[Archived] Michael Appleton - New Rovers Manager

[Mercer]

Just replied to him asking does that include Kentaro as they are not mentioned.so will hopefully respond

T

SEM is part of Kentaro UK / Kentaro AG.

Tweet refers to 'SEM Group' and I think it is pretty safe to assume that is taken to include Kentaro UK / Kentaro AG.

The tweet is very categoric and I would expect you will get short shrift.

[philipl]

Jeff Weston ‏@jeffnorthlondon

STATEMENT: The SEM Group OR Jerome Anderson is not in ANY way involved with Michael Appleton & never has been OR have they had any dialogue whatsoever with Venky's in respect of the prospective appointment of Mr Appleton as manager. ALL reports by any individual or otherwise are fabricated & totally untrue

Assuming that is a straight cut and pace then taking it literally either one of SEM or Anderson have had no involvement.

So the other one might have?

And Kentaro?

Ok being a bit picky here but after the badly worded BRFCAG statement it is a bit too much for SEM man in Brindle to come out with another statement which presumably does not mean what it can be read literally as saying.

[Mercer]

Assuming that is a straight cut and pace then taking it literally either one of SEM or Anderson have had no involvement.

So the other one might have?

I don't think they would try and play any games with this !

They know the sensitivities are immense.

If they had been involved in the search then surely they would have been pushing one of their favourite sons - Owen Coyle ?

[The Gull]

Assuming that is a straight cut and pace then taking it literally either one of SEM or Anderson have had no involvement.

So the other one might have?

You and you bloody commas again Phillip! You know what the statement means.

[sw0808]

It is disappointing to read so many negative posts about Appleton who has yet to appear at Rovers. There is no guarantee that an experienced manager would be spectacular at Ewood but the same can be said about writing off a young manager who has had very positive things said about his coaching abilities (where he does have a good track record at WBA) and his dealing with issues at Portsmouth. He can't really be judged on his Blackpool spell apart from sorting their defence out, the lack of strikers there have made it difficult to win games.

There is plenty to criticise Shaw, Agnew, Shebby and of course the owners. I suspect that the appointment of Berg (who by all accounts was Shebby's call) was partially motivated by the desire to placate the vociferous fans with a Rovers legend. I think most of us would agree that history helped but not as much as Shebby thought. Shaw has history with Appleton and experience of him as a character, whilst Shaw hasn't got my respect he has successfully appointed managers at PNE (e.g. Moyes) and has had some failures.

However, it demeans individuals who pre-judge Appleton, if he is our manager I will support him until he loses that through how he performs. So he starts with respect and can only lose that through his actions not the other way round.

BRAG and their representatives, who I believe love the Rovers as much as me, are going the wrong way here in their demands for 'experienced' appointments. It is becoming repetitive and damaging as it seems that they will block and complain about anything whilst the current owners are at the club. That seemed to ease a bit when Shebby appeared and talked directly to BRAG, now he has been marginalised by the Appleton situation that seems to have changed with threats of demonstrations.

For once, can we actually hope that a new manager will succeed and not work, plan and pre-celebrate his downfall?

Totally Agree - well said

Like it or not - we are no longer a top half of the premiership team/club - in the 1970's an appointment like this would have been welcomed and the guy at least given a chance to prove himself - so lets give the guy a break!!

[callumrovers]

The LET article this morning has really @#/? me off. The players going to the directors asking for Bowyer to be given more time?

Since when has it been there responsibility to get involved with manger appointments. The get paid 10,000's a week to play football, not to decide who the manager should be. They should have no direct influence whatsoever. They have been on easy street for to long, I get the feeling that bowyer is their 'mate', that is not what we need in the long run. Appleton needs to come in and kick some of the players up the arse. CKR wants bowyer for longer because he's playing him even though he's the most selfish player I have seen, (even more than Rochina). Appleton should drop him and who ever else wants to complain.

They play football and get paid thousands, get on with it and suck it up.

Bunch of pre madonnas.

[broadsword]

Yes, "nor" has a very different meaning to "or".

Maybe he's just a bit thick?

[callumrovers]

You haven't answered my question, though.

While I remain cautiously optimistic, I can see why Blue and White Army is so desperately pessimistic. After the failure with Kean and Berg, and the hiring of a manager whose win percentage is worse than Kean, that spells failure. Of course, that's discounting the fact that his stints were at Portsmouth and a Blackpool team who lost their last 5 matches before he took over.

How can he be so pessimistic? Appleton hasn't even stepped into the job and people are righting him off already.Thats hardly fair. Football is a results business and we can only judge him on that. What he did a Portsmouth was nothing short of fantastic, and he hardly made Blackpool worse did he, if anything he made them more solid. Kean took a top 10 premiership team and turned it into relegation fodder. Appleton took over a team that was already @#/?, and made it competitive and even got some wins with a team he put together in two days. You can't not compare Kean's ratio to Appleston's.

[47er]

I can assure you that Appleton is a far better manager than Kean. Don't compare the two. We all know why Kean was given the managers job and it wasn't based on his abilities.

Berg was appointed primaruly because he was an ex player. Appleton has served his apprenticeship firstly as a coach and then as a manager at the toughest club in the league to manage, Pompey, and then took over a struggling Blackpool team and steadied the ship. Although stronger candidates are out there, he has got the job on merit and not because he is friends with an agent or because he's an ex player. He deserves a chance.

He doesn't deserve a chance exactly given the process and the people running it, but he's got one and, for all our sakes, I hope he makes the most of it.

If Nicko says he does a good presser though, I'm off!

[Black Burn]

How can he be so pessimistic? Appleton hasn't even stepped into the job and people are righting him off already.Thats hardly fair. Football is a results business and we can only judge him on that. What he did a Portsmouth was nothing short of fantastic, and he hardly made Blackpool worse did he, if anything he made them more solid. Kean took a top 10 premiership team and turned it into relegation fodder. Appleton took over a team that was already @#/?, and made it competitive and even got some wins with a team he put together in two days. You can't not compare Kean's ratio to Appleston's.

Well, um, tell that to Blue and White Army......it's not as if I disagree with you. I'm with you, I'll only judge him on the results he brings to us, and not on his past record.

But I guess his argument (I shouldn't be speaking for him though) is that the past record usually allow you to have a good judge of how the manager will turn out to be (failure or success). I think he wants a proven manager, not an unproven manager who only proved that his win percentage is lower than Kean's. Or something like that. I'll let him speak for himself though.

[PAFELL]

The LET article this morning has really @#/? me off. The players going to the directors asking for Bowyer to be given more time? Since when has it been there responsibility to get involved with manger appointments. The get paid 10,000's a week to play football, not to decide who the manager should be. They should have no direct influence whatsoever. They have been on easy street for to long, I get the feeling that bowyer is their 'mate', that is not what we need in the long run. Appleton needs to come in and kick some of the players up the arse. CKR wants bowyer for longer because he's playing him even though he's the most selfish player I have seen, (even more than Rochina). Appleton should drop him and who ever else wants to complain. They play football and get paid thousands, get on with it and suck it up. Bunch of pre madonnas.

To be honest it shows the respect Gary Bowyer has with the players. I hope Appleton allows them to remain within the club. Which would probable help in getting the players support from the beginning.

It is disappointing to read so many negative posts about Appleton who has yet to appear at Rovers. There is no guarantee that an experienced manager would be spectacular at Ewood but the same can be said about writing off a young manager who has had very positive things said about his coaching abilities (where he does have a good track record at WBA) and his dealing with issues at Portsmouth. He can't really be judged on his Blackpool spell apart from sorting their defence out, the lack of strikers there have made it difficult to win games.

There is plenty to criticise Shaw, Agnew, Shebby and of course the owners. I suspect that the appointment of Berg (who by all accounts was Shebby's call) was partially motivated by the desire to placate the vociferous fans with a Rovers legend. I think most of us would agree that history helped but not as much as Shebby thought. Shaw has history with Appleton and experience of him as a character, whilst Shaw hasn't got my respect he has successfully appointed managers at PNE (e.g. Moyes) and has had some failures.

However, it demeans individuals who pre-judge Appleton, if he is our manager I will support him until he loses that through how he performs. So he starts with respect and can only lose that through his actions not the other way round.

BRAG and their representatives, who I believe love the Rovers as much as me, are going the wrong way here in their demands for 'experienced' appointments. It is becoming repetitive and damaging as it seems that they will block and complain about anything whilst the current owners are at the club. That seemed to ease a bit when Shebby appeared and talked directly to BRAG, now he has been marginalised by the Appleton situation that seems to have changed with threats of demonstrations.

For once, can we actually hope that a new manager will succeed and not work, plan and pre-celebrate his downfall?

Very good post.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Well personally I'm just astounded by the lack of learning from the club's past mistakes that's being shown on here.

This guy is an absolute carbon copy of Berg:

2 poor records with his 2 previous clubs.

Very little experience in the Championship.

Nothing whatsoever to indicate he's a decent manager.

But a baffling number aren't coming to the conclusion of: well it didn't work last time, so it probably won't work this time.

Instead we've got exactly the same weak excuses and subjective reasoning that was wheeled out for Berg. Tough circumstances, right attitude, good character, doesn't take ****, knows how to deal with idiots etc etc. This guff was shown up during the Berg tenure for being exactly what it is, nonsensical babble.

Whats his record in black and white? 13 wins in 51 games at Portsmouth, 2 wins in 12 games at Blackpool.

Is that good enough? No.

End of story.

[Roversider]

Well personally I'm just astounded by the lack of learning from the club's past mistakes that's being shown on here.

This guy is an absolute carbon copy of Berg:

2 poor records with his 2 previous clubs.

Very little experience in the Championship.

Nothing whatsoever to indicate he's a decent manager.

But a baffling number aren't coming to the conclusion of: well it didn't work last time, so it probably won't work this time.

Instead we've got exactly the same weak excuses and subjective reasoning that was wheeled out for Berg. Tough circumstances, right attitude, good character, doesn't take ****, knows how to deal with idiots etc etc. This guff was shown up during the Berg tenure for being exactly what it is, nonsensical babble.

Whats his record in black and white? 13 wins in 51 games at Portsmouth, 2 wins in 12 games at Blackpool.

Is that good enough? No.

End of story.

Howard Kendall - first appointment as manager

Jim Iley - successful at Barnsley

Gordon Lee - second managerial appointment

Jim Smith - only experienced at lower levels

Don Mackay - Only managed in Scotland

Paul Ince - successful at MK Dons

Kenny Dalglish - legend (until he went to Newcastle and Liverpool second time!)

and so the list goes on.

The only thing I would say is the requirement to perform when he is Rovers manager, it is pretty difficult for fans to define how a manager will work in a club culture or with a player group.

[The Gull]

Howard Kendall - first appointment as manager

Jim Iley - successful at Barnsley

Gordon Lee - second managerial appointment

Jim Smith - only experienced at lower levels

Don Mackay - Only managed in Scotland

Paul Ince - successful at MK Dons

Kenny Dalglish - legend (until he went to Newcastle and Liverpool second time!)

and so the list goes on.

The only thing I would say is the requirement to perform when he is Rovers manager, it is pretty difficult for fans to define how a manager will work in a club culture or with a player group.

Don't forget Mark Hughes who had not managed a league team previously.

Tony Parkes who was only ever caretaker and look at his record.

We honestly don't know how this may turn out, but some have written him off before he's even got the job!

[Rover_Shaun]

Conveniently forget that the ony two managers to get us into the top flight in the last 40 years were both experienced managers who had achieved things.

You get nowhere employing wet behind the ears novices

[martonrover]

Well personally I'm just astounded by the lack of learning from the club's past mistakes that's being shown on here.

This guy is an absolute carbon copy of Berg:

2 poor records with his 2 previous clubs.

Very little experience in the Championship.

Nothing whatsoever to indicate he's a decent manager.

But a baffling number aren't coming to the conclusion of: well it didn't work last time, so it probably won't work this time.

Instead we've got exactly the same weak excuses and subjective reasoning that was wheeled out for Berg. Tough circumstances, right attitude, good character, doesn't take ****, knows how to deal with idiots etc etc. This guff was shown up during the Berg tenure for being exactly what it is, nonsensical babble.

Whats his record in black and white? 13 wins in 51 games at Portsmouth, 2 wins in 12 games at Blackpool.

Is that good enough? No.

End of story.

I take your point but just don't think it's so black and white.

Very difficult to gauge anything from being manager at Pompey.

Very early days at Blackpool but to a certain extent he arrested the slump that had set in under Holloway.

We needed experience and it's another gamble but my gut feeling is much better than when Berg was appointed.

[jim mk2]

The only thing I would say is the requirement to perform when he is Rovers manager, it is pretty difficult for fans to define how a manager will work in a club culture or with a player group.

Most managers are a gamble and even those with a good track record can fail - who would have seen Hughes getting the boot at QPR ? It's not Appleton as such (though his track record does not inspire confidence), it's the way the club has gone about this appointment and apparently gone back on its word over Bowyer that has upset fans.

Why, oh why did they not just give the job to McCarthy 3 months ago ?

[EgyptianPete]

Everybody that came on here after bergs sacking and complaining about bowyer being in charge, now want bowyer to stay on and are whinging about appleton, give the guy a bloody chance!! He might do well! Mark Hughes screwed up QPR, spent in excess of £20 million and still couldn't even win 1 game in 10 this season before he was sacked! Get behind the new manager!!

I will

[JMillZz]

I'm all for supporting Appleton as new Rovers boss and believe he deserves a chance to make his mark on the team without coming under too much criticism from the stands, but I can't help but question the appointment.

Limited (poor) managerial experience, highlighted with a low win % (23.81%, source Wikipedia) although he probably deserves some lenience as a huge chunk of that was at Portsmouth who were in turmoil. Regardless of the situation at Portsmouth, his abilities must be questioned as he hardly set the world alight after taking over at Blackpool.

What has he shown to prove he is the man to take us forward? Venky's said we were looking for experience, and this chap has hardly any, particularly none of much value in a team chasing promotion and re-establishing ourselves as a Premier League team. Although his experience at Portsmouth under difficult circumstances is perhaps telling as to why he was brought in.

He could well be an absolute gem but BRFC can't afford to take such risks. Of course every decision has an element of risk to it but this is most certainly not calculated. It baffles me that Venky's, Shaw, Agnew et al fail to learn from previous mistakes. Even a child would work out by the 3rd attempt that a square peg doesn't fit a round hole.

Praying it works out but I am not so confident. Appleton's Blue and White army. RTID.

[Roverthechimp]

Most managers are a gamble and even those with a good track record can fail - who would have seen Hughes getting the boot at QPR ? It's not Appleton as such (though his track record does not inspire confidence), it's the way the club has gone about this appointment and apparently gone back on its word over Bowyer that has upset fans.

Why, oh why did they not just give the job to McCarthy 3 months ago ?

Have to disagree with you here. Although there is a distinct lack of respect shown from the owners to some of the employees (not entirely unheard of at other clubs/businesses) i think if the person being brought in was Hughes (for example) then the response from the fans would have been completely different.

[Derbyshire Blue]

I must admit I didn't know anything about Michael Appleton till he joined Blackpool, but the more I read the more I'm warming to him...

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/portsmouth/fb_news.php?storyid=17850

[heysham rover]

I am fairly optimisitic of the appointment, the guy is exceedingly well thought of in footballing circles for the job not only he has done at Portsmouth but how he has stopped the rot at Blackpool once Holloway lost interest and started turning into training once a week! Another thing I dont think people are taking into account is managing under Karl Oyston, for christ sake the guy is up there with Shebby in the whopper stakes, Oyston is also the tightest man in all of football.

As for him sorting out CKR and the like, I dont know if people remember Appleton from his playing days but the guy was nails, I cant see him standing for any of CKR's antics........... fam, get me blud.

He has a wealth of experience at varying levels, so to claim him wet behind the ears is unfair. Roy Hodgson (whatever personal opinions are on him) is regarded as one of the top coaches in Europe, he thought enough of 'Appy' to keep him as his assistant.

I wish Appleton well and will be firmly behind him.

[JMillZz]

I am fairly optimisitic of the appointment, the guy is exceedingly well thought of in footballing circles for the job not only he has done at Portsmouth but how he has stopped the rot at Blackpool once Holloway lost interest and started turning into training once a week! Another thing I dont think people are taking into account is managing under Karl Oyston, for christ sake the guy is up there with Shebby in the whopper stakes, Oyston is also the tightest man in all of football.

As for him sorting out CKR and the like, I dont know if people remember Appleton from his playing days but the guy was nails, I cant see him standing for any of CKR's antics........... fam, get me blud.

He has a wealth of experience at varying levels, so to claim him wet behind the ears is unfair. Roy Hodgson (whatever personal opinions are on him) is regarded as one of the top coaches in Europe, he thought enough of 'Appy' to keep him as his assistant.

I wish Appleton well and will be firmly behind him.

You must remember that Kean was supposedly a well-respected as a coach in the footballing world. Look what good that did us.

[bypass06]

Will be interesting if we win tonight, to see next Saturday's line-up.

I know new Managers like to put their own stamp on things,

But would he change a winning team?

Bowyer left to pick up pieces and focus on football

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/10155868._/?

[J*B]

The only way I can see this being a better option than keeping G-Bow on, is if Appleton is actually allowed to make some swift January purchases. Rumour has it he's been angry at the lack of backing at Blackpool, maybe he has assurances he will have a budget here for the remainder of January. We are desperately short at centre back and central midfield, while a winger would be a nice treat.