[Archived] Senior resigns from Rovers role

[Cherry Blue]

Just now, AllRoverAsia said:

You are talking about a good manager who is on record as saying that you cannot build a competitive squad on frees, loans and youth.

He will not meet with the Raos and if he gets promises via Shaikh then get the funds in escrow. Otherwise it aint gonna happen.

At the moment TM is the only hope we have. Venky’s venky’s (they don't deserve a capital V) aren't going to budge.

He's proved he can manage better than our previous recruits but the journey to India is a concern. Hope he's taken a team of experienced in-the-knows who can tie them down to give us what we deserve. Silence is killing me.

[Stuart]

Just now, GanG2245 said:

maybe suhail was not very confident with seniors recruitment skills and gave mowbray more say in signing players .. senior realised this and resigned..just a guess..

The last 7 years have clearly just been a bad dream!

Hope I wake up soon.

[Ricky]

A weird question for anyone in the know. Are we aware of Paul Senior having another job at the same time as his role at BRFC? I took a call off a senior officer who claims to have been working for the same organisation as Paul Senior who said that it came as a shock to him to see Seniors name all over the news as he had no idea he was working for BRFC as well.

it was a bit of a random call.

[tomphil]

Wasn't he just a consultant anyway ? Prob just came here like a sub contractor for a while rather than full time. Another bill us by the hour 'advisor' no doubt.

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, Ricky said:

A weird question for anyone in the know. Are we aware of Paul Senior having another job at the same time as his role at BRFC? I took a call off a senior officer who claims to have been working for the same organisation as Paul Senior who said that it came as a shock to him to see Seniors name all over the news as he had no idea he was working for BRFC as well.

it was a bit of a random call.

Are you able to name the other organisation?

[AllRoverAsia]

Paul Senior?

WTF was his appointment all about.

He appears from nowhere and in no time appears to be running the show. He becomes the club's frontman and is at all games, functions and meetings. It was alledged that he was carrying out interviews at Ewood with existing staff re cutbacks.

Claims to have a plan B for L1 then does one within hours of relegation. 

Like most things at Rovers we will never get an answer.

I wonder did he say too much himself or let Cheston say to much at the Supporters meeting.

Perhaps the edited bits from the Supporters meeting were actually read by the Raos.

If only he had sacked Coyle the day he (Senior) started at Ewood and appointed Mowbray we would have stayed up.

 

[chaddyrovers]

Maybe he got a new job just before we went down so after relegation he jumped ship

[JHRover]

Just now, AllRoverAsia said:

Paul Senior?

WTF was his appointment all about.

He appears from nowhere and in no time appears to be running the show. He becomes the club's frontman and is at all games, functions and meetings. It was alledged that he was carrying out interviews at Ewood with existing staff re cutbacks.

Claims to have a plan B for L1 then does one within hours of relegation. 

Like most things at Rovers we will never get an answer.

I wonder did he say too much himself or let Cheston say to much at the Supporters meeting.

Perhaps the edited bits from the Supporters meeting were actually read by the Raos.

If only he had sacked Coyle the day he (Senior) started at Ewood and appointed Mowbray we would have stayed up.

 

Its just another mystery to go with the many others witnessed over the years.

It seems in December/January someone had suddenly become concerned at the lack of footballing 'nous' at the club (who wouldn't be with Pasha and Cheston running things) and so decided there was an urgent need for a Director of Football to come in and assess things and start to run things on the ground at Ewood.

Who knows where Paul Senior came from or what the link was there, but several concerns about how qualified he actually was for the role given his unclear history, which amounted to scouting jobs for London clubs and then a brief spell as an advisor at Sheffield Wednesday before leaving for unknown reasons.

As ever it was flawed from the start, as Senior was parachuted in over the head of the manager mid-season, was given little to no budget to sign players in January, and still had to wait weeks and weeks for approval to fire Coyle, by which time it was far too late.

I don't agree that a Director of Football is a luxury or unnecessary whatever level of football you are at. If you have absentee owners and a small board of directors a qualified, astute D of F could be an essential component of a club like ours. Mangers under Venkys reign have been left out to run things themselves which can only be good up to a point. At some stage it becomes too much in today's world. A manager needs support from above and someone to take some of the work off his shoulders.

If we look around the leagues there are loads of clubs with Directors of Football, Technical Directors or whatever other made up titles people throw at it.

It seems now that in the space of 5 months we've gone from needing a Director of Football, with additional powers covering the entire operation of the club including sponsorship, ticketing etc. and now we don't need such a person and are reverting back to the manager being the one and only person who has any contact with the owners and who really is doing more than a modern day manager should be.

I never spoke to Senior and I was uncomfortable with some of his interviews, but nonetheless he was someone with a career in football who was handling the media and at least on the surface appeared to have some power to hire/fire and set the club on some sort of course moving forward.

If Mowbray has said he isn't prepared to work for a D of F and so they've potted Senior and won't be replacing him then I don't think that's particularly healthy. I've no problem with Mowbray being 'manager' rather than 'head coach' and picking his own players/staff, but it isn't right to have the manager as the only football man at the club. There needs to be something else either alongside him or above him that can help him and make changes if it isn't working.

Mowbray should have final say on transfers and signings. He shouldn't be the one flying around the world or dictating the direction of the club. That should be left to directors who will still be here once the manager has gone in the event results go sour.

[AllRoverAsia]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Maybe he got a new job just before we went down so after relegation he jumped ship

Shame there are no jounos interested in following it up.

He just looked so sad on TV at the final whistle at Brentford. He looked like a man who had just been sacked.

Although I had my doubts about him I wanted to see what he and TM could put together over the summer using as many contacts as possible.

Now TM is going to have to do it all and no doubt be Rovers frontman too.

[Mattyblue]

Just sums up the completely unprofessional manner in which BRFC is run.

Senior was brought in to do a Director of Football role, indeed Mowbray was billed as merely the 'Head Coach'. Senior would be the transfers man and also the general link man to the owners over the Academy and all day to day issues. Ok, the club is changing its approach, jury's out but let's see how it goes.

Three months later, after a lot of big talk he's gone- as has the D of F role entirely and the Head Coach or should I say 'manager' is back in charge of transfers.

Total nonsense and a fine example of why we will NEVER recover under this crackpot regime.

[gumboots]

Dont know if any of you heard the interview with Watfords owner about how their system works.  It was interesting to hear him talk about a system roughly like southamptons where they plan for wher they want to be and then they change manager or players but the system, the philosophy holds good even if the personnel change. 

[JHRover]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Just sums up the completely unprofessional manner in which BRFC is run.

Senior was brought in to do a Director of Football role, indeed Mowbray was billed as merely the 'Head Coach'. Senior would be the transfers man and also the general link man to the owners over the Academy and all day to day issues. Ok, the club is changing its approach, jury's out but let's see how it goes.

Three months later, after a lot of big talk he's gone- as has the D of F role entirely and the Head Coach or should I say 'manager' is back in charge of transfers.

Total nonsense and a fine example of why we will NEVER recover under this crackpot regime.

What happens if we start next season like we started last season?

Lets assume we have a similar summer to the last 2. We have no money for new signings, the manager is restricted to frees/loans, and the club has a plan to sell off everyone who will fetch decent money.

By the end of August we've sold Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan and Evans and replaced them with a couple of League One level freebies. Mowbray messing around in late August assembling the core of a squad whilst the season is underway.

I don't care how good he is, if he's in that situation we're going to be struggling.

What happens then if we're fighting relegation? Are they going to find another D of F to drop in mid-season to recommend a change in manager and repeat the whole process again.

No strategy, no direction, no plan beyond the next few weeks/months.

[chaddyrovers]

Just now, gumboots said:

Dont know if any of you heard the interview with Watfords owner about how their system works.  It was interesting to hear him talk about a system roughly like southamptons where they plan for wher they want to be and then they change manager or players but the system, the philosophy holds good even if the personnel change. 

Ive heard Southampton DoF Les Reed talk about this. . 

The club plays the same system, formation, style and the coach is picked on that basis. 

This is one reason why I like a head coach/DoF structure in place

[DE.]

Just now, JHRover said:

If Mowbray has said he isn't prepared to work for a D of F and so they've potted Senior and won't be replacing him then I don't think that's particularly healthy.

I'd be surprised if that was the case. Senior hired Mowbray, and Mowbray doesn't seem like the type to throw the person who hired him under the bus.

More likely, imo, that Senior realised relegation meant no money and no hope, so left before his reputation was torpedoed with us in League 1. Venky's probably still think he's working for us. News travels slow in those parts of the world, apparently.

[davulsukur]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Ive heard Southampton DoF Les Reed talk about this. . 

The club plays the same system, formation, style and the coach is picked on that basis. 

This is one reason why I like a head coach/DoF structure in place

Who decides this?

[JHRover]

Just now, DE. said:

I'd be surprised if that was the case. Senior hired Mowbray, and Mowbray doesn't seem like the type to throw the person who hired him under the bus.

More likely, imo, that Senior realised relegation meant no money and no hope, so left before his reputation was torpedoed with us in League 1. 

That's probably the more likely way of it, but if so then the owners should be looking for a new D of F to replace Senior and keep Mowbray as Head Coach. If that is the course they decided to take in December 2016 that shouldn't change just because of relegation.

[gumboots]

Just now, davulsukur said:

Who decides this?

Owners board dof. It's a club philosophy that is clearly set out before a coach signs for them. They discuss their aims for the season in all sorts of areas. One of the reasons Watford manager left this season was because one of his tasks was to talk up the club and promote it generally and his poor English meant he couldn't do it. They'd hoped he'd get over the need for an interpreter in all interviews but he didn't so presumably his job coaching players was difficult too. He presumably had in his brief for the season to improve his communication skills but he didn't do it

[DE.]

Just now, JHRover said:

That's probably the more likely way of it, but if so then the owners should be looking for a new D of F to replace Senior and keep Mowbray as Head Coach. If that is the course they decided to take in December 2016 that shouldn't change just because of relegation.

We know how it works with Venky's - they change their mind every six months or so about the direction the club should take. Clueless, confused, clucked.

[DE.]

Just now, Suhail Slayer said:

Wrong imo.

That is what they want you to believe.

A diversion every few months will keep the peasants at bay.

to clarify - I am not calling you a peasant

I've been called worse tbh.

[davulsukur]

1 minute ago, gumboots said:

Owners board dof. It's a club philosophy that is clearly set out before a coach signs for them. They discuss their aims for the season in all sorts of areas. One of the reasons Watford manager left this season was because one of his tasks was to talk up the club and promote it generally and his poor English meant he couldn't do it. They'd hoped he'd get over the need for an interpreter in all interviews but he didn't so presumably his job coaching players was difficult too. He presumably had in his brief for the season to improve his communication skills but he didn't do it

I'd say it's destined to fail but Southampton finished 8th in the Premier League.

I assume there is some flexibility in formation/style/tactics, teams need to adapt to the opposition.

[gumboots]

Its not specific match tactics but the general overall club ethos they set. They have plans for recruiting if they lose players, lists of who might be available in positions plus a solid budget to work with. Its not set in stone but its all agreed with any incoming manager. Not like our lot promising the earth and delivering nothing. The plan is to tell it like it is to any manager they appoint

[davulsukur]

Just now, gumboots said:

Its not specific match tactics but the general overall club ethos they set. They have plans for recruiting if they lose players, lists of who might be available in positions plus a solid budget to work with. Its not set in stone but its all agreed with any incoming manager. Not like our lot promising the earth and delivering nothing. The plan is to tell it like it is to any manager they appoint

Which is how it should be.

As you say, the polar opposite of our lot.

[scotty_beam_me_up]

I've always been of the opinion there are no bad plans. If you have a plan, any kind of plan, with good intentions you can succeed. However at Ewood there has been no plan. There is no plan regarding player recruitment, there is no plan regarding what sort of football we should play. There is no plan of what sort of manager we should have. There is no plan regarding the structure in the board room. 

 Until we have a blueprint of how Blackburn Rovers should operate we will continue to drop through the leagues. 

 

[AllRoverAsia]

My hope is that the 'audit' taking place give the Raos a blueprint of how to GTF out of Rovers.

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, gumboots said:

Owners board dof. It's a club philosophy that is clearly set out before a coach signs for them. They discuss their aims for the season in all sorts of areas. One of the reasons Watford manager left this season was because one of his tasks was to talk up the club and promote it generally and his poor English meant he couldn't do it. They'd hoped he'd get over the need for an interpreter in all interviews but he didn't so presumably his job coaching players was difficult too. He presumably had in his brief for the season to improve his communication skills but he didn't do it

This appears to treat the 'head coach' as nothing more than a player. Are they then schooled in how to instruct the team, and have no creative input whatsoever? Whilst it seems to keep Southampton ticking over, and winning friends for playing football the right way, and bringing through Walcotts and Bales (only to sell them), what does it ultimately achieve?

Behind the scenes there is clearly a 'real manager' who makes the decisions and the 'head coach' takes the fall when it goes wrong. Quite shady really.