JHRover

Mowbray got 5 years of running the place on a relatively big budget and was left in place without pressure despite numerous long winless runs. JDT wanted out and offered to go, even publicly took the piss out of the Chief Executive, and was left in place to derail the season as he didn't want to be here and forced his way out. That nearly relegated us and he only went after turning on Venkys and their stooge. Eustace wanted out and was in talks with other clubs yet they were happy for him to cart on in the dugout. Seemingly he had threatened to walk in the summer before they caved in to his demands. So to have Val here, playing along with the 'project', not kicking off, 3 years on his contract, even giving up his free time to hold Q and A sessions at £35 a pop, yeah he's as safe as you could ever imagine, as long as he's happy to go along with the ride. Football results? League position? Performances? Why would anyone take an interest in those things? The owners and board haven't done for many years.

There was something seriously off with his never-ending injury run here over the last 18 months or so and I find it odd that he has now suddenly got over those and is performing and scoring. I had no qualms really letting him go in the summer based on his 'injuries' but now find myself asking if there might have been more to it than that given how quickly things have changed for him once he's out of the Ewood/Brockhall cesspit.

Our conduct over the last 3-4 years demonstrates that this club WANTS to sell / offload its best players. Evidence? Look at the list of departures Look at the lack of contract renewals Look at the money pocketed and not reinvested So when Elliot Jackson talks about Everton-Alebiosu in terms like 'Rovers have a strong hand' that implies Rovers would want to Keep the player and that it isn't in the regime's interests to sell him quickly for a good profit. I don't believe that. I think they'd love to do that as quickly as possible. And that is why we need regime change as quickly as possible, because their agenda and interests do not correspond with Rovers having the best side possible for as long as possible.

Almost an identical record to his time at Watford in his last job: 41 games, 12 wins, 14 draws, 15 defeats = 29.27% Rovers: 38 games, 11 wins, 10 draws, 17 defeats = 28.95% No excuses at Watford about owners, injuries, transfers etc. Yet his record dismal there as well.

In recent accounts we have assumed that Waggott was the 'highest paid director' and on £400k+ a year to be Chief Executive. Now that he's been sent packing and we are 8 months into the old routine of having no CEO it is going to be interesting reading the next set of accounts to see whether that 'highest paid director' figure has significantly changed. Of course it should have dropped massively by virtue of Waggott leaving and not being replaced and having no CEO, so if it has stayed constant or even increased it leads to more questions about who is doing what down there, especially when the curtain twitcher has allegedly spent quite a long time recently out of the country, during the busiest time of the season, just before a critical transfer window, which begs the question of how he is performing the role he is getting paid very handsomely to do.

They're not doing a very good job of it then because they continue to say £20 million+ a year is needed even after all the steps they have taken over the last 4 years and massive cost cuts. Maybe time the owners entrusted their cost cutting to people who actually know what they are doing?

Indeed. Lets suppose there's truth to this Alebiosu-Everton rumour and it happens. That immediate profit and success will override any results or performances we've had this season. Gestede will be able to point to that alone and state to the owners/finance people that he's delivered on his project, with Gudjonsen to come next. The fact that results have been appalling, most performances have been appalling, crowds collapsing further, and our Championship status is in danger are irrelevant.

Leicester fans right now are probably about where Rovers were in 2011. A year or two into grievances against the ownership, and by virtue of them being successful and in the PL so recently they still have that energy/good number behind them to shout and act. Not that their owner will ever get to Venky levels of negligence but I'm sure if they continue on their current trajectory for the next 12-13 years - flailing around the middle/bottom half of the Championship, maybe hit League One, remain under the same ownership/management and no change at all other than a mountain of debt and ever diminishing product then their fanbase will collapse too, as will the appetite among those still going to do something about it. Eventually they'd end up beaten into submission like many at Ewood are. It won't ever reach that point though because their owner will either turn it around or pack up and sell. That's what owners do see, they either try to turn the club around or they admit defeat and give up. For some reason people in the Rovers support base think we should do neither and just exist under Venkys whilst every other club moves on in life. I'm sure there won't be many Leicester fans pointing at their own and shouting 'who would buy us' and 'we were crap in the 80s so what are you moaning about?' despite the fact they've had a decade or so that 99% of other clubs would have loved to have. No, they'll be demanding better and new ownership if they don't get it, just like everywhere else other than the head-in-sand gang at Ewood.

Let's hope Darren Fletcher gets a reaction out of them in their next game and then he's moved aside and they appoint someone like Southgate or Carrick instead.

The owners will have no idea. Their financial team would take note of lost ticket revenue in the event of relegation or a serious fall in season tickets. Suhail may be put under some pressure to explain why and crucially won't secure his bonus. Then they'll sell a player or two or cut wages to plug the gap and carry on. The only potential unknown here is what happens if/when we reach League One or stay there for a while whether the drop and further £10 million+ drop in revenue is sufficient for the top owners to take notice and action e.g. leave, or whether it just involves further cost cuts and sales to plug the gap. I suspect the latter but we will find out in the not-too-distant future. You might be able to compete at this level on a limited shoestring budget and non-benefactor model if the ownership and board are competent and engaged. But combine it with what we have and you've no chance. You might be able to compete with clueless idiots running the club if the money being pumped in is sufficient to assemble a good squad. But make futile attempts to be 'self-sufficient' at this level it will end in failure.

Like him or not he'll be gone by the summer at the latest. He doesn't have the right background or profile for this regime, plus is on too much money.

The other 'board members'?

So you'll be annoyed / angry if by Sunday next week we haven't signed a striker?

This will just be a standard January in the land of Venky Rovers. Despite all the bravado back in the summer about not going down the loan route any more due to value blah blah blah that is precisely what we will do, because the summer's activity and wage commitments have cleared out the cupboards which are now close to being bare. We will not go to the owners and request additional funds for decent signings because that isn't allowed here. Cast your minds back to Mowbray's days when he and Waggott were publicly thanking the owners for allowing us to add to the budget to bring in the loans of Harwood Bellis and Branthwaite. That's where we are at. Pasha will be allowed to commit to a manageable transfer fee or two on an investment signing, like the Barnsley lad, but only if for some reason they agree to let him go for a knock down fee. If they stick to their valuation we ain't getting him. So with no/very little cash left and a maxed out wage bill, it will be loans and try to move out people like Pickering and Gueye to save on wages. The league table won't be a factor here.

The only interesting thing about this window will be whether Ismael walks in the days after it when he realises he's been conned like his three predecessors. My bet is not as he won't have other options lined up like JDT and Eustace.

Presumably these same people would have turned Jack Walker and his plans away and stuck with the status quo of being a perennial 2nd or lower division club with no money. Quite a sad state of affairs but as I've said previously it's not hard to see why the club and town have both ended up in the state they are when plenty are content to accept rubbish and never seek change or improvement. And I've been called negative...yet I'm not the one making excuses for an inexcusable situation or wanting us to stay in this state.

Same old. Probably trying to persuade them to agree to a 'loan with an option to buy' trick with no intention of ever actually buying.

'No takers' for the job of CEO of Blackburn Rovers Football Club If that doesn't tell you something I don't think anything will.

The last time they relegated us, back in 2017, they used the January window not to deliver significant improvements to a weak squad or to get rid of the failing manager and give the new guy chance to rectify the mess, instead they offered a token gesture of parachuting in Paul Senior on a consultancy deal. You see this is how these owners and this regime operate. They know all too well that using the January window to address our issues (tick tock) requires solid cash commitment, as does firing a manager with a terrible record. So they'll do neither of those things, instead offering a few short term loans that other clubs don't want. It wouldn't surprise me to see a Paul Senior part II arrive if results don't pick up and quickly. Not a serious, long term appointment but a short term emergency window-dressing appointment of someone good with the media and fans, who can do the routine of walking around the corridors of Ewood before games and listen to concerns/promise milk and honey at an undefined point in the future and calm people down. Sadly plenty will fall for this stunt as they did the last time around but really all it is designed to do is pass time without them addressing the main issues and keeping the culprits protected in the background.

As a minimum I'd expect: Chairman/CEO Director of Football/Sporting Director Commercial Director Finance Director Secretary I'd probably also expect a non executive director or two perhaps to represent the distant owners. This is the industry standard. I'm not really interested in what setup Accy Stanley have, as whilst it probably puts ours to shame it isn't really relevant to an institution the size of Blackburn Rovers that *should* be aspiring to reach the Premier League and stay there. You don't do that with absentee landlords, faceless people, work experience guys and fossils like Silent Bob.

So has Rudy ditched the 'no loans' policy he was boasting about now he's realised the squad isn't up to it and there's no money left for permanents?

They've taken it off twitter but it is still on their Instagram reels from earlier, so I've saved it. Can't do anything right can they?

So a multi-million pound organisation has to drift along without anyone leading it for months and months and months because he has a notice period to serve? Ridiculous. Again, doesn't happen anywhere else. And even if that was a reason, why couldn't they have had a new one ready to start in October or November so they were ready to get to work ahead of the January transfer window. The answer Chaddy, as I suspect you know deep down, is that these owners have never wanted a CEO and don't believe we need one. That's why aside from Waggott we haven't had one for most of the last 15 years, and I would bet we don't appoint one at least until the summer. They only agreed to bring in Waggott after Mowbray persuaded them in India because they 'trusted' Mowbray. Like with every other element of their ownership they try to get away with the bare minimum and the club rots in the process.

Well the vast majority of clubs have them, so probably a good move, if you want to act like a proper club which we clearly don't. But on the topic of a CEO....now 8 months and counting since Slippery Steve sailed off into retirement. What's taking so long? This all comes back to my original point. They just don't take this seriously and never will. End of story.

I do ultimately blame them yes. Doesn't make the current lot any more acceptable or mean they should stay. The suggestion that we have a functioning board of directors is laughable and has been since they removed Williams, Finn and Goodman and never replaced any of them with competent and crucially empowered people. Please do explain to me who is on the 'board' and what these 'board' members do on a day to day basis for the betterment of Blackburn Rovers.