JHRover

Nobody is picking up the debt. Why should they? That money is the running costs of the last 10 years. If takeovers of football clubs included requirements that new owners had to refund the last 10 years of overspending then no club would ever get taken over. How it works is that Venkys and everyone else need to realise that this money is gone, spent, their tab for owning the club and negligently doing so. They have to walk away from it and sell the Club to a new owner debt free. It might sound unlikely but that's what happens in most takeovers. And it isn't a £300 million debt, it is about half that.

I don't think that is fair to say. Mowbray had over 5 years on his 'project' the high point and culmination of which ended with a disastrous second half to last season with relegation level form which somehow dragged us from a nailed on top 6 spot in January to miss out. JDT has had less than 1 year and a fraction of the resources Mowbray enjoyed so seems unfair to expect him to better Mowbray's high point in his first attempt at it. We know there is no real project or build but I don't think that is anything to do with Mowbray, JDT or Broughton, it just sounds good to the owners and fans but in reality there is no plan here from the top down other than make ends meet within the budget each year.

The Club, through the owners and board, have shown that they don't want promotion and have no interest in remaining near the top of the league. With that I struggle to see why they deserve any of our support. But the manager and the players do, because like performances or not we have been in a healthy position and I'm sure they would like to keep it going. A win is needed, and hopefully a comfortable/resounding one.

Always tomorrow, never today That's the motto of Venky Rovers.

My belief is: Someone, be that Waggott, Pasha or someone at ownership level, made a decision that we needed to go down the DofF route. I suspect one of the reasons for this was that they felt Mowbray had too much power and influence and that they needed a more 'sustainable' model for when he cleared off. I completely agree with that idea, a club in our position in the 21st century, particularly one with foreign absentee owners, needs someone running the show in terms of recruitment and football other than the manager, otherwise the manager becomes indispensable. So no problem with DofF structure, and he we clearly handed authority to lead recruitment and appointments on that side of things. My expectation is that despite handing some authority to this new structure and letting them get on with it in a much more sensible way than flying them out to India in the summer, the owners continue to retain final decision making power, particularly on decisions and deals of a particular level. So Broughton identifies what we need, works hard to get it lined up, things start to move, but then when it comes down to the crunch and final approval is needed from India or the shadow man it doesn't arrive. Nothing more can be done. The last 12 years is littered with examples and rumours of occasions when we've been 'in' for a player, or indeed another club has been 'in' for one of our players, but things just don't get done, because Indian approval cannot be secured. People convincing themselves that Venkys, in some heroic attempt to lead us to promotion, gambled and rejected offers for Rothwell and Diaz, in doing so costing them millions but giving us a better chance of promotion, I think are on the wrong lines. Whilst they didn't accept offers for them, this wasn't because they were sticking up for us and giving us a better chance, it was because nobody could get them to agree in good enough time for such deals to go through. The Rothwell saga last January was O'Brien this January in reverse - approval not acquired = deal doesn't happen. Broughton takes the flak for it because he's the one with the job title, he's the one who lined the deal up, he's the one who has to pick up the pieces. All it means is he will look elsewhere for work, as will JDT. Both have come into this Club seeing what we have and liking it, thinking there's an opportunity here for success. I think most 'outsiders' would do the same - great traditional club, huge losses funded every year, good academy, great facilities, reaching distance of the PL. Then when you get inside the building and see how life at Venky Rovers really works this happens. With Kean, Bowyer and Mowbray they found people who would put up with such rubbish because they occupied positions they wouldn't have had elsewhere and wouldn't get again if they left. With JDT and Broughton I think they will have other irons in the fire and won't be here much longer. Then we get to see which desperate loser comes next.

This is one of my theories. Broughton can claim until he is blue in the face that O'Brien wouldn't have broken the fabled 'wage structure' but I simply don't believe that. Even if he was 'only' on £30k a week at Forest and even if we were 'only' paying half of that it would still make him one of our biggest earners, placing him in similar territory to Dack and Ayala. Nothing the Club has done in the last 3-4 years suggests those sort of wages are on offer these days. So on that basis even if we go with those low figures it is clear this would have placed strain on the wage structure. I don't think it is therefore unreasonable to suggest that either the owners, money men or Waggott intervened to stop the deal going through in time after Broughton had done the leg work in getting it all agreed. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that we are told money is available and business can be done, but then it doesn't actually materialise.

Having watched Broughton's interview, despite his claims of ultimate responsibility, I am even more convinced of the opposite. His demeanour is a far cry from that of last summer when he was confident and assertive in his interviews. He looks panic stricken, distressed, confused, and makes multiple references to 'internal factors', which he won't elaborate on. As with all his predecessors he is very quick to avoid sending any blame in the owners' direction (presumably the only way anyone gets sacked at Rovers is if they go after the owners). He is silent as to the two goons in the shadows. As was predicted when Broughton was appointed and as I expected a couple of days ago they will make him into the fall guy. They will want the fans and manager to direct anger towards him and he takes all the grief on that front. Waggott avoids any such scrutiny or accountability, as does the shadow man. Almost as though this was the plan all along? A familiar pattern emerges with Broughton and JDT as with previous ambitious people who entered the mad house of Venky Rovers and get worn down by it. Demeanour visibly changes. I've been impressed with Broughton thus far and I think his appointment was a welcome one. Unfortunately I think he and JDT are now learning the hard way what they are up against. And I keep on coming back to the point that this is nothing new. We've had very similar stuff for the last 4-5 January windows. Can't blame Broughton for those windows, so let's look at the constants in the failure.

How very convenient. Almost as though the appointment of the Director of Football has already accomplished what it was set out to do - let someone else take the blame for another failed transfer window whilst the real culprits get off scot free. Waggott is CEO. An important and very well paid job - for a reason. Not so he can 'represent' the Club at away games on the complementaries, but so he can oversee and ensure that the Club functions properly and succeeds. That means he is ultimately responsible for the entire operation. Even if it is true that responsibility for transfers lies with Broughton in the hierarchy Waggott sits above him, presumably appointed him and so should carry the can when things go wrong. Was it Steve Waggott's fault that we lost £20 million worth of playing assets in the last few transfer windows or was that nothing to do with him either?

Bolton just put 23/24 season tickets on sale, prices frozen, adults from £219 and juniors from £35. They could well be in the Championship with us next season and will dwarf our sales even if not. Our Half STs this year are more expensive than that and who would put it past Waggott to increase them yet again. Despite his claims of wanting to get them on sale earlier this year I'll be amazed if there is any news on prices before the end of April.

I've just been told by one mon on Twitter that if it wasn't for Venkys owning us we wouldn't be linked to signings of O'brien's quality. You really couldn't make it up.

My underlying feeling is disgust. The Club disgusts me, the owners disgust me, Waggott disgusts me, Pasha disgusts me, the incompetent buffoons occupying positions they shouldn't disgust me. Then embarrassment. Where do we start. The predictability of it (some of us 'negative' folk saw this sort of thing happening on deadline day). The amateurish nature of efforts to explain what went wrong. The efforts to score cheap credit by referring to 'ambitious loan' (yes, they are actually trying to reap credit for trying but failing to borrow a player from Forest for 5 months). Such small minded cheap stunts and comments have Waggott's fingerprints all over it. Yet he's too much of a coward to put his name to it or front up to the fans, so instead we get a useless short statement, then JDT/Broughton will have to face the music, then in a few months when he's in a safe environment dealing with the Fans Forum he'll resurface. After that it is sympathy. I feel sorry for Broughton and JDT, who despite being well paid are new to this shower, I don't believe are responsible for this mess and I do believe are trying their best. I feel sorry for our existing crop of players, who deserved help this January in the hope of staying up near the top of the league and having a shot at promotion. Instead we will now have to watch as Luton, Millwall, Preston and other dross make a better fist of it. It isn't about demanding money is spent, demanding we sign certain types of players. I think one look on here and on social media tonight, even people who are usually positive about everything feel let down, embarrassed and angry at what has happened. But the worst part of it all is knowing nothing will change. The owners won't care or know. Nobody will be held accountable. Waggott will probably think it is a job well done as he tots up his numbers and has saved on a big wage. Then they'll expect us all to turn up on Monday to pay their wages, the scumbags sat in the directors box lording it over the fans as they rake in their obscene salaries for failure. I really don't want to be involved with it any more. They knock me sick and the only thing worse than that is turning up knowing that doing so is taken for granted and enabling them to carry on taking the piss out of us.

We can see that they do have their ear to the ground, and have caved in this afternoon in releasing this 'statement' but interestingly haven't named who is responsible for producing it. 'Legal advisors were brought in to assist' - what the hell does this mean? We don't have legal advisors ready to hand on deadline day? 'Brought in' - does this mean they had to physically travel to Brockhall before anything could be done as surely they could deal with this remotely? 'Complex nature of various agreements'. Deary me. Anyone would think we were signing Lionel Messi on a 5 year deal, not a lad frozen out at Forest on loan with an option to buy. Presumably we had half an idea of these complexities BEFORE we made the offer and it was accepted? They make it sound like we only learned of these complexities at tea time. WE made the offer. If WE couldn't then deal with the mechanics of it WE shouldn't have done it. 'Due to events we believe to be outside of our control' - pull the other one.

Waggott has admitted on numerous occasions that he is judged on the balance sheet. That was obvious to begin with, but he's also confirmed it. So long as he can produce figures showing decreasing costs and increasing income he's happy as he can take that to India and keep the money men there satisfied. He then gets his huge salary for another year, and probably a nice bonus on top. Only a few more years until golden retirement. Bringing in an O'Brien on full wages, or even a large percentage of what Forest pay him, would be like placing dynamite under his account ledgers. In one swoop costs would go through the roof. Even if say £15k per week for 4 months - that's £250,000. For a bloke who squeezes every penny he can from loyal fans that's a lot of money to claw back. I'd say that's a reasonable suggestion on motive. Same goes for the other ambitious transfer moves that have all failed in previous windows - Assombalonga, Kipre, Dembele to name a few.

One of the reasons they appointed Broughton was so Waggott and Pasha could direct fans/media in his direction when things go wrong on the football side. So when Waggott turns up to the next forum meeting all the discussion will be on pie flavours, player postcards and the like. 'Nothing to do with me, Gregg will have to answer that one' 'What I can say is that the owners have always provided the money so it's not their fault'

One of my theories is that we were entirely caught out by the sudden possibility of O'Brien coming here. It was something that we never seriously thought would happen, so when it became a realistic prospect certain forces ensured that it would not be allowed to go through. Now call me a mad conspiracy theorist but it makes sense to a point. It was obviously something that came about very much at the 11th hour and hadn't been on the radar earlier in the window. Supposedly we were behind Sheff Utd and WBA in the queue so probably didn't expect both of them to fall by the wayside. Then Forest are content to send him here all of a sudden and the player is willing to get game time. Sudden panic. Here we are having to make good on our talk, actually deliver for once and get an expensive deal over the line. Despite everything falling into place for bizarre reasons we suddenly forget (having completed dozens of loans over the years) how to complete a registration. It might not sit easy with people but I wouldn't be surprised that with Broughton having done the leg work and got the deal done 'other forces' intervened to prevent it going through. Lo and behold we don't have to commit to substantial wages for the next 6 months. Those expecting an explanation or apology from the Club need to lower their expectations. We will, if lucky, get a Club media or Telegraph filtered interview with Broughton being made into the fall guy. I don't blame him - why? - because we've been putting up with these shenanigans every January for the last decade.

Agree 100% All this debacle will have done is blacklisted Rovers' as a Club worth dealing with. If he's still here in the summer Broughton will be picking the phone up and Clubs will ask themselves why on earth they'd want to do business with this lot. The only good to come of this is hopefully it gets a message home to the deluded ones (Not Chaddy of course who has already decided it's all Silvester's fault) that things are far from rosy in the garden at Ewood and that actually the club remains a joke run by charlatans.

And just a timely reminder from me, who has been saying this for 4-5 years now, but you don't get prizes or points in this game for trying and failing. Having money but not spending it = meaningless Trying to sign good players but being unable to do so = meaningless End result is it hasn't happened. The reasons why are almost irrelevant. Come next January there will some other cock and bull nonsense as to why we can't sign anyone. This week's excuse is a new one - proof will be in the pudding because if it is a cock up by Rovers then head(s) MUST roll - if nobody loses their job over this then the only interpretation to take is that they are content with what has happened.

Whether it is Broughon, Silvester, the tea lady or the whole lot of them responsible, the person who oversees them, appoints them and is responsible for them is Waggott. If they haven't or aren't doing their jobs properly yet he continues to keep them in place then responsibility lies with him.

The CEO of the organisation takes ultimate responsibility for performance, including that of individuals who work under him. That's why they get paid so much. The buck stops with him.

It depends what the error / omission is. If it is simply a case that a particular sheet or part of the document wasn't submitted in time, but we can show that everything was agreed and dealt with prior to the deadline and this was simply an omission in error due to the chaos and rush of the last minute, then we should be OK. Sense should prevail and the deal should be approved. If however it is a failure on the part of Rovers to complete the process in time due to ineptitude or not getting things sorted at this end, then it shouldn't be. I wouldn't attach any weight to the EFL doing the 'right thing' or wanting to maintain even standards. Recent history is littered with examples of deals that have been allowed to go through after the deadline due to all sorts of reasons. Remember the famous Spurs fax machine problem? Cases should be dealt with on a one-by-one basis and each assessed on the circumstances at the time. If the EFL are just abritrarily rejecting all on the basis they want to maintain a common standard then they really aren't fit to be running this game (but we knew that already, didn't we?) As for Sheff Utd and other rival clubs it is none of their business. They have no right to stick their beak in. This is a private matter between ourselves, Forest and the League.

Why do people so often want to compare to the 80s and use that era as some sort of benchmark? Why not the 50s or 60s instead? If you are happy to wind the clock back 30-40 years to a byegone era in football why not 50-60 years? We've operated for almost 150 years. Seems odd that so many obsess about what gates we got in one decade of that time, which happens to have been the nadir in our history and English football. Little wonder those at Ewood are the way they are if they adopt a similar attitude.

They're just carrying on playing people for fools, stringing them along I can almost picture it now. Waggott sat in his office at Brockhall well aware that fans will be annoyed at the lack of business so he needs to offer something. So lets throw the old 'possible free agent striker' out to Rich Sharpe to run with. That will keep them quiet for a few days working out who that might be and whether we will get them.

Rovers announced today that Blackpool tickets start from £25 for adults. Yet go onto the ticketing website and they are £20 for adults. Amateurs.

At first I thought it might be due to something as trivial as the only media bloke being in Birmingham last night for the game, going home to bed afterwards and then having some time off in lieu today before the Celtic match tonight. I thought that might explain the lack of media activity. I suspect it is bare bones stuff these days and too much to ask for someone else to handle media requirements. But no, I think we've just been played for fools, just like with Assombalonga, just like with Dembele and many many more.

A complete embarrassment. Tatty, grubby, unfit for purpose, laughable for a Club of this size and division, inadequate, shameful. Can you guess whether I'm referring to that photo or the man who is responsible for it?