Perhaps he could start by explaining where the £25 million has gone since January Maybe a word about whether the club will still be in business by the end of the year. He won't know the answer to either, which confirms how pointless his presence is

I think basically Gestede is based locally, very keen to have a career in football 'management' after playing and to try and develop that career is willing to come and work here for a low salary. Music to the ears of Waggott and co. because they can shuffle the deckchairs, make it look like things are happening, all for minimal cost, and with the added 'bonus' of the ex-player free credit in the bank. Since Mowbray left Waggott has wanted someone else to handle the media side of things and keep himself sheltered from it. So Broughton filled that void for a while until he got fed up with being made the scapegoat, same with JDT. Will now fall upon Rudy and Eustace and then next summer at least one of those two will be gone and another comes along.

I agree with this. It is clear that the main argument Venky lawyers put forward to the Court was that the transfer of funds was essential to ensure the club remained a going concern. If the club brings in income from elsewhere that negates the need for a transfer from India then that argument disappears. So if there's enough left from the Adam Wharton cash, Raya cash or a Szmodics sale then the club won't need immediate cash from India, and won't be able to argue it is essential. So I can see this being put back to a later date when the money runs out again. This will happen, sooner rather than later, because we are somehow still losing £15 million a year and are running out of assets to sell to cover that. Szmodics, maybe Carter, then that's about it. It seems to me that their only plan down at Ewood is to get through month by month and hope that either the investigation in India gets dropped or that we have enough assets to sell to keep it going.

He was just given the standard script that they all come out with in their first media interview after joining. I wouldn't take any of it seriously. All rather pointless because even if he's a genius - big if - the people above him will ensure that any progress or positive movement is derailed or cut short. All a waste of time but keeps the circus on the road for another year as he settles into the role and 'assesses' the situation. Then we'll be through the summer and that's another window taken care of and another scapegoat for Venkys and the gruesome twosome to shield themselves with.

I've suspected for several years that the gruesome twosome on the ground at Ewood are quite comfortable with how things are and don't want that to change any time soon. If they can get pats on the back and bonuses for saving the owners money then happy all around. Waggott can produce spreadsheets and data to show what a terrific job he's doing with season tickets holding steady / slightly increasing, media income through the roof and academy products sold for millions. Fans happy, or at least they appear to be to those who don't visit places like this. If you were a clueless disinterested bunch of morons based on the other side of the world you'd think this lot were doing a fabulous job. Of course this is contingent on staying in the Championship....carry on like this and that's looking less and less likely I can't express the disgust I have for the whole stinking lot of them.

I don't think we can even give them that. If they were taking such advice then surely they'd have made some sort of serious effort to get to the promised land when two glorious chances dropped into their lap in the last few seasons, but rather than try to get there they did the opposite and actually sabotaged it.

It is more important to them that they keep hold of the club. Even though they clearly get no enjoyment out of it, even though they cannot / will not fund it, even though nobody really wants them here, even though their continued presence continues to drag the club further and further into the mud and down the divisions. All because it is easier or better for their egos to do so. They could be sensible adults and recognise they need to get out of this quickly whilst there is still a Championship club with some semblance of foundation underneath it. This would set us free, give us a chance of a new era, hand it over to people with some interest or ambition, relieve the 'burden' on them and call it a day. But that would be the mature, reasonable, normal thing to do. Nice, generous, caring people my ar5e. It's all about them, their financial activities and egos. Always has been always will be. They would rather rule over a rotting carcass of a club than do the decent thing and let someone else take over.

Agree. Were those two the only cash buys last summer? Coincidence? I doubt it.

Every pre season should have at least one 'glamour' tie. That might be a home game against PL opposition such as Liverpool or Everton like we had a few years ago, or might be a foreign side as we've had in the past to add some intrigue and interest. I suppose this summer we've got the Austria fixture v Nuremberg (2nd division opposition) but unless you are very keen you won't be going to that, so those in the UK will have to make do with Stanley, Morecambe, Wigan and Stockport, of which one might yet get cancelled and I'm sure that one of Morecambe or Wigan will be the youth team. Not exactly thrilling. A quick glance around what our peers are doing. QPR host Spurs and Brighton, Hull play Newcastle, Leeds play Valencia, Sunderland play Forest, Sheff Wed play Werder Bremen and RB Salzburg, PNE play Everton, West Brom play Mallorca, Swansea play Wolves and Stade Rennais, Cardiff play Hamburg and Hertha Berlin, Millwall play Murcia, Norwich play Club Brugge, Standard Liege, Hoffenheim and St Pauli, Coventry play Werder Bremen and Getafe So there's plenty of options but now never seems to be the right time here, always late in getting things sorted out

We might not even be doing that if the Stockport game is cancelled due to the League Cup game. Don't forget Tranmere behind closed doors and Morecambe on the Friday night!

All of what you say seems correct. We did sign players in those windows, we did spend some money on occasions. The point I made originally was that the two previous managers were not properly backed by the owners despite having put us into excellent league positions in the last couple of years. I think you have simply confirmed my point by highlighting those signings that we did actually make. Merely bringing people in and spending some money does not equate to backing. If you bring in 15 players but none of them are any good or add anything to the existing group then that is no good. If you look at those signings under Mowbray in 2022 I would submit that not one of them brought or added anything to the group during the second half of the 2021-22 season. Hedges barely played. Zeefuik was mere cover for Nyambe. Giles could have been good but rarely contributed, Brown was a waste of time, Markanday was yet another project signing that is still ongoing, he was never going to come in and deliver in the last 20 games of that season to get us promoted. None of those signings, bar possibly Giles, I would suggest were signings that a side chasing PL promotion would make in January. If you look at the action we took in January 2023 I'd say it was simply laughable to only add Sorba Thomas on loan when in the position that we were. If the funds and wage budget, or indeed overall approach of the owners when it comes to authorising signings, is so poor, then that means they haven't backed their manager. To me I'd expect to see engaged serious owners banging the door down in December asking the manager what they need to keep it going and get us promoted and to do everything within their power to make it happen, not just sign a couple of loans, youngsters and see what happens. I'd also dispute that Ayari and Chrisene were good signings. For me just more of the same old. A short term fix that comes and goes, not what you need to take the club forward medium to long term. McFadzean and Fleck - short term patch up jobs whilst we are now left with more work to do. This summer Eustace may well get his 4,5,6 signings. But that doesn't immediately mean he has been backed. It depends on what sort of signings they are and whether they significantly improve us or not. If we panic and end up signing 3 loans and whoever else is happy to come for the wages we are offering then that isn't backing in my book. We've a rebuild to commence.

If there's anything in the Fleck deal I suspect he's willing to play for next to nothing to try and get himself fit again and that's the attraction to Rovers and Waggott. Getting some much needed experience into the camp for a very small cost. Some might call that shrewd but when the player in question has suffered those sort of injuries and lasted 15 minutes on his debut for us it is clear that we should be looking elsewhere. It says it all about the plight of this club that we are even remotely considering new terms for him.

They failed to back Mowbray when he had us near the top two in January 2022. They failed to back JDT when he had us near the top two in January 2023. They failed to back JDT in the summer of 2023 after we had gone within a hair's breadth of the play-offs and FA Cup semi final. They failed to back JDT in January 2024 when we were just outside the play-offs despite sabotaging him the previous summer with budget changes. I'm surprised you had any expectation whatsoever that they would ever back Eustace or allow him to get us into the play-offs. We've seen their 'action' when a manager does well here.

It should be fun. It used to be fun. They've taken that away from us. Even the brief moments of joy are cut short knowing they'll find a way to wreck it.

My interpretation of that is that this is how it was done previously - that the court considered the application, decided to allow permission to send funds but on the condition they deposited the same amount in India as security. So they are saying there is nothing stopping them funding us based on that - the Court was content to allow it subject to the deposit being paid. They are expecting the same thing to happen the next time they have to get permission from the Court, which is due to be August 20th as it stands. Now the Court could change its mind and say no, we aren't allowing this, but based on precedent this is unlikely as previous judges have permitted it and refusing it would cause a business to fail and jobs to be lost, so that's why Rovers expect it to be renewed if needed. If needed because they are likely to bring in sufficient cash by then to cover the next batch of costs through player sales. Far preferable to people who don't care or understand football because they don't see it causing any problems and it saves them the hassle of going to court and putting money in a bond in India.

That's the opposite of what I understood the case to be. I was under the impression that the Court hearing is to consider whether to grant permission to send further funds to the UK to meet Rovers' outgoings. A similar procedure to that of November 2023 and a delay to the hearing that should have taken place earlier this year. A process that is essential to ensure the club keeps going, unless money is raised from other sources to cover for it. Unless I've missed something this is linked to the house purchase in that the restrictions imposed are a result of an investigation into that purchase but as yet that remains ongoing and it remains to be seen whether they have a case to answer in India on that front.

I'm convinced that the only way we will ever be rid of them is if either a Court or government agency intervenes and forces them out. I think this is the best chance we will ever get. If this investigation or legal process ends with the restrictions being lifted or allows them to continue to fund the club 'on the drip' like they have for the last 12 months or so then we are facing a long, slow, painful demise. If this process ends with them being told 'no more' then it is likely to be painful but will have to happen quickly and we'd be rid of them. What comes next might be no better, but it would take some going to be any worse.

My view is that the only time personal resources have been tipped into the equation is on the rare occasions such as when we signed Jordan Rhodes, Brereton and Gallagher. Big money signings totally out of kilter with the other business done during their tenure. This is why we see Ewood falling into disrepair, zero substantial investment in facilities. The wages, running costs, bills get covered by the company as essential expenditure. Most transfer dosh we spend is too - covered either by prior sales or from installments on media etc. But the added extra cash - the non-essential, above and beyond costs like Rhodes and Brereton come when someone in India fancies a flutter. Probably when they're at their most engaged / ambitious be that after relegation wanting to show some determination to 'make up' for it or after promotion wanting to enjoy the moment. In most cases those outlays recouped anyway, certainly was with Rhodes and Armstrong. Let us not lose sight of the fact that the cutbacks started during covid and have continued since then, long before whispers of troubles in India. This suggests that the developments in India were either known to them a long time ago or that they have simply accelerated a process they'd already started of their own choice.

To be honest I expect that the owners will want it to be delayed. They can't be keen on the cost, hassle and hurdles they are having to go through just to get permission to send money over the keep the lights on. I agree that it is likely permission would get granted based on precedent, but even so it isn't certain and seems an awful lot of hassle, together with the need for them to deposit the same amount in a bond in India as security. Much, much easier for the owners to simply generate millions from selling players and divert those funds to cover the running costs for a few months. Kicks the can down the road, saves them trouble in India and they hope that eventually the restrictions get lifted. Unfortunately for us we are going to have to watch our squad be dismembered and with it likely relegation to League One. But hey, at least they're keeping the lights on and we aren't doing a Bury so job's a good un.

Indeed. The way I see it is that the application is listed for 20th August. Assuming the Court hears the case, the owners can request permission to send a further tranche of funds to Rovers. If the last hearing is anything to go buy this won't be a transfer warchest, it will be essential funds to keep the lights on and wages paid, the argument being that if it isn't permitted the club goes bust. If before August 20th circumstances change, and bringing in many millions from Raya and Szmodics would obviously change things, then the club will not need the owners to send any money over. The hearing becomes pointless because they would not have any need to get permission from court, the club could meet its obligations using those funds without the need for a transfer from India. So instead they could ask for the hearing to be put back to January or whenever they estimate funds running dry again.

The bit of that quote that I've underlined in bold I really don't understand, I doubt the writer does either. Is August 20 the 'final date' for Venkys' court hearing? Is there anything stopping the Court from a further adjournment or indeed the owners themselves putting their application on hold if they don't need to send money over (via further sales generating running costs instead). 'Feels growingly prominent' - hold on a minute, I thought only last week he was parroting Waggott's claim that the hearing was strictly in relation to procedural and technical issues and not really anything to do with their funding of Rovers. Surely he's not now saying that it is vital to our transfer plans? Frankly hilarious that they are now even talking about 'keeping the lights on' as though it is something to be impressed about. How much lower can these scumbags drag standards.

We'd have had to offer him more money than his current deal at Notts and more than Millwall were able to offer. I doubt we are capable of either these days.

Every. Single. Summer. Season tickets released late, on sale for a good while with the vast majority of those that will sign up already done so, then they come out with a membership scheme towards the very back end expecting people to cough up even more. I would ask why it is beyond their capabilities to just announce the membership schemes at the same time as season tickets, thereby giving people full information in one go to make an informed decision knowing what they are getting and so they can pay for it all at once. Instead we get people signing up for season tickets then finding out later that they will need to pay even more on top at a later stage to get other benefits not provided for under a season ticket. But I know the reason why, they are so inept and poorly organised that they're just making it up from one week to the next. I really think that Waggott just hatches these membership scheme ideas as a way to rake in a few grand to see him through the barren summer months. I was furious last time around when they used the Burnley away game as an opportunity to extract more cash from fans with the membership requirement and had zero intention of getting one last season until we drew Harrogate in the cup and knew I needed one. This time around it looks like the price has increased again to £20 for ST holders, having been £10 in 2022 and £15 last year yet the benefits are even less, as you no longer get priority on away tickets (a good development) just some extra loyalty points.

Is there any other Championship club in the luxurious position of having recently banked £30 million in sales and sell on fees with which to attack the market? We've had all of February, March, April, May and June to put the Adam Wharton cash to use. Making excuses about the Euros and other clubs with a fraction of that cash not doing business just isn't good enough. We need to be proactive and make our own way not just think of reasons why we can't do things.

This is where I'm at. I have no issue at all with us offloading the likes of Wahltstedt and Telalovic IF they are replaced with new signings. But the more likely outcome is it will be another couple of wages off the books and another £1 million in sales and then we turn to academy kids and if lucky an Everton or Liverpool loanee or two. It will be popular with some for getting shut of those two and their wages and bringing in some cash, but it really doesn't get us anywhere unless we are bringing in some quality the other way.