roverblue

If they managed to rush this to the front of the queue when it was arranged for August maybe things are even worse than we thought behind the scenes. The noise around the women's team finances, back office staff redundancies and then the larger than expected released list further strengthens the view.

feeling the pressure to renew before tomorrows deadline after some friends and family did theirs. Got the fear of missing out on a regular social with them. Why cant we just be a normal club like everyone else this shouldn't be a hard decision for a fan.

Unless something changes I would be amazed if a single penny is spent on players before the next court case is heard. The transfer fee income is all gone and it's clear Venkys don't want to send any money over using the 'bond' method which is yet to be used. The only other option would be another dodgy bridging loan from some 'local businessman' against the training ground again.

The Wharton, Szmodic and Raya money is gone so guessing the desperation will increase to get something sorted now. I cant think of anyone in the current squad that would bring in anything like the needed £20m.

Relegation battle - although hinges on how many leave this summer and just how poor the replacements are. I don't think it will be Ismaels fault we just have a strategy and budget of a league 1 team and its were we eventually will end up.

Expected relegation, so think the players and two managers have both done a fantastic job with the team. The boardroom and recruitment teams have been abysmal though in backing them in summer and January. If we had just bought 2-3 more quality players we would be looking forward to a playoff game.

Based on Gestede talking about wanting academy lads and players with re-sale value I would be amazed if any of the older players get extensions.

Gestede just came across like he holds us fans in total contempt and we don't understand anything about football. He also spouted a load of contradictory shite about building a club whilst at the same time admitting they won't re-invest in the playing squad or stop valuable players contracts expire by offering better wages. His whole plan seems to be a miracle 'Adam Wharton' appears every season or so to balance the £20-25m hole in the accounts. What an ambitious and exciting future he paints. We should all pay £450 to watch a team of academy lads get stuffed 5-0 every week as we slowly drop down the leagues and end up going bust.

Another great result, fair play to Ismael he has turned it around after a disastrous start.

That was probably the best performance of our season and we totally blew them away second half with one touch pass and movement. Fantastic all round. Not sure where it came from but be very happy to see it repeated!

I thought the last time we looked at this it was just the accounts catching up with the lump sum approved in late 2023 but could be wrong.

Is Markanday not also out of contract?

You know his replacement will be another naff loan like Moran or Duberry. Would much rather keep him given our situation but he is long gone IMO.

Unless someone has evidence otherwise the last time I checked the Venkys haven’t sent a penny to Rovers since late 2023 when the court approved a lump sum. So at the moment it seems they are no longer funding the club because they can’t or no longer want to.

If we are relying on sales to fund the signings of 12 players in summer we are proper fucked 😂 Be lucky to get more than £1 million for any of our players given their talent or contract status.

I saw a couple lob their tickets on the pitch at half time and walk out. Telling the club haven't been putting out the propaganda about how well the sales have done so far.

Thought Dolan was great last night and has been one of the few players who has performed during this poor spell for the team. If we could get last night out of him every game then he would be a top player for the club. The potential is definitely there but rovers have never managed to get some consistency in his game. Be a shame to see him leave at the end of the season, especially knowing we won't replace him with anything any better.

I don't think I have ever seen Ewood as empty for a league game as last night. There were gaps all over the stands and barely anyone in the Riverside where I sit. As expected the atmosphere was awful and if it wasn't for the Sheffield fans in full voice you could hear a pin drop. Complete apathy across the place, at half time 0-2 down it was very tempting just to leave like quite a few others around me did. But glad I stayed as the second half was a good performance, completely unexpected but welcome after the shite of the last couple of months. It just shows they have it in them to perform but something is missing at kick off to get it out of them. I was told by an 'insider' at half time that the atmosphere at the training ground is awful and the players dislike Ismael which may be part of the reason. Could be a load of tosh but would make sense. I can imagine their agents are working overtime to find them a new club in the summer.

I wonder if we can manage to get past 20mins without conceding tonight.

Expecting a battering, this will be my last game at Ewood for the season (and beyond).

Clueless and needs to go. We may as well have nobody in charge than this guy all he has done is make everything worse.

That was dreadful, I almost left after the 2nd goal but stuck it out to the end. I genuinely have no idea what Ismael is trying to get the players to do. We have no clue how to attack as a team and defensively it’s getting as poor as JDT set them up. Let’s be honest it could easily have been 6-7 if boro hadn’t missed simple chances, they were so wasteful. The squad is crap but all the hard work and solidity that Eustace brought to the team has gone. Ismael is a terrible appointment not only tactically but he has nothing about him personally to endear us fans to him. 5 losses in a row and I honestly think we could lose all our remaining fixtures.

"If you asked our fans at the start of this season what they expected regarding the players in the squad that we had, most of the fans would have said we'll get relegated," Pasha added. This sums him up, they knew full well the investment was pathetic and the squad a mess but got lucky with Eustace.

I don't think they intend to invest anything anymore, we are now 'self sufficient' and have been for the last 18 months. The only problem is we don't have anything asset wise worth £22m a year. I think it definitely means more academy lads, very few cash signings, slashing of the wage bill and likely relegation. The focus is more about running rovers as a business, that was clear from Suhail. The league position or promotion likely doesn't even feature in his thinking. It's all about reducing costs so that Venkys don't have to put their hand in their pocket.

This is all spin to try and sell some season tickets as they are financially in the shit and need some money in and fast. The key question that wasn't asked is when did the Venky's last send any money to the club? Because the answer is back in late 2023 when they got court permission to. Since then not a penny has come over and we are living off the Wharton and Szmodic cash which has or is about to run out. You could see Waggot try to blag it off numerous times but at least Suhail corrected him and spelt it out that the club is now self sustaining and that is the future. The Venkys clearly don't want to put a penny into the club anymore and in 6-12 months time it will be sell or go bust if it stays that way. There is nothing left to sell that comes anywhere near a £22m shortfall.