He's from Altrincham and goes to the boys catholic grammar school there. I guess his family must be of Irish extraction but locally settled? Could have been born in Ireland then moved here I guess? Wonder if he turns out to be the next Declan Rice if he will similarly reconsider his allegiance in later life?

Szmodics is a striker.... He's constantly our furthest forward player. He's not Frank Lampard coming in and pinging the goals in from the edge of the bx. He leads the line and scores strikers goals. In the last two Championship games his average position has been further forward than the supposed number 9 (in this case Telalovic), and that can be seen all season.

I think we probably guzumped on length of contract rather than wages.

Actually thinking about it we have according to the accounts 200-ish overall headcount, with about 50 of those being on the salarysports list. So that means there are around 150 not on that list. THat would include CEO, DOF, First team coach, physio & coaches, womens team, club admins, accounts, legal, groudstaff etc. On top of that there maybe the salaries include agents fees and bonuses etc? So maybe the gap is quite explainable. £8 mill per year over 150 non mens-playing squad headcount works out as about £50k per head. Obviously a few will be on a lot more than that, many on a lot less. But it's possible to see how the £8m can be gobbled up pretty quickly. Edit - doh forgot I already knocked off the £3m for CEO etc. So actually gaps is £11M which over a headcount of 150 is £74k average... Hmm.

Hmmm... JRCs got himself a bloody good agent if he's gone from a bit part academy graduate looking to be shipped out 12 months ago to our fifth highest earner! While directionally I think the numbers feel roughly right, overall something doesn't really make sense. In total SalarySports adds up to Blackburn Rovers total salary bill is £13,203,840... But that is is massively less than the £24M listed in the most recent 21/22 accounts according to this swissramble article below. I can't see the entire staff and director wage bill being more than £3M absolute tops. So either we've chopped off £8m from our player salary cost (equivalent to £150k a week) since the end of 22 or there's something I am not getting. https://swissramble.substack.com/p/blackburn-rovers-finances-202122

Look seven posts above

Ah okay. Pretty dysfunctional though that he doesnt rate GB, and I imagine the feeling is mutual. How engaged in Mr Desai? Daily/weekly interaction or just dips in every few months?

Ah, so we've got a CEO who does not want a DOF and is briefing against him?? Thats mad. Is it true GB brought in JDT? As he made it sound that way?

Not great quality of opposition though. I dont think anyone fans, management or players gets much confidence from giving away two early goals against poor form league one opposition. In many ways a tight 2-0 win would have been better than an open 5-2 triumph.

I doubt that.... But maybe the coaches have made a decision that the two senior players (Hyam and Szmodics) need to be on all game? Still seems bizarre when the game is won?

My guess is we just keep rotating Leonard, Telalovic and Ennis till someone scores a goal and looks good. Could be for the rest of the season!

Yeah my view exactly

Whats so bizarre is we just come out each week and play the same way but expect a different outcome. Surely we should be setting up each week to not concede a cheap early goal...

Maybe the idea is to practice winning a game from a losing position? Dont think its Leos mistake there, clearing and closing from defenders was horrendous. Also Whartons passing has been poor. Really does feel like late Coyle at the moment. Not learning from mistakes.

Guess one of those who needs the morale boost the most is Leo.

The one really clear thing with Travis going and the Brighton lad coming in is that we are not changing approach, we are doubling down and as far as we can tell JDT is onboard with it. So while we might bring in a bit of experience I think the way we play etc will stay the same. Hopefully we do turn things around, but doubling down when things are going badly is always a risky move.

Might not be the smartest move if we want a player off them in future

Travis not getting game time recently when the squad is exhausted and we are leaking goals for fun is one of the strangest selection things Ive seen in a while. If he wasnt looking to move before I am sure he is now.

I doubt any of that will happen except Gamble on loan. We need more bodies in a small squad, so I dont think we will see anyone leave unless we get a fee and I don't think anyones paying for those.

The huge numbers of goals conceded across the season, inability to beat promoted teams, inability to get any points once going behind etc all add up to other candidates being preferred for roles a step above us. Just my view but I doubt there are many owners / CEOs thinking they need a bit of JDT in their life at the moment. He needs to look like a manager who can setup a defence and get team to perform when its tough.

Not to harp on about it but whats the source for that number? Based on the most recent accounts from @wilsdenrover it looks like we are spending around £20 mill on wages, not the £12M that was shown on a list.

Think hes well past that now, he hasn't got a very long cv and we are at the top of it. He may well walk away but he will do well to get a sideways move. His reputation has taken absolute battering.

Given the tax issues and all the negative press and admin that comes with that it seems possible to me that the delegation is over looking at ways for Venkys the extricate themselves. We can live in hope! Just seems logical as their approach has been to largely ignore us but pay the bills to keep the noise down, but now it's harder to ignore us and to pay the bills so that policy might change?

Yeah and it was from the left, ultimately it was pickering and whoever the midfielder was not closing down.

They have the cash though dont they? They could just write it off?