JHRover

It's an interesting discussion. Just following on from the above. I think Mowbray's departure was botched. I don't think it was properly planned for or entirely expected. I don't think Waggott ever really wanted him gone, and the owners are so disengaged that they probably expected him to sit tight and wait for them to get around to renewing. Perhaps even the curtain twitcher was stopping or advising the owners not to deal with the expiring contract until the last minute. Anyway, whatever the reason for it I think there was a late scramble to try and persuade Mowbray to stay but he'd had enough. By that point we were into the summer window and suddenly a manager, assistant and effectively a whole structure down, because Mowbray had been allowed to oversee and control all recruitment and coaching himself (remember Venus being the weird hybrid assistant manager/director of football). So yeah, I agree that once Waggott realised Mowbray was a goner and time was becoming an issue he resolved to address it by going modern with a Director of Football and Head Coach structure. I actually agree with that concept here because with this crazy setup we need to divide the power and responsibility away from one man. So in comes Broughton and he had half an idea what was needed and very quickly went and got JDT. I doubt Waggott or the curtain twitcher had anything at all to do with that appointment. Presumably authorisation had already come from HQ that we could spend a few million of the previous years' Armstrong cash so we sorted the Hyam, Brittain and Szmodics deals out. Realisation of what a shambles the club is only develops over time once you are in through the door, see Paul Lambert and John Eustace. It's easy to talk a good game at the appointment stage and get the contracts signed, but actually sustaining a proper effort is another. I personally don't think - aside from authorising budgets - that the top owners (the gruesome four) have had any input into anything at Rovers since pre-Covid. All the rest is run through the middle men and curtain twitcher, who was shoved to one side for a while during Mowbray's days and with Waggott being here acting on some form of authority from India, but now they are gone he is free and in control again

The suggestion was that our initial allocation was circa 3800, and past 'sell outs' have been circa 5500, so probably another 1700 to go at in that end. This would suggest a full block and then the two small end blocks still to go.

Interesting choice. Quite high profile for a club struggling at the bottom of the Championship with Club Brugge, Monaco and Rangers his last 3 clubs

The last time they were 'interested' ( and I use that word very liberally here ) was in 2017 when after 2-3 years of cuts and chaos under Suhail (Bowyer sacked, failed Lambert experiment, Coyle appointment, selling all assets, sound familiar?) we got relegated. Somehow that event, rather than being the death knell for their regime and ownership, spurred them into some sort of review or action. Probably because of the media attention it brought and another £10 million hole in income from less Sky tv money so the head honchos decided to sit up and take some notice and work out what had gone wrong. Fortunately for them Mowbray dropped into their lap, and as so many do with Mowbray they fell under his spell once he had got himself out to India and talked to them at length at their palace. Outcome? Mowbray was backed more heavily than any manager they've had here in 15 years (except maybe Kean) and was given free reign in that he was allowed to sign his own players, appoint his mate and even insist they bring in a Chief Executive for the first and only time of their ownership, at considerable expense. Anyway, I think Mowbray convinced them to turn the money taps back on for a few years, leave him alone to get on with it and that by the end of that period we'd be in great shape for promotion or at least have a squad of assets to liquidate to recover funds from. 3-4 years go by and we weren't getting any nearer, so they get bored with the cost of this and start to listen to others. Pasha is talking a good game in the background. He can deliver the same result - Championship football - at half the price and even better he's 'one of them' who they already trust and he will take care of all the boring bits like dealing with managers and executives and running the club. All they have to do is review the balance sheet every 12 months, tip in the difference required and leave him to it. He'll make sure things tick over and we bring in plenty of cash from player sales to minimise their losses. What's not to like? These people are probably bone-idle and have never wanted the hassle of running a football club. The idea that 'one of their own' will take care of it all for them and not rip them off whilst doing so probably sounds great to them. They get the best of both worlds - the 'benefits' of owning a significant football club, at much lower cost than previously, and most people think they are doing us a favour for it (I'm being serious by the way, most fans I speak to genuinely think they are needed here). So from their warped positions they are probably quite content with things as they are. Whilst we are all exhausted with the draining misery of their occupation of our club and the continuing lasting damage it is doing they are probably getting quite comfortable with their trusted man sorting everything out and it costing them a fraction of what it once did. Just remember what happened the last time the curtain twitcher was in control and allowed to run the show without challenge - relegation to League One - because fundamentally he, and nobody willing to work under him, let alone the budgets he want's to impose - are compatible with competing in a high standard league. We've seen it all before only some are too blind or stupid to see it happening again.

They're just bullshitters whose sole purpose is to retain their 'Head of' status, that they have no right to occupy to start with, for as long as possible because they know full well they wouldn't get anywhere near equivalent status at any other Club, in any other league. One look at their past roles tells us that. Yasir Sufi doing 'community development' roles for Lancs CC and Rovers, next news he's 'head of' commercial. Shadow man Pasha, I doubt even he knows what his job is these days as his title seems to change every time he speaks, but I'm sure his little kingdom beats driving cars for Balaji or whatever he was doing before coming here (does anyone know yet what his background really is?) Talbot, once secretary to proper executive staff, by process of elimination finds herself as 'Head of' operations Gestede, a random ex-player with nothing to do after hanging up his boots, suddenly finds himself 'Head of Football Operations'. His favourite excuse of 'the previous players didn't want to be here' shows him up. He's playing to those who still want to boo those nasty ex players and staff for leaving, without addressing the bigger issue of WHY all our players wanted to leave, which of course (even if true) ultimately comes back to the rotten regime at Ewood. Truly scary stuff but striving for excellence, growth, improvement has never been on the agenda here. I'd forgotten Brett Baker even exists The lesson to learn is that saying the right things and being willing to tolerate the freak show here sees you get a nice title and cushy number, the only inconvenience to which is having to turn up to these sort of meetings and blag your way through it with a litany of excuses and hard luck stories.

Maybe this time he will have found himself a serious football club, the type that reward good results and league position with proper backing, don't slash budgets half way through transfer windows or have slippery shadowy characters running around in the background undermining transfers.

Absolutely. No doubt at all in my mind that certain elements behind the scenes were actively working against Broughton. He did the hard yards - got those deals lined up, probably put in a painstaking amount of time and work to get them ready, then he was deliberately thwarted at the 11th hour. I suspect by the one who is now running the show and who has been there throughout. All part of the great Rovers mystery. Who was the one responsible for bringing Broughton in if he wasn't going to be trusted and empowered to control recruitment and was going to be undermined? Maybe the shadow man who wanted a puppet he could control and has now got that it seems. Maybe someone else at ownership or board level and shadow man spent 18 months working to remove that threat to his position. The fact that Broughton was prepared to sit infront of the media and take responsibility for deliberate sabotage from elsewhere says a lot about him - more professionalism and courage than any of the slippery liars that hide away in the boardroom these days. Just a shame a lot of the fanbase still can't see what is staring them in the face and believe people like Broughton and JDT were the problem here.

I'd have thought even you would have dropped the old FFP excuse by now Chaddy. It has been nothing more than a convenient excuse used to explain a lack of interest/investment from the owners. The last 4-5 years have (if anyone needed it) provided proof that our problems are nothing to do with FFP, and probably never have been. Fortunately for those who hold BRFC hostage a shiny new excuse came along just in time - the Indian legal action. Now that one is wearing off they've just given up altogether and are effectively admitting that the owners just don't want to invest, not that they can't.

Says who? Lancashire Telegraph? They get their info (or did) from the club stooges, that was until they started to act like real reporters so the club cut them off as they weren't toeing the party line. And why has nobody else needed to sell prime real estate and players for over £10 million to avoid such embargos?

Has anyone purchased the 2026 Official Calendar? It appears this is a 150th anniversary version, complete of course with the Yorkshire White Rose (does ANYTHING we have come with a red rose these days?) I'm slightly surprised they chose 2026 to be the celebratory calendar, falling after the anniversary, rather than the 2025 calendar. Hopefully the calendar isn't just the usual 12 players photos (half of which will probably leave in January/the summer) and they've actually made some effort with it being the anniversary special (e.g. historic Rovers photos of cup triumphs, league successes etc.) UPDATE - no, of course not, it is the usual 12 players photos, so actually nothing to do with the anniversary other than they've used the Maltese cross/white rose combo to make out as though it is part of the anniversary range. Anyone want to guess how many of the 12 players will still be here in December 2026?

Norwich seem to have an interest in Scandinavian appointments. Wouldn't surprise me to see him turn up there.

So we get promoted this season to the PL, and offer Tronstad a 3 year deal on double his money and a chance to play in the PL. Is he rejecting that to move back to Norway? No It is all relative. Make him a good offer he stays. Show him we want to accomplish something as a club he stay. Muck him around like everyone else, go nowhere as a club other than backwards and of course he'll leave at the end of his deal.

Could have signed a proper striker in the summer. We knew Gueye wasn't good enough. Convenient with Tronstad. Another one going for personal reasons and nothing to do with Rovers. Still helps us avoid a new contract and pay rise. Centre back - why didn't we sign a Hyam replacement?

Why does he want January signings when the 'owners backed us' with investment and 10 new signings in the summer and Rudy delivered the goods?

Nailed on home win this. They're doing well, have been very solid at Deepdale and will be typical Preston - up for it, physical, direct, organised and all round horrible. We will be nice and have lots of possession but get nowhere with it. Another downside to the 'project' of Gestede is some of these foreign signings won't know what has hit them in a Lancashire derby there. People who would have served us very well in this from last season - Batth, Weimann, Travis, Wharton - not here to be called upon.