Just got sent this by my Luton supporting mate, got this from their message board. Obviously they hate Blackwell even more than we do after he walked out on them when they were in financial disarray. Not sure how true it is but it makes good reading apart from the typos! The players are dismayed about how sh*t the team are playing. Apparently all the players are in constant fewar of Blackwell, they're forever treading on ice. He rips into them for the slightest mistake. It's got to the point that whenever they get the ball they just boot it upfield (A: Because they are scared of making a mistake, B: Because thats what Blackwell wants them to do). The players want to get the ball down and play but are being made to play long ball and hate it. In the dressing room after the Burnley game Blackwell went beserk at Sharp for about 15 minutes. He was screaming at him, calling him all the names under the sun, and saying how sh*t and useless he is. Eventually, Naysmith stood up and told Blackwell he'd said enough and to leave sharp enough. Naysmith then got an earful. Speed and a few other players then stood up and tried to defend shapy and they too got slapped down. A few days later Blackwell called Sharp to his office and laid into him again. He told him he was useless and that he's a big time Charlie and he's fed up with him. Blackwell said he hates the way Sharp thinks he's "It" driving round in a big flash car etc. (even though at the time the "flash" car Sharp was driving was a courtesy car he had cos he's missus' car was in the garage). As a result Sharp's really low and thinks Blackwell is trying to get rid of him. In the first warm up before the Southampton game one of the other players asked Webber if he's been offered a new contract. Webber replied that he hadn't been offered a new contract and he assumed they wanted to get rid of him. Sam Ellis overheard this conversation and immediately went down the tunnel and into the dressing room and told Blackwell that Webber wants to leave the Blades. Brian Howard is among the players who is totally disillusioned. He's fed up of the ball constantly sailing over his head. A number of players (including Beattie) cant wait to leave the club cos they're fed up with Blackwell's management style and tactics. Blackwell tried to get rid of Stokes after he trashed a hotel room. He sent him back to Sunderland and tried to terminate the loan deal but Keane refused to and sent him back. Two weeks later he's back in our first team. A few months ago Blackwell went over to Paddy at the end of a training session and told him how pleased he was with him and how well he'd done since he'd been manager. He told addy that he deserved a new contract and that he was gonna speak to the board and sort it. The next thing Paddy knew Blackwell was in the Star saying that Paddy was demanding a new contract!
This is entirely believeable .... I thought that the body language of players like Howard and Beattie in the Sky match v Crystal Palace said it all. Interesting that Speed has disappeared - I know he is injured, but there may be more to it. There is definitely a mind game to be played here. Also noticed that Morgan has the haunted look of a man who knows what is coming his way. If the tension at Blunts rises to the point of cracking, they will sink like a stone. It is only the professionalism of players like Beattie and Speed which has kept the performance at the current level - in my opinion, of course. Keep playing the mind games, chaps!
i know the Paddy kenny part is true, he wont play again under blackwell. he wanted an increase in salary for his commitment to the club, they aremessing him about.
He saved them cash by no longer taking a wage off them. Them thinking like that would be like us hating Morgan for walking out on us when we were in financial disarray. I'm surprised any Luton fans hate Blackwell to be honest. It's not his fault the best players had to be sold and he gave them a decent cup run.
I even recall that Blackwell paid the players wages out of his pocket on one occasion - although I may be mistaken about the details I am sure he lent / gave them some money
You get that feeling that 3 or 4 bad results And Blackwell could go, fussy board sacking Warnock was baffling.
As long as they don't send Howard back........... mate of mine is a Blunt says Howard not worth £500K.
if he did come back maybe he'd realise how good it is to be at a well run club where the football counts, not the egos and he'll knuckle down and apply himself. then we may get the howard of old back when he was an asset to the club.
RE: if he did come back dont want him back under any circumstaces and besides as far as im aware its a done deal no return
You're right there, the Luton fans shouldn't hate Blackwell I can't recall the details either but him and his assistant went 3 months? without pay, it was unheard of at the time as they offered to do that so their wages could go towards paying the players. Also he never took a settlement fee when he quit.
RE: if he did come back The last thing we want is Howard back,upsetting team morale. He isn't as good as he thinks he is anyway.
Why do Luton fans hate Blackwell? Read on...... Just posed the question to my mate, and this is what I got back. Shall we get a few things out in the open about our former manager? And not the normal "he resigned" stuff. Right! 1 Luton asked Liverpool to offer their gate receipts and they said they would think about it. They then confirmed with Guilfoyle that they would be willing to do a deal but when Blackwell tried to "get involved" they blanked him. Blackwell then went out into the press and slated Liverpool for not supporting a club in administration. Liverpool then pulled the offer and Luton lost a significant amount of money - money that 20-20 had to then put up. 2 Blackwell tried to sell two players on the cheap to Sheff U two weeks before he resigned. Co-incedence? Could be, but... 3 Luton received an offer for one of these players at a much higher price just before we sold Coyne. Blackwell turned it down, so we had to sell Coyne. (The said player would have been less of a loss than Coyne and we could have got a loan to replace him). KB then tried to sell the same player to Sheff U at a cut price blaming Guilfoyles "fire-sale" approach. Guilfoyle blocked it and sussed KB. 4 Along with his buddy Ellis, they were stirring up trouble about old Luton Town within the business. It seems many friendly agents of Blackie were fully aware of every contract at our club. Over the following weeks Mick Harford's ability to trade was compromised by the fact that all and sundry knew every detail of every player contract. Many players have been tapped up some quoting our friend in Sheffield.
