[Archived] Rubber dinghy men

[G Somerset Rover]

I feel it's time the players took a large chunk of the blame for our demise. We have a squad full of internationals, yet throughout the past 24+ months they have performed far below their ability and we're now staring down the barrel of consecutive relegations.

Lack of ability can be forgiven, but a lack of effort cannot. To my mind only a handful of the youngsters, plus Dunn and Rhodes look like they care and that is unforgivable. People say "get behind the lads", but why should we when they frankly don't give a toss about us, or the death of our club?

It's surely time to let them know exactly how we feel about their "efforts" for the past couple of seasons.

[Roverall]

Agreed, but unfortunately the rot is coming from above.

Doesn't absolve the players of blame, but the root cause is what it is.

[DE.]

I think the worst thing is that most of them clearly have very little sense of professional pride. Most players would be demoralised at the situation the club is in, but to not care about how you're perceived by others in the game is pretty much as low as you can go as a player. Most of ours fall into that category, which is a big part of the reason we are where we are. I would say I'd be ashamed if I was them, but I never would be as I'm not a gutless coward.

[OJRovers]

The club ethos is driven down from the board who are only there for the money. How can you expect the players to behave any different. Doesn't make it right though.

[Guest Norbert]

No players should get any pay until we win. The likes of Murphy have been robbing us for long enough and money is the only reason most of the players are here. So use money to motivate and punish them.

[den]

Looking in the wrong direction.

[G Somerset Rover]

Looking in the wrong direction.

Of course all of our problems have stemmed from the top Den, but as I say, I cannot believe how lightly the players have got off in all of this. When did they last genuinely put in a team shift for 90 minutes?

[den]

Of course all of our problems have stemmed from the top Den, but as I say, I cannot believe how lightly the players have got off in all of this. When did they last genuinely put in a team shift for 90 minutes?

Sorry for sounding a bit curt SR, but to some fans this has been inevitable. It really isn't the players fault.

[A cup of beans]

Sorry for sounding a bit curt SR, but to some fans this has been inevitable. It really isn't the players fault.

So these players have given there all, and shown passion pride and courage?

[AJW]

is it really naive to think that professional footballers should be professional and ignore whats going on inside the club and just perform to their very best of their abilities in front of a paying public?

[Hasta]

The problem is a lot of people still think the squad should be top 6. Individually there are too many poor players in there and, as a team, the squad isn't built well enough so that the strong can carry the weak. Apart from running for 90 minutes I watch Jason Lowe and think there is very little he can do with a football that I probably couldn't and yet people still think he should be the mainstay of our team. Nothing against his attitufe but he's the most glaring example. Dann, Hanley CKR, Murphy, Etuhu have all been vastly overrated on these boards this season. Leon Best was hailed as the messiah but has proved pys poor. The Dann / Hanley CB pairing was touted as being one of the strongest in the league up until about 6 weeks ago by some.

The fault lies with the no-marks that have assembled this band of garbage and the string-pullers that put the no-marks in place. The decision for Givet and Dunn to have hardly played all season looks more baffling by the day.

I'm not saying all players have give their all (I'm looking at you specifically Daniel) but ultimately they also aren't good enough as individuals or as a team.

[Silas]

I just don't get how many of our fans absolve the players of any blame. It's a strange mentality.

So am I right in thinking that if you have crap bosses, that means you can just stop doing your job?

By that reasoning, all the scandals recently with hospitals and old peoples homes, none of those staff are culpable, it's all the fault of the people at the top is it?

Some worker that has left an old woman to die alone in a hospital bed by not doing their job gets off scott free because they had rubbish bosses. The place wasn't run right, so it's ok.

Nobody ever thinks that. People are quite rightly outraged by the both the workers actions and the bosses that were supposed to be overseeing it.

So why, as usual, does football seem to be an exception to the rule?

Sounds like extreme example, but football clubs do affect lives too. It affects local businesses, livelyhoods, jobs, people's mental wellbeing, peoples physical wellbeing no doubt when some-one wants to take out frustrations. Players have a responsibility and accountability to a hell of a lot of people.

And yet most people seem to find it acceptable that they feel no sense of duty towards all of these things, and are happy just to go through the motions and do the bare minimum.

Well I don't. I think it's a disgrace and an embarrassment. And I won't even link it to the vast sums of money they all get because that's irrelevant. They could be on minimum wage for all I care, the fact is they are paid to do a job that affects a lot of peoples lives. And regardless of how bad the company is that they work for, there is such a thing as personal accountability.

I wonder how many of you would be so forgiving if a gas fitter does a dodgy job at your house that kills your loved ones. Will you shake the mans hand and pat him on the back and say well done mate, I heard that company of yours is a shambles, so it wasn't your fault.

[G Somerset Rover]

Apparently only Rhodes and Jones thanked the fans for their efforts today; the rest just trudged straight down the tunnel.

Disgraceful.

[TurkishDelightFan]

If we let them know exactly how we feel then we have a higher risk of going down as they might give up. However of we get behind the team then we have a better chance of survival.

[FourLaneBlue]

The players know what the fans think. How many times have the fans booed this season? Half time, full time etc etc

There isn´t much to do but try to roar them to safety over the next 6 games. The inquest into yet another shambles of a season can begin then.

[arbitro]

Apparently only Rhodes and Jones thanked the fans for their efforts today; the rest just trudged straight down the tunnel.

Disgraceful.

Gary Bowyer tried to send a group of Rovers players who were trudging off the pitch over to us. Some of them gave a patronising sort of applause before heading down the tunnel.

I actually thought (by recent standards) we played ok today but there were two poor sides out there. Credit to Gary for dropping the likes of Murphy, Best and Bentley but he just doesn't have enough quality players to pick from. An old Lancashire saying springs to mind - you can't weave without weft. How did it ever get this bad?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Apparently only Rhodes and Jones thanked the fans for their efforts today; the rest just trudged straight down the tunnel.

Disgraceful.

I don't give a toss if they applaud the fans or not. What I really care about is that they wear the shirt with pride and run their blood to water for the club. Do that win, lose or draw and I'll be happy.

P

[Stuart]

I don't give a toss if they applaud the fans or not. What I really care about is that they wear the shirt with pride and run their blood to water for the club. Do that win, lose or draw and I'll be happy.

P

If they don't care about the fans, they won't care about the club.

Most of them will be off at the end of the season anyway, even if we go down, Their agents will just blame the turmoil at the club.

[Amo]

I don't hold the players personally responsible. Their working conditions for the last year have been absolutely farcical, ravaged by board room politics and managerial upheaval. They barely know who's in charge from one week to the next and every appointment has been an unmitigated disaster. Give the modern day footballer an inch and he'll take a mile. You should expect no more than that. Players need to be organised and prepared both tactically and mentally by someone who knows what they're doing. I know people are sick of hearing his name, but had someone of Mick McCarthy's calibre been hired and allowed to get on with the job, then I am confident we would be seeing a very different side on the pitch.

[roversfan99]

I find it interesting how the people who rarely attend rate the squad, on average to have more quality than those who go every week.

[Hasta]

I just don't get how many of our fans absolve the players of any blame. It's a strange mentality.

So am I right in thinking that if you have crap bosses, that means you can just stop doing your job?

By that reasoning, all the scandals recently with hospitals and old peoples homes, none of those staff are culpable, it's all the fault of the people at the top is it?

Some worker that has left an old woman to die alone in a hospital bed by not doing their job gets off scott free because they had rubbish bosses. The place wasn't run right, so it's ok.

Nobody ever thinks that. People are quite rightly outraged by the both the workers actions and the bosses that were supposed to be overseeing it.

So why, as usual, does football seem to be an exception to the rule?

Sounds like extreme example, but football clubs do affect lives too. It affects local businesses, livelyhoods, jobs, people's mental wellbeing, peoples physical wellbeing no doubt when some-one wants to take out frustrations. Players have a responsibility and accountability to a hell of a lot of people.

And yet most people seem to find it acceptable that they feel no sense of duty towards all of these things, and are happy just to go through the motions and do the bare minimum.

Well I don't. I think it's a disgrace and an embarrassment. And I won't even link it to the vast sums of money they all get because that's irrelevant. They could be on minimum wage for all I care, the fact is they are paid to do a job that affects a lot of peoples lives. And regardless of how bad the company is that they work for, there is such a thing as personal accountability.

I wonder how many of you would be so forgiving if a gas fitter does a dodgy job at your house that kills your loved ones. Will you shake the mans hand and pat him on the back and say well done mate, I heard that company of yours is a shambles, so it wasn't your fault.

Passionate but misplaced. Your post still implies that the players are good enough to be comfortably clear of the drop zone but are not trying.

Bar a few exceptions that's not how I see it now nor how I've seen it all season.

They are simply not good enough as individuals or as a team. Myself and others pointed this out back in September but too many people believed they were Premiership quality players playing poorer sides week in week out. I don't believe the likes of Lowe, Dann, Hanley, Morris, Henley, Formica, Rochina, Jones, King, Kazim Richards, Rhodes are not trying. Simply as a unit not good enough.

I blame Kean, Berg, Appleton and therefore Shabby, Agnew, Shaw and Venkys for dismantling a proven Premier League team and creating this shambles.

Admittedly Orr and Murphy can bugger off to oblivion and kiss each others useless assholes.

[Silas]

Passionate but misplaced. Your post still implies that the players are good enough to be comfortably clear of the drop zone but are not trying.

Bar a few exceptions that's not how I see it now nor how I've seen it all season.

They are simply not good enough as individuals or as a team. Myself and others pointed this out back in September but too many people believed they were Premiership quality players playing poorer sides week in week out. I don't believe the likes of Lowe, Dann, Hanley, Morris, Henley, Formica, Rochina, Jones, King, Kazim Richards, Rhodes are not trying. Simply as a unit not good enough.

I blame Kean, Berg, Appleton and therefore Shabby, Agnew, Shaw and Venkys for dismantling a proven Premier League team and creating this shambles.

Admittedly Orr and Murphy can bugger off to oblivion and kiss each others useless assholes.

I disagree. We know the quality of the squad is poor, but at the very least they have the ability to be comfortably mid table, even 10th to 15th.

How it has played out I believe is that their inflated egos led them to believe this league was going to pretty breezy for them. And when that hasn't worked out, they have just thrown all their toys out the pram and given up.

And now they appear to be brain washing everyone into believing that they really are that bad, which is leading to people excusing them for it. It's a cracking trick.

[Waggy76]

The biggest problem BRFC ever had in their 138 year history is STEVE KEAN a man who manipulated his way into a position of power , which was far far above his station . Ably abetted by his trusted comrade !

[Andy]

The biggest problem BRFC ever had in their 138 year history is STEVE KEAN a man who manipulated his way into a position of power , which was far far above his station . Ably abetted by his trusted comrade !

I completely agree with this.

Kean not only decimated the playing squad, he completely demolished the structure of the club with the help of his little bumchums.

He walks away with a bank full of money and, amazingly, sympathy from ignorant and uneducated pundits/fans and we are left to suffer the consequences.

Which, right now, looks like consecutive relegations.

I hope you feel that your loyalty towards this snake was well justified, Venky's.

[Boner]

The rot began when Kean shipped out every leader we had at the club because they had him figured out. Who's left? Dunny can't do it on his own. Captain Dann a leader? Nope.

Danny Murphy was the captain for half a season. Danny @#/? Murphy, a nobody. We've been a shambles off the pitch but if we're reliant on the likes of him on it then it's no surprise we're in trouble.