[Archived] Alan Myers - director of communications

[Al]

have you any names for us Al?

Ok so the Walker family walked away from the club. So bloody what? 10,000 more have walked away from the club too! Is that not an insult to Jack walker's memory too? It is in my book. Oh, and it wasn't in danger of costing them their family fortune either.

Don't come up with that old timeworn crap Theno. You are better than that. I can't choose who we get. You advertise and pick the best applicant, but you know that very well.

[Stuart]

Good post. Only thing I disagree with is the highlighted bit. We won't break even in League One, not unless Brockhall and the academy are sold off/stripped down. Might as well put a price tag on Ewood whilst we're at it.

We have Prem facilities that can not be supported without Prem money. A fact that escapes some who are happy to accept the Championship as our 'rightful place'.

You may well be right. But I'm not sure what the running costs of Brockhall are. Are the facilities not owned by Rovers? So the costs are light and heat and mowing the grass. As a league one club we'd have fewer staff one would expect but having those staff working at Brockhall or Pleasington? Not sure of the additional costs?

[yoda]

have you any names for us Al?

Ok so the Walker family walked away from the club. So bloody what? 10,000 more have walked away from the club too! Is that not an insult to Jack walker's memory too? It is in my book. Oh, and it wasn't in danger of costing them their family fortune either.

Just seen this, no supporter has walked away from the "club" they have walked away from the current owners. They are the ones insulting Jack Walkers legacy.

[Al]

What I don't understand is why fans such as those on the FF are dismissed as above. I know or have known a number of FF members over the years. None are driven by self interest or status seeking. It's also worth mentioning here as it was raised by another poster the FF is not self elected nor does it claim to represent the fans in the manner being suggested in some posts. Anyone can ask to join the FF and perhaps the more vociferous critics should do so if they feel they can offer a better alternative?

Who elected them then Paul. I certainly didn't get a vote. I only know one of them and I would vote for him but that is not the point ,is it?

[AllRoverAsia]

Haven't Rovers got more staff on their books than ever before? Strange situation when Myers is holding down 2 positions.

[Stuart]

Back on topic, here's a thought. Should there have been a communication to the fans that the director of communication to the fans was not able to communicate to the fans? Or should we have had to read speculation about it on a fan messageboard?

And now that he is well again, is he going to return to the strategy of reaching out on Twitter and swapping snowballs for handshakes? It'll soon be Winter again...

[Mike E]

Don't come up with that old timeworn crap Theno. You are better than that. I can't choose who we get. You advertise and pick the best applicant, but you know that very well.

Or you can headhunt

[DE.]

Back on topic, here's a thought. Should there have been a communication to the fans that the director of communication to the fans was not able to communicate to the fans? Or should we have had to read speculation about it on a fan messageboard?

Realistically communication shouldn't stop because one employee has fallen ill, even if it's the head of the department.

[yoda]

Haven't Rovers got more staff on their books than ever before? Strange situation when Myers is holding down 2 positions.

2 salaries,

doesn't have the ring of 2 jags or sick note, but any port in a storm

[Rover_Shaun]

Fans forum members have regularly said the FF is not the place to discuss the workings of the club. So the "why don't the moaners join" is another swerve aimed at distraction.

In fact every FF member who has ever posted on the subject has blamed the fans. Who can forget the cringworthy Mr Spark?

The FF is irrelevant appeasement where busybodies discuss the shade of the pitch or a missing lightbulb in trap 4.

[tomphil]

Fans forum members have regularly said the FF is not the place to discuss the workings of the club. So the "why don't the moaners join" is another swerve aimed at distraction.

In fact every FF member who has ever posted on the subject has blamed the fans. Who can forget the cringworthy Mr Spark?

The FF is irrelevant appeasement where busybodies discuss the shade of the pitch or a missing lightbulb in trap 4.

Exactly, the first serious question or show of emotion from anyone towards those gravy train riders and they'd probably be thrown out.

[Paul]

Who elected them then Paul. I certainly didn't get a vote. I only know one of them and I would vote for him but that is not the point ,is it?

Nobody elects the FF. Any fan can write to the chairperson, I presume that's who, and ask to sit on the FF. It's that simple.

Fans forum members have regularly said the FF is not the place to discuss the workings of the club. So the "why don't the moaners join" is another swerve aimed at distraction.

In fact every FF member who has ever posted on the subject has blamed the fans. Who can forget the cringworthy Mr Spark?

The FF is irrelevant appeasement where busybodies discuss the shade of the pitch or a missing lightbulb in trap 4.

I'm not sure you're correct when you say the FF is not the place to discuss the workings of the club. It does of course depend on how you define "workings." In John Williams' day it was always clear all topics were up for discussion other than matters on the pitch.

As I understand it the FF's role is to present and argue for things which the fans are asking for. A couple of examples are the unreserved seating area in the DE, probably seen by many as important, another has been issues surrounding concourse catering. Much of this is more housekeeping than anything but if the club doesn't receive feedback on issues such as concourse catering how can it be aware of problems fans encounter?

I'd agree in the grand scheme of things today and coupled with the problems we face this may seem to be minor detail. However the FF has been going for far longer than Venkys have been around and its purpose has always been to raise and discuss these housekeeping issues.

If the FF was to put itself forward as representing the fans on major issues such as ownership and management than it would be falsely representing itself because as is rightly pointed out it is a non-elected voluntary body.

[T J Hooker]

If the ff are so irrelevant then why are posters making a fuss about them, its just more moaning for the sake of moaning from what i can see.

[K-Hod]

There are two reasons as far as I can see.

1) There are a number of "positive" posters who have a track record of winding people up and making very personal, sometimes nasty posts. There are people on the "negative" side who do this as well, but when you respond in kind (especially to people who haven't even been involved in these silly feuds) you end up sinking to the same level in terms of overall respect.

2) There are some people who post from a positive perspective and are willing to engage in genuine debate. There are a few however who simply ignore any well-constructed post that is aimed as a response, and instead pander to those who post one-liners or insults, as opposed to just ignoring them. Soon you end up back at point 1.

I do agree there needs to be more respect between posters, regardless of what they post, but some people simply cannot help themselves and it becomes difficult to differentiate between wind up merchants and genuine posters.

There are also plenty of people who post from a negative perspective that do this!

[DE.]

There are also plenty of people who post from a negative perspective that do this!

Hence my conclusion that you end up back at Point 1, which states just that

[laughatthedingles]

LATD. You do not represent the views of the fans. If the Venkys cared at all they would have Shaw and Bowyer out tomorrow and proper football people appointed. There are plenty of good people who would love the job. Nothing will happen under those two. Until that happens don't come preaching on here. You are irritating all the proper fans. After your diatribe you should get off the FF too. You do not speak for us.

The FF do not speak for the fans, they represent as wide a viewpoint as possible from as varied a range of supporters as possible. Believe it or not some supporters have a different view to yourself.

Blaming the supporters!

never a good tack to take.

Lets get it right,

The day before the Rao's trapped up we were 10th in the PL, good manager (not every ones cup of tea but show me one that is), excellent management in place,

Impressive season ticket base, decent crowds, good 1st team squad and considered to be one of the best run clubs in the league.

5 years on, just lost the 1st 2 competitive games, 18th in the championship i.e. second division in old money. Never had a settled team in 5 years, unmanageable debt, a squad not capable of challenging with this management team. CEO that is aligned to one of our competitors, another exec that does a very good impersonation of the invisible man,

Now find me one supporter who is responsible for this, just one that made one of the decisions over the last 5 years that have brought us to this.

IT IS NOT THE SUPPORTERS FAULT

Of course it is not.

[laughatthedingles]

I'll accept what LATD is saying. And if it's true about discreet support to the local area then that shows a touch of class which I thought was beyond them and is extremely admirable. Also, keeping a low profile is fine by me. But there's a middle ground. And if they know they'll get criticised for saying nothing or criticised for saying something. They should at least put out a written statement which could have been drafted and redrafted until it was deemed to be correct. All it had to express was an understanding of the situation we were in, a vague admission that they oversaw that demise, a statement about how far away they felt we were from complying with ffp (because let's be honest, when the news broke a couple of weeks ago that we could exit the embargo, nobody suspected that was the case) and also a reassurance that they had plans in place to make us competitive this season and continuing going forward.

What people took exception to was daft interviews about football which were from another planet.

I think most people understand they are naive and most people accept they were led a merry dance by some unsavoury characters. We don't expect them to set up twitter accounts or discuss the tactics each week. But there was a need to say something.

This was exactly our point at the previous fans forum and one we are taking action on by directly expressing these views to the owners.

[ABBEY]

Directly ?

[laughatthedingles]

Directly ?

In letter form yes

[K-Hod]

Hence my conclusion that you end up back at Point 1, which states just that

Roger. Apologies if I misread it, hadn't been on the board all morning then skimmed through a lot of posts!

[ABBEY]

In letter form yes

Direct from the witch ?

[dingles staying down 4ever]

Interesting debate and I can see both sides of the argument but two questions remain:-

If the Director of communications has been off sick how come he has gained another job when surely his job should have been given to someone else, temporarily or permanently?

If he has not been off sick then how come there has been no attempt by the club to raise the negative environment that is engulfing our beloved club?

[had.e.nuff]

Rare sighting of alan myers

http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/rovers-meet-with-disabled-supporters-2619410.aspx

[ABBEY]

Would that be the disabled group they don't want ?

[Stuart]

Looks as though they are trying to avoid people thinking that they are run by Blackburn Rovers rather than endorsed.

BRFCAG, BRFCS/BRFCC, you've got to think they'll be coming after you next!

All seems a bit churlish really. You'd think with where the club are at the moment we would want certain groups defined as linked with the club and, rather that defrock them, give them some guidance, and embrace and encourage their involvement with the club, on a voluntary basis. Take ownership of the branding for them and support the activity of those people who are enhancing the reputation of the club, rather than reducing their visible affiliation.