[Archived] 2011/12: The Final Countdown

[Lurid Coat]

Andy Cryer on twitter saying that he hopes FA don't look at N'Zonzi raising his hands to Jones, it would be 4 match ban.

Good thing he's drawing attention to it on Twitter, then.

Imagine having to rely on Petrovic in the decisive matches of our season

[bradeagle]

Looking at Wigans next 3 they will prob come out with no points and if we struggle too i think it could be a decider when they come to Ewood?

[Tom]

I got slaughtered when I suggested Rovers could go down on goal difference on 38 points.

There will be plenty of twists in this one before the season end but us losing at Chelsea and QPR winning at City on the last day is I hate to suggest looking a very realistic call.

Both QPR and Bolton are two points ahead of that schedule above so they could make it to 39 and 40 points respectively. Rovers are a point behind where I hoped we would be because of that non-performance and defeat at Bolton which is looking a bigger and bigger disaster as each day goes by.

What are Villa's remaining fixtures looking like?

That's possibly because you have a history of making calls of impending doom with mixed results.

On this instance you may well be right but I'd be surprised if we got to 38 points myself.

[Mattyblue]

HELP- I want to go the Liverpool game next week (first game at Ewood) when would the tickets be available to purchase for non season ticket holders? Can you purchase online or is it through the Ewood ticket office? Thanks in advance.

With it being Liverpool you need to be on the database, silly making it daabase only for this game as they are struggling to sell their allocation.

[imy9]

With it being Liverpool you need to be on the database, silly making it daabase only for this game as they are struggling to sell their allocation.

Oh ok thanks for the advise, so can't purchase on the day itself either then, sorry if that's a daft question, usually purchase online and go!

[cn174]

Oh ok thanks for the advise, so can't purchase on the day itself either then, sorry if that's a daft question, usually purchase online and go!

You will be able to purchase on the day so long as you're on Rovers database.

[RevidgeBlue]

Who everyone plays over the last seven games is completely irrelevant if our attitude isn't right.

We simply never turned up against Bolton which I found astounding given the magnitude of the fixture and I was also angry at our "sit back and see what pans out" approach last night. Would we have played like that had we needed three points last night to stay up? I have to say I thought our attitude was also somewhat lacksadaisical against Sunderland notwithstanding we got the result.

We need a complete rethink and change in attitude and approach for the West Brom and remaining games. We need to fight for our lives first and foremost and hopefully the results will follow.

[Amo]

We're hosed and rightly so.

Bring on relegation now. Let's get it over with.

Seriously, this is no way to run a football club and with more Venky's cutbacks next season we're only prolonging the inevitable.

Yeah, relegation might leave a godawful mess but at least it might take the cockroaches with it.

[roverandout]

who cares if we stay up, next season is going to be the same again and so on until the inevitable happens under these clowns!!!

[m1st]

who cares if we stay up, next season is going to be the same again and so on until the inevitable happens under these clowns!!!

Well I do, for one!

Despite our absentee landlords, Rovers are my team: always were; are; and always will be ["Rovers till I die" and all that].

Even if we go down this season or next, and irrespective of whether I renew my season ticket, Rovers will still be my team. I don't want to sound like the old beggar that I am, but I've seen much worse players [and teams] in blue and white than the current squad and I still cheered for them because they were the Rovers.

[Howler]

I do fear that by the time Hoillet and probably Yakubu go in the summer and are replaced by no-marks, if we do manage to survive then next season will be humiliating. I hate thinking like this but maybe best to take the medicine now and go down....

[OJRovers]

I do fear that by the time Hoillet and probably Yakubu go in the summer and are replaced by no-marks, if we do manage to survive then next season will be humiliating. I hate thinking like this but maybe best to take the medicine now and go down....

Yep another summer of asset stripping and Kean remaining as manager will pretty much guarantee relegation next year if we stay up.

However, if we stay up there might be more potential buyers for the club, you've got to hope.

[RevidgeBlue]

I do fear that by the time Hoillet and probably Yakubu go in the summer and are replaced by no-marks, if we do manage to survive then next season will be humiliating. I hate thinking like this but maybe best to take the medicine now and go down....

I cannot for the life of me understand any Blackburn Rovers supporter wanting or being indifferent to us going down.

Whilst I'm not overly optimistic that we'll keep our remaining quality players like Robinson, Hoillet and Yakubu in the summer, we WILL lose them if we're relegated.

Whatever issues we might or might not have on the playing or non playing side we HAVE to approach it from the position of having the cushion of the Sky Premiership money.

In my opinion also, we have shed a lot of unwanted baggage off the wage bill this season, IF the owners were prepared to make moderate investment in the team going forward then there are cautious grounds for optimism going ahead.

If they're not then eventual relegation beckons. Twas ever thus under the previous owners as well though.

[rovers11]

I do fear that by the time Hoillet and probably Yakubu go in the summer and are replaced by no-marks, if we do manage to survive then next season will be humiliating. I hate thinking like this but maybe best to take the medicine now and go down....

Unfortunately, I tend to agree with this. I don't want to get relegated because it will be heart breaking but, on the other hand, it doesn't solve anything. Venky's will definitely stay if we stay up, therefore Kean and the current board will also stay, and the squad will most probably be weaker than it is this season. Venky's will have no reason to sell if we stay up as the club can be funded by premier league money. Go down and they can't rely on premier league and very few assets to sell, therefore there would be pressure on them to put their own money in (something they won't want to do).

Sometimes you have to take one step back before you can move forward. We all agree that Venky's have to go before we can move forward but Venky's won't go whilst we are in the Premier League. It's difficult medicine to take but long term relegation is possibly a better option. It will happen next year, anyway, if it doesn't this year.

That sounds really negative but that's the sad facts of where we find ourselves.

[G Somerset Rover]

Thinking about the run in and the possibility that Kean is picking the team for these crucial fixtures on a set budget then it is even more infuriating given that we sold our best player after the transfer window had closed. If a small slice of that money couldn't have been pumped into transfers then surely it could have been spent on a few appearance fee's?!

This Saturday's team will be interesting given that people are picking up on the "budget" theory - my money is on the same 11, or Formica in for Lowe.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

When looked at in the cold light of day any relegation for Rovers would be nothing more than a financial disaster, followed by a fire sale of any remaining good players and a dramatic fall in gates...nothing good will come if it happens and we all know it.

20 years of hard work on and off the field of play destroyed in little over 12 months by the idiots and their puppets from Pune.

[Amo]

I cannot for the life of me understand any Blackburn Rovers supporter wanting or being indifferent to us going down.

Whilst I'm not overly optimistic that we'll keep our remaining quality players like Robinson, Hoillet and Yakubu in the summer, we WILL lose them if we're relegated.

Whatever issues we might or might not have on the playing or non playing side we HAVE to approach it from the position of having the cushion of the Sky Premiership money.

In my opinion also, we have shed a lot of unwanted baggage off the wage bill this season, IF the owners were prepared to make moderate investment in the team going forward then there are cautious grounds for optimism going ahead.

If they're not then eventual relegation beckons. Twas ever thus under the previous owners as well though.

The only problem with that is it works both ways.

With the cushion of Sky's PL monopoly, Venky's will be less inclined to sell up and more justified in their approach to running a PL club on a pittance, even though it will inevitably backfire, if not this season then the next. Sure, The Trust had little to no interest in Rovers, but unlike Venky's, they allowed the people who knew what they were doing to run the club. They did not install puppet managers and reward them for incompetence. And I don't remember them putting the kibosh on substitutions as well.

I don't really WANT to see us relegated but I couldn't stand another season of THIS. More relegation battles, more Kean, more infighting, more cutbacks. People can cling to the faint hope that if we stay up, the Qatari oil barons will come in their white charger and rescue us from this nightmare. The same people, it's worth noting, that Venky's supposedly told to sod off six months ago and who appear to be in no particular rush to purchase a football club.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Problem being Topman is that Venky's may be more than happy to just run the club on the cheap in Div 1...nobody knows really how this lot think,work or act!

They appear total loose cannons imo

[rovers11]

The only problem with that is it works both ways.

With the cushion of Sky's PL monopoly, Venky's will be less inclined to sell up and more justified in their approach to running a PL club on a pittance, even though it will inevitably backfire, if not this season then the next. Sure, The Trust had little to no interest in Rovers, but unlike Venky's, they allowed the people who knew what they were doing to run the club. They did not install puppet managers and reward them for incompetence. And I don't remember them putting the kibosh on substitutions as well.

I don't really WANT to see us relegated but I couldn't stand another season of THIS. More relegation battles, more Kean, more infighting, more cutbacks. People can cling to the faint hope that if we stay up, the Qatari oil barons will come in their white charger and rescue us from this nightmare. The same people, it's worth noting, that Venky's supposedly told to sod off six months ago and who appear to be in no particular rush to purchase a football club.

Good post. None of us want to be relegated but Venky's simply won't sell whilst we're a premier league club. They are far more likely to if we are a championship club. Yes, it would be a disaster financially because most of our money comes from premier league income. Yes, our remaining good players will go but they will probably go anyway because of the lack of ambition at the club. I was absolutely desperate for us to stay up last season because I thought Venky's were going to invest in the squad and we could really push on the following year - instead they did exactly the same as what they would have done if we had been relegated (sell our best players and buy cheap ones). Yes, attendances will be less if we get relegated but they are going to be small anyway next season regardless of the division we are in.

Is there any point in bumbling along in the premiership with Venky's?! I'd much rather us go down, Venky's sell, we rebuild the squad (we'd have a good basis for coming back up with players who are likely to stay - Hanley, Henley, Orr, Lowe, Dunn, Petrovic, Rochina, Marcus Olsson, Goodwillie, Bunn, Morris plus a few additions and the rising stars of the youth team).

[scotty_beam_me_up]

Good post. None of us want to be relegated but Venky's simply won't sell whilst we're a premier league club. They are far more likely to if we are a championship club. Yes, it would be a disaster financially because most of our money comes from premier league income. Yes, our remaining good players will go but they will probably go anyway because of the lack of ambition at the club. I was absolutely desperate for us to stay up last season because I thought Venky's were going to invest in the squad and we could really push on the following year - instead they did exactly the same as what they would have done if we had been relegated (sell our best players and buy cheap ones). Yes, attendances will be less if we get relegated but they are going to be small anyway next season regardless of the division we are in.

Is there any point in bumbling along in the premiership with Venky's?! I'd much rather us go down, Venky's sell, we rebuild the squad (we'd have a good basis for coming back up with players who are likely to stay - Hanley, Henley, Orr, Lowe, Dunn, Petrovic, Rochina, Marcus Olsson, Goodwillie, Bunn, Morris plus a few additions and the rising stars of the youth team).

What utter garbage. Relegation is the last thing our club needs. Why does anyone think we are more likely to be bought if we are in the Championship?? The Prem is the only place to be.

[rovers11]

What utter garbage. Relegation is the last thing our club needs. Why does anyone think we are more likely to be bought if we are in the Championship?? The Prem is the only place to be.

I can understand why quite a few people are of your opinion. The premier league is the best league in the world. BUT Venky's will not sell whilst we're a prem club. Next season will be horrible with them in charge. Our team will be worse, we'd have the same manager, attendances will be at an all time low, and there will be protest after protest. We will be relegated. Absolutely.

There will be a couple of buyers who will be interested in buying us no matter what division. They are more likely to get the go-ahead if we are a championship club. Venky's can take the profit from player trading, parachute payment, and the sale of the club to neutralise their initial investment. It wouldn't surprise me if that is the plan from Mrs D. Then again, they may let it bumble along in the championship but that doesn't really make business sense if they can make their money back.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

There will be a couple of buyers who will be interested in buying us no matter what division.

Sorry rovers11 but that is nothing but wishfull thinking at best.Like I say this lot are total loose cannons and will probably believe relegation to be a positive result!

[jim mk2]

. Twas ever thus under the previous owners as well though.

Wrong because the previous owners saw the value of having a strong and effective manangement in the boardroom and in the dressing room.

Big difference.

[AggyBlue]

Sorry rovers11 but that is nothing but wishfull thinking at best.Like I say this lot are total loose cannons and will probably believe relegation to be a positive result!

It's not wishful thinking at all

[jim mk2]

i'd much rather us go down, to

I cannot understand why any fans wants us to be relegated. There is no guarantee the owners would sell up and there is every possibility even if they did sell that we may never return to the top flight.