The Contract Situation

[JacknOry]

58 minutes ago, DeeCee said:

RN is good but not great, a decent 7/10 over a season ISH, would take best part of 2m  to replace him

So that's millions then.

[islander200]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Do people not rate him? I think it is a commonly held opinion that he is an important first team player who we will miss. Not sure where he will go and indeed whether it would be millions to replace him, he does have his limitations and is pretty poor going forward although he is a good one on one defender, although you know under Venkys that we will be going into next season with an inferior replacement, whether that is the cheapest possible replacement externally or the constantly injured, average winger that is Rankin Costello.

But whilst I share your desire for a change of manager, not everything is Mowbrays fault. He doesn't negotiate contracts, and there are 2 sides to negotiations anyway so perhaps Nyambe was unwilling to commit for longer. But Mowbray has said numerous times that he would like the soon to be out of contract players to stay, but that the problems are financial because of the budget cuts from Venkys. If you want someone to blame for the farcical situation around player contracts, Venkys should be the go to.

Don't disagree that Venkys should be getting stick.But again you are absolving the manager of blame.

Who do you think recommended that Mulgrew,Bennett, Evans, Smallwood etc etc got new long term contracts when we got promoted?Suppose it was the owners idea?

Was it the Venkys who recommended Rodwell came in on good money?

Was it the Venkys who recommended we hand out extensions and pay players that didn't see any action after the covid break?

Ayala has played well this season, but last season after signing a deal on most likely top end of our wage structure he hardly played and when he did he played poorly.

That's a lot of money over the course of those contracts for not very much in return .

So although Mowbray may not do the negotiations but he recommends who gets new contracts and who is signed so we are counting the cost of those mistakes now.He certainly deserves part of the blame

 

 

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, islander200 said:

Don't disagree that Venkys should be getting stick.But again you are absolving the manager of blame.

Who do you think recommended that Mulgrew,Bennett, Evans, Smallwood etc etc got new long term contracts when we got promoted?Suppose it was the owners idea?

Was it the Venkys who recommended Rodwell came in on good money?

Was it the Venkys who recommended we hand out extensions and pay players that didn't see any action after the covid break?

Ayala has played well this season, but last season after signing a deal on most likely top end of our wage structure he hardly played and when he did he played poorly.

That's a lot of money over the course of those contracts for not very much in return .

So although Mowbray may not do the negotiations but he recommends who gets new contracts and who is signed so we are counting the cost of those mistakes now.He certainly deserves part of the blame

 

 

I am not absolving him of blame, you are just talking about something that I was not discussing.

I want the manager out, last season showed massive regression. I also criticised him for his lack of ruthlessness upon promotion.

My point was that Venkys do not run the club in a logical or constructive way.

It is Venkys and Venkys alone who have set the budget so tight and with such a short term view that we are going to lose key players and sellable assets for free. That has nothing to do with how Mowbray has spent previous budgets (mixed, a major positive just made us 10m plus) and that is not a justification of what Venkys are doing this season. If they dont trust him, then sack him. Nor should contract offers be suddenly pulled away from people. Shit ownership as ever.

[islander200]

45 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I am not absolving him of blame, you are just talking about something that I was not discussing.

I want the manager out, last season showed massive regression. I also criticised him for his lack of ruthlessness upon promotion.

My point was that Venkys do not run the club in a logical or constructive way.

It is Venkys and Venkys alone who have set the budget so tight and with such a short term view that we are going to lose key players and sellable assets for free. That has nothing to do with how Mowbray has spent previous budgets (mixed, a major positive just made us 10m plus) and that is not a justification of what Venkys are doing this season. If they dont trust him, then sack him. Nor should contract offers be suddenly pulled away from people. Shit ownership as ever.

Your posts come across as  defensive of Mowbray.

Anyway we all know the owners are shit but what are you going to do about it apart from continuously going over the same stuff on here?

At least with the manager the fans have a tiny chance with these idiots in charge of forcing him out.Our voices won't carry to removing the owners especially when half the fan base are thankful to them.

I don't know how many times this has to be said and Chaddy has posted proof of this that the owners are at the max of what they can put in until we lose the spend from our first season back in the calculations.Unless you can disprove this then I don't know why you keep calling the owners out for not spending money on transfers this summer?I'm no ffp expert im going off what Chaddy posted and it looked in black and white to me concerning the rules?

I totally agree the owners do not care but he has been adequately backed to not have the squad in the state it is.

These deals should have been done long ago but is it just down to money they weren't?Was Mowbray pushing to get Brererton a new deal a year ago or even 18 month?I mean form had improved but still not to the level he is currently, obviously I know protect assets but Mowbray going to the owners and asking for a new contract for a guy who he had paid 6 million for and hardly played him to begin with and when he did see action was crap.

Nyambe is like Raya for me, Mowbray doesn't rate him as we do.If Costello was fit he would have him playing right back and Nyambe on the bench.

Rothwell again he wasn't showing the form he is now would he have warranted a pay rise?Would he have signed anyway when he was in and out of the team?

Now it's got to the stage where they want more than we can offer them certainly if any truth Rangers in for Rothwell and Brererton will be getting interest aswell.

Like I said Chaddy has posted  the amount you can put in and they have put it in and I think money will be available for signings in the summer when we lose the spend from our return to the league.

I do not think they care.I don't think Mowbray has to ring them up for an extension for Sam Hart etc.They give a budget and let the people on the ground use that budget unless you have evidence that isn't the case?If Mowbray didn't want to play with such a big squad 11 players brought in last summer then deals maybe could have been done earlier.

Yeah I will agree Mowbray has made some good signings and he will make a profit on a few players and deserves credit for that but again that 10 million couldn't be spent this window without the threat of sanctions.

Obviously probably ways round that but agreed our owners do not care enough to employ people clever enough to do that.

If we sack Mowbray chances are it will be another underwhelming appointment but fuck me one day they are bound to get lucky and employ someone who can deliver.

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by islander200

[roversfan99]

39 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Your posts come across as  defensive of Mowbray.

Anyway we all know the owners are shit but what are you going to do about it apart from continuously going over the same stuff on here?

At least with the manager the fans have a tiny chance with these idiots in charge of forcing him out.Our voices won't carry to removing the owners especially when half the fan base are thankful to them.

I don't know how many times this has to be said and Chaddy has posted proof of this that the owners are at the max of what they can put in until we lose the spend from our first season back in the calculations.Unless you can disprove this then I don't know why you keep calling the owners out for not spending money on transfers this summer?I'm no ffp expert im going off what Chaddy posted and it looked in black and white to me concerning the rules?

I totally agree the owners do not care but he has been adequately backed to not have the squad in the state it is.

These deals should have been done long ago but is it just down to money they weren't?Was Mowbray pushing to get Brererton a new deal a year ago or even 18 month?I mean form had improved but still not to the level he is currently, obviously I know protect assets but Mowbray going to the owners and asking for a new contract for a guy who he had paid 6 million for and hardly played him to begin with and when he did see action was crap.

Nyambe is like Raya for me, Mowbray doesn't rate him as we do.If Costello was fit he would have him playing right back and Nyambe on the bench.

Rothwell again he wasn't showing the form he is now would he have warranted a pay rise?Would he have signed anyway when he was in and out of the team?

Now it's got to the stage where they want more than we can offer them certainly if any truth Rangers in for Rothwell and Brererton will be getting interest aswell.

Like I said Chaddy has posted  the amount you can put in and they have put it in and I think money will be available for signings in the summer when we lose the spend from our return to the league.

I do not think they care.I don't think Mowbray has to ring them up for an extension for Sam Hart etc.They give a budget and let the people on the ground use that budget unless you have evidence that isn't the case?If Mowbray didn't want to play with such a big squad 11 players brought in last summer then deals maybe could have been done earlier.

Yeah I will agree Mowbray has made some good signings and he will make a profit on a few players and deserves credit for that but again that 10 million couldn't be spent this window without the threat of sanctions.

Obviously probably ways round that but agreed our owners do not care enough to employ people clever enough to do that.

If we sack Mowbray chances are it will be another underwhelming appointment but fuck me one day they are bound to get lucky and employ someone who can deliver.

 

Chaddy has not proven anything regarding FFP. He posted 3 years of statements of profit and losses going up to June 2020 which are not fair barometers because included within those losses are expenses exempt from FFP calculations. There is also the huge question mark of if any additional grace will be given to clubs due to the pandemic.

You also need to remember that the figures that chaddy showed are up to 2020 and this summers business is actually 2 years after that. We generated considerable income from Armstrong as well as huge wage savings which will show in this year. An expectation of reinvesting a small fraction of that is not unrealistic, unless we were 10m over FFP regulations prior to selling Armstrong of which there is no evidence.

There is then the question of whether setting such a strict budget is beneficial for FFP. It isnt because it means that saleable assets leave on free transfers, that opportunity cost far outweighs giving them a few more thousand a week to begin with, which itself has been accomodating by mass releasing of senior players. So defending the owners based on FFP wouldnt make sense on contractual issues even if it was down to that.

This FFP argument has come solely from our supporters for some reason. If it was the reason that we didn't spend more, surely at some point during a summer in which Mowbray was being asked regularly about transfers and why we hadnt done any, surely he would have used it as an excuse for working from such a strict budget? Even when Waggott has been interviewed, he has never mentioned it as an excuse.

You have chosen to perceive my thoughts about a totally unrelated matter as some sort of defence about a man who I have repeatedly stated that I think should have been sacked long ago. 

Also, you say that we have a small chance of removing Mowbray. Do we? They never have listened to protests in the past, even if there was mass involvement which there wouldnt be because Mowbray isnt universally unpopular just the same as Venkys. I think with Mowbray, many put their head in the sands thinking and hoping blindly that once he is removed, which he should be may I reinstate, that most of the problems will go with him. They wont.

Edited October 21, 2021 by roversfan99

[islander200]

8 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Chaddy has not proven anything regarding FFP. He posted 3 years of statements of profit and losses going up to June 2020 which are not fair barometers because included within those losses are expenses exempt from FFP calculations. There is also the huge question mark of if any additional grace will be given to clubs due to the pandemic.

You also need to remember that the figures that chaddy showed are up to 2020 and this summers business is actually 2 years after that. We generated considerable income from Armstrong as well as huge wage savings which will show in this year. An expectation of reinvesting a small fraction of that is not unrealistic, unless we were 10m over FFP regulations prior to selling Armstrong of which there is no evidence.

There is then the question of whether setting such a strict budget is beneficial for FFP. It isnt because it means that saleable assets leave on free transfers, that opportunity cost far outweighs giving them a few more thousand a week to begin with, which itself has been accomodating by mass releasing of senior players. So defending the owners based on FFP wouldnt make sense on contractual issues even if it was down to that.

This FFP argument has come solely from our supporters for some reason. If it was the reason that we didn't spend more, surely at some point during a summer in which Mowbray was being asked regularly about transfers and why we hadnt done any, surely he would have used it as an excuse for working from such a strict budget? Even when Waggott has been interviewed, he has never mentioned it as an excuse.

You have chosen to perceive my thoughts about a totally unrelated matter as some sort of defence about a man who I have repeatedly stated that I think should have been sacked long ago. 

Also, you say that we have a small chance of removing Mowbray. Do we? They never have listened to protests in the past, even if there was mass involvement which there wouldnt be because Mowbray isnt universally unpopular just the same as Venkys. I think with Mowbray, many put their head in the sands thinking and hoping blindly that once he is removed, which he should be may I reinstate, that most of the problems will go with him. They wont.

Has he had ample opportunity to get Nyambe tied down to a contract?The owners were ok giving Ayala the money he will have wanted and giving an extension to the likes of Bennett but they said no to Nymabe recieving say 10 a week which he would have snapped our hands off for?

How do you know that Rothwell doesn't want 20+ grand a week?What's the plan If he signs up and he goes back to going missing or out of the side and the only teams interested are the ones offering him ten grand a week?

You would have been furious if Brererton was offered a new deal on better terms before his upturn in form and would Brererton have been interested in signing a new deal anyway when he wasn't playing.

In the last 3 years they have given Mowbray what he wanted.Shit owners? Absolutely.Shittest owners ever? like your post said hyperbole at its best...as far as I'm aware the majority of the club debt is owed to Venkys they will never get that back unlike other clubs who had massive loans out and owed the tax man millions and working class people ,stewards,ticket staff, security,tea ladies etc etc lost their jobs that hasn't happened with us as far as I'm aware.

We will see next summer but I predict money will be spent 

 

[lraC]

4 hours ago, islander200 said:

Your posts come across as  defensive of Mowbray.

Anyway we all know the owners are shit but what are you going to do about it apart from continuously going over the same stuff on here?

At least with the manager the fans have a tiny chance with these idiots in charge of forcing him out.Our voices won't carry to removing the owners especially when half the fan base are thankful to them.

I don't know how many times this has to be said and Chaddy has posted proof of this that the owners are at the max of what they can put in until we lose the spend from our first season back in the calculations.Unless you can disprove this then I don't know why you keep calling the owners out for not spending money on transfers this summer?I'm no ffp expert im going off what Chaddy posted and it looked in black and white to me concerning the rules?

I totally agree the owners do not care but he has been adequately backed to not have the squad in the state it is.

These deals should have been done long ago but is it just down to money they weren't?Was Mowbray pushing to get Brererton a new deal a year ago or even 18 month?I mean form had improved but still not to the level he is currently, obviously I know protect assets but Mowbray going to the owners and asking for a new contract for a guy who he had paid 6 million for and hardly played him to begin with and when he did see action was crap.

Nyambe is like Raya for me, Mowbray doesn't rate him as we do.If Costello was fit he would have him playing right back and Nyambe on the bench.

Rothwell again he wasn't showing the form he is now would he have warranted a pay rise?Would he have signed anyway when he was in and out of the team?

Now it's got to the stage where they want more than we can offer them certainly if any truth Rangers in for Rothwell and Brererton will be getting interest aswell.

Like I said Chaddy has posted  the amount you can put in and they have put it in and I think money will be available for signings in the summer when we lose the spend from our return to the league.

I do not think they care.I don't think Mowbray has to ring them up for an extension for Sam Hart etc.They give a budget and let the people on the ground use that budget unless you have evidence that isn't the case?If Mowbray didn't want to play with such a big squad 11 players brought in last summer then deals maybe could have been done earlier.

Yeah I will agree Mowbray has made some good signings and he will make a profit on a few players and deserves credit for that but again that 10 million couldn't be spent this window without the threat of sanctions.

Obviously probably ways round that but agreed our owners do not care enough to employ people clever enough to do that.

If we sack Mowbray chances are it will be another underwhelming appointment but fuck me one day they are bound to get lucky and employ someone who can deliver.

 

The only was Venkys will appoint someone who can deliver, will be if they sign up to just eat, to get some of their chicken distributed.

[lraC]

3 hours ago, islander200 said:

Has he had ample opportunity to get Nyambe tied down to a contract?The owners were ok giving Ayala the money he will have wanted and giving an extension to the likes of Bennett but they said no to Nymabe recieving say 10 a week which he would have snapped our hands off for?

How do you know that Rothwell doesn't want 20+ grand a week?What's the plan If he signs up and he goes back to going missing or out of the side and the only teams interested are the ones offering him ten grand a week?

You would have been furious if Brererton was offered a new deal on better terms before his upturn in form and would Brererton have been interested in signing a new deal anyway when he wasn't playing.

In the last 3 years they have given Mowbray what he wanted.Shit owners? Absolutely.Shittest owners ever? like your post said hyperbole at its best...as far as I'm aware the majority of the club debt is owed to Venkys they will never get that back unlike other clubs who had massive loans out and owed the tax man millions and working class people ,stewards,ticket staff, security,tea ladies etc etc lost their jobs that hasn't happened with us as far as I'm aware.

We will see next summer but I predict money will be spent 

 

I think you are wrong with the job losses. Sadly plenty of the lower paid people, such as ticket office staff, have paid the price.

[islander200]

3 hours ago, lraC said:

I think you are wrong with the job losses. Sadly plenty of the lower paid people, such as ticket office staff, have paid the price.

I accept some people have unfortunately lost their jobs but not to the same degree as some of the other clubs who have gone into admin.

Of course I 100% agree that they are terrible owners but they are not the worst owners ever, the debt is owed to them unlike other clubs who were leaving many a debt unpaid tax man, suppliers,wages unpaid , falling behind on loan repayments etc

[arbitro]

9 minutes ago, islander200 said:

I accept some people have unfortunately lost their jobs but not to the same degree as some of the other clubs who have gone into admin.

Of course I 100% agree that they are terrible owners but they are not the worst owners ever, the debt is owed to them unlike other clubs who were leaving many a debt unpaid tax man, suppliers,wages unpaid , falling behind on loan repayments etc

Since they rocked up the local economy has taken a hit. At a rough (lower) estimate there would be around 50,000 away supporters visiting Ewood over the course of a season in the Premier League. Many of these bought food and drink not just in the Ewood area. I have seen away fans coaches parked in Darwen where they have booked into pubs and clubs.

There is a heavy price to pay for abject failure. 

[lraC]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

Since they rocked up the local economy has taken a hit. At a rough (lower) estimate there would be around 50,000 away supporters visiting Ewood over the course of a season in the Premier League. Many of these bought food and drink not just in the Ewood area. I have seen away fans coaches parked in Darwen where they have booked into pubs and clubs.

There is a heavy price to pay for abject failure. 

Absolutely, the town and the surrounding area suffer badly, as well as the people directly involved. They may not be the worst owners ever, but they are by far the worst thing that has happened to the club, since I started going in 1973.

[islander200]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

Since they rocked up the local economy has taken a hit. At a rough (lower) estimate there would be around 50,000 away supporters visiting Ewood over the course of a season in the Premier League. Many of these bought food and drink not just in the Ewood area. I have seen away fans coaches parked in Darwen where they have booked into pubs and clubs.

There is a heavy price to pay for abject failure. 

Agree with that but still until they stop paying the bills then I think its hyperbolic to be labelling them the worst owners ever when other clubs have been through a lot more than we have due to ownership.

[arbitro]

28 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Agree with that but still until they stop paying the bills then I think its hyperbolic to be labelling them the worst owners ever when other clubs have been through a lot more than we have due to ownership.

I have never described them as the worst ever owners but in my footballing life they are in the top six. That's some achievement for billionaires.

[tomphil]

Financially they can't be labeled the worst owners ever far from it.

Administratively they are without doubt one of the worst ever though. Because through naivety, ignorance and at time sheer arrogance they've wasted and allowed others to waste the majority of their backing. 

The fact they continue to do this is not only bizarre but a bit suspicious as well.

It's as if the club is just an accounting tool for moving a few million spare money around every year. Might be handy for the corporation and billionaires with money that needs wasting however it isn't good for the club despite costs being covered. It leaves it hamstrung between keeping its head about water and people running it not really giving a toss because they know bills and wages are paid no matter how much it under performs.

In short no urgency and no real ambition.

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by tomphil

[Leonard Venkhater]

5 hours ago, islander200 said:

Agree with that but still until they stop paying the bills then I think its hyperbolic to be labelling them the worst owners ever when other clubs have been through a lot more than we have due to ownership.

For me that is irrelevant.

They have taken a well run club, which happens to be my club and turned it into a shambles.

All that debt even after £60 million plus player sales, two years premiership money and several years of parachute payment to achieve what?

No ambition. No hope.

OUT!

 

[islander200]

21 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

For me that is irrelevant.

They have taken a well run club, which happens to be my club and turned it into a shambles.

All that debt even after £60 million plus player sales, two years premiership money and several years of parachute payment to achieve what?

No ambition. No hope.

OUT!

 

I want them out aswell but in Mowbrays reign, up until this summer he has been well backed .Backed more than a lot of clubs in this division.

How many players did he bring in? Compared to selling? Up until this summer in Mowbrays reign only Raya was sold for a fee over a million.

Will echo I want them out as much as the next man but I do not see it happening.

 

[yankfan]

Does anyone really know the wage budget we’re working with?  Mowbary goes on about agents thinking the players can get premier league contracts and that other clubs might offer this or that, but is the wage budget here worse off than other championship sides?  Surely those with parachute payments have more cash to throw around, but are the likes of Rothwell and Lenihan really going to get offered that much more by another club?  If they were so desirable then why didn’t we receive any bids for them over the summer as they approached the final year of their contracts. If a club is going to offer them 3 x what we offer them, then surely they rated them enough to float a million quid to get them tied down.
 

You’d also think with Diaz’s newly found international stardom we could make an exception. Surely with him we’re selling more kits and attracting more fans in a part of the world few if any championship sides reach.   

 

it just seems to me with the wages that have come off the books, the sale from AA, and owners that have so far been happy to foot the bill, we have to be better positioned than most our peers. 

Edited October 23, 2021 by yankfan
Edit

[lraC]

3 hours ago, yankfan said:

Does anyone really know the wage budget we’re working with?  Mowbary goes on about agents thinking the players can get premier league contracts and that other clubs might offer this or that, but is the wage budget here worse off than other championship sides?  Surely those with parachute payments have more cash to throw around, but are the likes of Rothwell and Lenihan really going to get offered that much more by another club?  If they were so desirable then why didn’t we receive any bids for them over the summer as they approached the final year of their contracts. If a club is going to offer them 3 x what we offer them, then surely they rated them enough to float a million quid to get them tied down.
 

You’d also think with Diaz’s newly found international stardom we could make an exception. Surely with him we’re selling more kits and attracting more fans in a part of the world few if any championship sides reach.   

 

it just seems to me with the wages that have come off the books, the sale from AA, and owners that have so far been happy to foot the bill, we have to be better positioned than most our peers. 

It’s almost certainly the attraction of a big signing on fee, that makes a move attractive. Say the same wage to move from Rovers to club B are on offer, but because the buying club have no transfer fee to pay, then the player gets a slice of that would have been.

The strategy perhaps, should be, we pay the equivalent of that fee to keep them, as a re signing bonus and wages at the same level, but perhaps it isn’t as simple as that.

[chaddyrovers]

Rovers should be making Rothwell one of the highest paid player at thus club. 

We should be offering Dolan and Travis new 4/5 years contracts

[Gumbi]

I think the reason why Rothwell hasn't signed a new contract is because he hasn't even been offered one. Going by Mowbray's comments in the Football League Paper, he doesn't think he's that good.

 

[Oldgregg86]

37 minutes ago, Gumbi said:

I think the reason why Rothwell hasn't signed a new contract is because he hasn't even been offered one. Going by Mowbray's comments in the Football League Paper, he doesn't think he's that good.

 

Wow

actully lost for words 🤯

[Waggy76]

58 minutes ago, Gumbi said:

I think the reason why Rothwell hasn't signed a new contract is because he hasn't even been offered one. Going by Mowbray's comments in the Football League Paper, he doesn't think he's that good.

 

Shades of Harrison Reid ..

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, Gumbi said:

I think the reason why Rothwell hasn't signed a new contract is because he hasn't even been offered one. Going by Mowbray's comments in the Football League Paper, he doesn't think he's that good.

 

Mowbray also made disparaging comments publicly about Rothwell after a game at Sheffield Wednesday a couple of years ago.

[joey_big_nose]

1 hour ago, Gumbi said:

I think the reason why Rothwell hasn't signed a new contract is because he hasn't even been offered one. Going by Mowbray's comments in the Football League Paper, he doesn't think he's that good.

 

Wow! Brutal. Bizarre as well as while Rothwell is maybe learning CM he has been way better than many we've had in there under Mowbray (Smallwood, Bennett etc). He's had games in centre mid over the last two seasons where he has been brilliant.

Seems a bit of a cheap dig by Mowbray as he feels Rothwell not signing is embarrassing him. That said obviously Mowbray doesn't rate Rothwell as highly as he should be, and that is weird. Same with Nyambe.

But the ultimate root is Venkys have just decided to minimise budgets which is very short sighted considering they are going to lose a lot of assets for cheap prices.

[Mike E]

On 20/10/2021 at 10:30, roverblue said:

It makes you wonder what league we would end up if the FA/EFL eventually put in a wage cap as has been talked about in the past. I think the figures banded about have been 60-70% of turnover can be spent on wages as a maximum.

These are the stats for the 19/20 season, we should be down a lot on that after releasing so many over the summer though. 

We would basically struggle to field a team to hit the 60/70% ratio, probably be an entire team made up of the under 23's! Either that or somehow magically increase revenues which under the current clown like ownership and management seems impossible.

Bare in mind, though, that is with a heavily neglected commercial side at Ewood. None of the stands have sponsors, many commercial boxes remain unsold, minimal ST sales and no attempt to capitalise on two marketing DREAMS (Oxford promotion game and the BBD story).

Only positives are hints of a plan to get walk-ons in, the 17-game ticket (any figures?), and the renewed drive to appeal to BAME fans. All of which have seemingly occurred with the introduction of Paul Fielder (Head of Commercial, formerly of Hull) and Yasir Sufi (Integration and Development Manager).

I get the feeling these two will be important.