[Archived] Fans open letter to Venky's (Daily Telegraph

[Mattyblue]

Main story on BBC football website...

[John]

I have thought this for a few years now but Henry Winter is a top man and journalist.

[Mc Love]

Why doesnt a journo ask Kean why he has to go to Pune every month?

Does Fergie go to the US every month to see the owners? Does Mancini fly to Dubai every month to see the Sheiks??

Kean is a disgrace!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

My word, there are some unpleasant comments on that article.

Easy to kick folk when their down,unfortunately we are an easy target at present.

Rovers a 'no mark club'?......God help the rest of the 90% then!!

Once again, fair play to Winter for getting the message across.

[Baz]

Decent article by Winter, but the misleading 4k fans want him out isnt good, and neither is laying the blame at the door of 2 players, who whilst may not be worldies shouldnt be targetted out for abuse. Both have never given less than 100% on the pitch. Winter should also have made clear that the majority of fans are basing their opinion on his overall record and not just the opening 3 games of this season.

Glen is inferring that Venkys are reading this website. If so, my message would be only to look a Keans record as manager and elongate that over a 38 game season. Compare that against the team he inherited and the record they had the preceeding 38 games. The marked differences in points tallys will show you all you need to know.

[Alex Rover]

Love the headline, yes it has been a bit pointless

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

I'd agree if it was a 21 year old Olssen or Kalinic under preforming, but we are talking about a 35 year old and a 34 year old who really are close to the bottom of the hill.

Salgado is making a little bit of an embarrassment to his great legacy.

I think he should have called it time and be remembered as great right back who did a job at rovers. Now he's suffering a bit.

Roberts shouldn't have any confidence anyway, I am pretty sure he's not had a shot, header, scuff, shinpad shot on target in all three games.

He's making an embarassment of himself? I'm sorry but that comment is a disgrace. He came 3rd in the fans player of the year last season (won it with the disabled supporters) and for a 35 year old to play 36 league games in a season is an absolute testament to the man. Any neutral greatly admires what he's doing at Rovers, while he's sat on the Sky sofa with the other pundits who aren't much older than him you can tell some of them are in awe at times how this guy still playing 90 minutes every week. He's had 2 bad games. Two. 2. 1 more than 1. I've always known our fans are fickle and like a scapegoat but to write someone off as an embarassment and criticise them to the footballing world in a letter to the owners, on the basis of 2 bad games, is absolutely shameful.

Right so just in case Roberts still does have some confidence, and still could do something good for the team we're all supposed to support, lets make doubly sure its wiped out for good. That the idea? Great stuff, well as long as people are getting their kicks over rubbing his face in it, thats more important than encouraging him to play well for Rovers obviously.

[roversmum]

Salgado is the ultimate professional who will be well aware of his failings in the recent matches.

Roberts, on the other hand, is, well, Roberts...

I'm sure Roberts and Keano could make themselves VERY useful in India coaching and selecting the youngsters for Venky's Indian Academy. Problem(s) solved.

[John]

Agree Mum, Kean would be an excellent academy manager out in India!

[Stuart]

Steve Kean's response to fans letter

Daily Mirror article

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Steve-Kean-asks-Blackburn-fans-for-patience-after-they-ask-owners-Venky-s-to-quit-and-denies-he-has-been-in-talks-over-being-sacked-article796477.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

and also an article from the sun

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3805563/Steve-Kean-wants-Blackburn-fans-to-keep-the-faith.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

This bit just about sums him up.

"Asked about the letter from fans, the Rovers boss admitted he shares supporters' frustration.

Kean said: "It doesn't make me feel bad at all, I have a great relationship with the owners.

[John]

Don't you feel bad at all Kean?

Think you need to start showing our football club some respect.

[roverwhelmed]

This bit just about sums him up.

"Asked about the letter from fans, the Rovers boss admitted he shares supporters' frustration.

Kean said: "It doesn't make me feel bad at all, I have a great relationship with the owners.

So the supporters don't matter then...

[thenodrog]

Not read every page but this made me smile........

"“In all of my years following the Rovers I have never known things to be as bad as they are at the club right now, not even when we were relegated,’’ writes a 21-year-old Blackburn fan in one of a series of individual messages to Venky’s attached to the open letter. "

A spoiled generation or what? I guess the pies at Halifax, the fish and chips at Grimsby and the skinheads at Mansfield etc etc wont mean much to him will they?

[Andy]

You can't help being young though, in fairness.

If you were born in the mid-to-late eighties, then all you will ever know is Rovers being in the top league and being one of the biggest clubs in the country.

[Gav]

Far too many prawn sandwich munching middle class wannabe protesters here.

If you want to make a statement, if you want to get noticed, stop writing to the bloody broad sheets and get protesting before or after a match outside the main enterance. Henry Winter good guy that he is isn't the answer, direct action is the only way.

I'm sick to the back teeth of reading these blogs and the mutual backslapping that follows, "jolly good piece that, that'll show those chicken farmers" NO IT WON'T!

Grow a bloody pair, put down the pens/keyborad and get down to the ground and tell them what you think, otherwise you're just playing at it for playing at its sake.

Rant over.

Not read every page but this made me smile........

"“In all of my years following the Rovers I have never known things to be as bad as they are at the club right now, not even when we were relegated,’’ writes a 21-year-old Blackburn fan in one of a series of individual messages to Venky’s attached to the open letter. "

A spoiled generation or what? I guess the pies at Halifax, the fish and chips at Grimsby and the skinheads at Mansfield etc etc wont mean much to him will they?

You can't help being young, but I take your point fully gordon.

Jack Walker did wonderful things for this club, but he also created a spoilt generation who believe they're owed success, when we all know we're not.

[roverwhelmed]

Far too many prawn sandwich munching middle class wannabe protesters here.

If you want to make a statement, if you want to get noticed, stop writing to the bloody broad sheets and get protesting before or after a match outside the main enterance. Henry Winter good guy that he is isn't the answer, direct action is the only way.

The thing is, protests can turn ugly. I'm a bit nervous about hanging around Ewood shouting the odds. Who is listening anyway? The media? I have no confidence that they will capture our perspectives as supporters who simply care about our club. What will the players think? It goes against all I know to protest at Rovers games. I think there's a place for peaceful protest, but will Venky's listen to that anyway?

Henry Winter has stuck up for us and I am so pleased he has done that.

Jack Walker did wonderful things for this club, but he also created a spoilt generation who believe they're owed success, when we all know we're not.

I'm pretty young (29) and I don't think we are owed success at all. It has been an amazing ride and I have loved watching us compete with the big boys and the memories have been magnificent to me and my family. I can still remember the early days of my support, 25 years ago now, and we weren't the best team in the world but Rovers were the best team in MY world.

I'd give my left arm to return to the days where we could believe what our owners said, that I believed our manager was the best person for the job, and that our club operated with dignity and that I felt I, as a supporter, mattered to those in charge. I couldn't give a monkeys if we were in a lower league if those days could be returned to us.

[steven]

Does anyone have a link to the open letter. The link on vital has been taken down

[USABlue]

Not so long ago, I would agree with this. But I am starting to think that the tide maybe turning a little. It is slow, but moving in the right direction.

There is no humble pie to be eaten by venkys. It appears that they were ill advised by others in appointing Kean as manager. To venkys credit, they admitted they lack knowledge about football. When you lack knowledge on something, it is wise to seek advice from others who do. Sadly they turned, in my opinion, to the wrong people. A mistake that many of us have done at times. Maybe they considered they owed loyalty to those who helped them buy the club for them, which may have blinkered them.

But as time has gone on they have, it appears, learnt that their advisors were the wrong ones and acted accordingly.

Having put that part right and started to do things themselves, they should now be able to move on.

But there is one part left that is essential for them to do. Sack Kean no matter the result v Fulham. One reason being he is linked to those who were, alledgedly, giving them advice.

Sacking Kean and appointing an experienced manager, such as Mark Hughes, would be a massive step in the right direction. Getting out of the club anything that is remotely linked to their previous advisors, would be a good thing.

The humble pie I was referring to was for our fans that are disgruntled should Kean turn this around. I have a sneaky feeling he might. Or maybe it's just blind optimism

[USABlue]

Not read every page but this made me smile........

"“In all of my years following the Rovers I have never known things to be as bad as they are at the club right now, not even when we were relegated,’’ writes a 21-year-old Blackburn fan in one of a series of individual messages to Venky’s attached to the open letter. "

A spoiled generation or what? I guess the pies at Halifax, the fish and chips at Grimsby and the skinheads at Mansfield etc etc wont mean much to him will they?

Spot effin on

[texasrover]

I posted this on your shiny new blog too, Glen, but thought it would apply here too.

I’ve been watching this from outside for quite some time now and it’s occurring to me exactly what’s happening – the relearning of an entire business ecosystem. Let me explain for others:

Say you have a product. This product is a new car. You know that it’s a good product and you decide to that you want to take it to the global market and become rich. Heck, you even know how you want to market it and to what demographic, etc. But how do you get it there? You can’t just shout to the world, “HEY! I have a sweet car that you all should buy!” There is a giant bubble between a product/idea and the market. You need engineers to create this thing digitally, you need scientists to figure out all the emissions and whatnot, you need partners to endorse you, you need factories to build the things, you need researchers to run diagnostics, you need marketers and publicists to get the word out, you need sponsors, testers, designers, the list is endless. This is your business ecosystem. It’s a massive web of who/what you need in order for your product to make it to market with the best chance of success. The better and more efficiently you can navigate this ecosystem, the higher your success percentages.

It’s one thing to make it through your business ecosystem to reach the market, but it’s another thing to stay and keep it running smoothly. Things constantly change and must get better. New car designs must be created to accomodate different glass materials, etc. Function and form must respond quickly and dynamically to the market, which means you have to be the sustaining master of your ecosystem if you want sustained success.

Make no mistake, football is a business, and has a very complex business ecosystem. Players, stadiums, employees, public relations, scientists, doctors, transportation, finances (don’t even get me started on agents!), etc.

Now look at our beloved Rovers. Over the past 100+ years, it had become masters of it’s ecosystem. Sure certain things can always be better, but by and large the club was run very smoothly and efficiently, simply because there were people in place who understood their ecosystem. These are people like Williams and even the board. They may not have put much money into the club, but they understood what was needed to keep it sustainable.

What happens when you take away these people and introduce people who have no knowledge of the business ecosystem? It falls apart and must be completely re-learned, which is what has happened. Venkys seem to go round every corner not knowing what to expect, simply because they’re learning as they’re going. At the beginning all they seemed like they wanted to do was shout, “HEY! We’re going to win the league and buy Rhonalinho!”.

They should have spent a lot more time before even considering purchasing the club figuring out the ecosystem. What is everything that this football club (business) needs to run and can I provide the necessary backing to make it successful? I understand that they are successful business people and trusted Kentaro to handle the ‘running the club’ part, but I find it shocking that they didn’t do all of this research still. It’s as if they only looked at input and output without looking at the machine in the middle.

So they broke the machine.

However, there is light. They seem to be doing everything they can to learn. I’d warn them to be wary of people like Kean and Anderson as they obviously are viruses of the ecosystem that want only to better themselves rather than work with the rest of the ecosystem for the common good.

Anyway, that’s my brain fried for the night.

[BangkokRover]

I 100% understand where you are coming from TexasRover will be interested to hear your thoughts after the Fulham game. For me its make or break for Kean, loose and he has to be sacked or we will be relegated.

[Andy]

I don't get this 'spoiled generation' guff - were the fans a 'spoiled generation' when we won the FA Cup 5 times in 7 years?!

If you're under 30 then the chances are, all you're only ever old enough to remember the Premiership years.

Being young doesn't make them any less of a fan or their opinions any less valid than some middle-aged chap who happened to be old enough to go to Leyton Orient away in the 'old 6th division' or something.

[47er]

This happening two days before a must win game is hardly going to help things!

I think if we suffer a defeat on Sunday Venkys will get rid, but I'd rather we won and get 3 points on the board and fast!

It's funny, Venkys take steps to turn the window around, bring in some good players and people to properly manage the club and this comes out now!

We were asking the club to listen two months ago, and in a lot of ways they have. But now this comes out, ignoring the encouraging signs lately. I genuinely think Kean will be sacked if we lose on Sunday, but don't ask that it happens right before the game! Nothing like putting extra pressure on.

The pressure comes from a depressing run of results ever since Kean took over and from months of appalling mismanagement from Venkys.

For the pro-Venkys/Kean lobby there is never a right time to protest.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

You can't help being young, but I take your point fully gordon.

Jack Walker did wonderful things for this club, but he also created a spoilt generation who believe they're owed success, when we all know we're not.

Bang on.

[Mattyblue]

You're right we have been 'spoilt', both on and off the pitch BRFC has been an example of first the local boy done good letting us live the dream and then staying in the league year on year depsite having one of the smallest incomes.

However, no Rovers fan thinks we 'owed' anything, we certianly don't think we have a divine right to stay in the PL, nevermind win anything. So, all this 'eee where were you in t'seventies' is a load of tripe. We should just quietly accept our clubs potenital relegation?

I've done the Port Vale, Walsall, Tranmere thing and I don't want to see us throw away everything this club has built to go back, especially as we would be charged top dollar for the privilege of seeing lower league journeyman rattle around Ewood Park.

We are living in a different era to the Bill Fox days, protests for good or bad will take place via the internet and suchlike, good on 'em taking some initiative.