[Archived] Ian Battersby Interview

[FGS5635]

I spoke with my dad the evening Allardyce was sacked and I can tell you, the first thing we thought was relegation.

If anyone does drag that thread out, you''l likely see about 10 or so regular posters saying relegation was on the cards. Jim, Drog, Me, Mattyblue, John .. etc etc - oh and probably 47er.

It seemed completely obvious to me that we would drop like a stone.

Well fair enough if thats the case. i didnt post on here then so can only go off the feeling of the fans I know and the people sat near me at ewood and I got the impression nobody was upset to see sam go. Many wouldnt have sacked him, but once gone most were not to upset. He's a very good manager, but there are better ones about and we had a chance to get one and go in a new direction. I remember being optimistic and excited at the time. Unfortunatley what followed was a shambles.

Its easy to look back now and simply say we shouldnt have sacked Sam, but I got the impression at the time nobody was to upset

[den]

In the days after the sacking? I certainly didnt

Not at the exact moment of the sacking...no

A mate of mine, ex rovers fan said to me on the day he was sacked, that that could relegate rovers. He hadn't been on Ewood for years either.

[Rover_Shaun]

Swansea lost their manager and haven't dropped. As have many clubs since time immemorial. To think that Allardyce was the only person in the world who could have kept the club in the division is a tad silly.

Though Sam's sacking alluded to it little did we know that incompetent deicision making would be a hobby.......and that goes for the many members of the "with hingsight and I told you so" club

[Jimmy612]

Well fair enough if thats the case. i didnt post on here then so can only go off the feeling of the (1) fans I know and the people sat near me at ewood and I got the impression nobody was upset to see sam go. Many wouldnt have sacked him, but once gone most were not to upset.

(2) He's a very good manager, but there are better ones about and we had a chance to get one and go in a new direction. I remember being optimistic and excited at the time. Unfortunatley what followed was a shambles.

(3) Its easy to look back now and simply say we shouldnt have sacked Sam, but I got the impression at the time nobody was to upset

(1) Blackburn End I assume?

(2) Who would you have preferred? I remember various names cropping up... Mo'N, Jol, Curbishley - Recent evidence suggest none of them are fit to lace SA's boots. Oh and Coyle was held in high regard by some too :lol: and Holloway :lol:

(3) Our paths have obviously never crossed, and I would assume you don't drink in the same pubs as me - I can show you plenty of people that were furious with the decision

Swansea lost their manager and haven't dropped. As have many clubs since time immemorial. To think that Allardyce was the only person in the world who could have kept the club in the division is a tad silly.

Though Sam's sacking alluded to it little did we know that incompetent deicision making would be a hobby.......and that goes for the many members of the "with hingsight and I told you so" club

Lost not inexplicably sacked.

It was pretty obvious to me at the time. Clueless decision and showed a complete lack of any football knowledge. Morons

[FGS5635]

(1) Blackburn End I assume?

(2) Who would you have preferred? I remember various names cropping up... Mo'N, Jol, Curbishley - Recent evidence suggest none of them are fit to lace SA's boots. Oh and Coyle was held in high regard by some too :lol: and Holloway :lol:

(3) Our paths have obviously never crossed, and I would assume you don't drink in the same pubs as me - I can show you plenty of people that were furious with the decision

1) Correct

2) Not sure, but there where plenty options out there outside of the obvious. Plenty teams sack their manager and go onto better things. Everyone thought Southampton where mad for sacking atkins and would be relegated with the unknown Pochettino...now look at them. The chance was there to do something different.

3) LIS in the post before this thats fair enough. Not calling you a liar.

[jim mk2]

Exactly...sacking sam wasnt really the mistake. Managers are sacked every week. The mistakes are what followed and nobody (no matter how much they say otherwise) could forsee the cluster kean that would follow

Nonsense. Sacking Sam was their biggest mistake of all - all the other calamities pale by comparison.if they had left Sam in place we'd still be in the Premier League.

[Rover_Shaun]

that goes for the many members of the "with hingsight and I told you so" club

Plenty of them are still around

Who had to go and pick the Sam wound? I suppose it's been a few months.

[jim mk2]

Well fair enough if thats the case. i didnt post on here then so can only go off the feeling of the fans I know and the people sat near me at ewood and I got the impression nobody was upset to see sam go. Many wouldnt have sacked him, but once gone most were not to upset. He's a very good manager, but there are better ones about and we had a chance to get one and go in a new direction. I remember being optimistic and excited at the time. Unfortunatley what followed was a shambles.

Its easy to look back now and simply say we shouldnt have sacked Sam, but I got the impression at the time nobody was to upset

You must be joking. Those who know their football said we'd be relegated - and it duly happened.

[Rover_Shaun]

Leaving unrequited love to one side what about that Battersby interview??

[FGS5635]

You must be joking. Those who know their football said we'd be relegated - and it duly happened.

Ah maybe one day I'll be so wise

[den]

Oh and Coyle was held in high regard by some too :lol: and Holloway :lol:

Ah yes........ Owen Coyle. He was absolute proof that we could play more attractive football and still win games.😂

[tomphil]

Nonsense. Sacking Sam was their biggest mistake of all - all the other calamities pale by comparison.if they had left Sam in place we'd still be in the Premier League.

This is true as they may well have rode through the storm of smashing the infrastructure to bits , selling/freezing out good players, slashing the wage bill and bringing in cheaper dross for a little while at least if they'd kept Allardyce in charge. But he wouldn't have put up with any of it anyway so it's all irrelevant really.

[arbitro]

Nonsense. Sacking Sam was their biggest mistake of all - all the other calamities pale by comparison.if they had left Sam in place we'd still be in the Premier League.

No doubt about it that sacking Allardyce was a huge mistake but I honestly feel that getting rid of John Williams eclipsed that in the Indians list of shame.

[DE.]

No one saw relegation approaching?

As soon as I saw the news item on the BBC I turned to my colleague and said we'll be down by next season. From what I recall it was a fairly common concensus amongst those of us who did not have a blind hatred for Allardyce.

[Leonard Venkhater]

As soon as I saw the news item on the BBC I turned to my colleague and said we'll be down by next season. From what I recall it was a fairly common concensus amongst those of us who did not have a blind hatred for Allardyce.

Agreed. I know I wasn't enjoying Sam's style, but I saw it in the context of investment starvation by the (non)Trust. I got a phone call, saying Sam had been sacked and I had a terrible sense of doom. It just didn't seem right.

[Rover_Shaun]

I'm not sure where people can collect thier gold stars and "Master of Hindsight" diploma's

[DE.]

Absolutely nothing to do with hindsight, it's just having common sense.

Most of the posters championing Kean and Venky's at the time have now vanished, funnily enough.

[Rover_Shaun]

But it is not common sense to think that only Allardyce, amongst the whole population of the planet, could have stayed relegation. And at that time, with what had gone before, did not allude to the sheer incompetence and imbecilic nature of the owners. So even that cannot be used as evidence. At that time they were little other than yet another in a long list of new owners who wanted to put their own man in charge.

Using such hindsight Allardyce would not have last much longer and would have walked given what went on to occur after December 13th 2010.

I am not in any way agreeing with the decision to dispose of Big Sam BUT on the other hand a sensible appointment by footballing people (had they allowed JW to make the decision) could have maintained our premier position. Alas it was not be be and here we are, argueing, with some taking high ground, when the club is on it's knees and staring into the abyss

[FGS5635]

Was it common sense that southampton would be relegated after sacking atkins.

Did 'people who know football' think they'd be relegated after hiring the unknown johnny foreigner in Pochettino.

Where they doomed for anyone who had half a brain?

Or did the mystic megs know they would flourish and kick on to better things?

[jim mk2]

As soon as I saw the news item on the BBC I turned to my colleague and said we'll be down by next season. From what I recall it was a fairly common concensus amongst those of us who did not have a blind hatred for Allardyce.

Me and a few others sat in the pub that night drowning our sorrows. We knew what was coming - it was all so inevitable.

[Rover_Shaun]

[TBTF]

Leaving unrequited love to one side what about that Battersby interview??

Oh yes wondered what the title of the thread was.

I think it pretty much sums up where we all are with this mess.He has a good grasp of everything from what i can see.Just a shame neither them or anybody else can get anywhere with these morons.

Whats your take B&WA ???

[AndyNeil]

Maybe BRFCS could assemble a council of wise old posters - formed with a view of guiding the club through the troubled times we find ourselves in?

[Jimmy612]

Maybe BRFCS could assemble a council of wise old posters - formed with a view of guiding the club through the troubled times we find ourselves in?

9 of us or so? When would we go on our free holiday complete with high tea in the company of our esteemed owners?

[AndyNeil]

9 of us or so? When would we go on our free holiday complete with high tea in the company of our esteemed owners?

pity the +1 / -1 system isn't still in use, I'm sure you'd get plenty of +1. Looking back we were obviously not talking to the right people when talking to Venkys and it wasn't just some of the fans who didn't want us to go, an ex-Director allegedly did all he could to prevent us from going as well although for altogether different reasons I imagine.

Still, it is all history and unfortunately history cannot be rewritten...the free holiday jibe gets a bit tiresome after a while though (and that's not just aimed at you, just the usual suspects who like to lob it at us every now and again).