Miller11

Do you really think it’s uncommon for players or managers to have moves lined up when they are still under contract? Read a couple of player biographies or listen to a few podcasts, it happens all the time. It would not be in the least bit newsworthy. Despite the best efforts of some of our fans the only time Myles Anderson got a mention in the national media was when his Daddy did it, and I challenge you to find a more rotten or corrupt move than that, and we were newsworthy in those days. But the crux of your argument is based around the fact you don’t rate Nyambe, or now Rothwell. For months you have gone to great lengths to tell us all that everyone except you and Steve Waggott overrates them and there is no possibility of them getting a better contract elsewhere. Only you know the value of the deals they have been offered, and they are stupid not to sign them. Despite this I’m pretty sure on another thread you reckoned Nyambe had a move to Watford lined up. If you think they are as bad as you say, why are you so bothered about them not signing? You’ve recognised Mowbray’s failings now, but to die on this hill for Waggott is really odd.

Should be required reading for all supporters.

Depending on how quickly we resolve our manager situation they might find themselves in the first team squad at the start of the season.

On the subject of agents and agencies, Honeyman also operates through a second company - CH soccer services Ltd. The whole industry is a very tangled web. One agent that seems to be very involved with a lot of our recent deals and current players is a certain Simon Conning. The name may be vaguely familiar to some, I think @glen9mullanmight be able to shed a bit more light on him and his background.

I’ve heard the same, but haven’t been able to find any evidence either. I did however find that Mike was with SEM in his playing days.

I was told this was the case by a former Rovers director. I did some digging but it appeared not to be the case. That said, I’m no expert, and multiple agents seem to manage to muscle in on deals.

He is Mowbray’s agent. He is also Coyle, Lambert and Bowyers agent. He is a director of the agency HSH with Dave Sheron and Stephen Horner. He is a former director of SEM. All three have big links with Jerome.

Just focusing on this bit, because herein lies the problem. I can see why Venky’s would believe everything is rosey, they are supremely arrogant and have proven to be completely delusional. They will absolutely want to believe this and for all his faults, Waggott is crafty enough to recognise this and play it up. As someone who generally does find the negative in everything they do, I’ve probably made it easy for Waggott and Suhail to push that narrative to them, but not as much as those who have deluded themselves into believing that they are wonderful, caring owners. Then there are those that for whatever reason, have started to publicly provide the sycophantic, slavish gratitude and praise the Venky’s crave and will obviously lap up. The supporter base has been eroded so much over the last decade that a lot of those left are desperate to believe in Venky’s, or at the very least they can’t be arsed with the shenanigans anymore so ignore it. A lot of the agitators are gone, many to probably never return. The disenfranchised don’t really have a voice at the moment, and even when we do it’s met with fingers in the ears from those within the club, and abuse from other more content supporters. I wonder what it will take for the tide to turn against Venky’s again. I think they will no doubt push their luck this summer, so maybe we will see.

If Waggott took it upon himself to sack Mowbray this morning, what do you think would happen if he rung Venky’s to tell them? Firstly, he’d get bollocked for speaking to them directly and not going through Suhail. Secondly, he’d get sacked for working outside of his remit. He isn’t even allowed to set season ticket prices without their sign off. Thirdly, Venky’s would have Pasha reinstate Mowbray and offer him a new deal out of sheer pigheadedness. They’d have to show everyone that they run the club and make the decisions. Of course ownership is the major issue.

I wish people wouldn’t defend Venky’s in all of this. They won’t give a shit that we have undergone a collapse beyond anyones wildest nightmares and blown their chance to start turning round their hellish decade of ownership. If they cared a jot they’d have sacked him long before now.

If anyone was in any doubt we are entering into another Venky driven crisis period, Judan Ali is chirping up on Twitter celebrating our misfortune.

When the local media turn, you know it’s bad.

I fear this summer is going to be another absolute shocker. If they give Mowbray a new deal, or bring in some other HSH shitbag, I think the only way I’ll be able to remain engaged is to go into full on protest mode.

Why on earth would any of those out of contract players want to stay at a basket case of a club with zero ambition, for shit money?

And Mowbray is killing our wing backs anyway

I am not sure the back 5 is the biggest issue, and switching to a back 4 wouldn’t do us any good if the other problems persisted. A back 4 with Lenihan and Hedges as full backs would certainly not be an improvement. I’d be much happier if we ditched the wide strikers and false 9 rubbish.

I’ve been confined to bed all bank holiday weekend, so to further sour my already shit mood I’ve rewatched the Peterborough game. The tweaks that we made to our play when we hit the good spell of form have now become our weaknesses. The difference between November and now is massive. The centre backs are now too far apart. Lenihan in particular is obsessed with going out to the touchline and he’s back to engaging with every ball possible like he has done throughout his time as a centre back and all three look far less composed because of this. They get caught out and get in the way. They have also given up on playing simple balls, it always has to be into the channels for Brereton/Gallagher. Brereton and Gallagher are far too wide, they only come anywhere near central when we are in possession in and around the box. It’s why our build up play is so ponderous and we resort to crap long shots. Gallagher is particularly bad in this role, so why he’s selected when dick head had to bring in 10 “wide forwards” I don’t know. Gallagher is also the softest player I’ve ever seen. Because we are so overloaded in wide areas, the opposition players pull wide to defend. This almost completely negates the attacking threat of the wing backs. When we were good you’d see Nyambe knock the ball past his man and run, getting us up the field. There are far too many bodies in both coloured shirts to do this now. The only time we really attempt to get the wing backs on the ball is when they have their backs to goal. Again, The long, high diagonal balls into the corner when they are pushed on up next to our supposed strikers. Buckley was our best player for a spell when he was playing in midfield, but nipping out of midfield and leading the press when they tried to play it out from the back. He’d nick it off their holding midfielder or centre back, but he was in no way shape or form an attacker. He is now completely lost, frustrated and ineffective, because all he is expected to do is chase everything down like prime Paul Dickov. Games are completely passing him by aside from the odd stupid foul and piss weak shot. Our best passer of the ball has nobody to pass to most of the time. The more we have learnt to play the way Mowbray wants us to, the worse we have got. It’s as though Mowbray has instructed the players to do these things (that should be subtle variations from the way they would normally expect to play) all the time, to only concern themselves with them and to forget everything that comes naturally to them. It’s obviously drilled into them too, we aren’t deviating at all. Unless we throw Mowbray’s playbook out of the window (like Derby second half) we will lose again tomorrow.

Because certain people within the club feel that having fans and keeping them happy is not really very important. They also have some hair-brained schemes in mind. One person wants it knocking down and replacing with a hotel with a conference centre. Another person wants another UCFB campus like at Burnley. This person believes that the council will back this idea and help fund it through grants if the club can basically blackmail them by letting the riverside rot.

Absolutely right. He was having a nightmare and his poor touch killed him several times. As soon as he received his first booking it was completely inevitable and blindingly obvious he was going to be sent off.

The worst thing is it’s not all just negligence, some of it is deliberate neglect. They want the Riverside to be condemned and are happy for it to not only become a mess, but dangerous too.

Limited edition Balaji Rao NFTs will find the academy for a few decades I’m sure.

New tactic will be council grants. 3 sided Ewood here we come!

Today Mowbray has decided “we are asking too much of Brereton”. Funny that, seeing as how we didn’t need a centre forward in January because we didn’t play with one. And he decided what we really needed to do was pay money for Ryan Hedges’ contributions since then, despite the fact he was coming in a free at the end of the season. The man is a complete idiot. Brereton did his bit on Saturday. The fact we conceded 2 goals to an absolutely hopeless side was obviously the issue. His moronic substitutions played a big part in this.

It’s looking like my bout of Covid will not have cleared in time to make this. It’s nice knowing that my next match at Ewood will be Mowbray’s last. Predictions - Nyambe to be subbed off within 15 minutes for Aynsley Pears, Gallagher to spend more time sitting down appealing for free kicks than he does in the box, match going crowd to turn on Mowbray, Mowbrayist social media disciples to even further turn on match going fans, results at Ewood and elsewhere to leave us with a mathematically possible but realistically impossible chance of 6th going into the last day.

Not putting him on immediate gardening leave is totally negligent in that case.