Mattyblue

Did we kick off the season earlier than the rest of the league, as the majority I’ve seen in the Championship are nowhere near as bad as ours...

‘We’ll put the postponement in the bag and move on’.

As others have said there’s obviously a dual budget at Ewood. Playing side gets generally what it needs, the last few weeks have seen that with Branthwaite, and little pressure for the manager to sell players. On the non playing side ‘keeping the lights on’ so we don’t ‘do a Bury’ is seemingly seen as enough. Maybe that’s the correct approach and we are all being precious over weeds, litter, grime and a Sunday league pitch, the first team has to take priority at a football club after all - though considering much infrastructure spending doesn’t impact FFP and we have ‘optimum owners’ that ‘never refuse a cheque’ it seems strange that the place is now a complete shit tip. Well it’s caught up with us now and the stripped down husk that is Blackburn Rovers in 2021 is there for all to see.

What was the line again? Oh yes... ’they never refuse a cheque’

Yes wasn’t that the day Ribchester had already flooded after days of heavy rain? And the River Darwen was bursting its banks? It certainly wasn’t after a few hours of rain just on the morning of the match.

Can say the same for Stanley, and they are knocking on the door of the Championship, suppose it puts ‘The Promotion’ season into a bit of context...

Great Harwood...Everton?

Yesterday’s LT, ‘no momentum lost’ https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19018264.mowbray-insists-no-momentum-lost-despite-rovers-recent-run/ Also yesterday’s LT, ‘we are losing a bit of confidence’ https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/19020010.mowbray-says-rovers-confidence-levels-hit-little-bit/ Broke my own rule of not reading manager interviews, remembered why...

And? Most clubs in lower leagues have a turnover of players. What’s that got to do with an incoming manager working with them for half a season to improve results? ‘Sorry pal hear you and the fella from Leeds won’t be here next season, just work it out amongst yourselves’ You work with what you’ve got until the next window - a la Allardyce replacing Ince

WE DON’T PLAY ATTACKING FOOTBALL (despite what the manager says).

Indeed blue blood. How could he possibly know who other managers would be able to bring in? How do you know they come here solely because of Mowbray? What is this ‘style of football’ you speak of? Players are loaned in from the PL throughout the league. Other managers could’ve built a side that isn’t so ridiculously unbalanced that loanee teenagers aren’t relied on to carry the team in the first place. A lot of assumptions at work here to defend a manager that is currently failing by your own laid out remit for success one post ago.

So 8th is fine, 9th is a failure? Is there a prize for 8th in the Championship?

The pitch was even worse in 1994/95. Didn’t do that side any harm. But from then on until this regime, we had a cracking, often award winning surface.

Why? What did you think was going to happen to even get the ball rolling? - A ‘board’ meeting? - Balaji or whoever demanding a morning Zoom call for answers from Pasha and Waggott? - The manager hauled into the Chief Exec’s office for an explanation of recent form? You reckon anything like that has occurred?

Sharpe’s obviously seem enough, he’s flagging that Hughes wants back in management this morning...

Always find it fascinating when folk take what football managers say at face value.

Two more home games in January for it to get through too...

So why haven’t the optimum owners sorted it?

There’s always a time with a manager when you can see the players just aren’t really responding anymore, a new voice is usually needed - and at a normal club the board spots it too. However, as it doesn’t work like that here, we will just stagger on as interest within the fanbase rapidly wanes...

Little dig from Sharpe in his verdict. Though a bit snide if it’s only ever in copy and not held to account in interviews... ‘But of late, neither your eyes or the statistics are offering much comfort to supporters, many who fear that just two league games in 2021 another long run to the finish line awaits.’

If/when he goes the TM fan club will merely say ‘nice guy, but time for a change’, even now he is far more popular than an actual top manager like Sam ever was here. So will he buggery end up a Kean-esque hate figure.

We can’t compete with Brentford because they are a highly functional, professional football club with an effective business model and we aren’t? That is undoubtedly the case.

That’s because they are a well run club with a set plan and on a budget they have found a way to buy cheap and sell high. In 2019 they had one of the smallest wage bills in the league. They are not blowing us out if the water due to rich owners or parachute payments. You are getting in a muddle here, Gav (unless your point is that we can’t compete with all manner of clubs due to being a basket case of a football club - then fair enough).

Brentford have no particularly rich benefactor, no parachutes, average crowds of about 10k and are run on a ‘MoneyBall’ basis - they’d be doing it wrong if they paid ‘massive wages’.