3 hours ago, JoeH said:

He's former Burnley, so it's a tough one, but Junior Stanislas can't get a game at Bournemouth, still only 30 - and could be a good 6-month loan option. He's made two sub appearances all season. Would be a struggle on wage for sure but just a thought. He's top quality for this division IMO.

Always seems to be out injured .... so would fit in well!

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I would be very, very surprised if clubs higher up aren't looking at Armstrong. If he continues with the end product, it will be difficult to hold into him. I was very critical of him earlier on in the season and last. 

If they come with £8milloon I’d bite their bloody hands off

17 hours ago, JHRover said:

Which do you think is more likely.

1) Venkys mysteriously and suddenly decide, after nearly 9 years of operating the club without one, that there is an immediate need to appoint a CEO. To this end they go off and employ an agency to headhunt someone to fill the roles and then after a lengthy process whittle it down to one bloke who was unemployed having had brief stints at other crisis clubs Charlton and Coventry. After lining him up by amazing coincidence he knows the manager well from recently working with him at Coventry.

2) Mowbray tells Venkys they need to appoint a CEO because the shell of a club they have created is struggling to function with Cheston out of his depth and Pasha doing nothing useful. He's well in with them. They ask him for suggestions because they couldn't pick their own noses let alone a CEO of a football club and so Mowbray puts forward his mate who he gets on with who needs a new job. Hello Waggott.

Option 1 or Option 2?

As I've said before I suppose it is progress of sorts that Mowbray has the clout to persuade them to do it and we are surely better off with Waggott than nobody as before. Arguably Mowbray has more idea than anyone else around when it comes to appointing high level staff.

Still doesn't detract from the reality - that Mowbray was involved in appointing his own boss

 

Yes JHR and it reminds me of the pantomime when Pashas job was “ advertised “.

we are living in an ewood world with lots of smoke and many mirrors with regular infusions of lies and deceit.

By the way that Mowbray  flag makes me want to vom . Any normal guy would be embarrassed by it .

7 hours ago, JHRover said:

So lets suppose after beating Bristol City and being in a rich vein of form and within a few points of 3rd place we had actually kicked on and dispatched poor Wigan, Birmingham and Huddersfield over Christmas and Dack had netted in each and hadn't got injured.

Would the club seriously have gone into January with a 'plan' of selling Dack with the play-offs within our grasp?

If the answer is 'yes' then we need shut of the lot of them, because no club in that position would even entertain such an idea, let alone base FFP compliance on it. If the answer is 'no' it shows that actually there is very little by way of a plan.

I think that FFP is an all to convenient excuse for those running Rovers to hide behind at every turn. Whenever they feel like not spending anything, or selling off an asset or two, they just need to spend a couple of  weeks laying the groundwork for it by trying to implant FFP in the minds of supporters. That way nobody will ever blame our billionaire, kind, benevolent owners. They want to do X,Y, Z but can't because of them nasty rules.

FACT - only Birmingham have been hit with proper sanctions and that was after they took the League on and continued spending despite being told not to. Nobody else has suffered anything. QPR a measly fine after promotion was secured, Sheffield Wednesday are taking them to arbitration and others have found elaborate and creative ways around it.

Having been told after promotion that we were building sustainably, avoiding gambling and were doing it long term to ensure stability if there is even a grain of truth that we are at risk of breaking these rules then heads need to roll.

If they were seriously looking at a sale  and lease back  of the ground as Miller 11 says, and they are thwarted by ACV status which was engineered by Rovers Trust then surely there would have been some dialogue with the Trust. After all , we have just been reading the manifesto of the Trust about  protecting the long term future of the Club  So either this is Just so convenient And  it’s a case of hey ho ,as JH Rover rightly suggests or it won’t be long before they are blaming the Trust for putting the Club in this tricky position . 
If we are so dangerously close to an FFP breach having spent 1/3rd of our 3 year  ‘loss allowance ‘ on Gallagher and. Brereton then I agree they should all be on the bus out of Ewood right now .

I thought Venkys paid a kings ransom for Deloitte and KPMG to come in and sort this out and to avoid all this FFP crap ? Maybe it was not them but bank of India forcing it after all .

whatever, it’s another major roadblock and when-you are already balls deep at £180million you would expect they are getting a little fed up by now with their baby .

The numbers which have been reported tell us that We can’t be far off breaching FFP ( which we can all debate for ever ) but the point is we have once again pressed the self destruct button . You have to rather think that the plan WAS to sell Dack this January which as JH R says would have been an outrage to fans when on the brink of the top 6. Now they could watch him walk for free because by the time he’s fit again he will only have 6 months left on his contract .No wonder he was in floods of tears after Wigan- I’m surprised Waggott wasn’t too .

35 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

Apparently there has been a lot of talk about this at the fans forum tonight. I wasn’t at the meeting, but apparently the big news was this:

 

We are right on the cusp of breaching FFP rules

 

The plan was to sell Dack this window to remain compliant

 

Since his injury they have looked into a sale and lease/buy back of Ewood. They decided against this due to the ACV on the ground. Other avenues are being explored.

 

So I wouldn’t expect any signings this window.

 

Where’s the surprise ? Everybody on here has watched this get closer on a monthly basis for 3 years . What have our hierarchy done to mitigate it ??? Blown £12million 1/3rd of the 3 year FFP loss allowance ) on 2 non scoring strikers .It defies belief . Management and ownership of our club is an absolute clusterf..k . It’s broken and can’t be mended I’m sad to say .

6 hours ago, Bbrovers2288 said:

Yes but pompy gambling on promotion, asking for 3 mill, which we don’t have 

His goal record is very good but he plays left wing for the most part . As much as we need goals surely not gonna blow all his budget on a wide player with all the other obvious deficiencies???

oh wait ......

what the hell goes on in our scouting dept  ???  More to the point we invest heavily in it , talk of extending it into Europe just as we run out of money and FFP is ready to bite our asses. It’s more like Gerry Cottles Circus by the week .

still if the 3 match Ladies ticket offer goes well , we will be in good shape !!! Jesus Hector Christ .

5 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Really, really, really !?!?

IMO, all this stuff about 'having conversations', 'making bids', 'having a budget' etc is all nonsense and 'window dressing' for our supporters - sadly, some will buy it!

I said before the transfer window, IMO, we didn't have a transfer pot to p1ss in and transfer fees in plus wages saved would far outweigh transfer fees out and wages paid.

Let's see who's nearer to the mark come 31 Jan..

Whatever ‘conversations’ means in mowbrays  world you can reckon Evans getting done on Saturday  (thus scuppering a possible transfer fee and saving high wages) will have put the skids under any transfer activity.

Defenders aren’t coming. Sanctions are coming .

39 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Not the most important of news at all, but I see Tom White has had his loan at Barrow extended and it's looking more and more like he was yet another pointless signing. He's 22, time for him to crack on, but instead we signed him, played him for about 8 u23 games, then shipped him back on loan for the season to the same poor level he came from, Conference, where we will learn absolutely nothing about his improvement. It's only a 2 year contract he has signed too, so come the summer there will be 1 year left. What was the point?

I assumed we bought him mostly for the u23s, but then we shipped him off after not very long so it wasn't that either. It was reported by a few on here he was playing pretty well for them, so it's not like he just hasn't met our expectations. Why did we bother? Little decisions like this do add up when there's enough of them.

Yes , our scouting network at it’s glorious best .

4 hours ago, tomphil said:

A few weeks back i might have agreed on the outside chance of top 6. Think that's a huge long shot now for a number of reasons and unless they can dig out a couple or real good signings there's not much point aiming for much.  Might as well start getting the ducks in a row for next season, hopefully with a fresh ambitious approach although that would need big changes imo.

Costly loans now and silly, cosy, investment signings will just push us towards a fire sale because of FFP in the near future.

We could always look to play a new style next season as this year we have clearly had too much possession ??

1 hour ago, joey_big_nose said:

Have to say in my opinion in terms of actual blood and thunder defending Lenihan is streets ahead of him. Makes some mistakes, but you would back him time after time in challenges in the air and on the deck. Best all round CB we've had since Hanley left.

Tosin offers huge technical quality, and decent defending, although a tendency to sloppiness. As a pairing they could be really good and learn off one another. 

Be very pleased if Tosin signing is true. Only slight concern is he has seemed a bit disengaged recently and the sloppiness seems to be a growing issue which needs stopping.

 

Well it's certainly an upgrade on the sticking plaster that is Williams/Nyambe . But we are still leaking goals at a fair rate despite him and Lenihan being well regarded and in my opinion we need a whole back 4 of animals who can defend like their lives depend on it and kick and scratch our way through tough games if that's what it takes. I'm sick of soft defending and silly goals going in which has been a symptom all through Mowbray's time here. Once that's done get a mobile rotweiller as our holding midfielder and only then can we start thinking about our system and options for attacking teams. Until then we just constantly undermine ourselves . A proven goal scorer however has to be part of that equation.

As for putting Brereton at the top of league one as has been suggested - I don't see how a league one promotion contender can have seen anything at all which suggests he will score goals for them. We haven't seen the remotest indication of that or indeed anything else that he will bring to the party. If some one asked you what Brereton is or what his strengths are I would honestly be struggling. He doesn't even shine in U23's. I wish the lad no ill whatsoever and I dearly hope for his own sake he comes good but as I commented in earlier in this thread signing him for £7million was an act of gross negligence . I'm not even sure how anybody can have seen anything in his past which pointed towards being excellent potential.    

For the time being stand by for the ''we couldn't compete with what Charlton's new owners were prepared to pay Maddison''. Its far too early for us to be doing business anyway. We have about another 18 days and 6 hours before we enter the fray. 

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

I wouldn't go as far as to say a conspiracy theory. Seems a fairly logical conclusion to arrive at, that Mowbray recommended Waggott to Venkys at the very least and they acted on his recommendation.

Mowbray has a long history with working with people from previous clubs.

Having a CEO with whom he already built a working relationship with in the past, in theory, should be pretty beneficial to everyone.

Better the devil you know and all that.

Beneficial , well you could make a case for that yes. Except these two are seriously incompetent .

2 hours ago, Ossydave said:

Den Haag would literally be a perfect loan move for Ben. Get his head down out the spotlight, hopefully get played as an actual striker. Also if anyone follows Dutch football the defences on the whole are absolutely garbage apart from the top teams so he will bag a few.

And if he doesn’t which is a massive probability based on what we have seen ... then what??

i see us writing off £7million in the near future .

somebody authorising that signing should be dismissed . Total  Negligence . 

29 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

please tell me you`ve made that up?

I said during the game that if we somehow contrived to lose then his post match presser would be legendary!! The bloke is an utter moron. 
so too much possession for that team you were trying to turn into a .... possession based team??? 
feck off man you are insulting our intelligence . Just get your coat and retire to the bloody north east .

Just now, Sparks Rover said:

Are we losing?

Yep 2-1 down . Shut the message board down quick . This is utterly shambolic by any standard .

mowbray piss off now .

4 minutes ago, Roverthechimp said:

This actually made me laugh. Sorry to those that that take it more seriously than myself but it really helped me break out of a piss poor mood...

Now ffs: win the game ! 

That’s like something off it’s a knockout where they are blindfolded with massive costumes on. Jesus bloody Christ you have to laugh

1 minute ago, Mercer said:

Wonder if Mowbray still thinks BB will be a £15/20million footballer down the line as I seem to recall him stating in Blues last Feb!?!?

Heading for a Rovers' win today - sadly, will take the pressure off Mowbray. 

Hope so Merc - season over in 4th Jan , thrown away top6 in less than a fortnight and no money for Jan window !! The lies and deceit we are forced to endure as Rovers fans is above and beyond .

still in Tony we trust ........ I’m just sick of it all tbh . I barely give a monkeys and it kills me to say that .

2 minutes ago, Harry The Bass said:

Referee just cost us a goal 

Is this where we chuck the man advantage by going down to ten men ourselves ???

heaven forbid we lose now but if it happened Mowbrays post match interview will be legendary 

7 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ah come on now,for all Mowbrays faults and reasons to be criticized,  it's a peculiar angle to have a conspiracy theory as to why Buckely started a few. Before he was starting a lot on here were,incorrectly , slaying mowbray for not giving youth a chance. He gives him a chance,which hasn't worked out, and now you are trying to make out someone is making him play Buckley. Nonsense. I wouldnt say any of the Indians know who Buckley is. 

They won’t even know Dacks injured yet!

39 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Since he came in we seem to have revolutions our training facilities. Someone posted an Instagram link. Is it a coincidence that has happened just after he stepped up.

In any case, this is Mowbray’s team. How does Johnson influence who is picked and what the match tactics are? He can give his opinion but ultimately it is Mowbray’s decision.

I will go off what I have seen with Johnson and the U23 side. He hasn’t suddenly stopped knowing how to set teams up. He built a team who played the game in the right way. Players like Rothwell, Holtby, Dack, Butterworth, Chapman would thrive in a side built in Johnson’s image rather than Mowbray’s.

Fine Stuart , you obviously have more insight than I do . Like I said , not knocking the bloke and if what you say is true then I imagine he must be sat there scratching his head at the tombola and even more at the positional changes during games .

27 minutes ago, Stuart said:

It’s hardly new for people to come out with “We will never get better”. People even thought that about Owen Effing Coyle.

It’s so weak, it can barely be called an argument.

I would genuinely sooner have Johnson in charge. But there are certainly better managers out there. If we don’t trust Venkys to hire one then everything is an illusion and Mowbray is part of that so it’s a vicious cycle.

In no way am I knocking Damien Johnson but he’s been in the 1st team  set up for quite a while now . So Is he agreeing with the approach we are currently taking or sat there day in day out saying nothing and having no input ?

what is his contribution to this current mess?? Genuine question , I don’t know the answer . But if he’s part of all this then not certain why the clamour to make him number 1 . I see no indication that he’s changed / influenced anything yet . As for Lowe, Venus well they can just clear off immediately.

Just now, joey_big_nose said:

Brereton has easily had his best game for us but we still need Graham on.

Downing has been exceptional. Forest are dropping off.. could get something from this.

 

 

Best game??? Well I suppose he has just won us a free kick on the half way line. You don’t get much for £7million these days .... and we bloody haven’t!!

Just now, yellowsubmarine said:

From nowwhere DOWNING!!!

Great goal tbf - hides nothing though . 
Has Brereton gone off??? 
he offers us absolutely feck all . 

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

2-0 another Walton clanger.

This is going to get embarrassing.

They have created nothing and we are 2 down in 25 mins. Soft as shit .

good old Ben , never quite gets to the ball but he tried , poor lamb.

That fatigue thing really hurts us doesn’t it Tony? 

Just now, dallydally said:

Walton is a prat!

Piss off walton - please red card him ref 

34 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Which I mention in the summer. 

Who didn’t think this was going to happen after the summer window horror , defenders are coming nonsense??? 
 

Answer: just Mowbray