A few saying they think he is Blackpool bound as Bowyers no 2 ? Shame he's left Chorley but he's probably taken them as far as he can without some investment.

It was bought as a marketing tool, vanity project and money pit to be run by their shadow business partners it really is that simple. After that it became partly by default an accounting tool, this is where the money pit bit comes into it still, crunching numbers and profits from elsewhere i'm sure a large part of football ownership is for this reason, with an outside chance of being a global marketing tool again in the future and maybe even paying for itself. I think the vanity quickly went out the window but as to the partners that's still anyone's guess if or what their involvement might still be but they were in it up to the eyeballs from the off there is zero doubt about that. That's why they bought into it and that's why they hang around, to sell it would be like Brexit because there'd be that much to unfold and an awful lot write off whilst it still does actually serve a handy purpose. All imo of course but it's not to difficult to see it when you stand back and look at everything.

In regards to Chapman I really hope if he is going to be recovered from his hamstring totally which is a big ask they get him on another loan. I really see TM going with a defensive winger ( Conway) or midfield type and a striker ( Samuel) on the other side again as his preferred starting line up. I think he has shades of GB in him like that in as much as he doesn't like chasing games from the off unless he really feels he has to and we've seen it enough times, not much chance of flying wingers on both flanks even if he gets them in the ranks. Therefore the more Chapman types we have to come on and have a go the better because we'll need them.

My prediction is still two freebies and two young loanees, just hope they are good'uns.

It's been full a few times since so there can't be anything major impending although it was wacked up pretty quickly and probably cheaply as possible understandably at the time. Building regs and requirements might have been a bit less stringent then, maybe something could have flashed up as a possible future problem. Usual thing with that though would be like back in the day were capacity was just cut permanently, doubt the thing would shut completely unless someone made that call. Waggot seems a guy who's up for making tough decisions and that's not a bad thing it's about time there was a bit of an independent iron fist down there although it has to be for the right reasons not just stealth cost cutting. The PNE type version would be spot on with a hotel or some other form of commercial income gatherer built in and no way do we really need the capacity as it is never mind bigger. If home demand is there in future just cut down on the flipping away allocations !

Sounds like a first step towards the priming of the minds to the shutting of the Riverside. May well be it needs a lot of work doing although the numbers in it will hardly be straining it but at the same time the demand or lack of it won't make it a priority nor worthwhile at present if it needs substantial work in the near future. Mural anyone ?

If the magic Mike had given straight answers in regards to Coyle etc then it would be justified to say don't mention it now but when the man who willingly put his name to it yet never explained why and it turned out to be the unmitigated disaster widely predicted it's no wonder some still want to look him in the eye and ask why. His head should have rolled for that or he should have distanced himself at the time not afterwards, he's shown himself to be flaky when everyone is after honesty and transparency. Explain it, hold your hand up then it's done and move on. People will always ask who really makes the decisions at Ewood when they've chance to it goes with the turf of this ownership and I doubt it'll change so no point squabbling about it.

Exactly, cowardly but leave em to it he really ain't worth the bother.

They should offer discounted away travel for the regulars then to balance it out a bit as surely they want as many of their own fans backing them on travels. Or the old 20 is plenty on away tickets anywhere in midweek over 100 miles away even if that was only for regulars.

Aye probably, another step to empty stadiums and every game live on some form of media.

If he gets one thing right this summer about Rovers that hasn't been already mentioned by the local journo or on here by someone i'll be completely amazed.

The away support will average out at about just over a thousand this season i'd wager, just like the previous championship years. Respectable when you take into account a lot of the prices, daft midweek treks and TV but at the same time embarrassing when we probably take 3/400 to Derby etc. PNE & Wigan home and away back to back and treks to Yorkshire back to back then Swansea and the like away in midweek, idiotic !

Nicko was confident of a deal ............ it all ended there for me. Sounds like he was wrong so now he's made up a figure out of reach to cover his ample arse again.

Underwhelming at the start but a real opportunity maybe to get some points on the board. Wigan & Nobbers back to back away with no doubt some tv involved will see a couple of sub par followings no doubt which is annoying. Oct/Sept look hellish.

That would be a nice bonus and it's not before time, spend a couple of mill per season on a couple of players whilst retaining the good ones you've got within reason is the way to build it up properly again. Throw in one or two of your own youth who are ready as well as squad fillers instead of others youth loaned in and sitting on the bench doing nowt.

True although to be fair looking back he still had to get a few players in sharpish at times to bolster the wreck he inherited and probably not using much of a scouting or recruitment dept. Hopefully there'll be an improvement on those types now he has a proper recruitment structure in place and they've had time to look around and asses. Main problem I see this time is him getting the go ahead from above to get the ones he's recommended as I fear a lot of the spare dosh in the budget will be swallowed re-signing those he already has. As long as they stay away from certain peoples client lists it might still be ok although if I was a betting man i'd say 4 players in made up of two freebies or back up players for a couple of hundred grand each and 2 young loans who's clubs are paying nearly all the wages. Oh crap we are back into Caddis & Gladwin territory ?

Powder might be being kept dry, what's the fuss ?

Duffy showed shades of potential mostly when the ball was landing directly on his nut but on the deck he was like bambi on ice at times. Think it was always a case of get him in a settled partnership in the right formation and he'd be ok, I've watched him for Brighton he's committed that's his type of player but he's far from great but he's enough about him to cope at higher level. Just like the other one we had briefly his head never ever seemed in it at Ewood and he was likely just plonked in here for a wage and games whilst waiting for a better move and knew this from the start. That's how things seemed to be run at the time and it's not hard to fathom why, shop window vehicle.

If anything highlights just what is wrong with the game in terms of agents and pals moving players about for % it's the Jason Steele saga. Not unusual players moving about but a piss poor one going for increasing transfer fees as he gets worse and is no 1 in successive teams relegated is a joke, back handers flying everywhere no doubt. It's not how good you are it's how good your agent is in this game.

He's probably got a very very good agent who's friendly with a few tame managers. Thankfully TM doesn't look like he is one otherwise we'd have had Steele on a new 5 year deal as no 1 !

Williams is an average steady left back and if we had someone similar at right back I think the side would be more solid. Bell has the potential to maybe be better though because of his pace so it'll be interesting to see how that develops but on our budget can we do better than either of those at the min ? No it's very doubtful so other areas of the team need looking at first and foremost, back to Derek I think if he could sort out his often woeful distribution he actually might rank in the 'good' category for left backs at mid champ level.

I'll be surprised if they are spending a wad of cash on a back up player these days and if so they are surely expecting a departure not far down the line. Having said that the signing of Bell so far seems to be just a back up/squad player so maybe times have changed.

The pitch used to get re-laid regularly or re-turfed to put it another way and I think that may have been part of Prem league rules but not 100% sure. Since V's reign of terror began I doubt it's been re-turfed more than once if at all but just re-seeded every summer. No doubt it's a cost cutting exercise but as always with this lot in the long run it's probably cost more. Plenty clubs probably reseed but the weather needs to be kind to get the best results otherwise it soon cuts up or goes bald and when there's been problems like at Ewood with the drainage etc in recent times you'd think a complete re-turf would be in order every few years. Credit to the skill of our ground staff they tend to keep the pitch playable in a challenging climate weather wise.

Weren't we being told not long ago on here that ST money goes to the running costs of the ground and day to day stuff in Blackburn etc and the football side of it is separate ? Staff cuts were being blamed almost soley on lower crowds & the fans at one point therefore can't see it having much bearing on any signings. Can't have it both ways.

Marlon Broomes.