[Archived] The Big Picture.....

[sympatheticclaret]

As ever, I come in peace.....

Given Charlton's win at Shrewsbury tonight, and Accrington Stanley clinching promotion, it seems like it's going to be a great year all round for East Lancashire's Football League teams. Obviously, we've exceeded our wildest expectations as well so, putting aside the local rivalries, it's good news all round...

Looking slightly further afield, the Nobbers have an outside chance of a play-off spot, Blackpool, Fleetwood & Morecambe are all safe in their respective divisions, despite their various problems, and again, AFC Fylde have an outside chance of obtaining a Football League place.. Radio Lancashire will have kittens, having to cover 8 League Clubs if that happens !!

Given the Venksters have funded your season to the tune of £21m since February 2017, what are your expectations for next season ?  Will they throw more money into the pot to try and get promoted, or will they reign in their spending, given the increased TV, attendance, & sponsorship monies ? Do you stick with Tony Mowbrey, or go down another route ?

 

 

[tomphil]

Let's not forget the sales to the tune of about 30 mill and the chronic lack of reinvestment in the playing squad that led us to where we are before we mention anything else !

Personally i'd be happy with them setting a sensible budget in line with Championship football ( we aren't there yet ) income and hopefully squeezing an extra mill or two for a few players. Given that any extra income will be quickly swallowed up in pay rises, contract extensions etc etc it might be a big ask.

Any significant money from sales MUST be reinvested in cash buys otherwise we'll go around in the exact same circle again.

Certainly stick with Mowbray and give him and most of those who've got us there IF we get the job done.

Right now all i'm concerned about is him not bottling it tactics wise though.

[jim mk2]

 

Yes, a good season for most of the Lancashire town clubs. Shame that Bury, Rochdale, and Oldham  might all go down !

And I don't begrudge Burnley their success either. I'd rather see a proper Lancashire football town doing well than the likes of Bournemouth, Watford, Brighton etc.

Assuming we go up, I suspect most fans will be happy to cement a place in the Championship next season. The Rovers squad is ageing and needs reinforcements for next season - so it will be interesting to see if Venky's open the purse strings in the summer. If they don't we'll be in trouble 

 

 

 

 

[47er]

Venkys will unveil plans to offer Dyche 10M a year!

You heard it here first! 

[bazza]

13 minutes ago, sympatheticclaret said:

As ever, I come in peace.....

 

Given the Venksters have funded your season to the tune of £21m since February 2017, what are your expectations for next season ?  Will they throw more money into the pot to try and get promoted, or will they reign in their spending, given the increased TV, attendance, & sponsorship monies ? Do you stick with Tony Mowbrey, or go down another route ?

 

 

Why don't you pop over to India and find out for us. We would appreciate it.

[sympatheticclaret]

Just now, tomphil said:

Personally i'd be happy with them setting a sensible budget in line with Championship football ( we aren't there yet ) income and hopefully squeezing an extra mill or two for a few players. Certainly stick with Mowbray and give him and most of those who've got us there IF we get the job done. All i'm concerned about is him not bottling it tactics wise though.

After following the Clarets through the Divisions since my first game in August 1975, I thought I was the ultimate " It ain't over, til it's over " merchant, Tomphil !

I think with a 5 point lead, superior goal difference, Shrewsbury imploding and only 4 games to go, you'll be fine !!

[blueboy3333]

Jansen's Chorley are still in the play-off hunt too.

[JacknOry]

9 hours ago, sympatheticclaret said:

Given the Venksters have funded your season to the tune of £21m since February 2017, what are your expectations for next season ?  Will they throw more money into the pot to try and get promoted, or will they reign in their spending, given the increased TV, attendance, & sponsorship monies ? Do you stick with Tony Mowbrey, or go down another route ?

 

 

We know as much as you do on that - so couldn't possibly answer.

I would prefer a far more sensible approach, so somewhere in the middle. I strongly doubt they will throw tons of money at it, the last time they did that it didnt end well and our debt level shows the outcome.

Just some sensible investment to build on what we already have. Graham probably has a season left and Mulgrew is not getting any younger. These will have to replaced over the coming seasons. Conway is past it but is a squad player now anyway. Would love it if we could get Armstrong permanently somehow or at least back on loan for next season, get some proper wingers in and then just perhaps improve some positions with better players.

Would be happy to have a stress free midtable finish next season. A close relegation followed up by a close promotion push has not done my health any good at all.

[tomphil]

10 hours ago, sympatheticclaret said:

After following the Clarets through the Divisions since my first game in August 1975, I thought I was the ultimate " It ain't over, til it's over " merchant, Tomphil !

I think with a 5 point lead, superior goal difference, Shrewsbury imploding and only 4 games to go, you'll be fine !!

I've always thought this season will go to the wire so anything else is a bonus, I rarely recall Rovers sealing anything with more than a game to spare

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, tomphil said:

I've always thought this season will go to the wire so anything else is a bonus, I rarely recall Rovers sealing anything with more than a game to spare

Relegation under coco is the only thing that springs to mind 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The Big Picture is - the Chicken Chokers have ruined us financially. What more do you need to know ?

[Proudtobeblue&white]

I'm not sure the chicken pluckers give a stuff about next season, or indeed anything that has happened in the past. We are a busted flush to them. We are kept breathing by a life support system, rather than by any proactive involvement of the medical staff. They could turn off the machine at any time. Who knows? Perhaps they will make an announcement.............not.

[Admiral Nelsen]

11 hours ago, sympatheticclaret said:

As ever, I come in peace.....

 

Given the Venksters have funded your season to the tune of £21m since February 2017, what are your expectations for next season ?  Will they throw more money into the pot to try and get promoted, or will they reign in their spending, given the increased TV, attendance, & sponsorship monies ? Do you stick with Tony Mowbrey, or go down another route ?

 

As with everything since their arrival, none of us actually have any idea whatsoever what to expect for next season! There was a Radio Lancs special about our relegation last year, and the upshot was that we should expect to see fire sales and a massive scale down, so whilst the absence of that was a pleasant surprise, we couldn't be sure about how were were going to approach things until quite close to the season starting. 

You titled the thread big picture, so in that spirit I don't think the relationship between the ownership and fanbase any different to what it was 12 months ago. The overwhelming majority of fans are still (albeit to varying levels) anti-Venkys, and I don't think that would change even following good decision making & investment going into next season. Lots more bridges need to be built to come close to compensating for the last few years.

But I think what this season has shown, as it did for a brief period under Bowyer, is that with good people running the football side of things, and with a squad of players that you can relate to, that you can achieve a degree of success and enjoy watching football again. 

Big picture, our problems are still there, but I'm optimistic going into next season. For me, I think the difference of Rovers under Mowbray compared to Rovers under Coyle is like night and day. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I think it's telling that they haven't attended one game this season so far and if we have a game were we can win promotion with a draw or a win they still won't be there. That should tell you all you need to know.

In fact I wouldn't be a bit surprised that they don't know we are second in the league this morning.

[tomphil]

39 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

As with everything since their arrival, none of us actually have any idea whatsoever what to expect for next season! There was a Radio Lancs special about our relegation last year, and the upshot was that we should expect to see fire sales and a massive scale down, so whilst the absence of that was a pleasant surprise, we couldn't be sure about how were were going to approach things until quite close to the season starting. 

You titled the thread big picture, so in that spirit I don't think the relationship between the ownership and fanbase any different to what it was 12 months ago. The overwhelming majority of fans are still (albeit to varying levels) anti-Venkys, and I don't think that would change even following good decision making & investment going into next season. Lots more bridges need to be built to come close to compensating for the last few years.

But I think what this season has shown, as it did for a brief period under Bowyer, is that with good people running the football side of things, and with a squad of players that you can relate to, that you can achieve a degree of success and enjoy watching football again. 

Big picture, our problems are still there, but I'm optimistic going into next season. For me, I think the difference of Rovers under Mowbray compared to Rovers under Coyle is like night and day. 

They had the fire sale and scale down before relegation.....

That was their last version of planning ahead

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Relegation under coco is the only thing that springs to mind 

That was the start of the exciting times he'd promised us

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, tomphil said:

That was the start of the exciting times he'd promised us

Well he was right. This season has been exciting !

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Well he was right. This season has been exciting !

I have enjoyed it anyway, its nice to be able to watch games, check our scores and watch highlights without feeling sad and/or angry!  

[AllRoverAsia]

If Venkys get us back to the PL, solvent, midtable and above Burnley I might consider them as run of the mill r-unts and no longer vermin droppings.

I am not holding my breath.

[tomphil]

23 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Well he was right. This season has been exciting !

It has, he was right all along. True to form no doubt he'll be in press sometime soon to remind everyone of it and claim some sort of credit

He's been quiet far too long, very unusual for him !

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, tomphil said:

It has, he was right all along. True to form no doubt he'll be in press sometime soon to remind everyone of it and claim some sort of credit

He's been quiet far too long, very unusual for him !

It's interesting because we say that other supporters don't realize what we went though, but the fact that no one would have him at their club shows people did notice 

[gumboots]

Wasnt the question what do we expect? Well I expect the worst (sales of players, underfunding, poor decisions) and I hope for the best (a bit of money to recruit players the manager wants, who leaves being decided by the manager not know nothing administrative and finance people) I don't expect all to suddenly be rosy or next season to be easy. And if we miss out on promotion, the worst will definitely happen in my opinion

[tomphil]

3 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

It's interesting because we say that other supporters don't realize what we went though, but the fact that no one would have him at their club shows people did notice 

Oh yes even now you still get odd ones chirping up about it yet when they have a vacancy and somebody cheekily throws his name it's 'get ######' in unified response

[jim mk2]

4 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think it's telling that they haven't attended one game this season so far and if we have a game were we can win promotion with a draw or a win they still won't be there. That should tell you all you need to know.

In fact I wouldn't be a bit surprised that they don't know we are second in the league this morning.

 

Are you still boycotting games? 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Amidst all the hubris,Lollipops and Lemonade of an imminent promotion.....Venkys remain the Bull in the China shop.