[Archived] Bowyer

[ABBEY]

What is your view on his players not putting tackles in or his lies in press conference ?

[47er]

To be fair to him, last night was always going to be difficult. It isn't the first time that we've struggled in a game soon after a bigger one.

For me, what Bowyer needed to do when he was appointed, was to prune the squad and build a much smaller squad, but with better quality. If he goes at the end of the season, then a new manager is going to be left with exactly the same problem that Bowyer inherited - a huge squad that needs pruning significantly, and still in need of players better equipped than this current lot. In other words all he's managing to do is replace one huge underperforming group of players, with another.

The bigger picture is far more worrying. What will Venky's response to all this be? Can't believe they'll just carry on pouring cash into a club going nowhere, except into more debt.

You've hit the nail on the head there Den. People keep talking about the progress we have made this season and the new stability.

In reality we are no nearer our goal of Premiership football than ever. At least I assume its our goal. All the talk at the start of the season was how we needed "to trim the squad'.

The opposite has happened.I accept that in a few cases good signings have been made. But amidst all those signings have been a load of dross, totally unneccessary and totally unable to lift us. Have we a bigger squad than last season or is it the same? I don't think overall the quality has improved any. One way or another, we are still paying them all!

Will there be a next season? I feel we are hurtling into oblivion.

I don't blame Bowyer by the way, he has done his best and done some good things but its not enough to overcome the train wreck of the last 3 years.

All I need now is one more person to tells that the Raos are at last learning their lesson.

[AggyBlue]

"For long periods I thought it was going to be a 0-0 game"

Well whoever said that was wrong. For the whole game it looked like we would get beat.

As others have said, they could have scored four or five.

[sharpysharps]

It was so important how the team and manager responded to the Burnley defeat and what we where given was arguably the worst home performance of the season. With two very tough games coming up away at Huddersfield and home to Leicester, Rovers could well have themselves 5 defeats on the bounce and be spiralling down the bottom half of the table.

Don't think there is any danger of being dragged into a relegation scrap but the lack of any sort of spirited response last night speaks volumes about the motivational abilities of the manager. Would love Bowyer to make a success of this but how long do you give a rookie manager to learn to get it right tactically? 2 seasons? By then Rovers could well have made 30 odd signings under GB and I wouldn't expect us to be any better off than where we are now.

[dr_awol]

You've hit the nail on the head there Den. People keep talking about the progress we have made this season and the new stability.

In reality we are no nearer our goal of Premiership football than ever. At least I assume its our goal. All the talk at the start of the season was how we needed "to trim the squad'.

See this is the problem with some people. expect to much in one season people- > get rid of deadwood players - stable the ship, - get the promoted

maybe this season whats is good enough is that we have got rid of a lot of players and gain new stability ?

the way i see it is we are a lot closer to Premiership football, this time last season we just avoided a relegation scrap, this season it looks like we have just we just avoided a playoff scrap.

Yes the Ultimate goal maybe Premiership football, but one step at a time. there are 24 teams with the seam Ultimate goal.

[yoda]

See this is the problem with some people. expect to much in one season people- > get rid of deadwood players - stable the ship, - get the promoted

maybe this season whats is good enough is that we have got rid of a lot of players and gain new stability ?

the way i see it is we are a lot closer to Premiership football, this time last season we just avoided a relegation scrap, this season it looks like we have just we just avoided a playoff scrap.

Yes the Ultimate goal maybe Premiership football, but one step at a time. there are 24 teams with the seam Ultimate goal.

Correct and they now all know how to play us

[Rover95]

IMO we will not be promoted as long as Bowyer is in charge. Yes, he has steadied the ship and got rid of deadwood but his tactics are all wrong.

Last night we sat back and invited pressure time after time and he did nothing about it. Why did he take off Gestede for Dunn. Why did he leave Lowe on the pitch? I know he ended up playing CB which came easy to him as he spends most of time just sitting there anyway. We should have been all over Bournemouth, using our attacking options, instead Robinson had to make 3 or 4 good saves ( not just the 1 that Bowyer mentioned in the interview) and we get beat. Against Bournemouth ffs.

If that wasn't bad enough who put that video on at half time? Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds. "Have a look at how great things used to be and then sit back and watch this shower of @#/? for the 2nd half". Unbelievable.

[broadsword]

See this is the problem with some people. expect to much in one season people- > get rid of deadwood players - stable the ship, - get the promoted

OK, so if that takes more than one season, how does the tactically illiterate, unfailingly polite, uninspirational Gary Bowyer fit into that?

[dr_awol]

OK, so if that takes more than one season, how does the tactically illiterate, unfailingly polite, uninspirational Gary Bowyer fit into that?

since im in support of giving him another season ... then that would be as the manager.

[Blue blood]

I supported Bowyer yesterday and said now isn't the time to judge him. I still stand by that and he should be given more time. People seem to think this season is go up or bust...but nobody has actually said that so we don't know for sure. it might be part of the plan...stabilize and move on. Then again it might not and we might be on the verge of the abyss.

Whilst I'm happy with plenty of the things Bowyer has done he simply can't make the same mistakes over and over. I didn't see the game yesterday but one comment which really set alarm bells off for me was this...

"For long periods I thought it was going to be a 0-0 game"

If he thought that why didn't he do something to address the situation!? 0-0 at home to Bournemouth simply isn't an acceptable result. This is football and at 0-0 there is always gonna be a big chance of conceding.

That worried me. As did the played well for five minutes remark (which was mind boggling)

Agree with this post. If it looks like 0-0 to a bottom half of the table team at home when "challenging" for promotion, then you need to do something to change it. It really does seem like we're dealt a hand at the start of the match, and then we either win, lose or draw with it. Positive changes during a game must be one of the rarest things under GB.

Bowyer: "But It was flat all around the ground and it was flat on the pitch."

So it's the fans fault that players who are making a half decent wage can't show up....and Gary, you are the primary reason why it was flat in the ground after Sunday's managerial performance...time to head back to coaching the reserves and time for a real manager

Well, gee, Gary, there's a surprise. A 34 year record lost at the weekend, and the fans are somewhat deflated. How's is that a surprise? How is that not entirely expected? If anything that's another reason that the team should come out all guns blazing, to address the justifiable despondency in the crowd. It is not a reason for us blowing another game.

[watford-rover]

I think we all know deep down that there is no way that GB would be replaced with anyone competent. We would end up with Peter Taylor or some other washed up nobody like that actually it would be Judan Ali. Does anyone want that?! No me either.

I'm as frustrated as everyone else but that's why I don't want him sacked, they won't get the next appointment right.

[JBiz]

I think we all know deep down that there is no way that GB would be replaced with anyone competent. We would end up with Peter Taylor or some other washed up nobody like that actually it would be Judan Ali. Does anyone want that?! No me either.

I'm as frustrated as everyone else but that's why I don't want him sacked, they won't get the next appointment right.

Nail, head, discussion over.

Once the Indian cancer is cut out, we can start it again.

[ABBEY]

Bowyer , venkies or rovers are NOT as important as cancer.

[darrenrover]

Nail, head, discussion over.

Once the Indian cancer is cut out, we can start it again.

Out of interest, what type of manager and playing squad would an annual turnover of £5 million bring?

That's the stark reality.

[yoda]

Out of interest, what type of manager and playing squad would an annual turnover of £5 million bring?

That's the stark reality.

The stark reality is if the Raos stay much longer there will be no club anyway

[USABlue]

BOWYER BACKS ROVERS TO BOUNCE BACK

1 SOCCER Blackburn Quotes

By Liam Blackburn, Press Association Spor

Blackburn boss Gary Bowyer will not push the panic button despite seeing his men fail to inspire a deflated fanbase in their 1-0 loss to Bournemouth at Ewood Park.

Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Burnley, Rovers' first against their bitter rivals in 35 years, had left this part of East Lancashire in desperate need of a quick riposte against former Clarets boss Eddie Howe's Cherries.

However, Lewis Grabban's 15th goal of the season consigned Rovers to a third-straight loss and, with just 12 games remaining, their hopes of bridging a nine-point gap to the Sky Bet Championship play-offs appear to be diminishing by the game.

But Bowyer said: ``We've got 12 games left to play in now and until it's mathematically impossible, you keep striving to get as high as you can and hopefully into the play-offs.

`It's important now that we regroup, we stay calm and we stick together. We've worked hard to get stability into this club. These last three games - we've got to make sure we stop that, obviously - but there's no need to panic or anything daft like that.''

There was a sombre feel around Ewood Park throughout the game and boos greeted the half-time whistle, so those voices of discontent only grew louder when Grabban rifled home 23 minutes from time.

Asked about the anxiety, Bowyer said: ``That was always the concern, but we knew that and understood that and we now have to regroup and get over it quickly.''

In a tense game of few chances, the better opportunities feel to the visitors with former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson saving from Matt Ritchie in the first period while Simon Cook nodded against the post from close range.

``We haven't made their goalkeeper work enough,'' Bowyer admitted. ``That said, I think Paul Robinson's only made one save first half and the lad (Grabban) has had a great strike. Other than that I don't think either goalkeeper was worked.''

The victory was Bournemouth's third in a row and they have also recorded a hat-trick of clean sheets in March to move Howe's side one point off Rovers. They became just the fifth team to win a Championship game at Ewood Park this season and Howe vowed there is more still to come from his youthful side.

Asked if that was their best performance under him, he said: ``It's up there, I wouldn't say it's our best. I think we've played better than that - at times in the first half we gave the ball away under little pressure and I felt we were close to totally dominating the game first half without ever having the cutting edge that we needed and turning our dominance into goals.

``But we're still building, there's still more to come from this team and I think that's our next challenge.''

The next phase of that rebuilding process will surely occur in the second tier next season given the Cherries are in the top half and 16 points clear of the bottom three.

Yet Howe argued: ``We've got a lot of games to come, a lot of points to play for. If you look at our side tonight you wouldn't think we were going to get involved in a relegation fight but, football being football, you need to get the points, you need to get the wins so we'll continue to keep our feet on the floor but recognise that we're building nicely.''

Groundhog day, deja vu all over again, we've heard this rhetoric before now lets actually see it happen.

[Shabani]

Wouldn't mind seeing Bowyer give the players a Sherwood style blast in the press

[yoda]

Wouldn't mind seeing Bowyer give the players a Sherwood style blast in the press

Bit difficult when you are friends with the players

[rovers11]

See this is the problem with some people. expect to much in one season people- > get rid of deadwood players - stable the ship, - get the promoted

maybe this season whats is good enough is that we have got rid of a lot of players and gain new stability ?

the way i see it is we are a lot closer to Premiership football, this time last season we just avoided a relegation scrap, this season it looks like we have just we just avoided a playoff scrap.

Yes the Ultimate goal maybe Premiership football, but one step at a time. there are 24 teams with the seam Ultimate goal.

Post of the day. It amazes me what some fans expected this season. We are 10th, that is exactly where we should be right now and actually a lot higher than most people at the start of the season thought we'd be. If we finish top 10 then GB has done an excellent job, that has to be our aim now as the play offs are well and truly off the radar.

We have to accept that we are a mid table championship club at this moment in time so we will have mixed results. Last season we were relegation fodder and extremely close to being a league 1 team. We were always going to drop points against teams we should beat, such as last night, and we were always going to even pick up points against teams we wouldn't expect, like QPR and Reading away. If anyone realistically expect anything else this season then I'm afraid you are in cloud cuckoo land with Venkys.

Things take time regardless of who the manager or the players are. Look at QPR and the huge turnover of players they've had and look how they've struggled. They've got by far the biggest budget, the best players and a very experienced and talented manager. They'll be lucky to make the play offs let alone get promotion. Just highlights that success takes time.

[Stuart]

It's fine calling it a season of consolidation.

It's not fine delivering a season of consolidation and calling it a 'Promotion Push' maybe there was a typo on the marketing material. Even now Bowyer is still saying the promotion dream isn't dead. Of course it is. It has been for weeks but it have up the ghost competely during the course of this last week.

I bet most people have forgotten about the pledge of a £50 PL season ticket next year...

[LDRover]

Nope Stuart. Nobody at the club has said that it's a promotion season. Chaddy said so.

[martonrover]

Post of the day. It amazes me what some fans expected this season. We are 10th, that is exactly where we should be right now and actually a lot higher than most people at the start of the season thought we'd be. If we finish top 10 then GB has done an excellent job, that has to be our aim now as the play offs are well and truly off the radar.

We have to accept that we are a mid table championship club at this moment in time so we will have mixed results. Last season we were relegation fodder and extremely close to being a league 1 team. We were always going to drop points against teams we should beat, such as last night, and we were always going to even pick up points against teams we wouldn't expect, like QPR and Reading away. If anyone realistically expect anything else this season then I'm afraid you are in cloud cuckoo land with Venkys.

Things take time regardless of who the manager or the players are. Look at QPR and the huge turnover of players they've had and look how they've struggled. They've got by far the biggest budget, the best players and a very experienced and talented manager. They'll be lucky to make the play offs let alone get promotion. Just highlights that success takes time.

On current form we'll finish with less points than we did last season.

We got sucked into the dogfight last season as the table was odd.

We are getting progressively worse at the moment and, taking the results out of the equation, two out of the last three performances have been dire.

[DE.]

It's fine calling it a season of consolidation.

It's not fine delivering a season of consolidation and calling it a 'Promotion Push' maybe there was a typo on the marketing material. Even now Bowyer is still saying the promotion dream isn't dead. Of course it is. It has been for weeks but it have up the ghost competely during the course of this last week.

I bet most people have forgotten about the pledge of a £50 PL season ticket next year...

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the club trying to be optimistic. It hasn't worked out but you aren't going to sell many tickets or get the fans talking by promoting the push for mid table consolidation.

[booth]

I think we all know deep down that there is no way that GB would be replaced with anyone competent. We would end up with Peter Taylor or some other washed up nobody like that actually it would be Judan Ali. Does anyone want that?! No me either.

I'm as frustrated as everyone else but that's why I don't want him sacked, they won't get the next appointment right.

In that case, we should never ever sack him? Oh well in twenty years he might have learned we aren't good enough to defend a slender lead over a long period of time.

Venkys aside, the real problem isn't just Bowyer, we also need Shaw replacing. He has no credentials for running the club and his employment of Appleton shows that. While Shaw is there we don't have much hope of appointing anyone decent.

I mean why did he suggest Appleton when we'd had a list of applicants earlier in the season? Appleton couldn't have been the cream of the crop.

[Stuart]

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the club trying to be optimistic. It hasn't worked out but you aren't going to sell many tickets or get the fans talking by promoting the push for mid table consolidation.

You aren't going to sell many tickets with Bowyer as manager.