6 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why not? He is Director of Football.

Probably because you are absolving Venky's of all blame.

He wasn't the one to allow previous players to leave for nothing which has hampered our FFP compliance. 

He certainly isn't the one who diddled their tax returns putting us in this mess. He had the budget decimated in the summer and had to generate funds to pay bills. To be honest I am not sure they could have done more with the budget than they did. We seem to make a lot of knee jerk reactions on judging players these days.

We have spent ages asking for youth to be given a chance and now we are signing potential and giving youth a chance we are complaining we are not signing the finished article.

The reality is with our wage structure and budget we will never sign another finished article again until we are promoted and will be fishing in the potential and rough diamonds pond with the knock on consequences of them taking time and patience.

That is all down to our owners and nothing more.

17 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

if wharton is sold then cresswell,hayden,goalscoring centre forward and have a crack at morgan whittaker from plymouth,might cost us 5/6 million but that lad is class,a tall order for the egg and clueless kimberley to get those deals over the line in a week though,it does`nt appear negotiation is their  strong point neither is spotting a players ability

It will still be one in one out budget restrictions until the issues are sorted and they have to fit into what Wharton's wage is.

19 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

It SOUNDS as though the Court themselves have adjourned it due to lack of Court time rather than at the request of either party although maybe it will become clearer over the coming days.

I wouldn't say it's a lie to say funds need to be sent to "protect their investment" as presumably without it we're in danger of going tits up.

I think the last one was delayed 3 times before the court appearance and approval. So I can see this being delayed quite easily till June/July before approval to send the cash comes through.

Where this puts our cash flow I have no idea.

33 minutes ago, arbitro said:

That's the first I've seen about any interest recently  - is this public knowledge?

Just from a friend who told me about the sale and lease back of Brockhall. We were discussing the Venky's out campaign and how it will fall on deaf ears as they simply don't listen or just ignore people.

1 minute ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If there has been genuine interest then it would really  be up to the interested parties to make their interest known and ramp up pressure on the V's. I'd heard previously also they'd never sell they seemed to see the Club as something that would be passed down through the generations.

If they were ever going to be minded to sell though you'd assume it would be now given the hassle they're getting off the authorities.

I believe the enquiries have been early stage are you open to selling enquiries and have not received a response. So I don't think they are open to selling.

56 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Thought journo 101 was ‘publishing in the public interest’.

So it comes to light that a football club with tens of thousands of supporters in his patch is being threatened with a winding up order by the UK authorities, in black and white on a court document, but this is not in said public interest? 

Spineless.
 

What no ones seem to be looking at is we were on an agreed payment plan and couldn't make the payments. So for how long have our money troubles been going on for.

For them to threaten that is normally 30-45 days after a missed payment on a plan. So our cashflow troubles go back a long way before Venky's had the Indian tax issue.

2 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I accept what you are saying about people losing their jobs and nobody in their right mind wants that but in my view we need something to happen sooner rather than later. If they do get approval from the Indian judge what about next time and the time after that. Nobody with Rovers at heart can relax and feel confident whilst they are the owners. There can't be any forward planning due to the uncertainty they create. 

Which all begs the question why they don't test the water and put us up for sale, cut their losses and crawl back under the stone from where they came.

Also the judge is only looking at pre-existing contracts and day to day running costs. At the moment I don't think we can enter into new contracts.

4 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

"Don't deceive yourself"

"This is just re-writing history"

From a guy who is saying Venky's saved the club from the 'turmoil' post Jack. Ha.

A lack of knowledge about the club, in particular the last 13 years, plus a "let's just be positive" outlook is a dangerous combination. It's due to this combination that there is no discontent aimed towards Venky's at Ewood, imo.

When we do get new owners, the crowd will turn on them pretty quickly. A lot seem to think we are run well at the moment, in reality it is going to require a complete rebuild of the club behind the scenes and that takes a lot of time to sort out.

Realistically it's a 3 to 5 year job and I just don't believe people will listen to the new owners when they say they have taken over a basket case. 

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Would you genuinely play Ennis, Telalovic or Leonard over him? Especially considering that the owners you keenly defend will as you touch on likely pocket the money and not reinvest any. We wont be banking it, the owners will.

He is a bang average Championship striker, he will get you 8-10 goals a season, hes quite quick, powerful, strong, decent in the air in both boxes. A fairly well rounded player who will never threaten the top scorers chart. Offering far more than the other 3 strikers we have and probably about standard for a lower mid table side, every team below us would have him in the side.

It shows the state that the owners have put us in that he has become so important, but there you go.

None of the people that have justified a potential sale have gone on to say that any of the other 3 strikers are any better, because they clearly arent of the required standard, and many of those who have are deluding themselves into thinking that we would reinvest and get an upgrade. A normal club with interested owners, a totally different dilemma and one that would surely lead to a sale.

 

I think Leonard can develop into a better player but not this season.

He should be used this season coming on for the last 20 mins of games or out on loan.

Ennis so far is a gamble that hasn't paid off and probably will be loaned to a league 1 side and then sold in the summer. With his goal return from last couple of seasons worth a shot but one of those players who can't make the leap up to the physical requirements of the championship sadly.

Gallagher we need to keep as we won't have any of the funds to reinvest in a new player so best to keep what we have and get him fit.

Our wage bill currently is probably down 50% from what it was 2 seasons ago but come the summer, Venky's either need to have solved their tax issues and be ready to invest or sold us to people who will invest. We can't have another season like this one as the squad just isn't there to cope.

11 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I'm even more suspicious now that the O'brien deal was pulled on purpose at the 12th hour, suddenly realised they didn't have the clearance from Pune so someone didn't correct the paperwork they'd surely already read over.

Probably just hoping to buy a bit of time but Pune went silent.

Venky's were informed of the tax investigation in early Feb, so wouldn't be a surprise if Balaji contacted Silvester to delay submitting the paperwork following a tip off.

As Silvester attended all meetings detailing the timings as evidenced in the appeal, it has always been suspicious.

9 minutes ago, BigUts said:

But, but the only money we owe are to the Raos themselves.

We really are going to the wall here. It's a matter of when and not if, isn't it.

It makes it more difficult especially if we enter administration as Venky's could have you over a barrel with the training ground.

21 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Of course there is but there hasn’t! In fact some original allegations have been removed, two amended with a request to discharge a further allegation. On that basis the court will continue to approve and it’s a simple paper exercise.

venkys will provide a scapegoat as well as having political support so fat balaji won’t see the inside of a cell. Indian authorities still deal in brown envelopes!

the reporter who uncovered the saga hasn’t made anymore such allegations since! Maybe he has received such a brown envelope since🤫🤫🤫

I am not sure they have any political support at the moment. They seem to have upset Modi and he may very well crack down on them as a warning to others.

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Indian judiciary and government now to blame. Always someone else.

Nope definitely Venky's, they are the ones who did the dodgy dealing in the first place. Just that now they don't control the shots and won't until the the Indian Government completes it's investigation. That could be next week or 5 years from now. Up until then, they can't put money in for transfers, our playing budget is required to be reduced by a set amount a season and any funds for business as usual needs to be approved by a judge every 3 months based on the business plan for the year. Any large sales will be used for business as usual before being re-invested.

It is far worse than being in administration as at least then there would be a time scale to the end of this.

39 minutes ago, martonrover said:

This is the whole crux of him being head coach and not manager.

He is powerless re - transfers.

That’s Broughton’s remit, but in reality it’s completely up to our magnificent owners. 

Hooray!

It's really now up to the Indian courts and Government than our owners. People seem to be ignoring the part of the last judgment where the judge mentioned he would expect us to cut costs inline with our present situation.

2 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Not to harp on about it but whats the source for that number? Based on the most recent accounts from @wilsdenrover it looks like we are spending around £20 mill on wages, not the £12M that was shown on a list.

Last season was around £20m this season with Venky's imposed 25% cut we are looking at around £15m. I have no idea where £12m has come from.

2 minutes ago, tomphil said:

About half that at best i reckon but with him being out for a few months with surgery i'm assuming insurance will cover his wages.

Yep insurance will cover all injured player wages, which is probably why we have a bit of spare cash at the moment with all of the players injured.

Also I was told the deals for Moran and Hill are free with no contribution to wages from us but we have committed to a set number of minutes of playing time during their loans.

10 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I think they have had approaches but they never even landed on the desk at Pune HQ.

Times change of course and given their problems now it would make perfect sense but seeing as they wouldn't even take on well paying shirt sponsors etc when there was interest !

I'd say they'll happily let the club limp along slowly being strangled to death as long as it didn't drag there core business down with it.

The only real solution medium to long term is a complete fresh start free of these lot forever.

No one at the moment will be looking at investing until the tax investigation has been carried out especially as they are now looking at every transaction made.

You just don't know what you are getting into.

14 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

please don`t tell me the situation is that bad we can`t afford a player from notts county😂

Sadly yes.

I think a few player sales will be required in Jan. If the high court appearance is delayed in Feb as it was twice earlier in the year, we'll be struggling to pay bills in March/April.

18 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You must have selective dyslexia and missed the bit where I have constantly said over the years that ultimately everything is their responsibility as it's their name over the door.

The one thing I've said  is that you can't really knock the scale of their financial input into the Club over the years. If they are however no longer able through circumstances beyond their control or alternatively are no longer willing to maintain that then there's no point them owning the Club.

Before they go though, they've

a) Got to be willing to sell

and

b) there's got to be suitable people ready and willing to take over

Without that any debate regarding the ownership is largely academic although I suspect if you had b) and they were willing to pay enough money,  a) would follow on more or less automatically.

Even with Venky's still at the helm though you'd imagine we'd do better with a top CEO and an actual experienced DOF than with the likes of Waggott Cheston and Broughton in situ.

I'm not sure why you appear to find  that last point so difficult to grasp.

Out of curiosity what exactly is your issue with Broughton?

1 hour ago, roversinmyblood said:

Thanks Glen for the update.
It’s a shame  we are not going to be able to even loan an experienced centre forward that we desperately need to push us on to a top 6 finish. It’s so frustrating. 
Don’t Venkies realise that settling for mid table security and developing players to be sold in order to reduce their annual funding is not what fans want or need. The Fans, players and the manager need to be able to dream big or what’s the point. Football is a unique business wrapped up in a very competitive sport, it is not an ordinary business. Revenue is generated by stoking up fans hopes and dreams, it is not generated from mediocrity. They don’t seem to really “get” football and what it means to be a fan. 

We are now in the hands of the High Court who will hopefully agree that Venky's can send funds to pay our remaining invoices till the end of the season. The high court won't approve and funds for player purchases etc.

Inorder to make any signings in January we need to fund them through player sales and even that might be tricky as the fixed wage budget means there is no flex. If a player leaves even for a large fee we have what their wage is to play. Also if we did sell a player for a large fee I can see the courts saying you should have used those funds to pay the bills instead of signing new players and reject the Feb request.

It really is a depressing situation only of Venky's making. 

If they don't sell during this time they are never going to. They have the perfect excuse of issues with the Government and won't lose any face in the business community. 

Thanks Glen and Mark for taking the time to do this.

I do have a quick question in that something doesn't add up funding wise. Normally Venky's send through £20m a season to keep us running.

So far this season we have received an upfront payment of the sponsorship of around £2m, we have received around £11m from the court order, £4m from transfers, reduced the wage budget by about £3-4m for the season and however much we received from the training ground loan. This should be more than enough to see us through to the end of the season, as I get well over £20m from these events.

So would like to know why we need another trip to the high court for the second half of the season, it sort of hints we have built up a lot of unpaid bills up until October that we hadn't paid and had bigger cashflow problems than we thought we had.

15 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 

Thanks Gregg.

Great PR as usual

At the moment it looks a poor signing, although he was free and probably on 3-4k a week. If he comes good in the next 6 months then you'll then be saying it was a great signing. 

It's the market we are in, we can't afford finished articles on either transfer fee or wages.

The situation in India will be getting worse before it gets better, so can probably see a 20% budget cut again in Jan and a further 25% in the summer as well as raising funds through sales.

So I think we need to prepare ourselves for lots more punts similar to the Ennis deal. Some will work and some won't, we just need to hope more come off than fail.