[Archived] Official: Paul Lambert Appointed Blackburn Rovers Manager

[JHRover]

Can someone please explain to me the difference between Brown and Lowe? Why one gets more stick then the other?

If Brown had been sold in January and Lowe was fully fit and playing every week then this discussion would still be here, only about Lowe instead. Honest, hardworking professionals who have had tough times with injuries yet their best isn't good enough for some. It won't change. Bowyer was criticised week after week for continually picking Lowe, a top professional, local lad who has come through the academy who would run his socks off for the club, yet his presence in the team was greeted with derision and accusations aimed at the manager at the time.

No doubt whatsoever if Brown continues to feature in any capacity for us this season then the anti-Lambert complaints will steadily increase as despite being manager and knowing more about football than anyone on here or at Ewood Park ever will, he's not allowed to pick Brown because some people don't like him.

If it was me, I wouldn't pick Brown, but I'm sensible enough to bow to Lambert's vastly superior knowledge and accept his decisions and get behind the team he puts out.

[Al]

Abbey, football is a team game.

"People look and see hes not scoring, but he takes a lot of weight off other people with the physical battles that some people wont do. Hell tie people up through his physicality and the way he plays.

The goals arent coming for him at the minute but different parts of his game are helping us."

I agree with PL. He certainly isn't a quality player but he brings aspects completely overlooked by some fans.

Bennett and Gomez both found the net, but contributed just as little for huge parts of Saturday, hence;

"a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency."

The only bit of that I agree with is that football is a team game.

[scotty_beam_me_up]

Never understood booing our own. I remember many times defending players to idiots. Even had a row about Tugay once against Celtic. Brown puts the effort in. Should he be anywhere near our first team no. He has never scored at any level and from what I've seen won't do it for us but booing him won't make him any better.

On a side issue I wonder if any player he has played with has ever scored 20 plus whilst playing alongside him??

[Stuart]

As I said in another thread he's an Allardyce type; he's the expert and he won't bow to pressure from fans.

Fair play to him, Brown was crap on Saturday but Lamberts comments are spot on

I don't agree with the booing of Rovers players but. if anything, booing is aimed at putting pressure on the manager to stop picking them. Eventually the ire turns towards the manager if results suffer whilst they stick to their "Allardyce-mindedness". Let's face it if we were in form, nobody would be booing but 2 wins in 12, well...

Managers live and die by their decisions so he will do what he has to do. If he gets it wrong then he gets sacked (albeit with a big pay-off), it's fans that have to suffer the longest. The problems will really start if he takes on the fans directly - as Bowyer eventually did, and as Kean defiantly (sic) did.

Lambert needs to understand the context of what is going on at Ewood. The backdrop is 5 years of unprecedented self-destruction which fans have had to come to terms with. We have reached a point in some quarters gallows, or perhaps pantomime, humour has kicked in.

Right now Brown - rightly or wrongly is the pantomime villain-cum-hero - he gets paid thousands and being a hugely limited footballer (Google "Chris Brown football" and click on 'Images' to see where he stands in the pecking order!) will probably have to play his part. If he sticks to what he is good at then he is a decent asset. If he doesn't then he is a fifth goalpost.

All that said...

Don't boo your own players!

[Al]

Couldn't agree more with that post and Lambert's comments. The scapegoating culture in football is utterly pathetic and amounts to nothing more than bullying. Have a go at all the players and you'll generally get ignored, have a go at one player as a one-off and you'll get ignored, have a go at one player constantly and you might be able to get to him. Its plain and simple bullying, the underlying human condition that causes people to feel more secure about themselves if they can effectively criticise someone else.

In the Big Sam days me and a mate used to play a game of guess today's scapegoat but gave up after a while because it was way too easy. Andrews, if he's not playing Roberts, if he's not playing Pedersen. You could have done it under Hughes with Mokoena -> Emerton -> Pedersen. Memory gets a bit hazy going further back, Bent/Yorke under Souness, Atkins/Wilcox in the title era. Course in most cases these were our weaker players, but they all clearly had good qualities because in every case good managers with far more knowledge than fans kept playing them.

And rather than give appropriate weight to these qualities and praise them when they did well, you got the regular stream of mindless expletives balled out from the stands and a sort of sullen, embarrassed silence when the scapegoat player scored or won Man of the Match. I used to console myself with the idea that every club's fans are the same but with Lambert saying he's never heard it to that level before, all I can say is well done those who joined in, you're breaking new ground for how **** football fans can be.

He's not a scapegoat. He's just an awful player.

[West Yorks Rover]

I find it hard to believe that some people still think that fans at Ewood are any different to any other set of fans in the country(the world for that matter) and

for Paul Lambert( with all his years of experience in the game) to say that he's never heard a player booed by his own fans before, I think he was maybe

being a little disingenuous.

I'm still backing him though.

Venky's, get your brass ready for the summer !

[Stuart]

He's not a scapegoat. He's just an awful player.

He's just a very naughty boy!

[JAL]

Get on with giving up following Rovers? I can guarantee you I'll do just that if we ever reach the case where the fans make the decisions and not the manager. And we're not far off that it depressingly seems.

A fan collection swiftly relegated Ebbsfleet from the Conference after taking over only on things like player transfers. A part of me would bloody love some of the numpties at Rovers to take over mob rule of our management decisions just so they can finally see after about 4 consecutive relegations how clueless they are. Mind you it didn't seem to sink in much after Allardyce was sacked how moronic all the fan criticism of him had been, so there'd probably be a similar case of amnesia.

Suppose the numpties in your words will have to wait until you catch up.

Chris Brown has to be one of the worst striker in the championship SKH it's March and he hasnt even scored a goal yet.

Who's his agent ?

[arbitro]

Suppose the numpties in your words will have to wait until you catch up.

Chris Brown is the worst striker in the championship SKH ! Fact ! it's March and he hasnt even scored a goal.

Who's his agent ?

I bet your hoping for a Middlesbrough win tonight and then you can spread your misery once again with posts about Brown (you don't like/rate him, we get it) and ask more cryptic questions. Anyway I'm off to the game now, enjoy the footy on TV.

[yoda]

I bet your hoping for a Middlesbrough win tonight and then you can spread your misery once again with posts about Brown (you don't like/rate him, we get it) and ask more cryptic questions. Anyway I'm off to the game now, enjoy the footy on TV.

Thats out of the window then

[K-Hod]

He got it spot on tonight and deserves huge credit. I'd be more than happy with the same starting XI on Saturday. Grimes looks a class act as well. What a cross for the first goal!

[VinjayV4]

I bet your hoping for a Middlesbrough win tonight and then you can spread your misery once again with posts about Brown (you don't like/rate him, we get it) and ask more cryptic questions. Anyway I'm off to the game now, enjoy the footy on TV.

No Brown for JAL to moan about which he did even when he played well v Fulham. Unsurprisingly no praise for the win tonight either bet he would have been on like a shot had Rovers lost and Brown played.

[47er]

Don't think we've any real choice to stick with him and hope against hope we turn into the next "Norwich" as opposed to the next "Villa".

Based on what I've seen so far though I wouldn't lose a second's sleep if another Club did a Newcastle and took PL off our hands like they did with Souness.

Now that looks a bit daft now doesn't it Rev? Tbf I thought it did at the time!

[Mattyblue]

"‘The way this club moves in the summer will be massive. The club has to have a plan. Where do we want to go? I’ll know about budgets soon."

Lambert echoing the thoughts of all Rovers fans. Massive summer.

[DE.]

Also suggests he wasn't given and hasn't been given any assurances regarding future funding.

[JHRover]

So if he hasn't been assured of finances, and Venkys turn round and say there isn't any money to spend, what then for Lambert?

All he's talked about since he arrived has been promotion and turning the club around, rebuilding in the summer and bringing in some quality.

If a lack of funding from the owners prevents this then what does Lambert do? Accept it and try to overcome the odds with no money? Or resign on the basis he hasn't got what he expected and he won't get us up without money to spend?

[Mercer]

"‘The way this club moves in the summer will be massive. The club has to have a plan. Where do we want to go? I’ll know about budgets soon."[/size]

Lambert echoing the thoughts of all Rovers fans. Massive summer.[/size]

It would be idiocy if the V's came up short.

I think a number of bigger clubs (Championship) than Rovers will be noting Lambert's hunger, work and progress. I think, as I suspect a lot of Rovers' fans and 'football folk' do, Lambert inherited a steaming pile of the proverbial.

He has to be given the tools to carry on and try and complete the job that I think he's so impressively started.

Promotion back to the PL is the only way V's will ever see a significant part of their £150millionish 'investment' again. It really is a 'no brainer' for them.

[Norbert Rassragr]

Shame they have no brains then Mercer.

[VinjayV4]

Suppose it would be too much for the PR team (whoever that is now or alternatively Wheelock to ask Lambert) to check why the situation isn't being clarified by Myers or the owners.Yes this type of uncertainty is just what the club needs when season tickets go on sale.

[JHRover]

Suppose it would be too much for the PR team (whoever that is now or alternatively Wheelock to ask Lambert) to check why the situation isn't being clarified by Myers or the owners.Yes this type of uncertainty is just what the club needs when season tickets go on sale.

Season ticket prices for next season should have already been announced. Then if we hopefully have a good end to the season it can be capitalised on. Many other clubs up and down the leagues have already released their pricing or started selling for next season.

For some reason Rovers have always been one of the last to start selling season tickets. We always wait for the season to end using the excuse that we need to know which league we are going to be in. Other clubs, such as Derby, don't appear to be affected by this uncertainty as they were advertising season tickets when we played them last week.

Given we are highly likely to be in this league next season I don't see why at the very least prices and sales dates can't be released immediately.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

I suspect Venkys gave promises of investment but no specifics. And maybe a frugal January has caused Lambert a bit of concern so he's decided to start putting the pressure on them here and there.

I'd argue the opposite to Mercerman, money by no means guarantees promotion and even being in the PL by no means guarantees profit. To stay in the PL you have to compete so you have to spend as much as everyone else, so for a club the size of Rovers whose revenue additional to TV is tiny, we'd have to basically spend all our money just to stay in the PL. The term "invest" is virtually a misnomer in football as agents ensure player wages gobble up any increased revenue so its extremely hard to ever get money back.

So it seems to me their options are:

1. Don't spend, keep reducing the wage bill, and break even in this division.

2. Spend - a) Don't get promoted, lose loads.

b ) Get promoted, lose loads, and then break even in the PL.

Its pretty much a no brainer for Venkys not to give Lambert money. So I'd say great they have no brains!

Or the positive interpretation, that they're in this for the enthusiasm and to have fun, and they don't mind a measured financial loss to see their club in the big time. In which case great if 2b was guaranteed, which it obviously isn't. Time will tell anyway, will be an interesting summer.

[Dean]

The term "invest" is virtually a misnomer in football as agents ensure player wages gobble up any increased revenue so its extremely hard to ever get money back.

Not sure that's as true as it used to be.

Everton were notoriously skint a few years ago but have managed to start spending big amounts of money since the TV revenue increased (£28 million on Lukaku, £13 million on Niasse). The likes of Stoke, Bournemouth, West Brom, Palace etc have all spent big in the last 12 months too. That's not owners suddenly pumping lots in, that's the riches that come from being in the Premie rLeague.

[JHRover]

I refuse to believe that Lambert took on this job and has spent 4 months talking about promotion if he didn't at least have some form of assurance of funds. He might not have had cast in stone specific numbers, but he was surely told by either Venkys or their middle man that he would be given the tools to improve the squad significantly.

Then he brought in another £10 million or so by making the brave decision to sell Jordan Rhodes and Marcus Olsson whilst in a perilous position in the table, without spending any money in January, so perhaps he wants to speak to them about how much of that money is going to be added to his original kitty.

No way did he say 'yes I'll take the job and we'll talk about whether I'm going to get any money to spend in a few months time'

I accept that more money doesn't necessarily mean promotion is more likely, as Derby and Fulham are two of the biggest spenders yet both look likely to miss out whilst Brighton have spent very wisely and have a chance of automatic promotion.

But having a healthy budget is essential if we are going to emulate the likes of Middlesbrough and Hull and build some real quality in the squad.

[JAL]

No Brown for JAL to moan about which he did even when he played well v Fulham. Unsurprisingly no praise for the win tonight either bet he would have been on like a shot had Rovers lost and Brown played.

A good win and everyone's happy with no fan on fan like we read after the MK Don game.

Good on Paul Lambert to remove a negative and the impact be positive for all last night.

[Roverthechimp]

I refuse to believe that Lambert took on this job and has spent 4 months talking about promotion if he didn't at least have some form of assurance of funds. He might not have had cast in stone specific numbers, but he was surely told by either Venkys or their middle man that he would be given the tools to improve the squad significantly.

Then he brought in another £10 million or so by making the brave decision to sell Jordan Rhodes and Marcus Olsson whilst in a perilous position in the table, without spending any money in January, so perhaps he wants to speak to them about how much of that money is going to be added to his original kitty.

No way did he say 'yes I'll take the job and we'll talk about whether I'm going to get any money to spend in a few months time'

I accept that more money doesn't necessarily mean promotion is more likely, as Derby and Fulham are two of the biggest spenders yet both look likely to miss out whilst Brighton have spent very wisely and have a chance of automatic promotion.

But having a healthy budget is essential if we are going to emulate the likes of Middlesbrough and Hull and build some real quality in the squad.

It might not just be about a large sum of Money - merely that PL is allowed to purchase players and allocate budgets even if the player in question will have zero resale value...