[Archived] Ian Battersby Interview

[wolfie]

Sadly i don't think the numbers will increase much until possibily the last 3rd of the season if we are in with a shout. Venkys aside history shows us that a large slice of the Rovers public will just not turn out to watch 2nd tier mid table football (same for other northern town clubs as well) on a regular basis. Playing good stuff in the top 5 will bring a few more in but it would take something huge to recapture the imagination and get over 15k home fans on regularly lets not kid ourselves.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emfootball.co.uk%2Fattend2001.htm&ei=-Jl6UtncH_OR0QWproCYAg&usg=AFQjCNHGTIMzO3O8fN5EHfSBF9HdgOfHBA&bvm=bv.55980276,d.d2k&cad=rja

[Wiggy]

The top and bottom of it all is the fact that the Rao family were dumb enough to take the advice of a well known spiv who's sole business model is to relieve football club owners of cash.

Hell, even the media saint Sir Alex Ferguson recognised this and said so to the press the day after Sam's sacking.

" you've got that issue at Blackburn of an agent involved and deciding the future of the club, Jerome Anderson , he couldn't pick his nose. It's baffling and it's a serious threat to how clubs get run and how they conduct themselves."

[Proudtobeblue&white]

The top and bottom of it all is the fact that the Rao family were dumb enough to take the advice of a well known spiv who's sole business model is to relieve football club owners of cash.

Hell, even the media saint Sir Alex Ferguson recognised this and said so to the press the day after Sam's sacking.

" you've got that issue at Blackburn of an agent involved and deciding the future of the club, Jerome Anderson , he couldn't pick his nose. It's baffling and it's a serious threat to how clubs get run and how they conduct themselves."

BOB ON, he should have taken them to the Pleasure Beach whilst he was at it. Would love to have seen Blingy Boy's photo, hands above head, as he plummeted down the big one, taken for a ride

[darrenrover]

The top and bottom of it all is the fact that the Rao family were dumb enough to take the advice of a well known spiv who's sole business model is to relieve football club owners of cash.

Hell, even the media saint Sir Alex Ferguson recognised this and said so to the press the day after Sam's sacking.

" you've got that issue at Blackburn of an agent involved and deciding the future of the club, Jerome Anderson , he couldn't pick his nose. It's baffling and it's a serious threat to how clubs get run and how they conduct themselves."

How right he was. Irritatingly it was often the case!

[Salgado Is A Hero]

There's an old saying 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' and it was never more true than when applied to the people running our club when Venky's took over. The hoary old chestnut of Steve Kean was the mistake, not the the sacking of Sam Allardyce, should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Determining whether removing a manager was a mistake or not depends entirely on who replaces him. People were saying Nigel Adkins shouldn't have been sacked from Southampton. They're not anymore. But if they went down last season then they would have. People were saying Newcastle sacking Hughton was a mistake until Pardew almost took them into the Champions League.

[chaddyrovers]

(1) Blackburn End I assume?

(2) Who would you have preferred? I remember various names cropping up... Mo'N, Jol, Curbishley - Recent evidence suggest none of them are fit to lace SA's boots. Oh and Coyle was held in high regard by some too :lol: and Holloway :lol:

(3) Our paths have obviously never crossed, and I would assume you don't drink in the same pubs as me - I can show you plenty of people that were furious with the decision

1) Firstly plenty of fans who sit in the Blackburn End were disappointed by Big Sam sacking and Venkys not having a manager lined up before sacking Sam Allardyce.

2) I wanted someone with Experience like Jol or Michael Laudrup. that's was John Williams biggest mistake not appointing Laudrup before he choose Ince.

No doubt about it that sacking Allardyce was a huge mistake but I honestly feel that getting rid of John Williams eclipsed that in the Indians list of shame.

Getting rid of John Williams was their biggest mistake and listen to far too many people instead of listen to the right people

Anyway, back on thread, I'm confident the Ian's would be able to come up with a sustainable financial solution for a mid table Championship club with gates of 15,000, who had aspirations of regaining Premier League status but without a legacy of lunatics and charletons.

Work in progress I guess!

That's my view aswell. Look at the Swansea and Palace owners. owned by fans and run properly and with a proper people in the boardroom

[perthblue02]

1) Firstly plenty of fans who sit in the Blackburn End were disappointed by Big Sam sacking and Venkys not having a manager lined up before sacking Sam Allardyce.

Got to give Venky's credit , they searched high and low for a week before finally deciding on Kean, must have been an hard decision for them considering nobody was lined up for the Job, makes you wonder what their advisor was doing not helping them out..

[Jimmy612]

1) Firstly plenty of fans who sit in the Blackburn End were disappointed by Big Sam sacking and Venkys not having a manager lined up before sacking Sam Allardyce.

2) I wanted someone with Experience like Jol or Michael Laudrup. that's was John Williams biggest mistake not appointing Laudrup before he choose Ince.

1) Correct Chaddy there were. Unfortunately there a whole host of numpties that constantly sang the moronic and particularly droll '4-4-2, 4-4-2, 4-4-2' chant. Particularly amusing when you consider that it's now almost a completely redundant formation. Also quite a large section boo'ed at 3-0 up against Wolves. Prunes.

2) False. John Williams mistakes go in this order.

1. Not backing Hughes in January when he lost Savage. He wanted either Huddlestone or Diarra. When he wasn't backed, he got Vogel and his head was turned.

2. Not appointing Allardyce upon Hughes departure. He was the complete stand out candidate. No one else needed interviewing to be quite frank.

3. Appointing Ince.

4. Whilst Laudrup is doing okay at Swansea, having spent serious serious money this summer I still expect more from them. It's been a relatively poor start for them and I for one expect top 12 at the very least. Just like Allardyce did consistently.

[47er]

I wouldn't worry Andy that phrase has been banded around with no real meaning the last couple of years.

If you believe all you read:

The forum played a part in the clubs downfall

Those protesting (bovine tremblers was it?) played a part in the clubs downfall.

Those still attending played a part in the clubs downfall.

Bit like one of the Nine blaming me for the debacle because I lost confidence in the Trust and supported a sale! None of us on here actually affect decision-making, we are all bystanders watching and commenting on events. Its important to remember that.

Maybe then discussions wouldn't get so personal or heated and we could all remember we are on here because we all love the Club.

[Leonard Venkhater]

1) Correct Chaddy there were. Unfortunately there a whole host of numpties that constantly sang the moronic and particularly droll '4-4-2, 4-4-2, 4-4-2' chant. Particularly amusing when you consider that it's now almost a completely redundant formation. Also quite a large section boo'ed at 3-0 up against Wolves. Prunes.

2) False. John Williams mistakes go in this order.

1. Not backing Hughes in January when he lost Savage. He wanted either Huddlestone or Diarra. When he wasn't backed, he got Vogel and his head was turned.

2. Not appointing Allardyce upon Hughes departure. He was the complete stand out candidate. No one else needed interviewing to be quite frank.

3. Appointing Ince.

4. Whilst Laudrup is doing okay at Swansea, having spent serious serious money this summer I still expect more from them. It's been a relatively poor start for them and I for one expect top 12 at the very least. Just like Allardyce did consistently.

I thought Laudrup placed too many conditions...like being able to leave after 10 minutes if anyone else came in for him?

I count it as a mistake of sorts that JW has remained silent throughout all the devastation...in particular during the height of the agent abuse. Yes, I know he probably had a financially binding gagging order BUT , make no mistake, his silence has been a major weapon in the pillagers' armoury..and in that sense it is plain wrong...IMO

[Leonard Venkhater]

Bit like one of the Nine blaming me for the debacle because I lost confidence in the Trust and supported a sale! None of us on here actually affect decision-making, we are all bystanders watching and commenting on events. Its important to remember that.

Maybe then discussions wouldn't get so personal or heated and we could all remember we are on here because we all love the Club.

A point very well made. Passion is fine but the fans have turned their anger on each other and that only helps the real enemy.

Also, I never considered JW would have lost confidence in the( non) Trust..but there is so much we just don't know...hence we only have partial analysis, which is one reason I bitterly regret the silence of JW, a man for whom I had the highest regard, when he was here...

[thenodrog]

Well fair enough if thats the case. i didnt post on here then so can only go off the feeling of the fans I know and the people sat near me at ewood and I got the impression nobody was upset to see sam go. Many wouldnt have sacked him, but once gone most were not to upset. He's a very good manager, but there are better ones about and we had a chance to get one and go in a new direction. I remember being optimistic and excited at the time. Unfortunatley what followed was a shambles.

Its easy to look back now and simply say we shouldnt have sacked Sam, but I got the impression at the time nobody was to upset

Polls on here and in the LT saw approx 85% dismayed by his sacking. Are you attempting to re-write history or do you just sit on the Blackburn End?

Swansea lost their manager and haven't dropped. As have many clubs since time immemorial. To think that Allardyce was the only person in the world who could have kept the club in the division is a tad silly.

But why sack him? His track record given the paucity of our meagre squad was excellent.

[FGS5635]

Not sure what sitting in the Blackburn end has to do with anything really.

[thenodrog]

2) Not sure, but there where plenty options out there outside of the obvious. Plenty teams sack their manager and go onto better things. Everyone thought Southampton where mad for sacking atkins and would be relegated with the unknown Pochettino...now look at them. The chance was there to do something different.

1. On the basis that it wasn't broken then why?

2. They certainly did do something different didn't they!

[FGS5635]

1. On the basis that it wasn't broken then why?

2. They certainly did do something different didn't they!

Your cherry picking parts to suit your agenda, but hey ho

[thenodrog]

Ah maybe one day I'll be so wise

Hmmm...... Just as an aside what made you pick your avatar FG?

[FGS5635]

Hmmm...... Just as an aside what made you pick your avatar FG?

I clicked on browse with the intention of picking something cool and hip and for some reason this pic appeared on my pc. Just thought kean it and picked it. Utterly pointless, but what the heck

[thenodrog]

As soon as I saw the news item on the BBC I turned to my colleague and said we'll be down by next season. From what I recall it was a fairly common concensus amongst those of us who did not have a blind hatred for Allardyce.

We only avoided relegation that same season by the skin of our teeth.

[Baz]

Anyway, back on thread, I'm confident the Ian's would be able to come up with a sustainable financial solution for a mid table Championship club with gates of 15,000, who had aspirations of regaining Premier League status but without a legacy of lunatics and charletons.

Work in progress I guess!

I think that article is basically him saying the opposite. We are a moneypit for at least 3 more seasons, unless we gain promotion, which without rosetinted spectacles, is unlikely. Who knows what state we will be in by that point, unless we have already been through administration by then. You may call that doom-mongering etc but its the direction we are heading.

Re Allardyce, IIRC then he had only 7 months left on his contract, the sensible move would have been (even if they wanted to try something new) , to give him till the summer when they would have had a bigger pick of managers.

Personally I think the bigger error was undermining John Williams to the point he resigned. That letter leaked where he says an agent was walking into Ewood with a remit from the owners to sign players JW had never heard of, is still stunning to me.

[thenodrog]

I'm not sure where people can collect thier gold stars and "Master of Hindsight" diploma's

The links are available for you to a. read back, b. digest and learn. Obvious that you have done neither.

But it is not common sense to think that only Allardyce, amongst the whole population of the planet, could have stayed relegation. And at that time, with what had gone before, did not allude to the sheer incompetence and imbecilic nature of the owners. So even that cannot be used as evidence. At that time they were little other than yet another in a long list of new owners who wanted to put their own man in charge.

Using such hindsight Allardyce would not have last much longer and would have walked given what went on to occur after December 13th 2010.

I am not in any way agreeing with the decision to dispose of Big Sam BUT on the other hand a sensible appointment by footballing people (had they allowed JW to make the decision) could have maintained our premier position. Alas it was not be be and here we are, argueing, with some taking high ground, when the club is on it's knees and staring into the abyss

They screwed up and you obviously backed them. Your comments are at complete odds to your stated location.

I think it's sad that:

1.some people clearly have an issue with the 9 that went to Pune, I would suggest born out of jealousy. Who wouldn't have been up for an all expenses paid trip to India?

In a nutshell...... albeit inadvertantly.

[thenodrog]

My point is I didnt think sacking Sam was a mistake.

Unbelievable! To anybody with an ounce of gumption that act was the beginning of the end. Did you not learn a thing from the whole sorry Facebook/Ince/Allardyce episode? The man had alreday saved us from certain relegation in 2008.

Sorry FG but you really do deserve one of these...

[FGS5635]

lol fair enough, everyone's entitled to their opinion

For me the sacking of Sam is clearly the beginning of our destruction, but that's now with the benefit of hindsight and what we know now.

What if they sacked sam and offered jose 30mil a yr to be our manager and he accepted. Would sacking Sam have been a mistake then if we ended up with Jose?

I know stupid and hypothetical, but you can see where its leading. Just try and answer it honestly

[thenodrog]

We were asked to keep it under our hats as we weren't 100% going until about a week before as an ex-Director allegedly was doing his upmost to prevent us from going -

btw Maybe you might like to say that he had a point.

[DE.]

We only avoided relegation that same season by the skin of our teeth.

The only reason I didn't think we'd go down that season is because of the points Allardyce had already accrued for us and the fact the squad was still fairly decent. Despite those advantages Kean still nearly relegated us, and even more baffling there were people on here and elsewhere that summer who wanted to give the bald clown longer!

Suffice to say after that our squad and club truly was dismantled and reduced to the shell it now is.

[Rover_Shaun]

I see you have your pompous head on tonight Gordon so I'll dip out of this for the night