DE.

There are certainly some interesting patterns in those transfers. Almost every time, the fee Rovers paid for the player was significantly higher than any fee that came before or after it. We handed out multiple 3/4 year contracts to total unknowns, and then systematically terminated those contracts around the same time period. As above, it was rare for any of those players to finish their long contracts. They were either released on free transfers or sold at a considerable loss. The only exception was Paulo Jorge, who clung on until the very end. I struggle to work out how these Portuguese players were selected. Most of them came out of nowhere and seemingly at random. Italy seems to be a popular destination for our players once they are released or have their contracts terminated. Almost all of the players brought during the Kean/Singh eras ended up playing at significantly lower levels of the footballing pyramid. I'm sure there's more, but it doesn't take a genius to see something about that period was very wrong.

Okay, here we go, part 2. I’ll start off with a couple of other members of the 2011 hall of shame, then we’ll move onto the summer of 2012, when Shebby Singh developed an unhealthy infatuation with young, athletic Portuguese men. And Nuno Gomes. Radosav Petrovic Petrovic was well known to Football Manager connoisseurs such as my good self. He genuinely did have a good reputation at the time as an decent young footballer, and the fee of around £3m seemed reasonable. The contract length? Four years, of course. Why even ask? At just 22, Petrovic was like a rabbit in the headlights playing for a Steve Kean team in the Premier League. He managed 19 appearances and I’m not sure he had a good game in any of them. Just one year later Petrovic was sold to Turkish club Genclerbirligi. Officially undisclosed, Transfermarkt lists the fee as £510k. So a £2.5M loss in a year, wages excluded. Nice one. Anyway, after 3 years and 77 appearances he moved to Dynamo Kiev on a free transfer. He signed a five year deal but only made 7 appearances, once again only lasting a year before moving to Portuguese club Sporting CP in summer 2016 for around £2m. Bruno Ribeiro You may remember him as the Brazilian Denis Irwin. Well, Steve Kean does anyway. Apparently he never lost the ball in training, but he was so rarely seen in the first team that fans never really got to judge whether that was true or not. Let’s assume not. He was signed in August 2011 on a free transfer, with his last club being Brazilian club Gremio Barueri. He spent a fair bit of time in Brazil unattached, so of course you’d want to tie him down to a three year contract with an option of a fourth, which is exactly what we did. Ribeiro didn’t play a single game during 2011-12, despite never losing the ball in training. By all accounts this was irritating to the other players during five a side, as Ribeiro spent the entire game dribbling around them. He managed five uneventful games in the Championship before being kicked out on loan in January 2013 to Brazilian club Linense. Possibly because the other players were becoming infuriated by being unable to get the ball off him in training. In January 2014 he joined Linense on a free transfer. Not sure if we paid up what was left of his contract, but probably. Since that time Bruno has played for various Brazilian clubs, moving almost half-yearly on free transfers. A fitting end to a dazzling career. Nuno Gomes A well known and wonderful player in his prime, Nuno rocked up at Ewood during his 36th year. A one year contract would have probably sufficed, but no! He got two. I’m shocked it wasn’t four, to be honest. Anyway, as you’d expect, the 36 year old Portuguese player struggled to adapt to the rough and tumble of the Championship. He showed flashes of class and scored 4 goals in 18 appearances - which is four more than Chris Brown in 37 apps - but was often put in an awkward position behind Jordan Rhodes which he never fully adapted to. In June 2013, Gomes was released from his contract a year early. Unsure as to whether he got any compensation, but it’s likely. He retired after this final, odd stint in professional football. Edinho Jr. Ah, Edinho Jr, the proud creation of Edinho Snr. What, you don’t know about the famous Edinho family line? Well, me either, as I can’t find anything on Senior. How does that title denomination work, anyway? If Edinho has a child and inexplicably also calls him Edinho, what does he become? Does Edinho pass the Jr title on, and just revert to Edinho? Does Edinho Snr drop the Snr to Jr and just become Edinho? Does the youngest just become Edinho, with son and father keeping their Jr and Snr titles respectively? I don’t know. His father might not even be called Edinho Snr. Why am I spouting all of this nonsense? Because I have very little to say about his Rovers career. Edinho Jr joined Rovers from Potuguese club Olhanense’s youth team. He impressed so much in a June 2012 trial that he was handed a three year contract. He made his debut against Leicester in August 2012 and after that was never seen in a Rovers shirt again. He must have put in the performance of a lifetime during that trial. He moved to Indian club Shillong Lajong on loan for a few months, then Conference South side Whitehawk for a month. With the heady trial days behind him, Edinho Jr soon departed for the Harrisburg City Islanders, who play in the third tier of American football (soccer). He joined on a free, a year and a half into his Rovers contract, so we either paid him off or he decided to waive his wages here to go and play in the American third tier. You decide. After five games and six months, Edinho Jr moved back home to Portugal with Liga Pro side SC Farense. A year and a half later he was on the move again to German side TUS Erndtebruck. They play in something like the fifth tier of German football. Thus ends the sad tale of Edinho Jr. Paulo Jorge Guess who else ended up playing for TUS Erndtebruck in the German fifth tier? Yes, the esteemed Paulo Jorge. Much like his compatriot Edinho Jr, he played precisely one game - this time against Ipswich Town as an 83rd minute substitute - and was never seen again. He joined us from FC Porto’s youth team in summer 2012, assumedly impressing in the same trials Edinho Jr had to face. I can’t find contract length but he was here until 2014-15 so we have to assume this was another three year deal. His player page still exists on Rovers website and shows he barely even played for the reserves, let alone the first team. He had a brief loan spell at Bulgarian club Beroe Stara Zagora from February 2013 to June 2013 but didn’t make a single appearance. Other than that he hung around Blackburn doing god knows what until June 2015 when his contract finally expired, at which point he signed for the aforementioned TUS Erndtebruck - who I have to assume are currently being advised by Shebby Singh, who has convinced them it is a matter of time until Edinho Jr and Paulo Jorge take the footballing world by storm. We wait with bated breath. Diogo Rosado This nobody joined Rovers from Sporting CP after helping to get CD Feirense relegated in the 2011-12 season. Rovers gave him a three year contract, Sporting CP either waived a transfer fee or Rosado’s contract was up. Either way, Shebby Singh had seen enough to convince him Rosado was the man to terrorise Championship defences. Possibly after watching a YouTube video titled Diogo Rosado - The Future of Football (still available). Unfortunately, the video was a little too optimistic, or had a really bleak vision for football’s future. You can almost guess what happened next. After two appearances he was loaned out to the Benfica B team with an option to buy. They said no thanks. In August 2013, one year after signing a three year deal, Rosado’s contract was mutually terminated. Because we weren’t paying enough compensation to former players already. Rosado spent a year at Portuguese club Vitória F.C, a year at French Ligue 2 club AC Arles-Avignon, and then in summer 2016 moved to Cypriot club Ermis FC - all on free transfers. Transfermarkt says he has since left so that spell appears to have been unsuccessful. What a surprise. Next. Nuno Henrique Having moved to Portuguese side Coimbra on a two year deal in July 2012, Rovers decided they’d missed out on this star after witnessing him playing two games for his new club and promptly brought him to Ewood in August 2012. There’s no record of a transfer fee, but we must have paid something for a guy who had literally moved to the selling club two months beforehand on a two year contract. We gave him a three year deal. Because that’s just what we did back then. Maybe Shebby thought three years was the minimum unless you were over thirty-five, in which case it was two. One year contracts did not exist. Do I even need to explain what happened next? He made no appearances for the first year of his contract, instead being tasked with trying to get the ball off Bruno Ribeiro on the training pitch. Having failed at that task, he was loaned out to Portuguese team FC Arouca where he made a single appearance in six months. In February 2014 he was given a free transfer to Polish team Jagiellonia Bialystok. We may or may not have paid up the rest of his contract. Polish football proved too difficult for Henrique and he made zero appearances for his new club. He was released after just three months. Portuguese side Penafiel picked him up for six months, before he was given another free transfer to Feirense. Six months later he was on the move again, this time signing for Boavista. Wiki says he’s still there and played 21 games. OK. Fabio Nunes Nunes was probably the only one of Shebby’s Portuguese love children that actually looked vaguely useful on a football pitch. A left winger, he joined the club in August 2012 from Portuguese club Portimonense on a - you guessed it - three year deal. Fee undisclosed but probably not huge. He actually made 7 league appearances, which is more than any of his compatriots (Nuno Gomes excluded) combined. When 7 appearances in a year and a half is impressive, you know transfer business has been bad. In January 2014, Nunes was given a free transfer to Italian Serie B club US Latina Calcio. Six months and two appearances later, he was jetting back off to Portugal to play for CF Os Belenenses. He managed to stay here for two years and make 31 appearances before being moved on to a club called Tondela for the 2016 season. TUS Erndtebruck surely beckons at some point in the near future. Colin Kazim-Richards Let’s end on a slightly high note. Kazim-Richards joined Rovers on a season long loan in August 2012, with an option to buy. Whilst he was impetuous, stroppy and offended the entire town of Brighton with homophobic gestures, Kazim-Richards was one of very few bright sparks in the 2012-13 season. He made 28 appearances and scored 3 goals. Rovers opted not to purchase Kazim-Richards, possibly due to his impending court case related to the aforementioned homophobic gestures, and he instead moved to Turkish side Bursaspor for 250,000 Euros. So, roughly a quarter of what we paid for Jordan Slew. After a year he was loaned out to Feyenoord, where an excellent loan spell of 27 apps and 11 goals earned him a permanent contract with the Dutch side. Trouble soon followed, as in January 2016 Kazim-Richards threatened a Dutch reporter and was consequently dropped for the following match. A month later he signed for Celtic on a two and a half year deal - no transfer fee. Apparently he wasn’t a huge fan of Scotland, as five months later Kazim-Richards joined Brazilian side Coritiba on a free transfer, having made 11 appearances for Celtic. One imagines it won’t be long before Kazim-Richards is on the move again.

Yeah, he's done pretty well for himself since leaving us.

I had a quick look at what the more obscure and/or poor purchases from the Kean/Shebby era are up to now, in no specific order... David Goodwillie Signed a 4 year contract at Rovers in 2011, reportedly for just under £3m. Had his contract terminated by mutual consent in 2014 after 35 apps and 5 goals. He then went to Aberdeen on a free for a year, where he scored 8 goals in 48 apps. He was loaned to Ross County for 9 games, scoring 1 goal, and currently plays for Plymouth in League 2, having once again joined on a free. The next Wayne Rooney certainly took a different career path to the original, and Rovers unsurprisingly overpaid massively for this player. Mauro Formica Signed on a 4 year deal reported to be around £4m. Played 49 times for Rovers and scored 5 goals. My only real memory of Formica is that he ran like he was stuck in quicksand and looked really goofy. Anyway, he moved to Palermo in Seria A for 6 months with an option to buy. They did not take up that option. He then signed for Mexican side Cruz Azul in August 2013. No idea if we got a fee for him. Transfermarkt claims it was a paltry £500k, but I don't remember seeing a fee announced. In two years he played 55 times and scored 8 goals for Cruz Azul. He then went off to Newell's Old Boys on loan in 2015 and made it permanent this year, Transfermarkt says for £850k. The £4m fee we paid seems like a bit of a rip off in retrospect, but I'm sure much like in the Goodwillie transfer certain parties were very happy. Simon Vukcevic Joined Rovers in August 2011 on a three year deal for a reported £2m fee. Most famous for that mask he wore after breaking something on his face. Played 16 games and scored once. Contract terminated by mutual consent in January 2013. He then joined Ukrainian powerhouse Karpaty Lviv on a free. He played two matches and was then released by mutual consent. Possibly something to do with there not being a monastery nearby. Next up for Simon was Serbian team FK Vojvodina. His history as far as wiki or anywhere else is concerned gets a bit sketchy at this point, but he moved to Greek Superleague side Levadiakos in Jan 2014 for around £120k and played a fair bit before moving to Cypriot side Enosis Neon Paralimni on a free transfer a year and a half later. After a year in Cyprus he moved back to Portugal on a free transfer with G.D. Chaves. Nomadic. Jordan Slew Signed for a cool £1.1 million in September 2011, of course this was a four year deal. Slew appeared once for the first team and scored no goals in that brief appearance as an 89th minute sub against Manchester United in December 2011. He spent the next four years on loan to Stevenage, Oldham, Rotherham, Ross County and Port Vale. He made 48 overall appearances for these clubs and scored 3 goals. Not great for a striker. In a familiar theme, his contract was terminated by mutual consent in January 2015. Slew swiftly signed for Cambridge in League Two. He appeared 23 times and scored once. His contract was terminated a year later. He signed a short term deal for Chesterfield until the end of the 2015-16 season, making seven sub appearances and scoring no goals. He was then picked up this summer by Plymouth Argyle, hoping to rekindle the magic with David Goodwillie. Can't help but think £1.1m will be the height of his career. Myles Anderson Myles "that training ground tackle" Anderson joined Rovers on a pre-contract deal in July 2011. Club legend has it that he made a mind-blowing tackle in a training session that is still talked about to this day. Other than that he played zero matches for the first team and in January 2013 - wait for it - his contract was terminated by mutual consent. He joined Serie D side Monza in August 2013. Since then he's played for Italian Lega Pro team Pro Patria, Serie A side Chievo (apps: 0), Lega Pro side L'Aquila and Lega Pro side Lupa Castelli Romani. Wiki says he's still on loan there, Transfermarkt says he's unattached. Who knows, but suffice to say "that tackle" will live long in the memory, even if his overall career doesn't. Time to get back to work, I might do some more later...

NXT produced another winner last night with Takeover: Brooklyn II - in terms of PPV events, nothing comes close to NXT. I really enjoy every PPV they put on. Entrances, promo vids, matches, everything is just spot on. Great to see TNA old boys Aries, Roode and Joe making a mark as well. These guys deserve a big break, and Eric Young is joining NXT soon as well. A fantastic product that actually in a lot of ways reminds me of TNA before it tried to be WCW 2.0.

One thing is for sure, without a change we are going down. Warnock might have kept the ship afloat for one more season - I still think we have enough quality (and I use that word very loosely) to survive, but not with Coyle as manager. We need somebody far more tactically clued up. However, on our current trajectory we ultimately go down no matter who is in charge, whether it be this season or next. You can't keep selling your better players, bringing in inferior ones and expect to progress. We only really have two or three decent players left to sell, and then we are left with utter dross. We can only start to hope and dream again once the Indians have cleared off. Until then there is nothing but despair ahead.

I did say optimistically. It's hard to see us drawing a game this season, let alone winning one. I'm already at the point where I'd do a deal with the devil and get Shebby back in just so he could give Coyle the shove. The next few months would likely be a disaster, but at least he'd increase the chance of Venky's getting more negative press. He'd probably name himself as manager this time, with Judan Ali as his assistant. And still we'd hear "give him a chance!" ...

How long until relegation is confirmed? February/March, optimistically?

If today is anything to go by, it won't change much. With Lowe and Henley in the full back positions you're onto a hiding no matter what.

45 minutes into the new season and I'm as sure as I can be that - barring a miracle - we are going down. Being relegated with Owen Coyle as manager (if he even survives until the end) and Jason Lowe as captain. Could it be any worse?

I'm not necessarily suggesting it's been said outright here - but when you start linking attendance to people losing their jobs, that is the implication, whether it's meant to come off that way or not. When you get down to the root cause, it's still Venky's. Our charitable, humble, misunderstood owners (Ewood Spark ©) have mismanaged a community asset to the point where people who have supported this institution for 50+ years are walking away with broken hearts and broken spirits. Everything boils down to those clowns in Pune, and if karma does exist they are going to get bitten hard one day.

No, but to try and make people who choose not to fund the Raos debt feel guilty over Ewood staff losing their jobs is, IMV, as low as it gets. There's only one party to blame and that's Venky's - people seem to lose sight of that sometimes.

Venky's are supposed to be philanthropic billionaires, but it's up to the fans to keep the staff at Ewood in jobs, even if that means getting @#/? on every two weeks? Sure, why not.

Aye, reading that letter it is incredible to think that anybody who really knew or cared about what was going on at the club would keep Shaw in place. It was a question asked at the time, and still relevant today - why was Shaw never removed from his position? Much like Kean, he simply ended up resigning when it was convenient for him.

I wouldn't have minded so much if he's said "I no longer have a connection with that group". I wouldn't have necessary believed him, but to say he doesn't know who they are is simply insulting the intelligence of the fanbase. Now, granted, there are many who will take him at his word and that's their prerogative - but it doesn't take too much research to come to the conclusion that statement is a total lie.

I think we all know Spurr isn't going to be the back up left back.

We don't have any money so that should give you an idea as to the type of player we're going to be bringing in. It's going to be more Delfouneso/Brown/Koita than Graham/Gestede/... can't even think of a third good player we've signed recently to be honest. Let's just say Evans, he plays well every so often. If Koyle sticks to his word and we do play attacking football, we will get destroyed.

I watched about 4 minutes of it. He's basically just repeating the same stuff every manager who's walked through the doors over the past 6 years has said. Great club, great tradition, great history, blah blah blah. Like every other manager we've had, his words are ultimately irrelevant. Results matter and he'd better hope he can bring in some decent players pretty quickly, because as it stands we're going nowhere fast.

How much more money do we give to SEM before we say enough is enough? We hire their players, we have their sponsors on our shirt, we have their manager in our dugout. Is this really Blackburn Rovers any more, or just SEM Rovers who happen to play at Ewood Park? Dark times.

It looks like when Smackdown starts airing live in July it will be under brand split rules again. This could actually make the B show relevant again.

Sad news. She had a pretty tough time of it in recent years but I'd heard she had been getting better. Much like with Eddie Guerraro, though, the damage sometimes cannot be undone. Hassan was a great character, but as usual WWE's creative team went too far with it. He went from being nuanced to just being a stereotypical terrorist.

Considering they're the 8th highest paid squad in the Prem I'm not surprised there are some clauses inserted - a lot of them will still be on stupid amounts even with 50% taken off. I wonder how much Rudy is on?

A statue of Michael Jackson the size of a skyscraper, perhaps. In all seriousness, no wonder Parker has stayed at Fulham. I doubt he'd even get half of £75k a week at his age anywhere else.

He'll be playing until he drops dead on that wage!

Yeah, he's a real recluse. Most Ipswich fans aren't really concerned about the debt though. As far as I can tell they trust Evans in that respect, though practically every Ipswich fan I've spoken to is disappointed that McCarthy signed a new contract and hoping he gets poached by one of the bigger clubs when they come down! I appreciate the football is truly horrific at Ipswich (worse than we were under GB, imo) but unless Evans gives Mick some money to spend he hasn't got much choice but to grind out results. It's tough on all concerned really, especially as season tickets have risen again this season...