Pune trip

[Hughesy]

"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"

Did he share with you what that vision was?

Also any info around money/ debt and future transfer funds???

Thanks

[Ste B]

Tom one thing that does spring to mind you say Balaji was shocked to hear about the brilliant quote am I right to assume he did not say that? and was misinterpreted?

I recall he said that was not something that he had said and he clarified this with his Right Hand Man. Given this was sourced from the same times of india reporter who was making stuff up that we had said whilst there, I can well believe this.

[T4E]

Balaji was told directly what the fans thought of Kean and that the longer he remains manager of our club the more and more anger will switch to the owners and action needs taking before it's irreversible.

Whilst I can't remember exact words its safe to say the managers position isn't as safe as some would believe, in fact the notion that he was unsackable was laughed at during the earlier meeting and balaji was shocked to hear the 'brilliant' quote about the manager.

Tellingly not once during the talks was the manager backed or talked up.

Also no questions we had were filtered or intercepted.

The owners will be here for the next home game and were aware that more protests are planned

Cannot ask for more. Well done Tom, it's fair to say you've done your bit.

[Hughesy]

The owners will be here for the next home game and were aware that more protests are planned

Everyone is judged on results, nobody is irreplaceable, I will not allow the club to go down.

That is more like it....Kean MUST be gone if we fail to beat QPR & Spurs....especially if the crowd react again like we did against City!

[Ste B]

I should also say that the softly softly approach was the only way that we would have ended up getting the one hour with Balaji.

If we had have gone Kean out at the temple on the first day, then that would have been the only interaction with the owners we would have managed.

Its almost certain that we had to go via all the foodchain to ensure we were going to ask the questions in the right manner.

[chaddyrovers]

Balaji also mentioned how much the protests and criticism of them pains him, that coupled with the fact they are in town for Spurs and know there are protests planned leads me to believe that game could be a pivotal moment. Let's hope it's not too late.

Also this is neither here nor there but balaji organised a private function on the last night which we ended up invited to, instead of talking to the Bollywood star there or the players and wives he seemed to spend a lot of his time chatting to Birdy about the club and loolong at his tattoos. Woody spent most of the night with his newly bought shirt unbuttoned to the naval balaji style'

I'm absolutely positive Balaji in particular wants it to succeed but the right decisions need to be made in order for that to happen as passion coupled with incompetence would still equal failure.

Shows how much Balaji cares about the club and how much he is passionate about the club and wants to be successful at the club. He wants to learn more about the club's history and how much this club means to the fans who support it!

Was anything mention about the bank problem in the summer??? or them appointing a new Chairman/CEO in the near future???

[T4E]

Back to my previous question as I believe it is pivotal - did you get the impression that Balaji and Venky play second fiddle to Mrs D? Is she the key decision maker? If so, although this is all very positive, it could be akin to Harford wanting Zidane and Jack settling for Flitcroft.

[Glenn]

Interesting that it would appear even the Raos might be getting stitched up by certain elements of the media in respect of misquotes or fabricated statements.

That was something we did talk about. Balaji genuinely seemed to have no idea about the brilliant managert quote from two days earlier (despite it allegedly coming from his mouth) he mentioned that on a number of occasions the press had reported things that were entirely fictitious. Given the Times of India has just printed fabricated quotes with my name attached the day before, it came as no surprised that the original brilliant manager quote was first reported by them (we weren't at the Roverstar press conference, so we can't confirm or deny them, but I know who I trust more).

Now, I don't think every PR gaff and silly statement has been down to lazy journalism, but it was reassuring that some of it was.

[Ste B]

Back to my previous question as I believe it is pivotal - did you get the impression that Balaji and Venky play second fiddle to Mrs D? Is she the key decision maker? If so, although this is all very positive, it could be akin to Harford wanting Zidane and Jack settling for Flitcroft.

I get the impression that Bala is the football person, Venky is the religious person, and MrsD signs the cheques. I cant say much more than that really.

[Tom]

Gotta say although we were trying our best for a meeting on Friday night I was looking unlikely and I lost it a little, if we had come home without achieving at least an informal chat it would have been hard to show our faces.

Due to that we knew we had to take any chance we could get, the initial chance came on Saturday afternoon when we had one of our only moments of unscheduled time a few of us were on the roof (we weren't going to jump) O2G came up and said one of Venkys top guys was downstairs and wanted to meet us.

What wad initially a hello how you doing type thing turned into an hour and a half chat, unfortunately not everyone was present at that but the chance still had to be taken as it may have been our only one as a group.

Thabkfully the same guy was still around and talked to the rest of the group later before Balaji turned up unexpectedly which is when we had our chance.

We only met venky briefly at his temple but he seemed a nice sort of bloke. I personally didn't meet Mrs Desai but I believe others did briefly.

Sorry for the mish mash of thoughts, I'm trying to get some work done and remembering odd points.

[Glenn]

and will he take it further with the newspaper?

There is no India equivalent of the independent press complaints commission ... I've already explored that myself.

[rovers_rob]

There is no India equivalent of the independent press complaints commission ... I've already explored that myself.

You would think that Mr Cryer would have checked out the story before making such a big deal about it.

[PLJPB]

That was something we did talk about. Balaji genuinely seemed to have no idea about the brilliant manager quote from two days earlier (despite it allegedly coming from his mouth) he mentioned that on a number of occasions the press had reported things that were entirely fictitious.

Did he also deny the 'few people generating thousands of e-mails quote?'

[Ste B]

You would think that Mr Cryer would have checked out the story before making such a big deal about it.

No need to, once its been written down then you can use it how you want. Lets face it, it made a bloody good story. Perhaps Andy doesnt have a direct line into Venkys to check this out. The general communications in and out of the club were also addressed in the meeting.

[rovers_rob]

Sorry for the mish mash of thoughts, I'm trying to get some work done and remembering odd points.

Don't apologise, this is superb information. I have learnt more about the owners from you guys in the last hour than I have in the last 12 months !!

[winstonsmith]

Glenn, Ste, Tom et al(who he?) Sorry to repeat myself but -

Did Venkys say what their 'plan of action' was (as promised on 4 October) ? Thanks

[Paul]

Thanks to Tom, Glenn and Ste for their thoughts. It's good to hear you have come away with a good impression of Balaji and his involvement with the club.

I'm delighted to hear the owners will be at the Spurs game. That takes some balls because if we lose to QPR and get stuffed by Spurs there is going to be an almighty row. It would be much easier to stay at home so I'm pleased they are coming to face the supporters, not because I want the chance to have a go at them but because they should be here to understand for themselves the situation.

Despite all that has been said I think two things still apply:

Prove it on the pitch

Publish the accounts

If Kean was to get the sack after Spurs the big question is obviously how quickly can we get a manager capable of solving the problem because if this is true:

The response whilst diplomatic was along the lines of (and my apologies, this isn't a direct quote, others may remember it differently) Everyone is judged on results, nobody is irreplaceable, I will not allow the club to go down.

After Spurs we could be looking at 29 matches to obtain 36 points - or a miracle of biblical proportions

[Tom]

Not that I can recall winston But it was a bit of a blur at times and I imagine a recorded meeting for a first step would have been well out of the question.

Chaddy - I also don't recall questions to your points but I personally think with the acquisitions of Hunts Paul and Simon there won't be any further appointments at the top. There does seem to be better links between Ewood and Pune now though.

Also Tris did request in the earlier meeting that accounts be published I believe.

[Glenn]

Glenn, Ste, Tom et al(who he?) Sorry to repeat myself but -

Did Venkys say what their 'plan of action' was (as promised on 4 October) ? Thanks

There was no single "this is our plan of action" statement (possibly as I don't recall it being directly asked), however obviously the answer of almost every other question intersects with that .

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Also this is neither here nor there but balaji organised a private function on the last night which we ended up invited to, instead of talking to the Bollywood star there or the players and wives he seemed to spend a lot of his time chatting to Birdy about the club and loolong at his tattoos.

I think thats brilliant. To me thats the most convincing evidence of passion and enthusiasm that I've heard yet. Unscripted, unreported and bucking social conventions, he ignores all the stars at the evening he organised, and spends the night talking to one of the biggest characters and most diehard Rovers fans around. About his tattoos, about Rovers and probably about 1 or 2 of the fights he used to get into back in the day!

To me the reporting back of this trip pretty much confirms Balaji at least has the Rovers bug, which dimisses the suggestion that we're being deliberately taken for a ride. The main worries now are whether they continue to take bad advice from the wrong people, and just who actually makes the decisions on Rovers when it comes down to it? I doubt its Venky, but it sounds like it could be Mrs D more than Balaji.

[Glenn]

I think thats brilliant. To me thats the most convincing evidence of passion and enthusiasm that I've heard yet. Unscripted, unreported and bucking social conventions, he ignores all the stars at the evening he organised, and spends the night talking to one of the biggest characters and most diehard Rovers fans around. About his tattoos, about Rovers and probably about 1 or 2 of the fights he used to get into back in the day!

I believe Balaji has agreed to go visit Birdy's house when he's in England!

[Al]

I personally feel much better after reading that. The major thing I wanted out of the visit was to get over the strength of feeling amongst the supporters about the manager. That appears to have been achieved. No one can make them take action, that is up to them, but at least they now know how we all feel.

[OJRovers]

Please could you expand on their answers to the important questions:

- Why did John Williams leave the club?

- Why did they employee Kean as manager in the first place?

- What happened over summer with the bank and third paerty agents?

[Ste B]

I think thats brilliant. To me thats the most convincing evidence of passion and enthusiasm that I've heard yet. Unscripted, unreported and bucking social conventions, he ignores all the stars at the evening he organised, and spends the night talking to one of the biggest characters and most diehard Rovers fans around. About his tattoos, about Rovers and probably about 1 or 2 of the fights he used to get into back in the day!

To me the reporting back of this trip pretty much confirms Balaji at least has the Rovers bug, which dimisses the suggestion that we're being deliberately taken for a ride. The main worries now are whether they continue to take bad advice from the wrong people, and just who actually makes the decisions on Rovers when it comes down to it? I doubt its Venky, but it sounds like it could be Mrs D more than Balaji.

Its clear from what we have heard that, like it or not, Venkys are not going anywhere. They have long term plans that they believe they can achieve. They will do whatever is required to make this happen.

Also Balajis son is a massive footy fan, I believe he's had trails in the UK before. Going back to the Birdy thing, it was Balaji who insisted that the fans who had attended also appeared in the nightclub later. He and his son wanted to speak to everybody. As for the paying for Birdys group, Venkys were clearly shocked that people had the passion to fly out on their own steam to watch the game, and Balaji wanted to see what drives them. The visit to Birdys house will almost certainly happen.

[chaddyrovers]

Chaddy - I also don't recall questions to your points but I personally think with the acquisitions of Hunts Paul and Simon there won't be any further appointments at the top. There does seem to be better links between Ewood and Pune now though.

Thanks for Replied Tom.

Thant's good to know that communication between Ewood Park and Pune!