Just now, Roverthechimp said:

Any source other than Hope confirming this?

It's weird that out of region journalist has heard it and then the club have denied it. Feels like maybe JDT's agent has told people he is about to resign?

Just now, islander200 said:

Elliot has said the club have denied that JDT has resigned or been sacked.

We are often described as a zombie club. JDT has joined the legion of the undead!

5 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I don't think it has anything to do with results. The writing was on the wall in Friday after the transfer window debacle and cancelling his press conference. I really hope he blows the lid on the whole sorry mess.

And outside of the transfer window I think by mid Jan with utterly horrendous results he was beginning to get on sticky ground anyway... 

Given where we are and what we need for a relegation battle JDT leaving may not be the worst thing - provided we have someone competent lined up. I am however worried the options we have been looking at are not experienced Championship battlers who know you stay up by ultimately being defensively solid, but are instead young aficionados of the gegenpress and silky triangle football.

12 minutes ago, pick32 said:

                   Pears

       Hyam Fadz Wharton

JRC                               Chrisene 

            Garret     Tronstad 

  Szmodics              Sigurdsson 

                  Gallagher 

Can't see how we justify Sigurdsson starting? Dolan looked a lot brighter when he's been in. Sigurdsson has been a total passenger.

From my perspective Sigurdsson doesn't have the pace or workrate to play wide, plus he looks to always come inside very early anyway. If we play him he needs to be at number 10 for me. Think if we went 4231 we could maybe play Sigurdsson at number 10 and Szmodics wide left. But do we move our top scorer excelling and scoring goals out of number 10 wide to accomodate someone (Sigurdsson) who does not seem to even be putting the basic level of effort in. 

I would probably go : 

                         Pears

        Hyam         Fadz        Wharton 

JRC       Tronstad        Garrett       Chrisene

                       Szmodics

        Gallagher                Dolan

4 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

EFL say papers weren't sent on time....Greggy gone yet?

Like, after the last one you'd be literally taking the papers there yourself in the car.  

I assume it didn't go in because of further blocking/delaying by Venkys, that seems more likely than another paperwork error. I am looking forward to hearing what Gregg says in his post window interview...

10 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

is there no precedence for the efl to put us in special measures like they do with schools and hospitals🤒,we are an embarrasment to the football world

Agreed - something the incoming football regulator should be allowed to do imo. No idea if that is in the scope of its proposed powers though.

54 minutes ago, roverblue said:

I’d reign in the gung ho approach generally. Things like stopping overcommitting full backs and midfielders forward so that when the opposition breaks we are either 1v1 or outnumbered. Happened loads yesterday and we were fortunate their striker was worse than Jason Robert’s at taking chances.

I’d also focus on getting the ball forward quicker, we take that long the opposition have regrouped and we create nothing of note as a result. It also causes us an issue in defence as we get penned in and make mistakes leading to opposition chances. Scott Wharton and Dom Hyam are there to defend not play like Tugay in his prime so get the ball off them and up the pitch.

From a formation point of view it probably looks like having fullbacks instead of wingbacks and at least two defensive mids. Then build from there after we get some clean sheets and maybe some 1-0 wins.

Do I get the job Chaddy?

Absolutely agree with this... We need back to basics. I know JDT will say if we are not ultra offensive we wont score goals as we lack quality up top.... But whats the point in being ultra offensive if you ship goals at the rate we are???

We really should be going back to playing deep and hitting on the break. With the like of McFadz and Fleck they are not going to be running around anyway.

Id go 343 and just look to make it very difficult for the opposition by sitting deep and look to Gallagher, Szmodics, JRC and Dolan to make the most of counters. Don't over commit.

                      Pears

      Hyam.   McFadz.  Wharton 

JRC.     Tronstad.    Fleck.   Chrisene

     Dolan.   Gallagher  Szmodics.   

If fleck isn't fit put Garrett in there. Main instruction is forget about overloads, nice one twos etc. Win the first ball and the second ball in the air or on the ground. And break quickly.

12 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

When I saw the team yesterday I thought - “ Who’s going get us the ball ? Way too many chiefs in that team and not nearly enough Indians.”

If fit I can see the likes of McFadz and Fleck making a big difference in terms of competitiveness.... But is JDT going to be telling them to focus on running the channels to make overloads? As we seen far more worried about that (several times yesterday I saw four rovers players in the small stamp of territory between edge of the opponents box and the touchline) than being solid in the centre of the pitch.

9 minutes ago, Blueandwhitemike said:

I think if he stays and McFadzean and Fleck are fit then JDT is capable of grinding out results in the same we may we did last season in which there were several 1-0 wins.  I think he was flexible with 3 at the back against Huddersfield but Hyam, in particular needs to start playing a lot better quickly ( I chose to single out him because he’s been especially far from his best recently and he is the captain )

Dont really agree. Going to three at the back has helped a bit but we are still committing 7-8 players to every attack and on the break other teams just walk through us. JDT seems absolutely unconcerned by it.

Maybe we will shift to playing more conservatively but theres no indication of it so far 

4 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

Are you serious? Did you listen to what he said on that video? He brought his family over here and his kids in a school. The guy has given everything.

 

Someone else mentioned earlier this squad isn't as good as the squad that got relegated. 

 

He can't do much more especially with his hands tied behind his back. 

 

He does care and hasn't given up. He was so frustrated that he wasn't able to talk yesterday 

Oh I think he did care, I really rate him as a manager. But I think hes got to the point where its all such a clown show, and the goal post keep moving etc, that hes checked out and feels miminal accountability for how the team is performing.

We've been dragged into a relegation battle in a death spiral which puts Mowbray in the shade but you wouldnt guess it from his demeanor or what he says.

Hes been sold a pup so I dont blame him - in his position I would probably react much the same - but that doesn't take away from the fact the manager / coach needs to take accountability and lead. And if hes checked out then that is very very bad news.

3 hours ago, rog of the rovers said:

I’ve always been a huge JDT and remain a fan of him as a person, what he achieved last season and this season until December has been more than commendable.

I also buy all the issues off the pitch, the loss of talented players and the general circus of Venkys ownership of which were all very much looking forward to ending.

However, the naivety of tactics, the insistence on playing his brand of football and the general malaise of performances have been alarming for a couple of months now. I always feel in football that if you give players an inch they’ll take a mile. The manager has obviously fallen out with some of the stronger personalities (see Travis) and I’m beginning to wonder whether he’s the right man for the battle?
 

Give me a scrappy 1-0 at this stage or even a 0-0. The defence has been awful all season and shows absolutely no sign of improvement 30+ games in. 
 

A fine manager, a decent person. But right man for the job? I’m starting to think not?!

In his interviews you can also see he is past caring. The last thing you want from a manager in a relegation battle is someone who doesnt give a shit.

4 minutes ago, 47er said:

If you can't beat QPR at home all games are potential losses. I don't share your confidence at all.

Wrote the above before the deadline day shenanigans and JDTs clear rift with the club.

Definitely worried now. 

5 minutes ago, islander200 said:

JDT can't walk away without the club's blessing even if he does it without a payoff

If he walks without the club agreeing they can place him on gardening leave and he wouldn't be able to take another job till the contract he signed here had ended 

Ah that makes more sense .... Like a player. Hadn't thought of that. I have more sympathy for JDT.

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

He can't just keep leaving jobs. You don't want that reputation in football

True but hes got a golden opportunity now to get off the sinking ship and blame it on the owners. If he sticks around he could end up with a relegation on his CV.

From my perspective I am a bit conflicted - changing the manager with the utter chaos going on does not seem sensible. But on the other hand JDTs tactical instincts are the absolute opposite if what we need in a relegation battle. And he must be pretty low in morale and enthusiasm which is hardly what you want from your leader in this situation.

Watched the post match presser. So weird 

Surely if JDT has any self respect he'll quit? Alternative is he just hangs around waiting for a pay off which is a bad look for his career.

8 minutes ago, booth said:

If you sign a contract and then break it, I'm sure that technically they could do yes.

Indentured servitude finished in the 19th century..... The employee can break an employment contract at their will without penalty. The difference is if you walk you get no comp, if youre sacked your contract is paid up.

If JDT is disappointed and furious he should quit. Why stick around for 18 months wages? Just makes him look weak and will keep eroding his reputation...

Moran has done okay for me... Id leave him on unless Fleck is fully fit which i doubt. Sigurdsson though is totally anonymous. Id just straight swap him for Garret 

Think we've looked pretty good Chisene looks much better at lwb than Sigurdsson.

Think we are doing 424 in possession and 352 out of possession....

                        Pears

          JRC.     Hyam.   Wharton

dolan.     Moran.  Tronstad.    Sigurdsson Chrisene

            Gallagher.  Szmodics 

turning into

                        Pears

  JRC.        Hyam.   Wharton.  Chrisene

                Moran   Tronstad.  

   Dolan.  Gallagher    Szmodics.  Sigurdsson 

13 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

Can they not just call in part of the loan that we owe to them and take the money out of the club? Genuine question. 

Yes but considering they have sunk so much money into the club, and the biggest priority for them seems to be keeping things low hassle and low profile, I am hopeful they would write off the debt. If they dissolve the club trying to get their money back that will turn into the sort of massive media storm they have tried to avoid. While clueless and incompetent one thing they don't seem to have been too worried about is writing off investments into the club. So it would just be another one of those.

But who knows.

On 02/02/2024 at 08:05, alex l said:

For those interested, Nick Harris of Sporting Intel has provided this response to a question I put to him re the ownership and how they may exit. Recommend signing up to his newsletter/substack even at the free level, which is what this is from.

Agent of chaos: why the Venkys might not be the real bad guys in Blackburn Alex writes: As a Blackburn fan, it's fair to say the discontent with the owners is growing again. You covered the Venkys quite a bit previously but is there much which didn't make the public domain? And how do you see their ownership being resolved i.e. are they likely to sell or would it be administration or some other means that sees them leave the club? Several other Blackburn fans asked similar questions, including Alan Sheppard: Came here [to last week’s mailbag request page] with a similar question. Especially with the new rules about moving money out of India that seem to have caused cash flow problems at the club. NH: Thanks both. To start, there is a vast archive on Sporting Intelligence of Blackburn material from 2010 and 2011. I went to India for a week to meet the Rao family and look at how rich they really were (really rich) and find out what their motives were. I spent a lot of time with them and in contact with them through 2011 especially. Alex asks about information not in the public domain but I wrote about pretty much all the dodgy stuff as it happened, and by dodgy stuff I don’t mean by the Rao family, but principally by the agent Jerome Anderson, who orchestrated the deal to sell them the club in the first place without making it clear either to Blackburn’s board at the time, or to the Rao family, that he was acting for both of them without telling the other, for a commission at both ends. His aim was to persuade Blackburn to then let his company run the club on their behalf, and import players from all sorts of strange places to give them a world stage in the Premier League (with him as their agent) and then sell them on for profit (for him). Anderson did indeed get such a management contract, allowing him to fire and hire managers and buy players, among other things. the matriarch of the Venky’s clan, Mrs Rao, was naive and massively badly advised, but wasn’t corrupt and had good intentions for the club He fired Sam Allardyce, hired Steve Kean (a client of his management stable) and started recruiting players, often with massive agent’s fees for associates of his. As far as I could judge, the matriarch of the Venky’s clan, Mrs Rao, was naive and massively badly advised, but wasn’t corrupt and had good intentions for the club. The Rao family remain owners and have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on Blackburn since 2011 because, I feel, they do not want to fail. They still think they can get the club back to the Premier League one day. At this point, it’s unlikely that they will receive an offer for the club that would recover a substantial amount of the money they have spent – but if they did, I think they would probably sell. More likely, they will do whatever they realistically can to keep the club out of administration – a scenario in which they would lose control completely. As for currency export issues, these have been happening since late 2011. Remember when there were fears that not having enough money in the club’s bank account at the Blackburn branch might lead to wages not being paid? That was due to currency export issues. One of the moves they made to get out of that one was selling Chris Samba to Anzhi in Russia in early 2012. I will try to look again at the whole situation soon – and if I find anything concrete to report, I’ll write about it here.

Good thought out response from NH. But he doesn't really address the key point which is for six months now Venkys have struggled to put money into the club causing all sorts of contortions and potentially our manager to resign. The hassle from the court cases, indian governament, press attention must be aggravating. 

Essentially the friction in keeping the club is significantly rising, and as that rises their desire to sell must as well.

There has been mentioned a month ago or so a delegation from India came to Ewood, and that next month a delegation from the club will go out to Pune. I really am beginning to wonder if the wheels are starting to turn for a sale....

If JDT has gone, this seems to me a great opportunity to put maximum pressure on Venkys to sell. We have money in the bank from Wharton and Raya which lowers our dependency on them. Clubs on a better footing in terms of income vs outgoing. The legal hassle, attention from indian government and bad press must not seem worth it Venkys.

Getting the club on the market feels close to me. Hope there are viable people out there who want to take us on.

That said it's likely that they will be totally unrealistic in what they ask for the club.

After thinking about it for a while Im pretty certain JDT will leave after the game. No new info to base that on, but I just cant see how any manager comes back from being blocked from speaking to the media by the club. Thats a total break down of trust. 

In terms of why he would take the game anyway - think it's consistent with his personality to try and end on a good note, say goodbye to the players and fans.

We shall see. Hope I'm wrong.

1 minute ago, martonrover said:

Nixon also saying that he doesn’t think JDT will be at Rovers much longer, (although he’s not heard about an immediate exit).

Anyone got a link to the Nixon story?

Just now, BankEnd Rover said:

I presume he’s been planning on leaving since the budget was cut, maybe staying until the  end of the season in respect to the players and us fans.

The activities over the last week may have just tipped him over the edge and who can blame him.

I imagine he was of the view to "see how it goes". Unfortunately he has now seen how it has gone.