January Transfer Window.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

Classic diversion and distraction tactic from Broughton here.

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/transfer-news/sheffield-united-transfer-haunts-blackburn-26165804

We don't hear from him for months, something he accepts responsibility for goes belly up and he talks about a player he wanted to sign in the Summer.

They insult our intelligence.

I actually thought this was a dig at EFL.

[MarkBRFC]

7 minutes ago, yeti-dog said:

No, that's not what I'm saying. 

Promotion this season, with this squad would be catastrophic. You make out that going up is nirvana - for every Burnley there's a Leeds/Sunderland/Bolton/Derby. Look at Huddersfield and Cardiff, in the Premier League as recently as 2019 and now 3rd & 4th bottom respectively in the Championship. Cast your eye over Norwich, for all their yo-yoing they look no more fit for promotion than we do and how much money have they received and spunked away over the last few years? 

The 'point of all this' ultimately is to support are club,no? The point, for me, isn't the Premier League in itself, at all costs.. 

You can't just decide when to go up though.

If we snuck into the top 6 on the last day and ended up going through the play offs, I certainly wouldn't look at that and think "well this is catastrophic".

 

[Mattyblue]

11 minutes ago, yeti-dog said:

No, that's not what I'm saying. 

Promotion this season, with this squad would be catastrophic. You make out that going up is nirvana - for every Burnley there's a Leeds/Sunderland/Bolton/Derby. Look at Huddersfield and Cardiff, in the Premier League as recently as 2019 and now 3rd & 4th bottom respectively in the Championship. Cast your eye over Norwich, for all their yo-yoing they look no more fit for promotion than we do and how much money have they received and spunked away over the last few years? 

The 'point of all this' ultimately is to support are club,no? The point, for me, isn't the Premier League in itself, at all costs.. 

If you are spending the majority of two consecutive seasons in the top six of a division that contains promotion places you surely look to take one. That is the point of professional football in a pyramid system.

[lraC]

12 minutes ago, yeti-dog said:

No, that's not what I'm saying. 

Promotion this season, with this squad would be catastrophic. You make out that going up is nirvana - for every Burnley there's a Leeds/Sunderland/Bolton/Derby. Look at Huddersfield and Cardiff, in the Premier League as recently as 2019 and now 3rd & 4th bottom respectively in the Championship. Cast your eye over Norwich, for all their yo-yoing they look no more fit for promotion than we do and how much money have they received and spunked away over the last few years? 

The 'point of all this' ultimately is to support are club,no? The point, for me, isn't the Premier League in itself, at all costs.. 

I actually think with all the money at the top end of the premier league and also what is going on with the like of the breaking City story today, getting promotion, is probably no longer the answer the the problems, we have and lots of other clubs have too.

We are currently looking at our great rivals with envy, but when the go up, to be able to compete, they will need to spend an absolute fortune and doing that, potentially leads to the situation, you have described above, or even worse. Bolton and Derby nearly ceased to exist.

I remember having a conversation with a former work colleague and Burnley fan, when they have loads of cash in the bank, but along came a buyer, did what they did and immediately plunged them into debt.

Granted what they have done this year, means they will enjoy ( or endure ) the riches of the prem again next year, but had this season not gone as well as it has, would they also now have been staring into the abys?

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

Classic diversion and distraction tactic from Broughton here.

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/transfer-news/sheffield-united-transfer-haunts-blackburn-26165804

We don't hear from him for months, something he accepts responsibility for goes belly up and he talks about a player he wanted to sign in the Summer.

They insult our intelligence.

Yes, classic misdirection with a dollop of "woe is me" for good measure.

Thing is though it works on our dumbed down fan base.

[yeti-dog]

17 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

You can't just decide when to go up though.

If we snuck into the top 6 on the last day and ended up going through the play offs, I certainly wouldn't look at that and think "well this is catastrophic".

 

I take your point - if we somehow went up then obviously you roll with it and accept that the following season will, in all probability, be like slowing down to rubberneck at a car crash.. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, imy9 said:

Is that not a valid point though? Ex premier league pays more than it can afford and we lose out? We are seemingly playing a different game at the moment… looking at the City situation.

Broughton is just padding out his defence. We've got no money, but still managed a net spend of over £4m in summer, at least half of which went on Szmodics and a sick note, and whatever else on our number one target, George Hirst, and a "defender" called Clinton Mola.

For me, I think he needs to lay low. It's not the best timing to be talking about yet another failed transfer attempt.

[roversfan99]

Burnley are 17 points clear of 3rd place, Sheff Utd are 10.

Fulham finished 8 clear of third last season, with relegation sorted with a couple of games to go.

The number of teams that get promoted on parachute money is stark.

The play off format gives more something to play for, but it can't be the most competitive in the world.

[jim mk2]

20 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

If you are spending the majority of two consecutive seasons in the top six of a division that contains promotion places you surely look to take one. That is the point of professional football in a pyramid system.

You see....the reply button does work

Agree with your post

[yeti-dog]

These days, I struggle to really understand what the actual 'point' is of the professional football pyramid system.

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

I actually thought this was a dig at EFL.

 The timing and content makes me suspicious. Last week he said he didn't think the appeal to the EFL would be successful. 

[SuperBrfc]

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

Classic diversion and distraction tactic from Broughton here.

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/transfer-news/sheffield-united-transfer-haunts-blackburn-26165804

We don't hear from him for months, something he accepts responsibility for goes belly up and he talks about a player he wanted to sign in the Summer.

They insult our intelligence.

Some valuable lessons and teachings for us Rovers fans there, arbitro. The theme of the article is "the noble man" and revolves around a selfless character named Greg Broughton. For those not listening at the back this is what this piece of literature is trying to tell us. You'd do well to pay attention to this as this is likely to come up in future exam papers:

1) He is a noble man, who cannot put the club at financial risk.

2) Making it all about the play offs and persuading the owners to go for it is an ego thing.

3) They could do that if they wanted to, but him and Jon aren't about ego. Vying for promotion and demanding it are the works of the spoilt, the unruly, and the impatient.

4) The noble man is deeply pained by the failure to sign players like Ahmedhodzic. He wants us to know that parachute payments are the cause of his pain and that this is why the club lost out on the player to Sheffield United. Be in no doubt, he certainly wants quality players in too. If only those parachute payments didn't exist.

Sigh.

5) But, but, the noble man also wants us to know that parachute payments and signing such players aren't the be all and end all. Please consider what potentially can happen to those clubs who show some ambition. They might get the player, but at what cost? Transfer embargoes, as in the case of Sheffield United. That is the cost. They got the player, but was it worth it? You must consider this.

What good is promotion if thou hast to face a transfer embargo along the way? 

6) He is the noble one, who has come to save the football club, by doing things differently to what other promotion chasing clubs do.

Remember, it's not about victory, it's about honour. It's not about winning, it's the taking part that counts. Most importantly for you all, as well as for the noble man, it's all about development, development and more, development.

Right, class. Your homework for Wednesday is to write an 800 word essay on what makes Broughton the right man for Rovers and why you think he will be a success.

There is plenty of material in this regard on twitter, facebook and brfcs. I am happy for you to look at these resources as part of your research, but do not plagiarise. We will find out if you have done so.

Good luck, and see you on Wednesday.

[Sweaty Gussets]

Gregg's beatification of Gregg continues at pace. 

Full canonization only comes with the confirmation of 2 miracles. He may fall short as he's never going to sign a decent striker. 

 

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

Well he's amassed 21 followers so far so i would say he needs to be more creative!

Maybe he will move on to players who go by Daniel.

[ben_the_beast]

If we went up this season I'd hope we'd be wise with the riches that come. Sign some of the best players from Championship level and one or two promising players from abroad. It'd be an almighty scrap to stay up but the Norwich method isn't a bad shout. Position yourself to bounce back at first time of asking if relegated. The trouble with Norwich is they never progressed and became a yoyo club. 

Promotion should always be the aim, whether the current set of players are well equipped for the step up or not. We struggle to compete at this level as it is. Suddenly we might have a fighting chance.

All hypothetical as its highly unlikely to happen anyway.

[phili]

1 hour ago, yeti-dog said:

I take your point - if we somehow went up then obviously you roll with it and accept that the following season will, in all probability, be like slowing down to rubberneck at a car crash.. 

To be honest with the issues in India and the Adani fallout etc, I would be very happy to have our financial situation sorted for the next few years and not have any fear of Venky's deciding to liquidate us.

 

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, yeti-dog said:

I take your point - if we somehow went up then obviously you roll with it and accept that the following season will, in all probability, be like slowing down to rubberneck at a car crash.. 

So what ?

We could spend 20 million and storm this league then still get painfully folded like a deckchair most weeks in the Prem.  All this build for a sustainable Prem club is such BS it's like selling a bridge to the Yanks.

The ONLY way for Blackburn Rovers to become a sustainable Prem club is do whatever it takes to get there first. Then you bite the bullet and start the new rebuild with the parachute money or if you're lucky enough to stay up.  One season up there no matter how painful on the pitch should financially reset the whole club.

Somehow i think some will need reminding of this in a season or two when we are likely dossing around in lower mid again still having 20 mill a year run through the books.

[yeti-dog]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

So what ?

We could spend 20 million and storm this league then still get painfully folded like a deckchair most weeks in the Prem.  All this build for a sustainable Prem club is such BS it's like selling a bridge to the Yanks.

The ONLY way for Blackburn Rovers to become a sustainable Prem club is do whatever it takes to get there first. Then you bite the bullet and start the new rebuild with the parachute money or if you're lucky enough to stay up.  One season up there no matter how painful on the pitch should financially reset the whole club.

Somehow i think some will need reminding of this in a season or two when we are likely dossing around in lower mid again still having 20 mill a year run through the books.

All well and good and you'd like to think so, but as I said earlier, getting there in itself guarantees absolutely nothing as several clubs who have sucked from the golden tit before have already found out..

[booth]

3 hours ago, yeti-dog said:

It's just an opinion and you know how the saying goes about those. It might be shocking to you but I'm comfortable with it. I'll expand on it though a little.

For me, the Championship is probably the most genuinely competitive league in the world. Most of the teams in the division will, over a season have genuine claims on either promotion/relegation/both of the above, sometimes at the same time. This makes nearly every game meaningful in a way you'd never really see in the Premiership (I'll  accept this season is something of an outlier given how well Brentford, Brighton and Fulham are doing). 

Chasing the money guarantees nothing in terms of our situation given our peculiar set-up and there's something soulless and morally bankrupt about the premiership promised land. A fair chunk of the owners there leave a particularly nasty taste in the mouth.

Have a read of the article below; for sure it'll make you laugh in places (it did me anyhow, Delia Smith at #15, for example). By the same token, after reading it I felt grubby as fuck, in need of a shower and reminded yet again that money doesn't buy class....

https://www.football365.com/news/ranking-premier-league-owners-morals-bin-salman-abramovich-mansour

It's a grubby business no doubt and I kind of fell out of love with football a long time ago for those reasons... I'm, amazingly still hanging in there as a Rovers supporter after 12 years of Venkys.

As I've said before though, if Rovers didn't have so much debt I'd be happy for them to be a Championship team. It's not about the Premier League, or being a "rich" club, more long term survival in an awfully governed game. I do think with the way we are heading the club is heading for disaster without a major cash injection.

And there's the hope that without so much debt we may be attractive to a more sensible owner. One with even a slight interest in the actual game of football would be a step up.

[yeti-dog]

3 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Burnley are 17 points clear of 3rd place, Sheff Utd are 10.

Fulham finished 8 clear of third last season, with relegation sorted with a couple of games to go.

The number of teams that get promoted on parachute money is stark.

The play off format gives more something to play for, but it can't be the most competitive in the world.

Don't get me started on parachute payments. I believe the EFL are keen to see them scrapped to level the playing field.

There's not many businesses where you effectively get a bonus payment for failure (bankers excepted of course..)

[booth]

Just now, yeti-dog said:

Don't get me started on parachute payments. I believe the EFL are keen to see them scrapped to level the playing field.

There's not many businesses where you effectively get a bonus payment for failure (bankers excepted of course..)

They'll scrap them the year we scrape into the PL, and relegated the following season. You can bet your house on it.

[yeti-dog]

2 minutes ago, booth said:

They'll scrap them the year we scrape into the PL, and relegated the following season. You can bet your house on it.

Knowing our luck I can see exactly that happening. I do think they need to go though for the long term health of the game.

[Bohinen1983]

Anyone seen JDT's comments in the Telegraph? Hope it's a case of lost in translation... 🤔

 

6:47pm

 

JDT: “So far I think we’ve had a good season, in the last 16 of the FA Cup, in the other cup we were in the last 16, something Rovers haven’t been for many years.

“We’ve been in a good position in the league all year.

“Is it too high? If you look at our squad and the rest of the money involved in this great league, yes it’s too high.

“Is that our target to up there? No, but we can dream about it.

“We are not favourites, I’ve said that from day one, we’re under construction, and where we’re trying to build over time.

“That’s the situation here.”

Blackburn Rovers v Wigan Athletic: LIVE match updates | Lancashire Telegraph

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

48 minutes ago, Bohinen1983 said:

Anyone seen JDT's comments in the Telegraph? Hope it's a case of lost in translation... 🤔

 

6:47pm

 

JDT: “So far I think we’ve had a good season, in the last 16 of the FA Cup, in the other cup we were in the last 16, something Rovers haven’t been for many years.

“We’ve been in a good position in the league all year.

“Is it too high? If you look at our squad and the rest of the money involved in this great league, yes it’s too high.

“Is that our target to up there? No, but we can dream about it.

“We are not favourites, I’ve said that from day one, we’re under construction, and where we’re trying to build over time.

“That’s the situation here.”

Blackburn Rovers v Wigan Athletic: LIVE match updates | Lancashire Telegraph

I’m sick of hearing it. When are we going to show some desire and self confidence. Do you think Dyche said “ We’ll give this one a miss lads, they’re way too good for us, just try and keep the score down “ on Saturday when they beat the top of the league ?

One thing I learnt a long while ago - “ Give players an excuse not to perform and they’ll take it “.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[wilsdenrover]

45 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’m sick of hearing it. When are we going to show some desire and self confidence. Do you think Dyche said “ We’ll give this one a miss lads, they’re way too good for us, just try and keep the score down “ on Saturday when they beat the top of the league ?

One thing I learnt a long while ago - “ Give players an excuse not to perform and they’ll take it “.

‘Don’t make excuses for why you can’t get it done. Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen’