Miller11

If anyone wants to get ahead of the curve and be the first to get next seasons kits, albeit unbadged, fill your boots. They are down to £7.50 on the Umbro site.

The first ever Spzl on pitch kit was part of the offer too. It was being saved specifically for Rovers. Probably now go to Man Utd, Liverpool or Real Madrid. At least we’ll have Castore’s second brand.

Macron’s deal is up at the end of this season. As of April 2025 Rovers were allowed to talk to other suppliers, but not before. As part of the deal Macron also have matching bid rights (they have to be told what any new offer is and be given the opportunity to match it). That’s the facts, but just MAYBE the following happened… MAYBEWaggott had been talking to adidas, largely due to Gary Aspden. MAYBE It was off the record but it got very clear they were very keen around October 2024. MAYBE Suhail got wind of Waggott talking to adidas and tried to tell him that Yasir would be doing the kit deal and not him. MAYBE Waggott told him no, as he had the relationship with Gary and subsequently with adidas. MAYBE As a result Suhail got in a strop and went off talking to Castore, and told Waggott to forget about adidas and that we’d be going with Castore “to keep the Issa brothers onside”. MAYBE Suhail then went to Macron to tell them he was negotiating a really good deal with Castore, so they would need to put in a much improved deal. And MAYBE Macron went mad as this broke the exclusivity agreement and MAYBE threatened legal action. MAYBE Waggott was planning on flying to Italy to smooth things over with Macron but eventually did it on the phone, but MAYBE they chilled out a bit. MAYBE Waggott explained the local connection to adidas and that they would be offering loads of things macron couldn’t match (Spezial kit, boot deal, exhibition at Ewood, new club shop, Spezial trainers). MAYBE Macron accepted that couldn’t be matched. In April they opened up to tender. MAYBE Macron, adidas and Castore put in. MAYBE Macron and Castore both offered an upfront payment - basically a guarantee of 400k, rather than an extra payment. MAYBE Suhail went to adidas and asked them to match it, MAYBE they said they don’t offer guarantees to anyone, not even Man Utd or Real Madrid - they just sell lots of kits. MAYBE Suhail then went back and told Macron they were going with Castore - MAYBE Macron said they wanted to keep Rovers and offered to match Castore. MAYBE Suhail’s response was “No you should’ve offered us more in the first place. We are going with Castore.” MAYBE Adidas were not getting good vibes since Waggott left, but MAYBE Suhail then reapproached adidas asking for a half million upfront payment to “buy out macron” - effectively pay them off cos they will sue. MAYBE Adidas reiterated their stance of no upfront payments - MAYBE Suhail said “Well Castore are willing to pay the legal fees”. So MAYBE Macron are seeking compensation for 2 separate breeches of contract. Castore have bought out Umbro and need clubs for their second brand. MAYBE we’ve agreed to being Umbro with off the peg kits slightly Roverized.

Called it a while ago, but it’s official (despite denials in the fans forum from Suhail and his lapdog)

Wasn’t a regular fixture, or here for very long, but Andy Morrison probably tops the list.

Ismael has given up on pretending he’s bothered about getting results. He’ll get a nice fat bonus for giving full league debuts to the kids.

I’m just waiting for him to go full Kean and state “There is no chance we will be relegated”. I reckon either him or Gestede will come out with that line before the end of Feb.

That’s the entire culture of the club now. No accountability anywhere.

Pickering is one of a handful of players we have who has proven to be of consistent Championship quality for a few years. Ridiculous he isn’t playing. He’s also probably our best set piece taker. Toth Atcheson O’Riordan Pratt Alebiosu Pickering Baradji Tronstad Forshaw Ohashi Jorgensen But seeing as Ismael is under no pressure to get results and nobody at the club apart from the fans gives a shit if we win or lose, I expect we will see Henricksson up front and a load of Gestede’s other failed gambles struggle for 90 minutes.

Unfortunately Powell, Dlamini and Doherty are all miles off it physically. Even more unfortunately De Neve, Henriksson and Gardner-Hickman are miles off it ability wise. The rest are mostly bog standard at best. The lack of quality in our squad is criminal.

Forgotten man Jake Garrett coming back to fitness too. He looked good under JDT but his career has dropped off a cliff since. Still prefer him to Tavares.

It’s definitely going to happen over the next 3 weeks, but on what date will Gestede claim: ”Lewis Miller was always intended to be a right wing back”

It’s been mentioned several times publicly. Waggott did so soon after Ismael’s appointment. The rest of the brain trust did so at subsequent fans forum meetings. The first one attended by Adam Owen particularly had a lot of discussion around it. Pretty sure it was touched on in one of the ill advised sit down propaganda pieces/“fan engagement videos” too

Ismael won’t care about that. He is targeted and earns bonuses based on giving academy players debuts and minutes. I’m actually surprised he seemed a bit reluctant in the earlier part of the season. Perhaps he’s now twigged that expectations and standards are virtually zero, and that the accumulation of points isn’t that important to his bosses. I expect we will see at least half a dozen more academy players debut by the end of the season.

Pains me to say it, but David May over Taylor

Random thought Gueye is a better player than Ismael is a manager.

I think every single Charlton player who started their last game would make our first 11. They battered us in the reverse fixture and were probably the most dangerous looking opponent we’ve faced. Seems as though they are on something of a resurgence at the moment and will start really pulling away from us in the table tomorrow. Toth Miller O Riordan Pratt Gardner-Hickman Powell Tronstad Cantwell Montgomery Ohashi Hedges Just a few changes for the sake of it really

Make no mistake, this is the lowest point of the entire wretched Venky’s ownership. Even in the Kean/Anderson days there were at least some people at the club with the right intentions. These are now practically non-existent. The old argument of “hardworking staff behind the scenes” is dead. They have either been forced out already or are so scared of being so that they are beaten into submission. There might be the odd one, but by and large Suhail has created a culture of fear. The people with the most power at the club - Suhail, Gestede, Yasir Sufi - all have their own agendas, none of which are about a successful football club. We’ve got a poor manager who I hope does his usually trick of giving up when the going gets tough. And do we have a single player who ticks all these three boxes: Likeable, up to standard, resilient enough to play a full season? It’s little wonder apathy has completely taken hold, but we really need to get angry. It’s harder and harder to keep caring, but let’s keep our hatred for those responsible burning. Now is the time to make a stand by whatever means we can.

Easiest day he’s ever had at Ewood

Maybe rather than Gueye not running enough this lot have all been running too much. We looked like we’d been playing for 3 hours from the first minute.

In the 150th celebration planning meetings (😂😂😂) there was initially loads of talk about a series of murals around the town. There was a lot of positivity from fans, Jamie Holman, Waggott, and the Community Trust. Loads of locations were discussed and some gable ends offered. Phil Reilly put his usual dampener on things a bit, but it seemed like it would genuinely happen. By the time of the last meeting it had been downgraded to one mural on the side of the Watson Ramsbottom building in town. Yasir was very pleased with himself for securing the services of whoever did the Bielsa mural in Leeds. I asked, not unreasonably I don’t think, what the subject of the mural would be. I was condescendingly told that “we can’t interfere with the artistic process, it’s up to them”. Anyway, to the surprise of nobody, absolutely nothing has come of it.

I can’t agree that Bannan was poor for them. He lifted his fellow midfielders several notches and they completely won the battle against our lot. He still covers a frightening amount of ground, always an outlet, and while he may have misplaced a couple tonight his passing range and vision is superb. Tronstad couldn’t cope with him. It’s took Baradji half a season to get fit enough to start a game, but he wasn’t match fit enough to end it - started brightly but faded quickly. Cantwell was far too casual and generally off it. How many times can one player drag a shot wide. Australia must be hitting a sparse time in terms of player development. Miller is so technically poor and unable to pass a simple ball I’m astonished he’s a regular at international level. McLaughlin is a downgrade on Hyam, Baath, Sanderson and McFadzean. I love Ohashi, but he was woeful tonight. Clearly not enough left in the tank for him to do his usual running round like a man possessed. That ordinarily hides a multitude of sins, but his finishing was beyond dreadful tonight and his general play not much better. Henriksson is shit. And it’s a real indication of how far we’ve fallen in just 12 months when Hedges is one of our main men. I know Gueye isn’t very good, but he’s looked a competent option when starting games (when he first signed and a spell after Christmas last year). He’s never looked good coming off the bench, but to drop him completely from the threadbare squad suggests arrogance on Ismael’s part or interference from above. Not dropping Pears for Toth is weak management. Litherland and Pratt both look like useful members of the squad, but that may have a lot to do with the dross around them, but they don’t look out of place. Hopefully more to come from them.

Rob Coar thinks we still print a matchday programme.

The Ewood brain trust will have had their heads together coming up with an official party line and appropriate direction for the blame to be passed. My money is on it being Waggott’s fault for stitching the pitch prior to last season. I can’t believe any of our fans are calling for a points deduction. Not only do we need as many points as we can get, why would anyone think this would remotely bother anyone at the club apart from us fans? The accumulation of points on the pitch is far from the top of the clubs list of priorities. If he was given a choice between a 10 point deduction and a £100,000 fine, which do you think Suhail would opt for? It wouldn’t be the same choice you’d make.