You make out like these were achievements. WBA were fresh out of the PL and armed with cash and a strong squad. Being in the top 6 for such a side is not particularly impressive, and they were on the slide having been top after the first few months. Watford is more difficult to judge given their turnover in managers and it is correct to point out that others like Wilder and Bilic have struggled there in recent seasons but again, I don't consider 9th for their squad to be anything to congratulate.

Almost as big a basket case. Despite all the hullabaloo about him he at least turns up from time to time and acknowledges he owns a football club. Hell he even got Rohl to sign a new improved deal in the summer which our lot have forgotten the meaning of.

Eustace will keep Derby up I'm sure, some of the Rovers lot are going to end up with egg all over their faces. If anything Cardiff and Derby winning only makes tomorrow that much more difficult. Stoke simply have to beat us looking at that table. We know how that usually goes.

Out of interest when is it early enough to judge him? 10 games? End of the season? Next season? Xmas? I think it is unlikely that he will be here by March 2026. Why? Well our record on managers outside of Mowbray and Bowyer (who got an audience in India) is very short. Berg/Appleton/Lambert/Coyle/JDT/Eustace - averaged what, well under a year each? Berg and Appleton about a month each, Lambert 6-7 months, Coyle 7 months, JDT 19 months but he was offering to leave after 12 and Eustace 12 months and he was offering to leave after earlier than that if reports of him applying for other jobs is true. So that's 6 managers going back now 13 years under Venky ownership none of whom last very long. The only exceptions those who got to go to India. Add into that mix that Ismael himself has an extremely short lifespan at clubs. 8 different teams managed in 10 years, never lasting more than 1 season at a club and an average of 26 games in charge. That would cause me concern if he was coming into a normal club, which we are certainly not. Combine all the above and I'd say it would be a miracle if he sees out a year or the 2025/26 season. When do you judge him during that time? Is he allowed to lose the next 10 because it isn't his squad or at some point in that time do you criticise?

A momentous occasion tarnished by Venky occupation and their stooges who should be nowhere near the club. What should be an occasion to celebrate and savour undermined by the poisonous regime. I think people expecting the club to have planned very much at all are optimistic. I suspect at best we will get twitter videos from Dunny, Morten, Faz, Garner, Friedel, Bennett and a few others and then perhaps an overpriced 'dinner' event in the Premier Suite. That's the most they will do because it will be relatively easy to arrange and won't cost them anything. Anything else they will be hoping/expecting the fans themselves to come up with and arrange. A bit like when they expected crowdfunding to raise the cash to instal safe standing rails, they'll sit back and wait for fan groups to suggest ideas and then poo poo those that are going to cost anything or require any bold action. They'll dress this up as involving fan groups in important decisions but really it is just shifting the work away from those paid to do it.

We don't do 'early bird' because we don't get them released early enough. If they are on sale before the end of this season I'll be very surprised and that leaves insufficient time in May/June/July to run a proper early bird process. The time for that is February to May. Your pricing would require a substantial reduction across the board. Have you seen or heard anything at Rovers in the last 10 years to think that they are going to slash prices? I haven't. What we will get is the old Waggott favourite of strings attached to an offer whereby if you commit 'early' e.g. within a few weeks of them being on sale and hand over your money in June then you'll get a £25 discount. The idea here is to force the regulars worried about losing their seats to buy early and then they are committed before the summer firesales and negligent recruitment gets underway and they can't then back out,

Why? How could they be worse than the current lot? I feel a need to remind you of a few facts as it seems that you are now reverting to the old 'but who would buy us' routine, of course potential buyers are not going to waste their time and play their hands going public about their ability/willingness to buy Rovers when they are up against a stubborn refusal to even speak about a sale. Would you go around putting offers on houses that weren't for sale or would you move when the 'For Sale' signs went up? Here's a quick list of clubs in England that have changed ownership/control in the last 10-15 years of Venky destruction of Rovers: Everton, Man Utd, Aston Villa (twice), Wolves, Newcastle, Leicester, Southampton (twice), Forest (twice), Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham Non-PL clubs: Burnley, Blackpool, Bolton (twice), Wigan (twice), Stockport, Salford, Wrexham, Port Vale, Burton, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Notts County, Sheffield Utd (twice), Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Huddersfield (twice), Leeds (twice), Hull, Sunderland (twice), Norwich, Ipswich, MK Dons, Coventry, Birmingham (twice), West Brom, Swansea, Newport, Bristol Rovers, Swindon, Reading (soon to be twice), Wycombe (twice), QPR, Portsmouth, Gillingham, Carlisle, Morecambe, Accrington, Charlton (twice), Leyton Orient, Lincoln, Cambridge, Oxford (twice) I'm sure there are others I can't think of. Why do you, and others, think that new owners would avoid a Championship Blackburn Rovers, one promotion away from the PL, yet would get involved with all those other clubs?

I agree. I think things will pan out that way. I think we needed a wise old head who would be able to come in and put his arm around the players and get them 100% focused on the rest of the season and galvanise us. I think there will have been a lot of deeply unhappy and angry players in that dressing room after the unprecedented occurrence of a top 6 manager joining a club at the bottom mid-season (it isn't normal, despite what the club and media attempt to portray). Whilst Ismael has a reasonable CV and reasons for some optimism with his track record he just doesn't strike me as the sort who will do the above. I've read and heard things that he's probably the opposite of what Eustace was. I find it totally crackers that a bloke who has managed 8 clubs in his short career, never lasted more than a season and averaged about 20-odd games in charge is then handed a 3+ year deal to come here. The only logic I can imagine with it is that whatever else we were offering - pay, budgets, guarantees - were not forthcoming so we had to offer him a long deal to persuade him to accept it. I suspect that a large number of our players will have been looking elsewhere anyway due to the club's decision to run their contracts down, but with the events of the last 5-6 weeks and then if Ismael is very different to Eustace I think a few will have had enough. I'm at the point where I suspect that is precisely what they wanted when they appointed him - makes it easier to deliver their plans if there are players actively wanting out.

Have we ever beat a Mark Robins managed team? Certainly didn't in all the time he was at Coventry. Don't expect that to change.

I doubt Waggott or the curtain twitcher in the shadows know between them what is going to be happening in the summer or next season as I doubt the wretches in India have decided or communicated that to them. They are probably working on the basis it will be business as usual - that being find another few players to sell, release a few, cut the wage bill down and then cobble together a squad that has enough to hit 50 points next season from a combination of the academy, loans and free agents. Exciting times. But the belief or suggestion that Gestede and Ismael have some sort of plan, project, strategy, and that Ismael should not be judged until that has settled into place, I can't accept. He won't be given the opportunity to assemble his own squad just as JDT and Eustace weren't. He won't be given the resources to recruit or develop a quality squad. He's walked into a club in a good place on the pitch, almost 3/4 of the way through a season and on track for the play-offs. Whether you have confidence in our ability to sustain that or not, that is the position he has inherited and he certainly cannot receive a free pass from February to May. His average tenure as a manager has been 26 games across his 8 senior teams. How long does he want/need here and why are we going to suddenly buck that trend with our 3 year inexplicable contract? Of course he isn't the problem or the issue here. But February to May was never a write off or settling in period. It was our best and probably last shot at play-offs and promotion and we are once again letting it slip before the talk then shifts to the good old 'projects' and squad overhauls which we all know is just an excuse to be on the road to nowhere and cut costs further.

We'd have been in the Premier League or would have gone very close to it if they had backed JDT in January 2023 or January 2024. If the owners had shown any interest, confidence, faith in the man they appointed to coach the team they'd have backed him to finish the job. Teams serious about getting promotion don't look to sell their best players in January. Instead he got Sorba Thomas on loan and then they actively sabotaged the rest by deliberately pulling the plug on the O'Brien and McGuire deals and then actively looking to sell Adam Wharton to raise some money.

I saw some photos from the Millwall v Bristol City game the other night. The ground was ridiculously empty. I'd be surprised if there were more than 4-5000 actually there, but of course the official attendance is printed as 12,300. Not a chance. QPR similar - loads of empty seats when we were there a few weeks ago This is happening all across the league. There aren't many that keep getting the numbers on for these daft games.. I'm not sure what their logic is when picking games - tonight it is Norwich v Oxford - surely they aren't suggesting that is anything more than a run of the mill fixture? Rovers gladly accepted a significant financial bonus for these Sky changes. That of course hasn't made its way into the stadium, ticket prices, transfer kitty, player contracts, but it might well have found its way into Slippery Steve's wage packet. Club costs haven't risen significantly by having to play on a Friday night or Sunday morning rather than a Saturday afternoon. Rather the opposite, costs are probably lower due to less people turning up. So what is that increased Sky money for if not to cover higher costs? Answer - it is to use to address the inevitable impact on gates. Some have realised this by reducing prices, but that's never going to happen here with this CEO and setup, not when his wages depend on it.

I don't believe Dolan has been offered a new deal, or if he has it is insultingly bad for someone at his age/experience/ability. There's one example. Of course they claim he has, and technically they could be right with that. But I won't be blaming Dolan - I will be blaming Rovers - when he departs for not sorting this out with an appropriate offer. I'm glad you've finally accepted that FFP is not the issue here. I've been saying it for 5+ years. Enough on Rothwell, we will go around in circles on that. I will hold Rovers accountable by using every platform I can to hold them responsible and take them to task for it. I will ask questions, scrutinise, criticise and blame. Not much more I can do that that other than totally disengage which is the final step I haven't quite reached yet. I think accepting their version of events and believing their fiction is simply falling into the Venky/Waggott trap and doing the job for them. Slippery Steve would love nothing more than everyone to believe that Rovers have done their very best and are blameless for what happens. Of course you can ask - yes I am a current season ticket holder - and will have a decision to make when they get around to renewals as I have the last few years. Each year it gets harder and harder to justify....there is a limit to my patience and it is rapidly approaching.

Updated list: 3pm Saturday home 'traditional' games: Watford, Millwall (Good Friday), Cardiff, Plymouth, Hull (Xmas), Sunderland (Boxing Day), Luton, Swansea, Bristol City, Oxford Home games moved for TV or other nonsense: Middlesbrough, Norwich, Wolves (FA Cup), PNE, Dingles, Leeds, Sheff Utd, QPR, Derby Midweek home games: Sheff Wed, Coventry, Portsmouth (postponed), Stoke, WBA, Away games at 'traditional' 3pm Saturday: Sheff Utd (guaranteed to be moved for TV as final day of the season), Sunderland (Easter Monday), Luton, Portsmouth, Derby, Swansea, Bristol City, Oxford, Millwall, Leeds (New Years Day), Hull, Plymouth, Norwich Away games moved for TV / other nonsense: Middlesbrough (FA Cup), Cardiff, Watford, PNE, Dingles Away games midweek: WBA, QPR, Sheff Wed, Middlesbrough, Coventry, Stoke As it stands 10 of our 23 home league games at 3pm kick off, including Xmas and Easter fixtures 8 moved for tv or other excuses 5 in the midweek slots, one of which was the Portsmouth postponement The penny doesn't seem to have yet dropped at Ewood that this diminishes the value of the product and a season ticket, evidenced by lower numbers turning up for those early/midweek fixtures.

If it was a genuine accident, which I'm sure only a diminishing number of the deluded actually believe, then the obvious way the club/owners/management could address that would be to re-use the money supposedly sanctioned for those players in later transfer windows. They didn't do that - the money disappeared into thin air. Very convenient. A 'mistake' is much easier to believe if the club then rectifies it by reallocating the money and puts it into the squad. A 'mistake' that saves a lot of money which then never reappears and goes with the pattern of cutting costs at every turn might not be a 'mistake' but actually a blessing to those overseeing the cuts.

"He went just for the money on offer at Derby" If true how/why are Derby offering him more than we are? Last I heard we had to be thankful for Venky benevolence because without it we'd 'do a Derby'. Now all of a sudden they are offering more money than us? What happened to the £40 million and counting? You see...even if you are daft enough to believe the 'money' excuse and close your mind to all the other alarm bells going off around the place it still gives rise to additional questions and concerns that need dealing with. It is not quite as straightforward as some fools would attempt to convince us it is.

Yes we seem to agree on the contract situation and the urgent need to sort those out. I suspect we are already too late and the players in question will have decided to look elsewhere and will be getting advice from their representatives to dismiss any attempts by Rovers to renew them (if Rovers even make any attempts, which I doubt). The only exceptions to that will be people like Weimann and Batth who probably deserve new deals but Rovers can afford to muck around (as we did with Batth when JDT was manager) because at their ages and career stages they won't have loads of options and will be happy just to stay in the Championship playing for another year. The difference between me and you is that when these players waltz off into the sunset and join rival clubs at knockdown fees/free transfers I won't be shrugging my shoulders and concocting all sorts of excuses why Rovers couldn't or wouldn't keep them, I won't be blaming FFP, I won't be blaming crowds, fanbases, legal troubles, the players or their agents for being greedy, unreasonable, telling myself that someone has always fancied living in Stoke or Derby or Middlesbrough or wherever they go. I won't be doing that because it is almost certainly bullshit, fanned out to the media and supporters by people at Rovers anxious to protect their cushy numbers and keep the supporters on side in the meantime. I will be holding Rovers 100% responsible and behaving accordingly. You however have a habit of re-writing history or swallowing any old story that appears on twitter/Nixon/Venkygraph because it is easier to stomach than the painful truth of what is going on at Rovers. I am glad you are happy with the Ismael appointment. I couldn't care less to be honest. We have a 2 month season and future. What happens beyond that is way bigger and more significant than who the 'head coach' is. I'll have a bet with you now that he isn't our manager by March 2026. No criticism of him but he won't be given the opportunity or resources to do his job so he'll either quit (JDT) or engineer a move elsewhere (Eustace).

I'm not sure of the relevance of you highlighting 'transfer fees and associated costs' here when we were discussing the highest paid director. I agree it is almost certainly Waggott, and that makes the most (only) sense. But not quite correct to say it is 'definitely' him as there is more than one director on the payroll and in theory any one of them could be the highest paid. It would help if anyone knew what two of them looked like - have you any idea what Rao and Gupta do, have they ever been to Ewood, would you recognise them?

He's a professional footballer and extremely well paid for the privilege. One of the few downsides to such a career is that it can involve moving around the country or even across Europe/the world from season to season and club to club. You seem to apply conventional principles to an unconventional career and lifestyle. If every player and manager made his career decisions based on saving on travel time or not uprooting his family football would be an incredibly different and even more dull spectacle. The extreme lengths you will go to in an effort to absolve Rovers of any blame or responsibility for the vast number of people who wish to leave here and move elsewhere still doesn't cease to amaze me. I would have thought after all this time and all these departures that you would focus your attention on what the owners and their stooges are up to rather than trying to convince yourself that all is fine and dandy and just that some players fancy living away from here. Just to confirm again - blindly accepting what occurs at Rovers and the excuses they peddle via the media does not make you a proper fan or more loyal than it does questioning and scrutinising things. I'd argue the opposite - failing to take the lowlife to task on these things only makes it easier for them and more likely they'll continue destroying the club.

Clueless Chaddy. Rothwell is from Manchester and his wife from Birmingham. Other than his short spells at Bournemouth and Southampton he's played in Man Utd's youth team, Barnsley, Oxford, Blackpool, Rovers and now Leeds. He and his family have spent the vast majority of his life playing in the North of England. It is a myth that the move to Bournemouth was brought about by some family factors or burning desire to live on the South Coast. In a nutshell Rovers mucked him around, as they have everyone else, his head was turned by a better offer elsewhere and he took it. See everyone else that has departed in the last few years, Eustace and JDT included. Nothing to do with saving on travel or family pressure, just a desperation to get away from Venky Rovers. Who can blame them? Not me.

It could be Gandhi Babu or Sreenivasa Rao. I doubt anyone at Ewood has ever met or would recognise either of them but safe to assume both are on the payroll as executive directors. Unlikely and unjustifiable if so, but it could be.

It has been declared in the annual accounts for the last 4-5 years that the highest paid director has been taking home over £300k a year. It is an assumption that the highest paid director is the Chief Executive. If it isn't and someone else is getting paid more than him this is even more concerning. Assuming Waggott is the highest paid director, which his title suggests he should be, then yes, there has been a massive increase in his remuneration particularly in the last year, jumping from just over £300k to well over £400k. A huge increase for someone doing the same job at a club in the same league. This leads to the question of what he has done in the last year or so to justify such a substantial increase - the only logical conclusion is that he is being rewarded for performance and that directly correlates to the cuts and money brought in from player sales which has been massive and has essentially meant that the owners have avoided needing to transfer money from India. It is only right to identify that if correct, and he is being paid more for saving the owners money, this directly conflicts with investment, improvement, growth, squad building, new contracts. If we embark on serious investment in the stadium, squad, contracts this is potentially jeopardising his income. Conflict.

I'm increasingly of the view that this is all part of the two stooges doing whatever they can to make their own 'performance' appear healthier to the Indians. I am convinced that both are tasked and rewarded based on the cuts and savings they make - once glance at the circus they have overseen in the last few years supports that theory - as does the massive pay hike for one (or both) of them in this years' accounts. It certainly stands out as odd that for a club supposedly without cash, trying to manage on an even keel and cutting costs all over the show that in the space of a year someone has got a 30%+ pay hike for doing the same job. The fact that when Broughton came along he was able to quickly and effectively sort out recruitment and contracts in little time at all - and the fact that since he was sidelined nobody, not one, has signed new terms, suggests that it is a deliberate policy to run these contracts down. I am asking myself how this works - get to the start of June - another raft of loans, short terms and contract expiries off the books - the stooges toddle off to the annual summit meeting and get themselves a big old pat on the back for their handling of the finances. Nothing to worry about, we can just get Ismael and Rudy to sign a load of loans, frees, academy lads to bring in. Pay rise next year sorted!

Save us money and you'll get a cut of the savings. I suspect that is the basic premise the stooges are working to down there. Promotion doesn't feature in that quest. Just keep it ticking over and reduce reduce reduce. The Eustace compensation cash and next instalment for Adam Wharton are coming soon, then maybe a cut of a further sale if he leaves Palace. Another bonus/pay rise next year would do very nicely indeed. Soon, if not already, be top earner at the club.

Another thing that sums up how bad it is - the advertising boards around the ground - along the top of the Riverside and the front of the JW stand there are dozens of Venkys ad boards - and they are all absolutely filthy or faded. They've been there now for years and have just worn away. It's a pretty poor do when the club can't even be arsed to ensure the owners' boards are replaced and look decent. The ones on the JW lower look a right mess on TV and visiting clubs/dignitaries will be looking at the ones on the Riverside all match covered in grime. The signage on the BBE - the display for the Ronnie Clayton BBE - looked smart when it was first done over a decade ago - but inevitably it is now starting to wear away - there are bits missing and falling off. Just a mess.