How do you know this? It's also convenient how these things always seem to get taken out of the club's hands by the player 'wanting out'. See Lenihan, Nyambe etc. Perhaps there should be questions (if true) about why on earth he'd rather go and move to Suffolk to sit on Ipswich's bench than continue his time as captain. Maybe Rovers' conduct leaves a lot to be desired. Imagine if they treat the players with half the disrespect they offer to the fans. Suspect they'd all want to go elsewhere.

This time last year we were enjoying our 6th month in the top 6 of the Championship. Ipswich Town were in League One. A year later we are dropping down the Championship and are now looking over our shoulders at the relegation zone, Ipswich Town are 2nd in the Championship and looking to stay in the promotion race, 23 points above us. We are now loaning our captain, one of the few remaining experienced players we have, to Ipswich Town, for their promotion run-in. And people don't have a problem with these decisions or the direction we are taking? Wow

The whole point of the 'current model' is a hand-to-mouth existence whereby each and every year those running the club are tasked with cutting costs down. If that means getting a few bodies out the door on loan and saving on their wages for a few months then so be it. It will save them a few quid in the scheme of things, further weaken the squad and prospects of improving but they've never been interested in such things. We've seen it in action many times with the 'penny wise pound foolish' approach of the shyster in the boardroom and it looks like they are now extending it to the first team.

And by remarkable coincidence it just so happens that unlike Buckley (injured) and Garrett (unproven) Travis will have no shortage of takers especially on loan conveniently getting one of the bigger wage earners of the books and probably paving the way for a healthy transfer fee. Funny how it's always the most expensive / valuable ones who end up by the exit door isn't it?

I think the fact that it is a loan only emphasises what a catastrophic situation we are in financially and how new owners are needed urgently. For those who caution against administration loaning out senior players to league rivals so they cover their wages for a few months is probably something you wouldn't even encounter at a club in administration. It is that desperate. It simply isn't sustainable and our behaviour is reaching levels where I suspect other clubs and managers are scratching their heads wondering what on earth is going on here when we are agreeing to such deals. Still there are those who cannot see, who persist with a fantasy that Buckley and now Travis were shipped out to get 'minutes' or because they don't 'fit' what we need. The simple reality is that we need their wages off our hands and we will do the necessary to get that.

This club disgusts me.

He joined Brentford in Summer 2022 We got £15 million for Adam Armstrong yet apparently still had to sell our training ground and were still on the 'cusp' of FFP problems so not sure how they can be so much better off. I suspect the difference is that their new Turkish owner has ambition and wants them to grow and get better. Whereas our owners, nobody really knows what they want but it ain't growth or improvement I think we can all agree.

But JRC isn't fit. He hasn't been for months and his record suggests that is likely to always be the case. So folly to make plans on him being available. Buckley is also out injured. And will be for 2 months. And not long ago you were supporting his departure out to Sheffield Wednesday whereas you now appear to be welcoming him back into the fold and putting ahead of Travis in the pecking order. Not sure why. Adam Wharton will be sold in the next few windows. We aren't adding quality to the squad. You yourself have already explained why - FFP and Indian government. Even if we sold Travis for immediate cash by the time the money men have taken their slice towards running costs there ain't much left over in the pot.

Some people never seem to learn If players are sold the proceeds will not be reinvested. At best we get a % back, probably nothing given the state of things. The wage bill will come down as it has done every window. We won't reinvest all the wages freed up. All the excuses....Indian government, FFP, lack of time, paperwork issues, moving goalposts....all primed and ready to go when business doesn't get done. Telegraph doing their bit to embed the excuses in readers minds today. Been the same story for the last 5-6 transfer windows The club is in my opinion run by charlatans, liars and bullshitters. I don't at this time include JDT or Broughton in that as this circus began well before they arrived and I think they genuinely mean well. Unfortunately they are mere tools in the grand scheme of things. Someone like Isaac Hayden isn't coming here unless Newcastle agree to a very generous loan. His wages will comfortably outstrip anyone else's at the Club and we ain't shelling out on wages these days. A loan is no use if we are funding it by selling.

I can only assume the real reason for the removal was either: A) an element of petulance - I distinctly remember that it was an Alan Myers initiative and perhaps someone doesn't want traces of his time around the place it was done on the cheap to start with and inevitably after a few years of wind and rain it deteriorated and it was easier to just get rid of it. Plastic bin liners over Darwen End seats would have gone the same way if we hadn't needed rid of them for the Leeds and Preston fans.

We might consider changing it given we are shipping 3 goals a game, losing most weeks and plummeting down the table. I'd sincerely hope that every players' place is under review after recent results. I'm not interested in 'what suits' our 'best player' and 'best goalscorer'. This is the Championship not academy football, the requirement is to get results on a consistent basis and if that means ditching one system and reverting to something else so be it. The Club and league position are more important than what is best for individuals or most pleasing on the eye / balance sheet. You're also overlooking the not so insignificant issues of fatigue, dips on form, injuries and suspensions, which will come, and for that reason you need a SQUAD not just a good starting XI. Your attitude appears to be that we should just let people go because they aren't currently getting on the teamsheet. You've already made your mind up on this like you have on so many other things so there's little point in engaging in an endless debate with you. Your second question of course nobody knows the answer to. I'm not sure what comments you are referring to but I think you are daft if you think JDT is in any way happy with what has happened here over the last 6 months. You'd be hard pressed to find any manager at any club that is happy with having the rug pulled out from under him mid transfer window and being forced to play kids for reasons other than trying to get promoted.

There's no evidence, of course there isn't, just as there isn't hard evidence for many other things including claims we've bid for players or offered players certain terms. This probably all exists in the heads of 2-3 people, mainly the shadow man and his assistant who are ultimately making these sort of day to day decisions. But I'm not one for believing in coincidences where this mob are concerned and don't think it is any sort of coincidence that a previously indispensable component of our team, and captain, suddenly finds himself frozen out of even substitute appearances despite the team looking in a state of disarray and leaderless. I think if you look at incomings and outgoings there's plenty of reason to suspect that these are motivated by financial concerns - wages, transfer value, age - generally those on bigger money, on the wrong side of 26/27 and those who might attract interest from elsewhere - are ushered out of the exit door.

The last few years i have been concerned by the apparent relentless march towards the 'academy model' and the obsession the Club and many fans seem to have with always relying on the academy lads to step up to the plate and perform consistently to Championship standards. We've certainly had our fair share of good academy graduates these last few years and those involved deserve some credit for their work. But I think it is a risky and dangerous game. So far we've done well with it because we've had a perfect blend of experience and youth. Even last seaosn you had Championship experience in Ayala, Hyam, Kaminski, Travis, Dack, BBD, Gallagher. Enough there to provide a solid base and platform for the younger end to rely on and be guided through difficult times and keep the spirit up, or make a couple of changes later on in games. This has now all but been completely eroded. We are left with Hyam who has been in and out of the team and form (and who actually only has a couple of seasons behind him at this level), Travis who has been exiled for what I believe to be financial reasons, Gallagher who has had his traditional spell on the sidelines. Other than that there's hardly anything resembling years of experience at this level or above. This experience isn't getting replaced, it is only going one way and I think we are soon to enter the end game with it. As I say they've got away with it the last 3 years because there has always been that base still beneath it but they've gone too far with it now and it is going to cost us big time eventually.

Too late now. The message is out and 2 weeks have passed by with the club stubbornly sticking to their daft idea. Even if they were to announce on Thursday that paper tickets are available it leaves all of 24 hours or so for the message to get out and people to change their minds and go.

At the moment no, assuming that we continue with the same formation or that Wharton and Tronstad remain fit and available for the rest of the season. Does he fit our style? What is our style? Our diabolical run of results has occurred with him out of the team, so perhaps his absence is causing more of an issue than people think. On the flip side he played almost every minute of most games last season and the season before when we were entrenched in the top 6. So perhaps we need to think more about cold hard results than this mythical 'style' which I am becoming less and less convinced is a route to success and more convinced it is a route to winning plaudits and putting £££s on values. Can we replace him with better? Possibly, but with no money and alleged government restrictions I'd wager that we won't replace him at all, or at best with a loan and that doesn't really get us anywhere. For the record I am not suggesting that Travis is a great player. But I am suggesting that he offers important attributes that few others in our squad offer. I look at the young lads shoulders slumped as Huddersfield and Hull are banging in goals against us and want someone in there with some fire in his belly, which Travis offers. Too many 'nice lads nice footballers' in there not enough warriors already. I think JDT would be insane to stay here beyond this season unless something drastic changes with the owners and the budgets. He will know by now if he didn't last summer that they only way is down whilst the club remains fixated on cutting corners and costs every window.

I've heard this a few times and it seems they hide behind a 'rule' that you aren't allowed to encroach on another league club's patch. I'm not aware that such a rule exists and I'd love to see how they plan on enforcing it or indeed determine what counts as 'patch' particularly in places like London and Greater Manchester but hey if it saves them at Rovers a job what's not to like? Let's just focus our already limited efforts on a small area with a dwindling number of supporters and make no efforts in heartlands including Rossendale, South Ribble and the Ribble Valley. Makes my blood boil especially when numpties come along explaining how we are a 'small town' ignoring the realities of the region and support base.

He's got a funny way of showing it having had him in the team as captain pretty much every game until a month or so ago. Perhaps JDT has been told that more sales are required in January and that Travis is in their crosshairs on the basis his 'development' is complete. 200 career games. Known around the Championship. Captain / leadership experience. Time to cash in and find another "project" and get his wages out. JDT has made it clear these things aren't his remit and he'll be gone too in a few months so needn't worry about it.

We don't need to sell anyone and shouldn't sell anyone unless it allows for reinvestment. That's the first issue that needs addressing. If its going the same way as the last few windows we won't see money from sales so there's little benefit to be had to the team. Good news for the financial guys though....

I was always under the impression that Blues Bar was separate to the other hospitality facilities - Premier Suite, Red Rose Suite, Jack's Kitchen - in that it was still under the control and management of the Club whereas Sodexo control the rest and also the catering kiosks around the ground. I think this is why there is a fee to get into the Blues Bar, why their choice of beverages is wider than the other bars and why certain promotions apply in the Sodexo ones but not Blues Bar I might be wrong on that or it might have changed more recently. Either way of course it is another example of the club washing its hands of any responsibility and farming it out to a third party like they've done with everything else, or if it is still under the club's control it shows just how little pride there is down there, they'd sooner the place be a bland neutral venue than one that reflects our great history that this rabble are wrecking.

Since the day they sacked Allardyce and appointed Kean it has always been not what you know but who you know down there. See also Coyle over Warnock and the retention of certain people whilst those with ambition who won't put up with such nonsense don't last long. When you prioritise being 'nice' and telling you what you want to hear over getting the best people for the job decline is inevitable.

There isn't a problem with it if done in moderation to supplement and bolster your squad. When it is the cornerstone of your recruitment it is a problem. Anyway, you said there was 'nothing Rovers can do' about Bournemouth recalling him. Whilst that might be correct if we'd have signed our own CB to replace the outgoing Ayala then we wouldn't need to worry about such things.

Too far for him to travel surely? How would he ever cope managing that lot whilst commuting from Teesside after we were such an inconvenience for him?

Could just sign our own players rather than rely on loans every year?

It seems to me that there are only 3 ways things change and we become free of Venkys: 1) That their business interests / personal fortunes take such a battering that they can no longer afford to keep us going. 2) Something dodgy / corrupt / criminal / humiliating comes out of the woodwork forcing legal action or sanctions and they are forced out this way 3) They suddenly decide to give it up as it isn't worth it - probably only going to happen when the gang of four either die or pass on their power to a new generation who might have more sense Given what we have witnessed here in the last 13 years I suspect option 2 is the most likely, but still unlikely.

It wouldn't take a couple of hundred million to repay the bank loans. The vast majority of the 'debt' is owed to Venkys, which they could write off if they wanted. The money owed to the Bank of India is a different matter altogether but fortunately this is a very small percentage of the total.