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[glen9mullan]

Wait till you see the ones they put on website.

As he threw Gestede under bus for contracts with Waggott 

He changed them to waggott and himself in updated ones to prevent losing an ally.

The Jones stuff was unreal , basically suggested he was shit etc 

[wilsdenrover]

5 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Still sticking to the £20 million a year lie. 

"Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it"

Both of the following are from the minutes as annotated:

‘He believed that this was possible with a Category 1 academy without the owners having to put £20m in each season’

‘The owners had provided £17m to offset operational losses in the previous year’

It seems we’re owed £3m…

 

[Ossydave]

Well that reaffirms everyone's opinion that SS is a twat, thanks for sharing

[Tomphil2]

So he's now saying he is accountable as well for all the non contract re-signings and lost revenue ?

Surely the owners should now be asking him serious questions on that.

No wonder hes been hiding in the shadows so long he's clearly full of shit or has no grip whatsoever on what goes on and does he care as long as he gets paid and has a jolly time of it ?

[JHRover]

His first foray without Slippery Steve there to navigate the choppy waters and it looks like the Venky stooge has well and truly made a hash of things. 

Suspect he will be on the blower to Pune to get that human shield / fake CEO / snake oil salesman in pronto on a short term consultancy deal just to take the heat out of things and so he can take a step back and hand over the smooth talking to someone well trained in the arts. 

Where's Mowbray and his tales of 70s Teesside and the humble people in Pune when you need him?

[superniko]

1 hour ago, glen9mullan said:

Minutes of the Blackburn Rovers Fans’ Forum

Meeting Monday 14^th July 2025 – 6.30pm

 

3.     Pre-Season – including Spain Tour

       

YS stated that tickets for both games at the Pinetar Arena were available online from the venue. Asked whether there would be open training sessions, he replied that the cost that would be charged by the hotel were not justifiable.

 

 

4.     Staffing Changes

       

   

        GM – Asked who would be appointing the CEO, who would be carrying out the interviewing process and, what would be their role given the leaked job description which suggested they would not be involved with the football side.

        SS- Stated to GM, you speak to the owners, why don’t you ask or text them?

 

 

        GM Asked – Why is it we have had several key employees decide Rovers is not the place for them and exit, whilst several good loyal and long serving employees have also exited the club Stuart Jones being one example, whilst managers including JDT and Eustace have also exited citing in none Rovers interviews different reasons than those suggested by Rovers?

 

        SS – Stated we would need to ask them, but Stuart Jones was only at the club for 10 years and how do we know he was good? Whilst JDT Did 2 interviews with the LET, which were completely opposite to what he stated previously, whilst Eustace chose to be closer to home. 

        

        GM – Stated Jones had been part of an instrumental time at the club with key players coming through the academy, notably Adam Wharton who was sold for what appears to be below market value to pay bills, with no reinvestment into the squad with those funds.

 

        SS- Stated that no one knew Wharton would be a good player at youth level whilst AO Stated no one pays more for a championship player, GM – Gave the recent £40m plus add-ons sale of Jobe Bellingham as a rebuttal, whilst refuting SS Claim on Wharton who had been the worse kept secret in years as a player very much expected to progress to the first team since during the emergence of his brother. AO Acknowledged, other championship players have gone for much more money than the previous suggestion of Wharton’s value being market value.

 

 

6.     Funding 

       

        GM asked whether, if the club generates funds by player sales, why the board or SS As the clubs trusted adviser can’t come to some arrangement with the owners of crystal clarity of a said % of those funds being immediately available to strengthen the squad, GM Asked had that question been asked?  SS replied that, there was no such general agreement in place, or had the question been asked of the owners, though there had been reinvestment in the playing squad from player sales, such as when the club re-invested 40% of Sammie Szmodics’ transfer fee. GM Stated this was a small proportion given the club also sold Gallagher, Kaminski, Wharton amongst others in the same year, whilst they received payments for Raya and others, and this seems low investment in terms of money received. SS Stated that spending more money or increasing wages don’t guarantee a jump in league position.

 

        DM asked given we currently have FFP Headroom but only for a finite time you stated you would be requesting the maximum budget from the owners at the previous FF Meeting, and if this request was not granted by the owners, then there was no legacy to the sale of Adam Wharton. SS replied that he did not ask as the owners would never give 15 to 20 million for transfers as this does not guarantee success and the owners didn’t grant the full amount which was requested this time but it was a workable budget and was in-line with last year

 

  

7.     Season Tickets 2025-26

 

        Currently the number of season ticket sold were 3.6% down on the total sales at the same time in the previous season, but revenue was up by 10%.

 

        YS stated that in the 2024-25 season the club were 23^rd in the Championship in terms of revenue from season ticket sales and that the Championship average season ticket income across all clubs was more than double that for Rovers. Rovers had year on year reduced Season Ticket pricing, which had led to a decrease in overall revenue. Only Hull City offer overall cheaper ticket prices across all age groups than Rovers in the 25/26 season.

 

 

11.   Women’s Team

 

ML led the discussion on the club’s decision to voluntarily relegate the women’s team to League 4. Despite the club’s One Rovers inclusive campaign they had withdrawn funding for the team. SS replied that unfortunately due to the demands the current model was not sustainable, with a further significant rise in minimum criteria set by the league, increase in staffing levels and player contract it was not economically viable for the club to continue to support the team at the Championship level given the new funding requirements. DM Stated what is to stop the club deciding the Men’s team is also unsustainable given it loses far more money? The team had had a £100,000 sponsor but took less than £20,000 in ticket income in 2024-25 but the new funding would require expenditure of £1m a season.

GM Asked who made the decision to pull the woman’s funding without adequate notice and leave the players careers in limbo, whilst the new rules and funding requirements were known 12 months ago, why have the club not pursued an alternative ownership model or third-party funding, whilst carrying out significant consultation to review all options over this period of time. SS Stated the CEO Was in charge of the woman’s team and no one wants to invest in woman’s football.  GM asked who made the ultimate decision to pull funding? SS Stated it was solely the owner’s decision.

DM – Asked did SS Make the owners aware of how bad a decision like this would be received amongst the supporters and wider community given the success of the national team which has had significant input from past rovers players, providing in turn fantastic PR Which the club have previously been happy to receive? SS Replied he thinks the owners know what is going on at their football club.

 

 

 

 

some absolute comedy in there I’ve underlined.

Particularly like the wordplay that Yasir uses to state Hull were the only team to have cheaper season tickets ‘in all age groups’ 

cheers pal, our adults were some of the most expensive in the league in one of the most deprived areas of the country.

As for Suhail, well I expected nothing less 

[wilsdenrover]

12 minutes ago, superniko said:

some absolute comedy in there I’ve underlined.

Particularly like the wordplay that Yasir uses to state Hull were the only team to have cheaper season tickets ‘in all age groups’ 

cheers pal, our adults were some of the most expensive in the league in one of the most deprived areas of the country.

As for Suhail, well I expected nothing less 

Surely the reply to ‘Stuart Jones was only at the club for 10 years and how do we know he was good?’ is:

10 years is a long time, if he wasn’t any good why didn’t you get rid sooner?

 

[Miller11]

A couple of points I’ll add…

The April fans forum was the first I’d ever attended, and the level of professionalism on show was very different this time round for number 2.

In that meeting I’d pressed Suhail and Waggott on whether they would be requesting significant transfer funds given we had headroom under P&S rules given the profit we posted in 23/24, but that opportunity to spend would disappear. Waggott stated that he hoped so and that transfer funds and an increase in wage budget would be forthcoming, and he acknowledged that there was a window of opportunity to spend.

Suhail repeatedly claimed the squad had been reinvested in (mentioning the spend on Sam Gallagher at one point) - I argued that we’d only really replaced outgoing players (I used the term backfill), usually with cheaper options and there appeared to be no desire to progress and improve. 

He eventually stated he’d be requesting the maximum budget available given our FFP position. Which in the July meeting he admits he didn’t do.

 

When asked about the owners aspirations he simply stated “A sustainable club.”

Given that Waggott had always previously said “A sustainable Premier League club” I asked him “Sustainable regardless of what division we are in?”

He responded by accusing me of putting words into his mouth. I pointed out I was asking the question - I redirected to Adam Owen given he has some football knowledge and background. As you can see above he wasn’t wholly convinced on the idea of breaking even. He mentioned different models we could go down and cited Brentford, Brighton and Ajax as examples.

I stated each of these models relied on reinvestment of fees and presently we were more like Crewe circa 1998.

Suhail stated that expenditure doesn’t guarantee success. Despite this Yasir later used the term “Punching above our weight” in a way which contradicted Suhail’s claims.

At one point Suhail’s repeated attempts to absolve himself of any blame and put it in Waggott led to very audible widespread groans and comments such as “He’s passing the buck again”, “of course it’s not your fault”, and “That’s convenient”.

 

Aside from my personal opinions on suitability, professionalism and competence, my key takeaways were:

- Priority one is cutting losses.

- Priority 2 is dumbing down expectations.

- Suhail is feared by some employees

- There is no desire to see Rovers promoted

- Fans are an inconvenience, and any expectations we have are viewed as unreasonable

[den]

5 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

A couple of points I’ll add…

The April fans forum was the first I’d ever attended, and the level of professionalism on show was very different this time round for number 2.

In that meeting I’d pressed Suhail and Waggott on whether they would be requesting significant transfer funds given we had headroom under P&S rules given the profit we posted in 23/24, but that opportunity to spend would disappear. Waggott stated that he hoped so and that transfer funds and an increase in wage budget would be forthcoming, and he acknowledged that there was a window of opportunity to spend.

Suhail repeatedly claimed the squad had been reinvested in (mentioning the spend on Sam Gallagher at one point) - I argued that we’d only really replaced outgoing players (I used the term backfill), usually with cheaper options and there appeared to be no desire to progress and improve. 

He eventually stated he’d be requesting the maximum budget available given our FFP position. Which in the July meeting he admits he didn’t do.

 

When asked about the owners aspirations he simply stated “A sustainable club.”

Given that Waggott had always previously said “A sustainable Premier League club” I asked him “Sustainable regardless of what division we are in?”

He responded by accusing me of putting words into his mouth. I pointed out I was asking the question - I redirected to Adam Owen given he has some football knowledge and background. As you can see above he wasn’t wholly convinced on the idea of breaking even. He mentioned different models we could go down and cited Brentford, Brighton and Ajax as examples.

I stated each of these models relied on reinvestment of fees and presently we were more like Crewe circa 1998.

Suhail stated that expenditure doesn’t guarantee success. Despite this Yasir later used the term “Punching above our weight” in a way which contradicted Suhail’s claims.

At one point Suhail’s repeated attempts to absolve himself of any blame and put it in Waggott led to very audible widespread groans and comments such as “He’s passing the buck again”, “of course it’s not your fault”, and “That’s convenient”.

 

Aside from my personal opinions on suitability, professionalism and competence, my key takeaways were:

- Priority one is cutting losses.

- Priority 2 is dumbing down expectations.

- Suhail is feared by some employees

- There is no desire to see Rovers promoted

- Fans are an inconvenience, and any expectations we have are viewed as unreasonable

I think you’re dead right. There has been no ambition at this club for many years now. From the owners their whole approach seems to be “here’s some cash, it’s all you’re getting and we don’t care what you do with it” .

[roversfan99]

Suhail really comes across even worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. To think, he is the most senior person at our football club.

Carries himself in a way which disgraces the club. Unprofessional, sarcastic and bitter. Numerous jibes at Glen (the one about asking Venkys himself was a real low) but also throwing other employees past and present under the bus.

He clearly has no interest in the clubs success. Clearly not one to push for more funding or even reinvestment, will just blindly defend. The stuff about Lowe, about Waggott, about funding, about the womens team, about Jones, all totally bizarre. And so evasive about contracts. Making out like its the fault mainly of people that have left, no comment on what will be done to change things.

For so long, Waggott took the brunt of the stick and I maintain that I am glad that he is gone. (Or whatever the situation is) But he at least carried himself in the main as a board member would be expected to act. 

Yasir also comes across terribly. Surely he doesnt genuinely believe the stuff about prices not being a major factor in poor sales.

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

Minutes of the Blackburn Rovers Fans’ Forum

Meeting Monday 14^th July 2025 – 6.30pm

 

 

 

Present – Fans’ Forum                  

 

Mark Hitchen                                   

John Wareing                                  

Glen Mullan                                     

Fin Rosbotham                                                

Ivan  Rosbotham                                      

Annette Birkbeck                             

Kenny Hodkinson                                                    

Zubair Bassa

Attiq Ali

Steve Birtwell

Terry Crawford

Megan Longworth

Duncan Miller

Chris Lofthouse

Neil Duckworth

Katie Hull

 

Present from BRFC

 

Suhail Shaikh           Chief Operating Officer

Lynsey Talbot           Head of Operations

Christina Haines       Admin, Access and Inclusion Officer/Supporter Liaison Officer

Yasir Sufi                 Head of Commercial & Partnerships

Adam Owen             Head of Technical Development

Anna Melia               Head of Marketing

Rob Gill                    Head of Media & Communications

 

1.     Apologies for Absence 

       

Ray Williamson

Savio Mathias                                  

Bharat Parmar

Tristan Stock

Peter Bolton

Adrian Chenery

Joel Chenery

Anne-Marie Riach

 

2.     Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Previous Meeting 15^th April 2025

 

        None.

 

 

 

 

 

3.     Pre-Season – including Spain Tour

       

YS stated that tickets for both games at the Pinetar Arena were available online from the venue. Asked whether there would be open training sessions, he replied that the cost that would be charged by the hotel were not justifiable.

 

JW asked whether any game had been arranged for the weekend of 2^nd and 3^rd August. SS replied that nothing had been arranged as yet but that discussions were ongoing.

 

 

4.     Staffing Changes

       

        MH wished to put on record his and the Forum’s thanks to Steve Waggott for his input to the Fans Forum over the past seven years. He asked whether the club had any comment to make on the terse official statement on his departure. SS replied that he wished to make no further comment.

 

        DM asked- who was running the club in the absence of the CEO and accountable as it was noted Steve Waggott was still listed as a Director at Companies house.

        SS confirmed that at the moment Steve Waggott was still officially a club employee, whilst the other members of the board carry full accountability.

        

        GM – Asked who would be appointing the CEO, who would be carrying out the interviewing process and, what would be their role given the leaked job description which suggested they would not be involved with the football side.

 

        SS- Stated to GM, you speak to the owners, why don’t you ask or text them? GM Replied the question was for him. SS Stated the owners are solely looking on this and will be the only ones interviewing and ultimately making the decision on this appointment. No-one within Ewood will have input into this process and will be notified when the appointment is made. He assumes the CEO Will be accountable for the day to day running of the club.

 

        Asked by JW about the reported departure of David Lowe, SS replied that as far as he understood this had not happened.

 

        GM Asked – Why is it we have had several key employees decide Rovers is not the place for them and exit, whilst several good loyal and long serving employees have also exited the club Stuart Jones being one example, whilst managers including JDT and Eustace have also exited citing in none Rovers interviews different reasons than those suggested by Rovers?

 

        SS – Stated we would need to ask them, but Stuart Jones was only at the club for 10 years and how do we know he was good? Whilst JDT Did 2 interviews with the LET, which were completely opposite to what he stated previously, whilst Eustace chose to be closer to home.

 

      

 

        GM – Stated Jones had been part of an instrumental time at the club with key players coming through the academy, notably Adam Wharton who was sold for what appears to be below market value to pay bills, with no reinvestment into the squad with those funds.

 

        SS- Stated that no one knew Wharton would be a good player at youth level whilst AO Stated no one pays more for a championship player, GM – Gave the recent £40m plus add-ons sale of Jobe Bellingham as a rebuttal, whilst refuting SS Claim on Wharton who had been the worse kept secret in years as a player very much expected to progress to the first team since during the emergence of his brother. AO Acknowledged, other championship players have gone for much more money than the previous suggestion of Wharton’s value being market value.

 

        GM – asked why it is we are once again at that point where we are losing players for free, or in their last years of the contracts.

 

        SS – Stated the club is suffering from these mistakes once again as they did previously with Brereton etc, and contracts were the sole responsibility of the CEO and Rudy Gestede. He stated we’ve lost too much in terms of potential transfer revenue, due to these mistakes over a period of time.

       

5.     Club Communications

 

        DM asked about the status of the Fan Engagement Plans which the EFL now require clubs to produce each season and how the club intended to report not meeting the guidelines?  LT replied that the 2024/25 plan had been submitted before the end of June in line with EFL Regulation. The 2025/26 plan was being prepared by LT, AM and YS and would be signed off by SS and the Board and submitted by the end of July.

 

        GM asked whether the club were still supporting the Government’s proposals regarding a Football Regulator given Steve Waggott took the lead and was extremely passionate regarding supporter involvement with their clubs. LT replied that the position of the Club remained the same as it had previously.

       

6.     Funding

 

        ZB asked for feedback on SS’s recent visit to the owners in India. SS replied that it had been a normal trip to finalise club budgets for the coming year. The owners had provided £17m to offset operational losses in the previous year and a further £5m has recently be sent to cover for shortfalls in May and June. Capex budget of £1.5m had been proposed and approved for planned stadium maintenance.

 

        Asked for clarification on the transfer budget by DM, SS replied that a budget had been agreed which was slightly up on last years but below what had been requested.

 

        GM asked whether, if the club generates funds by player sales, why the board or SS As the clubs trusted adviser can’t come to some arrangement with the owners of crystal clarity of a said % of those funds being immediately available to strengthen the squad, GM Asked had that question been asked?  SS replied that, there was no such general agreement in place, or had the question been asked of the owners, though there had been reinvestment in the playing squad from player sales, such as when the club re-invested 40% of Sammie Szmodics’ transfer fee. GM Stated this was a small proportion given the club also sold Gallagher, Kaminski, Wharton amongst others in the same year, whilst they received payments for Raya and others, and this seems low investment in terms of money received. SS Stated that spending more money or increasing wages don’t guarantee a jump in league position.

 

        DM asked given we currently have FFP Headroom but only for a finite time you stated you would be requesting the maximum budget from the owners at the previous FF Meeting, and if this request was not granted by the owners, then there was no legacy to the sale of Adam Wharton. SS replied that he did not ask as the owners would never give 15 to 20 million for transfers as this does not guarantee success and the owners didn’t grant the full amount which was requested this time but it was a workable budget and was in-line with last year

 

        DM Asked what the owners’ ultimate aspirations for the club were. SS stated they want a sustainable club, DM Asked, sustainable regardless of what division as it had been previously stated they had wanted a sustainable premier league club. DM asked AO Is it possible for any club in the Championship to be financially sustainable. AO replied that he had agreed to come to the club based on its model of developing young players and selling them on for profit as they develop to mitigate losses. He believed that this was possible with a Category 1 academy without the owners having to put £20m pound in each season, though conceded that we could become more sustainable but not completely.

       

 

 

7.     Season Tickets 2025-26

 

        AM stated that information on the membership tiers would be issued in the following week and that the club had taken on board various issues with Blues membership.

 

        YS provided some information on season ticket sale for the 2024/25 season. The club had responded to the supporter’s desire to have season ticket prices launched earlier to aid affordability. The decision had been made to launch in March ahead of the club having a run of three games against teams in the relegation fight, however YS stated it was the worst possible time to launch due to results and the negativity on social media. Currently the number of season ticket sold were 3.6% down on the total sales at the same time in the previous season, but revenue was up by 10%.

 

        YS stated that in the 2024-25 season the club were 23^rd in the Championship in terms of revenue from season ticket sales and that the Championship average season ticket income across all clubs was more than double that for Rovers. Rovers had year on year reduced Season Ticket pricing, which had led to a decrease in overall revenue. Only Hull City offer overall cheaper ticket prices across all age groups than Rovers in the 25/26 season.

 

       

        He stated that the club were not where they had hoped to be in terms of sales but were in a better position than had been feared earlier. In response to a question, he stated that to date the club had sold about 400 tickets in Phase 2.

 

        JW asked whether the club intended to issue a flexible season ticket as they had done in January. YS stated that this may well be done in the New Year.

 

        YS believed that pricing was not the principal reason for declining sales. He stated that he believes we have the same level of core supporters in terms of numbers and historically this has not really changed. DM Stated there had been two significant drop off periods within the club’s history, one being after the 1960 cup final and the other being when the club was relegated under the Rao family ownership, where a disconnection and loss of faith appeared. DM Stated during the last 15 years there had been no contrition or acknowledgement of the mistakes made during their tenure.

        GM believes that the club has failed to engage with lapsed supporters from the fanbase, those whose families have been fans for generations or understand their reasoning for no attendance. ZB stated it was also important to grow the interest in the South Asian community in Blackburn, now a significant proportion of the population. ND agreed with the club that they should look at attracting fans who have no familial connection to the club and start a new a chain of batons being asked.

 

        DM and GM asked whether the club could publicly recognise their failures in the management of the club which have had impact on attendances, regeneration and the community.

 

8.     Club Kits 2025-26

 

        MH asked for an update on sales of the two kits so far released for the new season and the plans for the 150^th Anniversary kit. YS replied that sales had been going well and that there had been a positive reaction from fans. The club had increased the order for the 3^rd kit after the success of the 2024-25 version. GM praised the enthusiasm and professionalism of the staff on duty during the season ticket holder pre-open sale event.

 

        The 150^th Anniversary shirt would also be provided by Macron under the existing contract. It would be a limited-edition shirt and would be released closer to the Anniversary date in November, with a limited amount made available for sale.

 

        The away kit would be launched on Friday 18^th July. The team would be wearing this kit for the friendly game with Everton on 19^th, as Everton had as yet only released their new home kit and they had requested that they wear it at the game.

 

        GM asked about the inadvertent leak of the kit the day before the launch. AM replied that the error had been an individual one made by a member of staff of the agency that had been contracted to help. It was extremely unfortunate, and the club had come to an agreement with the agency as a result.

 

       

        GM Asked regarding the quality of the home shirt in particular which appears to sub-optimal quality in terms of fabric and manufacture with a number being returned due to defects or damage after minimal handling. YS Stated it is common for first batches to have quality issues, and they tend to improve after the first batch, but the club can be refunded for any substandard product.

       

9.     Summer Works      

 

        LT stated that bore holes were being drilled for the rails to be fitted for the new safe seating section that week. The rails would not be fitted before the Everton game as, once fitted they would require building regulation approval along with SGSA Licensing which would have been time restrictive as until the license is approved the whole area would not be able to be used. She expected that everything would be ready for the home cup game with Bradford City in August.

 

        MH asked what other work had been done in the close season. LT replied that £250,000 had been spent on the vomitories at both the Blackburn and Darwen Ends in the last year. The toilets in Blues Bar had been refurbished and a considerable amount of work had been done at Brockhall.

 

        YS stated that, contrary to some social media comment, the ANPR cameras which had been installed in the car parks were not for fans parking there but were for the number of cars who use the car parks across the week. An example was driving instructors who often brought their clients on to the car parks.

 

        YS stated that there had been upgrades to the turnstiles. There would be communication to fans ahead of the Everton game encouraging fans to have their mobile tickets ready for processing and downloaded to their wallet ahead of arriving at the turnstiles.

 

        GM asked about parking for stewarding staff on the club car parks, feeling that they should for security be allowed to park close to their work. LT replied that current staff who had car parking spaces would be protected but spaces would not be provided for new staff as there was no available space unless there was a need to make a reasonable adjustment. She said that Darwen Vale school had provided more space and that they had been willing to offer several spaces for staff who were willing to park there and walk down to and from the ground.

 

10.   Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

 

        LT stated that there was nothing to report during the close season.

       

11.   Women’s Team

 

ML led the discussion on the club’s decision to voluntarily relegate the women’s team to League 4. Despite the club’s One Rovers inclusive campaign they had withdrawn funding for the team. SS replied that unfortunately due to the demands the current model was not sustainable, with a further significant rise in minimum criteria set by the league, increase in staffing levels and player contract it was not economically viable for the club to continue to support the team at the Championship level given the new funding requirements. DM Stated what is to stop the club deciding the Men’s team is also unsustainable given it loses far more money? The team had had a £100,000 sponsor but took less than £20,000 in ticket income in 2024-25 but the new funding would require expenditure of £1m a season.

GM Asked who made the decision to pull the woman’s funding without adequate notice and leave the players careers in limbo, whilst the new rules and funding requirements were known 12 months ago, why have the club not pursued an alternative ownership model or third-party funding, whilst carrying out significant consultation to review all options over this period of time. SS Stated the CEO Was in charge of the woman’s team and no one wants to invest in woman’s football.  GM asked who made the ultimate decision to pull funding? SS Stated it was solely the owner’s decision.

DM – Asked did SS Make the owners aware of how bad a decision like this would be received amongst the supporters and wider community given the success of the national team which has had significant input from past rovers players, providing in turn fantastic PR Which the club have previously been happy to receive? SS Replied he thinks the owners know what is going on at their football club.

 

KH asked whether there was any truth in the rumour that the club rejected an offer for some external funding for the team. SS replied that he was not aware of this.

 

ML asked what the plan for the team was now. SS stated that they would compete in League 4.

 

DM asked about the rumour of a team player whose funding for her rehabilitation programme had been stopped because of this decision. SS stated that this was not true. The player was unable to undertake her rehabilitation at Brockhall but the programme to support was continuing elsewhere, and they were hoping to come to an agreement to train at the University of Lancashire’s facility in Preston or a suitable alternative location.

 

YS pointed out that Rovers Women’s team were not the only club to be in a difficult financial situation.

 

GM asked whether the club would accept that the whole situation surrounding the women’s team had been handled poorly and should have been done better, SS Acknowledged this should have been handled better.

 

 

 

12.   Any Other Business      

 

a)    CL asked if SS could confirm his role at the club. SS explained that he was responsible for the Academy[GM1]  and for the commercial operations at the club. The CEO would be responsible for the football club.

b)    GM stated that the FF Has been successful over a long period of time, however, cannot be used as a reason for the club to avoid open dialogue with the wider fan base including supporter groups with membership bases and constitutions given Fans forum meetings shouldn’t be hijacked by supporter group mandate issues,  whilst SB Also commented about the loss of open supporter consultation meetings which have discontinued since COVID. GM Reiterated not all fans conform or want to be a part of a group; however, the lack of democracy and transparency is one of the largest bug bearers within our valuable supporter base. Its important club keep open consultation with the various fan’s groups, as per with previous regimes whilst looking to increase wider engagement particularly given the changes the new regulator will bring.  LT explained that the club had to outline its approach to consultation as part of its annual Fan Engagement Plan. It may be that a new CEO would approach consultation in a different way, and it was possible to change the plan by notifying the EFL with 5 days’ notice. LT Also stated Steve Waggott’s open door policy, was not the best use of his time.

YS stated that it would be important that any fan communications were consistent across the whole fan base, and not just with select supportersCoo

(c) Northern Horde

MH – Asked if there had been any indication of the owners attending ewood given the years that have passed without attending? SS Stated there is no planned trip to attend at this stage.

 

GM Asked SS Why he had stated on BBC Radio that there had been no interest from potential purchasers, given previous directors have stated that three expressions of interest were sent to India, and they were advised by the Rao’s to stop sending these to them, as they have no desire to sell the club. SS Failed to answer the question.

 

Thanks for this Glen.

It's wonderful to see someone finally giving the bastards a genuinely hard time.

Absolutely jaw dropping stuff. You could drive a double decker bus through the holes in most of what Suhail said. I dont think the situation has necessarily suddenly got better or worse, it's just that Waggott was considerably more adept at lying through his teeth.

Even amongst all the nonsense, one or two things leapt out at me:

I find it astonishing that Suhail would claim that the owners were solely responsible for appointing the next CEO when it seems to be common knowledge that they never even spoke to Eustace and I was led to believe that years ago Suhail was solely responsible for the appointment of Lambert and he never spoke to them either.

I know football is a business but even so that smacks of ignoring the organ grinder and wanting to speak to the monkey. Wrong way round. The manager is by far the most important appointment at any Club. Without success on the pitch everything else fails.

Secondly if the owners ever get to read the minutes Im guessing they won't appreciate Suhail throwing them under the bus as regards the women's team.

 

 

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

 

Aside from my personal opinions on suitability, professionalism and competence, my key takeaways were:

- Priority one is cutting losses.

- Priority 2 is dumbing down expectations.

- Suhail is feared by some employees

- There is no desire to see Rovers promoted

- Fans are an inconvenience, and any expectations we have are viewed as unreasonable

Completely agree. On the basis that actions speak louder than words that's become patently obvious since the Court case hasnt it?

Let's not pretend though that anything has changed due to Waggott leaving, His MO was always to discourage increasing bums on seats but instead maintain revenue levels by exploiting the loyalty of the hard-core fan base to the limit.

"Squeeze 'em until the pips squeak" as Denis Healey once infamously said about the "rich".

Seems like nothing whatsoever has changed in that respect.

[Herbie6590]

It seems my theory has been proven correct…football targets are irrelevant. No aspiration, no ambition, no hope.

Death by inertia…

[Mattyblue]

Exactly that. The Gooner was almost crowing that they’ve pulled off higher revenue with lower sales. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

8 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

I wonder if they criticised Waggott as much to his face as they’re now doing behind his back.

It wasn't me Sir,it was Waggott!

[Mike Graham]

42 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

It wasn't me Sir,it was Waggott!

Correct.  However SS and YS no longer have anyone to hide behind.

[Tomphil2]

Hey look iv'e increased ticket income in my first season in the job and if crowds are down over the season we'll need a few less staff so iv'e cut costs as well.

That'll look good on his cv when he's begging Arsenal for a job.

Have no fear though Yasir these things have a habit of biting you on the arse.

It's crystal clear Suhail is as iv'e long suspected the main problem here i'm absolutely astounded he let Mowbray go as that kind of shield and plodding along is exactly what he is all about.  There must've been a falling out or hes had a brainstorm that he could do it cheaper with a head coach model unless he was told from above things had to change.

He is imo the chief architect of the shoulder shrugging attitude that has been obvious here for a decade.

Cut prices 'what's the point we won't double the gates'.

Invest year on year 'what's the point it doesn't guarantee anything'  - Well it might effing well do if you backed the right man !

Promotion ?  'what's the point we'll only get relegated straight away, might as well sit in the league as long as we can for as cheap as we can'.

It's no wonder half the fanbase says 'what's the point' !

Edited 1 hour ago by Tomphil2

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The Foxes are well and truly in the Chicken Coop and are dining for free.

Until the lot of them running our Club into the ground are gone for good then this hopeless situation carries on Season after Season.

There is nothing good to see here.

[Hasta]

Honestly. Do people read this and still think that JE left because he was greedy and it was the club secretary's fault that transfers weren't approved. Do you not think the players know what's going on, and the likes of Britain, Batth, Travis etc.. are thinking "fuck this". I've stated numerous times I heard from someone close to the club that the players have finally had enough of "the people running the club" after Eustace left, and it's not hard to understand why. 

You can also think back to Mike Cheston having to front up in meetings such as this on his own as we had no CEO, whilst Suhail was skulking around in the background.

You wonder if Waggot's NDA was two-ways, and therefore they are breaching it by throwing him under the bus here.

Edited 1 hour ago by Hasta

[den]

As regards investing in better players, or reinvesting money from player sales to try to improve the squad, the quote below from the minutes tells us what has been right in front of our eyes for most of their tenure. It isn’t going to happen. The owners apparently don’t believe that’s necessary. It’s what they said when they bought the club.  
I don’t for one minute the owners believe that, it’s just a narrative that suits them.

 

GM asked whether, if the club generates funds by player sales, why the board or SS As the clubs trusted adviser can’t come to some arrangement with the owners of crystal clarity of a said % of those funds being immediately available to strengthen the squad, GM Asked had that question been asked?  SS replied that, there was no such general agreement in place, or had the question been asked of the owners, though there had been reinvestment in the playing squad from player sales, such as when the club re-invested 40% of Sammie Szmodics’ transfer fee. GM Stated this was a small proportion given the club also sold Gallagher, Kaminski, Wharton amongst others in the same year, whilst they received payments for Raya and others, and this seems low investment in terms of money received. SS Stated that spending more money or increasing wages don’t guarantee a jump in league position

Edited 1 hour ago by den

[Tomphil2]

7 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Honestly. Do people read this and still think that JE left because he was greedy and it was the club secretary's fault that transfers weren't approved. Do you not think the players know what's going on, and the likes of Britain, Batth, Travis etc.. are thinking "fuck this". I've stated numerous times I heard from someone close to the club that the players have finally had enough of "the people running the club" after Eustace left, and it's not hard to understand why. 

You can also think back to Mike Cheston having to front up in meetings such as this on his own as we had no CEO, whilst Suhail was skulking around in the background.

You wonder if Waggot's NDA was two-ways, and therefore they are breaching it by throwing him under the bus here.

Waggot will be on gardening leave until his notice period ends which means he'll still be getting paid.

I'd wager he walked into this job worth a few hundred grand and has walked away a millionaire so will he give a toss ?

No chance, he'll say nothing and probably realise he's better off out of it once the dust settles.

[roversfan99]

7 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Thanks for this Glen.

It's wonderful to see someone finally giving the bastards a genuinely hard time.

Absolutely jaw dropping stuff. You could drive a double decker bus through the holes in most of what Suhail said. I dont think the situation has necessarily suddenly got better or worse, it's just that Waggott was considerably more adept at lying through his teeth.

Even amongst all the nonsense, one or two things leapt out at me:

I find it astonishing that Suhail would claim that the owners were solely responsible for appointing the next CEO when it seems to be common knowledge that they never even spoke to Eustace and I was led to believe that years ago Suhail was solely responsible for the appointment of Lambert and he never spoke to them either.

I know football is a business but even so that smacks of ignoring the organ grinder and wanting to speak to the monkey. Wrong way round. The manager is by far the most important appointment at any Club. Without success on the pitch everything else fails.

Secondly if the owners ever get to read the minutes Im guessing they won't appreciate Suhail throwing them under the bus as regards the women's team.

 

 

I dont get how you read that and your immediate conclusion is to go back for Waggott.

[Hasta]

13 minutes ago, Tomphil2 said:

Waggot will be on gardening leave until his notice period ends which means he'll still be getting paid.

I'd wager he walked into this job worth a few hundred grand and has walked away a millionaire so will he give a toss ?

No chance, he'll say nothing and probably realise he's better off out of it once the dust settles.

He won't say anything, and let's be honest he's not some hero in this. Just interesting that they all leave "silenced" about criticising what they have walked away from, but here Suhail has been unprofessional enough to not return the courtesy.

[den]

So if the owners are only going to put in roughly the same amount of money year after year (which seems to be the case), is it fair to say that money from player sales goes back to them? If it’s not being reinvested into players where else is it going?

 

[glen9mullan]

1 minute ago, den said:

So if the owners are only going to put in roughly the same amount of money year after year (which seems to be the case), is it fair to say that money from player sales goes back to them? If it’s not being reinvested into players where else is it going?

 

Yeh budget is set. If we generate 89p or 89 million it won't change the budget.

Had we sold no one this summer the budget would of been the same