Sounds like they put on a good day. I was referring to the way they have amalgamated a lot of the local sports clubs under the Bristol Sport organisation. Barcelona and Fenerbahçe have setups like this. Naturally I am envious of any football club that is run with the slightest shred of competency.

The problem is that they aren't going to attract anyone above the level of Mowbray. He’s not got what it takes to bring Rovers back to the Premier League, I don't think there is much doubt about that. A manager who can do that will want backing from the club and a budget etc. The people in charge are not capable of delivering that. They have proven this over the last eleven years. I'm not sure why you think Mowbray is my "mate". All I have said is that it's unlikely we will get someone better. As with everything else over the last eleven years the problems are from the top down. If there was any real ambition to be anything more than mid table mediocrity in the second division then Mowbray would have been potted long ago.

That's where we were when the takeover happened, relegation was deliberate and there has been no attempt to get back there. Unacceptable. Tony Mowbray is no where near the level of manager we should have. He is a symptom of the ownership. With competen people running thigs we'd have a manager with ambition.

So we're one of the few clubs out there that have had the same shirt design since the beginning. It has been famously copied many times and is absolutely iconic. Over the years however, there have been different variations, the blue and white have changed sides as well as the sleeves changing slightly. Which is your favourite design then? My choice is - Home: 1996 -1998 Away: 1993 - 1995

The nicest possible thing I could ever think to say about him is that he's a total fucking coward.

He's not great but compared to the utter carnage of the first five years of this regime he's a saint. The problem with wanting him gone is that he will need to be replaced. I have absolutely no faith in the owners and people running the club that they would find a better replacement. For the record I am not happy at all with just drudging through another season mid table in the second division. I am yet to be convinced that relegation from the Premier League was anything but deliberate and anything other than a top 10 finish in the Premier League is complete and utter failure under the current ownership as far as I am concerned. The only way to move forward is for the club to be under new ownership.

It wouldn't be the first time that football fans have been known to be dick heads

One question, why the fuck were we not playing in blue & white? On another note, I thoroughly admire the setup that Bristol City have throughout. I dream of Rovers having something that even slightly resembles that one day.

Agreed. To charge more that £20 for any match at this level is an absolute have.

That last word there, what does it mean? I forgot.

The disconnect will be solved when venkys fuck off.

Throughout my life the things I generally heard about the Walker kids was that they were essentially just spoiled trust fund babies with little or no respect for the people that put them where they were. As far as the club was concerned, they saw it as nothing other than a drain on their finances and had little to no interest in it. That is only what I heard from other people of course and I couldn't possibly have an opinion of them as I never knew any of them. However Blackburn is a small place and reputations can precede you.

Agreed. He bailed us out so many times over the years. Not to mention all the other work he sid for the club. He was far more than just a player and coach.

Never Really understood the Keith Andrews hate. I thought that was bang out of order to be honest. I remember Ashley Ward getting a lot of stick and we certainly were not shy of letting Brian Kidd know how we felt. I'll never for get us all chanting "Tony Parks' blue n white army" and in between some guy was yelling "Fuck off Brian Kidd!" To be fair though, by that point we had an absolutely abysmal season.

I'll never forget the Egypt glass behind the bar. What is that for again? A regiment in world war 2 or something, I can't remember.

The way this thread has gone is amusing. I've heard it before that Rovers fans tend to be far more patient and forgiving than most. So anyway, Tony Mowbray.....

Rovers go two up in first half and then do their best to blow it in the second. Final score 2-1 to Rovers.

My thoughts exactly.

Given the owners previous form I am nothing other than suspicious at what is going on. If you have an asset that does nothing but cost you millions year after year then why not just get rid? Unless of course there is something else that you are using it for....

But the club owes them well over 100 million. I genuinely am intrigued by this and would like it if someone could explain how that works. My take on it is that all they have done is offset the losses the club has made by the way of loans. However I could be wrong about that so if someone could set me straight on the way all of this works I would much appreciate it. Even if they are covering the losses there does not seem to be much actual investment. It has been mentioned before that the stadium and training facilities are in dire need of attention. We are short of at least 5 decent players and although I think a lot of the venom directed towards Tony Mowbray is completely over the top, I don't think he's the man to take Rovers on to promotion and ultimately a permanent spot in the Premier League. Regarding FFP, there are ways around that. We have seen it done by Man City, PSG and you can guarantee we will see it from Newcastle in the coming years. Selling assets like the training ground or stadium to yourself is one of those, so you can't say they don't know about that sort of stuff. It would take some desire and some effort to do that though. Kind of like the desire and effort they put in to pass the "fit and proper" requirements. I think I can safely say we all want to see Rovers doing well. I don't think that will happen under the current ownership.

Nothing to see here.....

Hopefully they'll have a minutes silence for all the slaves (or migrant workers or whatever spin they are going to put on that) that lost their lives in the construction of the stadiums.

The fact they had to sell the training ground to avoid falling foul of FFP shows that the owners have invested absolutely nothing into the club. The money they supposedly put in is only to cover losses and is the bear minimum that they can get away with. Even this money is in the form of debt so they aren't really giving anything to the club. Unless the big news is going to be that the club is up for sale then nothing is going to change. It's both hilarious and tragic when people come out with "where would we be without Venkys?" My response is that we'd probably be 7th in the Premier League rather than 7th in the Championship.

That is a fair assessment. The three groups need to stop being so militant in their views, I do find it quite childish and embarrassing. As for any hopes of investment in the club, I doubt that will ever happen in a meaningful way. It hasn't happened in the last eleven years and doesn't look as though it's happening in the near future. The owners reportedly put in 20 million a year to cover the club's losses. However, the only reason the club is incurring such heavy losses is because of the owners. The money they put in every year is the bear minimum, any less would see the lights being turned off. The club is in huge debt, 150 million of which is owed to Venkys. I'm not sure how that can be so some explanation from someone who understands this sort of stuff is much welcomed as I am genuinely curios about this. The way this looks to me is that they haven't put in any money at all as they have just transferred more debt to the club. Although Ewood is not the wild wild west that it was 11 years ago there still seems to be something strange about the way in which Venkys use the club. All the club does is apparently lose tens of millions a year which the owners have to pay the balance of. They have no intentions to sell, take advice or appoint competent and skilled people to run the club properly. So the question still remains and that is why? Given their previous involvement with agents and all the rest of it I am left with nothing other than feeling of suspicion towards them. The owners of Blackburn Rovers Football Club are liars and should not be trusted. Ever.

I had no idea that the fans were so divided. Sounds like there are a lot of people who are in the midst of Stockholm syndrome. Then there are a lot of die hards and people who have kept going because that's just what they do and have always done. Then there are those of us who chosen to go down the avenue of non participation in whatever the fuck it is that Venkys have going on here. It's incredibly stupid to be calling people names and giving them grief because they are either going to watch the games or are not going. Especially on a Blackburn Rovers forum. We wouldn't be signed up here if we weren't all Rovers fans. It's not like Venkys took over and all of a sudden we all went out and bought Burnley shirts. We are all still Rovers fans and want to see the team doing well. I for one support any action that sheds light on what is and has been going on behind the scenes at Blackburn Rovers. I think there needs to be renewed efforts in investigating these events and we need to always remember why we are where we are.