Incey Whingey
A lot of attention was focused on Paul Ince at Ewood Park on Saturday.
Incey reminds me of that bloke who'll tell you he's not paranoid 'cos people really are all out to get him. There's a press vendetta apparently against hard-tackling no-nonsense Man U bigmouths who no-one really liked. Get over yourself, Incey.
My mate Tony Thompson, a smarter man than me, says the reason Keane left was that he found himself stuck in a book by a bloke called Kafka. He woke up one morning and discovered he had been transformed into a shy retiring little creature. Quinny didn't want him to scuttle off; the fans didn't want him to go home and lay into his mutts either. Keane walked. He possibly even flounced.
Given that the Black Cats' next three games are against West Brom, Hull and Blackburn, you can see just how thoughtful Roy's been, can't you?
Ince is clearly about as stable as a drunk unicyclist right now. No-one wants him to fail any more than they want Sparky Hughes to nosedive at Eastlands or Steve Bruce to fall flat on his face at Wigan (although for Brucey that could only improve his looks).
Ince's team did OK on Saturday and the fans were great for him. The only thing that's ever needled me about Ince was this nickname 'The Guvnor' which is fair enough if you're in some poxy lightweight public schoolboy-directed East End gangster flick, but if you're just a hard-working midfield player with a bit of drive it seems to me to be overstating it a tad.
Ince doesn't need to be paranoid though (even if it was a bit cruel of me to send him that ceramic boot in a sack with a little note attached saying 'Needs to be fired as soon as possible'. And I could've avoided addressing it to the Manager Formerly Known As Ince).
He's right - there's been injuries, he's had very little time, it's a steep learning curve and he took over from a bloke who had over-achieved with the players at his disposal. Southgate was in a similar position last season with the Boro and the club stuck with him. Were it not for a fluky deflection and a non-existent penalty kick we'd be....all right we'd only be ninth but that's good for us, OK?
If Blackburn stick with Ince I'm sure they'll get out of the mire. As long as Ince doesn't really start to give any credit to his bunker mentality-fuelled make-believe. It'll be Christmas shortly and I understand that Santa Cruz is coming to town, so they'll survive all right.
And of course it was always going to be hard against the leaders. Or was it? Is it me or are Liverpool the least convincing Premier league leaders of the last 17 years? I just cannot see them winning it. They've not trounced anyone, or played anyone off the park. They wouldn't scare Barnsley this year any more than they did last year.
Their bench is hardly strong either - in fact I'd go so far as to say that as benches go we're looking at a flat-pack jobbie with a few screws missing. The England draft-dodger Carragher is the main reason for their success. Plus the surprisingly good form of Dirk Kuyt (Dutch for journeyman) and Xabi Alonso (who was on his way all over the summer). But Man U will win the whole caboodle again.
The main problem for the big four seems to be winning their home games this season. Sunderland almost survived the siege at Old Trafford and Liverpool and Chelsea have proved rather too easy to resist by teams with far less wit and cash. And Arsenal are about as predictable as a Ronnie O'Sullivan interview. (Apparently Rocket Ronnie has told Gaby Logan that this left hand is like his mistress and his right hand is like his wife...the mind boggles.
But maybe Incey Whingey's worries are less about him and more about the times we're living in. There aren't any dead certs for the drop propping up the table right now. Three bad results and you're deep in the doo-doo.
You look at the table from Pompey downwards and any one of them managers could be giving the Friday press conferences with a wild look in their eye and a load of unjustifiable cack coming from their gobs.
When you support a team like the Boro you start every season identifying them teams that could be underneath you and frankly Bolton, Fulham, Hull, Stoke and Wigan are bloody well letting us down right now. Especially Bolton. How the hell Megson has revived Allardyce's alehouse spirit I'll never know. Soon they'll be having a reality TV show at the Reebok called 'I'm A Creative Midfielder - Get Me Out Of Here!'
Hull City continue to defy the odds, despite Geovanni showing the heading ability of a cross-eyed llama, with fluky own goals and non-existent penalties helping the cause no bleeding end.
Stoke get back from two down at St.James's with a cracking display second half. Thank God me North-East cousins are so concerned for Boro's welfare that they keep cocking up 'n' all.
One thing's for sure - it's already shaping up to be the best Premier League season we've had. More exciting indeed than being Ronnie O'Sullivan's left hand.
I'm Derek Robson. People call me Robbo. Legend has it I was raised in the furnace and smog of Teesside. Some might say I took the hard road. I like to tell folk I had trials for Middlesbrough, for Hartlepool and for burglary (not guilty). I've always loved sport. My job is to say it as I see it - whether it's in the bar of the Blue Bell or on this blog. You won't find me calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~44~RS~)
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Oh, Robbo sir! this column one of the best, a little more restrained than normal but still pure Robson. The bit about Santa Cruz coming to town was a beauty....just tossed off the cuff. A Robbo moment.
However, as a Liverpool fan (a former Merseysider now living in Toronto) - I have to agree with you (yes, this was tough on me!) about them finally being at the top of the table but not exactly leaving us with their brilliance.
Where there's Gerrard, there is ALWAYS hope though.... the man IS Liverpool, regardless. Just hope having that little pad in Dubai doesn't go to his head!
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Have to agree about Bolton, suprised there in the top half. They were my tip for bottom place this season, with Hull & Stoke joining them. Im glad I didnt take that bet!
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Ince needs to trot on back to league two, frankly the way he has turned Ewood Park from a place teams dreaded going to a rather soft touch is disgraceful. I can't help feel that he'd be off the second something better came along, which it obviously won't as he's rubbish. As for the blog Robbo, snore snore snore...
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The thing about Ince's nickname "the guvnor' is that he asked the players to call him by that name! Not very convincing is it? Like a weedy kid at school insisting that you call him 'the big man'!
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I think Oliver Holt made a good point speaking on TV over the weekend when he suggested that race is an issue with Ince.
He rightly pointed out that Roy Keane was far from under pressure from the press or fans before he decided to jump ship.
Similarly, there has been very little in the way of 'Mowbray out!' chants at Albion.
Meanwhile, Ince is getting it in the neck from all angles.
Regardless of the merits of Ince's Manyoo bleating, I'm of the opinion the racial aspect cannot be dismissed.
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Well done Robbo, ur form has come back to you slightly with this one.
"Geovanni showing the heading ability of a cross-eyed llama"
Brilliant?! hahahaha
you want to be careful though again Robbo, cause ur gona have all the Liverpool fans shedding tears again for saying bad things about their team and praising them?!
Although i do have to agree with you on the case that they are the most unconvincing league leaders in years, how they are still there god only knows?!
They do look a lil lightweight again in the squad players replacements department, if Gerrard and Torres are out for any lenght of time, game over for them for me?!
Liverpool and Hull are the two teams who have possibly had more luck this season than is possible?!
but poor old Incey is having no luck, i think that them 2 teams should donate some to him?! he'll be alright, just so long as he is given time?!
TIME IS THE KEY!!!
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Ince did OK in League Two with MK Dons, but now he's in charge of a real football club he's been found out.
Very few ex-players make good managers in the same way that very few financial advisers take real good care of YOUR money.
Too many chairmen lose sight of the fact that players determine where their team will finish at the end of the campaign, not some bloke who likes to be called "The Guvnor".
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Great blog as always Robbo - I just wish you'd write three a day!!
One 'complaint' I have is that you are jumping on the 'Geovanni' can't header bandwagon. If you watch the footage more closely, his second wayward header was actually a fantastic effort, even if it did endanger the corner flag more than the goal. And the reason for that is the cross/corner was about four feet behind him. He ran backwards and tried to get behind the ball as much as possible, I'm sure he did really well.
The amateurish commentator kept going on and on about how poor a header it was and how no-one should cross it for Geovanni anymore, etc. Such. Utter. Rubbish. I just wanted to slap the jumped up little posh git. He's a poor commentator, although he'll probably improve greatly with experience.
I'm a Man City fan, rather than a Hull City fan, but as I live in between Boro and Hull it made it a more interesting game to watch.
Please keep up the great work Robbo, I would pay to read your blogs. In fact, I might have to start blogging myself I'm that inspired.
Sam, North York Moors.
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dodiesmith.........have you been living under a rock? The Santa Cruz a la Father Christmas joke has been done to death.
Ince is WAY out of his depth. The thing that doesn't fit is that usually very ordinary ex-players make great managers and vice versa. Ince was as ordinary as they came.
Sir Alex is a perfect example. At the other end, you have the superb Tony Adams who doesn't know what day of the week it is.
My recommendation: A longer break between articles will keep them fresh and perhaps even humourous. Remember you are writing for all to see and not just for the baseless humour of the Wearside massive.
4/10
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ok robbo as predicted im going to start the protests from liverpool fans for saying we are 'the most unconvincing leaders' of any premiership.
This is just ludacris! just like after 38 games, the league table doesn't lie, the same theory applies after 16! we have been the most consistent, if not most exciting, team in the league so far. A month or so ago everyone was waxing lyrical over Chelsea and how good they were, some saying better than under Mourinho, which is certainly going some! And look we are above them and United.
Liverpool's qualities may not be free flowing open, expansive football. We are functional to the point where every player has a specific job to do for a different match. We are like a machine, this is typified by players such as Kuyt, who would never, ever be played for any of the other top 4 teams in right mid.
So we may not go and batter a struggling side when the others may do but as long as we keep grinding out results, confidence will grow and maybe we will be able to pull off the odd big win.
Finally, everyone in the media harps on about the importance of winning your matches against the other sides in the top 4 and we have done that so far whereas Chelsea and United have picked up a point a piece. This is a real indicator of how good a team is by going and winning the really important matches where it you don't get teams sitting in and plonking ten men behind the ball like almost every side apart from the top four do when they come to anfield. So as long as we get the balance right we will be there challenging for the rest of the season. I hope you get used to it!
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There's a flurry of good professional players suddenly getting top managerial jobs in the Premiership - Ince, Keane, Zola, etc...
They're crap because they've had little or no managerial experience. I know Ince managed MK Dons but how long was that for? Even Martin O'Neil started off way down the leagues and learned his trade.
I think people would be more confident in these managers if they did what the old school managers did and started at the bottom of the footballing pyramid, making alot of their mistakes early on and low down in the leagues, where it can be more forgiving.
I reckon Ince will be out of there before the end of the season, and he knows it.
I didn't know about that Ronnie O'Sullivan interview - I think I'll watch it tonight, or at least tape it. I have to see what other strange things he says regarding his body parts. Next he'll be telling us his mistress and wife have been fighting over his "special cue".
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Drivel.
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to nlhammer re: your point about Oliver Holt looking for a race angle. God bless the white middle classes, eh! no-one looks harder for racial disharmony where none exists that a media luvvie with a column to write and the PC brigade to appease.
The reason Ince is getting it in the neck over Mowbray and Keane is because he has charge over what was a damn good team that is now going down the pan, Keane worked miracles not only reaching the premiership but staying there and Mowbray is in his first premiership year and people can see the direction he is trying to go with West Brom, they just need some luck and a finisher. Ince has a side that is mid table and should be pushing for Europe not staring into the abyss with no direction or leadership. That is his doing, no-one elses.
It is a poor excuse to try and bring race into it as it is not only a falsehood but does a lot of other decent coloured managers and senior players a disservice. If you are good enough, you are good enough, if you are not...you are not. Simple
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what have you got against Liverpool it seems to me that you wrote Liverpool off and now they are proving you wrong and you cant take it. The table does not lie it takes more than luck to be top after 16 games as it has been pointed out to you Liverpool do not play the best type of football but they are winning a lot and that is what counts. Finally when people say we are playing badly a lot and dont deserve to win can I just remind them especially you Robbo that playing badly and winning is how you win the league.
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can you not just speak english?
This isnt the daily sport, nor is it a 6 year olds magazine so please speak normally
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Ince was at Macclesfield for 12 months and roughly the same at MK Dons - hardly 'cutting his teeth' in lower/less prestigious leagues which is what the vast majority of the top managers have done.
He arrived at Blackburn referring to himself as the Guv'nor and talking the big talk. Some thought his push-ups and hard man image in training was a bresh of fresh air. Personally I found it patronising, self-promoting and frictional - not the best way to win over your players. I am not saying McClaren's chummy demeanour with the England players is the way to go but a medium should be found or you alienate players which he seemed to do.
I cannot believe he is now playing the race card. This would have the hit the boardroom like a grenade as now if/when he is fired you can be sure he'll be telling anyone who'll listen he was fired because he is black - not because he has managed to drage a decent Blackburn outfit into a relegation dogfight.
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Great coloumn as always Robbo, I'm a Bolton fan, and I must say that Gaz Ginge has definately recreated the alcoholic mentality of the fans, especially since he introduced the "one free beer to home fans" to get them going in the Lancashire derbys, as for blackburn-
Status Quo say it all:
"Down down, deeper and down"
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If Liverpool are playing poorly, and still top, what will happen when they turn it on? They are one of the, if not the, best side after Christmas on the last couple of seasons.
In the past with Chelsea and United, when playing poorly but winning, people say it is a sign of a championship side. Now that it is Liverpool, suddenly it means the most unimpressive, and they are due to be overtaken? Care to explain the double standard?
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I just think Ince is out of his depth, If he worked a bit more on the training ground,instead of reading every negetive newspaper story, worked on his man managment skills, drop the "Guvnor" nonsense he might be doing a bit better.
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"My mate Tony Thompson, a smarter man than me"
I can hardly believe that robbo after this great coloum
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Yeah funny read as ever Robbo, but I think a better title for this blog would be...
"Is it 'cos I is crap?"
=)
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Great with one club, cack with another - Martin Jol, for example, and then his succesor Juande Ramos. How can this be? In the case of Paul Ince, could it just possibly be that the players are performing like a bunch of donkeys with their legs tied together?
Three come up and three go down - so some managerial heads are going to roll. Bumper payoff. My heart bleeds.
Robbo, you dared to criticise Liverpool FC! How could you? Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Keegan, Dalglish...the tradition, the trophies, the swaying Kop, scally humour, Rafa 'Camina encima del agua' Benitez, who sells a proven Peter Crouch goalscorer and spends 20m...hang on a minute, how much? Yes, 20m smackers on Robbie Keane - what were you thinking of, Robbo? Sacrilege! Never darken this blog again.
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Prof.Yaffle ---
to your question have I been living under a rock - NO. At least I use my name with my comments and don't hide behind this yaffle thingie. (and you question the humour of Wearside!!!!!)
Perhaps the Santa Cruz remark has been done to death - (not for me) if it is when it is in context as it was... Robbo just dropped it in gently. Robbo is a good writer, he is not up for the Nobel prize for literature....... but he brings a smile to many many footie fans on a regular basis. He loves the beautiful game...regardless.
That's enough for me.
I note that "yaffle" is a green woodpecker.
I suggest you sit down and have a nice cup of horlicks...
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Soon they'll be having a reality TV show at the Reebok called 'I'm A Creative Midfielder - Get Me Out Of Here!'
Brilliant.
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Look I knew someone would say about LFC - just wait til they really start turning it on. Well they won't - this is as good as it gets for them unless Torres returns with unbreakable laggy bands for hamstrings. Still they might keep scraping the results and then of course there'll be humble pie and hats and my own words to eat in a kind of weird blog-sucker trial.
I just doubt it'll come to that.
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A lot of people seem to have forgotten this is Paul Ince's THIRD managerial stint, of which the previous two have been overwhelming successes.
He led a poor, shoestring budget Macclesfield side from 10 points adrift at the bottom of League 2 to safety and then went on to take underacheivers MK Dons straight up with a cup to go with it.
Give him a chance, there is no money at Ewood park, i would go as far as to say the least in the league and having lost their best player in Bentley with no replacement it was going to be difficult.
Not to mention Ince and Hughes sides play completely differently.
Give Ince a chance, he has done fantastic so far and learned some of his trade in the the lower leagues, though his transfer dealings have been baffling.
He needs to be in charge for the rest of the season and beyond regardless.
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I think Oliver Holt made a good point speaking on TV over the weekend when he suggested that race is an issue with Ince.
He rightly pointed out that Roy Keane was far from under pressure from the press or fans before he decided to jump ship.
Similarly, there has been very little in the way of 'Mowbray out!' chants at Albion.
Meanwhile, Ince is getting it in the neck from all angles.
Regardless of the merits of Ince's Manyoo bleating, I'm of the opinion the racial aspect cannot be dismissed.
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Utter rubbish. Race is only an issue if people make it one. The issue with Ince is that he's a manager whos only managerial experience is at a far lower level, he's been brought into a premier league team who have some really good players and he's made a mess of things. And this isn't a situation where they have a couple of weak positions and a few new signings will fix it, it's a case of his team is just absolutely underperforming under him and his tactics don't work. Roy Keane didn't have the same pressure because Sunderland were still scoring goals and not doing too badly for a team of their stature. West Brom don't have the same pressure as they've been touted as likely to go down again ever since they came up. Blackburn should be a mid-table team though, and Ince has just downright got it wrong so far. Race is absolutely irrelevant to it.
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I don't think race is an issue here either or I'd have mentioned it. As many have said he could've done with a couple more years learning his trade... At least he's got more under his belt than Zola who might yet prove to be the least sensible appointment of the lot...
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
13: Agree racism has nothing to do with it. Ince is getting in the neck because his team can't win. But disagree he has taken them backwards. Bentley was sold, Tugay had been providing the vision but is finally looking like a 38yr old player, Hughes is detabilising Santa Cruz with talk of transfers. IMO Ince showed is lack of experience taking on a team that had overachieved. Always, always take on team that should be doing better - Harry at Spurs - because irrespective of your managerial nouse you will benefit from statistical reversion to the mean which, of course translates as many more wins and draws than your unfortunate predecessor.
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Kafka? Didn't he play for Sparta?
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Re: prof yaffle. Face it, as long as Santa Cruz is in the premiership every year the Santa jokes will be rolled out hand over fist, in years to come these gags will surely be seen as a sure sign xmas is here, just like seeing fairy lights on trees, and hearing noddy holder on the old wireless.
Your right robbo, Liverpool are the most uncovincing prem leaders for a while, and liverpool fans moan that when man utd & chelsea do this its "championship form" and when liverpool do it their "unconvincing" the reason for this is that they have bene playing like this the whole season, even in europe, they haven't dominated like man utd and chelsea do, and in the end is why they probably won't win the league.
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The problem with Paul Ince is he is the victim of his own success, and not for the first time.
As a player Ince was good enough to have had the privledge of playing for Manchester United, going there from West Ham, where the fans have never forgiven him for wearing that shirt while still on the Hammers books.
As a manager Ince was very successful at MK Dons and his success has brought him into the Premiership; a place he may not be ready to manage yet. He certainly is not ready for the pressure, as he has shown by his silly conspirarcy claims.
Will he get the sack though? Who knows, if they stay near the bottom of the league table most certainly he will, but Paul Ince will survive, as he did as a player, and he may just become a better manager because of it. Afterall at least he will learn the most important rule from manager of Premiership Football... results matter, three points matters, and everything else comes second!
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I think the Guv only had less than 2 years managerial experience before he got the Blackburn job. That's not alot.
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nlhammer, I personally don't buy into the race argument (maybe i just don't want to). But on the subject of Keane and Mowbray not being under any great pressure from fans let's not forget that THEY took those teams up! In my opinion that shouldn't be overlooked.
I think the main problem Ince has is himself at the moment. He needs to stop looking for sympathy and just get on with his job! The teams problems won't be solved through the media Guv'nor!
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I think Ince dropped the 'guvnor' moniker in his program notes at the start of the season.
Saying something like it was fine when I was a player but now I'm a manager....
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The problem with Blackburn Rovers is simple - Keith Andrews.
The lad is NOT a premiership midfielder and shouldn't be making the bench, let alone the first team. I'm a Hull City fan, and the lad was pants when he was with us - he moves down a couple of leagues, bangs in a few goals and Ince, lacking imagination, snaps him up for what seems a reasonable fee to some at the time.
Since then, desperate to stamp his own impression on the team, he persists with the lad - being HIS signing - and frankly they've suffered as a result.
Finally, stop messing about and play Benni McCarthy from the start - Derbyshire is good, young impact sub, but should not be starting ahead of him.
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purpleangelgeorgina - I agree with you 100% - its always seems to be the way though. I think that manufacturing stories of this nature, as Holt did, is borderline racist anyway! It seems these people see only 'Ince the black manager' as opposed to 'Ince the Blackburn manager' and that's what compels them to write such drivel.
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"Man U bigmouths who no-one really liked"
sums it up nicely
I soon as I heard his whinging, I knew it was over.
Bye bye Mr Ince, you won't last till Christmas
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First off, as a Blackburn fan, I have to say that I'm well aware this season will be relegation-fight season. There are some good points and bad points I've noticed about Ince's first few months in the job.
I'll start with the good points:
He sold Bentley for money he quite frankly isn't worth. At the time, he also proclaimed that the much-wanted Santa Cruz would be staying with the club no matter what, so far that's been the case.
Also, he seems to have instilled a never say die spirit ( the 1st game of the season against Everton, the game against Pompey the other week) that will be much needed in said drop-scrap.
Now the bad points:
His aquisition of Robbie Fowler was puzzling and the jury is still out on Andrews and Grella. There's also talk of a Matt Jansen return which won't have too many Prem defences worrying.
Also, his tactical choices have been strange at times. Stevie Warnock is a left-back and Matt Derbyshire is very much an out and out striker Paul, please play them in their strongest positions.
And something else that has me scratching my head, the omitting of Johann Vogel from any sort of action. The guy came in last January and was awesome in games like the Man U game at Ewood, why doesn't the Guv'nor rate him enough even with all the injury problems??
I'm a believer in giving a manager time, but if we're still 2nd bottom come spring, I'll be more than just a little bit sceptical
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(RE: 37) As a Blackburn fan i have to disagree with you on Keith Andrews, I like many Blackburn fans was pessimistic on the signing when i heard, however having watched him this season he has probably been on of our most consistent players and has made very few mistakes. He may not be a tough tackling midfielder or a 40 yard ball man but he does the simple stuff and does them well.
However i completely agree with your other point, Benni McCarthy is a quality player and although may seem lazy brings a touch of class to Rovers play, while Derbyshire shouldn't be starting however is not the type of player as opposition you want to see coming off the bench as his movement is always nagging especially later on in the game.
Personally I think that though i'd give ince a little more time we need at least 6 points from our next 3 games.
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To give Incie his due, it's not exactly like Blackburn have gone from top 4 busters to also rans....like say Arsenal.
OK under Sparky they could be a bit rough and tumble at home, but they were rarely consistent or threatened the balance of power.
Appointments like Ince, Keane, Zola etc say more about Boardroom ego than they do about those of the ex-players concerned.
Is it true that the reason Keane through in the towel was that after the Bolton game he sneaked out the back and bumped into the Stadium of Light caterers who'd just delivered a job lot of prawns?
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i am really disappointed that race has been mentioned as a reason to why Ince is under pressure - especially by Oliver Holt (if he said it).
I like Paul Ince. I think he is a very good up and coming manager (note the absence of the obligatory "young" or "English" or "Black")... but the pressure he is under is quite frankly because Hughes did a top drawer job with Blackburn and his results have not compared favourably.
Good luck Paul.
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The Guffnor is simply mouthing off as usual.
He needs to be placed under psychiatric care, not managing a football team.
Having said that, I totally agree that the main issue here is one of race.
Last season - UEFA Cup race.
This season - relelgation race.
Guffnor - guff off.
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nearpostheader: you must be a ManU fan. Jealousy is not attractive
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Robbo Robson wrote:
Look I knew someone would say about LFC - just wait til they really start turning it on. Well they won't - this is as good as it gets for them unless Torres returns with unbreakable laggy bands for hamstrings. Still they might keep scraping the results and then of course there'll be humble pie and hats and my own words to eat in a kind of weird blog-sucker trial.
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Were you watching the league on the 2nd half of the season the previous 2 seasons?
Judging by this comment I'd say not. Liverpool won many games convincingly and collected probably the most points. If they managed to turn it on in the past, what makes you think they are not going to turn it on again? The season before last they did not even have Torres and managed to finish as one of the form teams.
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Whilst I dont think there is a vendetta against Ince in particular over any other manager, the press in this country like nothing more than to build people up just to give them a kicking when they are down. Much was made of Ince being the first English Premier League manager, and now that he is struggling they cant wait to make a big deal of it.
Why is nobody on Mark hughes' case for being only 3 points above Rovers with the money he has had at his disposal.
And in all my time going to watch Blackburn i have never seen the press outside the ground asking the fans for interviews, yet on Saturday there was a film crew and and radio crew asking people if they want Ince out, a coincidence? Perhaps not.
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Ince is clearly about as stable as a drunk unicyclist right now. No-one wants him to fail .
Well I could think of a few that would. I think Celtic fans would be laughing after his Champion League comments of few weeks back. Perhaps they'll be thinking that Ince is more of the Chumpions League of management.
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I like Paul Ince and he does need more time but at start of the season i thought they would maybe struggle if not be towards the bottom.
McCarthy doesn't seem to be playing too much and he's a hatful of vital goals for ya, Pedersen who i like hasn't caught the eye much in my opinion from what i've seen and Santa Cruz is possibly lookin to jump ship in January.
Then the defence is looking shaking. Got some problems to iron out thats for sure.
If Santa Cruz leaves though i think its going to be very tough for Blackburn. With the amount of goals they seem to be conceding, losing one of there best goalscorers isn't going to help 1 bit.
I think it's going to be squeaky bum time this season for em sadly.
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Ince? The first English premier league manager??
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Never mind Ince...it's Scolari everyone's out to get. Poor man's only crime is to play entertaining, sometimes-fallible football, and what does he get for that? Criticism he lacks Jose's consistency. All anyone talks about is his lack of a plan B...who cares when Plan A works 8 out of 10 times and brings a glut of goals when it does?
Having said that, the 2 times out of 10 it DOESN'T work will probably go on to include the CL and FA Cup finals, but you get my point.
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Good luck to the guvnor - some comments about Ince and his experience. Cobblers if you ask me. How much experience did Southgate have before taking over Middlesbro, how much experience did Zola have before taking over West Ham yet noone mentions them? Southgate had a really bad run last year and West Ham have been the worst team to play at Old Trafford this calendar year. And people are going on about Shearer taking over Newcastle?
I can't really comment about racism as its often a difficult one to put your finger on. Often it does relate to the unprecedented criticism a manager receives. It is good to see though that little animosity seems to be coming from the Blackburn fans.
And purpleangelgeorgina (#13) can you please explain to me what colour "decent coloured managers" refers to? Do you mean red (my personal favourite colour) or are you talking about Sir Alex's famous nose (you must be I guess given your moniker)? Presuming you are using the now outdated and condescending venacular for a black person (more accurately non-white I guess), can you list the other decent black (I corrected you) managers you refer to and how he is doing them a disservice?
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Robbo: I laughed twice. Must be a good column, usually I remain unchuckled.
Disliking Pool I am still surprised about the amount of people underestimating Dirk K.
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And I guess the other question I need to ask is do Blackburn fans really want Souness at the helm (rumour has it)? Or is that just a threat by the board to get behind Ince?
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I would have to agree, you have finally made me realise why I don;t like him. I couldn't put my finger on it until now.
"The Guv'nor", really, give me a break !
PS: JFK for president !
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51. At 7:07pm on 08 Dec 2008, BestSpam1979 wrote:
Never mind Ince...it's Scolari everyone's out to get. Poor man's only crime is to play entertaining, sometimes-fallible football, and what does he get for that? Criticism he lacks Jose's consistency. All anyone talks about is his lack of a plan B
-----------------------------
And given that plan B is always Drogba that Scolari hasn't had available.
Ince's comment sounds a bit desperate.
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How much experience did Southgate have before taking over Middlesbro, how much experience did Zola have before taking over West Ham yet noone mentions them? Southgate had a really bad run last year and West Ham have been the worst team to play at Old Trafford this calendar year. And people are going on about Shearer taking over Newcastle?
________________________________
I understand your points but I'm inclined to disagree. Southgate got away with it because he'd played at the club and already knew its squad and backroom staff inside out - it would have been harder for him to manage a different club in a lower league, than his own former Premiership club.
I've also heard plenty of criticism of Zola's West Ham reign, so I doubt his inexperience has been let off. And only the tabloids seem to keep going on about Shearer's return to Newcastle...something I doubt the man himself has ever seriously considered.
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At #57. Zola has got away with a lot more criticism than Ince but thats maybe because of his happy smiley demeanour. Ince has two years experience achieving good success with smaller clubs. It may have been a bit of a jump but not unprecedented and not really deserving of the attendant criticism.
I feel he needs a little time similar to what Southgate got (I don't really accept the fact that he knows the backroom staff as really a great deal of difference). Chris Coleman is another who got the manager job with no experience at all. Still I wish him all the success he can get - I personally think he should have stayed with the Dons for another year as his was always going to be a high profile appointment (not because of his inexperience either) and that will always lead to a bigger spotlight and that's one thing as a manager you don't need. Still fortune favours the brave:)
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'They've not trounced anyone, or played anyone off the park.'
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But do they need to?? They beat Chelsea in their back yard, and Man Utd at home. Yes, okay, they drew with Stoke, but Liverpool still grind out results don't they, and look where its got them?
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Congratulations, Robbo, on writing probably the first football blog to make a reference to Kafka. Although, sadly, it is indubitably unappreciated here.
One point about Liverpool: they don't need to frighten or trounce anyone, they just need to win matches.
I do agree though, they won't win the league.
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Hmm, quite a bit of hating of Ince and Liverpool.
Considering that within weeks
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Rovers should be doing better. Andrews looks a ggod but though. Loose the next two or three more games and Ince will be gone. Blacknurn should not be bottom three.
Hello Allardyce ?
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Another wind-bag blog by a clueless muppet.
You say nobody is targeting Ince, in a blog targeting Ince!
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Talk about men against boys, Ince should stop crying, stop being a wee boy and grow up. Do your job and be judged by results or else get some more Kleenex
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Man U? Either that is you having a sly dig at us or you are intellectually not all there. Personally, i think its abit of both.
The name is Manchester United, Man utd, but NOT Man U.
Personally, i think your on borrowed time Robbo because your blogs are about as funny as a migraine, and there is a "humour blog" in Review of the week.
Maybe you should start going to home games, i see their are always seats available.
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It must be getting late - took me a while to work out the ceramic boot getting fired comment. Robbo, whatever anyone says about you, you always manage to come out with something new and amusing! Maybe the Santa Cruz jibe was predictable but others were nice and fresh. I agree with another post that the Kafka comment was wasted but at least it shows you are making an effort to expand our horizons!
As always, you (and everyone else it seems!) get it in the neck for stating what is obvious to most of us:
- Liverpool have not been convincing regardless of their position. They have done better than in recent seasons but they will not win the league. You are right to say that Man. U. will win it again. They have a better balanced squad, they are used to winning it and they will catch up both the Pool and Chelsea. I would like to see Liverpool get it this time if only because their fans deserve it but it is NOT going to happen this year.
- Ince is out of his depth. This has nothing to do with race. He may have been able to improve smaller clubs and get them playing above their level but not at this standard. Like many of his kind (overpaid, self-indulgent, simplistic and egotistical footballers) he is incapable of simply admitting that he is not good enough for the job and needs more experience first. He will be sacked before the end of the season.
- Scolari is the exact opposite to Ince. An intelligent and vastly experienced manager who is respected more for his record as a manager than as a player (most of his team will never have seen him play anyway) and who talks more sense than the rest of the Premier League managers put together. He may not win anything this season but he will be there or thereabouts and he will still be their manager at the end of May 2009.
Anyway, several predictions that are now down in writing that I can refer back to later on. I won't be too impressed with myself if they are all proved correct as they are just common sense based on events to date.
I have never liked whingers especially those who professed themselves to be hard men. What would the likes of Tommy Smith and Norman Hunter have to say? I am guessing they would not be any more eloquent than Ince but they would not blame all and sundry for their problems.
Keep on puncturing these inflated egos! Funny how so many of them seem to have passed through the Man. U. ranks?
Regards, Joe.
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Professional journalist why don't you write about the futility of the yellow card and the pro foul that is ruining the game, increase the ban for points accumulation, video technology or a subject that garners progress in the game, the media set the agenda or they help to, so why waste the opportunity to talk sense but give us such drivel and unproductive nonsense because you want to ram you intelligent wit down others throats, destructive negative reasons that will get the fan's calling for the head of their team, bit of fun but then next week we'll be talking about the injustices and attacking dedicated refs, I suppose we've got to have some fun but reading this column is rather desperate and only slighty humorous. help the game.
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I was obvsously typing my comments when Posts 63 and 65 went up! What a laugh!
If Robbo's blog was attacking Ince by saying that he is in fact rubbish and that everyone wanted him out then Kapnag would have a point. However, the blog makes it clear that nobody wants Ince to fail and that he himself is making it an issue when it is not. Hardly targeting Ince - just pointing out the flaw in Ince's assertions. Ever thought of a career as a libel lawyer?
As for TheBeebsAreFacists I should point out that I live near Manchester and most of their own fans refer to them as Man. U. and to the other team as Man. City. Regardless, we can refer to them however we want to as long as it is not derogatory or insulting. I will stick to Man. U. as I do not have the time or inclination to type out Manchester United just to keep you happy. Oh, damn!
Robbo, the expression 'pearls before swine' comes to mind! You must have developed a thick skin by now after all this time but that is better than just being thick I suppose.
Regards, Joe.
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Finally someone in the mainstream expresses disbelief at Bolton's form, it's always 'oh Bolton are a solid side this year' from Lawro and co. - No! it's Bolton! every time they score an away goal your jaw should drop, when they are not in the relegation zone it is to be astounding, not treated as some mild improvement
spot on Robbo, this year's league is certainly keeping us entertained beyond the usual first six game randomness
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You guys say there's no race issue here?
So why did Southgate not get the same amount of stick last season when he was supposedly 'cutting his teeth'?
Mind you, neither he nor Keane had to go 5 divisions down to get to be a Premier Division manager.
Only one black manager in the EPL? Apparently they are no competent blackl people in the world! Let alone in England
Do these guys think we are idiots or what?
Racism in England is institutionalised. Subtle and sophisticated.
We see it, we are not blind but it will only make us stronger.
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Something I (and many people) have noticed is that when Liverpool struggle to beat 'lower' opposition, they aren't capable of a title challenge - yet when chelsea or united do it, as with sunderland this week - it's no problem, it's winning ugly, winning when you're playing bad - when liverpool do it, it's a scrape through
I think part of this is that liverpool have consistently failed for the last 18 years, you just come to expect it, as drawing annoying 0-0s has killed many a liverpool challenge in recent years
Maybe we have come to expect a level of dominance from chelsea and man u, maybe the mourinho years in particular convinced us that you have to win 70 trillion games on the trot
but this season is proving tricky and Liverpool are top, chelsea and united have thrown away more points, maybe liverpool have given more to the likes of fulham and stoke, but they have beaten the other top two (and everton) to make up for that lapse and have more points after nearly half the season - been a long time since they've had such a good chance
in short - keep the faith, don't play their hopes down because if they just take one game at a time, rather than focusing on when the expected wins go a bit awry, they could take this league
and now I've doomed them, sorry
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Again, another deluded post (# 70) by DazzlinDapsy who is obviously not referring to his intellect.
The whole point of the first half of the blog was say that no-one is giving Ince the sort of stick he claims he is being given. Did you actually read the blog before posting your comment? So, race cannot be an issue here if Robbo was not actually criticising Ince for being bad at his job regardless of the colour of his skin! Do you really think that any such claim would be allowed to be posted by ANYONE let alone an acredited BBC correspondent regardless of how subtly it is worded? You seem to be the only person who has come to this bizarre conclusion. What about all the journalists who reported on the excellent job Ince was doing before he joined Blackburn? Where they just being patronising when they lauded his efforts?
I think you are reading between the lines and finding something that is not there. Also, if racism in England (Scotland, Wales and Ireland are presumably more civilised?) is so subtle and sophisticated then how come 'we' can see it? By definition it is then not very subtle or sophisticated is it? Who are 'we' by the way? 'We' must be the only people in England intelligent enough to see something so subtle and sophisticated that the rest of us thickos cannot see before our eyes.
For the record Pele is generally regarded by the 'English' as the best footballer to have played the game and you may want to take into account that most of the top managers in the EPL are not even English let alone white or black. Half the England team is now made up of black or mixed race players and I am sure they prefer to play in front of English crowds rather than Spanish or Croatian crowds. I suggest you try living in some of the countries I have lived in if you want to see unsubtle and unsophisticated racism that is obvious to all. Anyway, nice of you to think we English are sophisticated! I'll take that compliment any day!
Regards, Joe.
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Oh no, a BBC staff writer has slagged off Liverpool in the guise of a 'humourous' North Eastern semi-alcoholic.
How will we manage now.
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For the record Mr Joe (Post 72)
I was not refereeing to the Blog but to some of the responses here.
There is no way you can ever understand being discriminated against in every petty way all your life so I will not argue with you.
I can understand where you are coming from and the fact you cannot possibly understand what I mean however objective you try to be.
To be insiduosly undermined, passed over for less qualified people at the slightest laughable excuse and assumed to be ignorant until you have to prove otherwise time and time again tends to really get your goat after a while.
Someones got to point out the fact these things happen.
Have a lovely evening
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HI Robbo,
I am Man United fan for about 38 years. I never ever took to Paul Ince the player, and when I saw all the crap about him being an exciting manager, I thought it was a case of the King has no clothes.
He said at the time that the Guvnor stuff was all made up and behind him and embarassing.
However, like with Roy Keane, and you couldn't resist it again, you are having a cheap shot. The guy doesn't cut it we can all see that. I just wonder when you might actually show a bit of respect for your fellow man. I know it's supposed to be humour, I get it, but frankly in this day and age, I think the majority of football fans are above the lowest common denominator humour. You may as well try writing a blog about fart jokes really. The season might shape up to be more exciting than the Rockets left, but the blog is drifting way beyond his right. In all your writing you don't once knock Southgate........ what is that about? Com'on get it together and quit the cheap boring comedy, There are tons of things you could have made us laugh about........like Finally Keane leaving and Sunderland defending??? Or was that tooooo obvious......or boro's overbite? or am I being too cheap now?
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Fair enuff, Ince's winging made me cringe too.... and I'm sure that had nowt to do with the color of his skin.
Don't worry too much about Liverpool, tho. I'm sure they'll hit their stride before you know it, and start playing teams of the park week after week. When that happens it will be very handy to be top of the table already.
I´m impressed you rate Carragher, it seems. Probably the best defender in England, eh? Now, HE will make a good manager one day!
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Dazzling Dapsy - I do not want to get into a debate with you regarding racism as this is not really relevent to Robbo's blog because he never brought it up in the first place but the simple fact is that I am not a WASP. I was born in Baghdad to a Turkish Father and English Mother so I have heard, seen and experienced my own fair share of racist comments. So has my Father who is darker skinned than myself.. that's life.
Please note:
- There is no lack of talented black people in the world. A black person just got elected to the MOST important role on the planet. His popularity and appoval rating is off the scale. The USA is inherently more racist than the UK and he succeeded there.
- The comments posted by members of the public like ourselves seemed split evenly between those who think Ince's plight is due to racist attitudes and those who do not. I do not think many of us want him to fail because he is black and this is just an excuse being used to cover the fact he is out of his depth. What does this have to do with colour? Steve McLaren was dreadful and he is as pink as they come. Following your logic and reading between the lines are you then saying he was let off lightly by the media because he is white? I don't think so!
- Your personal comments above on what has happened to you in your life are very distrubing if true but they are neither subtle or sophisticated. Make your mind up - either racism is being managed in such a way that it is not very obvious or it is obvious to all. Neither is palatable but I hope you see my point. I firmly believe that we now live in an England that is much less racist than when I was born 50 years ago. there is still room for improvement but football has lead the way more than ANY other profession. I cannot think of any other career that allows you to compete on the same level as others as does soccer and several other sports.
I cannot believe that what are supposed to be light-hearted blogs by amusing journos are being turned into an opportunity for soapbox rhetoric that makes no sense. It seems that it is impossible to say or do anything nowadays without offending someone somewhere. I hope that Robbo continues to do this and I will defend him and any others just for the sake of a laugh!
Regards, Joe.
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chill out DazzlingDapsy (#70)
you got to the premier league within three years of starting out didn't you?
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If you dont know why Man U is derogatory, i suggest you find out, before you say "Man U" to a big fan who will probably want to knock your head off.
Only a robbo blog could you find such naivety.
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Brilliant Robbo,
Great Read Your Northen Wit Always Amuses me.
And It Was A None Existent Pen.
Up The Boro!
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79
Something to do with an acronym/chant about munich or something?
I've heard that before, tho only on the internet used by an american and it surprised me when I did so I asked some of my united fan friends (some of whom are even manc) - not one of them had the foggiest about it
it's frequently used in the media, I think they'd cotton on if they were insulting the biggest fan base in the world
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In order to keep my head in it's preferred place (on the top of my torso between my shoulders) could TBAF please enlighten us all as to why saying or writing Man U, oh, sorry, Manchester United, is derogatory?
Is it ok for a Man U, oh, sorry, Manchester United supporter to use this expression but not the rest of us lesser mortals who have not been fortunate enough to have seen the light (the red one glowing at the end of Fergie's nose) and forsaken our local teams for the one and only English club worth supporting?
So, when my Man U, oh, sorry, Manchester United supporting friends use the words Man U in front if me is it ok to chastise them soundly and tell them they are 'naive' to do so? Or is that a bit harsh? Do you also write to all the newpapers that abbreviate the name of your club (notice I did not say Man - ah, almost had me there!) to save space to let them know they are committing serious sacrilege? I will start asking all those who refer to my team as Sheff. Wed. to start showing them some respect from now on. Does it make a difference if you use a full stop after the words Man and the letter U or is it just as bad?
Why is it that all the supporters with the biggest chips on their shoulders are the ones who support the successful clubs? You don't see a Hartlepool, Bury or Gillingham supporter making such a fuss. Maybe it's because they are too busy getting a life because their club is not the be all and end all of their existence..
Actually, in all seriousness, please tell us why the 4 letters are so derogatory? I honestly haven't a clue as none of my Manc friends have knocked my head off yet. I dare not ask them now for obvious reasons.
Also, why drag poor old Robbo into this? Oh, he used the 4 letters as well. Poor naive man.
Regards, Joe.
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Tarquin, thanks for your comment. I now feel a lot less 'naive' after reading it. God, some people can be so cutting! TBAF must be doing a Fergie and boycotting the BBC (why is he reading their blogs then?) because all their commentators, pundits and even the players use the '4 letters'.
I visited Old Trafford a couple of years ago and did the tour there. It was an excellent day out and I would recommend it even to Liverpool fans. When I spent a quarter of an hour in the section of the museum dedicated to the Munich Air Crash I shed a few tears - quietly of course. The only club I really dislike is Leeds Utd. (Can I use Utd.?) because of some of their tasteless chants. Oh, and the fact that one of the directors said on TV that they could not possibly end up like Sheff. Wed. because they are NOT Sheff. Wed. Very true - maybe they will get back to the Championship soon where they belong.
I tried googling the '4 letters' and got nothing to suggest I would get my knock blocked off in the future for saying this. Anyway, I await being enlightened.
Regards, Joe.
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To all the Liverpool fans going on about being the best team in the second half of the season - is this because you have been playing under no pressure so can play your natural game and still finish in the top 4 as there are no other teams good enough to challenge - except when Everton did and showed how much fight you really have towards the end of a long season?
don't get me wrong it would be great to see Liverpool having a sustained attack at the league - just don't see it happening.
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I agree with you that Liverpool won't win the league. I thought Chelsea at the start of the season, but now I reckon Man Utd will sneak it. Liverpool will run out of luck and bottle it and drop to third, and we'll (Arsenal) scrape fourth.
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"...the heading ability of a cross-eyed llama."
That brought tears to my eyes, lol.
Wel done Robbo.
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Poor, shocking, dismal, terrible, bad blog.
States the obvious here.....
More humour in hollyoaks.....
I hate it when people try too hard to be funny....
Robbo states that Ince is a whinge.....do you proof read what you write?
As they say - school boy error.
Thanks for wasting 5 mins of my life.
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well done robbo great post.
It bewilders me how a team such as blackburn can be so much below a seemingly useless side like Bolton. Great comparison between Ince and Southgate, I'm not sure if the fans at ewood park are willing to walk the line of life or death for the rest of the season. Ince is drastic change from the experienced and well-respected figure of Mark Hughes. How much has changed at black since last season besides Ince and why have they been expirenceing such poor form as of late?
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As usual the Robbo blog is poorly written drivel. It's interesting though that one or two people commenting seem to feel that the stick Ince is getting is related to the colour of his skin. Oliver Holt, argubaly Britain's weakest football journalist, suggested as much on the telly this weekend. The fact is that Roy Keane was, more or less, left alone by the Sunderland fans because they KNEW they'd be in a relegation battle, even allowing for the over-priced "stars" they brought in. The same goes for West Brom. It was always going to be tough for their attractive but rather toothless side to make an impression in the Premier League. However, Blackburn fans saw their side on the fringes of the UEFA places last season and wanted more of the same; instead they've witnessed a rather lack-lustre side capitulate in game after game thus far. The fact that Ince is black is irrelevant, he simply hasn't done a very good job so far.
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Oliver Holt? Does it matter what he says?
I remember Holt being taken to pieces by Jess Harding after an Audley Harrison fight in Liverpool and sitting there like a scolded schoolboy. Then three days later in his column in the Mirror he got all "brave" and decided to stand up for himself. He even wrote "I should have said ..."
Laughable
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There seems to be an unchallenged assumption that premier league managers must 'cut it' in the lower leagues to gain the necessary experience. Really? Is this not a throwback to the good old days when players would rise through the leagues? Nowadays how many players make the grade in this way? Very few; the great majority are plucked from the cradle or poached from abroad. The dream of a League 2 player making it to the Premiership is dead - a point ironically demonstrated by Andrews. So if it doesn't happen for players, why assume managers need to follow that route? There is such a chasm between lower league and the Premiership that I would have thought that the former experience is of little value these days. I'm not in any way defending Ince's inadequacies here; I'm simply suggesting that different qualities are needed in rookie mangers to what many of you assume. Anyone agree with this?
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Ince will end up just like Roy Keane. These are individuals who were thrown into a managerial post in the premiership way to soon! Keep up th good work.
From : http://idoitforfootball.wordpress.com/
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If I was the multi millionaire chairman of a football club, there are very few managers I would trust to spend tens of millions of pounds on my behalf. Arsene Wenger would be OK. Sir Alex has a good success ratio. It's almost impossible to fault Harry. But give the likes of Ince and Keane all my millions to spend any way they see fit? I don't think so.
Another great blog Robbo. Keep it going (unless that puts you under too much "pressure"!)
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Robbo,
Read comment #75, collie21.
Please give us some fart jokes in your next blog. Everyone likes a fart joke, right? I though this was one of your funnier blogs, but reading the comments, a lot of people don't seem to have seen the point. Maybe a couple of fart jokes will spell out to those people that this is just a light hearted and usually humourous rant about something that has been bugging you for a few days.
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I have listened to many baseless arguments about what makes a good manager. What really makes a good manager? We might even divide the question into two: What makes you a good manager of the PL top four? What makes you a good manager of the other teams? If AW or Fergie has been sacked earlier in their reigns because they did not start with instant success would they still be referred to as good managers? Does a bad run of result make one a bad manger? If AW or Fergie walks out on thier clubs today, would they still be good managers? Is Juande Ramous a bad manager because of Spurs or because he is inept. I am very confused because the arguments about bad mangers and the good ones do not hold water in many cases.
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weak writing, does anyone actually read these comments? comic writing is an art, this is a poorly painted fence. how many redundant cliches and regurgitated observations can you put in one piece of writing. I would perhaps be more civil but you yourself have dispensed with such behaviour in the abuse of others that litters your 'humour' piece. Kafka? is that someone trying to pass themselves off as being educated or associated with educated people? I think perhaps, yes, it is. The mention was not worth the ill-contrived punchline.
Not surprised you have joined the Liverpool are top but useless brigade, because there was little originality in the rest of the piece. I hope Liverpool bottle it myself and Villa go on some sort of magic run that redefines the League. But they are top and have beaten their nearest rivals. So they had a couple of bore draws with below par sides. Doesn't every title winner have their off days? Go back to writing ads.
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#79 You're right if you say Man U to a 'real Man U fan' he probably will want to knock your block off. You'll be alright saying it within 50 miles of Old Trafford but look out in densely populated glory hunting saddo areas.
P.S. Thanks Robbo makes me laugh every time.
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#15... "Speak proper english"?!?!? Your login name is 'Tottenham_BOI'?!?!
So much critism about small details and how the blog is written... It's not supposed to be a piece of classic or master comical writing!
Enjoyable read Robbo!
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91 phnompenhandy
I'm not sure, and I was thinking about this the other day - it's seems highly unfair that premier league players get to walk straight into the top clubs with little or no experience
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of managers who work away in the lower leagues (and non-leagues), achieving more for their little club than some big clubs ever will, and yet will be lucky to ever get into the top flights - steve fallon at histon comes to mind, yeah maybe he doesn't know the prem - but he knows football and footballers, and how to motivate them - if he and a rookie ex-player both had their appropriate badges who would you risk it on?
Or slightly less dramatically - aidy boothroyd did great things at watford and was rashly sacked - he'd make a great premiership manager, and yet people like allardyce and curbishley are bandied around
yeah the prem is a slightly different experience but they all get the hang of it - look at southgate, took him a few seasons, but he got the chance, many don't
I just don't think it's fair a former player can walk into a several million pound job for having high up friends, football management is thoroughly unmeritocratic and it goes to show just how pointless a lot of it really is
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I don't know about a "press vendetta", but there has been a Daily Mail campaign.
As a Rovers fan living in the south of England, for as long as I can remember I have tried to glean what "news" about my team that I can from the press. Usually this is restricted to about a paragraph in match previews. From a media perspective this makes sense since a smaller fan base means a smaller readership from that area. Essentially it's all about appealing to the demographic, therefore you publish the articles that are relevant to the largest portions of your readership.
This season however, since appointing Paul Ince as manager the Daily Mail has published negative stories about Rovers with alarming regularity. These articles in the Mail have been conspicuous by the absence of similar fare in rival publications.
Perhaps Rovers have acquired significantly more fans this season, which has in turn significantly increased the readership of the Mail (although the gate would indicate otherwise).
Perhaps the Mail's readership is willing the first black English Premiership manager success and keeping a keen eye on his progress (in which case why all the negativity, which was evident before a ball was even kicked) or perhaps the Mail are pandering to the prejudices of their readership.
As I say I don't know about a "press vendetta", but certainly some elements of the press have been determined to see Ince fail.
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Re comment 96- illbehaviorNZ
When exactly did you have the operation? The sense of humour by-pass, I mean. Sorry about the regurgitated observation, by the way.
If Robbo's blogs are so pathetic, why exactly do you read them?
I know it's hard for you to imagine, but just picture this. Robbo is not pretending to be Tolstoy (or even Kafka). He's writing a light-hearted blog about football, for God's sake!
And before you come back telling me that I'm an ill-educated oaf, just to say that I have recently graduated with a first-class honours degree in history.
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I do love how people always think Bolton are gonna flop, how about a bit of praise off you lot at the beeb, Lawro talks about us like 4 legged turkeys with bird flu, but i'm just moaning, I personally believe (and i'm no expert) that Liverpool will come in a VERY close second to United, with Chelsea and Arsenal bringing up the rear
Cheers
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70. At 9:30pm on 08 Dec 2008, DazzlinDapsy wrote:
You guys say there's no race issue here?
So why did Southgate not get the same amount of stick last season when he was supposedly 'cutting his teeth'?
Mind you, neither he nor Keane had to go 5 divisions down to get to be a Premier Division manager.
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Because we have a chairman who is known for his patience and a recent history of developing youth. Although there was plenty of criticism of Southgate from the Boro fans, as you'll know if you talked to any of them, but Steve Gibson was always going to show faith in him. Besides, Southgate is a hero to the club, having captained us during our most successful years and finished his playing career with us.
And then, Southgate didn't attract attention to himself with ludicrous claims, paranoid soundbites and constant negative reaction to media criticism. He took it all like a man and got on with his job. Ince is getting so much attention because the man writes his own headlines every time he gives an interview. Give them the material and they'll keep goading you to get more.
Oh, and one more thing: it's ludicrous to say "Southgate didn't have to go 5 divisions to get a job" because he hadn't even RETIRED when he got the job. We looked for other candidates- O'Neil and Curbishley- but couldn't get them and had to promote someone from within. Southgate was technically a player-manager in his first season. He was effectively an emergency appointment and in his first two seasons he did incredibly well given his complete inexperience and the problems he faced.
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Gareth Southgate anyone...?
Also, the Blackburn squad has 'Championship' all over it if you exclude the attacking players. Their squad isn't good enough and Ince has been given an impossible task. However, signing Andrews and Fowler, League One players, was hardly the replacement for Bentley (who was himself only mediocre).
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I have to disagree about there being no obvious relegation candidates - West Brom look as toothless as a 90 year old with a calcium deficiency. Which is ironic given the one man they had who would've guaranteed them a few goals they let go on a free and is currently banging them in for Brum...
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A championship winning team, a la Man Utd or Chelsea can destroy any other team in the prem on their given day, they regularly put 2-3 goals past opposition and they also have the ability to go to places and scrape 1-0 wins as and when they have to.
Liverpool do not and cannot play teams off the park, they scrape victories week in week out and draw against lesser opposition such as Stoke (no offense to all you Potters fans), Liverpool are the definition of a one man team. In Benitez they have the most over rated manager in the game (with the possible exception of Keegan), a manager that plays boring, negative football. It's not as if they play counter-attacking football either, Rafa Benitez subscribes to the McLaren school of management, bore the opposition to death with horizontal passing then hoof it up to the striker or the traditional give it to gerrard and see what happens technique.
I for one would rather finish second in the prem after playing fast, flowing, attacking, entertaining football and picking up a few losses along the way than having to sit through 90mins of mind numbingly boring football for a whole season scraping 1-0 wins.
Liverpool will be the worst winners of the premiership if they manage to grab it this season (not that they will mind)
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Beautifully written commentary. Funny and insightful. How do i sign up for a regular read?
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And to add to that, i would agree that this has been one of the most exciting seasons of late.
Near every team is interesting for all sorts of different reasons. As a relatively young man, it's great to see my hero's as managers (ex, in the case of Keane), some of the superstars of modern football in the league, and some amazingly results from the likes of Hull and stoke.
As a United supporter i still hope we win the league, but nothing seems clear cut at present.
Hopefully Man City will bring in the likes of messi or kaka.. wow! Then the Premiership will be the left hand of us all!
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You guys say there's no race issue here?
So why did Southgate not get the same amount of stick last season when he was supposedly 'cutting his teeth'?
Mind you, neither he nor Keane had to go 5 divisions down to get to be a Premier Division manager.
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Of course there is no race issue here, Ince was a mediocre player, a money grabber of the highest order, two attributes he has managed to take into management with him.
Southgate is still in a job because he managed to steady what was a rocking ship, he put his own style on Borough's game almost immediately. He has shown faith in young players and has been very reserved in the transfer market (especially in comparison to McLaren tenure). Ince on the other hand oversaw the departure of Bentley and Friedel (something that wouldn't have happened under Hughes), brought in a gaff-prone keeper as a replacement along with amazing premiership quality such as Andrews, Simpson, Fowler and Villanueva.
The issue of racial discrimination is something that i feel very strongly about, no manager or player should ever, ever use race as a paranoid excuse for there own short-comings, if being black is holding Ince back or somehow hindering his performance as the manager of what was a stable mid-table club pushing for a European place then he needs to contact the FA and OFFICIALLY complain instead of essentially demeaning the whole issue by crying to the newspapers.
In the words of Michael Jackson "It don't matter if you're black or white (but being a gifted manager may help)"
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what is it with people making comments like"drivel as usual."DON'T READ IT THEN. FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO.Leave robbo alone.
love,robbo's mum
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Dont call it Man U please you ignoramus. Dont you know what that means?!
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No. 96
Getting ready for making a lot of people's xmas's a misery?
Struth man, liven up, don't take it all too seriously.
Clearly not a lot going on in your sphere if you compelled if to be so castigating about Robbo's blog (which was pretty decent btw and an opinion shared by others).
It's very rare I feel compelled to comment about another reader's views (usually have better things to do...) but you've prompted me.
Merry Xmas and hopefully Santa will bring what you want...
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Why are people saying Liverpool will do well after Christmas because they have the last few seasons? That is usually when they are out of the title race. This season is completely different.
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I've always thought Ince is a bit in love with himself. He doesn't do himself any favours coming out with comments like that either ("inferus...inferus...they've all got it inferus ex-United players").
However, his record with two lower league clubs proves he's not completely clueless when it comes to management. I think he's discovering its quite a different game in the Premier League and just needs time to adjust. I hope the board (and fans) keep their faith in him...unless they find themselves in serious risk of relegation.
@TheBeebAreFascists: I really liked "Manyoo" and think I will use it from now on...just to wind up all you dopey Man U fans who are so precious about your team's name.
Finally, to the usual lot of low-grade morons who come on here and complain...start your own articles and let us see how much better you are!
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P.S. I think Liverpool have a similar problem to Arsenal, in terms of squad depth. The difference is, the Scouse Brigade have players better suited to the Premier League and while they may sometimes struggle to score, their defence looks much more sound (as a pound!)
I would have no problem with either of them winning the title...I just hope it isn't Chelski or Manyoo!
Alarmed, as usual, to see the Boro having their usual productive run up to Christmas. I just hope our luck changes in the New Year!
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To someone who says I'm naive using the offensive term Man U... ermm, well I am naive cos I haven't got the foggiest idea why I've been so insulting. It's just easier than writing out Manchester United Football Club. I'll write MUFC in future although I can see them letters being made part of something bigger and becoming very very offensive.
Perhaps them that can't spell Middlesbrough can buck up their ideas n all. Just the one 'o'!
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Don't give in Robbo! if people actually start believing it's offensive, then it actually will become a problem
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Still waiting to find out why Man U is so offensive to TBAF and Darkflame22. No good telling us all it is offensive without telling us why. If Robbo does not know then I certainly do not.
Robbo, it was not you being called naive but myself. TBAF seemed to think a naive person like myself making such a comment is appropriate because it was after reading your column. Bit harsh getting criticised for your readers comments! I guess TBAF will object next to me referring to him as TBAF.
Frankly, I am past caring now. Regardless of what they or anyone else thinks it means I am going to keep on saying Man U as it rolls nicely off the tongue. if my block gets knocked off then so be it. The only thing that irritates me is that I will depart this mortal coil without knowing why! Shame.
Regards, Joe.
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Bit concerened as to what TBAF stands for, too, now.
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A quick google search reveals the reason why "Man U" is considered offensive, it is used in an acronym of Munich which is apparently sung at some games. Calling them Manchester United would still fit the acronym, but not the song.
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Great article but as a life long Man U supporter I can't see them doing it this year. I actually went into Ladbrookes before the season started and tried to bet £25 that Man U would not be on top of the table at any time during the season. I expected odds of 20-1 but they refused totake the bet!
Chelsea's away form is amazing and they have enough quality to see themselves Champions this year. Utd could still manage a double of FA cup and Europe but not the premiership.
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"Especially Bolton. How the hell Megson has revived Allardyce's alehouse spirit I'll never know. Soon they'll be having a reality TV show at the Reebok called 'I'm A Creative Midfielder - Get Me Out Of Here!'"
Good blog in general, but disagree with the comment above. Megson, love him or hate him, has brought in flair players and is taking us away from this stereotype of long ball. Riga and Matty Taylor are class acts for example. Some of the football we have played in the last 6 or 7 weeks has been world class. Even Second half against Chelsea we were quality....
I love it how everyone still thinks we play long ball, but " Bigger " teams "long pass"......yeah good one......
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Ooh now, I'm all for enjoying the good times but 'world class'? Hmmmm. Taylor has been a great buy, mind. As for you 121! Lifelong supporter and yet you use the phrase 'Man U'? I guess that's what they call self-abuse? On the other hand I've just googled the phrase and all I can find is summat to do with a Hindu version of Noah, and summat about this Amazon eco-holiday place and then a lot of stuff about, oh! Manchester United...
It's head-scratching time for Robbo I'm afraid.
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Fair enough beardash your right he doesnt quite cut it in the Premier League this season but blame your chairman and board they brang him from a league two charman to a top flight manager and now their on about giving him the push. 16 - 17 games isnt enough to prove yourself. Get a grip and give the man the season. Robbo great great right up enjoyed every word!!!!
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I don't think Ince should go, the Premier League is so close outside the top 4-6 clubs that any one of the rest of the teams can realistically finish anywhere from 7th to relegation. It only takes a bit of a bad run to plummit down the table, just as a good run can see you fly back up it. Each maanger needs time, and 4 months isn't long enough to judge.
The recent trend of one or two promoted teams staying up each year means that every other team in the league has to improve and move forward with good signings each summer. Thats why the likes of Sunderland, Blackburn and West Ham are down the bottom - they haven't improved the overall quality of their squad. Sunderland bought the Tottenham reserve team, Blackburn sold Bentley and didn't replace him and West Ham got rid of a few good squad players, paid off Ljungberg and now lack any sort of depth or cutting edge.
Of course, the flip side of all that is that if you are struggling, the Chairman must be thinking 'should I get shot of hi mbefore the transfer window so any new manager ahs time to sign his own players'. If you wait too long it can be too late...
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good right up robbo but my point is that not many great players are great managers for example it is only alex ferguson, strachan, keegan and keane who have been great as a player and as a manager so give ince and zola time. this is coming from a geodie for life fan and i thought that the press where sad to put pressure on roy keane as no dirty mackem wanted him to go either did the board.
This is the reason Alan Shearer does not want to go into managment as he is to scared to damage his legendery status if he does not do well in the league as a manager.Another thing is that he probably cannot be bothered with the paparazzi anoying him every time something bad happens at the club. TO ALL NEWPAPERS GET OUT OF FOOTBALL
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I agree with the Shearer comment BUT... it must be galling to see him in the comfiest of comfort zones on MOTD when he could be in there outting some of his computer-graphic assisted arrows into some sort of practice. Eventually the lad has to stick or twist. Let's face it Lawro and Hansen are the best would-be managers around and they're sensible enough not to put their theories to the test. Big Al could end the speculation here and now if he wanted to.
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#111
No please explain...
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There's been a need for a new generation of gifted English managers for far too long and it doesn't look like Ince is going to break the mould of the recent under-whelming crop.
I don't agree that sticking with Ince will get Blackburn out of the mire that he's led them into ? he?ll only drag them further down.
Ince is full of himself, just as Mourinho is, but at least Jose can back up his verbal diarrhea with some impressive silverware. Still, I just can't stand people of this nature.
On a separate issue I had no idea about "Man U" being used as an insult. I'm sure I've used this term loads over the years and was unaware of any negative connotations until I googled it following comments posted against this blog. I'm certain Robbo used the term as a casual abbreviation just as I have and not as an insult referring to the tragedy in Munich.
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To explain to all those that don't know, (and thats ok you arent united fans!)
ManU is not a term United fans refer to themselves as. The term is only used by other supporters as a complete and utter insult to our club. The "u" is meant to be "you" by the rival fans.
An early example of its usage is this chant by West Brom fans: "Duncan Edwards is manure, rotting in his grave, man you are manure- rotting in your grave". The origin of "ManU" is a song to insult the dead Duncan Edwards.
Liverpool and Leeds fans copied this with their own man you /u versions to insult all of the lads who died at munich.
"ManU ManU went on a plane ManU ManU never came back again"
and..
"ManU Never Intended Coming Home" (if you combine the capital letters you get the word "munich").
I hope this makes it clearer that saying ManU is an insult, particularly to the older supporters and to see United fans using it now is shameful. I hope a few might read this, understand and spread the word.
Its ok that you didnt know, but please try to be more considerate.
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Robbo, Robbo, Robbo. A usually faithful reader of your genius and comedy, I have to say this article was utter tripe!
Get back to what you know best quickly, another 3 results like this and the board will be giving you a vote of confidence. And we all know what that means!!!!
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