8 minutes ago, DE. said:

Bring in a couple of decent attackers and there's every chance of a top six finish. The rest of the team is solid (assuming the Swedish gk signs) with competition for places across the park. 

Haven't we already brought them in ?

Excellent start to the season . Debut goals for 2 forwards and strong showing by Wharton points to us being much better placed for scoring goals than some had feared.

Just now, Laurence said:

wtf 2!

 

No goals in this team apparently.

10 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Those figures are incorrect. 19/20 is miles off for a start.

I think 2019-20 was 13,873. That was the season interrupted by Covid and 2 of the 5 home games we lost were against Leeds and West Brom who were the top 2 teams and who would brought significant travelling support to boost the average attendance.

31 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

We averaged around 22/23k in most second division seasons in the 50s… and we weren’t far from that in 1999 to 2001. So a historical norm to be averaging 20k+ in this league.

We shouldn’t be so far from that now… but we all know why we are.

You are right in what you say about attendance levels in this division in the periods you are quoting but it's worth adding that attendances in the 1960s in this division were roughly similar to what they are now and were much lower in the 1970s and 1980s.

With many of our players clearly still improving I think we can finish in the top 6.

53 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Under Kean there were reported Bonuses for Relegation...go figure that one out.

I don't think that's true. However there were reported to be bonuses for promotions from divisions below the Premier League which of course could only ever be gained if we had been relegated.

2 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Where's Ethan Walker in the pecking order? He wasn't sent to Austria, but he's stood out when I've briefly watched the U21s.

He's 21 later this week so really needs to be pushing for first team action fairly soon ; perhaps a loan out to Division 2 or National League would be a good move.

5 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Yeah I know, it’s bordering on cruelty.  At the moment all he’s known is the current shite. At least I got to see us win things along with Ronnie, Dougie, Shearer etc.

What did Ronnie and Dougie win ?

5 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

This backs up what you're saying:

• Over the last 10 seasons – the Champions have been a side that was relegated from the Premier League 50% of the time. The Champions have been a relegated side in each of the last three years – showing the increased influence of parachute payments.
• Six of the sides achieving automatic promotion in the last 10 years did so after previously being in League One – compared to 14 sides returning to the Premier League. Four of those six sides got promoted as Champions.
• No side finishing 6^th has been promoted in the last 10 years. In fact 80% of the teams promoted via the play-offs finished either 3^rd or 4^th.
• Aston Villa are the only side promoted in the last 10 years after achieving less than 80 points. Rovers’ have achieved 69 points for two years running.
• The average seasons in the championship before promotion for the teams finishing as runners up has been 3.8 seasons over the last 10 years – but the average is 1.8 seasons over the last 5 years.
• Leeds took 10 seasons in the Championship to get automatic promotion. They’re the only team to achieve automatic promotion in the last 5 years that spent longer than 3 years in the Championship.
• No side has achieved automatic promotion in the last 3 seasons having previously been promoted from League One. This is compared to 43% of the automatic promotion spots being taken by teams previously promoted from League One (over the first 7 years of the sample).
• This will be Rovers’ 6^th season at this level since being promoted from League One. They would be emulating Brighton in 2016/17 if they managed automatic promotion.

Yes, a post that puts things in perspective.

In each of the last 5 seasons 2 of the promoted clubs have been in receipt of parachute payments, despite usually there only being 5 clubs or so who have them- the other 19 clubs getting the 1 other spot. The odds are stacked against the clubs who don't have parachute payments.

1 hour ago, SuperBrfc said:

I don't think he would be able to kick a ball again.

These pricks wouldn't dare do that under a real setup and manager. They only took the piss here due to absent leadership and the easy street culture.

On the football side of things, that appears to be changing now, thankfully.

I don't think betting offences necessarily reflect the club the player is at. Toney continued betting after he joined Brentford and nobody would call that a club without a real setup and manager.

24 minutes ago, alex l said:

For those of who don't have knowledge of shares etc, what does this mean on a practical level? More debt or not? More spending power potentially (although that seems peculiar given the shares allotment)?

It means less debt as what was debt owed by the club to Venkys London Ltd is converted in to shares.

7 hours ago, J*B said:

You’re wasting your time even debating it. Rovers can’t do anything, even if they wanted to, because Sodexo have the contract to serve all food on the premises. Because that contract is the easiest way possible for Waggott to hit his numbers. 

I would imagine a lot of clubs outsource catering.

7 hours ago, Upside Down said:

You're right about the European comps.

The rest is bollocks. The money that has come from tv coverage has been nothing but detrimental to the game for 20 years. 

And yet attendances continue to rise.

4 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

Presumably he's still being paid off by the last two clubs that have sacked him in the last 12 months as well.

Must be amazing being a football manager - especially an unsuccessful one. You get a massive payout and then people keep hiring you.

Parker has a good track record in getting teams promoted from the Championship to the Premier League.

2 hours ago, philipl said:

Another £7.5m in shares, not debt.

The debt comes on to the football club.

1 hour ago, philipl said:

I don't know what the situation is with Leeds contract clauses.

However, the negotiations at Leeds and Leicester would have been very different. 

At Leicester agents would have been negotiating hard for bonuses for Champions League, Europa League,  European Conference qualifications,  progression and winnings not forgetting domestic cups. The club could say the relegation clause is club policy and non-negotiable and player and agent accept it as a non-issue.

At Leeds, relegation was a very live issue and agents would have been doing everything possible to keep such clauses out if deals.

Leeds management folded to give those mediocre players those ridiculous monetary deals then they could have given in to demands avoiding relegation clauses too - I don't know but Leeds has been a mad house for a while now.

Maybe the ridiculous deals at Leeds were given in exchange for the players signing up for punitive relegation clauses ?

10 hours ago, only2garners said:

That seems pretty uncalled for as well Rev, for what I intended as a joke.

I keep plugging away trying to get over fans’ views and improving things as and when we can. It’s only a consultative forum, not a negotiating one, which quite a few on here don’t seem to grasp.

It baffles me that those who are so keen to criticise the forum don't put themselves forward to be part of it.

Just now, wilsdenrover said:

Bigger or better? (Or both?)

Clearly more successful.

51 minutes ago, onlyoneDuff said:

When was Luton ever a bigger club than Rovers...not doubting it but dont remember it..

For a brief period in the 80s when David Pleat/Ray Harford was manager they were bigger than us. Otherwise not.

1 minute ago, Mercer said:

We will see.

£50 says either Potter or Rodgers at Southampton.  Are you on?

If you are right about the relegated clubs then the jobs in the Premier League at Spurs,Palace and possibly Leeds and West Ham will be available. Won't Potter and Rodgers be looking there first ?

11 hours ago, Upside Down said:

That's disgusting.

It sounds like the FF is mostly made up of venkys boot lickers.

What's in it for them? They're the football equivalent of the vichy french. Absolutely pathetic.

The FF is made up of people who give up their free time without reward to represent supporters' views. If you don't like their approach why not apply to be one of them ?

1 hour ago, Upside Down said:

Why does the debt increase every year then?

The club owes hundreds of millions to venkys.

Ffp is something all clubs have to deal with. Rovers are the only club I can think of that doesn't do anything to help relieve the pressure of it.

The lack of maintenance has been going on for 12 years. How this can be solely down to maggot I don't know. 

We're losing diaz, dack and ayala. More key players. 

I'm sure this has nothing to do with the owners though. 

Should they ever return to these shores will you be one of those standing in line to lick their boots?

 

The money from India is put in to Venkys London Ltd in the form of share capital. That company then puts the money received in to football club in the form of debt. As at 30 June 2022 the debt from the club stood at £144m. Since that date there appears to have been a further £2.3m put in from India which presumably has been passed on to the club. From time to time debt outstanding by the club is converted in to equity - effectively writing off the debt.

1 hour ago, DE. said:

Tbf they were 21st and 13 points behind 1st when Carrick joined. Considering Carrick had no pre-season and inherited a squad whose confidence must have been very low, I think that's a really harsh assessment. 

Fun fact, 1st and 2nd at the time? QPR and Rovers, both on 30 points :') 

Yes. Carrick's record doesn't reflect on our manager. However it does reflect on his predecessor Chris Wilder who looks like a busted flush, especially when you look at what he has done at Watford (albeit I think that is now a very difficult job).

3 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Wasn't the training ground money not due till this summer or something ?

I think that the Venkys London accounts have a March year end and the football club has a June year end. Because the training ground sale took place in June 2021 (I think) it meant the sale features in different years for the 2 sets of accounts.