JHRover

It would be interesting to see how close to the Sheff Wed situation we would be had it not been for the decision to liquidate £45 million of playing assets to pay the bills. That particular 'strategy' is coming to a shuddering halt now and at best they've another £5 million to cash in this summer before the well has run dry. The only hope then for the regime is that one or more of the cheap foreign punts / academy lads turns out to be a hidden gem and attracts big money interest - a stretch with the state and length of contract we are offering people. Whether the regime here would allow it to get to that state not sure - we're going to find out soon enough - my prediction is that Sheff Wed's problems will be behind them and they'll be under ambitious new ownership before then.

Valerien Ismael on the future of Blackburn Rovers coach | Lancashire Telegraph

Yeah, it is staggering the lack of fight, determination or anything from those interviews. In the past we've expected decent players to leave -if- a very good offer has come in but we've had managers talking about the importance of those players, being keen to keep them, building around them etc. Not now, the white flag is flying over Brockhall. Come and get them. Here it is just shrug shoulders, we've made an offer, they aren't taking it so they either get sold now or leave for free. Worryingly he almost seems keen on the sale option under the impression that it will allow for reinvestment. Must have been the shortest ever contract negotiations with these players. As of March / April all 3 of Travis, Tronstad and Brittain were very clear that there had been zero discussions about it, with the club saying that it would only happen at the end of the season once budgets and league status were known, and now by the start of August negotiations have failed. So at best perhaps 12 weeks of a period during which the players were away on holiday. Impressive speed there. Or perhaps the negotiations have been all of a phone call to tell them we aren't offering them improved terms and probably not even what they are on at present, therefore not even worthy of being called an offer.

The Club happy to confirm that the only purpose behind our existence is to be a 'financially sustainable' 2nd division club with a mere 'aspiration' of ever getting to the PL, whilst at the same time claiming to have recently secured circa £20 million of cash from the owners, not to invest and improve the club but just to keep the lights on. Something going wrong somewhere then on this particular plan.

Chief Venky Stooge will be able to go back to Pune every few months and tell them that despite the disappointment of relegation to League One we've managed to get the wage bill down by £x million, losses down from £20 million a year to significantly less, and although attendances have dropped again not by that many as we were down to the hardcore to start with. The only worry they'll have on this front will be a sizeable drop in away followings to milk and a weaker position to command commercial/sponsorship deals. I'm sure they'll find a way to make it work as they always do. He's delivered one relegation already and very nearly on another couple of occasions so clearly the prospect of dropping into League One isn't one that overly concerns them.

I think that applied previously but in this new era I'm not so sure. I think we are at a point where every £ is vital. I think the Chief Venky Stooge has more power and autonomy than in previous years and is now king pin at Ewood having previously had to 'share' with others. So he can order a sale to help reduce the 'burden' on the owners and I doubt they'll know anything about it until the balance sheet is reviewed. Fully agree with this. Just the latest in a long long line of people to be sh1t on by the regime that holds BRFC hostage. A grubby, dirty, thoroughly unpleasant organisation that people would be wise to avoid. Though I suppose the treatment of long standing staff members at Brockhall and Ewood tells us all we need to know. They couldn't give a stuff.

Indeed. When every decision is being made with £££ in mind - cutting costs and wages and bringing in cash from sales - it is very easy to see why they've ditched the idea of signing quality up front.

There's a reason why people like Travis and Brittain are attracting interest from rival Championship clubs who will offer millions of pounds for them now despite them being out of contract in a year. It is good business to get them even if that means paying a 7 figure sum now rather than waiting 12 months. They are good Championship players, who have been cornerstones of what should have been 2-3 play off finishes in the last 4 years (if the club hadn't deliberately sabotaged itself). There's also a reason why none of the signings we have made this summer attracted attention from rival Championship clubs. It isn't because we have a pioneering scouting network able to steal a march on rivals, it is because they are cheap high risk signings. Some willing and happy to gamble the season and Championship status in the hope they turn out alright, other clubs take this game more seriously and want to ensure they sign proven quality.

There are similarities in the situation at Rovers and those at Sheffield Wednesday and until recently Reading. We seem to operate in similar ways to them. I suspect all three have operated on a similar basis and have been run in a similar fashion over the years. All three taken over by random Asian conglomerates. Big question marks on why, big question marks on third party involvement. Big question marks on why they don't sell despite none of them getting any benefit out of continuing to own struggling 2nd division clubs. All sorts of issues along the way with huge losses every year, FFP problems, embargos, in some cases points deductions, short term borrowing, high turnovers in staff and players. Almost as though all three were basically figureheads to sit abroad, pay the bills, reap the benefits whilst others dealt with the recruitment/management side of things in their absence. I call it the 'Lucas Joao connection' but more to it than just a player appearing for all three IMO.

This is the sort of thing that would make a lot of sense with the 'admin errors' and last minute collapses in transfers into which an enormous amount of time and work had been invested by some. Deals that certain people along the chain weren't happy with and scuppered.

All part of Rovers 'layering' this. Trying to hoodwink fans into believing that other clubs are throwing around ridiculous amounts of money and to try and persuade fans that we are doing the right thing by not matching that. They need to come up with a convincing reason for his departure at this juncture, so grossly exaggerated figures will fit will with the 'poor little Rovers can't compete with that' narrative.

I enjoyed watching the Sheff Wed supporter protest today. All but a very small number of the 3000+ at Leicester refused to take their seats until 5 minutes of the game had gone, leaving an almost empty away end at kick off. Good to see the Leicester fans in support of the protest and applauding the Wednesday fans as they arrived during the game. Sadly it seems people only equate 'fit and proper' to whether an owner pays the bills on time and assume all is fine and well here.

Age and £££ tells me it was never going to

And again - my view of things, right or wrong - is that there has always been a form of a power struggle behind the scenes between two opposing camps. Mowbray and his mate Waggott managed to get their feet under the table and establish control and a degree of normality at the club for a number of years, but it looks to me like the shadow man and whoever he works for/represents/acts for patiently waited and over the last 2-3 years has managed to establish sole control again, just as he did in 2015-17 The parallels are clear - A long standing and popular manager (Bowyer/Mowbray) is removed from position, both of which once had close and positive relations with those in India, and the most senior person around the place when it happens is the curtain twitcher stooge. There's an initial 'ambitious' new regime put in place (Lambert/Irvine, Broughton/JDT) and for a short while people are quite excited and confident in the direction we are going and there's a lot of ambitious talk around the place. There's then a sudden 'change' in circumstances involving a sudden moving of the goalposts/change in budgets that undermines the ambition and leads to those people getting out of here as quickly as they can. Then a wrecking ball is taken to what was a solid competitive Championship squad, popular players bundled out the back door, tens of millions in transfer fees disappear, huge turnover in players. And inevitably we reach a point where relegation becomes highly likely once an inferior manager comes in to replace the decent one and there's little quality left in the squad to prop it up. 2023-25 is almost identical to 2015-17. We know how that ended up and we know what the constants have been during that time.

Eustace was the perfect bloke for what we needed. A safe pair of hands, instilled a brilliant team spirit, could organise a side and make it hard to break down, didn't give many sloppy goals away, did the simple things right. Don't try to be clever or reinvent the wheel in this league especially when you've had a high turnover in personnel on and off the pitch and no money. Just get on with it and make the most of what you've got. Bring in experience to steady the ship. Rely on the experienced senior players already at the club and get them buying into it. It worked incredibly well, unbelievably well, to go from almost self-inflicted relegation at Leicester to the top 6 in January spending next to nothing and selling Szmodics. Fantastic. Any remotely sensible club would have been giving Eustace a massive pat on the back, well done John, contract improvement time, brilliant job so far, how can we help you and make sure we keep you happy? Of course the scum that own and run this club had to dismantle that and quickly, forcing Eustace out to Derby F'ing County and ever since have been busy breaking up the squad he left behind in the top 6. With 3 weeks to go until the window closes time yet for a few more swings of the wrecking ball. Because we've got the Venky stooge and his henchman Gestede doing god only knows what at the club, instead they can gamble our league status and future on a 'project' and a head coach with a dubious and very much short term record (average tenure 20 odd games at 8 clubs). There's little reason at this early stage to have much faith in Ismael. What happened at half time against Sheffield Wed and for the 4-5 games after that meaningless now. He's got a very hard job on his hands but he signed up for this and seems content to play the game with Gestede and Pasha. All so unnecessary and it seems to me all because of behind the scenes politics and personal agendas.

Well going off the Coyle appointment and Jim White reaction just before he was sacked in early 2017 it's a safe assumption that they were still involved then. Then we've our shady friend the Venky stooge who has been running the snow for at least the last decade and who appeared to have some sort of past connection to the agency which was on his LinkedIn account I think. Oh and I've seen mentions that he was involved in 'brokering' the takeover back in 2010 which leads to all sorts of other questions.

Which is what we could and should have been doing with the £45 million brought in. Half on new investments, some on new contracts and the rest into running costs Sensible. Sustainable. Instead the money has been used to help the owners avoid their financial restrictions brought about by their activities, they don't care what that means for Rovers. We need new owners who can and will reinvest and won't make the club suffer from their legal issues.

Unless I've missed it West Brom haven't brought in £45 million in player sales since 2022. They've also had to carry the legacy of a PL wage bill. So whatever advantage their bigger attendances provide I would expect to be wiped out by the above.

That would all be relevant if the people making decisions were interested in anything other than getting their hands on transfer money and cutting the wage bill But there are no considerations beyond this so things like damage to the team, morale, upsetting fans, potentially ruining the season, all irrelevant.

So we're now so desperate to sell our home grown long standing captain that we are going to have to pay up 2 years of Mafoumbi's contract to get rid of him so that we can open up a slot to allow us to spend more money signing another foreign lad to replace the captain, who may well not be good enough anyway. What a joke of a club. I'm not going to forget the fact that a little over 12 months ago Gestede was doing work experience shadowing Waggott, apparently with a view to a future career as a CEO, and now he's responsible for all recruitment to the club. They've thrown our fate into the hands of a novice.

I can't remember the exact wording but something along the lines of "When are you signing a new contract?" "When I get offered one" I don't know whether Ismael was honest or straight to the point. How do you know? It's your opinion. Yes club employees will be told a version of events by Venky stooge in charge. Give it time and he will learn the hard way that what Venky stooges say and the reality are often some way apart.

Fundamentally this comes down to whether you believe the club has made a serious effort to keep any of these players. I don't. The reason for my original post was concern that people are starting to fall for a narrative that they have been made appropriate offers but have declined them. I don't believe for one second that they have and the club is 100% to blame for this situation in my opinion, not any of the players. I get angry and concerned when I see people suggesting that the players are somehow the issue in this situation. How many times must it happen for people to realise the club is the problem?

I don't understand either of your questions but think I've said enough on the subject. If you want to believe the narrative being spread by club employees despite plenty of reasons to believe otherwise then go ahead, there's no evidence either way but we all know how this ends.

Who has evidence of anything? Ismael says one thing. Travis, Brittain and Tronstad said another. They refused to even entertain the prospect of new contracts in February, to the point of forcing Eustace out rather than keep him, yet by May/June have done it? Nah I think it is foolish to assume the bloke new to the club and being given his information by Pasha/Gestede is the correct version.

Doesn't really matter - either way not a serious attempt to keep him and end result is the same