The 2011/12 Gary Speed Memorial Thread

[Plubby]

I was rooting for Blackburn to stay up...kind of in spite of themselves in a way. If the ownership and management can get their act together or get out, then as Hammy said it's a club that the Premier League needs.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Ugh. Radio blaming the Blackburn fans. Saying that the Wolves fans were still cheering for their team and chanting "we'll be back" when they got relegated.

Yeah, thing is Wolves would be EXPECTING relegation so every year in the Prem is a bonus. Blackburn shouldn't be down in the bottom three so no wonder the fans are frustrated/angry/annoyed.

Also, how can a manager who takes BLACKBURN down still be supported to stay in place to lead them in the Championship?! How the hell does that make sense?

[Colly]

He was playing Premier League football at QPR

He was watching Premier League football at QPR.

I'm staying off the Kean topic as I don't know the full situation (had enough nonsensical opinion on Ashley), but I'm not so sure on 'Blackburn weren't expecting to struggle'. That team was still an Allardyce mess when Kean took it on, and the odds I got on relegation at the start of the season weren't particularly great. Shame I doubled it up with Birmingham winning the Championship...

[hugobomb]

He was playing Premier League football at QPR

He was watching Premier League football at QPR.

I'm staying off the Kean topic as I don't know the full situation (had enough nonsensical opinion on Ashley), but I'm not so sure on 'Blackburn weren't expecting to struggle'. That team was still an Allardyce mess when Kean took it on, and the odds I got on relegation at the start of the season weren't particularly great. Shame I doubled it up with Birmingham winning the Championship...

Unless you made that bet right at the end of last season (before the Great Birmingham First Team Fire sale of 2011 because Fuck You Yeung You Money Laundering Arsehole) then that was never going to come off.

[Summers]

[Colly]

It was only a quid, and I fancied Chrissy H as a long shot. Was about 30-1 just for the Birmingham bit.

[cmb211087]

He was playing Premier League football at QPR

He was watching Premier League football at QPR.

I'm staying off the Kean topic as I don't know the full situation (had enough nonsensical opinion on Ashley), but I'm not so sure on 'Blackburn weren't expecting to struggle'. That team was still an Allardyce mess when Kean took it on, and the odds I got on relegation at the start of the season weren't particularly great. Shame I doubled it up with Birmingham winning the Championship...

An Allardyce mess? We where 7th when Venkys took over and then 13th when Sam was sacked. 10th the season before. Not much of a mess.

Kean has basically got rid of them backbone of Sams team, replacing them with dross.

[stokeriño]

This stat may or may not have been thrown up already, but unless Liverpool score at least 4 goals tonight, this season will have seen their lowest ever number of league goals scored at home (the current lowest being 24 goals in 1903, they have 20).

[Hobo]

We won't though. We will hit the bar all the time!

[stokeriño]

You'll at least be happy to know that with a total of 43 goals scored (home and away), you're already safe from this being Liverpool's lowest scoring season ever.

...By a margin of one, anyway. Liverpool's record low goal tally is 42, in both 1902 and 1971 - the same year Chelsea were winning their first European trophy. Coincidence!

[9 to 5]

An extraordinary letter written in late December by Blackburn Rovers’ deputy CEO Paul Hunt to the club’s owner, Anuradha Desai, has laid bare the crisis that has been gripping the club all season.

The 2,500-word document, dated 21 December 2011 and written just hours after Rovers had lost 2-1 at home to Bolton on 20 December, details financial problems then afflicting the club, hints at a massive rift between the owners and other executives over the future of manager Steve Kean, and implores Mrs Desai to allow people she had appointed – Hunt included – to run the club.

Blackburn have never appointed a CEO to replace John Williams and so Hunt has been in de facto control at Blackburn since his own appointment last year. What the letter clearly shows, however, is that ultimately control has always rested in India.

Sportingintelligence, which has authenticated the letter as genuine, has had sight of the letter and understands it is in circulation and is likely to published in full imminently.

Hunt begins by writing: “I have been your senior officer at the club for six months now and I feel that I must now write to you to ask you to make some significant changes to save the club, perhaps from relegation but also perhaps from administration.

“In 20 years of the Premier League there has been only one side that was bottom of the league at Christmas that has survived relegation at the end of the season.

“With the bank closing in, I fear that they will look to foreclose and have the potential to implement financial restrictions upon the club that could (as a worst-case scenario) enforce administration.

“I have kept quiet for a time now out of utmost respect and I trust that you realise that I am only emailing you now as I want what is only the best for Blackburn Rovers and the owners.

“I am very much of the opinion that we can save the club and I have always been very supportive and positive towards the owners. Therefore I hope you know that what I am saying is considered, honest, constructive and from the heart.

“I ask that we instigate all the changes below in this 10 point plan.”

Regular readers of Sportingintelligence will know many of the key development’s in Blackburn’s story under Venky’s. AN ARCHIVE OF STORIES IS LINKED HERE.

Paul Hunt’s 10 point plan to save Blackburn appears to be the last throw of the dice by an executive deeply concerned about turning around a troubled ship.

Unfortunately for fans – who saw their club’s relegation confirmed last night – he was ignored.

The 10-point plan seeks clarity on Hunt’s own position, and then moves on “Owners to invest in the club”.

That section says: “As you are aware Barclays have asked for the owners to put £10m into the business. This needs to happen and I am confident that this could only be a loan as we would increase the value of the club significantly. With all the speculation in the press the playing staff value and overall club value is depreciating on a daily basis.

“By putting an end to this the owners would be protecting their investment, putting their trust in the executive team and the club. The position with the finances is a cause for grave concern.

“Auditors KPMG have put as many obstacles as they can in the way of signing off the accounts due to their concerns. We continue to try and work with Barclays but they are very quickly losing patience as we cannot give answers. We have been forced to agree to additional spending against our wishes (Christmas hampers, sponsoring the Princes Trust event etc) and I am fearful that the situation will only get worse.

“During January we need additional funding to pay wages etc.”

Point 3 of the 10-point plan is extraordinary and says Kean had not only lost the crowd but also the dressing room.

It says: “Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I personally like Steve. I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn’t working and he is ready to go.

“He has lost the crowd and as a result of this evening’s game has lost the dressing room as well – the players no longer want to play for him. It is a shame and disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion in who should be the new manager.”

Point four asks Mrs Desai to allow her executives at Ewood to run the club, point five calls for a more cohesive PR strategy, point six calls for more trips by Ewood executives to meet the stayaway owners, point seven asks the owners to visit the club more and point eight asks for the Ewood executives to hire and fire – rather than Mrs Desai making these decisions.

Point nine says: “We are losing fans/customers at an alarming rate. I am very concerned that fans are voting with their feet and not attending, not purchasing and not engaging with the club.

“Research shows that only 5% of ex season ticket holders will ever return. We are losing sponsors and suppliers. I am concerned we will lose Umbro if we continue to manufacture Rovers shirts in India for the RoverStar programme. Their contract specifically disallows this and we are putting at risk £800k of annual revenue.

“The Blackburn Rovers and Venky’s brands are both suffering terribly. Whilst there are negative goings on such as protests, complaints, media stories, unhappy fans etc, then both brands are losing brand equity and consequently, losing value.

“I am also concerned that the Premier League will intervene soon as they may take the view that their brand is being tarnished by association too. It is all reparable of course but we must start to act now by building bridges with fans and the media as above.”

The letter finishes with point 10, essentially a drawn out message of regret that the owners have not allowed the club to be run properly from Blackburn. It ends: “I look forward to hearing your thoughts. With very best wishes for a bright future, Paul.”

So yeah, comfirmation of what I have said for a while. I may not have a football club to support for much longer.

[Lineker]

({)

[Colly]

My word.

On Liverpool, I only saw the home/away split on the league table this morning, can't have been a fun year to be a season ticket holder.

[METALMAN]

hardly any leg room as well.

[Plubby]

Dunno if this was already posted but it makes me sad. Don't normally make a habit of visiting Soccernet, but found this here.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1065387/benoit-assou-ekotto-considering-tottenham-hotspur-future?cc=3436

Benoit Assou-Ekotto may seek to leave Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto feels it may be time to join a bigger club

Assou-Ekotto, 28, signed for Spurs from Lens in 2006 and is a key part of the first-team, but he has revealed he has spoken to chairman Daniel Levy about a potential transfer and is eager to move on to bigger things.

"Everything is possible," he told France Football. "When I met the chairman last January he told me that, if a club bigger than Tottenham came in for me, he wouldn't necessarily be against my departure.

"If there is a change at Tottenham - some more money is made available - I wouldn't be against the idea of staying, but otherwise I'll try to move forwards, as I did when I left Lens."

Asked if he would be looking to join a club that regularly participates in the Champions League, he said: "Yes. All players want to play in this competition.

"A few months ago, I said I never wanted to play in the Europa League because that competition is useless.

"I have a gentleman's agreement with the chairman. As he is a man of his word, I hope that will make things easier if a great club comes in."

[Lineker]

Not Benny!

[METALMAN]

Could see him potentially going to Man Utd cause Evra's lost it.

[Colly]

To be fair you can't love the man for his brilliant honesty then hate him just because that now means he wants out. He's made it quite clear he's not loyal to any club.

[Lineker]

I agree. If he did go to a huge club then he'd go with my best wishes for the future, absolutely.

[METALMAN]

It always makes me sad when people call the UEFA Cup useless.