[Archived] Why did cryer back off?

[ABBEY]

Genuinely don't understand why he went for the jugular and then getting told he was negative he backed off.

ANDY , WHY?

[Ricky]

I don't think he did back off as such Abbey.

I just think that as it's been preseason there hasn't been as much in general to write about.

[DE.]

Agreed, we'll see how much Cryer has backed off after our inevitable opening game defeat to Ipswich at Portman Road. Keano will still be spouting his "positives" and there will be a lot less journalists in the room to sit and nod their heads.

[yoda]

Genuinely don't understand why he went for the jugular and then getting told he was negative he backed off.

ANDY , WHY?

Genuinely don't understand why he went for the jugular and then getting told he was negative he backed off.

ANDY , WHY?

Just asked him why on twitter, no reply yet

[Mattyblue]

He won't be on a constant crusade to oust him and/or put him on the spot day in day out (though I'd love it).

The LT needs it's Kean quotes to fill the Rovers section every day and I'm assuming his superiors have made it clear that the paper needs to keep civil relations with the club.

His Thursday night comment piece will be the thing to look out for.

[onlyonejackwalker]

In my opinion, the LET have badly let the fans down this last 18 months in the way they have reported events at the club.

I understand why they have struggled, as they need the daily football club news and updates and scoops to sell their papers and must therefore strike a fine balance between irritating the source of the news and remaining factual and impartial to their general readership.

However, they dillied and dallied for months re-iterating the media scripted soundbites eminating from the club that often made little sense, whilst the backroom team was dismantled, the squad decimated and the team hurtled towards relegation in the face of the largest fan protests ever seen at the club. Sadly, they were so frightened of saying it exactly how it was that they made themselves a laughing stock and that for me is a shame as it completely negates the benefits of quality reporting and free speech. The LET became the propganda arm of the club, even though you sensed they were doing it between gritted teeth.

However I am not 100% sure what people expect of Cryer himself, presented as the public face of the LET, regarding the Rovers. He will be working to instruction from owners, editors, line managers, etc. as to what he can and cannot publish. His hands are tied and I would genuinely enjoy reading his views if he is ever allowed to write it up excatly as he sees it.

[Kelbo]

In my opinion, the LET have badly let the fans down this last 18 months in the way they have reported events at the club.

I understand why they have struggled, as they need the daily football club news and updates and scoops to sell their papers and must therefore strike a fine balance between irritating the source of the news and remaining factual and impartial to their general readership.

However, they dillied and dallied for months re-iterating the media scripted soundbites eminating from the club that often made little sense, whilst the backroom team was dismantled, the squad decimated and the team hurtled towards relegation in the face of the largest fan protests ever seen at the club. Sadly, they were so frightened of saying it exactly how it was that they made themselves a laughing stock and that for me is a shame as it completely negates the benefits of quality reporting and free speech. The LET became the propganda arm of the club, even though you sensed they were doing it between gritted teeth.

However I am not 100% sure what people expect of Cryer himself, presented as the public face of the LET, regarding the Rovers. He will be working to instruction from owners, editors, line managers, etc. as to what he can and cannot publish. His hands are tied and I would genuinely enjoy reading his views if he is ever allowed to write it up excatly as he sees it.

Not forgetting advertising revenue, though Rovers would have real problems if they didnt use the LT, there are few options locally!!

[FourLaneBlue]

Probably realises it is useless to do so and nothing the fans or the media do will have any effect.

The owners (whoever they are) simply do not care about the wishes of the fans or about what is best for the footballing side of operations.

If they did, Kean would have been potted long ago.

[Clitherover]

Slightly off topic but did anyone see the 'FREE DONUT' LT advert on the billboards yesterday, made me laugh...

[yoda]

Just asked him why on twitter, no reply yet

just got a reply

"all the questions have been asked, answers either not liked or not forthcoming. When things are bad, I will criticise"

[gumboots]

Point out to him that things are bad because Kean is still manager and we lost to accrington Stanley and Macclesfield. don't care if they are friendlies - they are friendlies for the opposition too but they managed to win.

[FourLaneBlue]

Point out to him that things are bad because Kean is still manager and we lost to accrington Stanley and Macclesfield. don't care if they are friendlies - they are friendlies for the opposition too but they managed to win.

I think he knows all that. We all do.

Kean isn't going anywhere though.

[Tom10K]

Not forgetting advertising revenue, though Rovers would have real problems if they didnt use the LT, there are few options locally!!

Lets face it the LT gave two big front pages during last season "Time To Go Steve" and "Shout Them To Safety" one was backed up by a ticket offer and an advertisement banner for a few weeks on the front page, no prizes for guessing which one. The LT runs on advertisements and Rovers is probably a big part of that. Are Rovers worth falling out with in the current climate, who knows. Although some of the stories have been pretty damning the headlines have been seriously weak, maybe there are reasons for this.

The quotes inside the stories are fantastic like "Usually what happens is that we just change X, Y, Z, we change the manager and the pressure is off" the moment to write your headline "Rao admits sacking Kean would relieve pressure" or something more witty, instead we get "Rao : Shebby will make real difference"

[rhodie]

Lets face it upto this Shebby guy arriving nobody outside of the inner circle heard anything regarding the club.All we have gotten is titbits from Kamy or the few others that were in the know,even on here we were warned about making false or unsubstantiated statements.

The L.T. were, by all accounts as much in the dark as the fans.With all the threats of litigation flying about there must have been a few stories that were stifled because they were not backed by proof.I guess the the editor would have got to a stage where any stories they could tell would have just been constant repetition so they had to back off until the club started to communicate openly again.

[OJRovers]

I think Andy has done what he can, ie ask the questions.

Let's face it, even if the LT had run a Kean Out front page for the whole of last season it wouldn't have made any difference to the owners or their decision.

Kean has cost them millions and made them a point of ridicule in the world of football, I dont think a local paper would make any difference.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Point out to him that things are bad because Kean is still manager and we lost to accrington Stanley and Macclesfield. don't care if they are friendlies - they are friendlies for the opposition too but they managed to win.

To be fair to Andy - friendlies aren't enough - as you can always hide behind "they are just a fitness exercise". To be honest these matches often mean more to the so called lesser sides - and often turn up the odd result that wouldn't necessarily happen in a competitive match.

[Tom]

I think andy is doing a good job myself.

And it is just that, a job! I wouldn't expect him to put his livelihood on the line which would be a potential consequence should he go into flat out assault mode, he has balanced it well IMO.

He isn't a rovers fan and at the end of the day I expect any man to put his family before a football club

[Mercer]

Cryer and the LT came to the party a bit late.

Personally, thought they then did some punchy stuff and then backed-off.

Overall, I feel Cryer's articles are balanced in favour the Rovers' regime. Many readers, in any paper, particularly those are are easily led, read a headline and instantly take that as the crux of the matter. Unfortunately, too many of Cryer's headlines are, IMO, too pro Rovers' regime and Cryer's defence that he is reporting what he's told doesn't fool the more discerning reader. An article can be slanted in different ways and I think Cryer knows where he's pitching - he needs to quickly get off the fence or he will fall on the wrong side !

[bradeagle]

His hands are probably tied. When all the fiasco was going on with the meetings in pune it seemed quite clear he wanted him out.

Must be frustrating also having no communication channels with the club you are meant to be reporting on also.

[Rover & Out]

No source = No information = No news = No newspaper.

Is it not obvious why the LT can't print some of the stories you'd like them too?

Tabloid newspapers might be able to push the boundaries but we're talking about a local newspaper with a longer-term outlook.

I expect this is why nobody on this messageboard is a newspaper editor!

[FourLaneBlue]

They already had a front page called for Kean's resignation.

It was utterly ignored.

If Kean has survived that truly last season and a half, then he obviously isn't there for football reasons alone. On that side of things, he is a complete failure.

So, if Kean is not going anywhere whatever, then what's the point?

[rickard]

To be fair to Andy - friendlies aren't enough - as you can always hide behind "they are just a fitness exercise". To be honest these matches often mean more to the so called lesser sides - and often turn up the odd result that wouldn't necessarily happen in a competitive match.

Well, in all fairness, these results would most likely happen in competitive matches as long as the clown is in charge...

[K-Hod]

They were pretty slow in coming to the party granted- but when can anyone remember the local rag calling for the manager's head previously? Not really sure what else people expect, it's a local newspaper, they're hardly going to write Venky's and Kean out every week are they?

[RoyRover]

Andy Cryer had a nice little dig at Venky's and Kean in today's LT. He said that Venky's needed to spend the cash on players to get us back into the Premiership as it was their and Steve Kean's fault that we were in The Championship in the first place. He also said that Venky's had refused to sack the man that most fans didn't want managing the club. I thought these were a couple of good little digs at Keano and reminds him that we all know what he did and will not accept him.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9852191.ANDY_CRYER_COLUMN__Replacing_Leon_is_worth_a_gamble/

[Rover_Shaun]

Cryer has backed off? He didn't even start. A wishy washy headline in the LET once isn't exactly a massive campaign