To the extent that we might be struggling to meet FFP criteria it's all down to Mowbray's chronic use of resources. £12m on two guys who have yet to really hit it off. £2m over two seasons for Mulgrew not to play for us, I've heard Ayala is on £30k p.w. again not playing for us, giving Smallwood and Hart contract extensions when they'd never featured in the first place, a sympathy contract for Gladwin who could never play for us and a completely unnecessary deal for Downing who was subsequently never used. High earners like Evans and Bennett barely featuring. Then an absolute shed load of money on loan fees which is completely dead money and without wishing to state the bleeding obvious you can't wheel and deal with loan players.

I don't see it as abuse aimed at "the Club" at all but abuse aimed at those individuals running the Club into the ground who need removing for the good of the Club. Just out of interest, were you as optimistic and convinced it would just all come good when the likes of Iley, Kean and Coyle were manager?

Don't ask silly questions.

I don't understand how people can go and watch Clitheroe or Accy Stanley or Chorley personally. If I wasn't watching Rovers that would be me done with live football. All that said, I think you have to realise that not everyone can dismiss last season as though it never happened and erase it from their memory banks and approach the season with the same sort of enthusiasm as if it were August 1994 like Chaddy. I applaud him for his loyalty BTW. Then there is the added problem that the management tried to flog off part of our infrastructure last season and presumably got over-ruled by the owners once one or two facts were brought to light. Hope you're right about the signings but the modus operandi over the last couple of seasons has been to wait until the last minute and see what Premier League loans are available irrespective of whether they're the players we need the most in the positions we need to fill the most.

Hi John. Hope the Forum asked Waggott: 1) Why couldn't we manage our affairs in such a manner as to avoid a transfer registration embargo? Especially as we were aware this could be a potential problem months ago. 2) Why was the manager complaining about the embargo when it was our own fault? 3) Why did we leave it until three weeks before the new season to appoint a new Head of Recruitment given that Stuart Harvey departed almost three months ago? 4) Notwithstanding the above, having lost at least ten players since last season, why haven't we made a single signing less than three weeks before the start of the season. Did we not have targets already in place? 5) Why have the Club made no effort whatsoever to contact and re-engage with people such as myself who were season ticket holders up to last season but who did not renew 12 months ago for obvious reasons? Once again I await the minutes with interest and have my blood pressure tablets at the ready this time.

Yes, but there's being optimistic with good reason, I.e. off the back of an excellent campaign last time round, or off the back of a brilliant transfer window or an inspired managerial appointment etc. Then there's being on the deck of the Titanic after it's hit the iceberg and putting a brave face on things saying "only a scratch, we'll be in New York soon." Would you mind sharing what it is that has happened over the last 11 months that gives you grounds for optimism for this season?

Surely that's not a valid excuse. As we're a member of the EFL, where their rules occasionally diverge from Companies House ones, surely we have to comply with both!!!! How hard can it be?

Give over again. I sponsored the match ball on numerous occasions in the 80's when we were GENUINELY short of cash and needed the money. I did moan about lack of ambition back then as well, but back then we actually were hard up and still got a lot closer to achieving promotion than we have done in recent time with owners who have put North of £200m into the Club.

I think Chaddy thinks if he says it often enough it will hypnotise people into thinking the same. He also favours a Director of Football type structure as well. You probably hadn't picked that up either. 🙂

Oh do give over, Jack aside, we've never had multi billionaire owners before willing to bail out incompetent employees by pumping in tens of millions of pounds per annum no matter how badly they perform. With a semblance of nous in the Boardroom and in the dug out we ought to be extremely competitive. It's nothing like "the good old days" when we genuinely didn't have the proverbial pot to **** in. We've never been in Div 2 either, let alone bottom of it!

The only fall back there would be shifting a decent amount of half ST's but that would require us to be challenging around Christmas. Could happen under a new manager.

It was always likely that the hardy souls who renewed last year would do so again to take advantage of the discount I'd have thought. 3,000 is only 500 "normal" renewals so it could hardly be a more damning indictment of Mowbray and Waggott although there'll probably be a bit of a last minute spurt before the claim your own seat deadline.

Of course it was. It was obvious as soon as we were promoted that Mowbray and Waggott were completely out of their depth at Championship level. We had the debacle of that summer's transfer window when we unsuccessfully low balled Clubs all summer for players to no effect before seemingly panicking at the last minute, going back cap in hand to the owners for more money then chucking telephone numbers at BB and the midfielder from QPR (Freeman was it?) In the winter window the only signing was Chapman who he barely ever played the first time he was here and who he's completely ignored since his return. The results on the pitch were completely unsatisfactory too, I seem to remember we had a run of eight losses in twelve which bizarrely was punctuatefd by four wins in the middle without which we'd have been in serious trouble. It wasn't just the results on the pitch though, everything about the Coventrio screams that they're uncomfortable and completely out of their depth at Championship level. I remember Mowbray coming out with a quote in the press to the effect that it was ok signing players from Gillingham but it was a different matter getting players out of Championship Clubs. The former is the level they should be operating at and they no doubt soon will be unless we dispense with them all sharpish.

Sorry, it was blatantly obvious he was out of his depth in our first season back in the Championship imo when we embarked on a run not too dissimilar to the 2 wins in seventeen this season. The ideal time to have sacked him would have been with ten or twelve games to go of that season and given a new manager time to assess the squad. Instead we clung onto him and two and a half years later this is is the mess we're in as a consequence.

I'm probably in the same boat. Have had a season ticket for many years up to last season. Had every intention of renewing last season had prices been frozen or there been a marginal increase as a gesture of solidarity to the Club until Waggott whacked prices for the Riverside up by 25% for a season when no-one could attend. For that reason I was out. Haven't had a thing from the Club trying to get me back in the fold. I find that unbelievable. Can only assume Waggott doesn't particularly want home fans in the ground.

Eighteen (?) days away from the opening fixture, no kit, no signings, and a head of recruitment only appointed the other day. If the first few games go pear shaped what's the betting Mowbray blames the fact that any new signings we might make haven't had time to integrate in the same way he blamed the registration ban for not having made any signings? It's all self inflicted!

Either some people have difficulty comprehending what I've posted or simply don't want to take it on board. In my view they are basically well intentioned, have been badly advised over the years and continue to be badly advised. BUT and it's a big BUT - that doesn't really matter - they have to run the Club properly and can't just put blind faith in the people they engage to run BRFC on their behalf then sit idly back whilst those people run the Club into the ground.

Wow, that must have been hard for you to type. Another good post. Not sure things will get any better until the Coventrio (4cov?) are unceremoniously despatched though. Gav will no doubt steam in at this point and say nothing will change until the owners leave but first things first.

Good post, as a point of order though, whilst Waggott is either out of his depth or running us into the ground deliberately for some unknown reason, he didn't join us until December of the League 1 season I don't think.

Great stuff JH. Someone like Mark Hughes would at least sweep away this "How can we possibly hope to compete" mentality and raise expectation levels within the Club although I would say he himself has a bit to do to prove his own best days managerially aren't behind him.

When they're not doing well or not featuring they're never Mowbray signings!

Ought to get the chance. Mowbray bloody well signed him.

Wouldn't we all? (Apart from Mowbray that is.) And don't forget said Reed clone wouldn't have Corry or Richie to learn his trade from this time round. We'll more likely end up with another useless crablike Trybull/Evans/Lowe type.

Mowbray likes having a bloated squad but doesn't seem to appreciate the need to bring in players who can go straight into and improve the starting X1.

We have Travis, Davenport and Johnson already. I'd say we were far more in need of a more creative type. A more consistent version of Holtby as it were.