Was reading a Bolton News the other day and it was doing a flashback piece to this time of the year when Hill had no players and almost had to sign an entire team.  I think loads came in at the last min so it looks like Wigan are in a similar boat and it's impossible to prosper like that.

Coyle had to scrabble around here in a window that i think delivered Wes Brown, Gordon Greer, Stokes amongst others. No way to run any club.

26 minutes ago, unleaded said:

This nonsense about having a World wide network doesn’t wash .. 

It only works if you have sporting director who’s job it is to seive out the right players .. wasting money & resources when everything has to go through a dinosaur of a manager and he’s expected to take training and other things as well as find and watch hours and hours of player figures and videos ... just doesn’t work 

Last Transfer window on the last day he just gave up at 6pm and went home .. He looks a tired manager and it rubs off the squad .

Hence why he gave Venus the duel role probably and it strikes me that everything has to go through those 2 at Ewood. Similar to every big decision has to go through the family first.

Like owning and running a football franchise funded by someone else. It's the power he has here that'll be as attractive and addictive as anything else. 

4 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

mowbray,waggot,the coaching staff and half the team are in their cosy little enviroment,no pressure on them to achieve anything but a mid table finish,once you start buying better players the job becomes a bit harder,because they are ambitious and the fans will start expecting as well,i suspect that is why we keep missing out on targets,mowbray is contented in his own bubble,he does`nt want to try for promotion imo

I'd think better players would make his job a bit easier his main reluctance seems to be taking risks on more established players he doesn't already know. 

He's a risk averse manager on and off the park, that kind of thing keeps clubs stable for a while at least but it'll never propel you forwards. Eventually it will bite you right in the arse but talking the odd risk and pushing the odd boundary puts you in success or sacked territory.

Not somewhere he'll ever venture.

11 minutes ago, Vilesinner said:

Yes, you shouldn't play for your country if you haven't been playing for your club.

But he does have a very important game coming up for country soon too. 

He deserves a good run of fitness now after what he's been through to be fair to him.

1 minute ago, Ewood Ace said:

I highly doubt that the facilities in the Riverside compare with the facilities at Brentford's new stadium. In fact there are better facilities in the National League North than those you get in the Riverside.

Will it even be open in the forseeable ?

1 hour ago, matt83 said:

I think preston fans have been shafted vis a vis value for money. The difference between the 2 clubs is there’s presumably good will built up over years which nobend want to cash in on. With rovers there’s zero good will in the bank so they pretty much need to bend over backwards to get rovers fans in. Needless to say we won’t but don’t expect more than a few thousand if priced anything like nobend

There was a lot of goodwill after promotion that they failed to cash in on they chose that moment to nudge prices up presuming there'd be a few more on and boost takings significantly.  

They chose the wrong path there it should have been all efforts to get missing and casual fans back on board regularly with something bold. It's just a fact of life that needs doing here every now and again.

Paid the price since with gates slowly shrinking before covid.

2 hours ago, unsall said:

Brentford a bit pricey!!!

London, enough said.

31 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

They'll be paying the vast majority of that out in wages.

I've also heard that every Board member who's lent them money over the years to keep them going has been paid back with interest.

Even the one who left the board, declared himself bust then came back on when they got promoted !

People wonder why business men get involved in football.

50 minutes ago, Vilesinner said:

I am a Northern Ireland fan also, and in fairness he always gets injured playing for Blackburn.

Anyhow, here is hoping for an injury free run for the little warrior. A broken face and then a broken toe is poor luck indeed. 

Club before Country is the golden rule.

Lets hope he gets through this unscathed.

We have the fans but like i said earlier the mindset is in many cases a lot different than those at Preston and certainly Bolton now. We are very much a team and club that bobbles along with a set of people running it who often flounder about and seem more content to guard their own positions. Then a set of very wealthy people in a far off land just sign the cheques and pay for it all.

People aren't daft they see what's going on and the rare back of a fag packet owners statements and managers blather has long worn thin. I'm not saying it's right but it is understandable to a degree why a lot say 'why should i bother'.  The malaise has always set in quick at clubs like ours and what Waggot and co upstairs need to realize is people need stimulating and encouraging. They need something to look forwards to and a feeling it's worth it and there is a means to an end. 

Other words we need to see something being built with a genuine aim in mind not just here to make up the numbers and be grateful for it. They spend their time and money then, otherwise it stays in their pockets because rightly or wrongly the view becomes Venkys don't need it and the manager and players get paid millions collectively regardless.

Bit more of a local working mans 'in it together' feel to Preston and Bolton i'd say were'as its been lost somewhat at Ewood over the last decade. Sadly it's often as 'us' and 'them' feeling.

32 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Cunningham won't be cheap though. 

There's a difference between an upgrade over Bell (which should be easy to find) and a cost effective upgrade over Bell.

This is why it should be pretty straightforwards the bar isn't very high there Bell is a league 1 wide attacking midfielder  ability wise trying to play as a Championship wing back.

Tommy Spurr was a standard mid level left back and despite a chronic lack of pace was much better than Bell so surely there's similar out there.

55 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

I had a feeling that Evans might have gone to Stoke last year, if not for his injury. Worryingly, he has been picked for NI again, so will probably be injured for the rest of the transfer window...

Evans fit just in time for an International, great timing as usual...?

If you can't get quick and straight answers from those signing it off then it doesn't really matter whose doing it. 

It was that kind of mentality that cost us after lockdown despite winning the first game.

Get on it as soon as you can and stay on it as long as you can. Winning mentality needed at all times not this well we'll have a look and see, if we lose we'll shrug our shoulders because it's ok there's always the next one.

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

Hi everyone- me again,

Can we stop doing this positive vs negative nonsense it’s a pet peeve of mine and achieves nothing but provocation, which is against the rules. Break those and get ready to take a break from the site. Don’t say you weren’t warned....

Nothing worse than dropping those two words in it's just opinion v opinion at the end of the day.

If the club, owners and managements decisions were spot on we'd be in a lot better position, if there were as bad as they used to be we'd be deep in the mire a league or two below.

We are bang on middle of the road and very few expect perfection we just want to be a bit better, enough to actually see it not have to root around for hidden stats to back it up.

24 minutes ago, phili said:

He'll be sold in January, there is no way they will run the risk of him leaving for free.

An interesting question though, if say we are 4th in Jan and we look to bring in a player who will guarantee promotion, who wants let's say £45k a week, would we do it?

No chance.

23 minutes ago, rigger said:

I will be surprised if we get a crowd of 9410

4910 is more likely i'd say but waggo would probably be happy with that if he could charge them double. Cost cutting on the ground is the in thing at easy Ewood and of course the trump card is blame the lack of fans when push comes to shove.

Still at least a bit of footfall will trample a few weeds down.

8 minutes ago, mhead said:

Unbelievable reaction on here.....largely negative.

I would beg you to do 2 things: look at the PNE prices and ours are not going to be anywhere near their prices and do the Maths on income vs expenditure.

We all want the same thing and slowly we are getting close to having a Premier League ready side.

Lets try and be 'supporters' rather than key-board negatives.

Most on here will probably buy one so they entitled to moan about it or give their reasons if they aren't.

Preston although their overall fanbase is smaller is a bigger probably more affluent place. End of the day similar hard core support but there's been far less negativity attached to that club over the last 10 years. They aren't subsidized by billionaires either and that plays a part in a lot of Rovers fans mindsets.

Vs do as they please because they can cover their mistakes, that doesn't sit well with a lot of people.

2 hours ago, Don Said said:

Price rise.

Big mistake. As naive a model as the season following promotion.

Waggot, you are giving people a big, reasonable excuse not to go. 

A little bump up to you is a big deal to many. Financially for some, morally for others, perception wise to most. Either way, just like a daft tug on a shirt in the penalty area, you’re giving the ref a decision to make.

Might make sense short term but this will be another harmful move long term.

Reconsider ASAP.

He seems to operate on the principal the less turn up the more he can squeeze them.

Him and Mowbrays football have already shrunk the hardcore before covid.

Another clueless suit bleeding thousands out of the club.

Elliott could offer a bit of genuine experience in the keepers pool. Because there isn't really any.

Back up keeper/coach.

Another hike, inevitable really but unwelcome and not a good look.

Less is more.

Sunderland docu highlighted the risks in not planning properly.

They found themselves desperately needing 2 keepers. Grayson signs 2 complete duds. One because he fits the nice lad who he knows, local to the area and is affordable. The other a foreign lge gamble.....

30 minutes ago, Dolly blue said:

My concern is slightly different. I know money and contracts are major issues but.....either you or your agent arrives at Brockhall....or it’s virtual ......you listen to Waggott or Mowbray or both......they give their “ vision “ ...they “ excite” you with where you will be playing ..they trot out their examples of previous successful signings...Brereton, Gallagher, Harper, Palmer , Payne , Chapman .....

” Sign here son “ .......I don’t think so . 
Whilst these two characters remain at the helm was a are in a tough place . 

If the pitch is we see you as back up to x.y.z until you get your chance then yes, very concerning.

30 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I'd lose Travis for Cunningham and Whiteman

But you'd prefer to lose Evans and Williams instead for those 2 surely ?

I would, it shouldn't always have to be selling a good asset to reinvest in better.

34 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I didn't claim they had lost any money... I just said the claim that they are where they are without spending any money isn't true. Nobody here would be happy with Armstrong and Travis leaving to fund the arrival of Ben Whiteman and Greg Cunningham.

If it worked out then the initial unhappiness would disappear quite quickly.

It's the lack of faith backed by proof in that happening here that causes the angst.