January Transfer Window.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 minute ago, callumrovers said:

Got to be in it to win it 👍

from what I’m gathering this is a plan over 4-5 years.

We are like those cartoon donkeys on Blackpool beach with a stick with a carrot dangling off our heads about a foot in front of our eyes.

[Exiled_Rover]

46 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I get the fact that he shouldnt be written off, one at best average but difficult transfer window in. But on the flip side, why do you (and others) have seemingly ultimate faith? 

For me, I am still in the middle.

He comes across very well in interviews and I really, really like our Head Coach.

Basically I'm the poster in the X-Files office - I want to believe. 

[callumrovers]

1 minute ago, Mattyblue said:

Why because GB says so in interviews? Come on Callum, its just the same stuff any club in this league’s hierarchy comes out with. Means nothing.
 

I’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt. His words might be hollow but that’s the only thing I/we have to go off currently.

[roverandout]

57 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

what do you want him to deliver? 

Sign some decent players in this window.  We are in desperate need of reinforcements 

[Exiled_Rover]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

We are like those cartoon donkeys on Blackpool beach with a stick with a carrot dangling off our heads about a foot in front of our eyes.

Except most of you don't actually get to Ewood so that analogy doesn't apply.

We're literally down to an absolute hardcore of 12k+ who attend despite 12 years of crap ownership and incredibly expensive season tickets. Broughton and JDT aren't trying to pull any wool over anyone's eyes - they're both ambitious and think this is a platform to make their mark in the football world. 

At the end of the day neither one really cares about Blackburn or the surrounding area - it's a means to an end. 

[roverandout]

9 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

Got to be in it to win it 👍

from what I’m gathering this is a plan over 4-5 years.

4 or 5 years? Ffs we've wasted 10 years already doing NOTHING.  we all know we will be back to square one after a couple of years. When does the cycle end? Some of us are getting on and can't hang around for another '4 or 5 years'. We all know its bullshit.  It's just another attempt to steal a living while trying to placate the gullible.  (Not saying u are). Its reset after reset.  The clubs first aim should be promotion. If tiny clubs like Brentford can achieve it in a small amount of time why is once established club Blackburn rovers putting promotion on the back-burner? The longer we are out of the top flight the harder it will be to get back there. 

[roversfan99]

45 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

I don’t have ultimate faith. Just glad there is what seems a plan in place and we are working towards that. Got to have a plan in place otherwise we will get no where.

As others have said, there has been talk of plans before. I get that we all hope that things will be different and something good will happen, thats what we do as football fans. But for me the jury is still out, dont think the first window of the plan was impressive, so will just judge from here on in.

I also appreciate that some decisions seemingly are taken away from people below Venkys ie player sales when I judge Broughton but ultimately for a plan to work it has to work from the top.

I judge on what is done rather than what is said but some peoples optimism seems to come from those words which I get. But talk about not signing players due to a fear of blocking pathways combined with measuring the manager based on academy graduate minutes does not IMO suggest that promotion is the primary focus.

[callumrovers]

2 minutes ago, roverandout said:

4 or 5 years? Ffs we've wasted 10 years already doing NOTHING.  we all know we will be back to square one after a couple of years. When does the cycle end? Some of us are getting on and can't hang around for another '4 or 5 years'. We all know it’s bullshit.  It's just another attempt to steal a living while trying to placate the gullible.  (Not saying u are). It’s reset after reset.  The clubs first aim should be promotion. If tiny clubs like Brentford can achieve it in a small amount of time why is once established club Blackburn rovers putting promotion on the back-burner? The longer we are out of the top flight the harder it will be to get back there. 

My  own thoughts are that we haven’t had any direction for the first 5 years. Only started to get a direction of where we wanted to go when Mowbray came in. He talked all the time about developing players and selling them on, he had the right idea but didn’t have the tools to do it. Since he’s gone and we have recruited the sporting director who has started implementing the “plan” I hope things start to improve both on and off the pitch.

the way I see things playing out. 
 

1st season - they see this as a free hit, no one expects us to get promoted rightly or wrongly.

2nd season - gain the consistency this season has not offered and be in and around the top six.

3rd season - in the playoffs/ promoted.

4 season - same as above. 

JDT will be given time and if he doesn’t reach the targets set in the future, then he needs to be removed and a new coach replaces with the same philosophy and ideas as the plan. 

[roverandout]

1 minute ago, callumrovers said:

My  own thoughts are that we haven’t had any direction for the first 5 years. Only started to get a direction of where we wanted to go when Mowbray came in. He talked all the time about developing players and selling them on, he had the right idea but didn’t have the tools to do it. Since he’s gone and we have recruited the sporting director who has started implementing the “plan” I hope things start to improve both on and off the pitch.

the way I see things playing out. 
 

1st season - they see this as a free hit, no one expects us to get promoted rightly or wrongly.

2nd season - gain the consistency this season has not offered and be in and around the top six.

3rd season - in the playoffs/ promoted.

4 season - same as above. 

JDT will be given time and if he doesn’t reach the targets set in the future, then he needs to be removed and a new coach replaces with the same philosophy and ideas as the plan. 

A never ending merry-go-round 

[roverandout]

[den]

1 hour ago, callumrovers said:

Every recruitment team gets it’s wrong sometimes. Even the best teams in the world. Now we have a fully staffed recruitment team in post, I would like to think we will get most transfers correct - will never be 100%.

he’s working from the owners strategic plan. To be a sustainable premiership club. You are only getting that through using the academy that we will be paying soon around 4 million for per year and buying young players to develop.

Cant be buying established players unfortunately unless we get a bargain and the players come from a club who don’t pay a lot (Hyam)

 

We’ve been working from that plan for 13 years now.

[martonrover]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Why does anyone have any faith in Broughton? 

Seems like (another) overpaid BS merchant based on performance to date.

I fear he is the latest to ride the Rovers gravy train, although I desperately want him to prove me wrong.

His demeanour is like that of a politician, and one I’m not sure I can trust.

I see him sticking around come what may, whereas I see JDT walking if we keep getting hammered.

 

[arbitro]

Our club has been systematically plundered and neglected by these owners for twelve years now and people have faith in them over the next few years to deliver a plan or project. It won't happen and despite the rhetoric from Broughton and Tomasson these errant owners are the big stumbling block and the main reason it won't. They are the worst thing that has ever happened to our club and still, unbelievably some think they will come good.

[Miller11]

If we do get promoted it will be in spite of the owners, not because of any “plan” they have come up with.

We need to try and capitalise on fortuitous positions we find ourselves in, it was ballsed up last year, looks like it will be again. We shouldn’t just shrug our shoulders and say “project” when our chances of success are pissed away before our eyes.

[callumrovers]

5 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Our club has been systematically plundered and neglected by these owners for twelve years now and people have faith in them over the next few years to deliver a plan or project. It won't happen and despite the rhetoric from Broughton and Tomasson these errant owners are the big stumbling block and the main reason it won't. They are the worst thing that has ever happened to our club and still, unbelievably some think they will come good.

So what’s the solution? Protesting has been done, didn’t have any effect. The owners are not going anywhere so I choose to be positive  and hope that change does occur. It’s either that or stay in a rut of negativity.

[callumrovers]

4 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

If we do get promoted it will be in spite of the owners, not because of any “plan” they have come up with.

We need to try and capitalise on fortuitous positions we find ourselves in, it was ballsed up last year, looks like it will be again. We shouldn’t just shrug our shoulders and say “project” when our chances of success are pissed away before our eyes.

I don’t think anyone doesn’t want promotion. You can’t just chuck £££ at it though. What happens then if we don’t get promoted? FFP strikes and we and get penalised resulting in transfer embargos and points deductions.

[callumrovers]

15 minutes ago, den said:

We’ve been working from that plan for 13 years now.

We haven’t, it’s been 4-5 years of an outline of a plan without the correct staff/ systems in place.

[tomphil]

15 minutes ago, martonrover said:

I fear he is the latest to ride the Rovers gravy train, although I desperately want him to prove me wrong.

His demeanour is like that of a politician, and one I’m not sure I can trust.

I see him sticking around come what may, whereas I see JDT walking if we keep getting hammered.

 

Iv'e no doubt he's ambitious and has good ideas but i also think once hes been here a while.  He'll fall into the comfort zone of the rest of them when hes sussed it all out and realised just do enough and that's enough.

Then he'll be off somewhere else when the opportunity arises.

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, Roversider said:

Very good points, there are other things to factor in though.

• There's a sell-on clause (I believe) due to Forest which will suck up some of the money.
• Could we get a better player in that might carry us intro the top 6.

 

Honestly, after Rotherham I have finally given up on top 6. We might as well sell Brereton if we get a fairly reasonable offer (I'd say 8-10 mill) and start preparing for the future. Whether we like it or not, it's project time, so we might as well do it properly this time. That means selling assets, especially such rapidly depreciating ones, and reinvesting smartly.

[den]

6 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

We haven’t, it’s been 4-5 years of an outline of a plan without the correct staff/ systems in place.

Are you saying the plan is now different? I haven’t heard that interview. How is it different?

[rover23]

I do think some people’s expectations in here are a little unrealistic. 

When all is said and done we’re a small town club. We get 13k fans in the ground on a good day, and the only reason we ever got into the top flight was a dedicated owner who pumped his own money into the club before there was any kind of regulations. 

Currently we’re spending what we can, the owners can’t put any more money in than they are doing, so the only possible way we can push forward is by using our academy. 

Do we need experienced players? Yes of course. Is the stubbornness of the owners to not sell nearly out of contract players hurting us? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, what sets us apart from other mediocre clubs in the Championship or League 1? Not a lot, other than a history that was bought for us by Uncle Jack.

Sometimes we need to think about how lucky we are. 

[arbitro]

5 minutes ago, callumrovers said:

So what’s the solution? Protesting has been done, didn’t have any effect. The owners are not going anywhere so I choose to be positive  and hope that change does occur. It’s either that or stay in a rut of negativity.

I much prefer to call it realism rather than negativity based on twelve years. From our perspective there isn't a solution that we can influence. The paradox is that they created this whole mess and we are now beholden to them to keep throwing away good money after bad to simply tread water. I just don't see anything positive about their ownership past, present or future.

[tomphil]

13 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

If we do get promoted it will be in spite of the owners, not because of any “plan” they have come up with.

We need to try and capitalise on fortuitous positions we find ourselves in, it was ballsed up last year, looks like it will be again. We shouldn’t just shrug our shoulders and say “project” when our chances of success are pissed away before our eyes.

Not when we've waited a decade to even have the remotest of chances.

Last season and this the spots 2-6 are wide open to at least have a go at it and hang in there before the pecking order dictates the best funded clubs nab them.

 

 

[callumrovers]

3 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Honestly, after Rotherham I have finally given up on top 6. We might as well sell Brereton if we get a fairly reasonable offer (I'd say 8-10 mill) and start preparing for the future. Whether we like it or not, it's project time, so we might as well do it properly this time. That means selling assets, especially such rapidly depreciating ones, and reinvesting smartly.

100% agree.

I would sell now and reinvest.

problem being is I think Ben wants a move to Spain and they will get him for free. Don’t think he fancies playing for a potential relegated team in the prem. 

[briansol]

23 minutes ago, roverandout said:

4 or 5 years? Ffs we've wasted 10 years already doing NOTHING.  we all know we will be back to square one after a couple of years. When does the cycle end? Some of us are getting on and can't hang around for another '4 or 5 years'. We all know its bullshit.  It's just another attempt to steal a living while trying to placate the gullible.  (Not saying u are). Its reset after reset.  The clubs first aim should be promotion. If tiny clubs like Brentford can achieve it in a small amount of time why is once established club Blackburn rovers putting promotion on the back-burner? The longer we are out of the top flight the harder it will be to get back there. 

Funny you mention Brentford. They spent 6 seasons in the Championship, improving year by year before getting promoted. The way they did it was with a strategy and "project". They put in place great scouting which was highly data-driven and bought young talent they could improve and sell-on. Which they did with a number of players being sold for 9m+ over the years like Mephan, Konsa, Gray, Hogan, Benharama and Watkins. They had a lot of turnover as they don't have an academy, and also bought quite of lot duds, but they were offset with the gems they uncovered.

Another success was that any manager they hired had to adapt to their structure and setup and not to another reboot of style and players. 

 

The Brentford model should sound a bit familiar to what we are trying to achieve here. With a sporting director, great academy and using player trading to up the level of the squad. It might take time, but probably the only long-term solution for the club.