[Archived] Who Is Making The Signings ?

[Hasta]

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.

They failed to perform because 3 of them were past it and 1 is not as good as people think. The squad was plenty big in numbers but not in quality.

Would sticking with one decent manager have garnered us more points? Yes

Did we have one of the best three squads in the Championship last year? No way.

[den]

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.

I don't know where to start with that load of tripe Rev, but I'll try and I'll keep it short as poss.

Basically, you're saying that we would have been where we are now, with Sam in charge and under the trustees. So no real harm done eh? That in itself shows that you've learned nothing about the shambles that are Venky's. You were in favour of sacking Sam, Finn etc, and fully backed the involvement of Singh and Anderson in bringing in a squad of players that struggled to keep us out of the third division. You backed the sale of top players while championing Murphy and Etuhu. You were happy to see the club sell players like Nzonzi, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, El Hadj etc, etc - and now you're happy with appointing a reserve team manager and signing players from the league below us. I don't remember you objecting to anything that's happened in the last two and a half years.

And I've got it all wrong?

Moving on. Of course we are where we are. The Raos are a total disgrace, but you think we should all continue accepting the way the club is being run into probably, IMO, big financial trouble? Carry on happy clapping because this would have happened in the next two seasons anyway - even though we were a mid table PL club with an average gate of c25000?

I knew what was needed to keep us in the PL Rev. I knew what would happen when the structure was being dismantled. Many of us knew. And I rather think I've a good idea where the current course is taking us.

I guess in summary, if you didn't know what would cause our demise, how could we possibly believe that you know how to rebuild it? Lol.

[JAL]

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.

We dont know who will be leaving yet, which means nobody can really predict with any confidence what next season chances could be.

[RevidgeBlue]

I don't know where to start with that load of tripe Rev, but I'll try and I'll keep it short as poss.

Basically, you're saying that we would have been where we are now, with Sam in charge and under the trustees. So no real harm done eh? That in itself shows that you've learned nothing about the shambles that are Venky's. You were in favour of sacking Sam, Finn etc, and fully backed the involvement of Singh and Anderson in bringing in a squad of players that struggled to keep us out of the third division. You backed the sale of top players while championing Murphy and Etuhu. You were happy to see the club sell players like Nzonzi, Samba, Nelsen, Emerton, El Hadj etc, etc - and now you're happy with appointing a reserve team manager and signing players from the league below us. I don't remember you objecting to anything that's happened in the last two and a half years.

And I've got it all wrong?

Moving on. Of course we are where we are. The Raos are a total disgrace, but you think we should all continue accepting the way the club is being run into probably, IMO, big financial trouble? Carry on happy clapping because this would have happened in the next two seasons anyway - even though we were a mid table PL club with an average gate of c25000?

I knew what was needed to keep us in the PL Rev. I knew what would happen when the structure was being dismantled. Many of us knew. And I rather think I've a good idea where the current course is taking us.

Not much point replying to most of this as you have completely misrepresented and distorted my views.

I was not in favour of sacking Sam or Finn. (Not that Finn or Williams were sacked any how.)

Nor have I ever classed key players who were doing the business like Samba (and you could add to that Jones, Hoillet, Yakubu ) in the same bracket as hugely expensive players who were well past their best and contributing relatively little on the pitch latterly like Nelsen Emerton, Diouf, and Salgado. Nzonzi wasn't past it age wise, but refused to put a shift in for us in the season we went down.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Moving early for identified players is sensible and suggests we are working to a plan. They have all summer to bed in and settle in the area. We have chance to work with them and ensure they are fit and ready to go.

The quality of the signings in squad terms can only be considered in full context when we have completed our activities and know who is to stay or leave.

Interesting that we have signed midfielders and a keeper. Pleased they have played in English football, are in their young to mid twenties and have seemingly all had decent seasons.

Other targets will take longer to snare. We have a big job ahead to change this squad around. We need six or seven new players able to compete for and then hold down a first team place. The ins and outs this summer will be interesting to view.

If Bowyer has chosen these lads and subject to the terms he is working to then we can only trust in his judgement.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

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?

Hard to say whether it was the best but it was certainly one of the best.

Find it hard to believe you can question the quality of those signings. And I'm not talking about in hindsight on the basis of the one season when they played for a club with insane owners, **** managers (3 of them) and disgruntled fans. That's like judging a race car on the one race it ran on a dirt track. As players over their whole careers, they were good players at this level.

Ok Murphy and Gomes were old, but a good manager would use them sparingly, as for example Hughes did with Tugay and Souness did with Hughes.

Imagine how Allardyce would have got Etuhu playing in this division. He'd have given him a regimented position and job to do, and made sure the midfield defended as a unit. Keith Andrews played 32 times in the season we finished 10th in the PL, that's an example of what a good manager can get out of a limited player.

CKR's had an all right season, but has looked much better playing for Bowyer than he did for the rubbish managers (which is my whole point). Don't see how anyone can judge Best, he played in the tail-end of a season where he was recovering from a very serious injury.

Contrast that to the managers and their careers as a whole. Berg - sacked in a league that makes the SPL look big-time. Appleton - relegated with Portsmouth, 2 wins in 11 for Blackpool. Venkys - arguably the worst owners in English football history. Shagnew and Singh - dear god.

Given the abysmal incompetence at all other levels of the club, saying what we need is a different transfer policy is going down completely the wrong track in my opinion. We need the same transfer policy but quality in the management and board-room organisation to match the quality we should be signing for on the pitch.

[Gav]

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

I hope he turns out to be a world beater, but we don't have much luck turning lower league players into superstars. that coupled with the people running the club these days, depleated backroom staff, no scouts, we've no chance.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

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.

It doesn't matter where players come from, what matters is how good they are. This is determined by watching them play, and nothing else. I'm pretty sure Rhodes came from League 1 also.

I have no idea what you're basing the Bristol City thing on. The fact that O'Driscoll is a good manager? "League 1 is so poor that Charlton just came from there and finished 3 points outside the playoffs". "League 1 is so poor that Norwich and Southampton recently achieved back-to-back promotions". It doesn't work like that. The difference between the C'ship and League 1 is noticeably closer than our league and the Prem.

In goal - not short of quality.

Full back - Henley/Martin Olsson - not short of quality. Olsson will probably leave, if Kane comes back - not short of quality. If not, Wayne Bridge has been one of the best full backs in the league this season, and he's average.

Centre back - not short of quality - Givet, Dann and Hanley all might leave - will obviously need to replace then but that should bring in some money.

CM - Williamson good. Wigan will probably want to keep Jones considering at McCarthy/Maloney will probably leave. People used to give credit to Etuhu's early performances - "a workhorse" etc. Needs the right system with players with are always willing to receive the ball. This comes in pre-season and after the first few weeks of playing. It's hard to do when there are constant mid-week games and you're constantly changing managers and philosophies.. Murhpy could benefit also, as highlighted previously today somewhere else on the forum.....the England U21s must see something in Lowe.

Wingers - Taylor looks good. We'll see, seems quite highly rated and he played well against us. We need a new right winger. King's pace causes teams problems. The young players will be a year older. Nunes might get a game, who knows.

Forwards - We know what a fully-fit Dunn can do, hopefully Rochina comes back, Best will have a full pre-season, we can't judge him yet. And we know all about Rhodes.

Have left out Nuno Gomes and Kazim. We won't have finished our transfer business yet. I don't think anyone can say we're lacking quality all over the pitch.

It's just having bad managers can make it look like that. You just need a decent manager to get them organised, motivated, and in a system that plays to the players' strengths.

[chaddyrovers]

^{who says we don't have any scouts???}

^{I'm sure that Ray Clarke was Chief Scout at Rovers last season?}

^{http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/9917269.Blackburn_Rovers_appoint_new_head_scout/}

^{Rob Page is First Team Opposition Analyst at Blackburn Rovers Football Club}

^{http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/rob-page/32/277/aa9}

[ackroyd75]

^{who says we don't have any scouts???}

^{I'm sure that Ray Clarke was Chief Scout at Rovers last season?}

I thought it was Ray Charles!

[McClarky]

So that's 3 players now who seem to have agreed to join us and their Wiki pages say they have but still no word from the PR machine that is Ewood Park. Agnew must be the worst person at his job that I have ever come across. He's worse than the navigator of the Titanic.

[ABBEY]

With rumours doing the rounds that Bowyer wont be getting the job it then goes around to my original question...

WHO IS BRINGING PLAYERS IN THEN?

[chaddyrovers]

With rumours doing the rounds that Bowyer wont be getting the job it then goes around to my original question...

WHO IS BRINGING PLAYERS IN THEN?

the rumours of Bowyer not getting the job are from Alan Nixon.

the 3 players lined up to come in are defo Bowyer signings as LT, Cryer and Kamy have said.

[ABBEY]

nixon hahaha must be true then ...expect bowyer to be named today then.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

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

You could also use it in the context of an horrendous error. People in another thread mentioned the Matt Dickens clanger when he palmed a really weak long shot into his own goal. I.E. " He's made a real Venkies of that "

[JAL]

With rumours doing the rounds that Bowyer wont be getting the job it then goes around to my original question...

WHO IS BRINGING PLAYERS IN THEN?

Who is ?

Pretty obvious that it aint a football manager.

[47er]

It could be used in a business context----"venkied"--––to be taken over by new owners who know nothing about the industry and don't intend to learn.