JHRover

Bolton just put 23/24 season tickets on sale, prices frozen, adults from £219 and juniors from £35. They could well be in the Championship with us next season and will dwarf our sales even if not. Our Half STs this year are more expensive than that and who would put it past Waggott to increase them yet again. Despite his claims of wanting to get them on sale earlier this year I'll be amazed if there is any news on prices before the end of April.

I've just been told by one mon on Twitter that if it wasn't for Venkys owning us we wouldn't be linked to signings of O'brien's quality. You really couldn't make it up.

My underlying feeling is disgust. The Club disgusts me, the owners disgust me, Waggott disgusts me, Pasha disgusts me, the incompetent buffoons occupying positions they shouldn't disgust me. Then embarrassment. Where do we start. The predictability of it (some of us 'negative' folk saw this sort of thing happening on deadline day). The amateurish nature of efforts to explain what went wrong. The efforts to score cheap credit by referring to 'ambitious loan' (yes, they are actually trying to reap credit for trying but failing to borrow a player from Forest for 5 months). Such small minded cheap stunts and comments have Waggott's fingerprints all over it. Yet he's too much of a coward to put his name to it or front up to the fans, so instead we get a useless short statement, then JDT/Broughton will have to face the music, then in a few months when he's in a safe environment dealing with the Fans Forum he'll resurface. After that it is sympathy. I feel sorry for Broughton and JDT, who despite being well paid are new to this shower, I don't believe are responsible for this mess and I do believe are trying their best. I feel sorry for our existing crop of players, who deserved help this January in the hope of staying up near the top of the league and having a shot at promotion. Instead we will now have to watch as Luton, Millwall, Preston and other dross make a better fist of it. It isn't about demanding money is spent, demanding we sign certain types of players. I think one look on here and on social media tonight, even people who are usually positive about everything feel let down, embarrassed and angry at what has happened. But the worst part of it all is knowing nothing will change. The owners won't care or know. Nobody will be held accountable. Waggott will probably think it is a job well done as he tots up his numbers and has saved on a big wage. Then they'll expect us all to turn up on Monday to pay their wages, the scumbags sat in the directors box lording it over the fans as they rake in their obscene salaries for failure. I really don't want to be involved with it any more. They knock me sick and the only thing worse than that is turning up knowing that doing so is taken for granted and enabling them to carry on taking the piss out of us.

We can see that they do have their ear to the ground, and have caved in this afternoon in releasing this 'statement' but interestingly haven't named who is responsible for producing it. 'Legal advisors were brought in to assist' - what the hell does this mean? We don't have legal advisors ready to hand on deadline day? 'Brought in' - does this mean they had to physically travel to Brockhall before anything could be done as surely they could deal with this remotely? 'Complex nature of various agreements'. Deary me. Anyone would think we were signing Lionel Messi on a 5 year deal, not a lad frozen out at Forest on loan with an option to buy. Presumably we had half an idea of these complexities BEFORE we made the offer and it was accepted? They make it sound like we only learned of these complexities at tea time. WE made the offer. If WE couldn't then deal with the mechanics of it WE shouldn't have done it. 'Due to events we believe to be outside of our control' - pull the other one.

Waggott has admitted on numerous occasions that he is judged on the balance sheet. That was obvious to begin with, but he's also confirmed it. So long as he can produce figures showing decreasing costs and increasing income he's happy as he can take that to India and keep the money men there satisfied. He then gets his huge salary for another year, and probably a nice bonus on top. Only a few more years until golden retirement. Bringing in an O'Brien on full wages, or even a large percentage of what Forest pay him, would be like placing dynamite under his account ledgers. In one swoop costs would go through the roof. Even if say £15k per week for 4 months - that's £250,000. For a bloke who squeezes every penny he can from loyal fans that's a lot of money to claw back. I'd say that's a reasonable suggestion on motive. Same goes for the other ambitious transfer moves that have all failed in previous windows - Assombalonga, Kipre, Dembele to name a few.

One of the reasons they appointed Broughton was so Waggott and Pasha could direct fans/media in his direction when things go wrong on the football side. So when Waggott turns up to the next forum meeting all the discussion will be on pie flavours, player postcards and the like. 'Nothing to do with me, Gregg will have to answer that one' 'What I can say is that the owners have always provided the money so it's not their fault'

One of my theories is that we were entirely caught out by the sudden possibility of O'Brien coming here. It was something that we never seriously thought would happen, so when it became a realistic prospect certain forces ensured that it would not be allowed to go through. Now call me a mad conspiracy theorist but it makes sense to a point. It was obviously something that came about very much at the 11th hour and hadn't been on the radar earlier in the window. Supposedly we were behind Sheff Utd and WBA in the queue so probably didn't expect both of them to fall by the wayside. Then Forest are content to send him here all of a sudden and the player is willing to get game time. Sudden panic. Here we are having to make good on our talk, actually deliver for once and get an expensive deal over the line. Despite everything falling into place for bizarre reasons we suddenly forget (having completed dozens of loans over the years) how to complete a registration. It might not sit easy with people but I wouldn't be surprised that with Broughton having done the leg work and got the deal done 'other forces' intervened to prevent it going through. Lo and behold we don't have to commit to substantial wages for the next 6 months. Those expecting an explanation or apology from the Club need to lower their expectations. We will, if lucky, get a Club media or Telegraph filtered interview with Broughton being made into the fall guy. I don't blame him - why? - because we've been putting up with these shenanigans every January for the last decade.

Agree 100% All this debacle will have done is blacklisted Rovers' as a Club worth dealing with. If he's still here in the summer Broughton will be picking the phone up and Clubs will ask themselves why on earth they'd want to do business with this lot. The only good to come of this is hopefully it gets a message home to the deluded ones (Not Chaddy of course who has already decided it's all Silvester's fault) that things are far from rosy in the garden at Ewood and that actually the club remains a joke run by charlatans.

And just a timely reminder from me, who has been saying this for 4-5 years now, but you don't get prizes or points in this game for trying and failing. Having money but not spending it = meaningless Trying to sign good players but being unable to do so = meaningless End result is it hasn't happened. The reasons why are almost irrelevant. Come next January there will some other cock and bull nonsense as to why we can't sign anyone. This week's excuse is a new one - proof will be in the pudding because if it is a cock up by Rovers then head(s) MUST roll - if nobody loses their job over this then the only interpretation to take is that they are content with what has happened.

Whether it is Broughon, Silvester, the tea lady or the whole lot of them responsible, the person who oversees them, appoints them and is responsible for them is Waggott. If they haven't or aren't doing their jobs properly yet he continues to keep them in place then responsibility lies with him.

The CEO of the organisation takes ultimate responsibility for performance, including that of individuals who work under him. That's why they get paid so much. The buck stops with him.

It depends what the error / omission is. If it is simply a case that a particular sheet or part of the document wasn't submitted in time, but we can show that everything was agreed and dealt with prior to the deadline and this was simply an omission in error due to the chaos and rush of the last minute, then we should be OK. Sense should prevail and the deal should be approved. If however it is a failure on the part of Rovers to complete the process in time due to ineptitude or not getting things sorted at this end, then it shouldn't be. I wouldn't attach any weight to the EFL doing the 'right thing' or wanting to maintain even standards. Recent history is littered with examples of deals that have been allowed to go through after the deadline due to all sorts of reasons. Remember the famous Spurs fax machine problem? Cases should be dealt with on a one-by-one basis and each assessed on the circumstances at the time. If the EFL are just abritrarily rejecting all on the basis they want to maintain a common standard then they really aren't fit to be running this game (but we knew that already, didn't we?) As for Sheff Utd and other rival clubs it is none of their business. They have no right to stick their beak in. This is a private matter between ourselves, Forest and the League.

Why do people so often want to compare to the 80s and use that era as some sort of benchmark? Why not the 50s or 60s instead? If you are happy to wind the clock back 30-40 years to a byegone era in football why not 50-60 years? We've operated for almost 150 years. Seems odd that so many obsess about what gates we got in one decade of that time, which happens to have been the nadir in our history and English football. Little wonder those at Ewood are the way they are if they adopt a similar attitude.

They're just carrying on playing people for fools, stringing them along I can almost picture it now. Waggott sat in his office at Brockhall well aware that fans will be annoyed at the lack of business so he needs to offer something. So lets throw the old 'possible free agent striker' out to Rich Sharpe to run with. That will keep them quiet for a few days working out who that might be and whether we will get them.

Rovers announced today that Blackpool tickets start from £25 for adults. Yet go onto the ticketing website and they are £20 for adults. Amateurs.

At first I thought it might be due to something as trivial as the only media bloke being in Birmingham last night for the game, going home to bed afterwards and then having some time off in lieu today before the Celtic match tonight. I thought that might explain the lack of media activity. I suspect it is bare bones stuff these days and too much to ask for someone else to handle media requirements. But no, I think we've just been played for fools, just like with Assombalonga, just like with Dembele and many many more.

A complete embarrassment. Tatty, grubby, unfit for purpose, laughable for a Club of this size and division, inadequate, shameful. Can you guess whether I'm referring to that photo or the man who is responsible for it?

Provides an illusion of normality. That's all he was ever intended to do. The fact they didn't have a Chair/CEO/Board for 7 years before his arrival tells us there was never any intention to allow decisions to be made by people at Ewood. They can't admit that power rests with Pasha, and need someone 'official' to handle the administration and media side of things and appear as though he is in control. It got uncomfortable for them when it was left with Cheston and he made a number of slip ups in the media and meetings. Then they wheeled Bob Coar out but his 'performance' in the consultation meeting only attracted increased heat, so they needed someone more competent in the bullshit stakes to fill the void. On top of that he can justify his salary by 'saving' them money - a combination of gutting the club and screwing regular fans for every penny possible. Win win.

So just trying to 'catch up' on things having not taken much of an interest since yesterday lunchtime. My last few posts around mid-day yesterday were confidently predicting that we would do no business, that nobody of repute would actually arrive, that no money would be spent. Must admit that by tea time even I was starting - starting - to doubt that and almost started to predict they had, for once, delivered. This confidence was increased after the win at Birmingham with Richard 'play it safe' Sharpe stating that business was 'far from over' for Rovers. But it seems my confidence was actually well placed. That everything that was predicted was in fact true. That we've been taken for a ride yet again. A long list forming of parties let down, embarrassed and mucked around by the powers running Rovers: the fans the existing group of players the potential new signings the manager the people trying to get deals done the local media And to tell you the truth, even though I would be pleasantly surprised if we managed to get a couple of deals over the line and for some inexplicable reason haven't been able to announce it yet, I don't think it would make any difference. I don't think the rumoured 2 signings are enough, and the events of the last 24 hours just confirm my fears - that despite the arrival of Broughton nothing has changed. I don't blame him. But the same cowboys are still dragging the Club and its reputation through the mud. We won't be hearing from Waggott for a while - the idea is that Broughton takes all the flak and then our 6 figure salary CEO can turn up to the next Fans Forum and talk about completely trivial matters.

"Genuine and confirmed interest" Just for the record I can confirm that I have a genuine interest in buying a superyacht. If the vendor is willing to sell it to me for what I can afford I'll buy it.

I thought Sheff Utd were under a transfer embargo? Or is it one of those embargoes that still enables you to sign players and spend more money than compliant Rovers? We know how this goes. Only a few weeks until Waggott turns up at the next Fans Forum meeting telling everyone that a couple of quality players were sat in the office at Brockhall ready to sign, everything agreed but we just ran out of time or the goalposts moved at the 11th hour. Standard bullshit from the king of bullshit, yet carries us through to the summer with fans convincing themselves we did all we could.

As predicted they are 'linking' us to a quality signing on deadline day. Call it the Assombalonga Project - no chance of it happening even if the player was happy to come but we con supporters into thinking we are trying to get serious business done. Then when the window slams shut we get all the free credit for trying and failing.

I see little evidence of a longer term plan, despite the claims of those at the Club. Come the summer we lose mainstays of the team this year in Ayala, Brereton Diaz and Morton. The Dack situation will need resolving one way or another. I also think there's a decent chance 3-4 other regulars will be looking to move elsewhere either because they are fed up here or because they know they can get better deals elsewhere. I'd expect interest in Kaminski. Before you know it half the team needs rebuilding again. So it is back to square one. The only potential consolation being that Phillips, A Wharton and a few others will be another year along with their development so might be better placed to fill that gap. This season and last we have gone into January and the second half of the season comfortably on track to get into the play-offs in terms of point returns, and we won't 'achieve' it either way, in part because the Club has failed to recruit. The sad thing is that you'd hope lessons would be learned or that the owners would discover how close we have been these last 2 years and change their approach. Sadly I doubt they will know, at best it will be a cursory review in May as to where we finished before setting another similar budget again next year, right after Waggott has told them how well he has done on ST revenues.

I think all it represents is another 'kicking the can down the road' 'jam tomorrow' stunt. We can't afford it now but we might be able to in a few months if we sell someone, the owners decide to chuck some more money in or it can fall into the next yearly budget not this one.

We've seen it time and again though where a manager starts off the transfer window with relatively ambitious talk and expectations for the window. Then as the days go by the number expected falls until we reach the last day and here we are where nobody else wouldn't surprise me and we'll probably have jubilation on here if we get one in. The dreaded Richard Sharpe tweet to drop at some point tomorrow "That will be that" for Rovers this month followed by the excuse book about how hard it is. I don't want to hear it, it makes no difference. No prizes for excuses in this game. JDT will have to face the press soon and he won't like being made a fool of, which is exactly what has happened. They've taken us all for fools and it's been going on for far too long. Broughton and JDT are the latest to fall foul of it. Won't be the last. Yet they will have to deal with the consequences of it, managing the inadequate squad, dealing with the fans and press whilst the pondlife who are ultimately responsible hide upstairs, another layer of protection between them and scrutiny/accountability.