2 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

As I wrote on the transfer thread I would play this team (though swapped Garrett for Sigurdsson on reflection for a bit more bite in the side)

                        Pears

          Carter      Hyam    S Wharton

JRC      Tronstad       A Wharton   Pickering

                       Garrett

          Gallagher      Szmodics

 

We are starting to have some more decent options off the bench too (Brittain, Chisene, Ayari, Sigurdsson) - getting a bit more hopeful about Telalovic too. Moran getting a proper rest could refresh him.

However I will be utterly amazed if we change from the 4231. JDT's thinking seems to be along the lines of "in for a penny, in for a pound". Frustrating as I think if we did do something like the above we could massively lower our chances of conceding an early goal which should be our absolute number one priority.

 

I don't think Szmodics will be playing.

1 hour ago, Rogerb said:

I think there is an inevitable outcome that eventually the Directorate of Enforcement will eventually get round to examining Rovers. My reading of the situation is that once that happens no funds at all will be able to be sent overseas to keep us going.

I think there is a strong possibility that they will eventually realise there is something Amis. Venky’s are treading a very dangerous path with the bond, as they are saying, they are protecting their investment with the money they send. How that can be the case when they have already lost £200m is up for debate.

As we all know on here, any more money the send will go into the same abyss that the rest has, so what investment are they protecting exactly.

4 hours ago, arbitro said:

First mention I've seen of money laundering in any publication.

Judge Amit Mahajan agreed to allow the tax bill to be settled, but insisted on a bond for the same amount to be lodged with the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), an arm of the Indian government set up to target money laundering. The bond would be forfeited if it emerged the money was used for another purpose.

Follow that to the letter of the law and assuming it applies every quarter, it means the £20m will now mean they need to cough up £40m per season.

One think for certain, Huddersfield will score. It’s just a case of how many and therefore how many we will need to get a point or 3.

We are 20/1 to go down just now, but those odds will tumble if we lose again. The old adage that the bookies are never wrong gives me some hope, but it’s fading fast. 

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What do you mean if Venkys "get found guilty"?

Of what?

I am surprised that you have not read it, but Venky's stand accused of making illegal payments for 2010 to date.

Link below.

https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/ed-seizes-over-rs-65-cr-of-venkateshwara-hatcheries-in-fema-probe-123090400325_1.html

31 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Sounds like you are annoyed that he has released something you were happy to sit on - keep the mushrooms in the dark, ay? All power to Mike and the Trust I say.

How do we, the fans, remove the clowns at Ewood then? They are doing the job the owners want them to do. Cut costs, head down and crack on. They’ll go when either the owners choose to appoint someone else, they retire or they’ll be booted out the door with the owners themselves.

This isn’t going to ‘deflect’ anything, the fans already know that something is going on, a look at the events of this season tells them that, court cases in India for approval to merely pay the bills tells them that - this just confirms it, ‘history’ or not.

Getting rid of the clowns at Ewood, would simply follow if we got rid of Venky’s.

I would imagine if the payment plan with HMRC and their subsequent threat to wind the club up, is out in the open properly, then perhaps even the fans who don’t realise how bad the owners are, may now do so,

If a really ground swell follows and the vast majority get on board, then that could ramp the pressure up and maybe help us get a concerted efforts and really give it to them big time.

I don’t know how accessible they are, but if some sort of letter could be drafted and perhaps signed by as many fans as possible, then delivered to the court, perhaps that could stop the agreement to release funds.

That in turn of course, could then lead to our own demise, so it would need considering properly, but is a way perhaps, even though it won’t be easy. 

4 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

Hence as per last week's Post I'm working with an investigative journalist in India to shed more light.

The truth is even Waggott don't know what's going on.

I asked him straight out, was anything else gonna come out which wasn't already out there , and he said No

I asked him the same thing and got the same answer. Personally I think he does know more then he was letting on, but is covering it up and lying about certain things too.

My meeting with him, came about due to an E Mail I sent, regarding the illegal payments being made. Rather than replying and risking his response being in writing he invited me in. He also accidentally copied me in to an E Mail to his PA Christina Haynes who subsequently E Mailed me inviting me in.

What was even more telling was him asking me if I was recording the meeting. I wonder why he would ask that? 

6 hours ago, Rover8T4 said:

Sorry, neither do I, But I'm sure there's a few on here that could explain when they get some free time.

If you don’t your tax bill when it’s due HMRC tend to take issue with it. If you plead your case with them, on occasion they will grant some leeway and agree to take due payments on the drip, with a strong warning that failing to meet the agreed payments comes with a severe warning that this could lead to a winding up order.

Think back to the beginning of the season when our CEO was bragging about us paying our bills on time. He was probably sending out a little message, without actually admitting to the shit we are in. 

5 hours ago, tomphil said:

Why the hell did he come all the way up here in the first place ?

This signing stinks the place out i'm not having it that it was just some cheap gamble by Broughton that hasn't paid off, far from it.

It's either yet another monumental F -up or something a bit more dodgy it has all the vibes of Goodwille nd Stokes deals. Albeit without the fee but a lengthy contract double previous wages and nice signing on fee or however they do it here.

Come up, can't be arsed, out of shape, never fit then get moved on and paid off.

Stinks.

He’s Myles better than Mrs Anderson’s son and would be fine  carrying a few hampers at Christmas. If we hear anyone mention, there is a payment that’s been made that no one knows about, we could be going back to the very beginning.

Its been going on for 13 years and someone is still here playing the same game. 

36 minutes ago, JHRover said:

So nothing to do with FFP then. Our travails over the summer and this season caused only by the ownership investigation (that hasn't been explained by anyone in an official capacity).

You make out like this is all transparent and has been explained. Yet all we know is what snippets fans have unearthed online, the owners and club have failed to explain any of it.

When a newspaper use the term illegal payments being sent over seas by Venky’s with no alleged in there and neither they nor anyone at Rovers respond, you know we are in trouble.

‘Tell me Mr Waggott, if you had to go to court every 3 months to get permission to throw some of your money away, how long do you think you would carry on doing that for?’. 

1 hour ago, Clive 62 said:

We’re being run as an academy club. First team results are less important than player development, promotion has never been the aim under this lot. It’s all about finding young promising players and making them better. No point having a player like Travis on the bench, might as well have him playing somewhere else so he’s in the shop window. Seems highly suspicious to me that we’ve suddenly got a raft of players fit mid January especially Gallagher just when we get a bid in for him. JDT had a look of someone yesterday  who is having his team ripped out from under him. Think getting rid of him would be pointless, they’ll only appoint someone to play the exact same way. Remember the quote from Mowbray, “I’m not a results based coach, I’m a development coach.” Think this is why they’ve taken the coach away from recruitment, JDT is powerless to prevent player sales. 
Who is setting the agenda tho, this is the question, who benefits from all the player trading, all along the academy funding has been the one constant throughout Venky’s tenure. Can’t get money for a new pitch, stadium maintenance or a young centre half though. I don’t buy that this is the best way to progress the club, sell a player + re invest like Brentford, not what’s happening +  I don’t buy the Indian authorities investigation meaning we have to cut the the budget in half either. JDT, Waggott, + GB have all been hired to fit in with the plan.

This might all be complete tosh, I’m not ITK, just a fan for over 50 years who’s sick of it + just wants his club back 😢

Venky’s out.

Good post and I think it is pretty much spot on.

I went in to see Waggott after an E Mail I sent, questioning the Indian press article about the illegal payments.

I didn’t expect to find much out and I didn’t, but it was pretty obvious by the lack of answers to some of my questions, that things are being hidden from the fans.

Get anywhere near the truth and panic ensues. 

1 minute ago, Norbert Rassragr said:

How has Hyam gone from great to awful? He's been blamed for loads of errors since he came back from injury.

He’s been blamed, as he has actually made bad errors. To be fair he doesn’t look fit and has probably been rushed back too soon. 

2 minutes ago, Mars Rover said:

I was surprised JDT didn't walk in the summer. I'll be less surprised, but still a little surprised, if he doesn't walk after this game.

I don't think for a second he's getting sacked. That would involve spending money.

He did look totally drained on the bench to me.

I do get the impression he is a no nonsense type and would not be too surprised to see him Jack.

So far as the game is concerned, it’s a depressing feeling even Sat at home in Spain, watching it on Rovers TV. 

11 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

No chance.

We'll just keep bobbing along like this forever.

I honestly would not be too sure.

7 hours ago, Ianrally said:

Is he famous or summat? 

I think his Dad is called Burt and he made a few films. 

10 hours ago, Upside Down said:

I have never heard of a manager refusing to spend money at any club other than this one.

Venkys have a track record of meddling in transfers, Danny Baath being the latest.

I strongly suspect that is what happened last January with O'Brien.

People like maggot and the Egg are company men who will fall on their swords to protect the owners from any scrutiny.

Everything here is all about keeping the spotlight away from the owners. There's way more to this Indian government investigation than a few unpaid taxes and some overseas money transfers.

I have a feeling the shit could hit the fan this month. If three months on the investigation has moved forward, then despite the apparent precedent set, this time they could have the request to transfer yet more money into a bottom less pit declined. 

9 minutes ago, J*B said:

100%, we won’t lose this, with all due respect we’re much better than them. 

We won’t win with us conceding like we do. We are terrible at the back and keeper not helping 

Just now, wilsdenrover said:

He’s playing isn’t he?

Yeah 

19 minutes ago, rigger said:

They have got him for a song.

Who will face the music if we go down due to this decision?

There will be a chorus of boos at some point and if Greg is instrumental in the decision, he can’t have great Eurovision of our future aspirations. 

5 hours ago, NeilInBristol said:

What a time to leave Spain. Most of us would love being there in the winter. Sheffield of all places. What is he upto

I can confirm that the weather here is very nice at the minute and I will not be going on loan back to the UK any time soon.

1 hour ago, Andy said:

I'm not familiar whatsoever with how the Indian court/judicial system works, but I can't imagine that they'd take that into account.

The claim is for funds to pay wages / overheads / loan payments / etc and we are owner-reliant for these things, rather than self sufficient.

We'll see I guess, but the club are very confident of all future similar requests being approved, on the back of the precedent being already set.

The club (mainly Waggott) have been confident of many thing that have failed to materialise.

The very fact that the owners have to attend court to have funds released is first of all very worrying in itself There is also the added issue that they are also being investigated and lets face it, if the Indian authorities are faced with charging the owners of wrong doing, the last thing they will allow is for several million in hard cash, to leave their shores.

We don't seem to matter very much to the owners themselves, so we will matter even less to the Indian courts and a football club a few thousand miles away, will be irrelevant, it it means Venky's not having the funds to pay any fine/tax due.

2 hours ago, Rogerb said:

It seems Cambridge have a dodgy keeper also should be a high scoring game then.

Hope like hell we don't sign him and sell them Leo, for a quick profit.

3 hours ago, roverandout said:

Any club other than Sheffield utd. Can't stand them

Well it has worked out well then, as they have got themselves a dud, if he does go there.

5 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

                    Pears

Gamble Carter Hyam Briitain

             Travis Garrett

Markanday Leonard Gilsenan

                 Telalovic 

Is Pears now fit?

Not good enough for the prem, but of they keep him for next season, he could get a few.