Leonard Venkhater

That really must be some club "project"/ journey because they have had a good few managers in that time.

You have to subtract Dunn, Rhodes and King from his "assembly" though..

Brilliant. Famous fan too. Is that James Joyce on the right, fourth row from the front?

Reminds me of an article in 4000 Holes years ago by Hank, one of our posters here. It was written about Rovers after our third playoff failure in 1990, I think. It struck a real chord with me at the time too. It was entitled, "When is it our bloody turn?" That was when we had been out for a mere 24 years. Preston must have been out of it for nearly 60,,,

Hmmm. I wonder what the Nobbers fans would think about that. Rovers, Blackpool, Wigan, Burnley, Carlisle, Bradford, Barnsley Oldham, Swindon, Notts County, Oxford, Reading, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Hull, Bristol City, Swansea, Cardiff, Wimbledon, Charlton, among others, have all been in the top flight at least once, since PNE's last season there .....Heart bleeds lol.

Sooooo true!

A tad unrealistic, but I would have preferred something like.. Even growing up in Chapel House, the young Geordie was captivated by the famous blue and white halves...

Haha. Makes up for Bauer!

Fair enough. For my own sanity, I just prefer to take a longer view. Relegation-both times-was self-inflicted. Both times, on the way down, we sold good players and replaced them with poor ones. The problem is that the longer we stay down in the Championship, the more likely we are to lose our prized assets. And remember we have never really occupied a playoff position. It will be an absolute miracle, if TM can get us up this year in the context of injuries and window failure.

No,I mean the sales that got us relegated ...Duffy, Hanley...

2016-the 2nd time they got us relegated!

His agent is getting busy..

I think you nailed it there. Rotation works with better squads than ours. A stable, consistent team-even when that stability is enforced through injuries-seems to be working here.

Oh, I don't disagree that we have lost something. The golden thread is well and truly snapped. The stand names were pretty hollow gestures, especially when the club was being wantonly destroyed. I would go so far as thinking such gestures were a merely way of dampening dissent! But who said they won't recognise Tony's contribution? Do you know what the club is or isn't doing behind the scenes?

I think we need to be very careful with our moral outrage. I know lots of us( me included) are already angry with the powers that be. All of us are also very concerned for Tony. However, I don't think that gives us the mandate to start slagging everyone, just because there is no public announcement of a Tony Parkes Stand, statue or anything else, just to placate us. Personally, I would be happy, if the club was quietly helping Tony and his family behind the scenes. I have no reason to doubt that is happening. Gestures are just that. Certainly, I wasn't impressed that a large mural of Ronnie Clayton suddenly appeared at the Blackburn End , just as the club, that he/ we all loved was being dismantled.

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Oh, I didn't know that. Meanwhile, Bellamy's golf club antics wouldn't be good for most places of work, dressing rooms or anywhere healthy...

Huge, glass, tacky monstrosity?

Maybe, you could add Speedie? I get your implication, but I do think it is a bit more complicated than that. There is an argument for considering the impact of a player on the atmosphere and culture. I know it shouldn't just be about cosiness, but also include willingness to challenge others etc. Now I happen to know that Bellamy is supposed to be a bit of a bully. He consistently targeted Pedersen-according to Micky Gray, anyway. Bellamy's own performances for Rovers were excellent, but could his behaviour have had a negative impact on Pedersen's or others' performances? These are valid issues for a manager to consider imo.

Enjoying it, while it lasts. To be honest, I don't know what to think anymore. I don't believe all the previous criticisms about transfer windows and selections were invalid. And I can't quite shake the idea of a spoof headline:Mowbray in injury crisis saves season shock.. To be in this position with all the absentees, TM deserves huge credit. Can Samuel really be like a new signing? Can we keep our back four injury/suspension free? Is the recent Walton going to turn out to be the real one? Now I am getting flashbacks of Furphy et al circa 1972. Do I dare to believe? Even if we lose on Saturday, it will not be over. Anyway, 3 of mine will be behind the away end goal again on Saturday. We have certainly come a long way, since that desperate relegation day, when my eldest was escorted out of the Brentford home end with his protest banner-applauded by the Brentford fans!

The journey/project etc? Still a bit of a paradox. Sure, several young players are making the transition to the first team...On the other hand, we will require a significant overhaul this very summer.

Certainly a rude awakening last year!

Absolutely. Another issue arises when the same agency has significant "interest" in more than one club. There was certainly a big SEM influence at Bolton. I remember one journalist asking about the implications of two "SEM" clubs playing each other at the business end of the season, with one of them in the drop zone. The same article cited Pulis at Stoke, Coyle at Bolton and Kean at Rovers. Also, I think I am right that the mysterious Suhail-or someone with the same name-appeared on Linkedin, as an employee of SEM...

I am sure the agents get a slice of any payoff, as they do with a signing on fee-maybe even salary. There are many who believe that there was a period in this nightmare, when agents were actually joint owners. That would mean that a good proportion of apparent losses went into the pockets of "owners".