[Archived] Ian Battersby Interview

[TBTF]

I was only being pedantic

It did seem like a good idea at the time......if it was held in the uk and been more transparent

Couldnt agree more-but they have to spend more than an hour here to achieve that!!

Its interesting that the various groups have all made reference during the last 2 yrs to ''going to PUne if we have to'' in order to get some dialogue.Hindsight is wonderful but at the time( and it was the first real opportunity) it did appear a genuine attempt by the loons to meet and listen to the fans

[PAFELL]

Sadly i don't think the numbers will increase much until possibily the last 3rd of the season if we are in with a shout. Venkys aside history shows us that a large slice of the Rovers public will just not turn out to watch 2nd tier mid table football (same for other northern town clubs as well) on a regular basis. Playing good stuff in the top 5 will bring a few more in but it would take something huge to recapture the imagination and get over 15k home fans on regularly lets not kid ourselves.

As a competition I think the championship is very good. The football on show may not be that good. But it is a league which is more or less impossible to predict outcomes. The premier league is the place where the money is and quality of football. Do any of us like going to a match knowing full well that the team we support are going to get beat? As a lot of the times that is what happens in the premier league.

Like many folk, I like to see quality football. But I also like the competitive side of football. I prefer the sport rather than the business part.

My wife and I travel up from East Sussex - not as often as we like. Cost of transport / accommodation being the biggest drawbacks. Yet it is sad to know that there are many local folk who may know folk who work at the club, know businesses who are dependant on the club, yet can't be bothered to cross the road to go to Ewood.

It is of course the individuals choice.

[Tom]

God did I really say that? Good find

So who do you want the autograph made out to?

[thenodrog]

Ahem

Though your opinion did become the former later on in the topic

Can you tell I'm so bored I'm reading it?

It is quite revealing though. Some of those posters represent naivety personified..... in fact most of em.

[47er]

Abbey

[AndyNeil]

Why do we keep returning to the subject of the Pune 9?because they are legends! They have entered the realm of Ewood folklore, like Coddington's penalty! They'll come up on this Board forever.

I said at the time they were being used for PR purposes and I already thought the club was heading down the road to losing our cherished Premier League status but I didn't blame them for going. After all, everyone of them bleeds blue and white and have spent their lives and a whole lot of time and money following Rovers everywhere. Roversmum and dad also of course.

To put in the time and expense those guys and others have, makes them deserving of a big freebie at least once in their lives imo.

Some people really can't let go of the past and move on, can they - especially when in the grand scheme of things its pretty insignificant. Dear me...

[thenodrog]

I was only being pedantic

It did seem like a good idea at the time......if it was held in the uk and been more transparent

Indeed it would have put the Venkymob on the back foot rather than the front one..... Rolling over with an ingratiating smile and offering your defenceless parts to an opponent is for dogs who have lost a fight.

BUT I do however concede that in all probability any meeting on our terms would then never have happened . The Rao's knew what they were at and effectively took the p1ss and claimed the high ground by paying simple lip service and buttering up our lot all week before they deigned to 'allow' them an audience with that little Venkatesh. They knew what they were at and effectively ran rings around our best...... as predicted.

Nice try but 'dear me' if anyone of the 9 (other than poss TomM) is considering a career in the diplomatic corps then it's prob best not to give up the day job.

[FGS5635]

Jealousy is a terrible thing

[thenodrog]

Indeed so. But it is not one of the Seven deadly sins. Vanity and Avarice are though.

[AndyNeil]

Nice try but 'dear me' if anyone of the 9 (other than poss TomM) is considering a career in the diplomatic corps then it's prob best not to give up the day job.

LOL, diplomacy isn't my strongest point - would probably still be ahead of you though

[thenodrog]

LOL, diplomacy isn't my strongest point - would probably still be ahead of you though

I will concede that point Fernhurst. In fact I'd imagine thats why they kept Balaji out of the way BUT imo you are way behind in strategy.

[Jimmy612]

Roversmum was taken hook, line and sinker wasn't she.

God what a nightmare period that was. Be interesting to read other threads around that time. I'd love to re-open the 'Allardyce sacked' one. Some of the posts on there would have people absolutely squirming.

Quick someone find it.

[Rover_Shaun]

Please don't. Sam's head is big enough

But for your own "personal pleasure", and not to degenerate this topic to yet another Sam arguement, here's the first post that alludes to his sacking

http://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php/topic/20232-sam-allardyce/page-566#entry985931

[AndyNeil]

I will concede that point Fernhurst. In fact I'd imagine thats why they kept Balaji out of the way BUT imo you are way behind in strategy.

Powder, keep, I'll, my, for, dry, now (rearrange however you wish) in relation to my strategy - wheels are turning if not quite as quickly as I'd like, for now.

[OJRovers]

Did Birdy ever get his travel paid for as promised?

[thenodrog]

Did Birdy ever get his travel paid for as promised?

No.... at least not according to Big John last time I spoke to him.

Please don't. Sam's head is big enough

But for your own "personal pleasure", and not to degenerate this topic to yet another Sam arguement, here's the first post that alludes to his sacking

http://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php/topic/20232-sam-allardyce/page-566#entry985931

Just above that

Sorry GAV....

http://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php/topic/20232-sam-allardyce/?p=985612

btw That betting scam that caused William Hills odds on Allardyce being the next manager to be sacked centred around an area in SW London and also Glasgow was widely reported but brushed niocely under the carpet wasn't it? Not only that but it got me a ban for simply cutting and pasting a news clip about it too. How that worked I have no idea.

Now which individuals do we know that were in the know at Ewood at that time, decidedly dodgy and who have close links to family and friends in London and Glasgow?

[Rover_Shaun]

Come on Gordon. I know Sam's sacking and the complete failure to replace him has contributed massively to where we are now it's surely time to leave it in the past, along with any sniping and look to the present and the uncertain future?

I wasn't his biggest fan by any stretch, both his personality and football style, but nobody could have foreseen the catalogue of gargantuan mistakes that would follow on from their first.

But it's all in the past. We are where we are and dredging Sam up every few months is pointless imo

[den]

I wasn't his biggest fan by any stretch, both his personality and football style, but nobody could have foreseen the catalogue of gargantuan mistakes that would follow on from their first.

Like relegation? Quite a few saw that coming. Plus, it is important to remember how results are everything.

[FGS5635]

Come on Gordon. I know Sam's sacking and the complete failure to replace him has contributed massively to where we are now it's surely time to leave it in the past, along with any sniping and look to the present and the uncertain future?

I wasn't his biggest fan by any stretch, both his personality and football style, but nobody could have foreseen the catalogue of gargantuan mistakes that would follow on from their first.

But it's all in the past. We are where we are and dredging Sam up every few months is pointless imo

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 @#/? that would follow

[den]

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

No one saw relegation approaching?

[FGS5635]

No one saw relegation approaching?

In the days after the sacking? I certainly didnt

[Rover_Shaun]

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

[47er]

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

That is utter rubbish. First of all, when Sam was sacked Venkys broke their word. First of many.

Secondly, it wasn't hard to conclude that anyone who would do that and compound it by appointing a coach who had never managed was taking us to disaster. Anyone with a brain could see that and did.

[FGS5635]

That is utter rubbish. First of all, when Sam was sacked Venkys broke their word. First of many.

Secondly, it wasn't hard to conclude that anyone who would do that and compound it by appointing a coach who had never managed was taking us to disaster. Anyone with a brain could see that and did.

You suggesting I have no brain

Your not reading what I said correctly. Kean doesnt even come into it. I said sacking Sam wasnt a mistake...what followed was.

[Jimmy612]

In the days after the sacking? I certainly didnt

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.

You suggesting I have no brain

Your not reading what I said correctly. Kean doesnt even come into it. I said sacking Sam wasnt a mistake...what followed was.

And that's where you are wrong. It was a huge mistake - I'm not saying it was the only mistake, but it certainly was one. To say otherwise is very strange.