JHRover

Hindsight is great. Which perhaps suggests there should be less vehement condemnation of people voicing legitimate concerns at this time knowing that those people could be proven right in the coming weeks/months. Any man and his dog could see in January that we were taking a risk by allowing players to leave and not signing new ones. Unfortunately a lot fell for the old story of 'we'll wait until the summer to do our business, January is a difficult/expensive time' etc. etc. Interesting that Simon Smith mentions the £7 million 'investment' in Ben Brereton and then in his very next sentence claims that given our resources we were punching above our weight. How many other clubs have been able to spend £7 million on a player not ready to play? Making out as though our good results in January were reason to think we could get from February to May without sustaining injuries/suspensions - wrong - the results in January were immaterial - we either needed to keep cover in Downing/Wharton or sign cover to replace them. Whether we'd won 10 on the bounce or lost 10 on the bounce, the logic of going into 3 months of matches with no cover for injuries was madness. As it happens I don't believe Mowbray was entirely responsible. Given he has signed Rodwell as his back-up CB and attempted to convert Derrick Williams and Ryan Nyambe into CBs he clearly has to shoulder some of the blame. I think he over estimates his own tactical acumen and coaching ability and makes things more complicated than they need to be at times. Nonetheless I suspect one of the reasons for allowing those players out on loan was financial - to get a few bodies out the building and raise a few quid over a few months until the summer - and that in an ideal world with carte blanche Mowbray would have held one or two back but was under pressure from upstairs to let a few off the wage bill.

I can't for the life of me understand why either John Williams or Dave Richards would agree to become involved at Bolton with Bassini. It seems more likely Bassini has 'used' their names to try and add respectability to his 'bid' to buy Bolton as they are highly respected football administrators. Given both must be well into their 70s and have many years of experience running Premier League clubs or governing bodies I just cannot fathom why either would eat into their retirements to return to club involvement at what will almost certainly be a League One club next season together with a man like Bassini who has at best a patchy background. It seems nonsense, yet audacious from Bassini to claim they had agreed to join him. If there is truth to it then you would expect whoever is buying Bolton to have some serious cash behind them, but then Bassini has been bankrupt twice recently, so the money must be coming from elsewhere and why would a rich buyer kick off by having Bassini as the front man? Surely better having someone with a better reputation fronting the takeover. All very strange. In the meantime I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Bolton clamber out of this. 5 points from safety at this point is not insurmountable. They are due to play Ipswich and free falling Middlesbrough in the next 2 games, and then come to Ewood, and lets be honest who would back us against a side fighting for their lives after what we saw at Reading and Rotherham. In some ways their difficulties off the pitch have taken the spotlight away from the players and manager which might lift some pressure and help them. If anyone should be deducted points this season it should be Bolton. If I were a Rotherham or Millwall fan I'd be fuming that they're still able to survive after what has happened this season. Simply unacceptable that a club can sign players under false pretences, be sued by another club, not pay wages and even risk matches not being played yet are able to compete for safety along with clubs that pay their bills.

As dull as that run of results is it points in many ways to progress - Stoke were a shambles earlier this season and have now become defensively very solid and are becoming hard to beat. I'd be very, very happy if we had 4 x 0-0 draws from our next 4 games. That might not appeal to many but to me it would represent a sign of progress and getting things right at the back and learning how to be hard to beat. You get that aspect right and you won't go far wrong.

Sadly, for all his talk about making changes, I suspect nothing but putting a list of targets together can or will happen until Mowbray has gone off to India in late May for his audience with Madame and persuaded her to release funds for strengthening. By no means a foregone conclusion given their past behaviour infact just having an audience with her is an achievement in itself. Over the coming 6-8 weeks most clubs will be sorting budgets out and doing the groundwork on free agents and significant signings. We'll be playing catch up then bemoaning the cost of new players when the decent frees have been snapped up.

As of the end of the month I'm stopping paying my tax because I need the money for other things. Wonder how far I'll get with that. Not that I particularly want to see them shut down but it just shows that there is no consistency. One rule for some another for everyone else. Chance after chance after chance with no repercussions for serial offenders. We now live in an age where spending a few quid (Birmingham) attracts a points deduction whilst winding up petitions, not paying wages and not being able to host games and Bolton are able to carry on without any sanctions. Meanwhile Derby are selling their stadium to a separate company to raise cash to avoid FFP trouble. So much for protecting clubs from risk!

Can't see Pulis lasting there beyond the next few weeks. Big downward spiral and fans unhappy. Another lot who should be in a mess if they don't go up given their spending.

Sounds like there's Bassini and another still in the running to take over, but clearly dealing with Anderson and their debts isn't straightforward. It will be interesting to see what unfolds tomorrow as 2 weeks ago the Judge granted an adjournment on the basis a buyer was in place and had promised to take over and clear their debts and the 2 weeks was to allow that to happen. It won't look good if they turn up at Court saying the same as they did 2 weeks ago. At the same time a Judge will treat them differently to most companies given the history and community importance at stake. But it can't carry on forever, when all is said and done the tax man is owed more than a million quid here. I couldn't get away with not paying tax, so why should a football club with multi-million revenues and a millionaire owner?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47789258 More FFP fun, this time at Derby who sold their stadium to their owner for £80 million to deliver a significant profit for the year. For every £100 of income they spend £137. Someone there with a brain and imagination as to how to get around FFP rules. Nothing stopping Venkys selling Ewood or Brockhall to themselves and 'leasing' it back at a nominal rate and raising tens of millions in the process. But they won't.

Some figures on Brentford's finances analysed by Price of Football Lost £350,000 a week (£18.5 million year) but player sales reduced that to £4.4 million. Paid out £135 in wages for every £100 of income. £12.3 million loaned by owner last year. Total owner loans of £76 million and shares issued of £38 million. So not too dissimilar to our finances, propped up by an owner and player sales. Interesting how there's no hysteric news stories about them being £80 million in debt etc. No chance of their owner getting his £80 million back unless they get promoted - he'll have to walk away from most of that if he decides to leave - just like Venkys would have to do here.

McClaren would be a high profile positive appointment in comparison to the alternatives this lot could dredge up. These are the people who ignored McCarthy and appointed Henning Berg and ignored Warnock and appointed Coyle. Talk of Jokanovic or Wagner is laughable, not because of who we are or where we are but because of who owns us and runs us. Hughes, Allardyce etc. far too autonomous and don't need the aggro. It would either be Johnson or someone off the scrapheap like Paul Jewell or Brian McDermott. For that reason I'd sooner take it as far as it can reasonably go with Mowbray and only axe him if things get untenable. 1 win in 17 represents that. Venkys look for managers who: a) Won't cost much money b) Won't make big demands c) Will be grateful for the opportunity d) Will get on a plane to India to sort things out rather than rely on a proper structure

Its a better story than a Sunderland, Portsmouth or Charlton getting up and I'd sooner have them in the Championship than those. Never been to Luton with Rovers, but went on watching Accy Stanley a few years ago on an international weekend. That ground isn't up to Championship standards but they've got permission to build a new one in the town centre. A bit like Brighton their attendances will probably rocket due to having a new stadium and an upwardly mobile team.

At this moment in time I am on the side that Mowbray should be left in place to oversee a summer rebuild on the basis that he's delivered his minimum objective of securing our status in the division. By no means a walk in the park albeit worth remembering that we aren't a bunch of rookies, we've a lot of experience in this league and had we been competently managed in 2016-17 we almost certainly wouldn't have gone down. Another feather in the cap of our generous owners. Worth remembering though we still need 5 points from 7 games to surpass our relegation total from 2016-17. Failure to do that given the money spent would be very disappointing. I've also zero faith in them to drive us on without Mowbray - which i accept isn't really a sufficient argument to keep Mowbray in place - but it makes me look at a managerial change with apprehension and concern rather than the optimism and excitement a change should bring. One of my biggest concerns with Mowbray is his patchy transfer record and haphazard recruitment, and it is therefore a big gamble to entrust him with an important summer, but the other factor here is Venkys and their mental operation of the club, so at the very least Mowbray is accustomed to their ways and knows how to extract some funds from them, albeit no doubt has to jump through hoops to get it and meet god knows what number of stipulations before it is approved in India. Either way a higher quality manager would in my interpretation struggle to operate under their structure and until they change that it will remain the case. One thing that I would say is to those people saying he deserves the summer and then see where we are next season. At what point is it judgment time? After the summer he'll be 3 windows into his Championship stint with us, if he's in control of transfers and gets reasonable backing then we and the owners would rightly expect to see evidence of progression. If we don't see that quickly next season at what point does a view be formed? No doubt if we start poorly then the talk will be about giving the new players time to settle in etc. These next 7 games in my view should be a good opportunity to observe and form a view moving forwards about where we are going. Another 5-7 defeats and unfortunately it should be curtains. A few wins and some confidence should build.

Stuff like that can be dealt with by anyone, or in our case probably by the Community Trust who these days seem to be at the centre of everything that happens at the club. A chief executive is supposed to run the club - budgets, all departments, hire and fire, managing all operations etc. If Waggott can't do those things, or indeed can't even order an extra sack of grass seed without India having to approve it all first then he isn't a chief executive.

The only one on that list who might end up getting it is Johnson if we follow the promote from within policy to save money. Since Pasha arrived on the scene the policy has been to go after those unemployed managers who once won promotion to the Premier League on limited budgets in the hope they'll be able to replicate that here. Lambert, Warnock, Coyle, Mowbray. Whilst I agree in principle that experience of similar sized clubs and success is important, there has to be more thought going into it than that. If the above 'policy' is continued moving forwards then it will be cheap, history of promotion, eager to manage, prepared to compromise on money and staff - Pardew, Jewell, McLeish, Mackay, Holloway etc. Likewise if we have a policy of forcing existing coaching staff upon the new bloke or any other attempt at cutting corners then we can forget most of the above. Once again I'd be reluctant to spin this particular roulette wheel unless circumstances between now and May force that to happen e.g. a continuation of our form since January with no improvement. Ideally we'll pick up and Mowbray will turn it around and learn.

So Waggott isn't Chief Executive then.

Once again you have to compare what we have done to what the opposition have done to try and understand where we are at and make the atmosphere better. We have just won promotion, and rather than embrace that and try to build on that we've closed arguably our most vocal area and made no effort to replicate it elsewhere in the ground. According to our CEO this was done to facilitate larger away followings but the reality is apart from Leeds/PNE it hasn't been necessary. If the truth is it was done to reduce operating costs then with some effort the club could have developed a similar section elsewhere yet there was nothing. Then we look at clubs like Derby or Middlesbrough, who had atmosphere problems previously and to counter that have moved away fans from behind their goals and built singing sections in those areas. Villa on Saturday had a vocal element waving flags behind the goals which was traditionally the away end. Huddersfield developed a singing area behind the goal which was previously allocated entirely to away fans. Reading have tried to do similar but with less success.

Steve McClaren sacked as QPR manager. We get to go and play them in a couple of weeks. They're 23rd in the form table, we're 24th.

Still no news on the Lancashire Senior Cup Final vs the dingles. The mystery of the disappearing game. All over the internet until Rovers draw Burnley and then it all disappears and there's no trace of it online nor details on when/if/where the game will be played. Almost as though they want to pretend it isn't happening and don't want people to know about it.....

I'm in two minds on this. Bolton need sending a message after what they did to our fans at their place earlier this season when it was £34 quid or whatever it was for a TV game, so I'd be very reluctant to allow them to come to Ewood for much less. A shame but Rovers have to fight fire with fire. At the same time I agree, a game like this simply has to be cheaper than nearly £30 an adult. If Waggott believes a local derby is going to get Bolton or Rovers fans turning up in big numbers at those prices he's in for a shock. They could be effectively down by then whilst we're going nowhere fast. To that end I'm sure if we were clever about things we could have the best of both worlds. Allocate Bolton the upper tier at Gold prices e.g. £30+ an adult, only open the lower tier when those 3,000 are sold out. Reduce prices for Rovers fans by offering a proper discount for members or making the Riverside/BBE Lower much cheaper. It can be done with a bit of imagination.

We had 2 shots on target, 1 of them the goal we scored which once again was a direct result of Mulgrew's set pieces. Despite all our possession and pressure in the last 15 minutes their keeper could have been asleep for most of it as we turn back to the CBs as soon as we get anywhere near their area. People moan about Allardyce football but their keeper would have been bombarded and clattered for 20 minutes in pursuit of an equaliser. I'd much prefer that than inanely passing around in circles on the half way line going nowhere.

What do you class as a 'chance'? Shed loads of possession and passes along the half way line, or actually having attempts on goal and giving their keeper something to do? If it's the latter then we didn't have many chances at all.

Reed will probably end up at an alternative Championship club next season and will play every week in CM and earn rave reviews. I'm confident of that. Meanwhile we'll be turning up every week with the tombola selection ensuring no CM can pass the ball forwards.

My theory is that Reed is being systematically phased out of the team by Mowbray, because Mowbray knows Reed won't be here, either because Reed has told him that or because the finances involved in getting him here permanently are out of scope. As a result Mowbray has dropped him to the bench. For me it is one of the biggest frustrations of Mowbray's management that Reed, who in my opinion has been one of our standout performers this season, and is certainly a better player than most of the alternatives we have, is now benched and limited to 20-30 minutes, more often than not out wide, whilst Bennett and Smallwood are still starting games in Reed's preferred position. I doubt Reed would want to come here and waste his career on the right of our midfield. Shame as he'd have been top target for me this summer.

Its a lot easier to 'turn it round' when you've the best and most expensive squad in the entire division at your disposal. Without wanting to diminish the success and achievement of winning promotion last season when you're so well equipped and experienced a rise up that division after Oldham was essential and almost a formality. We've seen it many times where a rich club with a good squad naturally rises to the top of the league below. West Brom are doing it this season - a very strong squad but without much managerial experience yet keep on winning games. It isn't easy to turn it around when a losing habit and mentality creeps in. Mowbray couldn't stop it at WBA in the Premier League and they were relegated - apparently because he refused or was unable to change his approach - and he couldn't stop the rot at Middlesbrough or Coventry either.

I'm not at a stage where I want him to go, yet, but I am deeply concerned by what I am seeing and by what I am hearing. I've also got little faith in Mowbray's transfer dealings being good enough. I suppose the one benefit of the next couple of months and the games we have left is it should be an opportunity to assess and analyse and make a decision at the end of it. If this form continues through the next 7 games and we don't get a few wins in there then we're entering 1-2 wins in 17-18 games territory which ultimately should be a sackable offence irrespective of anything else. Mowbray quit Coventry for much less. So we've a 'luxury' of 7 games to look at what is happening and decide on the way forward.