I assume Sheffield Wednesday have been quick to send him back knowing he's not going to be available for a couple of months. They need immediate bodies for their survival scrap and won't want to pay him to sit around for 2 months using up a squad space. So we can do that instead. This might cause additional problems. I believe his exit on loan was a prerequisite to us getting Hill and Moran in late on during the window and if that is correct there will need to be another outgoing to free up the cash for Buckley

Yes they have, soon after being taken over by a new ambitious owner who has immediately made positive changes and pumped money in and hasn't hidden behind every excuse going as to why he can't. Some people would have us believe that there is no such possibility of that here and instead we've to soldier on as a zombie club with a pointless existence.

Not that long ago we were winning the League at Anfield, we were a better side than them, and even in the early years of this rotten regime we were playing them with regularity and beating them at Ewood. Fast forward a decade and I'm trying to imagine just how little pride or care there is rattling around down there to accept, support, welcome, even just tolerate hosting an event celebrating the 'legends' of what was until recently a rival. Even if we were a perennial League Two club it is simply something you 'don't do' in the world of English football and such a historic footballing region as this. It really is sickening.

This would be unthinkable at any other Football League club. I include Accy Stanley in that who I can't believe would plunge to such depths.

There's clearly a move to ship Travis out, and it seems with the defensive targets that logically Carter is also being offloaded. That will get them £5 million or so, a chunk of it immediately. Sign a kid from Crewe and a loan to replace and on it goes. Not exactly the Brentford model and will only end one way sooner or later.

So we "refurb" Blues Bar several years ago now, but can't be arsed getting rid of the old decor and instead just leave it piled up to rot in a corner of Ewood Park? Sounds about right. When you can't even be bothered or don't have enough pride to dispose of your waste properly is it any wonder this Club is in the state it is?

It already did end up there after they tried it the last time around. For some reason it was delayed by a few years at that point - I strongly believe that this was purely down to Mowbray going to India in the summer of 2017, talking them round and persuading them to 'back him' which to be fair they did to a degree for 2-3 years until they either gave up, ran out of cash or realised he wasn't good enough to finish the job. Since then it's been back to shadow man playing the project on a vastly reduced budget. He's behind it all, it's a bit more structured and thought out than last time around with the academy and D of F running it but fundamentally it is the same purpose - cut, cut, cut, reduce, reduce, reduce and unless you are very, very good, which our lot are not, it usually takes you one way and one way only. It is possible to be successful on a limited budget - Luton, Coventry, Brentford, Huddersfield - though they'll have us believe it isn't possible - but I don't think any of that lot prioritised cost cutting and individual development. It was all about making the team better and making shrewd additions where needed.

100% agree. When it was eventually decided that Mowbray and Venus were off there was a void that needed filling. Them two had controlled recruitment for 5 years and they wanted someone to take over that job BUT also work under tighter constraints both on costs and on input from upstairs. Someone who could take whatever scraps the owners decide to send (if any) and use it to cobble together a competitive side in line with the 'project' i.e. young, cheap, 'good' football. But then when things start to go wrong, which they will inevitably do if the budgets are cut every year sometimes more than once Waggott and his mate can plonk GB in front of the cameras to explain it all. Not daft when it comes to protecting themselves and their positions this lot.

All going swimmingly well this season for the owners, their representative and the bloke masquerading as a chief executive: Another summer gone by with a negative net transfer spend and several 'big' earners off the books - Dack, Diaz, Kaminski Manager has tolerated their latest nonsense and not (yet) resigned saving them aggravation Results inconsistent but good enough to (so far) avoid any serious relegation discussion, which is when things start getting uncomfortable upstairs. Nice and steady down the middle of the road is how we like it. Saves expectations of any serious additions in January if not in a promotion push like the last couple of years. Another decent league cup run leading to a money spinner at Chelsea Academy lads' values and stats improving all the time, not to mention a potential jackpot with Szmodics scoring every other week Now that things are inevitably coming off the rails, thanks to the owners and their henchmen, all eyes and blame goes to Broughton and JDT either for not recruiting well enough or for not using the players well enough. Almost no blame from what I read and hear (other than a few on this website) directed towards the people in control. Happy days for the boys upstairs. Should have enough to limp along until May, a couple of big sales this window or next will keep the owners (or their bankers) happy and best of all they get no grief or hassle for any of it. JDT unlikely to be here much beyond May at the latest so they can then string us along through the summer 'give the new man a chance FFS' and rinse and repeat.

Agreed. Whoever is in the dugout it's just window dressing but it amazes me anyone would entertain Mowbray back here after his conduct the last time around.

What is also real is that from circa 2020 to 2023 (before there was any mention of Indian government involvement or restrictions) the club embarked on a substantial cost cutting process. This meant little to no cash for transfers, large scale reduction in squad size and wages and a borderline obsession with dipping into the academy at every turn rather than sourcing players externally. I know what is in the accounts. I've read them. That doesn't mean signing a few players for cash would immediately put us in danger of a points deduction or embargo, just as it hasn't for all those other Championship clubs who have posted far greater losses than we have in recent years. I find it odd you mentioned Boro reinvesting sale proceeds into new players. In recent times we've sold Armstrong, Raya and Kaminski and reinvested a grand total of about 15% of the money on Szmodics, Hyam, Brittain and Pickering, the rest they are 'unable' to reinvest due to an array of excuses which now includes FFP, Indian government and the best of the lot the club secretary (still employed) getting temporary amnesia and forgetting how to register a loan signing on deadline day. End result the same - reductions across the board.

I've explained what I don't understand and why it doesn't add up. I've seen it with my own eyes and applied my own thought process to it. It doesn't stack up. You've signed up and subscribed to the Venky/Waggott party line and it is clear you are treating their version as 100% accurate and indisputable. Just because someone paid by the club or connected to the club says something doesn't make it true. These people are employed to ensure the people in India are not blamed or criticised for the ills that befall BRFC. And they're doing a good job at it. You and many others are testament to that. I'm in a minority I suspect. You call it conspiracy theories, I call it independent thinking. 'We've done all we can' is the motto. Venkys have not just cut but have slashed the budgets. But they dont want us to think this is their choice. Its easier to pretend someone or something else is to blame.

Cost cuts began well before the Indian government got involved. Even before the government 'restrictions' Tomasson was told there was no cash for any signings and it was frees and loans only so I'm not having it that this 'development' has suddenly forced them onto a different track and all would be fine if it wasn't for the government. As recently as 2021 Mowbray was allowed to assemble a squad containing the likes of Brereton, Dack, Gallagher, Armstrong, Evans, Ayala, Elliott, Holtby, Johnson, Downing, Mulgrew, Williams and many more. It is an unexplained mystery how that was possible without FFP issues and yet a couple of years later we are supposed to believe that with a far smaller and surely cheaper squad we are 'at the limit' So no, I don't accept what Venky stooges have to say on the subject and I think anyone who believes what Waggott has to say on this subject to be foolish. The more plausible explanation is that Venkys have simply decided to cut their investment. That's up to them. Their money. Their fault when it goes tits up, not FFP or the Indian government.

Simply not true. They were putting in substantially more under Bowyer and more recently Mowbray and to my knowledge that spending didn't break any rules. Recent cost cuts entirely their choice.

And if those figures are correct I'd love someone to explain how we are regularly among the biggest loss makers and continually under apparent threat from FFP. Why aren't all those other clubs with similar incomes yet substantially higher wage bills under embargoes, e.g. Preston and why can almost all of them charge less for season tickets....

Thought WBA were skint and them and Birmingham also under the same FFP rules as us? Or have they found a way around it.

Or even better if they win such an award I presume the Club will take a delegation down to London to be presented with it at the annual awards night. No problems with the environmental impact of those journeys.

I looked at Hull with envy last night. A couple of years ago beset with problems. Unpopular owner cutting costs, ridiculous ticketing policies, dwindling support. A takeover comes, now they're investing, attendances up to 20,000 a week, reasonable prices, proper sponsorship. A united club looking to the future. Other than perhaps 15,000 fans like Preston or Bolton I task anyone to tell me why we couldn't follow their path to the future.

This discussion was had on here over the summer amidst claims from some that Travis wasn't compatible with JDTs style or good enough to play in his system. The facts dispel this. He's played more than almost anyone under JDTs management and has been captain throughout. I could begin to consider that Tronstad's emergence may have recently escalated him above Travis in the selection stakes, but the recent stubborn determination to keep him out of the side at all costs, even when options are so scarce, tells me there is much more to it. They want us to believe this is all about football, styles and philosophies. I think it is all about money. The way of getting a player out the door quickly is to put the ball in his court and force him to look elsewhere. The cynic suggests that's what is going on here, as it has happened countless times before under this rancid regime

What would be really funny is if every Rovers fan who hasn't yet bought a ticket simply turns up on the day at the away ticket office and buys a paper ticket to go in the Cambridge end, refusing to participate in the ludicrous and discriminatory 'digital only' scheme for home ends. This way those people could still have their paper ticket, still watch the game and Rovers would still get the same income, but it would send a message to the imbeciles upstairs and cause them quite the headache trying to cope with it on matchday.

Unfortunately JDT, GB, fans and players don't matter. The people that do matter don't care what the above want or think, and they are happy to discard the the lot of them. The biggest problem is Venkys. Everything else you have named starts from them, nothing else.

At the end of the day I don't even think football comes into it anymore, They are just working their way through, offloading anyone and everyone who fits the 'criteria' The 'criteria' is all to do with age, experience, wages and transfer value. In the case of Travis he's 27 next year, a contract for a couple more years after this season, he's got bags of Championship experience and is a senior player. The events of the last 3-4 years prove that those sort of people get ushered out the revolving door at Brockhall. They aren't interested in the impact this might have on results, performances, morale, leadership. All they are interested in is ideally getting some sort of transfer fee but at the very least a substantial (relatively speaking) wage off the books and avoiding having to offer the same or better terms for a renewal, as this contradicts the massive cost cutting process they have been on. I suspect that the pound signs started flashing in certain eyes when the Millwall / Luton interest came early last summer, which was rejected as those offers were ultimately dismal for a player of his value, but they probably expected them to return with improved bids and they didn't. Looking through the squad now, with the exception of Szmodics and A Wharton he will be one of the few they know they can flog to another club and trouser the proceeds, all whilst cutting the wage bill further and replacing him with a loan or academy graduate. It has been the way of it for years.....Lenihan, Rothwell, Evans, Dack, Diaz etc. etc. Gallagher will be the same but unfortunately his injury woes and wage levels might make it impossible to attract buyers at this stage. I worked this 'project' out a long time ago, yet people still persisted with believing Waggott's lies that we were offering those experienced players bumper contracts. It just isn't the case. They are just working their way down the list, cutting, reducing, diminishing on value, quality, age, wages. Results and league position utterly immaterial to those orchestrating it.

All questions only the scum in India can answer. But I think to argue that there is nobody in the world with the desire or means to buy this club, given what we have witnessed elsewhere, is pushing the limits of believability.

Forest, like Hull, wanted promotion from this league asap. Hence serious investment in improvements. Whatever Rovers want it isn't promotion, claiming so is an insult to those who actually try.

Yes, I suppose the point I am getting at is that last season he was often the one blamed for our issues and problems, but the fact is he played every week in a side pushing for the play-offs just as he is doing this season. Whatever we have done instead it clearly hasn't worked as we have regressed. The common theme here is that we often see people being shipped out of Rovers supposedly because they aren't good enough or we can do better but the real motivation is usually financial and the usual outcome in that case is regression sooner or later, as we are now witnessing.