[Archived] FA Cup - Newcastle v Rovers: Preview

[Sparky Marky]

I feel like I've seen a few goals recently were our players have just stood and watched the opposition bring the ball near our goal for a free shot - especially late on.

Odd.

It'snot odd mate...they're so out of shape it's unreal. That in itself is a disgrace . Hoilet and yak are proper rotund. They all look fukced by 75 mins and at this level they put you to bed.

Especially with Keans tactics of defending a lead whenever we get one....poor poor management ...

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Kean:

"But I felt as though our first half performance was excellent. Steven Nzonzi and Radosav Petrovic controlled the game in the middle of the pitch and I thought we were certainly worthy of at least being a goal up - possiby two".

My money's on your version Parson.

Me too.

[Pitty]

After a year in charge now, I think it's fair to say that Kean is a significant part of the problem, he hasn't proved good enough.

Strangely enough he (or whoever is recruiting for him) has recruited a lot better than Sam and his contacts imo - Rochina could be absolutely top class handled correctly imo, Formica is decent enough, Jermaine Jones ultimately proved a huge success whilst he was here and Yakubu for 1.5m must be the best piece of transfer business for many a year. Considering we have been shopping at the lower end of the market we haven't done badly at all. Only Goodwillie for me looks completely out of his depth.

The over-riding reason for us being in the position we're in though is that there's been no net investment in the squad for the past eight or nine years or so. I used to argue with John Williams years ago that failing to strengthen would have only one eventual outcome and that's where we're at now. The blame for that situation primarily lies with the Walker Trust, they left the squad in such a sorry state that relegation would have been inevitable sooner rather than later, although some poor decision making by Venky's undoubtedly seems to have accelerated the process a year or two. It needed whoever succeeded the Trustees to spend around 100m in one lump to bring the squad back up to speed and The Raos don't appear to have either the pockets or inclination to do that.

Oddly enough, having made imo one or two decent acquisitions we're only a quality midfield destroyer, a specialist left back and maybe another decent striker to partner Yakubu away from being a good side - the balance clearly isn't quite there at the moment.

Overall the situation does look extremely bleak, with a wage bill running at roughly 85% of turnover John Williams and the Walker Trustees didn't set up a scenario designed to bounce back in the event of relegation. Where that model failed is you ultimately can't expect to finish 9th or 10th simply by paying the 9th or tenth highest wages you also need to be 9th or tenth in terms of transfer fees spent as well. If you are bottom of the transfer spend table with a nil or negative outlay ultimately you will run out of quality and in the meantime refusal to replace means you get sucked into a vicious and never ending cycle of wage increases for ageing underperformers such as MGP, Dunn, Nelsen, Roberts, Salgado etc.

No matter what happens in the long run, I'll still be there, it's still my Club no matter who the owners are or what division we're in although it's a crying shame to see Jack's legacy dwindle away primarily due to lack of interest from his own family.

Well said +1

[AlanK]

Great post rev. Could do with flitty out there

[DE.]

Laughed when I saw the result and how it happened. Did not feel anything other than mild contempt.

[BuckyRover]

Laughed when I saw the result and how it happened. Did not feel anything other than mild contempt.

I laughed when I heard we were winning and laughed at full time.

It must mean that it's funny. In a way

[Amo]

After a year in charge now, I think it's fair to say that Kean is a significant part of the problem, he hasn't proved good enough.

Strangely enough he (or whoever is recruiting for him) has recruited a lot better than Sam and his contacts imo - Rochina could be absolutely top class handled correctly imo, Formica is decent enough, Jermaine Jones ultimately proved a huge success whilst he was here and Yakubu for 1.5m must be the best piece of transfer business for many a year. Considering we have been shopping at the lower end of the market we haven't done badly at all. Only Goodwillie for me looks completely out of his depth.

The over-riding reason for us being in the position we're in though is that there's been no net investment in the squad for the past eight or nine years or so. I used to argue with John Williams years ago that failing to strengthen would have only one eventual outcome and that's where we're at now. The blame for that situation primarily lies with the Walker Trust, they left the squad in such a sorry state that relegation would have been inevitable sooner rather than later, although some poor decision making by Venky's undoubtedly seems to have accelerated the process a year or two. It needed whoever succeeded the Trustees to spend around 100m in one lump to bring the squad back up to speed and The Raos don't appear to have either the pockets or inclination to do that.

Oddly enough, having made imo one or two decent acquisitions we're only a quality midfield destroyer, a specialist left back and maybe another decent striker to partner Yakubu away from being a good side - the balance clearly isn't quite there at the moment.

Overall the situation does look extremely bleak, with a wage bill running at roughly 85% of turnover John Williams and the Walker Trustees didn't set up a scenario designed to bounce back in the event of relegation. Where that model failed is you ultimately can't expect to finish 9th or 10th simply by paying the 9th or tenth highest wages you also need to be 9th or tenth in terms of transfer fees spent as well. If you are bottom of the transfer spend table with a nil or negative outlay ultimately you will run out of quality and in the meantime refusal to replace means you get sucked into a vicious and never ending cycle of wage increases for ageing underperformers such as MGP, Dunn, Nelsen, Roberts, Salgado etc.

No matter what happens in the long run, I'll still be there, it's still my Club no matter who the owners are or what division we're in although it's a crying shame to see Jack's legacy dwindle away primarily due to lack of interest from his own family.

You were doing well until you got to the £100m investment. Sorry but that's absolute nonsense. We finished 10th the season before Kean was sacked but suddenly we need Man City esque spending just to compete in this league?

[Devon Rover]

Laughed when I saw the result and how it happened. Did not feel anything other than mild contempt.

In the week leading up to the game I honestly didn't care about it, mainly because I expected defeat. But when Saturday 3pm came around, as per usual, I got caught up in it. When Rovers led at half-time I knew that we were bound to concede but I thought perhaps we might just sneak a result. But the familiar tale of sh1t substitutions and 2nd half collapse angered me more than I would have expected during the week when I thought I wouldn't care.

I'm also really disappointed for those fans who continue to pay to follow this circus in the hope of some small success to enjoy.

Because of this I did feel something at the result, more than I had expected or planned to, and I am getting sick of feeling this way. The thing is- a win would have lifted my hopes of an important good result against Fulham. But today just lowered my expectation for that game even further.

Downward spiral. Wish I had remained uncaring about it!!

[finndaloo]

+1

From the moment he got the job he made sure he was Mr Blackburn Rovers to the Venkys. He has successfully isolated anyone at Ewood from having any influence over the Venkys. As you say he has built up a position of trust by feeding on the Venkys stupidity, ignorance and greed and fed them constant lies to ensure he maintained his position to the complete detriment of BRFC and the fans.

He knows exactly what he is doing, he knows what effect it is having on the club bringing it to its knees, but he continues to remain in post to boost his own massive ego and bank balance.

What really frustrates me is apparently they do not have £800 000 to sack him, but they found £1M to pay him more money.

As for the Venkys they are not the hard nosed business people we thought the were. They are spoilt, squabbling brats who were handed the business and money on a plate. I imagine there is not much competition for them in India otherwise the business would probably have bombed. They appear unable to make any kind of decision and when faced with any kind of challenge retreat to their bunker from which they fail to emerge.

Any business person with only half a brain would have realised the situation long ago and taken decisve action irrespective of any effect on reputation or business relationships.

In short Kean is a guilfy as Venkys in destroying the club we love.

I totally agree. If the man was so stupid that he didn't know what he was doing and what his role actually is in the whole debacle I'd be even more worried than I am already. I watched my first game in 1967 and was hooked when Dougie knocked in number three from the penalty spot against Northampton at Ewood, I never wanted very much beyond an honest Saturaday afternoon ( and a Rovers win) but the club is now clearly riddled with problems that could only stem from either simple mindedness or corruption depending on your standpoint and, personally, I don't believe that this mess can be attributed solely to dumb stupidity. Kean is more steeped in the game than I am so I know what my final thoughts are - the man does not give a ++++ about Blackburn Rovers, he has no understanding of what Dougie's penalty means to me or what Rovers mean to so many of us as a collective. Having said that he still remains a stooge, a patsy, a fall guy. a simpleton and I see no mileage in lambasting this joker on a weekly basis and drawing down the kind of natioanl media scorn that has become our lot over the first half of this season. Venky's out!!!!!!!!

[Devon Rover]

I totally agree. If the man was so stupid that he didn't know what he was doing and what his role actually is in the whole debacle I'd be even more worried than I am already. I watched my first game in 1967 and was hooked when Dougie knocked in number three from the penalty spot against Northampton at Ewood, I never wanted very much beyond an honest Saturaday afternoon ( and a Rovers win) but the club is now clearly riddled with problems that could only stem from either simple mindedness or corruption depending on your standpoint and, personally, I don't believe that this mess can be attributed solely to dumb stupidity. Kean is more steeped in the game than I am so I know what my final thoughts are - the man does not give a ++++ about Blackburn Rovers, he has no understanding of what Dougie's penalty means to me or what Rovers mean to so many of us as a collective. Having said that he still remains a stooge, a patsy, a fall guy. a simpleton and I see no mileage in lambasting this joker on a weekly basis and drawing down the kind of natioanl media scorn that has become our lot over the first half of this season. Venky's out!!!!!!!!

My Rovers support doesn't go back anywhere near as far but I agree with your post in full. Thats why I believe the focus of any protests should be aimed very clearly at Venkys, despite our views on Steve Kean.

[Mercer]

After a year in charge now, I think it's fair to say that Kean is a significant part of the problem, he hasn't proved good enough.

Strangely enough he (or whoever is recruiting for him) has recruited a lot better than Sam and his contacts imo - Rochina could be absolutely top class handled correctly imo, Formica is decent enough, Jermaine Jones ultimately proved a huge success whilst he was here and Yakubu for 1.5m must be the best piece of transfer business for many a year. Considering we have been shopping at the lower end of the market we haven't done badly at all. Only Goodwillie for me looks completely out of his depth.

The over-riding reason for us being in the position we're in though is that there's been no net investment in the squad for the past eight or nine years or so. I used to argue with John Williams years ago that failing to strengthen would have only one eventual outcome and that's where we're at now. The blame for that situation primarily lies with the Walker Trust, they left the squad in such a sorry state that relegation would have been inevitable sooner rather than later, although some poor decision making by Venky's undoubtedly seems to have accelerated the process a year or two. It needed whoever succeeded the Trustees to spend around 100m in one lump to bring the squad back up to speed and The Raos don't appear to have either the pockets or inclination to do that.

Oddly enough, having made imo one or two decent acquisitions we're only a quality midfield destroyer, a specialist left back and maybe another decent striker to partner Yakubu away from being a good side - the balance clearly isn't quite there at the moment.

Overall the situation does look extremely bleak, with a wage bill running at roughly 85% of turnover John Williams and the Walker Trustees didn't set up a scenario designed to bounce back in the event of relegation. Where that model failed is you ultimately can't expect to finish 9th or 10th simply by paying the 9th or tenth highest wages you also need to be 9th or tenth in terms of transfer fees spent as well. If you are bottom of the transfer spend table with a nil or negative outlay ultimately you will run out of quality and in the meantime refusal to replace means you get sucked into a vicious and never ending cycle of wage increases for ageing underperformers such as MGP, Dunn, Nelsen, Roberts, Salgado etc.

No matter what happens in the long run, I'll still be there, it's still my Club no matter who the owners are or what division we're in although it's a crying shame to see Jack's legacy dwindle away primarily due to lack of interest from his own family.

Time you got a life - the Walkers enabled Rovers to have glory years that could only ever have been dreamed about for those who have watched the Rovers for 50 years or so.

You come across as one bitter and, perhaps, jealous individual.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Time you got a life - the Walkers enabled Rovers to have glory years that could only ever have been dreamed about for those who have watched the Rovers for 50 years or so.

You come across as one bitter and, perhaps, jealous individual.

Way too and harsh and I think Rev has a legitimate point.

Jack Walker contributed a lot to the club (that is unquestionable) but the Walker trust especially in the last few years of ownership neglected the club. The only reason the club was stable was because of people like Sparky, John Williams and the scouting system who brought in players for cheap and sold them for a huge profit. The trust didn't put any money into the club, there was no investment on the playing side we had to sell our best players and use a portion of that to reinvest.

Venky's and Kean deserve most of the blame when it comes to the situation we are in, but don't forget what the years of under investment has done as well.

[Al]

It's to negate the yellow & black protest.

That's correct. It's painfully obvious.

[Rover_Shaun]

Surely colours we do not wear would have made better protest colours?

[BuckyRover]

Surely colours we do not wear would have made better protest colours?

Ask the non elected representatives.

[Rover_Shaun]

Bit of a Mark Crossley that one

[Miker]

You were doing well until you got to the £100m investment. Sorry but that's absolute nonsense. We finished 10th the season before Kean was sacked but suddenly we need Man City esque spending just to compete in this league?

It didn't need £100m, but a significant investment was required for sure. We have an ageing and injury-prone squad. We have some talented youngsters, but largely inexperienced. The majority of our first team is past it or on the way to being past it. 10th place under Allardyce flattered us, I doubt we would have achieved the same under other managers.

If you compare the squad Venky's inherited to the squad Hughes left behind, there's no contest. Friedel, Warnock, Ooijer, Tugay, Savage, Santa Cruz, McCarthy, Bentley.

We never adequately replaced any of those players. Robinson maybe being the only exception. We didn't get a decent striker in until Yakubu this season.

[Al]

After a year in charge now, I think it's fair to say that Kean is a significant part of the problem, he hasn't proved good enough.

Strangely enough he (or whoever is recruiting for him) has recruited a lot better than Sam and his contacts imo - Rochina could be absolutely top class handled correctly imo, Formica is decent enough, Jermaine Jones ultimately proved a huge success whilst he was here and Yakubu for 1.5m must be the best piece of transfer business for many a year. Considering we have been shopping at the lower end of the market we haven't done badly at all. Only Goodwillie for me looks completely out of his depth.

The over-riding reason for us being in the position we're in though is that there's been no net investment in the squad for the past eight or nine years or so. I used to argue with John Williams years ago that failing to strengthen would have only one eventual outcome and that's where we're at now. The blame for that situation primarily lies with the Walker Trust, they left the squad in such a sorry state that relegation would have been inevitable sooner rather than later, although some poor decision making by Venky's undoubtedly seems to have accelerated the process a year or two. It needed whoever succeeded the Trustees to spend around 100m in one lump to bring the squad back up to speed and The Raos don't appear to have either the pockets or inclination to do that.

Oddly enough, having made imo one or two decent acquisitions we're only a quality midfield destroyer, a specialist left back and maybe another decent striker to partner Yakubu away from being a good side - the balance clearly isn't quite there at the moment.

Overall the situation does look extremely bleak, with a wage bill running at roughly 85% of turnover John Williams and the Walker Trustees didn't set up a scenario designed to bounce back in the event of relegation. Where that model failed is you ultimately can't expect to finish 9th or 10th simply by paying the 9th or tenth highest wages you also need to be 9th or tenth in terms of transfer fees spent as well. If you are bottom of the transfer spend table with a nil or negative outlay ultimately you will run out of quality and in the meantime refusal to replace means you get sucked into a vicious and never ending cycle of wage increases for ageing underperformers such as MGP, Dunn, Nelsen, Roberts, Salgado etc.

No matter what happens in the long run, I'll still be there, it's still my Club no matter who the owners are or what division we're in although it's a crying shame to see Jack's legacy dwindle away primarily due to lack of interest from his own family.

That's ######. We were in 8th place when Sam was sacked. What took place after that is solely down to the Venkys.

[booth]

"Sacked in the morning

If Venkys could afford it

You'd be sacked in the morning..."

This is complete bunkum. They can afford it, they just don't want to spend it.

[Amo]

It didn't need £100m, but a significant investment was required for sure. We have an ageing and injury-prone squad. We have some talented youngsters, but largely inexperienced. The majority of our first team is past it or on the way to being past it. 10th place under Allardyce flattered us, I doubt we would have achieved the same under other managers.

If you compare the squad Venky's inherited to the squad Hughes left behind, there's no contest. Friedel, Warnock, Ooijer, Tugay, Savage, Santa Cruz, McCarthy, Bentley.

We never adequately replaced any of those players. Robinson maybe being the only exception. We didn't get a decent striker in until Yakubu this season.

I agree that investment was needed and the Trust neglected the playing side on the off-chance that Hughes & Allardyce could continue to find diamonds in the rough. But £100m? That's just taking the pish.

[Kelbo]

After a year in charge now, I think it's fair to say that Kean is a significant part of the problem, he hasn't proved good enough.

Strangely enough he (or whoever is recruiting for him) has recruited a lot better than Sam and his contacts imo - Rochina could be absolutely top class handled correctly imo, Formica is decent enough, Jermaine Jones ultimately proved a huge success whilst he was here and Yakubu for 1.5m must be the best piece of transfer business for many a year. Considering we have been shopping at the lower end of the market we haven't done badly at all. Only Goodwillie for me looks completely out of his depth.

The over-riding reason for us being in the position we're in though is that there's been no net investment in the squad for the past eight or nine years or so. I used to argue with John Williams years ago that failing to strengthen would have only one eventual outcome and that's where we're at now. The blame for that situation primarily lies with the Walker Trust, they left the squad in such a sorry state that relegation would have been inevitable sooner rather than later, although some poor decision making by Venky's undoubtedly seems to have accelerated the process a year or two. It needed whoever succeeded the Trustees to spend around 100m in one lump to bring the squad back up to speed and The Raos don't appear to have either the pockets or inclination to do that.

Oddly enough, having made imo one or two decent acquisitions we're only a quality midfield destroyer, a specialist left back and maybe another decent striker to partner Yakubu away from being a good side - the balance clearly isn't quite there at the moment.

Overall the situation does look extremely bleak, with a wage bill running at roughly 85% of turnover John Williams and the Walker Trustees didn't set up a scenario designed to bounce back in the event of relegation. Where that model failed is you ultimately can't expect to finish 9th or 10th simply by paying the 9th or tenth highest wages you also need to be 9th or tenth in terms of transfer fees spent as well. If you are bottom of the transfer spend table with a nil or negative outlay ultimately you will run out of quality and in the meantime refusal to replace means you get sucked into a vicious and never ending cycle of wage increases for ageing underperformers such as MGP, Dunn, Nelsen, Roberts, Salgado etc.

No matter what happens in the long run, I'll still be there, it's still my Club no matter who the owners are or what division we're in although it's a crying shame to see Jack's legacy dwindle away primarily due to lack of interest from his own family.

Sorry Rev, in my opinion, you are way off the mark!!

[Mercer]

Way too and harsh and I think Rev has a legitimate point.

Jack Walker contributed a lot to the club (that is unquestionable) but the Walker trust especially in the last few years of ownership neglected the club. The only reason the club was stable was because of people like Sparky, John Williams and the scouting system who brought in players for cheap and sold them for a huge profit. The trust didn't put any money into the club, there was no investment on the playing side we had to sell our best players and use a portion of that to reinvest.

Venky's and Kean deserve most of the blame when it comes to the situation we are in, but don't forget what the years of under investment has done as well.

It's all about opinions.

To me two key points are, firstly, Jack's intention was for the club to become self financing and not constantly reliant on 'investment' - why the hell should they have been expected to keep financing from hard earned family money ? Part of the investment was in The Academy which has recently borne some rich fruit. Secondly, wise and efficient management meant that, as Williams said many times, we punched above our weight.

Once Venky's bought the club, virtually all the expertise, experience etc was sacked. Whose responsibility is that ?

Let's get one thing straight, 2009/10 we finished top ten, when Sam was sacked, we were around the same and I think we would have been 7th or 8th other than that last minute winner for Bolton. So, whether transfer funds have been tight for years or not, the simple truth is that we more than held our own for years under the Walker Trust, following Jack's death, including Carling Cup glory and European ventures.

Only one party, IMO, has screwed-up and that is the clowns from India.

So those with personal agendas like Revidge Blue seems to have, need to put them aside and think back to the rainy days when we were rock bottom of the old Third and playing the likes of Halifax and Mansfield. As things stand, that's back where we are heading, IMV.

[BuckyRover]

The Trust under invested and allowed us to become prey for the sharks that are Venky's and their ilk.

I'm surprised so many are against what Rev has said. It was bloody obvious.

Jack set up the trust to look after the club. Would JW have ever sold to Venky's? Would he have turned MHs request for transfer funds?

I know you can't turn back the clock and nobody can live forever. But I'm pretty sure that if heaven did exist (it doesn't) he wouldn't be looking down and thinking that the trust did a good job. I'm pretty sure of that.

[47er]

Way too and harsh and I think Rev has a legitimate point.

Jack Walker contributed a lot to the club (that is unquestionable) but the Walker trust especially in the last few years of ownership neglected the club. The only reason the club was stable was because of people like Sparky, John Williams and the scouting system who brought in players for cheap and sold them for a huge profit. The trust didn't put any money into the club, there was no investment on the playing side we had to sell our best players and use a portion of that to reinvest.

Venky's and Kean deserve most of the blame when it comes to the situation we are in, but don't forget what the years of under investment has done as well.

One specific episode sums up this argument perfectly. When we lost Savage to injury the Trust refused sanction the signing of a replacement. Hughes, as usual, had quality replacements in mind at a reasonable price but the Trust refused to advance a cent. From finishing 6th and with an FA Cup Semi behind us, we went downhill from then on.

Hughes concluded he couldn't expect anything other than a hand to mouth existence and that he'd taken the club as far as he could go. Minimal investment and the sky was the limit. Sadly the Walkers were more interested in themselves.

[Amo]

One specific episode sums up this argument perfectly. When we lost Savage to injury the Trust refused sanction the signing of a replacement. Hughes, as usual, had quality replacements in mind at a reasonable price but the Trust refused to advance a cent. From finishing 6th and with an FA Cup Semi behind us, we went downhill from then on.

IIRC, Hughes wanted to sign Lassana Diarra from Arsenal. Who later moved to Real Madrid from Pompey for £20m. But no, apparently Hughes hadn't earned the right for a few million quid in the kitty.