Souness must go ?

[Paul]

Souey has also been the architect of a home record that

1. Nearly got us relegated

2. Will have convinced thousands that it's not worth buying an ST

3. Will mean that many more fans will think there's no point in buying an ST because not many have been sold

4. Forced the regulars to endure hours of misery between the Wolves win and the Man Utd win

5. Got my kids shouted at most home Saturdays

I'm not being negative and I'd agree with the positives you have posted. I'm prepared to give Souness until October/November to sort things out but many are not. This has been the most miserable, unenjoyable and depressing season in a while so Graeme has a greaT deal to do if he is to convoince the doubters.

If we are not playing decent winning football by October I hope he leaves.

PS

- he signed Grabbi so must take repsonsibility for chucking away £7.5m of the clubs money.

Ferguson is far from a proven PL player

We were every bit as bad as the relegated sides - they BEAT us at home. Leeds, Pompey etc.

[thenodrog]

Souness falls out with too many people, got to go.

Brian Kidd didn't fall out with any yet he had to go too!

I must say I don't mind a bit of passion from a manager, it shows they care. And dont forget the Prem's most successful manager could cause a fall out in an empty room.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

FFS the fixtures have not even been unscrambled by the Premier League's computer and we're already arguing about how well we and Souness will do next season.

OK last season was a struggle but thats behind us now and personally I'm looking forward to Euro 2004 and my hols rather than worrying about whether Souness will still be our manager in October.

[thenodrog]

Souey has also been the architect of a home record that

1. Nearly got us relegated

2. Will have convinced thousands that it's not worth buying an ST

3. Will mean that many more fans will think there's no point in buying an ST because not many have been sold

4. Forced the regulars to endure hours of misery between the Wolves win and the Man Utd win

5. Got my kids shouted at most home Saturdays

I'm not being negative and I'd agree with the positives you have posted. I'm prepared to give Souness until October/November to sort things out but many are not. This has been the most miserable, unenjoyable and depressing season in a while so Graeme has a greta deal to do if he is to convoince the doubters.

If we are not playing decent winning football by October I hope he leaves.

PS

- he signed Grabbi so must take repsonsibility for chucking away £7.5m of the clubs money.

Ferguson is far from a proven PL player

We were every bit as bad as the relegated sides - they BEAT us at home. Leeds, Pompey etc.

I think that he should simply take a leaf out of Boltons book and appoint specialist part-time assistance.

e.g.

1. Fitness coach and dietician.

2. We obviously need a change in the scouting dept.

3. Somebody to help with the psychology / personnel issues and general day to day liasons with individuals. Especially necessary when dealing with errant players. Some need encouragement to get the best out of them whilst others need a big boot up the jacksi.......GS only seems to understand the latter.

4. Some shrewd cookie with a legal background to introduce very lucrative but stricter and performance related contracts.

I think that this is the only option for the Williams / GS partnership as the managers weaknesses have now become obvious to all. And whilst the Sword of Damoclese is currently hanging over Souness' head how about issuing one each to Parkes and Saunders too? I may be wrong but I fail to see what TP is currently contributing to the overall set up. I think the time is now ripe to get Parkes off the bench and install him at Brockhall in charge of one of the kids teams.

[Ricky]

I agree with a number of your points Theno, I disagree with your comments on Dean Saunders. A number of players (I recall Duff being one of them) have come out and said his attacking coaching has helped improve their goalscoring, this season we scored more goals than the previous season when we finished 6th. I'm not 100% sure about his abilities as assistant manager but I would certainly keep him there as a coach.

It would make sense to get someone in to look after the defensive side of things. Give Colin Hendry a call before he accepts the Blackpool job.

[Blueboy Downunder]

improved the attacking side of things....not this season it hasn't. lookat the difference of when phil boersma was coaching..we had a far better defensive record.....coincidence, i don't think so.....

ok we can't blame things on just one person or a few individuals as it is a team game, so there for....collectively it has ben a bad season all round. but....we have changed something that was not broken in the first place...so i say we need to go back to what was successful.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I agree with a number of your points Theno, I disagree with your comments on Dean Saunders. A number of players (I recall Duff being one of them) have come out and said his attacking coaching has helped improve their goalscoring, this season we scored more goals than the previous season when we finished 6th. I'm not 100% sure about his abilities as assistant manager but I would certainly keep him there as a coach.

It would make sense to get someone in to look after the defensive side of things. Give Colin Hendry a call before he accepts the Blackpool job.

I'm not sure we should be condemning both Parkes and Saunders either.

The tactical change unveiled at Fulham (which kept us up) appeared to come from nowhere, and history would suggest that it didn't come from Souness.

I think one of Saunders or Parkes came up with it and my money is on Deano. I noticed in the Fulham game he was frequently on the touchline gesticulating madly at the players - just what you'd do if it was something you had thought of and it was still bedding in - and not something I saw in any other televised game.

Of course Sir Graeme was also constantly on the touchline gesticulating - but only at the officials.

This is purely speculation, but then so is the notion that Saunders and Parkes don't do anything, unless one of our many "I'm in the know but can't tell you anything" correspondents can break the code of Omerta.

[thenodrog]

I agree with a number of your points Theno, I disagree with your comments on Dean Saunders. A number of players (I recall Duff being one of them) have come out and said his attacking coaching has helped improve their goalscoring,

Ricky that point about Duff I've made many times. I always held the opinion that if Duff ever learnt how to score then we could not hold on to him. Credit to Saunders who imo gave him the confidence necessary and taught him how to score and we did indeed make big bucks out of selling him........ however the fact remains that the current management team have had a bad season and as they say in football "you are only as good as your last game"!

[FourLaneBlue]

I agree with a number of your points Theno, I disagree with your comments on Dean Saunders. A number of players (I recall Duff being one of them) have come out and said his attacking coaching has helped improve their goalscoring,

Ricky that point about Duff I've made many times. I always held the opinion that if Duff ever learnt how to score then we could not hold on to him. Credit to Saunders who imo gave him the confidence necessary and taught him how to score and we did indeed make big bucks out of selling him........ however the fact remains that the current management team have had a bad season and as they say in football "you are only as good as your last game"!

Exactly thenodrog....you are only as bad as your last game...

Mark Hughes' last game was a gutless capitulation to Russia. Admittedly Russia are a good side but that does not excuse the limp and listless performance the supposeldy-patriotic Welsh side put in that night.

Can anyone actually name a possible succesor whose 'last game' wasn't rubbish?

I mean it...come on if we are to sack Souness then let's at least have a viable strategy to replace him. Other than rover6 who commendably put forward Paul Sturrock (to much derision including from myself I must say), the constanly anti-Souness brigade such as kennysuperbuyer have constantly failed to provide any kind of alternative.

If we are to sack a manager who has won us promotion and a cup I'd like a serious proposition, not just the tedious diatribe of continual whinging we usually have to put up with...

[waggy]

FFS the fixtures have not even been unscrambled by the Premier League's computer and we're already arguing about how well we and Souness will do next season.

OK last season was a struggle but thats behind us now and personally I'm looking forward to Euro 2004 and my hols rather than worrying about whether Souness will still be our manager in October.

this is the time souness's future should be debated,he very nearly took us down last season,it is his team,his players,his system and the buck stops with him.

i have always vindicated mark hughes for his job,but the two academy guys could do a great job,downes and kelly.

on the topic of coaches i am led to believe that phil boesma is still on the ewood payroll,happen its about time to bury thr hatchet and get him back in the fold.

[Hughesy]

Souness must stay.

He nearly took us down? How many points were we safe by?

The only reason we had a poor season is that we had alot of injuries and also alot of new faces that took time to blend together. I expect a top 10 finish next season. If we can get a good left winger and a solid centre back then i honestly believe we will finish around 6th

[salothsar]

I agree that now is the time to dicuss Souness' future. He had a bad season last season, no doubt about it, with some extenuating circumstances. It has been his first underachievemnet however, made to seem worse by last season's overachievement. Definitely deserves at least one more season but for there to be any more we must be, at the absolute very minimum, top half.

[LDRover]

Dunno if anyone's mentioned this earlier (75 pages - too much to read) but should Souness bomb next season it may be worth a punt on Ian Dowie.

He's worked an absolute miracle at Palace and his work at Oldham was exemplary too. There's also the fact that his family are still living in Bolton while he stays in London during the week so a return North would certainly appeal.

I know it's hypothtical at the moment but should things continue in the same vein as last season Dowie would be a great replacement IMO.

[jim mk2]

Dunno if anyone's mentioned this earlier (75 pages - too much to read) but should Souness bomb next season it may be worth a punt on Ian Dowie.

He's worked an absolute miracle at Palace and his work at Oldham was exemplary too. There's also the fact that his family are still living in Bolton while he stays in London during the week so a return North would certainly appeal.

I know it's hypothtical at the moment but should things continue in the same vein as last season Dowie would be a great replacement IMO.

I posted this three days ago.

Get a grip.

. 

Meantime, like all about to be relegated clubs, Palace will look forwards to doing the double over Souness' Rovers. Dowie will enjoy himself out-thinking Souness.

Interestingly, Dowie's wife and children are settled in Lancashire and he refuses to move them south (very sensible in my opinion).

These long-distance domestic arrangements rarely work so I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump the Palace ship and move back North next season.

Hopefully there will be a vacancy at Ewood Park that he can move into.

[FourLaneBlue]

Dunno if anyone's mentioned this earlier (75 pages - too much to read) but should Souness bomb next season it may be worth a punt on Ian Dowie.

He's worked an absolute miracle at Palace and his work at Oldham was exemplary too. There's also the fact that his family are still living in Bolton while he stays in London during the week so a return North would certainly appeal.

I know it's hypothtical at the moment but should things continue in the same vein as last season Dowie would be a great replacement IMO.

I posted this three days ago.

Get a grip.

. 

Meantime, like all about to be relegated clubs, Palace will look forwards to doing the double over Souness' Rovers. Dowie will enjoy himself out-thinking Souness.

Interestingly, Dowie's wife and children are settled in Lancashire and he refuses to move them south (very sensible in my opinion).

Hopefully there will be a vacancy at Ewood Park that he can move into.

Unbelievable. After years of verbal diarrhea against the management and board of Rovers you finally come up with a replacement; by jumping on the Dowie bandwagon like a pantie-wetting sixties Beatles fan.

Come up with something other than the flavour-of-the-month Dowie and people may take you seriously instead of thinking of you as an unvariable and ever increasingly desperate wind-up merchant.

Oh and how sad and cloying was the "posted it three days ago" remark? What a perceptive take on things. Obviously you must be the only one who had recognised Dowie's potential before the play-off final. In Jimworld anyway...

PS- Despite what I said above I don't think Mark Hughes would be a bad choice as such, just that it would be a poor move to sack Souness now and bring him in.

Edited June 1, 2004 by FourLaneBlue

[The1mattjansen]

Dunno if anyone's mentioned this earlier (75 pages - too much to read) but should Souness bomb next season it may be worth a punt on Ian Dowie.

He's worked an absolute miracle at Palace and his work at Oldham was exemplary too. There's also the fact that his family are still living in Bolton while he stays in London during the week so a return North would certainly appeal.

I know it's hypothtical at the moment but should things continue in the same vein as last season Dowie would be a great replacement IMO.

I posted this three days ago.

Get a grip.

. 

Meantime, like all about to be relegated clubs, Palace will look forwards to doing the double over Souness' Rovers. Dowie will enjoy himself out-thinking Souness.

Interestingly, Dowie's wife and children are settled in Lancashire and he refuses to move them south (very sensible in my opinion).

These long-distance domestic arrangements rarely work so I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump the Palace ship and move back North next season.

Hopefully there will be a vacancy at Ewood Park that he can move into.

Rubbish. I don't understand your grudge with Souness, the man has taken us to heights that we couldn't have dreamed of 4 years ago, and in such a short space of time.

His tactical descisions may sometimes let him down, but this is compensated for with his motivation and buying skills. Now its quite obvious that you are now going to bring up specific examples such as Grabbi to disprove this, but on the whole my points are correct.

Before Souness came to Rovers, the team was full of nobody's, getting paid crazy wages and not giving their all for the club. The managers were getting trampled all over by players, but Souness won't stand for that lack of effort and respect, hence his decisions to get rid of certain players, including Dunny.

Souness Stays

[jim mk2]

Unbelievable. After years of verbal diarrhea against the management and board of Rovers you finally come up with a replacement; by jumping on the Dowie bandwagon like a pantie-wetting sixties Beatles fan.

Come up with something other than the flavour-of-the-month Dowie and people may take you seriously instead of thinking of you as a unvariable and ever increasingly desperate wind-up merchant.

Oh and how sad and cloying was the "posted it three days ago" remark? What a perceptive take on things. Obviously you must be the only one who had recognised Dowie's potential before the play-off final. In Jimworld anyway...

PS- Despite what I said above I don't think Mark Hughes would be a bad choice as such, just that it would be a poor move to sack Souness now and bring him in.

Duly wound up.

Aye thank you!!

[FourLaneBlue]

Jim- I take all you say with a pinch of salt. A very very big pinch...

Edited June 1, 2004 by FourLaneBlue

[jim mk2]

Jim- I take all you say with a pinch of salt. A very very big pinch...

Don't worry, and I'll ignore your personal insults too.

I'm just surprised you fell for it.

[FourLaneBlue]

Jim- I take all you say with a pinch of salt. A very very big pinch...

Don't worry, and I'll ignore your personal insults too.

I'm just surprised you fell for it.

What personal insults? I compared you to a pantie-wetting Beatles fan.

You've never had such good press.....

[LDRover]

Dowie could potentially be a good Rovers boss. (Taken from Jim Mk2 May 2004 BRFCS.com Message Board)

Jim, the credit is all yours.

[Billy Castell]

Give Souness about 2 more seasons, then take on Dowie if he makes a reasonble fist of Palace in the Premiership. He'd probably be sacked by Simon Jordan if they get relegated next season however well they fought .

[waggy]

after dikov will be brian deane,time to go souey

[Billy Castell]

Thing is, who'd you replace him with ?. Ranieri will probably go to Spurs (boo !). And don't say Houllier.

[FourLaneBlue]

after dikov will be brian deane,time to go souey

Yes waggy. Brian Deane is on his way. Souness must have lost it then.

Actually...we could really do with a younger Brian Deane type.

Edited June 2, 2004 by FourLaneBlue