Yes Broughton wanted the youth pathway, to find players to develop AND invest in quality were we could with the project being build for a Prem push over a few seasons. Debatable whether he was capable but the money invested when he was here was good, the players to develop were terrible however those he wanted to invest a bit more in, that got pulled, where decent on paper. Think he signed his own p45 once he laid out what they should do with the Wharton money.

Yep Rudy is just a cheaper yes man version of GB and his job title is a bit of a farce as pointed out on that podcast. 'Your role is too big' he should be concentrating only on the football with the head coach and those above him but it's a jack of all trades master of non role. A typical Venky money saving crackpot appointment and he'll find he isn't head of anything when he is constantly overruled or sent to inspect the kitchens and sign off the pie delivery whilst Swaghail ring around looking for 1 year deals of injury prone players.

Might get one or two more of the foreign former players speaking up but only those based back abroad with no intention of seeking work over here. Otherwise English football is a closed shop. Big Sam has had numerous digs but declined opportunity to go both barrels and he was shafted by them. By far the most vocal have been Sutton and Shearer but they don't go the whole hog because at the end of the day we aren't Newcastle or Norwich, their clubs.

Think they will this time but by the sounds of it they'll move right away from any real experience in future in favour of kids, kid loans and small fee Yuki, Gueye types to make small profits on. The very system that nearly got us relegated before Eustace restored some normality to the squad but never mind we might get the long awaited cheap season tickets when they drop us a division again.

A few years ago it was Gegg Broughton spouting the same great reset and project shite whilst providing the perfect shield for Swaghail and the ownership. Difference is he did it in a far more affable, professional and respectful manner than this latest puppet until he realised as Director of Football he wasn't actually allowed to direct anything, so then he said nothing until his head was served up for all the gaffs. So now they've just managed to bring in a cheaper far less experienced version who is no doubt far more adhered to their script and won't go rouge like Gregg did in pursuit of Mcguire. No point getting too worked up because in a year or twos time there'll be another one wheeled out spouting the same crap when Rudy has either moved on or been sacrificed.

Always seemed a bit of reluctance to play him from the bald rat, must've been on massive appearance wonga or something. Should have been our second tier version of Roque because he certainly still had quality.

I think Allardyce was having a pretty good hint early on as to why the club wasn't learning season after season that you have to invest when you are in a position to go up. Rudy's dumb answer was basically oh well that wasn't the plan. Big Sam was more or less saying i'd be pushing the owners for investment in Jan so why aren't you/your mates doing so ?

And all that would be far more acceptable and understandable if it was being done with less wealthy hands on ownership who had an interest in and cared about the club and fans. People who have no choice but to run it like that but are genuinely following a long term plan to try for the Prem or seek extra investment to do so. Non of which applies to this lot, the ownership and fans are back to just providing a platform for a set of individuals to profit from the club whilst feeding their own egos and ambitions regardless of where we end up.

Eustace wanted experience and a bit of quality to help push for promotion and obviously prevent the previous seasons near relegation happening again. Which was caused in part by filling the squad with kids and bringing in poor cheap back up players to develop who offered nothing when called upon. So what do the 'powers' inside the club do ? Give him a few token signings then insist on the 30% youth pathway being re-implemented to which Eustace obviously wasn't onboard. So that was probably the beginning of the end for him as he wouldn't comply to the Suhail cheapo project. Rudy has let the cat out the bag there quietly if you listen closely to that interview then he says they wanted someone for the 'project' long term, so they hire a guy with more clubs than Rory under his belt. Grow another team over a few seasons, sell it, pay down borrowings and % for snouts in the trough and go again, their gravy train continues whilst fans are expected to pay towards it yet expect nothing but having a team on the pitch.

When Rovers were a really potless outfit in the 80's they were known throughout the game for the top notch Northern hospitality and boardroom spread that put many bigger clubs to shame. They also managed to produce a matchday programme regularly voted the best in the league. Now under these people the programmes were completely ditched a few years ago and the hospitality for visiting press is virtually non existent. As pointed out it quite rightly sums up the whole operation and embarrassing it's pointed out on a podcast.

Same as Mowbrays final season when sitting near the top as the window opened in January it was obvious promotion or play weren't part of that plan. They'd slashed the budget and started to transition to youth, he scrapped his ridiculous possession football that saw a good squad limp to 15th and there was suddenly a bit of freshness around the place. What happens in Jan, oh bring in a couple of squaddies for peanuts, another 'development kid' and ignore the managers call for trading a saleable player and bring in much needed firepower. Cue the first weak crumble away, i blamed TM for the poor window but now i'm not so sure although he has to shoulder some of it but there was clearly nothing coming from above to encourage a top 6 finish other than 'as you were'.

The main takeaway from that is he is as green as the grass and just reading from a very well briefed script. Clearly Eustace didn't think much of him he tried to wriggle around that one then tripped himself up a bit. In the style of the Pheonix club clairvoyant i'm getting the words 'Agents vehicle' again. A mere coincidence that there is now a lot of wheeling and dealing going to be done and short term contracts handed out from season to season and hey presto a new gang suddenly forms inside the club !

He's an arrogant entitled tosser that much has been clear a while, Rudy Gestede is here for Rudy Gestede nothing more. They look at fans as irrelevant just turn up pay your money and applaud politely at all times and swallow what you're given whilst we play real life footy manager and fill our pockets. The line about we are going to spend to go up and then spend to win the Prem FFS !!!! Who the hell do they think they are talking to.

Which again points to it being done on purpose and the court case is nothing more than a convenient distraction providing the perfect excuse. These people are billionaires regardless of the court case relating to one of their companies big Barry could chuck in a few million any time he felt like it but they never do that because it's all ultimately run through the VH group accounts, or as some would say their massive borrowings. He could set up a separate business to run Rovers and even temporarily transfer ownership whilst the alleged restrictions are in place if he chose to but again it would need personal finance instead of bleeding the main company. If you listen to a few old Mowbray interviews he knew the downscale was coming a year or two before it did the hints are all there. They've permanently pulled the drawbridge up and there is only one way the club is going over the next few years unless they drop it again or sell to appropriate buyers. By then Swaghail and co will be long gone having bled the carcass dry but for now keeping the club purposely hovering around midtable being primarily a selling club trying to breed its own players good enough to play a season or two and punt on, even at youth level, is a handy niche for them and their agent pals. The owners ? They just aren't bothered as long as their logo flashes on all these televised games and the phone only rings when it has to.

He's possibly on the B list of a play off club. If we miss out we'll sign you for next seasons promotion push but if we go up sorry we'll be signing from our A list. So it might be a long wait but then again it could just be down to seeing what next seasons budget actually is here and getting owners approval to offer him better terms. That's unlikely to happen until the annual summer Venky HQ meeting anywhere between June and August 🤨