[Archived] 9.30Pm Tonight - New Social Media Hashtag

[Stuart]

He has seen them and is asking for permission from his employers lawyers to publish them or write a story about it.

Bet they so "no, leave it alone".

Make or break time for Wheelock. Cryer didn't get anywhere with his "Time To Go Steve" headline and eventually left the LT.

Don't expect Newsquest to promote any real 'jounalism' and seem happy just to 'report'.

[chaddyrovers]

Nick Harris articles on Rovers from a few years ago

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/?s=Blackburn&x=0&y=0

[Athlete]

Bet they so "no, leave it alone".

Make or break time for Wheelock. Cryer didn't get anywhere with his "Time To Go Steve" headline and eventually left the LT.

Don't expect Newsquest to promote any real 'jounalism' and seem happy just to 'report'.

Time for him to step up to the plate

[1arC]

Bet they so "no, leave it alone".

Make or break time for Wheelock. Cryer didn't get anywhere with his "Time To Go Steve" headline and eventually left the LT.

Don't expect Newsquest to promote any real 'jounalism' and seem happy just to 'report'.

Safety first journalism I guess, which helps no one.

[yoda]

I think some of the clauses that have been inserted in contracts may well not have been in the interests of Blackburn Rovers PLC, a bit like the dodgy FIFA ones that the CIA found !

[Robin]

...

[1arC]

I think some of the clauses that have been inserted in contracts may well not have been in the interests of Blackburn Rovers PLC, a bit like the dodgy FIFA ones that the CIA found !

When it appears that it pays the manager to be relegated, then you could go away from home and set the team up, to not have a single shot on goal. I remember the Sky pundits commenting on how strange that game was at Spurs and how a team fighting for their lives should play that way.

[LDRover]

When it appears that it pays the manger to be relegated, then you could go away from home and set the team up, to not have a single shot on goal. I remember the Sky pundits commenting on how strange that game was at Spurs and how a team fighting for their lives should play that way.

Not to mention Kean's lip licking 'exciting times' interview when relegation was confirmed.

[perthblue02]

Being advised to turn down a sponsorship because somebody could find a more financial rewarding one which did not appear and then having to give that sponsorship away to a local charity, leaving a financial hole to be filled by player sales, very clever

[1arC]

Not to mention Kean's lip licking 'exciting times' interview when relegation was confirmed.

His bank manager was about to start having exciting times. I wondered what he meant at the time, when he said, sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. The irony of that now, is plain for all to see.

[DE.]

When it appears that it pays the manager to be relegated, then you could go away from home and set the team up, to not have a single shot on goal. I remember the Sky pundits commenting on how strange that game was at Spurs and how a team fighting for their lives should play that way.

Easily the most infuriating and disgusting game I've ever watched. It wasn't the players lacking effort, it was obvious that tactically we were not set up properly at all. Even the commentators and pundits were asking why we weren't changing our shape at all, despite getting absolutely murdered.

And the man in charge was on £1m per year. Sickening.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Blackburn Rovers had finished in the top half of the Premier League four seasons out of five when the new manager was given a contract which included bonuses for finishes in lower leagues. Why was there a need to provide such a perverse incentive?

I am now of the opinion that this whole present sorry scenario at this Football club has been and continues to be 'Engineered'.

The League1 remuneration 'rewards' left me horrified.

[1arC]

I am now of the opinion that this whole present sorry scenario at this Football club has been and continues to be 'Engineered'.

The League1 remuneration 'rewards' left me horrified.

It is amazing what happens when the love for money is more than a persons love for his sport. Read em and weep.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/654219.html

[Waggy76]

Doesn't it just !

Wonder if Mr Coyle is on similar ?

You never know but the more info that comes out the better ....

Whatever happenend to Paul Agnew ?

[perthblue02]

Doesn't it just !

Wonder if Mr Coyle is on similar ?

You never know but the more info that comes out the better ....

Whatever happenend to Paul Agnew ?

Slithered into a nice expensive house on the Fylde coast apparently

[1arC]

Now that some more of the paper trail is in the open, the idea that certain fans are fantasists or conspiracy theorists can be completely laid to rest.

There is yet far more in many dozens of hands which is not in the public domain.

Glen's posts give a hint as to why this stuff is not yet public.

I will pose the following observations and questions:

- The Italian League was once richer and better broadcast than the English League. It was probably no coincidence that the Italian League was left in the dirt in TV ratings when the scandals about match fixing broke. The Premier League billions depend pretty well completely on the PERCEPTION that the English game is free from corruption and is a fair competition.

- If you are working for the English football authorities, are you going to do anything which opens old horrible cans of worms which would damage the credibility of the English game and could even question the validity of the Premier League Champions one season or just be happy to see clubs like Rovers and others (perhaps Leeds) slip towards the National Leagues and out of their responsibility?

- Blackburn Rovers had finished in the top half of the Premier League four seasons out of five when the new manager was given a contract which included bonuses for finishes in lower leagues. Why was there a need to provide such a perverse incentive?

- How and why was Coyle appointed in the absence of Mr Cheston? Does Coyle happen to have similar connections to those of Kean? Does anyone know if his contract has similar lower league provisions? I genuinely have no idea in this regard but I did see the line-ups and player positions played in our first two league games which were heroically ambitious to say the least.

- where and when was Crescendo registered, who are the three major parties behind it and when did they first have a relationship with Kean, where does Kean now work?

- does the lawyers' letter to Kentaro settle once and for all whether Sir Alex Ferguson was correct when he said "an agent is running Blackburn Rovers" and that the dismissal of Sam Allardyce and his management team and the run-up to the resignations of John Williams and Tom Finn were the responsibility of people "advising" Venky's who happen also to hold football agent licenses?

- to anybody involved in finance, do you agree it is possible to work the markets to make money out of a business that is going down?

A couple of things Philip please. I didn't know that Coyle was appointed in Cheston's absence. Who appointed him and why has Cheston gone on record to say that Coyle was the outstanding candidate? Also if these documents can come out today, can we possibly have more through the same channels please? Someone has stuck their neck out an awful long way today, perhaps that can be done again.

[tomphil]

Being advised to turn down a sponsorship because somebody could find a more financial rewarding one which did not appear and then having to give that sponsorship away to a local charity, leaving a financial hole to be filled by player sales, very clever

That jumped out at me straight away as well also relegation would naturally see a good few players wanting out and a lot of others coming in once they'd been persuaded to use parachute money. Great supply of live food for the snakes to gorge on.

Also the bit about owners seeing no financial return because of no 4 million per year sponsorship is an interesting line. Of course they didn't expect to make any money though.

Yeah right !

[roverstdt]

For me the main problem with regards to the protesting is that Venky's have done one thing exceptionally well which is to fragment the Rovers fans base. Together there is a large following but at the moment it is in little clusters all over the place. For our voices to be heard we need to have a figure head who actively looks to give a long term goal and to reunite all the fans. The fans are willing to fight but too many don't even know where to start. You need someone who helps unites the Trust, Seneca, and the fan base to make our voices heard. Who should step up is never easy but the only way I can ever see Rovers fans getting what they want is by being better organised and having a figure head who helps give a direction by having an open and clear communication with all the fans base (which is not easy) in order to help strategies to get the result we all want which is for Venky's to leave.

[yoda]

How to run (NOT) a football club Pune style

Dear Sirs,

Re: Our client: Venkateshwara Hatcheries PVT Ltd

Your client: Kentaro Group

We refer to your letter of 2 December 2011.

Pre-action conduct

First, we note that in the first paragraph of your letter you state that your letter of 15 November 2011 is “a pre-action letter for the purposes of the Civil Procedural Rules”. We ought to state at this stage that we do not consider that your letter merits such a qualification. Whilst we do not wish to take technical points, the extent to which your letter of 15 November 2011 fails to comply with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct (“the Practice Direction”) is both material and considerable. For example, the letter fails (as a minimum) to comply with sub-paragraphs 2.2(1), 2.2(3), 2.3(1) and 2.3(2) of the guidance at Annex A of the said Practice Direction. All of the breaches referred to above are separate and independent breaches and go directly to your client’s conduct.

We note in particular that you do not enclose copies of any of the documents to which reference is made in your letter. We also note in particular that your letter makes no reference to any discount for accelerated payment (if our client were to agree to your client’s demand for payment of £500,000.00, which it does not).

In the circumstances set out above, we do not consider that your letter qualifies as a Letter Before Claim pursuant to the said Practice Direction (which is what we presume you mean by “a pre-action letter for the purposes of the Civil Procedure Rules”).

Construction

We disagree with your client’s construction of the language used in the Agreement dated 2 November 2010 (“the Agreement”). We disagree that the only commercial interpretation of the phrase “a minimum of three years, renewable every year” is that the Agreement has a minimum term of three years, renewable thereafter every year. Indeed, you appear, in your own letter, to highlight the weakness of that argument by your use of the word “thereafter”. If the Agreement had been intended to have the construction which your client contends, then the word “thereafter” would have been inserted at the end of clause 2 of the Agreement. Our client’s case is that the Agreement was envisaged to run for a maximum of three years and was capable of being terminated at the end of each of its first and second years. We accept that the wording is not definitive in favour of the construction contended for by our client; our client is not, and was not at the time of the Agreement fully conversant in English and did not take advice from English lawyers when or before the Agreement was signed. Accordingly, so we are instructed, our client became confused as to the meaning of the word “minimum” (as opposed to “maximum”). Indeed, it would appear as though your client has taken advantage of our client’s unfamiliarity with the English language, which is particularly noteworthy when it is considered alongside the fact that your client effectively held itself out as being our client’s protectors and “local experts”, a theme to which we shall refer again below. It is apparent that, even on our client’s worse case scenario, the Agreement falls to be rectified so that the word “minimum” is replaced by “maximum”.

Mitigation

Accordingly, the construction contended for by your client is not accepted. Even if your client were successful in persuading a Court that the Agreement should be construed in the manner contended for in your letter of 15 November 2011, we do not accept that it would not be possible for your client to mitigate its losses. The fact that you say that it is not possible for your client to mitigate its losses rather supports our client’s view, which we set out below, to the effect that your client appears to see (and have seen) its role as being one which does not provide any services to our client. If your client had (but for the termination of the Agreement) intended to provide the services which it contracted to provide (“the Services”), then of course it would be possible for your client to mitigate its losses, because it would not be incurring the costs of providing the Services. In this regard, your letter of 15 November 2011 betrays your client’s failure to perform its obligations under the Agreement.

Failure to perform

Indeed, we turn now to your client’s failings in this regard. Pursuant to the Agreement, your client agreed:-

“To assist and act as a consultant for [our client] in respect of all football related business and matters on a worldwide basis. It was expressly agreed that the services which your client would provide would include, but not be limited to, advice on all football matters such as the appointment of a coach, the trading of players, all advice in respect of TV and commercial rights, and all advice in respect of global branding (including shirt sponsorship)”.

It is perhaps worth noting at this stage that the background to this Agreement is that your client held itself out as being experts in the football sector (and English football in particular). Our client, as was known to your client, was not experienced in these matters and saw Blackburn Rovers Football Club (“Blackburn Rovers”) as an investment opportunity. In order to make that investment opportunity work for both itself and Blackburn Rovers, our client would need specialist football expertise, and your client held itself out as being able and willing to provide that expertise, and your client agreed to provide it. The express provisions in clause 1 of the Agreement (which we have summarised above) speak for themselves.

However, we are instructed that, in fact, your client did not provide the Services. Where it purported to do so, it did so badly. Accordingly, in fact it was your client which committed a repudiatory breach of the Agreement (and which our client accepted). Further or alternatively as a matter of law, your client was in breach of contract, thereby entitling our client and/or Blackburn Rovers to damages.

By way of example, we understand that your client has carried out no global branding on behalf of our client, and indeed this is exemplified by the fact that your client failed to secure a shirt sponsor for Blackburn Rovers. We are instructed that, upon your client’s advice, offer to pay £1.1m for shirt sponsorship for Blackburn Rovers was rejected (your client advising that a deal worth £4m could be obtained). That ultimately left our client with no financial benefit from shirt sponsorship.

Your client was also expressly engaged to advise upon the appointment of a manager/head coach. Your client in fact advised our client to dispense with the services of Blackburn Rovers’s football manager, Sam Allardyce, a very experienced manager in English football. Our client was then advised to replace Mr Allardyce with the current manager of Blackburn Rovers, Steve Kean, who we understand is a client of Sports Entertainment & Media Group Limited (“SEM”).

Your client was also expressly engaged to advise on the trading of players. Before your client’s involvement, Blackburn Rovers’s transfer policy was governed by a 12-page document which regulated the transfer activity of Blackburn Rovers. However, so we are instructed, when your client became involved in transfer policy, it paid no regard to that document and dictated transfer policy on an apparently random and ad-hoc basis. This is reflected in the fact that the players whom your client advised our client to sign for Blackburn Rovers, almost without exception, failed to meet the expectations which your client had set in our client’s mind, such players including the likes of Mauro Formica and Ruben Rochina Naixes (“Rochina”). We note that several of the players and coaching staff recruited on the advice of your client appear to be clients of SEM (including Nick Blackman, John Jensen and Myles Anderson, who has failed notably to make the grade as a professional footballer and who is the son of Jerome Anderson, a director of SEM and of Jerome Anderson Management, a subsidiary company of SEM) .

We are also instructed that, upon your client’s advice, our client paid an exorbitant level of agent’s fees for certain players, including for example in the case of Rochina, whose agent, Manuel Salamanca Ferrer, received £1.65 million.

We are also instructed that several of the players whom your client advised our client to sign for Blackburn Rovers were signed on unjustifiably large salaries and that their contracts (and those of other players) were also (on your client’s advice) renewed on terms which were unjustifiably favourable to those players. Furthermore, so we are instructed, several of the players of Blackburn Rovers (for example, Messrs Roberts, Salgado and Nelson) received unjustifiably large salary increases (and trigger benefits) (again on the advice of your client).

Furthermore, we are instructed that your client advised our client to terminate the directorships and involvement in Blackburn Rovers of a number of key individuals (such as John Williams, Tom Finn, Martin Goodman and Andrew Pincher), all of whom had the experience required to manage the financial and administrative affairs of Blackburn Rovers properly.

What is apparent from all of this is that your client, despite having been placed in a position of trust and having held itself out as being in a position to advise our client on various matters in connection with English football (and your client being aware of our client’s inexperience in such matters) abused that trust and/or failed to carry out its obligations properly or at all. Indeed, we are instructed that your client has not provide the Services at all to our client for several months.

The result of this has been that our client and/or Blackburn Rovers has suffered losses which are directly attributable to your client’s conduct.

We have averted above to SEM. We understand that, shortly after the Agreement was signed, Mr Jerome Anderson spent a month in the offices of Blackburn Rovers and assumed control of all matters. We note that your client and SEM have a common director and share the same registered office. We are also aware that Mr. Anderson has a connection with Crescendo Sports Limited, which advised our client in relation to its acquisition of Blackburn Rovers. We understand also that there are common links between your client and SEM in terms of their respective management teams. These are of course matters which we are investigating fully, and for the time being we would ask you to state what checks and balances were carried out by your client to ensure that there was no conflict of interests and that all of your client’s advice to players and individuals who were clients of (and associated with) SEM or Jerome Anderson Management Limited (“the SEM Players”) could be objectively justified and that all transactions relating to the SEM Players were carried out at arm’s length.

Summary

In the circumstances, it appears as though your client’s threat to commence proceedings against our client is entirely without foundation. Rather, it appears that our client is not only able to defend any claim from your client on either of the two substantive grounds set out above (i.e. the construction of the Agreement and the failure by your client to deliver the Services) but also to claim (or counterclaim) against your client for the losses which our client has suffered by virtue of your client’s said breaches of the Agreement (including for repayment of the first payment of £100,000 or a part thereof).

Yours faithfully,

Brabners Chaffe Street LLP

Email: jeff.lewis@brabnerscs.com

Fax: 0161 836 8801

[tomphil]

Doesn't it just !

Wonder if Mr Coyle is on similar ?

You never know but the more info that comes out the better ....

Whatever happenend to Paul Agnew ?

Coyle was potted from Wigan because Whelan suspected him of using certain players and ignoring others, hinting at some suspicious reason for this.

Also read what Bolton and Wigan fans have to say about his style of play, team selections and tactics. Set up to fail is a word that springs to mind. No sign of this all out pressing attacking style of his Burnley days quite the opposite infact just what we've witnessed so far in the league. He might set up like they are going to attack but they don't and they sit off and let the other side play then just pass sideways and backwards in straight lines.

[Proudtobeblue&white]

Can anyone shed light on how the Walkers Trust appointed the dark lords in the first place? I appreciate they had long tentacles at the time, but why were they the company for the job? Have they done the same at any other club? Pockets, well lined. I am up for protest!

[Dunnfc]

Can anyone shed light on how the Walkers Trust appointed the dark lords in the first place? I appreciate they had long tentacles at the time, but why were they the company for the job? Have they done the same at any other club? Pockets, well lined. I am up for protest!

They initially appointed Rothschild who i believe could not find a suitor so they went to JA

[tomphil]

Tantrics mantra was always get in there and get as much stitched up in your own interests as you can in a short a time as possible whilst you can. Did the same at City and Arsenal but they had people to bang a lid on it quickly.

If you let a hungry fox into your henhouse it might only eat 1 or 2 but it will sure as hell kill all the rest and hide them so no others can have them.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

His bank manager was about to start having exciting times. I wondered what he meant at the time, when he said, sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. The irony of that now, is plain for all to see.

All pieces of the Venky jigsaw puzzle falling into place.

Ask members for the documents and read.

[LewisF]

Ive only been skimming through but please could someone clarify the difference between SEM, kentaro and crescendo? Never really known the links/differences between the first two especially