"Would you like to answer some questions for Saturday's matchday programme?"
"Yes...yes, I would...fire away..."
What have you made of Blackburn’s start to the season?
What I feared was a series of dispiriting defeats that would sap morale and with the exception of a surprisingly emphatic 3-0 away win at Hull City, that seems to have manifested itself.
The squad has been almost totally reimagined with a lot of Championship experience leaving and replaced by a series of low-cost replacements from all corners of Europe’s lower divisions.
With four defeats in five in all competitions the concerns are starting to mount.
How did you rate your transfer business during the window?
Older readers of this publication may remember the sketch show “The Fast Show” and in particular, one character who when being sent out by his long-suffering spouse to buy staples such as milk, bread, butter and so on would return triumphantly.
Responding to the enquiry, “Did you get everything love?” with an answer along the lines of “Even better than that...I got a12 piece socket set, a bag of cement and a fishing rod...”
Rovers window bears comparison with that.
We needed to bolt on some experience to a squad (that remember finished 7th last season) in key areas in order to really go for the play-offs this year and instead we’ve seemingly thrown away those foundations and decided to start again from scratch.
Imagine building a house, getting to the roof, not being happy with the cost of the of tiles to be used, so instead, deciding to knock it down and start again.
That.
Who will be the key players for Blackburn this term?
The first task is to learn their names and squad numbers then we can properly assess what we are working with.
One imagines Todd Cantwell and Yuki Ohashi from last year’s squad will remain integral and there’s a lot of buzz around Ryoya Miroshita.
What is the fans’ view of Valérien Ismaël?
If he knew the extent of the turnover in the squad that was coming his way this summer, then he’s partly culpable – if he didn’t, presumably he will hang around until his lengthy contract is paid up.
He made a poor start at Rovers when succeeding John Eustace but with a solid run at the end of the season, provided some glimmers of hope.
The squad overhaul has left many fans wondering if this was what he signed up for, as he has his work cut out to fashion an effective team quickly from such a massively changed squad.
Most supporters realise the issues at Rovers go higher than the manager and on that basis are willing to cut him some slack.
What is the target for the club come the end of the campaign?
Our (now departed, not yet replaced) CEO memorably said last season that the target was not to get relegated...inspirational stuff.
This season, Rovers seem to have decided that the key objective is to cut costs with footballing objectives being very much secondary.
One senses that the ambition (I use that word quite wrongly) at Blackburn Rovers these days is merely to tick over and keep reducing costs until the club is sustainable.
Realistically therefore, in the long term that means an existence probably more in tune with our neighbours Accrington Stanley as opposed to Burnley.
Who do you think the main contenders will be in the Championship?
You start with the relegated three, add last season’s play off losers and perhaps look to Birmingham to add to the mix.
Sheffield United are rather sportingly handicapping themselves this season a la Luton Town so there may be a space for a wild card but it’s hard to look past those clubs.
What do you think the score will be?
Nobody saw the 3-0 away win at Hull City coming so in this madhouse of a division maybe just maybe, Rovers can delight their travelling supporters with another surprise away day victory.
There are still overseas windows open though so we still might sell a player before Saturday...
Let’s go 2-1 Rovers albeit more in hope than expectation...
