I don’t expect a performing seal on the bench, but the body language of TM has been horrendous in recent weeks. Doesn’t engage with the players, his staff, the officials. Whilst pretty much every opposition manager is a bundle of energy, cajoling his players, running things past his coaches, in the ear of the fourth official etc etc…. Our fella? Just leans against a wall, or wanders around, yards from anybody throughout, so is it really a surprise to see a reflection of it on the pitch?

But the manager is just an employee, and should be removed if he’s stinking the place out… and is at every other club.

Dread to think what the following will be, even most of the away regulars I know, that pitch up everywhere are swerving it…

He thinks a load of things have improved - so are you not enjoying this new dawn? He gave us a long list, starting with; community work (fair enough). He then pointed to - Improved club structure. Improved commercially. Improved methods of getting fans back… I’ll let others be the judge

And Kean getting booed *after* we’d just scored against Swansea, which was pretty novel. But as you say it was very intermittent at Ewood that season. Fan vs fan rowing in the stands was more prominent, as I know all too well!

Indeed.

Obviously worked a treat those bundles!

Community Trust and building bridges with the Asian community? Yep, definitely progress. Kudos to the team. Academy? An ongoing positive, yes, but not ‘progress’ as it’s the actual one constant success, and they even tried to hobble that by flogging off Brockhall just last year. What commercial progress? What efforts to entice back fans?

All very plausible Paul, but didn’t we hear pretty much the same thing (maybe from yourself, but certainly others) this time last season. This is just not a normal club when it comes to inside gossip, and I won’t believe it until I see him with scarf raised at The Hawthorns…

‘Twas my point, Tyrone…

Ok, so enlighten an uneducated oik like myself to how the ownership and accountability are not connected?

Just 1864 trying to make sense of how he’s been led down the garden path by Waggott et al over brews and custard creams…

And those are two mutually exclusive things, how?

Must be crossed wires, I would take ‘tasty’ as in ‘spiky’, ‘grudge match’, ‘an edge’… ergo Dingles, at a push PNE and Bolton, not a trip to the Bet 365.

Owners don’t let managers off the hook, they sack them… unless it’s BRFC. So yes, all roads lead back to Pune.

Just the near £20million lower than what Man Utd paid for Maguire…

Ok, Wigan and Blackpool, Lanky games down the road, good for a few beers. Though still not sure what’s ‘tasty’ about them. Stoke? Don’t particularly see the difference to playing a Derby or Forest

Sorry that’s a cop out, you can’t just look at TM’s reign in isolation whatever the title of the thread is (which you know as you’ve been on this forum long enough to know how it works). You have backed these owners to the hilt despite no evidence, at all, that they have changed. At times you have come out with some absolute ridiculous stuff like TM and Swag are rogue employees in effect working against those well meaning owners. No, no, no, the buck stops with them, full stop, just like it did under Kean, just like it did under Coyle - THEY are the common denominator, THEY are those letting the infrastructure rot, THEY have seen this grand old institution wither on the vine, not whoever the latest incompetent (who they appoint and keep in situ, by the way) is in the executive or coaching positions. It’s time the scales fell from your eyes when it comes to those utter disgraces in Pune.

What’s ‘tasty’ about playing Stoke, or Wigan, or Blackpool?

An Aussie, Saffer and Sri Lankan… says a lot.

Four years? Try twelve. Yet, there were those on here, who frankly, should know much better trying to make out that things were changing for the better at the club. Nothing will, or can, change when owned by a far away family that have zero interest themselves, yet still don’t empower (or employ competent) people on the ground. Completely dysfunctional and success will not and cannot occur with such a set up.

We heard all this about TM being on the way out last season. Though of course, he now actually has to sign a new offered deal instead of the owners shrugging their shoulders and letting him crack on for another 12 months. But until I see the infamous corner flag tweet, I’ll be remaining dubious of such gossip.

Unlikely, they don’t have any.

Oh I agree with you, difference being we never made out that we were some Uber-passionate unique fanbase back in the 2000s, they certainly always did and would prove it if they ever became the big boys in east Lancs…

The novelty has worn off for the fans of a small PL club to go away from home in big numbers year after year… though, of course, when we took followings in the hundreds to some PL games it was because of our ‘pathetic support’ and ‘lack of passion’ (unlike them, obviously).