Agreed. He showed at the business end of last season that he hasn't got what it takes. Crumbled when the pressure was on. Trying to calm the Blackburn End down as he couldn't handle a bit of stick. Captain material? Not a chance. We've looked even worse at the back since his return to the side.

Their roster also includes Wahlstedt, Telalovic and former Rovers players in Zeefuik, Trybull, Harlock, plus Morton and Kaminski, as previously mentioned. JDT and Remy too. Not related to Rovers, but still an interesting read: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25228207/erik-ten-hag-agent-man-utd-academy-transfer/

It might take us falling into the bottom three before the MSM pay attention, I feel. Relegation almost certainly would. The more JDT highlights what he is having to deal with, the better, in my view. As the belief on the outside appears to be that "Venky's are doing ok now" and that they "pump money into the club" therefore they aren't that bad. It's still an absolute shit show as most of us know, it's just that there isn't visible discontent in the stands or issues highlighted by the press for outsiders to pick up on. JDT is, hopefully, painting a picture with these honest interviews. Of the local journos, I think Andy Bayes is our best hope of putting some pressure on. He has started to be more direct with his questions to JDT and Swag. He is a Rovers fan at the end of the day and I'm guessing there's only so much he can put up with too, even as a professional. There's another interviewer that I've been impressed with lately. I think he's called Adam Cottier. Direct and not afraid to ask questions. We need him and Bayes to stick it on Waggott and Broughton, in a journalistic sense, of course. There are many questions for that pair, in my view.

Real excitement in the air back then. I can remember feeling that buzz ahead of most games. Some special away performances/results that season. Dingles, Watford, Bolton, Birmingham, Grimsby, Nobbers. A particular favourite of mine was at Pride Park in the FA Cup. Drawn to face Premier League Derby and we go and smash 5 past them! What a squad and time that was. A lot of it comes down to intent. Back then, there was a clear intent from the top. We want promotion. Everybody was on board with it and the manager was backed to that end. The players wanted to do it for Uncle Jack too. Today? Only one man in the building has shown the right intent and he won't be hanging around for long.

Gary Owen was the former City player on there. I enjoyed listening to his views and he came across as a nice guy. Would often give Rovers a bit of airtime. I thought Alan Kennedy was ok too. Sharpey was just bothered about Everton. It was great to see us frustrate each of them in turn during those years.

Yeah, I remember that. On the 'Legends Football Phone in'. There was one particular Rovers visit to Old Trafford, where Thomas and a few of their fans were getting giddy beforehand on the Friday. Acting like it was a foregone conclusion for United. It took one of their wiser fans (Webby) to tell Thomas "don't take these (Rovers) lightly tomorrow, Sparky's got them playing, they are coming to attack and we have to be on it, otherwise we will get beat". Morten scored twice... Not a peep from Thomas on the Monday.

Another Duff clip. Gary Neville up against a young Duffer. Neville has no chance:

Keep on shining a light on the shit show, Jon. We're right behind you. Any neutrals reading that will be wondering what the heck is going on. Good! We need people to start asking questions.

Andy Moran, eh? @gazza1981 No thank you, there are levels to this. This is what a real Blackburn Rovers player looks like:

Yeah, he also said that even though Hanley and Duffy were sold for good fees, he was told he would only have one of their wages available to replace the pair of them with. Ridiculous. We had addressed the frontline, but managed to decimate the defence in the same breath. That's the Venky way. It looks like no lessons have been learnt either as a similar thing seems to be happening again now. I.e use one of the departing wages to cover three signings. It's a recipe for relegation, when those players are lower league standard and not of the calibre for this club. As is the case with Ennis and Telalovic.

Oh, I don't disagree. He would have most likely lumbered us with shite. It's more the idea that he didn't get the money, but the spin being put out was that he chose not to spend. Spin via itk's etc, which takes the blame away from Venky's. Something which appears to have repeated itself with Mowbray. One thing about Coyle, despite being a crap manager, he didn't have trouble finding us a striker with little money to play with. We needed strikers and he goes and gets Gallagher, Graham, Emnes and Joao. Just on that aspect alone, he puts Broughton to shame.

I don't think the Hollywood boys will have encountered a circus quite like ours before. The thought of Waggott rolling out the red carpet for them and their entourage. Yuck. Good draw on paper, there will be plenty of interest/intrigue, but I feel this has got upset all over it.

22. Steven Reid

Relegation, doesn't get you the sack here. Costing the owners £2m by acting without their authority, doesn't get you the sack here. Cocking up transfers, doesn't get you the sack here. Spiralling down the table, doesn't get you the sack here. Poor results and performances, doesn't get you the sack here. Speaking the truth though... That's a problem.

We'll probably never know the truth, Rev, but what I think is clear is that there are two narratives that have been put out regarding previous budgets. One of those narratives is a lie. Why? Well... 1) Coyle (yeah, I know) has openly said on 'Under The Cosh' that he had signings lined up in January 2017, but that the owners wouldn't give him the funds to complete the deals. At the same time, it was being said that Coyle had money to spend but that he was choosing not to spend it (sounds familiar). According to Coyle, the owners were happy for him to take the flak for a lack of signings. When he tried to correct the (in his view) false narrative about him choosing not to spend, he got the sack. 2) We have heard similar in relation to Mowbray. Two or three posters with contacts saying he had Dembele, Wallace and a couple of others lined up, but no funds were given for him to sign them. One poster even alleging that this came from the horse's mouth. Notice how, at the same time as these targets supposedly being lined up, the whispers and narrative started going around that Mowbray had money to spend but that he was choosing not to spend it? Same as the Coyle situation. Not helped by Mowbray admitting he chose not to loan a Premier League striker, of course. However, there's a difference between making that type of signing and receiving funds for four signings who could significantly strengthen the squad in January. The way I see it, we have, on one side, two managers saying they didn't receive funds for signings in those particular windows. (This shifts the blame on to the owners, making the owners look bad) Then, on the other side, we have itk's/contacts saying the managers chose not to spend (This shifts the blame on to the managers, making the managers look bad and the owners look good) One of those sides is lying. There are signs of this still happening today. JDT openly questioned the ambition of the club, the words of Swag, he was batting for the fans saying we shouldn't be kept in the dark. He shone a light on the shit ownership. What did we then start to see? So called itk's and people with contacts trying to pin everything on JDT instead. It's clear to me how this might be unfolding. These itk's are getting this info from somewhere. I am of the view that duff info is given to some at times, and for a particular reason. I don't mean that you or your contact are lying, nor anybody else on here. I'm talking about where the leak originally comes from, much further up the chain. I personally believe there is an agenda to protect the owners, to deflect blame away from them, and to make out as though these oh so generous folk are being held back by x, y and z. If only it wasn't for FFP, Parachute Payments and now the Indian Government. I have never bought it and never will.

Ah, yes. The open goal, an incredible miss. I had forgot about that. Could have been 8.

Much better second half. Could have scored 7 with one hitting the post and Arnor missing a good chance. The cups bring something different, even though the overall situation doesn't look good at the minute. United away in the next round, hopefully. That's the game for me.

I would say unbelievable. But it's not.

Cup games haven't been available on Rovers Player/iFollow for as long as I can remember. I think this extends to audio commentary too. There's nothing on the website to watch/listen to when it involves the cups.

It seems as though anybody who is able to deliver a few home truths is moved on. Salgado, Roberts, Emerton, Nelsen, Samba, Dack and now Travis. A common theme, whereby players who ask questions make some uncomfortable and need to be moved out. Of course, moving these players on helps make a saving too, but I think there's more to it than that. Wasn't the Derby halftime 'takeover' under Mowbray led by Travis? Might be a cynical view, but I think the lack of fight among the two you mention isn't seen as a bad thing by this setup. It's about complying, not asking questions. Szmodics has looked peed off with teammates on the pitch recently, throwing his arms up at poor passes etc. He'll be next to go. That seems obvious based on the fee he could bring in, but also because he doesn't look like somebody who is happy to just hang around in a development team.

Chaddy, that praise might be genuine but there could also be an alternative explanation. Think about how that Kaminski interview might have come about for a moment. Is it not possible that after viewing this forum and seeing Benson getting panned, somebody has thought we need to get some good PR out about our goalkeeper coach? After all, Benson is obviously a key member having survived allsorts of upheaval at the club. What a stunning way it would be to silence the critics than with praise from a professional. That'll show 'em. The pro's know best, apparently. Isn't that the exact angle that the itk's and plants like to use against us 'no nowts' on here and elsewhere? 'The pro's know better than you'. 'Kaminski has made you no nowts look stupid. Ha'. This is what was being said by some fans online, here and elsewhere after the interview. I would say that was 'job done' in terms of PR. I really want to add how I think this could have happened, as this is where it is likely to click with some, but it's better I don't. The clues are out there though. I wouldn't believe everything I hear from players, Chaddy. There's a lot of PR bullshit that goes on in football. If Benson was such a fantastic goalkeeping coach, why is nobody trying to take him off us?

I have noticed this in a few places too. So called itk posters trying to go after JDT and deflecting criticism away from Swag and Co. There were a couple on here doing that only recently. One was blaming JDT for wasting his funds on a midfielder and saying he shouldn't complain because it's his own fault. Another wasn't happy with JDT "speaking like that" when he openly called Swag out and said that the fans shouldn't be kept in the dark about the project changing. I personally feel somebody, somewhere, is trying to engineer JDT's exit. Remember how the stories started being planted about "financial meltdown at Rovers, JDT about to quit" in the summer, at a time when optimism was in the air? That felt off to me. The way the budgets have been cut, the nature of the squad, plus his own ambitious nature. It all feels like a piss take of a situation, where any ambitious manager would genuinely think about walking. Why would somebody want him to walk? It could be because he is too ambitious for them, exposing the mess for what it is and making one or two uncomfortable in the process. Then you have the plants laying it all at JDT's door. I think @wilsdenrover is on the money with his theory. I think there has been an agenda for a while to keep the heat off certain people at the club. Which is where the plants and ultra pro club types come in trying to blame our fans, JDT, 1995, Shearer, Sutton and Football Manager for attendances, fan discontent and so on. Nothing to do with the bastards who have ruined the club though and who remain in situ taking the piss. Oh no.

Exactly. Remember Benjani running riot against them, with the odious one sat in our dugout. Amongst other moments where we not only competed with them, but hurt them too. Who can forget Tugay making Gerrard look silly before cutting them open for Benni's goal? This is shameless, absolutely shameless. That word sums up the whole operation though. Anything for a quick buck. Doesn't matter how it looks or sounds to our fan base, or the football world, let's keep Liverpool sweet so we can keep on loaning a kid or two off them. I don't think ANY other club in all four Divisions would stoop this low. There's something called self respect, which prevents them from doing so. No such thing here though.

Club is finished until there is a complete overhaul at the top. Still an agent's playground. Winning means nothing to the tossers above the manager. JDT should walk. The right man in the wrong era and environment. He is working with crap, being given buttons, and expected to pull off miracles. I can only apologise, Jon. This isn't the real Blackburn Rovers you are dealing with. The people above you are not ours. I do not claim any of those bastards as representatives of this fantastic club. Venky's, Waggott, Silvester, Gregg and the rest alongside you. Bollocks to the lot of you. You deserve relegation. Sadly, it is us, the players and the manager who will be left hurting by it.

Cheston and Silvester would also go onto that list to make it 64. There are a couple of Directors of Indian background who might also be added, I think. One is called Gandhi Babu, not sure of the other. Would Lynsey Talbot, Yasir Sufi and the women's team staff probably take it up to 75 from there? I assume that's what it is.