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It won't let me give a thumbs up but I agree. I am not nailing my colours to the mast by any means, there's a good dollop of devil's advocate and wishful thinking in my post. The high turnover is concerning; on one hand you can point fingers and wonder how we let it get to a position where so many key players are out of contract shortly. On the flipside, at least we got some money for them; our failure to do so has been a key bone of contention in the past. Even taking money out of it, do players nearing the end of their contract who are certain they're moving on push themselves as much as others? Dolan would suggest they do, but perhaps different when playing to impress potential suitors (Dolan) vs trying not to get injured before joining a club that had been in the pipeline for months before (as may have happened with Brittain/Trav). The latter don't seem the type to down tools, of course, but subconsciously it can affect performance. As for non-playing staff, again does it suggest a poor working environment or is it a case of trying to hire staff less wedded to the 'old guard' and have a fresh, joined up approach (which could of course be construed as trying to flood the club with 'yes men')? It's difficult without knowing what has gone on behind the scenes. I'm sure NDAs have been signed and we'll never know, which adds a sense of annoyance to the cryptic 'glad we are out' posts that seem petty and immature but could easily be another mark against Suhail and co's names. I hope none of this comes across as casting aspersions against any former staff members - I genuinely don't know and the way our club has operated, coupled with said posts, creates a vacuum of potential misinformation and conjecture. If the powers that be decided said staff members couldn't work with the new players/manager and were too wedded to previous players/managers, then they had a decision to make. More cynically, the club might just have easily have treated her and others like crap and might be fully deserving of her ire. As for VI, the ruthlessness can go either way but for me a happy medium is preferrable. It depends as well what he's like behind closed doors. Again, I'm conscious I've said a lot without really saying anything, which shows I haven't really made my own mind up on a lot of the above!

The only way more won't be "piled on" is if we get promoted which, you would think, would require some strategic investment in the first place.

Forwards are stupidly expensive at the moment. Average players are going for crazy money at the top level. We may end up having to settle for Ohashi and Gueye.

Got to agree to a point. There’s obvious issues in the club. But at the same time, players like Travis and Dolan have been regulars here for years and we’ve achieved nothing. So at some point the dice may as well be rolled.

It is not just you. It is odd and very conflicted. For me, it's not unlike the psychology of a kidnapper's victims, who feel anxious, whenever their captor is absent. They come to rely on their captor for food, safety and warmth! I wish they would just go, but if they insist on staying, I want them to invest.

You’re suggesting they give a shit what you or I think, and that’s the problem. I also hate the fact we’re in debt 200m+ to them, but apparently that’s something that doesn’t bother you or many others here. Pile more on.

I'd rather the club get relegated because of financial issues and venkys be forced to sell than plod along midtable every season

It would appear JDT and your mate Eustace disagreed completely with you. As for proof he dissuaded the owners from investing I havent got the specific link but he clearly said in the LT at the time he had to "calm the owners down" something Leonard has corroborated.

Boom!

You're just being argumentative for the sake of it here. I dont KNOW for certain, it's my opinion. Also hasn't the suggestion come recently from either Nixon or Suhail they want £200m ish or have I completely imagined that?

We're a more attractive proposition now in the Championship, if the owners would agree to sell us for our actual worth.

Owning a football club unless you're one of about five, that actually makes loads of money, is effectively an exercise in philanthropy. I.E.- you're gonna lose a lot of money if it's your plaything. If that doesn't sound good to someone, it's probably not for them.

Seems he's a slave to the data.

If they're insisting on owning the club, then surely we can insist on them funding it? If not, then they should sell. Straightforward. really!

There are many problems with the ownership, however IF they were suddenly able and/or willing to fund the Club in the same way as they did prior to the Court Case, it would be one less thing to worry about. (I don't actually think the outcome of the Court proceedings will make any difference to us, they've lost interest - we'll still get the subsistence level funding but it'll cost them less if they're successful)

Fair enough but the other option is that they put some of their massive wealth towards a promotion push while the FFP situation allows it. I imagine Rovers would be a much more attractive proposition to potential new owners if we were in the Premiership.

Did anyone notice sesko was 10th penalty taker last night? Either the guy has has put himself there or the coaching staff put him last. Either way not a ringing endorsement of your big money striker.

Re the part in bold - that is the crux. We don’t have people who care, we don’t have a high level of expertise at the top. Doesn’t matter what “projects” (including the current Rudy / VI one) you’re running, if the people running the club from the top don’t have that expertise and care, you end up with people like Steve Waggott. Re the second paragraph - when they’re not putting money in, they’re not involved. That’s an immediate improvement for me. I don’t want their money. I don’t want my club to get further and further into “gift loan” debt with a set of cunts who don’t have that “care and expertise” that we both agree is needed. I also think that rovers are surely a more attractive proposition for alternative investment IF we are doing what we did in the 80s that you reference, aka punching above our financial weight, and being ambitious despite not having the backing or the crowds.

I'm actually quite excited about our transfer activity - and this is coming from a dyed in the wool Venky hater who isn't fond of Gestede at all. We're targeting big, athletic players - ones who are hungry (having come from smaller leagues so this is a pay rise). They're gambles and inexperienced in this league, but at least they're not jaded by ongoing contract talks. Loans are a literal waste of money unless you're desperately fighting against relegation or pushing for promotion e.g. Hull set fire to £1m + wages for 6 months of Louis Barry sat in their treatment room last year.

Not really a priority in relative terms. Many would argue we only have one guy up front and one you only want to see come off the bench. (Although I quite like Gueye myself)

I've always said the way loans should work is that they shouldn't form the core of your transfer business but maybe be limited to one or two and one of them should be a real hum dinger like Elliott who is the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake and the sort of player you'd never be able to afford permanently. So I basically agree with VI regarding loans but it might be we bring in one or two through necessity given that forward players in general, and decent strikers in particular, tend to be a lot more expensive.

I think that's 3 starters and then 2 guys you only want to see come off the bench. We need another.

I would be happy to be self sustainable as long as the ambition was still there. For example in the 80s - I loved those times when we constantly pushed for promotion or the playoffs without any real cash behind us. We managed to do this because we were well run by people who cared about the club. However, we have billionaire owners who take no interest and yet you are happy for them to put no money in and admit we are not aiming to achieve promotion ? What is the point in a football club with no ambition?

You sure? Explain to me how you know how much they want for it? How do you know they have an arbitrary figure in mind? What about if they just see it as a trinket or line in their P&L?

Cunha and Mbuemo should be good signings as they are proven Prem quality. Sesko is somewhat unknown but came in on a big fee so will have the expectations to match. However, it remains to be seen if any of them can score 20 league goals in a season. Ultimately I think they won't. The club is rotten (nowhere near as rotten as Rovers, mind). I have so sympathy for them, their fans, Ratcliffe, the Glazers, or Amorim. Amorim is puzzling. 12 months ago Mainoo was coming off playing for England at the Euros. Now he can't get a kick. Strange. His adherence to 3-4-3 will be the undoing of him. He doesn't have the players to play it, nor is it a formation that breeds success. Off the top of my head I think that the only Prem winning team playing 3 at the back was Conte's Chelsea, and they had Diego Costa banging them in. In summary give him a 5 year extension with hope that the UK government dig their heels in on the rail hub and make them pay for their new stadium