I quoted you on Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Stoke. None of them have ever been sanctioned. All lost a lot more than we did.

The only important thing to take home is that none of those clubs, despite losing well over the maximum allowed under the rules, have been sanctioned in any shape or form. Not interested in "something must happen" that sort of talk will caryr on until people forget about it or they get promoted and don't have an issue. We are told that what we have seen at Rovers is something forced on us by the rules, and if we didn't act quickly we would face a terrible fate of sanctions. Doesn't happen elsewhere so why would it here?

Agreed If points were awarded for excuses and hard luck stories we'd be in the PL by now. Patterns have emerged here over the last 4-5 years. Every transfer window follows a similar trajectory and ends with us scurrying around for last minute loans and ending up short of where we wanted to be. If there was real serious intent or investment it would get done. There isn't, they're just stringing us along. Looks like they did the same with the contract rebels too. Always jam tomorrow with this lot, never today.

Middlesbrough lost £30 million last year alone. https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/middlesbrough-fc-reveal-30m-losses-23433844 Yet despite that they haven't been sanctioned, haven't had a points deduction or embargo, and are now coming along paying wages to our academy products that allegedly we cannot compete with. If FFP was the issue here they wouldn't be able to do that. Now I know that comparison to other clubs isn't always popular on here, because none of us really know the details of what goes on elsewhere and we need to focus on ourselves. But I think it is very useful to point this out - it proves that those sort of losses we are accustomed to, along with higher ones in the case of Middlesbrough, can be sustained without the need for the slash and burn performance we're witnessing at Rovers. Put simply Venkys don't want to put the money in, and will only be persuaded to do so if the manager goes to India to do it. If that doesn't happen it is "make do with what you have" whilst the middle men cut costs. In comparison Steve Gibson, Peter Coates, Stephen Lansdown want to invest and want to improve their clubs and by an amazing miracle they have continued to do so without FFP issues. Bristol City lost £38 million LAST year alone Stoke City lost £56 million. Incredible figures which demonstrate the futility of rationalising what we have seen at Rovers. This is our owners deciding to cut costs, not 3rd party rules forcing them.

We sold Armstrong for £15 million and still supposedly had a FFP problem. And we will have to sell Brereton for hopefully similar. On the contrary I recall you confidently predicting that Middlesbrough along with other rival clubs would face FFP sanctions due to their spending. That hasn't happened, they've poached our assets and now you are rowing back.

Rumours that Carlos Corberan might be leaving Huddersfield.

I don't think you've really dealt with anything I said. No we don't know what money we have to spend. But given the trajectory of the last 2 years, drastic cutbacks, lack of spending, lack of activity so far and the exodus of key players I think it is probably quite safe to assume at this point there isn't a big budget. You can spend your days talking about potential players who in all probability won't come here but I think that is a waste of time. I also think that Waggott and the Venky goons want us to do that - be distracted by talk of possibilities none of which will materialise. They then get credit in the bank for 'trying' and failing to sign decent players but the end result is we miss out. Irrespective of Middlesbrough's budget the point is the same - if it was so easy, straightforward and sensible to get players as good or better than Lenihan and Nyambe, on less money, then surely Middlesbrough would do just that? Or are you saying that they have such scope under FFP that they are able to spend money unnecessarily? How long until Middlesbrough get their FFP points deduction / embargo? Any year now won't it?

I didn't say they were irreplaceable. But replacing them with as good or better with minimal money is going to be nigh on impossible. As pointed out during the contract saga, if we couldn't pay Lenihan and Nyambe what they wanted how are we going to pay as good if not better? And if it was so easy to do better for less cost then why aren't Middlesbrough doing that and saving themselves a heap of money? We've been had. Hook line and sinker. And my alarm bells are ringing as to the involvement of our former manager in this saga.

As expected lots of excuses, finger pointing, sob stories, FFP, money, we can't compete, we've changed manager etc. etc. None of it matters. All that matters is having a squad good enough. It isn't at the moment. We won't get points for excuses.

Looking forward to all these better players we are getting After all I've read frequently about how Nyambe, Lenihan, Rothwell, Khadra aren't that good and how we can do better. So let's see. Rival clubs expecting promotion this season clearly think it is worth paying their 'unrealistic' wages to take them off our hands. Personally I'm disgusted by the situation. I'm asking why we bother if we are little more than a place for clubs to send their loans and so we can develop players for Middlesbrough's benefit.

I look at the Ryan Hedges / Aberdeen deal and Aynsley Pears deal with deep concern. If Mowbray could pull those off I wouldn't put anything past him.

There's another solution to the alleged spectre of FFP other than just slashing costs and hoping the kids pull us through. That solution doesn't get much mention on here or from the people running the club. I presume one of the reasons being that they have no intention of pursuing it and are incapable of doing so. That solution involves increasing income and turnover, and in doing so give us more scope to invest. That is easier said than done, especially at a Club like Rovers, and requires planning, strategy, ability upstairs. We have none of those things here so instead we have pound-shop level operators cutting pounds and pence off running costs e.g. by doing away with a programme on matchdays and trying to squeeze an extra £30 a year out of hardcore fans. So we need to stop with this "there's no alternative" other than the route being taken. There is. It just requires more effort and ability than those owning and running us are able to provide. One glance at the 'local' nature of sponsorship says it all - some seem to think it is a good sign that we only seem to deal with local companies but I think it is just further evidence of a small scale operation incapable of pursuing more substantial deals. I'd have a bet now that no other Club in this division of those not coming down from the PL will have slashed costs to the level we have in the last 12-18 months and even less will have had the benefit of probably 2x £10 million+ sales to fall back on. It seems some are uncomfortable with the alternative possibility here which is that FFP is not the big issue, and that the whim of our lunatic owners is just as important if not more so. I've said it before and will keep on saying it because I strongly believe it is key to this whole operation that the only way these owners will invest proper cash for players is if someone flies out to India, sits down with the Desai bunch and persuades them to do it. The reason the cash has dried up is purely because since 2019 nobody has had the ability to go to India and do this. So we are back into 2015-17 mode now - cutbacks, sales, scaled down budget. We know how it ended last time and I'm a great believer in learning lessons from the recent past rather than ignoring it and hoping all will be fine.

Worth remembering that from January onwards we witnessed relegation level form from a squad that was indisputably stronger than the one we have right now. Of course a large part of that was down to having a bottle job infantile manager who had a tantrum wobbler when his approach backfired but if the squad was so good it wouldn't have been bottom of the table form for so long. We can argue and debate how much stronger it was then to now, and how much of the void might be filled by younger lads 'stepping up' ( a hell of a gamble if you ask me ) but nobody, not even the biggest optimist, can suggest the squad is anything but weaker right now. We've lost two quality CBs one of which was club captain, our only RB, midfield numbers and presence, and 2 of our only creative players in Khadra and Rothwell. Even if Brereton stays, unlikely, the chances of him replicating what we saw last season are remote. So what happens if you get weaker from a side that displayed awful form from January onwards? A struggle that's what. We might be less streaky and more down the middle road on form rather than one extreme to the other, we might get a couple of players surprising us. But I'm amazed anyone can't see the warning lights flashing in the distance here. If only the Championship was so simple as turning to the academy lads to sort it out. Doesn't work like that you need investment, experience, know how. Unfortunately we are yet to discover who has decided to implement the setup we now have with Broughton and Tomasson and what their remit/backing is. But each day that goes by the concerns only grow with no business done.

Waiting doesn't necessarily mean we are going to get the better ones. Quite possibly the good ones will be gone by the time we are getting our business done. It seems the assumption is that moving quickly means we are rushing or getting people in for the sake of it. On the other hand it could just mean we have a plan and are acting on it whereas rushing around at the last minute suggests no plan.

Why? How about the last 12 years of being lied to, misled, let down and made a fool of. You call it poisonous, I call it realistic and learning from the past. That's how these crooks operate. I wish it wasn't so but actions speak louder than words, and all we've had this summer so far is words.

Why have you put a link to Broughton's interview? I asked if Tomasson had said anything about this supposedly healthy budget he has. His comments there in that interview don't seem to suggest so.

Derby will be in the PL before we are. Another like Wigan, Blackpool, Bolton used as a convenient example of what we would be if Venkys left but will ultimately rebound and rebuild whilst this club withers on the vine.

Sorry that might be my memory and you might be right it was 'healthy budget'. Either way, it could mean an array of things. Healthy compared to the shoestring Bodo Glimt were operating with almost certainly. But healthy by the standards of the Championship?

I like Tomasson and what he has had to say since he arrived but I think we need to remember where he has come from. He was unemployed for 6 months prior to coming here and whilst he was managing a relatively big side at Malmo and won a couple of titles it isn't exactly the sort of resume that gets pulses racing. I'm yet to come across a manager who doesn't claim to have had other offers whilst unemployed. Not saying he is lying but he's hardly going to say the phone was dead for the last 6 months is he? Besides if the offers were coming from clubs outside the power leagues of England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy it is likely that their budgets will have been small compared even to ours.

Has Tomasson actually said anything about budgets or recruitment? Not that I can recall. It was Broughton who spoke about this straight after his arrival. 'Good budget' can of course mean a whole range of things.

Must say I do like the shade of blue. Much better than last season.

Why is it a limited release? Don't we want to sell as many as possible?

We played Celtic in a hastily arranged friendly on a Sunday in 2010 when we were a PL club. There were a few hundred Rovers fans there and the ground was nearly empty. Now it might be different this time with more advanced warning and it being a Saturday but I would still expect one block to be more than enough. Also a large number of those seats, especially those in block 120, are obstructed views due to the old main stand pillars

Good budget for two unemployed blokes coming from Scandinavian leagues does not mean it is a good budget by Championship standards.

Van Hecke falls into the Harrison Reed category. Clearly a good player, clearly the sort we should be investing in and building our team around, clearly attainable for a Championship club with some sensible investment. But not one that we are likely to get done because we won't pay the relatively small fee needed to get him. Even if there was some serious interest at Rovers' end we would take too long or faff about trying to drive him or Brighton down on cost whilst a rival comes in. So instead he will end up elsewhere in the Championship and then we will get stories about how we could never get him due to FFP/Parachute money or because his girlfriend wouldn't allow him to live anywhere other than the South Coast of England etc. etc.