[Archived] Samba Up to His Old Tricks Again

[Guest Rovers4Good]

Good on the big dog.

I'm totally behind Samba on this one and think he's right to do it as he's been promised the earth and got f all back.

Venky's are pulling the wool over the fans eyes and now they are doing the same to the players. Also, Kean is the biggest billy bulls**t i've ever seen and i won't play for that t**spot, there's not many who come out and back him from the dressing room unless they are looking for something out of it themselves.

[forumquizmaster]

I remember my first boss who promised a £1k loyalty bonus to us at Christmas if we stayed. There were only three of us working for him. No conditions to this bonus, just a simple loyalty payment. The bonus never came because "we've not done as well as we hoped".

Amongst other carrots being dangled in front of us, the three of us all left for pastures new because we knew his promises wouldn't be kept. In the meantime, however, I still had to live up to the responsibilities. I was still receiving the agreed wage. I still had to fulfil requirements for our clients. I kept my gob shut and looked elsewhere while still doing the job I was employed to do. Because that's what I was paid for.

I can understand where Samba is right now, albeit it on a vastly different financial scale, but he's gone about this in a totally unprofessional manner. His move would always come whether he kept his trap shut or not. He's a top class defender. His grudge is with Venky's but his responsibilities are also to us as the paying fans and the ones who ultimately want to see Rovers win.

Why is it the club (which is usually a heart and soul) and the fans have to suffer because he's unhappy? You'll get your bloody move, Chris, and I can't really blame you for wanting to go, but just don't be a prat about it.

Spot on, and to be honest any Rovers fans who are 'right behind Samba on this' need to take a bloody good look at themselves. He's nearly as deluded as Kean.

Good on the big dog.

I'm totally behind Samba on this one and think he's right to do it as he's been promised the earth and got f all back.

Venky's are pulling the wool over the fans eyes and now they are doing the same to the players. Also, Kean is the biggest billy bulls**t i've ever seen and i won't play for that t**spot, there's not many who come out and back him from the dressing room unless they are looking for something out of it themselves.

I normally agree with the stuff you post, and I despise Venkys and kean as much as the next person, but this bit can't be right. He gets (allegedly) £60k/£70k a week 'back'. If Rovers are in breach of his contract fair enough, but it doesn't seem that they are. He's no better than Tevez in my eyes, and I cringed with embarrassment at Ewood when the Darwen End were chanting his name after his 'sick note' escapade.

[chris]

I remember my first boss who promised a £1k loyalty bonus to us at Christmas if we stayed. There were only three of us working for him. No conditions to this bonus, just a simple loyalty payment. The bonus never came because "we've not done as well as we hoped".

Amongst other carrots being dangled in front of us, the three of us all left for pastures new because we knew his promises wouldn't be kept. In the meantime, however, I still had to live up to the responsibilities. I was still receiving the agreed wage. I still had to fulfil requirements for our clients. I kept my gob shut and looked elsewhere while still doing the job I was employed to do. Because that's what I was paid for.

I can understand where Samba is right now, albeit it on a vastly different financial scale, but he's gone about this in a totally unprofessional manner. His move would always come whether he kept his trap shut or not. He's a top class defender. His grudge is with Venky's but his responsibilities are also to us as the paying fans and the ones who ultimately want to see Rovers win.

Why is it the club (which is usually a heart and soul) and the fans have to suffer because he's unhappy? You'll get your bloody move, Chris, and I can't really blame you for wanting to go, but just don't be a prat about it.

Most of us in 9 to 5 jobs do what we have to because we still have to make a living.

Everything Samba is doing has nothing to do with money, he will be a rich man no matter where he does.

The fact is, Samba (like myself but to less of a scale) feels lied to, set up and betrayed. My hatred or Kean and venkys has grown HUGE, but at least they are not suppressing my career.

And he almost had to (at nearly 28) force a move away. as he said Venkys don;t understand football and we know they don;t care about what they have done.

I can;t see how releasing Nelsen on a FREE will do anything but completely destory this relationship further. I think it's a slap in the face and hugely damaging to our morale and team spirit.

Kean said he couldn't stand in Nelsen's way but he can stand in Samba way no problem.

and Samba shouldn't play for the fans anymore, even if he stayed another 6 month he will get boo'd the HELL out of as soon as he moves, even if he keeps us up.

I actually rate samba very highly and disappointed for him that a bigger club didn't come in then QPR.

[grizfoot]

Samba probably signed a new contract under the pretence that the club would be moving forward and investing in new quality players. If anything the squad is the weakest of any squad since Samba arrived and although kicking up a fuss is a never a positive thing to do you maybe can understand it to some extent. Under the previous regime we'd never ever have been left in this situaiton. If Samba isn't going to play it makes the departure of Nelsen all the more baffling, although baffling is probably the wrong word it's gone beyond that stage with events at the club.

[yoda]

Spot on, and to be honest any Rovers fans who are 'right behind Samba on this' need to take a bloody good look at themselves. He's nearly as deluded as Kean.

I normally agree with the stuff you post, and I despise Venkys and kean as much as the next person, but this bit can't be right. He gets (allegedly) £60k/£70k a week 'back'. If Rovers are in breach of his contract fair enough, but it doesn't seem that they are. He's no better than Tevez in my eyes, and I cringed with embarrassment at Ewood when the Darwen End were chanting his name after his 'sick note' escapade.

Statements made by club officials can be classed as contractual!

[Kamy100]

This is a real difficult one.

What Samba has done is totally unprofessional and he shouldn’t have done it. For different reasons but just like us the fans he has been promised stuff that clearly hasn’t happened and he wanted to get away. He should’ve kept his trap shut but for whatever reason he felt that he needed to go public.

Now we are in a very difficult. He is easily our best and most influential player, and with the ridiculously low bids that came in for him, it was totally right that we decided not to sell. Now though we have a deeply unhappy player, the manager needs to talk him round and get him back on the field. Having seen Samba play over the years, he is not the type of player who is capable of giving less than 100% when he’s on the pitch. So I am sure that if he is on the pitch he will be as committed as he usually is, in previous windows when he has been unhappy his performances have not suffered.

It is sad situation all round, Venky’s broke promises, Samba should’ve have aired his grievances in private, and now the club/fans will suffer if he isn’t playing. We can dock his wages etc. but at the end of the day if he is not on the pitch then it makes even harder for us to get results (especially with Givet’s impending suspension). He simply has to play on Saturday, if he doesn’t I can’t see anyway back for him.

[Parsonblue]

The difference is, this is OUR club, OUR town, OUR team.....forget the owners, the managers, the players....that is irrelevant, they come and go. Some do a good job, some dont (clearly) - yes its hard to take, and yes you may want them to leave BUT its always OUR CLUB......NOBODY is bigger than the fans. Hence the anger between our fans.

With all due respect Hughesy it IS different this time. I speak as someone who has followed the club through the good days of "Marshall's misfits", the dark days of the old Third Division in the early 1970s, the glory days under Jack and, of course, all the ups and downs inbetween. However, this IS different. In the past, even when we have been struggling, the club has been owned and run by people who actually cared about Blackburn Rovers. Do you honestly believe that Desai cares about Blackburn Rovers? The bottom line is that if she wanted to shut the club down she could do. She owns it all and can do with it what she will.

The past twelve months have seen the club fall deeper and deeper into trouble. Has this led to her doing anything to arrest the slide - NO. This is just a small business at the far flung end of their business empire. Their business interests are largely in other parts of the world and as she admitted to having little interest in football do you think she will be bothered if the clubs slides in the Championship or League One? Thus far it would appear that as long as she is able to balance the books and recover the money already spent the actual welfare of the club will come a distant second.

I can fully appreciate why supporters are walking away. I know season ticket holders who have been following the club longer than myself and who have walked away in the past twelve months. They clearly don't feel like it is THEIR club anymore and I can understand that. Personally, I don't feel it is the same club that I have supported for the past 50 years.

Yes, I still go to all the games - home and away. However, I've stopped purchasing things in the club shop and I've withdrawn from lottery committments that I had at the club. The only money I'm prepared to give them - at the moment - is what I spent on my season ticket. Whilst I will probably renew my ticket next season I certainly won't spend any other money with the club and can fully respect those who have decided not to renew next season.

The situation with Samba has simply highlighted what a shambles a once well run club has become. I must admit that I now refer to it as Venky Rovers and don't use the term Blackburn Rovers because to me, it doesn't feel like MY club anymore.

[arbitro]

With all due respect Hughesy it IS different this time. I speak as someone who has followed the club through the good days of "Marshall's misfits", the dark days of the old Third Division in the early 1970s, the glory days under Jack and, of course, all the ups and downs inbetween. However, this IS different. In the past, even when we have been struggling, the club has been owned and run by people who actually cared about Blackburn Rovers. Do you honestly believe that Desai cares about Blackburn Rovers? The bottom line is that if she wanted to shut the club down she could do. She owns it all and can do with it what she will.

The past twelve months have seen the club fall deeper and deeper into trouble. Has this led to her doing anything to arrest the slide - NO. This is just a small business at the far flung end of their business empire. Their business interests are largely in other parts of the world and as she admitted to having little interest in football do you think she will be bothered if the clubs slides in the Championship or League One? Thus far it would appear that as long as she is able to balance the books and recover the money already spent the actual welfare of the club will come a distant second.

I can fully appreciate why supporters are walking away. I know season ticket holders who have been following the club longer than myself and who have walked away in the past twelve months. They clearly don't feel like it is THEIR club anymore and I can understand that. Personally, I don't feel it is the same club that I have supported for the past 50 years.

Yes, I still go to all the games - home and away. However, I've stopped purchasing things in the club shop and I've withdrawn from lottery committments that I had at the club. The only money I'm prepared to give them - at the moment - is what I spent on my season ticket. Whilst I will probably renew my ticket next season I certainly won't spend any other money with the club and can fully respect those who have decided not to renew next season.

The situation with Samba has simply highlighted what a shambles a once well run club has become. I must admit that I now refer to it as Venky Rovers and don't use the term Blackburn Rovers because to me, it doesn't feel like MY club anymore.

Heartfelt and absolutely correct.

Being a Rovers fan used to feel like I was part of a big family but now the matchday experience and whole Rovers supporting thing has become a chore.

[chris]

With all due respect Hughesy it IS different this time. I speak as someone who has followed the club through the good days of "Marshall's misfits", the dark days of the old Third Division in the early 1970s, the glory days under Jack and, of course, all the ups and downs inbetween. However, this IS different. In the past, even when we have been struggling, the club has been owned and run by people who actually cared about Blackburn Rovers. Do you honestly believe that Desai cares about Blackburn Rovers? The bottom line is that if she wanted to shut the club down she could do. She owns it all and can do with it what she will.

The past twelve months have seen the club fall deeper and deeper into trouble. Has this led to her doing anything to arrest the slide - NO. This is just a small business at the far flung end of their business empire. Their business interests are largely in other parts of the world and as she admitted to having little interest in football do you think she will be bothered if the clubs slides in the Championship or League One? Thus far it would appear that as long as she is able to balance the books and recover the money already spent the actual welfare of the club will come a distant second.

I can fully appreciate why supporters are walking away. I know season ticket holders who have been following the club longer than myself and who have walked away in the past twelve months. They clearly don't feel like it is THEIR club anymore and I can understand that. Personally, I don't feel it is the same club that I have supported for the past 50 years.

Yes, I still go to all the games - home and away. However, I've stopped purchasing things in the club shop and I've withdrawn from lottery committments that I had at the club. The only money I'm prepared to give them - at the moment - is what I spent on my season ticket. Whilst I will probably renew my ticket next season I certainly won't spend any other money with the club and can fully respect those who have decided not to renew next season.

The situation with Samba has simply highlighted what a shambles a once well run club has become. I must admit that I now refer to it as Venky Rovers and don't use the term Blackburn Rovers because to me, it doesn't feel like MY club anymore.

althought it's an extremely good post, he won't understand so you've just wasted 4-7 minutes of your life.

[roverandout]

the fact that dring used the words 'thick and fin' instead of thin shows what a pleb he is, get to bed early, school for you tommorow young man!!!

fact is, i dont want samba to play, anything that aids venkys and kean in getting us out of this mess will only be a minus point for me and clearly having samba available will be a huge aid, i will get burned for saying this but there you are!!!

[Baz]

Samba needs to man up realise he's got a dream job and being paid a fortune. If he really wants a move so be it, but the big clubs wont look at him if he aint playing thats for certain. He should pull on his jersey and try to be outstanding for the rest of the season,instrumental in keeping us up, and at the end of the season move on.

[Majiball]

The trouble is footballers are not treated like everyone else, so using your own experiences just won't work. Clubs pander to them from young ages and this only creates self centred, egotistical monsters like Chris is showing himself to be currently.

Grow-up Samba, put your toys back in the pram and do what you are paid circa £3,120,000 per annum for.

[Blueboy Downunder]

HE CAN whoops I missed off the "g" DO ONE, FOR ALL I CARE. SO IF YOU ARE READING BIG FELLA..... (Please don't use that word again) OFF!!

[Brfcrule1]

Hughesy sums it up perfectly he is happy to pick up his over inflated wages so he should get out and earn those wages. Trying to get the fans onside about the owners not understanding football in this country should not wash with fans and doesn't with me either. At the end of the day no-one held a gun to Samba's head and made him sign it was his choice to sign so now he should knuckle down and see what happens in the summer. Samba makes the point when a couple don't get on they get a divorce and that's what he & blackburn need to do maybe samba could answer me one thing how about the fans get a divorce from venkys maybe he could answer that one?. At the end of the day all fans want to be in a better position but long after he's gone we will still have venkys ruining this proud club we will never get a divorce from these crooks maybe he should think about this before shooting his mouth off and refusing to play.

[Amo]

Can someone tell me why his wages haven't been docked for breach of contract?

[yoda]

Can someone tell me why his wages haven't been docked for breach of contract?

Maybe he hasnt breached his contract, did not cocco say he chose not to play him

[FourLaneBlue]

I almost feel like some fans are taking the absolute disintegration of our club as some sort of p*ssing contest to prove who's a "true fan" by continually supporting the club like nothing has changed and things aren't in a complete state of shambles.

Then (hopefully) when Venkey's leave and normal order resumes they can tell all the fans who stopped watching that they're not real fans cos they stuck it out longer.

It's true...but there have always some fans like this, and not just recently. It's part of football. It's all about so they can say they are the "better fan" and they were there when we were crap etc. Unfortunately, when times really are tough and Rovers needs them to fight for the club, they just stick their head in the ground, look down on all who aren't like them and call the other fans for airing any discontent. In reality, these "fans" love the idea of him or herself as being a super fan more than they do the club they follow.

Hardly what you need when the club is being ripped apart and the best they can come out with is "support the team", as if that isn't exactly what has been done and has always been bloody well done.

[1864roverite]

From my point of view its as simple as this.

If Kean the clown picks him in the squad and Samba doesnt want to play then he is in direct breach of his contract if he isnt injured as he has to make himself available to play.

If he doesnt then fine him 2 weeks wages, issue a written warning that his conduct is not to be tolerated both to him and his agent. For the next game, a reserve or friendly, do the same, pick him, fine him and then sack him for breach of contract.

That serves 2 things. Samba is in breach of his contract so he doesnt get paid and gets the sack. In turn Rovers dont have to pay him. Rovers also get to keep his playing registration and so Samba cannot register for another club UNLESS the potential buying club, in a transfer window, pays the required fee for his registration.

The player cannot have his cake and eat it and its about time a club showed its own ###### and stood up to be counted against the so called poweer in their hands players.

Any player with an ounce of professional pride would not have done what Samba has done.

[Barnesy]

From my point of view its as simple as this.

If Kean the clown picks him in the squad and Samba doesnt want to play then he is in direct breach of his contract if he isnt injured as he has to make himself available to play.

If he doesnt then fine him 2 weeks wages, issue a written warning that his conduct is not to be tolerated both to him and his agent. For the next game, a reserve or friendly, do the same, pick him, fine him and then sack him for breach of contract.

That serves 2 things. Samba is in breach of his contract so he doesnt get paid and gets the sack. In turn Rovers dont have to pay him. Rovers also get to keep his playing registration and so Samba cannot register for another club UNLESS the potential buying club, in a transfer window, pays the required fee for his registration.

The player cannot have his cake and eat it and its about time a club showed its own ###### and stood up to be counted against the so called poweer in their hands players.

Any player with an ounce of professional pride would not have done what Samba has done.

[JAL]

Well done to Big Chris Samba he has my sympathy.

For him to have to watch and work for a set of shysters who only seek to profit from him dont blame him one bit to throw the toys out of the pram and expose the desperate Stephen Kean and his associates.

[Ray P]

This is how many, many supporters feel, because simply, as one poster has said, it no longer feels like our club.

These are not 'fair weather' supporters but supporters, in some cases, who have followed Rovers way before you were even born.

Not all Rovers' supporters are as blinkered, naive and gullible as some, so I would therefore be very careful who you are telling to fook off and perhaps reserve your comments for the deserving, one of whom you were fawning all over in the August window.

+1 a million times over

[PAFELL]

Samba is not doing himself any favours. After all, if he can sulk and demand a transfer at one club. Nothing to stop him doing the same elsewhere.

[FourLaneBlue]

Kean really has to pick him, we are buggered without him now that Givet did what he did.

He has to be talked to, told he can leave at the end of the season, but we need him to help us to fight relegation until then.

While he says he has been lied to by this lot, and it is hard not to believe him after what we have had to put up with from them, the best way for him to get a move to a top side is to keep putting in quality displays week after week to impress them.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Sick to fookin death of the whole lot of them...this club is a total disorganised shambles.

Samba would have been better sold in January,this stalemate is good for nobody.

[Stuart]

From my point of view its as simple as this.

If Kean the clown picks him in the squad and Samba doesnt want to play then he is in direct breach of his contract if he isnt injured as he has to make himself available to play.

If he doesnt then fine him 2 weeks wages, issue a written warning that his conduct is not to be tolerated both to him and his agent. For the next game, a reserve or friendly, do the same, pick him, fine him and then sack him for breach of contract.

That serves 2 things. Samba is in breach of his contract so he doesnt get paid and gets the sack. In turn Rovers dont have to pay him. Rovers also get to keep his playing registration and so Samba cannot register for another club UNLESS the potential buying club, in a transfer window, pays the required fee for his registration.

The player cannot have his cake and eat it and its about time a club showed its own ###### and stood up to be counted against the so called poweer in their hands players.

Any player with an ounce of professional pride would not have done what Samba has done.

I can see your point 1864 and to pick him is right, and it does highlight his breach of contract.

However, if he is 'sacked' as you suggest that means his contract is terminated meaning he can leave on a free. Without a contract, the club cannot hold on to his registration. Jean-Marc Bosman fought and won in the courts to prevent this kind of action being taken against players.

However, your argument is sound. Pick him and force the issue. I reckon that he would not only be willing to play but be our best player on the field.

All that said, his beef is personal with the Raos and the rift may be terminal.

I still can't believe though, that after everything that has gone on, and with the extreme circumstances we find ourselves under, and where it is clearly six-of-one and half-a-dozen of the other, if not slightly in Samba's favour, some people still (to all intents and purposes) side with Venkys over Samba.