20 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

Dyche did it. Wilder did it. Farke did it.

Step up to the plate Mr M !!!

 

These guys gained promotion at clubs with committed, enthusiastic, mainly local owners and probably loads of help from board members who wanted nothing other than their club to succeed. Rovers is not the same. You simply can't run a successful football club at this level with owners who don't know the game or the club. 

Mowbray and Waggott are doing their best but there needs to be so much more support behind the scenes at Ewood. 

19 hours ago, JHRover said:

 

What Derby did was clever, helped them avoid FFP trouble whilst assembling a good side and now they're on the cusp of promotion because of it. Very clever. No doubt when the time comes their owner will transfer their ground back for a nominal fee and in the meantime they'll be paying peppercorn rent. It isn't the case that he's sold it off to 3rd party property developers etc.

 

This is exactly the sort of idea Rovers should be employing but who is going to investigate these opportunities. Mowbray is busy with the football side, Waggott is looking at match day revenue and finances. Over to you Venky's.....

3 hours ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Samuel Beckett?

Albert Camus - good goalkeeper as well as a philosopher !

18 minutes ago, OnePhilT said:

What would your solution be to gain promotion without a promotion-or-bust model?

Isn't that their problem ? Why own a football club if you aren't prepared to push for success and put a bit of effort in.

Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Brighton, Sheff Utd - why can't we do it if they can? 

I know FFP exists and needs to be taken into account but other clubs find ways around it.

Alternatively use the promotion-or-bust model - Venky's can afford it. They're just not interested.

11 hours ago, tomphil said:

You've only got to cast the mind back to Coyles time and pre that to realise we were heading in Boltons direction it's amazing it's all forgotten about but it was happening.

 

It will never be forgotten. My worry is we will be in that situation again at some point. 

Rovers is a business to Venky's - they want to balance the books and have no interest in the football side of things. They've taken the soul out of the club.

Just now, JHRover said:

They're a very clued up operation these days with their new owners and structure in place and I think will be signing players from all over the place.

Sigh!, How I wish you were talking about Rovers

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Saturday, the 20th of May 2019. After we have known what division we have been in since what, the 9th of April? I have no issue with him going, but conversations about budgets should have happened a month ago.  

He is over there for the week I think, isn't he? Now there is a reality show I would watch on Sky one

Is that an Irish calendar you are using ?

I lived in London for a number of years. When Rovers played evening matches - no internet, couldn't get radio Lancs etc, I used to work late so that I could call Clubcall every 10 minutes using the office phone.  

On ‎05‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 07:38, Mattyblue said:

Certainly not the case in his first season. I was told repeatedly at Ewood by a sizeable number of people that he would have us ‘playing football the right way’ and how delighted they were that ‘long ball bastard’ had gone.

Even early in season 2, I was ridiculed by a load of folk around me for marching - for example the Arsenal home game in which we nabbed a late winner and I had people in my face ‘what about your shit protest now? Get behind the club’

Never forget? I haven’t.

Yes that is true. My statement was inaccurate thinking about it. 

But there did come a point where virtually all fans wanted Kean out and Venky's simply remained silent and watched from afar while the club was relegated.

That was the point I was trying to make. I really don't think they take any notice of us at all.

1 hour ago, philipl said:

1)Frankly, "we were ignored" doesn't wash.

2)taking the last 30 months in isolation, Venky's are among the better owners in the FL.  

On point 1, I don't know any Rovers fan who didn't want Kean out almost immediately. We were certainly ignored at that time. I doubt they have listened to any concerns raised by fans in the subsequent years.

On point 2, I agree that they are paying the bills and trying to keep the business on an even keel - they need to, it's their business after all. However, football is not a normal business - it only exists because of the passion and enthusiasm of the fans. This is where they fail totally. They have no connection or understanding of what Rovers means to the fans or the community. Their absenteeism and lack of any communication shows a lack of any real interest in the club. Remember Rovers is a CLUB of which the fans are the most important element. They want to run it as a faceless corporation. It doesn't matter how much money they have, there is no point running a football club if you don't have the interest. They will eventually get fed up.

Mowbary and Waggott have all the responsibility and are trying their best to make a success of things but they only meet the owners once a year ( has Waggott even met them ?). The one Venky representative anywhere near Ewood refuses to engage on any level whatsoever with local press or community. That might be a good model for a some businesses but it will not work for a football club.

They can carry on putting 50p in the meter whenever necessary to keep thinks ticking over but for me it feels like we are in limbo until they completely reassess their approach or sell up. Sadly, both options look unlikely.

Remember the old chant 'We want our Rovers back'

16 hours ago, Miller11 said:

Thanked me for challenging things and seemed genuinely interested in what would get me to break my boycott.

What did you tell him ? 

It's a question I regularly ask myself but I don't really have a full answer.

For me, there would have to be a dramatic improvement in their communication with the fans. Stop being so aloof and realise we are the lifeblood of the club. 

I would not expect them to apologise for anything but if they were more open and provided explanations for their previous actions and identified their ambitions going forward then that would be a start.  It still feels to me that they consider Rovers as a hobby they spend a bit of time and money on every now and again - as necessary. I know it's a lot of money but they seem to be able to afford it easily enough so it's not a big sacrifice.

They say they consider Rovers part of their 'family' yet they haven't paid a visit for many years. Not the way you treat something/somebody you care about.

Despite  Mowbray and Waggott informing us how dedicated the owners are, I don't see any evidence besides paying the bills.

It feels like we are just treading water while Venky's are here.  I just don't feel that sense of belonging that is so important.  

EFL Website: Clubs are required to meet with a representative group of supporters at least twice a season to discuss significant issues relating to the club.  The framework for each club’s specific consultation strategy is to be documented within its customer charter.  

Anyone know if Rovers have a documented customer charter? If so is it publicly available ?

20 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Getting a bit fed up of comparisons to PNE if i'm being honest, go speak to some of their diehards and they are still envious of the set up and budget we have at Rovers. They still think we buy our way out of trouble, 7 mill on BB, funding a Cat 1 Academy and our overall wage bill fuel that view and compared to them you can understand it so I think it's about time they got left out of the debates.

We've only been below the Championship one season in about 7 years and I don't think they can say the same so over all who is the more Championship set up  standard club ?

We should be as good as if not better than them in the bigger picture, i'll be expecting we should be next season.

Preston's scouting and recruitment on a limited budget has been very successful over recent seasons.

It's one thing we are sorely lacking and need to sort out as a priority.

Just now, Paul Mani said:

He’s a good manager mate. That’s not difficult to see. He’s achieving his goals, has a hard working team and has united the fan base with the club. 

 

Evidence ?

Long way to go with that one I think!

A couple of weeks ago I was all geared up to go to this match but then somehow just forgot about it. Only remembered this morning that we were even playing today. 

I think it's called Venkyitis and it just drains your enthusiasm. Only one cure as far as I know.

Anyway, now that I have remembered and we have all our top defenders back I am brimming with confidence.  ( Venkyitis also affects your judgement )

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

 

Bolton - by Ken Anderson/Dean Houldsworth worse

Wigan - by the Hong Kong group don't appear to be delivering anything they promised

Forest - by Al Hasawi and then Marinakis google the new owner. Things might look ok now, but he is dodgy

Derby - by Mel Morris Seem good

Sheff Wed - by Chansiri Time will tell, but before appointing bruce they were haveing a mare

Barnsley - by Chien Lee and co Ended up relegated 

Leeds - by Cellini and then Radrizzani A succession of basket case owners, this season being the exception of many , many years

Sunderland (just after relegation to Lge 1) - by Stewart Donald and co.- Succession of poor owners

Birmingham - by Trillion Trophy- Succession of dodgy owners 

Aston Villa - by Dr Xia and then by Sawiris and the American- Dodgy, Will certainly be under FFP restrictions if they don't go up 

Wolves - by Fosun- Hit the jackpot with their owners

Cardiff - by Vincent Tan- Ups and downs would be fair to say, but overall a good owner it seems 

Reading - first by the Thai group and then by the Chinese- Dodgy

Watford - shortly before we came down by the Pozzo family- Good owners 

 

As for crowds and the clubs you mention, Watford aside , you couldn't really say any are thriving 

Two relegations , a string of disastrous managerial appointments and the creation of a rudderless club suggest none of the above can match Venky's for ineptitude.

If this current run was at the start of the season and we sat bottom of the league on 4 points after 9 matches I don't think anyone would be defending the manger.

If we were a normal club with a competent board made up of people who understand football I would say now is the perfect time to change the manager - International break for him to settle in and then 8 games to assess the current playing staff. Then recruit over the summer ready for next season.

However, we are not a normal club. VO.

13 minutes ago, OnePhilT said:

It feels like we are snookered as supporters - Mowbray deserves SOME credit for making us respectable again in comparison to where the hell we were heading to a couple of years ago,

I think we are heading the same way now.

This team is worse than the one he inherited despite the money he has spent. 4 points from 27 ( probably 4 from 30 after Villa ) seems to prove that.

I used to play in a football team with Craig MacKay - Don's son. On a couple of occasions, despite being obviously busy at Rovers all week, Don came down to watch from the side lines. He never tried to tell us how to play but It terrified the opposition who thought he had come to scout one of our players.

In that same team, incidentally, was Steve Archibald's brother and Neil Arthur of Blancmange fame.

39 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Me too! 

And we WILL beat Wednesday, I’ve been a good boy all year so the gods owe it to me to make my work life bearable.

I hope you are right about beating Wednesday. I work in Preston and I am not looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Unconfined joy at Bloomfield Road today by all accounts. Not because of the 2-2 draw with Southend but because the fans' sense of belonging has returned.

They have got their club back and can celebrate as one. Who knows what the future holds but they have got something to believe in again. 

I'm jealous.

So we had a converted midfielder, a right back and a left back as our 3 central defenders. A right midfielder at left back and a centre midfielder at right back.

Is anyone surprised they looked lost!

Nothing makes any sense at the moment.

5 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

For me it's as simple as good pr in India. The positive story runs in the Indian press with a picture of the lad, with his super imposed venky logo on his t-shirt . He comes here purly part of a publicity stunt. He goes home within six months and speaks about what a fabulous experience it was and how venkys have an amazing youth set up etc, more good pr, then it's as you where. This is purly PR for the people of India and to boost the venky brand, not Blackburn rovers. Absolutely no thought has gone into Blackburn rovers. 

Exactly right.

Venky's stated early on that one of the main reasons they bought Rovers was to act as an advertising vehicle for their company.  Nothing has changed

Tweet doesn't mention it being a trial or anything more than a 3 month visit.

Nice top he's got on - anyone know where I can get one ?

1 hour ago, Parsonblue said:

The problem is that the way Dack has been playing for the last few weeks we aren't going to raise much money by selling him.  Clubs seem to have worked out that if he is marked closely he struggles to make an impact on the game.  Initially there was talk of getting £25 million, then £15 million, I suspect we might end up with around £10 million if we are lucky.

I think you are right.

There are a number of things to consider regarding Dack: Celebrity lifestyle, loss of form ( and motivation ), tendency to look a little heavy, off field issues - court cases, not doing community service on time etc. He's got baggage.

If he's not performing at his best on the pitch then other clubs may decide not to take a risk on him unless he's going for a bargain price.

1 hour ago, 47er said:

We really are in a mess and always will be so long as Venkys are the owners. I truly despair.

This is the key issue - the owners.

We can rant and rave about the manger ( who isn't good enough) and the team ( who aren't good enough) but until we get owners who understand football and care about the club we are going nowhere. We need a proper board and infrastructure to allow us to function as a real football club with ambitions. The owners are the root of all our problems.

I don't rate Mowbray at all but I don't think anyone will succeed at Rovers under Venky's. I think we need to ramp up the protests again. Venky's Out.