Post by Neko Bazu on Oct 12, 2007 9:09:15 GMT -1
www.lutontoday.co.uk/lut-sport/Blackwell-I39m-astonished-at-Luton39s.3371889.jp
Piss off, you twat
Everyone except you is to blame, aren't they?
Kevin Blackwell has admitted he is 'absolutely astonished' at the scale of the scale of unrest surrounding Luton Town.
The 48-year-old took over the reins at his hometown club at the end of March.
But the former Leeds chief has now admitted that he perhaps underestimated the scale of the job waiting for him at Kenilworth Road.
Hatters are currently struggling with £3million per annum losses, facing problems with stay-away fans and encountering dissenters in their bid to move to a new ground at Junction 12 of the M1.
On top of that, Town face the continuing investigation by the FA over irregular payments, are being sued by former boss Mike Newell for unfair dismissal and are currently spluttering at the wrong end of the League One table on the pitch.
Now Blackwell is calling for unity from supporters and an end to the 'infighting' which he says is threatening to tear the club apart.
Asked about the scale of the problems, he said: "It's very much surprised me.
"I've been at big, big clubs and never have I seen infighting on the scale as I have at Luton Town.
"I'm absolutely astonished by what's going on here.
"People want to be successful in what they do, but I'm fed up with what's going on here.
"I've talked about the negativity and I'm not asking for people to write reports and say we're world beaters when we're not, far from it.
"It just seems that the fans and everyone else wants to chip away at the fabric of this club.
"The chairman is getting hounded left, right and centre when all he has done has put money into this football club.
"I have to wonder if there's an ulterior motive.
"There's a vitriol that seems to surround our attempts to move to a new ground and the choice of location we're going to.
"While on the pitch Kenilworth Road should be our sanctuary and a place where we want to play, but it doesn't seem to be.
"During the last home game, 15 minutes in and the fans were going at the players when the last game they'd seen was a terrific win against Charlton – I just don't understand it.
"When you are a football fan you should support your club through thick and thin. People won't like what I'm saying, but it's a fact and the facts can sometimes hurt.
"There's so much infighting surrounding the club that it's not doing the health of Luton Town any good."
On the field Blackwell is facing a similar problem as he tries to gel a team made up of players from last term's relegation along with 12 new signings.
And the Luton manager's shock at the state of his playing squad came to a head during Tuesday night's defeat at Gillingham in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy where Luton contrived to lose the tie 4-3 despite being 3-1 up with just 17 minutes remaining.
His response was to threaten 'six or seven' with the transfer list, but he said: "I run the club the way I want to run it and I'm not prepared to say who's going where.
"I was thoroughly cheesed off that we lost it when we were 3-1 up with 15 to go.
"I was showing my emotions. I'm a supporter when I'm standing on the touchline and I want to see my team win games.
"From a winning position to throw it away, I was cheesed off, yes."
Blackwell continued: "I knew when I came to the club that I would have to make major changes, but I knew that it wouldn't be good business to do it in one go.
"You need to have offers for players and you can't go out and suddenly bring in a squad of 30 or 35 players because it will bankrupt the club.
"It has to be done in a gradual way over time, but I've been working with a very tight budget and I've got a problem.
"I'm being hamstrung in what I want to do, but that's the nature of football.
"You've got to try and wheel and deal and I've got one or two irons in the fire, but it's a financial thing.
"I've inherited a financial problem here from day one and I would ask for patience because I've still only been here for three-and-a-half months."
Blackwell hasn't been helped by a growing injury list, while other players who brought into the club under previous managers have struggled to get games.
He said: "We've got ability at this football club and we've shown it this season, but we're having highs and lows.
"Away from home in the last two-and-a-half years out of something like 57 or 58 games we've lost about 47
of them, so there's a problem somewhere that needs changing.
"Rome wasn't built in a day and there's lots of things being done behind the scenes, but like an iceberg you only ever see what is sitting on top.
"There's certain things that need to be put into place so that we can sustain success when we get it.
"This club had a great run a few seasons ago and got into the Championship, but the infrastructure wasn't there and it tumbled back out of it.
"If we don't deal with those problems we'll just drop down again if we get back up there so that's not the way to do it.
"We're trying to put the foundations in place, but people don't appreciate that when they're looking at the iceberg.
"The training ground is a case in point and in the next couple of weeks when we're in there full time it will be a stepping stone to helping us getting the sustained success we want here."
The 48-year-old took over the reins at his hometown club at the end of March.
But the former Leeds chief has now admitted that he perhaps underestimated the scale of the job waiting for him at Kenilworth Road.
Hatters are currently struggling with £3million per annum losses, facing problems with stay-away fans and encountering dissenters in their bid to move to a new ground at Junction 12 of the M1.
On top of that, Town face the continuing investigation by the FA over irregular payments, are being sued by former boss Mike Newell for unfair dismissal and are currently spluttering at the wrong end of the League One table on the pitch.
Now Blackwell is calling for unity from supporters and an end to the 'infighting' which he says is threatening to tear the club apart.
Asked about the scale of the problems, he said: "It's very much surprised me.
"I've been at big, big clubs and never have I seen infighting on the scale as I have at Luton Town.
"I'm absolutely astonished by what's going on here.
"People want to be successful in what they do, but I'm fed up with what's going on here.
"I've talked about the negativity and I'm not asking for people to write reports and say we're world beaters when we're not, far from it.
"It just seems that the fans and everyone else wants to chip away at the fabric of this club.
"The chairman is getting hounded left, right and centre when all he has done has put money into this football club.
"I have to wonder if there's an ulterior motive.
"There's a vitriol that seems to surround our attempts to move to a new ground and the choice of location we're going to.
"While on the pitch Kenilworth Road should be our sanctuary and a place where we want to play, but it doesn't seem to be.
"During the last home game, 15 minutes in and the fans were going at the players when the last game they'd seen was a terrific win against Charlton – I just don't understand it.
"When you are a football fan you should support your club through thick and thin. People won't like what I'm saying, but it's a fact and the facts can sometimes hurt.
"There's so much infighting surrounding the club that it's not doing the health of Luton Town any good."
On the field Blackwell is facing a similar problem as he tries to gel a team made up of players from last term's relegation along with 12 new signings.
And the Luton manager's shock at the state of his playing squad came to a head during Tuesday night's defeat at Gillingham in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy where Luton contrived to lose the tie 4-3 despite being 3-1 up with just 17 minutes remaining.
His response was to threaten 'six or seven' with the transfer list, but he said: "I run the club the way I want to run it and I'm not prepared to say who's going where.
"I was thoroughly cheesed off that we lost it when we were 3-1 up with 15 to go.
"I was showing my emotions. I'm a supporter when I'm standing on the touchline and I want to see my team win games.
"From a winning position to throw it away, I was cheesed off, yes."
Blackwell continued: "I knew when I came to the club that I would have to make major changes, but I knew that it wouldn't be good business to do it in one go.
"You need to have offers for players and you can't go out and suddenly bring in a squad of 30 or 35 players because it will bankrupt the club.
"It has to be done in a gradual way over time, but I've been working with a very tight budget and I've got a problem.
"I'm being hamstrung in what I want to do, but that's the nature of football.
"You've got to try and wheel and deal and I've got one or two irons in the fire, but it's a financial thing.
"I've inherited a financial problem here from day one and I would ask for patience because I've still only been here for three-and-a-half months."
Blackwell hasn't been helped by a growing injury list, while other players who brought into the club under previous managers have struggled to get games.
He said: "We've got ability at this football club and we've shown it this season, but we're having highs and lows.
"Away from home in the last two-and-a-half years out of something like 57 or 58 games we've lost about 47
of them, so there's a problem somewhere that needs changing.
"Rome wasn't built in a day and there's lots of things being done behind the scenes, but like an iceberg you only ever see what is sitting on top.
"There's certain things that need to be put into place so that we can sustain success when we get it.
"This club had a great run a few seasons ago and got into the Championship, but the infrastructure wasn't there and it tumbled back out of it.
"If we don't deal with those problems we'll just drop down again if we get back up there so that's not the way to do it.
"We're trying to put the foundations in place, but people don't appreciate that when they're looking at the iceberg.
"The training ground is a case in point and in the next couple of weeks when we're in there full time it will be a stepping stone to helping us getting the sustained success we want here."
Piss off, you twat
Everyone except you is to blame, aren't they?
We've got a good enough squad, he's just making big wrong decisions!
