[Archived] Henning Berg - Rovers Manager

[tomphil]

You ignore the facts though. Last time we went down we lost c6000 fans. When the Roas bought the club the average attendance was 25000, now it's 13000.

The two arguments being made here by some posters are that 1]it's down to fickle fans and 2] after Kean going and Berg in charge for two weeks, there's no reason why everyone shouldn't be coming back now.

Point one is ridiculous and point two is dreamland.

We could argue facts and figures about last time we went down all night though. Im not trying to tar everyone with the same brush, our hardcore fans are as good as any anywhere. My gripe is at the large number who are part time in nature. There is a whole host of reasons why many don't now attend obviously but i get the hump with some including some of my own mates who just can't be assed going basically because we aren't in the Prem and there is no glamorous opposition. We all know people like this and if 12/13 thousand can be bothered to turn up regularly to show their support for the team then why can't they ?

[AndyC]

In my view you don't jack it in because you don't like the owners or manager or whatever but at the same time it's a free Country and people can do as they please.

I realise we will never know this, but I'd hazzard a guess that, had the fans not boycotted games , steve kean would still be the CEO / manager of Rovers.

The fans that boycotted did so, in the belief that it would ultimately put the club in a stronger place. It's hard to have the courage of your convictions and stay away from the club you've supported all your life through the good and the bad. It's really hard to realise that the club you've always supported is slowly being asset stripped before your very eyes. It's also really hard to watch a manager in charge who's not only contributing so much to it, but also compounding the issues because his player recruitment is woeful.

And I get that the owners have a right to claw some of their purchase price back if they choose. But had they done so with a proper manager in charge, we might still have done ok by buying up a mixture of very talented youngsters & keeping some of the older pro's.

But when all is said and done, the stay away fans gave shebby the perfect ammunition he needed in order to paint the real picture that was going on a few thousand miles away, rather than only ever hearing from keanochio / agnew spin.

[tonyoz]

Singh, Hendry, Agnew, Shaw and the other parasites need kicking out before I can begin to feel good about the club again.

I fear that you will be miserable for a long time yet.

[AndyC]

We could argue facts and figures about last time we went down all night though. Im not trying to tar everyone with the same brush, our hardcore fans are as good as any anywhere. My gripe is at the large number who are part time in nature. There is a whole host of reasons why many don't now attend obviously but i get the hump with some including some of my own mates who just can't be assed going basically because we aren't in the Prem and there is no glamorous opposition. We all know people like this and if 12/13 thousand can be bothered to turn up regularly to show their support for the team then why can't they ?

If you're going to accept an inferior product in life, you still need to believe in a vision for the future. Which is why the last time we were relegated, we lost far fewer fans - Because we trusted in the club to get things right for the good of the club. The problem, is the venkys have made it very difficult for fans to buy into a vision of the future that doesn't end in them taking all the money and leaving us in administration.

Berg is a massive step in the right direction for one reason and one reason only in my opinion. He's proved in his last roles, that the hierarchy means nothing to him compared to running a football club in the correct way. So the fact venkys have sanctioned it, knowing he isn't an SEM stooge gives me a glimmer of hope!

[LeChuck]

Singh, Hendry, Agnew, Shaw and the other parasites need kicking out before I can begin to feel good about the club again. Berg is a good start, though.

If Berg is allowed to sign the players he wants and we remain in reasonable financial health, then it doesn't really matter who is above him.

Loads of clubs are run by people who don't have a clue about football. A strong manager will compensate for most of their shortcomings.

[JAL]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/10041318.Blackburn_Rovers_boss_Berg_confident_of_improvement/

Five goals conceded in the last three games, with four(80%)of them coming from crosses straight into our central defenders area, surely this has to be the immediate focus for Henning Berg.

[RevidgeBlue]

Singh, Hendry, Agnew, Shaw and the other parasites need kicking out before I can begin to feel good about the club again. Berg is a good start, though.

Pretty harsh on Shaw that, I've only met him briefly in passing on a couple of occasions but he seemed to be a thoroughly nice bloke.

[Steve Moss]

It surprises me that a lot of fans do not appear to be worried about the financial situation at the club. With the club spending a fortune this year and officials at the club saying it's 'promotion or bust' you would think there would be more concern in the fan base. The club knows more about the financial situation than we do, so if they say promotion has to be achieved not in three years time, not two years time but this season then that is pretty alarming I would say.

I'm incredibly concerned, as are most supporters. But what can we do about it?

Kean is gone and management has improved remarkably. Further boycotting only hurts the club for no good reason at this point.

Oh and the loss of the crowd is 100% down to Venky's. Amazed anybody has the gall to argue otherwise.

You ignore the facts though. Last time we went down we lost c6000 fans. When the Roas bought the club the average attendance was 25000, now it's 13000.

Bingo. The loss of fans is about 50% Raos and 50% demotion.

Singh, Hendry, Agnew, Shaw and the other parasites need kicking out before I can begin to feel good about the club again. Berg is a good start, though.

This is a good point. I'll leave Hendry to Berg (he should be in charge of his backroom staff) and reserve final judgment on Singh (though as a preliminary matter my opinion is poor), but Venkys haven't really learned if Agnew and Shaw are still employed.

[Gav]

Clearly, any half decent new manager would give the place a lift and help generate renewed optimism.

Berg would not have been my choice, however, like all reasonable supporters, I am only too happy to give the guy a fair crack of the whip.

Where I become guarded, is when supporters get overly excited with what they have seen in just two matches (Hudders & Brum) and two matches that have yielded just two points.

No disputing, there do appear to have been some big steps made with the team from the Kean days but we all, unfortunately, will not forget just how bad those Kean days were, so there does need to be a sense of perspective.

Throughout life, business and sport, I have seen too many false dawns. I sincerely hope that this does not prove to be one of them.

I will look how things are towards the end of December when Berg will have completed 12 games in charge and if things are looking good, I will renew the season tickets that I relinquished this season, that is, of course, if half season tickets are available.

I've always had my doubts about you Mercerman, you can count the number of positives comments on one hand that you've posted during your time on here, granted they've been few and far between, but still you do seem negative beyond most peoples comprehension with the odd fib thrown in for good measure.

We've just got rid of the worst manager in the clubs history and still you're finding fault and leaning towards the negative.

Maybe you should actually nip down and see whats happening, you maybe surprised, then again it maybe against the grain for you to attend a game at Ewood Park?

[Amo]

I think people are being a tad unfair on Mercerman. Berg's arrival has yielded some positive signs so far but that hope has to be tempered by caution. Nothing wrong with keeping some perspective until the new guy's had a run of games under his belt.

And this from someone who loves picking on the guy.

[Gav]

I think people are being a tad unfair on Mercerman. Berg's arrival has yielded some positive signs so far but that hope has to be tempered by caution. Nothing wrong with keeping some perspective until the new guy's had a run of games under his belt.

And this from someone who loves picking on the guy.

I don't think its just this episode Topman, I can't recall him saying anything positive EVER

But we don't want a witch hunt, his useless tips and terrible inside information keeps some happy

[Mercer]

I don't think its just this episode Topman, I can't recall him saying anything positive EVER

But we don't want a witch hunt, his useless tips and terrible inside information keeps some happy

Feckin hell Gav, I thought the season of goodwill was approaching !

Nothing would thrill me more than Rovers winning the next 6 on the bounce and going down to Ewood to renew the season tickets that I have had for years.

[philipl]

Bingo. The loss of fans is about 50% Raos and 50% demotion.

And demotion is 100% Venky's

Ergo crowd decrease is 100% Venky's.

[RevidgeBlue]

I realise we will never know this, but I'd hazzard a guess that, had the fans not boycotted games , steve kean would still be the CEO / manager of Rovers.

The fans that boycotted did so, in the belief that it would ultimately put the club in a stronger place. It's hard to have the courage of your convictions and stay away from the club you've supported all your life through the good and the bad. It's really hard to realise that the club you've always supported is slowly being asset stripped before your very eyes. It's also really hard to watch a manager in charge who's not only contributing so much to it, but also compounding the issues because his player recruitment is woeful.

And I get that the owners have a right to claw some of their purchase price back if they choose. But had they done so with a proper manager in charge, we might still have done ok by buying up a mixture of very talented youngsters & keeping some of the older pro's.

But when all is said and done, the stay away fans gave shebby the perfect ammunition he needed in order to paint the real picture that was going on a few thousand miles away, rather than only ever hearing from keanochio / agnew spin.

So if the stayaway fans were engaged in a noble boycott to get Kean out, where were they on Saturday then? Only about 1 in 4 of the 4000 home fans we've lost since last season could be bothered turning up.

It's like another poster said above, now Kean's gone they'll be onto the next excuse for not going. Owners or whatever. I'm not being overly critical just making the observation. It's their prerogative.

It's not all bad news either. There's a "natural" churn of around 1500 new fans as opposed to fans dying off/moving away/getting fed up each season. So we'll attract new fans if we start to do well.

[rovermagic]

Today wasn't an improvement it was more like a night and day difference. Rovers were terribly unlucky not to get 3 points, they completely outplayed Birmingham. In the first half we were especially brilliant apart from some dodgy defending for their goal.

As for Berg preferring one up front. I'm pretty sure if we had a target man we'd be playing him up front with Rhodes as that what today's performance was crying out for today. Have to say we still aren't playing fully fit at the moment too, but fitter than we have been. Last 15 minutes was a bit of a slog you could tell. But, there was a difference.

Berg has made a huge difference, the players look up for it. In the first 15 minutes we were playing like Barcelona the ball was being passed around that fluidly, through balls and balls played into space. Just a shame we didn't have a target man to make the most of the possession and take some workload of Rhodes and allow him to concentrate on what he's good at.

[Gav]

Feckin hell Gav, I thought the season of goodwill was approaching !

Nothing would thrill me more than Rovers winning the next 6 on the bounce and going down to Ewood to renew the season tickets that I have had for years.

You shouldn't need 6 wins on the bounce to attend in my opinion, you should have been down there as soon as the rat deserted the ship, but each to there own merce.

[forumquizmaster]

You shouldn't need 6 wins on the bounce to attend in my opinion, you should have been down there as soon as the rat deserted the ship, but each to there own merce.

I would agree with this totally. Not a dig at Mercerman per se, but those who are still saying things like 'I'm not going back until we start winning' are the epitome of fair weather supporters.

[Al]

If you're going to accept an inferior product in life, you still need to believe in a vision for the future. Which is why the last time we were relegated, we lost far fewer fans - Because we trusted in the club to get things right for the good of the club. The problem, is the venkys have made it very difficult for fans to buy into a vision of the future that doesn't end in them taking all the money and leaving us in administration.

Berg is a massive step in the right direction for one reason and one reason only in my opinion. He's proved in his last roles, that the hierarchy means nothing to him compared to running a football club in the correct way. So the fact venkys have sanctioned it, knowing he isn't an SEM stooge gives me a glimmer of hope!

Call it an inferior product if you will, and I cannot argue with your stance but what I saw on Saturday was far superior entertainment than I have seen for years at Ewood and I include much of the pre Venkys.

[AndyC]

So if the stayaway fans were engaged in a noble boycott to get Kean out, where were they on Saturday then? Only about 1 in 4 of the 4000 home fans we've lost since last season could be bothered turning up.

It's like another poster said above, now Kean's gone they'll be onto the next excuse for not going. Owners or whatever. I'm not being overly critical just making the observation. It's their prerogative.

It's not all bad news either. There's a "natural" churn of around 1500 new fans as opposed to fans dying off/moving away/getting fed up each season. So we'll attract new fans if we start to do well.

I suspect (hope) a good proportion of them will be back in the forthcoming weeks.

Call it an inferior product if you will, and I cannot argue with your stance but what I saw on Saturday was far superior entertainment than I have seen for years at Ewood and I include much of the pre Venkys.

sounds great Al - wish I could have been there.

If he can quickly instill a pass and move game, we wont need a big target man. Just a very fit forward line playing off each other.

Remember fulham under tigana? I'd love us to play that kind of expansive passing game.

Looking forward to millwall, which is the next game I can attend. I can't wait to see Hennings blue and white army!

Not living in Blackburn, I don't get to see how the club has changed its marketing to the supporters.

From a high point of 'taking ewood back' and subsidising tickets from the increased sky money - where are we now?

Was there a new campaign to coincide with Henning's return?

[onlyonejackwalker]

Call it an inferior product if you will, and I cannot argue with your stance but what I saw on Saturday was far superior entertainment than I have seen for years at Ewood and I include much of the pre Venkys.

Really? I just think we have forgotten what it is like to watch us playing as a team with unity and passion and it is clouding views. Step by step, let's not get too carried away. As stated before, the job facing Berg is far bigger than many imagined with the immediate priority to get this group in tip top physical condition. Something which was always going to take a few weeks and matches.

[mhead]

There is a lot of scope for improvement in the team,in the infrastructure and the marketing.

We have lost all the momentum of the JW2 years and its still not 'our' club again yet.

BUT it feels a lot better for us SUPPORTERS(eh Mercerman)

[Mercer]

You shouldn't need 6 wins on the bounce to attend in my opinion, you should have been down there as soon as the rat deserted the ship, but each to there own merce.

Gav, I was.

Forked out for a handful of tickets @£29 each for the Wolves' game and it was dire.

As I have said in a few posts now, if Berg gets things ticking over with a few good results and we are challenging then I will renew the season tickets that I relinquished. I honestly don't think I can say anything fairer than that.

[Hekla]

It is totally inevitable that the moany whingy aspect of the Blackburn character given full rein under Kean's abhorrent mismanagement should echo on in whinging and moaning about Berg.

For me, Henning is making a very good start.

He can see what an utter shambles he has inherited and this is despite Black doing solid work in the interim

He has looked deep into the squad and is recognising talent where he sees it and is giving it a run. Equally he has quietly eased the talentless Orr out of the picture.

He is looking to play football the way we all enjoy.

Berg deserves all the support we can give him. He has the loneliest job in all football with the worst owners in the current game and clown Shebby, clueless Shaw and pointless Agnew all haunting him.

Oh and the loss of the crowd is 100% down to Venky's. Amazed anybody has the gall to argue otherwise.

Best post on this topic.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Speaking as a non-renewer, I'm afraid a few months out and your whole psychology changes. Suddenly its not attend at all costs, its attend if the circumstances are reasonable.

They didn't seem reasonable on football grounds when Kean resigned because all Venkys did was appoint his assistant.

And they don't seem reasonable on financial grounds now because match tickets are £25, so you're paying more than double the price you paid when you had a season ticket.

In December the half season tickets will seem reasonable if we're doing average/well under Berg, and unreasonable if we're doing poorly.

In my opinion only a sustained play-off position or better will bring supporters back in decent numbers for the second half of the season. Those still going might not like the sound of that, but Venkys were warned countless times to do everything in their power to keep us up or face the consequences. All I can say is they should have taken the fans seriously.

To avoid any personal criticism that might be coming my way on the back of this, I've probably still been to about half the home games this season. I can just fully understand those who still haven't been to any.

[Mercer]

Very good and pertinent post from Steve Kean's Hypnotoad.