Pune trip

[Mattyblue]

Funnily enough I was thinking we are more united than we have been for some time. There is virtually nothing dividing 95% of the fans on here anymore.

The fanbase is it at its most united since Hughes.

[jehrover]

HIgh horse? Perish the thought. I do apologise if the way I write upsets anyone, it is not intended to. I am more ordinary than ordinary. I am just trying to ease people's fears about the future of Blackburn Rovers, the club we all love. Throughout all the troubles, I have never seen the new owners as anything more than a good thing for Rovers, believing that eventually they would sort things out and get the club running smoothly. They are very astute business people and they have no intention of failing. Yes there have been those who no longer work for the club - and are very much missed - but the reasons are various and not in the public domain and I have not or would not ask why. It is always sad when someone who is respected leaves. This has been discussed at some length on the boards but the I believe the general opinion is that these things happen when a business changes hands.

I don't know all the ins and outs of decisions made, that is not my business. I am an ordinary supporter of the club who has been lucky enough to be included on the recent trip and made the most of every moment.

If things are going to be ok and we will all live happily ever after in the Premier League playing great football under Venky's then how do you explain the last 12 months, which have seen the club lurch from one disaster to another, winning a pitiful 6 league games since December 2010 and currently sitting in the bottom three?

Maybe, just maybe, your ringing endorsement of Venky's and their regime has something to do with them paying for you and your husband to fly to India and to stay in an all expenses paid 5* hotel for a week? Just a thought. No wonder you want them to come good. The same applies to the FF people who aside from spending an hour talking to a mere REPRESENTATIVE of the Rao family, and not one of the 'Power Three' in person, appear to have spent the remainder of their time in India making the most of their free holiday by hitting the hotel bar.

Yet ultimately it doesn't matter in the slightest what was said to the Forum, or what the Forum tell us was said to them. All I care about is the small problem of us being 2nd bottom of the league with 6 wins in 11 months. I'm not really interested in what goes on in Pune. People need to realise that if it doesn't happen on the football pitch here in ENGLAND, then it isn't really worth wasting hours discussing.

[cn174]

The same applies to the FF people who aside from spending an hour talking to a mere REPRESENTATIVE of the Rao family, and not one of the 'Power Three' in person,

I think you've missed a few pages - they did meet Belaji Rao on the last day.

[Tom]

You lost your argument when you got your facts wrong, we spent an hour and a half with the representative then the best part of an hour later with Balaji.

Plus Roversmum has been pro Venkys all the way through.

[Rovers_786]

You lost your argument when you got your facts wrong, we spent an hour and a half with the representative then the best part of an hour later with Balaji.

Plus Roversmum has been pro Venkys all the way through.

were there kind to you, and did you take any pictures mate, and why are Blackburn website not reporting a thing about the meeting.

did you ask them to sacked Clown Steve Kean and are the owners at Tottenham game?

[PAFELL]

were there kind to you, and did you take any pictures mate, and why are Blackburn website not reporting a thing about the meeting.

did you ask them to sacked Clown Steve Kean and are the owners at Tottenham game?

Why does it need to?

Are not the minutes of the forums meeting available for all to see? Are not links to those minutes put on the website? Maybe that is how the trip to Pune will be reported, as is the normal way. After all it was a meeting of the fans forum with, first a representive of the owners, about an hour and a half. Secondly a meeting with one of the owners later, about an hour.

I think it is right that the forum get together, discuss and word correctly, so as to avoid any misinterpretation, about what was said etc and the responce given on both meetings.

[Rovers_786]

Why does it need to?

Are not the minutes of the forums meeting available for all to see? Are not links to those minutes put on the website? Maybe that is how the trip to Pune will be reported, as is the normal way. After all it was a meeting of the fans forum with, first a representive of the owners, about an hour and a half. Secondly a meeting with one of the owners later, about an hour.

I think it is right that the forum get together, discuss and word correctly, so as to avoid any misinterpretation, about what was said etc and the responce given on both meetings.

Because i am very keen to know, because it was a good idea by the owners meeting the fans. I hope there can meet us next at the club :D

[Brfcrule1]

Jehrover you must understand roversmum & her husband I have met on many an occasion up at ewood and they are one of the most respected members on this board. Yes it does matter what was said at the forum because if it involves speaking about the teams shocking form both on and off the pitch that is all that worries us as fans. Also as stated they had an hour with the rep and 1hour and a half with Balaji and I believe something was said because fans have said the recent form was discussed with him and how they are worried because as has been reported widely on most local newspapers Venkatesh had a quiet word with SK and told him straight and frank results MUST or else so that says to me get results or your out the door as he has no-one left to blame and given the fact no assistant manager has been appointed suggests to me SK needs results now or he will be gone. Jehrover you would do well before saying people have not asked the right questions check the latest news on the net as you will easily find many links to Venkatesh's frank discussion with Kean. BTW hello again roversmum hope you & your hubby enjoyed the break.

[Hughesy]

If you wanted to do it 'proper', you should have found it through the club website - not rocket sicence.

WTF is that

[Veevs]

Dang this Pune trip thread is mental atm..

Glenn I reckon you should lock it, and stick up a post explaining when etc you are going to post the release. You lads have only just got back from India and people on here are simply not going to give in until they have the details they want *sigh* (and with so many posts, information on the India trip put on here is being missed by the readers) but I am sure many of us understand that after some of the misrepresentation already seen that you might want to take a little time over doing a proper release (especially as it may very well be picked up by the press).

NB more than happy to help if you need it reviewing etc.. have done that kind of thing before for clients.

[Pugg]

As they went over as a forum, maybe they should meet up as a forum first - for example, when is their next forum meeting. Then release what they want to release when they are ready.

I find it strange that there were many on here who said the pune 9 should not have gone. yet now people want to know what was said and done etc. Not saying this is your position. I just find it strange that some lack the patience to wait.

People forget that like most of us when we return from holiday things can be hectic for a few days.

Maybe I wasn't clear but that is exactly what I was saying. All people have to do is wait a while. There is no need for the snide comments from people.

[Stuart]

WTF is that

I wouldn't bother applying Hughsey. It sounds like you've got 2 black balls already.

And I'm not talking about a kick in the crotch!

[Glenn]

Glenn I reckon you should lock it, and stick up a post explaining when etc you are going to post the release.

Then we'd only face a dozen threads saying that we've banned all negative discussion of Venky's and the Fans Forum. I'd rather people got it out of their system. We laid out or aims before we went, we executed our plan to meet those aims. If people still want t bitch and moan at us, let 'em.

[ABBEY]

Moan an bitch at the V's .

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Then we'd only face a dozen threads saying that we've banned all negative discussion of Venky's and the Fans Forum. I'd rather people got it out of their system. We laid out or aims before we went, we executed our plan to meet those aims. If people still want t bitch and moan at us, let 'em.

Glenn - I wouldn't worry too much - personally I think jealousy is a terrible thing

[CAPT KAYOS]

If people still want t bitch and moan at us, let 'em.

but that's all they are doing Glenn and agree with Veevs on this.

As per usual people are reading want they want to hear/see and the thread is going around in circles with yourself and Tom etc having to repeatyourself and its just causing reading nauseam and people slating each other - you and the other travelling parties are getting unfair criticism.

The likes of mum who has been a very good poster on here over the years and still is, yourself and the other Pune travellers are having posts taken out of context and are having to defend yourself in a way not normal to your usual 'tone/level' because the internet does not transform tone /sincerity very well; its understandable given the situation at the club, but also has to be understood that until you guys get around to doing want you have to do countless assumptions/viewpoints are irrelevant until this is done.

Once you guys get around to publicising your report(s), then is the time for people to either praise or have a go imo.

[Taggart]

Wowsers, have just read through this, can`t believe the bitching and backlash going on.

Give them some time to write up their trip properly and do it justice - it was a huge shift in Venkys stance taking them over there so I am really keen to hear about the experience, but would rather read somethign sensible rather than a hot potch of views with no consistency produced just becuase people are calling for it now !

Just read some of the things posted towards Rovermum as well, bang out of order in my opinion reading between the lines but hey ho.

[Alex Rover]

There are people on here that need to take a long look at themselves and get a grip.

[jehrover]

Jehrover you must understand roversmum & her husband I have met on many an occasion up at ewood and they are one of the most respected members on this board. Yes it does matter what was said at the forum because if it involves speaking about the teams shocking form both on and off the pitch that is all that worries us as fans. Also as stated they had an hour with the rep and 1hour and a half with Balaji and I believe something was said because fans have said the recent form was discussed with him and how they are worried because as has been reported widely on most local newspapers Venkatesh had a quiet word with SK and told him straight and frank results MUST or else so that says to me get results or your out the door as he has no-one left to blame and given the fact no assistant manager has been appointed suggests to me SK needs results now or he will be gone. Jehrover you would do well before saying people have not asked the right questions check the latest news on the net as you will easily find many links to Venkatesh's frank discussion with Kean. BTW hello again roversmum hope you & your hubby enjoyed the break.

I don't doubt that Rovermum and her husband are 'well respected' on here. I'm not attempting to call that into question, only that I don't share her unrelenting support for what has been relentlessly bad ownership from Venky's to date.

Regarding Venkatesh Rao's 'frank talk' with Kean I'm afraid I've heard it all before. If I could count the number of times it has been reported over the last 10 months that Kean is on his last chance, that contingency plans are being made etc. etc. its just getting very tiresome now. Lets remember this is the family who have made a habit of contradicting themselves recently. Whilst Venkatesh has indicated that Kean could be running out of time if you take what Balaji has been saying about Kean being a 'brilliant manager' and a member of the family at face value then I've just as much reason to believe Kean's here to stay for a while longer yet.

Again, my point regarding the trip was that people are spending far too much time worrying about what the Pune 9 said to Venky's and assuming that Venky's have taken any of it on board (whatever was said to them). Considering that they have stuck by Kean over the last 10 months and in doing so have directly jeopardised the club's long term future in the face of intense media questioning and a torrent of abuse and protests from thousands of Rovers supporters, what makes you think that an hour long chat with 9 members of the forum is suddenly going to bring about a change in their ways?

I agree though that the assistant manager issue is crucial here. Kean predicted he would have one in place BEFORE the QPR game. If he does then we can safely assume that whatever concerns have been aired by the Pune 9 regarding the manager have been ignored and that they are persisting with Kean. However, if no appointment comes before saturday and we get comfortably beaten by a very average QPR team, maybe, just maybe, I will be able to celebrate the best news this club has seen in quite some time.

[Jackson]

How about a statement in the style of the old trust boys?

"Blackburn Rovers FF can confirm that officials have held a cordial and productive meeting with the Chicken Overlords' staff and advisers".

Don't forget to hold plenty back for a good 12 months of smoke and mirrors, ITK'ing and poorly-veiled insinuation.

Think Philip/BPF, but with facts.

[Taggart]

How about a statement in the style of the old trust boys?

"Blackburn Rovers FF can confirm that officials have held a cordial and productive meeting with the Chicken Overlords' staff and advisers".

Don't forget to hold plenty back for a good 12 months of smoke and mirrors, ITK'ing and poorly-veiled insinuation.

Think Philip/BPF, but with facts.

pointless post, but don`t let me hold you back.

[Tom]

Group Summary up on pune9.com now.

[Ste B]

So, now we’re back in England, some info on our trip to Pune.

Rather than give you a travelogue, we’ll start with what we expect most fans want to know first. What did we talk about with Balaji and what did he say?

Well, first of all we spoke to one of the owners close representatives at length. Then we got the chance to speak to both of them directly. All in all we spoke to Balaji for about an hour. He was charming, gracious and, most importantly, passionate. He listened intently and surprised us with his knowledge of the club and the fans. He might not have been born within transmitter range of Radio Rovers, but the club and it’s success matters to him hugely and he has a long term vision. We talked about the current feelings of the fans and our poor on the pitch form, how Venky’s are perceived to the fans (and how the run of poor results and seemingly ill advised statements are making that worse). We specifically raised the concerns a great many fans had with the current team management set-up and it was clear that he was aware of fans’ feelings. We discussed the impact key people leaving the club had had and we also stressed how Blackburn Rovers was much more than a football club, it was the heart of a community.

Overall his responses seemed honest and he seemed to take the concerns seriously, just as the representative we’d spoken to earlier (who was also present) did. They were also confident that there would be future opportunities to talk with fans (hopefully at Ewood). In particular we are hopeful that there will be a rep from the owners at a future Fans Forum meeting.

We know that this is not the highest priority right now for Rovers fans in the UK, but we did also hear of the plans that the owners have to expand the club’s presence in India, including a Centre of Excellence in Pune and of the setting up of an annual India Trophy, to feature Rovers, a local team and two other invited teams. The RoverStar programme to identify young Indian talent will also continue and grow across the country. They are clearly very committed to making Rovers “India’s EPL team” and they recognise that for this to work Rovers need to be in the Premier League. It would be an exaggeration to say that there was a Rovers billboard on every street corner in Pune but no one could have been unaware that Rovers were in the city.

After speaking with us, Balaji also took the time to talk to members of Ewood Blues (who had travelled independently).

Finally, some thank yous. Obviously Venky’s and Balaji for issuing the invite in the first place and for making sure we were well looked after. Next is the club staff. Spending our time amongst them you get a real feel for just how hard they work and how much they all care about the club, but three special mentions are needed. Simon Williams and Greg Coar for constantly acting as everything from advisers to liaisons to mediators and Lynsey Talbot who seemed to be constantly bustling around organising (not just for us, but seemingly the entire group).

Simon and Greg and others at the club have worked hard over the last eight months with Venkys staff in India to build relationships and work together generally and specifically to deliver the trip. The professional and creative way the game was marketed owes a lot to their input, much of which was done at Ewood.

[Tom]

Now the group statement is out of the way we can hopefully fill in the gaps as individuals.

[BRFC95]

Is there going to be a more detailed account, ie specific questions and answers?