[Archived] Alan Myers - director of communications

[K-Hod]

Why would the supporters need to do anything if the Rao's had got it right,

The Rao's could have sat back and done nothing for the last 5 years and been a whole lot better off than now, what is obvious though is that whatever the supporters had done/have done, it would have made no difference whatsoever to the Roa's

Agreed 100%.

So many folk over-reacting to what's not even been said as well. Sigh.

[Tom]

Lets all hold hands, forgive and have a Venky's vigil so they won't feel so bad about crushing the club under their incompetent foot and taking the mick out of every fan. After all they spent some money on a building in Blackburn......

I'll start it off with a song....."Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya. Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya................"

This sort of nonsense and the hail venkys stuff just brings down any debate.

Sure you may totally agree with what LATD has posted but any post that doesn't spell out 'Venkys out' is met with such childish retorts instead of actually responding to the points made.

It's not always black and white and there is probably some truths in there.

[Amo]

To be honest, if Myers' role is to meditate between the owners and the supporters, and Venky's offer little in the way of dialogue besides the usual platitudes, what else can he actually do?

[oldjamfan1]

To be honest, if Myers' role is to meditate between the owners and the supporters, and Venky's offer little in the way of dialogue besides the usual platitudes, what else can he actually do?

Freudian slip Amarillo, or stroke of genius?

[Amo]

Freudian slip Amarillo, or stroke of genius?

Namaste.

[Blue blood]

In what way do the owners not support the club? I believe another £28m+ in the last year shows they certainly do, not to mention the commitments they continue to give to the club facilities etc.

Isn't it debt or loans that they can call in? Am no financial expert but the finances don't seem in a healthy way. But let's pause for a moment - why do you think the fans are against them? What minor details (debt, relegation, the Kean/Anderson debacle, the current silence, the totally unprofessional way things are run) could've turned the fans against them?

The owners also do an awful lot for the town of Blackburn, however they actively stop this getting into the public domain as a direct results of clowns like yourself, always wanting to have moan and find fault in everything. Can you imagine the Headline in the LT: 'Venkys spend £1m renovating famous old Blackburn building' and then the response...

you would be the first on here "why are they wasting their money on that instead of spending it on the club'. Presumptuous, communication may help show their priorities for town and club.

The truth is they ARE spending it on the club, FFP is tying their hands behind their backs. Horse manure. Every club can challenge it/get round it we are only one of 3 clubs not to. That tells me they are either more than happy to be under it, OR so incompetent a 5 year old could run the show better. Look at Bolton or Boro - they show it's not too hard to get round it. Look at QPR toughing it out - a whopping £8 million fine for breaching it. In such circumstances it can only be concluded that we are under it because we want to be.

Common complaints since they arrived:

"They know nothing about football, they should leave it to those who do" - Result = Shaw (whether you rate him or not) an experienced chairman brought in as MD The so called rogue agent, the PNE reject out of football before this. My word, there's quality. Oh and doesn't he have no power over Bowyer and can't do anything without Venkys say so - that's hardly leaving it to the experts, either in the leaving or experts.

"They keep coming out with stupid statements and are an embarrassment" - Result = They now make very little public appearances or statements to avoid them being spun negatively. False dichotomy say nothing or say stupid stuff. Either way communication is substandard and inadequate. And given we employ a comms director it shouldn't be too hard to get this right.

"They won't sack the manager" - Result = Kean goes so do many more Kean resigned a year and a half after the last reasonable chance he should've been potted (not that he ever should have got it). Also it's not too laudable to sack managers after 10 games etc, especially when undermined by the board. Can't believe anyone saying their hiring and firing is excellent football stewardship. 5 managers in 1 year is a joke. And in both Bowyer and Kean's case despite not performing at the levels they should do, neither were/have been sacked.

"We need stability" - Result = Bowyer We've got regression not stability. Also not a top quality candidate they went for the easy option.

"They need to spend money" - Result = Leon Best, Murphy, Etuhu, Rhodes...You missed out the word well. Perhaps because of the fact they had muppets in charge of the transfers. I and many would have been happy for them to put the money in under a decent set up - heck even half of that would be effective. But they spunked it very badly. The criticism of fans in this case is bad financial management not them putting the money in.

"They are wasting money and we should live within our means" - Result = Pay offs galore The consequences of their bad actions. You can't praise them for having to undo a failure that they allowed to happen.

"They should be visibly supporting the club" - Result = They turn up for games, get abused and pelted with snowballs. Gee, I wonder why. You know if I ruined a club or messed up at work as badly as they have messed up us, I'd imagine my work colleagues/customers would be a little bit annoyed and want to show that dissatisfaction. Also if there were proper communication and ways we could communicate with them, the dissatisfaction could be shown in other ways. Personally I think a snowball was very lenient.

"They don't do anything to give us positive press" - Result = They felt as the owners of the club it was polite and respectful to personally welcome the Queen to the club, you even have issue with that. Now what could possibly make fans think they're only in it for their own good/to get some press out of it? Maybe the fact they've never been any other time or shown any interest in us at any other time.

They have made mistakes, they have admitted that, NO THEY HAVEN'T! They said they were sorry we were in this mess, they NEVER admitted to any wrong doing on their part whatsoever. they are desperately trying to do the best thing I'd hate to see the worst thing if this third rate set up with a manager as god and a regressing team under a needless restriction is their best shot and they now believe that is leaving the club to be run day-to-day by experienced (who - the former reserve team boss and Shaw. That's a stretch. people which is why they have brought in people with a wealth of footballing experience in their fields as well as where possible a connection to the club:

Shaw see above Myers appreciate illness but where has the good communication been Cheston, Biggar, Tommy Johnson, Damien Johnson, Short great bloke but we're still leaking goals in a daft manner Sheron.

What you want them to do, someone else will disagree with.

In short Venkys are and always have been a joke. Or rather a terminal illness on Rovers.

[OscarRaven]

Horse manure. Every club can challenge it/get round it we are only one of 3 clubs not to. That tells me they are either more than happy to be under it, OR so incompetent a 5 year old could run the show better. Look at Bolton or Boro - they show it's not too hard to get round it. Look at QPR toughing it out - a whopping £8 million fine for breaching it. In such circumstances it can only be concluded that we are under it because we want to be.

_____________

Yes the only possible conclusion one can draw*

* If you wear blinkers and are of the myopic nature the original poster alluded too.

[Blue blood]

Horse manure. Every club can challenge it/get round it we are only one of 3 clubs not to. That tells me they are either more than happy to be under it, OR so incompetent a 5 year old could run the show better. Look at Bolton or Boro - they show it's not too hard to get round it. Look at QPR toughing it out - a whopping £8 million fine for breaching it. In such circumstances it can only be concluded that we are under it because we want to be.

_____________

Yes the only possible conclusion one can draw*

* If you wear blinkers and are of the myopic nature the original poster alluded too.

I'd be happy to hear other conclusions as to why we're under it, when it's so seemingly easy to avoid.

[donnermeat]

It's a nice neat easy excuse for failure and Shaw can keep the books looking good.

[JAL]

I'd be happy to hear other conclusions as to why we're under it, when it's so seemingly easy to avoid.

It probably allows an agent and his associates the opportunity to blood talent through Blackburn Rovers that wouldn't necessarily have been good enough for the premier league and if they performed like Gestede they can sell on for big bucks it would seem.

Either way the club would still have to facilitate a signing on fee of which the agent and owner could collect a fee.

[Jim Royle]

Some good posts and points made by LATD & oldjamfan

Some immature childish reposts by the usual suspects

[Rover_Shaun]

This sort of nonsense and the hail venkys stuff just brings down any debate.

Sure you may totally agree with what LATD has posted but any post that doesn't spell out 'Venkys out' is met with such childish retorts instead of actually responding to the points made.

It's not always black and white and there is probably some truths in there.

The debate has been done to death. There is now no debate. They don't give a flying fig about me, you or latd. Finding a way to get them out is what we need, not thanking them for using someone elses money to service a debt they created. As for spending money on buildings in the town, who gives a toss? Scum the lot of them.

[ABBEY]

Some good posts and points made by LATD & oldjamfan

Some immature childish reposts by the usual suspects

Sigh

Earlier rtid said the V's had apologised and realise their errors .... Please could someone provide a link to this pro venky propaganda

[Exiled in Toronto]

Leaving aside all the past disastrous decisions for a minute, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that they view the situation through a completely different lens to the fans, and especially to the vociferous posters on here.Things will only ever improve when the interests of the fans can be presented in a light that makes sense to them, hence the need to park the anger and work out how they see the world. The anger is just therapy, and a poor one at that, as expressing it on here has yet to make anyone less angry.

Like it or not, they are never going to appoint a fully empowered CEO, it's just not something they do given their decision-making process (if we can call it that). So, in that light, I can see how they thought/think Shaw fits their needs: local, has actually done it before, cheap (relatively), and took one for the owners with Berg. Given no power is devolved to Ewood, nor ever will be, why pay for someone more competent? So Shaw, or someone like him, has to be factored in.

Much of the angst about Bowyer is the perceived need to go up quick before they pull the plug financially. However, if they know they aren't going to pull the plug financially, then the points LATD made about keeping a Mr Stability who can shop in the bargain bin during FFP would make sense to them. However, the start to the season looks ominous and I have a feeling that should the Mr. Stability halo slip then Gary will be gone. They clearly have the funds to see the club through to a more financially stable set-up, and getting it all back via promotion is still one lucky season away, but it Div 1 starts to look remotely likely I think that will be a tipping point for them manager-wise.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Until such time as the best possible people are recruited at executive and managerial level then ALL claims of Venkys being diligent, watchful, supportive and helpful simply do not wash with me.

Project downsize is still underway and being managed very effectively. Not just company income, but skills sets and the quality of individuals we have involved both running the show and out of the tunnel.

Director of communications? Sod it, while we are at it let him be commercial manager as well. Why chuffing not?

Having done that role in pro-football I can confirm it is normally a very, very busy position, involving night time and weekend work, often under rewarded with tough targets for retaining and growing relevant profit centres. Will Myers be the most suitable applicant from a worldwide / UK wide audience for the role at the Rovers? Doubt he'll be under rewarded as well.

I should imagine the commercial profit centre is somewhere between 3 and 4 million. (Just guessing). Might be much higher as I'm a tad out of touch. Knowing how crap Rovers are it may be lower!

Ground sponsors, shirt sponsors, match day entertainment and corporate hospitality, concourse advertising, perimeter board advertising, weekly and match day lottery, programme sales and advertising, ball sponsors, match sponsors, player sponsors, plus a myriad of contra deals for company cars, coaches, lottery prizes, etc and related services. Once the deals are sold it all needs managing on a weekly basis. Hectic and requiring decent people skills to manage longer term relationships effectively. Hundreds of guests turn up at matches and all these sponsors need parking, meal, ticket, programme and entry passes organising, plus a bit of time spent massaging egos. They have weekly issues to resolve, protecting their investment in the club, quite rightly as sponsor packages run into many thousands. Producing the programme, reports for higher management, it's a BIG job controlling commercial profit centres worth many millions of pounds. The fact that millions are involved normally means you advertise and then recruit a proven operator who knows the dance. Not just gift it away to Alan.

I know for a fact this area of club business has been handled pathetically for years. Add it to the list you might say. It certainly won't improve with some bloke hiding away that few of us trust in anyway, shape or form.

We keep getting new people in. Lots of them in different areas. You'd think it would start smelling better at some stage.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Is it not the case that Greg Coar manages all those things already and now will report into Myers? Or have I missed something?

Given that a past best applicant in the field from across the UK happened to be the Chairman's son, it is perhaps not surprising we've never been very good at it.

[Baz]

LATD- Venkys are continuing EVERY SINGLE DAY to put us in a worse financial position, and that will not change until they change tact and employ someone to run the club properly, or seeing as that seems beyond their logic, until they sell up and leave. If you think we are "stable" have a look at the club debts.

Pretty much everything else you state is also debatable at best, but employing the right people to run the club is the key.

If you are on the FF, is this message being relayed to India? If not, then why not?

[thenodrog]

While I agree with a lot the points that you have made LATD.

The fact remains that we are in the position that we are because of the decisions that Venky’s have made and the majority of fans cannot/will not forgive them. Regardless of taking bad advice, ultimately it was their decision to sack Big Sam, it was their decision to replace him with Steve Kean, it was their decision to create the conditions which made John Williams and Tom Finn leave club, it was their decision to keep Steve Kean on when it was patently obvious he wasn’t upto the job, it was their decision to appoint Shebby Singh, Agnew and Shaw which created a power struggle, it was them who authorised the complete wasting of the parachute payments. It is this litany of poor decision making that has led to the current situation whereby the relationship between the fans and the owners is broken beyond repair.

I know better than most about all of things that they have done in helping various charitable organisations in and around Blackburn and not publicised it, they deserve credit for that and I know that they have put money into the club and continue to do so, but as far as I am concerned looking back over their reign it is easy for me to say that Venky’s are the worst thing ever to happen to Blackburn Rovers Football Club in my lifetime.

I must be older than you Kamy. For me it was the abolishment of the maximum wage followed by the home clubs keeping the gate money and latterly by the forming of the Premier League and Johnny Bosman. The venkymob are in with quite some competition there for the state of BRFC today.

[ABBEY]

I must be older than you Kamy. For me it was the abolishment of the maximum wage followed by the home clubs keeping the gate money and latterly by the forming of the Premier League and Johnny Bosman. The venkymob are in with quite some competition there for the state of BRFC today.

thats in the past pal...thought you didnt discuss the past.

[thenodrog]

Forgive me if I've not changed my mind

Lets be honest here Abbey, you can't change your mind anymore even if you wanted to. You have painted yourself into a right corner over this.

"Let them kill us" - no, how about try and work on improving things. You would be great on the forum:

"Right so what would we like to see changed?"

"Venkys are crap"

"How do we improve that?"

"They have got us into debt you know"

"What should we improve?"

"We have got relegated since they took over"

"Have you anything you would like changing?"

"Venkys out"

"Can you buy them out or do you know someone who can do that?"

"Venkys are crap and should never have sacked Allardyce"

I never said you were not a fan, you obviously care about the club a lot, you just choose to spend your life whinging about it which is really constructive and productive, well done.

To be fair to the directors, the club is changing the way it works and reducing expenditure as well as debt.

Bowyer is doing an average job at best however, playing people out of position constantly just to prove they are versatile.

I think Abbey happily welcomed that news. He absolutely hated ZZZZZam at the helm.

[thenodrog]

LATD. You do not represent the views of the fans. If the Venkys cared at all they would have Shaw and Bowyer out tomorrow and proper football people appointed. There are plenty of good people who would love the job. Nothing will happen under those two. Until that happens don't come preaching on here. You are irritating all the proper fans. After your diatribe you should get off the FF too. You do not speak for us.

have you any names for us Al?

The biggest insult to Jack Walker has been from the people he entrusted and employed to look after the football club beyond his death but who chose to sell to a group of people from India with no idea what they were doing.

They could have prevented the whole Venky nightmare ever taking place, but to do that they would have had to apply interest and concern to the wellbeing of the football club rather than just pocketing the £20 million for Jack's club and disappearing into the sunset.

The real insult to Jack Walker is that those people sold his club to the clueless Indians, banked his money for it and then disappeared without a care in the world for the future of the club or a word of apology for their actions.

Venkys are a symptom of the Trusts complete and utter disregard for ensuring Jack's legacy lived on long term, and greed in refusing to invest into the club and cashing in as soon as they could to whatever idiots offered the money.

Ok so the Walker family walked away from the club. So bloody what? 10,000 more have walked away from the club too! Is that not an insult to Jack walker's memory too? It is in my book. Oh, and it wasn't in danger of costing them their family fortune either.

[ABBEY]

Lets be honest here Abbey, you can't change your mind anymore even if you wanted to. You have painted yourself into a right corner over this.

I think Abbey happily welcomed that news. He absolutely hated ZZZZZam at the helm.

should have appointteed a real manager but your new mates knew best.

Not that i couldnt change my mind ....I WILL NEVER EVER CHANGE MY MIND

#VENKYSOUT

[thenodrog]

I wouldn't be in the forum because I wouldn't lower myself to talking to Shaw or Myers . I've posted my views can't be arsed again .

Bloody hell Abbey that would be a proper cop out.

[ABBEY]

It wouldnt because id end up in jail.

[thenodrog]

Why would the supporters need to do anything if the Rao's had got it right,

The Rao's could have sat back and done nothing for the last 5 years and been a whole lot better off than now, what is obvious though is that whatever the supporters had done/have done, it would have made no difference whatsoever to the Roa's

Pretty sure it would have made no difference to Uncle Jack either. He was always as ruthless as he needed to be.