[Archived] An Open Letter

[AllRoverAsia]

First paragraph.... I wanted another manager, yes. Don't remember ever saying he would have "Bowyers squad" higher up the league.

Second paragraph....... I wasn't meaning to sling mud Gav, that's why I said "with respect". But because the owners have wanted to run the club in isolation from Pune in the past, doesn't mean they'll never change that. Surely that would be better than trying to chase them out of the club?

Oh dear. You really want me to point out the facts about the teams goal scoring again?

Let's not get nasty?

Genuine praise ignored. No thanks. It wasn't meant to be nasty, hence the wink.....I know I'm right about a class goal scorer anyway. Let's move on and accept that you are wrong.

[den]

Genuine praise ignored. No thanks. It wasn't meant to be nasty, hence the wink.....I know I'm right about a class goal scorer anyway. Let's move on and accept that you are wrong.

My apologies ARA. Thought you were having a go.

[Iceman]

Venkys embarrassed us with all the crap we have seen from them. So if they ever feel offended by anything anybody does to them, then they just need to re evaluate things, and and look what they have done to deserve the hate

[Leonard Venkhater]

Venkys embarrassed us with all the crap we have seen from them. So if they ever feel offended by anything anybody does to them, then they just need to re evaluate things, and and look what they have done to deserve the hate

"Deserve the hate" Lol

[Iceman]

"Deserve the hate" Lol

Well I don't think they deserve a pat on the back lol

[Gav]

First paragraph.... I wanted another manager, yes. Don't remember ever saying he would have "Bowyers squad" higher up the league.

Second paragraph....... I wasn't meaning to sling mud Gav, that's why I said "with respect". But because the owners have wanted to run the club in isolation from Pune in the past, doesn't mean they'll never change that. Surely that would be better than trying to chase them out of the club?

Lets see how this plays out

I really hope you're right about Venkys man hitting town, but even if he gives Lambert the green light, who's going to contact players agents, negotiate salaries, negotiate contacts, keep an eye on FFP etc etc?

[tomphil]

In any case surely it would be the financial director who gets the budget first ?

Would be nice if Pasha got off the plane with a cheque for 20 mill in his brief case, god knows where half of it would end up though. The price of turf in the Bburn area has already quadrupled in anticipation

[Paul]

Honest question Paul

Do we though?

What for?

Million dollar question but there is no evidence for this

I know it's an honest question I'd expect no less from yourself and GAV.

Do we? What for? The club is £100m in debt, albeit to the owners, and losing £2m a month, we have a very poor squad and desperately need to at least mount a promotion challenge. Looking at the three clubs coming down and those who will miss out this year it's already looking like 5th or 6th is the most likely best we can do.

I feel we need the owners simply to fund £2m a month to run the club. In two weeks time we have zero income for three months, no gates etc, so where else is the money going to come from.

GAV clubs of our stature have gone to the wall and come back - Boro for one. If Venky's pull out what do we need? £2m per month to operate and for arguments sake £20m to rebuild the squad.

Whoever comes in is looking at the thick end of £50m in the first year. What are they getting? Well effectively a £50m bet at odds of 2:1 against a return to the PL.

Now as much as we all love the club we need to open our eyes. £50m!!! Where is it going to come from? Divorce yourself from being a fan for five minutes. You've got £50m knocking around your bank account would you put it into a football club and risk losing it all in 12 months?

We need Venky's money.

[oldjamfan1]

I know it's an honest question I'd expect no less from yourself and GAV.

Do we? What for? The club is £100m in debt, albeit to the owners, and losing £2m a month, we have a very poor squad and desperately need to at least mount a promotion challenge. Looking at the three clubs coming down and those who will miss out this year it's already looking like 5th or 6th is the most likely best we can do.

I feel we need the owners simply to fund £2m a month to run the club. In two weeks time we have zero income for three months, no gates etc, so where else is the money going to come from.

GAV clubs of our stature have gone to the wall and come back - Boro for one. If Venky's pull out what do we need? £2m per month to operate and for arguments sake £20m to rebuild the squad.

Whoever comes in is looking at the thick end of £50m in the first year. What are they getting? Well effectively a £50m bet at odds of 2:1 against a return to the PL.

Now as much as we all love the club we need to open our eyes. £50m!!! Where is it going to come from? Divorce yourself from being a fan for five minutes. You've got £50m knocking around your bank account would you put it into a football club and risk losing it all in 12 months?

We need Venky's money.

This is, unfortunately, the grim reality we face.

[Gav]

I know it's an honest question I'd expect no less from yourself and GAV.

Do we? What for? The club is £100m in debt, albeit to the owners, and losing £2m a month, we have a very poor squad and desperately need to at least mount a promotion challenge. Looking at the three clubs coming down and those who will miss out this year it's already looking like 5th or 6th is the most likely best we can do.

I feel we need the owners simply to fund £2m a month to run the club. In two weeks time we have zero income for three months, no gates etc, so where else is the money going to come from.

GAV clubs of our stature have gone to the wall and come back - Boro for one. If Venky's pull out what do we need? £2m per month to operate and for arguments sake £20m to rebuild the squad.

Whoever comes in is looking at the thick end of £50m in the first year. What are they getting? Well effectively a £50m bet at odds of 2:1 against a return to the PL.

Now as much as we all love the club we need to open our eyes. £50m!!! Where is it going to come from? Divorce yourself from being a fan for five minutes. You've got £50m knocking around your bank account would you put it into a football club and risk losing it all in 12 months?

We need Venky's money.

Why have consortiums come in to save Bolton? Portsmouth? Bournemouth? Leeds? Wednesday? and many more? in recent times?

These people had money just 'knocking about' why would they put money into a football club? No idea but they did and got rid of the idiots that have been before, exactly what we need.

But we'll agree to disagree, I'm sick of making the same point over and over again as I'm sure you and rest of the site are sick of reading it

[TBTF]

This is, unfortunately, the grim reality we face.

leading us to where though? how long on that basis do we need Venkys money for? the answer will be ''for ever'' because its gone way way past anyone wanting to buy it.So on we go at £20million plus a year losses , -until when? It has to end at some point whether that's now or in 10 years.

they can absolutely forget the money they have lost.£100million is gone. So assume today is the starting point of Chapter 2, what do you think happens in this chapter?

I cant see past at least £20 million of losses and more each year they are still here with dwindling gates and next to zero income. So for me its just a slide down the pyramid at a cost of £20m per annum until there's nothing left of the club.

they would be better off drawing a line and throwing the keys in with a cheque for £30 million and letting somebody else have a go. Thry are going to lose that anyway by staying.

so if we need their money I would let them cut their losses that way and sod off. And theres a growing number who think the reason they cant is because whoever takes over will uncover the horror and toxicity of what happened when they bought it. Cue smoking gun time!!!

[Stuart]

I know it's an honest question I'd expect no less from yourself and GAV.

Do we? What for? The club is £100m in debt, albeit to the owners, and losing £2m a month, we have a very poor squad and desperately need to at least mount a promotion challenge. Looking at the three clubs coming down and those who will miss out this year it's already looking like 5th or 6th is the most likely best we can do.

I feel we need the owners simply to fund £2m a month to run the club. In two weeks time we have zero income for three months, no gates etc, so where else is the money going to come from.

GAV clubs of our stature have gone to the wall and come back - Boro for one. If Venky's pull out what do we need? £2m per month to operate and for arguments sake £20m to rebuild the squad.

Whoever comes in is looking at the thick end of £50m in the first year. What are they getting? Well effectively a £50m bet at odds of 2:1 against a return to the PL.

Now as much as we all love the club we need to open our eyes. £50m!!! Where is it going to come from? Divorce yourself from being a fan for five minutes. You've got £50m knocking around your bank account would you put it into a football club and risk losing it all in 12 months?

We need Venky's money.

I'm really struggling to reconcile the contradiction between those two statements.

If Venkys had/have money, why are we continuing to lose £2m per month on their watch? Ever considered that we are losing £2m per month because of Venkys.

Venkys are not our last hope of salvation, they are paving our way to destruction.

[Paul]

I'm really struggling to reconcile the contradiction between those two statements.

If Venkys had/have money, why are we continuing to lose £2m per month on their watch? Ever considered that we are losing £2m per month because of Venkys.

Venkys are not our last hope of salvation, they are paving our way to destruction.

I don't think it is a contradiction Stuart. Obviously Venky's are responsible for our position and if they had ensured, or at least fine their best to, our PL status the whole discussion would be irrelevant.

The one fact we can't get away from is current operating losses are around £2m a month. Who's responsible is a different discussion but until someone comes along with £40-50m and persuades Venky's to sell we need their money. If we don't pay the bills the club can't function.

Being realistic about needing cash doesn't make one a Venky supporter.

What's the alternative? For arguments sake let's imagine Venky's continue their ownership but decide to stop finding the club operating costs. How long do you think Rovers would be able to trade for? We wouldn't get through the summer. We need Venky's to pay those bills.

If you feel we don't need this daily support how do you envisage the staff will be paid?

[Stuart]

I don't think it is a contradiction Stuart. Obviously Venky's are responsible for our position and if they had ensured, or at least fine their best to, our PL status the whole discussion would be irrelevant.

The one fact we can't get away from is current operating losses are around £2m a month. Who's responsible is a different discussion but until someone comes along with £40-50m and persuades Venky's to sell we need their money. If we don't pay the bills the club can't function.

Being realistic about needing cash doesn't make one a Venky supporter.

What's the alternative? For arguments sake let's imagine Venky's continue their ownership but decide to stop finding the club operating costs. How long do you think Rovers would be able to trade for? We wouldn't get through the summer. We need Venky's to pay those bills.

But THEY are the problem. THEY are paying wages higher than the club's turnover which is creating debt. If that strategy doesn't end in promotion then they should simply cut our cloth accordingly.

They are doing neither one nor the other at the moment. You are concerned that we won't get a new owner with cash. Well if we don't then what is the end game? The more debt THEY add - without, crucially, any return on the 'investment' on the pitch that might even masquerade as having promotion is the strategy - the more difficult it will be for anyone to pick up the pieces. And it's not even fun to watch!

The idea that letting them know that fans are unhappy with the situation of being held to ransom will somehow antagonise them is ridiculous frankly. It's like saying don't try to stop (or even just think of ways to stop) a guy holding a lit stick of dynamite because you don't know how long the fuse is and it might go off early. What's the alternative? Smile and wait for the bang?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

What a mess this club has become,this after the care and dutiful attention of the Walker years.

The scale of mismanagement beggars belief,it's horrific and the vast majority of fans feel totally helpless.

God help us.

[arbitro]

Still the fundamental problem is that we simply don't have any leadership off the field at Ewood. The Indians could make £50m available to spend but we need somebody with the ability to make any potential deals happen, somebody to negotiate with clubs, agents and players. Until they appoint such a person we will continue to tread water and eventually regress at an alarming rate.

These fools should surely recognise this as Lambert has spoken about it several times.

[tomphil]

I don't think it is a contradiction Stuart. Obviously Venky's are responsible for our position and if they had ensured, or at least fine their best to, our PL status the whole discussion would be irrelevant.

The one fact we can't get away from is current operating losses are around £2m a month. Who's responsible is a different discussion but until someone comes along with £40-50m and persuades Venky's to sell we need their money. If we don't pay the bills the club can't function.

Being realistic about needing cash doesn't make one a Venky supporter.

What's the alternative? For arguments sake let's imagine Venky's continue their ownership but decide to stop finding the club operating costs. How long do you think Rovers would be able to trade for? We wouldn't get through the summer. We need Venky's to pay those bills.

If you feel we don't need this daily support how do you envisage the staff will be paid?

20 mill worth of sales would maybe indicate that ex players and the last parachute are paying the wages now. Especially with it looking like they only injected 1 mill into VLL when they usually inject ten or twenty times that.

Hope says it's part of a strategy and they're saving it for summer. Head says scary times just around the corner !

[allanncd]

The only thing I would put in an open letter to Venkys is to tell them to " ***** off". There attitude towards to their customers - ie supporters - is beyond belief.

[OJRovers]

The sooner the Venkys sell up the better.

Every season that goes passes the less attractive the club would be to anyone else.

Rovers will exist without them, no problem, no matter what division they've dragged us down to.

[Paul]

But THEY are the problem. THEY are paying wages higher than the club's turnover which is creating debt. If that strategy doesn't end in promotion then they should simply cut our cloth accordingly.

They are doing neither one nor the other at the moment. You are concerned that we won't get a new owner with cash. Well if we don't then what is the end game? The more debt THEY add - without, crucially, any return on the 'investment' on the pitch that might even masquerade as having promotion is the strategy - the more difficult it will be for anyone to pick up the pieces. And it's not even fun to watch!

The idea that letting them know that fans are unhappy with the situation of being held to ransom will somehow antagonise them is ridiculous frankly. It's like saying don't try to stop (or even just think of ways to stop) a guy holding a lit stick of dynamite because you don't know how long the fuse is and it might go off early. What's the alternative? Smile and wait for the bang?

OK. Simple question which is not intended to antagonise you.

You are one of a number who repeatedly post about the problems. What are you doing about it? Other than talking?

I keep asking this question of people who want protests, letters, adverts, helicopters or whatever.

Why is it the people who talk the most do the least?

I'm not trying to irritate anyone. I just want a straight answer. What are the talkers doing, apart from talking?

[Gav]

OK. Simple question which is not intended to antagonise you.

You are one of a number who repeatedly post about the problems. What are you doing about it? Other than talking?

I keep asking this question of people who want protests, letters, adverts, helicopters or whatever.

Why is it the people who talk the most do the least?

I'm not trying to irritate anyone. I just want a straight answer. What are the talkers doing, apart from talking?

How about taking out an advert in the Indian press, the very suggestion had you up in arms earlier.

Or the fans that went to Pune recently to try and speak to the owners and got hauled in to the local police station for just being in the city? Friends in high places some people.

Its not all just 'spit balling' but if you can't throw ideas around and argue points on here without having to justify everything its a poor do.

What are you doing Paul? You've been alluding to something most of the day, I'd be interested to know what, it may well just calm the posters down like myself who think we have far to many people hiding behind excuses.

[VinjayV4]

It takes considerable amounts of money and someone who wants to be a public figurehead. Apart from a couple of isolated instances (which I strongly disliked doing by the way and gave an explanation a couple of months back) that just isn't for me though I'm not including general protests such as the one after the 2011 Spurs game. I've confided in "Only One Jack Walker" and Glen Mullan what my reasons are (which they fully understood and didn't see me as a coward) and they have been hinted at on this forum. My financial position has improved recently but certainly not to the point of 5 figure sums. BRAG, Rovers Trust, etc need to explore further revenue streams. Its not hard to make a little bit of spare cash either (there's ways online of course and they are rather boring but they do exist) but perhaps everyone should use a spare moment now and then. It wouldn't be hard to make 3 figure sums for the whole year which could then be contributed towards various campaigns, costs, etc. If 100 of us did that for £100 a year that adds up to a combined total of £10,000. Perhaps we should start a thread and each aim for a figure and update people on it? Even if its say £100 quid wouldn't that be 10 percent of what that Kean plane cost? Then someone can set up a crowdfund (perhaps the Rovers trust) to go towards ads, investigations, etc. I know money is tight for many people but try and put a little aside. As I said there's way online and you wouldn't have to use your other income streams.

I might not have contributed to the recent flags in the end (and frankly I strongly disagreed with one of them plus I haven't forgotten the Qatar flags snub back in 2011) but there's more important things to spend money on than improving the "atmosphere" anyway. Its all out war with Venkys now via a sustained (but honest) propaganda campaign. Infact I'm going to promise an exact figure. £500 (via crowdfund donation) by the 31st of July or I'm kicked off the forum though I have right to choose what its used towards. That's just a minimum figure it could perhaps be more than that and the date could be considerably sooner. Maybe for others it could be £500 or you have to shave your head bald. Maybe £100 or you have to listen to games commentated on by Michael Owen for 24 consecutive hours. Whatever you want! Every single one of us should aim for a figure even if it turns out you can only contribute £10...well at least its something!

So barring any disparaging remarks who else wants to commit a figure?

[Reedy You're A Star]

Didn't Paul pretty much safeguard Ewood Park by leading the registering as a Community Asset? That's a pretty big thing, more than anyone involved in the protests managed to actually achieve I'd say. We should all be thankful. Just a shame it can't be extended to Brockhall too.

[VinjayV4]

Didn't Paul pretty much safeguard Ewood Park by leading the registering as a Community Asset? That's a pretty big thing, more than anyone involved in the protests managed to actually achieve I'd say. We should all be thankful. Just a shame it can't be extended to Brockhall too.

Absolutely he did and should be commended for it. My comment about Venkys perhaps being offended by it wasn't supposed to be disparaging. It was simply a counter point to the remarks that we shouldn't do anything that might offend them. Editing the quote so it said "Parochial Paul" wasn't intended to be taken personally (half the forum have probably been called parochial by me at some point so I was hardly singling him out) the name just amuses me.

Most of my protest ideas to be honest would involve breaking the law. I'm not going to just throw money away on something that will ultimately prove meaningless. That was the case with the Kean plane it didn't warrant the fee. The Bolton game got more anti-Kean publicity and that was far cheaper!

Pretty sure I saw a £15,000 figure on the BRAG site that funded the investigations into Kentaro, etc. Is it beyond us combined to match that figure in next few months? I don't think so. Will it take £15,000 to make a significant impact with negative advertising aimed at Venkys in their home city? Surely that would pay for quite a number of ads when you take currency conversions into account as well.

I know some people have joined BRAG, Rovers Trust, etc. If the fans want to own the club in the future (or at least a stake) how would that be the case if we can't even get a few grand together? Ideally I wouldn't want the fans to have a large stake in the club anyway though it would be better than having these clowns here that's for sure.

As I'm not going tomorrow (there's more important things to put money towards though I certainly don't see why score predictions are so negative its only Bristol City for goodness sake) that £500 is now £480.

[Reedy You're A Star]

Sorry, meant to quote Gav. It was more in reply to his question of "What did you do Paul?" More than pretty much everyone else is the answer.

You're right though, most ideas involve breaking the law and most people won't risk a criminal record and losing their job (and all that follows; mortgage, car, future employment, etc) for what is when it comes down to it, an expensive hobby. All be it one that has a lot of emotion attached. And risking all that will do precisely nothing to force Venkys out, unfortunately. They'll go when they want and we just have to suffer it til they do. It's not pleasant and I'm sure someone will be along shortly to say "we'll just sit and do nothing while we die then shall we?" or "little Blackburners attitude" or some such, but there is actually nothing we can do. And that's the bit that hurts the most.