[Archived] "no One Wants To Be Blackburn" - Martin Samuel, Daily Fail

[booth]

If proof is needed of the media resentment of Rovers winning the Premier League, this is it.

"They wouldn’t want to be Blackburn. Nobody would want to be Blackburn. At the risk of shutting down the music at a very good party, Leicester cannot afford to drink this in for too long."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3572082/Leicester-invest-risk-ending-like-Blackburn-afford-drink-Premier-League-success-long.html

You know what Martin Samuel, it happened and you can't erase it from history. Sorry that your bandwagon rocked all those years ago and your fat backside hasn't been able to get over it.

[roverandout]

fat bearded gorilla

[jim mk2]

Samuel's a pompous writer but in this case he's absolutely correct. Walker saw the title win as an end in itself and had no plan beyond that. He shut off the investment taps at a time when he should have been investing more in the team than ever. Kancheslkis was available that summer and a few seasons before Walker would have gone for him - but he held back because in his view the job was done. Walker brought about one of the most glorious periods in the club's history but he was also the architect of our demise too.

[RevidgeBlue]

Can't see too much wrong with that article from our point of view tbh. We all know that where we went wrong was not investing heavily in the summer of 1995 when every kid in England wanted to be Alan Shearer.

I'd find the article far more insulting if I were a Leicester fan. The snidey insinuation underpinning it is that they will repeat our mistake and lack ambition and/or be unable to keep it up and/or be unable to hang onto their best players. In fact it's all I've heard on the radio tonight. Not how brilliantly they've done but will they be be able to keep hold of their star players if one of the "big" Clubs come in. I find that completely disrespectful and dismissive of what they've already achieved. And if you're one of their players I can't see why you wouldn't want to at least see the fairytale through to its conclusion by playing for Leicester in the Champions League. It's not as if the "big clubs" have been pulling up any trees themselves.

[RevidgeBlue]

Samuel's a pompous writer but in this case he's absolutely correct. Walker saw the title win as an end in itself and had no plan beyond that. He shut off the investment taps at a time when he should have been investing more in the team than ever. Kancheslkis was available that summer and a few seasons before Walker would have gone for him - but he held back because in his view the job was done. Walker brought about one of the most glorious periods in the club's history but he was also the architect of our demise too.

Jim I remember vividly talking in the Pub to Bill Fox's son one night sometime during the season we finished 4th.

He could barely contain his excitement because at that point according to him Jack wasn't just content with winning the League he wanted European (and World if it were possible) domination as well.

Something must have changed Jack's mind between 1993 and 1995 if Mick Fox was correct at the time. He still invested heavily in the summer of 1994 though smashing the British transfer record for a second time by purchasing Chris Sutton.

[A cup of beans]

Cannot disagree with anything. It is exactly how I remember things.

That's not to say Jack stopped spending money, you only have to look how he backed Roy and Brian (28M) Kidd.

"WHO NEEDS ZIDANE? WE'VE GOT TIM SHERWOOD" may well be mythical, but it succinctly shows the strange strategy after our success.

A miscalculation and missed opportunity is putting it mildly and miserably.

[Paul]

Leicester's title win is a magnificent achievement to rival our own. It's something every supporter should be able to achieve in a lifetime - most won't but all deserve it.

This article, and much of the media coverage, is pretty insulting to Leicester but it is also realistic and an indictment of the modern game. When Clough won promotion in 77 followed by the 1st Division title and two European Cup wins for Nottingham Forest it showed what a "small" club could achieve then. It will never happen again and Leicester are highly unlikely to challenge next year. Money simply makes the difference.

This title win is worth £150m plus Champions League money. If I ran the club I'd make sure that money secured its future before spending millions on players in a futile attempt to keep up with the big boys.

[Waggy76]

I think Kenny leaving was the pivotal point !

A very hard act to follow and gave us credence !

[koi]

Absolutely spot on in my opinion.

[CAPT KAYOS]

Leicester's title win is a magnificent achievement to rival our own. It's something every supporter should be able to achieve in a lifetime - most won't but all deserve it.

This article, and much of the media coverage, is pretty insulting to Leicester but it is also realistic and an indictment of the modern game. When Clough won promotion in 77 followed by the 1st Division title and two European Cup wins for Nottingham Forest it showed what a "small" club could achieve then. It will never happen again and Leicester are highly unlikely to challenge next year. Money simply makes the difference.

This title win is worth £150m plus Champions League money. If I ran the club I'd make sure that money secured its future before spending millions on players in a futile attempt to keep up with the big boys.

The thing is Paul -and this imo only - does big big money really need to be spent - what's not to think that Leicester can't continue in the same vein?

What tends to happen in teams in that a main cog comes to end of his 'use by' date or is sold /let go - be it manager or player

Its Investment and canny/savvy buying /planning that wins the day I feel - its just recognising when something needs replacing at the right time ( ie for example akin to Rovers and at the time what should have been a major priority in looking for a central midfield player well in advance (especially for Tugay) - and still is for Rovers / or Scholes etc for MU

Pardon the pun of being a millon dollar question -but it seems that spending money abhorrently just seems to be 'trend' rather than the 'have to' nowadays because of all the money awash in the game, and results in an overpriced market and a merry go round of players (some who are not even worth anywhere close to what the valuation is)

[Blackburn Ender]

That's a fair article and pretty much how I remember it.

Don't knock the media for telling you something you don't want to hear.

We should never have been relegated so soon after winning the title and there were some unfathomable, even clueless decisions made - Dalglish standing down, Harford, Kidd, - that we called right at the time, not with hindsight.

Leicester would do well to learn from us and make sure they at least challenge next season, even if in all probability they can't win it. Keeping Ranieri and the core band of players will be crucial.

As Martin Samuel says, the biggest mistakes we made were in the weeks after winning the the Premiership. allowing Dalglish to resign as manager and not investing in the team to consolidate our position and kick on.

It's pretty well accepted now that you need extra playing resources to succeed in the Champions League and I remember being embarrassed by our naivety in some of those group matches.

[Rover_Shaun]

Successful teams have a shelf life of a couple of seasons. In 95 ours had come to the end and needed refreshing. We signed some big eared idiot and that was it

The writing was on the wall

[K-Hod]

The only thing wrong with that article is the title imo. But then, most online journalism these days just features 'click bait', otherwise nobody would ever read it....

[Mattyblue]

The summer of '95 sowed the seeds of our struggles since.

You MUST invest from a position of strength, that summer the like of Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne, Andrei Kanchelskis and presumably plenty of others would have been itching to sign for the Champions.

Instead we let a quality manager go, appointed a coach (great coach that he was) and signed Matty Holmes.

The 90s should have been OUR decade. It wouldn't have lasted for ever due to the PetroDollar clubs like Chelsea coming on to the scene- we had an average crowd of 27000 in 95/96 despite a poor season, we were hoovering up support across modern day Lancs as the likes of PNE, Burnley etc. were floundering in the 3rd and 4th tiers.

The Riverside could have been re-built and we would now be established as the major club in the north west outside Liverpool and Manchester.

Instead we got ourselves relegated just FOUR years after being Champions, despite throwing money about- Blake, Ward, Dailly! Once we returned, the Walker Trust decided that we shouldn't/couldn't compete again and that was that.

If only we'd have strode on that summer

[Amo]

Nowt wrong with that article.

If you told Leicester fans in twenty years time they'll be a debt-ridden, bottom-half second division club with only a league cup to show for it, I doubt they'd be too chuffed.

[Parsonblue]

I think that article is pretty much how I remember it in the summer of 1995. Jack was loyal to the players who won the title whilst Dalglish wanted to move to the next level and bring in more players. Kenny moved upstairs and Ray, who didn't want the job, only took it because Jack wanted him and Ray felt loyalty to Jack. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end and the moment had gone for the Rovers. By the time Jack realised the error and started to throw money at it again under Hodgson, the club was playing catch-up and, of course, the key players of 94-95 had moved on.

[JHRover]

One thing wrong with the article is Samuel's account of events between 2001 and 2010. I seem to remember a period, albeit very brief, in Mark Hughes' final season, when we were challenging for the top 4, we were neck and neck with Spurs and Arsenal up to the last few games of the season before finishing 6th.

I can see what Samuel is trying to do in portraying our spell between 2001 and 2010 as a constant struggle and making up the numbers job, but the truth is whilst we weren't pushing at the very top more often than not we were top half and challenging for Europe, not to mention numerous cup semi final appearances.

[koi]

The thing is Paul -and this imo only - does big big money really need to be spent - what's not to think that Leicester can't continue in the same vein?

What tends to happen in teams in that a main cog comes to end of his 'use by' date or is sold /let go - be it manager or player

Its Investment and canny/savvy buying /planning that wins the day I feel - its just recognising when something needs replacing at the right time ( ie for example akin to Rovers and at the time what should have been a major priority in looking for a central midfield player well in advance (especially for Tugay) - and still is for Rovers / or Scholes etc for MU

Pardon the pun of being a millon dollar question -but it seems that spending money abhorrently just seems to be 'trend' rather than the 'have to' nowadays because of all the money awash in the game, and results in an overpriced market and a merry go round of players (some who are not even worth anywhere close to what the valuation is)

They are PL champions, any player they're interested in has a zero added to the end of the price tag and the player/agent want big money. Their own players will now want big or money or they leave. The games changed for them now and they'll find how hard it is trying to play with the big boys.

What Jack did was remarkable but maybe he saw the writing was on the wall when transfer fees and wages escalated, how long could he seriously fund being title contenders?

[tomphil]

Jack was a wise old head who had a fortune to spend so he sought out the best man to handle that fortune and it paid dividends. When that man stepped down (because he wanted to make himself available for LFC again if they called) then Jack wasn't so keen at that moment in time to continue to throw cash until he found someone he trusted again to handles such a big job.

Of course it never worked out that way given the tens of millions others spunked but as soon as Woy stepped in the bank opened again. Dalglish stepping down came as a shock and maybe part of it was because he wanted to carry on huge spending but Jack wanted to limit it a bit but KD had his own agenda as well. I don't believe for one min that either guy wouldn't back down over another 5 mill player or two.

[booth]

That's a fair article and pretty much how I remember it.

Don't knock the media for telling you something you don't want to hear.

There's facts you can't argue with but the sentence I quoted "no one wants to be Blackburn" is just rubbish. So the other XX amount of teams that haven't won the Premier League don't want to be like us? Absolute guff. There's a lot of teams above and below us that would love to do what we did. Liverpool fans are still desperate to win the PL. Tottenham fans will see this season as their biggest opportunity to do so. Newcastle, they had their time in the sun and blew it. Would you say as a Blackburn Rovers fan you wouldn't have wanted those years?

On top of that he omits to mention that we did very well after getting back into the Premier League (which we did in style) and even won a major cup. The major insult is his lack of mention that Venky's and a particular agent were responsible for our current position. But let's not let facts get in the way of a good story.

[Gav]

Nobody would want to be Blackburn in the current climate, but Blackburn had every opportunity to be Leicester, the only difference is the Thai owners know what they're doing, our owners don't even know what day it is.

[booth]

Walker brought about one of the most glorious periods in the club's history but he was also the architect of our demise too.

Architect of our demise, really?

If when he came in, someone would have told you we'd become one of the mainstay's of the top flight would you have taken that?

It's not his fault his family decided to sell to the first imbeciles that came along.

[booth]

Nowt wrong with that article.

If you told Leicester fans in twenty years time they'll be a debt-ridden, bottom-half second division club with only a league cup to show for it, I doubt they'd be too chuffed.

Not the fault of winning the league though.

Only a league cup to show for it? What about all those great games beating teams that we can only dream of now? These days we're happy to get a win against Rotherham.

[Gav]

Nowt wrong with that article.

If you told Leicester fans in twenty years time they'll be a debt-ridden, bottom-half second division club with only a league cup to show for it, I doubt they'd be too chuffed.

Bloody hell Toppers, only a league cup to show for it? I guess you never went through most of it to put it like?

Its been the most fantastic ride over the past 25yrs, beyond every Blackburn Rovers fans wildest dreams, I'd not change it for the world.

[CAPT KAYOS]

They are PL champions, any player they're interested in has a zero added to the end of the price tag and the player/agent want big money. Their own players will now want big or money or they leave. The games changed for them now and they'll find how hard it is trying to play with the big boys.

What Jack did was remarkable but maybe he saw the writing was on the wall when transfer fees and wages escalated, how long could he seriously fund being title contenders?

Agree Koi

But they have proved it this season also without breaking the bank - they are now going to be on a far better standing financially and have a bit more pulling power and glamour to attract players - doesn't mean to say they have to implode and drown themselves just manage it well.

Obviously this will be dependent on how ambitious they are and I am sure they will want to have a good debut stab at the CL -but it doesn't mean they have to prostitute themselves to do it.

From what I have seen of Leicester this season -they are a very very good total unit and got on with the job regardless which has been a fresh air and good to watch - rather than the other so called big clubs who have moaned with regard to injuries and mgrs despite having countless so called 'stars' and high wages and bigger squads.