[Archived] championship 14/15

[savage90]

Correct and for some reason you don't need results at Blackburn Rovers any more.

[yoda]

Not disagreeing with that Mercer, but is anyone at boardroom level going to rock the boat? (As much as they should, I've got my doubts!)

Degsy couldn't rock a baby never mind a boat

[Parsonblue]

Personally, I though Souness spoke a lot of sense yesterday when describing what's wrong with Newcastle and Sunderland, namely constantly changing managers because of crowd pressure. I must admit that I totally agree with Souness when he said the owner should appoint a manager and give him five years in the job, no matter what the fans think, in order to give him time to rebuild a club without the constant threat to his job. Bowyer has had two full seasons and maintained a decent position within the Championship when we could so easily have gone the way of Wigan and Blackpool.

[thenodrog]

Sadly, Bowyer is in the mold of Nigel Clough, but not as good - a slow burner taking you nowhere.

Third person?

[Dunnfc]

Personally, I though Souness spoke a lot of sense yesterday when describing what's wrong with Newcastle and Sunderland, namely constantly changing managers because of crowd pressure. I must admit that I totally agree with Souness when he said the owner should appoint a manager and give him five years in the job, no matter what the fans think, in order to give him time to rebuild a club without the constant threat to his job. Bowyer has had two full seasons and maintained a decent position within the Championship when we could so easily have gone the way of Wigan and Blackpool.

An echo of my thoughts entirely, saw Souey say the same.

[thenodrog]

and who had heard of Warburton.

The diamonds are out there waiting to be discovered.

Sadly, Rovers have fool's gold in Bowyer.

They probably are. Unfortunately you can't ever come close to spotting them, you keep recommending tired old has beens and never will be's.

[JBiz]

He said "continuity is the key to success" and since he is who he is, and he's won what he's won- it's hard to argue with him.

[Amo]

Personally, I though Souness spoke a lot of sense yesterday when describing what's wrong with Newcastle and Sunderland, namely constantly changing managers because of crowd pressure. I must admit that I totally agree with Souness when he said the owner should appoint a manager and give him five years in the job, no matter what the fans think, in order to give him time to rebuild a club without the constant threat to his job. Bowyer has had two full seasons and maintained a decent position within the Championship when we could so easily have gone the way of Wigan and Blackpool.

Should Kidd, Ince, & Kean have been given five years in charge, then?

[thenodrog]

Rovers have a proud history of discovering managerial talent. Furphy, Lee, Smith and Kendall spring readily to mind.

It's all nonsense as to who out there is better than Bowyer. There are many and many.

Rovers history stopped in Nov 2010. Proud history means nothing now.

[Parsonblue]

He said "continuity is the key to success" and since he is who he is, and he's won what he's won- it's hard to argue with him.

Don't be silly jbizzle, the folk on here know far more than someone like Souness, even if many don't even bother actually going to games

[mustard]

Good post along with Glens may i add.

Its a results game as we know but one slip of the wrist and we end up like a Wigan etc. Not just on the pitch but of it we are progressively improving it hasn't been our year but this league was the toughest i've known the Championship to be. With the embargo it's tough but agreed we havent maximised our opportunities, too many late goals and slow starts have cost us this year.

A more settled squad, clear aims propounded in the media and a bit of visible pressure on Gaz could see the squad react. We've a good nucleus but not great but an ethos of never giving up is clear to see.

Out of the teams coming down i don't think they make a stronger league, quite the opposite i fancy our chances to ruffle some feathers if we can get the squad intact and i'm a believer in reassesing the position of the manager after ten games. If we are below the playoffs it gives us time to change they are not missing out on a transfer window due to the embargo in such a case.

Tin hat on and at the ready...

My worry is Bowyer doesn't have it in him to adapt. He has yet to drop the whole two sitting defensive mids thing which has yet to work on a consistent basis. He's been questioned tactically on here countless times and I've yet to see him improve, bar the odd time he actually made a meaningful sub. I truly think the great signing of Gestede combined with Rhodes being a goal machine bailed him out. 9th with a 40-goal strike force is very poor. The majority of the rest of his signings haven't flourished under his stewardship and I must say, the football on display is terribly poor. It only doesn't seem so bleak as we tend to look at the football comparative to Kean, Berg and Appleton, yet with the players at our disposal I'm sure we are all in agreement we could markedly improve in this area. I wouldn't mind shoddy football if it was effective results-wise but it isn't.

The main area my opinion differs to yours is that I think we are only losing Gestede and Rhodes away from becoming the next Wigan. Without those two, I can't see Bowyer salvaging enough of those missing goals to keep us in mid-table. And if, 10 games in, Bowyer has us under performing, then what? The players will still be in Bowyer's Brockhall Holiday Camp mode and it would be a heck of a lot more difficult for a new manager to put his stamp on the team. It would mean a summer wasted where we could have built things around a new gaffer and made a sound push for promotion.

[JBiz]

Should Kidd, Ince, & Kean have been given five years in charge, then?

All left the club in a worse position than what they took over, either relegated us or took us to brink of. Since GB took over the club is in a healthier state.

[yoda]

All left the club in a worse position than what they took over, either relegated us or took us to brink of. Since GB took over the club is in a healthier state.

Can you quantify that in some way ?

[Stuart]

All left the club in a worse position than what they took over, either relegated us or took us to brink of. Since GB took over the club is in a healthier state.

Do you mean 'team'? The 'club' has steadily become more unhealthy every year for the last 3.

[den]

Don't be silly jbizzle, the folk on here know far more than someone like Souness, even if many don't even bother actually going to games

As much as Souness is always worth listening to, he was taking us down when Newcastle inexplicably took him off us. I guess you would have stuck with him and allowed relegation Parson?

[DE.]

A shame Norwich didn't listen to Souey's advice, eh? Or Watford, come to think of it

[JBiz]

If you scorn any positive your bound to see it that way. Since GB took over Appleton, I've seen an improvement in playing staff, tactics, attitude, transfer policy, club PR, academy results but mainly - results and league position.

He took over when the club was heading downwards and since then we've improvement to mid-table.

The point that it might not be enough in the grand scheme of things is irrelevant when the problems that instigated the downfall still remain IMO. The changes need to be broader, club PR for instance still has a way to go. The @#/? storm caused by the criminals... Still paying heavily for this, and those problems will not simply disappear if Mrs Desai happens to speak to the only football agent in the world who is both a charitable sort and knows enough about football to find us the guy capable of dragging us up.

Until I honestly feel the recruitment policy had changed- I can't consider this FFP busting super appointment many of the posters on here seem to think will be the definite outcome if GB is potted.

[bazza]

With regard to this word "stability", the first time I heard it used in relation to the Rovers was when Kenny Dalglish was being interviewed and he was asked why he had accepted the job at Rovers.

His final words were, "...........and the stability of the club".

[Parsonblue]

As much as Souness is always worth listening to, he was taking us down when Newcastle inexplicably took him off us. I guess you would have stuck with him and allowed relegation Parson?

He left in the first week of September den, hardly certain relegation candidates.

[patrickvalery]

It's all irrelevant. The club has got its hands tied. Appoint another manager of any pedegree and he'll want to build his own team. Not possible right now. So appoint someone who's happy to work with what we've got and he'll be labelled a yes man. Appoint a rookie and take the risk. What's the point when we've got a rookie who's done a decent job.

I've said it before, the big task for the club is now the long term target. Build a club with an ethos on finding, developing and blooding young talent in a system which allows them to thrive. All the while maintain a competitive first team capable of competing for promotion. For me, an ex youth team coach like Bowyer is possibly the best bet for the role. Especially considering he's done a decent job thus far with the first team.

People forget, it's hard to even do another Southampton or Swansea because the clubs coming down are richer and the clubs with aspirations of promotion weren't restricted by ffp. Like it or lump it, all things considered, our targets now are longer term.

The worry for me is who at the club is determining whether we are on the right track in that regard. Call me negativ, but im not convinced Derek Shaw is qualified to judge this.

[OJRovers]

It's all irrelevant. The club has got its hands tied. Appoint another manager of any pedegree and he'll want to build his own team. Not possible right now. So appoint someone who's happy to work with what we've got and he'll be labelled a yes man. Appoint a rookie and take the risk. What's the point when we've got a rookie who's done a decent job.

I've said it before, the big task for the club is now the long term target. Build a club with an ethos on finding, developing and blooding young talent in a system which allows them to thrive. All the while maintain a competitive first team capable of competing for promotion. For me, an ex youth team coach like Bowyer is possibly the best bet for the role. Especially considering he's done a decent job thus far with the first team.

People forget, it's hard to even do another Southampton or Swansea because the clubs coming down are richer and the clubs with aspirations of promotion weren't restricted by ffp. Like it or lump it, all things considered, our targets now are longer term.

The worry for me is who at the club is determining whether we are on the right track in that regard. Call me negativ, but im not convinced Derek Shaw is qualified to judge this.

All it takes though is one decent season and everything could change, just look at Burnley.

Appoint a decent manager whilst we've still got some half decent players and it might just happen. Sticking with bowyer you can garuantee it won't.

[patrickvalery]

But what if Burnley lose that manager next season to a club with more to offer? OK they've got the cash in the bank. But his appointment was more by luck than judgement then the chances are they will find their level again after a few failed appointments which follow.

It's not that I disagree with you. I genuinely think our squad was good enough to get promotion this year. But I also appreciate that a lot depends on luck and also it takes time for a club which has been as badly hurt as ours to recover. All things considered, I think it's time for Rovers to change our outlook.

[DE.]

This was the season, realistically, we needed to make a managerial change. Next season is likely to be dire regardless of who is in charge. The remit will be keeping us in the division, rather than getting us into the playoffs... the question at this point should be whether Bowyer can do that with Gestede, Rhodes and King all likely out the door and replaced with players the calibre of Chris Brown.

[mustard]

This was the season, realistically, we needed to make a managerial change. Next season is likely to be dire regardless of who is in charge. The remit will be keeping us in the division, rather than getting us into the playoffs... the question at this point should be whether Bowyer can do that with Gestede, Rhodes and King all likely out the door and replaced with players the calibre of Chris Brown.

Take Rhodes and Gestede out of the team and Bowyer has to find 40 goals from bargain bucket free transfers/loans and/or from a midfield that contributed hardly anything this season. People are worried we will do a Wigan if we appoint a new manager, I'm a hell of a lot more concerned we'll do a Wigan if Bowyer remains in charge.

[RevidgeBlue]

Should Kidd, Ince, & Kean have been given five years in charge, then?

I see no-one has addressed this point. Utter claptrap from Souness BTW. Every situation is different and should be judged on it's own individual merits, but sticking with a manager who isn't working doesn't improve things, it makes things worse. I dread to think where we'd have been had he stayed at Ewood for 5 years after he completely lost the plot. In the Conference probably.