That *was* the January Window

[DE.]

20 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

In that scenario, why submit the paperwork at all?

Either to make it look like we tried, knowing full well it was too late, or because GB eventually convinced Venky's to go along with it, but by then - again - it was too late.

Who knows, all hypotheticals but one thing we can say for sure is the club as a whole is an unmitigated disaster.

[PeteJD13]

From the athletic tonight

 

Duncan McGuire’s transfer to Blackburn Rovers from Orlando City is once again on the verge of collapsing due to a Blackburn error in registering the player, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic. Blackburn is appealing against the decision – the latest U-turn in an on again/off again deadline day saga.

McGuire was on a flight to England on Wednesday morning with a deal agreed to Blackburn, only for Blackburn to tell Orlando and McGuire’s agent they had to pull out of the deal. 

McGuire still flew to England and went to a hotel in Sheffield as other clubs mounted efforts to sign him on deadline day. Blackburn got back into the mix on a different deal, with Orlando agreeing to new terms.

Sources within Orlando City say the club would feel awful for the player if the decision isn’t reversed on appeal. Orlando never wanted to lose McGuire in the first place, but accepted his desire to push for a move and twice agreed to terms with Blackburn, including once after the club abruptly pulled out of an agreed deal on Wednesday.

As things stand, McGuire will not be able to be registered to appear in matches for Blackburn until the next window, which is after the Championship season ends this summer. In the agreed-upon deal, McGuire was set for a loan until the summer with Blackburn holding a purchase option.

What happens next is still being decided. McGuire can still return to Orlando, play in MLS, and see what happens in the summer.

McGuire was at Ewood Park on Saturday watching from the stands with his agent as Blackburn fell 2-1 to QPR. The club’s other deadline-day signings, including Billy Koumetio and John Fleck, were eligible to play.

“I am not allowed to speak about that case,” manager Jon Dahl Tomasson told media when asked about the McGuire situation following the loss.” I think you should ask (CEO) Steve (Waggott), (operations and management consultant) Suhail (Shaikh) and the ownership about the Duncan McGuire case.”

It was Blackburn’s eighth match in a row without a win. Blackburn’s last league win was on December 12, when they beat Bristol City at home 2-1.

The situation may feel like deja vu for Rovers fans. Last winter, the club had agreed a loan deal for English midfielder Lewis O’Brien but it also unraveled due to the club not filing paperwork in time. O’Brien, like McGuire had completed his medical and did in-house media obligations with the club before the deal collapsed.

Founded in 1875, the Lancashire-based club were one of the 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888. The club was sold to Indian poultry-to-healthcare conglomerate V H Group, better known as Venky’s in 2010.

Previously regulars in the Premier League, Blackburn was relegated to the Championship in 2012, then dropped to League One in 2017. They returned to the second tier a year later and narrowly missed the playoffs last season.

The decision to buy Blackburn has cost Venky’s more than £200 million ($252 million) and counting when you factor in 13 years of annual losses. No member of the Rao family, which controls the V H Group, has been to Blackburn’s Ewood Park stadium since 2013, when a senior member of the family was hit by a snowball thrown by a fan protesting at the club’s recent relegation.

[Andy]

One thing to consider in all of this was the recent Venky henchman (added to the board, IIRC), specifically brought in to oversee financials at the club.

Wouldn't be surprised if he was making decisions from the shadows, over the last few days.

[Bbrovers2288]

Hahahahaahahahahahaahahahahahahaahahahahaahahahahahahaahahahahaahahahahaahahahahaahahahahaahahahaahahaahah

 

if you don’t laugh you will cry. How , how , how can it happen twice. This is a form of cruelty to Blackburn fans, every other fanbase can lorde this over us and we have 0 comeback.

i know there is epic rivals but this is the worst owners in the whole of football, I have no doubt. Who is enjoying this circus? Everyone else bar us. Form of hell 

[Gamst]

I have a suspicion we may have signed the player but not actually registered him to play. 

[Exiled_Rover]

Right, so they've deliberately sabotaged another deal.

Fit and proper owners my eye. 

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Strange how Ian Silvester who has been involved in correctly registering players here for years has all of a sudden forgotten how to do the paperwork. Presuming Waggot is involved in all transfers at previous clubs, he has presided over in excess of 100 transfers in his time as CEO at different clubs. How many of them were subject to appeal previously………

He doesn't seem to struggle doing the paperwork when we're selling players though.

I can't believe they've tried the same trick twice. 

[Hasta]

I want Broughton’s take on it. It will tell us if he is frustrated but doing his best for the club, or another yes man on the gravy train.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, CambridgeRover said:

All problems point to Venkys

Someone please buy our club

I think you mean "Please Indian government force them to sell our club".

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

Heads should have rolled after last January's embarrassment, but they didn't.

If the McGuire transfer goes the same way we'll get some mealy mouthed excuse, probably a sob story about the EFL being overly stringent, and everyone moves on. With the exception of JDT, who may well just say fuck it and leave. 

I just hope McGuire can head back to the States and continue on as normal until the summer. Not fair on the kid at all. Must be wishing he'd signed with Wednesday instead.

I did say he was bonkers to sign a deal with Rovers after we called the deal off mid-flight...

[Exiled_Rover]

3 hours ago, Lancaster Rover said:

But we’ve entered into a contract with Orlando to pay his wages presumably. The fact we can’t register matters not to them, they’d be well within their rights to demand we pay him until the end of the season you’d have thought 

You'd imagine they'd want him back playing for them. 

[Tom]

5 minutes ago, Hasta said:

I want Broughton’s take on it. It will tell us if he is frustrated but doing his best for the club, or another yes man on the gravy train.

He’ll probably leave, fall on his sword and another small cog will leave ala Paul Senior, Paul Hunt and we’ll be no better off

[sverrehh]

Reading the Athletic-article and LT it is quite evident that that the deal for Duncan McGuire was originally agreed by Waggot and Broughton. Mid-air, and upon clearance, Venkys pulled out. No money from the Wharton sale would be spent on transfers.

Scrambling, they instead offered to loan McGuire after managing to sell Ennis for 500-600k. Interestingly the same amount as the loan-fee for McGuire.

 

Edited February 3 by sverrehh

[Ghost7]

The McGuire revelation is it for me, on so many levels.

I've absolutely no interest in renewing my season ticket next year.

Won't be giving a penny more till Venky's are gone, so suspect that's me done with the club for a very very long time.

[Darwen Rover 007]

8 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

The McGuire revelation is it for me, on so many levels.

I've absolutely no interest in renewing my season ticket next year.

Won't be giving a penny more till Venky's are gone, so suspect that's me done with the club for a very very long time.

I'm in the same boat... I'm done with these charlatans 

[tomphil]

Fool me once fair enough but fool me twice ?

No chance, something really rotten at the heart of this lightening does not strike twice we've signed players n the past from all over the place and filled in all the correct boxes.

[Ghost7]

There can't be many at this level having to get deals done under the circumstances created by Venkys.

[RoversClitheroe]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Fool me once fair enough but fool me twice ?

No chance, something really rotten at the heart of this lightening does not strike twice we've signed players n the past from all over the place and filled in all the correct boxes.

Amen.

 

1 hour ago, Ghost7 said:

The McGuire revelation is it for me, on so many levels.

I've absolutely no interest in renewing my season ticket next year.

Won't be giving a penny more till Venky's are gone, so suspect that's me done with the club for a very very long time.

My feelings are the same.

[Upside Down]

7 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I know its not a popular point of view but I didn't really think the owners  pulled the OBrien deal last year after giving it the go ahead in the first place and I definitely don't think that they would (having seemingly put a block on permanent deals for  players, and therefore having specifically authorised a substitute loan deal for the same player) then pull the loan deal as well.

For me it's either a case of colossal incompetence or someone worried about meeting their annual targets is deliberately sabotaging these deals. Either seem equally plausible and no prizes for guessing the most likely culprit if the second scenario

Anyone but the owners eh.....

Jesus christ. Even for you that's piss poor.

Wake up man.

Edited February 4 by Upside Down

[Upside Down]

4 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

I wouldn’t put this past them but why go through the charade of pretending to do the deal in the first place?

They went through the charade of the appeal last year and all that came out from it was the stone cold facts of how they 'cocked it up'

I said last year they sabotaged the deal deliberately and I am holding firm on the same position this year. 

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Anyone but the owners eh.....

Jesus christ. Even for you that's piss poor.

Wake up man.

Where have I said that? I was merely putting forward my point of view as to the likely culprit.

Why would the owners specifically sanction a loan deal for Mcguire only to order it be sabotaged less than 24 hours later?

In any event regardless of who sabotaged it or whether it was gross incompetence it's still ultimately their fault as they continue to employ these chancers and I doubt there'll be any accountability this time either.

[philipl]

I accepted the O'Brien nonsense as not being Pune but Waggott failure as CEO.

If as seems likely Pune pulled the plug 9n McGuire, O'Brien has to be revisited.

JDT comments were about Waggott and Sohail. Not Broughton.

I am back wondering what Pune is really doing

What were the betting odds on Rovers getting relegated this season back in the summer?

 

[islander200]

58 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Where have I said that? I was merely putting forward my point of view as to the likely culprit.

Why would the owners specifically sanction a loan deal for Mcguire only to order it be sabotaged less than 24 hours later?

In any event regardless of who sabotaged it or whether it was gross incompetence it's still ultimately their fault as they continue to employ these chancers and I doubt there'll be any accountability this time either.

Probably because one of the owners gave permission for money to be spent and then another one of them turned round and said no. 

I don't believe the club were making bids on Wednesday without prior agreement from the owners 

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

QPR brought on some of their last minute signings. 

Ours were either missing altogether, not fit enough or not good enough to come on.  

Kevin Gallagher alluded to it on the radio. 

Says all you need to know about our window. 

[Upside Down]

45 minutes ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

QPR brought on some of their last minute signings. 

Ours were either missing altogether, not fit enough or not good enough to come on.  

Kevin Gallagher alluded to it on the radio. 

Says all you need to know about our window. 

Best window ever if you believe the epsilons on Facebook.