JHRover

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.

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/watch-the-robins-high-performance-centre-being-built/ This is Bristol City's new facility now ready for opening. Looks quite impressive. Also, looking at the photos of the site from the air I would guess it isn't too far off the size of the lower Brockhall site in area. Note however that Bristol have not got all the things we are supposedly after - indoor pitch being the biggest and most notable - but also accommodation for academy scholars - and a car park for 90 cars.

My belief is that Williams was on his way last summer. Something happened that scuppered it. Either we tried to sell and nobody coughed up the cash, or a deal fell through, or Mowbray changed his mind after deciding Williams was going to be one of our CBs. Whatever it was I think Williams' career here was over then and this season was only ever going to be him going through the motions and counting down the days until he became a free agent and could jet off to the US. Williams has had a pretty good injury record up to the last 18 months and since then has barely featured. After he played a few games, which were forced upon us due to the Ayala and Wharton absences, he got another injury and it was abundantly clear then that he wasn't going to feature for us again. Not a ligament or bone injury a la Dack but a mysterious muscle injury yet one which they quickly felt was going to keep him out for a whole 6 months. After what's gone on here I simply don't believe it.

Does anyone seriously believe that contract negotiations have taken place or serious offers have been put to these players? We all know the way these people operate and how long it takes for anything to get done and their once per year review and budget setting. New contracts such as these will not have been approved or authorised by India yet. Waggott and Mowbray will toe the part line and shield their bosses from criticism and make no mistake will try to paint the players and their agents as the culprits or villains when deals don't get signed. They're having us on. If you believe these players have already been made reasonable offers but have decided not to accept them because of footballing reasons I think you are sorely mistaken. I suppose that means I believe Mowbray/Waggott to be liars but I think they'd say anything to protect themselves. Won't be long before these players are all greedy in their demands and holding the club to ransom. Yes, this undoubtedly means that the likes of Evans and Bennett will be more likely to sign new deals than Nyambe or JRC. Why? Because someone like Nyambe will have a whole host of Championship sides after him on a free transfer and they'll probably be testing the water already. By the time we get around to having a budget and approval for new deals the only ones still interested will be those attracting minimal interest from elsewhere or unable to command good deals elsewhere. Coupled with the lack of time to do business and cronyism here under Mowbray and they'll probably get offers by default.

Yeah, but at a normal club it would achieve change as the owners or board would read the fans' feelings and eventually act on them. Here Tony and Steve would rattle around in a 90% empty stadium as safe as houses and the owners wouldn't do anything. it might make us as fans feel better to deprive them of our cash and support but they just don't care.

That's a decision I may well make and judging by what I hear from others they have similar doubts. I don't think it is a solution. Venkys will let Mowbray carry on with 1000 a week turning up and Waggott wouldn't give a stuff.

Which might be excused or forgiven if Mowbray was in his first year or two of management. But he's been a manager for over 15 years and made the same mistakes everywhere he's been. There's nothing filling me with dread more right now than another summer and season of Mowbray going through the motions again.

Cowley off to a flyer at Portsmouth. Opportunity missed. Again.

Yeah its so simple. So you'd support the groundshare at the Turf as well because putting everyone into one stadium would make financial sense too?

Incredible. Reading the comments on the Telegraph story there are seemingly more people upset at locals for raising objections that could stop or slow this ruse than there are people upset or dubious as to Waggott's plot. I try not to read these things. What is even worse than what the scoundrels are up to right now is that there are so many idiots who are having the wool pulled over their eyes with such ease or are just happy to swallow whatever is fed to them without so much as a single doubt or question. What hope do we or this club have if it is so easy and so many people are like this? It makes me want to just walk away from it all. I'm sure if we announced a groundshare with the dingles tomorrow they'd be on the Telegraph and Facebook saying it was a sensible move. These people are dangerous.

Serious ambition would be to have a word with Rui Faria and see if he fancied a crack at getting a team to the PL.

I think there are parallels to be drawn with the new Sunderland owner Louis Dreyfuss. He's only 24 and his mummy is heir to a multi billion organisation left by her deceased husband. It seems that he wants a project to occupy himself whilst the rest of his family run the core business in Switzerland he can play with his football set. I suspect a similar arrangement here with Balaji. Plenty of money sloshing around back home and the adults are quite happy sending some his way to keep him occupied and out of the way of the serious stuff. Difference of course is that Balaji seems to have zero interest in this club at any level and hasn't even been to a game in years. What kick he gets from it who knows. The Dreyfuss lad clearly knows his stuff and the family have a history in football so expect to see their project work out whereas this one goes nowhere

We'd be keeping an eye on that situation if we had any sense. Another one who won't be out of work long and who specialises in getting teams into promotion contention in this division. Not pretty or sexy but consistent and it works. No bullsh!t about possession, journeys or pretending to play nice football. Just organised and consistent - gets teams promoted. Alas it will be someone else who reaps that benefit

Not a chance Mike Ashley is going to pay £16 million for a player he let go for 10% of that 3 years ago. Too many variables for Newcastle to be looking at transfers this early or preparing bids. Ashley is still trying to sell to the Saudis and if that happens they'll be after Mbappe rather than Armstrong. It also means funds will be tight whilst Ashley remains. Bruce is hated and will be lucky to survive the season. They could be in either division next season and that will determine their targets and transfer pot. Got to hand it to them though. Someone in Rovers or Armstrong's camp are earning their wages with this one. Can guess what Nixon's Sunday column is going to be about.

Win win really for Bowyer. A few months management job on the doorstep. Do well and there's a potential promotion or long term deal, but if not then he can simply go back to Derby's academy. Surprised Salford have gone for him though.

Money? A shot at getting to the PL? Both of which we can offer more of than Braga, or at least should be able to with billionaire owners determined to get promoted. Dan Petrescu is another interesting one I'd be looking at. Just noticed he's left his job in Turkey after a short spell so is back on the market. Again would likely cost but vast experience and a good record.

For me the list decreases by the week with other clubs taking action and making moves for managers that we should be interested in. Presumably we then get the buffoons online saying 'who can we get'? etc. when we've watched numerous good, sensible, available options all get snapped up elsewhere. In the last 12 months we could have had Warnock, McCarthy, Pearson, Cowley, Bowyer, Cook, Ismael, Hughton and others who would all have done better here than Mowbray is/has done. Right now the obvious sensible options are very limited. I'd investigate the Hughes one but would tread carefully given his situation. I'd certainly speak to Alex Neil and think he would be a good option at least for a couple of seasons, but sounds like he is on Aberdeen's hit list. I do think Garry Monk could do a reasonable job and probably better than Mowbray having worked at two crisis clubs recently but I'd also have concerns about the fact he doesn't ever last over a year anywhere. Gary Rowett would be high on my list but would require compensation and a good budget to get him out of Millwall neither of which these owners will cough up. He's got them well above us despite vastly inferior resources and is on a cushy secure number there so would need a much better package to walk out. I'm honestly struggling then off the top of my head for good options. I'm very reluctant or hesitant to start banging the drum for Scottish based managers due to impressive records or reputations up there. Examples - Alan Stubbs was excellent at Hibs, dire at Rotherham. Derek McInnes very successful with Aberdeen and St Johnstone, rubbish at Bristol City. Robbie Neilson - brilliant record with Hearts twice and Dundee Utd but couldn't make a do at MK Dons. Even Neil Lennon - trophies galore and success with Celtic and Hibs but failed at Bolton (albeit in difficult circumstances). It's a very different way. In terms of the foreign options people like Carvalhal and Jokanovic would be viable options if we were prepared to pay to get them and back them. You need to sell these managers the project and offer them the backing to deliver on it, not just baulk at the asking price. If it gets you promoted it is worth the asking price. If I were paid what Waggott is I could spend hours and hours scouring German, Eastern European, Serbian, Dutch leagues for up and coming managers worth looking at but I haven't the time or the salary to do that. Neither does Waggott presumably as his remit as CEO is to flog our training ground but sit idly by and do nothing about horrific results.

They sold up and went to live in Monaco a few years ago. Don't think there are many, if any, ties between the Walker family and Blackburn these days.

https://m.skybet.com/football/manager-specials/event/27332564 This is the list Sky are going with for the next PNE manager. I have to say that if that these were the sort of names linked with coming here I'd be concerned. There's only Stendel, Hughes and Wilder on there that would remotely enthuse me. The rest are huge gambles.

Hopefully, because if they stick with him they'll be in the top 6 next season. He did this at Brighton. Struggling down at the bottom when he took over, did enough to keep them up then turned them into promotion winners. I've no doubt he'll do the same at Forest if given time. The owners there are mental though so might not let him get on with it.

I'd avoid Pardew and Pulis because I think their race is run and wouldn't deliver what we need. Bowen has done nothing as a manager so not sure why he would deserve a shot managing us. With the exception of Gary Rowett who has done well at this level with Birmingham, Derby and Millwall I would avoid all those on your second list. These names are not people who should be being brought in to Blackburn Rovers in the Championship to haul us to the top 6 and the PL. We need to show some proper ambition and get people believing. Lee Carsley or David Artell do not represent that. I suspect the likes of Ainsworth, Davidson and Carsley are only being mentioned because of their various backgrounds with Rovers, which really shouldn't be a factor. None have done what is needed as managers to have a shot managing a club of our size and stature. None will get offered jobs at other Championship clubs. Finally your foreign names I'd certainly speak to Lage, Wagner and Silva to see what their demands are but I wouldn't be particularly ecstatic with any. I would much rather them than most names on the list yet all would still be significant gambles. Silva has pedigree but hasn't really delivered on the hype at Everton and Watford. Lage got the Benfica job more through accident and didn't last too long. Wagner hasn't done anything beyond an incredible 12 months at Huddersfield and has left his last two clubs in dire straits. I'd be adding to the list Oscar Garcia, Carlos Carvalhal, Slavisa Jokanovic, but these are just because they have good records at this level having worked at other clubs before. I would want to see other names on there that came about through us searching through countries and divisions and unearthing good options like other clubs do. Sadly I get the impression that a recruitment process here would merely consist of sitting there waiting for people to apply and then picking the one that would do it for the least money and working with what staff are already here.

He's better than Mowbray, that is clear, as positions and results have shown over the last few years. Even now, despite them supposedly struggling, losing their best players and him being sacked they are still only 2 points behind us on our 'journey' to nowhere.

Fix It as in run down to the shop and do my dry cleaning? Or competently run a multi-million pound football club on the other side of the world? It's strange because I'd never heard of Pasha being in any way involved in the football club prior to 2015. Then we had the Bowyer sacking, Lambert fiasco, Coyle fiasco and now 4 years of 'stability' under Mowbray yet end result is we've gone no higher or nearer the Prem than 2014 & 2015 when he wasn't involved. He also delivered the own goal of the decade by turning down Neil Warnock and employing Owen Coyle which delivered relegation to League One. Things certainly haven't been fixed under his involvement. They're arguably worse than before he was involved, and definitely were before Mowbray was stumbled across.

I could almost understand the 'going with youth' excuse/philosophy if that was actually what we were doing i.e. accepting short term inconsistency and learning on the job on the basis that in the next couple of years we will have a squad ready to mature and storm the Championship. There's absolutely no evidence for that. Anyone who has paid any attention to the contract situation and the number of loans we have will see what I am talking about. It's a myth. But it sounds good to those of a clueless or delusional persuasion.

Not many signing on fees and %s to be made if you've got a good squad of 20 odd players all under 4-5 year contracts.