Souness must go ?

[Radagast]

One of the great things about this new board is that you can click on someone's profile and read all their posts ever - in one place.

Interesting little gizmo that...

rover6 is usually panned for his posting (often by me ), but at least he sees fit to make posts about football generally and not focus on a single tirade. Tom007's record is comical. KSB's and Jan2's are pathetic.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

'Kennysuperbuyer- just look at the name for crying out loud! Why would a Rovers fan chose a name to denigrate our greatest achievement? That's the kind of thing a 'Dingle' would do to have a dig at 'moneybag Rovers'.

'There have been topics on a Dingle site (I know i shouldn't read it but I do and USABlue posts on there to wind them up at times) about the Burnley fan posing as a Rovers fan to 'stir things up'. Unfortunately KSB was too unsubtle and not intelligent enough to do it properly. A constant tedious diatribe against Souness was hardly going to work.... '

Two bob Burnley fan hiding behind a Rovers fans personna:pathetic and gutless....should have expected nothing more really.Been suspicious about the said above for a long time

Time to come out the closet Kenny lad.................................

Edited April 2, 2004 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[RoverDrake]

I totally agree with that long quoted post by rover6 and I do agree with him on many elements. However, I feel Barry Ferguson is better than Carrick and Michael Brown.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Ferguson will prove to be the best central midfield player that Rovers have had for a long time. I have great confidence that he will justify Souness' faith in him

[tcj_jones]

on the issue oif ferguson - i agree with you 100%. he is one of the best centre midfielders in the premiership. i rate him over the likes of parker and cole at chelsea and think he could well be good enough for one of the top teams. his performances next season will justify souness' faith in him

[LeChuck]

I'm fully prepared to wait and see what Ferguson turns out like, the problem is I'm not sure what it is he does exactly. I wouldn't say he's defensive enough to play an attacking midfielder alongside him...yet I don't think he's attacking enough to have a defensive player alongside him. Maybe someone can re-assure me as to what his role is going to be

[Kennysuperbuyer]

4 - 0. Should have been 8. No game plan. No fight. No guts. Souness' team. He is responsible. No one else. That is why I am anti-Souness and make no apology. The players dont want to play for the guy.

And by the way there is no bigger admirer of Kenny than me. A manager who is totally respected by players even the ones he has sold. Souness out and the sooner the better.

[LeChuck]

How about we bring King Kenny back...imagine the lift that would give the fans and the club.

[chris]

How about we bring King Kenny back...imagine the lift that would give the fans and the club.

we wish

[tcj_jones]

I'm fully prepared to wait and see what Ferguson turns out like, the problem is I'm not sure what it is he does exactly. I wouldn't say he's defensive enough to play an attacking midfielder alongside him...yet I don't think he's attacking enough to have a defensive player alongside him. Maybe someone can re-assure me as to what his role is going to be

well frankly with souness in charge hel prolly be stuck at left wing! gotta agree with you though - personally i think hes better as a creative player that can hold the ball up and spread the play. but with players like tugay and andresen surrounding him there isnt going to be much attacking edge. if leicester win against leeds we may as well count ourelves relegated

[LeChuck]

we wish

Would he come back? Realistically he isn't going to get another managerial job. I think it would be possible you know...

[blue phil]

Maybe Rover6 was right all along........Too late for Sturrock ; now who else could fit the bill ? Mark Hughes ?

[trs]

<font color='#000000'>People who have read my previous comments (all of whom have been critical of Souness) will know that this is not a knee-jerk reaction following the Charlton defeat.

I do admire one of Souness' strengths - fight. But did that fight reflect itself in the team against Charlton? Or Fulham, Liverpool, Man City etc.? Souness' fight is waning and his ability to instill confidence in his players is following suit.

Tactically, he is primative. Anyone can tell you that Tommo can't play left midfield. We have zero width when that happens. Any half-wit could have told you that Charlton were without Bartlett and Lisbie - their in form strikers. Surely the objective therefore, is to attack at home, not start with ONE striker and 3 defensive midfielders.

Nevertheless, tactics doesn't always win games. Ask Kevin Keegan. But what has Keegan got that Souness hasn't? The ability to give confidence and support his players. OK, Grabbi misses sitters against Genclerbiligi - what do you do? Put him on the bench to confirm your support for him OR chuck him out of the team altogether and let him rot - all £7million of him.

Souness claimed before the match that confidence was not a problem - which is why Tiny looked terrified on the ball. Ferguson avoided the ball, Flitty likewise, Tommo looked uncertain and Emerton non-existant.

WHy is Souness lying to the fans? Because he has to hide his blatent inability to help the players in their moment of crisis. No doubt Souness will blame the defeat on missed chances - why are we missing chances. Because the players are low on confidence and their manager isn't helping.

Last time we were this low under Souness, he went and bought Cole (during our first year back) and last season DUff came back to form. Souness can't buy anyone now, we don't have Duff - what is he going to do. The money was blown on failed signings - the biggest one being Barry Ferguson. A good player but not worth £7 million. Nowhere near as good as Scott Parker, Koumas, Michael Brown or Carrick.

We need to get rid to give a new man a chance to avert this crisis before it becomes disastrous. A new man will not bring with him SOuness' idiotic beliefs. Alan Mahon is not a rabid player who'll infect our players if he plays. Flitcroft isn't infallible because he's the skipper - need I go on. We need a shake up and heads must roll - Souness'.</font>

mmmmmm Now then.

[krislu]

This sentence has to be the biggest piece of crap ever to be written on this page: "Barry Ferguson. Nowhere near as good as Scott Parker, Koumas, Michael Brown or Carrick."

[LeChuck]

This sentence has to be the biggest piece of crap ever to be written on this page: "Barry Ferguson. Nowhere near as good as Scott Parker, Koumas, Michael Brown or Carrick."

Ferguson's a good player but I'd rather have Parker or Koumas. He's way better than Carrick or Michael Brown though.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Mark Hughes eh blue phil?.....mmmmmmmm could do a lot worse me thinks.

[Paul]

I'd be happy with Hughes and I suppose he is a realistic option till the end of the season. Can't imagine that Wales have got much on from now till May and then see where we are placed.

[blue phil]

I doubt he'd come though . Just thinking out loud . Not sure what the board should do . If Souness is still there for the Leeds match the players who want him out (if indeed they do) might just stroll about the park as per usual . Whatever happens , anything less than a win and he has to go immediately . Time for Williams and co to earn their wages.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Hughes has a desire and a passion to succeed,a motivator, these quality's endeared him to all the fans at Ewood when he wore the blue 'n' white...I'm coming to the conclusion that Souey has lost it on all fronts.

Its a real sad situation, my mind keeps having flashbacks to our promotion at Deepdale and the magic day at Cardiff,so sad for it to come to this.

[percy]

Time for Williams and co to earn their wages.

They already do, blue phil, it's those involved with the direct running of the team that aren't doing so.

Williams and co. have done their level best to keep the club's finances in order, whilst also trying to make ££ available for players fees & wages. If that ££ is wasted, we can't expect the hand to go back in the pocket for more.

The blame must lie at the feet of the players and the management.

Souey and his sidekicks must look at the fact they can't motivate a team to at least battle for a result, even when we can't match teams for quality. Tactics and player selections (despite injuries) have been poor at times.

The players must also take a fair share for showing a complete disregard for the club and fans that pays their wages. They show very little sign of hurting when giving bad performances and carry on with a 'we're too good to go down attitude'.

I genuinely feel sorry for Williams - he's in a no win situation and will no doubt find himself being blamed regardless of what changes he makes (if any) if we struggle to stay in the premiership this season.

Could anyone have imagined this situation coming at the end of last season ?? I know I didn't and I'm sure the board would be the same.......

[RevidgeBlue]

Despite not thinking there was much in it after last weekend, given the manner of today's defeat, I am now firmly of the view that (if he would accept) Tony Parkes should be given the opportunity to try something a bit different and try to turn things around over the last seven games.

Make no mistake, everything Jack Walker did for us and the very future of the Club hangs in the balance. And sadly he isn't here to bail us out for a second time.

I could just about live with it if a change was made and we went down having tried everything we can to do something about it. Sliding down without a fight (as we are doing at the moment) would be very hard to bear.

This one is down to John Williams and the Board. Expecting Souness to forgo several million pounds compensation by resigning seems to me to be unrealistic in the extreme.

[FourLaneBlue]

Now is not the time to sack the manager. It could very well be the catalyst that sends us down. Of course we are in trouble but if the club wished to change managers they have left it way too late. The time to sack a manager would have been before the end of the transfer window to allow time (albeit a short amount of it) for them to bring in some new faces.

Sacking Souness is too much of a gamble so late on. Sure, it could work but on the other hand it may not. There are numerous examples of teams folding after sacking a manager (even unpopular managers) to counterbalance those occasions when sacking a manager has led to an upsurge in form.

The game next Saturday is the first of the two league games we have to not lose (if not win) at home. Leeds and then Leicester. We messed up by not being satisfied for a point against Portsmouth. We can't afford to let any other of our main rivals take three points away from Ewood.

Now is not the time to sack the manager. That is to be left to be discussed in the summer. I've slowly gone from being a big Souness fan to being utterly bemused by some of his decisions. Is he still the man for the job? I think so but certainly not as certain as I used to be. To leave out Neill today seemed cowardly; surely that's giving in to your opponents before the game has even begun? Yet despite that Souness must stay until the end of the season.

Edited April 4, 2004 by FourLaneBlue

[Simon Says]

Despite not thinking there was much in it after last weekend, given the manner of today's defeat, I am now firmly of the view that (if he would accept) Tony Parkes should be given the opportunity to try something a bit different and try to turn things around over the last seven games.

Question. Is Tony Parkes fireproof? Is he totally absolved from blame?

I know it may be unpopular, but I will remind you that before Souness arrived Parkes was ready to sell Jansen and Dunn. He also thought selling Duff and buying three players with the cash was "an ideal scenario".

Now people want this man put in charge of the club in the midst of a relegation fight.

If Souness goes, not only should Saunders go with him, but he should take Parkes as well.

They are [/b]all responsible for our current plight.

[RoverDrake]

I would love to see Mark Hughes take over Rovers. He is simply grit and hard-work personified. However, I really don't think sacking Souness now is the right time.. There is always a chance Parkes could lead us out of trouble but then there is the chance that it could have the negative effect, the same for keeping Souness.

It's about time we gave 110% and sweat blood for the Blackburn cause, I say bring Amo into the first-team, he is full of determination and can't defend any worse as our lads did today..

[rover6]

Sacking Souness is too much of a gamble so late on. Sure, it could work but on the other hand it may not. There are numerous examples of teams folding after sacking a manager (even unpopular managers) to counterbalance those occasions when sacking a manager has led to an upsurge in form.

You know what - I can't, off the top of me head, think of many managers who have been sacked and seen their team's form get even worse in the short-term.

Even with Kidd, we improved and actually won a few after he replaced Hodgson. Nottingham Forest have brought in Kinnear for Hart and last season Trevor Brooking almost raised West Ham from the dead. Last season, former Champions' League finalists, Leverkusen, were going to go down until their highly-rated boss, Klaus Toppmuller, was sacked in a last desperate bid for survival.

But, Souness has come out of this match with fighting talk - so it seems he's not going to walk. Rovers board seem to be behind him (can they afford to pay out his contract?) - so Souness is to stay for now.

The Leeds match is make or break for Souey and Rovers.