[Archived] Times article

[beatrix]

In reality there was very little that our fanbase could do about the venkys and their catastrophic reign.

Once the walkers trust accepted the venkys offer the die was cast. Nobody could have known how disastrous their

management was going to be, it is still unbelievably bad even with hindsight.

No fans are to blame for our situation, just the venkys. It is futile to point fingers at fans because we have no power

whatsoever to influence what a bad owner does with a privately owned company.

Like many others I cannot see a way out of our debt ridden situation, and cant for the life of me understand what the

venkys hope to gain from continuing to lose money on a monthly basis on top of the debt, especially bearing in mind that

they can relatively easily pull the plug on VLL.

As a fan base we have been extremely unlucky being landed with such lousy owners it could have worked out but it didn't.

It occurs to me that we would be much better off with some type of fan ownership situation than run the risk of dodgy owners.

[Leonard Venkhater]

In reality there was very little that our fanbase could do about the venkys and their catastrophic reign.

Once the walkers trust accepted the venkys offer the die was cast. Nobody could have known how disastrous their

management was going to be, it is still unbelievably bad even with hindsight.

No fans are to blame for our situation, just the venkys. It is futile to point fingers at fans because we have no power

whatsoever to influence what a bad owner does with a privately owned company.

Like many others I cannot see a way out of our debt ridden situation, and cant for the life of me understand what the

venkys hope to gain from continuing to lose money on a monthly basis on top of the debt, especially bearing in mind that

they can relatively easily pull the plug on VLL.

As a fan base we have been extremely unlucky being landed with such lousy owners it could have worked out but it didn't.

It occurs to me that we would be much better off with some type of fan ownership situation than run the risk of dodgy owners.

Agreed..The fans were fairly powerless. Although some may have seen the enormity earlier than others, I am still not sure how much change they could have affected. The questions remain, though: what should be our aims now? and what actions are within our power to increase the chances of any of those aims happening?

As you see, I struggle to accept the idea of complete powerlessness...even if it turns out to be reality...Rage..Rage against the dying of the light...or summat

[beatrix]

unfortunately we are powerless because at the moment our owners who are financially propping the club up, will not discuss selling the club even with people

like the two Ians or Wayne wild who obviously all have the best interests of the club at heart and are worried sick about our situation.

What chance have the fans got if these people cant even get the venkys to respond to them in any shape or form.

It may be the case that our situation is financially hopeless now even for these types of people to be able to put a bid together.

Us normal fans have no chance of affecting this situation.

[yoda]

unfortunately we are powerless because at the moment our owners who are financially propping the club up, will not discuss selling the club even with people

like the two Ians or Wayne wild who obviously all have the best interests of the club at heart and are worried sick about our situation.

What chance have the fans got if these people cant even get the venkys to respond to them in any shape or form.

It may be the case that our situation is financially hopeless now even for these types of people to be able to put a bid together.

Us normal fans have no chance of affecting this situation.

we still have a voice

[Majiball]

we still have a voice

having a voice only matters when someone is willing to listen.

just ask the students.

[longsiders1882]

Edmund Burke - "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Was just going to post that for you all B&W - bearing in mind the sense of one person being at the centre of all this, I'll offer this instead:

Baudelaire

"My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist!"

[thenodrog]

and cant for the life of me understand what the venkys hope to gain from continuing to lose money on a monthly basis on top of the debt, especially bearing in mind that they can relatively easily pull the plug on VLL.

I understand that if the club becomes actually bankrupt rather than in admin they lose the 'fit and proper' tag. why that is of importance or relevence to them I have no idea.

[Leonard Venkhater]

Was just going to post that for you all B&W - bearing in mind the sense of one person being at the centre of all this, I'll offer this instead:

Is it another diabolic trick for Satan to go by a Catholic name?...like...er Jerome

[tomphil]

Looking back on it and knowing what we now know i don't think a boycott or two would have made any difference whatsover as far as Venkys go. They'd nailed their colours to the team Kean mast over and above the fans/club or anything else. They were that ignorant they would have let the team play to an empty stadium for the rest of the season after coco/aggers/tantric etc had spun them some sinister tale or two. They'll have been feeling the weight of damage for it far more now and last season with the thousands staying away in the long term.

[funny-old-game]

Yet it is not slander or libel if it is true what is printed. There is more than enough evidence that could be put into print, that would not be either libel or slander. Yet still nobody dares put the truth into print. The FA / prem all know the truth, yet also do nothing.

Protests were always doomed to fail. For one simple reason. Outside of the town of Blackburn and the Rovers fan base - nobody really gives a dam. To the media it is just a story to make a buck from. Folk will only care when the club they support suffers the same as clubs such as Pompey and Rovers.

But the powers that be will continue to remain silent and do nothing. Yet often they charge managers etc for bringing the game into disrepute for speaking out against a refs performance.

But it is the powers that be that bring the game into disrepute. When the head is sick, the rest of the body will be also. The corruption in football starts at the top and works itself down - sadly I can't ever see that picture ever changing.

Glen Mullen said ,if the FA don't act on the information sent to them in the dossier, he would go public with the information.

I presume the dossier has many factual pieces in it that would point the finger at key players ( the dark lord ect) in Rovers destruction, and if we are going to hell in a hand cart lets at lease make these Barstewards squirm.!!

COME ON GLEN LET PANDORA OUT THE BOX,AS THE CLUB HAS NOTHING TO LOOSE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EgyptianPete]

unfortunately we are powerless because at the moment our owners who are financially propping the club up, will not discuss selling the club even with people

like the two Ians or Wayne wild who obviously all have the best interests of the club at heart and are worried sick about our situation.

What chance have the fans got if these people cant even get the venkys to respond to them in any shape or form.

It may be the case that our situation is financially hopeless now even for these types of people to be able to put a bid together.

Us normal fans have no chance of affecting this situation.

And here lies the absurdity of the situation, why are they STILL putting money in and apparently more in the January transfer window albeit maybe free transfers but wages or signing on fees will cost, is it just their way of saying we will not be seen to be beaten, i am lost on this, and whatever happened to the smoking gun dossier' that never saw the light of day.

Funny old game beat me to it.

[Jimmy612]

Glen Mullen said ,if the FA don't act on the information sent to them in the dossier, he would go public with the information.

I presume the dossier has many factual pieces in it that would point the finger at key players ( the dark lord ect) in Rovers destruction, and if we are going to hell in a hand cart lets at lease make these Barstewards squirm.!!

COME ON GLEN LET PANDORA OUT THE BOX,AS THE CLUB HAS NOTHING TO LOOSE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps Glen would like to provide an update on this? I was actually wondering the other day why it all went so quiet on this front? Was it because things have quietened down and on-field activity seems normal?

I guess you would have had the inside track on our financial meltdown Glen? You seem to have on most topics. You've been extremely quiet since about May or so now.

Genuine question and not trouble making - did Glen et al actually become quite pally with Singh whilst he was trying to remove Kean? Did they put their faith in him hoping he would turn it around? Do BRAG or whoever still have contacts in the club now that Singh has 're-located'.

All questions that I now have no idea about - anyone any answers?

[Roverall]

Gagged.

[Mike E]

Edmund Burke - "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Wasn't it Voltaire?

[Rover_Shaun]

BRAG threatened to reveal all back in the summer. It is now the winter of our discontent so get it out there

[K-Hod]

Yep, time to put up or shut up I think.

[Guest Norbert]

Perhaps there is some still some worry that parts may still give them a new financial bum hole if it goes to court for libel/slander. If everything is OK on that front, then the murky stuff should be released for all to see. Now.

Unless of course they're over stating what they have.

[Leonard Venkhater]

BRAG threatened to reveal all back in the summer. It is now the winter of our discontent so get it out there,

Baudelaire, Burke, Voltaire...now Shakespeare...and to think that thicko, Merson, had the gall to dismiss Rovers fans as numpties!

Meanwhile, I need to see the dossier, unless there is a sound, strategic reason for keeping it under wraps (which there may be...)

[yoda]

Baudelaire, Burke, Voltaire...now Shakespeare...and to think that thicko, Merson, had the gall to dismiss Rovers fans as numpties!

Meanwhile, I need to see the dossier, unless there is a sound, strategic reason for keeping it under wraps (which there may be...)

I think you will find the sound reason is they shoot the messenger

[West Yorks Rover]

I think you will find the sound reason is they shoot the messenger

They'd probably make it look like an accident.

[beatrix]

The blame game is now not worth playing, however it happened we are where we are in a dire financial situation with the future of the club at risk, certainly

when it is in the hands of the worlds worst owners.

I can only suggest forming a group of the most influential rovers supporters/ groups, thinking of the ians, wayne wild, wen wy hu, glen mullan, Kamy, Philip, etc and

meeting to investigate ways of opening dialogue with the venkys to try and work out a way forward that doesn't involve winding up, administration, receivership etc.

May still be futile but might be worth a try.

[West Yorks Rover]

The blame game is now not worth playing, however it happened we are where we are in a dire financial situation with the future of the club at risk, certainly

when it is in the hands of the worlds worst owners.

I can only suggest forming a group of the most influential rovers supporters/ groups, thinking of the ians, wayne wild, wen wy hu, glen mullan, Kamy, Philip, etc and

meeting to investigate ways of opening dialogue with the venkys to try and work out a way forward that doesn't involve winding up, administration, receivership etc.

May still be futile but might be worth a try.

Think they've tried all that.

Several times !

[broadsword]

And here lies the absurdity of the situation, why are they STILL putting money in

They aren't putting their own money in though and (perhaps Rhodes apart) I don't think they ever have.

If it wasn't for the fact that their business reputation is now in tatters, you'd suspect that the whole things been a coup of marketing genius to raise brand awareness whilst spending no money.

Swear to God, administration can't come soon enough. That may sound a dumb thing to come out with, but I suspect it's inevitable. the worry would be that it's just a stopping-off point on the way to bankruptcy, or that we would come out of admin with these retards still in control.

As I've always maintained, I don't care what division we're in as long as the sense of community and shared vision between owners and fans returns. I just want these people gone.

[glen9mullan]

I have been asked the question so will answer the best I can .

Sometimes just because you don't read about it , does not mean it ain't happened or ain't happening .

As a group we had a clear strategy following protest.

1. Gather as much information as possible ( with zero funding was the toughest thing possible as what did people have to gain by spilling what the know , many had everything to lose ).

2. Present any findings if wrong doings were apparent , regardless of strong or weak any information was . To all the football governing bodies including parliament .

After those meetings , we took encouragement from the footballing authorites as we saw their reaction, it was uncomfortable and we knew at that point , we had to be strategic in our next steps to get close enough to the main characters to influence change all the way to the top .

This would need a full scale press campaign , red herrings , strategic planning and reinventing the groups remit and approach .

I spent 17 hours on one phone call with Mark Fish in the aftermath of the authority meetings where we devised a plan and then proposed this to the rest of the committee . This plan took some passing off , but after much discussion it was agreed as the way forward .

15 months on and the key points of that plan have been implemented and the fruits of them has seen the main characters of this horror story removed from Rovers.

Venky's didn't just wake up one day and change their minds on

Certain people . Damning evidence was presented directly to them .

Those responsible for the clubs down fall whose primary aim was to profit from the club was made very uncomfortable . They suddenly saw those out to get them removed having influence beyond anyone's expectation , that influence which I'm sure we will one day write about , one by one cleansed the corridors and corners of the blood suckers . Suddenly the missing pieces of the story were now becoming readily available , more people were speaking out and very quickly the writing was on the wall for those who had systematically dismantled the club.

Going public on everything was never the primary objective , this would just force the FA to punish the very thing we was trying to preserve . The media was a way of communicating with the enemy within , this time and time again hit the jackpot despite the grief we got from sections within our clubs supporter base .

If it was a game of cat and mouse then those responsible were 95% of the time the mouse . The lengths they went to to try and prevent the supporters making it into press was phenomenal , but each time we could second guess their next step and would always return with another right hook .

The day Singh came was the game changer for many many reasons , above all it was the beginning of the end for team Kean . So many things which occurred were planted like mouse traps , and the mice always came for their cheese .

Over the last 15 months people have been removed , business's liquidated and some have gaping holes in their pockets . This was done the only way possible which we thought would provide damage limitation from authority intervention on the club. This was never about our club suffering , it was about those responsible for it's down fall .

The club will rise again from the ashes and once folk stop paying people to not print their findings , many tales will be written .

The truth is in terms of removing those we set out out to remove , this is mission accomplished , some of the things we did and how we did it is really quite unbelievable and I'm sure would be a good read .

As a group is our work done ?

Far from it we continue to grow membership , have open communication with the club and continue to pose the difficult questions both to the club and the clubs legal teams .

Regarding those who have gone , we continue to build a case which can be printed were the findings ensure those people never work in football again

Finally we where in no position any different to any other supporter 2 years ago . In fact in some cases we where more handicapped as we never had an ajar door to walk through for answers. We have had to fight for everything tooth and nail , be that meetings , or information .

Since the groups inception we have raised nearly £70000 for charity , taken the clubs plight to the football authorites , the global media and taken on people whose bank balances are extraordinary , yet they are gone and we are still standing and are due to do a BRFCS podcast soon where we will update people in full what we have been upto

[K-Hod]

Not trying to be a dick, and I think the work you've done has been admirable, but-the key questions remain:

When will we find out what has happened?

Will the perpetrators ever be punished?

When is this slow motion car crash going to hit a wall?