The Wild Blackburn Rover

Walking a different path?

2013-05-17T10:00:00.001+01:00

A break? Whilst fans of other clubs enjoy the luxury of switching off from the goings on at their outfit of choice, those of who are still left on the good ship Blackburn Rovers are stuck cowering in the proverbial corner, peeking through our finger covered eyes waiting for the latest news filtering through from the gift that keeps on giving.

It's anything but a break.

And it promises to be a looonnnnnggggg summer at the club, because even the numbnuts positioned halfway across the world with their finger on the big red button will (pray to god) realise that an awful lot needs to change this summer.

It should be the summer of correcting a mountain of mistakes and a chance for some humble self assessment. But then weren't we producing the same sound bites last summer?

Gary Bowyer will be the club's new manager, whether that is a particularly wise shout over the long term remains to be seen and I have my doubts, but given the steady procession of managerial sagas, compensation payouts, renegade directors and ill advised appointments we've endured over the last 12 months it's probably as safe a call as Venky's can muster at this stage. Would they appoint anyone better from the outside world? History dictates that the answer would be a resounding "What have you been smoking?".

Shebby Singh, Derek Shaw and Paul Agnew still remain in the boardroom. Simply adding someone in to oversee things won't help. One, two or preferably all of them need to find fresh employment - I hear there are plenty of local pubs and bars that need some assistance in performing to their maximum...

Appointing a "decision maker" or a "global marketing advisor" as has been rumoured will only add superficial gloss to a dental framework that has long since needed more surgical attention, adding more sweeteners into the mix certainly won't drill out the root of the tooth ache. It will however further embellish the list of absurd job titles in existence at Ewood Park, which is of course, what really matters.

For the club to even stand a chance the ego stroking and infighting needs resolving, more so than any other pickle we've found ourselves in.

As a court hearing so ruthlessly exposed, a total overhaul from top to bottom wouldn't go a miss - it's been a while since I heard an organisation's own operation described as "unforgivable". But then lets not ask for too much hey?

Then there's the playing staff. Believe it or not there are members of the current squad who can be used to build positively going forward - namely the young lads. The likes of Jake Kean, Grant Hanley, Adam Henley, Jason Lowe, John O'Sullivan and a summer of stubbornness willing, Jordan Rhodes are a perfectly serviceable nucleus of players to use alongside more experienced supplementation. If we can bring back Todd Kane on a season long loan I'd be on the phone - fax is too risky - to Chelsea quicker than you can say "interim".

But they of course are not the problem. There is a raft of deadwood lying around the place that needs showing the door. High earners who've been under contributing for too long such as Paul Robinson, Gael Givet, Morten Gamst Pedersen and David Goodwillie are prime candidates for pastures new. Not to mention anyone who used to play for Fulham... If there are any takers/suckers willing enough to match the high wages we're shelling out.

And if anyone has always dreamed of building a team of nobodies from Iberia, now is your chance. We have an excellent farm of them here. Anyone at all? Now is your time. Feel free to help yourself to the likes of Edinho Junior, Nuno Henrique, Paulo Jorge and the whole gang. Whether they'll be any good remains to be seen but they're free to leave to a good home. Consider this is an advert for them.

The good news is that the early signs of player recruitment look to have taken a different path to last summer's bid high/produce low talent influx. The signings of Chris Taylor and former player Alan Judge are hardly likely to send thousands sprawling to renew their season tickets (inexplicably many still waiting for that little gem of information), but they are the types of signings that many cried for throughout last term... Hard workers who'll bust a gut. Oh and wingers, if you remember what they look like. Encouragingly they look like purchases in the Bowyer mould rather the Shebmeister General.

Rarely, the club is actually in a position where given our current wage bill and what they're actually providing in exchange for their income we can actually improve on the field whilst saving money. Especially in a division where organisation and graft often outranks razor dazzle.

There is an awful lot that needs to change, that much is obvious. The golden question is will it? Maybe if we shout loud enough we can penetrate the batch of sand that the owners have buried their heads in for far too long?

Or maybe it's all pointless and we'll start next season as clueless and naively hopeful as we did this. Either or.

I've said it several times before but if a mere simpleton like myself can spot it then I'd like to think astute business owners worth millions would too.

It's going to be a long summer...

The Best Striker in the Championship

2013-05-02T12:48:00.002+01:00

Excellent. Level headed. Deserving of better.

Not really terms you can throw around Ewood Park this season without due care, but there is one individual in blue and white that you can wax lyrical about, free of the risk of the usual "overly positive" or "fickle" accusations many get levied with if they dare lose focus of the doom and gloom that is Blackburn Rovers discussion.

His name is Jordan Rhodes. At 8 million of your finest British pound coins, you could argue that we overpaid for him. But what you can't argue against is that he is very, very good at what he does.

Not the most complete centre forward in living memory and perhaps a more refined all round game from being able to truly pull his weight at the top level, but you'll have to cast your minds back a fair distance to remember a striker better at finding the back of the net (hint, Match of the Day, monotone, scared of offering any insight, from the North East).

Jordan hasn't had the chance to fire us out of the division and into the top tier, which was the foundation-less plea for calm of a pre-season mission statement. He has however kept us away from the even greater despair of League One, which without him would have been a very real prospect. Especially taking into account the catalogue of underperformance and ineptness relentlessly bundling on around him.

There is always the old argument that if it wasn't Rhodes plundering the onion bag it would have been someone else, but I would simply fire back that there aren't many who would have thrived under such poor service and working conditions - even less who would have actively considered coming to Rovers in the summer. Particularly in our current guise. That Rhodes has got anywhere near the amount of goals he has, is testament to his ability to convert what little has come his way and it speaks volumes that his reputation has actually been enhanced in a season when very few at Ewood Park have come up smelling like roses.

To have 26 league goals for Rovers is remarkable given the circumstances. In a season which has seen the club use 38 different players, none of whom are actually reasonably decent wingers and with the previously heralded defensive midfield platform of Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu being a lethal combination of injured and rubbish, it's fair to say Jordan has been working against some heavily stacked odds.

To finish as the Championship's top scorer, something Rhodes has a shot at this weekend, would be a deserved accolade for a player who has operated well above his peers this campaign. Statistics will show Crystal Palace's Glenn Murray as the current top dog, but he's been enjoying the considerable delights of Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie all year long. Our man on the other hand has been struggling with the likes of Josh King running in a straight line really fast and losing the ball, Markus Olsson running in a straight line really fast and not crossing and Mauro Formica working tirelessly in a straight line and losing the ball and/or not crossing.

I could go on (don't worry, I won't - it's boring I know), but hopefully you've got the point.

Statistics and what you can produce on paper will always tell you who "won" something. But invariably they're inflexible enough as to not tell you the full story.

He probably won't be at Ewood Park next season, one of the promoted clubs or a lower half of the Premier League side will only ignore his output for so long, especially since he trades and converts in the hardest currency of all. If someone comes in with a reasonably attractive offer we'll be powerless to stop him leaving the circus... irrespective of his "happy to be here" interview earlier in the week.

But there is no denying he's an absolute joy to see in the famous blue and white halves. He's lived up to the price tag and the hype, without the ego you'd expect and with a modesty you'd not.

Gary Bowyer - Short term fix, long term gamble

2013-04-26T09:13:00.004+01:00

We're nearly there.

Another turgid and god awful season draws to a close next weekend and with it comes ANOTHER chance for Blackburn Rovers to look around and survey the damage. There's a chance to re-assess and plan ahead, perhaps even use the summer to start all over again and ditch the back log of deadwood at the club - and boy is there ever plenty of that.

But let's face it, given who's pulling the purse strings and responsible for the decision making process at the club, there is little reason for optimism and even less cause to believe some logical action would take place as described above.

One thing we can be certain of though is that in amongst all the carnage is that current interim (sorry Rafa) boss Gary Bowyer has done a stand up job.

Once again Bowyer, little known outside of his current habitat, has walked into the bomb site left by the last short-lived manager/experiment and tidied up enough of the debris to make a good impression. It's an impression that has helped steer Rovers from a winless run of ten games with time running out to the brink of Championship safety. And with impeccable timing to.

Of course, staying up shouldn't be seen as an achievement, far from it. Based on early season PR driven expectations being shouted from the rooftops to anyone who was still listening, anything less than promotion should and would be viewed as a failure. So to be near relegated with the league's second highest goalscorer in the side is a letdown of brutally epic proportions. Unforgivably bad in fact.

But survival should be viewed as a relief, a reprieve where it looked likely there would be nothing but more anger and pain. Staying in the Championship, when there is the level of anarchy seen mainly in fictional disaster movies going on around the players and whoever is managing the side this month, will hopefully end another painful season on at least a positive note.

And this should only add to the credit the amiable and hard working Gary Bowyer will receive. He's displayed a calm assurance about him throughout his tenure, never overreacting after a defeat and never getting carried away like we all do after a victory. He's clearly got the backing of the players, the fans seem to have taken to him and he has at least tried to instill a brand of football in the side that has produced enough results whilst making watching the side seem less of bore chore and more like actual football.

To have a 54% win ratio given the working conditions he is under is hard to knock. I'd even go as far to say he has succeeded where many a more recognisable a name would have failed given the same job specification.

But with this "success" there is a temptation to develop a risk as the club could get carried away and make his appointment a more rubber stamped long term arrangement?

Don't get me wrong he's always had the best interests of the club at heart and he's done an excellent "head above water" job up to now, but there are many pitfalls ahead.

As the Ewood Park version of Foghorn Leghorn - Shebby Singh - announced only too recently in his latest incoherent and talk first/think later rant, the club are exploring the possibility of keeping Bowyer on as manager beyond the summer and in the long term, as long as we remain a Championship side.

Now, there's nothing to suggest he doesn't have the skills to be a decent man manager and to get the best out of a bad situation. But to be a permanent manager, work to a long term plan (yes I know, this is Venky's), undergo harsher scrutiny of tactics from the stands and to handle elements of the post that he hasn't been exposed to so far is an entirely different proposition than just being the recovery coach type you turn to when things look worse than another tragic series of The Only Way Is Essex.

Personally I'd say we need someone with a bit more nous and experience in the technical area, a view I am sure I'm not alone in. As we've all seen far too blatantly this term on more than one occasion, gambling with youth is a dangerous hand to play, especially in an environment as volatile as Rovers has been in recent times. It can be a manager's graveyard (Henning, Steve say hello to everyone).

Furthermore by appointing the less than experienced Bowyer as a constant fixture in the dugout, the risk only increases that the aforementioned Global Advisor will grab hold of the puppet strings and tackle the transfer business and recruitment again, which is something that would be advisable to avoid if we don't fancy starting the 2013/14 season with a group of six energetic yet wildly unsuitable midfielders plucked from Equatorial New Guinea.

Bowyer's been good up to now, but he could become an afterthought, a head coach rather than a manager, someone to work under the same murky umbrella that's dragged us down in the past. An expendable item that can just be easily discarded and as a man he deserves a lot better than that.

It might not even be appointing Bowyer himself that's the problem per se, more what appointing someone of his experience represents. A sign or a symbol that Rovers won't change the current structure in place at the club, which badly needs to change if we're going to rise from the current predicament.

To even think about prospering going forward it'll take a lot more than a steady managerial appointment. We'll need a squad restructure, a financial reshaping and ideally a whole new set of qualified directors if we're being greedy. The whole ethos of the club has to change... something a man who controls the on field tactics and substitutions is only a small (if pretty important) part of.

But that's all fairly logical and naturally "logical" and "Venky's" don't tend to exist in the same universe let alone sentence, so we'll no doubt end up appointing an intern work experience kid and strap him/her into a dark blue bubble coat and shave their head for full effect ready for August next season.

The current status quo is that it's Gary Bowyer's job to lose, but to appoint him beyond May could be a regrettable mistake.

Either that or we all just accept he's the only one level headed enough to survive and occasionally thrive in the nut house and let him get on with it.

Acceptance or blind hope - Is there an easy way?

2013-04-09T19:59:00.003+01:00

Without meaning to sound like the managing director of State the Obvious International, it's been a rather rubbish few weeks for the battle hardened legion that is the fans of Blackburn Rovers. As rubbish as the last few years have been, possibly even more so.

And with the possibility of consecutive relegations looming it's squeaky bum time. The Rovers players have got to dig deep and find something that has been sorely lacking in the last few months. A bit of belief, a slice of confidence, a morsel of ability, potentially even the capacity to give a damn.

But as fans we'll always be the ones to bear the brunt, we're the ones with the very real, lifelong emotional attachment and the topic of today's blog is about us. It's one that came about after a fairly random debate on twitter (as in an actual conversation not just shouting over the internet at someone you've never met, which seems to in vogue) with a fellow Rovers supporter.

Through all this mental anguish how do we cope? It's become pretty clear that as football fans, we don't all handle things the same way, as this increasingly in depth chat about the constant feeling of shared pain revealed.

If you're like me (and if you are I feel very sorry for you) you'll be a blind optimist. Rovers perhaps inevitable relegation to League One won't be confirmed in your head until it's all said and done.

You'll sit there each week and cross your fingers, toes and testicles - don't try the last one - in the forlorn hope that something, somewhere will go right. So what if Rovers have lost the last 23 fixtures on the spin, had 5 managers in an absurdly short period of time and have a Malaysian TV pundit running the whole show, this next game is where it all turns around and you make that wonderful, against all odds escape you've dreamt of and always believed would happen.

Each weekend it becomes a tougher proposition for Rovers to survive but you're hanging in there, it's not perhaps the smartest way to operate and it will certainly come across as naive but it's a heck of a lot easier than the prevailing sense of doom that others are telling you will strike... it's like that massive downfall of snow you've been warned about on the weather, it ain't happening until you see it with your own eyes.

Rovers will stay up, it's not definite that we're going down so who are you to be told that it's the case. You're prepared to risk the idea of shattering heart break and gamble it against the idealistic hope that as a supporter you feel you've every right to have.

However there is another side to the coin, another way to deal with the overriding negativity that is bound to happen in the current climate - Accept it. Just accept the worst will happen.

With all the hindering factors emanating from chicken central that have contributed towards our plummet down the footballing pecking order in recent times, is it not just a bit easier to make the call that we'll be relegated again come *May? I mean come on, we've got a squad full of past it's, youngsters and emergency loan players. We're managed by a nobody, run by clueless farmers and with a fanbase ready to explode at the slightest sight of another problem. Who or what could expect to produce the desired results in that environment?
*April on current form

Seeing those poor souls sit there each week and get worked up over something that is surely bound to end in tears is a mugs game, is it not?

By accepting that we'll be trying to find a reasonable, cost effective way of getting to Crawley, Crewe and Coventry next season you've prepared for the worst. The blow when it does come to fruition won't be quite as deadly, you saw it coming, you'd made your peace with it and best of all, on the off chance that we do survive... it's a bonus, a nice surprise. You expected the worst and it didn't happen. At least you saved yourself a mountain of stress and worry.

Which ones easier? Does it matter? Why all the questions? Well I suppose it makes a nice change from talking about the usual array of problems that just won't go away.

One thing is for sure though, those who've already abandoned the Blackburn Rovers supporter ship in pure disillusionment are the smart ones.

Searching for an end to the psychological battering

2013-03-20T10:40:00.002Z

When news filtered through yesterday morning that Blackburn Rovers had sacked the next hapless incumbent of the managerial position Ewood Park, you'd have been hard pressed to find anyone that was genuinely surprised.

It is a sign of the times at Rovers that the latest mayhem inducing activity barely registered amongst major news corporations, with Sky Sports News choosing to feature part-time footballer and full-time twitter user and horse breeder Michael Owen's impending retirement over the news that Michael Appleton had lost his job.

The circus that Venky's and their hanger-ons have created in two full years in East Lancashire is now considered little more than par for the course rather than anything that will raise a suspicious eyebrow.

And it's not that the latest move is actually that controversial of a decision. I for one was happy to give Appleton a chance, he wasn't going to succeed in two months, but it appears he did enough to fail. Two league wins, the last being at the start of February coupled with inflexible tactics and a crowd that has already has a limited amount of patience left in the tank was enough for him to join Henning Berg and Steve Kean in the queue for an employment ending tax return form. The former Pompey and Blackpool boss doesn't have a performance record to use as a defence.

But it was more the way the whole scenario was executed that sets off loud alarm bells. Appleton's appointment was poorly timed, his sacking was badly handled, it was unprofessional and if anything it served as a demonstration of a much more pressing problem that will always hold our club back as long as it exists.

Rovers are run by warring power figures.

Namely Shebby Singh and the now twinned mega duo of Paul Agnew and Derek Shaw (Shagnew - still a tremendous nickname). It's fairly widely accepted that neither of these two sided get along, they've reportedly not spoken since the turn of the year and ever since Steve Kean thankfully left to a rapturous roar they've spent their time trying to score cheap points against each other.

To them that's more important than actually coming up with a way to run a football club properly.

Singh was the man behind Henning Berg. Derek Shaw was the man behind Michael Appleton. Both calls failed reasonably spectacularly, yet neither man has been held accountable.

Both report directly to the Rao family bigwigs back in India whose only feedback with regards to their Managing Director and Global Advisor comes from the individuals involved themselves. Failures will always be played down when reporting on your own performance, heads will be buried in the sand and nothing will change.

For matters to improve one or ideally both need to be removed from their undeserved positions of power at Blackburn Rovers.

Prior to this era of bickering Malaysian pundits and unconvincing former Preston employees we as fans of Blackburn Rovers have been "treated" to stay away owners, relegation, in house fighting between our own fans, protests, Steve Kean's reign of bullshit and a continued feeling of disconnection from what was once one of the premier family clubs in English football.

Even worse, amongst all the turmoil, I've discovered I'm one of those folk who will never turn their back on this mess.

Deep down, I wish I was one of those significantly wiser fans who've decided they've had enough. Fans in their thousands have turned their back on a club they've supported for all their lives, often for longer periods than I've been on this earth. They stay away on matchdays, they deliberately don't purchase from the club as they don't want to give Venky's their hard earned cash and they've switched off from something they've always held dear.

It's no doubt upsetting but I don't blame them for a second.

A feeling of indifference has kicked in for more than a few - and for an entertainment entity like a football club that is far worse than your fans feeling anger and/or rage. Football is an emotional attachment to many, it's not just a game (as I often tell my wife), it's something you want to feel a part of - to enjoy, to savour, to embrace during those ultimate moments of joy.

Fans have decided they're not going to be treat like a mug anymore, and let's face it... that's exactly what is happening.

In a way, I wish I'd done the same. But I was inflicted with the misfortune of being an eternal optimist, I now live in blind loyalty when it comes to Blackburn Rovers, there aren't any feelings of pride and compassion left, that's been drilled out of me since this whole sorry saga started. But I won't turn my back and I won't walk away. That makes me the idiot, but I live in hope that this whole mess will somehow turn around.

As I've accepted many times there are gaping holes in my logic, you can sit there as an observer and easily pick off the flaws in my mindset and stance. It feels to me like I've come this far, that by bowing out now the mental and psychological battering I and many others have suffered will have been for nothing.

I'll still turn up on matchdays, I'll still be with the team all the way yet I'll still continue the near impossible search for a way to voice my displeasure at the way the club is run without resorting to underhanded tactics.

Yesterday was yet another chapter of Venky's Blackburn Rovers - it's a unique version of fandom footballing hell and there are still plenty of us trapped inside and along for the ride.

Someone, somewhere save us.

The local hero postpones the post-mortem

2013-03-18T15:23:00.001Z

Why do we even bother with this anymore?

A perfectly reasonable question that pretty much every Blackburn Rovers fan will have asked themselves more than once since November 2010. Those of us that are left anyway.

And it's a question that even the more optimistic of Rover folk would struggle to present you with a convincing and satisfactory answer to... save for a rather contrived statement about loyalty and force of habit.

But, lo and behold, after 95 minutes of honest effort but very little in the way of productivity and quality from a disjointed Rovers rabble, the answer finally came. A moment of pure bliss, relief and emotion - in the one match that the Rovers faithful invest more importance in than any other.

Having pretty much copped an afternoon's worth of abuse from the away end, the local boy David Dunn exacted the perfect revenge. It wasn't to end in the victory Rovers have become more accustomed to in the Cotton Mill derby over the years but it certainly felt like one given the circumstances.

It was the one man that Burnley wouldn't have wanted to break their hearts who dealt the blow, but it was fitting that the one player from Ewood Park who really did visibly embrace the importance of the fixture was the one who kept the "streak" of soon to be 34 years intact.

The post-match bantz (as the kids or Jonjo Shelvey call it) was just as tremendous.

"You celebrated as if you had won the Champions League" was a popular put down from the Claret faithful - quite how else we were supposed to celebrate that moment I've absolutely no idea? Maybe a warm round of applause followed up with a polite cup of tea and scones afterwards?

"Where did the referee get all that injury time from?" was another... Probably from the fortnight it took Ross Wallace to leave the pitch whilst being substituted and the excessive rolling around/Riverside stand baiting Kieran Trippier managed to sustain after the heinous crime of having his shirt tugged would be two fairly natural suggestions in return.

But it would be remiss of us not to pay due attention to quite how ordinary Blackburn Rovers were on the day. This wasn't the Sam Allardyce and Graeme Souness type side of a few years back that always looked assured and superior to our neighbours, this was the Venky's/Steve Kean/Michael Appleton version that started on a level footing to the folk from down the road.

And without David Dunn, who aside from being a bit too greedy for my liking at times, was by far the best player on the pitch. The others were, for the want of a better word, mediocre.

Well except for the goalkeeper who, erratic kicking aside, was superb. In fact he gave us a match to try and draw come the end. The "Kean Out" era of 2011 and 2012 is very much shaping up to be the era of "Kean In" of 2013.

In the main though we were unsure in possession, too direct in our tactics and unable to create much of note. Everyone outside of alleged fat boy Dunn - boy I'd like to be that brand of chubby - looked like they had received precisely zero instructions of how to behave once they got within 20 yards of the Burnley goal.

Rhodes was off colour (again), Best was neutralised and Cameron Stewart was about as effective as a bare footed man on a floor full of broken glass.

Manager Michael Appleton for his part must surely realise that his honeymoon period is over. The negative and one dimensional tactics aren't going to work long term, nor is his insistence on coupling them with a standard 4-4-2 formation. Patience and a bit of luck with injuries are going to be the required with the App and the jury will stay out until the summer barring a burst in form which seems unlikely at present.

The glory of the final minutes shouldn't cloud the simple fact that future performances will need to be improved from the one which was served up yesterday, even if the leveler did stop the likely rage and search for accountability that would have only come with a defeat.

The play off push is well and truly over and the sole goal of the remaining weeks of the season is to keep our head above the dreaded water line of the relegation zone.

We're going to need some inspiration from somewhere in the coming weeks and for all the talk of youthful players and bigging up the big money signings, it's most likely to come from the one source we nearly all forgot about and were told was a spent force.

He well and truly earned his moment in the sun yesterday.

The rest of the players could learn an awful lot about playing for Blackburn Rovers from the "fat kid from Great Harwood".

Stick a better bet than twist

2013-03-11T08:38:00.000Z

"Back the App".

Sounds like a cross between an American presidential slogan or a failing iPhone extras campaign.

Dodgy comparisons aside however it is also something that as fans of Blackburn Rovers we should endeavour to do moving forward, if we intend to at least try and steady the seemingly forever rocking ship that exists at Ewood Park.

You could argue that's not our job, you could even argue that you're that disillusioned with life at Blackburn Rovers that you no longer care enough, but if we're to stand a chance to rise from the current spiral that has seen us suffer this less than spectacular fall from grace then I'd hazard a guess this would be a step in the right direction.

Has Michael Appleton absolutely nailed his start to life in the Blackburn Rovers hotseat? Nope. Not by a long shot. But then given the overwhelmingly difficult starting point he's been given (or accepted if you live near pedantic avenue) I'm not surprised... I don't think anybody would.

One thing that has become evident though is that he's the first person, under Venky's, who has taken the role as Blackburn Rovers manager on with a clear long term plan. Rather than tow the company line and pucker up to the backside of the rather precious Mrs Desai, he's actually spoken out and admitted the shortfalls at the club.

Yes, the club has the potential to be back in the big time, but not in the current state of affairs. Not with the current playing squad which has been padded out with non-descript Portuguese prancers and struggling English veterans. We've got a nice batch of young lads coming through in Jake Kean, Adam Henley and Grant Hanley but the balance of what we have isn't good enough to thrive, certainly not in the relentless world of the Championship.

Money has been spent by the owners, they have to be given credit for that - but it's not been spent wisely.

There are two people to blame for that outside of people based in Pune. One is bald and Scottish, fond of bullshit. The other is a Malaysian TV pundit with a moustache. Who is fond of erm, well, bullshit.

In hindsight, with the proper footballing people spending that summer cash, we could have been mounting a charge for promotion, as it is we've been a nervous outside onlooker waiting in the queue for that particular party for a while - with the only saving grace being that we've dug ourselves out a potential trip to Wembley in the FA Cup.

The "recovery program" (that's not it's actual title, I've just made that up if you hadn't already guessed, which you will have) isn't something that'll take days or weeks to sort. We're looking at a long road back and one that Appleton has already acknowledged won't be done with a couple of morale boosting training sessions and robust tactical switches amongst the present players.

The football we've been playing under him so far has been mediocre in entertainment value and attacking gusto but more resilient in fight and defensive strength compared to that served up under previous inhabitants of the oversized manager bubble coat. It's not been anything to inspire unwavering confidence in him but then given the aforementioned gaps, holes and square pegs in the squad can we realistically expect that right now?

Furthermore is it even possible to produce given the unfortunate barrage of recent injuries, under performance of certain players, excessive player sales and the stop gap nature of replacements bought in?

Holding App responsible for more than one of those is pretty fair game such as the one too many sales of players with actual flair. But when you're trying to sort out our bomb site, it's reasonable to say you're going to put the odd foot wrong here and there...

And let's broaden the scope the lense can capture here. For those who aren't sold on Appleton would it be wise to make another change now?

Another sacking and protracted search would lead to a SIXTH manager of the season. Which quite frankly would be even more mental than anything else Venky's have pulled off in their reign to date. Then there is the matter of who would take the job on?

Working for a club with an already widely established madhouse culture and with the personal job security of an NHS staff member is hardly going to appeal to anyone with half a braincell - leaving only Iain Dowie - and add into the mix that we're in no mans land as far as transfer windows/the ability to influence an awful lot and it is ball breakingly pointless to scream for another manager's head (for the record not many are, but there has been the odd rumble already to the surprise of no-one).

Especially when the current incumbent of the hotseat has at least given the impression of being switched on and in tune with what needs to be done. From a fans point of view I'm of the belief it'll take the increasingly rare commodity of patience and the ability to drop the need for a visible scapegoat at every turn to make sure the likeable but unproven Appleton is given a fair crack of the whip.

He's not got it all right so far, in fact he's got more wrong than we'd like to admit. But he's the potential to get it right and that is what matters.

After the cancer of Steve Kean and the well meaning but under skilled attempts of Berg, isn't it time we had a little stability?

Because I've a feeling we might be able to get it from this guy if we give him a chance.

A reminder that sometimes it can all be worth it

2013-02-18T10:36:00.001Z

What a day. What an evening. What a moment.

And after spending over two years being miscast as a villain in a play we didn't write and portrayed as the devil in a hell we didn't create it's fair to say each and every Blackburn Rovers fan deserves this.

Amazing to think that when the 3rd round of the FA Cup kicked off at the start of January there were a lot of good folks (myself included) who had dismissed the cup competitions - much like the Capital One Cup - as an unnecessary distraction to the primary objective which was promotion via the Championship play offs. That was wrong, very wrong. But then hindsight normally does win when pitted against predicted foresight.

To say Rovers win away at Arsenal was virtually unpredictable would be a bit of a stretch given the Wenger Boys' ability to create their own particular brand of crisis. But when the line ups were announced pre-match there was still more than enough quality in the Gunner's starting line up to rip Rovers a new belly button.

With a starting line up that cost in excess of £80m over the years to assemble, the "weakened side" argument may have been true in terms of who they could have fielded, but pretending that Arsenal were significantly hampered by dropping some of their finest players is an excuse they shouldn't be allowed to cuddle up and hide behind.

Especially since they were playing a Rovers side that had no less than SEVEN players which fall under the bracket of having cost nothing, a nominal fee and/or are club youth team graduates.

Yes, Arsenal were not at their best, Oui, Arsenal can still point to the endless one man football comedy show that is Gervinho and without question, Rovers certainly rode their luck at times.

But when you're the underdog in a fight nobody expects you to win when do any of the above not apply in football for the less fancied side to triumph?

Pretending it was all just a monumental Arsenal cock up does a tremendous disservice to the new found spirit, fight and organisation that has been instilled under new boss Michael Appleton which allowed our boys a fighting chance. We weren't exactly overeager to attack at will but then why should we?

Rovers didn't have an obligation to pour forward at will and allow their Premier League counterparts an 8-0 landslide. There was only one way our Ewood Park clan were going to emerge victorious and that was by digging in and frustrating. Appleton knew the crowd would grow restless the longer the game stayed goalless, he declared as much pre-match... and he was right.

There were some heroic performances at the back - pretty much all of the back four (anti-Bradley Orr brigade look away now) were absolute lions. They were overworked and pinned back but they never gave up, and as for Jake Kean, well those of us who are Arte et Labore by choice know first hand what he is capable of. Now a wider audience does too.

He was tremendous. A performance up there with the famous super show Brad Friedel pulled off at the same venue in the exact same competition back in 2007.

Even Lee Williamson put up a sterling fight in midfield on debut. A couple of performances loosely related to this one and he may even lose the "oh he was released by Portsmouth so he must be bobbins" tag.

It was a team performance to make you proud once again. One that would have never occurred under Bullshit Boy or Henning Berg, but one that was made possible by the breath of fresh air that is Michael Appleton... the appointment we didn't want but the one we definitely needed, even if we didn't know it at the time.

That's now over 9 hours since Rovers last conceded a goal from open play, a place booked in the FA Cup quarter finals with a shot at Wembley very much in range, a late charge for the play offs a decent possibilty and a new belief amongst fans and players alike.

It still has plenty of time to all come crumbling down after an encouraging start by Michael Appleton, but if you didn't enjoy Saturday and a glorious victory over one of England's leading lights then there is no hope for you.

Out of all the club's fans out there, we more than anyone deserved our day in the sun.

And what a day it was.

Free of the Rochina shackles

2013-02-07T15:05:00.002Z

I think we can safely say that more than a few jaws hit the floor last Thursday when it came to light that one of Rovers most talented and promising players was exiting the club, leaving behind a fairly positive player/Blackburn fan relationship and moving to Real Zaragoza on loan until the end of the season.

Reasoning that he has since given aside, this set off more than the one alarm bell when it came to light that no-one was being introduced to the club to compensate for the popular Spaniard's seemingly untimely departure.

But despite the obvious talents and technical higher plane on which Ruben operates, will his removal from the Rovers squad ultimately usher in a more productive spell than has been "enjoyed" during his prominent role in the matchday XI?

Because lest we forget, for each seamless turn and arrowing long range pass or finish that Rochina managed to conjure up, there were tenfold more moments of frustration and annoyance that could be laid firmly at his doorstep.

Under the management of Henning Berg and to a lesser extent Steve Kean and Gary Bowyer, Rochina was given a starring role. He was the focal point of most of the attacking play, he was the one, the star and the metaphorical mains that any form of attacking electricity passed through before being converted to output.

Sadly, this invariably led to a record number of long range attempts on goal ending up being caught in the stands by an ungrateful recipient. Or one extra man being taken on by Ruben's quick feet before possession was lost and others stood there in open space.

Yes, Rochina was at times a joy to watch, but the rest of the time he was a detriment to what Rovers should have been producing. When he was good he was very good, he left stubbornly heterosexual men questioning their sexual orientation. But when he was bad he made you want to lie down in a dark room and cry.

By leaving, the former Barca B man has left us a potentially quality player down - but he has also allowed another more deserving to come to the fore. Not just in terms of highlighting that player's shackled talent but also by allowing a different man to have the team constructed round their needs.

That man is Jordan Rhodes.

Mention to a Huddersfield Town fan that up until recently we've been playing their former hot shot striker as a lone frontman and they assume that you're kidding. Worse, just flat out lying to them.

And here is the second half of the Ruben Rochina problem - by playing him in the side you physically can't play the 4-4-2 formation that Rhodes thrives on. Rochina isn't an orthodox wide man, nor is he a central striker - he's an old school number 10 forward, an attacking midfielder in the modern game parlance. When playing the Spanish one we were depriving the Scottish one of his scoring oxygen... it's a testament to the brilliance of Rhodes he's scored as many as he has to date.

You certainly can't play Ruben as part of a two man midfield as his central midfield partner would spend a full 90 minutes plugging the gaps left behind by the roaming Armada.

4-3-2-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1. Not answers on a maths test, formations that we've had to play in recent times to accommodate the most technically gifted player we have. All of these variations in system have left the overworked and service starved Scottish international leading a lonely life at the end of the pitch which wins you football matches.

But under Appleton the initial idea appears to be to operate in the English favourite that is 4-4-2. Heck, even Mike Bassett thought that was the way to go and he didn't have such a talented goal getter in his ranks.

If as hoped/expected/badly needed Rovers can bring in Jerome Thomas and DJ Campbell (just need to get the fax machine working and a halfway functioning director in place to pull it off) this will further reinforce the need to put someone alongside the excellent Rhodes and make him the hub of the team.

You are supposed to build your teams round your best players but Appleton seems to want to implement a system and a platform first and then pick the players that fit that framework best. It's a smart move and one that wouldn't have ultimately benefitted our "best" player in Rochina, but will help our most productive (18 goals in 26 games).

Most of us may have been up in arms last week when Rochina took the fastest route he could find back to Espana but I suspect, with the benefit of hindsight and a period of reflection, that the team could become more efficient as a whole - even if it means one of the better parts has been removed from the machine.

Should we really be surprised anymore?

2013-02-01T10:20:00.003Z

And to think at around 5pm last night it all looked so promising.

For once it seemed, Rovers had a clear plan of attack, a deliberate (if drastic) way to tackle the predicament the club had been left in after a scattergun approach to buying every classic no.10 forward in mainland Europe over the Venky's reign.

With the Rovers wage bill more than unsustainable in it's current guise and a large number too many sitting about either doing the square root of nothing or not producing on a consistent enough basis a clear out was needed - not just to reduce the outgoings column, but to reshape the side.

We can argue about the varying qualities and talents of Mauro Formica, Diogo Rosado, Simon Vukcevic and yes, even Ruben Rochina all day long but the cold, hard truth is that none of those mentioned were producing enough (or at all) on a consistent enough basis to justify the large wages they were on.

Ideally the exits of David Goodwillie, Paul Robinson and pay rise seeking Gael Givet would have been confirmed as well but it's testament to the poorly judged, lengthy and expensive contracts we seem to hand out willy nilly that we couldn't find any ~~willing victims~~ viable suitors.

But by getting shot of four big names, this opened up a chance for new boss Michael Appleton to add one or two new additions that could produce in the Championship, and come late afternoon it had transpired we'd identified those men.... DJ Campbell and West Brom's Jerome Thomas.

Hardly players you'd want to launch an assault on the Premier League, but two names who can more than handle themselves in the situation we're currently in. Sensible signings if you will, a complete change of pace from the norm and a hopeful sign at least that Appleton has a player savvy head screwed on (scant consolation right now) in a way plenty of others who are/were at the club don't.

The duo are perhaps not as flash and even as talented as the four we had let go, but they are certainly more battle hardened to the English league and allow us to mould the starting eleven around our one shining light, Jordan Rhodes.

It sounded too good to be true. And for an almost ironically comedic reason it didn't transpire.

Quite what the directors and powers that be in charge of pushing the deal through were playing at, I'm pretty sure the man upstairs would struggle to tell you. Getting the requisite paperwork completed and sent to the relevant authorities on time is a task that a reasonably evolved ape could pull off given basic training, but between Shagnew, the directors and quite possibly Appleton it waited... and waited... and waited.

11pm rolled around and still nothing. QPR's DJ Campbell had been sat in the club reception since 9pm waiting to finalise formalities, Jerome Thomas was made to sit with and brew and wait by a West Bromwich Albion possibly a little more preoccupied by the enthralling story of the night - the Peter Odemwingie breakdown.

I'm sure Rovers themselves will point to external factors that prevented things from moving forward but if they're really honest they'll finally treat this as the chilling wake up call some of the out for themselves power figures badly need.

It was another shoddy end to another shoddy transfer window, and the blame lies squarely in the Ewood offices.

And where was old Shebby in all of this? He was practically given the day off, he wasn't involved in the latest shambles. Quite possibly he was sat at home prank calling local residents and shouting "ROBBIE" down the phone at them. Maybe he'd nipped outside with a pen trying to find more 15 year old Portuguese prodigies to sign up. All joking aside though, he did nothing.

But what does that say? Your £400,000 a year Global Advisor/Chief Executive/Hot Air Production Machine is not involved in one of the busiest days of the footballing calender. Jesus Christ.

What it does tell us is that there is more than one clown performing at this circus, one more with the inability to tell his backside from his elbow. Another damning exhibition of the ineptness that has engulfed and crippled the club to the point where it's almost beyond parody.

Rovers are now faced with a situation where they are at least two meaningful players down, the starting XI still looks fairly serviceable but the bench looks like a house party after all the good looking people have suddenly left. The loan window and the free transfer market are available to rectify the latest moronic series of events but if it was me I wouldn't let this go.

The officials at the club have again demonstrated they're not up to this, that egos have hampered the need to service the place that employs them properly. Heads should roll this morning.

And to think Michael Appleton left Blackpool because he thought they were frustrating in the transfer market?

"Bowyer Out" better than "Bowyer In"

2013-01-15T21:07:00.002Z

Three wins, one draw, zero defeats, nine goals scored, only two conceded.

It's the sort of record that most teams would kill for and indeed, certain teams in Italy have even tried paying match officials for.

But that is the exact record that Rovers caretaker manager Gary Bowyer managed to produce in his short stint in charge of the first team. Pretty impressive, heck that's even more impressive given he managed to muster it whilst trying his best to ignore the direct distraction emanating from above his head (not literally, well that we know of).

Yes the onslaught that is the Rovers boardroom bust up bandwagon shows no sign of slowing down and it's becoming less of a joke and more of a constant threat to any dwindling chance of prosperity the team can enjoy this season.

So for a Reserve/Youth team coach to come in, knuckle down and gain the more or less universal respect of his colleagues, the players and of course, the ever skeptical fans has to be viewed as pat on the back worthy.

In fact Bowyer did so well during his three week spell in charge that prior to the appointment of genuine Nikolai Valuev lookalike Michael Appleton as the club's new full time manager, a handful of the more senior players at the club made a plea to the ~~clowns in charge~~ powers that be to keep faith with good old Gary for a while longer... perhaps even for good.

By and large this seemed to be a sentiment echoed by the fans who took to various form of social media platforms and club messageboards to pronounce via the general consensus that the list of external options for the hot seat were a drab bunch at best, with G-Bow a more appealing option given that he had hit the ground running.

It probably helped the temporary manager that he came across as a thoroughly likeable and switched on son of a gun, which whilst not meaning a great deal in the technical quality department certainly didn't hurt his cause.

But Shagnew, Shebby and the family of Rao decided that the now former Blackpool and Portsmouth head honcho Appleton was the way to go. I'm not sure we'll get an explanation why, if we do get one it probably won't make much sense anyway. But the new man in charge deserves the backing of the Rovers faithful - he might not have the most impressive managerial record going but he'll not stand a chance if he's given a hard time from the stands.

However for Gary Bowyer it's the end of this road and a trip back to managing the Academy and Reserves sides. Chances are it might feel a bit deflating given his more high profile exertions of recent times but there could be - as hindsight may reveal later down the line - an upside to his seemingly inevitable demotion back to Rovers obscurity.

By only being in charge for the short term and with a finite shelf life, the popular Bowyer has increased his reputation at a club that hasn't enhanced many in recent times and without the risk of it being tarnished by an extended run that could have turned sour once the "honeymoon" period was over.

As many a historical footballing example will showcase, being a caretaker and being a manager can be two separate existences. Both roles have different pressures and perhaps more importantly different expectations.

As a caretaker you're merely helping out, you've got an unstable future and the paying customer largely expects the bare minimum or very little. But as a manager you're the man with all the responsibility, you're being paid big bucks to perform in one of the most critical environments in the world and the focus is 100%, without falter, without forgiveness on you.

Lose two games as caretaker and you're only a placeholder. Lose two games as a manager and you're tactically inept and in a crisis.

With our man's lack of experience it would have only taken a brace of defeats before we all started screaming for some "experience" again.

I could go on, but I won't as it could get boring fast.

What did become apparent over the Bowyer and McPhillips mini-reign is how much Gary and the gang care for the club. To see someone speak with real passion and consideration for Blackburn Rovers was both endearing and heart warming... especially when the shambles in the boardroom seem to care only for their own leverage and position of power.

He wasn't so much a rose between two thorns, more a rather bright lily surprisingly flourishing in a nettle bush of constant pain.

But how long could he have kept that form up? Particularly in the near toxic working conditions of football's most dysfunctional entity?

Why risk what you've already got for a crack at (currently) one of the most difficult jobs in English football?

Bowyer could have made a very good manager for all we know, I guess now we'll never find out. But by being unceremoniously dumped and taken out of the firing line I'd wager he's managed to accidentally stumble his way to a lucky escape.

And you only need to ask one of Ewood's favourite sons what being a good caretaker and not risking the full time gig can do for you... longevity and security at your chosen club and a spot in the affections of the fans.

He should know, Tony Parkes was here for 35 years.

The Rovers Christmas Wish List

2012-12-20T19:33:00.004Z

Long gone are the days when, as fans of Blackburn Rovers, all we used to hope for on a month by month basis is for the club to go on a good run of results and maybe look forward to the odd exciting purchase in the upcoming transfer window.

Under the Jack Walker Trust (post-Jack of course) ownership we lacked any real ambition to make the club a big hitter at the top of the footballing ladder but we had pride, we had an attachment to the club and as supporters we had a universal trust in the administration that they could expertly maximise the Rovers' limited means to the best effect.

Unfortunately under the current owners it's become an awful lot more complex than that. It's become a chore to support the team and to even the most stoic of the Ewood faithful the loyalty has been stretched to the limit.

We all know why, we've walked down that road of discussion more times than we'd all care to remember.

To many... football is no longer enjoyable. At least in our small part of the world.

So in blind hope rather than expectation, I am going to give you the Blackburn Rovers Christmas Wish List for 2012.

OWNERS

Let's start at the top and get the obvious out of the way - up to the present day Venky's have failed. They've failed as owners to provide what they promised and on top of that they've failed to rectify the real problems that have grown like a nasty fungus at Ewood Park since they spent millions back in 2010 to purchase the club.

In an ideal world, I'd ask them to sell the club to someone with the know how and the clout to run a niche business like a football club.

But let's face it, there is more chance of this flaming Mayan Apocalypse striking us all down than our much maligned owners selling up, they're stubborn and live in the mindset that they know best. We can do as much shouting for the hills as we want, they're not going anywhere.

So...

RUN THE CLUB PROPERLY

In 2013 it would be nice to see a proper infrastructure at the club in place. Call me bias but when the likes of John Williams, Tom Finn and Martin Goodman were running the show at Rovers we were the best run club in the country. Yes they were all handsomely paid, but they knew exactly what they were doing and created an environment for a club with reasonable yet minimal resources to exceed the sum of their parts.

We've gone from having a chief executive, a chairman and a chain of command to having "Global Advisors" and "General Managers". There is no set framework in place, the large majority of fans couldn't tell you who makes what call and when, who reports to who and where the accountability and responsibility for decisions lie.

Worst of all, I am not even sure some of the staff are aware of who's running the show either.

So let's cut out the confusion and the baffling management, let's get back to basics and appoint some proper footballing authority figures.

Having the final call from halfway across the world in India isn't helping either. I think Mrs Desai has been to (at most) about three Rovers games in two years, the brothers slightly more but are hardly regulars. How can they realistically expect to best protect their investment when they have limited experience of it live and in person?

If it's flagging up as a concern to a mere simpleton like me, how can it not be a cause for worry to someone who I can only imagine is a shade more intelligent and has their own money on the line?

The club accounts leave more questions than they do answers, there is no clear indicator that the manager of the team actually gets to, err, manage the team free of interference and the player transfer policy is about as scattergun as my Christmas shopping has been.

There isn't a set blueprint on how to best manage this badboy, and I can personally tell you as much about running a business as I can about running along a zipwire at 40,000 feet. But I can tell you when something is wrong and this current set up isn't working.

Let's change it.

PLAY FOR THE BADGE, ARTE ET LABORE

Playing for Blackburn Rovers used to mean something. You can stretch it back as far as you like, Ronnie Clayton, Bryan Douglas, Derek Fazackerley, Simon Garner, Colin Hendry, Tugay, hell even Ryan Nelsen and Robbie Savage.

All players that would bust a gut and even more importantly embrace Blackburn Rovers. Playing in blue and white halves meant that you tried your best even if you weren't have the greatest day at the office.

In 2012 there are FAR too many players who just don't get it. They're happy to do their professional duty and play their part, but there's no fire and certainly no acceptance that you play for more than just the obscene sums of cash that hit your bank balance.

Let's see some pride in playing for the shirt. Yes, for the men on the field part of that has to come from the environment created from the club itself and even from those fans, who wouldn't care to admit they help add to the negative atmosphere on matchdays themselves. But I still believe we have one of the best starting match day squads in the division, we're just not showing it.

A lot of that in the main is there is no desire to play for Blackburn Rovers.

There is no point in players telling us that "we're playing with passion". Players can say it all they want, we can see that they're not.

Let's see the players playing for the badge, as the old saying goes... actions speak louder than words.

RESPECT

This isn't aimed at anyone up in the directors box or an individual lacing up their boots. It's aimed at you... yes you, and me. It's aimed at the fans.

It's all so easy in the current situation to get frustrated and lash out. We're all annoyed at the shambles the club is becoming with anger manifesting itself as a result. But we're taking it out on each other far too often, rather than channelling it in the direction it should be heading.

Matchdays are now spent listening to groans of discontent as fans bicker amongst themselves over a variety of topics - Venky's Out, supporting the players, a fan being stood up and blocking another's view, someone, somewhere making too much noise, do you or don't you boo, when or when don't you boo, which supporters group are you in affiliation with, who is to blame for the latest goal conceded.

Popular social media platforms and websites are now turf war arenas for your point of view. It's your opinion, it's right, anyone that disagrees with you is wrong and they need to be told. if they continue to disagree let's get personal and commence the slating. If your glass is half empty then you're moaning and on suicide watch, if your glass is, heaven forbid, half full then you're gullible and blinkered.

Gone are the days of reasoned debate and a simple acceptance that people are/think different. It's just pure frustration release and we've all been guilty of it at some point, I know I have.

The season of goodwill is upon us and without trying to sound like some pompous preacher and naive idealist isn't it time we got back to being a whole? Or at the very least call a truce and play our part.

Let's show some respect for each other, as we're all suffering the same ordeal.

SUPPORTERS GROUPS

Outside of the obvious Kean and Venky's dynamic I am not aware of a bigger issue of contention in 2012 than that of the supporter groups.

The groups, the BRFC Action Group (BRAG), The Rovers Trust and the long standing Fans Forum have spent the latter part of this calender year point scoring and jostling for position in a fairly small market space.

It's not made for pleasant reading or viewing from the outside looking in.

I can't pretend to know all the elements of the disputes that are ongoing therefore I can't reason or even understand what's gone wrong, but what I would plea for is the squabbling to stop, at the risk of patronisation and treading on toes I have no intention of stomping on, agree to disagree and move on.

From a personal point of view I know certain sections and members of each group - there are some very passionate and well meaning people involved in these organisations.

But I do believe the shots across the bow need to stop.

Each group serves a purpose, let's get back to supporting the club in our own way. We certainly don't need another reason to fall out - the battle is out there, not in here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Most of all, thank you for the support shown to this blog over the last calendar year. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Let's hope that 2013 is better than 2012 for our club, we certainly deserve it.

The most misused man in the Championship

2012-12-14T15:48:00.001Z

Whilst vying for the title outlined in the article heading you wouldn't expect a man who has contributed 11 goals at an average of a goal in less than every two games to feature as a front runner, but that's very much the case in one of the stranger cases in footballing malpractice.

Jordan Rhodes has been a fairly sizeable hit at Blackburn Rovers since his protracted summer transfer ended in an £8m switch from Huddersfield to East Lancashire, but that has been largely as a result of the boy's own talent than that of his use in a struggling Rovers side.

Infact it could, and given the right set of circumstances, should have been even better for the Oldham born Scottish international.

Because as any Blackburn Rovers fan would be able to tell you, the man who "scores when he wants" has been living off scraps all season long. Actually off scraps is being kind, t'old Jo-Rho has been living off service tantamount to giving a starving man a bone and being told to gnaw off the skin.

The Rovers have been playing a system this term that has meant Rhodes has been playing as a lone frontman, which as more than one conversation with a Huddersfield Town fan has told me is absolutely scandalous use of the man's talents - the formation and tactics which allowed the natural finisher to thrive in West Yorkshire were far different to the ones being implemented at his new club.

Part of the problem is that our squad is devoid of a player that can play regularly as a foil for Rhodes. The two that can - Nuno Gomes and Leon Best - are not in a position to do that job regularly... one is fairly ancient in striker parlance and can't play every given Saturday and Wednesday, the other is still crocked and won't be available until Valentines Day at the earliest.

Other concoctions of "partners" such as Ruben Rochina, Mauro Formica, on loan Josh King and David Dunn are all various degrees of attacking midfielders and second strikers (Championship Manager vocabulary coming out here) and not true front men in the strictest sense of the term. Even Kazim-Richards is more of a winger and performs a similar role to Rhodes when asked to play at the business end of the field.

For all the summer purchases and talk of building a large, robust squad it is perhaps a testament to the lack of a proper spending plan and amassing players without a clear strategy (buying 1,325 potentially random Portuguese players and not bothering to purchase an actual first team ready defender is a shining example of this) by Shebby Singh/Venky's that our best player is often spending 90 minutes every matchday plowing a lone furrow - devoid of any help and starved of a proper supply line.

As a side note we don't even seem to be that bothered about crossing to the poor guy, Jordan is a very strong aerial player and scores his fair share of headed goals. Yet those with the ability to send in a regular stream of crosses such as young Fabio Nunes and Simon Vukcevic have remained on the sidelines under first Kean and then Berg, in favour of more "solid" types such as the less talented Olsson and Mauro "Argentine John Bishop" Formica.

Rhodes has produced a lot, perhaps more so than any other striker in the second tier could with such limited supply, but instead of building the side around such a natural outlet of goals the management seem more keen on getting him to be part of something, as opposed to getting him to BE the something that wins us games.

Jordan Rhodes is an excellent talent, dare I say he's a goalscorer worth £8m and he's looked a bonafide class act when he's had every right not to. But the time has come to cut him loose at a time when we're screaming out for inspiration.

Our boy is a rare talent, perhaps one of the best in the country, but you'd be hard pressed to tell in his current guise.

The myth of the "proper fan"

2012-12-06T19:36:00.002Z

First things first, welcome back. I've had a little time off of blogging/writing about Rovers to try and recharge the batteries, writing about Rovers get's exhausting for even the best of us - so it's no wonder a rambling moron like me needed to put my feet up!

Anyways, moving on. The atmosphere amongst the Rovers fan base in the weeks since Steve Kean's departure has certainly improved... judging by the (admittedly limited) scope that is my own personal interaction with fellow fans on mediums such as twitter, internet forums and match day chit chat. It's far from perfect, in fact the fractures in places may take years to recover. But there has been an improvement.

No Steve Kean means a few less reasons to argue over non-existent tactics, poor use of substitutions and the near surgical implantation of the phrase "taking the positives" into every fans brain.

But one aspect of being a fan that has really got my goat over the last few weeks is the now vogue subject of, err... being a fan. Or more to the point being a proper fan. Sorry scrap that, being a "proper fan".

To the vocal minority, being a proper fan means you have to meet a certain criteria. You have to be from Blackburn, you have to live in Blackburn, you have to be a season ticket holder, you have to go to all the away games, you have to be within spitting distance of the ground at all times, you have to cut the initials "BRFC" into your arm with a rusty fork at some point in your life, you basically have to BE Blackburn Rovers 24/7.

Failure to meet most of the above means you aren't a "proper fan", you're a plastic or even more absurdly you're not one of us. You're certainly not allowed an opinion.

To all the above I have this to say... I've heard a Scottish manager come out with a similar level of bullshit, he's bald, he's not very well liked, he used to manage us.

Some very well meaning and passionate Blackburn Rovers fans have had to suffer some fairly horrid stick over their lack of "commitment". A couple of recent examples include an instance of a Rovers fan in India being barracked for not having been to a live game before, there's also been a case of a fan being harassed on twitter for watching one of the games in the pub, instead of taking their place in the stands.

I myself have had to sit through more than one explanation as to why I'm not at the top of this fictitious food chain and hear the topic bought up in general discussion countless times.

What appears to have been missed by some is that it's not that a portion of Rovers fans don't want to go to games, or can't be bothered to put in the level of support that the hardcore faithful do - it's that they can't.

For those of you who aren't familiar with me, which is the large majority of people reading I would assume, I am Manchester born, Manchester bred, but currently living in Sheffield. I've no real connection to the Blackburn area other than I was taken to a Rovers game on a whim by a mate's Dad when I was about the height that Shaun Wright Phillips is now.

That was over 20 years ago, I've never supported anyone else.

I am a working man/sarcastic boy child whose job involves working one every two weekends and it actually takes me longer to travel to home games than it does to get to most of the away games this year! Yet I have still managed to get to every Rovers game (home and away) when I've not been held hostage by my employer.

I'm using myself as an example here, well because, it's my blog so it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. But there are many more like me who don't get the opportunity to go to every game. Be it work, distance, financial constraints or even Venky's just generally beating the enthusiasm out of them.

But I'd stake a large bet that all of these people who don't fit the idea of the "proper fan" still hold the club as dear to their heart as those who do put in the hard yards - there are just different ways to show your support.

Some keep track on the club from a far, others buy Rovers gear online and use the internet and radio to keep tabs on their team, a few write about Rovers, others form supporters groups and the odd soul just support our boys casually. We're all fans, one way or the other, and as the club has lost supporters in recent times through the activities of the owners isn't it time we tried to keep the ones that ARE still here and have stayed true to the cause?

Those that do go to every game should be very proud of themselves, they're a prime example of a great Blackburn Rovers fan and they're the textbook definition of the word loyal.

But it's time to drop the "proper fan" nonsense and stop inadvertently driving away even more of our fanbase.

The start of a new era

2012-11-01T10:10:00.001Z

Finally. For the love of god... finally.

After just over a month of posturing, dithering and bungling we've finally got our new manager. It's probably a guy that no-one would have predicted when the search started back in September but it is someone we are familiar with.

Henning Berg is the chosen one.

Let's start from the top. The relief at a decisive appointment should not hide the truth that this has been one massive bungle of a managerial search. Everything about it was slow, ponderous and unorganised - from top to bottom be it Shebby Singh, Derek Shaw or the chaps over in India nobody gave the process to a major decision the guidance and authority it needed.

It looks worse because after nearly 5 weeks of "scouring the globe" we've ended up with a manager who we could have appointed in about 48 hours. Shameful management and a key sign that for all the talk of improving and learning from their mistakes the Venky's team have a long way to go to address the shambles that plagues the club.

Furthermore, the fans played too much of a role. Yes, after the last two years I think we deserve a little bit of consideration but at times it felt like a gameshow, where an audience of blue and white started screaming and pointing to the right answer from the back of the studio. Would you see it at any other club?

Highly doubtful.

But lest we forget that all of this is not Henning Berg's fault and he shouldn't be penalised for the shortcomings of others. He comes here with a point to prove and an opportunity.

Yes, he's certainly not an exciting appointment and yes, from a pedigree point of view there were better choices out there but he's ultimately the one that's been given the nod and deserves a united fan base backing him.

Because from now on we play the most important role. Without the fans pulling in the same direction and lending their support to the cause we might as well forget about promotion. Berg for all the doubts you can throw at his appointment is a guy who comes recommended and with good references from those who know him and have worked with him during his time in Norway.

There is some potential in Berg, it is a little bit scary because we don't know exactly what to expect. But his arrival brings something fresh and means the fans and the dugout can start with a clean slate.

Will he be any good? Time will be the judge of that but he'll only succeed if the voices from the stand give him a fair crack of the whip.

He's not Kentaro, he's not SEM, he's not Steve Kean - he's Henning Berg, a top bloke and perhaps most importantly of all a Rover at heart. For all of these reasons he should be backed by everyone with Rovers best interests at heart.

Put an end to the booing

2012-10-29T12:22:00.000Z

It's not really much of a secret that we've had it a bit rough over the last two seasons.

It's been like a cruel two year type of footballing hangover as we've stumbled from catastrophe to shambles to inexplicable decision, all under the "guidance" of owners Venky's and until recently Steve Kean.

I know it, you know it, we've lived and experienced it all together and it has battered our patience and our trust to within an inch of it's life.

We've every right to vent our frustration and anger in the direction of the people responsible who continue to ruin our football club. They deserve it and part of the problem is they don't even remotely acknowledge their own failings.

But one thing that shouldn't be condoned is the continued booing of the Blackburn Rovers players.

There isn't one good or plausible reason why this happens or is even justified in taking place. Nothing. Nope. Not a scrap of a reason.

Now I should point out at this stage that I am well aware it isn't the majority of fans, in fact it's certainly a minority - but it has to stop. It's ridiculously counter productive and it doesn't help anyone. The people who do it look stupid, the player who it is aimed at will probably feel either angry or upset and the team as a result feels slightly less inspired than it did prior to the verbal form of protest.

The two most recent targets of this mini-disapproval campaign are current players Danny Murphy and Bradley Orr.

I can't be certain of the exact reasons why they face the boo boys (seemingly) every time they appear but I'd hazard a fairly educated guess that Danny cops it because he hasn't lived up to expectations since his arrival from Fulham, he's struggled when on the pitch (partly through injury) and being on large wages/not playing with "passion" means in the eyes of some he's not fulfilling his end of the bargain.

Bradley Orr takes the brunt of it because he gave an interview backing Steve Kean twenty minutes after we were relegated in May, which is nearly six months ago. That and because he is, and I quote, "crap" as a twitter user told me yesterday.

A section of fans have decided all of this is grounds for rounding on them and showing them they're not one of us or even a part of the team they would like to see.

It's not a new thing either. Former player Keith Andrews was regularly booed when he played in blue and white. He hadn't really done anything "wrong" either, his crime was that he just wasn't very good, even though he tried his balls off to try and make up for this shortfall in god given talent.

So in summary, in the year 2012, not being very good or saying something the fans don't like or not playing with a perceived passion or even being a "Steve Kean" signing means you get booed. Unreal levels of counter productiveness.

Sure, the players in question have to take some responsibility for their performances and the way they come across, they're paid obscene amounts of money to play a game we'd all love to have as a job. But how exactly are they supposed to be inspired and show this passion we're asking for if they get booed every time they jog onto the pitch or misplace a pass?

Why give the players excuses to not play up to scratch? Show them that when they play for Rovers they get the backing and they in turn should respond, or at least in some warped naive world that's how I imagine it would work.

And didn't we spend pretty much all last season telling the world that we backed the players even when we didn't back the manager?

Furthermore, the press have written some horrid things about out fanbase in the recent past, a large percentage of the time it was without foundation and free of the understanding of why reactions from the people in the stands were taking place.

By booing our own we're merely giving the media more ammo and in their own minds a vindication for writing what they have done in the past. We don't get what we want so we boo... That's like a toddler throwing a hissy fit when they don't get their way.

As a club this season we need to get promoted, for our long term future as a footballing institution we need it.

And that means dropping the "woe is me" act every time something happens that doesn't fit the bill. Yes, it's bloody hard at the moment given what's going around us and yes, we've all been sold a nightmare instead of a dream but by booing the players we're also shoveling our own soil onto the grave.

The only way we'll get promoted at the first time of asking is if we all pull together and show them even though they've taken our soul they'll never take our heart - and that means showing the players that play in blue and white means that they're part of the team.

So stop the booing and support the team. We're Blackburn Rovers.

Credit where credit is due for Shebby

2012-10-26T21:13:00.003+01:00

Before anyone flips out at the headline, I am not talking about the drawn out affair that is the current manager search fiasco or even his general conduct as Blackburn Rovers' global advisor so far. We could be here all week arguing that one and there's a game to watch and a James Bond film to see tomorrow, there is simply not the time.

And for his reportedly eye watering salary of £400,000 a year he'd have to buy everyone connected with Rovers a beer and a hug to justify that massive sum of cash.

No I'm referring to his appearance on last night's Footballers Football Show on Sky Sports 1, hosted by enthusiastic hobbit presenter David Jones and with the central topic of racism in football. The other guests joining Shebby on the panel were ex-Rovers goalkeeper Jason Brown and Brendon Batson, trustee of the PFA and special adviser to the Football Association.

Fans of Rovers no doubt tuned in to see how the master of waffle handled himself and if he would spout anything we didn't already know about the matter on everyone's kisser at the moment - the vacant managerial position at Rovers which has now been available for the best part of a decade... Or so it seems.

Generally, I thought he handled himself pretty well in fairly unique circumstances.

Fair enough he didn't seem to have a great deal to say about the matter about how to tackle racism in football. He often resembled a man casually watching a tennis match as Mr Batson, who gave a measured if fairly boring appraisal of what can be done to eradicate skin colour discrimination in the modern game, took on our old boy Jason Brown, who had a slightly different approach to the former Arsenal defender.

Our former no.2 at Ewood Park got off to a bright start as he spoke from the heart and with passion but it slowly defended into farce as he lost his focus as anger overcame his sizeable frame. What started as a fierce argument became a domineering and quite frankly shouty rant at the expense of the viewer. If someone wanted to speak they had to quickly check if Jason was done or if there was more left in the seemingly endless mouth tank for him to fire out unopposed.

Jason was occasionally forthcoming in saying - "Can I say something?" The correct response from host David Jones would have been - "Sure, what choice do we have? I'm pretty sure a stampede of elephants carrying assassins armed with sniper rifles couldn't stop you."

Incredibly there were four people in the room and Shebby Singh was the quietest one. Yes, that Shebby Singh.

Unfortunately he reverted to his usual Shebbinator mode when faced with questions on a subject matter that he doesn't truly know the answer to - by talking so much that he'd covered all the available bases and, you know, not actually answering the question.

Still anything was a welcome break from Jason Brown shouting. I assume he's finished by now? Or is he still going?

But our Global Advisor redeemed himself somewhat with his performance when the topic of conversation switched to Blackburn Rovers. For starters, you'll be pleased to hear he didn't really say anything embarrassing. Which is always a solid start.

Secondly he was relentlessly asked to answer questions about Rovers in what amounted to a form of ambush journalism.

It was pretty shameless, whether it was intentional or not I suspect we'll never know. But the rest of the chaps in the studio seemed to spend twenty minutes trying to get Shebby to trip over his own words and ask him questions that he wasn't ever going to be able provide a proper response to.

Asking a man who's worked at the club since May 2012 about the transfer/sale of Phil Jones (June 2011) is a ridiculous scenario, especially when the people asking the question don't already know the answer like everyone else and have completely missed the point. Trying to make an example of the club for selling Jones when they had no choice due to a release clause in his deal shows a serious lack of research.

Not that the panel and Jones were fighting in the wrong war by trying to ask questions about Blackburn Rovers, they just seemed to be picking the wrong battle and armed with sponges as weapons.

They spent so long asking about a 24 month past that Shebby has only been a part of for nearly 6 months that they nearly forgot to ask questions about the future, which to be fair is something he can influence and comment on accurately.

Questions were asked, his answers were interrupted to ask new questions and the show descended into a who can get at the Rovers rep competition which Jason Brown was more than ready for, possibly for more than one reason given his sour exit from Ewood Park.

T'old Mr Singh handled it pretty well, everything seemed to be taken in his stride and he never stooped to the levels that some of the other people present wanted to guide him towards. He even managed to commit to a comment on the potential new manager - middle of next week at the latest, make a note of it in your diary.

Now if only the Global Advisor could learn that using 90 words where 7 would do is not an attractive trait to possess, we could be onto something.

With each day the pressure grows

2012-10-22T09:18:00.002+01:00

23.

Not the name of a new film, or even the amount of points we should be on in the table if we'd be playing well. It is in fact the precise number of days the owners of Blackburn Rovers have had to replace ex-manager/bullshit specialist Steve Kean.

Venky's and Shebby Singh have made it very clear since the start of the search that they would take their time in finding a new manager to take us forward, they didn't make a secret of that - in fact Shebby seems to be on a one man mission to remind us every 23 minutes.

Do they know what they're doing? Some say they've learnt from past mistakes, others claim they're still as clueless as they've always been. Others are even peddling the theory this whole process has been one big, long delay tactic so that they can appoint "mini-Kean" Eric Black as manager and continue their evil plot to take over the world in true Pinky and the Brain style.

Quite the conspiracy theory that last one, more than likely a brilliant, fictional tale to rival even the best of the Harry Potter books, but full marks for entertainment none the less.

One thing that has become universally apparent around the Rovers fan base is that the post-international break the patience is wearing thin. With each passing game we appear to be losing ground on the pace setters of Leicester and Cardiff who both look in better shape as a team and as a club than we do right now.

If we're honest the fortnights' break that ended on Saturday was an absolutely GOLDEN opportunity to bring in the man to take charge of the side. With a large gap in an otherwise hectic Championship program we should have acted swiftly but efficiently (yes I know) to bring in the new guy whilst England were frustrating us all, and leave him with the ideal scenario of having at least a week to bed himself in to his new surroundings, meet the team and get settled.

Logical and common sense to you and I, a distant dream and not apparent to people who own a chicken and pharmaceutical company in a large city in India.

It's alright for the owners to intimate that they want to get things right and to confirm that time is not an issue, that's their right as the people that pay the bills - if that's the approach they deem fit I can't argue with that. But the first part of that statement is "get things right".

Over two weeks to create a shortlist for an important vacant position doesn't inspire much confidence that they know what they're playing at, neither do some of the names being bandied about by the papers (although to be fair they can't control that). But one thing the maligned chiefs that run our club better be damn sure of is that with each day that passes by without a hint of a manager coming in adds a little bit of extra pressure to produce the goods.

Venky's are like a clumsy owner chef stood by a fanbase pan that's reached boiling point, no-one in the kitchen trusts them to know how to bring things back down to a simmer and with each minute that passes by the chances of the pan boiling over increases. Only the right course of action and the correct decision will suffice.

Otherwise the whole kitchen risks being burnt down.

It's got to the point now where only a manager who brings with him an air of excitement and/or assurance will do, that's the by-product of the take your time approach they've so publicly adopted.

The likes of Eric Black and Billy McKinlay aren't going to cut it - for Shebby and the gang to come out and say "yep, this is the best we could do after over three weeks of searching" would give a fan base ready to return to Ewood in post-Kean excitement a reason to bugger off back into the wilderness.

It's not got to be a decision that pleases everyone - no such decision exists. But it has to be one that's right for the club and whether Venky's like it or not that means, as a bare minimum, considering the thoughts of a Rovers faithful they've neglected for so long.

No Such Thing As An Ideal Candidate

2012-10-11T09:21:00.003+01:00

I think it's safe to say that after nearly two weeks of having no manager that it's starting to get a little bit boring, not boring enough for me to wish the old manager back into the hot seat (I can't think of a circumstance where that would be the case) but still, a bit tedious.

Managers names are tossed about in the tabloids like they are going out of fashion, no quotes are given to back these links up and fans descend on twitter to join in what can only be described as one big bullshit festival.

Roy Keane, Alan Shearer, Tim Sherwood, Harry Redknapp, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Bernd Schuster, Javier Clemente, Paul Dickov, Peter Reid... seriously, the weird and wonderful list goes on.

But what about us? The fans? What are we asking for?

Well firstly, someone better than Steve Kean, which is, erm not the most difficult condition to meet. Unless of course you are Eric Black who has more or less ruled himself out of the running with some very, one dimensional and defence heavy performances in his three game mini reign.

But more than anything the worrying aspect from asking around the Rovers fan base is that we're asking for a lot. We as the customers have a huge say in how this new appointment will go down and we've proven in the past that if the faithful don't get what they're ordering off the menu then it can be a hostile world for a coach to exist in.

Not forgetting, of course, that this is the biggest decision that the circus masters in Pune have had to make yet and it's imperative they make a good choice for a plethora of reasons but what we seem to be asking for as fans - is it, you know, actually out there?

The general consensus seems to be that we want a man with a track record. A manager who's been around the block and knows how to get the job done. But at the same time we also want someone not too old, who's hungry to prove himself and can make the job his own... someone fresh if you will.

We're asking for the club to look long term, to not just take us up and out of the Championship but also to keep us in the intended destination. We want to be excited but keep the appointment realistic and within our means.

Look at the list of names above, do any of them strike you as manager's capable of ticking all of those boxes? Look past the names above, would any of the leaders in the footballing world who do fit that mould with all the skills we're asking for consider coming to Ewood Park?

We're in the Championship at the moment and despite a large squad and a decent shot at promotion we have to accept that we're going to be fishing from one of two ponds - the up and coming manager or the been there, done that got the t-shirt guy who knows the circuit. Anything else is just fantasy and dream talk. The names that we have to consider are testament to that.

The way I see this selection being a success is the metaphorical two way street, with a battle weary and distrusting Rovers fan base on one side and the burnt fingered Chicken and Pharmaceutical providers on the other.

Venky's and Shebby have to get this call right, it's a chance for them to start a fresh (not totally, that song has long finished playing) and give the people they've wrongly neglected for so long a reason to believe that they're serious about Blackburn Rovers.

But as fans we've got to play our part. With Kean a sour, concluded chapter in Blackburn Rovers history now is the time to throw ourselves behind a new dawn, we barracked the old manager for more than just results - he borderline insulted us for 21 months, told porky after porky and stained our proud football institution with his dictator like presence - and we were right to do it even if it wasn't to the majorities taste and understanding.

Any new chief has to be given a chance by those who sit in the stands otherwise we'll be typecast as the angry mob forever, possibly correctly second time round. The club needs the crowd for promotion, it's an impossible task with a crowd of thousands of people actively resenting what they see.

I don't think any of us will get exactly what we want from the new appointment as it patently doesn't exist but but as long as we get a statement of intent from the owners and a sign that they have used their brains instead of listening to bad external advice again then I'd suggest we couldn't ask for an awful lot more.

Well, apart from new owners but that's a story for another day.

What you saw, what we saw...

2012-10-01T12:43:00.000+01:00

This is for certain members of the Soccer Saturday panel and for that matter anyone else who has verbally bashed the fans of Blackburn Rovers during the reign of Steve Kean which thankfully ended last Friday night...

What you saw in Steve Kean was a man who had been a victim, who was bullied without provocation. What we saw was a man that dug his own grave with a trail of lies, false promises and antagonistic behaviour during the last two years.

Get great offers and free bets at FREEbets.

What you saw is a man who had remained dignified against a backlash that he didn't warrant, a man who in the face of incredible adversity kept his cool and didn't rise to the bait of a crowd who never backed him. What we saw is a man so arrogant that he knew he'd be backed by naive owners and didn't feel the need to fight against the criticism that came his way. He was untouchable and he knew it.

What you saw was a manager who needed to be given time and a chance. What we saw was a manager who patently wasn't up to it and to make matters worse blamed everyone but himself, rightly or wrongly.

What you saw was Steve Kean, a positive thinker with a mentality to look on the bright side. What we saw was Steve Kean, a man with delusions beyond rational thinking and with a very loose grasp on reality.

What you saw was an unknown making the best of a bad situation. What we saw was a sneaky operator and unknown footballing politician who created that very situation.

What you saw was a guy being harassed based purely on the results he achieved. What we saw was a guy being shouted at for much more than results alone.

What you saw was a promising leader who had his side sat in third in the Championship and had only lost one game out of seven so far this season. What we saw was a tactically inept disaster who had lost thirty seven times in seventy four games and oversaw a relegation.

What you saw was a maligned boss who had gained sympathy and friends in the media through his epic struggle against all the odds. What we saw was a confident talker who was verbally calm and who used the media to create the "victim" story that the outside world chose to believe, the friends in high places came along when it became popular to support the story along with the opportunity to play this victim story to his employers.

What you saw was a first team coach who was unexpectedly thrown in at the deep end against his will after the sudden sacking of Sam Allardyce. What we saw was a man who planned the whole thing long before it became a reality, a man who wanted to become a manager and went behind a colleagues back to make it happen.

What you saw was a manager who had no support from his superiors. What we saw was a manager who was a dictator, he didn't want help from elsewhere, he wanted the power and the control and he went a long way to making it happen against all better judgement.

What you saw was a group of fans who are of the lowest form of life, ones who lack the brain cells to see that they are contributing to their own downfall. What we saw (and lived) was a group of fans who knew that their club was being used as a play thing, something that had been shamelessly mistreated and who would't go down without a fight. Fans who wanted change, knew something was very wrong and weren't fickle enough to drop the complaining because we won one game - there was a bigger picture at stake.

What you saw was a footballing supporting faithful who relegated their own team. What we saw was cost cutting football ownership and a complicit manager who went a long way to sinking that ship well before the people in the stands kicked up a fuss.

But most importantly of all, it's what you HAVEN'T seen that has developed this idea that Rovers fans are the enemy, when in fact quite the opposite is the case. What you haven't seen in the last two years at Ewood Park is relentless provocation from a manager who has played you all like a fiddle.

The Sky Sports Soccer Saturday team won't tell you differently because the likes of Paul Merson and Charlie Nicholas have the same agent as Steve Kean. The rest of the media won't tell you differently because they don't care enough about Blackburn Rovers to dig a little deeper and see what's really going on.

When Rovers fans protested they were disgusting, vile creatures who should be condemned. When the fans of Aston Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool did it they were heroes fighting against an evil establishment.

The people and the fans of Blackburn Rovers acted no differently to how anyone else would have if they were in that exact same situation. Others would call that delusional, but then they haven't bothered to read the real version of the same story.

There is an old saying I'll use to wrap this up - "walk a mile in my shoes..."

We all want him OUT but who would come IN?

2012-09-24T10:02:00.001+01:00

Kean Out. Easily the two most common words in any Blackburn Rovers fan footballing dictionary.

We as fans have wanted it for a long, long time and the club itself needs it to happen for countless more reasons than just a simple on field improvement and a removal of the restrictions his current employment continues to produce.

With Steve Kean gone, more than just a couple of fans would more or less instantly return from their pre-planned boycott, the constant negativity that engulfs and hampers match days would be a thing of the past and there'd be a sizeable drop in the volume of excuses and bullshit that seems to follow "dignified" Steve everywhere.

Would it solve everything? Not even close. Would it be a step in the right direction? Bet everything you own that it would be.

And low and behold it could be about to happen - we could be about to hear those sweet, sensual words for real. There's always that lingering doubt that once again he'll sneak his way out at the last minute but word is that shouldn't be happening this time. Yes we'e been here before, yes he's been "unsackable" in the past and yes *insert comment full of doom and gloom here*.

Nothing is ever final till it's appears in that lovely looking bright yellow ticker bar at the bottom of the Sky Sports News information centre or plastered across the official site so let's not count our chickens until the people who work with chickens don't chicken out again.

But let's pretend for a minute we are on the scout for a new boss... Who could we get? Who would we get?

I've heard fan super rumour talk of Harry Redknapp, but the thought of him having to work in the current set up is a wild stretch of the imagination. Can you see such a heralded and experienced manager working under the guise of a "Global Advisor"? Someone who watches his every move and has a large say in transfer policy, highly doubtful Harry would take that I'd say.

And whilst talk of Tim Sherwood, Tugay and Alan Shearer is sure to warm the cockles is it not worth angling for someone who at the very least has some sort of track record in the managerial game? A legend is certainly someone that the faithful can rally behind but a former favourite with precisely zero managerial experience is highly unlikely to bring the required tactical nous and command the respect to steer a large and talented squad in the right direction.

Eric Black wouldn't be a long term appointment either, irrespective of what the newspapers say or what fan cynicism dictates.

We'd probably need something in the middle of the two extremes. Someone with something to prove and can command respect from both players and fans whilst not being a daft "fantasy" appointment that would never happen in the real world. A difficult appointment to make and not an answer I'm going to be able to provide but the first thing the owners should be looking at is installing someone who will bring back a vibrant atmosphere to the club.

Having said that there are some major selling points that Venky's can peddle the way of a prospective managerial candidate - a ready to rock and roll squad, possibly the best first team in the Championship, a good shot at a first time round promotion, a budget to work with in future seasons if that promotion can be achieved and the chance for a hungry manager to prove themselves.

Of course, they'll have to accept the travelling circus that follows Blackburn Rovers nowadays and within that lies it's own problem. It's a poisoned chalice and one that requires the right appointment.

Who would you want?

Can't we not all just get along?

2012-09-19T10:38:00.000+01:00

It used to be oh so simple. When your team won you were on top of the world, the rest of the weekend was a time to be joyous, the girlfriend's nagging was actually endearing as opposed to the usual feeling of constant annoyance and a refreshing celebration beer was only a street or two away.

Conversely, when your team lost it was doomsday. The celebration beer was actually a liquid way to de-stress and forget, the rest of the weekend was a stay of execution before the monotony of work and the other half wouldn't shut the hell up and get off your back.

At Blackburn Rovers and in the current Venky's era it is never quite that simple.

Defeats are the latest available platform to go on the latest rant - telling us all what we already know and is blindingly obvious to all but a few but just slightly more aggressively and containing more swear words than last times rant.

Victories are not something to be enjoyed but a curious game of spot or create a problem. They're no longer deserved three points hauls on our own merits, more the deficiencies of the opposition or slices of luck that we wouldn't have got in the Premier League.

It's an internet turf war of epic proportions with fans of the SAME team going at each other purely on the basis that they don't share the same opinion.

Just a quick glance on Twitter, BRFCS, dedicated Facebook groups, Vital Blackburn and any other Rovers message board the world over shows a slanging match that's been going on for the best part of two years. I've even seen it increasingly in the comments section of this small part of the Blackburn internet community.

When one fan has a massive rant about the copious problems at Blackburn Rovers he is quickly told by another to cheer up and not believe the latest "Steve Kean is a gangster" or "Mrs Desai is a witch sent by Hitler to oversee world destruction" conspiracy theory doing the rounds. In response the slightest bit of joy garnered by anyone when something goes right it met with cries of "fickle, naive, happy clapper" or some other absolutely ridiculous wayward term.

Players' twitter accounts (cough Bradley Orr cough) are barracked with stick... a certain players' wife gets the same treatment... structured debates and respectful conversation are things of the past. Blackburn Rovers under their current ownership and managerial guidance is a precarious situation but can't we rise above it and respect each other?

Can we not in hindsight see that some fans are enjoying being top of the league, it doesn't necessarily mean they've forgotten the truck load of problems at the club more that they're actually gleaming what little joy they can from a sport they're supposed to be able to enjoy. And on the other side of the fence can we not appreciate there are those who want Venky's and Kean Out of Blackburn Rovers, they want to make it clear they won't forget 18 months of mistreatment and won't rest until they've made their point?

It's a results business, no it's not it's about performances.

It's about getting the manager sacked, no it's not it's about the team winning and backing the players.

It's enough to make you want to lie down in a dark room for an hour - an Alexandra Burke concert seems more appealing than taking part in a Blackburn Rovers debate at times. I'm not saying it's everyone, in fact it's certainly not everyone and the root cause of the angst is that nobody is right when it's a game of opinion.

But I am pretty sure everyone has in some way been involved in this mindless battle of who's right/who's wrong whether through instigation or being targeted for a thought that might not suit someone else.

Aren't we supposed to be in this together?

On reflection, a surprising window, but in a good way...

2012-09-05T20:00:00.002+01:00

The week after a transfer window has closed always feel like living a parallel universe to the one you've existed in for the last two months that preceded it. There's no mass hysteria, no constant digging for information on what's really happening behind the scenes at your club and no tabloid newspapers "elaborating" on a transfer story to fill column inches.

Yes, the mayhem is over until 2013 now and to finally see the dust settle on what was, for a change, a very active window in the buying and selling market for Rovers presents a time for proper reflection and analysis. Even more importantly, to have an attempt at answering the question... are we in something approaching the right shape to achieve the ultimate goal of promotion this season?

Here's a breakdown of the ins and outs that took place in the summer transfer window -

In - Danny Murphy, Dickson Etuhu, Leon Best, Jordan Rhodes, Nuno Gomes, Diogo Rosado, Fabio Nunes, Nuno Henrique, Paulo Jorge, Grzegorz Sandomierski, Edinho Junior, Colin Kazim-Richards (loan).

Out - Junior Hoilett, Yakubu, Nick Blackman, Steven N'Zonzi, Mark Bunn, Radosav Petrovic, Vince Grella, Michel Salgado, David Goodwillie (loan).

First things, first - fair play that's a totally different outcome to what we were told to expect and for the first time in Venky's reign that can be taken as a good thing. With the club on a fairly vicious cost cutting and penny pinching over the 12 months prior it seemed relegation would bring a fairly savage mass exodus with knock offs and cheap imitations replacing those lucky enough to escape the circus.

We've actually spent more (taking into account a percentage of agent fees etc) than we've recouped and given the massive drop in actual income through ticket sales and TV revenue that has to go down as a score for the much maligned Venky's.

I don't like them, judging by the comments section of this very blog no-one else seems to be a fan, but to spend relatively big money on the wages of new recruits actually gives us half a shot at this going straight back up malarkey we keep on being informed is possible.

The likes of Danny Murphy, Jordan Rhodes, Dickson Etuhu, Kazim and Leon Best (such a shame) are all lower level Premier League players. Sure we can point to the quality departures of Hoilett, Yak and N'Zonzi leaving us but considering we're batting at a different crease this season it's fair to say we've not had a bad trade. Especially with cry baby Steven off to play an ancient form of air ball hammer rugby at Stoke.

All five of the above mentioned players will be key to any success this season, if we do managed to reach the promised land at the first bite of the cherry it will be because the above proven talent has performed. They look like shrewd investments and if it works it's a round of applause and back slaps all around to the Rovers scouting team and purse string holders.

The problem appears to be in the form of the rather scatter gun approach to buying Portuguese players we've never heard of. We as fans keep hearing the words potential but if we're aiming to hit the ground running in what is an incredibly competitive division then they need to totally adapt to their new surroundings and in double quick time.

If the likes of Etuhu, Pedersen and Givet hit the deck injured at the same time would you fancy them being replaced by a combination of Paulo Jorge, Fabio Nunes and Nuno Henrique? In the Championship? That's a frightening proposition. To answer my own question I'm not sure I'd fancy it.

We'd all like them to be given the now mandatory "Ruben Rochina 6 months adjustment" period but times a ticking and we're already under way, Rovers can't afford to carry passengers. With the exception of the deliciously handsome (I'm straight I swear) Gomes we've bought cheap talent in the Iberian kids as opposed, all attacking and all young.

But in that last statement lies a further problem. What about the defence?

Contrary to popular belief and regular complaints, our defence was NOT the problem last season... it was the embarrassing lack of protection afforded by the midfield to the hideously overexposed back four. We appear to have sorted the midfield screen to a certain extent over the summer with the purchase of the Fulham duo but the defence was in need of the odd reinforcement and a proverbial lick of paint.

Henrique is a defender, but we know nothing of him other than his nationality and that he could be pretty bad. Maybe not Bruno Berner bad, but the risk of genuine badness is there. Outside of Martin Olsson, who is best deployed further forward anyway, the left back position is worryingly understocked with only young Adam Henley and twin Markus as a reasonably serious proposition there.

As we saw on Saturday as well, if bearded maestro Givet and tugboat Dann both get struck by lightning we're down to the bare bones there as well.

The defence has been ignored through the duration of the window, possibly as a result of ringmaster Steve Kean's insistence that we attack at will, possibly because no-one good became available or possibly because we decided it wasn't a priority.

Pick any you like of the above three options but we have decided to run the risk of being caught waving the white flag if injuries kick in at the back. That has to go down as a mistake.

And of course, the BIG problem still remains. He's still stood there on the sidelines - smiling, making weird hand gestures and informing the team to defend the penalty box at 1-0 up and with 84 minutes left to play. We can have all the super standard players we want but whilst Kean remains you get the feeling we're doing well in spite of him not because of him.

It's like a group of talented musicians being orchestrated by a confused and ultimately clueless conductor (thanks to a twitter user for this one), the sum of the whole only play so well if the instructions are concise.

Venky's had the chance to make a change for the better, for some inexplicable reason they chose not to and we'll have to suffer him for the time being.

The final part of this rather large dissection of our pre-season activity is a heads up to who we've retained. Martin Olsson, Mauro Formica, Paul Robinson, Gael Givet and Ruben Rochina are all still set to wear blue and white sponsorless shirts this season. That's a testament to both the will and the stubbornness of those that run the club.

Blackburn Rovers are a better side for having those players still with us and I bet most of us would have been popping down the bookies at the start of the summer to bet against those aforementioned not being with us come the start of this campaign. Credit where it's due, that's a sizeable bonus.

Judged on the summer transfer business alone, it's hard to deny - barring the usual kicking and screaming - it's gone much better than expected. The players are largely the right standard to get promoted, we've got the biggest squad in the division bar none and the owners finally seem to have put their money where their PR machine has been stood for far too long.

We've bought better than we thought, those who have left were expected to wave goodbye and we've hung on to some that as a group of fans we'd written off as a former Rovers player already.

Rovers have by and large got the 2012 summer transfer window just about right. I don't think we could have asked for a lot more - new manager aside.

A gamble in the hardest currency to convert

2012-08-31T09:58:00.001+01:00

So wait it's actually happened? I've heard it called a PR stunt, a bit of Shebby Singh bullshit and also a pipe dream but £8m later and we turned a huge area of fan scepticism into a joint record signing.

Jordan Rhodes is a Blackburn Rovers player and it's difficult not to feel a small air of optimism, even for those who seem to have an incredible knack of turning everything into a Venky's and Steve Kean related moan-a-thon.

Credit where it is due, Venky's stumped up the cash, Shebby did weeks of ground work and pushing for the deal and we've all got what we've wanted. A player that some Premier League clubs wouldn't turn away and Blackburn Rovers have him.

Of course there are now wider implications of what this means to the club... How much does this massive transfer outlay gamble our future past the end of the season? Are we now reliant on promotion to ensure the club's future? Why the heck didn't we splash this sort of cash in January? Why does nothing ever make any sense any more?

Those are questions we are unlikely to get answers to in the near future, what matters right now is how we get the best out of this hired gun we've loaded ourselves with to fire us out of the division and back to the promised land.

By all accounts Rhodes is a striker with very little to his game, it's all about goals. It's the old Gary Lineker scenario, if he's scored then he's had a cracking game, if he's fired a blank then he's had a stinker. Nobody at Huddersfield is trumpeting his ability to hold up the ball or to bring others into play or his dynamic channel running, it's literally about hovering round the six yard box and trying to get on the end of any service that is supplied in his direction.

And therein lies the problem. With Rhodes in the side and at such an expensive cost it means a change of system and making him the focal point of the side - clubs like Rovers don't spend £8m on a player and then expect him to play a supporting role. He needs to be THE man.

That means constant balls out to the wingers, through balls for him to feed off and a lot more pressure up the attacking end of the field... something that has been sorely lacking in the first three games of the Championship season. There's no point in us using him as a do it all lone front man as he'll end up a slightly more handsome and smaller nosed version of Nikola Kalinic.

It's a gamble for the club and the hardest thing in a game of football is to stick the little round thing into the square netty thing. Jordan won't be judged by the fans and his employers by any other statistic other than the goals scored column and it's up to him to deliver.

He's got to succeed where others have failed. Whenever we've splashed big on someone they've normally been a colossal failure of Darren Peacock proportions - you can argue to an extent that Andy Cole is the exception - but the likes of the aforementioned Kalinic, Kevin Davies and Corrado Grabbi show we have form in getting this star striker malarkey dreadfully wrong.

Shearer comparisons will naturally exist but it's a very long way off being able to achieve that sort of justifiable comparison and it's not a nous I'd want to loosely hang round his neck.

The good news is that he's a massive talent and it's gamble we have no choice but to take. We couldn't have picked any better from what we had available to us, the club needed a potential 20+ goal a season man and that's precisely what we've managed to bag.

Take us home Jordan Rhodes...

The sign of a good side?

2012-08-28T09:16:00.001+01:00

What's with all this thing called winning? I seem to remember something similar to this "winning" happening a bit in the mid 90's but generally other than that I am stumped as to what it means or even how to react to it.

High levels of sarcasm aside, we're often told that a sign of a good football side is one that wins when perhaps not performing at their best. Whether that can apply to a side in the second tier of English football is open to debate but it is worrying that for the third game in a row we carried off more points than we merited given the overall performance served up.

On the balance of play we should have probably copped a defeat against Ipswich, a draw was pretty fair given the drab encounter we endured against Hull City and on Saturday I don't think anyone could argue we were full value for the win. Insert more worrying here.

Obviously it's a good kind of worrying when you've got seven points from the first nine available to you in a season but at what point do we have to accept that we're maybe being a bit jammy?

Take Saturday for instance. We pretty much played like an away side as we sat back and soaked up pressure from a very bright yet wasteful Leicester side whilst counting our blessings along the way as they had a good goal disallowed and there were "question marks" over the validity of our first goal.

The Gomes goal controversy was of course overblown by the Football League Show's Leroy Rosenior, who seems to have taken the Mark Lawrenson role on the post Match of the Day fun. You know, the bit where they try to dig up as much controversy as possible, even when it doesn't exist and generally offering no insight into anything whilst looking about as happy as a corpse.

But coverage complaint aside, we offered very little going forward for well over an hour with the passion and verve all coming from the side wearing the darker kit. The Midlanders were quicker to most of the loose balls, made better use of their wingers and generally looked like they weren't on a damage limitation mission.

For the second home game in a row we looked dull and without strategy, a collection of individuals trying to play a team game if you will. To put it simply we were second best in all but the department that mattered - the score.

But that point itself begs a line of new questions... Who cares if we deserve it? Does it matter? Aren't points the prizes that will ultimately get us promoted? If we were playing a blinder and not bringing home the points wouldn't we just moan and complain about the opposite? How annoying is it to be asked loads of questions in a row?

I think what we've learnt so far from the Championship's opening offerings is that we have a side that is either set up tactically wrong/lacking the required motivation, certainly possible/probable/certain (delete as applicable) given the current incumbent of the managerial hot seat, or one that is yet to hit it's groove given the gelling together of relatively fresh and brand new personnel that embodies the team. Not everyone could be on the same wavelength as yet, which is understandable.

Could be either or even both, I'll let you decide.

What is important however is that we do have players of quality in the Blackburn Rovers team. Ones who can produce a moment of game winning magic and superhero like rescue acts given a chance as Morten Gamst Pedersen proved only too well at the weekend. We were under the cosh, looking the more likely of the two sides to buckle yet we saw one chance and one moment of real brilliance to hand us an undeserved success.

To develop the point further, over the first three games we've faced 36 shots against and mustered only 25 shots for ourselves yet we've scored double the goals we've conceded, a small sample I'm all too aware but one to take some encouragement from.

Performances HAVE to get better as we can only count on Lady Luck and her unpredictable charity for so long, but an ability to win a match with very little to work with is a priceless back up tool to have in your locker. The likes of Kazim-Richards, Ruben Rochina and even old pension legs Morten Pedersen himself are these types of players, ones that will be useful moving forward and ones that most of the sides in the Championship don't have lots of.

Are we a good side? Not right now I wouldn't have said no. Are we a lucky side? Early evidence suggests yes but there is an old argument that says you make your own luck in this life.