You know you are small time when you are doing one-off sleeve sponsors for televised cup games. Sort of thing Maidstone would do when they unexpectedly got through and put on TV in the next round.

We are two years away from a World Cup. UEFA has 16 qualification slots and Sweden have a full qualification campaign to prepare for starting in a year's time. Most managers would love a crack at qualifying for and going to manage at a World Cup. He'll get a fair crack of the whip and they'll be focused on getting there. Beats wasting his career away here.

Our descent into owner created oblivion will soon be complete, if not this season then next. That is a certainty unless they leave or change track. When we are slumming it in League One with 5000 turning up the days of JDT will seem like distant glory days. Brought to a rapid end purely by owners and underlings who have no ambition or desire to achieve anything. Such a shame and even more so that some idiots can't see it for what it really is.

Too good for Venkyscum Rovers and no coincidence he's walked into a decent international job. A good manager incompatible with what we have here.

https://www.thebaggies.news/news/seven-figure-debt-laid-bare-as-west-brom-warned-of-extreme-financial-problems/

Very well spotted. Hadn't worked that one out myself but makes sense. It would be no surprise at all if he was due a bonus or payment for reaching 200 Rovers appearances and knowing the way we like to operate with 'add ons' suspect it was a hefty payment. Waggott and the Indians will be all over such things and I've no doubt would instruct the manager and staff not to play a player due to this. Scum.

Their away form isn't impressive of late. Their only league away wins this season have been: 2-1 at Hull 2-1 at Bristol City 3-2 at Cardiff 4-0 at Huddersfield That's it. Their win at Hull was via an 88th minute winner and at Bristol via a 95th minute winner. At Cardiff they scored twice in the last 8 minutes to turn it around. Point being their away record isn't particularly good and even when they've won they've tended to be narrow and last gasp affairs. Draws at QPR, Ipswich, Coventry, Southampton Losses at Leeds, Millwall, West Brom, Watford, Sunderland, Swansea, Plymouth and Rotherham. We need a win and I'm not really taking the 'juggernaught rolling into town that poor little Rovers will struggle to compete with' mantra that no doubt many will be offering up.

I doubt Waggott or anyone else down there has even given it a seconds thought. It will be kicked down the road until the season is out of the way and they can get India to sign off on the pricing. Forget about early birds, promotions, price reductions or anything outside the box. It will be £400 a head again with at best a £20 discount if you buy quickly before the transfer window unfolds. It will be marketed as a 'new era' with Eustace's photo next to it. Yes they are that idiotic. Total decimation of numbers incoming and totally deserved.

Makes me laugh (or scream) when I see various Rovers supporters and even employees boasting about what a big positive selling Adam was and as though this is some sort of accomplishment for Rovers to develop a player that we quickly flog to Crystal Palace. Newsflash. Palace don't care that he came through Rovers' academy, nor do Sky Sports, The FA or anybody else. We aren't going to win any points or prizes by virtue of developing and selling great talents from our academy. Blackburn Rovers only benefits if: a) The player(s) go on to have successful careers in a ROVERS SHIRT and haul us to successful times b) If we do sell them we bring in such levels of cash that it improves ROVERS and ROVERS' squad allowing us to reinvest and improve. Neither of those things have or will happen, the money is of zero benefit to Blackburn Rovers, it just makes Venkys' life easier for the next 12 months and probably lands Waggott his annual bonus in one move. Neither of those things are good for us because it enables Venkys to stick around without relying on court hearings and it keeps the heat off Waggott from upstairs. It's just disgusting IMO, and most worrying of all is it is just accepted and brushed under the carpet as though it is all fine, normal, acceptable

Bloody hell, 4 wins in 12 is hardly crisis time, we'd have sacked Kean, Mowbray and JDT about 25 times between them if that was the case. It seems to me that Beale is quite an unlikeable character. He's had 3 jobs in just over 18 months and all have ended quite quickly with the fans at QPR, Rangers and Sunderland not keen at all. They're giving the job to Mike Dodds until the summer, be interesting if JDT does rock up there or elsewhere in the Championship after I was assured he was lined up for the Sweden job and maneouvured his way out of Ewood to get that job.

I hope we focus on putting out our best XI to try and win this one rather than resting people with one eye on the Norwich game. Beating Cardiff is the priority, none of this 'positive result' nonsense, just need the 3 points at a struggling side. Having said that a draw would at least keep us going and adding to the tally with our game in hand. We've had it before where previous managers have left people out for the Saturday and then we've ended up not winning either. I always worry about these sort of games. On paper a decent fixture and chance to get a much needed win, but in practice our record in South Wales weary and think our record generally in Tuesday night away games is dismal.

A bit like claiming Venkys are the best owners we could ask for. Technically that could be correct, but in all probability not the case and far better alternatives out there.

I remember perhaps 2015 time the club was quite uncharacteristic in publicly advertising a new role of being the conduit between Ewood and India. The impression they gave was that they were open to applications from anywhere and they were running a recruitment process. Unfortunately the job requirements included being fluent in English as well as a couple of Indian languages. I suspect that little charade was performed deliberately to assist 'their man' in securing a work permit by claiming a thorough recruitment process had been conducted. Since then he's changed title various times, whether deliberately or just because nobody really knows what he does or what to call him. We've had owners advisor https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/20219583.things-will-work-blackburn-rovers-new-european-model/ owners representative, his own LinkedIn page describes himself as a board member and management consultant Previously he was also 'owners representative' https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/january/rovers-announce-new-senior-management-team/ but that one appears to have disappeared from the current website which says 'operations and management consultant' which I'm not sure corresponds to being a board member as claimed. various other titles over the years too. I suspect they need to be careful with what job he actually has next to his name and what role he performs.

Anyone else notice how JDT was gone within a week of suggesting people should 'ask Suhail' He'd spent 8 months taking the piss out of Waggott with some of his press comments and nothing happened. But the second he references Shadow Man his time is brought to an end. Perhaps shows the rankings here and just how determined they are to keep him hidden

Bad news at West Brom. Their loathed Chinese owner has just agreed to sell them to an American group. Bad news because there goes another Championship club to a change of ownership despite the usual negative fans on social media claiming there's no alternative to the current lot and nobody in the world buys loss making debt ridden Championship clubs. Strange isn't it.

If Broughton had the skills to replace the proven quality players we have lost due to mismanagement (Rothwell, Diaz, Lenihan) with no budget, continual wage cuts, the worst owners in football and a spiv running the club then he'd be one of the most sought after people in football. He'd have other clubs banging his door down wondering what his secret is and how he is able to do what others cannot with both hands tied behind his back. I suspect Broughton is cheap, these idiots wouldn't have paid well to get a proven D of F, so part of the issue is you pay little you get what you pay for, but even if he's the best in the world at his job he's on a hiding to nothing at a club content to tread water, cut costs and keep the Indians content with those running it here. All about priorities. The Wharton sale keeps them content for another few years and vindicates their approach since 2021. We're all worrying about points, league position, relegation, the summer. The Indians and their underlings just interested in the cuts and savings.

That sounds suspiciously like a normal football club where the manager is allowed to recruit and select based on the attributes of the players. What hasn't changed is the ownership and finances, both of which override any footballing factors, including what JDT, Eustace, Travis or any of us want.

As I said the other night, even if Ipswich decide not to bother signing him permanently, he won't be short of Championship options. Assuming we are still in the Championship by the summer then at best it seems we've another transfer window of cuts and money raising to pay the owners' bills whilst they continue to be investigated by the authorities. So they'll have anyone and everyone of any value earmarked for sale / departure. Travis will have to ask himself whether he wants to return to a joke club, focused only on making cuts and downgrading / making up the numbers in the Championship, or whether he'd rather embark on a fresh start at a serious club that actually has some degree of ambition and aim. I know which I'd rather have if I had the choice....

Convenient to say the least that all the players who 'fall out' with people or who have their 'heads turned' always happen to be the most expensive experienced players and those who can attract interest from rival clubs. Maybe the two are linked. End result of course is money in and wages off. Convenient again.

Most people could see that loaning out Travis in the first week of the window was not a rational or football-motivated decision. It was short sighted and done purely with financial factors in mind. The opportunity to get his wage off the books until the summer too enticing and so the deal got done. In hindsight it is of course even more ludicrous when you factor in the inevitable Adam Wharton departure, failing to spend any of that money on a replacement and then changing manager. But remember not to look at things here through the lens of football - decisions at BRFC are not made with results and performances on the pitch in mind - they are made with finances and individual targets for the likes of Pasha and Waggott in mind, and it is clear that those targets do not relate to footballing achievements. So we mere fans may be baffled, I suspect the rest of the Championship are too, but that's because we are football people, who want to prioritise football and results, whereas the owners and their employees are not, and never will be. One look at Ewood Park and what has gone on here over the years tells us that.

I think they believe that the managerial change does all the work for them, nothing else to say. New era, look and listen to Eustace, forget about what happened before. What January window fiasco? What £20 million? Who is Adam Wharton? Nothing to see here folks, business as usual. Issues addressed. Another few years on the train for Waggott, Lowe and the rest.

I expect a far better display than we saw last night. I think that is highly likely, it could hardly be worse, but we are also accustomed to dismal away performances and results on dark wet/cold midweeks. I'm convinced there is something psychological in it and the team will always be more up for it on a Saturday. Add in that it is a derby game with a big following and I think that will take care of that. Of course that doesn't mean we will get a result, and I expect we won't, but what I expect is the old 'hard luck' tale of putting in a shift, playing some nice stuff at times, not being played off the park, doing the basics for 99% of the game but falling short by virtue of them being much more ruthless and trained in the dark arts, plus they are always well up for this one whereas our team of softies I don't think have it in them to cope when the going gets tough.

And let me guess....we need a few transfer windows to get the squad to a level Eustace is happy with and can play his way....and so the never ending project continues. Then they'll tell us we need to sell Szmodics and anothers because they don't fit Eustace's 'style' and we need to generate the funds to allow him to bring his own players in. The new era. They're conning us.

I suspect it will be a bit more complex than just change of manager and therefore he's back in favour come the summer. We want him gone and off the wage bill. So Eustace's views are likely to be secondary to the club's focus of cutting costs. Even if Ipswich don't want to make it permanent I am sure he will have plenty of other suitors in the Championship willing to pay a fee for him, and Venkys will sell if so. Also the question needs to be whether the player wants to return to this cesspit. He's already been jettisoned once supposedly surplus to requirements and is now experiencing what life is like at a club that actually wants to be successful and tries. I imagine after years being here it is something of an eye opener and not a reason to come rushing back to circus Brockhall.

Well I'm out. No game at Ewood tomorrow for the first time in many a year. I'm ashamed to even be associated with this club. The events of today alone leave me sick to the pit of my stomach. If it wasn't bad enough their shenanigans with McGuire, their disgusting conduct, lies, deceit and leaving the poor lad in the shit (just like O'Brien), forcing a good man and manager out of the door, the Adam Wharton sale, zero investment in January Within minutes of (eventually) confirming JDT is no longer manager they are labelling it as a 'new era' under the next patsy whilst those culpable continue in the shadows. Yes that's right, Venkys still owning it, Waggott still CEO, Suhail still 'consultant', Lowe, Johnson, Benson still on the coaching staff and they have the audacity to broadcast this as a 'new era'. I despise them, they are scum, and I'm not going to play along with their game.