[Archived] Who Is Making The Signings ?

[Rover_Shaun]

At least the club is going all out for something...........just wish it was a crack at promotion and a competent and ethical administrative structure

[Gav]

Whoevers making the signings certainly doesn't have much ambition!

Yes i know, thats the market we're now dealing in, but Alan Judge from Notts County? surely we can do better than that?!

[Mike E]

Whoevers making the signings certainly doesn't have much ambition!

Yes i know, thats the market we're now dealing in, but Alan Judge from Notts County? surely we can do better than that?!

We damn near just went into that league and we're about to sign one of it's best players. Rather than lacking ambition, I'm glad we're going for a more solid set-up before trying for promotion again. We need to get steady before we can rise again. Going straight back up didn't work, so we just need to make sure the fall doesn't continue and hope we can get nearer the top end of the league than the bottom.

I don't understand this sense of entitlement (and I've only really known the Premiership years). We are where we are for a reason and we need to accept that. No matter that Venkys have caused it, we need to plan ahead and build upwards. If we'd fallen like this under the trust, would people still insist on going for broke on PL rejects, rather than potentially solid, hungry players?

[Rover_Shaun]

Maybe Shebby was referring to the supporters mindset when he said 'the transition is almost complete'?

Some have certainly been Venkied

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

We damn near just went into that league and we're about to sign one of it's best players. Rather than lacking ambition, I'm glad we're going for a more solid set-up before trying for promotion again. We need to get steady before we can rise again. Going straight back up didn't work, so we just need to make sure the fall doesn't continue and hope we can get nearer the top end of the league than the bottom.

I don't understand this sense of entitlement (and I've only really known the Premiership years). We are where we are for a reason and we need to accept that. No matter that Venkys have caused it, we need to plan ahead and build upwards. If we'd fallen like this under the trust, would people still insist on going for broke on PL rejects, rather than potentially solid, hungry players?

I don't think its a sense of entitlement, its more a sense of urgency. Every season we stay in this league our financial muscle decreases and football is money at the end of the day. Before long we'll be at the status of Burnley, skint and small, even for this league. Then its a case of once every few decades a manager comes along, gets you promoted for 1 season, then you come straight back down. We've arguably got 1 season left and then thats where we'll be. And once we're there it won't matter solid, sensible, steady, hungry etc signings we make. Nothing but promotion should be the target for next season, in my opinion it simply aint gonna work building up to it over a number of years cause we're too small a club.

[Mike E]

I don't think its a sense of entitlement, its more a sense of urgency. Every season we stay in this league our financial muscle decreases and football is money at the end of the day. Before long we'll be at the status of Burnley, skint and small, even for this league. Then its a case of once every few decades a manager comes along, gets you promoted for 1 season, then you come straight back down. We've arguably got 1 season left and then thats where we'll be. And once we're there it won't matter solid, sensible, steady, hungry etc signings we make. Nothing but promotion should be the target for next season, in my opinion it simply aint gonna work building up to it over a number of years cause we're too small a club.

I think what's frustrating me is a lack of context in all this. Getting promoted (or at least into the play-offs) will most likely only take a few tweaks to what we already have. We've just had our worst season in years, with a ton of turmoil behind the scenes, 5 different managers over 6 spells, a squad with many youth players and has-beens who can't be arsed and we finished only 10pts off the play-offs.

Over the course of a full season (based on the utter futility of last season), surely we can expect at least 10 more points under steadier management in Bowyer? My opinion is that building on what we have will probably be enough to at least make us contenders next season and I'd rather us do that than go for broke and @#/? up like we did last season.

[Rover_Shaun]

I can't help notice Millwall's league position with Taylor in the team and find it hard to equate him with positional progression. With Judge we've got a bit of back up for the reserves too

[Parsonblue]

Maybe Shebby was referring to the supporters mindset when he said 'the transition is almost complete'?

Some have certainly been Venkied

No, I think it's just a case of some of us are more realistic than others. We are where we are for whatever reasons - that's a different debate. However, if money is tight we need to be more astute in our dealings in the market. Gary is clearly going for younger players who still have something to prove. The fact that the three we hope to sign are all out of contract and that wages will be more realistic than what was paid last season can only be a positive. As darrenmike said we need to consolidate and then try to move forward. Neither Cardiff - apart from Bellamy - nor Hull were exactly brimming with 'big' name players last season whilst Watford filled their team with loan signings from abroad.

We can sit back and moan about what we have lost - and goodness knows I've done that during the past couple of years - but, ulitmately, it isn't going to get us back to where we want to be. Sadly, we are having to start again and this time have the handicap of owners who are out of their depth and administrators who do not seem fit for purpose. However, I still want to support Gary and what he is trying to do in attempting to rebuild. We may not be challenging for promotion next season, or indeed, for the next few seasons but that doesn't mean I want to walk away from the club. If supporting Blackburn Rovers means some say I have been Venkied then fair enough but it won't stop me supporting the club I have followed for over half a century. We've been through tough times before, we are going through them again and will no doubt go through tough times in the future. It's part and parcel of following a small town football club.

[Rover_Shaun]

I did put a wink.

Who's after big names. Maybe once June comes we can start looking beyond aquiring squad players?

[den]

It's a pile of sh1te Parson, that's what it is. Promoting reserve team managers and buying league one players is taking us nowhere. I hope Bowyer has his sights higher than this. Summer will tell us everything we need to know. I suspect ambition went out last season when Venky's realised how much this game is costing. They need to go.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

No, I think it's just a case of some of us are more realistic than others. We are where we are for whatever reasons - that's a different debate. However, if money is tight we need to be more astute in our dealings in the market. Gary is clearly going for younger players who still have something to prove. The fact that the three we hope to sign are all out of contract and that wages will be more realistic than what was paid last season can only be a positive. As darrenmike said we need to consolidate and then try to move forward. Neither Cardiff - apart from Bellamy - nor Hull were exactly brimming with 'big' name players last season whilst Watford filled their team with loan signings from abroad.

We can sit back and moan about what we have lost - and goodness knows I've done that during the past couple of years - but, ulitmately, it isn't going to get us back to where we want to be. Sadly, we are having to start again and this time have the handicap of owners who are out of their depth and administrators who do not seem fit for purpose. However, I still want to support Gary and what he is trying to do in attempting to rebuild. We may not be challenging for promotion next season, or indeed, for the next few seasons but that doesn't mean I want to walk away from the club. If supporting Blackburn Rovers means some say I have been Venkied then fair enough but it won't stop me supporting the club I have followed for over half a century. We've been through tough times before, we are going through them again and will no doubt go through tough times in the future. It's part and parcel of following a small town football club.

By Venkied, isn't he more alluding to the fact that praising these very mediocre signings is letting Venkys off the hook? They've caused this mess, and if free transfers are going to be the order of this summer, then it appears they've no intention of dipping their hand into their large pockets to fix it. If that proves to be the case then by rights at end of the summer ours fans should be furious and one step away from resuming protests. But if the recent celebratory threads about signing these players are anything to go off, a glazed-eyed optimism seems more likely to be the mood among fans. And personally I've no idea what its based on, Bowyer looks a reasonable but unspectacular manager, our squad is average to decent for this league, and the players we're signing are no better. How are we actually gonna manage to achieve anything at this rate? And if we don't next season, whats the likelihood of it happening the season after when £8m will have to come off the wage bill to compensate for the reduced parachute payment?

Last summer we signed Murphy, Best, Gomes, Etuhu, Kazim-Richards and Rhodes. Thats a good summer for me, the reason it didn't work last season was the managers, not the players. This summer we've so far signed Taylor, Eastwood and Judge. A worrying decline in quality, ambition and investment so far from Venkys. And not many are actually criticising them for it. Bet they're pleasantly surprised.

[Rover_Shaun]

Maybe it could be entered into the English Dictionary

Venkied (abj) To lower one's expectations and ambitions to match one's surroundings after a succession of abysmal decisions

[Parsonblue]

It's a pile of sh1te Parson, that's what it is. Promoting reserve team managers and buying league one players is taking us nowhere. I hope Bowyer has his sights higher than this. Summer will tell us everything we need to know. I suspect ambition went out last season when Venky's realised how much this game is costing. They need to go.

I agree they need to go but who is going to come up with the cash to buy the club IF they want to sell? Last summer we spent big money on players who, apart from Rhodes, simply didn't deliver and we ended up just avoiding relegation. Gary is trying a different strategy and who's to say it won't be more successful than what went on last season? Sadly, the days of Jack and even the Trust are gone. We are a small town club, with dwindling gates and, one suspect's, a dwindling budget. Venky's have taken us back to the early seventies but, fortunately, thanks to Gary we avoided dropping into the third tier again. I'm realistic enough to believe that there is no magic wand that is going to take us back to a pre-Venky's position anytime soon. It is going to be a long, hard journey that may take years to complete. Indeed, we may now find that the Championship is the best we can hope for under the present ownership. Even if Venky's sold out and new owners pumped money into the club there is no guarantee that we would return to the Premier League. You only have to look at the money that Sir Jack Hayward spent trying to get Wolves up to see that. The only choice supporters have to make is do they walk away or continue supporting the club? As we know, in the late 60's and 70's many walked away. There is no right or wrong answer to that question, simply personal choice.

[BlueMonday]

Venkied(Adj): To make an utter and complete mess out of whatever it is you are doing.

example ~ "I Venkied the house extension I was building and it fell down"

Maybe it could be entered into the English Dictionary

Venkied (abj) To lower one's expectations and ambitions to match one's surroundings after a succession of abysmal decisions

I think the Dictionary needs a new entry lol!

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Is Kean in there as well? Could start combining them:

I Venkied the house extension I was building and now my house is Keaned.

[Rover_Shaun]

Why did I put abj? Damn sausage fingers

I totally keaned that

[Gav]

I think what's frustrating me is a lack of context in all this. Getting promoted (or at least into the play-offs) will most likely only take a few tweaks to what we already have.

A few tweaks?

We need 5 or 6 decent buys more like and thats being generous!

[Rover_Shaun]

Since the start of the season populist opinion has swung, like Jerome on his tantric swing, between having the best squad in the league to having a bunch of good for nothings.

[Mike E]

A few tweaks?

We need 5 or 6 decent buys more like and thats being generous!

I'm quite willing to bet that judge and taylor are such decent buys. And one summer of the usual transfer activity is what I mean by a few tweaks. Don't you think a couple of astute signings, a proper fitness session in pre-season and having one manager instead of 5 can make up a 10pt deficit?

[RevidgeBlue]

No, I think it's just a case of some of us are more realistic than others. We are where we are for whatever reasons - that's a different debate. However, if money is tight we need to be more astute in our dealings in the market. Gary is clearly going for younger players who still have something to prove. The fact that the three we hope to sign are all out of contract and that wages will be more realistic than what was paid last season can only be a positive. As darrenmike said we need to consolidate and then try to move forward. Neither Cardiff - apart from Bellamy - nor Hull were exactly brimming with 'big' name players last season whilst Watford filled their team with loan signings from abroad.

We can sit back and moan about what we have lost - and goodness knows I've done that during the past couple of years - but, ulitmately, it isn't going to get us back to where we want to be. Sadly, we are having to start again and this time have the handicap of owners who are out of their depth and administrators who do not seem fit for purpose. However, I still want to support Gary and what he is trying to do in attempting to rebuild. We may not be challenging for promotion next season, or indeed, for the next few seasons but that doesn't mean I want to walk away from the club. If supporting Blackburn Rovers means some say I have been Venkied then fair enough but it won't stop me supporting the club I have followed for over half a century. We've been through tough times before, we are going through them again and will no doubt go through tough times in the future. It's part and parcel of following a small town football club.

Excellent post Parson.

I agree they need to go but who is going to come up with the cash to buy the club IF they want to sell? Last summer we spent big money on players who, apart from Rhodes, simply didn't deliver and we ended up just avoiding relegation. Gary is trying a different strategy and who's to say it won't be more successful than what went on last season? Sadly, the days of Jack and even the Trust are gone. We are a small town club, with dwindling gates and, one suspect's, a dwindling budget. Venky's have taken us back to the early seventies but, fortunately, thanks to Gary we avoided dropping into the third tier again. I'm realistic enough to believe that there is no magic wand that is going to take us back to a pre-Venky's position anytime soon. It is going to be a long, hard journey that may take years to complete. Indeed, we may now find that the Championship is the best we can hope for under the present ownership. Even if Venky's sold out and new owners pumped money into the club there is no guarantee that we would return to the Premier League. You only have to look at the money that Sir Jack Hayward spent trying to get Wolves up to see that. The only choice supporters have to make is do they walk away or continue supporting the club? As we know, in the late 60's and 70's many walked away. There is no right or wrong answer to that question, simply personal choice.

And again.

[Hasta]

Last summer we signed Murphy, Best, Gomes, Etuhu, Kazim-Richards and Rhodes. Thats a good summer for me, the reason it didn't work last season was the managers, not the players. This summer we've so far signed Taylor, Eastwood and Judge. A worrying decline in quality, ambition and investment so far from Venkys. And not many are actually criticising them for it. Bet they're pleasantly surprised.

Murphy, Etuhu, Best, Gomes, CKR - a good summers signings who didn't work out because of the manager! Seriously?

Are you one of the people who believed (and maybe still believes) that we genuinely had the best squad in the league last year?

[RevidgeBlue]

It's a pile of sh1te Parson, that's what it is. Promoting reserve team managers and buying league one players is taking us nowhere. I hope Bowyer has his sights higher than this. Summer will tell us everything we need to know. I suspect ambition went out last season when Venky's realised how much this game is costing. They need to go.

Where your posts fall down den for me is your rose tinted view that everything was fine and dandy under the previous owners.

If we'd been on an upwards curve I could understand some of your constant angst about spilt milk. But the reality is, the previous owners had lost interest and the lack of investment was slowly killing us. We might not have gone down as quickly as we did under this lot but go down we surely would have within maybe another couple of seasons. Allardyce would have been out of contract at the end of the season in which he was unfairly sacked and had been frequently dropping hints about retirement/managing abroad so there's every chance that frustrated by the lack of financial support he would have left at that point anyway had there not been a sale.

As for your comments above, what sort of players do you think we should be signing? We've tried splurging lots of money on former Premiership stars and that hasn't worked as they don't have the appetite for it seemingly. There is not much quality in the Championship on the evidence of last season, what is needed first and foremost is seemingly young hungry players on an upward curve who are prepared to go to war Saturday- Tuesday - Saturday- Saturday - Tuesday- Saturday every week of the season.

I don't understand your constant criticism of Bowyer either. He's been handed the job on a couple of occasions by default due to the complete failure of our efforts to make a permanent appointment. On both occasions though (surprisingly perhaps) he's done very well and demonstrated a certain level of ability. The evidence appears to be that the players respond to him very well, and he is capable of getting them to play in an intelligent and constructive way. It's not the same in my view as simply handing the job to the caretaker boss without any idea at all of what he can do.

We don't have any divine right to success as Parson says. You seem to be of the view that Premiership football would have continued indefinitely at Ewood with zero investment simply by virue of the fact John Williams, Tom Finn and Sam Allardyce were there. It wouldn't.

Now, we are where we are. The Trust sold to Venky's and we as supporters have had to live with the consequences of that. If sensible owners with deep pockets suddenly appear out of nowhere so much the better but until then the Club is financially dependent on the owners unfortunately. As supporters I guess we've two choices, give up and find a new hobby, or move on and attempt to to support the Club through good times and bad.

Constantly harping back to how good the good old days allegedly were a few years ago is completely pointless though frankly.

[Gav]

I'm quite willing to bet that judge and taylor are such decent buys. And one summer of the usual transfer activity is what I mean by a few tweaks. Don't you think a couple of astute signings, a proper fitness session in pre-season and having one manager instead of 5 can make up a 10pt deficit?

I really don't Mike no, the side is devoid of quality all over the pitch and if Judge was any good he'd have been picked up by now. League one is poor, very poor indeed, that poor infact that Bristol Coty will probably win that league in the coming season and that tells its own story.

I hope I'm wrong by the way, but we should be aiming higher in my opinion.

[RevidgeBlue]

Murphy, Etuhu, Best, Gomes, CKR - a good summers signings who didn't work out because of the manager! Seriously?

Are you one of the people who believed (and maybe still believes) that we genuinely had the best squad in the league last year?

These players failed to perform. On paper pre season we certainly had the best squad in the division, and we certainly had the most depth in the squad to cope with fatigue, injuries and suspension, which should have been a massive advantage given how thick and fast the games come at you in this division.

[RevidgeBlue]

I really don't Mike no, the side is devoid of quality all over the pitch and if Judge was any good he'd have been picked up by now. League one is poor, very poor indeed, that poor infact that Bristol Coty will probably win that league in the coming season and that tells its own story.

I hope I'm wrong by the way, but we should be aiming higher in my opinion.

Blimey GAV, he's only been at Notts County since January 2011. Bit harsh that.