1 minute ago, rob_of_the_rovers said:

Wasn't the McGuire decision due today as well?

• JDT leaves and McGuire is allowed to sign
  OR
• JDT leaves and McGuire denied by the EFL

Both are just plain mad when you think about it, so many questions regardless of the outcome

2 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Jim White on Talksport now talking about Rovers

I can't listen to that mad bloke any more, dread to think what he is saying, luckily at work and can't listen

I can only ever listen to Bob Mortimer's impression of him, which is amazing

4 minutes ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

If they don't go for an internal candidate, I dread to think which desperado will come in. Is Joe Kinnear still alive?

Even after his recent twitter spat with our admin, can we 100% rule out Joey Barton? That is my main concern...😂

Or, if this all ends with a launch promo showing Wayne tucking into a family size box of wings, I'm done, we're all done. 

In a perfect world, say Venky's leave and take Waggott with them, what would the ideal CEO for Rovers look like at this time? Forgetting for the minute someone who has perhaps a spare £20m down the back of the sofa or Elon on speed-dial. 

I'm presume the fanbase is in agreement that we have to get the operating costs down, but just communicated in a better way, with more transparency, show some care for the fans, a more pragmatic approach to the playing side i.e no pound-shop Peps please.

What would you do first? 

7 minutes ago, matt83 said:

What do folk reckon are waggotts top 5 fuck ups since being at rovers. 

Some recent ones for me, outside of overseeing the transfer fiascos:

the stupid brag about the chuffing coach we don't even own

closing the BBE and the lack of dialogue about creative ticketing (even after players and fans have mentioned it)

admitting, it's in the minutes, that he didn't know about the liverpool legends night

the lack of fucks given about the fans' day

being at birmingham during the January transfer window 2023

actually being at Rovers in the first place

- that's more than 5, oh well

Getting off Mowbray and back on the thread subject.

Does anyone feel JDT and team did any pre-match research on the opposition? I don't.

I feel like it was:

Playing a big club with lots of expensive players: pass it about at the back, draw them onto us and play 3 perfect forward passes to get the odd break.

Playing a mid table club with a star man: pass it about at the back, draw them onto us and get the odd break, let the star man have the lots of the ball in as much space as possible

Playing a lower league side: pass it about at the back, draw them onto us and get the odd break, but do it reaaaaaally slowly, just chill yeah? 

Playing in the cup: do what you want, pressure's off, let's have it!

Playing a local rival: do what we normally do, the fact they're 100x times more up for it will be their downfall, they'll over commit and we can draw them onto us and get the odd break. No pressure lads, there's more fans here to scare you shitless, but don't worry about that.

I'm tired and I want to have a laugh, sorry, it's grim out there.

1 minute ago, Pedro said:

JDT's tactics have been good for Szmodics on a personal sense (goals) but that lad is a winner and facts are, we don't win anymore. He looked absolutely fed up on Saturday for quite a while.  I do feel as though his head had gone and he downed-tools the other day.  We are too much of a soft touch and there was a lot of overplaying with the ball. Almost no urgency, again.

I think that's why the two crosses he hit, the last almost on the half volley, before going off injured where tired first time attempts, I felt like it was him proving a point, "get it in the fucking box".

6 minutes ago, Bethnal said:

I just cannot handle the Mowbray love-in, when it pops up.

Yeah me neither, it was purely functional, like finding a bonus Fray Bentos pie in the cupboard when coming home pissed. Good for your immediate wellbeing and lulling you into a false sense that it will provide you with much needed sustenance, but bad for you in the long run, especially if repeated regularly. 

6 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Its quite incredible considering all that is going on that so many seem keen to repeatedly mention Mowbray.

Because fans are looking for answers and some of the shit that went on under his tenure is still happening now, just at a more extreme level. We fucked up January windows back then too. It's like a massive group therapy session with all sorts of old bollocks getting talked about. 

I feel that Mowbray's "it's not the 90s" attitude has prevailed in the club since (I'm talking from CEO down to certain playing staff). We seem to have forgotten what a proud club we are with certain standards that are expected, other clubs have it and use it to their advantage, we seem to have turned it into a millstone around our necks. 

I'd love to create new memories and not dwell on the golden years and JDT was someone who offered a glimpse of that, if completely flawed in doing so. I cannot fathom the paradox in my head of my enjoyment of that first season vs how shit the local derby games were and how poor our form was as a whole.  

2 minutes ago, Bethnal said:

Labouring the Mowbray point is laughable.

The training ground stuff. Reece James’ dad’s interview about nearly coming on loan to Blackburn and how Mowbray put him off. Death spirals. “It’s not the 90s anymore.” Telling key players to look elsewhere for bigger deals at the end of theirs. Telling staff members that “big ships like Sunderland don’t come along very often” (League One Sunderland, at the time) and encouraging them to leave. A complete free pass in the Covid season. Bradley Johnson as a false 9. “It’s a long commute.” 

Do me a favour.

I agree it was a mess, it should have lasted 2-3 years tops. 

But, the same patterns emerge no matter who's in charge and who plays for us, and that's why it gets dredged up. 

7 minutes ago, matt83 said:

Who’s this mysterious PR guy?

Managed to grab a pic of him leaving Ewood

Szmodics knows what's going on, he's just a normal passionate fan like the rest of us, think he feels it and he wears his heart on his sleeve. I wonder what his relationship with JDT was like and whether he agrees with the tactics.

When he went off against QPR I was expecting him to snub JDT on the touchline but they seemed to have an amicable if animated discussion. 

The fact that over two seasons Mowbray's death spiral began exactly during the January windows should tell us all we need to know, we have form in that area now don't we? Indecision over contracts and incomings, plus remember when our Indian overlords actually came out and promised bonuses for promotion? What a joke that was, didn't Rothwell throw his toys out of the pram after, it had the total opposite effect. Weird, or sinister? 

Mowbray was steady, and the recruitment was good but incredibly expensive and lacking any normal strategy of building year on year to get somewhere, it was scattergun and reckless. At any normal club he would have left after two years and we would have built on it with a new manager, but it dragged on, and weird things started happening.

How does a player like Amari Bell look absolute dogshit for us and now become a captain in the Prem? There was no system or model that's why. 

Anyway, whatever happened back then seems like dreamland compared to this. 

6 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

Mowbray took us down to League 1 and never finished as high in 6 seasons as JDT did in 1. That despite him having a lot more funds at his disposal.

Mowbray's reign was needed at the time but quickly become totally stagnant and a comfortable and easy ride for all involved, coupled with some of the worst contract negotiations we've seen, which we are now bearing the full repercussions of. I would pay good money to find out what was said at half time in that home game against Derby when he started with Johnson up front.

Please, if there is a god, I want JDT in charge with Bowyer's squad (with a better defence) and John Williams sat in the expensive seats please. 

Just now, DE. said:

Which I believe was the Millwall match last season where the pressure was effectively off as at that point we only had a slim chance of getting into the playoffs. The same thing we saw under Mowbray - comfortable as underdogs, uncomfortable when there are any expectations. 

100%, which is an attitude that only bleeds down from the top, happens everywhere in business. And why teams with small budgets too like Luton, and Brighton etc are in the Prem and we're not. 

1 minute ago, Atko's Engine said:

If as suspected the bits where attendees swore to secrecy were concerning JDT's as-yet-unannounced departure, or the McGuire transfer fiasco, I presume the reason for the need for secrecy would be to protect the club from legal action (in the case of JDT) & to protect the McGuire transfer appeal.

I may be wrong, but that would be an entirely valid reason for a cloak of secrecy at the present time, & not something to level at the fans who attended as being in cahoots with Waggott or somehow lured into his trap. 

Absolutely, no one should jump on the reasons for secrecy just yet, it's obvious it's about JDT and the McGuire deal. 

Did they have to sign an NDA though? 

9 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I think it was one of the better known local journos who mentioned the body language of a lot of players and those in the tech area right from the off as 'just not looking right'.

What does that say ?  Fans pick up on this stuff pretty quickly and that i'm afraid is down to players themselves and coaching staff.

I totally agree, body language is massive, it's why struggling teams start "doing a huddle" before kick-off - it's a two-way street with players and fans. Football is about hope, we've come from behind once to win in 2 seasons under JDT, I can't remember the similar stat during Mowbray's reign off the top of my head, we have little hope in the bank, the fans know what to expect and it's that grinding inevitably that stops us getting off our seats, we know what's going to happen.

Yet, the paradox is, this team has real elements that I love, some of the moments we've experienced have been the best in years (and some of the worst), and that's what is messing with everyone's heads. 

10 minutes ago, DE. said:

It is, and the players know that. As far as I'm aware there were no "you're not fit to wear the shirt" chants in the QPR match, just chants against Waggott and Venky's. It was, as far as I'm aware, extremely obvious where the anger is aimed. 

The players probably felt like they had to say something like this to try and defend themselves - but they simply should not have been in a position where they needed to do so. Not now, at the height of a club crisis, with barely any forewarning. Wrong time, wrong place, and any CEO with an ounce of respect for the players or fans would have known this. 

Of all the downward spirals we've seen at Ewood, the fans reaction to the players has been really kind - like you said no chanting at them at all. The fans have been patient, mainly because as a group we're confused at who we're most pissed off about.

If anything, due to the malaise we're in, apathy rules and we don't en-masse sing as many songs about JDT or the players as we probably should, it just hasn't got going like that, it's just flat, and we get the Vincent Kompany song a million times as it's just easier to do...

44 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

 

I know you shouldn't look at internet comments, but one of the worst things about our current predicament is how many are happy to see us in this mess. I wouldn't wish this situation on any club, not ever our dear neighbours down the road. I wish football wasn't a playground for corruption. 

No football fanbase should have to endure this, and the fact that it's been reported that 2/3 of the EFL could become insolvent in the near future should be something that all fans are wary of. 

27 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

I do agree to a point.

The only problem being - the external noise is massively impacting the performances in the pitch, and why wouldn't it? 

It's an absolute shambles.

I agree with this, but he has a duty to protect the playing staff from all this shit, how many managers down the years have done this? It's more unusual for a manager to be so candid, and it never ends well. You can hint, but you have to present a united front in the dressing room to try and drag the team up the table. He's obviously fallen out with some of the bigger characters in the squad, and recently has just plain given up on the job and started spouting whatever he wants.

I feel aggrieved for him, his family, but as one of the lads on the latest Roverschat podcast said; what was he trying to achieve with his post match presser? 

-

Edit: seeing other posts on the Jan Transfer Thread, if he's been sacked by one brother, and reinstated by someone else moments later, told McGuire was here then not, then it does go some way to explaining it 😂 Madness.

3 minutes ago, RoverInverness said:

Many pages back someone argued that ultimately it will be good if the McGuire deal does not go through, because it will push the Raos closer to a sale of the club.

I wonder if it’s the other way round and that the £500k fee could be what forces the issue within the family. If one part of the family is refusing to fund us and another part of the family is trying to fight this (my theory only), then the overturning of the Slyvester/Waggot sabotage attempt by the EFL actually stirs up the tension in Pune. An EFL decision to void the transfer leaves us more likely to continue with this (hypothetical) status quo. Where we are caught in their civil war (perhaps) and the stop sending £ side of the family is winning, but not decisively enough.
 

My hypothetical status quo (Conspiracy Theory #99) btw, is that one part of the family is wanting to cling on so as to eventually give a job to a younger Rao, whilst the rest of the family have given up and just want rid of the damn thing. 
 

The more I reflect the more it fits, but maybe I am thinking too hard - like all conspiracy theorists!

Couldn't agree more actually, I think you may have a point, like I said in my post, we've seen evidence of this before, it makes total sense. We're basically at the mercy of a family feud. 

42 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

What are the chances of the efl just letting it through purely out of sympathy for us long suffering fans

And if it was done deliberately (for whatever reason) it would also be a slap in the face to whoever sabotaged it if it was green lit now

I just don't think they will, they'll rightly stick to procedure - in a post Tevez world no one can be seen to providing any club with preferential treatment. As many have said, if McGuire scores the goal that keeps us up and sends Wednesday down, can you imagine?

I do feel likes there's something else, I bet errors with transfers are more common than we think across the board they just get sorted out of the public eye through proper process, that's why there's got to be more to it than this story "they clicked save instead of send". The fact that we've had 3 in a year, lightning doesn't strike thrice.

For me, there's obvious infighting at the top in the Venky's hierachy and Sunhail is either stuck in the middle of it as the rep over here, or more aligned with one Venky than the other, so will scupper decisions to side with his chosen one. I bet one Venky signed it off, wanted a marquee US signing, and another Venky pulled the plug overall, causing the indecision and chaos. Coupled with disgruntled staff who are either a) amateur or more likely b) pissed off and worried about their own jobs; do the math.

It's Occam's Razor, there's previous evidence of infighting and disagreement causing bungled decisions. 

Any other club with foreign owners, they buy a player from the US and see it as a way of expanding their brand globally, using it to their advantage. Wasn't that the Venky's initial plan? Not this lot, we do the complete actual opposite 😂 

It just proves there's something completely messed up at the core of their ownership, "no shit Sherlock" I hear you say.  

I see Sheff Utd are now offering free shipping to SA/Chile, can you imagine our lot doing anything like this? 

If you want to win an argument with a pro-Venkyite, it's a flippant and throwaway place to start, but something you can't really deny. It's real indicator of the lack of care and imagination from those in power at Ewood.

11 minutes ago, OJRovers said:

Am I the only one concerned that the fee could have been up to £8million (with sell on clauses) for a 20 year old completely unproven at this level?

According to Nixon on Radio Lancs the figures are inflated, it's nowhere near that. I thought the same too, but it appears the fees are unknown.

Live footage of the poor admin posting that statement