SuperBrfc

Waited until today to post my thoughts and have only just caught up with the last 20 odd pages of the thread. A lot of this has already been said. Apologies in advance for length of post. An absolute farce of a situation and one which leads me to the conclusion that nothing will ever get better under these owners. Anything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Chance after chance to kick on passes us by. Embarrassment levels only increase. When that keeps on happening for 12 years and counting, what else is there to conclude apart from this club being cursed? There's no luck under these either, although luck has nothing to do with this debacle. There have been many lows under this regime, but this one is particularly low. All summer and for the last few months others and me have been calling for us to go and get a "proper midfielder". To then have the best midfielder in the Championship in recent times ready and willing to sign for us...a scenario which none of us would have deemed realistic on January 1st...but to mess it up due to some dickhead, with SEM links, not getting the paperwork right? It's unbelievable and raises many questions as to what might have happened. This is not the first time such a thing has happened either. Glen's recent posts on Silvester were interesting and concerning at the sane time, and have helped to add a few more pieces to the jigsaw in my mind. Others who feel the same way, may also be joining the same dots. Sadly, the club is finished, unless we can get this lot out or they decide to sell up. Nothing gets better until all of the poison is removed from the body. My ire is aimed, in particular, towards Silvester and Pasha. The two with old ties. Anybody else at the club with SEM ties is fair game for me too. Get them all out. Rovers have been a shambles since late 2010 and it's about time we tried to establish what the root cause is. I refuse to blame the fall guys any longer for this mess. Why was Bala's so called, right hand man, not overseeing such a big deal by being alongside Silvester? A deal which potentially involved £10m. I find that strange. If not him, why was the CEO not overseeing it through to the finish? I actually feel for Broughton and JDT in this situation. I don't blame the former for this. He did his bit by having the O'Brien deal lined up. I liken Broughton's work in this instance to what Cheston did a few years back, when he worked diligently to have Neil Warnock lined up to manage us. Only for Cheston's good work to be undone by tossers deciding Owen Coyle was a better idea. I wonder who suggested Coyle, and why? Now, we have a similar situation where we have missed out on a top player at this level, who will probably never look at us again. Was somebody spooked by the money that was about to be spent on O'Brien in terms of wages and future transfer fee? Was it deliberate or a genuine error? I find it hard to believe we were going to pay him £40k plus a week for the next six months and commit to a £10m permanent transfer when we have been scrambling around for cheap deals for years. Broughton says the "process" was set up 10 years ago. Firstly, by who? Secondly, who has been overseeing that process for the last 10 years? The answers to those two questions are crucial to understanding why the club is a mess. He's not going to see this, but I'd like to apologise to Lewis O'Brien as a Rovers fan, in any case. This shambles is not the real Blackburn Rovers that we all know and love. Our club has been in a bad way for a long time and is a mess in the way that it is ran. We hope you get to play again this season for a foreign club, if that is possible. Silvester should be the first one out on his ear, IMO. He's not likely to be going anywhere though. Him and Lowey were appointed way back and have remained in place despite all kinds of ins and outs at the club over the years. A bit strange, that. They must both just be very good at what they do. That, and Bala being a loyal guy too, of course. The real issues are stemming from above the heads of Waggott and Broughton, imo. They are the only ones we see though and who front up. Someone mentioned patsy, Broughton is the patsy! A cynic might say that's exactly how some would like it.

You're right. Fans of other clubs see us sat in the play off places and take the lack of public protests and unrest towards the owners as a sign that things are good now. That the owners have learnt their lesson and should be given credit for still putting money in after all these years. If they knew how much of a shambles the club has been, and still is, under these owners I think they would be stunned. It has been utter shit from the moment they walked through the doors. Now we have another moment for others to laugh at. Other clubs have had it bad too, and there is certainly competition for this lot in the 'worst owners ever' stake. However, 12 years of this crap, with things getting worse, more embarrassing, more ridiculous. I don't think I've ever seen anything else like it.

I imagine they then spent 90 minutes arguing over who was going to ring Barry and tell him there's a £10m obligation fee involved. "Steve, it's your turn". "No. I rang him last time. Suhail, can you do it, please. Tell him he would be best midfielder in the Championship and that he would be an important signing for us. He'll listen to you". "Erm, Gregg, you're incharge of signings, I'll leave it with you, if you don't mind. You know the ins and outs more than I do". After all the back and forth, they suddenly look at the clock and realise it's 10:50 pm. "The time! Ring him now. Quick". Barry's phone keeps going to voicemail and panic is setting in. Then Suhail drops the bombshell which almost causes Steve to pass out. "Guys. Shit! I forgot. It's 4 am in Pune. The boss is in bed by midnight every night". "What! How could you forget that? What are we going to do now?" "Just send it. Send it. Get the deal sheet in, we've got 5 minutes left, we'll have to deal with the questions in the morning". 10:58 pm: the deal sheet goes in. The three amigos exit the building silently, the distress visible on their face. Feb 1st 2023: It's the morning after the night before and Barry has woke up to the news that he might have to pay £10m for a loan signing. He has never paid that much for a player before and isn't about to start doing it now. Nobody has seen or heard from Steve, Gregg and Suhail this morning, but more worrying are the noises coming out that the EFL is to blame for the O'Brien deal not going through. Disclaimer: Fictional.

A good feeling after years of early cup exits. Sounds like Pears, Carter and Dack were excellent tonight. Dack was getting into dangerous positions and could have scored 2. The old Dack is slowly returning. Looking forward to the Leicester game, which should be televised. We have a chance of doing them. They have some quality players, but have been cold in numerous games this season too.

I assumed he was a Stanley fan as he covers a lot of their games, but I'm not sure, to be honest.

Neil McDonald has been a good addition on Co commentary duty tonight. It's as if he is a Rovers fan, urging us on at every opportunity. Radio Lancs need to have him on more. Knows his football.

I would love for that to be true. Thomas, O'Brien and Undav would be excellent additions on a seemingly limited budget.

Dack misses a good chance. Played in by JRC but flicks it over the keeper and the bar.

The commentary is online on here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_lancashire

Spot on, particularly the bit about cycles. I fear we are going to look back on these last two January windows with deep regret in years to come. This and last January were the best placed, to really have a go, we have ever been under these owners. I don't think we'll find ourselves in such a position again. It's like Den and others have said, if the owners won't show intent with us well placed for two January's in a row, when are they ever going to? The path that we are currently on, the lack of backing this month, talk about cost cutting, another summer overhaul to come, having to rebuild with little money, an over reliance on the Academy...none of that points to a club that seriously wants promotion. It will all likely lead to the opposite, a relegation battle and a possible return to L1 in the near future. Broughton talks a good game and probably means what he says regarding the plan. However, the way we operate, the way these owners treat the club, means they face an uphill struggle. That doesn't excuse Broughton and Co for matters that come under their responsibility though. The Championship has been more average than normal these last couple of years. That won't be the case forever and it will likely become tougher for us over the next 3 years. Therefore, it was imperative we took one of these chances before us. Just like Bellamy said, you can't pick and choose when to go up. If it's there, you bloody go for it. Unless we pull off some surprise moves between now and 11 pm, it looks like we have blown it. Two great chances which may never come around again under this ownership.

Luton about to sign Marvelous Nakamba on loan from Villa. An experienced centre mid, a very good signing for this level. Onomah to Preston too, as has been mentioned already. Those two clubs are going about it the wrong way. They don't have parachute payments either. Why haven't they gone for a kid from Villa/Fulham instead? Won't somebody think about the finances? It has the feel of one of those Venky special deadline days again. Watching everybody else make signings whilst knowing deep down we'll bring sod all in. We'd be better off having no owners, instead of having this lot. A waste of time they are.

I'm not surprised. His frustration has become more evident as the window has gone on. Suggesting time is of the essence etc, plus he wasn't joking when he made the "January 2024" comment. It's not as if he's coming to the end of his managerial career and is happy to just pick up a wage. He doesn't need this Venky charade and won't hang around for long. That said, I wouldn't be too fussed if he left. It's the message that it sends out that is the problem though. A new manager walking, for example, due to a lack of backing or a change of promises screams dysfunctional and tells the football world nothing has changed. The problem we have is the next man in will be working to the same brief. Same case if Broughton was to go. Same with Waggott. That's not a reason to say they need to stay as long as possible, just that whoever comes in to replace them has to work under the same tossers and to the same deluded aim set by them. We aren't set up to succeed, simply put.

This club has no luck under these owners. Anything that can go wrong, usually does go wrong and has been doing for 12 years. That applies to both on the pitch, with players picking up injuries at key moments, players dropping off form wise, the stream of late goals conceded over the years, silly points dropped etc, and off the pitch too. Where do we even start with the off pitch matters? There are too many to mention. If word is to be believed we had Undav lined up, only for Brighton or the player to pull the plug. We had Kone lined up, only for his club to pull the plug. We can't catch a break. I'm not saying the present situation is all down to luck. Broughton and Co shoulder some of the responsibility too for leaving things this late. However, they appear to be working with buttons, under owners who apparently want a "sustainable Premier League club" (Yeah, right). I don't rate Broughton as an operator, but give him something to work with. Why are we scrambling around for loans? It looks like we haven't got a pot to piss in, that's why. Second January running that we have wasted a good opportunity because those at the top aren't all that bothered. I think the reality of how this club operates will be hitting home for Broughton and JDT right about now. Lambert, Coyle, Mowbray, they all felt it. Sadly, JDT looks to be the next one. It's bloody sad to think that nothing has changed in how we operate, even though a new structure has come in, including a new recruitment team. New dawn? Not with these owners. Nothing will change under them.

Judan seems to have a problem with the Rovers fans, Gav. It's the fans that he is claiming are racist, not the club itself, even though the tweet at the start of this thread reads like it is the latter. He says in another tweet how sad it is that his friends, the owners, inherited racist fans upon buying the club. Utter rubbish, of course. We only need to think back a bit to see where this narrative first began. We know there were bastards that tried everything possible to discredit the fans and make us look like the villains. I am of the opinion that this is where most of Judan Ali's ill feelings stem from. Needless to say, he is wrong, in the same way that the weasel like tossers who are still trying to peddle this narrative where they can, are wrong. A message for one of those weasels who will be reading this: you can stick your "unconscious racism" tripe where the sun doesn't shine. Don't think it went unnoticed. We know your game. Back to your post, Gav, the bit in bold is similar to a question that I have too. Do the owners think that some of the fans are racist and that this is the reason why they aren't liked by all? I hope not. We'll never know, but I think it's possible that notion might have been suggested to them in the past by agenda driven dickheads. Quite simply, Ali and others need to look at where the club was in October 2010 and where it is today. The way the club has been reduced to this shell, with no care shown along the way, desperately scrambling around in the transfer window for any loan signings we can get. That's why the owners are disliked. It's purely footballing reasons for many. Sensible people know and understand this of course, but it still needs saying. This charade has gone on long enough and I'm sick of it. Hurry up, sell up and take all the jokers and hangers on with you. Nothing will change until the club is sold.

Know nothing about Ugbo, never heard of him before this afternoon. Having watched a few clips he looks to have some pace and strength about hin. Different to what we have had up there in recent times. His scoring record hardly inspires though, but let's see what he is about. It looks like we are trying to address the lack of pace in our side, with next to nothing to play with budget wise. Thomas and Ugbo will offer us pace at least, which could give us a different edge, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with how things are going so far in this window. I rate Thomas and he has assists in his locker to go with the speed, but was hoping for more overall. You can see JDT getting frustrated by how slow we have been with signings, it's probably getting to Broughton too. For the second January in a row, the budget is killing any promotion hopes we have and that's on the owners, IMO.

A very steady and composed performance from Jason Steele today. Looked a totally different keeper to the shaky one we saw play for Rovers. Good coaching goes a long way, as well as being part of a serious set up. Brighton play some excellent football and are good to watch. They are capable of beating any of the big sides on their day. Forget hoping we get them in the next round (if we get through, of course), they would wipe the floor with us. I admire the way in which they have found these relatively unknown gems and built a handy side off the back of them. Estupinian, Caicedo, McAllister, Mitoma. The latter looks a steal. That is real scouting. In terms of potential next round opponents, our best chance of progressing, IMO, would be drawing one of Bristol City, Luton, Stoke or Sheff Wednesday. Preferably at home. Provided we all make it through, as a couple of those have replays too.

The replay for this game conveniently falls on the upcoming Tuesday, the 31st. Transfer deadline day. As if the hierarchy needed any excuse to deflect away from our lack of signings. They've just been handed one on a plate.

Possibly the best game JRC has had in a Rovers shirt. Maybe the thought of being moved on has kick started his game. Good to see this from him today.

That should have been game over. Glad to see Khadra go off for them. He was their main threat. Strange sub, but will take it.

The one area that needs addressing the most is the one the hierarchy are seemingly happy to leave as it is. Midfield. Our options in there are so, so poor. Morton a total waste of time. A kid amongst men, literally. Not up to it. They won't, but he needs to be sent back.

I'd like to take this moment to applaud Balaji Rao for his generosity. For bringing a Chilean superstar to the club to entertain us and for allowing him to leave for nothing, all so that Ben can fulfil a dream of playing Champions League football. There have been many smart operators in English Football over the years, but there aren't many who are as kind as him. £7m spent on Ben, you say? Pah. Don't sweat it, small change. £8.4m offer to sell him in the summer? Don't be silly. £3m for Rothwell? Be serious now, we're talking pennies. We don't need to bring in transfer fees with "tiger" at the helm. It's all good. Just let us know where the next party is at, Bala. It's a shame you will never host a "promotion party" (Google it), but we're all up for having a few selfies with Akon if you can sort that out for us one day. Top man.

Happy to have Sorba Thomas here, even if it is on a short term loan. He's an actual winger, with pace, something that we haven't had for a long time. I don't agree with the view that we already have Dolan and Markanday, therefore we don't need him. Thomas is better than both, I feel, and should improve our starting 11. Considering we don't appear to have much money to play with, I think this is a good move for the short term as he gives us a different option. Undav, Gelhardt and a CM might be me being greedy, but that's what I would like to see next in addition to Thomas.

I only caught a bit of Chelsea on MOTD, but I like what I saw from Mudryk. Left footer he is, made one cracking mazy run where he dribbled past a couple of defenders and hit the side netting. Would have been some goal. Reminds me of our Duffer a bit. One to watch out for.

Seriously? Ryan Ledson put one tackle in and the soft lads didn't want to know. I think most of us can list the games where we were bullied and outfought too. Reading, Luton, Sheff Utd, Wigan, Cardiff, Burnley, Preston. There are more. Yeah, there have been games where we have missed good chances, like against Rotherham, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lack of fight in this side, as has been displayed in numerous games. Go a goal down and it's game over, that only points to one thing.

Exactly that. What makes it worse is that they have been hearing the same thing for the past five years. "It's alright lads, we go again next week", then they hear their manager constantly telling the press about it being a "young side, these results are going to happen, ups and downs". Both managers seemingly shrugging off defeats. That's bound to have an impact on the players. It's a deeply ingrained losing culture with a softly softly approach all round. A recipe for disaster. This provides the perfect environment for players who don't fancy it on a particular day and only serves to keep the losing cycle going. The capitulations over the past couple of years and the lack of fight in games this season show the effects of such an approach.