[Archived] BBC Radio Lancashire Q & A with Shebby Singh

[Amo]

People, people, people... You're all missing the wider issue here:

Did little Jack find out Shebby's favourite player?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

totally agree everyones anger should be Venkys , SS , Agnew , etc ...thats why a 24 hour protest like last year needs to be at least discussed and then put in place

And do you think there will be support for the protest amongst the supporter base ? What are you protesting against - £8m for Jordan Rhodes, the biggest wage bill in the Championship or employing a ex-Rovers star as manager.

The one thing that Shebby said which is true - we will only get promoted if the club is united. A protest would only reopen the divisions in the fan base.

[Kamy100]

Here is a link to the Q&A from last night:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011659q

[Amo]

The one thing that Shebby said which is true - we will only get promoted if the club is united. A protest would only reopen the divisions in the fan base.

The only way we'll get promoted is if the manager gets results. It's not rocket science.

More protests would be pointless, anyway. Hardly any bugger will show up and even if they did Venky's wouldn't give a damn. All they see Rovers as essentially is ad-space.

[greco]

And do you think there will be support for the protest amongst the supporter base ? What are you protesting against - £8m for Jordan Rhodes, the biggest wage bill in the Championship or employing a ex-Rovers star as manager.

The one thing that Shebby said which is true - we will only get promoted if the club is united. A protest would only reopen the divisions in the fan base.

do we only have those 3 options to choose from.?

I guess you were fixated on defendign your point of view, but trying to make it sound like those would be the reasons for protesting, makes we wonder if you´ve witnessed the last 2 years of lunacy, awful finances and all this mixed with kean poor results.

heard ss on the show, had i not known it was our global advisor, i would have guessed it was some pothead, who had just smoked some weed. The amount of times he hesitated, had to say you know and when asked something, answered with something completely unrelated to the question. What a mess, that was painfull to listen to.

[EgyptianPete]

Apologies to yourself and anyone else who did ask any searching questions of Shebby.

My anger should be directed at Venkys but cant understand those who appaulded their spin doctor.

Its called being polite so there may be another opportunity of another Q & A session, i think many on here have lost all sense of reality, remind me how many times did John Williams put himself under this kind of pressure M'mmm can't think of any time.

was there this much hysteria when we went down under Kidd, and subsequently treaded water for a season, remember the dross he bought, it took time to resurrect

the situation, we are that place again after the Kean shambles, whatever anyone thinks of Shebby it looks to me he is trying to resolve many deep rooted issues caused since the takeover, so instead of jumping on every little issue and making a mountain out of a mole hill give him and berg some slack, see what happens over the next few weeks with the alleged new Coaching staff and the Jan transfer window, you never know, you don't have to support Shebby but for Christs sake support the team.

[Paul]

Paul , shabby doesn't deserve any respect whatsoever after saying non attending fans are not rovers fans but football fans.

I agree ABBEY Shebby has yet to gain our respect in relation to the club. For me that is a different thing from treating an individual with respect. I'm not exactly a supporter of David Cameron but if I had a meeting with him I would be respectful in exactly the same way as I expect to be treated with respect. It's the same word being used with two different meanings.

With regard to non attending fans I don't think he said or implied those who don't go are not Rovers fans. I can assure you my ears pricked up when he started to discuss attendances. Shebby actually made a distinction - there are those who go to watch Premier League football, general football fans (it could be at any club, though he didn't say that), these people don't go simply because it's championship football - he did not say those people were necessarily Rovers. He then said there are Rovers fans who are staying away until things improve, especially on the pitch. There was a clear distinction.

Was this exercise going to end any other way?

At least they did something.

I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist anyway. I reckon that while everyone is looking at Shebby and trying to work out where he is coming from, the real action is going on elsewhere.

Shebby the Blue Herring.

I think that is bang on the nail

Apologies to yourself and anyone else who did ask any searching questions of Shebby.

My anger should be directed at Venkys but cant understand those who appaulded their spin doctor.

Many thanks, happily accepted

People, people, people... You're all missing the wider issue here:

Did little Jack find out Shebby's favourite player?

Yes, but only afterwards!!!!

I can't quite believe I'm having to defend some of this. People really need to listen to the whole thing and put it in context. I'm not happy with the whole club, Shebby, Venkys thing but lets be clear about what Shebby said.

The biggest concern is the way many of the questions were deflected but then would we want Shebby saying on radio the backroom staff will be sacked before Saturday?

[greco]

I agree ABBEY Shebby has yet to gain our respect in relation to the club. For me that is a different thing from treating an individual with respect. I'm not exactly a supporter of David Cameron but if I had a meeting with him I would be respectful in exactly the same way as I expect to be treated with respect. It's the same word being used with two different meanings.

With regard to non attending fans I don't think he said or implied those who don't go are not Rovers fans. I can assure you my ears pricked up when he started to discuss attendances. Shebby actually made a distinction - there are those who go to watch Premier League football, general football fans (it could be at any club, though he didn't say that), these people don't go simply because it's championship football - he did not say those people were necessarily Rovers. He then said there are Rovers fans who are staying away until things improve, especially on the pitch.

i think most agree upon, that treating others wiht respect, espeacilly in such a situation, is neccessary, but you can easly be respectfull and throw some curveballs. You had a curveball ready and came of respectfull. therefore you arent in a postion to be critisized, but this was an opportunity and one which several of those attending did not take. Thats why others are shaking ´their heads. You know you are attending in advance, so the least one could do, is come in somewhat prepared.

[EgyptianPete]

do we only have those 3 options to choose from.?

I guess you were fixated on defendign your point of view, but trying to make it sound like those would be the reasons for protesting, makes we wonder if you´ve witnessed the last 2 years of lunacy, awful finances and all this mixed with kean poor results.

heard ss on the show, had i not known it was our global advisor, i would have guessed it was some pothead, who had just smoked some weed. The amount of times he hesitated, had to say you know and when asked something, answered with something completely unrelated to the question. What a mess, that was painfull to listen to.

Who was on the weed, yet another offensive mail, i just seem to read page after page of insults, and as for his answers i will agree with you yes he did do a few curve balls away from the original question but what do you expect, I heard him say that every day he gets offensive emails and text messages yet he still has the balls to put himself in the firing line, i am NOT defending Shebby but come on, its time to support your team.

[Mercer]

Yep, the time is approaching to renew the protests.....but in a new and novel form.

These are happening already !!!

Thousands are boycotting Ewood and the club, IMO, are 'inflating' the declared gates by 2 to 3 thousand every home match.

Will be interesting to see the attendance against Bristol City in FA Cup when season tickets don't count - could be looking as low as 5 thousandish !!!!!!!!!!!

[j166429]

Its called being polite so there may be another opportunity of another Q & A session, i think many on here have lost all sense of reality, remind me how many times did John Williams put himself under this kind of pressure M'mmm can't think of any time.

was there this much hysteria when we went down under Kidd, and subsequently treaded water for a season, remember the dross he bought, it took time to resurrect

the situation, we are that place again after the Kean shambles, whatever anyone thinks of Shebby it looks to me he is trying to resolve many deep rooted issues caused since the takeover, so instead of jumping on every little issue and making a mountain out of a mole hill give him and berg some slack, see what happens over the next few weeks with the alleged new Coaching staff and the Jan transfer window, you never know, you don't have to support Shebby but for Christs sake support the team.

John WIlliams didn't put himself under that kind of pressure beacause he never had to.

When we went down in 1999 it was a totally different set up. Nothing like what we are experiencing now. Williams and Finn were still around, the club was well run and most importantly Jack was still alive.

Although with hindsight it was a mistake to have ever employed Kidd, there was never any doubt that the right decisions would be made to get us back to the premier league.

The Venkys couldn't make a right decision if their lives depended on it.

[Jock]

These are happening already !!!

Thousands are boycotting Ewood and the club, IMO, are 'inflating' the declared gates by 2 to 3 thousand every home match.

Will be interesting to see the attendance against Bristol City in FA Cup when season tickets don't count - could be looking as low as 5 thousandish !!!!!!!!!!!

How about a Father Ted themed banner protest 'DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING'. 'CAREFUL NOW'.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

And do you think there will be support for the protest amongst the supporter base ? What are you protesting against - £8m for Jordan Rhodes, the biggest wage bill in the Championship or employing a ex-Rovers star as manager.

The one thing that Shebby said which is true - we will only get promoted if the club is united. A protest would only reopen the divisions in the fan base.

What are we protesting against? I gather that comment works on the assumption that the slate was wiped at some point cause you could write an encyclopedia on their failings since they took over.

So just recently then:

1. Another calender year of Venkys spending less than they've made in the transfer market.

2. The arrival of the backroom team from hell. Hendry, Shaw, Agnew and Singh aren't fit to run Ramsbottom United, never mind a Championship club.

3. Wasting about 6 weeks with their laughably amateurish search for a manager, at the cost of potentially thousands of fans who may have bought a season ticket with a speedy resolution.

4. Hiring Henning Berg, a pathetic appointment motivated by maintaining control and courting fad popularity rather than an ability to win football matches.

5. Continuing silence from Venkys, who may as well be living on Mars for all their direct involvement in the club these days.

Whether the fans are united or divided is of very little significance compared to the internal set-up of the club and its ability to win games. We've got the wrong manager, the wrong coaching staff, Venkys have spent 2 years flogging all our best players and a Preston reject-Malayasian TV pundit dreamteam now run operations. Seriously, we could have the most united (or most blissfully delusional, same difference at this point) fanbase in the world and it'd make little difference to our promotion prospects. I've only ever heard Venky stooges and opposition fans with a fondness of Steve Kean claim the attitude of our fans has actually played any meaningful part in this madness.

[Paul]

i think most agree upon, that treating others wiht respect, espeacilly in such a situation, is neccessary, but you can easly be respectfull and throw some curveballs. You had a curveball ready and came of respectfull. therefore you arent in a postion to be critisized, but this was an opportunity and one which several of those attending did not take. Thats why others are shaking ´their heads. You know you are attending in advance, so the least one could do, is come in somewhat prepared.

This is certainly how I approached the evening. I'd spent three or four days preparing my question and consulted others in an attempt to hit the target. As it happened the general discussion had already discussed some of what I had prepared so I had to improvise. I feel my point was well made and did get a public agreement for the owners, not the club, to make a statement the Venkys will support the club financially. That was my aim and I think I was close to the target.

In no way would I criticise other fans attending last night or at any other meeting such as the KGH one. I do feel these can be lost opportunities. Certainly we need to question football aspects but for me the greater concern is the finance - as you'll see on Northwest Tonight!!

[Wayne Wild]

When the question was asked to SS about his or the owners lack of interaction with Rovers Trust he replied by asking why the trust wasn’t started previous to the last 2 years. Until he sits down and asks the correct questions to understand the history and aims of the trust he will never know the answer so I will try to explain in a summary of the birth and position of RT.

During January 2010, before Venkys bought the club, I was contacted by Duncan Miller and Anthony Corry who had concerns about the future of BRFC due to the club being up for sale and being touted around potential foreign owners. The 3 of us with 2/3 other people, no longer active, formed Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust. WEC Group was stand sponsors so I felt I could be of help as a link between supporters and the clubs management. We held meetings and discussions with Supporters Direct who helped us through the set up and officially backed the idea. It was a slow and frustrating process. There was general apathy from general supporters who didn’t understand what a trust was and didn’t feel there was any potential problems. Due to personal and work commitments I unfortunately had to bow out of the group but I still gave them my 100% support.

Venkys purchased the club in November 2010 and we all gave them our support. The rest is history but clearly there were issues with the running of the club, the manager and the communication with supporters. I did an interview with the Lancashire Telegraph in November 2011 expressing my dissatisfaction with the communication and offering an olive branch. I was contacted by Rovers supporters and prominent MPs and businessmen from around the world offering their support. I was also sent a business plan that involved community ownership of the club in a detailed 24 page report prepared by Dan Grabko, an American living in Sweden who had become a Rovers supporter. I immediately loved it. A group of us then formed BRSIT. We became very active immediately and through a new website, social media and printed media we became quickly popular to a point of raising £3m in pledges to buy shares.

BRST continued in its formation and were looking to do their official launch earlier this year. It was apparent that both trusts and very similar ambitions, BRSIT was more focussed on finances and BRST on community projects. It was very evident that if the two groups merged there would be a stronger entity with less confusion to supporters, hence Rovers Trust was born.

There is now a steering group of 15 hard working members from all backgrounds helped to form the Rovers Trust. The official launch was held at Blackburn Cathedral and we are actively seeking members to join at a cost of £10 per annum. The more members we have the louder and stronger voice the supporters will have at the top table of decision making. Our ultimate aim is to own a share of BRFC, however small or large. This is the mandate of the support of Supporters Direct. We will continue to hold discussions with all stakeholders within this process that includes the owners, management and supporters of BRFC until we succeed.

We cannot predict the future but we can have a fully functioning official Trust that is ready to either share in the success of the club or to help to protect its history and future should the club fall on difficult times.

Most trusts are formed when clubs hit severe financial difficulty, Rovers Trust was formed with the forethought of community benefits and love from the supporters for its football club.

For more detailed information or to join please visit www.roverstrust.co.uk

[booth]

This Q & A has just made me more angry about what's happening to the club.

Who took the final decision over Berg? Answer: The club. That none answer told us that Shebby really didn't want to say... "It was me."

And who are these people who said they wanted Berg. He wasn't even on the radar?! It seems we have 5 psychics in our midst. Rubbish psychics as well if they couldn't see that appointing another novice was another disaster waiting to happen.

[CapeTownRover]

still dont think Shebby should involve himself with the fans so much, as its causing more harm than good. Yes we want communication to filter down, but since when has Shebby become the PR guy, or the Communications guy. Is this not the job of somebody else who i dont feel like naming?

We are just going from one extreme to the next with this guy now. At 1st i actually thought that Shebby would at least bring some sort of unity, but instead its just driving more nails through the coffin for the club and the fans. We should not be tolerating this nonsense anymore, because we have had enough of it over the past 2 and bit years.

[booth]

I wish he'd stop it with that stupid fake laugh he does when he gets a question that he finds difficult to answer.

It's like he tries to remove credibility from the question by laughing but all he's doing his removing credibility from himself.

[arbitro]

This Q & A has just made me more angry about what's happening to the club.

Who took the final decision over Berg? Answer: The club. That none answer told us that Shebby really didn't want to say... "It was me."

And who are these people who said they wanted Berg. He wasn't even on the radar?! It seems we have 5 psychics in our midst. Rubbish psychics as well if they couldn't see that appointing another novice was another disaster waiting to happen.

The question about wanting Berg wasn't put to the audience like that. I put my hand up but that was to having Berg as a preference to Rednapp and Holloway. And I put my hand up because that was my choice out of the candidates who were named.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

do we only have those 3 options to choose from.?

I guess you were fixated on defendign your point of view, but trying to make it sound like those would be the reasons for protesting, makes we wonder if you´ve witnessed the last 2 years of lunacy, awful finances and all this mixed with kean poor results.

No - just relaying what the media would report on. A general question - at what point do the supporters try to work with the owners - because at the moment it doesn't look like they are going anywhere.

[DanLad]

How about a Father Ted themed banner protest 'DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING'. 'CAREFUL NOW'.

That would be funny. I literally chuckled thinking about this.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Did you not read the thread on here inviting people ???? If you dont like those who went, then you cant really criticise them if you didnt get off your own arses and do something.

Key point for me on this thread.

There seems to be a strong body of opinion on here that the fans who turned up and asked questions somehow aren't representative of how fans are feeling. So that means either only the passive ones make the effort to turn up, which is an oxymoron, or the heavy posters on here are not representative of the fanbase.

My close family are/were all 5 season ticket holders. All think Venkys are idiots and Kean useless but not one of them foams at the mouth about it, pores over holding company accounts or sits glued to the radio listening to a Gobal Advisor while writing rants on a messageboard.

[BRFC95]

My close family are/were all 5 season ticket holders. All think Venkys are idiots and Kean useless but not one of them foams at the mouth about it, pores over holding company accounts or sits glued to the radio listening to a Gobal Advisor while writing rants on a messageboard.

They'll be Rovers Fans then

[RibbleValleyRover]

Some points Shebby made and my thoughts on them:

The issue about the owners not being there on match-day:

That wouldn't be mentioned if Rovers were doing well. The only reason why fans want them to be there is to give them a rollicking, something that from past experience has shown won't make a bit of difference. A lot of owners don't go to every single game so I don't see why it is necessary.

The financial situation at the club:

At the beginning of the season we were told that the club was in a ‘promotion or bust’ scenario from Singh, Shaw and the LT. Last night Shebby said the complete opposite, in that the club was in a healthy position and that Rovers wouldn't have to get promoted at the first time asking. So what is the truth here? We have seen a major shift in tone from the beginning of the season to now.

He did mention about some players maybe leaving if promotion wasn't achieved but seemed to squirm a bit on that issue by saying it wouldn’t be the club’s choice if they go. I think it's clear that we will have to shift players if we don't get back the first time, I have no problem if that’s some of the dross but it’s likely going to be some of our better players.

The sponsorship issue:

It was interesting that he said that because Rovers have fallen on hard times on the pitch that the offers coming in from potential shirt sponsors were 'derisory'. I don't know why Shebby seems to find that hard to understand considering how badly the club has been run over the past two years. But why haven’t we offered to put a charity on the shirt like last season? I am sure there are plenty of charities out there would be happy to have their logos on the shirt despite the troubles at the club.

The subject about building a core set of players:

I see Shebby was getting some criticism when he mentioned Man United as being some sort of blueprint. I think the principle he made was pretty valid, if we can build a core group of players through our youth system and then add a few foreign players to add that bit extra that could work for a club like Rovers with limited finances. The problem was he gave probably the most extreme and one off example of it working to it's maximum, something that would be very difficult to copy.

The selection of Berg:

He wasn't really clear on how the selection process went or why Berg was selected over more experienced and better qualified candidates. I found his attack on the fans about their reaction to a number of ex-players being linked pretty pathetic really, though he is entitled to his viewpoint.

What Shebby fails to realise and worryingly so by the looks of it is that the fans don’t care if the manager is an ex-player. The vast majority of fans just want a manager to do a good job and make the club as successful as possible. They really don’t care what his playing history might have been. It’s pretty obvious why being an ex player seems to have been a big part of the criteria for becoming manager, Shebby et al seem to think an ex player would get more time at the club if it started to go wrong.

[BRFC95]

The issue about building a core of players:

I see Shebby was getting some criticism when he mentioned Man United as being some sort of blueprint. I think the principle he made was pretty valid, if we can build a core group of players through our youth system and then add a few foreign players to add that bit extra that could work for a club like Rovers with limited finances. The problem was he gave probably the most extreme and one off example of it working to it's maximum, something that would be very difficult to copy.

United had the choice of the cream of british talent to build their core and they had already established a championship winning first team to enable time to be given to nuture the youngsters.

We want to throw our youngsters straight into a struggling first team.

Spot the difference?