"A new era" That's the party line. Except it isn't. There's no new era until the scum in India and the parasites beneath them leave.

Something along those lines yes, but I interpreted that as him offering the club the chance to get rid of him for free, both because the project had changed and they might want someone else to oversee it, and also because if they were in cutback mode it might be attractive to them to save some more money, and not that JDT was desperate to leave and from the summer. In the end they said no and persuaded him to stay on, I suspect they also told him that the issues with India were a temporary matter that would soon be fixed and that by January we'd be back on track. I think going off his comments he went into January expecting business to get done, and only after they've let him down again has he concluded there can be no future here with liars and con men.

I think we already know the answer to that one. Which makes the appointment all the more immaterial.

Who has said Tomasson wanted to leave in the summer? All I have seen is Tomasson himself confirming that he offered the club the chance to get rid of him without him claiming compensation, an offer the club declined. That isn't the same as him wanting to leave. But I see the narrative is being gradually laid down, block by block. Within a few days it will be all about JDT not being committed to Rovers, wanting to be elsewhere, should never have started the season, and if he ends up in the Sweden job this will be evidence of his 'non commitment'. End result of all this is, as ever, to shift the conversation away from the real cause of his departure. I understand he also moved his wife and kids over to the UK which is hardly the conduct of a bloke who doesn't want to be here and who intends on leaving at any moment.

Allardyce will be the typical outsider looking in and having a view or perception of Rovers based on that. He'll have seen and heard all the usual stuff; owners who have learned lessons, once great ex-PL club stable in the Championship, in need of some slightly better management, two recent play-off pushes, a good season away from promotion. Probably in a drawer alongside the likes of Birmingham, Sheff Wed, Cardiff but just up the road from his home. For those reasons he and many others would have a look at us, but once around a table with the 'consultant' (NOT a director), the 'CEO' and whoever else gets involved in these things he'd realise that it is amateur hour and run a mile. I think he and Hughes would be aghast at what this club has become having left it in such good condition were they to get beneath the facade and see what it is like after a decade of mismanagement.

Don't compare this unprofessional disgraceful outfit to other 'teams who have sold players' Yes it is a fact of life in the Championship that occasionally you will lose or have to sell your best players. Nobody is suggesting we shouldn't. But as others have rightly pointed out the key is what happens next. Rivals may have reluctantly lost important players, and have responded to that by reinvesting and attempting to improve. We haven't made any such attempt because the owners and stooges haven't allowed it. Improvement was never on the agenda, it was always about cutting back and downsizing. Our response has been to pocket the cash, reduce the wage bill and force the manager to use kids who aren't ready or scrape the depths of Europe to try and unearth someone good enough. 'In game management' I equate to having absolutely no depth, quality or experience to turn to and being totally hamstrung by a lack of options. I shake my head in bewilderment at Ewood when people around me shout 'make a change Tomasson' or 'sort it out Tomasson' as though we have options on the bench capable of turning a Championship game around. We don't. That isn't JDT's fault. So I think we agree on a lot of points but I'm sure not holding JDT responsible for this mess we are in. He's had 18 months out of 13 years and of which we spent all of it up to December 2023 in or close to the play-off positions. They've made his job impossible, he's understandably had enough, and inevitably that has led to an impact on results. Next bloke will get exactly the same, so it matters not whether it is John Eustace or Jose Mourinho, they might have an immediate short term impact and then Venkys will get to work at undermining them come the summer window when they've no budget and no communication and it will all unravel again.

Almost as though selling off all your best players and experience and not replacing them and using the academy kids has a direct impact on results.

Don't know, don't care Even if he's brilliant it won't be enough, not with these owners and stooges doing everything they can to hold us back and undermine us.

Indeed, but unfortunately whilst owned and managed by such people it is the club that obtains the reputation and the damage that comes with it.

It just sums up the contempt the owners have for the club and its fortunes. A blind man could see Tomasson was going last Saturday, yet here we are almost a week on and nothing. I can only assume that they either can't be arsed giving it their approval or they are squabbling over compensation. Meanwhile this sorry state of affairs the day before a crucial game. Another finger up at the club and its league status. If correct that Eustace or another waiting to take over it isn't helping their job to keep them waiting all week until too late to prepare for the Stoke game. Fly people over from America and muck them around before sinking their transfer, can't even get rid of a manager in a timely manner. Just a despicable club.

Plenty of managers will want to manage Blackburn Rovers, even for the awful people who own and run the club. But not many proven in demand managers will. They can wait for a proper club to come along. Not many decent managers will come here and those that will won't last more than a year or so until they get worn down by Venky nonsense and leave. Conversely if the new manager gets on a plane to India he'll be here as long as he wants to be (Mowbray, Kean)

On what basis would Eustace be 'exciting' or 'forward looking' I'm just genuinely unclear what it is that he possesses that has led you to conclude this. It appears to me to be the fact that he hasn't managed many teams or for very long. He might be a good un I'm just not clear how he has earned such a solid 'exciting' reputation from 1 season battling the drop at Birmingham

They were actually 5th, two points above 11th having played an extra game than everyone else by virtue of a Friday night fixture.

Agreed. Its all pointless but its the oldest trick in the book to divert attention away from upstairs failings and distract the masses with a new manager Then let me guess come the summer it will be about 'new structure' and 'learning lessons' from past mistakes and a change of strategy. All a load of shite, designed purely to keep people quiet and distracted.

Amazing how perceptions are in the game isn't it. Neil: Championship promotion with Norwich, a season managing in the PL 3 top half / play-off pushes with PNE Promotion from League One with Sunderland Mid-table/mediocre with Stoke (where everyone struggles) Eustace: 1 season, 17th with Birmingham, much fanfare I'm struggling to see why some would be happy / content with Eustace but not Neil.

Me too, got a decent to reasonable record at 3-4 Championship clubs, not that I'll be happy with either.

He did nothing that Lee Bowyer, Aitor Karanka, Pep Clotet and Garry Monk didn't also do there - bottom half survival. He might be more well liked by their fans, suspect that's more to do with the unfairness of his sacking whilst they were sat in a good position and replacement with a clown. Anyhow, I'm not buying it, not accepting it and not falling for it.

Precisely, it wipes the slate clean for them upstairs. Forget about the January debacle, forget about £25 million banked and nothing spent, forget about it all and focus on the dugout. It's all JDTs fault and look we are sorting it out by making a change. Get behind the new bloke FFS! I'm not buying it for a second and hope nobody else does, but sadly a lot will because they'll start getting carried away by a new bloke in the dugout. Eustace or whichever other desperado takes over will have to firefight until the summer and then the next round of fun begins. More cutbacks ordered, no money to spend, projects to polish up for a profit, nonsense with India. Nothing can or will change. I really wonder if I'm missing something with Eustace. I'm baffled as to why he carries this reputation as a highly sought after desirable manager. His only proper stint as a manager (other than at non-league Kidderminster) was a little over 12 months at Birmingham where they finished 17th, 10 places below us. Anyone who claims they played 'good football' clearly needs to check their sources because they didn't. Not that this is essential as we need some organisation but I do think these 'reputations' in the game are exacerbated by media reputations when in actual fact there's very little on the cv to be impressed with. They had a good start to this season with some late wins but we were just outside the top 6 in December under JDT - so what?

McCall is Paul Heckingbottom's right hand man. I suspect if we did go external he'd be high on that list. Head coach, academy background, localish, available. What a sorry state of affairs.

I'm also convinced that secretly both Waggott and Pasha will want JDT gone and will have been expecting / hoping for his resignation for quite some time. I bet he quickly saw through both of them after his arrival and realised what was going on here and after the cushy number with Mowbray his ambition and drive wasn't in keeping with their plans to plod, keep India happy and collect their wages. JDT was obviously a Broughton man and not at all what the other two had in mind when they were looking at Mowbray's replacement. I think Waggott will now move into 'damage limitation' mode of trying to deflect all our ills and issues away and onto JDT. And I think there will be all sorts of dirty tricks to that end, to sway public opinion against the outgoing JDT and portray him as the problem, today's meeting being the first step. I'm just wondering how they'll try and spin it next. Probably Damian Johnson and as you were with the staff and costs, dressed up as 'popular ex player making the step up' 'Get behind Damo FFS'

Mowbray was competent. But because of that and him succeeding Kean, Berg, Appleton, Bowyer and Coyle he is of course seen as a massive success. Fundamentally his highest finish in 5 years was 8th. He had time and he had backing and that was the best he could do. Compare and contrast to what others have done in a fraction of the time elsewhere. A big +ve in the Mowbray analysis is the players he brought in and developed. Of course the Armstrongs, Rothwells, Diaz's all good. But I'm sure if the owners and board had actually applied pressure and demands on league position and results rather than just leave him be for 5 years we might have had less player projects and perhaps some higher finishes. The cynic in me suggests he knew his route to longevity here was to convince the owners he was protecting and developing their 'investments' and once he was out of the way it was 'cashing in' time leading to today's mess. That some people still pine for him 18 months on after his frankly disgraceful public comments and admissions sums up for me the depths and low standards the Indians have dragged this club to. Anywhere else and he'd just be consigned to the drawers of mediocrity.

Players not happy with numbers at Ewood or reaction of fans. Certain fans invited to secret meeting and sworn to secrecy afterwards. This sort of stuff is music to the ears of the morons out there who blame 'shit fans' for our problems, and it fans suspicion, division and confrontation amongst the fanbase. Slippery Steve knows his audience

The airwaves alive with talk of JDT, senior players, the atmosphere/attendances at Ewood and what might have gone on at this hastily arranged secret meeting. That, my friends, is how easy it is and precisely what Venkys, shadow man and Waggott want to happen.

Like a worm on a hook Waggott wriggles to try and get himself out of the spotlight. Now bringing select fans and players into it but not others. Divide and conquer tactics. He's not as daft as he looks but when you've a cushy £300k per year to keep hold of I suppose he'll try anything

Yep, all part of making out that our failings are the responsibility of JDT and that we are a normal club acting to address that. It's a con job orchestrated by those upstairs to keep the focus downstairs