JHRover

I've no doubt with what is coming that survival will be seen as an achievement next season. All for the princely sum of £20 million per year. Doesn't take long for things to unravel does it? Failed manager kept in place, clueless owners and drastic budget cuts can turn even a promotion capable side into relegation contenders.

I'd love to believe this was the case but I just can't see it. For starters, with so many out of contract, would it not make much more sense to make the manager change now so that the new guy could decide on who he wanted to stay? Rather than clearing the decks then bringing a new manager in? No. I think we are at the limbo stage here, where they have given up on Mowbray but won't do the job of sacking him so we end up in this middle ground where he does what he is told whilst funding is cut and Suhail runs it. The club suffers because neither party is happy with things but they tolerate it to keep themselves in work. I think Bowyer fell out with Pasha and his involvement in 2015 which is why he was replaced. Not sure if he has the clout to do that these days with Mowbray and his henchmen.

We can but hope. Sadly I don't think this will be happening. They won't be so proactive and won't relinquish control. Any billionaire pumping money in will expect a say in the running of the club which Venkys won't allow. We're just back to paralysis stage as per summer 2012 and summer 2015.

So naive aren't they? I know 'going with the kids' is the cool or modern thing to do but it is suicide in this division. To survive or get out of it you need hardened experience in your ranks. Especially when here the motive is financial rather than football. Mowbray failed miserably at Coventry when he went with youth and his epitaph was regretting not bringing in experience.

What isn't good enough is this manager and his coaching staff. Everything else flows from that. Doesn't matter who we sign or play if the dugout stays the same.

Think we can see this is going to go bad. Not because of Evans leaving, but because it is abundantly clear that Mowbray wanted to keep him and yet hasn't even been able to offer him terms. I think Venkys have, quite rightly, given up on Mowbray (probably at least 12 months later than the rest of us but they got there in the end). Unfortunately for us their response to that is to pull up the drawbridge, go silent, no more money and no approval to do anything so instead the club is left washing its own face and skint. They did this when Bowyer failed to get us up and so they went quiet and he was left with no money signing Bengali Fode Koita and Nathan Delfouneso whilst Gestede and Cairney were sold from underneath him. They'll do it again now - no more money - no contract extensions. Promote from within and work to whatever pitiful budget they cobble together down there. Expect Armstrong, Lenihan, Nyambe and Kaminski to be sold as a minimum. I'm not playing this game any more. Not going through a summer of this and listening to Mowbray and Waggott telling us their sob stories. I'll save my season ticket money and spend it on a much needed holiday.

An absolutely bizarre interview from Mowbray that is as clear an indication that you could ever ask for that this isn't a decision he particularly likes or has wanted to make but has been forced into. His comment about Evans having plenty of options and takers is probably correct. Expect him to tip up at Stoke, PNE or similar and will finish above us next season whilst we get relegated. There is nothing more predictable. He won't get a mega deal but will be seen as a decent squad player with valuable experience. If the rumours about Nyambe joining PNE are correct then I think we can see where this is going. Brace yourselves folks. We've been here and through this before. This is summer 2015 all over again. Faith lost in Mowbray but too tight/confused to fire him off. This club is going to hell in a handcart under these charlatans. There is nothing to be optimistic or positive about here.

Think this one could end up any score. We could hammer them - pressure is off, back to back home wins, smashed Huddersfield last time out, Mowbray loves these sort of low-pressure dead rubbers to send everyone on their way for the summer pressure off. I expect his strategy for the game will be to throw in 4-5 youngsters thus winning plaudits and respect from all sides for trusting the youth and ushering in a bright new future. It is nonsense but that's exactly the type of message he will be trying to get out there - that only he could integrate younger players into his squad and he deserves more time to deliver it. He's still relying on Bennett, Evans, Johnson etc. Saw someone earlier refer to Davenport as one of the youngsters who might get a chance. For heaven's sake. The guy is 23 this year and has been here for 3 years now, yet there's still this myth that he's a bright young prospect set to make the grade. He should be at the peak of his career now and a central part of the team a la Travis who is similar age. Keeps Mowbray in work though.

Always tomorrow, never today with this lot. Guarantee we will be one of the last to release information and get tickets or shirts on sale. As is normal. They've already tried claiming that the pandemic is preventing season tickets from being sold which is cobblers as many other clubs with smaller stadia and higher demand than us are proving. Excuse after excuse.

At a normal club the funding tap would be turned off for Mowbray after numerous transfer duds and a dire season, but would swiftly be turned back on again to support the next manager who would be given a full summer to work away and construct a squad. We work back to front in Venky land - everywhere else in football the manager has become less and less powerful and his remit narrowed down to coaching and game management with a hand in recruitment. Here the manager is uber powerful and has influence and power over every department of the club, including the owners themselves, and can basically tell them what the target is and appoint his own CEO. Backwards. So when Mowbray does depart I don't expect an appetite from India to back the next man, just like they didn't really back Lambert or Coyle because neither of them 'earned' backing. The only way managers 'earn' backing from Venkys in terms of cold hard cash is by getting on a plane to India and sitting around in their compound waiting for a meeting to persuade them to do it. So I'm not particularly convinced that whoever comes next is going to have an easy ride here. Even without Venky cash for transfers I still think on wages alone we will be in a decent position with savings to be able to offer loans and free agents good terms and certainly better than many in the Championship.

The same Cardiff that has only lost 3 in 21 under McCarthy and are 8th. Stranger things have happened and final day can be crazy time but I just don't think it will happen for Rotherham. I hope it does though.

Derby and Sheff Wed are both FFP fiddlers and Rotherham are not. If there's justice in the world the Millers will survive but think Wednesday will sneak it.

Think Rotherham are finished. Our draw was an abysmal result against a side full of heart but short on quality and knackered after a long hard run of games. Shows up Mowbray's drivel about us being 'jaded' at Sheffield Wednesday. Can't see Rotherham winning at Cardiff. Hope they do and send the two 'MASSIVE' clubs down. Two less examples of clubs we can't compete with for the two clowns at Rovers on their next excuse giving exercise.

Yes, and I think Mowbray and his crew know this, which is why I expect to see the rumour mill in overdrive early doors. Already we are seeing it- distraction tactics and sadly it is as easy as that for a lot of people- flood the Telegraph with talk about rebuilds and recruitment and what is going to be done and it takes care of itself. Mowbray's position not even an issue for discussion. Then get a few bodies in early and it becomes a question of why get rid of the manager, surely he deserves chance to see how his recruitment gets on and how the season starts? Then it is the busy run to Xmas before we know it.

The stuff in Forest's club shop still significantly cheaper than Rovers' even after reductions on both sides. Why? Food and drink significantly more expensive at Rovers than other clubs. Why? Ticket prices go up and up at Ewood whilst being frozen or cut elsewhere. Why? Three starter questions for the next time Waggott emerges from his bunker. Probably after the dust has settled and the clock is reset in the summer.

So after a 3 day social media boycott the first tweet and so far only one of two that Rovers have posted is to wish Louie Annesley a belated happy birthday. Kind of sums up where the club is at these days. Twitter admin gets reminder in diary of player past or present who had a birthday recently. No mention of the game on Saturday, nothing about season tickets, nothing about anything important but yay happy birthday.

Nobend's annual losses are approximately a third of ours, so it would be strange if they were paying players more than we are.

A manager out of ideas and ambition offers Bell a new deal. By direct extension that means a club out of ideas and ambition because Blackburn Rovers in 2021 is Tony Mowbray and vice versa. Cheap, easy, safe is the mantra here. Far better just sticking with mediocrity that costs little than striving for better. Apply that to the dugout as well as the pitch and boardroom. A club with an ounce of ambition would jettison the manager, coaching staff and mediocre players and aim for better. Not here though. Tony is the best we can hope for, he is the oracle on all things football and cannot be questioned with his 5 star CV. Mind you I'm sure what comes next transfer wise will make Bell and Bennett seem good and justify new deals. Hope they are alright in a relegation scrap because that's where we are headed.

The other theory is that Pickering isn't a Mowbray signing, and he has no desire nor intention to use him next season, so his solution to that problem is to give Bell another year and play him instead.

Predictable and depressing.

Yes, but preceded by the usual talk about how the owners have made money available and how we are targeting/bidding for decent players but are refusing to be ripped off by greedy unreasonable players/agents. Like Bauer and the ridiculous suggestion he was demanding £40k a week, or demanding a guarantee to play every week. So this will all earn positive publicity but in the end yeah, it will be whoever City, Liverpool and Everton have who they want regular game time for and whoever Neil Warnock wants rid of at Boro. Exciting times.

We aren't even in a position to offer new contracts to senior or even junior squad members, or get season tickets on sale to bring in much needed income. The chances of us doing anything to bring in players from other clubs, especially when they would require a transfer fee and the club in question is gearing up for the play-offs, is virtually non-existent.

Oh good. Another Mowbray directed appointment to the coaching staff of a close friend of his. Should make him even more indispensable. Good news for the car share back to Teesside though. Why would Billy Barr retire? How old is he? I do find it remarkably convenient how all these people out of contract we are deciding not to renew the contracts of. Of course the reality is that the likes of Holtby, Evans and Bennett could be brilliant and essential to our futures and we wouldn't have sorted out new contracts for them. Only have to look at the Armstrong, Nyambe, JRC and Rothwell situations to see that. Lets not pretend they are following a plan here. They aren't. These people are out of contract and we can't offer them new terms. Convenient that most of them are replaceable but that's a secondary issue.

I think the reason we failed FFP and got placed under the embargo, along with numerous other clubs, is because the club hasn't yet submitted its accounts. So it is an administrative issue, rather than the EFL assessing our books and adjudging us to be in breach of spending limits (which won't happen due to Covid otherwise everyone would be in breach). But I think Waggott will use this to justify player sales and limited spending. Try to convince people that we simply have to sell people and spend little to get ourselves compliant with the rules. Suits the 'never refuse a cheque' owners down to the ground. Never shy to take advantage of a situation to direct blame elsewhere this lot.

Oh yes, I expect a ban on interviews would hurt the Telegraph more than it would Rovers But, by the same token, Rovers are not in a position of strength here, a ban on the Telegraph would impact negatively on them too. There's a reason Rovers use the Telegraph to advertise and for interviews - they know full well it is just about the only way they can reach a large portion of their fanbase on a regular basis. Lose that link and they could lose even more fans (if they care).