JHRover

Ismael's just following the Venky Rovers playbook - blame anyone and anything other than ourselves. Already we've had referees, the weather, the drainage, previously we've had injuries, bad luck, the EFL, fans, parachute payments, FFP rules, covid, Eustace, nasty players, their agents, Tomasson, Broughton, administrative errors, plain hard luck. It is quite the list and it grows every season as a failing regime searches far and wide for reasons, other than their own decision making and ineptitude, why this club is a failing husk of an organisation. Obviously they can't blame the real source of pretty much all our ills - the vile group of people in India overseeing it all year in year out - nor will the lower down employees do anything that might lay blame at the door of the henchmen in the shadows doing whatever it is they are doing. Nor indeed the incompetents beneath them, promoted way beyond their capabilities or stations simply by virtue of being willing, compliant and cheap. So into the void they blame all the other things that we cannot control and which clueless supporters just love to point their fingers at and believe little old Rovers are doing their best in the big nasty world that is set up against us. I'm the first in the queue to blame refereeing competence, of which there is a catalogue, but I am not for one second having it that our pathetic home results, rapid decline down the table (play off to relegation contenders in mere months) are the fault of anyone bar those running this shambles.

I think to be reasonably confident of survival we need to be looking at being on 30 points or more going into the New Year. With the fixtures between now and then, six games, and 18 points available, we need to be picking up at least 50% of the points on offer. The fixture list is as kind on paper as anyone could ask for. Twice playing administration stricken Sheffield Wednesday, a gimme for most teams in this league, also Oxford at home and Portsmouth away, two clubs we need to be finishing above. Millwall at home should not be a game to fear either. I've seen enough of this club over the years to never be confident of a 'home banker' no matter what state the opposition are in, so sadly I expect a couple of draws from this and Oxford, which will keep us bobbling along and the serious pressure off but not get us the return we need from two such significant home games.

Yep, to the outsider these owners are probably the very definition of ideal - pour tons of money in, don't interfere and in it for the long haul. We're in a decreasing minority in recognising the immense long term lasting damage this is doing. Quite a few others know about it - the dozens of players and staff who have escaped it at the first opportunity - fortunately for them there's no local or emotional attachment to contend with and they can simply secure employment elsewhere

So wages up significantly and still hovering around the traditional annual loss figure despite everything they've done over the last 3-4 years to slash costs. Either they're making a right mess of things and somehow still losing the same amounts now as they were before despite everything they've done. Or there is something seriously dodgy going on.

It wasn't the ref's fault that we only scored 1 goal (again, that's 18 goals in 18 games - not enough) or that we conceded (again, that's still 0 clean sheets at home). We could have defended a 1-0 lead far better than the disorganised chaotic mess that we provided (admittedly some may be down to tiredness but not the whole story). And what happened last night is exactly the reason why the game should have been replayed in full. A goal in the last 30 seconds - even if undeserved over the 90 minutes - can easily happen, especially with our dismal home record.

I'm all for criticising the appalling officials and credit Ismael for doing it in public. I've never understood the concept of why the officials should be protected from any criticism whilst players, managers, even fans get slated left right and centre when they conduct themselves poorly. But I do fear that rather than this having any positive impact the clique will now have his card marked and he will be made an example of in games to come.

Many people have given up on Blackburn as a town and moved away to other areas, rarely coming back unless it is to visit the hospital etc. Make no mistake there are thousands of such people who are or were regular Ewood visitors, together with many thousands more who have never lived in Blackburn or Darwen and instead have always been based in other areas or regions yet have travelled to Ewood for matchdays. Sadly Rovers have made a decision to give up on such people and areas. In my opinion one of the most unforgivable and damaging acts of an extremely damaging group of people.

It's like I'm living in a time warp. The Club just keeps on repeating the same old tried, tested and failed approaches to ticketing offers and apparently expects a different outcome. They've done similar to this pretty much every year for the last 20 years now. Each and every time the uptake is a matter of 100s at best. Why keep on doing the same thing again and expecting a different outcome? Or maybe they don't expect a different outcome and are just doing it to give an appearance of making serious efforts? And I haven't touched on the diabolical behaviour and approach of the club over the last few years and the clear obvious impact that has had on attendances. Almost as though they don't recognise that actions (or lack of) eventually have consequences.

I wonder how the thousands upon thousands of people who took advantage of impressive season ticket deals at Bolton, Bradford, Preston and Huddersfield by committing themselves to full season tickets for the first time or at least for the first time in years managed to do so without a multitude of caveats and strings attached. A snowball effect where proper sustained and serious marketing efforts went hand in hand with a good offer. Here, for one game only, it becomes a big issue.

Nowt to worry about. Surely those drainage works that Talbot was going on about in the Fans Forum meeting will have been completed by now?

Afraid not Chadz Talk is free. Playing him costs. The only thing that will put rumours to be are if he plays through 50 games and is still here in February.

I don't really care what people on the Rovers' payroll say. Seen this play out far too many times before. All that matters is what actually happens. If Cantwell recovers and goes on to play plenty more games in a Rovers shirt then maybe I'll believe it has been a genuine injury. If he plays 5-6 more games for Rovers max and then gets sold and passes a medical elsewhere in January/the summer then no amount of claims will convince me that this isn't a big stitch up from the powers-that-be.

We knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Sheff Utd climbed out of it. Far too good a manager and squad for a bottom 3 spot. I wouldn't be surprised if they went on to reach the play offs this season. I would expect Norwich to follow in climbing but perhaps more slowly and gradually.

Try to improve and get better as a club? Show a shred of ambition in our approach? After finishing 7th not go out and actively and deliberately dismantle the squad to save money? Don't force out good managers and players and lie about it? Don't treat the fans as idiots (even though a lot are) and treat them with honesty and respect? Make a shred of effort on ticketing to try and increase numbers rather than just income levels? Don't close down areas of the ground and force people away from seats they have occupied for years? Invest in Ewood Park to make it a place people actually enioy going to? Start with replacing the knackered big screen and sound systems? Just a few ideas for starters, things that the club hasn't done anything to address in years and won't. So the chickens come home to roost - people have had enough of what amounts to a group of liars and charlatans running the club into the gutter and expecting people to continue turning up handing over their hard earned limited money for the privilege.

The first available date would have been a week or two after the original date. Can only assume Rovers/Ipswich felt that to be inconvenient but it could have been played and dealt with. Agree it is ridiculous to be squeezing it into this period of the season

Suspect what we are seeing is simply the stooges at Ewood, probably just Suhail and his little gang, feeling some pressure about falling short of their financial targets from India. So probably a storm in a teacup, because all that usually happens is that India has to send some more cash over to make up the shortfall and on it goes. Now if India is unwilling or unable to do that then things could get really interesting. But ultimately it's probably just Suhail and Sufi panicking that, amazingly, after what's gone on here over the last few years, that people aren't buying it any more and are walking away/cutting their financial support. Who could have seen that coming? This lot are so clueless they probably don't draw any sort of link between their appalling conduct and decline in income/support.

The last time I checked the rules allowed up to 4 'local promotions' a season where home fans can be charged less than away fans. So provided that still stands they could designate this as one of those and charge £10 for Rovers fans and more for Ipswich fans. Just as they could put the away fans upstairs in the DE and charge them more for upper tier seating as opposed to the lower BBE. They don't want to do this. They never use the 4 local promotions each season. Any offer to fans usually has various strings attached to make it harder to benefit from it.. Ultimately they don't really want to fill the place up or put out a serious ticket offer. They just want to appear to be doing something probably to cover their own backsides. All this stuff with bundles and bring a friend just doesn't work, especially not in the midweek fixtures. Time and time again the uptake proves it. They don't learn because they don't want to. I doubt they even know about the rule down there. But they'll be looking forward hoping Wrexham bring 7k (unlikely) based off what they did in the cup a few years ago and to that end it's £35 in the Blackburn End for a New Year's Day early kick off. They're only looking at one thing here and it isn't the benefit of Rovers fans or the home ends.

They've won 4 on the bounce and have settled into the League. With the standard of the division they'll be fancying a play off spot. This time last year we were in the top 6 of this league and they were in their first season in League One. Now we go there as underdogs. I wonder if anyone at Ewood wonders why a side like Wrexham can invest and improve whilst we are flailing around as a total irrelevance in the Championship. Must be the project bearing fruit.

Agree. Whilst he remains and they clearly trust him as long as he's collecting his pay packet and playing god at Ewood whilst filtering back to India that all is well they'll probably just leave it and trust that things keep on ticking over. If he goes as you say they'll never bring in competent empowered people to run it. So either they have to plant another stooge to do his job or cut it off even more. I don't read anything into Pasha suggesting we might be for sale at the right price. I doubt he knows any more about the legal owners' intentions than anyone else. I reckon he is just told every summer to run it within certain budgets and that's that. I think during / after COVID the money people took control as opposed to the gruesome four who are in ultimate control. Now it is just a cost management exercise. To what end nobody really knows. Clearly the tab previously was causing them some problems, requiring drastic quasi-administration level cutbacks and reductions. So perhaps when the tab starts creeping back up again and they've no sales to plug it with we might see some action. At the moment they seem content to manage as a lower cost base, but if we remain in this league they won't be able to sustain it.

And just remember, the money they make/save by sidelining Cantwell and selling him in January is more important to the stooges than having the best side possible at a critical time of the season with us embroiled in a relegation battle. It's never been about the football. All about individuals and targets/bonuses.

'January ain't easy ya know' will be getting an airing soon, then it will be 'window doesn't close until the start of February so as long as we've got a few bodies in by then it's fine'. We needed defensive reinforcements yesterday, suicidal decision to sell Hyam on deadline day to the mighty Wrexham, potentially cost us Championship status there and then but hey, at least that money will help them meet their targets from the accountants back at HQ.

Is all this related to why the Rovers 150th exhibition was based at Blackburn Museum (oddly ending months before the actual anniversary) rather than at Ewood Park?

I'd be surprised if it actually happens. Maybe I'll be shown to be wrong but suspect this is as much a publicity stunt as anything. It gets their owners all over the news and loads of positive PR, wins people over. The cringeworthy media videos with Brady, Bellingham and Peaky Blinders. Yuck. But actually getting it done - shovels in the ground and chimneys built - takes a lot more than big talk and famous faces doing videos. Again might be wrong but I'd be amazed if they or anyone else were coughing up £3 billion or whatever it will be to build this in a derelict corner of Birmingham whilst they are a Championship club struggling to fill a 30k stadium. If/when they get to the PL maybe a different matter.

We can't afford to do that. But administration stricken still on negative points Sheffield Wednesday can. Great being owned by billionaires innit?

And all by design rather than accident