glen9mullan

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2152825-unpopular-chief-executive-steve-waggott-leaves-blackburn-rovers

Ultimately been no unrest in years , certainly not public , When the poop hits the fan the axe falls

Under extreme pressure, and the clocks ticking, we need to keep the pressure up as he is literally down to last finger

If we recall during one of my updates, I pointed out there was showdown meeting imminent with the Rao's, Suhail and Waggott, They were flabbergasted they'd hit the global news once more, Suhail stated it was all Waggott's fault, he'd been the one engaging with supporters and must of gone rouge creating the uprising. I was reliably informed that one or both would be removed following the conclusion/Aftermath of the said meeting. Waggott himself stated to me in person he had no intention of resigning and would do one more year, despite his wife wanting him to walk away. The woman's team he told he must not allow the Rao's/Venkys appear in the statement and in essence take the public fall. Throughout the last couple of months every media outlet article has been personally sent via whatsapp to the owners, all has been read, and i'm fully expecting this to be just the start, though more pushing is needed. I stated to Waggott before the uprising that once we start we wont stop until each piece is removed, as we've done previously. He freely admitted he did not expect us to get the traction we did and had underestimated us somewhat through bad intel. Waggott going first, is a blow in my opinion as Suhail is the main target, though Waggott needed to go to. We move on, we continue to push, its only a battle won and certainly not the war. The Coalition are putting in a lot of hours, its a 7 day a week job with internal comms around 20 hours a day. My main concern now, is what comes next in terms of replacement, whilst the internal comms between club and fans has just got a whole lot harder as the others within refuse to talk.

There's certainly some mixed views around the net on the woman's team. Some are very much ,I don't watch them, they lose money and no ones interested in womens football. Some are just very 1950 Others see this as another piece of the foundations being destroyed and are fearful if its the women's team today then what is it tomorrow, next week , next year etc. My own stance is, when I joined the coalition I did so as our club is heading completely in the wrong direction and the lack of accountability is astounding. I can watch and accept this or I can try and be part of something to try and push for positive change. There will be many subjects, issues which I and everyone else will have stronger or weaker opinions on, but I made the choice to be part of unified approach. The women's team has touched the panel at all different trigger points, however to say nothing is accepting what will be will be. I fully support the coalitions panel in their actions this week in talking to staff and players who this has affected and publicly condemning the unprofessional way this has been handled by the club. When representing the AG in meetings, many times I've put across points strongly to the club which may not mirror my own thoughts, however when I chose to form the AG I gave up my own personal views to act in the best interest of the membership at all times. I appreciate the Woman's team in isolation doesn't strike a chord with all, but I try and always look at things holistically and the symbol a decision like this has on future behaviours, actions by those at the club and the owners. The club is doing a fantastic job of writing their own bad press and in this instance they've impacted many lives and dreams with zero empathy or regard.

Very true and capped , unless you can agree an enhanced package If you were made redundant on or after 6 April 2025, your weekly pay is capped at £719 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay you can get is £21,570. If you were made redundant before 6 April 2025, these amounts will be lower.

I can confirm this is true and verified, Due to confidentiality, although one name has appeared this morning, I'm not in a position to state their names, or would want to due to confidentiality agreements etc

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/outrage-top-football-club-fold-31646971

I'm sure at some point

My own thoughts as a father of 2 girls who play for teams , is the commitment of girls and grassroots teams emerging is fanatical. The game is growing and Rovers have done very little to aid its growth and see the unlimited potential, which is a mirror image of how badly they operate the club in the men's team too. Marketing, ticket sales and just an ounce of ambition really don't register with the hierarchy. We are a championship club with a semi pro outlook. It's natural the women's team ain't getting the growth it's capable of, and if this element was in someone else's hands. It's got the potential to really take off. Our club and support covers all elements of the club from the kids, to the seniors regardless of if it's men or women. It shouldn't of come to this where we are less than a week away from it ceasing to exist. The club should of been far more pro-active in alternatives, rather than let Suhail decide we can save money here and its not needed, and advise the owners that this is the case.

Yes we've a cross section on the panel, We are talking with the current squad and are finalising a statement which should be out at some point on the official X handle (if you could please follow) We've contacted the club and owners for comment (zero response), though I've had notification the communication has been read by the owners.

We are talking to the current players to ascertain to the facts. I've been made aware the club are at logger heads over issuing a statement as Suhail don't want it to include the owners have pulled the funding. He'd rather it state the Execs have made the difficult decision due to the loss making operation and the need to safeguard the men's teams funds rather than dilute investment by diverting it to the woman's team. Another strong source has advised me this decision was made by Suhail and it's him advocating for funding to be pulled.

If they don't want to invest, then sell that element or find external investors who will invest. Football in general loses money, it's what most sign up for. That being said, something special could be created with the right vision in our Womens team. As per my previous post, we are seeking the facts, including numbers involved and then will see how we can support.

The coalition has already reached out to the players and are in dialogue with them. We are seeking further clarity and sent the screen shots India too. A number of the current and former players are speaking out. The women's team is equally as important as any other part of the club, and other investment surely needs to be seeked if it turns out the Raos don't wish to support the team further

I'd say it be a public vote (only my opinion) It would need to guarantee representation of all EDI spectrums.

In terms of wider supporter groups, The AG have worked with Spirit of Shankley and other clubs supporter groups for 12 years. Holding regular meetings, as members of the FSF we've also attended the various FSF regionals and built great relationships with these groups. Strangely many groups come to us for advice now on how they combat their issues given how Rovers supporters have managed to keep our club in the news over a sustained period if time

That's exactly what the Coalition is Gav, only WATR and SAS have not joined. Every other supporter group is on the panel equally matched with the independents. (Must point out the Coalition is not in any shape or form the proposed voice, it's purely a working group of unity to tackle the many supporter issues in a collective way). The new democratic panel which will be formed would be independent to that of the coalition, though anyone in the coalition could stand as a person to join the panel which is natural given they are in the groups Mashed Potatoe previously mentioned , and other groups not mentioned)

A panel wouldn't be made up of hundreds, It be vetted pre ballot, with potentially an official supporters club formed in parallel The panel probably be limited to say 16 where maximum terms are served to allow freshness, of course there would be a need for continuity. I'm very much a positive person who finds solutions to hurdles rather than use hurdles as a reason not to evolve. One of the biggest issues I read daily is that the club communicates to an exclusive few and that information is more than often only made public when the club is against the wall and then publicly speaks as per the Execs interview a few weeks ago. An acceptance of a voice to unite the supporter base and club should imo be strived for to take away the "they don't represent me" element which currently outweighs , they represent me. It's not an easy thing to achieve but success is uncomfortable and to get to the line, it's gonna take getting uncomfortable to achieve.

Thank you for your post, all opinions matter. Within the Coalition it's everyone's group, I'm just a panel member as equal to each other. I represent the AG on this panel. My own opinion (which is not representative of either the AG or Coalition) Is a supporters panel open to all. Their affiliation to a current supporter group should have no baring at all, though I agree all demographics need to be part of it. Every single supporter should be able to stand in a democratic public vote that all supporters can vote in. The majority of supporters are in no group at all. I fully understand Supporters direct and the FSF's stance on Supporter panels as a former elected National Council FSF board member who was heavily involved in the birth of the bill. I must add it was the Rovers supporters who instigated the IFR at Government level which was the first step to this becoming a reality, I know this as I along with Mark Fish where the individuals who attended parliament with the MPs to push Hugh Robertson to start this cycle. Co opting existing groups onto the panel through secret Ballots would already dilute democracy. Rovers could become real pioneers here by having a a true democratic voice which the majority can get behind. We've already seen in recent weeks how Sheffield Wednesdays fan panel has lost credibility in their supporter base due to how it was set up in line with your suggestion.

There's engagement then there's engagement. Democratic v exclusive, and allowing the latter will see us stand still

Sorry for the silence over the last week or so (Was in for unexpected surgery Tuesday) The Coalition has been busy working away in the background on various initiatives and plans which will run through the summer and into the new season and beyond. Club update: The club continues to offer no dates for interim discussions hoping we will disappear I assume, though we did not expect them to put anything forwards. They publicly stated they wanted to find resolution through diplomacy and although there was some reluctance within the Coalition Panel to engage at all with the club, we did not want to give the club the "Get out of jail card" that we've refused to engage. No meeting is another point to the supporters and has enabled us make significant in roads in to wider support from community figures. I today met with Blackburn MP Adnan Hussain, after his parliamentary speech last week had not read the room in terms of how supporters were feeling. We exchanged emails in the last 24 hours and a couple of telephone calls, before he invited me to his offices today, Firstly I must say, what a genuinely nice gentleman. He was open and honest that football had never been his sport and the last 15 years of Rovers he was significantly out the loop of who owns us, or the wider issues. He stated he'd had a meeting or two unrelated with the Execs at Rovers, unbeknown to him that there was a significant history of disconnection between the club and the supporter base. He did not know the community trust and the club are two different entities and was put in the picture they should not be confused as the same. Reasoning the community trust are absolutely fantastic and a shining light for the town and credit to the staff. Prior to our meeting, he'd made a number of calls to those who had an greater angle on what's been going on at Rovers, and he had a general idea. I ran through the history of the club, touching on its heritage, 150 years, pre Jack walker, The walker years, and how the Rao family came to own our club and the subsequent investigation carried out by the BRFC Action Group which resulted in meetings with the Premier League, The FA, EFL and finally our meeting at Parliament which instigated the Independent regulator bill which is currently part of the current parliamentary discussions. We discussed the FA's commercial partnership with Kentaro and the subsequent press gagging which threatened to lift the lid which would of been a national embarrassment to the English football authorities, hence the governments intervention. We discussed the current situation at the club, and the lengths supporters have had to go to previously to have corruption removed from the corridors of Ewood. We discussed a Hierarchy where Accountability, Responsibility is only but in name, with the club being run by opportunist with little or no experience, where they've turned a £300 million investment into dead money by their inability to run a football club, whilst supporters are treated as merely customers with an "At arms left" approach with little or no transparency, where information is only shared on an exclusive nature, alienating the other 99.9% of the supporter base. Adnan is extremely keen to help any way he can including fully endorsing the coalition. We've road mapped a strategy together which includes but is not limited to the following. 1. A full open supporters meeting, with the cost being picked up by Blackburn Council to allow all supporters to talk in a pubic forum to relay their concerns to enable him to challenge the club and ownership both privately and publicly. He'd attend this meeting and take all questions to allow him to be educated further, so he can give the right support. 2. He will be contacting the Execs, asking what is happening at Rovers, and requesting they also attend a separate public meeting with the supporters to face questions over the running of the club. 3. He is going to both write and phone the owners, looking for clarity on their aims for the club and relay the supporters concerns over the running of the club in the UK and the lasting affect its having on the town and community including regeneration. 4. He's going to advocate for a democratic voice as a minimum for supporters without prejudice to be able to hold the club accountable for their actions. 5. He is open to facilitating another panel of supporters attending parliament around the community impact the last 15 years has brought, to galvanize further the need for governance and greater supporter involvement at our football clubs. He was passionate throughout our meeting and the calls we had yesterday, he cleared his dairy to meet pretty much straight away, as our town, needs a thriving football team to aid a thriving town. A club is nothing without its community, and this was something he was keen to express. We've other discussions on-going with other key potential allies, as we continue to build the Coalitions credibility for the tough days and weeks ahead.

Just have to go in queue bud, had similar issue but lady at ticket office was fantastic and sorted it all out

Because after the purchase he wasn't based at Blackburn, he resurfaced when Singh went. You need to remember we are only fans with limited funds. The previous removal costs 10s of £ thousands out of our own pockets. Information was not free , many wanted £ for info. After I stepped down, how others didn't pick up on him I don't know, it's questions for them really. However he's been pulling the strings ever since, growing in greater confidence and bit by bit he's either totally marginalised the hierarchy or brought his own troops in, to galvanise and cement his own position/power which is now out of control. We've now got to go back through history and break down a 25 year association with the Raos by demonstrating the links to those we successfully removed. This is no easy task Fans are up against deep pockets, a significant pay role and a footballing institution where people don't break ranks without silver crossing their palms He knows the clock is ticking hence I've already been threatened they are coming for me by the Execs and i best be careful. I know we are currently winning even if it don't seem this way. We are calm, measured and it's playing exactly out as planned. Nothing has happened to date which we hadn't pre-empt. Anyway, can't say too much more on it on a public forum, as our strength comes from always being ahead of Ewood. By divulging certain things , I weaken our position.