Which utterly brilliant manager will we be delighted to welcome next?

[matt83]

14 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

My first thought upon seeing the interview was, that's another yes man in the building.

He might have plans and want to make changes, but these owners don't allow anybody to get ahead of themselves. He'll do as he's told.

Keep your head down, shut up (except when paying lip service to the owners) and get paid bags of cash for a job role you haven’t ever done. He’ll fit right in I’m sure.

He may well have good intentions of progressing the club and not just looking after number one but I’m sure they’ll get him out of those bad habits soon enough. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by matt83

[lraC]

1 hour ago, Danny O.Brien said:

I'm married to a dingle and season ticket holder. When my son was born just over two years ago, i said he either comes the rovers with his dad or I'll leave you both 😂.

Brilliant

[adopted scouser]

Is Ferguson out of the running now ? If he wants to manage Everton at some stage he has a lot to prove, and that level of ambition would have been great for us (just my opinion).

Even with a recommendation from Carlo Ancelotti we'll probably end up with a dullard.

[Crimpshrine]

1 hour ago, Paul Mani said:

He said in the same interview, on several occasions that they want us to be a “self sustainable Premier League club” (The vision). He also referred to us needing to “overachieve” which I agree with based on our income generation and available budget inline with ffp.

The plan seems plausible based on Broughton’s interview. The big question is will he have the autonomy and power to execute it?

And the experience, contacts, skills and ability?

It's a big jump from Acadamy coach in the Norwegian league to DOF at Blackburn Rovers.

[47er]

2 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

It’s not fact, just your opinion.

Its based on pretty good evidence though don't you think?

We were an established midway point Premier League club when Venkys took over. Now we are a mid-table Championship club having spent time in League One. After 11 seasons we've never even made top 6.

Just wondering what more you need?

[Crimpshrine]

Just a bit of info I picked up regaridng Neil Critchley.

Apparently he was getting itchy feet at Blackpool for one reason or another. He made his feelings known and Blackpool said they would not stand in his way if he wanted to move on. So he was 'unoffically available'.

Rovers approached Critchley and talks were held at quite an early stage in our managerial recruitment process. More talks were planned but Critchley decided he didn't want to follow up his initial interest in the job.

The Villa Job was not on the table at that point but he may have had some insight that it was a possibility - who knows?

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, Crimpshrine said:

And the experience, contacts, skills and ability?

It's a big jump from Acadamy coach in the Norwegian league to DOF at Blackburn Rovers.

Yeah he probably has to actually do something in Norway.

[47er]

2 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

He said in the same interview, on several occasions that they want us to be a “self sustainable Premier League club” (The vision). He also referred to us needing to “overachieve” which I agree with based on our income generation and available budget inline with ffp.

The plan seems plausible based on Broughton’s interview. The big question is will he have the autonomy and power to execute it?

This is not a plan!! This is words to keep mugs happy. This is a dream that will never be fulfilled.

Absolutely shameless.Never come anywhere near promotio in 11 seasons have we?  Crowd numbers decline every year. What makes you think this lot could turn us into a sustainable Premier League club? Just laughable.

[pomster]

Genuine question

What is the end target for Venkys ... anyone know?

Surely they must know the club has been on a steady decline for the last 12yrs?

Surely if they are not taking note then there advisers are, they cant be that blind?

I dont understand how any business can be content or afford to lose £10/20/30m every year and just stand their and watch ... So, what is their end target or agenda?

It wont be long before theres more away fans then home fans on saturdays

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by pomster

[Paul Mani]

54 minutes ago, 47er said:

Its based on pretty good evidence though don't you think?

We were an established midway point Premier League club when Venkys took over. Now we are a mid-table Championship club having spent time in League One. After 11 seasons we've never even made top 6.

Just wondering what more you need?

Again, all opinion. Big Sam had come in to save us. We were overachieving (as his teams had done previously) with dwindling crowds and a wage bill of 120% of our revenue.

fyi - I’m not saying I don’t agree with some of your opinions but they are just opinions. Not facts.

[simongarnerisgod]

5 minutes ago, pomster said:

Genuine question

What is the end target for Venkys ... anyone know?

Surely they must know the club has been on a steady decline for the last 12yrs?

Surely if they are not taking note then there advisers are, they cant be that blind?

I dont understand how any business can be content or afford to lose £10/20/30m every year and just stand their and watch ... So, what is their end target or agenda?

It wont be long before theres more away fans then home fans on saturdays

 

venkys bought the club as an advertising aid to go with their planned fried chicken outlet plan,when they actually found out that the fast food business in this country is ferociously competetive they stopped the project and where left with a football club they neither wanted or needed,they can`t however get rid of it for a profit and not making a profit on it would damage their reputation in indian business circles,they are very keen on face and reputation in india,if they cut their losses they will  be subject to loss of status in india and after damaging the product for 12 years,there is no way they are making a profit

[Andy]

I’m astonished that our Head of Commercial was some random Sales Exec for Hull just a couple of years ago.

And his comments on the club speak for themselves.

Didn’t know this until today, but it makes sense of a lot of commercial issues, errors and mistakes over the last year or two.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Crimpshrine said:

Just a bit of info I picked up regaridng Neil Critchley.

Apparently he was getting itchy feet at Blackpool for one reason or another. He made his feelings known and Blackpool said they would not stand in his way if he wanted to move on. So he was 'unoffically available'.

Rovers approached Critchley and talks were held at quite an early stage in our managerial recruitment process. More talks were planned but Critchley decided he didn't want to follow up his initial interest in the job.

The Villa Job was not on the table at that point but he may have had some insight that it was a possibility - who knows?

Not hard to imagine what scuppered discussions at an early stage there - 

Lowe, Johnson and Benson.

[briansol]

3 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

venkys bought the club as an advertising aid to go with their planned fried chicken outlet plan,when they actually found out that the fast food business in this country is ferociously competetive they stopped the project and where left with a football club they neither wanted or needed,they can`t however get rid of it for a profit and not making a profit on it would damage their reputation in indian business circles,they are very keen on face and reputation in india,if they cut their losses they will  be subject to loss of status in india and after damaging the product for 12 years,there is no way they are making a profit

Think they bought the club for Balaji's big interest in PL and wanting to own a club. 

Keeping the club for 12 seasons, with now 200 mill in the hole must a lot more damaging in "business circles" than if they had cut their losses. There is no logic to staying around, especially since they don't get any glory or recognition out of it.  They're not even welcome to attend any matches. There must be some warped honor logic or something to be willing to lose 20 million a year just treading water a mid-table Championship outfit.

If they want to sell now, I can't really see who would want or be able to invest what would be needed to compete in the top end. The running cost at standing still is -20 mill, and you would need to top that with tranfer investments and higher wages which needs a continued massive investment.

If you look at other clubs that have been sold, most investments implodes after a season or two. 

Ideally you'd want an owner with a connection to the club, but I think there is very few with the money needed. An even if that case the best scenario would probably be as the current one, trying to run a more academy based sustainable business model.

[Brfcrule1]

5 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

 

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/what's-going-on-in-rovers-boardroom/242

Terrific article pal

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, Paul Mani said:

 

The plan seems plausible based on Broughton’s interview.

Does it? I only remember reading generalities. He didn't even say what sort of market we are shopping in. Will it be League One, Norway, all of Europe? Loans? What positions will we prioritise? Do we have a budget to pull it off?

Sure he wants young players, that's been our transfer policy for years.

[Brfcrule1]

16 hours ago, Miller11 said:

@1864roverite here’s my thoughts following my interactions with those at the club.

Despite some ill tempered run ins in the past, I find Steve Waggott is approachable and attentive. He asks the right questions and seems to want to improve things. Whether his hands are tied, or he’s just giving lip service, the improvements don’t come and very little materialises.

He clearly has very specific financial targets. Making minimal savings seem to be far more of a priority than league position, commercial growth, or fan engagement. It’s pennywise, pound foolish, just like our wage structure… more on that later.

A prime example is our differing views on the catering at Ewood. To me, Sodexo offer crap service and crap products, I’d like to see a much more imaginative offering. To him it’s cost effective and easy to tender it out, he sees the long term deal with them as good business.

In my opinion, Waggott spreads himself too thin. He seems to spend more time at his Brockhall office than his Ewood office. Maybe he likes the whole back and forth with agents better than the day to day running of operations. Perhaps this will be remedied somewhat by the appointment of Broughton, but that leads us on to another issue…

I’ve long since thought the structure at the club is an absolute mess. It’s completely convoluted and unclear. We do know that Venky’s have the final say, and I strongly suspect they are micro-managing via Pasha. This leads to things being done at a glacial pace, or not at all. Mowbray’s parting comments all but confirmed this. As soon as he is no longer interested in self preservation, we got the truth of the matter. He was desperate to tell us Waggott has no real power, rather than banging on about Venky’s being knowledgeable, humble and supportive.

The club have finally started to make strides in engaging with the local Asian community. It’s long overdue and the efforts of Yasir have been fantastic. It’s seeing more tangible benefit than I thought it would. Kudos.

Enticing new fans and re-engaging with lost ones are two very different things that require very different strategies. Unfortunately they are doing nothing to mitigate the drop off of long-standing fans. I’ve discussed this at great length with people in the club. It’s always acknowledged and I’m asked for solutions, which I’ve made suggestions on. So far nothing has happened. I’ll be interesting to see if there are strides made over the coming months though.

Nobody at the club understands the fanbase. We’ve made a real effort to remedy this, from history lessons of 1960 to presentations about lapsed season ticket holders. I’m hopeful this will change, but not at all confident.

Here are some things a senior employee in a confusing marketing role told me:

- There’s nothing special or unique about Blackburn Rovers

- Kids aren’t interested in going to football matches, we’d be better off selling them NFTs

- Why should a child or senior ticket be cheaper than an adult one? A seat is a seat.

- Pretty soon nobody will go to matches, they will watch interactive things in their phones instead

There is little wonder there is such disconnect between the fanbase and club!

Onto our current situation… the jury is very much out on the managerial appointment. I’ll wait til it has actually played out, because I’ve gone over this in depth. If we get a good appointment, I think it’s props to Waggott. If we get a HSH pick, he needs to resign. In my opinion the process has become so drawn out it’s farcical. I can’t say for sure why that is, but I am not in the least bit surprised it’s happened.

All this talk of implementing a vision and long term strategy is trying to run before we are even crawling. Those idiots in Pune get no credit for not liquidating our academy, it’s been a money spinner for them, not an expense… but they are ballsing that up before our very eyes. Our supposed sustainable long term strategy is not working as evidenced by Lenihan and Nyambe going for nothing. Our wage structure is inflexible and nonsensical. We absolutely should have a wage cap, but the current approach is not fit for purpose. The can kicking approach we seem to favour of triggering year options rather than properly negotiating in a timely manner was always going to come back to haunt us. Pennywise, pound foolish again.

What I will say is Waggott acknowledged the importance of this appointment and that the club is at a pivotal juncture. How much he can actually influence things though is questionable… and he’s supposed to be our CEO.

As out of touch as those on the ground at Ewood undoubtably are, they still have a far better handle than 3 billionaires on a different continent who surround themselves with people who slavishly obey. Venky’s do not delegate effectively, and we remain at the mercy of their whims. They never learn and continue to be “badly advised”. It’s their own fault of course, they generally sack anyone who tells them anything they don’t want to hear.

Thats my opening gambit. Happy for you to tell me how and why I’m misguided.

 

 

Spot on sums up how the club has been run for 12 years 

[Tom]

Did Fielder replace Greg Coar

Whats Tom Finn up to these days? He’d be the best appointment we could make as a club 

[bluebruce]

2 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Broughton has no experience in the role of DoF. None. He will have to learn on the job.

We may as well have given it to DJ.

He will have been appointed as he's available, cheap and beholden.

Good luck with that one.

IMO, before some dip gets in ....

I've just thought now, not only is it Broughton's first time as DoF, but the club itself hasn't had one since Dalglish in the mid-90s as far as I can recall? Certainly not for a long while in any case.

So, not only is Broughton learning on the job as you put it, but the role he is learning is to all intents and purposes, new to the club. So who is going to reliably show him how it's done? Guide him on what he can and can't do? It's a vague, variable (between clubs) role in football at the best of times, that he doesn't have experience of, and here there is no frame of reference for him. In the additional context of self-serving people in the corridors of power at Ewood, I can see him being given more limits than freedom.

Does anyone know if Waggott has worked with one before? 

 

[RevidgeBlue]

2 minutes ago, Tom said:

Did Fielder replace Greg Coar

Whats Tom Finn up to these days? He’d be the best appointment we could make as a club 

No Greg Coar has apparently just left to go to Wigan and is apparently being replaced by some guy coming in from Bournemouth.

[RevidgeBlue]

3 minutes ago, Tom said:

Did Fielder replace Greg Coar

Whats Tom Finn up to these days? He’d be the best appointment we could make as a club 

I'm told he'd be amenable to an approach as well.

[Mattyblue]

34 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

Again, all opinion. Big Sam had come in to save us. We were overachieving (as his teams had done previously) with dwindling crowds and a wage bill of 120% of our revenue.

fyi - I’m not saying I don’t agree with some of your opinions but they are just opinions. Not facts.

Crowds were booming under Sam.

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, adopted scouser said:

Is Ferguson out of the running now ? If he wants to manage Everton at some stage he has a lot to prove, and that level of ambition would have been great for us (just my opinion).

Even with a recommendation from Carlo Ancelotti we'll probably end up with a dullard.

Hopefully, absolutely out of it or was never in it.

[MarkBRFC]

37 minutes ago, Paul Mani said:

Again, all opinion. Big Sam had come in to save us. We were overachieving (as his teams had done previously) with dwindling crowds and a wage bill of 120% of our revenue.

fyi - I’m not saying I don’t agree with some of your opinions but they are just opinions. Not facts.

Crowds were the highest they had been in 8 years under Sam, granted tickets were a bit cheaper.

Main thing is though, we were regularly winning games at Ewood with him in charge.

[Wiggy]

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Edited June 12, 2022 by Wiggy
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