Mercer

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.

Chaddy, with your encyclopedic knowledge of football and suggestions of new players by the barrow load, why don't you go and see your mate Waggott again and tell him your his next DOF?

Do we properly scout players? Likes of Mola, Leo and Semir (to name but three) suggest we don't because if they have been "properly scouted" our recruitment department needs feckin sacking. Gallagher sign a contract on a lesser wage - come on Chaddy, that really is fantasy island stuff. Fleck - IMO, our medical department haven't covered themselves in glory in recent years! Think any person, medical or otherwise, with a grain of common sense would steer clear of Fleck like the plague. Injury hit and injury prone players are no use to Rovers. Think Fleck makes Vince Grella look like Superman!

Think there are two points for consideration: Come 31 August, our owners legally may no longer be in a position to continuing further funding for Rovers Consider extracts from the accounts for year ending 30 June 2023: Strategic report - the directors have prepared cash flow forecasts through to June 2027 and "the company will require significant funding in addition to current facilities available to the company" Strategic report - the ultimate parent company "has confirmed it will not recall the amount outstanding of £123,052,900, included in creditors due in less than one year, within twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements". This therefore ends this calendar year. Auditors report - "a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern". Relates to the ultimate parent company's ability to remit funds to its overseas subsidiaries. Bank overdraft facility (at £15million in accounts) expired 10 May 2024 - would think the ongoing Indian court case will have cause some discomfort with the bank. Banks do not lend money, even if they are secured, if they think there is a serious question mark against a company's solvency. IMO, there is a chance Rovers will enter insolvency before the calendar year is out especially if the court case goes the 'wrong way' and the Raos decide to cut and run and claw back what they can from, IMO, one sorry mess. Good luck if that gives you any warmth and reassurance!

This thread is so very depressing. It seems like we have now scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are rummaging through all the sh1t that lies beneath. If anyone on this MB seriously thinks we are going to be paying fees this summer and bringing in quality additions then I think they are seriously, seriously deluded. I think the die is cast and next season will be a long and torrid affair. I really hope the Indian court actions in August bring about an end to the current ownership as, IMO, Rovers as a club needs fumigating from top to bottom and we need to start again under new ownership and senior management, at the bottom of the pile if need be. We need a glimmer of light and hope.

Are we really looking to sign Fleck who will be 33 in August and whose football has been very limited over the last 2 seasons after 2 broken legs and 3 leg operations? The mind boggles - we never ever feckin learn. I think someone in our medical department needs to have the balls to stand up and say this would be a stupid move.

After 60+ years of supporting Rovers, IMO, Waggott is the worse CEO / Chairman I have seen both in terms of ability and amiability and by some distance.

Someone posted about the 'legal side' not being settled. If I recall correctly, did we not end up in court, with costly settlements, over both the Berg and Shaw 'dismissals'? There's little doubt Broughton will know the warts and all about the last two January window debacles where we 'lost' three players (O'Brien, Brierley and McGuire). I think it's quite clear Broughton has been at the exit door since the latter stages of the January window. It would be a fair assumption to think Broughton is more than p1ssed-off having seen his reputation perhaps tarnished. Is Broughton pursuing either an unfair or constructive dismissal claim (seems Waggott was actively involved in player trading in the last window and 'sourced' Eustace)? In my mind, there is little doubt this is not straightforward, hence the delay, and we could be looking down the barrel at yet another costly settlement.

Don't think this will surprise the majority on this MB. Think at best, it will be a survival battle next season and even that may be beyond us if the Indian court case brings about our insolvency. I think Waggott will soon be vilified as much as Kean was. IMO, he is not being straight with the supporters and taking us all for mugs with his weasel words.

At one stage, in the relative halcyon days of the PL, I had half a dozen season tickets which were used for family and business purposes. Now I have none, and haven't had so for some time, and don't envisage having any in the foreseeable future. The bottom line, IMO, as @roverbluehas pointed out, the match day experience is utter sh1te and I haven't the slightest inclination to waste either my time or money in going to Ewood. I do think the club takes the p1ss out of its supporters who simply don't deserve what has happened under this ownership. If season ticket sales dive and attendances fall even further then it would send out a clear message. Any rational supporter can sit back in the cold light of day and think going forward, they will be able to see circa half the Rovers' games live on tv and for the other games, match day tickets could be bought if wanted. Result - most existing season ticket holders will be at least £200/£300 better off when you weigh-in other factors such as travel, food, drinks etc; add to that the improvements to quality of life (family, time to do other things, no aggravation re-arranging work commitments) and it becomes a no brainer if the match day experience is so poor. Huge, huge changes need making to how we price season tickets and the overall match day experience, however, sadly, I don't think the nous exists at Ewood to see the bigger picture and react accordingly. Worse still, I don't think they care.

I would think he is willing to comply with all Waggott's wishes - another 'yes man'. As you say, only at Rovers!

Think you are in fantasy land.