JHRover

What does coronavirus have to do with it? It's either good for the squad and players or isn't. If it is in then one can be organised in Scotland.

4th division Bolton have shifted over 1000 in the first morning of sales. But remember, nobody is going to buy them at Rovers. What's the next excuse?

Why do other clubs need them? I'm not a coach so I don't know but they must feel it is worth the effort. Our pre season preparations usually see us playing catch up once the season kicks off (no opening day wins in a decade). So i think we need to approach this carefully.

Will Rovers be having a training camp somewhere? I note that Stoke are in Northern Ireland and quite a few clubs have gone to Scotland. Silly question really.

Confirmation that the termination date was several months ago and not this weekend. Means Rovers have had time to source a replacement and haven't been left with only a couple of weeks.

Salford City are selling season tickets from today. £160 for renewals and £180 for new buyers. Amazing how they are managing it and we can't.

Swansea have signed Freddie Woodman on loan for the season...

Yep, tend to agree. These issues have a habit of repeating themselves every year and we have to look internally for the answers. As pointed out this isn't a manufacturer issue because numerous other clubs using Umbro have at least unveiled their new kit and have dates to sell it. I don't believe the 10 Bet development is something that has suddenly been sprung upon us 4 weeks before the new season. They will have had to make their decision earlier to give the club time to find an alternative sponsor. Not easy admittedly but we are now facing kicking off the season without a sponsor whilst the 23 other clubs all have them. Coincidence? Not in my view. It is symptomatic of the neglect and shambolic operation of the club. Whether it be kits, sponsors, tickets, budgets or signings we always end up at the back of the queue and late. People think I enjoy moaning about it. I don't. But I will continue to criticise until we start operating like a club of our size should operate. Makes me laugh on twitter when folk are saying 'why does it matter' when the kit comes out. It matters because we are competing in an ultra competitive division. We need income and revenue and are not doing all we can to deliver it.

Only two days ago you were suggesting that quarantine rules could be dodged by the club testing players avoiding the need for a 14 day quarantine. The quarantine rules do not apply to Germany where all the foreign links have been. Now you are suggesting that these rules could be preventing us signing players from abroad. How is it any different to Travis and Armstrong going to Ibiza on holiday? How long did it take Wolves to start signing European players after their owners took over? Is more than a year really an acceptable time frame?

I'm not asking them to take us over and invest fortunes. But a few advertising boards or a shirt sponsorship would promote their organisation in their home town and benefit the club. If we can't get sponsorship off them then who can we?

It is quite incomprehensible that a place the size of Blackburn has a multi billion pound company based here and yet it doesnt have any form of relationship with the club. Either the club has failed to get them to the table or for whatever reason they don't want to be associated with us.

We must have had a warning period. Most clubs have released kits and started selling them. They wouldn't do that if their sponsors could just pull the plug a month before the season leaving the club in disarray having sold merchandise with the old sponsor on. It is a dreadful deal for Rovers if they are able to pull the plug just a month before a new season. They must have handed their notice in much earlier to give us time to go elsewhere.

I'm not blaming the club especially. I dont doubt there is a break clause in the deal, I just think if 10 Bet are not liable for costs then that is a poor deal that we have signed up for. It seems heavily weighted in their favour rather than ours. On the flipside if they have had to pay a termination fee and we can now get a new sponsor it might be a good thing. Remember we signed up with 10 Bet just out of League One and we are now looking for a sponsor as an established Championship side. I worry partly about the general economic situation (albeit some companies are doing perfectly well at the moment) but also because we have a history in recent years of being unable to secure a shirt sponsor. It happened in 2011 when we gave it away to the Princes Trust and then again the following year when we didn't have one.

I cannot believe that the deal with 10 Bet was structured to allow them to drop out mid way through at short notice and not be liable. That sort of arrangement seems to be highly risky to the club and no risk at all to 10 Bet. Essentially they had secured 3 years sponsorship of a Championship club but could drop out and not be liable for the final tranche of money? They've pulled a blinder if so. This is at least a proper excuse for the lack of new shirts. The club could have announced this earlier. Surely there is a date in the contract by which 10 Bet had to give notice to enable Rovers to plan accordingly. Now it's time for our commercial director to earn his crust and secure a decent new sponsor. Won't be easy in the middle of a pandemic without a commercial director and the club in lockdown. Maybe we're going to have another season with no sponsor. How many times has that happened in Venkys tenure?

I actually offered two comparisons - Abramovich and Marinakis - two wealthy businessmen who have managed to cope with Covid whilst still investing in their football clubs. Whilst I accept Abramovich is likely to be richer than Venkys I don't think Marinakis qualifies as a billionaire whereas Venkys have been by their supporters. The list goes on though. Birmingham have recruited a new management team and already a reasonable signing in George Friend despite supposedly being stuffed with FFP rules. We were told termination of Mowbray's contract and recruitment of a new manager were impossible in this economic climate. At the end of the day I see a succession of excuses. If it isn't Covid 19 it is FFP rules. If it isn't that it's waiting until summer rather than spending in January. There's always a reason why business can't be done NOW. There's always an employee eager to point these excuses out and there's always a legion of fans happy to lap it up If these people were genuinely worth what has been claimed and were genuinely keen to get the club moving in the right direction they would find a way to do it. Instead the policy seems to be to pull the shutters down and leave the club in its skeletal form to sort itself out.

Yes I know that but then if these people are billionaires they will have assets and funds at their fingertips that they could use to fund transfers at the club. The suggestion seems to be that because of Covid 19 and the apparent downturn in their core business this instantly means there is less money or even no money available for business here. I'm not sure why. If they really wanted to fund transfers surely they could use their personal funds rather than company profits. Abramovich has apparently lost a fortune recently with the downturn in the value of gold. Yet he has continued to fund substantial business at Chelsea this summer. There's an argument to be had that those owners with the clout to withstand the Covid dip have an opportunity here to gain an advantage when other clubs not blessed with rich owners might be struggling. It is also potentially very short-sighted and poor business indeed to insist on a sell to buy policy in our position. There isn't the time nor the market to attract good bids and then put funds to good use on new players. I'm sure Marinakis at Forest has struggled for business recently with the lockdown yet they've signed a few players.

Aren't we funded by the personal wealth of the Rao family rather than company funds? Aren't they billionaires? If so why does a temporary decline in company performance result in an inability to make funds available for Rovers?

but then if he is shite and we get rid we are right back to square one in the next transfer window. Mowbray claims to want to build something. Why not just find a decent CB and sign him on a permanent? Is he unable to do this?

Sounds like someone has given Sharpe the nod here. He doesn't come out with stuff like this unless he gets the OK from the club. I very much doubt a fee will be paid for him. So it will be a case of trying to get him on loan or swapping him with someone here. As Mercer says Stoke were rumoured to be after Evans in January. This isn't something I could support. I dont want further gaps in the squad appearing. I want gaps filling without further problems to sort out.

Do you really believe negotiations have taken place? I don't. I think Mowbray wants to keep him but hasn't had authority to issue a new deal yet. The place is in lockdown. Another year for Downing should be the easiest deal in history.

So all those clubs have no senior keepers? We haven't known since January that we needed two? It never ceases to amaze me the distance some will go to make excuses for Rovers failings.

Disgraceful how the Telegraph are implying that the market for a goalkeeper is a congested one suggesting that loads of clubs are after these players. We've had a head start on everyone knowing both Walton and Leutwiler were away months ago. Everyone else has at least one senior keeper on their books, none in as urgent need as we are. Predictably the focus is on young inexperienced loans. Essentially ring City or Liverpool up and ask them to do us a favour and send someone here for next to nothing and avoid the commitment to a contract. Never get promoted with such an approach.

George Friend off to Birmingham on a free transfer. I'm so glad we've been sensible and stuck to FFP rules. Never mind we've no defence or keeper and aren't doing any business at least we haven't ended up like Derby or Birmingham in dire straits after breaking the rules.

Venkys never say no to a cheque so nothing to worry about.

They're in League One. We are in the Championship. It's like us trying to stop Dack joining Southampton. If they really want him they'll get him. If we really want Phillips we will get him.