Venky’s (& Suhail) Out Protest Ideas

[roversfan99]

27 minutes ago, TheKitGuy said:

Brilliant to watch though!

For us? He was predominantly frustrating.

[davulsukur]

1 hour ago, KentExile said:

 

https://sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/revealed-the-blackburn-files-from

 

 

Assume there is more to that article if you're a paying subscriber? 

None of it's a surprise, stuff we've known about for years on these boards. 

Are there any smoking guns in the cache of documents he mentions?

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

For us? He was predominantly frustrating.

The rest of the players weren't on his wavelength. 

He was on a completely different level altogether in the way he saw and read the game imo but it's hard to impress when you're not being picked. 

Had a look on Wiki and he still seems to be playing in Spain at age 34.

Bizarrely also heard Tim Vickery on Talksport a while ago say "Crocky" Santa Cruz was still playing somewhere in South America at age 41!

[RevidgeBlue]

Edit - Scrub that he's 44! 🤣

[G Somerset Rover]

Rochina looked like the penny had finally dropped and he'd be a world beater on the first day of the season back in 2013(?) - he then dislocated his shoulder in the same match and just never seemed to really kick on. One of those who will surely look back on his career and think he could have got way more out of it - like Dunn has admitted about himself. Rochina's natural ability was unreal.

[Jimmy612]

2 hours ago, davulsukur said:

Assume there is more to that article if you're a paying subscriber? 

None of it's a surprise, stuff we've known about for years on these boards. 

Are there any smoking guns in the cache of documents he mentions?

Some stuff I'd never seen. 

• Kean's contract, which started at £1m per year, rising to £2m by the 2015/16 season if still in the prem. 
• Letters from Anderson's legal team to Nick Harris / Associated Newspapers (i.e. Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail), distancing him from any wrongdoing.
• Shebby Singh's formal job offer - £400,000.00 per year, £3k housing allowance, company car etc. 
• Venky's legal letter to Kentaro threatening action.

Ultimately, it's all dated between 2010 and 2012. To anyone outside of Rovers supporters, it's probably just an amusing and extraordinary chapter and another example of the ridiculousness of football ownership. The FA or any regulatory bodies probably can't or won't do/prove anything. Most people I speak to who aren't Rovers fans say, 'are you still owned by the chicken people?'.  

It's only us, 15 years on who continue to see the damage it's done to our club.  And even then, there's plenty of Rovers fans who either never knew or have forgotten the whole saga, and now see Venky's as our life support. 

Interesting last sentence by the way... "The Rao family still own Blackburn. I know from people still close to them that ultimately they want to return Blackburn to the position they were in when they took over, and feel honour-bound to do so."

If that is the case, how simple could it be to appoint a competent, stable, knowledgeable CEO and invest sensibly and properly. Just a modicum of clarity and professionalism in the boardroom would go such a long way to repair 15 years of complete torment and disconnect. Someone who can engage with the fanbase and project a feeling of unity and ultimate progression. 

Chaos follows this club around, and it's ultimately the responsibility of the owners who just seem to bounce from one disaster to the next.

Edited 4 hours ago by Jimmy612

[davulsukur]

3 minutes ago, Jimmy612 said:

Some stuff I'd never seen. 

• Kean's contract, which started at £1m per year, rising to £2m by the 2015/16 season if still in the prem. 
• Letters from Anderson's legal team to Nick Harris / Associated Newspapers (i.e. Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail), distancing him from any wrongdoing.
• Shebby Singh's formal job offer - £400,000.00 per year, £3k housing allowance, company car etc. 
• Venky's legal letter to Kentaro threatening action.

Ultimately, it's all dated between 2010 and 2012. To anyone outside of Rovers supporters, it's probably just an amusing and extraordinary chapter and another example of the ridiculousness of football ownership. The FA or any regulatory bodies probably can't or won't do/prove anything. Most people I speak to who aren't Rovers fans say, 'are you still owned by the chicken people?'.  

It's only us, 15 years on who continue to see the damage it's done to our club.  And even then, there's plenty of Rovers fans who either never knew or have forgotten the whole saga, and now see Venky's as our life support. 

Interesting last sentence by the way... "The Rao family still own Blackburn. I know from people still close to them that ultimately they want to return Blackburn to the position they were in when they took over, and feel honour-bound to do so."

If that is the case, how simple could it be to appoint a competent, stable, knowledgeable CEO and invest sensibly and properly. Just a modicum of clarity and professionalism in the boardroom would go such a long way to repair 15 years of complete torment and disconnect. Someone who can engage with the fanbase and project a feeling of unity and ultimate progression. 

Chaos follows this club around, and it's ultimately the responsibility of the owners who just seem to bounce from one disaster to the next.

On the first bit in bold, i get the same from non-Rovers fans all the time. The response is always a mix of surprise, disbelief and laughter when they ask that question though.

On the second bit, you'll struggle to point to a single action they've taken in the last 15 years that suggests they want to restore us to any former glory.

[Jimmy612]

8 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

On the first bit in bold, i get the same from non-Rovers fans all the time. The response is always a mix of surprise, disbelief and laughter when they ask that question though.

On the second bit, you'll struggle to point to a single action they've taken in the last 15 years that suggests they want to restore us to any former glory.

Agreed.  And I continually arc back to the age old question, why do they continue to do it?  Even IF their intentions are good, were they/are they so frozen in fear and damaged by that first 2 years that they trust no-one outside of their own circle i.e. Suhail?  Okay, he wheels in the odd CEO or DOF like Waggott or Gestede, but ultimately he's their man.  

Are they so naive that they genuinely believe the current modus operandi will eventually lead to success/promotion?  

I actually reflect on what I perceived to be a chink of light at the time, the Broughton/JDT summer. It seemed to be a change of tack, maybe a novel approach of actually appointing football people.  Broughton's CV was an improvement on most other historical, senior appointments (albeit an incredibly low bar). Lo and behold 18 months later, they're in a legal battle with Indian authorities, the plan is in tatters and they have since appeared to retreat further than ever in to their shell. 

 

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The rest of the players weren't on his wavelength. 

He was on a completely different level altogether in the way he saw and read the game imo but it's hard to impress when you're not being picked. 

Had a look on Wiki and he still seems to be playing in Spain at age 34.

Bizarrely also heard Tim Vickery on Talksport a while ago say "Crocky" Santa Cruz was still playing somewhere in South America at age 41!

He was the type of player who wanted a ball to himself, he would often take too long on the ball or make a wrong decision.

[alex l]

1 hour ago, Jimmy612 said:

 

Interesting last sentence by the way... "The Rao family still own Blackburn. I know from people still close to them that ultimately they want to return Blackburn to the position they were in when they took over, and feel honour-bound to do so."

If that is the case, how simple could it be to appoint a competent, stable, knowledgeable CEO and invest sensibly and properly. Just a modicum of clarity and professionalism in the boardroom would go such a long way to repair 15 years of complete torment and disconnect. Someone who can engage with the fanbase and project a feeling of unity and ultimate progression. 

We're probably nothing more than a loss making venture in amongst many business interests for them. Can imagine a weekly meeting going through their portfolio:

"Anything on the football club?" "Nope nothing from Suhail, must be going smoothly, he's not asked for anymore money". 

Of course they should take more interest, but i imagine at their level of wealth, you employ people to do that for you. We just ended up with people who care more about reducing the losses. 

[Tom]

Weirdly the only thing I really remember from Rochina was him attempting a Rabona away at somewhere like Yeovil from outside the box.

It looked impressive but highlighted he only had one foot!

Exciting player to watch for sure though, clearly talented.

[Jimmy612]

8 minutes ago, alex l said:

We're probably nothing more than a loss making venture in amongst many business interests for them. Can imagine a weekly meeting going through their portfolio:

"Anything on the football club?" "Nope nothing from Suhail, must be going smoothly, he's not asked for anymore money". 

Of course they should take more interest, but i imagine at their level of wealth, you employ people to do that for you. We just ended up with people who care more about reducing the losses. 

I've seen this mentioned before, and I'm not sure I buy it.  £20m a year is not insignificant (not to mention the headache that it's causing with the Indian authorities).  A quick google shows Venky's (India) Limited's annual turnover in March 2024 to be approx £360m.  Now, I'm not sure whether that is only a part of their empire, or whether that is the bulk of it (suspect they have other enterprises that aren't required to publically reveal financials).  But, I'm pretty sure that they will be aware (and frequently made aware) of the millstone around their neck that is Rovers. 

So, why carry on?  Seemingly uninterested and totally disconnected (bar an occasional AI generated statement). There can't be anything in it for them any more. I bet they rue the day they ever made contact with Jerome Anderson. 

[Tomphil2]

Venkys India is just one part of the conglomerate under the VH group wing and i believe the one run (probably in name only) by big Barry.

I firmly believe that the club sits in a corner of that bit of the empire and serves some kind of creating accounting purpose.  Not why it was bought but why it's allowed to remain and they are fine as long as their turnover is good and losses are kept on or below the 20 million region.

They still get a lot of worldwide advertising and able to play with the club when they feel like it. Less hassle than selling it, losing it off the books and balance sheet ( it owes them about 150 mill) and of course allowing others to sift through the books.

Also no doubt factor in their embarrassment should someone step in and suddenly make a success of it.

All this imo is coupled to the fact those who are involved in running it and advising them on it are doing very very nicely themselves out of it and will go to any reasonable lengths to NOT encourage them to get rid of it.

Just do the minimum, spend what you can comfortably afford, leave it to them and one day they'll have a team full of assets to sell again and somehow we'll get promoted when the gods finally smile on us.

[Mike E]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Weirdly the only thing I really remember from Rochina was him attempting a Rabona away at somewhere like Yeovil from outside the box.

It looked impressive but highlighted he only had one foot!

Exciting player to watch for sure though, clearly talented.

I remember a tidy game away at Peterborough, might’ve been that? Won 4-1 under Berg, thanks to Rhodes hat trick and Formica.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Tomphil2 said:

Venkys India is just one part of the conglomerate under the VH group wing and i believe the one run (probably in name only) by big Barry.

I firmly believe that the club sits in a corner of that bit of the empire and serves some kind of creating accounting purpose.  Not why it was bought but why it's allowed to remain and they are fine as long as their turnover is good and losses are kept on or below the 20 million region.

They still get a lot of worldwide advertising and able to play with the club when they feel like it. Less hassle than selling it, losing it off the books and balance sheet ( it owes them about 150 mill) and of course allowing others to sift through the books.

Also no doubt factor in their embarrassment should someone step in and suddenly make a success of it.

All this imo is coupled to the fact those who are involved in running it and advising them on it are doing very very nicely themselves out of it and will go to any reasonable lengths to NOT encourage them to get rid of it.

Just do the minimum, spend what you can comfortably afford, leave it to them and one day they'll have a team full of assets to sell again and somehow we'll get promoted when the gods finally smile on us.

It's heart breaking. 

[JHRover]

The last time they were 'interested' ( and I use that word very liberally here ) was in 2017 when after 2-3 years of cuts and chaos under Suhail (Bowyer sacked, failed Lambert experiment, Coyle appointment, selling all assets, sound familiar?) we got relegated.

Somehow that event, rather than being the death knell for their regime and ownership, spurred them into some sort of review or action. Probably because of the media attention it brought and another £10 million hole in income from less Sky tv money so the head honchos decided to sit up and take some notice and work out what had gone wrong.

Fortunately for them Mowbray dropped into their lap, and as so many do with Mowbray they fell under his spell once he had got himself out to India and talked to them at length at their palace. Outcome? Mowbray was backed more heavily than any manager they've had here in 15 years (except maybe Kean) and was given free reign in that he was allowed to sign his own players, appoint his mate and even insist they bring in a Chief Executive for the first and only time of their ownership, at considerable expense. 

Anyway, I think Mowbray convinced them to turn the money taps back on for a few years, leave him alone to get on with it and that by the end of that period we'd be in great shape for promotion or at least have a squad of assets to liquidate to recover funds from. 

3-4 years go by and we weren't getting any nearer, so they get bored with the cost of this and start to listen to others.

Pasha is talking a good game in the background. He can deliver the same result - Championship football - at half the price and even better he's 'one of them' who they already trust and he will take care of all the boring bits like dealing with managers and executives and running the club. All they have to do is review the balance sheet every 12 months, tip in the difference required and leave him to it. He'll make sure things tick over and we bring in plenty of cash from player sales to minimise their losses. 

What's not to like?

These people are probably bone-idle and have never wanted the hassle of running a football club. The idea that 'one of their own' will take care of it all for them and not rip them off whilst doing so probably sounds great to them. They get the best of both worlds - the 'benefits' of owning a significant football club, at much lower cost than previously, and most people think they are doing us a favour for it (I'm being serious by the way, most fans I speak to genuinely think they are needed here).

So from their warped positions they are probably quite content with things as they are. Whilst we are all exhausted with the draining misery of their occupation of our club and the continuing lasting damage it is doing they are probably getting quite comfortable with their trusted man sorting everything out and it costing them a fraction of what it once did. 

Just remember what happened the last time the curtain twitcher was in control and allowed to run the show without challenge - relegation to League One - because fundamentally he, and nobody willing to work under him, let alone the budgets he want's to impose - are compatible with competing in a high standard league. 

We've seen it all before only some are too blind or stupid to see it happening again.