I once nearly burst into tears with pride at us signing a keeper for 3 million quid. Now i'll be exited to get this lad in for 500k ? Really hope it comes off and he settles in well the most pleasing thing is they are buying someone who could be number 1 for a good few years. When we have a steady keeper at Ewood in the past they've always formed a bond with fans and the fans stick behind them in the sticky patches. Hopefully that's the case again here we've never had it provided by this ownership although Raya was on his way to it. Fingers crossed.

Well he likes to drill the flair out of people so the first sign of a dribble will have Tony sending him a fresh copy of the 'Rovers way' handbook.

Sounds like he might be a decent punt this lad. Kneeing people in the gnads, i'm sure there'll be a song for him soon ? As for the timing well if they string it out long enough they won't have to start him on the payroll till next month. That appeals to the loons money men apparently.

Perhaps use one or two of their many other companies to 'sponsor' the shirt/stand/stadium ? Once upon a time that would have been met with hysteria but probably just grim acceptance now. Besides some of them don't carry the Venky name but non of that would likely fit into their corporate accounting structure. Maybe set up something funded by their personal wealth - Big Barry's Classic Auto's Riverside stand - Sponsorship 3 mill per season ! In truth though in the grand scheme of things the way they guarantee to underwrite the losses is probably no different to finding avenues to put money in regularly to say balance crowd takings to a bigger level, the way Jacks Trust did. All comes to the same thing in the end it just doesn't provide the same cold hard cash flow on a weekly basis.

He only got involved in knobend as an after thought and it suited his Northern Trust property company to do so. They obviously had a few hundred grand a month they wanted to use and the advertising and corporate facilities of a local club fit that. Should have stuck with Chorley instead and tried to make them into a solid pro club it would have been far more rewarding.

Like i said it's a knapsack of weedkiller once every month or two and would take no more than an hour or two. I know, iv'e done enough of this kind of thing and costed enough jobs. If it the club was on genuine hard times i'd have done it for free ! For this shower of fat arsed suits on several hundred grand then no chance.

Well there you go then it's nothing to do with the football side of it and running racing stables is costly and time consuming. I believe he was quite hands on with that so if he's scaling down his hobby then it makes perfect sense. It's likely something that would have happened sooner or later anyway.

That's probably nothing more than the effect it's having on his racing stables business itself and will have little bearing on the tight ship he runs at PNE. The club that out performs us simply because they are run better and have better directors and manager !

If it's done as part of a regular routine then that shouldn't need doing as you are eliminating them before they really take hold and get big. That's the whole idea of regular maintainence. You wouldn't expect them to not mow the pitch for a few months because they aren't playing on it. Most small weeds are eradicated anyway but once grass and moss gets hold then it's a problem as that'll need manual removing and that's looking the case down there now. As with everything Rovers related in this era the regular neglect costs a lot more in the long run but nobody has the brains or balls to flag this up. Just keep drawing their wages.

I don't know his contract situ but maybe angling for a pay off and if so the more he got he might consider less wages here for 1st team action ? Unlikely in this climate i know but tell these lot there's a 35 yr old who was on 33k at Boro last year but he'll come here for a 1 year 20k deal and they'll likey say 'yes' great VFM !! I think that's how the idiots operate. i

Wonder who the Sky boys will obsess over in the CHampionship now they've given Leeds a help up ? Derby probably, they fit what the Prem marketing boys require.

This needs pinning and re posting every time this debate pops up. All i'll add to it is i presume to pacify their non family shareholders and bankers they say the same as they do to fans. The aim is the Prenier League which then reverses the trend and could wipe out that cost and add more value to the portfolio in terms of advertising etc. Just paper talk but it's what you'd say to placate the accounts along with maybe saying the investment is also to create a club that produces regularly to sell players and that also reduces cost and adds value to the main group of companies. Whilst it's on the books then theoretically even if they don't do it in practice they could sell a player for big money and send it back the other way if it was really needed. That's all the bankers and shareholders need to know. As stated though it costs the family nowt out of their actual pockets. That could change though.

Football clubs cost a lot of money they learned that quickly and they should have bailed out quickly. At least 100 million of that 200 million has been thrown directly down the tubes so no sympathy whatsoever. They create the mess they pay for it and it isn't morals or principle or being generous it's just arrogance "we can afford it so we'll do it". They get off on it and presumably get some enjoyment out of it whilst their finance whizzes have found a nice niche for the oversees loss maker within their group of companies. Lets not pretend it's anything other than it is and it's still a great vehicle for those in the middle who've got their feet firmly under the table to take advantage of.

We'll line a few ducks up, we know we won't get the go ahead but it'll look like we are doing something. Meanwhile get Pears on the phone.....

I noticed the weeds and moss on the vid of the Stuart Metcalf (RIP) drive past and it's embarrassing. The suits down there really are a shower of shite these days in fact they are an outright disgrace letting it get like that. A gallon of weedkiller costs what ? You'd either tell the groundsman to whip round with his knapsack once a month or you'd get someone in. If i was a boss down there i'd pay for it myself.

Wasn't it some of the same people telling us you don't need to know your budget to make tentative enquries about players not long ago ? They are hilarious some of these nudge nudge wink wink brigade ?

And ??? The midtable messiah with his wealth of wisdom sold the top one on yur list for 3 million because they had a strop with each other. Waltons gone back, he would probably have had higher ratings than Raya if he hadn't thrown the towel in like the manager & team post lockdown. As for the other 2 our manager wouldn't have the bollocks to sign either even if he was granted the wages and they phoned up to say it was their life's ambition to come to Ewood. Though strangely enough if either was under him at Boro or Coventry he'd probably suddenly conjure up a 1 year 20 grand per week deal !!! That's where we are at.

Westwood would be decent he fits what a lot of us would like as a no 1 here and now. Has a bit of attitude on the pitch which is needed we've had enough of the shrinking violets. Trouble is they are the types the Mowbrays and Bowyers of this world just love to manage. No need to worry though the wages will frighten our mon off.

Timid manager whose first concern is protecting the status quo, so he's reluctant to step out of the comfort zone of signing guys he knows or his mates know or known agents present. It's served him ok till recently but he's beginning to get seriously found out now. Take that formula away and it looks like he doesn't know which way to turn.

Fair play to Bolton and their hard core fans although given their situation it's a big risk trusting them enough to pay up front. It won't be Covid denying them a refund if they aren't getting the action it'll the the fact they've gone bust due to bad management !

As long as he'd given it a good go the reaction would have been mostly positive. If it was his meek and mild tip tap stuff with players out of position and someone dropped for Bennett hindering the side he'd have got stick, quite rightly. I don't know whether you noticed but we bottled it after ONE game back after lockdown under no pressure, no fans and absolutely nothing to lose. Never mind what Brentford did that's their problem they are more than good enough to learn from it and bounce back. Play offs are a lottery and bring their own fear of failure.

Don't leave out the 'transition' stage in between. The man is winging it he doesn't know which way to go from one week to the next.

We'll never be near a finished article because collectively they aren't capable of getting anywhere near putting that together finance or no finance. Post lockdown highlighted that more than anything. Best job in the Championship they have lurking in the Pune - Blackburn vacuum.

Great question. From the way they do things here and the lack of real investment in defense over the last 4 years or so you'd have to assume if they have the option they'll plump for a rookie in the sticks and keep the rest. Personally i'd hope they could cut some more chaff away and find a taker for Mulgrew then use that to take a decentish loan keeper with Fisher no 2.

I'm really at a loss at those trying to give the management - all of them - a free pass on the keeper situation. There's plenty about this current situation that isn't altogether their fault. However the keeper situation which was manifesting itself before Raya left really is. No excuses it's about time some hands were held up ! It can still be rectified but it's the very worst time to be trying do it however a set up like ours with the money it costs and has had should not be in that situation. It's the kind of thing that you'd expect to happen just pre Jack Walker when we really didn't have an egg cup to piss in and injuries and age had decimated the tiny squad we had. It's nothing short of pathetic in this era they really need a rabbit out of a hat.