[Archived] New Manager Part 3

[Tom]

All my fine Berg quips ignored for ANOTHER chicken joke.

I'm wasted on here.

Sorry Stuart

But if it makes you feel better I have plenty more, that one was just the tip of the iceberg

[John]

If that Ali bit of the article is true I will lose it

[Mullionvagrant]

Just a question. At what stage has anybody gone on record to say Rovers will definitely NOT be interviewing Shearer...

Sneaky number 3?

Nothing would surprise me...

Looking like it might be Henning B but then again the board went into melt down last weekend thinking it would be Flitty

[DE.]

so you would be happy with dyche.

Yeah, that's what I said pal. Right there in my original post, says it in big letters, "I WISH WE HAD APPOINTED SEAN DYCHE."

[ABBEY]

Happens to us all.

aye it does but I dont brag about it.

[booth]

Moran was immense. Absolutely fantastic for us. Dalgleish tried to persuade him to stay on for yet another season and he was no bad judge was he?

That is absolutely the worst post I have ever read. Congratulations.

I agree. I can only imagine that the person who posted that was under the influence of something. Kevin Moran was brilliant. He was always having to be bandaged up because he used to stick his head between the boots to stop the shots flying in.

[Lytham]

A bloke on Blackpool fan site reckons Holloway's handed in his resignation tonight, but not accepted. Could well be nonsense. We'll see.

He might be off to Palace? Who knows?

[danger19_80]

Cryer saying Nixon's half right balanced with that Mail article presumably means it's down to Holloway vs Berg. The two names sent off to Pune for a final decision.

[patrickvalery]

Mikel?

Jon Obi?

[booth]

A bloke on Blackpool fan site reckons Holloway's handed in his resignation tonight, but not accepted. Could well be nonsense. We'll see.

He might be off to Palace? Who knows?

Just can't see us getting Holloway. It would make too much sense. I think it's Berg.

[47er]

I agree. I can only imagine that the person who posted that was under the influence of something. Kevin Moran was brilliant. He was always having to be bandaged up because he used to stick his head between the boots to stop the shots flying in.

Thanks for restoring some sanity!

[Mullionvagrant]

Just can't see us getting Holloway. It would make too much sense. I think it's Berg.

Both?? Ha ha number one and number 2??

[LeChuck]

In hennings bergs first season at lyn they finished 3rd...

Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

Could you summarise his signings? Any that were real bargains (i.e. could be another Hughes with Nelsen/Samba/Bentley/Santa Cruz) etc.

[Andy]

Another evening, another name apparently given the role. I'll wait until something is announced before I get drawn into more rumours.

One thing is for sure, over the course of the last 5 weeks, twitter, betting odds and Nixon aren't reliable sources of info.

+100

People getting excited (depressed) over Nixon appointing yet another new manager.

Let's wait until a reliable source confirms - or tells us otherwise...

[BuckyRover]

Jon Obi?

That's what someone said earlier

[jim mk2]

Berg was always a hard-working player so presumably he will get this current lazy squad at least to put in a decent shift for 90 minutes. If he manages that we will have made some progress. His appointment (if confirmed) is a real gamble by the owners when experienced, proven men such as McCarthy could have been hired. Do they not learn from their previous mistakes ?

[RibbleValleyRover]

Interesting bit from the Mail article if true:

"But it soon became apparent that no such agreement would be reached, with Redknapp's representative Paul Stretford understood to have stated his camp's displeasure that Blackburn had chosen to interview Henning Berg on Monday."

[yoda's brother]

I'd be more happy with Dyche than Berg, at least he's managed at this level !

but he looks like kean with a beard

[Steve Moss]

Basedon Puffsan's comments I'm feeling hopeful.

But I hate having to rely on hope. I'd prefer hope and a CV.

[Doug]

Moran was immense. Absolutely fantastic for us. Dalgleish tried to persuade him to stay on for yet another season and he was no bad judge was he?

That is absolutely the worst post I have ever read. Congratulations.

Correct 47er, anybody who went to the 2nd leg at Derby would know!! He was outstanding.

[Pedro]

I can't be arsed reading back through x amount of pages so please can someone answer two questions?

1. Why are you all so sure that it'll be Berg?

2. Why will it not be Holloway?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Heard of or seen Tyrone? Am i supposed to apologise for the year i was born? Get over yourself.

Berg was top class as a player. Really top drawer. Ferguson doesn't just take any old mug. Even when he came back home he was still very good value. He looked after himself and was a clean living man. If i had been given the opportunity to pick a list of potential managers, in preferable order, Berg would be some way down my list. But he was an honest pro and he'll be an honest manager. If all i am left with is that, i'll cling to it and hope for the best. Snipe all you like, but the consequences of Berg or anyother coming in and failing is beyond comprehension.

Don't make statements without having the knowledge to back them up then. You could have said " the best defender I've seen at Ewood " at least that would be fair comment. Making sweeping generalisations isn't. Berg was a good player, England and Newton were great players. Mike England with the exception of that recent Brazilian centre half Lucio who played in Germany was the best centre half I've ever seen, any team, any time.

[braddock]

In hennings bergs first season at lyn they finished 3rd. his team got a wrong penalty against them in their second last game of the season. If that had not happened they would probably have won the league that season. To put that achievement in perspective. Lyn to finish third in tippeligaen is equivalent to finish third with a club like Sunderland budget wise. No one really expected him to top that table position with the economy they had. The gap up to the big spenders was just too big. The following season they finished 7th, 9th and 7th, which were decent, the season after he left lyn got relegated and then they went bankrupt.

He was signed to take over lillestrøm after the 2008 season but due to them being only 3 points over relegation zone he started his jobs two games before the season ended. In his first game in charge they beat Rosenborg (which won the league by clear margin that season) and secured top flight football.

When he took over Lillestrøm they had the oldest squad in the league, and alot of high earners. He had to clean up their entire squad and in his first season everyone expected them to struggle which they did. The other seasons they were predicted to be higher up, and he had lillestrøm around 5th 6th place until the summer window which due to economic recession in the Norwegian league between 2008-2011 he had to sell his most talented youngsters.

So to sum up he has managed a midget budget wise and had decent success with them, then he managed a sleeping giant from the 80s which were and are in complete in turmoil.

In terms of formation he usually sets his teams up either in 4-4-2 or in 4-4-1-1. He likes to have players with a lot of pace, especially on the wings and the wingers he has used tend to be good to challenge 1on1 (so I guess he has some shopping to do in January). His teams have been rather solid and organized defensively. He is a die hard fan of zonal marking. He plays an attractive possession oriented style with a lot of short passes and mostly passes on the ground. He has also liked to play with two holding midfielders. I think he is very inspired by arsenal and arsene wenger when it comes to playing style and transfers.

In my opinion he was very unfairly treated at Lillestrøm. He did all their dirty laundry, brought in young players and got rid of high earners and when they finally got stable economy they sacked him. The sacking was also a farce. Basically he had the boards support, but then an extern investor contacted the board and said “I will invest xx millions but only if you sack Henning”. So they went for the fast option. Lillestrøm is now a Norwegian QPR version. They have signed 18 new players this season (many of them Norwegian internationals who didn’t play for their foreign clubs) but this has not materialized and they are basically at status quo in terms of league position and their attendance are plummeting.

His ex assistant managers will probably not join him. His first assistant manager is assistant manager at Aalesund and the other one just got relegated as manager for Stabæk after failing to get the job at Lillestrøm. I think he would want to bring his own staff in, and then he will bring people who share the same football philosophy as himself and people he can work with. Maybe he can work with black and Hendry, but if not I think he will get other people in.

I’m obviously a big fan of Henning Berg as I suggested him over 5 weeks ago when he wasn’t even remotely linked with us. I don’t agree with someone saying “5 weeks and we end up with henning berg, what a disaster.” The reason for this is if this had been a quick appointment I don’t think he would even be considered by Shebby and Shaw. If he gets the job I think he will have impressed them with what he has presented to them and they think he is the right choice. I hope shabby and shaw have done a thorough job in talking with potential managers but of course I don’t know if this is correct.

I will know list up a couple of points why I think henning Berg would be a good choice. Someone on here has also said "he can't even get a job in norway, why would we want to sign him". im pretty sure he has been offered different jobs in norway during the past year but he has made a choice not to take any job. Instead he has worked as a pundit for tippeligaen and premier league, and he has also made a couple of trips to manchester to talk to fergie and fill up on his knowledge.

1. he plays attractive and entertaining football and his teams seem to be well organized.

2. He is very transparent when it comes to fans. When in charge at lyn (during a period they did very well) he invited the fans to a discussion on playing style and what he was going to do. he also have met angry Lillestrøm fans to hear what they say, what their opinions were and he also answered their questions.

3. He will not let himself be pushed around. He will demand alot from his players, and will not accept that they sign any player without him giving the thumbs up.

4. He has openly said that he thinks venky should try to get John Willams back, which he highly regards. We can only hope.... He also knows this club, its history etc

5. Theoreticly he is very bright. He knows his football.

6. He has showed a keen eye when it comes to signing talents and unshaped diamonds and turning them into great players. Of course this will be harder to do at a higher level but at least he has shown it at a lower level. A small club like Blackburn need to have someone who can spot talents as we cant compete with the bigger clubs on transfers and wages.

7. He knows british football. Won the league with two different clubs, promoted with rovers aswell. Worked under managers like Kenny, sir alex and souness. He surely must have picked up alot.

8. Arte et labore. That is henning berg's career summed up. He was never a child star with immense talent, but due to his hard work he managed to play at the top level with blackburn rovers and manchester united. Also his manager career shows this. He has done immense work with very little resources in both his club.

9. As a pundit he has done very good analyzis, and when analyzing rovers problems in their defense last season he was spot on.

10. I want him to succeed and i think he would succeed.

on the negative side:

1. we dont know if he will succeed here.

2. He has been critized by fans and board in norway for being to negative in the media (blaming referee decisions, weather, performance etc). I think this would actually be a nice change from alwayspositive lying steve kean.

3. he has had some players openly critizing him in the media, complaining about not playing in their favourite position etc. This have mostly been from african players so maybe its a cultural thing.

Thanks for the taking the time to contribute so much. Been looking forward to this post for a while.

[RoverScot]

I can't be arsed reading back through x amount of pages so please can someone answer two questions?

1. Why are you all so sure that it'll be Berg?

2. Why will it not be Holloway?

1. Nixon confirmation article, Norwegian media want to interview Kamy tomorrow.

2. Shebby Singh

[braddock]

Interesting bit from the Mail article if true:

"But it soon became apparent that no such agreement would be reached, with Redknapp's representative Paul Stretford understood to have stated his camp's displeasure that Blackburn had chosen to interview Henning Berg on Monday."

If that was correct then it's a shame Redknapp feels that way but it comes down to it being his problem. Surely he's good enough to blow Berg out of the interview process instead of throwing his toys out the pram?

But yeah, it's all speculation.