Not many o/s of the PL for sure. Accrington Stanley spring to mind.

I’d venture Lenihan, Travis, Nyambe in that order is our new pecking order of saleable assets. For FFP purposes it’s not simply a case of adding up the last three years’ losses & hoping it comes to less than £39m of course. The running costs of the academy are an allowable expense for FFP so the development and onward sale of talent is the most likely income stream. Ticket sales aren’t growing, non-Matchday revenues opportunities are minimal, sponsorship in the Championship isn’t great, TV money is better than League One but nothing to write home about so player sales is the only other option. I suspect that under their new (former Burnley) CEO, the EFL will soon stop the sale & leaseback of a stadium; a loophole closed. Sheff Weds hilarious legal action will bring that to a conclusion no doubt. Rovers recently advertised for a new head of commercial or marketing or something like that, with responsibility for growing revenues...having seen these figures, it’s no wonder. That role is probably the 2nd most important in the club right now. If the incumbent fails to deliver, we are going to struggle. Of course for those like me, longer in the tooth, we are back to where we once were. From Keith Newton, via Tony Field, Paul Bradshaw, Kevin Hird, John Bailey through to Simon Barker and the likes, if the money was right we took it & rebuilt. We’re back there it would seem.

This week's "Accrington Observer" column...with a few added extras... That Was Then, This Is Now Way back in January 2010, the fresh, new decade was ushered in with the New Year’s Day Premier League table showing Blackburn Rovers in a respectable thirteenth; a place and a point above the Owen Coyle-led Burnley. Just one week later, Coyle was to de-camp to the side eighteenth in that table, Bolton Wanderers; continuing his grand management tour of Lancashire, but condemned never again to hit the high watermark of his time at Burnley. If only that was the last we were to hear of Mr Coyle... That season would end with Rovers in tenth and seemingly established as a Premier league club. Our nearest and dearest would suffer relegation in May 2010, whilst Rovers and Bolton would survive the drop until 2012. It’s fair to say that the last decade has been tumultuous for Rovers. The Walker Trust eventually sold the club late in 2010 to the now infamous Indian chicken conglomerate, Venky’s. The logic of that purchase evaded many at the time and little has emerged subsequently to explain the rationale. What is beyond doubt is that in terms of expensive hobbies, the purchase of Rovers is perhaps second only to Elon Musk’s fixation with outer space. Though in his defence, Musk’s venture can at least boast a record of a successful lift off and delivery of stratospheric expectations;and in his case, lack of atmosphere is a pre-requisite for normal working conditions. Rovers began the decade led by a rugged former centre-back turned manager, ably assisted by a former full-back, sitting thirteenth in the league. Post-Venky’s, well...there are parallels but clearly, the 2019 vintage doesn’t boast a squad with more than twenty internationals competing effectively in the top division. The question as to when Rovers might again share such an exalted status is one that has vexed supporters now since 2012. The last twelve months has served to demonstrate that with a solid, dependable and capable squad, a challenge for the play-offs seems tantalisingly to be within reach but that same squad, on its day, is more than capable of turning in some truly woeful displays. Throughout 2019, form has arrived and departed with all the predictability and reliability of a Northern Rail train. The end of December offered up a glorious opportunity to raise the benchmark of expectations with a chance to capitalise on a very tidy unbeaten run with two eminently winnable home fixtures against Wigan and Birmingham, followed by an away trip to struggling Huddersfield. If ever a sequence of results was to capture the year’s frustrations in a microcosm, this was it. In a really decent gesture to the wider football family, Rovers donated some complimentary tickets for the Birmingham game to Bury FC fans who have been without a team to support this season thanks to the unseemly demise of their club. After watching the spectacle served up, one can only imagine if some of those supporters re-evaluated their lack of live football and concluded that it was not perhaps as bad a fate as first feared. The Birmingham game will not go down in the annals of history as one of the great Boxing Day encounters. That it took penalty kicks for each side to score summed up the levels of creativity and attacking verve on display. That penalty kicks were so softly conceded also demonstrated the defensive naivety on display. A poll on the BRFCS Twitter feed before Christmas voted that the best performance of 2019 was the 2-0 victory away at Bristol City, just twelve days earlier. A side that contained six changes had adapted swiftly to record a notable and stylish victory. Here, a side that also contained six changes struggled for fluency. That same poll on BRFCS voted Bradley Dack as player of 2019, there was no doubt that his guile, cunning and trickery was missed here and will be missed for the most part of 2020 for that matter. The year and the decade were incomplete however without a visit to Huddersfield. Once more, Mowbray was to ring the changes – five this time - albeit three enforced by injuries. Desperately seeking a formation and tactics to fill a Bradley Dack shaped hole, Graham and Gallagher were selected but it wasn’t easy to discern the formation. It looked like young John Buckley was to take on the mantle of the right-winger in waiting in a 4-4-2. It was not to be a successful experiment and the key feature of this game was the constant tinkering with formations and tactics. Rovers started brightly, scored early but handed the initiative back to Huddersfield almost immediately. Rovers passing accuracy was appalling. Nobody emerged with credit on this score. Substitutes were thrown on in an attempt to change the game but the month was to end with a whimper; toothless, disorganised and shambolic. In a delightful display of gallows humour, a Rovers fan on Twitter announced that he had won two tickets to the upcoming Preston game. Quick as a flash the replies rolled in “second prize three tickets...”, “third prize a half season-ticket...”. Glorious! 2019 has at various times threatened a play-off push and then almost immediately, a pivot to relegation form. With the loss of the talismanic Dack, Mowbray’s penchant for playing strikers out wide, Danny Graham’s age catching up with him, the defence struggling with the loss of Cunningham and the potential loss of Adarabioyo; Tony Mowbray currently has more on his plate than Homer Simpson at an “all you can eat buffet”. The decade therefore ends with Rovers a division lower, crowds down and massive losses being racked up year upon year. What will happen in the next ten weeks frankly is impossible to predict, where the end of 2029 will find Blackburn Rovers is anybody’s guess...but we can (and will) continue to hope...and dream. Footnote :- just as I was finishing this column, the Venky's London accounts were published and have been analysed on their own thread on here but it brings into sharp focus the extent of the dilemma facing the owners of Championship clubs confronted with FFP regulations but a desire to chase the dream of Premier League football. Rovers are entirely in hock to Venky's. They pay the bills, they cover our losses and without them, to stay solvent, we would have to hack our wage bill so dramatically that we would be looking at Accrington Stanley as our natural local rivals. With crowd numbers largely stagnant, TV money helpful but nowhere near PL levels, the only other realistic source of income for Rovers is the sale of players. We are back to the pre-Jack model for the club. The strong rumour circulating is that Dack was likely to be sold in January for a tidy sum, but we all know why that is off the table, so the club now has to plug a further income hole off the pitch and more importantly, on the pitch. It could get a bit rocky over the next 3/4 months as there seems to be little headroom for spending in January based on these latest numbers. Those promising academy prospects like Buckley, Rankin-Costello, Magloire and Wharton are the future - whether as on-field contributors, or a means of bringing in transfer fees...ideally of course, both. Hold on to your hats folks... Happy New Year everyone !

These numbers confirm that owning a Championship football club is akin to playing high stakes roulette. The only way you might see a return on the investment is by winning promotion to the promised land of the Premier League. Otherwise, it’s a very expensive hobby. Venky’s continue to bankroll the losses and without that support, Rovers would be insolvent. It’s hard to see how the club can spend significantly without contravening FFP based on these numbers. To echo Rich Sharpe’s recent Tweets, the academy is the way forward, develop your own, sell them on at a profit. One can only assume that the signings of Brereton & Gallagher were predicated on the basis that they would grow, develop and be sold on at a profit. The importance of spending such large sums wisely is brought into sharp focus. The absolute imperative of growing Matchday & non-Matchday income is clear to see.

I think we should not expect much spending in January....

Seen on Twitter earlier...

I'll do a quick review on here once they are published...any accountants who log on here feel free to contribute to the debate...

Dack was played wide left when he first broke into the team & away at Shrewsbury he was ambling around doing very little, provided no cover to Williams at LB, leading to Shrewsbury’s goal All this prompting my now infamous outburst on the podcast that “Dack was an elegant solution to a problem we didn’t have...” ....then he was moved inside and....?‍♂️

I’ve been in touch with them via Facebook...there is a tenuous link via a sponsor apparently...potential future podcast guests ? Had a Facebook chat with Simon Enright, a former Norwich City academy coach who is part of the coaching staff there.

Just to echo what we’ve said on Twitter...massive thanks to everyone who has contributed to the site in whatever capacity; IT, mod, podcast panelist, podcast guest, thread contributions, articles, or just having a good old read or listen to the stuff we put out there...we appreciate it and when we get positive feedback to something we have tried or created it really makes our day. #wedoitforlove ? Merry Christmas everybody...?? ?

“Young sir” if only you knew...? Thank you for the feedback ??

This week's "Accrington Observer" column takes a poetic turn.... ‘Twas the Night Before, the Night Before Christmas (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore ) ‘Twas the night before, the night before Christmas and all round the ground, No home fans were singing, not even a sound, The passing was poor, not with enough care, Hoof it into the area, or somewhere near there. The fans were all settled, all snug in their seats, With visons of a home win as their Christmas treat, Mum in a bobble hat, dad in a cap, Well it was so dull, you had time for a nap. When a cross came in, Danny Graham was clattered, The referee saw nothing wrong with the matter, Fans stood up to shout, frustration to the fore, We could play here all night and still never score. Floodlights shining down on the well-tended grass, Wigan attacker falling down on his...behind, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear A shot hit on target, a goal seemed so near. With Holtby now on, so lively and quick, His passing composed and with time for a flick, No difference it made, the goal never came, Mowbray whistled and shouted and called them by name; "Now Darragh! Now Ryan! Now, Arma and Dacky! On, Danny! On, Stewart! Don't keep passing backy...” To the edge of the box, Put it over the wall, Now dash away Arma, dash away all! The passing remained poor though, all through the game, No matter which player, the end result the same, The ref whistled loud, again and again, The home crowd did groan, a familiar refrain. Bradders went down, clutching his knee, A sight no Rovers fan wanted to see, It didn't look good, he went down in great pain, He’ll receive our best wishes again and again. Wigan grew stronger, starting to feel bold, Cook on the touchline, no longer cold, Walton the hero, not once but twice, Frustrating old teammates must have felt nice. A goalless draw and a pretty poor game, Not what was ordered, a performance so lame, Seven changes it seems unsettled the team, But promotion or play-offs remain in our dreams. Mowbray sprang to his feet on the ref’s final whistle, All off down the tunnel and no doubt this’ll, Be what he said as he disappeared out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" We’ll all be back again on Boxing Day, “Big Club” from Brum the team that we’ll play, Let’s hope for three points and a well-deserved win, A late Christmas present to make the fans grin. Now it seems that all that is left to say, Is hope you enjoyed your Christmas Day, May the wins keep on coming, bringing great cheer, And make 2020 a very good year! Thanks for reading my various musings so far this season, hope you have enjoyed them and that you’ll continue to do so into the New Year. Have a very Merry Christmas from me & everyone at www.BRFCS.com. @ianherbert (Old Blackburnian) * special thanks to @St_Jimmy_77 for the photos...

I’d love a Rovers Museum...fans & former players could offer up artefacts...

Full marks sir...you’re through to Popmaster Champions League ?

From the latest Rovers Trust mailing : BRFC Marketing Prospectus: Making it EASY to support Blackburn Rovers The key aims of Rovers Trust are to: -Preserve the Assets and Heritage of the Club. -Regenerate Support. -Mitigate a Lost Generation of Support. This Prospectus lays out suggestions from Rovers Trust members, under the following headings: 1. Pride of Lancashire – Celebrating the history and heritage of Blackburn Rovers. 2. Season Ticket Holders - Rewarding those who make the biggest commitment to our club. 3. All fans - Encouraging all fans to come to Ewood, be they lapsed Rovers fans, new fans, or neutrals. 4. The Next Generation - Ensuring every local child’s first experience of football is with the Rovers at Ewood Park. 5. The Matchday Experience - Improving the matchday experience at Ewood Park. Pride of Lancashire: Plans are in place for East Lancashire/Blackburn to bid for ‘Capital of Culture’ status in 2025, and at the heart of this will be its famous football team; celebrating the 150th birthday of Blackburn Rovers. The Rovers Trust will assist through their Memorandum of Understanding with the Club. -Lancashire citizens need to be exposed to the Heritage of the Rovers. This can be achieved by the club developing a more active partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. -2020 plans to celebrate 25 years since our Premier League win. There are also ongoing discussions to build a physical Hall of Fame / Museum / Time Tunnel around Ewood Park, to be opened by the greatest living Rover; Bryan Douglas. -Ewood Park should more prominently depict key aspects of Rovers history. A statue of Bob Crompton will be crowd-funded in the grounds; the first ‘greatest footballer in the world’ and died-in-the-wool Rover as a fan, player, and manager. -The Ewood area should be regenerated as an entertainment hub, with more promotion of events at the Empire Theatre, more events in the stadium such as the successful Elton John concert of 2017, other sporting events, and the inclusion of a café/restaurant area attached to the ground. -Blackburn Rovers should sponsor more local events, particularly sporting events and music events, such as ‘Darwen Live’. -A ‘history trail’ should be installed from the Museum in Blackburn town centre, to Ewood Park, with close ties between the town and its football team. -Long term, plans should be made through Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to twin Blackburn with the Spanish city of Bilbao, owing to the shared history of the towns thanks to Blackburn Rovers. An annual summer friendly will be arranged between Rovers and Atletico, alternating grounds to preserve and celebrate this link. Season Ticket Holders: Season Ticket Holders have a long-term commitment. The club needs to acknowledge this commitment by making continued support an EASY thing to do. Rovers Trust members suggest: -Promotion of Season Tickets much earlier in the season (March, rather than in May). This allows Rovers fans to plan their budgets ahead of the costly Summer holidays. -Add the option of a Rolling Season Ticket. This would mean a supporter could simply pay for the next Season Ticket automatically on a given date each Season, or via a continuous Direct Debit. -Allow Season Ticket Holders to bring a friend to a match at a reduced price. For example, ‘Bring a friend for £10’. All fans: There are more Rovers supporters NOT going to Ewood than going. A half- empty stadium suits nobody; not the club, not the team, not the fans. We need to encourage more Rovers supporters into the ground, paving the way to a Season Ticket commitment. Rovers Trust members suggest: -More graded Season Ticket pricing to include those fans who are Students at College and University regardless of age. This would be in addition to the standard age-related format. -At least three £10-ticket games per season, to be planned 3-months in ahead Season Ticket Holders warned in advance. -Promote a loyalty scheme for ‘walk-on’ supporters, which uses the additional walk-on charge to guarantee a reward. For example, ‘50% off the price of every 5th game attended’ (excluding Category A). -Give a voucher for a reduced-price game for one-off walk-on fans. For example, ‘10% off the price of the next game’ (excluding Category A). -Promote a ‘10-game ticket’, which a fan can use to enter 10 games of their choosing (excluding Category A). Sometimes the commitment to a Season ticket, or the restriction of a Half-Season ticket, can be too much. Offering a reduced commitment at a good price gives more fans another option to commit to Rovers and may lead gradually to a full Season ticket commitment. -The club should ensure there is an area for our disabled fans both inside the stands and outside on the terraces. -Rovers should open a ‘Neutral Section’, similar to Fulham, for mid-week matches. Perhaps the Darwen End Lower Tier, near the Jack Walker Stand. With this in mind, the Rovers Trust would liaise with Bury Football Club Supporters Trust. -‘Freshers Week’ incentives for UCLan, Blackburn College, and Lancaster University 1st year students. The Next Generation: Every child should have their first experience of football with the Rovers at Ewood Park. Rovers Trust members suggest: -Include a Rovers Shirt in the price of a Junior Season/half-Season Ticket. A Summer Holiday or Christmas present alongside their ticket, that gives them that vital status symbol on matchdays. -Promote the permanent ‘Next Generation Stand’ in the Upper Tier of the Blackburn End with £5 entry to a child under 11, with one parent going free. -Rovers players and staff should each ‘adopt a school’, ensuring the school is provided with tickets to games, as well as access to P.E. coaching sessions and healthy eating lessons with players. -Rovers should provide every Primary School in Lancashire with a digital version of the Matchday Programme, available to be printed as reading material in the classroom. -Rovers could devise/sponsor a set of lesson plans relating to the P.E. (Ball Games), Geography (links to Bilbao, exploration of another culture), and Science (Healthy Eating) curriculums. -Liaise with the DW Dome at Shadsworth to encourage new supporters. The Matchday Experience: -Blackburn Rovers should open a Kiosk in the Blackburn Mall, to be open on all Fridays and Matchdays for same-day ticket purchases. -Test arrangements for transport from wider areas of Lancashire to matches; Ribble Valley, Haslingden, Chorley, and Lancaster. Arrange for transport and tickets for Blackburn College and UCLan students during ‘Fresher’s Week’ and term holidays. -Hold a ‘Happy Hour’ in the concourses and Blues Bar after victories. -Encourage flags and banners: Hold ‘Get Creative’ events where flags/clappers can be designed by children, with matchday in mind. Reinstate the Blackburn End flag crossing the stand at the start of games. -Plan to introduce ‘Safe Standing’ in an area of the ground. For example, the Blackburn End side of the Riverside Stand or the Riverside side of the Blackburn End, taking care not to block the views of fans in seats. We welcome your reactions, encouragement, and further suggestions. Please send them to: enquiries@roverstrust.co.uk or chair@roverstrust.co.uk

Tranmere probably

DM me please Mark - I’d like to use this ??

They’re BACK BACK BACK....

DM me please ??

DM me please ??

A slightly longer version of this week's "Accrington Observer" column... Everybody Look What’s Going Down At the end of a tortuous and hard-fought campaign, the candidates had put their records out there to be evaluated, making strong claims, though each arriving at this judgement day from fundamentally different positions. Irrespective of your personal opinions and preferences, the winner had to be respected, whilst all that was left for the loser was simply to learn from the experience and try harder next time. Marcelo Bielsa may have won the November Manager of the Month, but Tony Mowbray has perhaps won the intellectual argument. Mowbray remains in charge to oversee a period of mature reflection over his personal contribution, no doubt relieved that the curse of the award would be a burden for Bielsa to carry. The results from last Saturday certainly backed up that presumption. Rovers recent form has served to demonstrate that the Championship this season is far from cut and dried. The top two may have opened up a gap, but it is far from irretrievable; especially if the curse of the Manager of the Month continues to work its magic. Simply string a couple of wins together and a rise up the table is assured. Win five out of six and Robert may well be your mother's brother. At the time of writing, the points spread from third to thirteenth is six points – merely a couple of wins..! In hindsight, the Preston game might well prove to be a watershed moment in the season. All of Rovers’ foibles laid bare in one handy ninety-minute package. Vibrant, penetrative attacking, leading to fragile confidence and shambolic defending; would the real Blackburn Rovers please stand up ? Since then, something has definitely changed. In the words of the old Buffalo Springfield song;(this'll bring the teenagers flocking - ed) “There’s something happening here, What it is ain’t exactly clear...” First up, another resilient midweek performance, away to a sprightly Swansea City, one of the early favourites for promotion, who themselves had hit a rocky patch of form in November. Would Rovers provide their by now, surely patented, opposition rehabilitation service? Well no, not this time. In fact, had Bradley Dack not demonstrated a serious inability to calculate, (with the precision usually associated with his finishing); just when and how to secure a red card in order to ensure Christmas off, (it needed to be violent conduct Bradders, or wait until the Bristol City game); then all three points really ought to have been travelling north after the game. The opening goal from Graham, against one of his many former employers was a delight. A fluent move, slick inter-passing, prompted once again by the reborn Evans, to Dack and then Armstrong and a clinical finish from DG. Swansea responded quickly though; a corner led to Ayew being allowed a virtually free header at the edge of the six-yard box. Gallagher created a great chance for himself towards the end but was foiled by the keeper. With Dack’s foolish dismissal evening things up, Rovers were unable to capitalise fully on a man advantage, a draw was probably a fair result. Last season, the trip to Ashton Gate proved to be one of the horror show away performances that have punctuated the last year or so. It was in fairness a horrible performance and I suspect that many travelling fans heading south this time around, did so in hope rather than expectation. Once the team-sheet was published, showing six changes, then it seemed that “Tony’s Tombola” was in full use. “Courageous”, “foolhardy”, “reckless”, “ballsy”; you pays your money you takes your choice as to how to describe the selection. From my perspective, it was brave, but it served to reduce my expectations of a decent result come 5pm. Mowbray called it spot on though. He sees the players day in day out, he knows who is in or is approaching the "red zone", his decision is final. In what was proving to be a great week for Johnsons, Bradley of the Ewood parish seized the opportunity provided, by scoring a belter early on from a smart corner routine from Holtby. How nice it was to see Rovers score a training ground move rather than concede one. Through some robust midfield tackling on his part, Johnson capped off a fine performance by setting up the second for substitute Armstrong to finish coolly, late in the second half. His early celebration of the impending goal, captured on the camera behind the goal was a delightful cameo. City had two glorious gilt-edged chances, one in each half and taking just one of them clearly would have potentially changed the outcome of this encounter. But Rovers capitalised on these errors and with a clean sheet to boot, this was a very different outcome than 2018’s vintage. It was pleasing to see a side accommodate six changes yet still play with cohesion, confidence and no little style. No problems with impending cabinet reshuffles here. Each player knew his portfolio and much like an underwear model, had been well briefed. Special mention to Christian Walton who seems a lot happier playing behind this new-look defence. The return of Lenihan and Nyambe has certainly provided solidity, but one of the most pleasing features has been the performances of Amari’i Bell – much maligned and in fairness, not entirely without justification, he has blossomed in recent weeks when called into action. Long may his performances chime with the Rovers fans. Since the Deepdale disaster, it’s six wins, one draw and one defeat. That’s promotion form...if it sustains over the second half of the season of course and that is the key question. I’m not sure who the real Blackburn Rovers are, but I do rather like this incarnation and there is certainly something happening here. The song continues : “A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly say, hooray for our side...” The Christmas and New Year programme is renowned for its unlikely scorelines. It seems just the whiff of basting turkey or mince pies causes football teams to do crazy things, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but that said, we should not fear any of our upcoming opponents. It just remains to wish you, our lovely readers, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year; may 2020 bring you and your's health and happiness (and may Mrs Old Blackburnian’s recovering broken ankle soon have her back in first-team contention!).

See comment above addressed to Pedro !!!!??

See comment above addressed to Pedro !!!!??