15 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Seems woefully under qualified, so that's perfect.

And cheap.

1 hour ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Do we know which player ? I watched them demolish MK Dons in the play offs and the midfielder, Liam Kelly looked a very good player. Nonetheless, the point you make is well made, what have they done to our once great club, heart breaking.

I saw both games against Franchise FC and was impressed with several Crawley players. Kelly was very good but Orsi and Lolos also took the eye. I have seen Raith play several times this season too and really like the look of their goalkeeper Kevin Drabrowski. He is about 6' 5" and dominates his penalty area. Good shot stopper and with the ball at his feet. I don't get to snobbish about where the player comes from and use Szmodics as an example. If they are hungry and have some attributes that we can work on to make them Championship standard then I would go for them.

De Zerbi is leaving Brighton they have announced. Interestingly I read a few days ago this was going to happen and that Brighton would be trying to bring Kompany in. It makes sense to me given the way they want to play.

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

Being injured for 2 years is something to do with it I'm guessing.

Lad isn't far off 22 and has played 1 senior game, needs to go and get his career going.

Alex Baker and Isaac Whitehall both have similar injury records and have both been offered new deals although Whitehall did come back and play a few under 21 games towards the end of the season. I don't know how much each of them earn but it seems strange that Sam Barnes is being released yet two others aren't. Throw Fleck into that equation and once again questions are being asked.

15 minutes ago, Tom said:

Offering Fleck a deal is insulting to everyone, he’s been paid since January for 17 minutes and was a desperation move even then 

According to President Nixon there was a clause in his deal which triggered a new contract offer if he played fifteen minutes or more. 😁😁

It is absolutely insane though considering what he has already cost us.

I'm really surprised Saadi has been offered a new deal. He is 22 and has spent time in loan at the likes of Marine. If he accepts I think he will be on peanuts but given our financial situation I think it's money wasted. Isaac Whitehall has been offered a new deal but I think he has something to offer despite spending nigh on two seasons injured. Similarly Alex Baker has been out injured for a long time and like Whitehall is clearly being offered a deal to prove his fitness. In light of these two I really don't understand letting Sam Barnes go. Surely he too should be given a chance to prove his fitness. Frankly I'm amazed that Fleck has been offered a deal.

1 minute ago, wilsdenrover said:

I work on the assumption if the club say something without providing evidence then it’s probably a load of bollocks.

My take is that there was a typically arrogant belief from them that the authorities would allow money to be sent and this was relayed to Waggott. Not getting the permission to do so set off the chain reaction of selling Adam. Given the haste with which that deal happened it's more than feasible that this is true.

11 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

The below is from the club’s accounts - the final paragraph seems (I’m being generous) to contradict SW’s assertions…

 

 

Re the last sentence the Indian authorities have adjourned the case until August with no mention of any interim agreement. I'm taking from that that no money could be sent. That is why speculation is rife that the first tranche of the Adam Wharton few has enabled us to keep going.

At least Silvester got the 'thanks for your endeavours' line.

What have we become?

Congratulations to Leeds on their promotion to the Premier League tonight.

I know it's not true but the way they celebrated and the way Sky treated them you'd think they got there tonight. Actually I never thought I'd agree with the Leeds fans but I completely concur with their three minutes of 'Ashley Barnes is fucking shit' chant.

Another player who was the victim of our botched player dealinge. Fortunately for him he dodged a bullet.

1 minute ago, Claytons Left Boot said:

And where do you think English football would be without oligarchs, sheikhs, consortiums and worldwide investors queuing to get a piece of the cake due to massive tv revenues.

Before folk start knocking Scottish football, comparisons should be made before the advent of Sky tv and the monies that flowed into the English game thereafter.

With England having a population of 57 million and Scotland one of 5 million, comparisons have always been flawed but for one of the smaller nations of the world, Scotland have always punched way above their weight.

I’ve Scottish blood in me and I’m immensely proud of it and proud of Scottish football, past and present. I was at Celtic Park yesterday, in Stirling today and off to Mull tomorrow. I couldn’t be happier.

When we were kids and probably through to the mid nineties pretty much every First Division or latterly Premier League clubs had several Scottish players in their team (not squad). The riches that Sky brought meant that rather than looking at players from Scotland the player influx became global. I watch quite a few Scottish games and there are definitely players there who could make the step up to Championship or even Premier League. It's almost snobbery from the vast majority of clubs who look down their nose. For a club like ours it should be a real area for recruitment given our constraints.

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The semi automated offsides would be a big positive step.

The irony is though that offside judgements from VAR are the only truly accurate decisions because they are a matter of fact. The only positive from that would perhaps be that it would take less time than the current inordinate amount it takes.

2 hours ago, lraC said:

How refreshing to hear and it puts our owners to shame. She spoke there with passion that is sadly totally missing from our owners CEO and any other decision maker at the club.

I know only too well what the previous owner did to their club, as my late first wife was from Bolton and I lived in the town for a few years and know lots of Wanderers fans.

As we have seen in a very short space of time, they have gone from the low that she described there, to what they are now and are likely to be in a higher league position and certainly far more stable than we are, very soon.

For the people who seem to think, it is Venky's or the end, have a proper look at their story and think again, as we are more than capable of an existence without the Indians. 

And as of this morning they have sold 30,000 tickets for their playoff final against Oxford on Saturday. I shudder to think how embarrassed we would be with poor ticket sales if we ever got to Wembley under this shower. 

It is sometimes conveniently overlooked but the majority of our big signings under Dalglish were sold on for significant profits (although we didn't want some to go). I'm thinking of  Shearer, Sutton, Le Saux and others. The converse happened under Kidd and Hodgson when we bought average Joe's for big money and pretty much gave them away. The likes of Carsley, Blake, Dailly, Davies and others were disastrous signings. The success of managers is sometimes determined by the quality of their signings.

It appears from the interview that Eustace has bought into the Raos/Waggott/Pasha tactic of dumbing down any expectations the supporters might have.

Just what any prospective season ticket buyer wanted to hear.

8 hours ago, TheRevAshton said:

Have heard a few mentions of this lad over the last couple of month, excited to see him play.

One thing I want to know, does he have pace?

He is quick yes. His all round athleticism is one of his assets.

11 hours ago, davulsukur said:

Duru signs a new contract.

First team material? He's 19, so shouldn't be out of the question.

I've been championing this lad for a while now and I see him as a real prospect. He really kicked on in the second half of the season and was the best player in several of the under 21 games I saw. He can play any position down the right side and likes to get forward. If he maintains his rate of progress can see him being a direct challenger to Brittain.

The big question is whose idea was it to give him the new deal. It could well have been the last act of Broughton.

This is what we can expect next season. With five games being broadcast live at 12.30 each Saturday and Sunday there is a real chance that a few of our away matches which are over four hours drive (Portsmouth, Plymouth, Cardiff, Swansea, QPR, Millwall, Bristol City and potentially Norwich and Southampton) away will be shown. 

Once again there is very little consideration given to supporters who were once considered to be the life blood of the game.

12 hours ago, Miller11 said:

We’ve had quite a lot of discussion around commercial performance over the last couple of years. The recent accounts show commercial income has grown from £4.8 million to £6.1 million per annum. Turnover was up 25% year on year.

Similarly, average attendance and number of season ticket holders is up again this year. 14% up over the last 2 years. Average attendance the highest since we were relegated. Match day revenue up £1.7 million in the last year.

I get asked on a near daily basis why aren’t we challenging the club on dwindling attendances and decreased commercial revenue. Obviously we can’t attack the club or anyone who works there based on misconceptions. What we can do is express our desire for things to grow at a quicker rate and provide feedback and suggestions on how this might be achieved.

Thanks Duncan. These are figures that Waggott will hide behind and spin but they don't really tell the truth in my view. On the back of season 22/23 there was a wave of optimism, something I haven't sensed for a few years. Finishing just outside the playoffs and two really good cup runs should have been capitalised on by a season ticket offer which was far more appealing and in line with other local clubs. It wasn't and whilst there was an increase the feeling was that it could have been much bigger by taking what I believe would have been a calculated risk. It did it for me when Waggott boasted in a Fans Forum about season ticket income being the highest ever (or something along those lines). I have said for some time that there should be two targets one being income from season tickets and the other being the number sold. It's about the low hanging fruit for Waggott, the path of least resistance. I don't think he is the post for the right reasons, it's about self preservation and that is really damaging to our club.

Rovers accepted the first firm offer that was made. The bid came in on the Monday morning and was accepted. Adam was told about it and that he wouldn't be playing that night against Wrexham. It was decided in the afternoon that he could be on the bench but wouldn't be coming on. The next morning he was in London.

There was no negotiations. Palace played a blinder and knew about our precarious financial predicament of the owners making and that we were desperate for money. Palace had us over.

I'll ask again what qualifies the owners, Waggott or Suhail to put a price on any player.

They aren't following the script. Spurs are a bit like Nobbers in that when you want them to get a result they flunk it.