All pretty pointless and a waste of everyone's time isn't it? Yet they still expect us to pay competitive Championship prices to watch it. Roll up roll up £35 to sit on the Blackburn End against Birmingham!

Some of us knew that the club's priority this summer was to (a) slash the wage bill further and (b) sell a few assets for decent cash to pay the bills. We've done the first, and now with a month to go are on to the second. The only other question now is whether they succumb to temptation and cash in on Trav/Tron as well. Probably another £5 million to liquidate there if they really want it.

Lets remember that Chief Venky Stooge Pasha hasn't just turned up, he's been lurking in the shadows for at least 10 years now, probably longer. He's already overseen his vision once before, it began in 2015 when we sold off key assets like Tom Cairney and Rudy Gestede, followed by people like Ben Marshall, Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy. In a very similar fashion to what we are witnessing now those players were bundled out the back door or made to feel unwanted, sales were sought and Rovers trousered 90% of the cash. In their place we turned to the loan and cheap markets and recruited largely dross which culminated in relegation to League One. It was only after he'd delivered that relegation, Mowbray went off to India and agreed on a plan of action, and they started to act almost like fit and proper owners, that the decline was stopped and reversed for a few years. Now the Chief Venky Stooge has seen off Mowbray, his mate Waggott, and re-established hegemony over the entire club again with his dogsbody Rudy making the phone calls and wearing the fancy suits, he is setting us back on the course we were on in 2015-17. Hopefully one day someone finds out just what the real story is with this guy, where he comes from, what his qualifications are and what his remit is.

"Loans aren't free ya know....."

I don't consider it crazy any more. It is clear that we are behind most, if not all, other Championship clubs when it comes to offering good contracts to potential players. We seem to have a policy of not offering long term deals, even the recent McLoughlin signing bizarrely limited to 2 years. This is important in negotiations as many players, particularly those in their mid to late 20s, will expect 3-4 year deals. We have seen recently that Derby County are a more attractive prospect than we are these days - finances will be a part of that - Eustace, his staff, Weimann and Batth all more attracted to what they offer than what we do. This despite the fact that they were in administration and League One very recently and have well publicised financial limitations under their current owner, with him seeking external investment to help. We have seen PNE and Millwall spending or trying to spend money that we haven't seen spent here in many a year, despite them bringing in less than us from sales. Oxford are investing and recently signed a player we were supposedly keen on but couldn't get done. I'd really like to know who people think offers less money than Rovers these days. Probably Sheffield Wednesday at the moment. I suspect that's the end of the list.

So still no comment from Rovers on whether this will be broadcast live, either by themselves, Nijmegen or a separate broadcaster. Despite pleading with fans not to travel to Holland or try to gain access to the game and offering the possibility of a live broadcast as a sensible alternative, all we got 10 days ago was "we will endeavour" to provide a live stream. I'll be surprised if they do. I also find it immensely disappointing that for our final pre season fixture ahead of our anniversary season Rovers are off abroad arranging fixtures that permit home fans but exclude Rovers fans. Shows how little they think of Rovers fans despite all the posturing on social media.

Where has Arnor Sigurdsson's wage saving gone? Come to think of it where have the savings made on Batth, Dolan, Weimann, Beck, McFadzean, Markanday, JRC gone? Surely nobody in their right mind believes that the signings of Tavares, De Neve, Alibiousu and McLoughlin have gone anywhere near to covering those savings? I could - almost - accept it if the savings had been used to ensure Trav, Tron, Hyam, Carter or Brittain had got proper new contracts, but no, not a single one of those has been sorted, surprise surprise. So once again a good window if the focus is on avoiding new contracts, cutting back the wage bill and saving money. Not sure it has been a good window if the focus is on putting a decent side out or protecting our rapidly dwindling assets. What ever happened to Nixon's cock and bull about Brittain 'imminently' signing his new deal?

Teams like Preston and Millwall have been comfortably outstripping us on fees for the last few years now since the latest Venky cuts were imposed mid-summer under JDT. Blows a massive hole in the claims that we need to charge what we do for season tickets to ensure we have a competitive budget / FFP nonsense. We've got away with it up to now thanks to the legacy of a good squad left by Mowbray and Broughton/JDT and good management by Eustace. I have a feeling that in the not-too-distant future that will end, probably just about after they've seen off the remaining solid core in Travis, Tronstad and Brittain.

I'm surprised we still make any effort in Darwen. What do Darwen FC have to say about us encroaching on their patch?

Exactly. Some seem to want to point to the fact that Middlesbrough have been stuck in the Championship for quite a while as 'proof' that spending heavily doesn't equate to success (as you rightly point out they have had success, promotion, Premier League, multiple play-offs. But there is so much more to it than just spending money. They have an ownership, board, management who want to be successful. They might not achieve success, but they want to, they try, and their fans can see them trying and trust them to get it right one day. Nobody involved at ownership or management level at Rovers can look in a mirror and say they have tried and every fan knows deep down that's the reality, no matter how much delusion or excuses they want to come up with to make themselves feel better about things.

I think you are being very generous saying that Rovers have spent £12 million in the last 4 years. I bet it is well short of that in terms of cash actually paid out so far.

Really is incredible to consider that Rovers have simply washed their hands of vast swathes of Lancashire which for generations have been hotbeds of support due to one, or both, of laziness and not wanting to upset Accy Stanley/PNE/Bolton. This is not the club I once knew and keep this up within another decade or two self-destruction will be complete.

"Yeah but we can't compete because they're a massive club blah blah blah"

The normal under this regime yes. Acceptable? Hell no. That's what happens after 15 years of unrelenting destruction and mismanagement, continuing today with no CEO, no board worthy of the name, no commercial director and the likes of Pasha, Gestede and Sufi running the club, people who would be nowhere near comparable positions at any other professional outfit, and they know it. Imagine where we might be with a competent, ambitious, driven ownership and executive.

I'm sorry, are you suggesting that 8.7 thousand is a good sales figure for Blackburn Rovers season tickets?

A close relative of mine worked for the Community Trust several years ago and he was working to the same policy. I say several years ago we are probably talking 10+ years ago, which is a long time in football to totally neglect and ignore a huge swathe of your support base.

All correct but the club have invented a rule that tells them they cannot market Rovers in Hyndburn or South Ribble because those areas 'belong' to Accy Stanley and Preston, and we wouldn't want to go upsetting people would we? We won't even look for sponsors outside of BwD judging by Watson Ramsbottom and Totally Wicked. Totally small time, lazy, yet bizarrely the 'local' obsession is taken by some as a badge of honour or something to be proud of. A conscious decision to save themselves time and effort but ultimately spread across many years, combined with decline and demographic change in Blackburn, WILL be a hugely damaging, potentially fatal move for BRFC.

They've managed to avoid replacing any of Waggott, David Lowe, Keith Downing, Arnor Sigurdsson, or indeed most of the other departures in recent months, so if they can manage with not replacing Dolan they will be quite happy. Remember the priority here isn't on replacing people or getting better, it is about cutting costs and doing the bare minimum required to sustain the operation and minimal cost and expense. If they think they can manage it by not signing anyone, or by bringing in a low cost loan or short term signing, that's where they will look. I'm still convinced that Waggott's removal was cost cutting and they will only 'replace' him with a nonentity box ticker if the rigours of compliance with the rules and regulations get too much and they need someone to front it up and provide a facade whilst dealing with the formalities.

I think a question should be raised at the next Forum meeting as to what the difference is between a Fans Forum meeting and a Supporters Consultation meeting. There is a difference because the former have taken place at Rovers going back decades, whereas the latter were introduced a few years ago following measures introduced by the EFL, took place for a couple of years with Tony Mowbray turning up with tales of life in 70s Teesside, and then as with Shareholder meetings were ditched during the Covid era under the guise of 'safety' and neither have been held or even mentioned since. Perhaps Pasha, Sufi or Talbot could explain why the club decided not to resume those meetings after Covid. That's because the shysters spotted an opportunity, as they often do, to save time and money and save themselves a job by cutting those meetings and lumping everything into one with the Fans Forum

We try the membership scheme but offer perks that most people aren't really arsed about or don't actually need, but actually offering a serious saving on tickets would be a clear incentive and probably lead to significant increased membership sales, as opposed to the pathetic numbers sold previously. As ever with this lot it's the low hanging fruit they are looking for. Coining it in from a few bumper away followings is easy, just have to set a price and let them in. If Rovers fans don't like it tough "Should have bought a season ticket then" attitude

The club's focus and priority comes into clear view with this latest act All the focus and concern at decision making level is around the opposition and more importantly how much cash can be extracted from their fans. The impact on Rovers and Rovers fans and absolute irrelevance, £35 a time in the away end so the same behind the goals in the BBE. Like it or lump it. No discount scheme or members prices either which many others offer to give home fans reduced rates whilst still getting the away support cash What next. Wrexham possibly Category A* for the tourists. Just ridiculous and an opportunity for a decent home crowd first game of the season wasted. They'll be happy though because they can profit from Birmingham's promotion and feel good factor

We played two friendlies in Marbella during the world cup break in December 2022 against Ajax and Hearts.

Don't waste your time or energy moaning about Derby or Eustace. Spend it moaning about the people who have allowed this situation to develop. This is professional sport. Eustace and Derby are merely taking advantage of our strife.

Just need to make sure we've enough stock then and we aren't turning people away including those with infants looking to buy the away/third strip....

I'm interested to know when and where we will need to wear the green third kit given the colours of our home and second strips. Who will decide?