JHRover

Yes we are. This time last year we had 2 more than we do now. I don't really care what he was doing, and presumably we weren't paying him to sit around doing nothing, it is less than we had before. I thought Ismael mentioned wanting to add to his staff once the season was over?

Exactly. Nixon 'broke' the news weeks ago, Ismael had to answer the question after the game on Saturday and it's been reported in the Telegraph. Still no official announcement from the club, which is what I would kind of expect but hey since when do we operate by industry norms?

Still no talk of Ismael bolstering his coaching staff? Remember we were already 1 down after Downing and Gardiner left for Derby with only Whitehead coming in with Ismael. Lots of talk about Adam Murray coming but he's gone to Kidderminster instead. Now with Lowe out the door we are 2 coaching staff down on last season. No wonder they prefer this model. A lot cheaper.

So am I right in thinking that there is still no announcement from the Club on the future of David Lowe, who apparently has left according to Ismael but the Club hasn't had the decency to announce it yet. Also after the appalling statement confirming the departure of the previous CEO after 7.5 years the club is yet to announce a replacement, timescale, update or indeed who is running the club in Waggott's place at the current time? Communication eh?

A convenient by-product of the ever revolving exit door and turnover of staff at Rovers is that every time a new manager/CEO/Head of turns up they can just blame whoever came before them and ask for a fresh start and a clean slate. The problem of course is that the cause of everything - the owners and their henchmen - are still here, so it just keeps on happening. I've no doubt people like Ismael will be saying that once we've got shut of Travis, Tronstad and Brittain 'it won't happen again' and we will learn lessons. And I suspect he will be sincere in that. But he won't be here for long and then the Regime will replace him with someone else who will be in exactly the same position.

All unemployed and desperate to get back working in the Championship. Lambert needed a steady job after the Villa experience, Mowbray was unemployable in the Championship and had been turned down by Chesterfield after the state he left Coventry in. JDT wanted a route into England to enhance his reputation and foolishly believed this was a serious outfit and Eustace needed to build on his short Birmingham spell and had been overlooked by numerous other Championship clubs over the previous 6 months. Common denominator - all were unemployed and keen to work - and all realised after getting into the building the true nature of the Venky beast. Lambert, JDT and Eustace couldn't wait to get out of here. The first two preferred unemployment to staying here any longer, the latter preferred to gamble his career on an uphill battle to avoid League One at Derby County. Odd one out Mowbray but he managed to get his holiday to India at the start which got his feet under the table and the assurances he wanted, and even then he was undermined and disgracefully treated in his last 12-18 months. Ismael will go the same way as Lambert, JDT and Eustace. If he makes it to 12 months I will be amazed.

Doing nothing to try and renew it until April 2025 and unlikely to have done a great deal in the 10 weeks since is a funny way of dealing with something as a 'priority' but once again we see that what they say and what they do are very different. All we get now is the standard textbook arse covering and blame passing as a popular and important player edges to a rival club. It would be outrageous at most places but here people are used to it now and most of the fanbase indoctrinated with the "we can't compete" stuff anyway. I suspect the Middlesbrough thing has been burning away for a few weeks and suspect it first emerged at Rovers' end right around the time Nixon was told that we had almost sorted his new contract extension. They knew then that he was going and wanted to get their story out first and pacify the fanbase ahead of the move occurring. Next up we will get nonsensical talk about Brittain demanding ridiculous levels of money and then a few 'big' names drip fed as targets, which won't happen and then we will sign a PL kid on loan to fill in. The money disappears although some have swallowed the line about us spending millions already this summer on the three foreign lads and therefore they can claim the Brittain cash has already been spent. I suppose if you believe that you'll believe anything.

Yes the batch signed in JDTs first summer - Hyam, Brittain, Szmods - were pre further cuts so probably just above the new threshold imposed half way through JDTs second summer. He knew then it was a recipe for disaster and tried to get out.

Got to drop one in this morning to try and soften the Brittain blow. I'm sure it will all get sorted 'imminently'

I disagree. I think there are a lot of people out there, who knowingly or otherwise are set to defend the Venky Regime come what may. Someone at Rovers 'leaking' something to Jackson or Nixon and then them regurgitating it to other 'journalists' isn't beyond the realms of possibility. Nor is someone invested in the regime having a spout off on twitter to defend their antics and their employers. Anyhow, doesn't actually matter either way because my prophecy of doom is coming true, as I said it would in January and ever since. No amount of insisting that Brittain was offered a great new deal will change that.

Why do we have to accept a future without a billionaire? Most of this league have done

Name me another non parachute Championship club where wages don't outstrip revenue

Turnover. £40 million+ received in the last 3 years. Outstrips any ticket sales or shirt sales rivals have collected.

Venky bastards out

So many being played like fiddles. Some never learn

So you reckon the players have got together and lied? Why would they? Start from that answer and then ask what else I've said is 'paranoia'

This is the smoking gun. The players themselves confirmed that they hadn't even been contacted by the club. Not 'in discussions' or trying to sort things out, simply not even contacted. Now unless 3 senior players have got together and hatched a scheme to lie to the media when their media duties come around, for absolutely no reason, the logical conclusion is that they were telling the truth. This also stacks with the total inertia and multiple failings by the club going back years. No number of club plants on twitter will change my opinion on that. Those working for the Venky regime - directly by the club or indirectly coining it in via commission, agents or favours - have a long standing history of lies, misleading activity and saying things that either haven't or won't happen. Brittain's imminent new contract just the latest - made up to try and get their side of things out ahead of the truth and sale.

Does anyone out there really believe the claim that we have been close to sorting a contract extension? They're playing you for fools if so. Nixon and Jackson are pawns being used to hoodwink the fans. I doubt they know or care.

Will be interesting to see how many 'knocks' and 'illnesses' have been picked up

Floods in Italy wasn't it? Or maybe that was another one.

We aren't a club that signs competition for places or solid back ups. If we spend money and make signings it is to go into the first XI and replace departures. So I think anyone expecting Brittain and the new signing to compete for a place was highly optimistic. Of course they will dress it up as this with the fiction, spread via friendly journos, that a good contract extension was on the table. But that doesn't cost anything.

Jackpot for the Venky stooges - sell a couple of players for cash AND hoodwink the fanbase, via Nixon, that we were close to agreeing a bumper extension.

Important to remember that whatever we are paying out in fees we are at least matching by what we are bringing in from sales. That's the 'model' imposed on us by the owners and their legal issues in India. There's no other way of it, unless we are borrowing money from somewhere. So even if you are daft enough to believe we are spending millions, ask who is being sold to fill that void.

"Spent nearly £5m so far and only lost JRC, a 35 year old Danny Batth and Dolan (who was always gonna leave), yet u will still have people complaining" A tweet a short while ago liked by 18 people. I mean where do you start? It is scary.

Suspect we will just insert a couple of hastily arranged behind closed doors friendlies at Brockhall to fill that gap.