Mowbray was quoted at Coventry as saying that Venus was some kind of financial whizz who was good at juggling figures about so presumably that's one of the reasons why he has the job here. So all other things being equal a young player has the choice to come to either Man Ure or Liverpool or Rovers and we can offer more game time. They wheel out Ferguson and Dalglish and we've got ..................ermmm Mark Venus. Wonder where they're going to go? Hundreds (?) of thousands of pounds on new technology wasted and countless man hours down the pan.

I would say personally the trump card would be if the Coventrio have spun the owners a line about the quality of this seemingly fictitious new facility and making sure all the real information is before them directly. Of course. that much isn't entirely clear yet but will no doubt become apparent in due course.

I freely admit I'm old fashioned and am not overly fond of the use of technology. For me if you fancy a player, nothing beats the manager going to watch him at Hartlepool on a wet and windy Tuesday night like Dalglish used to do. But, as someone who knows nothing about the technology whatsoever, does it give an indication of a player's wage demands? If it churns out that the data shows the best options for us are Players A B C and D etc and we spend time pursuing them but upon enquiry those players are out of our financial reach it's next to useless isn't it?

Depends what you're after. If you want 10,000 people with pitchforks and torches causing mayhem outside Ewood Park it probably isn't going to happen. If you want some of us to completely destroy the footballing arguments in favour of this proposed scheme I think that can be done.

I don't want to get into an argument about it but my own personal opinion is that hindsight has shown that certainly isn't the case. Otherwise it would have been the easiest thing in the world just to walk away after we were relegated from the Prem. Yet here they are 10 years later still pumping in £20m p,a, just to keep us afloat. Spunking it up the wall admittedly due to a combination of their own bad decisions and the incompetence of those currently running the show on the ground but there you go.

Early Friday morning it was c 350 from 16 k reads but I haven't had an update since then. Like I say we missed the first 10-12k reads altogether for signature purposes. Doesn't sound many but the number of signatures more than doubled in the 24 hours after the option to sign was added so we just need to keep chipping away at it.

I don't think it will. (Without a scene that is)

Great post. I think needs must and the situation is so dire that first and foremost we need the points to limp over the line to safety. Even if we manage that however it wouldn't change my opinion that Mowbray is one of the worst managers I've seen at the Club in 50 years given the amount of time and backing he's been afforded by the owners.

Too right. A few other people have already mentioned it but at least Kean/Coyle didn't try to flog off the Club's infrastructure.

Partly our fault for not putting the signature option in at first probably. We missed the first 10k or so reads. People's reaction to it is probably the most important thing and it seems to have been generally very well received from what I can see. I am also extremely gratified by the personal messages of thanks and support I have received. Many thanks to everyone for those and it is good to know many are so appreciative of our efforts. Every gesture of support is much appreciated. however small, and I would endorse the request to take a minute to nip back and sign the letter if you liked it but haven't signed yet, Whilst we have been initially successful in introducing previously undiscussed questions into the public domain it's also still extremely early days and It's possible this issue will run for a considerable amount of time. There might also be various twists and turns as more information comes to light. In the meantime please keep sharing the letter to your Rovers supporting or football loving friends and colleagues.

Suppose we shouldn't be laughing about it but very good!

Boom! And there you have it. You could have the greatest analysis system in the world but that's where it instantly all goes up in smoke.

Or perhaps he has a vested interest in the increased use of stats and technology.

A bit like Mr. Waggott "believing" that a space restricted new site could meet Cat 1 Academy Regulations. Not a lot of evidence to back up either claim though is there?

Mowbray did an interview at one point where he admitted he'd probably missed out on a player (not Bauer) by giving him the Bauer treatment and telling them he'd have to wait in line for his chance etc. At the time I thought there was a fair chance he meant McGinn which would have been all the more tragic/comical as the players he would have been trying to dislodge at that point were Evans and Smallwood.

Bloody hell Chaddy, if that's all he has to do I'll save the Club a quarter of a million quid a year and do it for £50k p.a. I think the owners would probably feel they're entitled to rely on his advice and opinion a little more than that for £300k p.a.

Presumably on the basis of cost and the fact most staff have been or are on furlough. If it was me the outside of the ground would still be accessible and the Reception would be open to demonstrate a presence and the fact we're still in business. The Club Shop should imo be re-opening as well on April 12th when non-essential retail is allowed to open. Anyone know if that's the case?

I agree in principle but I think we've seen with the Brockhall letter that asking the Telegraph to run anything that asks any actual questions of the Club is a somewhat futile exercise. At the end of the day as well the FF is at the behest of the Club so the type of item that can be discussed is up to them. If the Club didn't like what was being suggested they could theoretically stop the meetings altogether. All that said, there's absolutely no point just sitting there listening to what they have to say without expressing any alternative opinions. All that does is tick a box for the Club. "Fan consultation - Check."

When I was on the Forum strictly football related matters were off the agenda. However if we're talking about how to shift the maximum number of season tickets which is a legitimate topic for the FF to discuss, I can't see how you can do that properly without referring to the managerial situation in passing.

I've previously taken issue with O2G's about why there are no plans available for any proposed new training facility. I've also just noticed the nonsensical answer from Waggott above about "believing" Cat 1 status can be retained. That needed following up with a question as to why he believes that? What evidence has he to back that belief up? It's no good just sitting there listening to what he has to say without challenging obviously controversial or very unlikely sounding assertions. There's no point in holding the Forum otherwise. As regards this meeting on 12/04 I'm assuming this is about ST prices for next season? I'd hope the view is very strongly expressed that a) Sales will go through the floor if the current manager is still in charge and b) Any price increase will be similarly disastrous for numbers (Although the latter might actually be music to Waggott's ears)

Probably yes, if only for the reasons I mentioned in the Mowbray successor thread to protest at the Coventrio.

I'm fairly torn on the boycott question. On the one hand I'm loath to dip into my pocket whilst Waggott, Mowbray and Venus are still here. On the other, I'm starting to think, as LD Rover alluded to last night, that everything Waggott has done since he's been here has been deliberately designed to reduce and alienate the fan base. I used to think he was merely incompetent and that - the Waggott tax - putting prices up during a pandemic when people couldn't attend and were struggling financially - then issuing messages about us being "all in it together" when to the best of my knowledge neither he, the coaching staff, nor the players made any sort of gesture to help the Club out by taking a small pay cut were all symptoms of that incompetence. However given the recent developments over Brockhall and his background at Coventry I'm not so sure now. I think it would be extremely dangerous for crowd numbers to shrink any further with this bloke at the helm. It gives him all the excuse he needs to try and persuade the owners the figures aren't stacking up and to try and get them to agree to downgrade and downscale the Club still further. Ultimate nightmare scenario, he runs the Club into the ground so successfully that he persuades the owners to put us into administration then pops up again at the head of Otium Entertainment Group PLC 2 or similar and tries to buy back any remaining assets the Club has at a knockdown price. I think I'll be there screaming for the removal of the Coventrio until the day they go all other things being equal.

The Blackburn End/Riverside side of the ground, main reception JW stand Club shop are completely shuttered up chaddy. If you're making a delivery or wanted to hand something in at reception you ring a mobile number and someone from security comes round a couple of minutes later to pick it up. The Darwen End is open as Covid testing is being done there.

Come on, let's not go down the route of actively encouraging fellow supporters to go elsewhere again please.

This. The Brockhall thing was a line in the sand moment for me and in the meantime results on the pitch have also got so bad that we are even falling back in danger of being in the relegation mix. I don't think the two things are entirely unrelated. Meanwhile, the local press sail merrily on regardless, asking Mowbray about his summer transfer plans, also acting on the assumption that the Brockhall scheme is a good thing. Back in the real world however, the rest of us have to try and ensure there's still something left to salvage by the time the Coventrio are expelled from the Club.