Souness must go ?

[AlanK]

Just a question Jan. Believe it or not some of us don`t read every single post on the mb.

No need to get petty is there.

[broadsword]

When you operate in the rarefied world of accountancy, it's easy to lose patience with lesser mortals!

[Billy Castell]

Bring in Dean Saunders !!! (only joking).

I have no idea who should replace Souness, who has let a potentially disappointing season become an unmitigated disaster, but Souness should go now. And then the new manager (and caretaker manager) should give the players a damn good beating for this seasons undrachievement.

[Modi]

Not Walter Smith, cos he's rubbish, but on another thread I already said I wouldn't object to Alec McLeish.

My dislike of Souness doesn't stem from Rangers, it's from his attitude when he played from Scotland many years ago. I have said this repeatedly. Sorry if you lot are too dim to pick up on it.

If Souey does leave, will you be gone from the messageboard again for a few years, such as your absence when things were going right for him and your vendetta would have looked a little foolhardy?

In fact, do you see yourself as more a Rovers fan or more a Souness hater?

[philipl]

Cannot find the thread which reported that Rodney Marsh had said at least four times that this is Souness' squad which has put us in the mess we are in.

Suddenly struck me that Souness has got through £41m in outgoing transfer fees since we were promoted. That's about the same as Arsene Wenger has spent in the same period and only exceeded by Peter Ridsdale, Newcastle, Chelsea, Man U and everybody's favourite Frenchman at Anfield. One of that list effectively went bust, the others are lying in positions 1 to 5 in the Prem.

That is one measure of the enormity of this season's failure.

Another is to look at the sell on values. West Ham went down with a new stand round their financial necks but were able to sell the best part of £20m worth of players to survive and have enough cash in hand to buy a job lot of Britain's more promising young midfield talent from Wimbleton Keynes.

What is the sell on value of our players at the moment?

£2m Ferguson

£1.5m each Emerton and Neill (if anyone buys Opta stats)

£1m each Cole, Stead and Gally

£1m? Friedel

£1m??? Thompson

£500K each Gresko, Flitcroft, Reid, Yorke, Todd, Jansen, Douglas or McEveley

£500K the lot for the rest of the squad

That's £14.5m for the lot if we are lucky. Talk about value destruction!

Edited April 11, 2004 by philipl

[92er]

I don't think there is any chance of Souness being sacked as we can't afford the compensation.However,if something does happen,such as his offering his resignation, I'm sure his perspective will be-loads of injuries,no luck throughout the season-but this will be probably be his last job as a professional manager. WHO ELSE WOULD EMPLOY HIM? If he is a proud man he would be concerned about his final result.Could this motivate him to turn it round? I personally doubt it but we can hope.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

I have been ashamed of my football team for the past 2 weeks with the terrible management going on, Souness has lost the plot and hasn't got a clue he cant keep Yorke and Cole under control. After getting beat by Portsmouth Souness has to look at himself and say am I good enough to pull this club from the gutter maybe souness of 1 or 2 years ago but Souness of now cant. When theres no team spirit then it's time for change and at this stage of the season only the manager can go unfortunatly because Yorke, Cole, Emerton, Neil have no passion.

Forgive me for a moment Lofty, but after that earlier rant you now go on to say:

I am sick to death of you whining bunch of Blackburn Rovers supporters. Get behind the team and quit whinging about individual players it's a team game. Lay off Andy Cole he has done great things for Rovers kept us up 2 seasons ago which you all seem to have forgotand helped us finish in the top 6 last season.

Lay off Cole?

But you previously condemned Cole, saying:

Yorke, Cole Emerton, Neil have no passion.

You had two posts locked earlier today.

You went on to say:

Oi dont you dare lock this again.

May I draw your attention to the section of the posting guidelines which say:

Think before creating new threads

"Nothing is more annoying than multiple threads on exactly the same point, please check that the subject of your new thread has not already been created by checking the existing threads and using the SEARCH feature. Duplicate threads are likely to be locked, repeat offenders will be warned and then banned."

[AlanK]

Lol, great post AESF

[Jan]

Just a question Jan. Believe it or not some of us don`t read every single post on the mb.

No need to get petty is there.

Sorry- Just get awfully fed up of the misconception!!!

If Souey does leave, will you be gone from the messageboard again for a few years, such as your absence when things were going right for him and your vendetta would have looked a little foolhardy?

In fact, do you see yourself as more a Rovers fan or more a Souness hater?

I was a Rovers fan a long time before Souness came to Rovers and I'll be here again once he's gone (pray god it's soon). I wasn't on here for a while because I was working all the hours there were to ensure I got promotion (which I found out about in June- re-registered for the new season)

Also lost my original posting details so had to re-register!

[John]

Jan- it is understandable that you hated Souness before he came to the club. Thats the reason you go over the top slating him. Any Celtic fan hates anything connected to Rangers and I understand that.

However at this moment in time he wont go until the end of the season so you may as well accept that. He is making mistakes which are getting highlighted because we are losing.

However he is missing the driving forces in midfield- Thommo and Fergie. He hasnt used it as an excuse yet.

Interesting article-

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390...4170042,00.html

Edited April 11, 2004 by John

[Jan]

And again the misconception lives!!!

[Tris]

That is one measure of the enormity of this season's failure.

Philipl, very good and interesting.

You're very good at explaining numbers to us lot, and also at using numbers to your advantage. And at getting numbers wrong - I've lost count of how many times you posted Leeds were dead or as good as dead, but check out your posting history via your profile and Leeds should be 6 ft under.

However, now's no time for numbers unless it's 3 for a win or 1 for a draw. Let's leave the balance shiet (oops) for May 16th when 41 million quids worth of Souness buys can concentrate on pre-season work ready for the Premiership again.

Edited April 12, 2004 by Tris

[Ricky]

excellent post AESF. He doesn't seem to know what side of the fence he is on.

[Paul Mellelieu]

This season is difficult to unpick and understand. It's worth saying though that the the tide of hysteria that's grabbed the board over the last couple of weeks has seen a host of posts levelling the most bizarre accusations at Souness and some of the players. The main one is that they did not try against Leeds, or for that matter all season. Well that's appeared to be the case in a couple fo games - Villa at home and Liverpool away spring to mind. However that's not been the real problem, which is the fact that we have had a series of injuries, below-par perfromances and a lack of professionalism from some senior players. For me Scotty summed up, excellently, the current state of the side in his balanced report on the Leeds game.

Injuries - four of Souness' major signings have been out nearly all season. The midfield has missed Ferguson, Thompson and Reid. The first two would have been first choice and Reid, given time and a run in the side, has the pace and strength to make an important contribution. Amo has attracted a lot of criticism, but the jury must be out on him. Against Leeds, at least he showed some leadership and took responsibility for the team. Again with a run in the team, he can only improve - as Fergie was doing, as he picked up the pace of the premiership. I doubt that a Rovers' side with three of those four playing all season, would be where it is now.

The underachievers

Friedel. Last season Souness said he was worth 10-15 points. Well he's dropped a few this season - the resuting points lost would see us safe.

Tugay. From the best passer the club has ever seen to.... Remember Cetic away when he ran the game. Has it really been the same player this season? Although part of the problem has been those around him who been unwilling to receive the ball and make options.

Gresko. Looked fantastic last season, a nightmare this season. Duff's absence aside, can anyone explain the turnaround?

Neil. Poor all season. However calls for Curtis and even Babbel to fill the position are wide of the mark.

Babbel. For me he has been a disgrace. A lack of application on the pitch, combined with a seires of ill-judged comments if it.

Cole. Started well, got injured. Looks slow and a shadow of his former self.

Yorke. OK I'll admit it. He's my favourite player and the Rovers' best bet of unlocking defences. If Souness has made a mistake this season it's not getting enough out of Yorke and Cole. Having said that until Xmas the fans were on Yorke and Cole's backs - post Xmas it's Souness' fault they haven't performed. It must be a bit of both - but the Rvoers' first choice two for me.

Can ayone account for such a slump in form the players above? Is Souness really to blame for a combination of injuries and a lack of form from key players?

The odds and sods

Jansen. A crying shame, but I don't know anyone who thinks he'll ever play football properly again.

Emerton. We all know that a host of clubs wanted to sign Emerton and we rejoiced when Souness got him to come to Ewood. He's done Ok for me. He works hard and is an excellent crosser of the ball. But he's playing in a poor team and not getting the ball in the right areas of the pitch. In a team performing as it did last season Emerton would have done well.

Gally and Stead have done OK, but right now aren't the answer to the club's dire situation.

Souness' mistakes

The main one in my book is not getting enough from the senior players, especially the front two pairing of Cole and Yorke. Starting two kids against Liverpool was madness. Elsewhere in the team he's had little choice of who to play. The midfield - arguments about the left wing aside - has picked itself. And those calling for Danns or Donnelly to start have really showed themselves to be dunderheads.

The back four has chopped and changed with injuires and suspensions. Only Nissa can feel a little badly done to and Taylor was poor all season. And remember their run in the team last season coincided with a poor run of results. Only Short and Berg's return changed things at the back.

So my view is that Souness, although not blameless, has had key players missing most of the season and key players taking a dip in form. The extent to which it's his fault is unclear, but to sack him now would be a folly.

[Simon Says]

I wasn't on here for a while because I was working all the hours there were to ensure I got promotion (which I found out about in June- re-registered for the new season)

Well done on getting promotion Jan. You must feel good about it. Putting in all those hours of work. It’s some achievement isn’t it?

After all, promotion is something to be proud about and should look good on your C.V.

Make sure you don’t let anyone belittle the good work you have done. It could happen in a short amount of time that people begin to turn on you. Ignore them and be strong.

Promotion is nothing to be sniffed at is it?

[Glenn]

I was a Rovers fan a long time before Souness came to Rovers and I'll be here again once he's gone (pray god it's soon). I wasn't on here for a while because I was working all the hours there were to ensure I got promotion (which I found out about in June- re-registered for the new season)

Also lost my original posting details so had to re-register!

Jan has certainly been on here since the very very early days, in fact she was a regular on the old chat system when I first started showing my face (98ish) and after sharing an umberella with her (and the legendary Lee Grooby) at the world wettest game (Pompey away, 00 I think) nobody can question her comitment.

Anyway Jan, I've just checked and your original Jan account (complete with cat woman avatar) still exists, I'll happily merge them for you if you'd like (same for you Jim, but sadly I can't find Rovers 1 to 5 ).

[broadsword]

I've just read on the LET that Souness wants Robbie Blake in the Summer.

Graeme, you have quite clearly had a Matt Jansen-style accident at some point last summer.

Now you want to buy a dingle.

I can't think of a more compelling argument to get shot.

[nolan9]

I thought Souness wanted to take the club forward not backwards and that exactly what he will be doing if he signs Robbie Blake

[Jan]

Glenn- Can I have Jan, back- PLEASE????

Liked Catwoman! (whatever password I tried I couldn't get in- so just contented myself to reading till this season!!)

[Glenn]

I wasn't on here for a while because I was working all the hours there were to ensure I got promotion (which I found out about in June- re-registered for the new season)

Well done on getting promotion Jan. You must feel good about it. Putting in all those hours of work. It’s some achievement isn’t it?

After all, promotion is something to be proud about and should look good on your C.V.

Make sure you don’t let anyone belittle the good work you have done. It could happen in a short amount of time that people begin to turn on you. Ignore them and be strong.

Promotion is nothing to be sniffed at is it?

You've just reminded me of this, it's taken in a pub in Gilligham just before our last game in Div 1.

[Glenn]

Glenn- Can I have Jan, back- PLEASE????

Liked Catwoman! (whatever password I tried I couldn't get in- so just contented myself to reading till this season!!)

'tis done. I'll post here in case you can't log in to check yours PMs.

Password is the same as Jan2.

[adopted scouser]

Back to topic.

I'm sticking with Souness. It would be a mistake to oust him now, leaving our dogfight reliant on the 'charismatic' tony parkes.

It takes real strength to stand your ground against the likes of Yorke and Cole when your club's in trouble, and to remain resolute when your key players are crocked. Some of his signings have raised a few eyebrows granted, but the notion that 'king' kenny would save us is a little far fetched - Newcastle anyone ?

The big fella has had a rough run recently, and maybe the more fickle among us should vent some of that anger at the dressing room.

We won't go down, and should look forward to next season in the prem with Tommo, Ferguson, Gally and Stead.

[adopted scouser]

Back to the top. Fickle, Fickle fans.

Jim - you're quiet.

[The1mattjansen]

I havent managed to understand all season why some people want souness out, and I realise that its easy for me to come on here now after a win and defend him. But he has turned us around no end and I dont believe anyone could have done a better job for rovers this season with the injuries and squad we have.

[tcj_jones]

I havent managed to understand all season why some people want souness out, and I realise that its easy for me to come on here now after a win and defend him. But he has turned us around no end and I dont believe anyone could have done a better job for rovers this season with the injuries and squad we have.

as much as i like souness and think he should stay, you cannot just forget a season of horrors for two wins on the trot.