[Archived] Write Off!

[Howler]

Parachute payment - £8m, Ticket income - £5m, Merchandise/Sponsorship - £2m

About £15m, so less than half our current wage bill I'd imagine. Sure Appleton will manage it, after all he looks hard

Isn't it £16m next season for parachute money (not totally sure), plus some TV money too? taking the total closer to £25m. While not sufficient to cover current expenses its certainly a workable budget for a championship club (assuming honest and competent ownership) and more than most of our Championship rivals. Now if only we could spend it wisely...

[CapeTownRover]

Both Newcastle and West Ham, had pretty good players, and didn't have @#/? like we currently parading. They also have owners who in some way know what they are doing, we don't. Mike Ashley and the West Ham mob, are nowhere near as clueless as Venkys. Or am I being harsh on Venkys?

[mhead]

The problem is Venkys....until they go there is no future.

Appleton will try his best,but ain't going to bring 10,000 fans back and can only paper over the cracks and leave maybe 6 high earners doing a Grella on us. Sabotage is the word...of OUR Club.

The Guy with the good aim of the snowball needs to be voted Player of the Season.

[McClarky]

I'm not prepared to accept any talk of the halcyon days under Kean this serason. He put together an appallingly bad squad and then in the early games the opposition showed us so much respect we managed to scrape together a few wins, generally luckily. I don't think we would be any higher if we had kept the baldy duffer on. We have certainly made some bad decisions since he left though.

[LeChuck]

Does anybody know which of our players are out of contract this summer?

[Blue blood]

Interesting I think we could have gone up 1st time if we had a manager who knew what they were doing, a board which had a clue and hadn't spunked £8 million on Rhodes.

Now granted that didn't happen. But had we appointed someone decent over the summer and left the football side of things to football people, I think we'd have been in with a good shout of promotion.

Take the squad:

Robbo - loose a bit of weight off the lad (not rocket science or too hard to do) and you have a good keeper. Failing that Kean's done well. Either way we're sorted in goal.

Henley, Ribeiro, Orr, Lowe, Olsson (the good one) Givet - seem pretty sorted at full back position. There were decent full backs easy to purchase if we'd have wanted Olsson further forward (my preference) - Warnock being one example. Again, sorted/not hard to fix and strength in depth.

Centre back - yep we need a dominant one, one who can head. But again, think Givet is a good player, we've seen him be a very good player, especially under Sam. Hanley is decent, and certainly as a third choice back up and not having to rely on him so much we'd be fine. Again, how hard would it be to get a championship level centre half? Probably a position which needed working on, but again I think it was rectifiable over the summer.

Wide players. Olsson on the left. Potentially Formica or Rochina as a narrow option. We brought in Josh King. Pedersen again at this level I think can do it (was excellent against Leeds for example) and there's Simon. Realistically again we seem fairly sorted here for options and depth, especially with King in the squad.

Centre mid. Big hole in the team and big problem. Lowe as a super sub to run around and add a bit of energy is a good option to have, but a 1st choice cm pairing would be needed. Granted this was the weakest area of the team and needed a lot of work. But possibly could have worked it out. The Chelsea lad - McEcherain (sp?) went to Boro, who weren't more attractive than us at the start of the season. So whilst it did need working on I don't think the position was impossible.

Strikers. Rochina in the hole could be a great player to build a team around; Likewise we've a few others who can play in the hole. Best up front is a good option - and how hard would it be to get another physical striker into the club to cover his injury? There's a fair few around. Goodwillie should at this level, especially with some fitness training, be able to cause a few problems. Again, if not sorted, easily rectifiable and some decent depth.

Ok this may be a bit long winded but it shows that there wasn't masses that needed to be done to the squad. I honestly think that with a few astute signings we really could've pushed on this year. Sadly Best has been injured, centre back hasn't been addressed and centre midfield really hasn't worked out. However given we managed to do ok under a series of jokers and get some points with the current unbalanced squad, I really feel we were in a position to do something at the start of the season with the right manager and a couple of astute signings.

[Baz]

Interesting I think we could have gone up 1st time if we had a manager who knew what they were doing, a board which had a clue and hadn't spunked £8 million on Rhodes.

Now granted that didn't happen. But had we appointed someone decent over the summer and left the football side of things to football people, I think we'd have been in with a good shout of promotion.

Take the squad:

Robbo - loose a bit of weight off the lad (not rocket science or too hard to do) and you have a good keeper. Failing that Kean's done well. Either way we're sorted in goal.

Henley, Ribeiro, Orr, Lowe, Olsson (the good one) Givet - seem pretty sorted at full back position. There were decent full backs easy to purchase if we'd have wanted Olsson further forward (my preference) - Warnock being one example. Again, sorted/not hard to fix and strength in depth.

Centre back - yep we need a dominant one, one who can head. But again, think Givet is a good player, we've seen him be a very good player, especially under Sam. Hanley is decent, and certainly as a third choice back up and not having to rely on him so much we'd be fine. Again, how hard would it be to get a championship level centre half? Probably a position which needed working on, but again I think it was rectifiable over the summer.

Wide players. Olsson on the left. Potentially Formica or Rochina as a narrow option. We brought in Josh King. Pedersen again at this level I think can do it (was excellent against Leeds for example) and there's Simon. Realistically again we seem fairly sorted here for options and depth, especially with King in the squad.

Centre mid. Big hole in the team and big problem. Lowe as a super sub to run around and add a bit of energy is a good option to have, but a 1st choice cm pairing would be needed. Granted this was the weakest area of the team and needed a lot of work. But possibly could have worked it out. The Chelsea lad - McEcherain (sp?) went to Boro, who weren't more attractive than us at the start of the season. So whilst it did need working on I don't think the position was impossible.

Strikers. Rochina in the hole could be a great player to build a team around; Likewise we've a few others who can play in the hole. Best up front is a good option - and how hard would it be to get another physical striker into the club to cover his injury? There's a fair few around. Goodwillie should at this level, especially with some fitness training, be able to cause a few problems. Again, if not sorted, easily rectifiable and some decent depth.

Ok this may be a bit long winded but it shows that there wasn't masses that needed to be done to the squad. I honestly think that with a few astute signings we really could've pushed on this year. Sadly Best has been injured, centre back hasn't been addressed and centre midfield really hasn't worked out. However given we managed to do ok under a series of jokers and get some points with the current unbalanced squad, I really feel we were in a position to do something at the start of the season with the right manager and a couple of astute signings.

Do you think Robbo, Givet & Dunn havent been playing because of form? Id say we are doing the Nelson and Salgado trick again. I'd be surprised to see Robbo, Givet and Olsson still at Ewood in Feb to be honest.

[CapeTownRover]

Got to be realistic here, and say that this season has been even more of a disaster, but that we should expect better next season. However, we need to freshen up this squad, and irrespective of what division we are in, we need to enssure that we get some momentum going early on.

[mode_m]

I would have to agree that there is little chance of Rovers gaining promotion this season. I believe that the organization should start to settle down a bit now as this becomes more apparent within the club along with the appointment of MA. As others have mentioned on this board, I would like to see some house cleaning of the players and some key positions beefed up, particularly mid-field; a position that has needed strengthening since the Sam Allardyce days. Hopefully MA can stay until the end of the season barring any fear of relegation to League 1 of course, and can have the opportunity to reshape the squad. Investment will be needed.

[Mr. E]

This season? We will never again be a Premiership club. The writing is on the wall and nothing will change this. With Venkys we can only keep going down, and even if we finally kick them out, there are many, many clubs both in the Championship and League 1 that have it better than us.

When we went down in 1999, we at least had Jack's support and money to help ups rebuild and fight back.

It's sad but the Rovers dream is over. Venkys murdered us in cold blood and are being allowed to get away with it.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We are in a rut and going nowhere as a club,it will take years for the damage done to be rectified if at all possible.

Disinterested and overrated Players,a total oddball facination with appointing Rookie,inexperienced Managers and a total Circus at Boardroom level...what chance?

[Waggy76]

This season? We will never again be a Premiership club. The writing is on the wall and nothing will change this. With Venkys we can only keep going down, and even if we finally kick them out, there are many, many clubs both in the Championship and League 1 that have it better than us.

When we went down in 1999, we at least had Jack's support and money to help ups rebuild and fight back.

It's sad but the Rovers dream is over. Venkys murdered us in cold blood and are being allowed to get away with it.

Unfortunately ,you will be proved correct (certainly in my lifetime anyway) ...

Venkys certainly have blood on their hands along with 1or 2 other people , so far they have been allowed to get away with it (by the football authourities ) it is quite probable that all parties have made a tidy profit out of Blackburn Rovers !

I can think of 1 person whose bank balance has been swollen !

[Andy]

We're still suffering big-time from Kean's mismanagement.

Poor squad, no discipline or motivation and nowhere near as fit as they should be.

Like MA said, it's going to get worse before it starts getting better, but I don't think the future is all doom and glum, like some others do.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Got to be realistic here, and say that this season has been even more of a disaster, but that we should expect better next season.

Not sure that is being realistic. I hate to think how much money we'll end up having lost this season, but at a guess I'd say £20m. So either Venkys are gonna pay for that to happen again out of their own pocket, or they're gonna take an axe to our wage bill. And as bad as people think this squad is, you get what you pay for in football and it will get worse if its done on half the cost. Fans used to think the likes of Andrews/Roberts/Nelsen/Diouf weren't that good, but what happened when we replaced them for cheap youngsters? Relegation.

Who's gonna be out the door in the summer? Givet, Vukcevic, Murphy, Dann and Olsson would be my guesses. And I don't think you'd have to guess that their replacements will be on about half the money and be about half as good.

This season was our best chance and we've blown it hiring rubbish managers. It will get harder from here.

[CapeTownRover]

Well by realistic, I mean that we won't go up this season. A top 10 finish would be some achievement, but like I said, this season we have to write off. MA needs to be given support, and if we can end the season on a high, then we should I suppose be happy with that. If we end on a good run, then next season we will have momentum going forward. Its a pity though, that we would have to go through another championship season, but we only have Kean and Venkys to blame for that.

[Roverthechimp]

Who's gonna be out the door in the summer? Givet, Vukcevic, Murphy, Dann and Olsson would be my guesses. And I don't think you'd have to guess that their replacements will be on about half the money and be about half as good.

Got to say that a bog standard championship midfielder or defender could quite easily deliver the same midtable championship obscurity or relegation from the premier league on about a quarter of the money...

But i know what you mean, if the recruitment policy continues to be just as poor as it was then we are royally boned. However if (and it is a big if) MA can bring in some solid players then we will still have the nucleus for a promotion push even without Givet (not playing), Vukcevic (not playing), Dann (good player prone to awful lapses) and Olsson (good player but replacable with a more defence minded lb and Nunes/King lw). For the 80tkr a week that they are costing we should (a good word) be able to find adequate replacements and reduce the wage bill to maintain upper championship and even promotion push if Rhodes, Best, King and Rochina are still with us. I think Murphy will be staying for the duration but that might not be a bad thing.

[Stuart]

We got out of the 2nd tier last time because of Friedel, Duff, Dunn, Flitcroft and Jansen. 5 players brimming with qualities way above this level. And Mark Hughes (the player).

Oh and an experienced manager with a fine pedigree, who commanded respect through what he had done in the game.

Now we have Kean, Henley, Lowe, King and Rhodes. Maybe Best. And Murphy.

And a rookie manager. Who may demand respect despite lack of achievement in the game.

This will take more than two years - a lot more.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Got to say that a bog standard championship midfielder or defender could quite easily deliver the same midtable championship obscurity or relegation from the premier league on about a quarter of the money...

But i know what you mean, if the recruitment policy continues to be just as poor as it was then we are royally boned. However if (and it is a big if) MA can bring in some solid players then we will still have the nucleus for a promotion push even without Givet (not playing), Vukcevic (not playing), Dann (good player prone to awful lapses) and Olsson (good player but replacable with a more defence minded lb and Nunes/King lw). For the 80tkr a week that they are costing we should (a good word) be able to find adequate replacements and reduce the wage bill to maintain upper championship and even promotion push if Rhodes, Best, King and Rochina are still with us. I think Murphy will be staying for the duration but that might not be a bad thing.

But like I said, this is exactly the kind of thing people were saying about our oldies under Allardyce. Nelsen was too slow, Andrews just ran around and pointed, Diouf just argued and sulked, Roberts couldn't hit a barn door. The number of times that kind of thing was said must border on the hundred thousands. And then we dumped them all and the new batch were considerably worse.

For me there's too much of a "the grass is always greener on the other side" mentality. It always seems to be assumed that there are realistic, affordable targets on cheaper wages out there who are better than the players we've got. The majority of the time this isn't the case, and even when it is it takes a top drawer manager to sniff them out. Fans must have a hell of a lot of faith in Appleton if they think he can improve this squad on a considerably lower budget. Blind faith I would argue given the lack of evidence that he is actually that good.

Last time Venkys chopped the wage bill, the lost players were replaced with the likes of Hanley, Lowe, Formica, Petrovic and Goodwillie. I can hear the response now "well don't do that again". Much easier said than done! We were in the Premiership last time and thats the collection of low-budget replacements we got, what the heck will the collection of low-budget replacements look like now we're in the Championship? I dread to think, but I'm pretty sure it'll make our current high earners look brilliant.

[Roverthechimp]

As i said, i see your point but my key statement was that there must be a shift in our transfer policy and seeing as MA is the manager then he should be given the chance. Having watched us being outplayed and outmuscled by the majority of teams this season who are all paying much lower wages than we are then yes it is possible.

The crucial point is that the players we signed weren't exactly low-budget when all things are factored in. We replaced experienced premiership players with inexperienced dross but still ended up paying a lot of money for them...

[CapeTownRover]

hypnotoad, unless MA can shift something like 200 players who are nowhere near the 1st team, then I'm afraid its going to be very difficult to bring in new players. Imo he hinted that previous manager(he who shall not be named) and who ever were involved, were messing the club around, and that should stop. Our wage bill is staggering, and we need to clear the useless, and rebuild what ever is left. Unless we go on an amazing run, its basically damage and image limitation now.