Blinkered again Chaddy. I know what 'management' have repeatedly said. I've already told you why I can't take that seriously given 'managements' recent track record for lies and bullshit. Of course they are going to tell journalists and fans that they and the club have done all they can. Can't you see that? You might be correct - they may have had improved offers that they don't want to accept. I'm really struggling to word it in a way you will respond properly to. This club is (according to some figures) losing £20 million a year and in trouble with FFP rules on a regular basis. I want to know why that is the case if we are unable to put a package together good enough to persuade these players to commit when the alternative to them is another Championship club with lower losses and compliant with FFP. How can this be? And I'm afraid 'that's their choice' is an unacceptable response to such an alarming sequence of events. It might warrant a shoulder shrug if it is one maverick player but when it is 4-5 key first team players, 2 of which are academy graduates then I don't think that is shoulder shrug 'we move on' stuff. I think it is 'what the hell is going on here?' stuff. I'm glad you recognise it is normal to be in talks with players when they have 18 months left on their contracts. Shame that didn't happen with these others which is why we are in the mess we are today with them.

I tend to agree. The Gallagher one to me smells of a case of panic realising that they've made a mess of the Brereton and Armstrong ones where we could have had much much more from sales. I dont think it is a coincidence that Gallagher will be the only 'investment' player left if Brereton leaves - the only one where the owners have authorised substantial cash for. I hope that even Venkys can understand that we won't be in a better position than this heading into January and won't have a much better chance of the play-offs ever. If they are remotely serious about promotion then they will resist offers in January and risk getting less in the summer and keep the momentum going

Maybe true, maybe not. 'Improved' can cover a wide range of things. A penny a week more is 'improved' but still derisory. Matters not though - whatever we are doing (if anything) isn't good enough for them to sign up. The fact that Nyambe and Lenihan in particular have been here since childhood and Rothwell is now a pillar of the team playing at the highest level he has in his career to date and yet all 3 are supposedly rejecting 'improved' terms tells us all we need to know - that there is clearly something very wrong either with the offers being made or with other things at the club. As I say - none are going to be off to the PL - so for them to be attracted elsewhere in the Championship given their histories and importance at this club and how well we are doing at present suggests something is very off.

That MIGHT be the case IF you are under League embargo/restrictions. We aren't - so this is irrelevant to us So over the last 6 months we have: - Shaved £100,000 a week (approx) off the wage bill through releasing lots of players - probably saving in the region of £5 million over the next 12 months - Sold Adam Armstrong - even with Newcastle's cut and taking off the initial fee for him we are looking at £8 million profit - Sold our training ground to a different company for £16.6 million All in all there is almost £30 million in income/savings made And I'm supposed to believe that we can't pay good players more or that we are under FFP trouble??

Those are pandemic figures aren't they? In normal times we are not spending double our income on wages. How does that compare to other Championship clubs? Well I think you would struggle to find many spending less than 100% of income on wages. So that doesn't really explain how others can afford to renew contracts whereas we can't. That also ignores the absolutely massive wage savings made last summer - Bennett, Downing, Bell, Evans, Williams, Mulgrew, THB, Elliott, Trybull, Holtby, Armstrong - how much a week you reckon saved there alone? Pushing £100,000 a week would be my estimate. Anyone else in this league achieved such wage savings recently? This is all very important.. because the figures often produced for wages are out of date. Add to that the pandemic impact which everyone else has had to deal with along with the Armstrong cash boost and I really am struggling to comprehend it. We are supposed to believe that they were offering Armstrong a substantial wage rise to try and keep him here. Still don't understand why they couldn't use that money and his wage savings to split between these others to keep them.

1. Which Nixon or tabloid links have I started taking seriously? The thing I read was a direct quote from Mowbray on Talkshite. If that was an incorrect quote then I apologise 2. I know all about FFP. I also know that you can still renew contracts under FFP and most other clubs at this level have been busy doing that. Discussions on here don't necessarily amount to fact on that front. Also ignores the elephant in the room which is the best way to avoid FFP trouble is to sell good players under long term contracts for good fees. We won't be able to do that due to our contract situation. That awkward fact gets overlooked in discussions which focus on our 'wage structure' because it sounds good when Waggott prattles on about it in Fan Forum meetings. 3. I'm absolutely delighted with how things are going on the pitch at the moment and hats off to Mowbray for turning what was looking like a dangerous situation into a potentially very exciting one. It is clear that for all his flaws he has got most or all of the players working their socks off for him. That doesn't mean I can't be concerned for what the future holds and look forward beyond our current excellent run. Nothing would hurt more than seeing this good young side dismantled and head off to mediocre rivals because we haven't got our house in order. The prospect of losing some of these players to Championship rivals who have nothing going for them that we don't is a scary one and I really struggle to accept that given the money these owners have put in and the losses racked up along with the sale of Armstrong - there really should be scope in all that to be able to retain our good young players and protect the club. I don't accept it can't be done and strongly believe that this is nothing to do with FFP but is because the owners have decided they've had enough spending for the time being. No amount of slideshows and spreadsheets will change my opinion there and I think Mowbray has suggested that the issue is in India with his comments about the owners 'struggling' with the pandemic. Merry Christmas JBIz

No I won't accept it. I won't accept selling our training ground supposedly to comply with FFP rules due to losing £20 million a year and yet at the same time losing our prized academy developed players for nothing to other Championship clubs. Because that is what is going to happen unless something changes fast - these people like Rothwell, Lenihan and Nyambe won't be getting PL moves. They will be joining the likes of Middlesbrough, Huddersfield, Sheff Utd or Stoke. I won't accept that. It is bizarre that suddenly at this point we are (supposedly - will believe it when it is confirmed) on the cusp of getting Gallagher to commit. Why is it bizarre? Because he is already one of (maybe the) biggest earner at the club and we are under much less pressure time wise to get him signed up. I'm not opposed to giving him an extension to protect our investment but I'd like that to follow much more urgent and valuable deals for those leaving in 5 months time. I suspect (if it is true) that Rovers and Waggott know what a clanger they have dropped with the others, doing nothing until it was too late and are now taking steps to try and avoid such a scenario unfolding with the last remaining investment in Gallagher. Now that Armstrong has gone (cash disappeared) and Brereton soon goes (cash will disappear) there''s only Gallagher left of the 3 'big' buys they made. They'll be looking to recoup his fee and then start the cycle again.

So less than a week after a fantastic performance and win at Bournemouth to bring the top 2 into sight, cement a top 6 spot heading into Xmas and with the rest of the league starting to take notice we've had: - Mowbray heading to Talkshite to confirm Venkys might sell Brereton in January because they've had a tough time with covid (not mentioning the £16 million they found to transfer the training ground and the £15 million we got for Armstrong not long ago) - Still no progress on the expiring contracts of key players - Bizarre rumour of Gallagher set to sign a short term extension despite him being one of the highest paid players at the club making a mockery of claims we can't afford to keep the others. Suggests to me Rovers know they've dropped clangers on the others and are now desperately trying to avoid the same fate with Gallagher as with the others. - Transfer 'links' to Hedges and Tony Watt Exciting stuff.

In relation to your number 3 - I'm not really interested in the demographics of BwD because that is increasingly irrelevant to our attendances and support base. Perhaps you or someone else will have some statistics as to what % of our paying attendance live outside of BwD boundaries. I bet it is a very substantial portion, and it is only going to increase over time as more and more people move out to different areas and rarely visit Blackburn. Your 28% figure for BwD is only really relevant if we start and finish our efforts at the artificial boundaries of BwD. If we are doing that we might as well give up as the club won't sustain itself on that. There really needs to be an acceptance and embracing of the fact that a massive portion and increasing portion of our support lives in neighbouring boroughs and the club needs to start treating those boroughs as its catchment area. I think it is a disgrace how the club appears to have surrendered any interest in Hyndburn and the massive Rovers supporting population there seemingly for no reason other than it might upset Accy Stanley. I couldn't care less what ethnicity anyone is but think it is very short sighted and ignorant of the realities of our support and very unambitious if the extent of our efforts is focusing on the relatively small population of BwD when really this club is much more than a Blackburn town club.

I was about to say precisely the same thing. I am always bewildered at those people who want to credit Venkys for their investment and support and who then at the same time refer to our crowds and income as a reason why we should be grateful to Venkys. Seemingly oblivious to the sustained relentless decline in our attendances over the last decade due to their management of the club and their employment of incompetents to run it. It is their fault that we are now mixing with the likes of Luton, Preston and Peterborough on attendances when 5 years ago we were comfortably above them and 10 years ago we were getting 20,000 home fans on. Not natural, not inevitable. They have caused it. Our poor gates are an asset to those who want to criticise Venkys, not to those who want to credit or defend them.

It's all well and good and I'm happy they are doing something to try and develop things. A couple of issues. One is that those children are at an age where they won't have the cash nor freedom to go on their own steam and will need adult(s) to agree to pay for them and accompany them. This makes it unlikely unless they are getting freebies or travel/supervision provides. Second issue is that it is all quite pointless if at the same time the club is pushing established supporters away through ridiculous pricing and schemes (20% fall in season ticket holders in less than 2 years)

It is a perfectly easy decision. January is a bad time to do business and so a sale of our star player even if by some miracle the owners allowed money to be reinvested would not be value for money and would not be conducive to a promotion push in the second half of the season. I bet if we head onto Fulham or Bournemouth pages they aren't discussing the merits of selling Mitrovic in January - because there aren't any - they are serious about promotion and know their best chance of delivering it is by retaining their best players. The player will be told that if he wants to leave he can do so in the summer if we don't get promoted. That might mean we get less for him than in January. It might mean we get more if he continues to fire in goals every week. But it is a price worth paying to try and sustain a promotion push because the reward for succeeding vastly outweighs what we might get for him. We have been told since day 1 that the owners want promotion and will back the club to achieve it. Lets see if they are serious. I'm afraid a sale of our leading goalscorer in this position will show that they aren't. I'm glad you have confirmed where the Armstrong money went - to avoid an embargo last summer (not that we needed to given our recruitment) and that this will keep us out of an embargo moving forward. So if we sell Brereton or don't spend any money once again in January what will your excuse be then? FFP again?

The studio in the JW stand hasn't been used for years as all broadcasts use a studio off site. I don't know what facilities your journalist friend uses but I don't think it will include the studio in the JW stand by the DE corner flag. My understanding was that the studio we have would struggle to accommodate the ever increasing requirements of broadcasting from the ground. I notice you didn't respond to the point about the inadequate disabled facilities and the need to provide better if we were to get to the Premier League and even if we didn't have to we should still be looking to do so to improve things for those who need those facilities.

A new Riverside would bring a plethora of benefits to the Club over time. The existing stand has a large number of restricted view seats and also the first 7-8 rows are uncovered meaning people get wet. A new stand would remove those issues. At present disabled fans have to sit in the rain at below pitch level. A new stand could provide a good number of elevated and sheltered disabled areas. I understand that if we were ever promoted to the Premier league there are now strict rules in place on the number of disabled seats a club must provide, which is why United lost seats at Old Trafford and the Dingles had to spend money building those horrible corner structures. A new Riverside incorporating these facilities would avoid the need for rushed work if promoted especially if that meant losing seats in the other 3 stands. I also understand that there are even more strict media requirements which the existing TV gantry and media room in the JW stand would probably be insufficient for. A new Riverside could provide these with ease. Then there's the aesthetics. The ground looks lopsided and let down by the Riverside which itself was a cheap job in the first place, the accoustics would be much better if the walkway at the front was built over and the stand moved up closer to the pitch. For those who sit in the stand it would avoid the need to get wet through going to the toilet or kiosks at half time. Then there's non-matchday benefits. Depending on how big you wanted to go there is no limit really to the amount of space in the stand that could be opened up to other revenue streams. A hotel is one option - not many people visit Blackburn for the views and I don't think a Riverside hotel would be any worse than looking onto Whitebirk roundabout or Darwen services. I suppose what it comes down to is there is no cost cutting or cash raising when building a new Riverside. It would require cold hard investment from the owners up front with no immediate guarantee of a return. Contrast to the training ground activity where we have a juicy estate in the Ribble Valley prime for housing to get rid of and the cash from that can more than cover the costs of obtaining an alternative and throwing up some inferior facility and the difference goes elsewhere.

Which 'footballing experts' would they be then? Remember - just because you have lots of followers on Twitter doesn't mean you are qualified or an expert. As I say - the Club has earned the distrust and suspicion. They can prove me wrong. Although the purchase of land referred to above might appear to be ideal there remain substantial obstacles - like access, flooding and most importantly where/how we are going to be able to erect large buildings and floodlights required given the very strict planning regulations in that part of the world.

The last time there was news to be given out they didn't do anything. It was down to a Rovers fan spotting an application on the Ribble Valley planning portal. Why would this time be different?

We already have an academy that functions very well and in terms of players making the grade in the first team are surely unrivalled in the top 2 divisions. If it ain't broke don't fix it might be something worth thinking about. I mean realistically how much better and more prolific can our academy get? Is the aim to have our entire squad made up of academy players? A romantic thought maybe but completely unrealistic. Where Venkys and their associates are concerned I think it is wise to take the concern/suspicion route first and foremost and be pleasantly surprised if they prove us wrong, rather than the opposite which is to tell all and sundry how wonderful things are going to be and then fast forward we've lost our brilliant Brockhall facilities and have ended up with a joke facility elsewhere and lose our Category 1 status. What I do know is that last set of plans - which emerged via the back door after the Club had sought to keep them quiet - consisted of slashing our size by over 50% and trying to condense everything we currently have on two sites onto one site that was wholly inadequate for the requirements of a modern day facility, Category 1 status and getting remotely close to sustaining what we already have. I find it implausible that in the space of a few months there has been a complete U turn from attempting to condense everything onto one site that was inadequate for our needs and clearly just an attempt to grab the money from the housing development on the top site to all of a sudden now supposedly investing millions in a massive site. My prediction is that they will have an option of some land perhaps off the A59 at BAE Salmesbury which will sit between some office blocks. We are now at what, 7 years since any of the owners bothered even to attend a match, can't afford to replace the pitch at Ewood and the ground is covered in grime yet I am really supposed to believe that they are now eager to improve on what we already have at Brockhall with a new facility? Sorry, I'm not buying it. As with everything else they can prove me wrong - get it built - show us the plans of what they are trying to do. It should be clear quite quickly that it is an upgrade on Brockhall. Bigger, combined, newer facilities, all singing all dancing. Keep it shrouded in mystery and uncertainty and I'll stick to my suspicion first approach.

Venkys have invested nothing in improving facilities beyond the essential requirements of maintaining what we have and the requirements to comply with Category 1 academy status. So if I'm supposed to believe that they are now taking such an interest to develop a BETTER training/academy facility than the one we already have - well I won't be doing. If there's any truth in it I suspect it will be another downscale and corner cutting job motivated purely by the attraction of throwing up houses on Brockhall and the cash that comes with it. And you don't sell your best player in January when in with a shot at promotion. Even if that means losing him for less in the summer (which we probably won't because the summer is a better time to sell) it is still worth it to have as good a shot as possible at promotion. We've always been told Venkys will back a promotion push if we are doing well. Yet mere months on from selling Armstrong and not reinvesting any of it now all the talk is about selling the next star man. All this talk perplexing when the focus should be on adding options to this squad in January to take us to where we want to be. A very weird way of doing things to focus on who gets sold in January when really there should be no such talk in our position. Clubs serious about promotion wouldn't entertain it. As for Venkys I'd be surprised if they have a clue where we are in the table.

Why aim for a big crowd and deal with the hassle? Makes more sense to this lot to keep numbers low but make as much as possible from them. Might make sense on their monthly targets and ensuring an easy life but long term dangerous for this football club. But hey we got low gates in the 80s so its all part of the circle of life.

Oh dear. We can't spend money - the theory goes that our owners can and will invest but are being prevented from doing so. A quick look at our transfer dealings over the last 18 months tells us all we need to know on that front. Can't get a new pitch - thanks for confirming just that - we didn't get one! Waggott got carried away in January when it was a mess telling everyone what he was going to do about it and then we just got the renovation. Now you reckon a new one is coming next summer? You believe that? We can't sell more tickets and that is why gates have collapsed. Aside from the derby match v Preston and the special offer of Sheff United gates have been appalling at Ewood and I'm not comparing to the PL days I'm comparing to the heady heights of 2014 under Gary Bowyer in the Championship. Astonishing that anyone would see the issue on ticket sales as being 'fans who won't buy them for all sorts of reasons'. About time the club took responsibility for those reasons. Like any other business the customers vote with their feet. A failing business loses customers by the bucketload. A business that recognises why can turn it around. A business that keeps repeating the same mistakes and thinks it is doing all it can and blames customers for not coming will fail. Can't cope with FFP rules - we had to sell our training ground all of a sudden in a desperate last minute attempt to avoid sanctions (or so the story goes). That tells me we can't cope with it. Fully compliant thanks to flogging the crown jewels to a different company.

I went on the Ipswich forum at lunchtime to see what they had to say about this. I have to say I find it fascinating the difference of opinion and how highly they regard him. To me I wouldn't be bothered if he went although to be honest it would sum up what a shambles this club is if it were to happen at this juncture. Yet the Ipswich lot seem almost giddy with excitement. Salivating at the mere prospect of it. Bizarre really. I know he was popular there as a player yet his managerial career hardly sets pulses racing. We are on a good run and doing well but take away the last month or so and we have been much of a muchness in the Championship for the last 3 years. A popular name in the betting there is Neil Harris who got Millwall out of League One, kept them in the Championship and did an Ok job at Cardiff yet they are lukewarm as to his credentials yet Mowbray who got us out of League One (with a lot better squad), kept us in the Championship is seen as an incredible appointment.

Which way does it work then? Why is Burnley seen as a better venue than Rovers for such relatively prestigious fixtures? I would suspect that part of it is down to having friends in high places at the FA - for example Southgate's Middlesbrough connections ensuring the Riverside hosted 2 senior friendlies recently - but there will also be an element of proactivity about it - putting the name out there and embracing the prospect of doing it. I'm sure you'll explain to me a collection of reasons why we can't do it. Can't Do FC are good at finding reasons why things can't happen instead of just getting on with it. Can't spend money Can't get a new pitch Can't sell more tickets Can't get better crowds Can't make new signings Can't cope with FFP rules Can't, Can't Can't.

In reverse order this time. If it wasn't cost effective then nobody would host U23 games. There are loads of places a hotel could be built but my original point was in relation to a new Riverside stand and the suggestion we don't need the additional facilities that could provide - a hotel is one example of ways of using such space without needing to increase capacity of the stadium. Are Man Utd and Liverpool club shops unable to stock adult shirts at the moment? I only ask because they also import their stock from the far east so not sure how they have coped with supply issues. And finally no I won't just accept what people on here say. If i believed everything I read on the internet the world would be very different for me. I tend to rely more on my own interpretation and understanding of things, along with joining the dots and past experience. Very easy to be made a fool of if you just accept what people tell you without question. This is how people like Waggott operate with fans hanging off his every word without question.

Key words - competent and director. Pretty sure the new guy isn't a director. He might be 'Head of Commercial' or whatever but he isn't a club director. I'm not sure how competent he is, suppose only time will tell but I've noticed no change since he came in. "People clearly know people close to the players" - fine - who are these people? Yes a hotel in Blackburn would be needed. I understand the ones already there are regularly sold out and that is why recently they have built new ones including the Hilton at Whitebirk. We could have had a slice of that action but did nothing. Yes there is office space in the Darwen End. So make some more. I don't know nor care what sales figures on kits are or how many were ordered. Fact of the matter is that they are now sold out less than half way through the season with seemingly little chance of any new stock for the foreseeable. Last to get them released and on sale and then sold out in November suggests to me there is a problem somewhere along the line. I have no idea how much Burnley made. Does it matter? Suffice to say they weren't doing it for free and will have taken something home for their ground being used. I thought we were desperate for money? So hosting England U23s would generate some. Presumably another one to add to the list of things we can't do at Can't Do FC.

Another suggestion of ways of increasing revenues poo-pooed. Can't do this, won't do that. For a club supposedly hamstrung by FFP restrictions I would expect more efforts to maximise revenues yet as you say - a large hospitality area in the Darwen End stood empty every week. It could be used. Just like there are many, many, many other ways the club could grow income to held deal with FFP issues. A few suggestions: - Appoint a competent commercial director. We had one with Dave Biggar who delivered the lucrative Dafabet deal and then he wasn't replaced when he left - Maximise the use of our good facilities - open the Darwen End up for use on matchdays. I went to Charlton last time we played there and the lounge behind their home end - similar to Darwen End - absolutely packed with fans drinking reasonably priced beer (In London yet cheaper than it is for a beer at Rovers) - Develop new facilities and new ways to bring in income. Not necessarily hospitality space but also conferencing rooms, office space, gym, hotel, etc. etc. etc. - The Club shop is now out of most adult sizes of replica shirts 2 weeks before Xmas with 6 months of the season left to run. I don't accept Covid excuses (go to any other Championship club and they will have stock) and I don't accept this is down to unprecedented demand. It is down to the club hedging its bets and only ordering small quantities of kit. More money missed out on. - As I mentioned yesterday we could host England U23 fixtures and get good crowds on watching. Instead they go to Burnley which is an inferior stadium in a less advantageous location. None of these things are done because they require planning and investment. Much easier to do nothing, let the stadium deteriorate, wail and whinge about no money and FFP and limited income. Do something about it then.