Just what the doctor ordered ?. He's back on the bike now and he can't be treated with kid gloves.

That will be the one when they went to Middlesbrough and ended up getting fleeced by some gypsies. Alan Bleasdale and Jimmy McGovern have written some terrific stuff and invariably contain some form of social comment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54507527 A nice little story in which we get a mention.

He should just be concentrating on Barrow. In my view he still sees himself as a future Rovers manager. Keeping sweet with the owners gives him a chance given their liking of people sucking up to them.

As you say John Sam could squeeze a bit extra out of players who many considered past their sell by date which was effective but understandably risky. I don't think the 'model' of buying cheap and selling at a huge profit was planned but occurred organically and was accepted by the majority of fans. Sadly Hughes used the old 'as far as I can' cliche as upped sticks. I don't blame him neither as he probably deserved a crack at a big club. If we are to get out of this mess I firmly believe the best way is to buy/produce young players to sell on like Southampton have done but I appreciate it will be difficult in the vipers nest that is football.

It's conjecture John to say we would or wouldn't but based on the previous decade we did stay in the PL, not always without a scare along the way. That was largely due in my view to having a sound management team and an acceptance that we would have to sell our best players from time to time. In football it's imperative that the club is managed correctly and we were. Venkys killed that within a few months.

There are some that say we shouldn't look back too much but even more depressing is the thought of another decade with this lot. Of course the answer would be promotion to the PL and the riches that would bring but I don't really see that happening with the current management structure in place (although that is another debate to be had elsewhere).

My points really were about if Venkys never came in the first place and to your comment saying without them who knows where we would be. Of course it's conjecture on my part to say we would still be in the PL but I believe we would under the structure they inherited. I personally have absolutely nothing to thank or praise them for but everyone sees things differently. It's been a torrid decade whichever way you look at it and probably the most frustrating and annoying thing to me is that is simply didn't need to be. Beholden to them I will never be I still refer to the best analogy I heard to sum up their tenure. It's like getting knocked over by a driver who is driving recklessly and being grateful to them because they are paying for the electricity on the life support machine to keep you alive.

I can't agree with your statement. When they arrived we were a mid table PL club with one of the best management structures in the country. We had a debt of £20m and the guarantee of £80m tv income. Our crowds were averaging around 22000 and we had a healthy home support. They have killed most of that, their name is above the door and they are responsible. We'll never know for sure but I can confidently say that in my view without them we wouldn't have been relegated twice, owe £180m or so to somebody, have had a plethora of spivs and chancers turn us into a laughing stock and are averaging around 11000 fans for home games. So for as for us not being here I and many others believe we would still be in the PL under the structure they chose to dismantle.

Very well put Stuart. The 1% comment was probably the only truth that came out of his horrible mouth. I often wonder how different it might have been had more fans been on board. I still recoil at the beratings given out to protesters before the Arsenal game as we walked around the ground and assembled by the Jack Walker statue.

Sad news. Des always seemed to be on television at weekends and as well as being a really good singer he had a great sense of humour. For us older gits who can forget the way Morecambe and Wise ribbed him in a good natured way of course.

Yes if Wednesday have any precious, entitled football snob fans they had better get ready to change direction. I too think Pulis will keep them up by hook or by crook.

Pulis appointed as Sheffield Wednesday boss. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11703/12131884/tony-pulis-appointed-sheffield-wednesday-manager

I don't really know too much about how NDC's work. I still harbour some vain hope that somebody who was on the inside will one day tell us the truth but perhaps I'm being naive. Above all that though and as part of their redemption it would be good for Venkys themselves to come out and admit their gross failings and also naming all the duplicitous characters they employed and the parts they played, warts and all. Honesty should still be the best policy but perhaps that ship has sailed.

Johnson, Evans, Holtby, Trybull, Bennett, Rankin-Costello, Rothwell and Downing who can all play CM are out of contract. Out of them only Holtby, Rankin-Costello and Rothwell can really add value going forward. The jury is still out on Trybull for me. Aside from them Dack, Nyambe, WIlliams, Douglas, Elliot and Chapman are also out of contract. I believe there is an option with Dack though.

It was interesting to revisit and refresh on some of the shenanigans of the last decade but I was listening primarily to find out if there was something new. I still think the silver bullets are held by Messrs Williams, Finn, Goodman and Pincher but these four are silenced by Non Disclosure's allegedly. Does anybody know the Rovers fan who was on it?

It's bizarre and a really lazy assumption that ill informed people make. So the same supporters who applauded them onto the pitch suddenly became racists? It was the same with Paul Ince. Suddenly the club was racist when he was sacked but only months before the very same club appointed him. Sacking Ince and disliking Venkys was/is nothing to do with race. One was an awful manager and the others are awful owners.

And quite often it's done to provoke a reaction and invariably the protagonist disappears for a while, probably enjoying the fall out they create.

Evans allegedly said something disparaging to some Rovers fans at Knutsford Services before a friendly at Port Vale. I heard some derogatory chants at the ground but didn't find out why until later.

I'll wager he gets offered a new deal though.

Hasta la vista ??

I knew it was one of the Liverpool based teams Andy. He also played for Tranmere under Johnny King and later John Aldridge.

Duly noted ??.

To save you checking Andy it was Roly Howard who was quite a character. His day job was a window cleaner and when Marine progressed in the FA Cup pretty much all forms of media referred to it.

Shaun Teale?