Big clues here ?

Agreed - thanks to you & Tom

In this day & age, when was the last transfer exclusive that any newspaper broke ? There are so many outlets, chancers & ITK social media outlets all punting that on the law of averages somebody somewhere will get it right thus making an exclusive really very difficult to keep quiet. Last time I was pleasantly surprised at Rovers I think was Roque Santa Cruz...never saw that one coming.

@bob fleming especially for you... https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boys-need-men-to-teach-them-to-be-really-silly-1611916.html

Hearts - possible Rovers away kit template ? Probably not in Mint Sunrise though... @bob fleming ?

Misty Buff...Mint Sunrise...

& of course... Paul Ince *hides behind sofa*

Great minds etc....

I was just about to post this...a terrific analysis...??

I asked Alan Myers on Twitter - said he was a good lad who lost his way at Everton

I suspect FFP rules in the Championship would kybosh anything other than a modest spend TBH.

@PLJPB it’s a great point which I missed, so my bad...flicking from VLL to BRFC, newco to oldco, March y/e to June y/e is the only excuse I can offer for overlooking it...well that & stupidity ?. Having done a quick “compare & contrast” to VLL, we can definitively say they invested £128.5m in VLL to March 2017 - the BRFC a/cs to June 2017 indicate increased parent borrowing, decreased bank borrowing subsequently, so I would argue that V’s “investment” is therefore of the order of c.£130m. [You are welcome to come on a podcast when next year’s a/cs are out to keep me & PhilipL on our toes. ?] ??

It’s a fair cop...?

In summary...we took a lot of money in when we were in the Premier League...but still made a loss. V’s made some “interesting” deals which cost money; managers, agents, players...we lost a lot more money. We went down twice. V’s cut the cloth accordingly. We lost money. I would not be surprised to see a bigger loss in June 18’s a/cs given League One income levels. That said...it’s been managed relatively prudently in the last 2 years. Had a new owner bought us at the beginning of 2016/7 season and turned in those numbers on falling t/o I would have been impressed with their acumen. Of course, the massive difference here is that it is V’s that got us into this mess initially...

Here’s some stuff that got posted in another thread a couple of weeks back....

Corporate law doesn’t require disclosure at a level of invoice by invoice, just by categories. The June 2017 BRFC a/cs show a headline expenses figure of £27.9m. Wages & on-costs accounts for £22m of that expense in the year to June 2017.

The point re VLL is spot on, but it’s still Venky’s money. The “£250m” was quoted as V’s approximate investment ie the shares plus the interest free debt that you reference above.

The share capital in BRFC a/cs is £147m. They are also have lent £95m interest free as at June 2017.

For absolute clarity - the debt in BRFC a/cs is c.£115m not £250m.

I’ll try to clarify - all refs to the June 2017 BRFC a/cs Venky’s “investment” is £147m in shares plus £95m lent from the parent - this is the “£250m” figure often referenced. T/O to June 17 was £14.9m, wages were £19.4m. I presume your figures are from VLL ? When you say that they can sell the shares, technically you are correct, but who is buying ? Of the total debt of £115m - £95m is borrowed from Venky’s - IMO that’s better than borrowing from the bank because V’s lend interest free unlike the bank.

It’s a lot more than that - as at June 17 a/cs nearer £250m.

Not so...the latest accounts as linked elsewhere in this & other threads show increased share capital and a move from borrowing from bank to borrowing from parent company.

Good point, well made...?

Yes they have. It’s in the a/cs. The parachute money is paid to BRFC. Transfer fees are paid to BRFC. The TV money is paid to BRFC. At its simplest, our outgoings have outstripped our income for the whole of their ownership. (Outgoings would include transfer fees, wages, agents fees, advisor fees...etc). On that basis an owner either borrows money to keep trading or injects more of their own cash. If neither of those happens, the company is insolvent & soon ceases trading. Venkys have done both. This isn’t opinion, it’s maths. I’m not a Venky apologist but I do understand company accounts.

As I said “an expensive hobby”?‍♂️