[Archived] Are Blackburn The Least Ambitious Club In The Top Flight

[Majiball]

Come on lads are we ambitious? how much do we have to spend? What colour pants does JW wear? What did he have for lunch?

All this nonsensical conjecture and speculation, when the answers are simple.

Of course we're ambitious look at our track record our history.

We will spend as much as we can afford to without causing risk to the running of the club. Whether thats 1 Billion or 1 Million JW is a Rover he will get as much as possible into the kitty.

I'll bet there blue and white halved speedo's, lunch well thats easy Benni's away that means there are spare pies!

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Or did they think that someone who had been rightly focused on the opportunities for Macclesfield and then MK ought to have been able, within 6 weeks, to recruit an entire coaching and scouting staff for a top 7 club, scout the world for players (most of whom were also on close season) and then wisely spend every penny of a budget alleged to be far in excess of anything we have spent in a close season?

It was £10m before things started changing this summer.

Most commentators have Rovers making an £8m profit so assuming the Arsenal clause and the manager/trust money roughly nullify each other, then there is a possible £18m left in the kitty.

I think I've been pretty consistent;

- there are signs that Ince is producing a more attractive and attacking football game than Hughes did, but

- he is struggling to say the least in the Premier League transfer market

Come on lads are we ambitious? how much do we have to spend? What colour pants does JW wear? What did he have for lunch?

All this nonsensical conjecture and speculation, when the answers are simple.

Of course we're ambitious look at our track record our history.

We will spend as much as we can afford to without causing risk to the running of the club. Whether thats 1 Billion or 1 Million JW is a Rover he will get as much as possible into the kitty.

I'll bet there blue and white halved speedo's, lunch well thats easy Benni's away that means there are spare pies!

All three of you have points which explain Rovers' transfer activity during the summer. The manager is new to this standard of football. Do you expect him to go with an old manager's wish list because that is all the club would have been looking at or sign players he was probably looking at prior to joining rovers.

The new style of football being played requires a different type of players that Hughes would have been looking at.

I still doubt that amount of transfer kitty is available but I am sure come Janaury, when Ince has drawn his own list of players which has been assessed then Rovers will become more active in the transfer market without risking the club.

Whether that is lacking ambition or not is open to conjecture

[Iceman]

The same cant be said of our defense Philip. Sure we look attractive going forward, but at the back we are atrocious. Even with a lack of experience as a manager, Ince should do something. My aim was for a right winger, but i have changed my tune to a new centre half, or centre back.

[trs]

How the hell can we have anything to spend?

The money, surely, is going to be held back by the owners to benefit themselves while they are looking to sell the business!

[philipl]

I am as certain as I can be that trs is 100% wrong in that assertion.

[Majiball]

The same cant be said of our defense Philip. Sure we look attractive going forward, but at the back we are atrocious. Even with a lack of experience as a manager, Ince should do something. My aim was for a right winger, but i have changed my tune to a new centre half, or centre back.

I think we may start to see Grella sitting in front of them from now on (at least I hope so). Samba is the one that worries me he has great attributes to be a seriously good defender, but has he got the head? Hopefully Winterburn can educate him better, in his decision making. I think brads leaving will have unsettled some of them, but they will get used to Robbo soon.

[roversmum]

Thank goodness it isn't just me. I get fed up with the constant whining about how much we have to spend. The far more sensible approach is to keep quiet about it, that way we are not expected to pay ridiculous sums for some journeyman but are more likely to be offered and find bargains.

Championship Manager games and the like have a lot to answer for.

[American]

We didn't spend because we didn't want to overspend. That simple. Ince could have signed a right winger in Pennant, but he wanted too much money. Sadly, in the new economy of the league, what he was asking for wasn't out of the realm of what other players of his caliber are receiving on new contracts.

[philipl]

If you rate Pennant as highly as Bentley then you pay him £55K a week.

As it is, none of Liverpool, Stoke or Rovers rate him that highly so he is continuing to be paid about half that much.

[American]

Exactly, but you can't then say he doesn't know the players, it is just that he (and/or the board) aren't willing to overspend.

[philipl]

Exactly, but you can't then say he doesn't know the players, it is just that he (and/or the board) aren't willing to overspend.

Apparently, even after signing Bunn from Northampton, Ince brought yet another keeper- this time a 32 year old- on trial to the absolute bafflement of everyone.

Thank goodness the Board were unwilling to overspend on dodgy goods but there were genuine highclass articles out there who the Board would have sanctioned big money on but Ince was apparently disinterested/ insufficiently informed/ too timid to try for. The informal approach for Joaquin was only E3m below Valencia's asking price and would have been a Rovers transfer record but it appears there was no urgency from the management on John Williams to go and close the deal as they were too busy dithering over a bunch of lesser players, none of whom came in.

The Hughes/Williams team were very effective at getting their man even if it took more than one window to secure him. That isn't working with Ince but hopefully it is only a matter of time before Ince grows into that side of the job.

[American]

Let's not let the fact that Joaquin said he didn't want to leave Spain get in the way of a good rant.

[philipl]

Let's not let the fact that Joaquin said he didn't want to leave Spain get in the way of a good rant.

I was illustrating the fact that a verbal offer had been made by the club in the £8m+ range. At the time of the offer none of the comments by the player's agent or the VP of Valencia had been made.

[American]

So pretty much it goes with your "Alonso theory" that if we make a bid that is accepted the player will definitely sign...

[philipl]

So pretty much it goes with your "Alonso theory" that if we make a bid that is accepted the player will definitely sign...

Now you are being very silly- I never wrote that.

I did say that we had the ability to go after Alonso in terms of having cash that Liverpool desperately needed (and still do). In the end nobody, went for Alonso- Juve did a job on both him and Liverpool!

[Iceman]

But seriously philip, again we agree a fee for Alonso. He arrives and says he wants 80k a week. Do we break the bank for him? Im sure we have a wage structure in place, and im guessing we wont break 50k a week, unless in some cases like we did with trying to keep hold of Bentley.

[American]

We agree on a fee for Alonso and he laughs at us and stays at 'Pool...

[philipl]

Ince doesn't help himself does he?

Three pieces in the BBC transfer gossip about the Fowler move followed by:

Blackburn boss Paul Ince hopes to sign young striker Nick Blackman from his former club Macclesfield (Mirror)

[OJRovers]

Since the transfer window shut and we did not replace our best midfielder and only right winger, has the club come out and explained why?

I haven't seen anything but might have missed it. A lot of the fans were upset we haven't signed anyone, although Rovers are doing the usual silent treatment.

[CrazyIvan]

Ince doesn't help himself does he?

Three pieces in the BBC transfer gossip about the Fowler move followed by:

Blackburn boss Paul Ince hopes to sign young striker Nick Blackman from his former club Macclesfield (Mirror)

Gossip? How is that Paul Ince not helping himself?

Since the transfer window shut and we did not replace our best midfielder and only right winger, has the club come out and explained why?

I haven't seen anything but might have missed it. A lot of the fans were upset we haven't signed anyone, although Rovers are doing the usual silent treatment.

You missed it...

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport...ine_day_target/

[Amo]

Yes, the signings have been underwhelming which suggests a lack of ambition. Signings like a League Two journeyman and a has-been striker should usually be complemented by a big (by Blackburn standards) signing or two, however this has not happened.

But this is the problem. Ince is a fish out of water, and unfortunately we have to suffer while he learns to breathe on land.

[JAL]

Ince doesn't help himself does he?

Three pieces in the BBC transfer gossip about the Fowler move followed by:

Blackburn boss Paul Ince hopes to sign young striker Nick Blackman from his former club Macclesfield (Mirror)

He could turn out to be our very own present day John Bond at this rate.

[OJRovers]

You missed it...

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport...ine_day_target/

Thanks for the link although a couple of sentences saying we missed out on a deadline-day signing doesn't really settle it for me. I'd like to know what they have been doing for the last 6 months since we knew Bentley was leaving.

Its something I don't understand that we were 7th last year in the richest, biggest, most widely watched league in the world and we are having to scratch around free-agents and other clubs' cast-offs...eg Fowler

[yoda]

He could turn out to be our very own present day John Bond at this rate.

err!

John Bond did an excellent job of spending the dingles money

[philipl]

Valdo confirms Rovers interest right at the end of the transfer window. Pennant was happy preparing for another year in the Anfield stiffs by the time this was happening.