JHRover

He's only got to keep quiet for a couple of days. Then by Thursday people will have calmed down and attention will turn to Saturday. There will be folk then saying we can't or shouldn't axe him a day or two before a game, let's see how Cardiff goes FFS. Maybe he'll get lucky and we'll get a "positive result" at Cardiff after their smashing yesterday. If we do he'll be secure for a while longer without serious scrutiny. I wonder if he'll be chartering another £30,000 private flight down to Cardiff for this one? Just imagine the vacuum down at Ewood after a defeat. Not a single person on the payroll will say a word against St Tony. Not even the CEO. All happy to take home their good wages including our merchandise and ticket money but not rock the boat at happy camp Ewood. He's not even worthy of the CEO job title. Got the job through his mate and can't do it properly, either because he won't upset his mate or the owners don't give him the power.

The situation with the players has been brought about by the club and the way it has conducted its contract business over a number of years. The chickens are coming home to roost. I've been warning against it for months, nay years, about the dangers of short termism, over reliance on loans, not issuing proper long term contracts of 4 years or more, or planning well in advance of windows. Well this is why. Normally at this stage of a season a club such as ours would have maybe 5-6 contracts expiring or loans ending, and those out of contract would have been phased out of contention and would have already been replaced or trying to earn themselves new deals. Not here though. 15 out of contract or loan. We're starting games with 7 of them in the starting XI, who between them know there's little or no chance of them being here (even if they wanted to be) AND who will have lost all faith in a failing manager, that was never actually that good to begin with. Call it professional pride but in the ugly world of football why would half these players bust their guts when they have futures elsewhere and fitness to protect? This perfect storm of a manager who can't arrest a slide (see WBA, Celtic, Boro and Coventry for previous), players who won't be here/don't want to be here, dereliction of duty on contracts and medium term planning, an underlying arrogance instilled from the manager who clearly thinks he and his side are much better than they are and it is ideal conditions for a slide to sleepwalk into relegation. We might get away with it due to the Sheff Wed deduction and the gap to Wycombe and Rotherham. I won't be betting on it. I also look at these fixtures coming up with trepidation and worry. Pressure games against sides fighting for their lives just below us. They'll be rubbing their hands - imagine this lot turning up at Rotherham or Hillsboro needing a win to secure safety.

I can't stand to listen to Mowbray's interviews. I'll have to sleep on it first before I can stomach it. Very troubling rumours about Travis. Of course if there is truth to the rumour, at a normal club when senior players such as he start falling out with the manager that spells the end of the manager. Not here though, it probably just adds Travis to the list of exiting players in the summer whilst the manager stays on. I'm perplexed by the quote that Mowbray says Travis isn't fit or 'ready' to play. He wasn't so bothered when Travis just returned from serious injury and he chucked him straight into action. He also was happy to take him on the bus to Wycombe on Friday. Not sure why you'd do that if he isn't fit enough to feature. Corry Evans another baffling one which makes me wonder if there have been words or a bust up behind the scenes. Evans plays and plays well in a good performance and result at Norwich before the international break, plays twice for Northern Ireland, Mowbray then rushes him back from international duty, plonks him on the bench and doesn't use him at lowly Wycombe and then he's out of the squad altogether today. Maybe he's another who has had a falling out, or knowing he is out of contract in a few weeks and has lost all faith in this manager. So bored with it all now. He's going nowhere and he knows it.

I just find it remarkably coincidental. Armstrong has had an outstanding fitness record here in the 3 years to date, and I can't remember the stats but put a long run of appearances together without missing any games. Then all of a sudden a previously impeccable fitness suddenly becomes a problem keeping him out of action for weeks on end whilst the season unravels and Mowbray talks him up in the press. He's our only major asset. Maybe it is all down to an innocent explanation but after what has gone on here over the years I take everything with suspicion and scepticism. I don't think they'll have the interest they might have hoped for or expected this summer though. The pandemic will take care of that, meaning only the PL clubs or those parachute clubs who sell a few will have the dosh to hand to send us a windfall. Even those parachute clubs will have outgoings of their own to take care of first. I think at best 2-3 PL clubs will look at him and most of those will be at risk of relegation for the next few weeks. I do worry though that a combination of Mowbray wanting a sale to impress/satisfy the owners and Armstrong sensing this and wanting out after this shambolic season will result in increasingly desperate attempts to sell him, before he is eventually ushered out to a league rival at a knockdown rate. That would just add insult to injury, but I can see it coming. With only a year left on his deal this also weakens our bargaining position massively

Stalin would be proud of the cult they've managed to develop here. As I say, Mowbray's biggest success here has been to develop this image that he is absolutely and utterly indispensable and the best manager this club has had or could hope to employ. Some turnaround from taking Coventry to the bottom division and missing out on the Chesterfield job to having a giant flag of yourself commissioned and paid for by Blackburn Rovers. I'll never forget Waggott in an early interview of his and there was talk about budgets and structures and he mentioned needing the right structure to ensure the club could keep people like Tony Mowbray here and not lose them. Incredible comments for a CEO to make but those were in the days after promotion when things were ticking over quite nicely. I don't believe anything they say or do is an accident. They're on a continual communication cycle with people in India. The idiots have been had again and they still can't see it.

These points are going to remain forever. There will always be a risk of variants, some countries with lower vaccination, non compulsory vaccination. Do we allow restrictions and measures forever to try and counter a hypothetical or potential risk?

I didn't say he couldn't be a member of the board whilst not being a director. Maybe he could, I'm not clued up enough on that sort of thing. I said he isn't a member of the board. In the case of this club membership of the board and directorship are interchangeable - there hasn't been a board member that isn't a director of the club for as long as I can recall. The only board members we have are all directors be it executive or non executive. The only appearance he makes in any club announcement or literature is as a member of the clubs 'senior management team' which supposedly provides 'key support' to the Board of Directors https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/january/rovers-announce-new-senior-management-team/ If Pasha was a board member of this club he should be named as such, yet he isn't mentioned anywhere. By comparison Paul Agnew managed to worm his way into directorship and became a board member at the same time. Paul Hunt, Simon Hunt, Derek Shaw, Alan Myers all the same. Even Vinny Rao. No Pasha though.

He's not a director and therefore not a board member of Blackburn Rovers so his LinkedIn page is either incorrect or he's lying. The directors are Waggott, Cheston and Babu, Bob Coar non executive. Pasha's name does not feature in any club literature and despite him featuring in Waggott's 'management restructure' a couple of years ago (no doubt just a ruse to justify his salary) there's no other mention of Pasha anywhere. This is quite deliberate by the club. He's not a board member.

I can only think this is some sort of joke. Our facilities so run down that we need to demolish them and build a new training ground. Yet in the meantime we'll try and flog sponsorship of it under the flag of them being state of the art facilities that a company would want to associate their name with. If there's ever a time a company won't want to be associated with Brockhall it is now, as Waggott plots to demolish it for houses, local residents object and fans of the club rebel. Whats the betting we don't find a sponsor or it ends up being the Community Trust?

But why would the capacity be 4000 come August? And if it is how long does that last in a country where Covid has been almost wiped out or protected against? By August everyone will be vaccinated and the expectation is that normality will have resumed and legal limits restricted. If 4000 is all we can do by then how long is it going to take until 30000 are allowed?

Why won't walk ons or away fans be permitted next season? I thought restrictions on social movements were due to end in June (6 weeks before next season starts). We've seen with proactive rival clubs that they are having to forgo substantial income again next season in order to reduce season ticket prices to try and tempt people back. Most obvious example being Swansea, who despite still being in with a real chance of promotion are already a month into sales for next season offering adults at £250. They don't have owners as rich as Venkys yet have taken that bold step, not knowing what league they will be in, because they anticipate reluctance among people to hand over hundreds of pounds in this climate and want to offer an incentive to return. Waggott has hit £400 in all areas after his latest price hike during a pandemic. This after refusing refunds last season and a shambles of a season. He's going to have to slash those prices by nearly 50% to offer a tempting price that competes with what rival clubs are doing. Not a chance. And he will have the brass neck to expect long suffering fans to pay to cover his exorbitant salary and for another installment of muddled Mowbray going through the motions for another 12 months. No thanks.

I said something similar the other day on twitter. People often throw around Bolton and Wigan as the warning against wanting change as that could be us. Yet from where I'm sitting both now have clean slates and can begin their journeys back with a fresh start Both have been through hell. But as you say Bolton now debt free and closing in on promotion. Their season ticket sales put ours to shame. Wigan have come through admin. They may go down to League Two or may survive but have cleared the debt and are now owned by a Bahraini who has communicated more in a few days than Venkys have in a decade. He might be a crap owner but I think he'll have more idea than Venkys. I make a prediction now that both Bolton and Wigan will be in the Championship under new ownership and sensible management before we are rid of Venkys or in the PL.

Don't think Armstrong will feature. There's more to that situation than meets the eye IMO. I think a score draw here. A win wouldn't surprise me. Sooner or later it will come even by fluke more than design. Bournemouth will play and that will suit our 'style'. Not that the result really makes any difference as Mowbray is secure either way but it would be nice to get to 50 points sooner rather than later. Only one thing worse than horrendous form and it is knowing that the manager and staff delivering it are unaccountable for it. A disgraceful way to run a club

It's a dangerous game at any club to have such a turnover in players in one window. Assuming all or most of those players leave then it is going to be a massive job. Even at organised clubs, with proper structures, interested owners and substantial cash to spend it would be difficult to bring in 15 players in one window ready for a new season. At our micky mouse operation it is going to be nigh on impossible. Whatever budget is provided by the owners will only be authorised when the owners can be bothered reviewing things. I expect we are reaching cutback time after 3 years of reasonable backing and no sales yet regression on the pitch. Of course serious owners would realise that the blame for that lies with Mowbray and his staff, replace them and back a better manager. But Venkys are too clever for that, and instead will keep Mowbray but slash his budget or at best get rid of Mowbray but cut costs so much that no decent manager would come in and replace him. With or without Mowbray I really fear for our future. Say what you like about getting rid of the 'deadwood' but they are here and know this level. When they are gone we need to replace them and that won't be easy or quick. Not with our planning and operation. I also expect that Mowbray is pinning his hopes on a club bidding big for Armstrong. This would vindicate his recruitment approach and earn him credit with the finance men in India, and also enable him to request a portion of the cash back for new signings. We know from experience that any sale will be later on in the window, leaving minimal time to do anything about it, and the money will disappear. We've effectively become a modern day Accy Stanley or Blackpool when they were run by the Oystons. Short term contracts, half a squad out at the end of a season, reliant on heavily subsidised loans and favours from the big boys. Unacceptable at Blackburn Rovers. I don't have the stomach to watch the car crash unfold and to go into League One again, but I expect that is what will happen unless we get our act together quickly.

We're going to "put it right" on Monday. I actually think we will as well. Probably get a point which will be marketed as a 'positive result' and then on we go.

Just to expand on my thoughts and dissatisfaction with the way things are going. I don't demand or expect promotion or fantastic football. But I do expect accountability and action if results and performances are poor, which they have been with a few exceptions for a long time now. I do expect the club to try to improve and progress. But I don't see any accountability, with happy camp under Mowbray carting on making the same old mistakes and excuses as they were 12-18 months ago. Somehow he's managed to make himself unsackable. If this were Pep Guardiola you might understand it but this is Tony Mowbray. He's hit the jackpot landing the job here and after leaving Coventry on the way to League Two and missing out on the Chesterfield job before coming here its outrageous. Infact I'd say that his biggest success at this club, more than promotion from League One and more than any signings he's made, has been to convince people in their droves that he's indispensable and the best man for the job/only option for this club. And then we come to the other side of things. A bulletproof failing manager might be tolerable if things were ok off the pitch, but this just gives rise to further and greater concerns and issues. A CEO only here because the manager brought him in or recommended him, who by extension will never take any action to try and remove the manager, regardless of results. A CEO whose only previous experience in the job has been at League One clubs Charlton and Coventry. A CEO who takes out £300,000 a year yet screws whatever he can out of the support base. Prices up significantly each year. Refusing the option of refunds last year to hard hit supporters who had paid their money for games and travel they weren't going to get. Emotional blackmail of those fans, making them out to be damaging the club if they asked for their money back. And in a few months, when they get around to it, Waggott will be along with another price rise and sales pitch expecting us all to cough up to keep his cushy number going for another year. All the while it turns out he's spent his time these last 2 years not increasing ticket sales, or commercial operations, or trying to expand our fanbase, but plotting to sell off Brockhall. At any club this would set off concerns but here with this setup and these people's backgrounds it just absolutely stinks. They aren't good enough for this club yet they've got themselves into the driving seat. It leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. I can justify handing money over even when I don't agree with how things are done and decisions that are made (appointing Ince and Coyle two of them). But when there's all the rest of it going on I'm going to really struggle.

Comes down to trust with me. For his faults I trusted Gary Bowyer implicitly as manager. Results could be poor but I had absolute faith he was doing his best and was trustworthy. I used to have that view of Mowbray up to this season. Then we see the training ground shenanigans taking place and I refuse to believe Mowbray isn't involved in some capacity in that scheme. That ends my faith in him. I don't trust him or his mates anymore.

Well personally I'm at a clear stage in life. As difficult as Coronvirus has been the 13 month break in football games has simplified things and offered a fresh perspective on football. If it had just carried on uninterrupted then I'd have just carried on turning up indefinitely without question. If Mowbray is still here or if they replace him with Venus or another micky mouse cheap easy appointment then I'm out. It won't even be a difficult choice any more. Things have changed. The worst part for me isn't the shite football or results, it's the lack of trust and accountability. I can tolerate rubbish football and results, I can't tolerate shysters selling off our training ground, unsackable managers who appoint their own CEOs and people taking hundreds of thousands a year out whilst pleading poverty.

Mowbray reckons we need to stay "ahead of the curve" This football club and the curve are a long way apart and have been for years.

If we are in year one of Mowbray's journey then what year of the journey are Wycombe in? Would have been a popular trip this one over Easter Weekend and a new ground for many. A defeat would usually have seen Mowbray getting grief from the 2-3000 travelling fans. Not this weekend though. The most grief he will get is a few 'negative' questions from the 2-3 journalists who bother covering this one. Wycombe need a win here to have any chance. Despite their lowly position they've actually competed this season and other than the game at Ewood haven't really been hammered at all. Mowbray has officially given up on the season, so he's on to plan b now of protecting his position by talking about the journey and playing the kids. A few decent performances from the youngsters should keep him in the good books until next season.

It that his role at Rovers? Head of European Scouting? Only I've never seen any mention of him from the club either in interviews or on the website under 'whos who' Is his position a full time one? Who decides who gets the Head of Recruitment job?

So Head of Recruitment off to a 3rd division club. I hope Mowbray is not involved in appointing his successor. Why should either of the existing scouts get this job? Promote from within and save money will be the focus here i suspect.

He's a con man. Sadly, the vast majority of the bollocks he's spouted to date has been accepted, published or at least not actively challenged by those around the club and so he probably thinks everyone will just swallow whatever impressive sounding yet flawed suggestions he comes up with. The Everton comparison will have been useful as a reference early on to justify the idea of amalgamation of the sites but he probably didn't anticipate that people would do research and compare the sites and unearth what difference there really is. Next time he speaks he'll have found someone else to aspire to be. It will be an ever changing and evolving list of reasons and criteria because he knows the truth but will try to get through to planning permission by coming up with all sorts of rubbish and then it will be too late. And yes, he probably thinks we are all so stupid we will just accept whatever we are told by the club and their staff without question. To be fair a large number of Rovers fans are that stupid.

We're the sort of club with a hollowed out commercial and marketing department that would sit back and wait for manufacturers to come to us and then pick the easiest and cheapest one, rather than go out into the big wide world of kit suppliers, bringing in a lucrative or impressive deal with an interesting brand or someone with new designs or ideas. So it will be stock Umbro, Nike or Adidas and £50 for a pair of catalogue tracksuit bottoms or t shirt with a Rovers badge printed/sewn on. Limited stock only so popular items are out of stock well before Xmas with none further to come.

Mowbray and Waggott won't have had a peep out of India since last summer when the budget was authorised (and a decent one at that considering no sales and a pandemic). The only link to India will be Suhail who by all accounts hasn't been in the UK until the last week or so. He doesn't have the power to do anything other than pass messages and report back to India (when they want to know what is going on). Given our abysmal form, poor league position, and strong likelihood we are going to be a long way from the play-offs and probably significantly worse off than the last 2 seasons Mowbray will expect to be under serious pressure and probably be sacked at some point between now and May. Of course we all know that at a serious, professional football club he'd probably not have lasted until now but certainly wouldn't last beyond May. Mowbray will know that and yet he probably underestimates just what a basket case we are. Having ingratiated himself in India he is probably now close to Kean levels of immunity, whereby results, performances, pressure or any other metric in football is irrelevant on the altar of personal friendship/trust. So the next couple of months, as Mowbray awaits the annual review, will consist of him awaiting his fate no doubt expecting the axe to fall but in the meantime coming out with the usual guff about projects, plans, identities, styles, trying to make out as though he hasn't had enough time or deserves longer. When the review takes place he will either get them buying into his vision once again, probably armed with another reasonable transfer kitty. Weather a few tough questions here and there, blame Covid, and it is full steam ahead for another year at least with unchecked power and freedom. On the contrary if Venkys slash budgets, which they surely will at some point soon, then he can exit stage left before the doo-doo hits the fan next season when we've no squad and we're relying on the usual frees and loans minus Armstrong, Dack, Elliott etc. Then if Mowbray goes and we are struggling next season he and his disciples can use that as proof we should have kept him and that he was doing a great job.