Through A Blackburn Rovers Fan's Eyes

Through A Blackburn Rovers Fan's Eyes

The start of the 2011/12 season has been one of sheer frustration so far. Deal after deal in the transfer market has fallen through for whatever reason, and those continued promises from the owners for a big name signing look more and more ridiculous each time. So far, David Beckham and Ronaldinho back in January, and most recently just a week or two ago Spanish legend Raul have all been mentioned in possibly arriving at Ewood. Sure, the buzz of excitement those names creates is wonderful, and it's great to see them being associated with Rovers, but at the same time, as they all fail to materialise all that happens is they end up making the club appear a laughing stock. I laughed when we where apparently going to sign Michel Salgado, in all honesty.

Speaking of laughing stock, THAT advert. I mean really? Is it really that bad? Sure, Venky's now have Rovers as a marketing tool, but while Rovers are a marketing tool to the owners, wherever that advert has reached, Blackburn Rovers have a new potential audience. Remember, Rovers don't get gates of 40-70 thousand like some other Premier League clubs, so aside from gate receipts, other forms of income become extremely important. Every potential new fan, who will attend the games or purchase official merchandise will bring much needed income to the club. All the most famous Premier League clubs have done it. United in the States and Asia, for example. Raising a club's worldwide profile is massively important, and in that sense it 's good business. Competing in the Barclays Asia Trophy was one way of doing just that.

Rovers have made a positive step in passing on a paid shirt sponsor this season, instead opting to carry the insignia of the Prince's Trust on their shirts. When Villa did this with Acorns a song and dance accompanied it, yet I haven't heard mention of Rovers doing the same anywhere in the media. I'm disappointed that positive moves like this aren't given more recognition.

It's somewhat obvious though that the fans don't appear to have a great deal of confidence in boss Steve Kean. At this particular moment, I do have a degree of sympathy for him. What manager at the moment flies out to other countries to attempt to seal deals for a player? Not very many. At the moment Kean appears to be doing a lot of the clubs business in solitude. The club haven't completed their restructuring of the management. Gone are John Williams & Tom Finn who had been an integral part of the heartbeat of the club in recent years. Paul Hunt, has joined from Leicester as new Deputy CEO, and Simon Hunt (no relation) is the club's new Sporting Director. The all important Chief Executive role still remains vacant, however. On the one hand, I'm glad Venky's haven't rushed to appoint someone, but at the same time it's a role that needs to be filled as quickly as possible, providing the right person is appointed. For now, whatever you think of Kean, while Venky's are backing him, it's important we do the same.

It appears one thing that has been lacking has been communication from the top. It is essential that Desai and the Rao's have clear communication the whole way through the club. Everybody needs to pull together to make sure the club can emerge through the tough time it's currently going through. Another reason I feel the Chief Executive role needs to be filled. If Venky's would just hold a press conference and reassure the fans, stating their intentions or hold a Q&A session, that would go some way to lifting the apparent doom at the club. The only thing we know for sure is that they claim the have the money to spend, but just how much are they willing to put in? Splashing out an apparent 2-4 million here and there doesn't really make the statements they've promised. The fans would also like to know what has happened to the money recouped from the transfers of Phil Jones and Nikola Kalinic.

On the field so far it's been a disaster in the league. I felt that whatever had happened, that an opening day win over Wolves was on the cards. It started well enough with Rovers taking the lead, but all went to pot and Rovers ended up losing the game. Missing three of our first choice four defenders was always going to be huge ask though. Given our recent (and plentiful) encounters with Villa, I don't think anyone thought we'd pick anything up at Villa Park. After we managed to get get back into the game it's disappointing that we conceded goals that were as poor as they were. At least we did appear to attempt a fight back, which shows there is spirit at the club. The Everton game just appeared to be one of 'those' games, where what ever we did it was just never going to be our day, with two missed penalties costing us dear. In the end all three games have told us what we've known since last season, we still need a proven Premier League striker. With some of the players who have been made available or appear to be available, its disappointing that we haven't managed to pick up anyone. Robbie Keane could have been a huge hit at Ewood. David Goodwillie could be a massive hit, but proven experience at this level is definitely the order of the day, in an ideal world two strikers.

On Saturday, Brett Emerton made his final Rovers appearance. Departing for his native Australia to Sydney FC, I'm sure all Rovers fans would join me in wishing our longest serving player well in this new chapter in his career. Thanks for eight years of loyal service, Brett. Players staying at a single club for so many years is a rare thing in today's game.

On the other side of the coin, to compliment the remaining senior players of Ryan Nelsen, Morten Gamst Pedersen, David Dunn, Jason Roberts and Michel Salgado, our younger players have been a big, big positive. Martin Olsson and Junior Hoillet have made real progress. It's important we can keep a good balance between those senior players and the youth players so that the senior figures can pass on their experience and help them reach their full potential. Unfortunately, like in the case of Phil Jones, in the next few years, or possibly even sooner, the big boys will attempt to prize away our starlets, and if they wish to move on Rovers will have no choice but to sell. But for now let's enjoy watching them light up the field.

It's not all doom and gloom yet, there's still until 11pm tomorrow for us to bring players in, and you can bet that behind the scenes, everyone at the club is working furiously to bring in that extra bit of quality. Oh, and there's also another 35 games to go! It's not quite the end of the world yet.

J.D.B.