I've long suspected that the termination of contracts is now a matter for India to decide and India alone. This is the reason why Mowbray was left in place until the very end, why the coaching staff are going to be part of the next man's setup and why Coyle was allowed to wreak havoc until the end of February. Those on the ground in the UK simply don't have the authority or remit to make those changes. The owners either won't allow it or will take so long to do anything that it will torpedo an appointment anyway. I also believe that at least 1 of the 3 has a job for life here and wouldn't ever be sacked. Disgraceful but if that's the way the want to do things that's their choice. I've also got a choice this summer

And there we have a few examples of Venky ownership in one: D of F lined up but not announced- communication D of F having no say in the management appointing - upside down backwards way of doing things Decent manager wanting to come but put off by insistence coaching staff continue- madness Decent manager expecting to hear back but gets nothing and moves on - disrespectful

The thing with Beale at QPR is that yes, for me it would have been very underwhelming if we had done that, and it is a big risk, but at the very least they've made a decision, gone out, paid compensation to get their man out of Aston Villa, and will try their best to make it work. It might end in tears, it might be successful for them. But at least they've brought their process to a conclusion and seem to be following some sort of plan. I remain convinced and concerned that no such plan is being followed here and that we are just going to end up with a dismal name out of desperation.

You're right, it is impossible to second guess. Just like if Mowbray had been Cardiff or Middlesbrough manager he would almost certainly have been sacked during one of those club record bad runs, whilst if Warnock or McCarthy had been given 5 years and good backing here to do whatever they wanted regardless of results I'd be confident we'd have finished higher than 8th during that time. Its a game of timing and risk. You pay the money and get a Farke or Carvalhal then the risk is reduced but not removed. You cut corners and do things on the cheap and get a Coyle the risk is increased. I am pretty confident we won't be getting a decent DOF. I'd be surprised if we got one full stop, but if we do it is likely to be another internal promotion of someone who shouldn't get the job or some cheap desperado from elsewhere. There's no point having one if the bloke isn't able to 'direct' the football operation and given he is coming in after the new manager there's not much chance of that happening, especially with these owners.

The point I was making was that McCarthy is considered yesterday's man, yet it is 6 years since Pardew did anything of decent quality in football at Palace in the Prem. McCarthy in that time has overachieved with Ipswich, did well with Ireland and initially well with Cardiff before the wheels fell off. Just to be clear I'm not suggesting McCarthy should get it, just that if we are considering the likes of Pardew then it would be easier, cheaper and probably safer to go with someone like him who at least has done something in this division in recent times.

More recent than Pardew

Pardew was last relevant about 6 years ago and hasn't managed at this level for well over a decade. I'd prefer to bring Warnock out of retirement or go for Mick McCarthy.

Carvalhal confirmed at Al Wadha, so there goes the theory that it was all just a negotiation tactic. Farke next no doubt. Presume Waggott will know Pardew from Charlton and based in a similar part of the world. Wouldn't surprise me.

So that's the 'big announcement' that we were waiting for? Another pricing category with all sorts of strings attached starting from £849? Jesus. My sympathies though, damned awkward they put a Bank Holiday Platinum Jubilee celebration in this weekend at the last minute causing havoc with our season ticket sales. If only someone at Rovers could have known about this at the time we imposed the deadline in April.

If Farke and Carvalhal are gone then we can certainly forget about some of the other big names linked. I think I would be looking at Gary Rowett in the hope he'd fancy moving closer to home after 3 years with Millwall. Failing that maybe Garry Monk. Dealt quite well in terrible circumstances at Birmingham and Sheff Wed, knows the Championship well, probably has a point to prove. My hopes and expectations, even though I should have known better, have taken a beating once again and with time drifting by I think we need a safe pair of hands rather than a leap into the unknown. Cheers Venkys

It suggests to me that someone wants to go down the D of F / Sporting Director route, but that is more of a medium term aspiration than a firm plan that is being followed. It is probably an appointment that is awaiting ratification from India, and until they agree to go with such a structure instead we will just have to focus efforts on getting the manager in, which is a position they will already be well familiar with. It just makes no sense in any way for the club to spend weeks, even months, interviewing all and sundry only to then bring in a director who might not like or want the manager or vice versa.

I've heard the Critchley rumours a few times. I can't get my head around why he would entertain leaving Blackpool to come here. Obviously we are a bigger club, with a better academy and facilities and probably a bigger playing budget. But probably not bigger to the extent that it would resemble promotion material. He's 6 months into a 3.5 year contract, has got a good chairman, settled setup, support all around him. Quite why he'd walk out on that to join our freak show is baffling, when he'd be under an as yet unidentified sporting director, the mysterious man and Waggott the oaf. Then he'd had to ditch his coaching staff to come and work with nonentities left over here. It would be so typical though for us to throw compensation at Blackpool, Wycombe or MK for their manager's, yet refuse to cough up the money for a Carvalhal to bring his team with him. Not to mention the increased season ticket sales such an appointment would inevitably bring. But who cares about season ticket sales? Clearly not Rovers.

Apologies if already posted but a Spurs fan on Twitter was with him at Heathrow Airport this week and he was flying to Porto. Think we can file that in the not happening drawer

Probably true that we are planning more interviews. After speaking to those decent unattached options and them running a country mile when they realise what incompetence we have running this club we will end up back at square one and have to start the process again, only this time with the dross options. Presumably they thought that quality managers like Farke and Carvalhal would ditch their loyal staff who have worked well with them for years and agree to come here and work with Benson and Lowe and no money. An appointment of Farke or Carvalhal would have put untold more on the season ticket sales and covered the additional expense involved in making other changes to the staff.

A quick glance at what Preston have done to hit 10,000 season tickets by the end of May. Get rid of a crap manager (McAvoy) and his coaching staff. Appoint a highly rated ambitious manager (Lowe) and his coaching staff. Cut season ticket prices to a reasonable price. Push them. What have Rovers done? Let Mowbray linger until the bitter end, retained his coaching staff, likely botched his replacement, put prices up to some of the highest in the country, and done nothing to promote other than some tacky videos with 'committed' fans

#wevedoneallwecan

Big difference between utilising the academy but being focused on results and promotion - which is what Farke had at Norwich - and then focusing on the academy as a means to avoid spending money on external players and being more interested in individual development than the overall success of the club - which is something I worry has happened here.

I agree, that on balance I'd go with Farke before Carvalhal if both were open to the job and realistic options. I base that on his performance at Norwich, and partly on Carvalhal's short termism, and not on perceptions of Carvalhal as a result of his apparent move to the UAE. Most unemployed managers will move where they get a good offer. That includes Middle East, Russia, China. I doubt Farke went off to distant Krasnodar for the fun of it, he'll have been offered a good deal, though to be fair he was principled enough to walk away after the invasion of Ukraine began.

Interesting we are now getting people saying that Carvalhal wasn't the right man for us because he's seemingly taking a well paid job in the UAE. Talk about him being a mercenary only motivated by money. Farke was the manager of Krasnodar in Russia earlier this year....is that much different?

I often bang the drum about getting tickets released early and that this might make a difference. I can only speak from a personal perspective but it would for me. Usually February and March are quiet months and relatively inexpensive stage of the year. I don't have much on and don't usually go away. So if the Club had released an attractive early bird package at that time with a strong incentive to renew early I would probably have just done it to get it sorted and benefit from the lower cost. Then usually May and June are expensive times of the year, the weather gets better, weddings to go to, usually a holiday in June, go out to the pub more, cricket. So disposable income drops and other things take priority. The last thing on my mind right now is handing over £400+ to Rovers for something I won't be able to 'enjoy' until July/August, especially not when there is little incentive - ok there's a £30 increase if I wait - but that isn't enough to force me into taking action now. If the Club had dealt with the managerial situation effectively - and had communicated properly vis a vis Mowbray's departure or had already appointed a competent new manager then this might sway me into action. For example if Farke was announced this afternoon I would probably show my support to such a decision by renewing right away. But I continue to retain a feeling of dread and concern about what they have planned and will not blindly hand over my money without seeing what it is they do next. I said this last summer but Covid has altered my outlook on things and I've arrived at a stage where I am very relaxed about things to do with Rovers. If I renew it will be when I'm ready to do so and not before. As the new season approaches I might well 'get the bug' again and do it but I'm not playing games with Waggott and co. Sick of being taken for granted and treated like sh1t by Rovers. Top end Championship prices I expect a minimum standard of product and professionalism to be delivered. We certainly haven't had that and if we are looking at half the names in the betting for a new manager then that isn't acceptable.

Preston closing in on 10,000 sales with their early bird discount ending at the weekend. QPR now on sale from £235 and have installed rail seating for those who want it #wevedoneallwecan

No issue if we 'move on' to a similar or better quality option. But I do have a problem if 'moving on' means we go shopping in the bargain bin and end up with yet another hideous appointment but one that is cheap and grateful. Fact is that Carvalhal can attract interest from elsewhere and command a salary in the UAE. Hardly any of the other options on the list of names linked so far would get near even an offer to work in the UAE, because they are unknown, unproven entities with no track record behind them.

Inclined to agree. Suspect there was interest from both sides on Carvalhal and indeed he ticked most boxes for us. But as expected when it came to getting the deal done it required binning off the existing coaching staff, bringing in his team and paying them all good money, suspect sent us looking elsewhere... Love to be proven wrong on this but not confident in the slightest. The priority here has always been cheap, easy and grateful. Farke and Carvalhal would not be. Unsworth, Adkins, Woodgate, Ferguson and the rest of the list would be.

So starting to look like it is Farke or bust for me. Sounds like Carvalhal has decided to go to the UAE for a year so we've missed the boat there whether through our own decision making or him getting fed up of waiting. None of the other names in the betting come close to Farke or Carvalhal. There are a few small but intriguing names the rest are nothing short of abysmal. I just hope they have a plan here because I'm getting a feeling of deja vu and expect some horrendous name to get the job just before pre season starts.

Yes, I've long suspected that whilst the initial plan and impetus will be on getting a 'big name' or 'big hitter' in as manager that there will be a gradual scaling back of this grand plan over the course of a few weeks. Initially there will have been expressions of interest from some relatively big names. There will probably have been some excitement in Waggott's office seeing some of the quality coming in. This is an attractive club and job and there will be countless unemployed or lower division managers who would fancy coming here and having a good season or two, getting promoted or at the very least enhancing their reputations in the game. But I think as time wears on, and as other considerations come into that mix, we will gradually whittle down the list eliminating the good quality, sought after managers leaving behind a mixture of untried and untested, lower league or unwanted options who will happily wait all summer or agree to our demands. Getting a bloke like Carvalhal will be a relatively expensive and complex undertaking, requiring commitment to a substantial outlay on wages and transfers, bringing in his various coaching staff members and removing those already at the club. Of course at most clubs with any semblance of ambition this is par for the course, a fact of life when changing managers but here if there's a corner to be cut it usually is. Think of it like a transfer window - time after time we've sat around for weeks being 'linked' to good players (Assombalonga syndrome) being told there are exciting names being worked on, that there's a budget to be used, that we should trust the process. And at the end of it invariably we are left disappointed as we fail to get the job done or resort to cheaper, easier options that are of lesser quality. Same people making the decision on a new manager. I also think those running Rovers perhaps arrogantly assume that these managers will sit around waiting for weeks on end whilst we decide what to do or whilst we get approval from India or that these managers will take whatever salary it is we are offering with various strings attached to do the job. I also think they overestimate their own abilities and when a decent manager gets around a table with them or applies any sort of scrutiny to what the Rovers people are saying it will become clear quite quickly that all isn't as it seems at Ewood and whilst on the outside looking in we might appear to be a normal, functioning, stable even ambitious club scratch beneath the surface with Waggott and Shadow Man and we are anything but.