11 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

after watching hedges and aberdeen tonight  ,i would`nt be going anywhere near him,he`s bloody awful,as are aberdeen,quite rightly he`s been given the hook after an hour

This is not me defending Hedges. I'm on the fence. But there hasn't been many times Hedges has been dragged off after an hour. 

Aberdeen might view that that his head has been turned and want rid. 

... not a fan of using Hendry, few too many misdemeanours on his record, including a charge of assaulting his ex.

Also feel the kit is pointless.

*edit* got this wrong

Nice work, the homepage looks clean, simplistic and easy to navigate.

Enjoyed the TM 'Cut out and Keep Guide'...

*Wrong topic*

I've never been so unenthused for a new season, but Billy Barr leaving surely isn't that much of a surprise? Nor does it show 'all is not well' behind the scenes...

He's an u23 manager who is being given the chance, albeit at a lower level, to work in first-team football. Something most coaches normally strive for.

10 hours ago, mustard said:

I never profess to be an ITK'er but I came across some interesting info the other week that came from a source who is either currently in the recruitment team at Rovers or recently departed.  Quite high up too I believe.  I should probably clarify with my friend who spent a good deal of time with him a few weeks ago as to whether he's a current staff member or not, but maybe for the best to not give too much away, especially how they met and got talking for risk of compromising his role should he still be in it.

He was highly critical of how things are run at Rovers, whether it be playing side, transfer side or club matters.  Said it's basically a bit of a shambles behind the scenes and things move so slowly and we aren't run as we should be.  Said how Kean was pissed whilst at the training ground/Ewood on numerous occasions, highly critical of most managers but did say Bowyer was a good guy and wasn't a bad manager.  Says Tony is an alright guy but doesn't rate him that much as a manager.  There were a number of other tidbits and insights but aren't overly relevant to this discussion.

One of the most interesting bits was about our scouting and transfer policy.  He said it's moved heavily to revolve around data analysis but what's best in his and other scout's eyes is going and viewing a player yourself in person, but for some reason the club won't allow them to do this.  I'm not sure if it's a money-saving exercise, but he was incredibly frustrated that he and other staff weren't allowed to go and watch players before deciding if they were right for the club.  Basically said it was bonkers that this is how the club operates.

Anyways, I know it's not much but thought it might be worth sharing.

Not shooting you down at all but I don't believe it, two things stick out to me that don't add up.

Kean was a disgrace, but I don't believe he would turn up drunk. It doesn't fit the profile before he joined the club, he was a very well respected coach. I severely doubt he would rock up to training inebriated. He was just a terrible manager.

When were said coaches not allowed to go and watch players? That has been the case anyway for the last 15 months. We have certainly heard before the pandemic of scouts going to games across Europe. Even TM has suggested in the past that it was important that players were watched before any major judgements.

8 hours ago, J*B said:

I totally understand simple streaming is easy to do. My issue is the infrastructure. Who’s bringing the stream back up when the internet dies mid match? Are they hiring a team of engineers to be monitoring the stream during the game? Will there be a back up server? Are the people running the stream full time or freelance? If they’re freelance, what happens when one pulls out on the day of a match? Who’s trained these freelancers? Who’s providing the kit? 

Long story short - I don’t think a simple streaming solution is acceptable to paying fans especially in sport which is full of emotion. And if it’s simple I suspect it will be a downgrade on iFollow. 

Unless of course what they’re actually doing is going through a new external partner. In which case I do at least expect it to work. 

All valid questions absolutely. I remember the first game streamed on iFollow in September last year, think it was Bristol City. They simply couldn't handle the amount of traffic and it all went down for 10/15 minutes. I hope they are going to be prepared for every risk.

And you're right about us paying for a downgrade, if this is that they will learn very quickly how the social media audience can trash a platform.

4 hours ago, J*B said:

No doubt it’s feasible - but it’s a huge (estimated 500K) investment to do it properly. A reliable product isn’t anywhere near as simple as a couple of camera operators, a vision mixer and then streaming it to fans. It worries me that you would think it’s so simple and I hope whoever is behind it has more experience in the field.

Ultimately we’ll see what they do and that’s how it will be judged. If they do it cheap we’ll be in a worse position than iFollow. If they suitably invest in it we’ll have a great product that will eventually turn a profit - unless we get promoted. 

Technology is A LOT more advanced than 10 years ago. Yes it requires an experienced team, but the simplicity of streaming to fans has never been easier in what is a streaming-led digital world.

I work in broadcasting.

And I don't have any say in this operation, just a bystander who is intrigued to see what they produce.

42 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

That doesn't make sense. So they realised we needed a change, but when that one person fell through, they decided not to do it? 

 

I think it does make sense. There is not a lot of managers out there who are of the calibre we require and will come?

Perhaps they are waiting patiently for that manager to come along, and are not just willing to fire and hire. TM is not my option, but he is over a panic manager signing like Pulis.

Begs the question, if it's true, who was the manager and what calibre of manager are they looking for?

Another interesting aspect of this summer will be recruitment. I've said before I don't think TM is in charge of that and proof will be in the pudding if we see Pickering/Kaminski type signings as opposed to Ayala/Douglas.

If that was the case, would add up to the theory that TM is only here whilst they source a high calibre replacement.

This is all guesswork based on what gets posted on here sometimes so don't take this as someone who does not want TM gone. But I can see the value in keeping him until they get the right appointment.

Rothwell leaving is good news for me. Move him on if we can.

I find his inconsistency frustrating. It is players like him who give us false hope. His moments of brilliance are rare, I can only remember 4/5 occasions where he has produced something of significance and the data we are being led by could suggest this.

Happy to be proved wrong.

Bennett staying, on a (hopefully) much reduced wage, would be fine for me.

Needs to be dropping to at most 5k a week however.

2 hours ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Obviously it is a matter of opinion (as you say) but I think your first sentence is pretty harsh, to be honest. I do think you make a fair point in your second paragraph though. The Trust perhaps should be directly offering to help Venkys engage with supporters.

I have volunteered to help The Trust going forward and I did get sight of the first draft of this letter and made some suggested changes, many of which were taken on board. This isn't necessarily aimed at you bringdunnback but its too easy sometimes to simply criticise from the sidelines when it is basically one or two people constantly trying to be all things in relation to the Trust. They need our support.

The Trust is about to attempt to re-energise itself and reconnect with the broader Rovers fan base and so I would encourage as many Rovers fans as possible to join in and subscribe - the annual cost is the same as watching just one game on the EFL iFollow channel.

 

Duly noted regarding "its too easy sometimes to simply criticise from the sidelines."

I would wholly agree and accept that my first point was harsh.

I do genuinely hope this works. The objective of the letter seems to send the message that we, the fans, need better and consistent communication from Venky's. Let's see if they respond.

It is poorly written in language and structure. Only my opinion of course, but I say that as someone who writes for a living.

More importantly, the objective is not clear either nor does it offer any form of solution.

Letters as such only serve to undermine their cause.

37 minutes ago, RoversClitheroe said:

Trust trust trust

That seems to be the ultimate winner here.

He has it, in abundance.

If he is here to stay, I don't think he'll be making the signings, and he will accept that.

He's lost a lot of his clout with the owners and, to keep his job, he will do as he's told when it comes to recruitment.

That is why the players who are leaving this summer, know they are leaving and that decision has gone above TM, i.e Johnson, Evans, Holtby, Downing and Bennett.

Fact is, results aside, he's proved himself unreliable in his recruitment. Breo and Gallagher outweigh Dack and Arma. Ayala outweighs, well, there hasn't been a successful permanent defensive signing in his tenure. Kaminski wasn't TM.

It appeared, in fact, in January he was in the dark about the Pickering signing, so that process has already begun.

So, he can discuss transfers all he wants, but he knows that he isn't in control of it. Rightly so.

Most decent (ethically and tactically) managers will hold their hands up. This from a National League manager, and yet TM has never once put his arrogance to one side.

I'm absolutely disgusted.

Think if TM is replaced, it will be a Head Coach, and therefore any recruitment process will have already started using the new department set up.

Kaminski and Pickering are the fruits of that labour so far and will be the system going forward.

It appears (I have no ITK knowledge btw) that TM will pay the price for poor signings such as Ayala and even Douglas. Those were his deals and he effectively has shown the owners that he should not be in charge of who the club signs.

I would agree.

9 hours ago, Aqualung said:

Sorry to nitpik but I think they do a decent job despite the inane ramblings some times. 

Who would you replace them with? 

Better than nothing. 

25 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Quite a number of Championship clubs use their local Radio commentary who are more experienced in live sports. Hence I tend to use that, unless its just too biased which is not often.

This. Sheffield United do it and it works very well. BBC Local Radio is great for a lean towards our sides without being overly biased.

It's really awful coverage, never have I seen two media guys be a commentary team.

I'd rather it was just one of them rather than a fan in the analysis chair.

It's incredibly sub-standard.

2 minutes ago, rovers11 said:

The regression continues. Terrible result against a poor side.

Didnt watch the game and won't be for the rest of the season. 

2 minutes ago, CD_93 said:

That's enough match passes for me this season. Just f*****g boring.

Same here, stopped watching last weekend.

I really want to support these players, but I can't condone the way the manager has acted this past month.

Wonder what the figures for iFollow were today...

My predicted TM interview

"We were close to getting that equaliser but it just didn't bounce for us.

"We've got 4 cb's out and tonight we've got two young guys who found it difficult.

"We were so close to a point in the game and had chances to get it, the performance was good.

"I've told you before I'm performance related, and if we play like we did in the second half, we'll be alright."

6 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

Just trying to find out the reliability of the source now. The person who has screenshotted me the message isnt someone to bullshit.

Feels like it would be too good to be true, but from TM's comments himself, there is pressure coming from someone, somewhere.

But if we saw the removal of SW firstly; that is one step forward in any circumstance.

The mere fact that TM practically recommended his mate for the job has never sat right with me, despite the decent job I  think SW has done. But where is TM's accountability?

Here's hoping 🙏

24 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

Just been told that Waggot is taking early retirement and that several annoucments are due from the club in the coming weeks.... please say they are potting TM!

Source?