Steve Waggott

[matt83]

47 minutes ago, JHRover said:

One thing I think is abundantly clear and has been reinforced by his interview is that the owners have no expectations or targets when it comes to winning football matches. It is clear that by extension Waggott does not have any expectations or targets when it comes to winning football matches. His focus appears to be on the hand-to-mouth existence these owners have reduced us to and patting himself on the back when he manages to pay the bills on time, together with individual player development. I now suspect he's on some sort of bonus for raising funds in doing so reducing owner input. That won't do because it runs contrary to us achieving the best we can and building as strong a squad as possible.

He is a tin pot operator, essentially a box ticker who is in place to try and make ends meet with whatever cash the owners decide they are putting in each year. I'm embarrassed that he's the most senior staff member and representative of Blackburn Rovers.

It’s so strange for a manager to have more ambition than the ceo and owners. Almost unheard of. Usually managers get fired when the owners have unrealistic ambitions. Most managers would be happy to work for people that don’t give a toss one way or another. 

Can see why moggadon was such a good fit for them. A club with no ambition meets a manager with no ambition who was able to sweet talking the masses into joining the collective malaise. 

[tomphil]

Lets be fair to him for a bit of balance it isn't an easy job now and i thought from those interviews his heart is clearly in it.

There were a few concerning things to me mainly stemming from the obvious we are happy to water tread soundbites.  Something many of us have been saying for years but when you finally get in touching distance and hear that is still the case then it isn't good.

That has nothing to do with money delays from India either as the narrative would be the same regardless.

Whilst iv'e never been his biggest fan i think we could (and have) done a lot worse for CEO's.

Everything starts and finishes above his nut.

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

Having read so much about Steve Waggott on this board, I found the BBC interview a very pleasant surprise.

I would normally advise CEOs to keep answers shorter and simpler but he threaded complex replies together comprehensively, engagingly and with little repetition.

It is remarkable how little of the 30 minutes is being quoted out of context on here given how much talking he did.

100% absolutely right he should have been in Blackburn and nowhere near Birmingham on transfer deadline night. 100% right the buck stops with him and the O'Brien screw up is on his charge sheet.

And the latter paragraph you quote is some sort of badge of honour in your book?

[Upside Down]

Could there be worse? Possibly. 

Can we do better? Yes.

End of.

[glen9mullan]

11 hours ago, JHRover said:

So a lengthy interview that actually tells us very little. I say interview because after the interviewer has set him off there are barely any questions, Waggott just goes off on one almost as through his is reading from a script.

It is amazing how he manages to make out as though the basics of operating as a professional football club - paying tax, paying wages, paying bills, relaying the pitch, getting ready to host games - is some sort of special achievement on his and his staff's part. It kind of sums up his mentality that on the eve of the new season one of the first things he talks about is how well we've done to pay our bills and tax.

The interview of a bloke panicking and throwing whatever he can out there in a bid to protect himself and his bosses from any criticism by having to remind everyone listening of just what a stellar job he's doing. No wonder the owners keep him on if they believe everything he comes out with.

I'm not sure how others have found him when they have had meeting with him, but I recall my first meeting quite well. Once he opens his mouth, he goes off point straight away and it can be quite challenging to get a word in edge. I recall him going on about a trip to Scotland he had made, and I was scratching my head thinking what's that got to do with the question I asked?

Second time around, his answers were not consistent with the answers he had given from the first meeting and it was much easier to probe, as his default answers or schooled answers for a better word, where no longer his go to answers when re-directed.

As I said on here the first time I met him, he comes across as a hard working guy, and there is no doubt he puts the hours in.

I'm not surprised in the main looking around social media that his interviews have gone down well with a lot of supporters, as this level of transparency is not what most are accustomed to. Whilst many don't use the message boards, and tend to bounce off the twitter trends or facebook groups. So don't read some of the things suggested, posted leading up to the interview to think otherwise.

He suggest there is an issue in India, but not what that issue is, or a timescale to when this will be resolved. Is he suggesting a block on operational capital being put into the club, or is he suggesting the operating capital will come with a tax attached thus, the owners are not comfortable in putting it in right now? If they fail at their challenge on this issue, what is the next step? Further cuts? lack of funding totally? Funding will be come and they will just pay the tax?#

How will this affect January? Has he already put together a best case/worse case scenario with a contingency plan? How will this affect us at the end of the season, given we have already taken an advancement of the next three years sponsorship?

If he simply does not know the answers, how can we confidently spend any of the incoming transfer money without leaving ourselves short later in the year?

 

[Mike E]

5 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

I'm not sure how others have found him when they have had meeting with him, but I recall my first meeting quite well. Once he opens his mouth, he goes off point straight away and it can be quite challenging to get a word in edge. I recall him going on about a trip to Scotland he had made, and I was scratching my head thinking what's that got to do with the question I asked?

Second time around, his answers were not consistent with the answers he had given from the first meeting and it was much easier to probe, as his default answers or schooled answers for a better word, where no longer his go to answers when re-directed.

As I said on here the first time I met him, he comes across as a hard working guy, and there is no doubt he puts the hours in.

I'm not surprised in the main looking around social media that his interviews have gone down well with a lot of supporters, as this level of transparency is not what most are accustomed to. Whilst many don't use the message boards, and tend to bounce off the twitter trends or facebook groups. So don't read some of the things suggested, posted leading up to the interview to think otherwise.

He suggest there is an issue in India, but not what that issue is, or a timescale to when this will be resolved. Is he suggesting a block on operational capital being put into the club, or is he suggesting the operating capital will come with a tax attached thus, the owners are not comfortable in putting it in right now? If they fail at their challenge on this issue, what is the next step? Further cuts? lack of funding totally? Funding will be come and they will just pay the tax?#

How will this affect January? Has he already put together a best case/worse case scenario with a contingency plan? How will this affect us at the end of the season, given we have already taken an advancement of the next three years sponsorship?

If he simply does not know the answers, how can we confidently spend any of the incoming transfer money without leaving ourselves short later in the year?

 

Met him twice glen, as part of the Trust. He’s a very hard-working man imo, and does deserve a certain amount of credit particularly for culling the wage bill a few years ago from well over 200% of our income as a fallout from Lambert and Coyle’s time here.

I also give him credit for specifically reaching out to the Trust, but rather than fan engagement, it has struck me as asking for help followed by a lot bafflement at how the fans feel towards the owners. Ie: no REAL engagement.

However, I also believe that he just happens to be the wrong CEO for us. If he was on Broughton’s rumoured £150k, I’d be more empathetic. For double that, I want more drive to push forward, especially in the marketing and commercial departments.

I came up with the original RT marketing prospectus in about 4hrs, with no marketing knowledge but plenty of Rovers knowledge.

Begs the question wtf has been going on down there. I understand he meets his targets in the simplest way possible, but don’t seem to get much creative thinking.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Mike E

[Mattyblue]

He’s content to keep it ticking over. 8/9k ST holders (though they are happy with c7k), a few thousand walk ons, usual few hundred folk in hospitality, Sky games for additional income, a few low level sponsors. Rinse and repeat year in year out.

Absolutely no thinking outside the box.

[Upside Down]

10 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

He’s content to keep it ticking over. 8/9k ST holders (though they are happy with c7k), a few thousand walk ons, usual few hundred folk in hospitality, Sky games for additional income, a few low level sponsors. Rinse and repeat year in year out.

Absolutely no thinking.

Sorted.

[OldEwoodBlue]

No problem with Steve at all. 

Paid employee doing what he is being paid & asked to do.

The only opinion that matters is that of his boss (Suhail) and his boss (Bala).

Customers opinions mean nowt.

[Mattyblue]

Of course we know where the real problem is, we’ve known that for 13 years, that doesn’t mean the CEO is absolved of all responsibility.

[OldEwoodBlue]

2 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Of course we know where the real problem is, we’ve known that for 13 years, that doesn’t mean the CEO is absolved of all responsibility.

Surely you can't expect a highly paid executive to ignore his paymasters and do the opposite thing ?

Then he wouldn't be the highly paid executive for very long.

[Mattyblue]

He’s asked to run the club in a way that reduces their contribution. Ergo he needs to raise revenue and keep the club going. How he does that is up to him - he takes the easy option every time.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Mattyblue

[Gav]

On 30/07/2023 at 12:45, Gav said:

I was speaking recently to a former member of this parish, a well respected former member and he was telling me that despite still having some misgivings on pricing and fan engagement, Waggott is actually doing a really good keeping things ticking along without all the drama that has dominated over the past decade or more.

He has a point and it certainly gave me food for thought, but I'm still convinced we could do better, but that is in the hands of the owners and they're not interested in doing better.

I posted this a week or so ago on another thread, Waggotts latest interview was pretty frank and honest for me, supporting the point above from a former member of this Parish.

Here we have a lower league CEO with one hand tied behind his back, working for a Championship club with abysmal owners, nothing more than that really. 

[tomphil]

7 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

I'm not sure how others have found him when they have had meeting with him, but I recall my first meeting quite well. Once he opens his mouth, he goes off point straight away and it can be quite challenging to get a word in edge. I recall him going on about a trip to Scotland he had made, and I was scratching my head thinking what's that got to do with the question I asked?

Second time around, his answers were not consistent with the answers he had given from the first meeting and it was much easier to probe, as his default answers or schooled answers for a better word, where no longer his go to answers when re-directed.

As I said on here the first time I met him, he comes across as a hard working guy, and there is no doubt he puts the hours in.

I'm not surprised in the main looking around social media that his interviews have gone down well with a lot of supporters, as this level of transparency is not what most are accustomed to. Whilst many don't use the message boards, and tend to bounce off the twitter trends or facebook groups. So don't read some of the things suggested, posted leading up to the interview to think otherwise.

He suggest there is an issue in India, but not what that issue is, or a timescale to when this will be resolved. Is he suggesting a block on operational capital being put into the club, or is he suggesting the operating capital will come with a tax attached thus, the owners are not comfortable in putting it in right now? If they fail at their challenge on this issue, what is the next step? Further cuts? lack of funding totally? Funding will be come and they will just pay the tax?#

How will this affect January? Has he already put together a best case/worse case scenario with a contingency plan? How will this affect us at the end of the season, given we have already taken an advancement of the next three years sponsorship?

If he simply does not know the answers, how can we confidently spend any of the incoming transfer money without leaving ourselves short later in the year?

 

I think we can gather from what we've seen and heard over the years he isn't a long term strategic planner he very much just wings it season to season.

What does come across is he is terrified of points deductions, quite rightly as that would be the end of us and him. 

Edited August 5, 2023 by tomphil

[Rogerb]

Just as well he is doing such a good job we'd be in a right mess otherwise.

[Moptop1]

There is no way to get at the owners and tell them they should get out of our club. They have surrounded themselves with protection - Waggott and Pasha. Maybe target them, make their lives difficult. Get them to crumble and feel unsettled.

Something needs to be done. Thirteen years this has been going on. Why are they still here? 

[47er]

On 05/08/2023 at 20:04, Rogerb said:

Just as well he is doing such a good job we'd be in a right mess otherwise.

Hard to tell if your are being sarcastic or not!!

Either way the man actually doing a good job is Tomasson. He may well serve out his 3 year (?) contract but he has clearly been sold a pup---as in "the project has changed" and hasn't been given the support he needed and deserved.

I can't see us making 2 good appointments in a row so I think we'll soon be in real strife and promotion looks as far away as ever. Avoiding relegation will more likely be the aim at that point.

If JDT gets this squad up it would be an absolute miracle. Definitely weaker than last season, no project at all.

A real slap in the face of supporters  with optimism raised last season.

[Upside Down]

11 minutes ago, 47er said:

Hard to tell if your are being sarcastic or not!!

Either way the man actually doing a good job is Tomasson. He may well serve out his 3 year (?) contract but he has clearly been sold a pup---as in "the project has changed" and hasn't been given the support he needed and deserved.

I can't see us making 2 good appointments in a row so I think we'll soon be in real strife and promotion looks as far away as ever. Avoiding relegation will more likely be the aim at that point.

If JDT gets this squad up it would be an absolute miracle. Definitely weaker than last season, no project at all.

A real slap in the face of supporters  with optimism raised last season.

Avoiding relegation to league one is the only objective the club will ever have whilst venkys are here.

Promotion to the prem will never be on the agenda.

[philipl]

Horrific thought but if the Indian taps are completely turned off, Waggott's avoiding relegation to League 1 will be a considerable achievement given the player sales that will be needed in January.

[JHRover]

Just think though, if it wasn't for Venkys we'd end up in a terrible state like....um.....Bolton, Blackpool, Derby

[Rogerb]

8 hours ago, 47er said:

Hard to tell if your are being sarcastic or not!!

Either way the man actually doing a good job is Tomasson. He may well serve out his 3 year (?) contract but he has clearly been sold a pup---as in "the project has changed" and hasn't been given the support he needed and deserved.

I can't see us making 2 good appointments in a row so I think we'll soon be in real strife and promotion looks as far away as ever. Avoiding relegation will more likely be the aim at that point.

If JDT gets this squad up it would be an absolute miracle. Definitely weaker than last season, no project at all.

A real slap in the face of supporters  with optimism raised last season.

I think you've rumbled me 47er.

[47er]

6 hours ago, Rogerb said:

I think you've rumbled me 47er.

I'm pretty incisive when I feel like it Roger!

[AllRoverAsia]

16 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Avoiding relegation to league one is the only objective the club will ever have whilst venkys are here.

Promotion to the prem will never be on the agenda.

Missions like JanW2023 will make sure of that.

[Upside Down]

11 hours ago, philipl said:

Horrific thought but if the Indian taps are completely turned off, Waggott's avoiding relegation to League 1 will be a considerable achievement given the player sales that will be needed in January.

No it fucking won't. 

[tomphil]

20 hours ago, philipl said:

Horrific thought but if the Indian taps are completely turned off, Waggott's avoiding relegation to League 1 will be a considerable achievement given the player sales that will be needed in January.

We'll be alright until next summer with the payers there are to sell but after that we'd be doomed. 

Of course just like last time they did this they'd probably start funding it again on a much reduced level after more costs have been cut.

Eventually we'll end up where many of us have predicted for years we will eventually under this lot.   A ten bob midtable lge 1 outfit run on it's own income low budget/wage  with the academy and free transfer and loans providing all players ( we are already well down the road to that )

With minimal owner contribution mostly towards the academy. By then we'll probably just be owned by Mr B and son and been chucked off the VH group books.