[Archived] BRFCS Podcast #7

[daverich]

I would have liked to have heard kammy question some of his answers instead of moving on to the next one, as usual his answers are so generically boring, he just comes out with the same old claptrap that he thinks the fans want to hear, only we don't want to hear it!

This podcast wasn't for me, sorry kammy but I don't think you pressed him on some matters like you could have done, e.g. his european comments, we are playing excellent comments, the transfer budget etc.

At the same time, thanks for your hard work in putting this together.

I don't trust the guy and don't beleive anything he says, and for that reason.....I'm out!

[glen9mullan]

Just listened to interview, so much for me going bed, (Sorry Philip), Despite my feelings about Kean and I have my reasons, I thought this is prob the best interview the Manager has ever down with anybody. I dnt know if any was cut or questions where not allowed to be asked as I have not spoke with Kamy, but the questions that were asked were rapidly answered and almost believable.

I think Kamy should be proud with his efforts there, as I don't know what experience he has of interviewing people in high profile public positions, but he was not affraid to ask many questions which have been asked on here.

However what the interview did reveal to me was Kean seems to be accomplished at not telling the truth,

e.g,

1. The first time he met Venkys

2. The Phone call he made to Sam and Mcdonald, those calls were made by the sacked,

There was various things he claimed, which I know to be untrue

If Kamy had not been on BRFCS Duty i'm pretty sure he would of added a few more questions but looking at the bigger picture the site wishes to get better links with the club so they are more open to regurlar access to key figures within the Rovers circle.Kamy asked some good questions and was quite right not to push them to much as this was not the type of interview he was conducting.

If the interview had been conducted in any other way, i.e as a bull in a china shop then the likelyhood would be that we would of heard a 10 minute interview, and BRFCS Would of been off the xmas card list permantly, which does not do any favours for the site or its members.

I can see the other point of view too of course that, the truth is better and that no independant website should be used as PR Tool for the club, as the sites content then comes regulated which takes away the freedom of speech.

I seriously think the club needs a fans influence within the club but one that relays the information honestly good or bad to all fans, and these indiduals should also be fans of the club and from all different backgrounds. This would be a perfect medium and vehicle to improve communications.

I have never been a fan of the fans forum that the club has, (No disrespect to its members as some are BRFCS members)

My reasons for this is

1. Its not advertised very well

2. Not sure how they are elected to this panel (Which is a big flaw in it)

3. Can't remember any members of the panel asking the fans (As I am one) what we would like asking.

4. Have never seen the benefits of this type of model, as it only has a direct positive impact on those who are on it. I.e they know the info before the rest of the supporters and no-one finds out until minutes are released on club website.

5.I don't think many fans know this panel exist, and those that do would struggle to tell you who is on it, apart from a select few.(This is something which I have discussed with others for quite a while).

This was a great exclusive for the site, and credit where credit is due, with a fans March planned for Tomorrow, it took some balls for Kean to give an interview to a site where the protest has been openly discussed in its forum by its members. The site has also run many polls over the future of the Manager and the polls suggest BRFCS members want him gone, So to a agree to do an interview with a site where you are unpopular by its members is commendable.

I would certainly be interested in speaking with Kean myself to explain why it was felt that a protest march was needed. And if he is reading this as I'm sure people at the club are you are more than welcome to get in contact with me.

I do think valuable lessons have been learnt since Sunday that communication is key to a fruitful relationship with the cubs supporters, and by being honest, and saying how it is, they gain more respect and give hope that common ground can be found and the club and supporters can once again walk hand in hand together. PR Has been awful, as has press releases. Technology evolves and all business's need to move forward with it and not lag behind or take serious backward steps. The internet is no-longer a luxury, most homes have access, and with this comes sites like BRFCS and other fan sites where issue's are discussed and when the answers are not forthcoming it causes things to escalate.

These podcast have been a superb advert for the site, They have moved on a million miles since I heard the first BRFCS podcast, and they are a great listen. It has seen this site move onto another level in terms of interaction, as sites Like Vital Blackburn had been closing that gap rapidly, as they have always been on the button with releasing head linenews. I did look around a few other sites the the last few days and they are a million miles behind. They have very few members and have only a few forum post each day. They also come over to BRFCS and Vital Blackburn and copy and paste the forum posters content and put it on their own sites, and spend half the time slagging the person off.

If BRFCS and Vital Blackburn was so bad, why do these sites find the need to copy and paste people's post and have open debate on them????

Yes you know who you are and as you are now reading this post, you also know you have been rumbled .

Good work Kamy and I know there is so much more you would of asked if you thought you could have got away with it, but also thank you Steve Kean for giving 35 minutes of your time to do a podcast for a fans site, I understand that you are not used to the press exposure and fans, and this is an error on the clubs part for not having the right PR, individuals within the club capable of reaching out to the fans and marketing you in a way which would have given the fans an opportunity to understand the man behind the TV interviews. I hope lessons have been learnt from the club, and they are now considering having people employed by the club who are elected by the fans in open ballots to be the vehicle which brings the club to the fans.

[perthblue02]

Just listened, all credit to all involved in getting this arranged. Feel sorry for Kamy , he's getting a bit of flack for not being assertive enough, but he's not a professional reporter and Kean plays the dominating interview scenario well even against professional journalists. Obviously there a few issues which should/ could have been pressed and still lots of ground uncovered, but why should BRFCS burn their bridges straight away with the club when things like this kind of podcast could be a regular thing with club personnel in future.

In some ways Kean seemed a lot less positive (although still plenty of spin) and defensive than in radio / tv interviews so perhaps the relaxed style of interview achieved.

Don't get me wrong I'm no Kean lover for a number of reason's , but I'm a lifelong Rovers supporter and any avenue that is available to open dialogue between the club and supporters must be kept open and enhanced further, especially since over the last 10 months it's been sketchy to say the least.

So credit to all involved , one of the Venky mob next?

[Kamy100]

Thanks for the feedback, both positive and negative. It is taken on board.

Of course I could have been more assertive, but I was very conscious all the time I was talking to Kean that it was better to take a more measured approach because I wanted him to answer ALL the questions and not become defensive.

Also in this kinda situation you can't just go in and adopt a aggressive approach, the interview would end immediately and so would any further co-operation from Rovers, this kinda thing is totally a new way of working for Rovers, they have never allowed any access to unofficial sites previously so it is all about building a relationship with them.

Personally I feel that we did manage to get a heck of a lot of information of him, first time he has talked about Sam, first time anyone from the club has actually talked about Kentaro/SEM, first time someone has confirmed that transfers are now in-house amongst many other things.

Please keep the feedback coming, both positive and negative, I am very much learning about doing interviews via podcasts etc so want feedback so that future ones can be better.

[PAFELL]

Very disappointed, easy ride, Kamy sounded very very shy, even the so called tough questions were almost presented in fear of upset and nervous atmosphere.

Really a missed oppertunity because people are going to listen to this and be very frustrated.

I think it was a little unfair on Kean to allow him to dominate the tone so much because he really should have had to answer stronger questions and come across more human and relate to the fans concerns.

I'd like to see someone like Glen Mullan do the next one and be really assertive, I'm not say GLen as he might not be popular with Kean but when you listen to Glen he got that assertive attitude.

It really is possible to be assertive and still keep the interview respectable to club.

Even at about 60% of the interview I was ready to switch off becasue I knew Kean had control.

I was dying for Kammy to say, you've spend 14 million plus add on but you have sold Jones and Kalinic for for 22 million plus add ons, how can fan see this as a very good budget when on paper we have spent minus 5 million.

Now he may have a cperfect explaination, but Kamy's question was soooo open that Kean completely dominated the answer without needing to tackle ANY issues we have been talking about for months.

This whole interview was like this.

Well done for seeing him though.

First and foremost Kamy has to do a proffessional job. He knew that he would have to keep his own feelings in check. At the end of the day this was the first interview with Kean, the first interview from a member of the club and we do not want it to be the last interview. It is right that club and supporters build a good relationship, this site included.

I have yet to listen to the interview, but intend doing so. But when I heard Kamy was going to do this interview, I understood kamy's position. He had to be neutral for the sake of the interview, putting aside his own love for the club etc etc.

Thanks Kamy, good work.

[RovertheHill]

Seems to me that people are being pretty unfair to Kamy by overlaying their personal feelings over the situation. If this was your first broadcast interview, on behalf of a "neutral" organisation then I say well done Kamy, great job

[John]

Listened to it, good work Kamy.

Couple of points - we know he does not tell the truth so difficult to trust anything he says.

Also, as he is one of the worst managers to have managed in the Premier League (the stats illustrate this), actions certainly will speak louder than his deep thinking words.

[Taggart]

Well done Kamy - great job. Hopefully this is the first steps in building the bridge between club and fans - every credit to Kean for doing this, and to the club for allowing him to do it - very novel and very welcomed.

Kean does seem a genuine person, and I do want him to do well as he has had the worst of character assasinations recently, some of which he has heaped on himself with drink driving, but some of it has been very very personal - bu tI guess it comes with the territory.

What this has made me realise, is that I have an issue with the manager and results of the club, and percieved lack of management ability and experience, rather than an issue with Steve Kean himself. I have time and respect for the way he is handling himself in terms of opening up to the fans, and hopefully this will be the first of many.

I may get slated for this, but my main concern is results, if they improve I will be happier. If the team looks fitter and sharper then I will be happier, at this point I`m not bothered if its pretty football or not, we just need points on that board.

Can Kean survive ? only if he gets points in my opinion.

Can he sway the fans ? only if he starts getting points on the board, but it will take a long time for the fans to start trusting him. These types of interviews, open and to a degree honest, will go somewhat to speeding up that process, but yet again, only if we start to harnass points on the pitch !

Well done Kamy, Well done Steve Kean, Well done Rovers for allowing, and making this interview happen.

[John]

Old Stevie is certainly a charmer, back to his presser best just when it matters.

[tonyoz]

Listened to it, good work Kamy.

Couple of points - we know he does not tell the truth so difficult to trust anything he says.

Also, as he is one of the worst managers to have managed in the Premier League (the stats illustrate this), actions certainly will speak louder than his deep thinking words.

If this is true - what's the point of the whole exercise?

[AggyBlue]

I thought he should have been asked to expand on some of his answers instead of being allowed to brush over some very important points that needed clearing up.

Nevertheless well done Kamy, who is next, Samba?

[Fitz808]

well what a pleasant surprise to see this interview rock up in the brfcs pod. great work from kamy et al for getting it arranged. good stuff from kean too, as he could easily have just told everyone to do one. and for me, this highlights the dignity with which kean is taking what is quite a kicking at the moment. fair play to him for doing that.

as for the responses, i just don't think it's valid to say, "well, we know he lies so this must all be bullocks." i mean, what do you want? clearly kean out of the club whatever happens or is said. fair enough, but it gets a bit samey.

the questions asked were interesting ones and i found his answers shed a bit more light on what he is trying to do. at the moment, all his trying is leading to very little success, but i believe he is genuine in wanting to build something interesting here. i wish is could be completely confident that this will bring success, but clearly the stats suggest that confidence would be blind faith right now.

however, when someone is doing things in a genuine way and is giving it everything, then i am inclined to give him time to deliver. this for me is 10 games into the season. whatever time limit you say, it's always going to be a bit arbitrary, but i think by then, we will have had a good enough chance to see how things are likely to pan out. and if the players have lost confidence in him, then it will be clear by then. right now, they seem like they are very much behind him.

it's worth mentioning too, that we must not show him the door until the replacement is a done deal and can (as far as it is possible to be) be assured of actually improving things. as kean has said, this is his team now and we cannot underestimate that removing him will be hugely disruptive to a load of genuinely talented youngsters who feel they have been given a shot.

caution at this point. saying it couldn't get any worse is also blind faith.

[Glenn]

I have never been a fan of the fans forum that the club has, (No disrespect to its members as some are BRFCS members)

My reasons for this is

1. Its not advertised very well

2. Not sure how they are elected to this panel (Which is a big flaw in it)

3. Can't remember any members of the panel asking the fans (As I am one) what we would like asking.

4. Have never seen the benefits of this type of model, as it only has a direct positive impact on those who are on it. I.e they know the info before the rest of the supporters and no-one finds out until minutes are released on club website.

5.I don't think many fans know this panel exist, and those that do would struggle to tell you who is on it, apart from a select few.(This is something which I have discussed with others for quite a while).

The forum has changed a lot since I first joined and there have been great efforts to reduce the secrecy around it. There is a page about it at http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/FansForum on the official site which has all the minutes since 2007 on it. I actualy though that page contained more info about it, but as it doesn't, I'll explain a little more in depth.

1. Possibly true. We do talk about it quite a bit on here (I appreciate you only found us relatively recently) and it gets mentioned in the programme a lot, but perhaps there is some scope for attempting to inform more people, but I genuinely thought most people were aware of its existence.

2. People apply (by writing to the chairman in writing), it the gets discussed at the forum as to whether there is an opening and whether it's thought to be somebody it would be beneficial to have on.

3. A week before the real meeting, we have an agenda setting meeting (aka a pre-meet) where fans are encouraged to submit agenda items. More often than not only2simongarners will ask on here if anyone has anything to add and as at least 9 of the regular attendees are BRFCS regulars, it's quite common that things being discussed on here are added automatically.

4. Once upon a time nothing was minuted, but it's not about "finding out" it's about passing feedback to the club, as Ewood Spark said on another thread, we get some real dull stuff (the acceptability of smoking electronic cigarettes in the ground for example) but we do push through some important stuff too (I'm confident the Darwen End wouldn't have unallocated seating and a softer approach to standing without the FF championing the cause for years). It's true to say that when John Williams was the club rep we did get told lots of off-the-record stuff, but that was John, anyone that ever talked to him got the same. For the last couple of since, since it was Tom representing the club, the minutes are pretty accurate of exactly what's said. I'm very guilty of regulary asking if we can repeat info straight away (before it's minuted) because I want to discuss it on here and normally when we can't it's because the club are planning marketing around it.

5. The club has never been great about publicizing some things and the fans forum often falls through a crack as the club see it as a fan led thing and from my point of view, I've never wanted it to seem like BRFCS is muscling in on the fans forum. But I'll certainly get it raised that everyone may benefit from it being better advertised. But my usual response to people who think it's all a bit cloak and dagger is come along to a pre-meet and meet a few of the people, or even better, write to the address on the official site and apply to join.

If people have questions about it, I don't mind starting a new thread for it and hopefully some of those on it will happily field questions.

[glen9mullan]

The forum has changed a lot since I first joined and there have been great efforts to reduce the secrecy around it. There is a page about it at http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/FansForum on the official site which has all the minutes since 2007 on it. I actualy though that page contained more info about it, but as it doesn't, I'll explain a little more in depth.

1. Possibly true. We do talk about it quite a bit on here (I appreciate you only found us relatively recently) and it gets mentioned in the programme a lot, but perhaps there is some scope for attempting to inform more people, but I genuinely thought most people were aware of its existence.

2. People apply (by writing to the chairman in writing), it the gets discussed at the forum as to whether there is an opening and whether it's thought to be somebody it would be beneficial to have on.

3. A week before the real meeting, we have an agenda setting meeting (aka a pre-meet) where fans are encouraged to submit agenda items. More often than not only2simongarners will ask on here if anyone has anything to add and as at least 9 of the regular attendees are BRFCS regulars, it's quite common that things being discussed on here are added automatically.

4. Once upon a time nothing was minuted, but it's not about "finding out" it's about passing feedback to the club, as Ewood Spark said on another thread, we get some real dull stuff (the acceptability of smoking electronic cigarettes in the ground for example) but we do push through some important stuff too (I'm confident the Darwen End wouldn't have unallocated seating and a softer approach to standing without the FF championing the cause for years). It's true to say that when John Williams was the club rep we did get told lots of off-the-record stuff, but that was John, anyone that ever talked to him got the same. For the last couple of since, since it was Tom representing the club, the minutes are pretty accurate of exactly what's said. I'm very guilty of regulary asking if we can repeat info straight away (before it's minuted) because I want to discuss it on here and normally when we can't it's because the club are planning marketing around it.

5. The club has never been great about publicizing some things and the fans forum often falls through a crack as the club see it as a fan led thing and from my point of view, I've never wanted it to seem like BRFCS is muscling in on the fans forum. But I'll certainly get it raised that everyone may benefit from it being better advertised. But my usual response to people who think it's all a bit cloak and dagger is come along to a pre-meet and meet a few of the people, or even better, write to the address on the official site and apply to join.

If people have questions about it, I don't mind starting a new thread for it and hopefully some of those on it will happily field questions.

Thank you for taking the time to answer those questions, and your reponses should be put on the official site to make fan awareness.

It appears this is the only true link the club has with the fans, and I think they need to seriously look at introducing something else in conjunction with this, that can be a direct link between club and fans.

This should be some kind of committee which candidates are put forward by the fans and then they are voted in by the fans. This type of communication model would then have daily contact with the club. I also think this should be an employed commitee. If normal fans off the street, from different backgrounds can be part of the communciating chain, then this would seriously develop the club.

We are now in a world where technology has taken over, and fans crave knowledge, The usual channels i.e the press have not been too complimentary of the club and their articles have 95% of the time brought no response from the clun, so fans don't know if its truth, rumour or coswallop.

Embracing the clubs supporters needs to be one of Venky's objectives, and this has to be done in a way which would bring across the board approval.

Monthly meetings in fans forum can be useful, but a lot happens in 24 hours at a football club. Too much leaks out of the club off the record which can't then be shared which can be frustating for the fans.

The podcast which BRFCS Do have brought information which is extra to this site, and given supporters a good insight on activites, If BRFCS can make steps like this, then the club with much larger budgets, could do somthing really special.

Marketing eats vast amounts of money each year but the important people any football club needs to Market itself to, is its fans. People always trust one of their own and its something which the club should explore IMO

[Glenn]

Some interesting ideas in there.

Some of that I feel BRFCS is working towards, other bits are much more in the realm of a BRISA/BRST type organisation and perhaps there are some ideas for the club to think on.