JHRover

So there weren't frost covers at Ewood then? I'm sure I can dig some photos out that show there were.

Thought it was EFL but not sure. Either way the point is the same

I'm not surprised fans aren't allowed in as I'm well aware of the rules the Welsh regional assembly have imposed. I'm surprised that the only way the game can be broadcast to fans is by moving kick off away from 3pm to avoid the 'blackout' imposed by the league, which is designed to protect the sanctity of 3pm games and avoid gates being destroyed by live streaming. I would have hoped some common sense could prevail and recognition that these are exceptional circumstances forced by the Welsh authorities and not for commercial reasons. But as I say, I expect both Rovers and Cardiff are quite happy with an earlier kick off for travel and organisational reasons so it matters not.

Ridiculous that in the unprecedented circumstances such as these - which sees the Welsh assembly adopting different rules to England - that we still have to follow the 'blackout' rule for 3pm kick offs. You'd have thought they might have made an exception given this isn't being done for commercial reasons but out of necessity. Then again maybe the early kick off appeals to Rovers and Cardiff -- get the game done and everyone can be home early.

Stoke seem to have a decent link with City at the moment. Have had a few of their youngsters recently.

Taylor Harwood Bellis joining Stoke according to their local media

'From all reports' - again - what 'all reports' are you referring to? What appears in the Lancashire Telegraph that has been fed to them by Waggott the liar? The Club haven't said anything - other than making other clubs aware of the situation and effectively inviting interested parties to come forward. 'Half the stuff I say doesn't come true' - examples please? Who have we signed? - you don't seriously mean the 6 month contract for James Brown do you? I think you'll find the vast majority of people expected a struggle this season and on the other page there was a poll I think with 15th the zone people expected us to be in. Even the manager has admitted he's surprised at how well we've done so far. If the club take my money I'm entitled to question what is going on and no - as I've said many many times - I will not just blindly accept what they say without question or criticism especially when it involves half our squad being out of contract in the next 12 months and our best academy products walking away for nothing. Because lets not forget - this isn't limited to Nyambe - if it was it might be put down to a 'one off'. This is actually most of the squad.

Those clubs will offer him a competitive salary and a 4 year deal. We aren't offering him a competitive salary and probably not close to 4 years.

Where do people think Nyambe is likely to go? I've heard 'rumours' of a move to Leeds. We've been through all this nonsense before with Raya, Cairney and others. Generally when other clubs at a similar or higher level want one of our players it is for a good reason. If the replacement we aim for was a better player/option then the clubs chasing our players could save themselves a lot of time and money by going directly for the replacement.

Wigan drawn away to Stoke. Can't say I envy them.

My take was that we were the better side in the first half, and probably should have got ourselves ahead with a few good chances missed, although Wigan themselves went close on a couple of occasions. As the half went on I thought the game deteriorated. Second half I thought Wigan stepped it up and the game became more aggressive and bad tempered. I thought they ended up the better side after we were forced into changes. The concern for me was that after equalising we did the old habit of surrendering any momentum or initiative from the goal to the opposition. I would expect having equalised so late in the game to be the side pushing for a winner yet after Ayala scored it was like a switch had been pressed and Wigan seized the initiative, pressured us and went and got the winner. Only one side looked like winning it after we made it 2-2. This is something that has happened frequently before this season under Mowbray - we press for and get an equaliser and then once we've scored we look like a different side - seemingly switching off or losing momentum having scored. Whether that is thinking it is 'job done' or not being able to cope with the opposition responding to a goal I don't know. I've seen a few people saying that we were in total control, should have won comfortably but for Pears' errors and can't agree.

The interesting thing will be what Rovers (Waggott, Shadow Man and Mowbray) do re. Nyambe now that they have 3 weeks to get some money for him or he goes for nothing. Whatever the reasons it is clear that unless Rovers change their approach he won't be staying. The awkward part is the league position and the fact that Nyambe has been a central part of the team and defence that has been the best in the league over the last couple of months. It is awkward because you start changing that - as we saw yesterday - and things can rapidly unravel. All very well bringing in a replacement but you'd be doing well to find someone who is going to improve what we've had since November. The 'loan with a view to buy' is typical Waggott. No cash required now, an option without commitment to pay down the line. Always tomorrow, just like all his other plans and claims. If Rovers are keen to claw in some money now then they do so taking a huge risk at a critical time. The other obstacle is that interested parties may well just wait 5 months and get him for nothing than pay cash now. Therefore expect to see increasing attempts by Rovers to push him out now. This will include public advertisements as to his availability, mysterious injuries and absences and rumours of unhappiness. Text book stuff its been going on here for the last 10 years. Best get used to it folks because unless we get promoted there's going to be the same thing happening with Kaminski, Lenihan, Travis and Buckley in the next 18 months. Amazing they must all be making unreasonable demands and have daft agents. Or maybe the problem is at Rovers end?

Don't think I've ever seen us win at Wigan. My first visit there was the 5-3 defeat at Xmas (Santa Cruz game) Since then think we've had a couple of draws and 3-4 defeats. I'm expecting a strong side from Mowbray and expect us to beat them. We are a league above them and a better side.

Yes I have considered that possibility. Then I naturally come to the next question rather than merely shrugging my shoulders and blaming those nasty agents (everyone's favourite villain in football). Why would it possibly be that someone like Nyambe - who has been here since childhood, made the grade to first team regular, playing every week in a side pushing for promotion - actively want to leave this club? There are only two acceptable explanations - that he expects to be able to get a move to a club higher in the pyramid (i.e. Premier League - very unlikely IMO) or that he knows he can get substantially better money at other clubs. Assuming he doesn't have PL clubs lining up for him that means Championship or abroad. Who in the Championship can and will offer them more than we can given our losses and investment from the owners? Other explanations might include that he doesn't want to play for this manager or he is unhappy at the club - neither of which seem to be the case going off his performances this season. Of course you might be right - but then I want to know why and what is going to be done about it - we cannot lose 2-3 key players every year on free transfers with a shrug of the shoulders blaming the player/agents. We need to look at this with great concern not just 'oh well, plenty more fish in the sea' (which we can't afford because we haven't brought any money in because all our assets have walked)

I said it at the start of the window and I'll keep saying it every day until the end of it. I find it bizarre to say the least that there are even notions of selling any of our first team players at this point with the form we are in. I am probably more surprised than anyone at the form we have been in and the position we find ourselves in and with that in mind and the standard of the division at present this is the best opportunity we will ever have (at least until we get decent owners) of getting promoted. With the prize on offer it would be bonkers to start shuffling the deck, selling or replacing key first team members. It just isn't necessary if the aim and ambition is promotion. We aren't just talking about another flirtation with the play-offs here - top two is achievable. No surprises that this Dutch lad is 'loan with option to buy' - another crafty move by Waggott no doubt. Get Nyambe out the door for a few million to whoever will pay, bring in a loan until the summer to keep people quiet and then worry about whether we can ever pay the transfer fee down the line (probably not). Seems to me that there are insidious elements in the media (some perhaps close to home) who are absolutely determined to fan speculation at the Club. The only outgoings should be Poveda, Clarkson and perhaps one or two of the kids. There should of course be some incomings - no problem with the Dutch lad if it is a loan to compete/eventually replace Nyambe but doubt that will happen.

It comes down to this - lets say Nyambe is currently on £4000 per week (this is the figure I've heard from a few people, and probably about what I would expect him to be on) He might be expecting to go to £8000 a week (this might be a very reasonable demand given the wages of others at the club and he and his agent won't be making that demand on a whim - they will know what he can get elsewhere. He's not going to turn down a good offer to gamble on someone picking him up and offering him more. We 'might' have offered him £5000 a week - a 25% increase on his current wage plus other perks. To someone like Waggott that probably represents an excellent offer and indeed to most people in the real world would jump at such an increase. But it isn't enough - not when the likes of Ayala are on £15,000 a week and barely play. So a 25% increase is strictly speaking a good substantial increase on offer - but still not remotely enough for what an established player would expect. That doesn't mean that Nyambe is 'holding the club to ransom'' for demanding £25k per week - just like Bauer wasn't ever demanding £40,000 a week to leave Charlton. It is nonsense. Brereton is another one that could have been sorted last summer and an extension awarded - now quite rightly there's little chance of him staying. Last summer he only had 12 months remaining on his deal - the time for renewing had already long passed.

That needless chartered plane down to Cardiff was £1000 a week towards Ryan or enough to compensate season ticket holders for the games they missed but as ever it's easy come easy go on one side and then skint on the other.

I'm not going over the free agent debate all over again. I've made the point in the past that for one reason or another during their decade of owning the club there has been almost zero investment in defensive positions and healthy investment in positions further up the pitch where the headlines are made. Conspiracy or not when we look at transfer fees paid that is the reality. 3+1 is par for the course on contracts for good players in their 20's. That would be my only criticism of the Gallagher one - it isn't really a long term deal. It is an extra year on what he already had. The reason we are getting into this situation is short sightedness - Kaminski another one. Infact the only 4 year deal we seem to have issued recently was for Aynsley Pears. It is more than disappointing the 3 lads are coming to the end of their deals. I accept that these things can happen in football. Players move on up the pyramid to richer/higher positioned clubs. Lets just see where these 3 end up because I'll put a bet on it now that it won't be a side in the Premier League that takes them on and they will be lining up at another Championship club. That is what I struggle to accept - that we are in effect acting as an academy for rival Championship clubs. Possession of Category 1 academy status - if we take Lenihan and Nyambe - should be a major asset for this club - it should see us develop players that are cornerstones of our squad for years to come or at the very least achieve healthy transfer reciepts enabling us to reinvest and avoid FFP troubles. As it stands we get none of that - we get no fee - we see them head to a tinpot rival club with inferior structure to us - we still struggle to achieve FFP compliance and we see minimal investment in new players. Slippery slippery slope. So no - I can't just accept this with a shrug of the shoulders - I want to know what the plan is to ensure we don't lose any more assets for nothing. This time next year it will be Kaminski and Travis, Buckley won't be far behind. More agent blaming and shoulder shrugging but it can't continue. Both our finances and football will be knackered if it does.

Of course I think my theories are fact. People like you think I am deluded, I think people like you are deluded. It's called a difference of opinion! Again this '£10 million bonus' supposedly on the table. I've already tried my best to explain that all the players will have promotion bonuses in their contracts from when they signed them, just like they will at every other club in the land. A promotion bonus is not unique to Rovers and there have not been any new contracts issued recently. Venkys can't just turn up with a suitcase of cash as an extra sweetner halfway through the season. I know what the 'club' aka Waggott and Mowbray have said - frankly I don't believe them. They are on the payroll and won't reveal information that will reflect badly on their bosses. You don't expect them to point a finger of blame at the owners they are being paid by? Much easier to do it towards the players who are leaving and their invisible agents. Fans are also naturally inclined to side with the 'club' - in this case Venkys, Mowbray and Waggott - rather than a player - that's a fact of life - Rose tinted spectacles. Doesn't mean what they say is true! I haven't said offers haven't been made - I said they might not or they might have made improved offers. They might be offering Nyambe £500 a week more - strictly that's an improved offer but a disgraceful one given his increased importance at the club.

Good question and my interpretation of things is that they don't pay much attention at all to the ongoings at the Club. Our CEO isn't fit to occupy the office, I think most people realise that, and wouldn't have got that job at any other club of the size and stature of Blackburn Rovers. But having said that he can only work with what the owners give him. If they won't communicate or won't authorise contract/wages then he is left to do whatever he can with what very limited cash the club generates. I suspect the owners (or their representatives) have at some stage or another ceased authorisation for wage increases. That appeared to happen between summer 2020 when they gave Ayala a bumper deal and January 2021 when we signed the two loan CBs. This might explain why we were able to get the short extension for Gallagher through (reportedly on the same salary but an extra year) which wouldn't place them under any additional financial obligation in the short term, whereas there has been nothing done on much lower earners in much greater need of new contracts but who will (quite rightly) expect a decent increase. We must not forget here the importance of the manager travelling to India. As insane as it may appear it has become quite obvious over the last 10 years with Kean, Bowyer and then Mowbray that the only way of getting serious stuff done is by flying to India and meeting Mrs Desai. The fact Mowbray has been unable to do that now for 2.5 years - which coincidentally came just before the last decent spend - speaks volumes to me.

He still sounds like a man telling the supporters what he wants and communicating with the owners via the press. He isn't saying that things will or won't happen, just offering an opinion on how it would look if we started selling our best players now. I stick to my theory that he hasn't heard a peep from India in months and hasn't the foggiest what their plans or thoughts are. His contractual situation all but confirms that. Still amazes me that people believe we are actively engaged in serious discussions with these out of contract players. Strikes me that Venkys are doing nothing. If Mowbray can't speak to them and has no idea as to their plans how the hell are we meant to keep players?

We missed a sitter and had at least one penalty (arguably two) ignored by an incompetent referee as well as a blatant red card. Due to the way Huddersfield set up it was always likely to be tight and decided by an odd goal so to be denied that by the above made it very frustrating indeed.

West Brom have already got Daryl Dike Middlesbrough have signed Aaron Connolly and expected to get Balogun from Arsenal Forest have signed Keinan Davies and Steve Cook and are linked with Jed Wallace. Lets see what Venkys have up their sleeves other than relentless talk about selling our best players whilst sat 2nd.

Good effort. I do find it strange that we would only get an extra 500 allocated yesterday, sold out in no time, and now have to suspend sales until Saturday. Would have made more sense to sell as many as possible today and tomorrow and then make a decision Friday on sales on the day. Maybe they wanted to make sure that there were more than enough to sell on the day.

An extra 500 tickets released for sale today - presume that means at least the initial allocation of 2,000 has sold out or is likely to do soon and takes us to 2,500 total Only releasing an extra 500 suggests not much confidence of shifting many more.