New manager wishlist

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

I’m still in the camp of deferring the decision till summer. Any new boss would almost certainly want to make his mark, which means changing things. It’s too late in the season to do anything other than tweak slightly, which Lowe et al did last night anyway. Bet the farm on the extraordinary team spirit we saw last night and playing it more to Mak, the two new forwards just behind him and Cantwell warming the bench.

Plus, the two possible outcomes of this season demand two very different managers. If we stay down it’s going to be a rebuild on a small budget. If we go up we need a big name spending a big budget. Best to wait and see.

[Bethnal]

I’m in Dublin currently and looking to catch the Shelbourne match tomorrow evening, schedule permitting. Will be interesting to see how Duffer looks as a manager. Highly doubt he’ll be the chosen candidate, but as a “what if” thought experiment, should prove entertaining

[simongarnerisgod]

6 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

If we go up we need a big name spending a big budget. Best to wait and see.

if the improbable happens and we go up,venkys will suddenly take an interest,grab the money and leave the manager with nothing,on the positive,they might just then sell the club then

[TugaysMarlboro]

If it's Richie Wellens then deary me.

[RoverInverness]

2 hours ago, KentExile said:

I genuinely think that Venkys either cannot or will not commit to these, which is a major part of why Eustace is no longer here

Edit - The fact that all but 2 players are not contracted beyond 2027 (and no effort seems to be being made to extend contracts beyond this point), seems to me to indicate that (barring an unlikely promotion by that time) "something" will happen that summer.  

Hopefully that "something" is Venkys planned exit from the club

I hope you’re right about Venkys planning to exit in summer. 

However, I don’t see how not signing players up to new contracts is a sign of them planning to leave. If you were planning on selling the club, then squad value (a saleable asset) is increased by the players being on longer contracts. 

I think it’s just evidence of them being completely and utterly useless and incompetent at almost every aspect of running a football club.

Perhaps it is caused by a desire to have total control (all spending to be authorised in India), combined with the contradictory reality that they actually don’t give enough of a shit to exert any meaningful control at all (other than appointing a total random employee - Pasha - to run the club as a dictatorship).

As I keep saying, it’s also evidence of a divided family, where one/some of the four owners want to retain ownership and one/some of the four owners don’t want to sell. Neither side giving in. One/some can’t force a sale and one/some can’t force any spending.

We are caught in a nightmare scenario and it’s been going on a long, long time.
 

[JHRover]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/steven-gerrard-next-blackburn-manager-34676046

Sorry if this makes anyone throw up.

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

The more I think about this the more I think if I was in charge I’d:

• Keep Lowe etc in charge for the rest of the season (the safest way to ensure the team’s camaraderie remains)
• Spend most my energy on tying key players down to longer term deals.

I await all the replies saying they’re glad I’m not in charge 😁😁

Would this have been your opinion if we had lost last night?

[Tricky]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/steven-gerrard-next-blackburn-manager-34676046

Sorry if this makes anyone throw up.

Murphy can fuck right off, useless bastard.

[RoverInverness]

21 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto Mk2 said:

I’m still in the camp of deferring the decision till summer. Any new boss would almost certainly want to make his mark, which means changing things. It’s too late in the season to do anything other than tweak slightly, which Lowe et al did last night anyway. Bet the farm on the extraordinary team spirit we saw last night and playing it more to Mak, the two new forwards just behind him and Cantwell warming the bench.

Plus, the two possible outcomes of this season demand two very different managers. If we stay down it’s going to be a rebuild on a small budget. If we go up we need a big name spending a big budget. Best to wait and see.

In the fairytale scenario that we did get to play offs & promoted I honestly don’t see any increased budget over the summer. Waggot/Pasha/Raos/Desais are too dysfunctional to decide any budget before the last week of the window. 

We’d be starting the season, against PL teams, with Hedges and Pickering down the left. It wouldn’t be pretty. They can’t even agree on whether we have a Director of Football. They wouldn’t know where to start spending £100 million on PL footballers.

[danger19_80]

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/steven-gerrard-next-blackburn-manager-34676046

Sorry if this makes anyone throw up.

I think Gerrard would be good. Lampard has found his level at Coventry and think Gerrard is the same. Had Rangers purring for a time.

[davulsukur]

Richie Wellens?

Gary O'Neil?

Aitor Karanka?

Lowey till the summer?

Jesus wept, are we sat 5th in the championship or are we bottom of league fucking 1? 

Why are these dross names even getting a mention?

Where is the ambition for a club with a chance of returning to the promised land?

Waggott and his begging bowl need to be heading to Cooper or Dyche and selling this opportunity to them. 

Absolutely ridiculous.

[Nipper1875]

On 11/02/2025 at 17:48, SuperBrfc said:

That's the type of move we should be attempting. It's the kind of thing John Williams would have tried, but this lot? They can't handle any manager with ambition, so there's no chance.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Terzic managing Brighton some time soon. They are doing what we used to do.

Once back in the day when we would try and be able to sell the club to these managers!!  Some talent he is definatly one for the future and would bring in some very talent unknown players really bit like kompany did down at the turd 

[BigHoz]

4 minutes ago, danger19_80 said:

I think Gerrard would be good. Lampard has found his level at Coventry and think Gerrard is the same. Had Rangers purring for a time.

I can see the players getting behind a gerrard. He’ll want to prove himself also. 

[Lancaster Rover]

5 minutes ago, danger19_80 said:

I think Gerrard would be good. Lampard has found his level at Coventry and think Gerrard is the same. Had Rangers purring for a time.

Only reason Rangers won it that season was Celtic repeatedly shooting themselves in both feet and then bringing in Neil Lennon. Coyle could have won the SPL that year 

[JamieUK]

The contracts thing is just bizarre. It's as though they do not understand that assets under contract increases the value of the club.

I hope they're purposely doing it with the intention of selling, thinking they're leaving the club up shit creak. But again, if they're wanting as much back as they can, an established squad of Championship players on long term contracts will demand more. It's more likely however that they're clearing the decks and preparing for a long term stay in the lower leagues with lower costs.

Anyway, that's for the other thread..

Next manager can't be Richie Wellens. It needs to be somebody to inspire the players to keep going. They need Championship experience and to have a similar style of play to what we have now. Status quo with a new manager bounce to keep the momentum. Yes to Warnock, yes to Cooper. Neither will happen so of the names being linked I think Edwards is the best of a meh bunch. I've mentioned his name earlier in the week but my choice would be Gary Rowett - always seems to have been there or there abouts with Millwall. No chance of that one either given he's not long arrived at Oxford (where he's averaging 1.82 points per game (5 wins, 5 draws and 1 defeat)).

[Plastics]

55 minutes ago, Andy said:

Warnock or Allardyce to the end of the season.

Get them organised, get them motivated and see where it takes us.

We need an experienced hand, both short and long term.

It worries me that this isn't abundantly clear to the idiots currently running our club.

I'd be more likely to give up on rovers if we took on Allardyce than if Venkys stayed for the rest of my life. I fell out of love with football under him and it's never returned to where it was

[M_B]

1 hour ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Think it's going to be Carsley or Edwards...Can't see anyone else coming in, especially from abroad. 

I could see the logic in appointing either, for different reasons.

[Andy]

3 minutes ago, Plastics said:

I'd be more likely to give up on rovers if we took on Allardyce than if Venkys stayed for the rest of my life. I fell out of love with football under him and it's never returned to where it was

Strange how opinions can vary on things like Big Sam, isn't it?

One of my favourite eras - I loved seeing us grind out wins and be hard to beat.

Big fan of Sam, I think he's massively underrated.

Edited February 13 by Andy

[roversfan99]

It seems from here that the shortlist comprises of Wellens, Karanka, O'Neil, Wicky, Carvalhal (seemingly all written off) and most hilariously of all, George bloody Boateng.

That seems to be stemming from Nixon though. He is unreliable and often spouts shit but it seems he must have some sort of pally relationship with someone higher up, perhaps Waggott. Hence his sick inducing take on things including our genius move to get Dennis on lower wages by waiting until we had lost throughout January.

So if there is any truth in that list, if thats who we are interviewing, its one hell of a depressing list. Hopefully hes wide of the mark as he often is.

[BRFC4EVA]

5 minutes ago, Plastics said:

I'd be more likely to give up on rovers if we took on Allardyce than if Venkys stayed for the rest of my life. I fell out of love with football under him and it's never returned to where it was

Whilst my feelings are not quite as strong about Allardyce as yours, I am supprised the number of people advocating for him. He's been out of the game for some time now (bar a disastrous 4 game Leeds spell). And I hated him at Ewood last time, the thrown games, incredible defensive football and general arrogance (this is mutually exclusive to what happened after).

Edited February 13 by BRFC4EVA

[roverandout]

No chance Gerrard would be interested in rovers. Murphy talks shite as usual 

[philipl]

All kinds of undesirables were floated as  names to replace JDT this time last year. 

Keeping my head down on this one but last night's heroics should encourage some quality hats being thrown into the ring.

[roversfan99]

Its one thing people being unhappy with him at that time. But having seen what has happened since, I cant fathom how him being manager would be too much.

His football is only seen as dull comparatively because of who he is. Eustace's football wasnt entertaining in the typical sense, we didnt score many, it was all build on being solid. 

[roversfan99]

Just now, roverandout said:

No chance Gerrard would be interested in rovers. Murphy talks shite as usual 

Why would he not? He failed in Saudi Arabia and at Villa before. He would be incredibly lucky to get our job but we shouldnt even consider it. 

[KentExile]

31 minutes ago, RoverInverness said:

I hope you’re right about Venkys planning to exit in summer. 

However, I don’t see how not signing players up to new contracts is a sign of them planning to leave. If you were planning on selling the club, then squad value (a saleable asset) is increased by the players being on longer contracts. 

I think it’s just evidence of them being completely and utterly useless and incompetent at almost every aspect of running a football club.

Perhaps it is caused by a desire to have total control (all spending to be authorised in India), combined with the contradictory reality that they actually don’t give enough of a shit to exert any meaningful control at all (other than appointing a total random employee - Pasha - to run the club as a dictatorship).

As I keep saying, it’s also evidence of a divided family, where one/some of the four owners want to retain ownership and one/some of the four owners don’t want to sell. Neither side giving in. One/some can’t force a sale and one/some can’t force any spending.

We are caught in a nightmare scenario and it’s been going on a long, long time.
 

I said I think that "something " will happen in 2027, not this summer, my hope is that Venkys pack up and leave at that time

It could just as easily (and probably more likely) be that the "something" in summer 2027 is that is the date that the club has to be completely self sufficient in Venkys eyes, hence no senior players are contracted beyond that point

Edited February 13 by KentExile