JHRover

Strange goings on at Reading. Mark Bowen reverting back to being Director of Football and stepping down as manager. Strange because he did a pretty decent job. Also yesterday their Chief Executive resigned and was replaced by one of the owners friends.

It will be astonishing and shameful if 4th division recently bankrupt Bolton shift anywhere near the number of season tickets we do. But the way it is going they are going to be close, assuming we ever bother to put any on sale. The bonus here for Bolton is that the cash in the bank is enabling them to recruit ahead of an expected promotion season, whilst we wail about lack of income and money. The other bonus is that those 5000 people will be invested in the club. Even if they aren't allowed into games for the next few months they have put their hard earned money in, the club has them tied in. For the last 3 months we have had a season ticket base of 0 and £0 revenue from ticket sales. With every passing month the 'drifters' e.g. those who aren't that fussed about going and who often do so purely out of habit will take more and more persuading to part with their £350 when we get around to asking them.

I think we need new personnel to address the defence, but I suspect that signing better players is only half the story. I agree we need to offload the deadwood in order to improve the squad. But I don't think getting shut of midfielders and forwards to sign replacements for Tosin and Walton is necessarily the way to do it. I don't rate either of them but if injuries come, which they will, then we do need options and experience to come off the bench. With no Downing back, Samuel gone, Graham gone, I do wonder what the plan is. It seems to me right now Mowbray's grand plan is to save a bomb on wages from Smallwood, Hart, Walton, Tosin, Downing, Samuel and Graham, an estimated £80,000 per week minimum, so we can sign a keeper on perhaps 10% of that amount and then borrow a couple of others to fill the gaps. Lets wait and see who actually arrives before anything else. I've been adamant for some time that we've adopted a policy of not investing in defence and GK. Maybe that policy has changed, or maybe offloading so many players has freed up the necessary cash internally to enable a signing without the need for Venky approval. We certainly need more than one though so I'll hang fire on the party poppers and balloons until we've signed the defenders and end up with a squad as good as last season, never mind better.

I don't think we will sell 5000 overall the way it is going. I'm just looking forward to the excuses and attempts to shift responsibility elsewhere. That's assuming Waggott is still here by then or is ever heard of again.

The trouble is that I don't believe our defensive issues are solely down to personnel. I think a large part of it is poor tactics and coaching. I don't think Mowbray is capable of stopping us conceding. His teams have always struggled at the back. Reading Mowbray's comments on Downing I think it is clear that he hasn't been made a serious offer and I expect someone else will snap him up. It seems Mowbray's plan is to further slash the wage bill by releasing him, try to address the gaping holes at the back and then if there's some cash left over see if he's still available. Whilst I agree that defence and goalkeeper require urgent priority on funds and efforts i do worry that releasing Downing, Graham, Samuel and Smallwood without bringing anyone in is a gamble.

It is one rule for some and one rule for others. If you are the mighty Liverpool and Klopp wants to take his players away he can do so with exemptions being allowed. You can also bet that if he wants to sign someone from a quarantine country that will be allowed without quarantine too. Hard not to get the impression that the plebs have to obey one set of rules and the elites another. Government, media, sportsmen all ok, average joes on the street not. I wouldn't get worked up about it.

Its interesting because if they liked the player so much and had so much confidence in their judgment of him they would be confident of him increasing from that price very quickly. A real project signing likely to pay off. They appeared to be very keen on splashing multi millions out on Brereton to grow in value yet struggle to get to that figure for someone who would be a regular CB and probably represent a bargain and a likely increase in value. Someone else will snaffle him for that sort of price. No prizes for being interested if you can't back it up with the cash.

Again it comes down to a complete lack of interest from India. No way would people like Waggott get away with the ground being in the state it is at any other club. You look at Andy Holt at Accy he has spent countless hours of his own free time up at the Crown Ground, resurfacing car parks, cleaning the place up, making small incremental improvements but putting time and effort in and the place is now clean and a tidy little ground. Either Waggott can't get the funds approved to spend tidying the place up (from the owners who care and who never refuse a cheque) or he simply isn't bothered and neither are his employers because they sit on the other side of the world and have no pride or respect for this club. I'm afraid harking back to the 80s and how the ground used to be just isn't right. It isn't the 80s anymore. We have a modern top class stadium and it is being run into the ground by incompetence and negligence. A decade has gone and other than the essential pitch maintenance nothing ever gets done to the ground. Waggott comes to fan consultation meetings and starts talking about rebuilding the Riverside - a project that would cost millions and take years to get off the ground and yet under his watch the place is overrun with weeds, rubbish and grime all avoidable with regular maintenance. He probably thinks he is clever by saving a few quid on the annual upkeep bills and isn't bothered that our historic home is rapidly becoming a sh!thole with his name responsible for it. He won't get credit in India for making the ground look nice if it costs them more money. We're run by a bunch of corner cutters. Try to scrimp and save a few grand a year by letting the shop front of the club fall into decay and filth and yet happily write off £15 million losses and extra unnecessary wages for Smallwood and Hart to not play. Someone in the office is on £300,000 per year. I'd be asking why that person couldn't be paid £250,000 per year with the difference going into stadium improvements every summer.

I'd like someone else up front with goals in the locker. In theory with Armstrong, Dack, Gallagher and Brereton we should be well stocked with a bit of everything up there and could relax with an impressive 4 there and focus on defence but unless the latter two pull their fingers out I'm worried of over reliance on Armstrong and an unfit Dack.

I dont think I'm being miserable. IF we signed him i think he would be a good and much needed addition. I just think it is a shame that people seem to be of the view such a signing would be beyond our capabilities. I don’t think so. I'd rather we went into the season with a couple of proven proper CBs so I'll be relieved with anyone just now. ?

Ah the old 'linking' stuff again. Bit like when Dack was 'linked' with them but nowt happened. He's playing for Wigan who have just gone down to the Championship. They are skint. We are a mid table club. This is the sort of deal we should be looking to pick up. Like I say from the limited information I've had it sounds like he would be a good addition and we certainly need one but I don't believe it is some sort of sensation for us to be interested in him.

Why is Kipre so implausible? Standards really have fallen here so far that being linked with a now League One player at bankrupt Wigan is enough to get people hysterical. From what I've heard would be a decent addition but given our refusal to spend on that position I'll take all links with cynicism.

Thanks for adding those. I expect the club will say that some of those photos are nothing to do with the club as they are beyond the club's boundaries in the alley behind Bolton Road and not their responsibility to maintain. That doesn't excuse the grime on the BBE and JW stands. You would also expect the club to take an interest in the mould and filth gathering right outside their gates rather than just leaving it. With players, officials, sponsors, fans and visitors coming to the ground you would expect them to want to project a positive image of the area. What sort of impressions would a new signing get having to drive through weeds, moss and litter gathering outside the main entrance?

I think Alan Myers was behind the picture timeline thing. I didn't agree with some of the events selected but it was a good way of using dead space to showcase our history. Is the other one at the BBE still there? Shows how much attention I pay. Inside the ground isnt much better. Fading seats, flaking paint. The yellow warning paint on the stairwells hasn't been done in years and is filthy where people kick their feet. What would a tin of yellow paint cost to go over it and smarten up. It really is shocking.

I've had it on good authority that a previous power washing effort went wrong. The sand between the brickwork was all blasted out leaving gaps between the bricks which have become perfect weed growing areas. This has exacerbated the problem with weeds, as has the lockdown of Ewood and failure to ensure proper upkeep. Shameful. I've been told that the inside of the ground is also in an appalling condition other than the pitch itself. This is the only part of the stadium that has been properly maintained since March. This is what happens when the people running the club have no pride or interest in the club and its appearance. It infests every element of the club. Waggott done a disappearing act. A decade of minimal interest and doing the bare minimum. It catches up eventually.

And yet despite that caveat they have still signed up and handed money over in their droves. A 4th division club. Over 4000 since Monday last time I checked. Every one of those people will have had the chance to read the ts and Cs before buying yet have still backed their club and handed their money over. Why can't I do the same? As for those photographs of Ewood. An absolute disgrace. They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. My local amateur volunteer run cricket club has more pride and interest in its facilities. There is no excuse for it. 200 paid staff and not one of them can go to B and Q and put some weedkiller down. Compare to the pride at Accy Stanley. Shameful.

Need some serious points on the board from the early home games. The away ones are tricky - 2 relegated sides, Swansea and a promoted side.

Derby or Forest. The Rooney factor probably swings it Derby's way.

Which horses mouth? When?

I feel perhaps too much is being put on this idea that Venkys haven't sold any assets since 2017 and that suggests that they care etc. First off you need a serious bid before selling anyone. With the exception of the Lenihan Sheffield United interest in 2017 when they were a Championship club and not a wealthy one at that i don't recall any serious reports of interest in our players. The Dack stuff in the Sun/Mirror little more than space filler. They obviously like and trust Mowbray so if he advises them to hold firm for now with the promise of bigger money down the line they are likely to go with that. We sold Raya last summer which was an asset as soon as Brentford came calling. We are led to believe that it was because Mowbray was happy to be rid but financially that money effectively covered the payment on Gallagher. So maybe last summer there was no transfer cash without sales first?

Making enquiries. Not quite the same as signing players or spending money. I can make enquiries about a million pound apartment. Ask the seller if he'd consider a knock down deal if he is desperate to get rid. Doesn't mean anything if the answer is no or I can't afford it. It is infinitely plausible under these owners that Mowbray is making enquiries as to prices and demands hoping something can be sorted out whilst still waiting for approval from India. It also wouldn't be the first occasion that he has wasted time on a wild goose chase (Assombalonga, Darlow, the other Newcastle lad)

File Westwood in the tray with Darlow and Hart. A nice idea but practically won't happen. Not unless he halves his wages, Sheff Wed release him on a free or loan him here whilst paying 50%. I expect Mowbray will be trying to get a deal done there to save them wages on an out of favour player. Notwithstanding the dingle issue with Hart all have the experience and quality we desperately need. Sadly when it is all about the money we will end up with the opposite like we did last summer.

Beautiful. Would love that.

I'd just take an away kit that isn't blue, white or grey so we don't need a third kit that we end up wearing more than the away kit.

So the search is to be stepped up. My god. 12 months after selling our keeper, a month on from waving off our loan and benchwarmer, pre season on Saturday and 3 weeks away from the big kick off and we are stepping up the search. Coincidence that this has only happened now that Mowbray is back from his holiday and at Brockhall? I think not. So amateurish its almost unbelievable. Can anything happen without Mowbray running it?