Venky’s v Indian Government (a) - 13/1/2025 - Re-Arranged Challenge Match

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

I sit in the Riverside, so don't pay £700..... I've been going to Ewood since 1970 and I'm not a happy-clapper, which is a terrible insult to many Rovers fans who do not share (whatever) your view might be.

 

I want Venkys gone and find our current situation unbearable, but the questions I ask are genuine ones.  If we went into administration, how many people would lose their jobs?  How would we pay for the academy?  How many players would we need to sell?  If we were able to find new owners, how would they subsidise the club to current levels?  And for how long?

They are the practical issue are play.

Same way every other club does

[JHRover]

Lets speculate for a minute.

We have a choice, we can either stay in the Championship this season, but go into administration in the summer and start next season on -10 points, and face a real battle to avoid League One. But Venkys are gone.

Or we can get relegated this season, continuing our horrific form through to May, but keep Venkys as owners, their 'issues' in India are resolved by the summer and we go back to their preferred way of doing things, but we are in League One, with no JDT and a small inexperienced squad probably well short of what is needed for promotion, we continue the Venky purgatory.

Option 1 would potentially see job losses under administration, but as a Championship club we would have income probably pushing £10 million more than in League One and far bigger crowds / matchday demands, and would also see us a more viable option for a decent takeover.

Option 2 would avoid administration, but in League One with plummeting gates, the revolting Venkys and Waggott still dismantling the club from within, drastically reduced income, gates halved and unlikely to compete in League One - surely with that comes substantial job losses - catering, matchday, stewards and further shrinking of the organisation?

I know which option I'd pick and which I believe is better for BRFC in the medium to long term at least.

[tomphil]

3 hours ago, lraC said:

I think there is a strong possibility that they will eventually realise there is something Amis. Venky’s are treading a very dangerous path with the bond, as they are saying, they are protecting their investment with the money they send. How that can be the case when they have already lost £200m is up for debate.

As we all know on here, any more money the send will go into the same abyss that the rest has, so what investment are they protecting exactly.

It'll be the same thing they tell their bemused shareholders and fraught bankers.

'We are building a sustainable club to get in the Premier League and once there we'll get a return on the investment'

All BS of course but that's the kind of speak that will be used.

[simongarnerisgod]

1 minute ago, tomphil said:

We are building a sustainable club to get in the Premier League and once there we'll get a return on the investment'

thats a friggin laugh,every time we threaten the play off spots they cut the budget and get rid of good players, often for nothing

[Upside Down]

38 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

thats a friggin laugh,every time we threaten the play off spots they cut the budget and get rid of good players, often for nothing

Almost as though they were deliberately sabotaging any chance of promotion......

[Paul Mellelieu]

1 hour ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Same way every other club does

Which clubs?

[Paul Mellelieu]

1 hour ago, Upside Down said:

There's nothing to really discuss though is there?

It's just the same cowering defeatist argument of "who will buy the club" that is as much a part of the problem as Waggot closing stands and overpriced tickets.

You know where we'd be without venkys? The Premier League.

It's difficult to have a conversation with you UD.  I don't think we share a common understanding of the English language.  

 

[den]

I know what @Paul Mellelieu is trying to say and he’s making a valid point. There are no guarantees of anything with administration. It’s easy to be so blasé about the effects. With Admin Rovers would drop like a stone. 
 

The preferable route out of this is what I posted earlier. That’s for Venkys to do their utmost to find suitable owners and hand the club over. I’m not saying it’s even possible to find anyone who could come close to putting the money in that they have done. I doubt that it is. 
 

It’s time for them to move on for sure. Administration won’t be something rovers would recover from for a very long time in my opinion - if ever.

Edited January 19 by den

[Ewood Ace]

Something has to happen we can't carry on operating like we are in perpetuity. I would take administration over a continuation of the last 13 years of torture. Of course there would be some real pain to start with but in the long term I believe the club would end up in a better place. I have absolutely no doubt that there would be party's out there wanting to buy Rovers just in recent years in the Championship and League 1 Birmingham, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Hull, Sunderland, Leeds, Coventry, Bolton, Wigan, Derby, Charlton & Blackpool have all been taken over.

[den]

10 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

Something has to happen we can't carry on operating like we are in perpetuity. I would take administration over a continuation of the last 13 years of torture. Of course there would be some real pain to start with but in the long term I believe the club would end up in a better place. I have absolutely no doubt that there would be party's out there wanting to buy Rovers just in recent years in the Championship and League 1 Birmingham, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Hull, Sunderland, Leeds, Coventry, Bolton, Wigan, Derby, Charlton & Blackpool have all been taken over.

What happens at other clubs has no bearings on Rovers.

[Upside Down]

57 minutes ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

It's difficult to have a conversation with you UD.  I don't think we share a common understanding of the English language.  

 

As in I understand it and you don't?

[Upside Down]

Well we know what life with venkys is like, we've had 13 years of it.

Apparently some are happy to continue with this forever and a day because we have no guarantee of what will come next.

Could life after venkys be worse? Possibly.

Could it be better? YES!

 

[arbitro]

Under the errant ones we have suffered two relegations which both resulted in job losses. They were directly responsible for both of them and however this latest farce plays out they are still responsible.

[phili]

11 hours ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

Who is going to bridge the annual £20m losses?  

The thing is we currently have £20m annual losses because Venky's have decided we need to make £20m of annual losses for some reason.

New owners would probably want the £20m losses reduced pretty quickly so would invest in the commercial department to increase turnover, work with fans to increase attendances, invest in the match day experience etc. There would be a surge in action from the club and an end to the apathy that has set in.

 

[DuffsLeftPeg]

7 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Well we know what life with venkys is like, we've had 13 years of it.

Apparently some are happy to continue with this forever and a day because we have no guarantee of what will come next.

Could life after venkys be worse? Possibly.

Could it be better? YES!

 

Agreed. This was the same doom mongering we had under Tony Slowbray and we got JDT - a young, ambitious, progressive coach who sticks to his principles and plays football in the modern way. If he was backed properly we’d be challenging for promotion.

So let’s stop arguing and talking and DO something about it! Positive action is the only way forward now.

Venkys & SWAG OUT! 

[Upside Down]

18 minutes ago, DuffsLeftPeg said:

Agreed. This was the same doom mongering we had under Tony Slowbray and we got JDT - a young, ambitious, progressive coach who sticks to his principles and plays football in the modern way. If he was backed properly we’d be challenging for promotion.

So let’s stop arguing and talking and DO something about it! Positive action is the only way forward now.

Venkys & SWAG OUT! 

Totally agree. 

It may start with only one banner but there will be more.

All we can really do is keep the spotlight on Venkys and their wretched organisation. The one thing they absolutely do not want is attention. 

[DuffsLeftPeg]

4 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

Totally agree. 

It may start with only one banner but there will be more.

All we can really do is keep the spotlight on Venkys and their wretched organisation. The one thing they absolutely do not want is attention. 

Agree entirely. It may start small but it will grow and what’s going on needs highlighting - it’s only the fans who can do that.

We can’t rely on Chris Sutton or the LET to do that for us. It starts and ends with the fans…as it should in any well run football club with owners that understand, care and connect with the community it is part of.

[Paul Mellelieu]

8 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Well we know what life with venkys is like, we've had 13 years of it.

Apparently some are happy to continue with this forever and a day because we have no guarantee of what will come next.

Could life after venkys be worse? Possibly.

Could it be better? YES!

 

Who is saying that they want continue forever with Venkys?  

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The Chicken Chokers ownership of Blackburn Rovers will only end one way. They are like a cancer on the body of the club. One day they will kill us. It might be next week, it might be next year, it might be in five years. But it’s coming as sure as the sun coming up this morning. Any other option than them owning us is preferable.

Edited January 19 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Gav]

9 hours ago, den said:

I know what @Paul Mellelieu is trying to say and he’s making a valid point. There are no guarantees of anything with administration. It’s easy to be so blasé about the effects. With Admin Rovers would drop like a stone. 
 

The preferable route out of this is what I posted earlier. That’s for Venkys to do their utmost to find suitable owners and hand the club over. I’m not saying it’s even possible to find anyone who could come close to putting the money in that they have done. I doubt that it is. 
 

It’s time for them to move on for sure. Administration won’t be something rovers would recover from for a very long time in my opinion - if ever.

The longer these owners are behind the wheel the bigger the car crash when inevitably we hit the brick wall. Right now we are struggling to pay wages and keep the lights on, with 'billionaire' owners, owners who have zero interest in raising capital through growing the club, its mindboggling incompetence or they simply do not care.

I'd take the final option right now den because our options diminish with every passing day sadly. 

 

Edited January 19 by Gav

[den]

Seems as though most posters would prefer the club going into administration and all that might come with that, than the owners putting the club up for sale.

thats just a show of anger rather than what’s best for the club.

 

[Dreams of 1995]

I don't think administration will happen under Venkys. They are still a profitable company and have shown willing to pay what is required - but not a penny more - to keep the wolves at the door

Unfortunately, we will continue to be at the whim of their shareholders. You have to imagine that, given there are loans taken out against the parent company, some of the shareholders are questioning the reason they continue to hold on to Rovers. It isn't giving them any good publicity and they clearly have no long term plan to improve the club. So if I was sat on the board my question would be: what is the play here?

I wish beyond everything they would act in a decent way and appoint people to run the club who know what they are doing. It is the bare minimum any owner should do. These types of owners are why the white paper on football ownership does not go far enough. In this country we absolutely have to have fan representation at board level. Rovers could be held as a case study imo. Distant owners, disinterested in progress and who jump from controversy to controversy. It is compounded by a lack of local management

[Devon Rover]

8 minutes ago, den said:

Seems as though most posters would prefer the club going into administration and all that might come with that, than the owners putting the club up for sale.

thats just a show of anger rather than what’s best for the club.

 

Hi Den

I definitely wouldn't 'prefer' that option, out of the two. But I'm trying to be realistic about the likelihood of each option and I would be amazed (and delighted) if Venky's ever put the club up for sale without being forced to do so. I really think our only hope of a change of ownership is for that decision being taken out of their hands. 

Do you see any reason to think Venky's are likely to voluntarily put the club up for sale, and what would that be based on?

[Devon Rover]

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I don't think administration will happen under Venkys. They are still a profitable company and have shown willing to pay what is required - but not a penny more - to keep the wolves at the door

Unfortunately, we will continue to be at the whim of their shareholders. You have to imagine that, given there are loans taken out against the parent company, some of the shareholders are questioning the reason they continue to hold on to Rovers. It isn't giving them any good publicity and they clearly have no long term plan to improve the club. So if I was sat on the board my question would be: what is the play here?

I wish beyond everything they would act in a decent way and appoint people to run the club who know what they are doing. It is the bare minimum any owner should do. These types of owners are why the white paper on football ownership does not go far enough. In this country we absolutely have to have fan representation at board level. Rovers could be held as a case study imo. Distant owners, disinterested in progress and who jump from controversy to controversy. It is compounded by a lack of local management

I agree with you on the case study. 

But I very much doubt Rovers have much meeting agenda item time, over in Pune.

[den]

12 minutes ago, Devon Rover said:

Hi Den

I definitely wouldn't 'prefer' that option, out of the two. But I'm trying to be realistic about the likelihood of each option and I would be amazed (and delighted) if Venky's ever put the club up for sale without being forced to do so. I really think our only hope of a change of ownership is for that decision being taken out of their hands. 

Do you see any reason to think Venky's are likely to voluntarily put the club up for sale, and what would that be based on?

Hi Devon. I have no idea what Venkys will do. Anything is possible.

I’m trying to say that IF there were to be a call to Venkys to leave, maybe a United campaign, the call should be for them to sell the club. That would be the best outcome. 

Edited January 19 by den