Cairney Sold

So we sold Cairney yesterday, I think it's good business. We bought him for half a million and have made a decent profit on him which will help is in financial fair play. Also, people are saying he was creative but last season he wasn't creative at all. He couldn't even use his right foot. We have wide men Marshall and Conway to do our creating and then we can play two defensive minded midfielders. We had a lot of defensive problems last season and with two defensive midfielders that could help solve that problem. Cairney wasn't defensive minded at all and he wasn't suited to the wing either which isn't his fault but showed Bowyer had faith in other central midfielders over him.

Williamson gets a lot of stick but he breaks up opponents play well and that's what we need to do, stop attacks at their root to lift pressure from the defense. It looks like Gestede will go so striker wise if we only have Rhodes we may struggle playing a wider tactic but he can score all types of goals and only needs the odd chance. We will have to see what Bowyer does in the market and what tactics he employs at the beginning of the season.

Latest Thoughts

So we need to get a manager in to the club, before the transfer window opens on 1st July. This is the key thing we need to do this summer, to allow him to rebuild the squad ready for next season. When he comes in, his first task will be to keep Rhodes at the club, as well as a few other key players such as Hanley, Dann, Rochina and Kean/Robinson. We need to either sell Robinson, or keep him and play him, he is one of the best keepers in the Championship and his future needs to be decided. This is the same as Rochina, we need him next season to really help us push for promotion. At the beginning of the season, he was a key player and was a key part in our attack. If we lose him, we will have to spend that on replacing him, otherwise, we will struggle to have consistency in the attack, with only Rhodes there. Colin Kazim-Richards has been a bit disappointing in the goals front but his overall play is what we need. We must at least attempt to sign him so that he can stay until next season. Even though he hasn't been scoring, he works hard up front and makes a lot of key passes that Rhodes can latch on to. In my opinion, we need to keep both Rochina and Richards but one of them would probably do the job. If we had those two consistently behind Rhodes, the goals should be flying in.

This brings me to the formation which would work best if we had them both. Nearly every team is using it now but it is such an effective formation; 4-2-3-1. We would have two wingers in King and Richards, then we would have Rochina directly behind Rhodes, this means that the ball will be played to Rhodes in every direction, crosses from the wings, or through balls from the middle. This could work very well if we can adapt to it.

That brings me to the midfield, two solid central midfielders will be needed to play the passes and also to support the defence. In Lowe, we have a promising young player. He didn't do too well last season but he has got experience now and we can build him up to be able to play key passes forward, and defend effectively. However, if we do not sign a right-back, then he would have to play there. Todd Kane played very well in his loan stint, he is good going forward, he has pace, good control and can put in dangerous crosses when he gets the chance, if we could get him on another loan next season, or have him on a permanent deal. However we also have Adam Henley who can play right-back but I thought that Kane was more of a threat than him which is why I have put Kane in the starting 11. Henley was good until he got injured, then he lost his place so Kane would be a good addition to either cover for Henley, or to rotate between the two.

Now, Pedersen wants to stay at Rovers and his loyalty and support for the club is clear for all to see. He hasn't got the pace or dribbling skill he used to have, but if we can consistently play him in the middle, he will improve in the key skills needed for the role, passing, vision and creativity. He is already a creative player, but his time spent on the wings is over and he needs to be played in the middle to gain more experience there.

Williamson also played well during his consistent starts, he looks up for playing and wants to take the ball forward. This is the sort of player we need to play in the centre, someone who can go forward but also get back to his position when we are not in possession. We cannot play Pedersen and Williamson at the same time unless we have a holding midfielder, they are both weak in the tackling department and we have to play a strong defensive midfielder as well as a passer, Lowe would be the right man for this role.

Dave Jones is out of contract in summer and he should be up in the list of players we should try and sign. He looked good at times but at others, he was sloppy, this might be because of the lack of playing time at Wigan, once he gets back into it, he should improve. I didn't see enough of him to tell if he can defend as well as attack, but he changed the game when he came on against Peterborough and scored one, and was involved in most of the attacks, again, another midfielder we need for the team.

Rotation will also be a good policy to use for the next manager, we have good depth in the squad and we could benefit from its use. Dunn could play in the same position as Rochina, best in Rhodes' spot, both Olsson's can play on the left wing, and then the midfielders I have mentioned already (Pedersen, Lowe, Williamson and Jones) could be rotated effectively. The defence is fine I think, Hanley and Dann are solid together and defend really well with each other.

Murphy and Etuhu are not needed in my opinion. They both lack pace and motivation, and don't deserve to play after their few performances last season. They came to Rovers for the money and that is what they are getting. Get rid of them now, so that they aren't there at the start of the season.

Last season, with the constant change of manager, the players couldn't adapt to their tactics quick enough and this is hard for them to play in an unfamiliar way. I expect a slow start to the season, but gradually, we should start to win more games as the tactics sink in for the players. This can be seen when Bowyer took charge, the players adapted to his style and they played well under him, and again in his second stint, the players looked a lot more comfortable in their positions. Time is what a manager needs, and hopefully, for once he will get it.

Here is the formation I think that we should play:

1. Jake Kean
2. Martin Olsson
3. Todd Kane
4. Grant Hanley
5. Scott Dann
6. Lee Williamson
7. Dave Jones
8. Josh King
9. Ruben Rochina
10. Colin Kazim-Richards
11. Jordan Rhodes

This is what my starting 11 would be at the start of the season, and then see how it goes from there.
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Singh Denies Involvement

So Shebby has denied any involvement in the contract negotiations of any of the players. This is from the Sky Sports article "The reports also allege that the club are burdened with 13 players whose combined wages and agents' fees will cost the club £30million over the length of their contracts." This is a huge amount of money for the Venky's to spend, and adding to this, most of the 13 players in this £30 million won't even play. This is terrible and further shows that the club is being run so poorly, that it is over-spending so much, that soon enough, it will go bust. However much I hate to say it, if we are relegated to League 1, the wage bill will be too high for us to handle. When we are playing the likes of Doncaster Rovers, and we have the wage bill of a Premiership team, we simply won't be able to stay afloat. As I've said, the Venky's need to sort out the backroom before we can move forward. We all have to accept now that they don't want to sell, but maybe if we go down they might. They are willing to stay for the moment so we have to accept that, they just need to sort it out. Thanks for reading.

Crisis Talks

So Bowyer has been called to India for crisis talks with the owners. They have taken the manager out of the club, on the eve of two massive games. They make mistakes with everything they do. Another thing that has now come into the public view is the amounts payed to the agents of the players Singh decided to sign from Portugal. As said in an earlier post, Singh needs to go. He is causing all sorts of problems. The Venky's say they are not going to sell, so they need to get their priorities right and sack Singh, they obviously have got some troubles with finances and Singh has spent so much money on players that aren't needed. If we do go down, I can see the Venky's wanting to sell and not putting anything else into the club. This will mean that we will drop down the ladder and maybe end up in League 2, or at best a mid-table League 1 side. This is a terrible situation and it needsa to be sorted. Thanks for reading.

Bowyer Takes The Reins

So, Gary Bowyer is taking charge of the Blues until the end of the season. He was unbeaten in his last run and I went to the Barnsley game, which was a 3-1 win away from home. It was the best game I had seen since the 3-1 away win at West Brom, which was Steve Kean's first win as Blackburn manager. That was in 2010, a long time ago. Bowyer also managed to beat Nottingham Forest and Bristol City, and managed a draw away at Wolves. So some very good results there for him. Hopefully he can lead us to survival. However, if this is succeeded, then I fear that the Venky's will make the rash decision to make him the permanent manager, and we all know what happened the last time they did that. I think that the stability of keeping him in the job until the end of the season will help the players a lot, they know him well and have already been managed by him so this will be a boost for them all. Also, as long as he does stay until the end of the season, he will be able to establish his tactics and get the players to play to their strengths in each game. He knows how they like to play and what they need to do to help each other play well, which he did well in his previous stint. However, a recurring problem that needs to be fixed is the lack of service to Rhodes. We need to get another striker who can hold the ball up and then let more men get forward. We also need a midfielder who can pass, but I think we can rely on Dunn for that after his recent good form. If we kept Jason Roberts, we would be able to hold the ball up and attack more effectively, he was amazing at picking up the ball and out-muscling defenders to advance on the attack. Rhodes would be able to play with Roberts well as he would be able to feed off Roberts and break the opposition defence. If we can get behind the team on Friday and support the players we might be able to beat the Seasiders. It will settle the players that Bowyer is in charge until the end of the season and then if the fans can get behind him and the team then they will react well from it. Thanks for reading.

Shebby Singh or Paul Agnew and Derek Shaw

After reading a few articles on the BBC website, I realised that the feud between Singh, Agnew and Shaw needs to be sorted. Agnew and Shaw didn't have a say in the appointmetn of Berg, that was all Shebby Singh. Then when Shebby got rid of Berg, Appleton was appointed, he was recommended by Shaw and Agnew. Then Shebby sacked Appleton. This clearly shows that something needs to be done between these three. Shebby is hated by the fans, and in my view, Agnew and Shaw haven't done anything wrong, but that is just my view, others might think differently about them but I don't see a problem with them. Agnew has been at the club for about 16 years, and he was promoted to the board after being in the press and public relations position. Shaw was previouly the Chairman of Preston North End, this is a good experience and it helps to have experience. Singh has no experience in English Football, playing, coaching, managing or directing. This clearly shows that Singh needs to be axed. The Venky's need to get proven proffessionals to run the club. John Williams was a fantastic Chairman at the club, and when the Venky's told him to tell Big Sam that he had been axed, that was one of the last straws for him. He now works as a director at Man City alongside Patrick Vieira. He left the club because the Venky's haven't got a clue what they are doing. Each sacking of the managers that have been here at Rovers since they joined, have been controversial, and all but the Berg sacking were stupid. Okay, Kean "resigned", I doubt that this is true but they said he did so we will go with it, but each one is at the wrong time and unjustified. Huge changes need to be made at Rovers, not just in the Boardroom but also in the squad, too many old players who will be on huge wages need to be axed, along with Shebby. Thanks for reading today's post.

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Appleton - Sacked By Letter

According to reports, Appleton was sacked by letter yesterday, and he found out on TV before he found out himself. This is an utter disgrace. They don't even have the decency to tell him face to face. They are cowardly. Venky's are spending so much money on paying off managers, that they will have nothing left soon. It seems as if Paul Agnew and Derek Shaw don't have anything to do witht the termination of Appleton's contract, but it is Shebby Singh, who has never met Appleton, or chose him to be the manager. Now Venky's need to look seriously at the boardroom, and either axe Shebby, or Paul and Derek. This is disgraceful what they are doing. Shebby doesn't seem to get along with Paul and Derek and it was his decision to hire Berg. He then looked at Tim Sherwood, captain of the side that won us the Premiership. Now it looks like Shebby was trying to bring in a manager who used to play for the club. This sounds good, but I would rather have an experienced manager than just someone who played for the club. We need someone who gets involved with the players and who will talk to the players individually. It has been said by a few players that Berg didn't talk to any of them. This is clearly not good enough, we need someone like Billy Davies, who was available when we had sacked Berg, he goes deep into detail about his players. Here is a video of what he does on a day to day basis at Forest. We need someone like this to come to the club. A few managers off the top of my head who should be considered (however they probably wouldn't want to come to a club in this state):

• Nigel Adkins
• Owen Coyle
• Paolo Di Canio
• Phil Brown
• Brian Mcdermott
• Alex McLeish
• Mark Hughes 

These men would probably do good jos, or at least try, they should be considered by whoever chooses the manager. Thank you for reading, see you next time.

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