[Archived] Championship 2016/17 Season

[JHRover]

Wolves/Fosun/Mendes very similar on the surface to Rovers/Venkys/Anderson. Agent brings a foreign conglomerate to the table on some project of developing football in their homeland despite no track record in the game and they rely heavily on 'advice' from the agent.

I expect that the difference we will see is that Fosun are serious about getting Wolves promoted and will throw a lot of money at it until they get where they want. It might be a circus with a huge turnover in staff and players and see them lose some of their identity as a club, but eventually they'll succeed and get back to the Premier League. It won't be built on a mountain of debt and they won't hide away in their bunker in China.

[Jock]

There was a promotion relegation play off years ago. I don't think the police liked them. Especially the Chelsea Boro match which was apparently a war zone.

[blueboy3333]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Indeed it will be the 'same old...' blueboy.

However, you said he'd been 'rightly ousted as he's a talentless BS merchant', I would wager that isn't the reason he's been ousted at all.

I said 'outed' and I meant by the Wolves fans on their forum. Like you say, he's been 'ousted' to make way for a coach who will work with the players he's given.

[Mattyblue]

Ah fair enough, though from what I can see from their forums, quite a few were more than happy to give him next season.

Anyway, we've got enough of our agent induced trauma to think about...

[blueboy3333]

Just now, JHRover said:

Wolves/Fosun/Mendes very similar on the surface to Rovers/Venkys/Anderson. Agent brings a foreign conglomerate to the table on some project of developing football in their homeland despite no track record in the game and they rely heavily on 'advice' from the agent.

I expect that the difference we will see is that Fosun are serious about getting Wolves promoted and will throw a lot of money at it until they get where they want. It might be a circus with a huge turnover in staff and players and see them lose some of their identity as a club, but eventually they'll succeed and get back to the Premier League. It won't be built on a mountain of debt and they won't hide away in their bunker in China.

Can't say I know much about FOSUN but I thought the same. Venky's '£5m a year' was never going to deliver Champions League like Madame said! Success at Wolves will ultimately depend on the quality of the manager/coach. Venky's still haven't worked that one out.

[Skiptonrover]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

Wolves/Fosun/Mendes very similar on the surface to Rovers/Venkys/Anderson. Agent brings a foreign conglomerate to the table on some project of developing football in their homeland despite no track record in the game and they rely heavily on 'advice' from the agent.

I expect that the difference we will see is that Fosun are serious about getting Wolves promoted and will throw a lot of money at it until they get where they want. It might be a circus with a huge turnover in staff and players and see them lose some of their identity as a club, but eventually they'll succeed and get back to the Premier League. It won't be built on a mountain of debt and they won't hide away in their bunker in China.

There might for a couple of seasons but can't see them doing it indefinitely. There will tire eventually if there don't get promoted. Look at Ellis short at Sunderland he got fed up eventually. There won't be daft if there don't see a projected short-termish return there will cut there losses & invest in something else more lucrative.

[den]

3 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Which imo was the main reason for his appointment. He then invoked his pre-arranged walk away clause but stayed till season end to look good, again pre-arranged.

I have no time for him

They appointed a manager to sell a player? Give over ARA.

[DE.]

3 hours ago, JHRover said:

Wolves/Fosun/Mendes very similar on the surface to Rovers/Venkys/Anderson. Agent brings a foreign conglomerate to the table on some project of developing football in their homeland despite no track record in the game and they rely heavily on 'advice' from the agent.

I expect that the difference we will see is that Fosun are serious about getting Wolves promoted and will throw a lot of money at it until they get where they want. It might be a circus with a huge turnover in staff and players and see them lose some of their identity as a club, but eventually they'll succeed and get back to the Premier League. It won't be built on a mountain of debt and they won't hide away in their bunker in China.

Alternatively, they try and fail for a couple of years, then decide it's too much effort, sell off as much as possible and dump the club for a minor loss or perhaps a slight profit.

A shame Venky's stopped at the "too much effort" part and apparently forgot the "dump the club" part.

[onlyonejackwalker]

8 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

You went on like Lambert was your dad

18 months on King Gary is celebrating an unlikely promotion and Princess Paul is being rightly outed as a talentless BS merchant.

I did try to educate you at the time but it fell on deaf ears unfortunately. Worse than that, I got a 6 month ban for my efforts. It's not easy being right

 

What were you right about?

Bowyer has been promoted from Division Four, Lambert relieved of duties in Division Two.

The reason for that is when leaving Rovers one had to lower his expectations and aspirations considerably, whilst the other was afforded a seemingly better opportunity at a decent sized club at the same level.

The football world seems to view respective performance and achievements differently than your version of 'right'. Not too fussed either way if you really feel vindicated. Bully for you, I say, albeit a tad confused.

Credit to Bowyer, very good achievement. Sometimes you need to take a step back to go forward. Different challenges lower down, all laid on a plate for him at Rovers waxing twenty five million per year in the chase for ninth. 

Crazy in that division. The tea lady also doubles up for the half-time massage and your supplying your own tangerines. Giving it a right good go indeed is Gazzer and I am chuffed for him.

I hope we batter them home and away. 

[RevidgeBlue]

16 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

No doubt about it he's been ousted, a la Allardyce. Unlike BS, Lambert will be no greal loss.

You reap what you sow in any case. At Rovers and Wolves he went in and slagged the previous manager, came out with the same nonsense about not 'accepting mediocrity' and then produced average results and even worse performances. With a mouth like his you've got to be pretty special, and he isn't.

If Wolves got up their fans won't care a jot if Mendes is an agent or not. If it goes badly wrong they'll be asking serious questions of the FA & EFL. Same old, same old...

Spot on Blueboy. Perhaps the Wolves Board didn't fall for the "This Club needs to decide where it wants to go" claptrap combined with a request for a humongous transfer budget bearing in mind that (as he did here) he delivered extremely disappointing performances and results.

[Stuart]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

Spot on Blueboy. Perhaps the Wolves Board didn't fall for the "This Club needs to decide where it wants to go" claptrap combined with a request for a humongous transfer budget bearing in mind that (as he did here) he delivered extremely disappointing performances and results.

So which direction is Blackburn Rovers going, Rev?

[K-Hod]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

Spot on Blueboy. Perhaps the Wolves Board didn't fall for the "This Club needs to decide where it wants to go" claptrap combined with a request for a humongous transfer budget bearing in mind that (as he did here) he delivered extremely disappointing performances and results.

Nah, they just decided to let a super agent decide transfer policy and have a lap dog of a manager happy to accept players forced upon them instead. Sounds familiar that, doesn't it?

We needed a transfer budget to get a squad capable of getting promotion (assuming the owners ever actually held those ambitions) as the owners had accelerated the process of selling everything of any value. Still, now we've got much bigger problems than how Paul Lambert did here.....

[JHRover]

I don't really understand some of the criticism aimed at Lambert. I can understand some being uncomfortable with some of his over ambitious comments but from a football point of view I don't think he really could have done much more at Rovers or at Wolves in the time he was there.

People criticise Bowyer and say he was taking us down before he was sacked. I don't agree, but if that is the case then surely Lambert deserves credit for turning that round and keeping us up with relative comfort in the end?

Lets also remember that the squad he inherited was already being dismantled by the owners. He inherited the likes of Sasha Petshi and Fode Koita

He had one transfer window in charge and spent how much? Despite selling Olsson and Rhodes for about £11 million he spent a pittance on Bennett and Ward. That kind of spending doesn't entitle any club to better than a relegation scrap.

A manager shouldn't be judged on his first few months. Like Mowbray shouldn't be judged on relegation despite delivering it, Lambert shouldn't be judged on a bottom half finish. Mowbray will be judged on what happens if he's still here next season.

 

[gumboots]

Just now, JHRover said:

I don't really understand some of the criticism aimed at Lambert. I can understand some being uncomfortable with some of his over ambitious comments but from a football point of view I don't think he really could have done much more at Rovers or at Wolves in the time he was there.

People criticise Bowyer and say he was taking us down before he was sacked. I don't agree, but if that is the case then surely Lambert deserves credit for turning that round and keeping us up with relative comfort in the end?

Lets also remember that the squad he inherited was already being dismantled by the owners. He inherited the likes of Sasha Petshi and Fode Koita

He had one transfer window in charge and spent how much? Despite selling Olsson and Rhodes for about £11 million he spent a pittance on Bennett and Ward. That kind of spending doesn't entitle any club to better than a relegation scrap.

A manager shouldn't be judged on his first few months. Like Mowbray shouldn't be judged on relegation despite delivering it, Lambert shouldn't be judged on a bottom half finish. Mowbray will be judged on what happens if he's still here next season.

 

Even then it would be unfair to judge him if they sell players without his say so and then refuse to give him any money to replace them. Wasnt it Hughes who said it was getting harder to pull rabbits out of hats and when you think of some of the players he brought in you really cant judge mowbray if hes not allowed any cash

[Batman.]

It's frightening to think of the money Hughes pulled in. Santa Cruz and Bentley were sold for a combined £30m profit, and in hindsight we should have let McCarthy go to Chelsea that summer (£24m was it?).

Even more satisfying was how they all went to @#/? after they left, so we never suffered the pain of "I wish we still had them."

JH Rover makes some good points regarding Lambert. I think it was more the fact he moaned a lot but never gave us a sense of what he could achieve. The performances were poor, and they got progressively worse. Mowbray has created a small sense of optimsim amongst fans with the improvement we showed under him, and I think most fans feel better about him than they did Lambert. 

Says a lot when you consider we've just been relegated.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Batman. said:

It's frightening to think of the money Hughes pulled in. Santa Cruz and Bentley were sold for a combined £30m profit, and in hindsight we should have let McCarthy go to Chelsea that summer (£24m was it?).

Even more satisfying was how they all went to @#/? after they left, so we never suffered the pain of "I wish we still had them."

JH Rover makes some good points regarding Lambert. I think it was more the fact he moaned a lot but never gave us a sense of what he could achieve. The performances were poor, and they got progressively worse. Mowbray has created a small sense of optimsim amongst fans with the improvement we showed under him, and I think most fans feel better about him than they did Lambert. 

Says a lot when you consider we've just been relegated.

Did we not sell Santa Cruz for 24 million? 

[K-Hod]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Did we not sell Santa Cruz for 24 million? 

Think it was £17.5 Million if I recall correctly. Either way, we made a heavy profit on him!

[chaddyrovers]

Just now, K-Hod said:

Think it was £17.5 Million if I recall correctly. Either way, we made a heavy profit on him!

Didnt we sign him 3.5 million

[MikeRovers]

Wolves‏Verified account @Wolves 2h2 hours ago

 

 

We are delighted to confirm the arrival of @Nuno as the club's new Head Coach. #WelcomeNuno

[MikeRovers]

Wolves confirm their replacement.

As for Lambert, pretty much mirrors what I thought about him when he was here. All talk, couldn't walk the walk. Having said that, Venkys won't back anybody so he was right to walk out.

[MikeRovers]

14 minutes ago, Batman. said:

It's frightening to think of the money Hughes pulled in. Santa Cruz and Bentley were sold for a combined £30m profit, and in hindsight we should have let McCarthy go to Chelsea that summer (£24m was it?).

Even more satisfying was how they all went to @#/? after they left, so we never suffered the pain of "I wish we still had them."

JH Rover makes some good points regarding Lambert. I think it was more the fact he moaned a lot but never gave us a sense of what he could achieve. The performances were poor, and they got progressively worse. Mowbray has created a small sense of optimsim amongst fans with the improvement we showed under him, and I think most fans feel better about him than they did Lambert. 

Says a lot when you consider we've just been relegated.

100% agree with this.

[Mattyblue]

Not a like for like comparison. Lambert was brought in at a time when many fans thought the Rao's were going to make a real push for promotion - obviously more smoke and mirrors and Lambert saw right through it too. So the whole episode was just odd.

Mowbray is seen as a steady hand to help us try and recover from the third division, a good bloke who is a breath of fresh air after 6 months of utter garbage from Coyle.

[K-Hod]

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Didnt we sign him 3.5 million

Yes we did!

Re the other comments about Mowbray, whilst I was pleasantly surprised with the improvements we showed under him, I'd say that was down to expectations being so low because of Coyle more than anything else. The hierarchy need to hang their heads in shame for hiring that buffoon in the first place, not to mention keeping him on as long as they did. To even think that ANYONE could consider he was the 'outstanding candidate' is truly baffling and was two fingers being stuck right up at the fans as far as I'm concerned.

Given Venky's and their track record, (Unless those bell whiffs do one of course). I can't say I really feel optimistic about anything to do with Rovers, but that's more a reflection on my feelings towards the owners than any feelings towards Mowbray and his managerial ability.

[Stuart]

3 hours ago, MikeRovers said:

Wolves confirm their replacement.

As for Lambert, pretty much mirrors what I thought about him when he was here. All talk, couldn't walk the walk. Having said that, Venkys won't back anybody so he was right to walk out.

The stick Lambert gets is incredible. The mind boggles. Can't work out what the agenda against him is. I thought it was the Celtic link but Mowbray has that badge. I still think a lot of fans are sore that Bowyer's open door policy down at Ewood wasn't as accessible and Lambert put some noses out of joint. Some of the photos I saw on Facebook were nothing short of amateurish.

Wifh every other manager they need time to get their own players in to be judged. All Lambert had to work with was to try to change the holiday camp losing mentality. Bowyer had umpteen windows and was still talked about as "he needed more time".

[DE.]

16 hours ago, Stuart said:

The stick Lambert gets is incredible. The mind boggles. Can't work out what the agenda against him is. I thought it was the Celtic link but Mowbray has that badge. I still think a lot of fans are sore that Bowyer's open door policy down at Ewood wasn't as accessible and Lambert put some noses out of joint. Some of the photos I saw on Facebook were nothing short of amateurish.

Wifh every other manager they need time to get their own players in to be judged. All Lambert had to work with was to try to change the holiday camp losing mentality. Bowyer had umpteen windows and was still talked about as "he needed more time".

I think Lambert realised very quickly that he had made a mistake joining us, and the break-clause in his contract suggested he knew in advance he was stepping into a potentially dangerous situation as far as his career was concerned. It didn't take him long to work out that he had been lied to about transfer funding, and the absolute silence from India regarding his plan to get Rovers back on a competitive footing was enough to convince him it was time to go. Who can blame him? It's possible his plan wasn't feasible, but to not even get the courtesy of a reply tells you all that you need to know about our owners and the attention they are paying to Rovers.

Basically, unless you travel to India and kiss their backsides every few months you get nowhere. And even then you only get the bare minimum required to keep the club functioning on any kind of normal level. The whole situation is perverse and if Mowbray wants to put himself through that then okay, but I wouldn't blame any manager for walking away from this mess.