[Archived] JA's Sky Sports interview

[purplegrover]

Said this in another thread so apologies, but its even more relevant here.

I believe Anderson was being used as a mouthpiece, to look like an "independent" person (yeah right) to defend the interests of Venky's and Kean. I believe that they wheeled him out for this because it would not look good for either Kean of Venkys to hint at the 'racism' card, because it would look like an obvious desperate smokescreen to hide their actions and their record. However, coming from a third party... the hint of 'dark forces' (all of which is clearly rubbish - all the protesters care about is their club and the football, not the colour of peoples skin), appears to the wider media almost plausible.

Why would JA do this ? After all, he did not exactly look comfortable. Well, consider that the club is now paying his son a mighty wage for being "the next Chris Smalling..."

[47er]

Would it be possible for a Rovers supporters groups to issue a combined statement on Anderson's interview?

Someone needs to.

[Steve Moss]

In my opinion, people are starting to wake up and ask hard questions which is making Steve Kean, JA, and Venkys uncomfortable. The soft interview with Sky appears to be an effort to nip it at the bud. I don't think it will work. I think it raised more questions than answers, actually.

[purplegrover]

Someone needs to.

What worries me terribly is the tinge of a 'race' issue emerging. I have seen that happen before in another work related area in which I was involved and is very very toxic.

Maybe a 'supplementary' to the Unified statement stressing that Blackburn fans of all sizes shapes colours, religions and races are united in the protest against poor and non transparent management ?

A prominant banner at the next protest ? "This protest is about football NOT about race" ?

[CrazyIvan]

One point I'd like to see brought up is this abuse of Anderson, his son and his family. From where, by whom and 'provide proof' would be my comment to Anderson. This idea that the protests against Steve Kean were 'vitriolic abuse' is just nonsense and a complete exaggeration.

[Savory]

no one feel sorry for him then when he was gettin emotional about the stick and threats him and his family are getting?

[Paul]

I understand why people are upset by the content of the JA interview but there can be nothing surprising about its occurrence other than the timing.

Let's be clear on one thing;In my opinion Sky, and its' sister companies, is an organisation run and owned by people whose ultimate motivation is power, influence and money. People who are prepared to sanction phone hacking and then mislead a governmental public enquiry into the subject. If an event is on the horizon which might tarnish the product one funds and is the basis of your existence it's hardly surprising when self-interest comes to the fore. If serious issues are uncovered at a football club the game's major sponsor will face difficulties.

News International has never offered any form of quality media and that it now offers a platform allowing JA to promote his innocence and imply Rovers fans are racist comes as no surprise. The timing is the surprise.

I feel the majority are missing the big issue here. If asked to settle its debts by end June 2012 our club would have to find in the region of £54 MILLION. I just don't understand why supporters are not focusing on this.

I think someone is about to call in their money. Frankly if I was owed money by Blackburn Rovers I'd move heaven and earth to get it TODAY. Plus I would have stopped supplying the club some time ago. A lot of small people could get burnt.

Still the football creditors won't give two hoots as the incestuous cesspool that is professional football in England will continue to look after its own....... Including agents.

No individual with or wishing for a media career in football is going to ask a hard question in relation to Rovers or any suspicious activity at any football club. These ex players have milked the game for every penny on the pitch and continue to do so with their mealy mouthed irrelevant views in support of selling more motor cars. It stinks.

Apologies. Rant over. Hope it gets approved.

[John]

Perhaps not surprising, however there is something suspicious about all this and the timing - Sky said JA wanted to do the interview to set the record straight.

Looked a bit staged from JA plus he was talking Kean like guff and acting that without Stevie on the planet there would be no young footballers playing football.

[dave birch]

Good points raised there Paul.

I'd like to add one other thing in respect to Anderson, Has he ever talked to, or offered to talk to any supporter of the Rovers, to find out why they are so upset.?

I'd suggest he hasn't, because he'd find out how much the Fans care about the situation they feel the Rovers are in.

So, come on JA, face the fans directly, rather than the relatively benign studio being confronted by some weak kneed presenter asking "dorothy dixers", come and address your problems with those that have some ulterior motive, and see if they are "real fans" or not.

[perthblue02]

Review - An Agents Tale - Aired 10th Jan 2012

Script : Jerome Anderson

Production Company : Sky Sports/ SEM

Sky Sports better known for live sport coverage entered the fictional drama world the other month with A Manger's tale starring unknown Scottish talent Steve Kean, judging by the success An Agent's tale written again by the

promosing Jerome Anderson was rushed into production.

Rada's rising star Mr Anderson not only wrote the drama but took centre stage pushing his acting skills to the limit as the honest family loving football agent. One could see that Anderson's teary eyes

in the scene when talking about his son , were pushing the acting and daunting script to limits of his expertise. Never letting facts get in the way of the story Anderson used his incredible flair for artistic licence to deliver an almost beleivable script.

The interviewer played by an actual sky presenter delivered his scripted lines with ease and the whole encounter conjured up the Frost Nixon exchange many years earlier.

My only criticism is that the script borrowed heavily from "A Manager's tale" , the over use of family and children as human shields to deflect the facts are not as effective as once were after Saddam Hussain used a similar script during the first gulf war.

Other scenes borowed from " A Mangers tale" was the theme of blamelessness on the narrators part whilst imaginary dark forces seemed to be the agitators. One not to shy away from current issues Anderson's brilliantly executed script insinuated the issue of racism, which is sure to act as a great distraction from the facts whilst discussed over a champagne lunch at the Wembley Stadium HQ during England international overseas tv rights negotiations.

The second part of the trilogy although not as realistic as the first one is sure to cause a sensation, and with Sky Sports move into fictional drama they have certainly picked a winner in Anderson, who not only directs, script writes, acts, but also supllies the critics from his Management Agency to give the drama's glowing reviews

I look forward to the third part "A Players tale" starring Myles an actor late to treading the boards due to not being very good, no doubt a box of hankies will have to be at the ready

[trueblue]

I feel the majority are missing the big issue here. If asked to settle its debts by end June 2012 our club would have to find in the region of £54 MILLION. I just don't understand why supporters are not focusing on this.

Paul, the reason the majority are missing the big issue is probably because they are not aware that the club has to find £54M by the end of June 2012 (I certainly wasn't)

[Stuart]

Paul, the reason the majority are missing the big issue is probably because they are not aware that the club has to find £54M by the end of June 2012 (I certainly wasn't)

Hold on, it was a "what if" scenario. As far as we know, nothing has been called in yet.

Paul makes very good points though and I am more concerned about the timing of his comments.

As Rovers fans did we really expect a different stance from JA?

Pure speculation here but rather than a big bang could it be that we are about to see Samba and others sold, with ALL of the money going to the bank and no incomings? Might make things a lot worse with the supporters feelings and JA is trying to absolve himself? After all, all he did was give the Trust a number of selling options.

No early transfers done, despite the talk, no quick assistant announcement, despite the the talk, no Kean interviews/statements for three days - is that a record? Certainly seems like something is afoot. I guess we'll find out soon - one way or another...

[dave birch]

Paul, the reason the majority are missing the big issue is probably because they are not aware that the club has to find £54M by the end of June 2012 (I certainly wasn't)

I made a similar point to Miker in a phone conversation a little while back.

Whilst I didn't think the 10/11 accounts were that bad, the 11/12 ones will really highlight the problem, unless something spectacular happens between now and 06/12.

[Paul]

Emphasis on the word IF in the phrase "if asked to settle its debts"

I want people to understand the potential depth of this issue. Anderson is an irrelevance.

[rover460]

Paul, the reason the majority are missing the big issue is probably because they are not aware that the club has to find £54M by the end of June 2012 (I certainly wasn't)

Paul, or anyone how is the £54million made up

[rover460]

Paul, the reason the majority are missing the big issue is probably because they are not aware that the club has to find £54M by the end of June 2012 (I certainly wasn't)

Paul how is the £54million made up,i understood it was in the region of £30million

[Devon Rover]

I understand why people are upset by the content of the JA interview but there can be nothing surprising about its occurrence other than the timing.

Let's be clear on one thing;In my opinion Sky, and its' sister companies, is an organisation run and owned by people whose ultimate motivation is power, influence and money. People who are prepared to sanction phone hacking and then mislead a governmental public enquiry into the subject. If an event is on the horizon which might tarnish the product one funds and is the basis of your existence it's hardly surprising when self-interest comes to the fore. If serious issues are uncovered at a football club the game's major sponsor will face difficulties.

News International has never offered any form of quality media and that it now offers a platform allowing JA to promote his innocence and imply Rovers fans are racist comes as no surprise. The timing is the surprise.

I feel the majority are missing the big issue here. If asked to settle its debts by end June 2012 our club would have to find in the region of £54 MILLION. I just don't understand why supporters are not focusing on this.

I think someone is about to call in their money. Frankly if I was owed money by Blackburn Rovers I'd move heaven and earth to get it TODAY. Plus I would have stopped supplying the club some time ago. A lot of small people could get burnt.

Still the football creditors won't give two hoots as the incestuous cesspool that is professional football in England will continue to look after its own....... Including agents.

No individual with or wishing for a media career in football is going to ask a hard question in relation to Rovers or any suspicious activity at any football club. These ex players have milked the game for every penny on the pitch and continue to do so with their mealy mouthed irrelevant views in support of selling more motor cars. It stinks.

Apologies. Rant over. Hope it gets approved.

Good post, Paul. I agree with it almost entirely and obviously its the financial position which is of most concern but in the immediate term it is the JA interview which will, for a lot of people, cause the most anger and irritation (as it has for me).

Sky News & Sky Sports News has always felt to me to be the equivalent of the tabloid press- Tabloid TV- and therefore I can't imagine anyone on hearing JA was being interviewed by them yesterday would have thought 'this will be an interesting piece of investigative journalism with interrogating questions'. Basically because, as a tabloid, Sky Sports are reliant upon their relationships with, and information tidbits from, 'key players' like football agents. In the same way as many tabloid journalists are reliant upon their well-placed sources (often agents) to enable them to make their living, I guess all readers/viewers can do is be aware of this and that what is being sold to us is often a particular angle on the truth or some variation of it. Yesterday's 'interview' just felt to me like a total PR exercise using Tabloid TV's desire to stay in with the movers and shakers during the transfer window, and I am interested to see what will happen next to shed light on why it happened, and why now.

Your point about football debt is absolutely valid. Having seen local firms and people affected by recent times down the road at Plymouth (and nationally at Portsmouth in particular) the consequences of financial mismanagement in football can be huge for local employees and businesses. The consequences for those in the game (including agents etc) will be next to nothing. For me its one of the most immoral aspects of the football industry. I desperately hope it doesn't reach this point for people local to Blackburn.

[broadsword]

The timing sure is interesting.

The cynical amongst may wish to hypothesise that dark clouds are on the horizon, if we were to make the grand assumption that Anderson appearing on Sky was an arse-covering exercise on his part. Perhaps some bad news for Rovers is imminent.

I'm only suggesting that that is one possible take on Anderson's appearance.

Another possible explanation is that Anderson is civically-minded, and appeared on Sky in the spirit of public-service to let everyone know that he is indeed a selfless man, inclined to help out football clubs out of his own dedication to the national game and indeed asking for nothing in return; and that indeed any protest by Rovers' fans is motivated by twisted racial prejudices rather than increasing concerns that their club is being wrecked by a toxic combination of idiotic ne'er-do-wells and parasites.

These are just two possible scenarios, and I would not like to suggest which one is the more likely. Really, who could possibly say?

[beatrix]

Having watched the interview in full I was struck by how uncomfortable anderson looked throughout, he did make reference to

the fans there is no doubt but it didnt appear over the top to me and I cant stand anderson,venkys,kean etc. The sky sports

presenter appeared to be laughing at him throughout and waiting for him to make a fool of himself , which he probably did

in the end. I dont think for a minute that other football fans in general will not be sympathetic to our plight, as fans they

will see that we have every reason to be extremely unhappy. The football brotherhood with all their vested interests are a

different matter.

As Paul says our major problems are probably money related, and ultimately survival related if nothing changes with our

ownership situation.

This transfer window will probably give us a clearer picture of our true plight, if Samba, hoilett etc leave then we are in

for a torrid second half of the season, into the championship.

[Paul]

<br />Paul how is the £54million made up,i understood it was in the region of £30million<br />

At 30th June 2011 the club had bank debt, I believe the facility expires at June 20th 2012, of £26m and net current liabilities (suppliers to be paid, probably including transfers)of £29m falling due in 12 months, i.e. by June 30th 2012. To my mind this means IF all this money is requested the club have to find £54m.

Also note the accounts state the club will require SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL funding over enext 18 months, that is from June 30th 2011.

If I have misunderstood this I'm sure an accountant will correct me.

[Guest TheArtistFormallyKnownAsJB]

This is something we could perhaps throw into consideration;

We paid 4m+ on agents fees last year.

Between 2004/2010 we signed players from different parts of the world (presumably using our scouts and manager contacts)

Samba - £500k, Nelsen - £0, Nzonzi (500k) are amongst the cheapest quality that I can recall - maybe someone could add to this.

IF we had spent 4m+ on our scouting department last year, do you think we would have ended up with;

Formica - 3.5m (talented but lacks certain facets to make it in English game ((I have shouted "goal-side" at Mauro every game i've seen him play)))

Rochina - ??? ( Talented, looks promising but a risky player for a dog fight)

Petrovic - 3.5m (nowhere near up to the speed of EPL)

Vuckevic - 2m (bit of a luxury, decent but has more to proove)

Scott Dann - 7m (one of the only bits of decent business we did)

Goodwillie - 2m (Looks dreadfully unfit, flat footed, and extremely naive for a so called "poacher")

Bruno Ribeiro - free (never even seen the guy, 3 year 5k a week contract = over £1m for a player who will never even play)

Yakubu - 1.5m (massive risk, but paid off)

Therefore 1/4 of Kean's signings have been good. The rest have being awful/lacking.

THE QUESTION I would like to ask, do you think that we would have ended up with such an awful ratio of quality signings if we had spent the 4m on scouting? I won't mention the rumours regarding the scouts at Ewood being ignored etc.

All I know is that we have paid Jerome Anderson a lot of money to ensure that we brought the right players to the club. The points we have up to this date (it's not the fan's fault, it's not luck, it's not some underlying hatred) proove that the acquisitions have not been good enough (including Steve Kean, and another SEM client John Jensen)

How can Sky sports news allow an agent to appear on their program, and not even ask questions in relation to what he was paid to do for the club?

[BiggusLaddus]

According to the accounts a £20m bank loan becomes due in the following 12mths (so 6mths from now).

Which makes those reports of Barclays demanding £10m this January seem a lot more credible.

[alexanders]

At 30th June 2011 the club had bank debt, I believe the facility expires at June 20th 2012, of £26m and net current liabilities (suppliers to be paid, probably including transfers)of £29m falling due in 12 months, i.e. by June 30th 2012. To my mind this means IF all this money is requested the club have to find £54m.

Also note the accounts state the club will require SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL funding over enext 18 months, that is from June 30th 2011.

If I have misunderstood this I'm sure an accountant will correct me.

Isnt it correct to think that we will also receive a significant amount from our player sales ?

[hesfromburn]

I met Jerome Anderson the other day, He couldnt believe it! We both still remember that tackle his lad myles did in the back garden on the dog 7 years ago!

Guys...you should have seen it ANYONE who is anyone in football are still talking about to this day!!!!!!!

[winstonsmith]

In the interview, Anderson stated that it was "well documented" that after the Venky's having bought the club "there were some issues around the club that, after an initial period, where the owners were not happy with certain things that were happening within the club". This was in connection with the "manager" and "at board level". He stated that "things happen" and they were "not happy...with the people that were still there" and "changes had to be made".

A couple of points about this -

1. Was this 'well documented'? If so, where ?

2. Although Venky's had never been denied that Sam was dismissed, I thought the official Venky line had always been that they had not wanted John Williams to leave. However, Anderson has stated that the Venky's "were not happy with certain things... at board level" and were not happy with the people (plural) that were still there and changes (plural) had to be made.