Didn't I read somewhere that Rooney has a financial stake in Derby. If so then he's presumably motivated to stay where he is and get them promoted.

May 2nd. Apologies for self quoting here but nearly 6 weeks in to it and it was as predictable as I said. No manager, no pre-season, no players.

Glad to see that Broughton's persuasive tones managed to convince Lenihan to stay, result for our new DoF. Nyambe defo next out the door so 2 from 2, good investment. Clearly the thrill of working under Ainsworth wasn't enough but hey what ya gonna do. As said by someone earlier we would have done better divvying the DoF wage up between the two leavers. Will the wait for the new guy be really as Earth shaking as it should be after months of searching to get the very best (I'm including TMs notice period),. Clearly Lenihan and Nyambe know the answer to that and have left the building. If I cheered up I'd still be depressed.

Dundee have just appointed a new management team. "It has taken time and patience along the way but we have brought someone in that ticked all of the boxes. It's an exciting time for the club and we are looking forward to working with ..." See, follow a sensible months long process like Dundee and we too could end up with Gary Bowyer All works out well in the end (yes, tongue in cheek).

Has Lennon been mentioned? Don't remember that. Too scarey.

oops, typo, Wagner.

I wonder which way around it is: a) We're agonising between a number of competing and really keen applicants b) We're begging mildly interested targets to join the 'project'. I suspect the latter, no bugger (of repute) wants to come and we're too shit scared of ending up with no one that we haven't dotted the no hopers on the head just in case. It's only guess work but probably not a million miles away and if so how bloody embarrassing. Are we really that much of a basket case club that we can't actually get a manager ... any manager. If Ferguson or Warner stump up then I'm out of here, permy. What am I hoping for, well at this stage one of Ainsworth, Delia or the Rotherham guy. Anything else is beyond dismal. But is landing one of those three really what would have made us happy at the beginning . I think not. What's happened to my club?!

I have it on good authority that it wasn't Carlo Ancelotti on the phone to Waggot it was just a spoof call from a random Madrid local sports radio station. Waggot tried to call back to verify the call but couldn't get past the telephone receptionist who was pissing himself and choking on his KFC Big Bucket. No it's true, I'm ITK. Honestly.

... ah OK, legitimate reflections on his goalkeepers performance in 2022. Does seem harsh though. Still opinions is opinions. Watching the Wales match, tell you what I know he's an old man now but I wouldn't mind Oleksandr Petrako applying for the managers job here. Loving his teams performances last two matches. Does hurt to have a few of those players I suppose. Bit out of our league.

Genuine question guys 'cos I've totally lost track of the names mentioned but were Rooney or Shearer or Sherwood ever talked about as being candidates?

There's a world of difference between recruitment and head hunting. Footy managers are head hunted not recruited. The whole process is HR gone mad, this isn't how foitball should work. TM was going ages ago, targets should already have been on our radar and we should have them on contract by now. You might run a chicken business like this but not a football club. Bloody chaos.

As I've been saying since the very start, there's been zero chance of those two turning up, it's been nonsense from the beginning. The perspective to have is not that we're interviewing candidates it's that they are interviewing us! What they're learning enables them to say F.O. straightaway. Shambles of a board, the Venky's as owners, no playing staff and no money, I'm stunned we're stunned. We will end up with an untried wannabe, a roll of the dice. Pathetic but predictable. Best of the worst alternatives is Ainsworth, nightmare option is Ferguson. Guess who's turning up. If its Duncan Disorderly then after 6 decades I'm off, enough is enough.

Every club has the concept of their "strongest team", that day they didn't play theirs, not even near it. It was so bad they lost to 10 men, so yes I maintain that there were several possible reasons for them making that choice. One "could" have been for corrupt betting. It wasn't of course but it can't be argued that not fielding your strongest team is OK under "all right" circumstances. What he did was NOT OK for any reason IMO. I maintain that what Wagner did was the coup de grace that got us relegated. Yes it was our fault we were in the relegation zone but we were set to escape until he cheated us out of it. Again IMO.

@glen9mullan, @Tricky, the answer is standards. Fairness and a level playing field for all has to be the basis of any sporting competition otherwise what's the point. Just imagine for a moment that Wagner was in bed with some heavyweight gambling syndicate and received mega bucks to get Rovers relegated, would that be acceptable behaviour? Could you distinguish between those two outcomes, no so they amount to the same thing in my book. The authorities should have been all over it to ensure fairness in every game but as usual, like the Venky's buy out, they did diddly squat. I love Rovers for many reasons but one of the most important is that I believe we are an honest and fair Lancastrian family oriented club who've played with a straight bat since we created the football league. Until Venky's took over I've known most of the people who've owned the club and they've all been decent and would never countenance such behaviour, whatever the circumstances or cost. Many will feel I'm a dinosaur whose day is past but that's how I feel, win fairly or what's the point. Wagner should be nowhere near our club.

Re Wagner ... This is the barsteward who fielded a team of youth team kids against Birmingham in the 2017 season in order to strengthen Huddersfield's play off chances. They were so BAD that despite going down to 10 men Birmingham still won! For those with short memories Birmingham under Rednapp were relegation candidates along with us and they finished 2 points clear of us because of that match. We go down on goal difference despite tubbing Brentford away. Scandalous for Wagner to do that on the penultimate game of the season and he deserved shooting for that. The authorities let him get away with it of course. If his lousy cheating body ever gets within 100 miles of the managers desk at Rovers I'll be blazing.

Now there's a dream team: Manager - Duncan (Disorderly) Ferguson Assitant Manager - Sam (the ligament) Morsy Academy Coach - Joey (cigar) Barton Names like those give me nightmares. Joking aside have we really stooped so low that Blackburn Rovers, a family club with historical standards we cherish, should consider such a person as Ferguson to lead our club into the next season. Sorry, if that happens then I'm really done with it all. Not in my name!

When we've appointed a new manager then the guy who didn't get the job represents wasted time, energy and resources (and likely money). Five guys who don't get the job is an insane waste of effort. Eight guys! Give me a break!! I've said from the beginning we should have had the new guy lined up already. This process is crazy, we could even lose the best candidate by him not feeling we want him enough. In the meantime we have two out of contract players waiting to see who the next manager is. How long would you wait for with the season start getting closer and closer and you don't have a club. This process, IMO, is utter madness.

As I've opined before if it was to be Carvahal or Farke they would be here already. If available and willing they'd have been snapped up before TM went. Not going to happen.

Someone who's from the 'family' and with a strong voice around the boardroom table PLUS someone who could develop a passion for the club similar to our own would be a great boon to the club IMO. Arguing for investment in that 'special player' when we are in the PL would be proper valuable. He'll get the bug like us, just give him time. I think if he gets on board he's worthy of our support. Let's give it a punt. What else have we got?

The mere fact that we're sifting through these applications now is precisely the evidence that things are broken and chaotic. Successful businesses follow a model of continuous improvement ie they are not reactive. Waiting for a problem to emerge and then brainstorming a response is not the way to go. We should be anticipating events and preparing responses then we're not caught on the hop. TM leaving is not something that has caught us by surprise, the club have known for ages, in fact the opposite, the club was in the driving seat and making the decisions about him leaving and when. How then could they not have had the replacement project up and running months before? Candidates should have been highlighted, approaches made, feedback considered, shortlist sorted and concrete offers ready for the day WE effectively terminated TM and started this process running. IMO after many decades of advising the boards of some of the world's largest and most successful businesses this isn't even the way you'd run a corner shop. You never know when you're going to have to replace someone, good businesses have continuously running processes to have names ready to approach should needs demand. SW and the rest act like they're computers who've just been rebooted ... power on ... load operating system ... check I/O devices ... then ask "who am I?" and "what am I doing here?" then stating looking round for something to do. It just not good enough and smacks of the disorganised and the incompetent. I flatter myself I do have a clue about this stuff.

Reading this topic is like watching that House Of Games TV show where contestants are invited to select their prize before they've even played the game and won something. What's the point? Our prize on offer, according to the hopes and wishes expressed on here, is to choose between Farke & Dyche. What's the point even discussing it, they aren't coming. How do we know this? Because they are such big fish to land that if they'd shown ANY interest at all they'd be here already. We're 'interviewing'. What does that tell you? Venkys and the Ewood hierarchy have zero idea as to how these things should be handled. The new guy should have been waiting in the wings to be announced the moment TM was out the door. They'd be here today now that TM's gone, but they're not, and the suits are stood around scratching their arses. This tells us that not only will we end up with a bargain basement wannabe or has-been but also that he'll be appointed the week before the season starts. How many pre seasons have been screwed up because newly purchased players weren't through the door early enough? How many injuries do we suffer because players don't get a good pre season in? This has 'lash up' written all over it. AGAIN! Prepare yourselves for a painful eternity of waiting and then welcome on board some guy from a division/s below. How exciting 🙂

If that's really it them I'd rather TM stay!! What a shower.

Isn't this Venkys all over. They've known for a while now that they were ditching Mowbray, they should already have done all the research and tapping up and a new guy plus his team should be in the wings chaffing at the bit and waiting to go. 6 people! Interviews!! WTF!!! Whoever gets the gig will be fighting with his hands tied behind his back because the summer will have passed where he could be assessing needs, recruiting etc.. There'll be excuses of having no pre-season for new hires. Players left on the books plus academy canon fodder will need a whole new set of shapes to drill as half the bleeding playing staff will be gone and their established patterns of play gone with them. Totally lame dude, just totally lame. Venkys, if you ever have any hope of owning a successful club you really need to get your arses into gear. Interviewing 6 people, really, wtf.

Fair comment, agreed. I was though referring to this board not the wider fan base.