Blog: Turbulent times for all (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blog: Turbulent times for all

1:35pm Tuesday 15th May 2012 in Sir Bill Taylor blog By Sir Bill Taylor, Lancashire Telegraph blogger

Turbulent times, not just at Ewood Park but in our local ‘paper & radio station, all regional, national & global TV channels, radio stations & ‘papers including the Times of India & Pune News.

Every possible opinion expressed in work places, places of worship, supermarkets, pubs, clubs, the region’s living rooms & kitchens.

The new jungle drums of gossip, the social media jammed with theories, counter theories all very “colourfully” expressed.

The fate of relegation finally decided, rumours of serious “disagreements” at the stadium & training ground, the leaking of Deputy (to no-one) Chief Exec letter to Rovers’ Indian owners & his subsequent disappearance.

All very very strange, very very strange.

None of it seems right, it doesn’t quite to quite fit.

Chicken & egg farmers from India buy the Club, turn up to a couple of matches, “bob in” to a few more, promises, ridiculous transfer targets mooted, Big Sam dismissed, highly successful & respected senior Club officials leave, a total novice manager appointed with several come & go assistants, transfers in & out, odd team selections, formation & tactical choices, protest meetings & marches, banner censorship, “Emperor’s new clothes” claims at post match Press events etc etc.

All very very strange, very very strange.

I smelt a rat nearly 12 months ago, pre the season of debacle, I felt powerless then.

My (12/6/11) letter to the owners included:- “I’m sure you have ambitious plans for the Club both on & off the field.

But to be honest, what they are, does not appear particularly clear to we “outsiders” to your stewardship of our town’s & our diverse communities’ Club.

Many thousands of people across East Lancashire follow the Rovers with a passion, investing a lot of time & probably often a disproportionate amount of their resources into their support of the Team & Club...

...All that I do suggest to you is around communications in a period of change.

My experience is that change is best accomplished when all that feel effected by it understand the whats & the whys & feel as though they are considered as part of that change.

With my standing in the Community I would be happy to help you in any way you felt was appropriate.”

I get no reply but a meeting with Paul Hunt who I describe in my (10/5/12) letter to the same people as “an extremely pleasant, honest, hard working man of integrity & dignity...”

...I continued “But unfortunately some business environments still operate in the archaic “he who pays the piper calls the tune” style & Paul’s hands seemed metaphorically tied. (we are now led to believe that Mr Hunt has left the Club)”...

...”I understand that the major sponsor of Rovers, Wayne Wild of WEC, the Leader of our (award winning) local Council, Councillor Kate Hollern & the Rt Hon Jack Straw, our local MP, Hon Vice President of BRFC & formerly Home & Foreign Secretary, Leader of the House of Commons & Justice Minister, inter alia, have all written to you since I did, to ask to meet with you.

But all to no avail. To be frank, although born into relatively humble circumstances, I was always brought up to understand that if someone wrote to you it was common courtesy & basics manners to reply"...

I concluded… I would simply & finally put to you again:- Please will you open up some dialogue with local Blackburn people about the present & the future of our football club?”

It just seems one great big uncontrolled & uncontrollable mess to me. My meekly writing seems futile.

But so does the extreme response of “effin & blindin” ranting.

I feel like we (but I don’t really know who “we” are) need to do something to ameliorate this abysmal situation… Anyone got a sensible answer?