Dreams of 1995

I stand to be corrected but FFP is irrelevant in respect of the Academy. Also, the club have promised to put every bit of money raised from the development into the construction of the new training facilities, including a comment about asking Venkys for additional funding of required.

I checked on some of the facilities of Category 1 academies to see if our proposals stack up. It was difficult in the limited time I set myself to get a clear like-for-like comparison. I'm sure it could be done if I spent more time reviewing old planning applications. However, in doing so I decided to totally disregard the likes of Utd, Liverpool etc as they are clubs 'out of our reach' in terms of finances, so I decided to look at Reading first. On their website it has the following: Almost immediately it jumps out the time gap between consulting supporters (even its own appointed development team!) to formal application. Whilst at BRFC we haven't seen formal application to develop yet, we have seen a screening opinion, and indeed is the first any fan anywhere had ever seen or heard of it. This is in direct contrast to a club like Reading. Secondly, the fact that they have a "purpose built first team building and a separate academy facility" is quite striking. Why would they need that when the future is "all under one roof"? Clearly, the development team, in conjuction with the fans and club, believe it is required. Note the all-weather surface. Anyway, my next check was Swansea. I remembered they had not long back developed a new training ground to achieve this status. They have since lost Cat 1 academy status however I do think that this is interesting: https://www.swanseacity.com/news/swans-open-new-academy-training-complex-facilities A "purpose built" academy facility. https://trainingground.guru/articles/swansea-city-drop-out-of-category-one So it seems clear to me that Swansea, with their recent upgrade to achieve Cat 1 status, also saw the need for two training sites to maintain their Category One status. Anyway, it is only 2 out of the possible 23(?), but the picture is clear. Sunderland recently built a new facility which is all under one roof but it dwarfs our development. It has 13 football pitches, pools, hydrotherapy suits, classrooms and is built into the ground. It has the room for another full size indoor football pitch. It just isn't on the same scale as the Academy training centre at Brockhall. I would have to check Boro, Baggies, Stoke and Norwich etc but I am going to put my cock on the block and say they will have a similar tale to the above 3 examples one way or the other.

It is funny that, almost as if you have convinced yourself that people are ignoring the positives. So far the only positive that has been given is that it will all be under one roof. That can be seen as a bit of a false dawn though when you consider the vast reduction in facilities that come with it. Before making remarks like that you should put on some big boy pants and consider whether the positives you believe ought to be considered are actually positives in the cold harshness of reality. Working in the construction industry you very quickly learn to toss aside the words within these planning applications and look at the tangible components a development promises. The club have been kind enough to produce a rather detailed plan of the facilities and housing development (for the benefit of RVBC, not us) and therefore it shouldn't be difficult for one to see the positives, or convince others of them, if they so exist. As it stands the reality does not match the rhetoric based on the current information we have got. Bleating that people are not open to accept alternative views is a quite an egotistical approach, as if you can see through the trees when they can't. Despite you proclaiming you have gone over these 10s of pages ago, as a follower of this thread, I am yet to see you make a convincing argument aside from "all under one roof" and the FFP benefits - which do not actually come into play if they plan on reinvesting every £ into the training facilities as promised. Perhaps before concluding that people are not listening to you, you should consider if your perceived "positives" are positive at all.

I think BB has got something. He can turn and move with the ball but it’s too few and far between. His balance and finishing is pretty poor but the right coaching can work on that. He’s running out of time though. As for Gallagher we all know he can get goals because we’ve seen it! He just looks like a lost little boy atm and playing out of position isn’t going to help

They look so much better

Was never a penalty

Sorry...his!!

That is a horrible comment frankly

If Tony Mowbray can't be arsed to walk across to the junior training centre can we invest in a golf buggy to get him from one site to the next?

Oh my god. I would have thought Wilder would have stuck that one out! If I was the owner of a club I'd be pulling any trick I could to get him in

On the subject of drawings for training facilities and houses O2g is right in that the cost to produce them site plans for the housing development would be minimal in comparison to the cost of design drawings for the training centre. Although they could have at least knocked up a concept design as opposed to the red box we have. Although the key is in the 'inclusions' - the concept for the training facility does not match up to the spec of what we have currently. It is a downgrade, simple as that.

If any manager came to this club and was asked to put the idea of Premier League in a box, then took the job, I would not want that manager in charge.

I don't think it is a strategy that encourages ambition frankly. It is almost resigning ourselves to the fact promotion is a dream. Instead focusing on becoming a "middle ground" club that players can come and look for the next big move. It doesn't strike me as the identity of the club I fell in love with quite frankly. I don't want to aspire to finding a youngster and selling him for £10m - I want to see us playing at Old Trafford on a Saturday afternoon with a striker up front that can bag a goal out of nowhere. It's what I grew up on and it's the identity Blackburn Rovers had prior to this era of ownership. Changing our destiny and our ambitions for the owners is accepting defeat. We are better than a club that can be used as a stepping stone. I am 27, and none of that strategy is anything like Rovers in my lifetime save Venkys era. Even when you look beyond at our history we always competed, even with the lull years that naturally occur. This strategy is almost saying let's not compete, let's just have this romantic idea of development and on the way make a few bob. My strategy would be to not reduce our ambitions, it would be to increase that ambition, and stop all talk of accepting our natural place and become that club that overachieves again. Even if we take your business minded approach it does not make business sense to accept existence in a league that has notoriously high operating losses when the right moves are proven to see you spend some time in a league with huge financial rewards. If Burnley, Brighton, Huddersfield and co can all spend time in that league so can we.

The article for me falls down on this point: Forget the Premier League. Imagine it doesn’t exist. I'm not going to forget it is there frankly. Even putting aside the money argument I support Blackburn Rovers and want us to compete in the top league. I don't want to pretend it isn't there because our current situation lends itself to wanting to forget it exists. The article tells us to forget money but then in the same instance tells us to manage our expectations on the basis of finances. Our operating losses aren't unusually high in comparison to other football clubs In fact, most of the promoted teams throughout the past 8-9 years have had quite high operating losses, even with the parachute payments some recieved. The remainder is pretty standard. Play football to win, sign cheap sell high - it is everything we should be doing. I also think the author underestimates the work involved in becoming 'financially stable' and if he thinks a 6 point programme like that would automatically produce a club with a solid financial footing I think he is in for a surprise. As with any business you have to have the logistics and manpower in place to work to whatever system you want to implement. In order to be constantly finding these hidden gems you are going to need a constant recruitment department, as opposed to the start-from-scratch nothing we have right now. That costs money. It would require a director of football type director to oversee this process, so add another 100k+ a year salary and all expenses that comes with it. There's additional costs with everything after all. I don't doubt it's an admirable thought process, intentions in the right place, but I do think it is a naïve view of the world of business and football in particular. Within our current structure it is unthinkable to produce a club that has a system in place for long term benefit. You have to work with what you have, so the idea we should try and implement a system akin to Brentford whilst running a threadbare department and overseen by owners who don't care about anything but cheque signing then it is totally impractical to suggest a change like this would work.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19131704.tony-mowbray-the-bigger-picture-fan-frustrations/ Anybody else tear their hair out at this interview? Now it is the fact we are missing Holtby and Johnson that contributes to the losses. It was Dack and Travis earlier in the season. Name me a club that hasn't got one or two good players missing at any one time....that's football!! He keeps talking about the 'bigger picture' and how hopefully the 'OWNERS' see that. What is quite clear is that he knows Waggott will not sack him. We also know the Venkys will stick with him too. This man isn't going anywhere and is entrenched in our club. He's that safe in his role he can even go in the local press and talk about how other managers do not survive runs like this. It is bollocks. It can only happen at a badly run club. When we are in poor form it is when we see how fragile our position really is - they are too slow to act, simply do not care about Blackburn Rovers or the town and unfortunately that allows idiots to take advantage. It will never, ever change while they are in charge. The Maggott Crusade goes on unfortunately. It also puts to rest the idea that his 'decency' will see him walk. He has underachieved and is trying to reset the 'journey-clock'. I've lost all respect for the bloke frankly. He's lied one too many times now.

Is he going to walk?

Gavin Ward mate, remember that name because seriously he’s not had a good game as a ref for us yet. He was the ref in the 1-1 draw vs Luton - most pathetic bloke I’ve seen blow a whistle.

He wouldn’t last two minutes in an Allardyce side. I want this fucking lot gone - Venus, Mowbray, Lowe the lot. It’s embarrassing now. Im actually seething. Such a good day ruined by this. Is it bad I was hoping this game would never come? Found myself counting the minutes down with the feeling of really not wanting to watch it. I’ve had that same feeling for the past 3 games now. Dont win in a whole month and this clowns answer is to play Bell and Evans. Just give over - your time is up, now bugger off.

We need this bloke out of the club

Yesssss Phillipe Zdar is part of Cassius who of course released this classic in 1999 France has a really cool electronic scene man. David Guetta is from France and he started out a great artist but did a bit of a Chipmunk and went for commercial music. Cant blame him as he’s a multi millionaire now but wish he would release a few more bangers.

Bored of him, bored of it all. Have some dignity and walk. If we were in the ground you’d know about it!

Is a draw enough for him to be sacked?

We have been abysmal second half Cant believe it really. I’m lost for words now. Don’t even feel angry like I usually would be, just fed up, apathetic and resigned to the fact we are in this never ending cycle of nothingness. His time has come. Get this man out of the dressing room.

Playing well. Brereton is looking ok, just needs to make the ball stick more often. Think Travis still looks off his best. These are a poor side and I think we’ll get away with a win today.

I first heard of London Grammar in a feature they did for Disclosure. Such a good track. Has that feel good feeling to it and perfect for a day like this! That album by Disclosure was very good actually.