I think it has become quite obvious that the EFL shoulders some of the responsibility here If it was as cut and dry some told us it was, then the box ticking exercise would be exactly that. Directors do not enjoy a claim that their organisation is to blame to be sat on their desk for any longer than necessary I still think the EFL will deny the appeal - they don't like taking responsibility for much. Then by the next transfer window a slight tweak to the rules will mean they'll never be put in this position again

I think it would be difficult for them to start building a training facility around Ewood. Impossible even. There simply isn’t the room

Them Chinese sides really do come in handy Found myself at Lazio during a journeyman save and reckon they probably gave me over £100m in a couple of seasons on some quite bang avg players

That JRC error was in part due to Morton He ran behind the player closing him down. Not into a space available for a pass JRC had to try and pass it through a Watford man No way is Morton better than Buckley

Exactly. Which is why the EFL's back and forth, on the face of it, appears wrong.

Because, within 10 minutes, it would be more than possible to insert a line into a Contract which states: "In the event of relegation to League 1 the Club are under no obligation to sign the player Lewis O'Brien" I'd say it sounds a lot more likely this was done, ratified, signed and sealed in ~10 minutes than it does to then agree a contract to cover promotion, and indeed wages/clauses/fees etc with it, in that same timeframe

Well, well, well I'll continue to wait for the full details, but this update - if true - really does put a whole new perspective on things

I’ll be taking that offer up FA Cup away ties at a Premier opposition. I hope we take a few I was quietly surprised at the turn out for Blues. I think we can easily take 3/4 thousand to Leicester

I would snap him up in a heart beat Can find the back of the net at this level

I didn't think it would be long for this to rear its ugly head again The CEOs, hedge funds, monarchies....the global elite - they are circling and they want paying You can't help but think this will happen eventually. It is ultimately a power grab: to shift the money and power of European football outside of England and to Europe This idea is incredibly lucrative. A truly European game would garner huge sums of revenue. Without doubt, if this idea comes into play, then over time the ESL would become the most competitive league in the world And domestic football would have to respond by barring them from the national football league. Some clubs may take the approach of not being willing to leave, as due to the new ESL rule of not legislating permanent members, a relegation from the ESL may mean there is nowhere to go. There's no non league of Europe. And the domestic leagues will not want them. Some may call that bluff and trust the ESL will not relegate them. The bottom division will be the bottom division. And the money will keep coming. Either way, you can't help but feel the domestic leagues, fifa and UEFA have took their corner, and now the ESL has thought hard and decided to take its corner again. The reason they say 60-80 members is that they may believe 60 is achievable and 80 is on the high-end. 4 leagues of football. The European Super Clubs will of course always remain in Div 1 (barring disaster) - and other Clubs may fancy their chances if the trickle down economics trickles just that bit more than it is now. If this comes into play domestic football is dead and buried. Maybe not in our life times, but it will be the beginning.

This post was overlooked

Watford probably do, thanks to Sarr Sheffield Utd definitely don’t Norwich it’ll be close. But most have you pinned as second highest Cork, Westwood before he left, Rodriguez, Barnes, Brownhill, Gudmondsen, maybe Muric will all be £30k+pw

Good job nobody came for you about your views on JRC eh Although it was all seemingly 🙂

Well, for one Gregg Broughtons list of football appointments have been at: Luton City as head of youth development He then went and did a 5 year stint at Norwich City, where he took Jamal Lewis and Max Aaron’s to them from Luton - he was head of youth recruitment and then promoted to head of academy He then went on to Glint - where he again went in as Academy Manager. This was in 2018. During his time there Bodo Glimt sold major players for big profit in all 3 seasons and replaced them with lads from the academy. They won back to back league titles, with Knutsen as head coach. Paul Senior had worked as a commercial advisor to the successful clubs like Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday before Oh and West Ham - during their bad years He was a money man. Not interested in football or development They are chalk and cheese. Do some research on them before comparing them so wilfully

We need that management team in place But it’s looking better than it did before. Broughton is an actual football man - not like the chancers such as Paul Senior we have seen before him And we do seem to have made improvements in both our scouting and football side of things, although I know there’s been a farce of a transfer window the same things also happened to Barca and Chelsea this window But I’m trying to look on the positive side, and I honestly believe that what we have now is much better than what we had 3 years ago. Therefore this journey or project or whatever is going somewhere. I’m under no illusion though - we are the masters of our own downfall. And a huge part of me is reminded each day that the people at the top remain the same: distant, unaccounted and delusional

I agree totally. And for the last two seasons we have competed at a level above any one with a similar expenditure. We rival the likes of PNE, Milwall, Hull, QPR, Middlesborough for wages. Although Boro's at the high end of 'rival' And teams like Blues, Bristol City, Swansea, Norwich, Stoke, WBA, Sheffield Utd etc all spend way more than us but we've been better In our time in the Championship we've had to compete with the likes of Watford, Fulham, A Villa, Leeds, Norwich and Bournemouth (now Burnley) who blow us out of the water financially Yet over the past two seasons we have been comfortably a top table side. It has been a remarked difference from what came before - a few seasons treading water mid table before relegation and then a few 15th place finishes. This 'project' is showing progress, year on year progress Brentford managed their project much better because they were much better managed at board level. It is just a reality. But the football side of things at Rovers is improving imo.

Burnley also have the second highest paid squad in the division. Literally google "Championship wages 2022/2023" and 99.99% of them have them as second We will of course know the full truth shortly, as club accounts are released throughout the year. Not that many do, which irks when it is the same people who constantly deny the advantage FFP has given some clubs. Just read the expenditure of clubs and their performance and you can see the link So there is absolutely no need to be delivering a project at Burnley, because they have five times as much money guaranteed to be paid to them over the next three years than 75% of Championship clubs Their goal is to ensure it isn't wasted, a la Stoke City or Huddersfield Their 'project' is to become a club that will compete in the Prem, but Kompany is going to be sorely disappointed if he thinks he will get the money to do that. Burnley's business model is clear - follow Norwich and Watford and yo-yo, ensuring good dividends over a 5 year period for shareholders whilst enjoying the advantage footballs financial rules give clubs in that yo-yo spell And that is why they have retained the 2nd most expensive squad in the division and brought in a load of fee loans to deliver them a squad capable of achieving a promotion push Contrast to Rovers - who sit around about 17th in the wage expenditure - and you can see the need for a project We can all sit and ignore the financial consequences of Football, pretend it is irrelevant if you like, but the reality is that wage expenditure is directly related to promotion. And we simply do not have the financial firepower to compete with the likes of West Brom, Sheffield Utd, Norwich, Watford, Stoke City or Middlesborough And any manager will have to realise this 'project' at a club like ours. They will need time because we cannot throw money at it and generate a load of real skilled players into a squad with depth. That's a fact You can hate it, but criticising JDT for it is stupid. He's just seeing what you aren't. And so is Broughton.

And herein lies the issue It was criminal not to bring a centre forward in during the summer. I like to think of myself as one of the more positive lot on here but I don’t have much good to say about our forward line up lately Vale and Gallagher are both way out of their depths. Gally can at least get a goal, but Vale has got to stop playing. I think we have Harry Leonard in the U23s so it’s about time he starts getting a chance Brereton can disappear for me. The purple patch was exactly that. He’s looked every bit the footballer pre-Covid, and something tells me not cashing in for £15m in January window during Mowbray was a bad decision. We all got caught up in Brereton-mania. I personally wouldn’t have taken the £8m this summer either, even if it was that, but even now I am starting to regret that decision too Our problem is up front. The back 4 and the central midfielders are doing their job - they are keeping the ball, keeping it tight and, apart from some shocking team performances throughout the season, have been let down by their strikers You cannot expect to keep a clean sheet in every game. You need your front line to defend from the front. The ball doesn’t stick, there’s no creativity and the lack of pace in any attack is so depressing to watch We need better forwards. Thomas is a start - but we need to drop Vale, Brereton and Gallagher and start looking at the likes of Dolan or Leonard. It can’t be any worse.

Let’s see what the EFL appeal says There’s clearly something awry. To mess up one deal is bad enough but to get both wrong is criminal I don’t think this is the end of it

BRFC4EVA - “I fucking hate this club” The world is a funny place today

This is a bit of a madness Have there been a lot of situations like this across the EFL today? To not have a decision at this hour suggests there is a technicality neither us or the EFL has considered Contracts and the rules around them are black and white for a reason. How is it taking them 18+ hours to make a decision?

Jesus Never heard of the lad to be truthful, but at least assumed he was a striker Jack Vale - this is your time...................

Two deals - surely the lad from Rochdale and O'Brien? Have to say I am slightly disappointed if that is the case. O'Brien is a quality signing at this level - and I assume pushed the budget to the max. It may be a case that JDT and Broughton had a choice: a striker or a midfielder. There's simply no point in sacrificing quality for the sake of numbers. But then that argument falls down - do not get promoted and O'Brien goes back. We are back where we started. Then again, this 19 y.o lad may come in and bang 20 goals between now and the end of the season. Who knows? He must be better than Vale, who once again had a lacklustre showing last night. Hugely disappointed at the lack of a striker but will not yet blame GB and JDT. At the end of the day they have two wages on the books in Brereton and Gallagher, a combined £12m worth of signings, with wages that probably exceed £25k per week between them, who simply are not firing in goals. It isn't good enough. Therefore I would suspect that once BBD's wages are gone, and with any luck they may ship Gally at a loss in the Summer, that the striker will become the priority. Unfortunately we may not see the PL next season due to simply being unable to operate in the market required for a striker that matches the calibre of player we need

I don’t get why they aren’t announcing lol Is it paperwork issues? I know you have so many hours after the deadline but god damn put me out my misery

Wouldn’t say good or bad Got the usual ribbing when he took a goal kick. Not particularly hostile, but he weren’t clapped much either, although I did miss the first 2 mins of the second half so he could have been as he walked over