[Archived] Suhail Pasha

[1arC]

I guess its like signing an elephant as the new goalkeeper. Looks like he will fill the role, but can't really do the job he was appointed for.

[booth]

I guess its like signing an elephant as the new goalkeeper. Looks like he will fill the role, but can't really do the job he was appointed for.

If it's a big elephant and he could get league registration, that wouldn't be a bad idea.

[Athlete]

Worst kept secret job vacancy filler in any organization another twohat who should be nowhere near Ewood Park especially with his Kentaro link...

[J*B]

If it's a big elephant and he could get league registration, that wouldn't be a bad idea.

And an older elephant - you always want experience in between the sticks.

[booth]

And an older elephant - you always want experience in between the sticks.

Come to think of it, what's Neville Southall doing these days?

[Gav]

This stooge has done one thing of note whilst he's been here, stop all lines of communication between Paul Lambert and Pune.

He should be run out of town.

[47er]

The worst bit is that it actually says "Pasha will then be able to spend more time in Blackburn to improve the running of the club as Venkys look to cut costs"

How does that work? Improve the running of the club by cutting costs?

He's Executive Officer Asset-Stripping Division, no more no less.

His instructions are to sell anything that can be sold.

Like Cheston, his job is about finance and football is irrelevant.

If he can keep us going to two or three years Venkys are hoping they get most of their money back.

The only cheerful note in all this is that it won't work because nothing Venkys touch ever does.

But I hope that covenant on Brockhall is as iron-clad as people believe, Suhail Pasha is here to test it.

[Dunnfc]

I just wonder if we've mortgaged season tickets?

[Athlete]

He's Executive Officer Asset-Stripping Division, no more no less.

His instructions are to sell anything that can be sold.

Like Cheston, his job is about finance and football is irrelevant.

If he can keep us going to two or three years Venkys are hoping they get most of their money back.

The only cheerful note in all this is that it won't work because nothing Venkys touch ever does.

But I hope that covenant on Brockhall is as iron-clad as people believe, Suhail Pasha is here to test it.

They had the money back in transfer fees a long time ago...the charlatans

I just wonder if we've mortgaged season tickets?

That wouldn't surprise me in the least

[OJRovers]

Anyone fancy reporting this role to UK immigration to see if they will investigate it?

The role must be a "genuine vacancy" for which there is guidance:

"The guidance goes on to provide examples of vacancies that would not be considered genuine, for instance a job which has been exaggerated to deliberately make it appear to meet the requirements of the Tier 2 category. Another example given is where a job has been tailored to exclude resident workers from being recruited."

The job advert couldn't have been any more blatant in excluding anyone else from applying. Also to be a Director at a football club, there was no mention of any requirements for football-related experience or skills.

[JHRover]

The whole thing was a sham from the word go, dressed up by Cheston as an attempt by the owners to genuinely improve the running of the club by installing someone who would be able to act as a link to India. In reality there was no recruitment process, no interview process worthy of the name. The 'vacancy' was created to fit Pasha's agenda, and Pasha was the only one who was ever going to get that job.

There was no way that the Indians were ever going to recruit an outsider who they don't know and give them access to the club and themselves in India. Its a closed shop. Outsiders can be employed as required to tick boxes and satisfy the rules and regulations, that's why Cheston is here and before that Shaw and Hunt. But the real power, lines of communication and access to decision making level has only ever been open to those who are 'on the inside'. Kean, Agnew, Vineeth Rao, Shebby and now Pasha.

Presumably this whole stunt has been engineered in order to satisfy the Foreign Office with a view to getting Pasha a work permit. I would feel more comfortable about the situation at the club and across this country in general if such a stunt was identified a mile off and the work permit application was swiftly rejected by the British government on the grounds that the 'requirements' of the job were clearly aimed at wiping out the entire field of rival candidates in one go and making Pasha as the only realistic candidate due to his ability to speak Venkys' native tongue.

I'll still be interested to see how Pasha goes about his role. Is he going to be introduced to the fans in a blaze of publicity, have an interview in the Telegraph, setting out his job and answering on a range of topics? Or is he just going to continue to move around in the shadows, avoiding any publicity whatsoever whilst being paid to 'improve communications'?

[tomphil]

That's exactly what it is a sham and I'd say more window dressing but I think he does actually have a remit like Nixon said. Continue the cuts and somehow keep a team on the field and the club ticking over because that's all that's happened since he first appeared in the background.

Not counting the Lambert saga because in the end all that did was yield 10 mill in fees with not much outlay. I'm sure his possible alleged connections might have been happy if they had any hand in all the ins and outs of players/managers/coaches though.

[Jock]

Any chance of the first person to knock him out being given a Life Membership to Ewood when these crooks have left?

[JHRover]

One thing Pasha does seem to have brought to the table is more of an understanding of the importance of an experienced manager. Prior to Pasha's involvement we had gone through Kean, Berg, Appleton and Bowyer over a 5 year period who between them were very inexperienced, unproven managers. Whilst I believe that Bowyer was a good manager for us, the reality is that none of those people would have got the top job at BRFC had we been a normal well run club. Since Pasha arrived he's binned off Bowyer, appointed Lambert and his staff, waved goodbye to Lambert, gone close to appointing Neil Warnock, before handing the job to Owen Coyle. Say what you want about their capabilities but all three of those are 'proven' managers with experience at this level. All three have been promoted from this league in the recent past, all achieved that promotion on a relatively small budget, and all three have managed in the Premier League recently.

My suspicion is that Pasha is actually quite astute, and realises the importance of having a strong management team in place. Whilst I wouldn't have appointed Coyle in a million years I can almost understand why an outsider like Pasha could be taken in my Coyle's silver tongue and record at Burnley with limited resources.

Its probably the case that Pasha has been parachuted in as some sort of troubleshooter who Venkys expect to oversee a drastic reduction in their funding whilst keeping us in with an outside chance of a freak promotion. The trouble is that Pasha probably doesn't have enough authority and still has to run everything by India for approval, meaning the club remains an utter shambles and always will do regardless of the actions/capabilities of those who work for it day to day. Pasha probably just shrugged his shoulders when Lambert kept asking for answers/commitment from his bosses.

Whether he knows what he's doing or not, ultimately its irrelevant under these owners. He could be the most clued up man on the planet at sorting out a football club but if he doesn't have the power to do it then it won't make any difference.

None of it really explains his strong determination to live his life in the shadows, refusing to speak to rebelling fans or get his bosses to speak out. Unless he's been told by Venkys that he has a job to do and they are so embarrassed by Singh's behaviour last time that they've gagged him and forbidden him from making any sort of public appearance/statements and instead run everything through Cheston the puppet.

[tomphil]

If he's going to carry on making unpopular decisions he'll want to remain in the shadows I reckon. His first job will be looking for cracks in the riverside foundations

[philipl]

I genuinely don't know who made the decision to appoint Coyle beyond knowing it was nobody employed at Ewood.

I believe credit for successfully tempting Warnock goes to Cheston and the uncredit for not appointing Warnock might be with an agent.

Yes Pasha was the driving force behind binning Bowyer (and several others who were non-performers) and securing Lambert et al but Pasha was himself almost certainly undermined in Blackburn (but saw the back of Shaw at the right time) then got left "up the creek without a paddle" by Pune. That said, some of his relationships with agents are troubling which is probably an understatement- some say he is naive in that regard, some say he knows exactly what he is doing.

The more I hear about Lambert's departure, the more worrying it seems.

[MGAndy]

I genuinely don't know who made the decision to appoint Coyle beyond knowing it was nobody employed at Ewood.

This is why it will be so funny to ask each one at the Thursday meeting with Coyle sat there...

One by one...did you employ Owen

One by one...no wasn't me

Has got to be uncomfortable.

Finally...Owen...are you sure you employed? Any chance of a look at your contract? 😉

[DE.]

I genuinely don't know who made the decision to appoint Coyle beyond knowing it was nobody employed at Ewood.

I believe credit for successfully tempting Warnock goes to Cheston and the uncredit for not appointing Warnock might be with an agent.

Yes Pasha was the driving force behind binning Bowyer (and several others who were non-performers) and securing Lambert et al but Pasha was himself almost certainly undermined in Blackburn (but saw the back of Shaw at the right time) then got left "up the creek without a paddle" by Pune. That said, some of his relationships with agents are troubling which is probably an understatement- some say he is naive in that regard, some say he knows exactly what he is doing.

The more I hear about Lambert's departure, the more worrying it seems.

I think Lambert's departure can be explained relatively simply. Pasha brought him in with a promise of funding, assuming he could do significantly better than GB. This was obviously an unrealistic target, which I'm guessing led an already reluctant Lambert to demand an end of season break clause. Results were better than GB, but only marginally. Pasha can't authorise any funds from Pune (not convinced they would have released funds even if he had done well, but anyway) so Lambert walks. Pasha's big idea goes up in smoke.

For me, the concerning part is how Coyle slithered in ahead of Warnock. I'm guessing that Pasha's connections to Kentaro (SEM who?) were utilised by Coyle's agent to promote him as a cheap option for the job, happy to work in pretty much any conditions on a long-term basis. Venky's approved of what is essentially GB MK II with more experience (albeit most of it failure) and here we are.

It reeks of an absolute and utter lack of ambition. No real plan from the owners, no idea what to do, perhaps infighting and indecision within the family over how to proceed. I think we'll know by the end of the season whether they are able to sell, or whether there are invisible chains binding them to the club and forcing them to stay and attempt in vain to recoup as much money as possible.

[Baz]

Anyone fancy reporting this role to UK immigration to see if they will investigate it?

The role must be a "genuine vacancy" for which there is guidance:

"The guidance goes on to provide examples of vacancies that would not be considered genuine, for instance a job which has been exaggerated to deliberately make it appear to meet the requirements of the Tier 2 category. Another example given is where a job has been tailored to exclude resident workers from being recruited."[/size]

The job advert couldn't have been any more blatant in excluding anyone else from applying. Also to be a Director at a football club, there was no mention of any requirements for football-related experience or skills.

Will do.

Can you point me to the relevant section of the website?

Maybe a few people can also do the same too?

[Amo]

This Pasha fella is an "interesting" character. We still know next to nothing about him, other than his Kentaro links. The vast majority of us haven't a clue what he looks like. Unlike Shebby, he seems to shun the limelight and prefers to work furtively (or insidiously?) behind the scenes.

[yoda]

This Pasha fella is an "interesting" character. We still know next to nothing about him, other than his Kentaro links. The vast majority of us haven't a clue what he looks like. Unlike Shebby, he seems to shun the limelight and prefers to work furtively (or insidiously?) behind the scenes.

The ghost as he has been nicknamed

[glen9mullan]

It is an insult to our intelligence that they put out an advert knowing damn well who was going to be appointed .

The work permit should be challenged Imo

[Dunnfc]

It is an insult to our intelligence that they put out an advert knowing damn well who was going to be appointed .

The work permit should be challenged Imo

Hope it is.

I for one do not want any form of Venkys near here.

Do well to keep them in Pune, now it's cranked up.. i see a next target.

[OJRovers]

Has anyone got a link/copy of the original public job advert for Pacha's role at Rovers?

[Dunnfc]

Paul Wheelock ‏@PaulWheelock 39s39 seconds ago

Suhail Pasha, long-term Venky's representative, is now employed by the club, says Mike Cheston. #rovers