JHRover

I detect a pattern emerging with some of our loan business as well. We seem to be the 'guinea pigs' for young players on loan, often being the first opportunity the players get to go and play in the Championship. It seems to be rare that we bring in players who have played elsewhere on loan at this level previously. They come here, do ok or well for a season or half a season, and then after that we seem to stand no chance of bringing them back for another spell and instead they head off to rival Championship clubs instead. I'm thinking here of Tosin, Harwood-Bellis, Khadra, Poveda, Clarkson, Morton, Branthwaite, JPVH It seems to suggest to me that we are content to take the gamble on these sort of lads, give them their first real opportunity at this level, then once they've come here and done well rival clubs willing to pay more money get them later. So Khadra going to Sheff Utd/Birmingham, Harwood Bellis to Stoke/Dingles, Tosin to Fulham, next one might be JPVH to Mboro. We hardly seem to have a sniff of getting them back yet rival clubs can get them. I assume this is because having had a heavily subsidised initial spell at Rovers the costs go up considerably with parent clubs demanding far greater wage contributions.

Venkys have never recognised or accepted the need for a competent, driven, capable and empowered chairman, CEO or board at the Club. That has been one of the constants of their reign of terror, from forcing out Williams, Finn and Goodman, never replacing them, then a series of micky mouse candidates with micky mouse job titles, then ending up with Mike Cheston (Financial Director) effectively the only remaining board member having to handle Fan Consultation meetings (Whatever happened to those?), wheeling out Bob Coar to provide some semblance of a functioning structure. Eventually it seemed the penny had dropped with appointing an actual CEO in Waggott (notwithstanding his obvious links to Mowbray from their Coventry days which raised serious questions about how the arrangement had come about). But it seems not. It appears to me that Waggott is a CEO in name only. Not judged or tasked by the owners to perform any function beyond limiting expenditure, cutting costs and extracting as much as possible from the fans. It seems to me they agreed to appoint him but only if he saved them money in the process. No interest in the growth, development, improvement, advancement of the Club, its fanbase, facilities, reputation, status. Capable only of nominal stunts like running a bus round Blackburn primary schools to win positive publicity but actually achieve very little, all the while paying support numbers drop in the face of hefty price increases during a pandemic and recession. He's so brazen and unapologetic about it. Nothing else matters in his quest to hit his targets. The impact and consequences of his policies won't be immediately felt and he'll be long gone by the time they are felt.

He'll be along pointing to 10% inflation and will dress a price rise up as necessary but 'inflation beating' or something similar.

Nothing has changed and the reason for that is because nothing at the top has changed. You can make changes to who does what, shuffle things around but it's all cosmetic. Fundamentally the core issue remains - disinterested clueless owners and their underlings wanting to cut costs. Very conveniently though when business doesn't get done or questions get asked Mr Broughton is the go to man - he's the one paid to front the operation, deal with the media and turn up to games. Meanwhile the others get to carry on as they were with no scrutiny or pressure. Almost as though that was the plan all along - add more layers and put more distance between those upstairs and the outcome of their policies.

He really needs to expand his repertoire. The 'good old Uncle Tony' routine got boring at Rovers with the lemon drizzle cake, history lessons about 'when I was a lad' and will do at Sunderland when they see through it. It's all to make himself out to be a normal man of the people, honest as they come. Personally I'd rather have a nasty piece of work and ruthless gaffer who learns from mistakes and drags the club forward, which he was clearly incapable of doing. He's not totally stupid though. He knows how to ingratiate himself with those around him so they all eat out of his hands and hang on his every word.

A quick glance at the table tonight. We share a play-off position with Watford, Middlesbrough and WBA. Now fair enough you can put forward an argument that on paper and on spending we have no right at this moment in time to be expecting to finish above them 3 (that isn't to say I accept being inferior on quality or spending to those clubs, but the reality is that's where Venkys have taken us). But go beneath the top 6 and look at the 'chasing pack' and it is nothing at all to fear. We have Norwich (arguably a decent side on paper but a shadow of what they were in years gone by and we've beat them twice recently). We have Millwall and Luton (two organised solid sides but not blessed with quality). Swansea (very inconsistent). Sunderland (fresh out of Lge 1 and managed by muddled Mowbray) and QPR (look like sliding away under new management). I suppose what I'm getting at here is that other than possibly Norwich there should be nothing and nobody in the pack behind us that we should be fearing or expecting to do better than us over the course of the rest of this season. I'm tired of this 'poor little Rovers' routine. We should be expecting to match or better Millwall, Luton, Sunderland, QPR, Swansea and the like over the next 19 games or whatever it is. None of that lot have the parachute cash excuse to hide behind. Do that and it becomes 4 from 5 between us, Norwich, WBA, Mboro and Watford for the play-offs. The other way of looking at it is if the season finished with us where we are, or a place or two lower, the argument could be made that we had done about as well as could be expected and that all the sides above us should be on depth, spending and quality. But drop much further than 2 more places and sides are there that shouldn't be above us on depth, spending and quality. If we are finishing below Luton, Millwall, Sunderland, QPR it isn't because they are bigger, richer, or coming out of the PL. The way I'd be approaching the rest of the season is on that basis. We need to match or better those clubs below us of which only 1-2 should really concern us. The rest are much of a muchness and if we aren't confident of doing better than them from where we are we might as well give up

Then you sell an asset or two to plug the gap. An Armstrong or a Diaz under proper contracts fetch £15 million a piece. If you do it properly and ensure your assets are under solid contracts you can command big money, which can be used to offset losses and go again. Once again the 'can't do' attitude prevails. Brentford managed it, as did Bournemouth, Leicester, Palace, Brighton.

a few bits to add. a lot of the frustration and anger, certainly on my part, is the clubs those players have and will go to. Only Diaz looks like taking a major step up. Lenihan (Middlesbrough), Nyambe (Wigan), Rothwell (Bournemouth) and Raya (Brentford) are have not left here to go to bigger or better clubs or indeed clubs that should be able to offer them considerably more than us. Whatever the truth is it doesn't reflect well on Rovers. You might be right - we've 'done all we can' and nothing more can be expected. If so aren't you just a little bit alarmed that those players would rather move to such clubs than stay at Rovers? I know I am. Rather than shrug shoulders, convince ourselves that's just the way it is and nothing more can be said or done let's just accept it and move on the best way of preventing it happening again in future is to identify what has gone wrong and deal with it - including removing those responsible from positions of power (Pasha, Waggott). The fact they are still on the gravy train albeit with an added cushion between themselves and accountability (Broughton) concerns me. I think we all know you can't force players to sign new deals. But I think we are all entitled to feel a little bit concerned and aggrieved when so many are leaving, for so little, mainly to tin pot Championship rivals. You can hide behind the 'money' excuse in Bournemouths case but it really shouldn't be happening with the others. I'm entitled to ask how this has happened and keep on bringing it up when I am being told my ticket prices need to be some of the most expensive in this league to boost income.

Any points deduction or sanction that causes any serious issue will simply be suspended or implemented at a later date. Only have to look at the 'punishment' of Wigan for failing to pay their players on multiple occasions, and the laughable 'punishment' dished out to Coventry for being incapable of hosting fixtures for the first month of the season. The League will wriggle their way around to avoid any controversy, so will be desperately hoping Sheff U get promoted thus taking the issue out of their hands. They've shown zero appetite or stomach for clamping down on such things.

There's two sides to it for me. On the one side is Rovers - its owners, management and actions, on the other side is football and life in general. On the Rovers side I don't think there's much I need to say that hasn't already been said. I can cope with a lack of success, I can cope with not spending money, I can cope with struggling, I can cope with being in the Championship or below. What I can't cope with is negligent owners, who think their responsibility extends simply as far as signing the cheques every year and nothing more, I can't cope with a CEO who treats supporters with contempt, intent on milking them for every penny he can not to benefit the club, but simply to meet his own targets and justify his continued employment and massive renumeration. There's nothing that angers me more than knowing some fly by night shyster(s) on a 6 figure salary is taking the complete p1ss out of me and everyone else who spends their hard earned money going to Ewood. The whole Club is in a rut, leaderless and pointless, going nowhere and going through the motions, anyone who wants or expects better greeted with the usual 'can't do' attitude. Matchday is a dismal experience created by a couldn't care less attitude from those working there. The people below the owners are happy just to remain in situ, collecting their huge wages keeping things ticking over whilst the Club treads water. There's no plan beyond the next 6-12 months other than arse covering and justifying continued positions. A lot of it is on the other side and not really anything to do with Rovers, but it all contributes to feeling fed up and sick of it all. Sky TV, ridiculous kick off times, scandalous ticket prices, never ending rule changes, VAR, virtue signalling. All I want to be able to do is go and watch my team play and enjoy my Saturday yet it seems they are hell bent on depriving me of that by putting obstacles and barriers in place at every turn. The experience of Covid brought things more clearly into focus. I realised that I didn't really miss not going to games and that I was quite content to sit at home and watch on TV, saving myself vast amounts of money and hassle. Since Covid I've got back into the routine of going but unlike before I really don't care if I miss a game or two. Likewise Rotherham last week I left after an hour, the earliest I have ever left a game. Bored witless and fed up so I'll spend my time in the pub instead. Off to Bristol tomorrow but it is more about the day out, trip and a few drinks than it is about watching the match.

The Bristol home game for me highlighted the extreme mental fragility of this squad. It was a home game we should have been well up for and confident in, yet were second best. Even then we managed to pull a goal back and from there you would expect any serious team at home to at least put the away side under serious pressure and really make them work to hold on to their lead. In many games you'd see the home team recover for a draw or win. Yet within seconds of getting the goal back they went up the other and and bagged a third with their first effort. Game over and the most comfortable win you could hope for as an away side.

You wonder how long it will be before we try to offload someone for a decent fee, not because we necessarily need to but because positions will need to be justified. The Armstrong sale disappearing in the rear view mirror, fancy new D of F and recruitment team in place under the mantra of increasing values.....a 'big sale' might just do the trick. Not many to go at on that front though.

I always remember that January transfer window when we were doing OK and signed Harwood Bellis and Branthwaite on loan. I think we were going through one of Mowbray's defensive crises at the time. After we signed them two Mowbray and Waggott made a point of going public with their gratitude to Venkys for backing the club to sign them. I thought that was an odd thing to do. We hadn't exactly splashed the cash and bought big, rather shuffled the numbers to get a couple of younsters on loan to alleviate a self-created defensive mess. A portion of their wages contributed to in return for guaranteed Championship games for a couple of lads desperate to play. It seemed at the time that special dispensation had been obtained from the owners to do those deals, without which we would have been stuck. Looking back it all makes perfect sense. The owners have set their budget, the club is stuck come January unless a series of events fall into place at the right time i.e. we can free up space on the budget or sell someone, or agree a deal with cash later in next years' allowance.

From who? I think the only person he'll be under pressure from is JDT who will rightly expect people to arrive this month and will probably be considering his future if he isn't backed. Rather than be under pressure from upstairs the owners, their dogsbody and Waggott will probably congratulate him if he navigates a transfer window without spending and takes the flak from the media and fans - some would say that was the plan from the start. The majority of supporters are fully paid up members of the FFP / its too hard in January / we've done all we can routine.

They used to use Bolton, Wigan, Blackpool and Derby as the benchmark for 'what we could end up like' if Venkys left town. Didn't last too long mind as all have recovered proving there is life after wretched owners.

Sensible appointment for Blackpool. No fancy talk about projects or styles of play, just a pragmatic manager who will organise them and get results quickly. Chaddy will be impressed

People saying that Diaz would never have signed a new contract are wrong. He joined the Club in 2018 as a teenager. By summer 2021 he was entering the final year of his original deal, albeit with the 'safety net' of an extra 12 months option in the Clubs' favour which has kept him here until summer 2023. In the summer of 2021 he was not the world famous Chilean international that he is now. If the club had been proactive it would have dealt with the situation then, as the end of his initial deal was within 12 months. It didn't, there's little evidence the Club did anything at all about new contracts for anyone around that time, which is why we ended up in a mess. The excuse of course will be 'covid'. Great excuse which covers pretty much everything but even if it is a genuine reason it doesn't actually change anything does it? The 12 month extension thing has Waggott's fingerprints all over it, and he probably thought he was the dogs bollocks inserting those clauses into their deals and activating them at the 11th hour, forcing those players to remain for an extra 12 months on the same terms. But as ever what seems clever at the time and saves a few quid in the short term has longer term damaging consequences. You only have to look at his approach to ticketing and attendances to see that. Noses out of joint and quite rightly so for players who would have been happy to talk about staying long term, were shunned by the Club until the last minute, were compelled to stay through the year option and then whatever 'improved' offers came were far too late and at a point when other clubs were taking an interest and letting them know how much more they could make elsewhere. Don't blame Diaz one bit, a move to Spain, 5 year deal, big money, he's sorted and good luck to him. Ultimately I don't blame any of the players - it's happened too often for any one player to be accused of being a problem or rogue element - as I've been saying for months the only logical conclusion to reach is that the problem is on the club's side. So let's banish this suggestion that the Club could never have kept him. They could, if they looked beyond the next 12 months and were proactive in their approach. Of course it is encouraging and positive that quite a few of our current lot have recently signed new deals since Broughton arrived. But this needs to be put into some perspective. With due respect the sort of money going out on the likes of Ash Phillips, Dolan, Adam Wharton, even Travis and Buckley, will be much much less than the figures required for the Diaz, Rothwell, Lenihan deals. So whilst it suggests an element of being proactive and planning long term I'm not particularly confident it heralds a new approach on finances, and we could easily hit a similar issue with these players should rival clubs come a sniffing and we aren't willing or able to pay them the going rate for the Championship.

Brentford had less than 10,000 every week at Griffin Park and next to no corporate or non-matchday income. Yet they had player trading and contracts down to a fine art, ensuring all their assets were under long term deals, enabling them to command big fees when richer clubs came calling, and promptly reinvesting the proceeds to sign replacement quality across their squad and go again. Not necessarily easy but they had a plan and followed it and now look at them. They didn't hide behind excuses about crowds, income and FFP, they just found a way to overcome those disadvantages by trading very very well. The money recouped from selling the likes of Benrahma and Watkins vastly outweighing a few thousand fans more every other week. What we have at Rovers has never been and probably will never be remotely close to what Brentford did, Lenihan, Rothwell, Diaz prove that. You can make up whatever excuses you like on behalf of the owners and their underlings but it would never have happened at a sensible football club. Yet Waggott will be out at the next Forum meeting to deliver his analysis of why we can't spend and why we struggle and why we need to put prices up on season tickets to meet the shortfall. They're having us on and always have done.

Of course nobody rational will blame Broughton or JDT for those departures given when they were brought in and yes they deserve a chance to see what they can do. But fundamentally it is the same owners, the same invisible man and the same CEO in place. It appears from the Rothwell and Diaz situations that the owners' consent is still required before authorising sales, which is fine, but means there is every chance the same thing could happen again with the next batch. I just think there is no real plan or structure. What the Club says and what the Club does remain well apart and will remain so for as long as we have owners on the other side of the world with no interest or understanding but retaining decision making power. Broughton could be a miracle worker for all we know but there's little point to it if the wage structure prevents contract renewals and the owners won't sanction sales. We are a development club that reaps no benefits of the development, as the minute the players become valuable we can't keep them and they walk for nothing. The irony isn't lost on me when Waggott rattles on about needing extra income from ST sales to meet outgoings. He's talking about pennies in the scheme of things when the Club should be awash with cash in return for losing these players.

So in the same week we look likely to lose our established proven goal getter on a free transfer, our solution is to head into the loan market to borrow someone else until the end of the season. For all the talk about projects, losing contracted assets for zilch and bringing in short term loans is the polar opposite of that. It suggests a club that hasn't got the first idea what it is doing so resorts to the tried and tested easy and cheap option of plumping for another clubs' prospects to sort the problem for a few months. Different people running it but not a lot changed.

Hard to do anything when there's no money isn't it? That's what ultimately comes down to.

Wouldn't be surprised then to see claims at the next forum meeting that he wanted to do such a deal but Birmingham refused.

Happy days for Waggott with Birmingham going through. Will probably put an extra 2000 on the gate with no effort at all required. Cheap tickets might see that number even higher. Never mind maximising chances of progression in the competition, all about hitting his targets.

Just noticed Bristol City are at Swansea in their FA Cup replay tonight. Every little helps as they should be preoccupied with that and need to recover Wednesday.

I've no confidence, hope, expectation or enthusiasm for this. After the Cardiff and Norwich wins and clean sheets I had hoped we had something to look forward to over the coming few games against poor struggling sides. The Rotherham experience and conceding 4 goals has quite understandably obliterated any hope. A real shocker by any standard. Prior to last weekend Bristol City had gone 8 without a win at home and were in a real mess. Then they put 4 past Birmingham and will see us as a perfect opportunity to get back to back wins. As ever it will hinge on getting the first goal. Go behind and we are done. I would shake it up. I'd have both Whartons featuring, Scott in for Hyam who had a knock and could do with a break, Adam in preferably starting but if not coming off the bench (although not sure if he'll be fit). Travis and Buckley in and Diaz back. Garrett and Morton out.