[Archived] Henning Berg - Rovers Manager

[LeChuck]

Palace and Leicester both outplayed us and look much stronger. Cardiff look strong, particularly at home. Tony Mowbray has spent a couple of years building an impressive side at Middlesbrough. Those four teams look particuarly strong. I would put us with a group of clubs who have decent but far from outstanding squads.

This is pretty much the case every year. The teams challenging at the top are those that have been building for a squad to challenge for a number of years. They are settled, cohesive and used to challenging at the top end of the table.

That's why it was always going to be incredibly hard to come back up at the first attempt - not many clubs manage it. The arrogance of some people regarding the difficulty of this league astounds me. It's a very tough league to get out of.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Ok, taking a brief look at the squad:

Robinson - former England keeper

Orr - won this league with QPR

Dann - instrumental in Birmingham's 10th placed finish in the PL

Givet - champions league finalist

Olsson - one of our best players last season

Kazim-Richards - 2 in 7 so far this season

Murphy - pulled the strings at Fulham

Etuhu - spent the last 5 years playing in the premiership

Lowe - england under-21 player

Pedersen - over 300 games in the premiership

Vuckevic - key player in the current best team in England's qualifying group

Rhodes - Better than 1 in 2 strike rate in the league this season

Gomes - 4 in 10 so far

Rochina - does at least 1 exceptional thing every time he's on the pitch

Are people seriously saying this isn't one of the best 2/3 squads in the league? The key is getting the best out of these players instead of the current level of underperformance, thats Berg's job. If he can't do it then the blame lies with him.

[martonrover]

This is pretty much the case every year. The teams challenging at the top are those that have been building for a squad to challenge for a number of years. They are settled, cohesive and used to challenging at the top end of the table.

That's why it was always going to be incredibly hard to come back up at the first attempt - not many clubs manage it. The arrogance of some people regarding the difficulty of this league astounds me. It's a very tough league to get out of.

Maybe naievety rather than arrogance in many cases but you are right.

A very big ask.

[DE.]

Ok, taking a brief look at the squad:

Robinson - former England keeper last played for England 4 years ago. Stats last season made for horrific reading

Orr - won this league with QPR but was then dropped to the reserves, sold to us on the cheap and has been awful so far this season

Dann - instrumental in Birmingham's 10th placed finish in the PL 3 years ago. Got a bad injury and has looked awful ever since.

Givet - champions league finalist 8 years ago.

Olsson - one of our best players last season really? Considering the "competition" he had that isn't saying much, not that he had a great season anyway. How many goals/assists?

Kazim-Richards - 2 in 7 so far this season but a massive attitude problem, and has frequently looked disinterested

Murphy - pulled the strings at Fulham but age has now caught up with him and he looks every second of 35 years old

Etuhu - spent the last 5 years playing in the premiership mostly as a sub for Fulham

Lowe - england under-21 player yet to prove himself as a regular first team player

Pedersen - over 300 games in the premiership most of which he was invisible for

Vuckevic - key player in the current best team in England's qualifying group but has played about 2 games for the club in the year and a half he's been here

Rhodes - Better than 1 in 2 strike rate in the league this season

Gomes - 4 in 10 so far but 36 years old

Rochina - does at least 1 exceptional thing every time he's on the pitch and about 100 infuriating things

Are people seriously saying this isn't one of the best 2/3 squads in the league? The key is getting the best out of these players instead of the current level of underperformance, thats Berg's job. If he can't do it then the blame lies with him.

Just an alternate view. It's easy to overrate when pulling up random stats about players. Fact is as much as you talk about the past, all that matters is NOW and right now all of these players have proven they are either disinterested or past their peak.

[OJRovers]

We have experience in our squad to be right at the top. I'm still positive that Henning can get the best out of them.

Look at when Souness took over from Kidd, he turned it round.

Fingers crossed we see a reaction sooner rather than later.

[John]

Think the fitness/current shape of the players is a massive issue - I noticed this on Saturday and so did the others who went to the game with me - Robinson is visibly over weight for example.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

For Christ's sake change the record. Saying 'I told you so after 3 days' is stupidity at it's worst.

Why should I change the record? I expressed grave concerns while 95% went head over heels for the obvious manipulations of Shabby appointing an ex-player. As a result a number of posters, including you, were extremely rude to me. And first game we get battered by managerless Palace. Am I not entitled to feel quite smug? Go strop at someone else, its not my fault you know jack about football.

[booth]

For Christ's sake change the record. Saying 'I told you so after 3 days' is stupidity at it's worst.

I hope Berg is a success but even if he is, it doesn't take away the fact that Shebby has taken a gamble on our future with appointing him. That's a fact.

Saying he is or isn't a success at this stage is guesswork.

[broadsword]

Just an alternate view.

The cliche "you're only as good as your last game" has perhaps never been truer.

[Kelbo]

Why should I change the record? I expressed grave concerns while 95% went head over heels for the obvious manipulations of Shabby appointing an ex-player. As a result a number of posters, including you, were extremely rude to me. And first game we get battered by managerless Palace. Am I not entitled to feel quite smug? Go strop at someone else, its not my fault you know jack about football.

With all respect to you SKH but if you feel that after one and a half days with the squad and not seeing them in live action, to make an assumption that Berg is responsible for that game, suggests to me you know jack all about football, indeed, if you look at what Black said after Kean left, he went along with Keans team and tactics as they hadnt time to change things and he is right, you simply havent, just like you cant say that Holloway was responsible for Palaces win.

Just like a car which is sluggish, you first identify the problem, address the problem and fix it! I dont care who came to Rovers as manager, they would have immense problems with the fitness of the squad, you can maybe carry one player not 100% but not 11

[Mike E]

I hope Berg is a success but even if he is, it doesn't take away the fact that Shebby has taken a gamble on our future with appointing him. That's a fact.

Saying he is or isn't a success at this stage is guesswork.

Yeah cos Holloway or Freedman aren't gambles.....

[EgyptianPete]

Yeah cos Holloway or Freedman aren't gambles.....

I may go along with your assumption that Holloway is not a gamble, but i certainly think Freedman comes into the young up and coming category therefore he would be defined as a gamble. Lets see what the situation is like in six weeks, that timespan would have given all three new managers time to assess and tinker with the teams, lets see where we are, then you can make a more observed judgement. Hope we win tomorrow though

.

[booth]

Yeah cos Holloway or Freedman aren't gambles.....

All appointments are gambles and Shebby was forced into making one. The idea is to limit the risk of your gamble failing.

[broadsword]

You have to play the hand you've been given, and it would outwardly appear that Rovers had a substantial number of people wanting the job. To then give it to one of the least experienced candidates was an unnecessary gamble at a pivotal point in this club's life.

Who the manager is is possibly a moot point with you have an interfering, attention-seeking nobody running the show at Ewood, backed up by chancers who don't exactly have glittering CV's, teamed with clueless owners.

There's only so much Berg could do, even if he was perfect. I find that I am now repeating myself and becoming very boring, but at least typing this out makes me feel better.

I guess it's something that we don't have Kean here any more, it's nice to listen to post-match comments that actually make sense.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

We have experience in our squad to be right at the top. I'm still positive that Henning can get the best out of them.

Look at when Souness took over from Kidd, he turned it round.

Fingers crossed we see a reaction sooner rather than later.

There was hardly an immediate reaction when Souness took over. We limped to midtable from the midtable position he took over from. The next season we were hardly cracking flags but 2 or 3 mid season signings changed that.

[martonrover]

Yeah cos Holloway or Freedman aren't gambles.....

They both have experience of managing in the Championship.

Of the other clubs who were looking for managers how many would've taken Berg?

Shebby has taken a major gamble, fact.

However, the decision is made and it's time to end the debate and get on with supporting Henning.

[T4E]

I am amazed that Berg is under the pressure of gaining promotion before he even had chance to sit down - if Kean had not walked, did they really expect him to achieve it?!

They expected whatever Kean told them to expect, because they are that stupid.

[Mike E]

All appointments are gambles and Shebby was forced into making one. The idea is to limit the risk of your gamble failing.

Don't get me wrong, Berg is far from the ideal appointment. I just think that sometimes people wouldn't be happy regardless. If we'd got Holloway, people'd moan we didn't get Redknapp. If we got Redknapp 'he's getting on a bit' etc. I just think Berg warrants our full support as the new manager. Previous stats hardly matter. It's how he does HERE that matters. So far, he's had little input to the team. On saturday, our performance gradually improved through the game (with the intro's of Henley and Vukcevic for the first time this season), but overall still not good enough.

If he keeps us top half, that (to me) is a very good season at the first time of asking. The trouble is that thanks to Kean and Venky's reckless spending and lack of income for the club, we need to go up. Berg can't afford to do a good job. He has to do a Sterling, First Class job. If he gets the team fit and organised, I think that alone should get us into a play-off spot. Get us motivated and in top form (massive questions about that being possible) then there's no reason we can't go up.

I've said before, the top 3 (2 auto's and top play-off spot) is a lottery and the rest of the play-off spots are their own lottery. This league hard because of it's unpredictability and, imo, MUCH harder than surviving in the Premier League. It's a helluva task, Berg, but we have your back.

[Guest Rovers4Good]

I agree that he deserves a chance but most of us are simply stating that this club at the present time needs an experienced manager at the helm. The club is constantly going backwards and this was the owners chance to do the right thing but for me i think they've made yet another mistake.

[Al]

Why should I change the record? I expressed grave concerns while 95% went head over heels for the obvious manipulations of Shabby appointing an ex-player. As a result a number of posters, including you, were extremely rude to me. And first game we get battered by managerless Palace. Am I not entitled to feel quite smug? Go strop at someone else, its not my fault you know jack about football.

It is obvious from the fact that you 'feel smug' and write off a new manager after three days and one game that it is not I that knows jack about football it is you my arrogant young man. It is also obvious that if you feel smug about a defeat that you are not a supporter of Rovers but just a WUM on here to annoy the real supporters.

[Mike E]

Indeed, Rovers4Good. But we don't have that. Much like Berg, we'll have to make do with what we have. It's rather unfortunate to say, in a way, but of all the 'former Rovers', I'd argue Berg is the 2nd best shot we have (Keith Hill 1st), although that really isn't saying much.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

It is obvious from the fact that you 'feel smug' and write off a new manager after three days and one game that it is not I that knows jack about football it is you my arrogant young man. It is also obvious that if you feel smug about a defeat that you are not a supporter of Rovers but just a WUM on here to annoy the real supporters.

I'm not writing him off on 3 days and 1 game. I'm writing him off on the fact that he was sacked by a club about the size of Kilmarnock, thats why I objected the instant he was appointed. All Palace has done is start to confirm my view that he's out of his depth and we were insane not to go for a manager experienced in this league. Smug isn't really how I feel, its more an angry, bitter, dejected feeling about how Venkys and their contemptible cronies have learnt precisely zilch in 2 years. The smug element is for specific abrasive cases like yourself who clearly aren't used to people disagreeing with them.

[CapeTownRover]

the squads struggles this season, is down to the damage which Steve Kean caused. No matter which manager had been appointed which includes Redknapp, it would have needed time to sort out. Our problems lie in the board room, because now we are putting so much pressure on Berg, who has to try and rectify the current problems. Let Berg manage the team, let him select his own players, and let him go through a few defeats and wins etc just to understand where exactly the squad needs to improve. We have been through a hell of a tough 2 years, so we have to try and be a little patient and support Berg. We as fans, we are far to judgemental early on.

[JAL]

I'm not writing him off on 3 days and 1 game. I'm writing him off on the fact that he was sacked by a club about the size of Kilmarnock, thats why I objected the instant he was appointed. All Palace has done is start to confirm my view that he's out of his depth and we were insane not to go for a manager experienced in this league. Smug isn't really how I feel, its more an angry, bitter, dejected feeling about how Venkys and their contemptible cronies have learnt precisely zilch in 2 years. The smug element is for specific abrasive cases like yourself who clearly aren't used to people disagreeing with them.

If rumours that the club is losing £2m plus per month are anywhere near true then where they ever going to go for a proven manager you know they werent.

[Stand & Deliver]

I'm not writing him off on 3 days and 1 game. I'm writing him off on the fact that he was sacked by a club about the size of Kilmarnock, thats why I objected the instant he was appointed. All Palace has done is start to confirm my view that he's out of his depth and we were insane not to go for a manager experienced in this league. Smug isn't really how I feel, its more an angry, bitter, dejected feeling about how Venkys and their contemptible cronies have learnt precisely zilch in 2 years. The smug element is for specific abrasive cases like yourself who clearly aren't used to people disagreeing with them.

1 point in 8 games did it but all of his best players were sold and not replaced. Apparently the club was in turmoil too(sound familiar?) I just hope he gets a level playing field(no shebby interference)and funds. Then he can be judged properly on his managerial ability.