JHRover

Just need another two places to be taken now. Any ideas on who might fill those other two slots ahead of us because I can't think of anyone!

Indeed there are, and we got one of those in JDT (but only after Broughton delivered the curveball, before then we were looking at Duncan Ferguson). But finding one of the leftfield appointments and it working well is only half the story - you've then got to harness it and build on it to try and let it blossom into something successful. At the good ship Rovers the agenda was never to be successful or for it to get anywhere, so all efforts were geared towards undermining it and ensuring it fell to pieces. Again, results a minor trivial issue in the equation. What was important was a willingness to tolerate the Venky shenanigans and not complain. Now they've got their ideal man 'aligned' to their project: Won't complain or call them out in public Won't attract interest or offers from elsewhere Won't object to them offloading whichever players they fancy cashing in on Will agree to work with whatever randomers Gestede unearths Such a man is worth his weight in gold to this regime, hence the 3 year contract. Again, results inconsequential to all this, so as long as he carries on doing as he's told and behaving himself he'll get to collect his wage and continue.

After his failings at West Brom and Watford and with his CV he wouldn't have got such a job (or close to it) at any other club in the same division. So we can add him to the list together with Kean, Berg, Singh, Agnew, Bowyer, Coyle, Mowbray, Waggott, Suhail and Gestede - none of whom would have got jobs elsewhere in the Championship and haven't since us (save for Mowbray having a few very short stints elsewhere after being here). The trio at the top can reflect on having that in common - do they call this 'alignment'?

Coventry spent money and gave their best players new contracts, Coventry didn't bring in £50 million in sales.

At least their owner takes some sort of interest in them. Any thoughts Chaddy on our owners and how they might react to a prolonged relegation struggle? Sackings? New managers? Investment? Will all happen at our rivals between now and January. Won't be happening at Ewood as we know from past experience. Just a shoulder shrug and confusion as to how we've ended up embroiled in relegation trouble.

Three weeks today from the big day. Still no announcement from Rovers about this special commemorative shirt. No dates, teasers, publicity. I really don't think they are capable of getting this done and especially not having it on sale for fans as well.

The fact that Rovers have had to move with speed to prepare and release a substantial club statement late on a Friday evening in mid-October, the night before a game, and 3 weeks before date in question, following one person posting this on twitter, just shows where we are at as a club. Something that would be utterly inconceivable at any other professional club, here is believable and so much so that one post on twitter snowballs into something massive and forces the club to respond like this. That is purely because the club cannot be trusted and no story, no matter how ridiculous or extreme it might appear, can be ruled out at Ewood Park these days.

That 150th special version, simply the new badge in gold with '150 years' below it is the sort of thing Rovers could and should have done. Anyone and everyone looks at it and knows straight away it is special and what the occasion is. Then back to normal the year after. We've instead adopted a white rose on our away kits because it's cheaper to do a monochrome badge than the full colour version and that's about it - nobody outside of the Rovers fanbase would have a clue that we're 2 weeks away from such a monumental anniversary.

Fortunately for this regime we got low gates back in the 80s so they and their defenders can hide behind that one for a good while - simply pretend that everything that happened 1991-2012 was an aberration and abnormal and all we have now is 'normality'. Of course this overlooks a couple of big issues - like how come every other club in the League - who all also got significantly lower crowds in the 80s - are no longer at those levels and have increased their support significantly Surely if 'back to non-Premier League normal' was the way of it then the likes of Bolton, Preston, and many many others in the Championship and below would be back to 10,000 or less? Strange how they don't appear to be plagued by comparisons to a bygone era 40+ years ago. And also why people want to focus all their efforts on the late 70s and 80s when we had low gates....those people never want to focus on the century prior to that, when Rovers got far bigger crowds, nor the 30 years after that when Rovers got far bigger crowds, but instead obsess about what we got during a relatively short window in our history at a time when nationally crowds were suffering due to all manner of issues not restricted to Rovers - hooliganism, economic problems, dangerous grounds.

Push is going to come to shove at Hillsborough very soon indeed. When the HMRC winding up petitions get served the clock is ticking. No more kicking the can down the road Interested parties will be hovering and waiting to pick them up on the cheap when they're out of time and options.

Do you expect them to actually do it? I think they probably just came out with it in the heat of the moment once they saw the reaction to the most bland and least commemorative home shirt imaginable. Things like one-off badges, kits, merchandise all require time, designing and expense. That doesn't fit with the regime's 'management' of the club.

It is really really odd especially when intelligent educated people come out with it. It seems to be the most extreme case of Stockholm Syndrome combined with rose-tinted spectacles. I don't know if it affects other clubs and fanbases as much or not but there does seem to be this attitude that pretty much anyone and everyone who leaves Rovers, whether that be by choice or being removed by Rovers' decision making, are to be treated as inherently evil, unpleasant, good to be rid of, glad they are gone etc. etc. Some of it I think comes down to perceptions of personality, or some sort of grievance that these people would dare try and leave Rovers and that makes them a problem. I get the impression that people like Allardyce, Lambert, JDT came across in some quarters as 'aloof' in some ways - that is they didn't do the 'tea and biscuits' routine with people and all that. Or perhaps others were uncomfortable with the public declarations of ambition and wanting to get promoted asap and were more comfortable with the (very) slow burn approach of Mowbray. Anyhow, personally I enjoyed that 2022-23 season more than any since these disgraceful people took our club hostage (or I did until it became clear they weren't going to try and maintain it beyond Christmas). The facts and figures show it was the best we've had and probably will ever have under these gangsters. Play-off pushes and FA Cup quarter finals I enjoyed, more than relegation scraps to League One that's for sure.

Of course they have. Hardly going to say he did get him the job is he?

Either side of Waggott these owners haven't had a CEO - that's from 2010 to December 2017 and since May 2025. They don't want a CEO. Never have never will. They agreed to bring in Waggott at Mowbray's request and together they went out to India and talked the owners into 'backing them'. Now we are just back to normal - no CEO and no need for one because they won't be empowered to do the job of a CEO in any event. The CEO here is just to tick boxes, meet regulations and talk a good game to the fans. Now they've cut off the Telegraph there's even less for them to do. It won't have gone unnoticed that they're saving hundreds of thousands of pounds a year by not having one.

A pattern emerges of not getting business done when needed. I very much doubt that's because we 'couldn't convince' a player to join us and is more likely because the owners and their henchman refused to sanction the outlay. In doing so it probably cost them millions and millions. JDT will have learned one thing from his time at Rovers. Never, ever trust a Venky.

The time for JDT has been and gone. When he was here we had the foundation of a strong Championship squad and on top of that invested sensibly and effectively in people like Szmodics, Brittain and Hyam. The combination of Mowbray's left over squad, those good signings, JDT's impact / ambition and the Adam Wharton emergence - the stars aligned at the right time and we could have done it. Some prefer to convince themselves that we will never get promoted or close to it because of crowds, money, excuses but even under these wretched owners we ended up in a position to take that step under JDT. Engaged owners with some ambition would have backed him 'heavily' in his first January - instead they borrowed Sorba Thomas from Huddersfield. Nowadays it wouldn't work as well - they've gutted the squad of the quality it once had and are ensuring the prospects even of repeating signings like Szmodics and Brittain are remote. I think JDT struggled at times here because he was just on a totally different wavelength footballing wise to most of the players who had enjoyed the happy camp under Mowbray for years. Nowadays that would be even more extreme - I doubt any of them are capable of performing in the way he wants.

Chansiri about to sell up to Mike Ashley by the sounds of things. Lucky Sheffield Wednesday. Whereas we'll be stuck with this lot forever. Precisely why I'd have rather had a couple of years of Sheffield Wednesday misery with an end to it and some light at the end of the tunnel to what we've got. Still, nobody buys loss making, debt ridden, struggling Championship clubs eh?

I think the only logical explanation is spite / petulance / pettiness by the current 'power broker' keen to remove any positive things done by people long since removed from the club.

I've watched a few games both home and away on TV this season. This includes the highlights packages offered by Sky and ITV. At no point in any of those broadcasts have I seen any reference to this being out 150th anniversary season. You wouldn't know about it. They've done nothing to update or alter the club badge for the occasion, nothing to introduce a commemorative home shirt (quite the opposite it is one of the least unique and recognisable home shirts in club history, including the halves being wrong), they've got a random away shirt that we've worn a couple of times with town 'landmarks' on it but I'm struggling to understand the relevance of that to our 150th anniversary. As far as I can see (from a distance) there's nothing at Ewood to commemorate this occasion. You might expect boards around the ground, flashing advertisements, flags. Nothing. The pitiful banner on the BBE effort seems to have been abandoned after one game and not seen since. What would I want / expect to see for our 150th? 1) A new or temporary club crest for the season - perhaps in gold or altered to make reference to the occasion - so that anyone who sees it recognises it is different and special 2) Programmes (digital and paper) being reintroduced even just for the season and each edition being comprehensive and accurate about significant occasions and people from our long history - plenty of material to go at 3) A proper anniversary shirt worn for the whole season that would be immediately recognisable as different and unique and be worn by players and fans all season long (not a sticker on the back of the neck that nobody can see from any distance). Not worn on one day only (why limit such an occasion to one afternoon?). 4) A proper range of merchandise to celebrate the occasion - not a few t-shirts of dismal quality 5) A new timeline being introduced with it being permanently installed around the ground or an exhibition open in the Darwen End lounge each home game with food and drink available 6) A fixture against opposition of some relevance or stature in the game. Perhaps Athletic Bilbao or similar. Yes someone who costs money and effort to bring here and organise - good things cost money you see. 7) A club documentary - released on Youtube and media channels - make it a feature length film presented by a 'legend' or two chronicling it all the way from start to present (preferably ignoring the last 15 years of hell).

They missed 12:25pm - round of applause as our former manager, assistant managers, captain, and six(?) other players take to the field for the opposition having been forced out of Rovers over the last few years due to mismanagement/contract negligence.

I'm not sure of the relevance of any of those things. I'm well aware of our history all of which occurred under a different ownership - a proactive engaged ambitious owner / his legacy and not the current shysters. I've told you what Watford have achieved under their current ownership - promotion, PL survival and a cup final. None of which these owners or their mates will ever deliver here, even by accident when the opportunity drops into their lap unexpectedly (Mowbray, JDT, Eustace). Watford achieved all the above with their hire and fire culture - ruthless and decisive - not everyone's cup of tea but it got them up. The first season they went up they had 4 managers in a season and the second time around they sacked Ivic after no time despite a high win %. Only time will tell if it is a good move to sack their manager. If they shoot up the table then it probably has been a good move yes. If they get relegated then no. It suggests to me that whoever is making decisions there is actually looking at the bigger picture - not just a few results - and probably speaking to people behind the scenes, players, staff and assessing whether all is well or not. These all normal routine things for most clubs - ownership and management actually keeping an eye on things and ensuring changes are made for the betterment of the club and results. Alien concepts here I'm sure even you could agree. We haven't seen invested ownership or a focus on results since the day these people darkened our doors. It's similar to Forest - Marinakis doesn't mess about and won't hesitate to sack people. You might not like that approach but it has worked for them - another club that has left Rovers in the dust when 10 years ago we were well ahead of them.

By contrast we've given managers bucket loads of time - Bowyer got 2 years+, Mowbray 5 years +, JDT and Eustace would have had as long as they wanted if they had been willing to stick around and put up with it. And we've got nowhere. They've been to the PL, stayed there and got to the FA Cup final. Not bad for a small club. 'Strange and weird' may well be a fair description for their owners. Still it beats disgraceful, lying, club wrecking which we've got here yet you seem content not to criticise.

Does it matter if they finish above us?

Continue on this path and lower end League One will be optimistic. When you've no interest in competing or winning in a cut throat industry and spend all your time and effort cutting and reducing eventually everyone will catch up. Only so much living off past legacy can occur and we will soon be at that point.

No. In this day and age the only feature that determines a good/bad owner is whether you pay your bills on time. If you do you can do whatever you want. If you don't you'll get everyone - PFA, FA, EFL, media coming down on you like a ton of bricks. Let's remember that if it wasn't for the late / non payment of wages there would have been barely a murmur about the owners at Sheff Wed and Reading. It ALL comes from not paying wages/bills.