JHRover

'Family reasons' all rather convenient at the club that won't extend the contract of anyone and cuts/reduces/offloads wherever possible. Proof will be in the pudding but I'd be surprised if he's playing in the Norwegian league come next year.

Oh I agree, my views on him have been made clear many times. Just from the perspective of the remaining regime, thrashing around as they are, I imagine things were much much easier for them when they had the shield of a Waggott there to absorb the boos and complaints and a Mowbray type figure to sit in the dugout and deliver competent results whilst tolerating their rubbish. Now without those two or even a JDT / Eustace to diver attention to results they're struggling big time.

I would even go as far as to say they are missing Waggott's 'steady hand' on the rudder That's not to say that slippery Steve was a suitable manager of the club or representative of it, but he at least had some know-how and PR abilities which enabled him to pacify the fanbase and dilute anger quite effectively. A human shield who was quite skilled in calming things down and giving people answers (even if nothing actually happened from there). Since he exited the scene the remaining lot haven't got close to his skills and so it has rapidly descended into conflict because everyone can see what they are really like down there now.

Just playing the victims again and trying to sow divisions between supporters, making out that those who complain/criticise are the villains here and are behaving unreasonably. Of course those of us with any grasp on reality know that when a group of people take a sledgehammer to a football club, run it into the ground, and drag its reputation and name through the gutter those complicit in it should not be surprised when criticism comes their way. I get the impression, like with Elliot Jackson, they'd love to ban/stop the 'problem' fans from attending games so they can just carry on dismantling in peace with a few thousand head in sand gang behind them at Ewood. Only it isn't so easy when you can't revoke access for complaining. I'd like to think they are panicking here - knowing the damage (and growing) done since the summer, the plummeting gates and atmosphere at Ewood - and they are really so daft they think a video like this is going to change the direction of things. I know I am and I'm sure many others are at the point where words are meaningless. They can promise the earth, release videos and all manner of other gimmicks it doesn't matter any more. The damage has been done and only serious action turns this around. That means regime change, no less. They're either completely and totally out of touch with reality and how people are feeling after what has gone on here or are deliberately on the wind up with stuff like this, knowing they'll provoke more outrage.

Pretty sure he isn't on the payroll at Rovers, so any perks he gets must be along the lines of comps, a free lunch and the status of being a 'director' although I'm not sure that really carries much prestige or weight in the world these days given the types we've had in the Ewood boardroom in recent years. Does he do anything with the FA anymore? Can't imagine there's that much benefit to being involved there. I'd just imagine/hope that a 70 something year old bloke, closely involved back in the days when we were a respectable and professional club, who surely isn't short of a few quid, would perhaps decide that a comfy seat upstairs isn't worth the hassle and more importantly the support and legitimisation he gives to a regime actively dismantling what was once a proud club People surprise you though.

Bob Coar running the club? Good heavens. Things are really getting to comedy club status if there's even a shred of truth to that. And if there is any truth to it I find myself asking, for the umpteenth time, what on earth does he get out of this sordid arrangement to make it worth his while covering for, assisting and legitimising this disgraceful regime other than a title and his lunch and drinks paid for every other week? Surely at his age and with his history at the club there's more to life than carrying on with this charade?

The fact that for the first 7 years of their ownership and for the last 7 months they haven't had any CEO tells us everything. Things only ever happen either when the pressure/relegation threat starts to get significant (Paul Senior, Coyle fired, Mowbray comes in) or when someone gets out to India and has a word. Route one of that is happening right now just as it did in 2016/17 so expect to see more of this for keeping up appearances.

Well both postponements were all over Sky Sports and football channels/twitter with lots of people questioning why it has happened not once but twice, and apparently the EFL are investigating. This is the sort of heat the shadow dwellers at Ewood don't like - questions and pressure from outside disturbing their comfy existence - and probably the only coverage that risks getting back to India HQ and some questions being asked. Best way to head it off is to drip a few bits to the friendly reporter and nip it in the bud

More window dressing to come then. Panic stations with the humiliation of the pitch and stadium making national news. Solution - invest serious money in sorting the issue out? Oh no But drip a couple of tales to Nixon about spending money in January, looking for a new CEO and getting advice from the Man City/Man Utd consultants - costs nothing but keeps them quiet for a few months.

I sincerely doubt they are doing anything other than trying to ease fixture congestion, which combined with the rain would have totally wrecked the surface. All these home games, some our own fault, with another against Sheff Wed to slot in soon, plus Youth/u21s would have made a right mess of it.

Like Oxford and Wednesday this lot are a poor side. So are we. They'll be desperate for a win and will see us as a great chance to do that. We've got to maintain our decent away form as if that slips the bottom 3 at Xmas beckons. Not a ground I can remember us winning at too often.

Any other League club with one home win going into Christmas the manager would be under immense pressure and scrutiny. Not here though, the robots just carry on, groundhog day, nothing happening here. The ever diminishing numbers turning up, totally understandable given the behaviour of the club and product on offer (see the insulting statement about the pitch yesterday for another recent example) yet nobody bats an eyelid. Sometimes I wonder if 0 people turned up, or even just a few thousand, would they just carry on, like robots, same routine and story, not bat an eyelid. Nobody down there appears to have any interest or pressure on them to reverse the decline on or off the pitch. Just shrug shoulders and carry on collecting wages.

Fortunately for him he's at a club where results and performances don't matter.

We're now the laughing stock of the Championship with Oxford United now having a laugh at our expense. This lot and Wrexham non league regulars when our owners turned up.

Just a totally vile football club, once again making themselves out to be the victims of misfortune, circumstances, the weather, the referee, we've done all we can etc. etc. What we never get is accountability, responsibility, a serious clear plan of action.

Won't somebody think about poor old BwDBC. They need to know what is happening so they can make arrangements for their army of parking wardens to get on patrol. If the game is called off late they might incur additional wages and won't be able to fine anyone to cover it.

2 hours drive, all motorway, quiet once you get past Leeds and the M1 junction. Good city centre in Hull and walking distance to the ground. A boring draw yes but at least not a nightmare journey.

I think worse would have been a nightmare long journey away with no novelty factor - Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Norwich, Swansea, Bristol City. At least with Hull it's not a difficult afternoon out for those who want to go.

It's just something that would never been seen or heard in public at any other professional football club, yet here, due to the void and silence, we have another manager turning to the media to get his message out there in the vain hope someone in India picks up on it and acts The impenetrable wall of silence and inertia between Ewood and India leaves confused and frustrated managers with only one option - wash our linen in public in the hope it makes something happen. It wouldn't be necessary or accepted anywhere else, because you'd have contactable owners with a drop of decency or pride in their systems, but here we all know these people are far from decent and have never had any pride. Ismael knows full well that the budget will be maxed out for the year and funding won't be forthcoming for remedial works at Ewood. So his only option is to try and balance it with an offer of a reduction to his playing budget. A crazy situation but the only chance he and we have of seeing this work get done in the near future. Otherwise all the money is allocated and there's no more. Head stooge isn't ringing Pune for more cash, that's not an option. More than his job is worth. Remember that when they shuffle the pack in January, wheel and deal, move a couple out and bring a couple in on lower wages, this isn't the owners investing. They're merely allowing the stooges to reduce outgoings by replacing higher earners with lower/younger/cheaper ones The club can manage all that in it's own budgets without input from Pune.

Hard to believe in 2025 that a Championship manager in the middle of December is publicly offering to cut his transfer budget to free up cash to allow the pitch to be repaired to ensure we can finish our home games when it rains. But this is Venky Rovers 2025, expect the unexpected. Just when you think the shame and embarrassment of being associated with this club cannot grow we have internal shenanigans playing out in the media once again, a p1ssed off manager and no doubt players demanding answers and action from a silent and invisible ownership and board. To make matters even worse we continue to have thousands of supporters who sit there like nodding dogs in the stands insisting that these owners are good or necessary to the future of this club, whilst the stadium rots around them and the pitch descends into a swamp and we can't finish home games.

Ismael's average game tenure as a manager across 8 clubs prior to Rovers is 27. His Rovers tenure is already at 31. So he's above average already here. Under Venkys the average managerial tenure (excluding Kean, Bowyer and Mowbray who established personal links to the gruesome people in Pune) is around 7-8 months. Those who haven't been afforded holidays to Pune to visit the palace don't last very long. Allardyce got 24 days, Berg got less than 2 months, Appleton got just over 2 months. Lambert got under 6 months, Coyle got 8 months, Tomasson got less than 20 months (and tried getting out after 12 months), Eustace got 12 months (and rumour has it was trying/offering to get out after only 3-4 months). Ismael has nearly managed 10 months now, he's had no jolly trip to India so he's done well to last this long. Won't be around much longer though, both his and Venky records show that.

Like him or not Ismael has worked at a lot of proper professional football clubs in his time in football. Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, Hanover, Lens, Nuremburg, Wolfsburg, Besiktas, West Brom, Watford. Coming here he was probably under the false impression that he was joining a club of similar standing in the game. After 6 months at it he'll be learning the hard way about now as to what he is up against.

No %s for agency fees when spending big on a new pitch though....

Just shrug shoulders and hope it all blows over - that's the policy of this regime. They'll be panicking about tomorrow night yes, but then it will just be a hope that there are no further problems. They won't actually do anything serious to ensure it. Most we get is a fans forum comment that they are getting quotes/plans drawn up for the summer. Then it won't actually happen because they won't pay the going rate to perform such work and we will be having the same discussion this time next year and every year thereafter.

We now have a 'rainy season' apparently. Used to just be winter and a pretty wet part of the world to begin with. Here's my solution: Club statement tomorrow from the owners or at least the boss at Ewood: 'We want to apologise to our fans, players, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town and the League. What has happened twice this season is unacceptable for a club of our stature and we have a responsibility to take action to ensure it doesn't happen again. We are employing specialists to immediately investigate and report on the issues and remedial work that can be completed both in the immediate future and at the end of the season to resolve this issue. As a gesture of goodwill all fans turning up to the replay will get a free drink/pie/chips and ticket holders for the original game will get free admission for the replay. Tickets otherwise will be £10 anywhere in the ground. This club and our fans deserve better and we apologize for the embarrassment this has brought and to the players for their wasted efforts' That took me 2-3 minutes. Yet it's far more than this lot will do.