[Archived] Ask Your Questions To Shaw, Myers, Bowyer

[Walney Blue]

Have you got names for those missing at sea

You tell me shipmate, you're stranded on Brfcc island, I've just arrived.

[yoda]

You tell me shipmate, you're stranded on Brfcc island, I've just arrived.

You brought it up, short attention span ?

You are only stranded if you are somewhere you don't want to be, no ?

[tomphil]

If the captain of the ship keeps on persisting with certain not very able seamen and not being ruthless to the enemy he really should be made to walk the plank.

[yoda]

If the captain of the ship keeps on persisting with certain not very able seamen and not being ruthless to the enemy he really should be made to walk the plank.

That would be down to the Admiral

[tomphil]

That would be down to the Admiral

It's an odd ship though, on this Indian owned line the Admiral serves under the Captain it seems

[pk1875]

Who off here is going?

[yoda]

Who off here is going?

Me

[Walney Blue]

Who off here is going?

Me Captain.

[yoda]

Me Captain.

Tut tut, standards slipping, you would be on a charge for that incomplete line

[broadsword]

Is that you, Captain Pugwash? Is this me?

[yoda]

Is that you, Captain Pugwash? Is this me?

No, it's Michael Caine,

and not a lot of ...................

well you should know the rest

[Madon]

Who off here is going?

I'm there!

[Tris]

How did the Fans Forum meeting go yesterday with Bowyer?

Below is the relevant section from the minutes. The minutes for the full meeting should be on the club website soon.

Gary Bowyer joined the meeting to answer fans’ questions.

TS asked what the problem had been with a work permit for Kim Bo-Kyung. GB replied that the system of granting work permits for overseas footballers had changed recently and Kim did not meet any of the new criteria. It would have been possible had there been a large fee and salary involved, as had happened with Tottenham’s signing of Son Heung-min. This was very regrettable as Kim had been very committed to Rovers. The same issue had occurred with Rudolph Austin, who had been denied a work permit despite having a son born in the UK.

SB asked how difficult it had been to keep hold of Jordan Rhodes this summer. GB replied that it had been the same for the two and a half years he had been the manager. Speculation had been there for every transfer window.

ND asked why GB had not gone to India this summer as had happened in previous years. GB stated that it had been the intention to go out but it had not been possible to agree a date when the owners were available because of their other business interests. This had been exacerbated by the earlier pre-season this year.

RP asked why there had not been more opportunities for younger players in league games. GB stated that players would only feature in the first team if they were good enough, regardless of age. In his experience it was easy to introduce young players too soon into the first team. At a young age form can fluctuate widely. From the outset it had been GB’s plan to assemble a team of young, hungry players and significant progress had been made in this respect. The team on the pitch against Charlton had featured only two players over 24 at one time. In an ideal world he would keep the team together for several years but the reality was that some players would leave from time to time – Tom Cairney had been lost in the summer. Every club in England, including the big Premier League clubs, was a selling club these days.

He refused to publicly name any younger players who he thought would be most likely to break through to the first team as that just highlighted prospects to other clubs.

ND asked why David Raya had started the season as first choice goalkeeper but had then been dropped after keeping his first clean sheet. GB responded that it had been his call, ahead of three games in a week and a background of no wins. Nevertheless Raya remained a great prospect for the future.

SM asked when Sacha Petchi will be given a chance in the first team. GB replied that Petchi was one for the future. At the moment he was adapting to a full time training regime and adjusting to English conditions. He was doing really well as was Fode Koita.

AB asked whether GB had received any apologies after reports of him being sacked emerged after the Brighton game. AM replied that he knew the journalist involved and that he had apologised although no apology had been forthcoming from the newspaper.

MH asked why there had not been more loan players brought in this season. GB replied that some other Championship clubs had been paying huge sums for loan players, which Rovers could not pay even if they wished to do because of the restrictions of Financial Fair Play.

SM asked why QPR had not been reprimanded by the Football League after breaking the Financial fair Play rules. AM replied that the League were as frustrated as fans that they had been unable to apply the FFP rules in this case. AM also stated that the club was making progress towards getting the FFP restrictions lifted. It could have been done over the summer by selling Jordan Rhodes but the club had decided to keep him.

RP asked what area of the team GB felt needed strengthening. GB stated that overall there was good competition for places across the team. The only area where he felt there was possibly room for strengthening was for a wide player.

ND questioned a perceived overcautious approach in some games. GB replied that this was definitely not the case – the team always went out to win every game. You could not let the players get into a mindset of playing for a draw.

GO said that the club had indicated that they would take the Capital One Cup more seriously, but had played a weakened side against Shrewsbury and lost. GB stated that whilst some players had been rested the team that he put out was a strong one and one that should have been capable of beating Shrewsbury. There had been one or two players that had been carrying slight knocks and had not been risked but it was a strong team. Some fringe players had been given the chance to impress and had not taken the opportunity.

TS stated that a number of fans questioned what Jason Lowe brought to the team. GB replied that Lowe had a fantastic engine, had the ability to spot danger, was fully committed to the club and was a different type of midfielder to other options at the club.

TS asked why Matt Killgallon hadn't been given an opportunity this season. GB replied that it was just competition for places. There would be a time when his ability and experience would come in useful during the season.

JW asked what GB and the players felt when individual players were singled out for booing and abuse by fans. GB replied that it was frustrating but that it was part and parcel of the game. It was not unique to Ewood but happened at every club across the country.

[chris_h]

Oh dear. I suspect that much of that will have the repeaters reaching for their pitchforks and flaming torches when they get out of bed 😟

[Darwen Rover 007]

The point about lowe just beggars belief!!

[Baz]

Below is the relevant section from the minutes. The minutes for the full meeting should be on the club website soon.

Thanks Tris, looks like some challenging questions asked of GB, and in my opinion some not very encouraging replies, although in some cases I don't know what else he could have said.

[Paul]

Thanks Tris, looks like some challenging questions asked of GB, and in my opinion some not very encouraging replies, although in some cases I don't know what else he could have said.

Also thanks to Tris. To my knowledge this is the first time the FF have had the opportunity, or at any rate to publicise it, to discuss football matters with the club.

I think responding posts are going to be quite predictable but like Baz I feel there wasn't much else to be said. This is the problem with Q&A sessions, and I don't feel negative towards the AG night, at any level the outcome is generally entirely predictable. Questions will receive bland answers which will be endlessly dissected by the fans for weeks to come

No senior club employee is going to give revealing answers no matter how searching the question.

Who off here is going?

Just waiting for my ticket to arrive. eBay says it was dispatched yesterday.

[Iceman]

My question would just be to Derek, Hi Shelfy and then ill sit down

[47er]

Thanks Tris, looks like some challenging questions asked of GB, and in my opinion some not very encouraging replies, although in some cases I don't know what else he could have said.

He's dodged them. For instance he denied the team had an over-cautious approach. We know (most of us anyway) that simply isn't true but short of getting into a "oh yes we do, oh no we don't" scenario what can anyone do?

Answer---- move on to the next question.

[Speedie Dived]

The point about lowe just beggars belief!!

I think it makes sense. We know he is bad on the ball but offers defensive cover. People just don't tend to pick up on the dirty side of the game.

As a squad man Lowe has a use and it's breaking up play and stopping the opposition, which i think he does do.

[Iceman]

Tut tut, standards slipping, you would be on a charge for that incomplete line

you better not hold back, or else its YODA OUT!

Also thanks to Tris. To my knowledge this is the first time the FF have had the opportunity, or at any rate to publicise it, to discuss football matters with the club.

I think responding posts are going to be quite predictable but like Baz I feel there wasn't much else to be said. This is the problem with Q&A sessions, and I don't feel negative towards the AG night, at any level the outcome is generally entirely predictable. Questions will receive bland answers which will be endlessly dissected by the fans for weeks to come

No senior club employee is going to give revealing answers no matter how searching the question.

Just waiting for my ticket to arrive. eBay says it was dispatched yesterday.

Paul i wonder if Derek will try and intercept all the tickets, and prevent it from reaching you guys on time

[den]

Also thanks to Tris. To my knowledge this is the first time the FF have had the opportunity, or at any rate to publicise it, to discuss football matters with the club.

I think responding posts are going to be quite predictable but like Baz I feel there wasn't much else to be said. This is the problem with Q&A sessions, and I don't feel negative towards the AG night, at any level the outcome is generally entirely predictable. Questions will receive bland answers which will be endlessly dissected by the fans for weeks to come

No senior club employee is going to give revealing answers no matter how searching the question.

The questions were played with a pretty straight bat - which is to be expected. To be honest, I'm surprised they put themselves up for questions about players and tactics, - I wouldn't. There's nothing to be gained and a lot to lose for them. Everything the club does can be judged by results on the field, because that's the sole reason for BRFC to exist.

Edit.... Or it used to be.

[tomphil]

Well done for the questions to all concerned but most of the answers are pretty standard brush offs without actually telling us anything I'm afraid. A nice warm up for the Q&A evening although I'm not sure they'll get off the hook so easy.

The answer about Lowey is what we all already know. The real question is why does he walk back into the side and stay in it every time he's fit despite results, performances and the player replaced always seemingly better in his absence. Also the fact that having his type of player in encourages a more negative style of play.

[Mike E]

Well done for the questions to all concerned but most of the answers are pretty standard brush offs without actually telling us anything I'm afraid. A nice warm up for the Q&A evening although I'm not sure they'll get off the hook so easy.

The answer about Lowey is what we all already know. The real question is why does he walk back into the side and stay in it every time he's fit despite results, performances and the player replaced always seemingly better in his absence. Also the fact that having his type of player in encourages a more negative style of play.

It's even simpler than that:

Team performance and results improve with him out of the side. Why are they blind to this?

[tomphil]

It's even simpler than that:

Team performance and results improve with him out of the side. Why are they blind to this?

Managers and their staff increasingly go by stats these days but that's one glaring one that gets ignored for some reason at Ewood. We've been here before on this one time and again over the last 3 seasons but we'll never get the honest answer which is Bowyer loves the lad, he's probably his number 1 ally in the dressing room so he's in for those reasons first and foremost.