Gregg does seem to be more implicated here than I thought. Not only for not making personally sure the papers had been sent (as he was the one who said he'd ensured last Jan's problem couldn't happen again, even though he personally could not submit the docs & ought to be able to trust those who could), but also it seems like he was happy to all but commit the club to spending £7m on a late-developing college football rookie. If he was keen on this player for months (his prerogative as DoF), why was due diligence elsewhere in recruitment only done on deadline day?? As for Waggott, on £300k p/a and being the only other person able to submit docs besides Sylvester, he ought to have done it himself given what happened last January. An absolute derogation of duty on his part, added to his derogation of duty last Jan when at the match instead of overseeing deadline day. I think both have to go (somewhat reluctantly in GB's case), and Sylvester of course.

I've argued Gregg's corner on the Phillips situation & generally in his time here, but if that is a correct analysis of what happened then it would arguably a much bigger error in financial terms than the O'brien, Brierley & McGuire fiascos combined.

"Ashley Phillips, the highly rated England Under-19 defender who had been with the club since the age of 12, left for £2m after Spurs activated a release clause that Rovers failed to omit from the teenager’s contract." Hmm....

Wow, that's knocked me sideways a bit too tbf!!

Dunno if you read the link I posted earlier, but it was comments from a Brum journo made to a Bristol City journo when he was on their radar a couple of months back. Included: "To start with, Eustace was quite negative with his play as Birmingham relied on long-ball football and set pieces a little. As time progressed, though, there was more of a possession focus. The recent summer transfer window really helped Eustace’s style to become more exciting and attacking as Blues signed a handful of tricky wingers. "Eustace showed some good tactical versatility during his time at St Andrew’s as he switched between three main formations – a wide 4-2-3-1, a narrow 4-2-2-2 diamond and a 3-5-2 with wing-backs. "The Robins would definitely benefit from Eustace’s strong man-management skills and his working-class mentality. He used to speak often and passionately about getting his players to fight for one another as if they were a working-class family. It brought about brilliant results, especially in the latter stages of games. "The downside would have to be Eustace’s decision-making with substitutions. Birmingham fans would often get frustrated by the lack of changes or the lateness. Eustace clearly likes to keep some sort of continuity in his lineups, including throughout matches, but sometimes subs were needed quicker to shift the momentum." There's definitely some positives there & parallels between what awaits here in terms of the club background, and also some ability to improve significant weaknesses our team have (e.g. set pieces, strong in the final stages of games). Someone on here also recalled that his Brum side played brilliantly against us, only losing as Kaminski was inspired, and I remember that too. Look, I'm not saying he would be ideal, but he would be better overall than Neil would as a younger, more dynamic man at the helm. Just my opinion, but certainly not without logic.

Alex Neil is just Mowbray Mk II. All of his success was a decade or more ago, since then he's just been a serial merrygorounder, achieving very little. Eustace, whilst arguably more of a gamble, would be a more exciting (in context) & forward-looking appointment imo. I think he was discarded from Brum just as he was taking off, and if you look at the link I posted a few pages back he does seem to be inheriting similar circs here to those he inherited there. And fwiw I think the Coventry link to Waggott is coincidental. Given their respective times in the game, I would guess Waggott knows Neil better than he does Eustace.

https://www.bristolworld.com/sport/football/john-eustace-bristol-city-birmingham-city-nigel-pearson-4390690 Some interesting low down on Eustace. Watch out for Khadra's return...!

I get point C was somewhat in jest, but sorry I'm not a "casual", nor bonkers, and I never said Eustace is a Messiah; I said he's the best option I think we could expect. Alex Neill is another Mowbray, making a career off a couple of promotions over a decade ago, who will maybe steady the ship, tread water, flirt with playoffs then run out of ideas. Eustace is a more forward looking appointment who, albeit in a shorter career, comfortably led Big Club to safety when favourites to go down, had them playing good football & in 6th place when sacked by uninformed useless owners. Anyway, sounds almost certain it'll be him in the dugout on Saturday, I hope you'll support him.

How about the JDT's job??

No thanks, not good enough imo. And I am really, really not bothered about reason C. I want what's best for Rovers, not what winds up our "rivals" more.

Have you ever seen the film Backdraft? Put that in the context of pissing petrol & I bet it brings tears to your eyes!!

If it is Eustace then he should be welcomed as that's more positive than I feared. However it is not dealing with the main problem and I am sure his agent will ensure he has a severance clause in his contract stipulating that if Venkys so much as break one promise or lose their case in India, he is entitled to leave with a big pay off. I'd also insist on direct comms with the owners & a guarantee from them that if they lose their case in India they put the club up for sale at face value & write off any debt they have lumbered the club with so that we can move forward with a clean slate. That's the only way I'd be persuaded to come here if I were him. And I know it wouldn't happen.

"Swift action" scares me in that: a - sounds very much like panic stations; and b - we don't function well under pressure, as per the last 2 Jan deadline days. They HAVE to get this right, there's no margin for error. That was a solid article in the Mirror too, gave a good recent potted history of the last 18 months.

If as suspected the bits where attendees swore to secrecy were concerning JDT's as-yet-unannounced departure, or the McGuire transfer fiasco, I presume the reason for the need for secrecy would be to protect the club from legal action (in the case of JDT) & to protect the McGuire transfer appeal. I may be wrong, but that would be an entirely valid reason for a cloak of secrecy at the present time, & not something to level at the fans who attended as being in cahoots with Waggott or somehow lured into his trap.

Let's be honest, the players seen in the meeting would've had no choice in attending. It was clearly a Waggott attempt to deflect attention from the shambles that is BRFC; the players couldn't not go, or not participate once there, and at that point they have a duty to the other players, especially the younger ones, to voice their concerns. I hope this doesn't turn into a fans v players situation, because it's always ever only been about fans v owners/management, but I fear from the reactions of many on here that that's becoming inevitable, and if so will only end in relegation no matter who replaces JDT. It's also again at risk of turning fans against fans, again splitting the fanbase so that we seem like a disparate bunch of individuals when we really all need to have one voice, a loud & clear one that is directed at Venkys & their stooges.

Or indeed not send it anywhere, just save it.

FFS, this club is ruined by Venkys, absolutely ruined. I could cry.

I think you've forgotten (or more like had surgically scrubbed from your memory) the bald headed muppet under whom our footballing demise started... But like you say, given how 💩 that incumbent was, it does support the premise that the owners don't consider it an important role. (I can't bring myself to type his name, but his level of incompetence is certainly befitting of this thread.)

Thanks guys, got there in the end. Great content (putting aside the sheer depressive nature of it all). I agree JDT is not perfect, but I do feel the contributors were harsh on him (albeit i respect their opinion and do see the logic to their argument). At the end of the day the model he works under relies on him being given the tools to implement his philosophy, yet every window those above him have failed. He was made promises (initially on arrival, and then again last summer) which were broken, budgets slashed mid-window, record sales proceeds not reinvested, kids when he wanted experience. It's absolutely impossible for him to do his job in the prevailing circumstances, so to lump him in with those above him as part of the problem, and now only trying to protect his own reputation, is way off the mark imo.

I can't access this, keep getting a bad gateway error??

Gobsmacked, except not. I've no idea how these things are done, or how things can go so horribly & identically wrong twice in 12 months. I like GB overall and don't genuinely think he is the person who actually made the mistake. If he is he has to go, but even if he isn't he has to be considering his position following his statement last year that lessons have been learnt. He's either cocked up twice, or he's been badly let down by others again & been left hanging out to dry. Neither is good for him professionally, and if it's the latter he has my every sympathy as he has had nothing but obstacles put in his way by the set up at Ewood since he walked in the door. It all stems from the owners. No plan, no ambition, no competence, no interest, no communication, no empathy, no respect, no passion, no responsibility, no accountability, no transparency. We're an absolute embarrassment; there must be a full and independent investigation into what's happened here by the incoming football regulator. No self respecting club, agent or player is going to touch us with a barge pole in any future window without there being a change of ownership and / or full transparency about what happened, how & what proper steps are taken to stop the rot. We've sabotaged ourselves in terms of transfers for a decade to come.

My favourite version of that song, which I only recently discovered!!

He can always say no, if so. But fair enough, I agree that might be an issue. That said, if there's knowledge of illegal behaviour having been engaged in then an NDA might not be worth the paper it's written on.

Maybe someone can try & get Salgado involved, he knows a lot about what went on during the early years I believe, and he has an ongoing afinity with the club.

Not only that, they extended his contract in improved terms!!!