Alan Shearer

[Nuttall is lost]

Booing Shearer was ridiculous.  Yes everyone was gutted at the time but this was the man that won the title for us along with Dalglish.   We were a sinking ship and that 95-96 season was a total disaster and Shearer was arguably the most in form striker in Europe at that time.   You couldn't blame him for moving on.  The club royally fucked up by not making any major signings and he probably felt a bit abandoned by Dalglish.  I remember thinking at the time that that things are going to go downhill fast now that Dalglish stepped down and that's exactly what happened.  

I still feel the club do not remember and honour those two men enough.  Brian Clough is remembered by both Derby and Forest.  I dont see why Dalglish cant be a legend for Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool, yet there is no stand naed after him nor any statue of him with the trophy.  Nothing. 

[roverandout]

2 minutes ago, Nuttall is lost said:

Booing Shearer was ridiculous.  Yes everyone was gutted at the time but this was the man that won the title for us along with Dalglish.   We were a sinking ship and that 95-96 season was a total disaster and Shearer was arguably the most in form striker in Europe at that time.   You couldn't blame him for moving on.  The club royally fucked up by not making any major signings and he probably felt a bit abandoned by Dalglish.  I remember thinking at the time that that things are going to go downhill fast now that Dalglish stepped down and that's exactly what happened.  

I still feel the club do not remember and honour those two men enough.  Brian Clough is remembered by both Derby and Forest.  I dont see why Dalglish cant be a legend for Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool, yet there is no stand naed after him nor any statue of him with the trophy.  Nothing. 

Dalglish stepped down after walker told him there would be no major spending that summer.  Walker went all cheap especially with appointing Harford. The only summer signing was matty Holmes even though at the time we could have attracted the best in Europe 

[Nuttall is lost]

1 minute ago, roverandout said:

Dalglish stepped down after walker told him there would be no major spending that summer.  Walker went all cheap especially with appointing Harford. The only summer signing was matty Holmes even though at the time we could have attracted the best in Europe 

I've never been satisfied with the explanation Dalglish has given why he stepped down.   I have heard a few rumours.

1.  He fell out with Walker over the failed signing of Geoff Thomas in 1992 and decided to see out his contract and leave.

2. He wanted to go back to manage Liverpool

I never heard that Walker told him there was no funds available for big signings in 1995 and that's why he left.

I think he left 3 weeks to the day after that day at Anfield.  It was very sudden.

 

My own personal feeling is that Dalglish doesn't like pressure.  Blackburn were always the underdog and now they were champions with expectations to stay at the top.  Dalglish bottled it and wanted out.   Still doesnt take away from his achievements.

I do always wonder what would have happened had Dalglish stayed at least another year or two.  My guess.  95-96 we sign finish 3rd or 4th.  We have a more respectable Champions League campaign and there would have been some big signings to set us up for the following season.  Les Ferdinand should have been signed in 1995. 

On a side note had we signed Roy Keane in 1993 who knows where the club would be today. There surely would have been even more success in the 90s.

[Sweaty Gussets]

9 minutes ago, Nuttall is lost said:

My own personal feeling is that Dalglish doesn't like pressure.  Blackburn were always the underdog and now they were champions with expectations to stay at the top.  Dalglish bottled it and wanted out.

He left to give Ray Harford a chance to manage the team and iirc KD went 'upstairs' to some kind of DoF role. Nothing to do with bottling it. 

Dalglish: Stepping down as Blackburn Rovers boss was emotional | Lancashire Telegraph

[Nuttall is lost]

6 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

He left to give Ray Harford a chance to manage the team and iirc KD went 'upstairs' to some kind of DoF role. Nothing to do with bottling it. 

Dalglish: Stepping down as Blackburn Rovers boss was emotional | Lancashire Telegraph

I don't buy that reason at all.  Seems strange that a top manager would walk away from the newly crowned champions to let his assistant have a go because he is a good guy. 

The DOF role was a total farce where Dalglish barely was at the club and played golf all year. 

 

[Mattyblue]

He walked away from Liverpool when they were undisputed top dogs in this country.

That’s Kenny.

[DE.]

When you watch Shearer's goals you notice how incredible his positioning was. A fair few of his goals were tap-ins or rebounds, but he scored them because he'd anticipated where the ball was going to be if the original shot failed and was always on hand to convert a rebound. It's a trait the likes of Gally and BBD simply don't possess, and probably never will. Dack is the closest we have in the current squad who has that ability to know where the ball is likely to bounce.

[roverandout]

19 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

He left to give Ray Harford a chance to manage the team and iirc KD went 'upstairs' to some kind of DoF role. Nothing to do with bottling it. 

Dalglish: Stepping down as Blackburn Rovers boss was emotional | Lancashire Telegraph

No he didn't.  He didn't want the directors role. He left because of lack of funds. Walker wouldn't spend big that summer and Dalglish thought we should be building on what we achieved.  That's what I heard anyway 

[martonrover]

Can Alan come out of retirement tomorrow, please? 😉

[rigger]

4 hours ago, roverandout said:

Ronaldo didn't need to come to the epl. He was probably the greatest forward in history despite his injuries 

Puscas.

[wilsdenrover]

Just now, rigger said:

Puscas.

Bless you 

[rigger]

3 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Bless you 

 

3 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Bless you 

Do yo mean Gesundheit ?

Edited May 7, 2023 by rigger

[wilsdenrover]

2 minutes ago, rigger said:

 

Do yo mean Gesundheit ?

Possibly, was he a forward too? 😀

[booth]

6 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Let's get some of this going

Here's the exact moment we knew we'd got a goal machine.
 

 

[chaddyrovers]

5 hours ago, roverandout said:

Ronaldo didn't need to come to the epl. He was probably the greatest forward in history despite his injuries 

not for me. The Premier league is the best league in the world and he should have come here and play here 

[wilsdenrover]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

not for me. The Premier league is the best league in the world and he should have come here and play here 

You can argue it is now, I don’t think you can argue it was at that time.

[Hasta]

4 hours ago, DE. said:

When you watch Shearer's goals you notice how incredible his positioning was. A fair few of his goals were tap-ins or rebounds, but he scored them because he'd anticipated where the ball was going to be if the original shot failed and was always on hand to convert a rebound. It's a trait the likes of Gally and BBD simply don't possess, and probably never will. Dack is the closest we have in the current squad who has that ability to know where the ball is likely to bounce.

Same with Cole. When Cole was at Newcastle, a young me naively thought he was nowhere near top class as most of his goals were scored from within 8 or 9 yards. It dawned on me quickly it’s a skill within itself which a lot of strikers don’t possess.

Rhodes had it, albeit at a lower level. And that’s why a player with average pace,  not particularly skilful, little power on his shots and not aerially dominant scored 156 goals across 6 seasons.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Hasta

[Nuttall is lost]

34 minutes ago, booth said:

Here's the exact moment we knew we'd got a goal machine.
 

 

Loved that 92/93 kit.  Probably the nicest in the club's history

[DE.]

17 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Same with Cole. When Cole was at Newcastle, a young me naively thought he was nowhere near top class as most of his goals were scored from within 8 or 9 yards. It dawned on me quickly it’s a skill within itself which a lot of strikers don’t possess.

Rhodes had it, albeit at a lower level. And that’s why a player with average pace,  it particularly skilful, little power on his shots and not aerially dominant scored 156 goals across 6 seasons.

Yep, it's that often quoted 'striker's instinct' that separates the true goalscorers from other attackers. People don't talk too much about anticipation and positioning but you only have to watch the likes of Shearer, Cole, Van Nistelrooy, etc to see how valuable it is. Of course Shearer was also blessed with pace, strength, heading skills and basically every other attribute a striker would want, which is why he was one of the absolute best. 

[chaddyrovers]

26 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

You can argue it is now, I don’t think you can argue it was at that time.

well I think it was even best then. 

[wilsdenrover]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

well I think it was even best then. 

Because…

[bluebruce]

29 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

well I think it was even best then. 

Well nobody else was saying that. Serie A was considered the top league at the time. Probably followed by La Liga and then the Prem. You need to remember, this was before the Prem had all the top foreign players in and most teams were composed 90% of British players. Some of the teams in the Prem at the time would struggle to get out of the Championship now. Because probably most of their players would be in the Championship now, as there isn't room for many British players anymore.

From memory, it was probably the late 90s when the Prem started being considered the best league by some.

Edited May 7, 2023 by bluebruce

[Mattyblue]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

not for me. The Premier league is the best league in the world and he should have come here and play here 

Eh? You’ve often said how Italian football was the best in the 90s.

Case in point if you want proof how said poster is on the wind up most of the time.

[Sweaty Gussets]

6 hours ago, roverandout said:

No he didn't.  He didn't want the directors role. He left because of lack of funds. Walker wouldn't spend big that summer and Dalglish thought we should be building on what we achieved.  That's what I heard anyway 

You're wrong. He took the DoF role then decided it wasn't working out a couple of months later. Only then did he leave Rovers. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Sweaty Gussets

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

Well nobody else was saying that. Serie A was considered the top league at the time. Probably followed by La Liga and then the Prem. You need to remember, this was before the Prem had all the top foreign players in and most teams were composed 90% of British players. Some of the teams in the Prem at the time would struggle to get out of the Championship now. Because probably most of their players would be in the Championship now, as there isn't room for many British players anymore.

From memory, it was probably the late 90s when the Prem started being considered the best league by some.

I do think Serie A was one of the top league at the time with the PL. I remember watching Sunday afternoon Serie A matches and Saturday Morning Gazzetta Football Italia. How I missed those days. 

I am fully aware of all the PL years and I have watched it from the start. Foreign players like Vialli and Ravanelli joined the PL at teams at Chelsea and Boro. Ravenelli joined Boro the summer after Juventus had just won the Champions League in 1996. #

Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Baggio are some of my favourite all time football players along with Shearer, Bergkamp, Xavi and Messi