I mean as far as Tony goes the situation is crystal clear. He hasn't got some huge motivation to be pushing us for the Premiership, he is content to keep plugging holes in the squad with temporary loan players, fully aware that the financial status of the club is getting worse and worse, but he will continue getting paid until retirement and won't have a care in the world about us when he goes. I'd be shocked if even his biggest defenders would argue he has great ambition or drive. He simply clocks in do the minumum, clocks out and that's that. Little town effort for a little town club - in his eyes.

He puts absolutely no pressure or expectations on Venkys, and so they are more than happy to have him.

The big decade-old mystery remains what do Venkys want with the club, and what if any are their plans now and for the future - that I have no clue about. 

Tony: “Before the window shuts I’m hoping we can add five or six more.”

I don't see in what world we, or pretty much anyone at our level, can get 5-6 players in 10 days, but....let's see?

1 hour ago, riverholmes said:

I'm not such a big fan of Souness - though we did emerge out of the mire with him. He deserves a lot of credit for promotion, the Worthington Cup and high league finish but he was extremely fortunate to inherit Damien Duff, David Dunn and Matt Jansen in the team. I would suggest that he was also fortunate to inherit a well-run club, led by John Williams, though, on the pitch it was in disarray (Lee Carsley top scorer, I seem to remember). To my mind, Souness was able to manage the young players but often failed with experienced players, as we saw we his numerous bust ups. He liked to tap into the old boys network when signing players and whilst very successful with Tugay and Friedel, he failed miserably with others, such as Amoruso, Sukur, Unsal, Ferguson and the £6/7 million signing of Ciccio Grabbi, with his Serie B/C goal record and history of Ledderhose disease (see this link, in Italian) was beyond negligent.

He got found out tactically and embarked on bizarre choices such as Dominic Matteo left midfield and Dino Baggio, the renowned Italian defensive midfielder, as a forward. Just as with the incredible luck Rovers had when Birmingham actually paid to take Dwight Yorke off us, Newcastle coming in for Souness was a huge relief for many fans. But for the goals of Jon Stead, signed in February 2004, we probably would've been relegated in 2003/04. Things got so bad that we had Jonathan Douglas on the left of midfield, with Andresen, Tugay and Flitcroft alongside him, as Souness went ultra-defensive to protect the failing defence, that included Amoruso and Gresko. He should be remembered for some of his major achievements but I consider him an impressive figure for young players to be motivated by but weak in just about every other area.

"not such a big fan...weak in just about every other area"... yet he got us promoted to the Premiership, he got us into Europe, he won us a cup, and had us, for at least a season or two, playing easily our best and most entertaining football since the title wining days.

If that gets you a "not such a big fan...weak in just about every other area" response from some fans, dare I ask what you must think about Mowbray and his utter stench of a managerial performance, like his "many positives" from home defeats to Morecambe?

3 minutes ago, BG1492 said:

Worse thing is there will be nobody asking the question as to why we have exited a cup so soon again? 
A quick shrug of the shoulders from Tony and Waggot then “move on to Saturday”. Pathetic.

To them we're just an irrelevant feeder club that should just be happy and grateful to be scraping by in the Championship, let alone expect anything else.

It's a desecration really what Venkys have done.

Looks promising. A youth product of Borussia Dortmund, there has to be something there. Would this signal the end of Sam's glory days out on the wing?

Sorry but it is disgraceful and criminal to be selling the Championship top scorer for 15 million. Venkys and Mowbray don't give the slightest, the absolute slightest damn about the club - water is also wet, I know.

I just hope as hell it doesn't get invested into more useless loan deals. 

One-legged team of kids fully deserved their win today - wouldn't it just be this of all season starts we finally get a win.

Kaminski still had to keep us in it a several times though, as sleepy as Swansea were they could have gotten something out of this.

Instead of loan players can we not invest the money into some anti-injury charms or something?

At this point I'd be surprised if the cleaning lady hasn't worked with Mowbray before. 

On 14/07/2021 at 12:13, booth said:

A never has been manager, serial failure, deluded and lazy. Incredible but not surprising he's still there.

Unless things change I wouldn't be surprised to see us in a relegation battle this season, anything else will be blind luck.

If Armstrong goes and we don't replace him, it won't even be a battle unfortunately, we will drop as a rock, relying only on Kaminski miracle games to earn us a few points.

3 hours ago, den said:

What the American owners in particular want, is the ability to stage show matches around Asia. They really don’t want any competition. They don’t want competitive football of any type. They simply want to sell their brand for as high a price that they can, to anyone who will pay it.

Do they not already own clubs in China and elsewhere, attracting at least some star players, playing in front of pretty big stadiums and crowds?

If money in football was spread around more clubs on more continents that would be so much better for everyone involved. 

yep 99.9% certain this nonsense is dead now, but the big threat I mentioned before remains - that the CL is pushed even more into the direction of the big clubs' liking. There was talk about some positive reform happening in football, I hope this doesn't kill those hopes too. 

A big, big threat however is if in on paper this Super League is scrapped, but even more "legacy places" are added into the new 36-team Champions League, which pretty much all but ensures a hierarchy of 6 or 8 or so teams that barring a total collapse will always have a place ensured in the group stages. I guess 8 is better than 15 or whatever, but the rot that is the idea behind the Super League most definitely has seeped into the CL, and there is a real threat it will consume it further. But then the obnoxious narrative will be that the top clubs "compromised" due to their "love of the game," when in reality they will have engineered a way to get almost exactly what they were hoping for.

So in a way, yeah, if we can have a guarantee that these 15 clubs will be thrown out of the domestic leagues, the players thrown out of international football (and therefore at least a good chunk of top stars will reconsider their clubs) - give that league over to the plastics as it crashes and burns, while the real football fans and clubs go back to the basics - that would be preferable. But I sincerely doubt something so idealistic would happen.

Either way, "compromise" will be the devil's word.

27 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Football has always been about money and greed.

The formation of the Premier League in early 1990s was about greed
 

The Champions League, vastly inferior to the old European Cup, was about greed

The ESL is no different

While that is sadly true in a way, the ESL is still worse. Even though the 'merit-based' format of the Champions League greatly depends on a clubs finances, the ESL makes it actually impossible for even the slightest challenge to be launched against the status quo. It is the final nail in the coffin.

I think the ban on international tournament participation for the players is the one and only hope left to stop this. Even the threat of leaving the domestic competitions won't do enough. But if FIFA and UEFA fold on the international ban then all is lost. 

To state the obvious - if somehow someway we were a top 6 club right now, Venkys would sign us up with a blink of an eye. 

Greed and owners who couldn't give the slightest toss about the fans and the communities around the club are the problem. And the FA allowing such takeovers unchallenged is what has opened the door to this farce.

The only way out of this is mass protests, mass boycotts until owners focused solely on money are forced out. Ourselves included. The game continues dying and mutating into something very ugly the longer this goes on.

TM doesn't matter anymore. As long as we have Venkys they will continue making idiotic decisions that will ruin any and all hope we have. Venkys have to go. if we have to start from the bottom without them, but revert to being a very well run club, so be it.  

2 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

Tony Mowbray doesn't want to be 'a burden' on Rovers | Lancashire Telegraph

“I don’t want to be a burden on the club, if I’m the problem then that's no problem, the owners have to tell me. Other than that, I love the game, I've been here before, I'll keep going"

Mowbray on the 26th Feb.

He isn't resigning. He's waiting for the sack.  

Yep, which is why there's no point in even getting angry at TM anymore. He has dared the owners to sack him, they have said no. The owners are the problem, always have been, and we are going absolutely nowhere good with them on board. I don't care if they appoint Guardiola tomorrow, Venkys will always be the bane of this club. 

I'm not even sure what to say or to think anymore. Sack him now, ok, but what is the message then? 'Things were ok up until this point, but now it's too much?' No. If Venkys think the past year, let alone the past few months, was ok in any way shape or form then we are doomed. I mean it's not even TM's fault anymore, in terms of his job performance he has been a useless sack of s*** for a long time now, and the owners seem to be keeping him on out of spite toward the fans.

I'm just at a loss, I really am. It seems that we are going straight to hell and that is that. 

Tony's one and only ambition is, if everything goes well, if we suffer no injuries, if luck is on our side, that we progress from being 5 years behind Brentford to being 4 years behind Brentford. 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/jul/26/blackburn-rovers-champions-league

10 Years ago Venkys were talking about qualifying for the Champions League.

Today they are allowing the manager to talk about being 4-5 years behind Brentford.

It's maddening really. 

One very very big question is where do the FFP rules stand at this point in time. If there is even the slightest bit of common sense they should be set aside not only for the upcoming season but several seasons to come (and reworked from the ground up). If not we are well and truly screwed. 

To the people who think there would be any hope left if/when we sell Arma in the summer - welcome to your line-up without him. 

A good fitness coach is an integral part to preventing injuries, I do believe? We desperately need improvement in that area.