There is some real dread over there about the future. The rumoured £50+ million payment will be brought forward from 2025 according to reports. That effectively wipes out the parachute money and they have to find millions for interest payments before a ball is kicked. Any player of quality will be off. After they scoffed and laughed at us with our horrible owners it's payback time.

Jesus wept. Now there is talk of the model they want to follow. Who says so, who has advised them, what structure do they have to interview candidates based on this supposed model? They are once again winging it as they have done with almost every managerial appointment. Cheap - tick, subservient - tick, under performing - tick, doesn't ask for anything - tick. There you have it, the credentials needed to manage our club in the last twelve years. They aren't bothered, they haven't watched us play live for around eight years - I doubt they even watch us on a live stream. I'd wager they can't even name five players. And yet still some are optimistic and have faith and trust in them. There is a strong rumour circulating about Brockhall once again. For anybody who knows the Academy layout this involves cutting back the trees which run down the side of the main pitch and also the trees behind the top goals on the same pitch. The supposed plan is then to extend the size of the Academy site and ultimately to incorporate it into the STC too. This complies with the covenant currently in effect at the Academy. Has anybody else heard similar?

I really don't think it would be Tyrone. This is another by product of the poor ownership and not having a manager in place already. I'm purely guessing at the pair of them costing over a quarter of a million quid.

What is really baffling me is who made the decision to offer Butterworth and Magloire another year each? We have no manager to make this kind of call particularly committing the club to unnecessary wages as neither are remotely good enough for the Championship. Butterworth is 22 years old and Magloire 23. I'll wager with anybody that they are both going to come in to the Harry Chapman category.

Absolutely agree. The water was well and truly muddied when the authorities tried to simplify the handball instruction. Along with offside, reckless/careless challenges, simulation etc etc.

Villa should be embarrassed by their performance. Good luck to Burnley who have capitalised on Villa's lethargy but the likes of Watkins and Mings are on already on their sun loungers. Gerrard has to really get stuck into them if they are to improve.

Huddersfield have announced play-off final tickets, the price of which are set by the EFL. £64 for an adult ticket behind the goals and the cheapest is £36 with the dearest at £98. Custodians of the game my arse, hang your heads in shame EFL. https://www.htafc.com/news/2022/may/ticket-info-sky-bet-championship-play-off-final/

Any manager worth his salt would tell them where to go and insist on bringing in his own team. Another reason to believe it will be some desperado who will toe the party line and not challenge the owners in any way.

I understand that the allotted car parking spaces complete with nameplates of Mowbray and Venus have been removed from the STC. Read into that what you will.

The vanity project that is Salford City have sacked Gary Bowyer. Gary Neville in particular is getting some grief after his previous comments.

Stanley have announced they are playing four home friendlies against as yet unnamed Championship opponents. Hopefully one of them is us for what was in the recent past a regular pre-season fixture.

Massive credit to him for coming out in a world were some Neanderthals still roam. Hopefully any homophobic abuse towards him results in arrests and charges.

In two seasons at Swansea Steve Cooper took them to a playoff final and a playoff semi final. He resigned on a matter of principle after promises made to him were reneged on. He had an interview for at a Premier League job in the summer and was very close to getting it. Just before he got the Forest job he was doing some coaching for Ancelotti in Madrid. His stock was very high after leaving Swansea.

I didn't know Rob Edwards was with them but after his antics last week it doesn't surprise me. He was given a chance in management by Forest Green Rovers and in fairness got them promoted as champions last season. Last week he left them for Watford and didn't even have the courtesy to tell FGR he was even talking to them. And Watford didn't even have permission to talk to him. Undoubtedly he was advised by his agents to take this course of action. The FA should charge him and Watford for their blatant rule breaches. Steve Cooper is no longer represented by them.

It might be me but this statue of Aguero looks nothing like Aguero. And it looks like he is swinging an axe.

The stark difference between the team that coined the 'Dirty Leeds' phrase could play, had some genuinely tough players and were winners. This current lot look to be lily livered and mentally weak.

For once the club statement is decent. A change was needed and that seems to have been recognised by Mowbray himself. Hopefully he is not the first as we really do need a cull including Waggott himself.

I was thinking about this yesterday and for me the crowds who go away have been great. They have created an atmosphere and sung pretty much non stop throughout the game. I've also noticed there are lots of youngsters which augers well provided the club can keep them interested. It would be interesting to know how many of the regular away supporters are actually season ticket holders.

Your hypothesis could be correct but there is absolutely nothing obvious when it comes to these owners.

What could be simpler than a communication basically saying Mowbray is leaving, blah blah, thanks blah blah, new manager search blah blah. There, done it. Why the hell is everything so complicated with this lot?

I saw them words and thought the same. The pedestal that he puts himself on (and his worshippers do) seems to have become unstable. He gets his information from sites like this for sure.

thanks John.. I sincerely hope that one of the outcomes of the fan led review is that the authorities are more accountable to the fans. I have had several dealings with them down the years and they just pay lip service despite all the white noise about caring about supporters.

Good post which pretty much mirrors my thoughts. He is trying to come out of this with a semblance of his reputation intact and has now firmly nailed his colours to the mast. He has passed the point of no return with his comments.

I'm not sure where to put this as the Hull postponement seemed to be in a previous life. I kept on chasing Rovers and finally have an answer (of sorts) although this reinforces once again my opinion is that the football authorities don't give a toss about the fans. Make of it what you will. This is the response: RE: RE: RE: RE: Hull City v Blackburn postponement Christina Haines 9 May Show details 1 Good Morning Tony Apologies for the delay in replying, please see the response from the EFL below; “Apologies for delay but we needed to get the Board approval for our overall approach around Covid postponements, but we have that now. We have investigated this matter and have received detailed submissions from Hull City. Having reviewed the information provided, the EFL has concluded that it would not have a reasonable prospect of succeeding in the event that it brought a charge against Hull City, given that there is a lack of evidence to indicate that the Club failed to comply with the Return to Play Protocols. The challenge that presents itself in this case is that Clubs were not operating under strict Covid Protocols as had been the case in season 2020/21. Almost all breaches we have been able to establish were linked to those protocols, and once they were relaxed it becomes almost impossible to show the Club was at fault. The late diagnosis of confirmed positive cases relative to available squad made the postponement inevitable, albeit frustrating for us, our broadcast partners, your Club and the travelling supporters. I’m sure that your fan group will want detailed answers to a number of questions, however as I am sure you can appreciate we are limited in what we can share with other Clubs due to confidentiality reasons.”

I wonder if Mowbray has changed his 'good people' opinion of our owners? On the face of it it appears he has found out the hard way something that some of us have known for years. They couldn't care less about Rovers or their employees. I dread to think what the process is going to be in the next few vital weeks as we don't have a manager in place. Has the job been advertised? Who will sort through the applicants? Who will interview the candidates? Who will make the final decision and what will it be based on? We really are as dysfunctional, basket case of a professional organisation and to be frank the next month fills me with dread let alone thinking about next season.