This news has stopped me in my tracks.  Shocking, he only got married a few weeks ago and has 3 young children.  He regularly does Twitch Streams of hjm playing Fifa (FC) which I have watched and seemed like a really nice guy.  RIP and thoughts/prayers with his family.

19 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Totally disagree.

It may not directly impact those gobshytes in Pune but Protests and Boycotts brings our plight to the attention of the Media and the general public.

Would you prefer to sit in silence and just except this bollox..why would ANY Rovers fan who gives a damn except that?

I am not saying don’t protest, we should but if the aim is to have an effect on Venky’s then it won’t work. They do not care as they so far removed that it does not affect them. The Indian media will not pick it up or even care, but agree it does make headlines in our local and national media. 

We are in a unique situation whereby we have owners who are putting in £20 million a year, with no realistic prospect of them getting any of that money back and yet they do not want to sell, there have been people who have approached them in the last 12 months and they have been blanked.  At this point you have to wonder why they will not sell? There is no realistic chance of the club going up in the near future, the club has become a black hole for any money that they put in, so you wonder why they keep the club?

Mass protests, boycotts etc will have zero impact on Venky's, the only way to put pressure on them is directly in India but that will not happen as there is little or no interest in Indian Media in this story.

The best way forward is for a perspective buyer to build a relationship with the family, it is hard but it is possible, will take time and convince them to sell the club.  

If Venky's remain owners and the current structure remains at Ewood then sadly the only direction that we are going is League 1, it seems inevitable and unlike last time we won't come straight back up. 

It is shocking to hear the level of what Azeem has suffered but not surprising, sport in many ways mirrors the society that we live in.  I would love to hear what Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid viewpoints, have they suffered similar abuse or have their experiences been different?

Such sad news.  Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.  

It is just as I feared if Rich's article is correct.  

Venky's are very loyal to people that they trust and they trust Mowbray.  I can see Waggott and Mowbray selling them the utter cobblers narrative that this shambles of a season is due to the Pandemic and them buying it.

I really hope that I am wrong on this and they remove him at the end off the seaon.  If Mowbray is incharge next season then barring some miracle over the summner and complete change in his approach/attitude then  we will be in a relegation battle.

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

NIMBY’s... Assemble!

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/19162618.villagers-vow-block-housing-plan-blackburn-rovers-site/

This is the best way to try and stop this plan, support the villagers, their concerns will havecarry weight with councillors/decision makers than our concerns as fans of the club.

High quality spin bowling that we just have not been able to cope with.  

12 hours ago, den said:

We could do with @Kamy100 joining us for the Opposition viewpoint.

I don't support India, I am Pakistani heritage and even then England is always my first love.

Hopefully we can put a big score on the board in the first innings, the pitch looks very dry for day 1 and it could be a mistake just going in with 1 spinner, although with the pink ball and the lights it could possibly swing late in the day.

Have to be careful in the first hour as the pink tends to swing much more in the first 10-15 overs.

Well done everyone, some really good and very informative posts in this thread, particularly for those of us who have some very limited understanding on this particular issue.

3 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Cheers Duncan. I'm far from Pulis' biggest fan but he'd be a big upgrade on Mowbray IMO.

But Paul Jewell - good left field shout of appointing the most random one of the lot.

They also have Greg Vignal, who is at Marseille as a first team coach, he has quite high rated.

3 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

How do Venkys decide when to change manager and who will be advising them on this? 

I have always said that Waggott had no power in sacking Mowbray or any other manager. 

They still have advisors (not employed by the club) who they listen too, previousy this was likes of Kentaro, Zahavi etc, no idea who the current flavour of the month is.  Therein is the problem, if they sack TM which I don;t think they will, it will be those advisors that they will listen too when appointing a replacement, hence in the past we have ended up with duds like Coyle, often the people advising them are more about self interest rather than what is good for the future of the club,

3 minutes ago, neophox said:

Supporter Liaison Officer/General Manager, Lynsey Talbot: 01254 508270 / ltalbot@rovers.co.uk 

 

what is her role?

Can we contact her about our concern regarding the manager?

Contacting anyone at the club will be a waste of time, even Waggott doesn't have the power to recommend sacking Mowbray or even suggesting it.  It will be Venky's who make that decision and as has been proven time and again, they are very loyal to people that they trust and they trust TM.  

The only way that TM will leave before the end of the season is if he decides to walkaway.

With the state of the pitch, the heavy rain overnight and if the forecast is right the very heavy rain throughout the day, this game surely has to be in danger of being postponed?

13 minutes ago, J*B said:

Well, Pasha has blocked me on Twitter for tweeting he needs to bring Ainsworth in before the end of the season. So he either thinks I’m a lunatic for wanting Ainsworth, or he won’t even hear Mowbray has to go. 

It will be the lattar Josh.  I wrote last month that Mowbray will have the total support of the owners, they do not sack people that they they have strong relationships and trust.  He has got them out of trouble in the last 3 years and stabalised the football club, they also look at the likes of Dack and Armstrong, players who were purchased for a relatively modest amount and are now worth £15 million plus each, this is the kind of model they want to operate.

I cannot see any circumstance (other than us falling seriously into a relegation battle that they decide to sack him).  I have a huge amount of respect for Mowbray and as at previous clubs I can see a scenario where he decides to walk away.

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

He's here at long last, was due on 22nd December! I'm in love all over again.

Congratulations Mike, what wonderful news.  

This will change your life for the better and bring happiness/joy to you all.

Just now, unleaded said:

I find hard to believe when every Euro Garage sells lottery tickets and other gambling items .....

No idea but that is what I was told a few years ago.

They have been approached in the past and have decilined, mainly because their father is religous and will not let them invest in any business that has any links to gambling.

The Westwood link fits with what I have heard that there is little money to spend, his transfer fee would be free/nominal and Rovers will be enquirying as to how much of the wages Sheff Weds would be willing to pay, if it is a reasonable amount then that would be considered a "value for money" signing and would likely be authorised, there have been signficant savings made on wages given the players we have released/not renewed.

The positive of this situation is that it will give some of the academy players a chance, this current crop of players in the under 18's/under 21's is one of the best bunch that I have seen in my time following the club, there are players that could make the jump to the first time, it is about getting the balance right as you need the right blend and to complement them you need good quality players proven at this particular level.

There is very little money to spend.  I have heard that Venky's will continue to fund the club (to meet current liabilities) but they want to reduce overheads as much as they can with money spent on transfers being one of the key cost reduction areas, even if we sell players, some of that money will be used to reduce overheads.  

This has been coming for a few years, there had to come a time when the Venky's made the decision to reduce spending, the hope is that they can transition to this new model of working in a controlled way but I very much doubt that will happen as I have little or no faith in the executive structure at Ewood to be able to successfully manage such a transition.

It is going to be a summer of balancing the books.

With our biggest asset (Dack) not being sellable because of his injury, it will probably mean one or two off Lenihan, Travis or Arma having to be sold to help balance the books.

After that we are looking at freebies, loans and signing up and coming players from lower leagues.

We don't have the money for a major facelift for the squad.

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

Been playing The Last of Us Part II this weekend. A very good game indeed so far!

Totally agree.  About 6 hours in and it is awesome, love the stroyline and the gameplay.also graphically it looks beautiful,