JHRover

That tells us something then doesn't it? Wigan not signing many yet able to do what we couldn't where Nyambe is concerned. Derby are offering more money than us and will be above us within the next 2-3 years and in far better financial health.

Actually I think most people in football would see them as a better prospect these days. Just promoted, new owner who likes football and has invested. Wants them to improve. Don't think the same can be said of anyone in power at Rovers. That's the fruit of Venkys labour, making players want to leave us for rivals and yet amazingly some think we can't ask for better. His agent has done fine. Got him a better deal than we were offering, same division, plus a signing on fee, plus no longer dealing with unprofessional wasters as at Rovers.

Anyone else remember the good old days when we were told to be grateful for Venkys as without them we'd end up in a state like Wigan or Blackpool?

Think some of us are in for a surprise on that front. This new 'wage structure' that they wax lyrical about looks like it puts us in League One on wages paid. This is why Nyambe and Lenihan went and many more will follow. We are probably now struggling to even compete with Rotherham, Wigan or Blackpool on wages. Venkys out, Waggott out ASAP

You are of course bang on with highlighting the false economy of it. Waggott can trot out his fancy terminology but it doesn't take much to blow holes in it. The problem however is that I don't think there is any plan or intention to sign any proven experienced players, so talk of people like Brittain or Byrne is a non-starter. I genuinely think we will be going down the road of hoping JRC, James Brown and Hayden Carter can cover the RB spot and then if the worst comes to the worst they will dip into the usual academy loan market hoping that Everton, Liverpool, City have someone on their books they are willing to send here for 20-30 Championship appearances and we can contribute £5k a week maximum to. Then the money men will think they've done well - avoided a new contract for Nyambe, avoided issuing a permanent deal as a replacement, avoided a transfer fee and hope that one of the existing lads can make the spot his own.

Who said anything about 'over paying' on wages? Just because we are unable or unwilling to pay the going rate doesn't mean it is a case of overpaying. I'm baffled with how you seem to be so comfortable with the Lenihan situation, just like the club, shrug shoulders, move on and forget all about it. I don't wish him good luck because he's playing for a direct rival. It is unacceptable. I don't have to accept anything. I can recognise the situation without accepting it is good or right. The money saved through this 'wage structure' has just been wiped out overnight by losing Lenihan and Nyambe for nothing. So no I don't accept it. I don't know what Nyambe's circumstances are. But to suggest the lack of an announcement on his next move as being indicative of him not being in demand I think is wrong. I think most of the Championship would take him on a free in a heartbeat.

"Ash Phillips agreement and Blackburn Rovers contract latest as negotiations take focus - LancsLive" https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-phillips-contract-latest-21594468?fr=operanews Once again we've been taken for fools by Waggott and co. Why tell the local press his future is agreed and secured if it isn't?

£3 million per year is the total cost for the academy Couple of points to keep in mind. One is that we recieve grants of over £1 million a year towards the total cost. Waggott himself claimed these grants came to approximately £1.1 million per year. Another is that assuming we have any academy, B team or development squad there will be a cost so whilst it is higher with the demands of Category 1 status it is still substantial even if you only have Category 2 or even 3. So rather than consider it a generous donation of £3 million per year from Venkys take away grants and the costs there would be anyway even if we downgraded the difference is nowhere near £3 million. It is £1.9 million minus the costs of having an inferior academy, which would obviously be 6 figures if not 7 per year. So yes, it is a no-brainer, but the shame is it is being ruined by the no-brainers at ownership and board level - it is a waste of time if we are losing players for nothing.

So let me get this right then, we can't spend money or pay the wages to sign established players, can't pay our existing academy graduates enough to keep them here and out of Championship rivals' hands, and can't tie down the next crop of academy products to contracts. Can't Do FC in full flow. Is there anything we CAN do other than make excuses?

If that's correct just think for a moment how absolutely ludicrous that is.

Well he's here and paid to lead recruitment. And we haven't recruited. We are in desperate need of recruitment and have been all summer. Season starts in 12 days, not September.

Actions speak louder than words. I'm sick of hearing things from jokers like Waggott that then don't happen and probably never were going to. As it stands Broughton has failed, dress it up with whatever excuses you like but 0 signings to a squad that needs several less than 2 weeks before kick off is failure. He can still turn it around and recruit well this window but that's ifs or buts. We all hoped his arrival was the start of a bright new era but looks like another false dawn as it stands. Another one who talks a good game but can't do the job properly, either because he's not up to it or because his bosses won't let him.

"Bids were in for players who were exciting names but we couldn't make the numbers work / the financials changed at the last minute and we weren't willing to break our structure or be held to ransom" Everything they say and claim is cheap and easy - it costs nothing to tell people what you are planning on doing, it costs nothing to bid for a player. Actually getting deals over the line, committing to wages and paying out a transfer fee are the tricky parts - and we fall short on that.

This is precisely what they are up to. Keeps the fanbase quiet for a few months as people believe there is a serious plan and intent to attract good quality players. There's no such intention, in my opinion. Come the end of the window I predict we'll have brought in 2-3 young loans and all the talk will be about how we tried and failed to spend money and how the new Head of Recruitment and Director of Football need more time. Jam tomorrow.

On what evidence are you so confident that James Brown is the answer at RB? He's 24 and has played 1 Championship game. I hope he is good. But to go into a 46 game Championship season expecting to rely on him? Nothing short of lunacy motivated purely by the low cost. As we've seen before, focus on doing the cheap way (Warnock-Coyle) it ends in disaster You might think it is true support of the Club but I'd like to avoid a return to League One and won't sit in silence or blind support as we charter a course back there. I demand better.

I think you are only saying that because it is what you expect will happen, not because you want it or really believe in it. If Rovers signed 10 in the next 2 weeks you'd be in full support of that too, even though it would push those young players out of contention. Whatever the club serves up you will support.

The shadow man and Maggott are the two most likely contenders for the role of playing us for fools. Who knows what Venkys' plan, if any, is, but I think it is safe to assume in the absence of an India jolly for the last 3 years that whatever the plan is it is being projected back to Ewood via the man in the shadows. Too many cooks spoiling an already unpleasant broth here, as much as I don't want an unsackable manager at least when we had India trips he could go straight to source and get answers and action. Instead now whilst we have a more conventional structure in place it seems there are about 6 or 7 people involved and hurdles to overcome before anything happens. Probably installed with the right intentions but how many times have we heard that and it struggles to work. I agree I don't think JDT or Broughton are remotely involved in any conspiracy or stringing along but they are probably now realising the reality of Venky poisoned Rovers. What might appear on the outside to be a good club, in a good state, backed by rich owners, I think once you scratch away at the surface there is a very different situation that the goons in the national press don't see. I think what gets offered or promised is very different to what actually materialises with this lot as Lambert and probably Mowbray found out. Mowbray put up with it and got 5 years work from it whereas Lambert wouldn't put up with it. Lets see which one Tomasson follows.

I feel very aggrieved that loyal, regular season ticket holders are being 'done out' of what they should get You have people at Rovers who have been season ticket holders through 10 years of hell, some with 20, 30, 40, 50 years of unbroken or almost unbroken dedication. Yet these people will have to sit second in the queue for away tickets if they won't buy this 1875 membership. You have season ticket holders who might go to all, most or a large portion of away games each and every year, driving up and down the motorways, years of purchasing history - all to sit second in the queue if they don't buy 1875 membership You have shareholders, 100 club members, corporates and others who it seems will also be in a similar position despite years and years of commitment to the cause. Then you might have someone who has never bought a season ticket before in his life until this summer, who gets 1875 membership and immediately gets priority over the above because they've paid £15 extra? It just doesn't sit right at all with me. I would have hoped Rovers would recognise the importance of loyalty and commitment but it seems they value £15 more.

I understand all this but would raise a clear difference between us and Ipswich. McCarthy resigned before the end of the season and his contract because he'd had enough of getting abuse and stick from the fans at games. Mowbray didn't resign, he hung on until the very end when his contract lapsed. He certainly didn't get any stick or abuse from fans at games. Irrespective of what the fans wanted - and from what I've heard over 90% of people felt the time was right for a change - we need to remember that Venkys nor Waggott have any interest at all in what we want, and had it been to their convenience Mowbray would still be here. The fact that they couldn't even be arsed to confirm his departure until after he'd cleared his belongings and had weeks of a protracted departure tells me that they would have even kept Mowbray but it seems he had made up his mind by that point and couldn't be 'persuaded' to stay. The fiasco with Tomasson's appointment tells us they had no plan for his replacement.

There are two equally important sides to FFP. One is outgoings, the other is incomings. So of course stemming outgoings is probably the easier and quicker way to deal with FFP, but then that causes problems as we witnessing right now. I see precious little evidence of any serious sustained effort being made to increase incomings. Whether that be no commercial director, plummeting home attendances, a sponsorship operation that ends at the M65 or no replica shirts available to buy in the shop, it all points to one thing. Not enough effort. If FFP is the boogeyman so many seem to believe it is, then every £1 we make should enable an extra £1 to be spent. Make more money, spend more money. The quickest way to deal with the above is to rake in huge sums from occasionally selling good players, like Brentford did to great effect, which enabled them to reinvest, build and get promoted with miniscule crowds and income. Yet here those player sales seem to be of no benefit whatsoever. Strange. It's almost as though the lack of effort comes from the top, that they aren't really bothered about spending or FFP and they make it up as they go along.

You might not have that luxury. What happens if we get stuck in relegation trouble early doors? Will you be willing to accept relegation to allow for your "at least a season and a couple of windows" approach or is it dependent on a minimum level of results?

So what do we do about that? Sit and bemoan our place in the world as we miss out to goliaths like Sheff Utd and Middlesbrough? Or do we do something about it? Increase turnover and revenues for starters? Or reinvest some of the vast amounts made from player sales in the last couple of years?

Still can't believe the 'Blackburn Rovers reporter' is referring to Venkys as 'The Venkys' in his headline.

Bringing in a new head of recruitment on a 12 month deal far easier and cheaper than signing decent players. Job done - fanbase see things happening and believe foundations are being put in place. Let's focus on January and next summer one the new regime is settled in and up to speed and we've the Brereton money available. Let me guess. By then things will also be easier with FFP as we enter a new phase. Heard it all before. We need players, good players, and quickly. Window dressing going on here

It's not a question of being dazzled by them. I didn't embark on analysing those players because I don't know enough to judge them, certainly not at this early stage. Quite right though some I would have been happy to see here, some not. The point I was making was more that the recent appointment of a new manager is not an excuse for not being able to complete transfers - other clubs in similar circumstances have managed it. Of course we can debate the quality of those signings, only time will tell, but they've got business done.