Playing silly sods is saying Dolan is nothing more than a “nice lad” and doubling down on the anti-Buckley stuff, in my opinion of course.

I don’t understand how you can’t get wages and the discrepancy between what we can spend and other teams. It seems beyond reality that you’d suggest two or three players guaranteed to be on so much more, and one who’s record in the championship is 1 in 17 and a relegation. Show stoppers indeed.

How do you know they aren’t premier league quality and how do you know other teams aren’t after them? Why are certain markets only suitable for premier league teams? How do we compete with 20+ teams ready to pay bigger wages and probably 15+ teams if we get promoted?

How do we know they’re not good enough? Ullrich suggested the Scottish premier league is equivalent the our league one. Where did we get Dack and Rothwell from?

The money is for promotion, at which point the club earns 180m+ even with relegation after one season. If you offered a similar amount now and stayed in the division, there’s potential of being hit with point dedications and transfer bans. I’d obviously rather keep all those lads but I think the best way is promotion

I personally think I’d have to be disconnected from reality, to think money doesn’t “talk” in football. I mean there is such a huge gulf in wages between the top flight and second, what better way to incentivise your own team without paying them over the odds for ending up mid table in the championship. If you can’t offer the whole squad a bigger wage structure due to turnover in this division, offering them 5%ish of the total increased revenue the club will earn for promotion….. seems sensible and most “un-Rao-like”… Not that I am 100% convinced it’s true. It’s “the scum” and the author is a complete bellend. The way it’s become a “runaround” adds more weight but ultimately - the club would never publicise such offerings. Hold on a second JHR - you’ve been banging on about the owners choosing to use FFP as an excuse, as they could break that rule but they won’t… Does that apply to this too? I mean if they are adding in extra incentives on the basis of promotion, in the face of contract law, FFP and potential turnover issues…. What has changed?

The way agents work - C is borderline impossible. I think we’re in a scenario where we are a few behind the first 4 or 5 in the queue when it comes to “guaranteed or proven” championship players, who are out of favour in the prem.

Oh sorry yea I realised you meant in regards to Nuno Espirito Santos - absolutely agree, if there’s a way of getting this calibre of manager come end of season(if we aren’t promoted) then I’d prioritise that. Be a bit harsh on Tony if he misses out by a whisker but you go backwards standing still.

I like this team but it would be a shock if we get auto promotion - where as it should’ve been a given with that budget! The problem we have now is our competition for these positions will be against teams with double budgets. Makes no odds really. Gally is like any of our squad, like BB; 6 months of good performances away from having plenty of suitors.

As they say, “No Shit Sherlock”. I wouldn’t be as confident in the second paragraph. Take it one game at a time. For me; “this season is the best chance to get to the premier league” under the Rao’s was when we had the opportunity to offer 2/3 wages of the division- but we ended up with Leon Best, Danny Murphy and Dixon Etuhu costing the club 120k a week. No? Was that supposed to be a joke? I thought it was just another needless dig at one of the players?

I doubt Gallagher would get a prem move right now, thinking more the Chilean.

Fair enough but; 1. Is that to newcastle or Dwight? They’re going to want something, remuneration, a loan fee, a transfer fee. 2. Average wage in championship club is different club to club. You’d have to assume not a single lower premier league or parachute / recently relegated championship team is interested. 3. Once again - surely it’s obvious that if you offer 1 player in your 18, a specific “mind numbing” bonus to come in for 6 months, you’re going to piss off the squad. Id love Dwight Gayle at Ewood, but it’s not even remotely likely in my opinion, too many doors would need to open at once. The only way I see plausibility in this specific transfer, is someone going the other way.

https://www.spotrac.com/epl/newcastle-united-fc/dwight-gayle-22936/ This might not be correct, but how do you; A. convince newcastle to pay 65%+ of his wages whilst he plays for us for 6 months (over 1million) or B. Convince DG to give up 25k a week for six months or C. Not aggravate every other player in your team by agreeing to have one player on double your other top earner? I agree that someone like him would be great, the reality is only Fulham / Bournemouth and possibly WBA and Sheff United could get near fitting him into their “parachute” budget.

Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Reading..! I know there are examples of teams that got away with it, but personally, I’d rather we did things far more pragmatically. Interestingly, the one area I think the club should break the bank (at the end of the season if we don’t go up) is on a manager when TMs contract expires. Nuno still available?

It might sound like one of those “NMJ” things and I can understand people turning their nose up at it, but it would send a message. Is it possible to actually walk around Ewood when there’s no matchday?

I agree however I am not convinced it is as bad as some seem to suggest. The pictures you’ve posted; some leaves and moss, and a broken sign. Whilst I think this is worthy of discussion with the fan forum and SW, I wouldn’t call it one of the most pressing issues with Ewood park. My main gripe this season has been the consistently bad service at half time. It was only easier Saturday because of attendance being lower in our part of the JWU. Perhaps due to moving from riverside, (which I sat in for 25 years) I hardly see anything else of the ground these days (no need to walk round) but the concourse I go through is absolutely pristine, the toilets are immaculate, the seating area looks absolutely brand new. Ive been to a few away grounds in the last few years that are utterly terrible. Both main Sheffield clubs are owned by billionaires and their facilities are horrendous.

I’m only at C, but that was like a* compared to previous incumbents post Williams et al. I agree a lot - but have you ever watched “Sunderland till I die?” A good example of how budgets in league one really are useful but the pressure that comes with it takes expertise to handle. Equally the rebuilding process is probably a lot more difficult than we give him credit for. Think it was GE on the pod that said something like “decisions made in 2010 are still holding us back…”!

You obviously didn’t go to away games in league 1!

If he scores 19 goals every 23 games for the rest of his career he will be playing for PSG never mind England 😂

It would be interesting to find out who their agent is. I heard that Dunn has an agency which represents quite a few of our players. As for the CEO, how would JW have done long term with absent owners based 5000 miles away? He left as soon as he spotted potential issues and “conflicts of interest” at the club, and who could blame him. Perhaps he knew even he wouldn’t be able to succeed in that scenario.

I think it’s unsettling. I expect at least one to go. Similar frustration with Armstrong, if we’d managed to get him a longer term deal we could’ve kept hold or demanded more… Perhaps that’s the problem (magnified by covid, ffp, having absent owners, potentially not the best backroom staff..) These players and their agents know the best thing for them is to wait and see. I said it Saturday, perhaps the only way all three are staying is promotion. Mowbray again said the decision on sales lies with the owners. All my ire will be aimed for them if they allow big players to go this window. 15 players on that would probably incur around 5m in bonuses - based on a lot of assumptions. I may be wrong - but wasn’t the last time we had any sanctions with FFP, also the last time we got relegated? Tm has mentioned “mortgaging” the club a few times recently, but I feel the biggest concerns at Ewood are those point deductions / transfer bans

It’s not that simple though is it for example - SW inherited an absolute clusterfuck. In some ways (as we’ve discussed) I don’t think he’s done that bad.

I don’t think it’s that black and white. For example - Jack and John would’ve had our turnover in a far far better place, on the face of it…. But then if we’re languishing 15th in the championship - you could have anyone as CEO, you’re not selling tickets. That said - men of their quality would’ve never allowed us to be in that scenario, so the comparison just ends in folly. I still think it’s important to understand the different contexts though. With loss making rules, JW would’ve never even been allowed to spend what he did - why do you think clubs voted these rules in to begin with? Wasn’t about stopping clubs going bust, was about holding back teams without as many fans. That said, I bet Jack would’ve found a way round the rules.

Under Jack there was no rules about losing money. Under JW there was never a period or seasons where fans couldn’t attend. That said, I’m not giving excuses to these owners, I am aware as you are, of their (potentially criminal) incompetence and the neglect they’ve shown their “baby” (other than signing cheques)..! The point remains however. Extremely difficult time in football, and looking at the papers today - potentially more to come.

The last paragraph I can understand - but from Glenn and Herbs video, 18 months ago for best part of that time, turnover dropped to record lows due to the pandemic. I can’t see how many teams could’ve renewed with boosts during that level of uncertainty. Especially a team already literally on the wire with FFP. Those wages free’d up this summer - I think eventually end up going to better deals for players coming through our academy, but unsurprisingly probably not enough to keep all of these players. Finally - I would add that it’s not at all nailed on that 3 or 4 short contract players are leaving in January. That’s the worst case scenario.