JHRover

It would be a typical Waggott and Venky ruse for us to spend the next couple of weeks dangling the carrot of Carvalhal in front of fans When's the season ticket cut off again? And then once that is passed we get the usual downgrade to someone useless. Hard not to be cynical after what has gone on here over the years.

Carvalhal might be short term. Then I look at his first season at Sheff Wed - went from bottom half to play off final Nearly kept Swansea in the PL Rio Ave - highest ever league finish in his first season Braga - cup winners and Euro semi finals

If that's all true then we'd better hope Carvalhal takes it. If Farke's not a goer and the other 3 options include a League One manager, coach (Johnson or Ferguson presumably) and an unemployed Championship manager then Carvalhal is a no brainer.

Strong rumours and odds suggesting they are appointing Kompany as manager, who is meant to be leaving Anderlecht. A bit of an unkown appointment if it happens. Of course it will get plenty of publicity due to his playing career, but in his 2 years with Anderlecht he's got a 45% win record and no trophies with the biggest club in Belgium. To be honest if that happens at least it takes away another rival who could be shopping for decent managers.

Of course it is the same endless cycle. I think people are getting way ahead of themselves here anticipating wholesale changes to the way the club is operated. The rumour about Balaji's son taking over has been in the background for years. Little evidence to suggest anything is happening there. Waggott is still here. We've got shut of Mowbray and his buddy Venus but the rest of the coaching staff? Still here. I still expect another disappointing managerial appointment to be made, which will then be accepted by supporters "get behind him FFS" I still expect the new manager will be allowed to bring with him one assistant manager to replace Venus and that will be it. If we ever get round to appointing this Sporting Director I expect it will be someone completely inexperienced in such a role such as a former player or coach taking on more of a ceremonial role rather than actually directing the operation as they should be. Hope and pray I am wrong on all these things but plenty of track record in the cabinet to back up what I am saying.

What qualifications does he have to run a football club and would he get a senior position at any other football club? He'll be right at home here alongside Hunt, Agnew, Shaw, Shebby, Pasha, Waggott and the rest none of whom would have got anywhere near running a club of this size anywhere else.

Very good question indeed, and one which I doubt even the people at the club know the right answer to. We've got the 4 top owners in India, we don't know which if any of those are actively involved. Some reckon Balaji is the football man yet it seems Desai and hubby are the ultimate power. Potentially countless advisors and managers below them in the owners' ears. Rumours about Balaji's son being prepared for the job, who knows what he does. Pasha, invisible and silent yet very much involved. Steve Waggott, supposedly the CEO and involved in the appointment process, yet can't do much by the sounds of things. So that's 7 people we know about, possibly many more sticking their beaks in.

Routine maintenance required at any professional football club dressed up as Venky benevolence shocker. Next news is they'll be getting credit for emptying the bins and ordering white line paint.

I'm still sticking with my predictions of Nigel Adkins, Simon Grayson or similar. I don't doubt that decent managers are out there, will have applied and will be willing to come and work here in the right circumstances. Unfortunately I don't think that will go very far as I don't think the people running Rovers want those decent managers, and even if they did I think they would blow it during the interview, negotiation or final ratification stage. NES would cost an absolute fortune. He will have been on good money at Wolves along with a small army of coaching staff including Cathro and even more at Spurs since when he has been counting his pay-off. With PL finishes of 7th and working at Spurs under his belt he can sit tight and wait for another PL job or if not lucrative employment in Europe, Middle East or beyond. The only way he comes to the Championship is with a huge salary and big budget to get promoted. I'd like to think it is possible, but unless the people running Rovers have had brain transplants over the last few weeks (these the people who continue to employ 2nd rate staff and cut corners on pitch replacement costs) it isn't happening.

Rewarding season ticket holders? That's certainly the last thing on the minds of those making these decisions. Only have to look at the disgraceful treatment of season ticket holders since 2019 to see how much they care. It's nothing more than a cynical yet flawed attempt to try to pressure people into buying quickly, people risk missing out on a popular day at Stanley if they aren't quick. Of course those not renewing yet for significant reasons - financial or waiting to see what happens on the manager front - aren't going to change their minds on that due to this. If they are that bothered they'll just get them from Stanley instead.

Anyone worried about the season ticket holder exclusivity period can just get one in the Stanley end. Barking mad this lot. Game was announced and Stanley had tickets on sale well over a week ago. We then put them on sale but decide to impose restrictions on sales. Probably just another foolish attempt by Waggott to cajole people into buying season tickets thinking they are going to miss out. I won't succumb to such stunts I'll just go in the new bar and sit in the home end. They aren't going to force me into signing up - balls in their court - sort the managerial situation out properly and I'll pay top end prices.

Yeah but at least we've done all we can and can't compete at this level. Oh that reminds me - now that Derby have gone down and Forest may well go up which of the remaining clubs in the Championship can the naysayers use as examples of clubs we can't compete with? About 4-5 at the very most can argue they are materially 'bigger' than Rovers.

I imagine we are busy making sure that any decent interested managers are put off during the interview stage by ridiculous demands or incompetence. Then once we've wasted any chance of bringing anyone decent in through such incompetence we can move over to the bargain bucket aisle. Awkward part here is that good managers will be interested so we have to make sure they are put off.

I see that Preston are out distributing leaflets advertising their season tickets (Much cheaper than ours). Seen posts from people sticking them through letterboxes in Garstang. Wonder what the extent of our promotional material will be? Will we be posting flyers through doors in Leyland and Chorley?

That'll be an internal appointment then I expect.

The way I see it is that there are two frontrunners by a country mile - Farke and Carvalhal - for slightly different reasons although both boast impressive records at this level which would see them in the running for most decent jobs going. I think Carvalhal would give us the best shot at things in the immediate future - next season or the one after. He's the sort of manager who will be able to come in and improve on what we've had immediately and give him some solid backing he'd have us in contention for the play-offs, I'd be pretty confident of that. Of course it might not last long - he's not the sort who will stick around for 3-5 years happy to be mid-table but I don't see anything wrong with that as long as you are aware of it and have a plan for what happens afterwards. He's unlikely to be a long term manager but what is one of those? Another Mowbray or Bowyer where we bottle it every time the play-offs get within reach whilst losing millions every year? Farke I think would edge it if we had the luxury of picking between them - because I think Farke would be more patient and has a proven record of developing a side over time at this level. BUT I am conscious that Farke had a lot in his favour at Norwich - the right structure behind the scenes with good owners, good board, stable club and clued up sporting director - and he wouldn't get any of those things here. Whilst he didn't spend heavily at Norwich they weren't struggling financially by any stretch and were getting parachute income during his time there. So I would have concerns as to whether he could replicate his Norwich performance here, but hell, he'd be worth a try. Moving down the list from those two and the picture looks quite bleak to me. Abysmal actually. Ranging from people I don't want but could understand / tolerate to names that are either laughable or completely unacceptable suggestions. There's the usual ex-player from a big club wanting to make the grade as a manager - Ferguson, Carrick - sick and tired of this club being seen as a nursery for the 'big boys' to send people and see how it goes. So based on those names it is feast or famine. Would be very pleased with either of Farke or Carvalhal but the rest of the names - no thanks.

"Reports in the national media have stated Daniel Farke will also be interviewed though Lancs Live has previously reported he is more focused on Premier League and Bundesliga opportunities, without ruling out Championship roles" So according to Lancs Live, he might be interviewed, suggesting he is interested and on the list, that he isn't going to rule out Championship roles, but that he is 'more focused' on PL and Bundesliga opportunities. Talk about covering all bases. He might be interested, he might not, he might get an interview, he might not, he would prefer a move to the PL or Bundesliga (both very unlikely with his recent record). Is there a manager in the world not 'more focused' on working in the top division instead of the second?

You only have to look at the bit about Farke to see Lancs Live don't know what is going on.

We should be weeks and weeks ahead of Burnley. That lot are only just coming to terms with their new status. It will be days if not weeks before they can sift through the rubble of relegation and appoint a new manager. If we are using Burnley's seach for a new manager as an excuse for us struggling to get someone then that is absolutely unacceptable. We've had so much time and opportunity to line up a new manager even just in the last fortnight since the Birmingham game and should be appointing someone imminently, before the Burnley folk have even realised what day it is.

And to make matters worse there is a major item on the agenda that wavering fans might want to see the answer to before they commit to such a substantial outlay - this being the managerial situation. Appoint a bold, ambitious, exciting manager before the end of the month and sales could be boosted. Do nothing or make yet another ridiculous appointment and many will just not bother. Imagine another dismal Venky appontment followed by a £30 price hike in June - who in their right minds is going to renew or sign up then?

Personally I expect bringing in Ainsworth, even if we wanted him, would be extremely unlikely under our regime. First off we would need to tap him up and see if he wanted to come and have some informal discussions with him and see if it was a goer. Only then would it be worth a formal approach to Wycombe and with it agreement to pay compensation at whatever figure they have provision for. We are the club that keeps coaching staff on rather than pay them off because it is cheaper to do so. So coughing up the best part of £1 million to lure a manager away from another club, along with probably his coaching staff, and then offering him a package significantly better than the one he is on, I think is alien to Waggott and the cheapskate regime we have. I would also be surprised if Ainsworth has formally applied for the job or made overtures towards Rovers at this point given his commitment to Wycombe and their play-off involvement. It would be extremely unprofessional if he had done so. Is this important? Probably, because it sounds like our managerial 'search' is one where we sit back, wait and see who applies and then try to work out the 'best' option from that list. This probably rules out most, if not all, of those options currently in work.

Sunderland a decent away day but then again we rarely take many to Middlesbrough which is similar. If Wycombe had come up every man and his dog would want to go as it would have been a new ground for most following Rovers. Waggott will also be hoping Leeds come down then he can have the return of the annual hand Ewood Park over to the away club routine.

As I say I will believe it when I see it but these sort of steps would fly in the face and contrast with everything they have done to date during their 'stewardship' of the Club. I have no problem with the head coach / sporting director model. In fact I have come to the conclusion that this is necessary and probably the only way things will work out here with owners who refuse to come to the UK and who operate in such a bizarre way. People will say they have learned lessons and will now do things differently. I hope so. But it is worth remembering that under Mowbray very recently we still had the old fashioned structure with him basically running everything at the club from the top down and even, at least for some time, was more powerful than the CEO. So it will be quite a drastic turnaround to simply appoint a head coach. To me the owners have shown no desire nor interest in putting in place a sensible structure that will enable the club to progress without its fortunes being tied directly to the presence of a particular manager. It was the same under Bowyer - left to do it all himself - did a reasonable job but when the time came for a change it was a huge upheaval. We don't tend to approach or bring in anyone who is employed elsewhere. My interpretation of things is that one of the middle man - Pasha, Waggott or both - have concluded the head coach structure is the way to go here. I agree with that. But actually delivering such a structure - getting the right people into the right positions at the right times - is easier said than done especially when your focus is on doing things as cheaply or as easily as possible. The way to do it of course is to headhunt a sporting director with experience of working at a similar club, bring him in and delegate footballing decisions to him. But this process should already be at its conclusion - it is already becoming too late for such an individual to contribute to key areas such as appointing the next first team manager and recruiting half a new team this summer. You refer to the 'recruitment department' but these people are analysts and scouts not people who decide who we are signing. There has to be an individual - manager or sporting director - who goes through that information and takes responsibility for getting deals done and how those perform. If a head coach comes in before the end of the month, which I think is looking unlikely, then that bloke is going to need to know exactly what he has to work with and will need to crack on with getting signings lined up. What we are seemingly planning on doing is then dropping an as yet unidentified sporting director into the mix, who might have completely different ideas on things half way through the summer. Just seems a backward way of doing it. We've seen attempts at this before - Coyle was manager, we than randomly appointed a Director of Football (Paul Senior) mid way through the season who talked the talk but clearly wasn't qualified for the role, and then after one window and a few months he left and wasn't replaced. So whatever was going on there clearly wasn't planned, thought out or stuck to in any way. Mowbray just got on a plane to India, got his new contract and was able to run the club himself for 5 years. It is going to need much more coherency this time around, yet the people responsible for that are the same.

Well time is ticking by - about 3 weeks now until the players report back to Brockhall for pre-season training and really the new man and his staff need time to get in, get preparing pre-season and get to work on recruitment. A lot to do in not a lot of time. I have to say I am baffled by this sporting director but after the head coach is appointed 'plan'. Lets suppose we appoint someone on the basis they are going to be head coach and not manager, and therefore will have to relinquish some power to the sporting director on player recruitment and coaching staff. What happens in the interval between head coach and sporting directors arriving? Who is responsible for identifying and signing players? Is a head coach really going to tolerate being brought in and then having a sporting director imposed on them where there may be a clash of ideas, personalities? The more time that passes the more concerned I am that this is merely going to be a powerless 'head coach' brought in to work within the existing system - which means alongside Lowe, Benson and Johnson and whatever people we have dealing with things behind the scenes. I had hoped for a clean sweep and fresh start on coaching after 5 years of the same names and faces. It seems the club wishes to prioritise saving money on a couple of pay-offs or prioritises keeping nice lads in jobs than it does bringing in the best staff possible. Of course I'll wait until a final announcement on that front but the omens aren't good. I've spoken to a lot of people against Carvalhal because he's had a lot of jobs in his career. For me we need to be looking for someone who is going to give us the best chance right away, who might give us a couple of decent shots at it and then we can re-assess in 2 years time. Then either a change and target someone else or another try if we've gone near. There seems to be a lot of people mistaking stability with needing to have the same manager for at least 3 years and that we should appoint someone based on how long they are likely to last. We don't need this. We should be able to avoid the boom and bust model without needing to keep the same manager in place for years and years.

Apparently Accy are selling tickets for their game against us. No mention of such things from Rovers