I'll be the first to put my hands up and admit that when the initial rumours of Michael Appleton as our new manager arose, I was surprised and not very optimistic. After researching his previous managerial stats, I couldn't really see what he could possibly offer, apart from having experience with disorganised clubs who have suffered financial problems however this didn't make me feel much better as it simply flagged up the thought that we, Blackburn Rovers, premier league winners, could potentially be in financial problems or that the owners knew (finally) that the club was disorganised.
However I have never been so wrong in my life. First, the players are motivated on the pitch and are all playing with a fiery passion for the club that has been invisible at times this season. Second, Appleton had a very successful transfer period (despite the initial fall through of the intended signings of Jerome Thomas, and DJ Campbell) signing Williamson, a promising midfielder, DJ Campbell, a great addition to our already incredible strike force, Manchester city's up and coming centre back, Karim Rekik and finally the fans favourite - the legend - David Bentley. Thirdly, in 8 games we've been defeated only twice under Appleton, and we've also beaten Arsenal at the Emirates, taking us to Milwall in the quarter final of the FA cup.
At the moment however, there seems to be an attitude of 'spoilt brat' loitering around. I would never dream of denying that we've suffered immensely in the past two years under the rule of the Venky's, and of course, it has been heartbreaking however many fan bases are not happy with their owners. Coventry city fans have suffered, as have Rangers, Portsmouth and even Chelsea fans dislike their owner!
The problem at the moment is that some fans appear to think that because of the torment we've been subjected to over the past two years, we deserve more, some think it means we should win every single game and that if we don't win every game the players have no passion and the manager is poor. This belief is totally unjustifiable! After the long chapter of Steve Kean and the continuous protests that came with him, it is as though now, if or when we lose a match, we need a scapegoat to blame. Under Kean, every game we lost, the anger and frustration was directed towards him. Now when we lose a game, it is though we still need that person to blame. In football, teams win games and they lose games. Losing to Hull last night does not reflect the run we've had in the past 7 games. Hull are a top side in the championship and we are still getting used to the championship pace and style of football.
This season so far has been extremely unsettled for the players, and fans. We've had 5 managers, we've been told various different things according to either our global advisor Shebby Singh or Shaw/Agnew, even the Venky's themselves. We witnessed the political-like hierarchical struggle for power between Singh, Shaw and Agnew but finally it seems that we are settled. Play off positions are potentially still within reach this season, and if we don't get to playoffs? There's next season.
In reality, under Appleton we've been playing better than we have under any other manager in the past 2 years (although we did play fantastically under Bowyer also) and Appleton deserves our full backing, as do the players. One loss at Hull following a win at Arsenal does not for one minute justify pleas for 'Appleton out.'
