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This draw was probably on a small shortlist of "anyone but them" for fans of both clubs. Same as with Boro away last season. They'll have to make it a tenner all areas of the ground or no one will bother going.

Hoping for an away game, thats my only hope. We cannot afford for another game to be called off and given the weather in Jan, thats very likely if its at Ewood.

Boring tie. Might as well give us points for the game.

Oof this is the first time I've seen thr full quotes. Good on VI for speaking up, but this won't go down well at all with the club. Venky's mantra has always been toe the line or you are out. They banned the local newspaper for similar reasons.

Hull City away.

Much like those before him, VI clearly not happy with how the club is run and he's now struggling to hide his annoyance at what, quite frankly, is a joke of a club. Let's face it, if we were a well run club then VI wouldnt be here in the first place. However, if he gets offered another job, he'll be off like a shot, just like our previous two managers. Sadly for VI, he won't be very in demand so I suspect he'll have to suffer through the pain like the rest of us.

It suppose it all depends whether there was ever a January pot available in the first place. If there was then you're robbing Peter to pay Paul and VI should have none of it. If there wasn't then I suppose you could say it's a clever ploy by him to put pressure on them to spend money on the pitch by him pretending he's being reasonable. Overall I still think he should be condemning the situation with the pitch without offering to sacrifice transfer budgets in return. We've seen it all before. It all smacks to a bit to me of Broughton coming out and justifiably or otherwise taking responsibility for various cock ups behind the scenes without there being any actual recriminations for him. Here it seems to me like they've spent some time agreeing their response behind the scenes in advance and he's come out pretending to be annoyed but then suggesting a solution which is no actual skin off their nose. Either that or he doesn't want to be blamed with anything to do with the pitch but doesn't want to upset them enough to lose his job either.

Yes Please 💙🤍

Venky's Dictionary Transition: Cost Cutting Transparency: Hide behind the Manager/ Fans Forum minutes debacle. Alignment: Agree or lose your job.

The pitch is clearly a problem, everyone can see it, yet there’s still been no comment or statement from the club about what they’re doing to fix it. You’d think at the very least they’d acknowledge it and outline a plan, as stated by VI today. The silence - while not surprising at all - is unbelievable at this point.

Tugay

That's all it is for me. "Nothing to do with me guv" as far as the fans are concerned and a "Don't worry here's how you can sort it out - I wont complain" message to his employers.

Did O'Neill want the the job in a long term capacity? I only remember him saying he'd keep the ship steady until a new manager was identified. He's 74 in March and hasn't managed full time in 6 years - presumably by his own choice. Very early days for Nancy - you can't judge after one game. I do think it would have made sense to hold off on the appointment until after the Hearts match, mind, but it may have sent out the wrong message to do so.

The stadium needs to be empty every home game, not just a one-off.

He's not daft, this time next year when we are struggling again no doubt having decimated the squad further to cut costs he's already got his excuse in. Then Gestede will say fans should be grateful the owners provide a pitch fit to play Sat/Tues.

Sounds he's losing the will to be the human shield who absorbs blame whilst the real culprits hide in the background. It's what he signed up for, granted, but I doubt he envisioned being grilled over not being able to play games at home when it rains.

About the funds from transfers. It is a smart move - we all know fuck all will be spent on transfers but it puts the pressure on the owners/bosses that the head coach is willing to sacrifice whatever bullshit pipedream is paraded before the inevitable "fax machine failure"... It is also sends a subtle message that this club is run so badly run operationally that the ludicrous notion of transfer fees being used on basic maintenance is required. Rebuilding a stadium/stand - fair enough but the pitch!!

2pm for a 3pm kick off for one home match -can't recall who we were playing. Was just getting out of the car.

Rev, coming round to your pov. A good rant from Vi but gives the Head ofs a nice excuse for no spend in January and beyond.

I was hard on him when he first came in but he's really grown on me. With a bit more luck we'd be much higher up the table, he's worked wonders with what little he has.

They (along with the EFL) could at least let fans know plans then? E.g. times of pitch checks and times of updates.

Im sorry I dont agree. VI had barely been in the place 5 minutes before RG said the play offs weren't the priority. There's no way whatsoever imo Ismael was told one thing before joining only for them to say the complete opposite immediately afterwards. He's never stopped banging on about how "aligned" he is with the "project" or "transition" since he joined and no-one with half a brain cell could believe it would possibly work. I dont think he's stupid. Now, he's probably realised the current situation with the pitch is completely beyond the pale, even by Venky's standards. So he's come out with some mild criticism which will make him look better with some of the fanbase, but suggested a solution which won't hurt or impact the owners in any way but which will make the situation for the Club worse overall. I.e. deducting the cost of any pitch improvements from the transfer budget. From his point of view those two things should be completely separate and non -negotiable.

I was like yourself until summer. When Eustace walked, that was my signal to boycott and not renew my season ticket. If the stadium gets emptied, Suhail WILL have to ask for more money. At that point, Mrs Desai might wonder what’s going on.

Let them straight off the hook though by saying he wouldn't moan if future transfer money went on the pitch instead. The best pitch in league 1 !

Really dislike conspiracy land but with this club’s lack of communication it’s hard not to get embroiled. Did Val already know that no new money would be forthcoming in January and thus his plea for a pitch remedy instead of transfer money is straight out of the club playbook as Rev says? His rant seemed a little long for that to me -he just seems embarrassed and doesn't want blame attached to him.