I don't think he meant it like that. He was possibly having a laugh at himself for being 'old' now I.e it was that long ago, I can't remember it.

A belting tie. Games against Newcastle have always had a special feel about them for me. Just don't go and do the typical Rovers thing under these owners tomorrow.

Yeah, it was that game. We lost 3-1. Brad was in goal for Liverpool that day. That first howler from Peacock gets worse with each viewing. Imagine him trying to play JDT ball 😂.

No messing about from Benni. Clinical.

My initial thought just from reading that is that he's goading them and applying some pressure at the same time. I like it. I get the feeling he views those above him in a similar way that many of us on here do. The quote reads like how we would sarcastically say "we can't wait to see which exciting things happen in the last few days of the window". Whilst having a fair idea it's going to be a load of shit and nothing to get excited about. I'll have to watch the interview to see how it was said. Good on him though, for putting the spotlight above him.

Darren Peacock 😱

It will be the usual crap containing the words "we are committed". Followed by a tug at the heartstrings with references to "this difficult moment/time" and a "we thank you for your understanding". To be bought hook, line and sinker by the twitter brigade. Shedding tears of joy as they tell the world how lucky we are to have them. Not only that, the Indian High Court will become public enemy number one for ruining our promotion bid and for putting the dear owners through all of this stress. There's only one statement that many of us want to see: "Following difficulties caused by the pandemic and the recent issues in our native country regarding the release of funding, it is with a heavy heart that we announce that we have put Blackburn Rovers up for sale. We are currently in the process of communicating with interested parties and want to assure all Blackburn Rovers supporters that we will endeavour to find the very best custodian for this fantastic football club. We ask for your patience during this time. More updates will be provided in due course". If it's not words to that effect, then quite simply...stick your fake statement.

In an office somewhere, sits Steve Waggott, teary eyed, as he realises that there will be no more kids arriving on loan from Liverpool. "Don't worry, Suhail. Xabi is a kind man" says Silvester, attempting to lighten the mood. It's a sad day.

A quick search shows that an SEM connected agent is a friend of that podcast, even appearing on it a few times. Notice in that audio clip above how the host spouts the company line about the owners being "so generous", how he praises them for paying the bills and says Rovers would be struggling without that money. Sounds very much like the spiel the car salesman comes out with too. All of the propaganda out there follows the same theme. Another thing in that clip...one of them mentions that when the club needs funds, all it takes is one phone call to the owners and the funds arrive within 24 hours. Sounds very much like the "they never refuse to sign a cheque" malarkey to me. They are being fed this guff from somewhere. We just need to find out why.

A very well laid out and helpful post. Thanks, Miller. While it is a bleak situation overall, what gives me hope is that there is a chance that the Court over there might look into the club's finances at some point. That could be the moment that a lot of us have been waiting for. I would like to think there is a thought over there to find out what this £200m+ that has been sent over the years has been spent on, especially when the club is in a worse state than when they found it. It hasn't got to that stage of the investigation yet, but it could do. I truly hope it does. If I've got it right, the current situation means that they in effect have to release double the funds via the Indian Court, because they have to provide the authorities with an equivalent guarantee. If it's £20m being sent to Rovers, they have to put £20m aside for the ED at the same time, meaning it's costing them £40m in total. £25m being sent to Rovers means it's £25m for the ED too, making it £50m they have to put up in total. This scenario could go on for a long while. Surely this has to become untenable for them at some stage, despite however wealthy they may be.

Thousands of Wrexham fans desperate to be at Ewood on Monday. Tens of them signing up on here, getting themselves in a tizz and subsequently receiving a ban. Their forum full of digs at Rovers and our support. I thought this lot were 'disappointed' when they saw Rovers pulled out of the hat? Could have fooled me. This is a massive game for them. As for the guy who said Paul Mullin is bigger than our club...only in your Netflix world pal. Nobody without a Netflix account has ever heard of him. I'm not sure why they are so wound up. It's only a 'small club' they are up against, one with with 'no fans' too. Is it not? I'd have more respect for these gobby Wrexham fans if they just admitted that they were a bit worried about the game, instead of this bravado they are trying to show by having digs about our support, the Jack Walker days, Shearer and so on. I think they saw what Chelsea did to Boro the other night and are bricking it as Monday draws nearer. Boro took a big away support there, made a big day of it, but still took a tonking. They know that could be awaiting them too at Ewood. No amount of deflecting onto attendances and numbers they took here and there can hide that fear. Let's send them packing, as we've done to many 7,000+ away ends over the years.

They got what they deserved. They are lucky it was just the one snowball that landed. The club had just been relegated, been turned into a laughing stock and was going through all sorts of chaos and this lot want to make a grand entrance as if they are royalty? F.O and have a bit of shame!

Speedie hat-trick against Newcastle:

Jay McEveley and that clearance:

Thanks for sharing, phili. That is a potentially major development and is something for those who think nobody will be interested in buying Rovers to ponder. Do you have any more details on the Middle Eastern consortium? Not asking for names, just curious as we've had interest from over there in the past. The fact they have responded in typical Venky fashion comes as no surprise. They did the same with the Seneca enquiry. That reminds me. Back in 2011 when the Qataris were trying to buy us, wasn't the story that they were considering selling up until a certain individual had a lengthy phone call with Barry, begging him not to sell? Something has felt off about the whole thing from day one. I'm not sure that even a crazy offer for the club would be enough to see them off. I think the only way they leave is by being forced to do so, either by the Indian Authorities (if they find a reason to) or via administration.

Not even blinking at that signing. A League Two defender for £500k. Sounds about right for the recruitment team down there. As a side note, the Crewe lad has the same agent as: Hedges, Brittain, Bloxham, Gilsenan, Jacob Davenport, Dom Samuel and Shane Duffy.

23. David Speedie

That's how I feel too. We have the history, we have the story. There's an even bigger story in waiting for any ambitious owner who fancies it. To restore the former Premier League champions back as a top flight club, after years of misery under bad owners is appealing in itself. People say it is a mad suggestion, but I have long held the view that there will be somebody out there looking at our Premier League title win and wondering if it can be done again. Not saying that is the type of owner in waiting after Venky's or even that I expect such an aim from new owners. Of course not. Just that we have far more pedigree in the game than even a lot of our own fans believe. The way in which some of our fans have seemingly glossed over our time in the Premier League in order to defend these dickheads who have ripped that status away from us, is disgusting and unfathomable to me! Things like "it is what it is", "who's going to buy us", "this is our level", "badly advised", "forgive and forget" is all as a result of 13 years of Venky abuse and conditioning. Conditioning which has led many (outside of this forum) to believe that we are what we see today and are lucky to have these owners. Absolutely not! It just needs a new owner, with even the slightest bit of ambition, to jolt people out of this daze. There will almost certainly come a point where some of the pro Venky crowd will say "Yeah, they did need to go actually, I'm glad they have", when we are doing well under new owners. That day is coming. We have become that accustomed to this shit show, and many have become numb to it, that a proper owner who wants to go up, will cause excitement levels not seen since the Mark Hughes' days. That's when the pro Venky crowd will wake up and realise that they've been had for the last 15 years (or however long). Do Burnley, Wrexham, Birmingham, Hull and the like have more standing in the game than us? Do they bollocks. If they can attract the owners they have, we can certainly attract better than Venky's. The agents who are trying to protect these bastards are doing a blinding job though, especially when Rovers fans want to hit other Rovers fans who are saying "Venky's out". Absolutely unbelievable.

This has definitely become a thing. It's the product of crafty PR and it is working, because I have experienced fans of other clubs making the lazy assumption that £20m per year = £20m for transfers/wages. They see the headline figure, they vaguely recall the fees for BBD/Gallagher and assume those kind of things have been a regular occurrence. 'What are you complaining about, they put in £20m a year' has become a stock phrase in some quarters. That was certainly the view of a few PNE fans that I know. Until one day, when they were complaining about their ownership, I reversed it on them by saying "why can't you be grateful, they pump in £15m a year?". According to them, Hemmings and Ridsdale aren't interested in promotion and they need a change at the top. 'What about the £15m transfer budget though, what more do you want?' "Eh, what budget?". Yeah. Precisely. They understand our situation now after seeing the state of our transfers, how JDT has been treated, hearing about the Court issue, plus seeing Travis being loaned out etc. That £20m yearly 'investment' isn't as is made out, is it? Obviously, there's a difference between pumping £20m in for transfers and what has been happening here. The PR machine sneakily links that figure to ambition though by way of repetition. We've got agents and a financial expert talking about how their financial support has been "phenomenal". So "phenomenal" that they have lost £200m turning a solid Premier League club into this shell? Yeah. Phenomenal. We saw an article not so long ago in the Daily Mail on how "Venky's have finally got it right" after a decade of chaos. That piece, incredibly, described them as the "saviours of Rovers". Sickening! From the same journo who said it would have been madness for Venky's NOT to have sacked Henning Berg. Hold on, what!? Let that sink in. We also had that fluff piece about how they were putting up a £10m promotion bonus. The hack behind that has, over the past week, been spinning a pro Venky line by suggesting they have money to spend, the only issue being getting it sent over. Aargh, that blasted Court hearing getting in the way of things! Next window, sorry folks, the summer, it's a promise! What better way to feed the ever generous Venky narrative than linking us with a striker for £4m. Hmm, let's look at that. Not having a pot to pee in, little wiggle room on wages, bringing in kids on loan - Versus - the owners have money, just need to get it sent over and you want a striker for £4m. If the latter isn't pro Venky spin, I don't know what is. The reality is they have almost killed this club. They have let players walk for nothing, have ignored two promising January windows by doing sod all and have left JDT a mess to deal with. One signing for over £2m since 2019 is also telling. None of that suits the agenda though. Better to just keep on repeating £20m and let the ignorant do the rest of the work. Oh and yes, I remember that post. Reading that, one could be forgiven for thinking that Mowbray had £100m available to him for transfers over a five year period. Maybe he meant that their 'investment' in covering five years worth of bills etc was wasted on Mowbray, who should have 'rewarded' them with promotion. I'm not sure, but still, the original wording took me by surprise. Them losing £100m during that time and Mowbray not getting promotion are two separate things for me, as he did not blow a £100m budget and fail.

That £20m angle might just be one of the biggest PR jobs done on a fanbase in recent times. Almost certainly agent inspired and agent driven. It's true we are losing that amount, but the way it has been framed and continues to be, has all the hallmarks of a PR stitch up. £20m constantly being repeated to condition fans into believing that: a) These owners have been so generous to us and continue to be so out of the kindness of their hearts. How can you criticise them? (Anybody who does is spoilt, ungrateful, not a real fan, living in the 90s, or worse...remember who planted the latter seed) b) The club would be finished without their money. Who else is going to come in and cover such losses? As if there is no alternative to these tossers. Somebody forgot to send the memo to Hull, Birmingham and others who found better owners and who haven't gone to the wall. Put the club up for sale and let's see who comes forward. Basic logic tells us that half of the Championship would be 'finished' if their owners decided to stop covering their losses. Why is that made into a focus point regarding Rovers and Rovers only? Why aren't other fans in the Championship citing paying the bills as a reason why their owners have to remain in place? Nowhere else in the top two Divisions are owners being lauded for paying the bills. It comes with the territory. £20m or £200m. It should not buy silence. When Hull fans wanted their previous owner out, were they being told "look at how much he has invested, be grateful", in return? I often read the PNE forum and have never seen their fans put forward "but they put in x amount every year" as a defence of their ownership, that is despite their losses being not too far off ours. From what I have seen, there hasn't been one mention of Bury from the PNE fans who are pro Hemmings family. No mention of doing a Bury, no mention of slashing budgets or facing catastrophe, no mention of their owners putting in £12m-15m a year. I wonder why that is? Similar with Norwich fans. I've been watching a fan channel of theirs for years. A lot of their fans want new owners, but nobody has come out with "but look at how much Delia puts in" as a counter. Nah, we're being played. It's almost as though it suits some people to have these owners remain in place here. I don't mean any of our fans when I say that.

We were fortunate to get a point as Huddersfield missed a couple of great chances. We huffed and puffed but never looked like winning it, as we did not create a real chance. What is alarming is how open we look at the back when our attacks break down. It's wild football at times, piling too many forward and not being able to get back in sufficient numbers. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as a Huddersfield forward went rampaging down our left on the counter, free as you like, a completely free run into the box! He was played in on goal but luckily for us, skewed it wide. We look extremely vulnerable to counter attacks. Look at the Huddersfield chance in the first half. One ball puts their striker through just inside the halfway line and he runs clear into our box! Any half decent team in the Championship will take advantage of this bad setup. JDT has to walk, imo. It's just not working out. The whole environment from the top down is wrong. A toxic, aimless, gutless setup. An agents playground, where winning means little. JDT arrived here in the wrong era and under the wrong people. Not his fault on that front. The club is not what he probably remembers it as being from his playing days in England. I don't know if he is reluctant to walk away because he walked away at a previous club. Maybe he doesn't want to gain a reputation for quitting? I wouldn't blame him for walking. It's probably best all round that he does. Well, it's not, because we will still have the same shit owners and yes men in the Boardroom, but something has to give to try and change these poor results.

I have no idea who is meant to be at left back. There's just an empty space there. If Siggy is meant to be covering that area we are asking for trouble.

Massive let off. Huddersfield should have scored. They had acres of space down our left on the break. This doesn't look promising.

I don't think Chrisene has managed to put a cross in yet. Every attempt has hit a Huddersfield defender. Not impressed, but we really can't expect much from such loan signings, imo. Pickering's game is over. Hamstring.

He wasn't going to get to the ball, but their defender was all over him. There's little tempo to our play. The frustrating thing is we are going from side to side across the final third, without having any idea how to break through. Our players are looking to give the ball to Adam Wharton at every opportunity. Huddersfield have that 'one chance, one goal', look about them here so far. They are happy to let us have the ball as we aren't troubling them.