General Discussion: Sport

[Blarty]

As some of you may know, and a great many more will not, I'm a supporter of the once well-run football club that is Blackburn Rovers, and you'll all know about the man that sits ineptly in the dugout week in, week out, Steve Kean. For months the supporters have seen our fortunes on the pitch go to rack and ruin, both through the last few months of last season where Kean tried, desperately it seemed, to get us relegated, and more recently this season, where he seems to be having rather more success on that score.

If any of you saw the game against Stoke last Saturday - thank you Sky for putting it as an early match, so many people could see it in pubs or on the big screens at other matches - you'll know a) just how inept and inert both our defence and attack has become (under the last manager's style of play, he knew how to make a defence work cohesively and whilst hoofing it up the pitch might make your neck hurt, it did stop the attack meaning the opposition would have to start again, which is infinitely more preferable to the 'being opened like a tin can, and hoping they don't score so we have a slight possibility of a counter-attack' approach that Kean appears to favour), b) how disillusioned and fractured our own supporters have become, and, if you happened to catch the post-match entertainment, c) how much BS Kean actually talks. At least if you caught any of the game at all, you'll understand how much spin Kean puts on things when you see the restricted views of highlights on the likes of MOTD, etc.

What you also may be aware of is that banners against Kean and Venkys have now been banned during home games, with the 'club' saying that there is a chance of 'anti-protester reprisals' against those who are campaigning for Kean's immediate removal, using 'health and safety' as a reason for the club taking this action.... also during one protest, the club hierarchy decided to play loud music to 'drown out' the group of protesters who were having a post-match sit in after one game. However, at the Stoke game, at the Britannia stadium, something else altogether more inexcusable occured; many people have commented that because they were wearing protest t-shirts (that are not sectarian, racist, obscene or otherwise offensive - see here http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd463/perthblue02/100.png ) were told to cover them up or they would not be allowed in the ground. 

It has now come to the point where the supporters, exasperated with both a lack of action on the managerial front, and a seemingly conspiratorial stance taken by BRFC and other clubs (yes I know Stoke don't want that kind of PR, but you shouldn't be getting your hands dirty for this bunch of incompetent fools), feel the club they love and support with a passion is not just slipping away but is also prepared to knife them in the back at a moments notice.

Most people here support some form of sport, be it football, rugby, tennis (yes tennis - http://twitter.com/#!/TheSCarterBRFC/status/140129783269957633/photo/1/large ), or any form of sporting activity - football is said to be the nation's game, and all followers of sport would hate the thing they love and support to be tainted and warped by an ineptitude on the scale of the mismanagement that is currently in place at Blackburn Rovers Football Club. We have gone from the management and club hierarchy being recognised as spearheading one of the most well-run clubs in the country, to one that is more likely to be next to the dictionary definition of the term 'cautionary tale'. The current management and hierarchy is steadfastly intent on burying it's head in the sand, but the facts and the results don't lie, and no amount of spin will change that. Only today, I am now hearing that the Press are now being told they cannot ask questions to the manager at press conferences about the ongoing protests http://twitter.com/#!/ndjohnston/status/142529195791224832

It's the degree of managerial incompetence and complete disregard for the fans, coupled with an apparent indifference from the regulating sporting body, in this case, the FA (after all they 'passed' their fit and proper ownership test) to at least investigate the matter that should be firing warning bells for fans of all sports, especially football. If nothing else, if this situation continues, and parallels are already being drawn between BRFC and Portsmouth - and the FA and Premier League did little there except ensure they were condemned them to relegation just that little bit earlier, it sets a frightening precedent for clubs across the country, many of which have been going for over 100 years.

So my plea is, irrespective of what colours you nail to your mast, whatever you may think of our club, or even football in general, please help be our voice wherever you are, whether at a game, or watching one in the pub etc, just get a piece of paper and write in big letters 'Kean Out' and take a photo of yourself holding it and put it on Twitter with the hashtag #keanout. It may not help in the long run but to know that there are those willing to see this situation for what it is, a farce, will be a moment of light in otherwise dark times for the fans.

Thank you.

[ProjectVRD]

So let's get this straight, your team is in relegation zone and you blame Venky's and the manager? What happened to blaming the guys on the pitch?

[LordRoss]

On a more serious note, have Plymouth sorted their money problems out yet? 

Not being able to afford to pay staff wages, from the actual players and manager to the cleaners is never good.

When Sheffield Wednesday were on verge of going into administration we still had charity buckets going around our stadium to donate to Plymouth's cause.  That's dedication for you

It's never nice to see any club go under, although in Blackburns case.  I'm sure you guys will be fine