An Fear Rua - Anyone Support Blackburn Rovers?

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 14:37

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/jim-white/blame-venky-not-fans-100119709.html

I have to say that the criticism of Blackburn fans and the lack of criticism of their ownership is staggering. It appears that the fans were right all along. Seems like the worst case of mismanagement ever to have affected a club in the premiership, surely these guys should be ran out of the club.. You couldn't write some of the stuff being reported..

This message has been edited - 10-may-2012 @ 15:44

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 14:39

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Actual Article for those too lazy, by Jim White.

An odd consensus emerged on Monday night after Blackburn were relegated to the Championship. On phone-ins and chat rooms, in newspaper columns and social media one opinion was raised above the others: it was all the fans' fault. Not getting behind the team at a crucial time of the season, bickering about incidentals when the important things required their full attention, having ideas above their station: these were some of the charges on the sheet. As they expressed their anger about the club's ownership and management, the Ewood faithful were widely accused of faithlessness. And thus got their due deserts when relegation was confirmed by Wigan's late winner.
You wonder whether those so quick to attack the disputatious supporters were paying attention when a leaked letter from Paul Hunt, the club's deputy CEO, appeared on the Sporting Intelligence website yesterday. Written back in December, the letter — addressed to the club owners, the Venky's chicken empire - was stunning in its prescience. Citing poor leadership, inadequate decision making, woeful under-investment and weak team management, it predicted not only relegation, but a rapid slide into the financial mire. And nowhere did it blame the fans. Indeed, in its analysis of what was going wrong at the club it absolutely mirrored the worries of the protestors.
The club's response, reported this morning by Sporting Intelligence, was to sack Hunt.
In the way it operates, football has little in common with wider business. But rarely even in a game as widely mismanaged as this can there have been set out such a damning indictment of an organisation's ownership. Lack of leadership is one thing, but this spoke of a complacency and lethargy that was astonishing. Not since the captain ordered the band to keep playing even as the Titanic was holed below the water line can there have been such astonishing inability to understand the gravity of a situation.
When I heard the rumours that Venky's bought Blackburn without appreciating that there was such a thing as relegation from the Premier League, I assumed it was a tale too far: nobody could be that negligent. Now it appears that is the least of it. Sponsors and corporate backers are deserting the club in their droves; one long-term box holder has not taken up the offer to renew his relationship with the club next season, despite being offered a price less than a fifth of what he has been paying. Worse, the owners appear entirely cavalier to existing partners: Hunt warns that shirt sponsors Umbro, whose contract is worth £800,000 annually, were taking rapid umbrage at Venky's allowing cheap rip off casual wear to be manufactured in the club colours in India.
But the biggest problem of all, the one from which all the rest stemmed, was Premier League survival. For Blackburn, the overwhelming majority of their income comes from membership of the top table. To lose the right to £40 million a year in television income is to jeopardise the future existence of the operation. While other clubs — Wolves and Wigan among them — make wise provision for the possibility of demotion, Blackburn had been neglectful in contract discussions. Many of the first team squad did not have relegation clauses, meaning they will still be paid Premier League wages in the Championship. That is not management. It is gross negligence. And nothing to do with the fans.
Hunt warned that such was the inertia within the club as it drifted downwards, administration was a real possibility. Never mind making their way to the top four as Venky's promised when they took over, Blackburn could soon be finding themselves docked 10 points. The bank, in the new climate of zero tolerance of bad debts, is pressurising the club to repay its borrowings; foreclosure remains a real possibility.
Hunt was not shy either of pointing to the inadequacies of the team management. His letter, written in December, suggested Steve Kean was simply not good enough to run the club. He was right there. Sure Kean has been hugely dignified as the vitriol has poured in his direction from the stands. But dignity does not equate to competence. And as Roberto Martinez has demonstrated a few miles down the road, as the season reaches its critical edge, the skill of the team management is all that stands between continuity and catastrophe. Kean's failure has condemned his club to the most uncertain of futures.
It is now too late for the owners to progress Hunt's eminently sensible plan for survival. Now Venky's need to wake up to the reality of horribly straightened circumstances. Income will now plummet, the best players will depart, yet plans need to be quickly made to ensure a speedy return to the sunlit financial uplands of the Premier League. Sources suggest they are doing that by frantically trying to sell the club for £10 million more than they paid for it. The belief that the abject failure of their tenure requires such reward is yet further evidence of quite what a deluded operation they have been. The truth is, they have not been owners. They have been vandals.
Blame the fans? At Ewood Park, as the storm clouds bank up over the moors, there is only one certainty around Blackburn: the fans were right all along.

Unlimited_Limerick

(876 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:20

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Blackburn fan for years. It's a complete shambles what's gone on at the club over the past 24 months or so.

The Venky's will run the club into the ground. Some of the things that are outright disgraceful are:
1) Sacked the chairman John Williams, a man who'd overseen Blackburn punch above their weight for over a decade. They decided he wasn't good enough. Funily enough he's now a highly ranked official at Man City, possibly the biggest club in the world.
2) They sold in the region of £25m worth of players... and refused to reinvest a penny.
3) Sam Allardyce, a proven manager, got Blackburn to finish in the top 10 in the league in 2010, and then had them sitting in 11th the following season when he was suddenly sacked.
3) Bazarly hired Steve Kean because he was aparently a better manager than Sam... even though Kean had never managed a team in his life.
4) Told Salgado and Jason Roberts not to bother turning up for matches any more as they were both one appearance away from getting an automatic 12 month contract extension, something Venkys weren't going to pay for come hell or high water.
5) Shipped out Ryan Nelsen out to Spurs as soon as he got an injury for fear they'd have to pay the wages. Along with cashing in on Samba and Jones, while Salgado was exiled it meant the entire back four was suddenly completely gone.
5) Began running the club like a branch of Lidl... you can actually rent the pitch over the summer for 200 quid or something like that if you'd like an aul game of 5 a side in Ewood!

Furthermore, they've emalgamated the reserve team with the senior team! i.e. one building from which they're based, one gym, one training ground etc and have sold off the land/buildings that the reserves used to have.

theface2010

(3,490 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:37

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by Unlimited_Limerick:
Funily enough he's now a highly ranked official at Man City, possibly the biggest club in the world.

Ha ha bringing back the Friday joke a day earlier! How can a team who has won 1 FA Cup in nearly 40 years be the biggest club in the world? Richest maybe...

Apart from that all very sensible.

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:53

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

out of the 18 players named in the squad for Blackburn's first game of this season only 7 are still at the club.. a serious indictment of the mentality of the owners

cityoftribes

(3,030 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:55

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Does Kean deserve the level of personal abuse that he has had to endure from the supporters?

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:56

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by theface2010:
Ha ha bringing back the Friday joke a day earlier! How can a team who has won 1 FA Cup in nearly 40 years be the biggest club in the world? Richest maybe...Apart from that all very sensible.

ah he was just saying that to emphasize the loss of the former chairman and how he has proved his worth by securing employment with man city, which would surely be regarded being one of the hardest places in the world of football to firstly obtain and then keep a job

carryharry

(4,804 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 15:59

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

No way does he. He's paid to do a job which is tough enough imo without owners like the Venkys and supporters like they have.

A small bit of positivity ala Wigan with their chairman Dave Whelan and the support of their supporters for Martinez and look how they turned it around.

He may be a poor Manager but the abuse he got was uncalled for, plenty of bigger name managers have brought teams down too.

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 16:03

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by cityoftribes:
Does Kean deserve the level of personal abuse that he has had to endure from the supporters?

misguided abuse but then again he is the figurehead of an absentee ownership system

he certainly has played his part in relegating the team and without the owners being around he is always going to have to bear the brunt

apparently he was appointed on the strength of his enthusiasm for the game as well as being able to relay his points impressively in power point form..

i find it hard to understand what was going through Kean's head when he put himself up for this job, he basically swindled a couple of idiots into giving him the job..

he had to know he would fail, obviously hes a decent guy but must be seriously deluded as to his own and his teams ability

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 16:12

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by Unlimited_Limerick:
Blackburn fan for years. It's a complete shambles what's gone on at the club over the past 24 months or so.The Venky's will run the club into the ground. Some of the things that are outright disgraceful are:
1) Sacked the chairman John Williams, a man who'd overseen Blackburn punch above their weight for over a decade. They decided he wasn't good enough. Funily enough he's now a highly ranked official at Man City, possibly the biggest club in the world.
2) They sold in the region of £25m worth of players... and refused to reinvest a penny.
3) Sam Allardyce, a proven manager, got Blackburn to finish in the top 10 in the league in 2010, and then had them sitting in 11th the following season when he was suddenly sacked.
3) Bazarly hired Steve Kean because he was aparently a better manager than Sam... even though Kean had never managed a team in his life.
4) Told Salgado and Jason Roberts not to bother turning up for matches any more as they were both one appearance away from getting an automatic 12 month contract extension, something Venkys weren't going to pay for come hell or high water.
5) Shipped out Ryan Nelsen out to Spurs as soon as he got an injury for fear they'd have to pay the wages. Along with cashing in on Samba and Jones, while Salgado was exiled it meant the entire back four was suddenly completely gone.
5) Began running the club like a branch of Lidl... you can actually rent the pitch over the summer for 200 quid or something like that if you'd like an aul game of 5 a side in Ewood!Furthermore, they've emalgamated the reserve team with the senior team! i.e. one building from which they're based, one gym, one training ground etc and have sold off the land/buildings that the reserves used to have.

it looks next to impossible for blackburn to regain the standing they had before venky's arrived

the systematic and deliberate dismantling of the club by this crowd will surely result in lower league football for quite some time.. there seems to be little left of the club that came tenth two years ago except an inexperienced unsuitable manager and a load of creditors of course..

Why didnt Kean walk away and try and preserve some of his (now abysmal) reputation when he realised what was going on with the owners????

wakeuplads

(1,070 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 16:19

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Nobody deserves abuse - so that is the straightforward answer to your question. The longer answer to your question is that Kean is playing a key role in ripping apart a club with a long, proud history for a club of its size. So, does he deserve abuse - no. Does he deserve respect for what he is doing - absolutely not. I can understand the anger of the Blackburn fans - a part of their town and identity is being destroyed.

Originally posted by cityoftribes:
Does Kean deserve the level of personal abuse that he has had to endure from the supporters?

wakeuplads

(1,070 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 16:39

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Very misguided post carryharry. I live in England fairly close to Blackburn and what is happening is destroying the club. It's very interesting that you mention Wigan. Wigan is the exact antithesis of Blackburn. An ex-footballer who knows the game really well owns the club. He is a pure gent, and he knows how to run a football club, and he knows the sort of people he needs around him to help him to run the club. Dave Whelan, who is an ex-Blackburn player, was highly critical of Venky's on Monday night. He basically said that they are destroying a great club and that they need to start listening to people who know the game (and he didn't mean Steve Kean).

There is a lot of talk on the radio over here about the difference between a club like Wigan and Blackburn. Wigan is owned by an English man with a passion for the game who has the best interests of Wigan football club at heart - not in making money. Blackburn is owned by a group of mercenaries who haven't a clue what they are doing, are fleecing the club of all its assets (Phil Jones, Samba etc) without putting anything back in, and really couldn't care less about the long-term future of Blackburn Rovers as long as they can make a bit of money. So yes, Blackburn do need to look at clubs like Wigan - but for different reasons that you mention.

Talking to Blackburn Rovers fans - it's not the fact that they have been relegated that is the problem. Actually some of them welcomed relegation because they thought Venky's and Steve Kean might leave. Relagation isn't an issue. The issue is the very real possibility that Blackburn will slide down the leagues into oblivion under the stewardship of the most inept owners that the premiership has ever seen (they actually didn't even know that Blackburn could get relegated when they first bought the club - that is how much they know about the game).

Also, you have people like Alex Ferguson supporting Steve Kean. Very easy for him to do that while he manages one of the biggest clubs in the world and Blackburn is run into the ground. I don't want to get personal about Kean. I'm sure he is a decent man in many ways. But either he is completely deluded, or he is trying to stay on and make as much money as he can.

Yes, the abuse that Kean got was uncalled for - but don't tar all of the Blackburn Rovers fans with the same brush. Many of them are really scared that their club is being destroyed and they don't know what to do. Blackburn have some really good young players in their youth teams at the moment, and there is a real fear that Venky's will continue to plunder the club of these assets going forward.

Originally posted by carryharry:
No way does he. He's paid to do a job which is tough enough imo without owners like the Venkys and supporters like they have.A small bit of positivity ala Wigan with their chairman Dave Whelan and the support of their supporters for Martinez and look how they turned it around.He may be a poor Manager but the abuse he got was uncalled for, plenty of bigger name managers have brought teams down too.

carryharry

(4,804 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 16:43

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Misguided in your opinion maybe, not mine.

The fans were on his back from day 1 and you know it. If the players were willing to support him then surely the fans could have too.

The owners are and were the problem alright but Kean was the soft target.

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 17:23

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by carryharry:
Misguided in your opinion maybe, not mine.The fans were on his back from day 1 and you know it. If the players were willing to support him then surely the fans could have too.The owners are and were the problem alright but Kean was the soft target.

But why would any decent person preside over such a farce

And why did he put his name forward in the first place, where did he think he was going??

inthenameajaysus

(496 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 17:25

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Blackburn have some really good young players in their youth teams at the moment, and there is a real fear that Venky's will continue to plunder the club of these assets going forward.
[/QUOTE]

true, their u18 even made the fa youth cup final this year

wakeuplads

(1,070 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 17:41

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Yes he's a soft target because he's the only target while Venky's hide away from the situation as much as they can. But he is also a major contributor to the demise of the club. In one sense you can understand what he is doing. He's on a good salary, and were he to leave Blackburn it would be very difficult for him to get another job as manager. I do think he has tried his best and probably has a belief in himself that isn't matched by his ability.

Not all of the fans were against him at the start - although justifiably many were seeing that the club had a very good and proven manager who was sacked to make way for him. But after 18 months of mismanagement pretty much all of the fans have turned against him. Kean is seen as being part of the Venky's set-up. He seems to be the only one that they communicate with - and it's also a little odd the way his agent was a key figure in bringing Venky's in as buyers, and shortly afterwards he was appointed manager despite having no experience. So asking fans to support him under those circumstances is not very reasonable.

Originally posted by carryharry:
Misguided in your opinion maybe, not mine.The fans were on his back from day 1 and you know it. If the players were willing to support him then surely the fans could have too.The owners are and were the problem alright but Kean was the soft target.

ajpb

(241 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 18:22

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

He is definitely given way too much abuse from the fans but here's a Blackburn fan Gordan Moulden listing and replying to various Steve Kean interviews this season.

Steve said: “We are not going to be able to invent 10 games where we can go on an unbeaten run because there are not enough games left.”

Gordon says: Steve is certainly on top of things.??

Steve on Ryan Nelsen: “He's in a bad way. I've just been to see him. He's in traction. We need experienced players in the team and I can't wait to get him back, but I doubt he'll be let out before the end of the season."

Gordon says: Four days later Nelsen made his debut for Spurs.??

Steve on Junior Hoilett, December 2010: “He's desperate to sign, we're making progress”.

Gordon says: Needless to say, Hoilett will walk away for nothing in the coming weeks.??

Steve said: “We feel that Myles Anderson is a player with great potential as a late developer. He could become something of a Chris Smalling, who came through late in football and Myles has done the same.”

Gordon says: Myles Anderson, son of Kean's agent Jerome, has never played for Blackburn.

?Steve said: “Bruno - or Denis after Denis Irwin, the boys call him, because he never gives the ball away - will fill in that position and that is great for us."

Gordon says: Bruno Ribeiro - or Denis - has never played for Rovers. None of us even knows what he looks like!

Steve said: “David’s always been put on a par with a young Rooney and he can certainly score all types of goals… It’s not just nice tap-ins, he can create a goal for himself, score from outside the box, chip them in, pass them in, smash them in."

Gordon says: A young Mickey Rooney? David Goodwillie has scored two league goals this season.

Steve said: “There is no way Chris Samba is leaving this football club. I've spoken to the owners and that's the end of the matter.”

Gordon says: Samba left two weeks later.?
Steve on being knocked out of the Carling Cup quarter-finals by Cardiff: “We are in a position where we have forfeited going through and having the chance to reach a Cup final. We have games against sides within touching distance of us in the league. We need to treat those games as Cup finals.”

Gordon says: Why did he not say that beforehand in order to save supporters a wasted journey? We ended up 'forfeiting' a lot of those other 'Cup finals' too.??

Steve on the January 2012 transfer window: “We are going to do our business early and get experienced players."

Gordon says: The unknown Antony Modeste arrived on January 19th. The rest of the business was done on deadline day and the ‘experienced’ players were uncapped Bradley Orr and the obscure Marcus Olsson.
Steve said: “The most important thing is 99% of the fans didn't demonstrate”.

Gordon says: Maths isn't his strong point.??

Steve said: “I live in the area but I don’t go out in Blackburn because I can’t. You just never know who you might run into.”

Gordon says: Steve has been attacked and threatened on the mean streets of Blackburn zero times.

Steve said: “Our break in Dubai went really well. From a medical point of view I have been told vitamin D levels were very high in the lads when they come back due to the sunshine.”

Gordon says: So basically they just topped up their tans???
Steve said: “Judge us after the transfer window is closed.”

Gordon says: Judged.??

Steve on November 22nd: “Yes, there have been discussions about a new contract, but I have told the owners that this is an inappropriate time to conclude any new contract discussions. Instead, the real issue is for me and everyone else to concentrate on the games.”?

Gordon says: Steve signed a new contract on November 25th.??

Steve on the plane carrying a protest banner over Ewood: “I didn’t see the plane and I don’t know what it said."

Gordon says: TV pictures appearing to show Steve looking at the plane must have been misleading.
Steve said: “The owners are very knowledgeable."

Gordon says: The stories about them not realising Rovers could get relegated are untrue, then?

Steve said: “I believe I was good enough to play for Celtic.”

Gordon says: Steve Kean played for Alloa, Academia Coimbra, Bath City and Newbury Town.

Steve said: “We've had monumental results this season, including back-to-back clean sheets".

Gordon says: This comedy writes itself.

ajpb

(241 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 18:28

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

For me Steve Kean is a figure of ridicule. Blackburn were doing very well under Sam Allardyce. As much as I loathe Big Sam,he had them in the top half of the table without splashing out alot of cash. The B'burn fans must be torn apart watching a cowboy regime and a bluffer of a manager take them down and no positive ending in sight.

Unlimited_Limerick

(876 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 18:43

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by cityoftribes:
Does Kean deserve the level of personal abuse that he has had to endure from the supporters?

Absolutely not. Considering the owners sold half the team out from under his nose and gave him nothing in return to spend it was quite an achievement that Rovers were still alive going into the second last match of the season. Aside from that, no sports person deserves that level of personal abuse.

wakeuplads

(1,070 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 19:19

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

No, he doesn't deserve personal abuse. But neither does he deserve to manage a team with any aspirations for playing in the premiership. And he has no right to continue playing his part in destroying a proud club that is so important to the people of Blackburn.

Originally posted by Unlimited_Limerick:
Absolutely not. Considering the owners sold half the team out from under his nose and gave him nothing in return to spend it was quite an achievement that Rovers were still alive going into the second last match of the season. Aside from that, no sports person deserves that level of personal abuse.

frasiercrane

(1,843 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 19:35

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Its hard to feel sorry for alot of these clubs that are mismanaged like Blackburn have been .How can any right thinking sport allow any old Tom Dick or Harry to take over the running of a club just because they can afford to.Surely it is time for clubs in England to follow the German model and have the clubs owned by the fans and run on a tight ship.

nlgbbbblth

(3,600 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 20:12

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by theface2010:
Ha ha bringing back the Friday joke a day earlier! How can a team who has won 1 FA Cup in nearly 40 years be the biggest club in the world? Richest maybe...Apart from that all very sensible.

Richest would be Manchester United.

City have won the league cup (1976) and FA Cup (2011).

Hidalgo

(2,114 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 20:43

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

People are crowing over Wigan like their world beaters all of a sudden. Shows the benefit of finishing strongly and all that went before is forgotten.
If they had gone on this run in Oct-Nov and were finishing the season losing their last 8 games people would be saying they'd be no loss to the league etc.

For Blackburn, they could easily do a Portsmouth. If they're paying the same wages in the Championship as they did in the premier league they could be in serious financial trouble.

South Limerick Referee

(16,613 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 20:47

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Steve Kean is not going to walk away from a lucrative contract the likes of which he may never see again. They sacked Allardyce because he wasnt a Yes Man and stuck with Kean because he was and wouldnt protest at sales of players.

Selling land with reserve pitches sounds like madness. Hiring Ewood during the summer is even greater madness. As regards the wages, I would imagine that a lot of the higher earners will be sold off

rebelrebel30

(8,531 Posts)

Posted: 10-May-2012 22:08

Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply

Originally posted by inthenameajaysus:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/jim-white/blame-venky-not-fans-100119709.htmlI have to say that the criticism of Blackburn fans and the lack of criticism of their ownership is staggering. It appears that the fans were right all along. Seems like the worst case of mismanagement ever to have affected a club in the premiership, surely these guys should be ran out of the club.. You couldn't write some of the stuff being reported..

Id say Hicks and Gillet would give them a run for their money...........

	There are 10,277 members signed up to anfearrua.com
All times are Dublin, Ireland.	Always here... with the best in GAA discussion and comment!	© An Fear Rua, 2000 - 2013
Bookmark AFR \| Make AFR your home page	About Us \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use	[ Top of Page ]