Blackburn Rovers appoint new head scout
12:51pm Friday 7th September 2012 in Sport
Blackburn Rovers have appointed Ray Clarke as the club’s new head scout.
Clarke will oversee Rovers’ restructured scouting department and will play a hands-on role in player recruitment.
During a distinguished playing career, he started out at Tottenham Hotspur, before enjoying spells in Holland with Sparta Rotterdam and Ajax, and in Belgium with Club Brugge, before returning to England with Brighton and Newcastle United, where he retired in the early ‘80s.
After moving into coaching, initially as Reserve team manager at Southampton under former Rovers boss Graeme Souness, he worked as an international scout for Coventry, Southampton and Newcastle, before becoming head of international recruitment at Celtic under Gordon Strachan.
Clarke, who turns 60 later this month, arrives at Rovers with the sole objective of helping the club to secure an immediate Premier League return.
“It is an exciting time to be involved with the club,” he said. “I think we have to be positive. We have got a remit to get the club back into the Premier League.
“The manager’s been backed by the owners in terms of the money that’s been spent, which I think is a very positive move. It’s a big club and it needs to be back in the Premier League and we’ll do our best to try and make sure we’ve got the personnel to get there.”
He believes the arrival of 12 summer signings sends out a positive message to the supporters and although the ‘window’ has only just slammed shut, work is already underway with regards to identifying future transfer targets.
“It has been a busy time, but I think we had to make a statement, to the fans especially, that we’re serious about coming straight back up and I think the owners and the manager have done that,” he added.
“It is my job to have a look at where we are as a football club in terms of recruitment, to try to target certain areas where we may have a gap in terms of what’s coming through from the Reserves and the Academy and to prepare for next season, with a view to us getting back into the Premier League.
“We need to be well organised and efficient, because the Championship is a very difficult league to get out of. It’s a different type of football and we’ve all got to be positive and move forward for the benefit of the football club.”
Comments(76)
Lancs - pensioner
says...
12:59pm Fri 7 Sep 12
bypass06
says...
1:01pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Lancs - pensioner
says...
1:02pm Fri 7 Sep 12
This is the statement the fans want to hear,
Kean has been sacked
I named my son JW
says...
1:11pm Fri 7 Sep 12
maradonner
says...
1:13pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Clowns Out.
P888HOW
says...
1:14pm Fri 7 Sep 12
i will never go to Ewood park, untill Kean gets the sack.
Then i will be back
jack01
says...
1:25pm Fri 7 Sep 12
He says his job is to help us get straight back up. So basically he has the January window to do his job and if we don't get back up he's failed?
Kean said yesterday that Singh was running the transfer side of things. So will Singh's job be changing away from player recruitment, even though he himself has only been doing the job for a few months?
On that point, where is Singh? He couldn't keep his mouth shut over the summer and yet there has been nothing said since the season began. 'Retired' into the background no doubt after upsetting the mighty Kean.
Finally, I was walking through the Mall earlier today and noticed Rovers adverts appearing on the big screens outside Primark. Upon viewing these I realised that they were advertising 2011-12 season tickets and the shirts from last season with the Princes Trust on the front. Have I gone back a year?
Absolutely frightening stuff.
wolsty
says...
1:29pm Fri 7 Sep 12
French Rover
says...
1:29pm Fri 7 Sep 12
P888HOW wrote:Ray Clarke is a Londoner not a Scot....! Absolutely sound experience at the top level of football and a real football bloke.
another sweaty sock,?
i will never go to Ewood park, untill Kean gets the sack.
Then i will be back
He was also a great goalscorer when he played in the mid seventies. I remember him banging them in for Mansfield and then making the headlines when he got a transfer to Holland to play for Sparta Rotterdam and then Ajax! That was unheard of at that time and he continued scoring around 1 goal every 2 games for both those clubs and he is still a legend there. Excellent addition to the club.
makaveli96
says...
1:33pm Fri 7 Sep 12
jackmetickler
says...
1:34pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Shabby wont keeps his mits off as their is too much dosh to be made from these deals.
Well good luck and I hope you can bring some decent players in... but as I suspect you will be looking at youth players as we are told "ones for the future" .... oh what a bright future we must have!
No more Portugese please.... a cold november night away to Barnsley will kill them off!
Nuttall Street
says...
1:47pm Fri 7 Sep 12
By the way Blackburn is not a big club. It used to be a small well run family club achieving beyond it's means. Now it is a big joke! Perhaps that is what you intended to say.
Rovers 1495
says...
1:50pm Fri 7 Sep 12
bburnrover
says...
1:53pm Fri 7 Sep 12
MxMave
says...
1:54pm Fri 7 Sep 12
RoversSwiss
says...
1:57pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Ignoring previous posts on this page from people incapable of judging every situation on it's merits, it's very clear that Venkys have learnt from last year and the commitment and organisation of the club is far better. Whether SK can bring promotion is another matter.
Rovers 1495
says...
2:23pm Fri 7 Sep 12
We could really do with a couple more strikers
Oxford Rover
says...
2:27pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Anyway, this is probably irrelevant news, as Shebby will most likely just continue to sign anyone he likes.
buzzinfly
says...
2:35pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Hope he got his 'spot a bulls**ter' badge.
French Rover
says...
2:48pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Nice to see a young Rover getting some good experience and success.
Truerover85
says...
2:54pm Fri 7 Sep 12
to much negativity from so many of the fans on here.
even if we won the champions league you'd still be shouting for kean out! Go and watch a punch an judy show!
makaveli96
says...
3:10pm Fri 7 Sep 12
I used to do it at school and then he'd give me better grades.
Shaun Johnson
says...
3:14pm Fri 7 Sep 12
makaveli96
says...
3:15pm Fri 7 Sep 12
She said, "Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness.
"I said, "I didn't say anything.
"She said, "I wasn't talking to you."
makaveli96
says...
3:20pm Fri 7 Sep 12
jogalot
says...
3:22pm Fri 7 Sep 12
buzzinfly
says...
3:22pm Fri 7 Sep 12
sonny wrote:Trolling,Trolls. A bit hypocritical.
LET message boards are Like Troll Paradise(i also think its where they all come to mate), miserable nasty depressive little bastards.
buzzinfly
says...
3:33pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Truerover85 wrote:'Thats the way to do it' is what our new head Scout will hopefully be saying to Shabby and Kean. Kean Out!
happy to hear about this...
to much negativity from so many of the fans on here.
even if we won the champions league you'd still be shouting for kean out! Go and watch a punch an judy show!
shaus
says...
3:43pm Fri 7 Sep 12
sonny wrote:It has got a little embarrasing reading all this tripe but unfortunatley thats what happens when you have monkeys running the club.
LET message boards are Like Troll Paradise(i also think its where they all come to mate), miserable nasty depressive little bastards.
Rover since 1947
says...
3:43pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Strange when Kean has said we are aiming to get back this season
RUinsane
says...
3:58pm Fri 7 Sep 12
makaveli96 wrote:Ali Dia, the con man, still played more pro games than Kean and at a higher level. I asked the question yesterday, is Kean actually a footballer at all or is he like the guy on the Man U champions league photo?. Did he just keep turning up at training somewhere so they gave him a shirt? Has anyone asked his former clubs or him why he only played about 17 games in about 10 years? 12 of them supposedly for a potugeezer team we've never heard of. So of any note and that have been registered Kean has only played in 5 games on this island. Ali Dia, georgi weahs fake cousin played in 10 games in the UK, so did Kean get found out sooner? Did someone realise he was a con man and just a water carrier. Panarama please.
Did he find George Weahs cousin for the saints?
JessePinkman
says...
4:52pm Fri 7 Sep 12
The problem with YouTube is that it's mainly full of flair players to showcase their skills, which probably explains why we have 20 midfielders, 10 support strikers and no left back.
Please explain to the idiot what fullbacks are if you find any.
baz58
says...
5:16pm Fri 7 Sep 12
baz58
says...
5:17pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Lancs - pensioner wrote:To right, nothing less will do.....kean out...
"It has been a busy time, but I think we had to make a statement, to the fans especially, that we’re serious about coming straight back up and I think the owners and the manager have done that,” he added.
This is the statement the fans want to hear,
Kean has been sacked
soap opera
says...
5:20pm Fri 7 Sep 12
londonrover
says...
5:32pm Fri 7 Sep 12
James.NoNayNever
says...
5:51pm Fri 7 Sep 12
perolsman
says...
6:59pm Fri 7 Sep 12
vicn1956
says...
7:55pm Fri 7 Sep 12
dangerous dave
says...
7:56pm Fri 7 Sep 12
OUT WITH KEAN AGNEW HENDRY SINGH VENKYS IN WITH THOUSANDS OF FANS.
Nuttall Street
says...
8:17pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Truerover85 wrote:What a ludicrous thing to say! Rovers are never going to have a chance of being in the Champions League so it's a completely irrelevant supposition. You might as well say "even if Kean won the Nobel Prize." You have to be as stupid as this to overlook all that Kean has done and continues to do. More realistically you might have asked would we be negative about Kean and the Venkys if Rovers won the Championship, as unlikely as even that is, and the answer is yes we would because we don't like crooks and we don't like to be patronised by blatant liars. So OUT WITH KEAN! VENKYs! HENDRY! And that global arse SHABBY. OUT WITH THEM ALL
happy to hear about this...
to much negativity from so many of the fans on here.
even if we won the champions league you'd still be shouting for kean out! Go and watch a punch an judy show!
vicn1956
says...
8:50pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Nuttall Street
says...
8:59pm Fri 7 Sep 12
vicn1956 wrote:If there was a Nobel Prize for being an ugly Scottish arse in the wrong job Kean would certainly top the poll
Kean-I've been awarded the nobel prize don't you know!
YarkshahRover
says...
9:31pm Fri 7 Sep 12
Be back when kean gets the sack.
Ewood say that!
says...
9:58pm Fri 7 Sep 12
YarkshahRover wrote:I agree on the face of it , it does seem a decent appointment.
Sounds like a fairly sound appointment. I wonder who head hunterd him for Venkys. On the face of it he doesn't seem to fit their usual mysterious criteria. Things are looking up but still well below the horizon yet.
Be back when kean gets the sack.
Let's hope he gets a chance to do what it seems he is supposed to be good at!
By the way, I was viewing the results so far the other day on the Rover's website and the attendances were there too.To see them in that context with Rover's 2 x 13,000's sandwiched between two 20,000+'s brought it home to me and if Shaw/Agnew didn't cringe like me and thought this cannot continue,then they are simply not doing their job correctly.
The club surely cannot be run on such low attendances with many players on lucrative contracts!?
Rishtonian
says...
10:47pm Fri 7 Sep 12
whappen
says...
11:06pm Fri 7 Sep 12
RoversSwiss wrote:"...Venkys have learnt from last year and the commitment and organisation of the club is far better".
Seems a good appointment, a man with a lot of experience and football knowledge, see that he scored 26 goals in 31 games for Ajax, so he should know about good strikers. Ignoring previous posts on this page from people incapable of judging every situation on it's merits, it's very clear that Venkys have learnt from last year and the commitment and organisation of the club is far better. Whether SK can bring promotion is another matter.
Hmmmm.
Agnew, Shaw, Hendry and Kato (ground manager) appointed alongside the Scheister.
We have a TV pundit picking up players the manager has never seen and now appoint a chief scout after the window shuts - although he does at least have some pedigree, unlike the others. Shame we can't use that until it may be too late.
Have they learnt? I would be seriously worried if they hadn't.
Are they more committed? Judging by the release of funds, it would seem so.
More organised? Not much. It will take more than just putting bums on seats.
NICEONESUNSHINE,
says...
11:31pm Fri 7 Sep 12
aibeen
says...
4:39am Sat 8 Sep 12
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onlyonesimongarner
says...
6:59am Sat 8 Sep 12
roversok
says...
8:12am Sat 8 Sep 12
Till the new January signings come in and the summer 2012 signings depart
w will be next to the bottom of the league with only Burnley below us
sean26
says...
8:47am Sat 8 Sep 12
TICKETS £1 EACH or A BOOK OF TICKETS for £5
Prize - 2 TICKETS TO WATCH Blackburn Rovers v Wolves on saturday 6th october 2012 —
sean26
says...
8:48am Sat 8 Sep 12
TICKETS £1 EACH or A BOOK OF TICKETS for £5
Prize - 2 TICKETS TO WATCH Blackburn Rovers v Wolves on saturday 6th october 2012
sean26
says...
8:49am Sat 8 Sep 12
ronnie clayton
says...
9:13am Sat 8 Sep 12
mellorb&w
says...
9:21am Sat 8 Sep 12
olister2k
says...
9:30am Sat 8 Sep 12
.
I note he was at Portsmouth in 2009 and Middlesbrough in 2010 so he's well used to scraping te bottom of the barrel for players with no money and dealing with appalling leadership. Although I hope he wasn't responsible for Tal Ben Haim!!
.
Having said all that, I do wish him luck in working with this shower of odeous individuals.
ronnie clayton
says...
9:45am Sat 8 Sep 12
Trueblue2209
says...
10:08am Sat 8 Sep 12
P888HOW wrote:Bet you don't even know we're ewood is if you are a true fan you would be supporting the team.
another sweaty sock,?
i will never go to Ewood park, untill Kean gets the sack.
Then i will be back
Lancs - pensioner
says...
10:20am Sat 8 Sep 12
sean26 wrote:Whilst this is a great charity and a hard working one I thought two tickets to see that lot would hardly make any money.
RAFFLE TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FROM Barm Pots SandwichBar & Hoodies R Us on Northgate ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE GOING TO EAST LANCS HOSPICE
TICKETS £1 EACH or A BOOK OF TICKETS for £5
Prize - 2 TICKETS TO WATCH Blackburn Rovers v Wolves on saturday 6th october 2012
However for such a good cause I will put my unused match day funds towards some tickets, should I win we can re- raffle them!
ronnie clayton
says...
10:42am Sat 8 Sep 12
read about Hendry bankruptcy google "scottish sun" today saturday.
gleechy
says...
10:49am Sat 8 Sep 12
kean distances himself from recent signings, so they appoint a new person to blame. What is Shebby's job now then? Why have they pretended to appoint a chief scout now, nobody will play for this set up, unless old,desperate or very foreign.
Should be sponsored by age uk.
There's nothing good coming out of Ewood till these pilfering bstards are gone.
londonrover
says...
11:09am Sat 8 Sep 12
ronnie clayton wrote:Yep, £5K a month pension + £8K a week salary = not bad wonga for a bankrupt!
Google today scottish sun , all about Hendry and his behaviour with they old pensioners.
BlueSkies
says...
11:18am Sat 8 Sep 12
Trueblue2209 wrote:Pathetic post given the recent history of events.
P888HOW wrote:Bet you don't even know we're ewood is if you are a true fan you would be supporting the team.
another sweaty sock,?
i will never go to Ewood park, untill Kean gets the sack.
Then i will be back
Trueblue2209
says...
11:25am Sat 8 Sep 12
BlueSkies wrote:I guess you were at Leeds and will be going to Bristol city what more do you want we are second in the league . I know we have a numpty as a manager but get behind the team .
Trueblue2209 wrote:Pathetic post given the recent history of events.
P888HOW wrote:Bet you don't even know we're ewood is if you are a true fan you would be supporting the team.
another sweaty sock,?
i will never go to Ewood park, untill Kean gets the sack.
Then i will be back
BlueSkies
says...
11:34am Sat 8 Sep 12
First time I'll see Rovers in the League this season will be at Forest. At Spotland this afternoon with more like-minded Rovers fans.
Kean has to go!
Trueblue2209
says...
11:37am Sat 8 Sep 12
BlueSkies wrote:Blueskies we need you at ewood !
No apolgies needed from me but I won't be back at Ewood till Kean has departed. Simple as that.
First time I'll see Rovers in the League this season will be at Forest. At Spotland this afternoon with more like-minded Rovers fans.
Kean has to go!
BlueSkies
says...
11:50am Sat 8 Sep 12
Trueblue2209 wrote:It won't happen, I become more entrenched with my views, daily, as do my family.
BlueSkies wrote:Blueskies we need you at ewood !
No apolgies needed from me but I won't be back at Ewood till Kean has departed. Simple as that.
First time I'll see Rovers in the League this season will be at Forest. At Spotland this afternoon with more like-minded Rovers fans.
Kean has to go!
Another sad thing is I now have 3 grandkids ready to be introduced to watching Rovers, which possibly may now not happen.
Anyway, bacon butty time then off to watch Dale. See you at Forest lol!
smellthecoffee
says...
1:07pm Sat 8 Sep 12
.
Jack Walker would be incandescent with rage.
French Rover
says...
11:23pm Sat 8 Sep 12
mellorb&w wrote:he is the national (maybe even international) head of scouting for the Rovers...why on earth would he be up at Ewood for more than one day a week when his job is to be travelling around looking for players....especiall
This is another Venkys con job. This "so called" head of scouting ives in Norwich and only comes up here one day a week. The club hardley has any scouts left, they were mostley sacked during the summer.
y so if we got rid of some our previous scouting network.?
some folk come on here just to complain about anything to do with the Rovers without even thinking what they are saying...
Rimbus
says...
12:05am Sun 9 Sep 12
Lancs - pensioner wrote:There's no point being based in Portugal. There are no players left to watch, we've signed them all already!
Is he based in Portugal by any chance?
kiwipom73
says...
7:14am Sun 9 Sep 12
Shall be interesting to see what/who does emerge from those many overseas players and whether the Portuguese market is a bargain one, has indicted by Kean himself...
If there is a bargain or three then we should see things start to develop in the next month...
Cannot see anything but this inclusion of Ray Clarke being a positive input into the club....yet like most things, time will tell !!!
whappen
says...
8:44am Sun 9 Sep 12
Lancs - pensioner wrote:Second prize, four tickets.
sean26 wrote: RAFFLE TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FROM Barm Pots SandwichBar & Hoodies R Us on Northgate ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE GOING TO EAST LANCS HOSPICE TICKETS £1 EACH or A BOOK OF TICKETS for £5 Prize - 2 TICKETS TO WATCH Blackburn Rovers v Wolves on saturday 6th october 2012Whilst this is a great charity and a hard working one I thought two tickets to see that lot would hardly make any money. However for such a good cause I will put my unused match day funds towards some tickets, should I win we can re- raffle them!
Now, if the first prize was meeting the manager after the match in a darkened room, you'd be rolling in it.
whappen
says...
9:03am Sun 9 Sep 12
londonrover wrote:The pension was untouchable and you can't stop someone taking a job just because they were made bankrupt - even though he shouldn't have got the job he has.
ronnie clayton wrote: Google today scottish sun , all about Hendry and his behaviour with they old pensioners.Yep, £5K a month pension + £8K a week salary = not bad wonga for a bankrupt!
I don't know how his bankruptcy works now he's on a sizeable wage, but that's the system and will look after itself. Same as selling the medals - was it to the LMA? - and buying them back.
He may not even be able to favour one of his creditors over the others, and he had a few, so couldn't pay the couple a bigger slice of his income, even if he wanted to.
I accept he doesn't seem to have made much effort to do that. I am most certainly not a CH apologist nor am I trying to condone what he's done. I'm as disgusted as the next man by his behaviour SINCE he was made bankrupt, especially towards the couple.
It is easy to see how he got to that stage though and I fancy far from unique.
It has become a little obsessive on here by one or two posters; look at the bigger picture before slagging someone off on the basis of a nothing story; or just let it drop - preferably both.
FannyTickler
says...
4:11pm Mon 10 Sep 12
1rover says...
12:59pm Fri 7 Sep 12