I think Alan Pace goes all wobbly when in the presence of perceived football 'icons and celebrities' etc hence his 'love affair' with Kompany. Given this, I would expect the appointment of Lampard - Northcote Manor and Shajan watch out!

Think there's a clear pattern emerging! Other than the desperados, difficult to imagine who would want to work for Rovers? I think our name must be mud out in the football world (clubs, players, agents etc).

Can't blame the lad given, IMO, the chaotic state of our club. Think Sutton is a Blackburn lad with links to Kevin Gallagher and he used to live just down the road from the Wharton family. Think it says it all when local lads want out and find Huddersfield a more attractive proposition.

If Burnley make a half decent appointment then they will walk the Championship next season - they have a squad who are different class to ours and many players who will excel in the Championship. It will not be a rebuild job. There are fine margins in football in particular in the PL and I think Burnley weren't far away from getting it right enough to survive; they were obviously on a steep learning curve in the first half of the season and were a tad unlucky in a number of games but read somewhere they were averaging a point a match over the last dozen games or so despite their poor results in the final 3/4 games. I would appoint Cooper who transformed Forest from 'no hopers' in very quick time to get them promoted to the PL - if they do, they will be a real force next season.

Started off at Burnley then moved to Leeds where Kendall picked him up on a free for Rovers. Never a world beater but gutsy with an eye for goal - think he averaged about 1 in 5 which aint bad for a midfielder. Always remember the sitter he missed at the Town End, Preston, as the season drew to a close, in Kendall's second season with us - we drew that match and if Burke had notched, as he should, we would have been promoted to Division 1 (and done an Ipswich) instead of missing out on goal difference - it was heart breaking.

Should be a fantastic boost to a club both financially and structurally provided you have the executive management in place who know just what the feck they are doing. Sensible player trading, sensible contracts with relegation clauses and sensible plans to improve the club structurally (stadium, training ground etc). If the worse comes to the worse and you are relegated, you are stronger all round as a club than when you were when last in the Championship and not financially hamstrung and have a great opportunity to bounce right back.

@sympatheticclaret @Tyrone Shoelaces @roverandout You have all suffered close family losses and it does takes time to grieve and move on. A few years ago, in the space of just a few short weeks, I suffered three close family losses including my mother whose passing I learnt of whilst at one of the other two funerals. You find an inner resolve that will possibly surprise even yourselves and with the help of spouses and children, you will be surprised how relatively quickly that glimmer of light, at the end of the tunnel, becomes brighter.

and rightly so. All those players were relative successes for Rovers in their respective eras. All four had played for Burnley at one stage - think I'm right in saying only Adam Blacklaw was signed direct from Burnley with the other three arriving at Rovers from United, Stockport and Leeds. Hmmm!!! I couldn't give a flying feck who we ever sign from Burnley, or ex Burnley, whether it be manager, coach, scout or player. The acid test, and only test, should be do they improve Rovers and if the answer is yes, what's the feckin issue!? Time some folk grew up.

Sadly Chaddy, he's going on 29 and never played above Championship level. His goal record was highly impressive last season but so was Armstrong's in his last season with Rovers and he struggled in the PL! We signed Telalovic who was banging them in for fun with Borussia 11 but he looks like he couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo at this level! Realism is called for. Without doubt SS is desperate for a shot at the big time and it would be the height of idiocy to deny him that opportunity by holding out for a ridiculous price - you just end up with one wholly unhappy player. I think £10 to £12million with some add ons as a bonus would be a fair deal for all concerned.

Leeds certainly seem to bottle it when they need to produce. Their 'famed four' go missing. In a week when they had Sunderland and Rovers at home, they took just 1 point - that's what cost them. All credit to Martin - seems to have adopted a more pragmatic approach in the 3 play off matches and shown signs of learning. He walked into a chaotic situation and turned it around. Well done.

and Bob Lord at Burnley was a master of the art!

I would be absolutely staggered if there is no bid greater than £5/6million. All this stuff about £20million is nonsense given SS turns 29 in Aug. and has not played at a level higher than the Championship. Pretty sure someone will take a punt at £10/12million.

Can I suggest this thread is closed in order to ease the work load for Samaritans in the region. It's so feckin depressing.

Why ?

Think he's struggled when out on loan at lower levels than the Championship just as Vale. Don't think he's one for us

Vascular dementia is a horrible, horrible illness and I know of the huge pain and upset it brings to affected families. In a way, your dad's passing may prove a blessing both for him and your family. May your dad Rest In Peace. 'Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal' Take care.

He did indeed. I played on Rovers a couple of times in schoolboy matches and after one of those games, Jimmy handed out the match awards. Surprised just how small he was but a lovely chap sharing a few words with each player.

Football may have moved on over the years but my goodness there ain't half some sh1te spouted about 'sporting structures' and all the others connected with a football club. Presently, Rovers have a Head Coach, 2 Assistant Head Coaches, a First Team Coach, a Goalkeeping Coach and a Technical Coach/Head of Player Development. To that we are told they are looking to appoint a Technical Director and a Head of Recruitment (in addition to the Head of Recruitment we already have). It's simply feckin ridiculous for a Championship club whose sole ambition is seemingly to keep out of the bottom 3!!! Just WTF do Eustace, Gardiner, Downing, Lowe and Johnson do !?!? Three of those should be axed. Why do we need a 'Technical Director' !? We already have a Head of Recruitment - why do we need another !? I'm with @jim mk2 player contracts etc should be the remit of the a club secretary as in Cloughie's day and who can forget the great Peter Robinson who as Secretary at Liverpool ran probably the most efficient administration in football, including transfer / contract negotiations, and helped make Liverpool the success it was and is. IMO, so called football structures are over hyped, over staffed and over paid with too many too happy to jump on a perceived sexy bandwagon which in the main doesn't deliver as evidenced by the mess most clubs are in, Chelsea being a prime example.

Why do you keep banging on about a sporting structure - give it a rest. United did have a sporting structure! Ashworth / Wilcox replace Murtough / Fletcher. At the end of the day, the key man in any football club is the Manager/Head Coach who either make or break a club as we have seen with Klopp.

Think this is now all getting rather silly. Currently we have: Head Coach: John Eustace Assistant Head Coaches: Matt Gardiner and Keith Downing First Team Coach: David Lowe Goalkeeping Coach: Ben Benson First Team Technical Coach & Head of Player Development: Damien Johnson Head of Player Recruitment: Sean Kimberley So that is 6 coaches for the first team! Supposedly, we are now looking at: A Head of Recruitment/Transfers (wtf does Kimberley do?) A 'Technical Director' (doesn't Damien Johnson do this?) Is this not simply replacing Broughton with two others? All this flies in the face of muted draconian cost cutting. For a club of our size and ambition and losing some £20million per season, I think we are grossly overstaffed. A lean machine? You are having a larf. IMO, far too many on the gravy train which seems to be heading for derailment should all this nonsense continue.

A step in the right direction - really? IMO, a dog's breakfast which will do very little to either consolidate existing levels of season ticket holders or attract new season ticket holders given last season's horrors and the fact we can all see some 50% of all games now sat in comfort at home without having to contend with unfamiliar match days and kick-off times. Jackson's LT article "It's understood that, in response to the new Sky Sports TV deal with the EFL, the board have invested £500K and potentially up to £1million of that revenue to reduce the cost of Season Tickets". IMO, that is bollocks - quite simply, if the club had reduced prices by £100/season ticket, it would have cost circa £900k; I would love to see the assumptions and numbers behind Jackson's understanding - think the 'real' cost will be well shy of £500k. Phase 1, phase 2, phase 3 are all feckin nonsense and unnecessarily unwieldy. Phase 1 (to 22 June) - think Rovers are trying to max out before the fans realise Sammy will be sold and our signings will very likely be frees and loans? Phase 2 (to 22 July) - just what is the point? Phase 3 - kicks in when Rovers could have done some quality transfer business (I know that's wishful thinking), however, any season ticket waverers (existing or new) including those who wanted to wait and see what our team might look like for the new season would then be faced with paying an extra 25% to 30% more than someone who bought a ticket just 30 days earlier - that is utter madness and wont work. Just to put all the phase 1, 2 & 3 stuff into context, if Rovers sold season tickets to the value of £3million on 1 August as opposed to £3million on 1 June, the working capital cost would be about £40k at 3% over base - this is at the extreme end of things and chicken shit in the scheme of things. The booking fees are also a nonsense. A fan who wants to buy a season ticket should be able to do so how they wish and not be charged either £2 or £10 - it's, again, chicken shit in the overall scheme of season tickets and more and more fans will feel peeved for the sake of some £40/50k. In conclusion and IMO, it's a 'con' (perhaps just 10% to 15% of the new Sky TV monies being 'invested' in the supporters) with the odd gimmick used to try and mask the paucity of an unimaginative offer relative to the horrors of last season and the ready availability of Rovers games on Sky tv next season. I think Rovers will be fortunate to retain 75% of existing season ticket holders.

Delighted for Adam Wharton and congratulations! Posted when he first broke into our team that one day (think I said within 3 years) he would run England's midfield. There's no doubt he will and looks like with at least a year to spare from my prediction! Real quality young players like Duff and Wharton break through early and stand out like beacons. It was clear we had a gem on our hands. Sadly, IMO, the Raos, Waggott, Broughton and Pasha really fecked up with the valuation and deal and I think he'll be on his way out of Palace within 12 months for a fee of £75million+. I think it's a tragedy what happened with Wharton's sale and is just another symptom, IMO, of the hopeless and incompetent ownership and executive management that maligns our club.

That would send shivers down my spine. What's he achieved in his career? Hopefully, Benson and Lowe will be first through the exit door. We need a goalie coach who has played the game and earned his stripes - in years gone by we've seen the likes of Gennoe, Mimms, Flowers and Kelly in goalie coach roles at different clubs, all very decent keepers who no doubt know the art of keeping inside out. Think we need someone with a similar profile to those four. As for Lowe, how can there be a role for him when we have Eustace, Gardiner, Downing and Johnson. A mystery to me how Lowe has kept a job at Rovers for so long - I think he must know too much about skeletons and cupboards!

I was no Broughton fan but, IMO, one of the reasons he's gone and paid 'hush money' is he knew too much about the shenanigans at Rovers not least the debacles of the last two January windows where we 'lost' 3 players, allegedly 'admin errors'! My only expectation is another Waggott 'yes man' will be appointed in order to keep good company with our 'yes man' Head Coach.

@chaddyrovers - yes you are right, memories we could not have dreamt about before Jack became involved. Seeing Rovers achieve Jack's dream at Anfield back in 1995 was the pinnacle for me in 60 + years of watching Rovers. Sadly, for a number of reasons, we didn't kick-on. Sat in the Kemlyn Road stand that day and post match went up to a client's corporate box for a few drinks and it was quite clear the Liverpool fans thought we were a 'big force' and there to stay. Always remember a story a dear friend of my father's told me - in the very early days of 'Walkersteel' (1950's), Jack and Fred did the rounds of the Blackburn pubs and clubs trying to raise finance by selling 'shares' - his biggest regret was not taking them up on their offer. Happy birthday Jack, may you be resting in peace and thanks for the extraordinary memories.