underlines the fact the Rovers need professional and influential PR and have not had anything remotely adequate for donkey's years.

Paul Agnew PR has manifestly failed- a good PR company stops most stuff like this from ever being printed in the first place.

Or launch a PR offensive after all the attacks on the club and Venky’s in the media.

I deal with PR companies all the time and have to say that it is embarrassing the way that PR has been handled at Rovers over the last few months, the current incumbents need to realise that they are now working in a completely different environment and they can’t simply sit on their hands and do nothing, good PR is about being proactive or if you have to act then do so decisively. The vast majority of other Premier League clubs handle PR much more effectively, for example it is clear that there is a media agenda against Venky’s (much of it caused by Venky’s themselves) so why not be proactive and get the media to talk to the owners, try and change perceptions or give the owners an opportunity to explain the rationale behind the decisions that were made, there was an ideal opportunity when Venky’s were over here in January but instead nothing was done and journalists formed their own opinions.

PR is also about networking, so a negative story comes out like the one at the weekend, what you do is to make sure that you have networked and build relationship with journalists and media organisations and get them to run articles which counteract the negative story, this kind of things happens all of the time. I can guarantee that if there is a negative story about Man Utd that within hours or at the latest the next day there will be another story which counteracts the negative story.

Like they have with KPMG, maybe it is time that Venky’s appoint one of the bigger national companies who are more used to handling high profile clients.