3 minutes ago, JHRover said:

The Wharton deal 'close to collapse' line being fed by Bayes is part of the Venky cover up operation.

I wondered what form it would take and when it would come.

You know when it is coming from Lancs Telegraph/ Radio Lancashire that they are getting their information from the Club and therefore isn't to be taken seriously.

The name of the game here is that Waggott and the rest of the regime down there will now know their overlords have stuffed us over again and will be preparing for the inevitable furore from the fanbase and media.

So the solution to head that off is to deflect blame away, this time to Palace / Wharton. Poor old Rovers doing their best but plans being placed in jeopardy by external factors which threatens our own business.

What a surprise! Not our fault!

It's never our fault. There are always mitigating circumstances. I get that it's a high pressure situation and deadline day can be difficult, but other clubs manage it. It's only us that constantly fuck things up. And the reasons always lead straight back to Pune.

15 minutes ago, TommyRovers said:

Really got to feel for the lad

 

Saw someone on twitter post this. Apparently that's a picture from a hotel in Sheffield. 

From the LT

"Another central midfielder isn't out of the question but depends on finances" 

Bloody hell, we'll have generated a guaranteed £28m by the summer with the Raya fee included. That statement alone tells us where the money is going. 

14 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

it was clear from the moment he landed at ewood that jdt did`nt take to him,if we are so keen to get him away then we would`nt be insisting on half a million quid,before or after,nixon is typing garbage

Ennis is the epitome of a talented, lazy person. He was signed early in the summer, would have known a move was possible, yet he arrived unfit. Reeled out a few soundbites that he was playing catchup fitness wise, picked up a knock or two and that was it. Seems as though he had the bit between his teeth for all of a couple of weeks before returning to type. I'm pretty sure he'll be quite happy with the move. Probably doubled his wages.

11 hours ago, bluebruce said:

We're scoring. We're conceding. I know which one needs changing.

Pears isn't a decent Championship keeper, he's a decent backup Championship keeper.

I'd agree that signing a goalkeeper would be a priority if Wahlstedt was still in goal. He was so poor he could have seen us relegated.

I disagree with you on Pears. We've been treated to some fabulous goalkeepers over the years which affects our opinion. Pears is nowhere near that level, but he is lower championship quality. He'll make mistakes but the step up from Wahlstedt to him is enormous. 

Due to the complete lack of a competent backup he's actually one of our most important players, which shows how far the club have fallen.

26 minutes ago, Gav said:

I’ve never attributed any blame to the Walker family myself. Blackburn Rovers was Jacks passion, not the families passion and they sold the club in good faith.

These owners ticked all the boxes, had the funds, but as one poster said yesterday, you simply cannot account for them being as thick as a bar top.

Venkys out.

I don't blame the Walker family for selling to Venkys. On paper, they had money, human rights record was far more favorable than other owners and there was some sense in them growing their brand, especially with the South Asian population in Blackburn. 

What I do blame them for is engaging with Jerome Anderson to facilitate a sale. As soon as an agent was involved it was likely that person was getting way to deep into critical period in the clubs history. It didn't take a genuis to work out he'd be pulling the owners strings once the takeover happened. It was very naive to think he was simply doing it for a introductory/commission fee.

*Disclaimer: Happy to be corrected on the above. My memory is very hazy of those times but I'm sure he didn't just magically pop up after the club had been sold.

31 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

As long as he’s as much fun as our last Glasgow centre half signing…

Lorenzo Amoruso ?

I didn't expect anything different in the club statement.

For me this situation needs to drag before they wake up and realise there is literally no option but to sell up. This season is all about scraping by and staying up. 

Realistically we'll be hitting crisis point come the summer, even if the courts do approve funding in March. Its the hope that kills you but the summer is when I see them possibly looking at selling up. Until it happens, public statements will all say the same thing. I simply can't allow myself to believe they'll be here forever.

Can see it now. "Money for Wharton was too good to turn down, however we've struggled to spend it since there is no flex in the wage budget".

Summer comes and the money is being used to keep the club afloat. 

Not a pun but the family dog is actually called Friedel. 

I'm holding out hope they will sell up in the summer. It feels like the only realistic time they'd ever think of selling us. A managed exit, Indian government forcing their hand etc. 

Surely even they realise this situation isn't sustainable. Post the first few years of their ownership I've never bought into the conspiracy theories. I've accepted its a combination of pride and them being so mega rich the losses make no difference to them. But if they don't choose to sell up within the next 12 months and the funding situation persists, it has me questioning the motives and whether they are hiding something.

52 minutes ago, Ricky said:

Nobody is buying us with over £100m of debt. I’m pretty sure not a single one of those you mentioned was sold with those debt levels so the only option (as you mentioned) is administration and then the hope someone decides to buy us.

There’s a couple of teams on there that would clearly be more attractive to an investor, I’m thinking Birmingham and Sunderland mainly, due to the large catchment and fan base. Sunderland could get 40k attending quite easily if they were in the top flight. Our cap is probably 20-25k. That’s going to be something that an investor will look at.

Some of the others were bought when they were in the lower leagues at a lower cost.

I can only really see a future of administration and then a buy out. It would be great if a rich owner came in but as we’ve seen, we already have one of those and it’s not been the answer. A rich owner can still only invest so much due to ffp.

I don’t know the answer but it’s certainly a worrying time.

I agree somewhat with what you're saying, however there are other factors. Premier League money dwarfs gate receipts, so that would be part of any new owners investment plans. Then the other clubs you mention (without me doing much research), look to have been spending a bit in recent times. FFP is the anchor that weighs so many Championship clubs down. 

I can only assume with the financial restrictions and cut backs of the last couple of years that we are beginning to create a bit of a cushion which would allow any potential new owner the flex to invest. We also do have our academy set up, which is an asset in itself and is producing some players who are assets. 

If Venkys chose to sell without the debt, then I don't think we'd be totally unattractive to potential buyers. Highly unlikely given they've never shown any indication of doing so, but I do think if they are ever going to release us, then it's most likely within the next 12-24 months.

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67417862

This is a good report although Premier League specific. I wonder if the pitches are partly to blame as the modern ones have very little 'give' in them. The harder pitches and training grounds are what the modern game demands but I have a theory that the extra pounding on a firmer surface contributes to more of the soft tissue injuries.

I think Qpr identified this an issue recently. They'd been training on some specialist pitch and all of a sudden half their squad went down with hamstring injuries. 

Makes far more sense to me to have a series of differently conditioned pitches. One for general training which is softer and reduces wear and tear on the body. A pre-match pitch so players adapt to the surface conditions ready for game day. Then maybe some other fancy one, just for fun.

Southampton away, there were no bright Sparks. It was awful. The only thing nearly resembling one was the tenacity of Travis when he came on. 

Even if he's not been playing lately, he would have been needed this season. When the club is aiming to save the odd hundred thousand here and there, it really is dire times. We're effectively operating as though we're in administration. 

I think we'll survive this season, but if this complete lack of funding continues into the summer, we're as good as down next year.

On Telalovic, I think he's beginning to show some promising signs. Just needs to hit the back of the net now. It'll come in time. Hopefully in the cup against Cambridge which will get the monkey off his back a bit. 

It really is depressing under Venkys though. 3rd lowest wage budget in the league. Its no surprise we are where we are. When a few players are fit again I think we'll pick up some more points when the fixture list is a bit lighter and finish lower midtable. JDT won't stay forever though. The managed downgrade of the club will continue to bite and unfortunately I think it will hit a critical point around the time he moves on. Unless there is fresh investment the only way is down under their tenure. 

For the first time in a long time we have wiggle room under Ffp. It's just come at a time when there is no wiggle room regarding Venkys funding of the club.

The really depressing thing about Wahlstedt is that the bulk of our money spent in the summer was on him. If we were forced into selling Kaminski to keep the lights on, then surely there was a cheaper option and any money available could have been spent elsewhere. 

Others have said it but the major thing which worked in Wahlstedt's favor when we were looking atoptions was his age. Rough diamonds, creating assets etc. But put simply, he's not ready. I think he has some potential but we needed somebody for now, not a couple of years down the line. He looks terrible. Usually when a goal goes in his reaction is to yell at those on front of him. There was no reaction to Rotherhams first. He knows he is culpable and his confidence is shot. It says everything that Pears will be a major upgrade when he's fit again. 

Striker is clearly top of our shopping list but if we have the ability to bring one in, we need to be specific. We already have four strikers who are all injured or underperforming. 

I'd be very keen on us going back in for Rak-Sakyi. Olise is back from injury so he's unlikely to see any more game time at Palace. After an ok start Moran clearly needs some help. He looks tired and woefully short. 

Problem being is that I doubt we even have a couple of magic beans to rub together. Ffp wise we should have some wiggle room after the summer and you'd hope we could use the guarantee of the David Raya future income to structure any deals. In reality the lack of clarity around future funding from Venkys will probably mean all money is saved for the inevitable rainy day which is looming.

Just noticed Burnleys only wins this season are against Luton and Sheffield United. Really says everything about how badly Kompany is doing there that they're yet to win against any established Premier League side.

Thought we were very poor yesterday. Where the instructions were to keep things tight we seemed to be confused as to when to press Southampton. We simply gave them way to much respect. 

That being said, after the first 15 minutes Southampton were creating very little of note. Only for us to give a very soft goal away on the stroke of half time.

Second half and the ref began woefully. He'd been giving Southampton free kicks for sweet fuck all throughout the first half and then waved play on for some of the clearest fouls you'll ever see against us. One of them being an incident which was far worse than what Brittain was booked for in the 1st half. It clearly wound him up, but there's no excuses for leathering the ball away. Brainless. It's frustrating on so many levels. You pay money to go and see the game ruined by a Brainless player, an incompetent Ref and stupid rules. In no way am I saying he shouldn't been shown a second yellow, but it was one of the most sterile games I've seen in a long, long time and a player still ended up seeing red. The rule makers and refs in general really are making football a bore. 

All in all we were poor before and after the red card. Moran was a passenger again. Poor on the ball and poor defensively. Brittain looked lost higher up the pitch and every other player was below par. 

The frustration is that we tend to play in patches. We may well have come back into the game, but Brittain ruined that for us. 

On Southampton they don't look like promotion contenders for me. For all their tippy- tap football, it took a poorly defended corner to break us open before having it easy against 10 tired men. 

Only positive is Travis looked as though he was chomping at the bit when he came on. Think we'll need his energy over the congested upcoming fixtures. He gets pelters sometimes, but when he's fresh, he's a good player.

First game of the season today. I've a good record watching Rovers in recent years. 

Choosing to be an optimist today with a 1-2 Rovers away win. S.Wharton and Szmodics to see us to 2 up with Arma getting a goal back and an unbelievably nervy finish.

Think Saints can be got at on the counter attack so long as we stay tight in defence. 

On 07/12/2023 at 16:09, Penwortham Blue said:

I wonder whether the young B team winger who came on at Ewood has made many appearances to date. Would have loved him here on loan, was unplayable that day.

I've been sporadically checking their progress as the season has gone on. I don't belive he's even made the bench once this season. Exclusively being used in their B team.

It'd be interesting if we could host a friendly with them next season as well. Strengthen the ties between the clubs. With our style of football a loan or two could be appealing. 

I think Siggy would be a good signing. I don't think we've seen the best of him yet but he's still made significant contributions, even if he's blown hot and cold. 

We're also crying out for a bit of consistency in the attacking areas. Season upon season, we're relying on loans at the top end of the pitch with our star players leaving on frees or loans expiring.

On 13/12/2023 at 23:45, JHRover said:

But I don't think anyone rational can say this squad should be any higher than it is or probably as high as it is, which means JDT is doing a good job. A very good job in my opinion and I fear his departure for what it will likely mean to our league status. 

All you have to do is look at Qpr. Ainsworth was a car crash. Prior to last season Qpr had very similar league finishes to us and were playing similar football. 

I agree with you that we're one bad appointment away from a similar fate. 

He's only scored in one game since March. There's bad form then there's that.