Ash Phillips

[champs95]

This went largely unnoticed along with Adam Wharton, both penning long 5 year professional deals with our club.
It's easy to get swept up week by week by results for the first team, as that is the main event.
But over the next 5 years we need to know the club will be still be there, in the second division at the very worst, mid table, playing at a very good standard mixing it with some huge football clubs with tonnes more money than us.
Our future looks good with our home grown players being the centre of what we are doing. And they secure our future as we could sell to survive. I feel the Ash Philips in particular deal is massive for our club.

And also, only one other football club in ALL the 92 league clubs can boast a better amazing stat like this ....last Sat our club passed 600 consecutive games by fielding at least one player from their academy in the clubs first team.
The other being Manchester United.
That is some achievement, especially when you consider there are another 90 league clubs nowhere near what we are doing.
I think we need respecting alot more for what we are doing. One day, that model will be successful, and suddenly lots of other clubs will be told, look at what BRFC are doing and follow that model.

[robinrover]

As good as it is that these 2 future stars have signed,we simply have to reach the premier league again to right the wrongs of the past.
We are 100 million in debt,now granted it is to our current owners but they will still look to recoup that at some point.
Our academy is undoubtedly where this club will survive for years to come,in terms of talent but that alone won't make our debt disappear.
You mention we will still be here in 5 years time but the question is will venkys still be?
We have to look upwards and dream a bit yes we won't go up this year,every rational Blackburn supporter knows that however we should be looking at pushing for a top 6 place next season for sure.
On another note,we'll done to both of the mentioned lads on their England debut and to Ash Phillips for producing 90 minutes out there.

[champs95]

of course as a club, we always need to try to aim higher. A midtable second division club won't make much of a dent in the Prem sadly. Our last home game only saw just over 11 thousand home fans.
You need money to go up and a massive amount to stay up. And a set of players who are good enough.
We have none of those things, so that effectively rules us out. I'd like to win the national lottery and it doesn't stop me dreaming I will one day. But life just doesn't work like that. I just have to make do with this life I have. And that's fine.
We have been running this little football club for 147 years. And have almost always been a mid-table second division club.
Jack Walkers money ran out back around 2003/04 season. Since then we had been running on empty.
Not sure what wrongs we are righting? We had debt of a vast majority of those 147 years. That's barley changed. We have always had pretty small crowds. That's never changed. We just had one very very very short spell between 1992 and 2002 where we had Jack Walkers money.
And even though we had broken the british transfer record twice, even though we had finished winners of the Prem and finished second, and got into europe we STILL managed to get relegated while we had more money than almost any other English club. To have gotten relegated under Walker and all that money was the worst wrong of them all.
People think and assume because we used to finish around 6th bottom under Allardyce when Venkys first arrived we would still be up in the Prem now. We would have got relegated a long long time ago now either way. Yes they made mistakes, but in no way would we still be up there. No, apart from around 10 years of a 147 year history we have played in front of small 10 thousand crowds in the mid table of the Champ. And that's where we will remain.

[robinrover]

Hey I know on paper that's what we are a middling championship team but there is no disguising the debt we owe venkys.
At the moment they seem happy for us to carry on achieving mediocrity but what happens when they stop.
I would love to think they wouldn't want the money back however.
I feel if it wasn't for FFP they would put a bit more in to get us out of this league but our hands are tied.

[champs95]

Hey I know on paper that's what we are a middling championship team but there is no disguising the debt we owe venkys.
At the moment they seem happy for us to carry on achieving mediocrity but what happens when they stop.
I would love to think they wouldn't want the money back however.
I feel if it wasn't for FFP they would put a bit more in to get us out of this league but our hands are tied.

mate if you think what we watch is medicore you need to spend some time watching lower league football. We are extremely lucky to have very decent players at this club. This town is smaller than Bury. With less money. They don't even have a league club to go and watch. Burnley spent 15 years in Division 4, nearly went out of the league.
We have been spoilt and this is not mediocre. Its one step below one the strongest leagues in world football. We compete in a league where we regularly finish well above some very big city clubs with way more money and way more fans. And around 97% of clubs are in massive debt.

[robinrover]

Hey I realise there is alot worse than us and are performing well under the circumstances but my point is how long is venkys going to be prepared finishing mid table?

[champs95]

Hey I realise there is alot worse than us and are performing well under the circumstances but my point is how long is venkys going to be prepared finishing mid table?

The day after they leave, is the day we fold as a club.

Mowbray has just done an interview where he shows alot of class, but basically explains what is happening at the club.
People from the outside look and see Alan Shearer, Jack Walker, a Prem trophy and a lovely 30k stadium.
The actual truth is the stadium is killing them. It is only ever a 3rd full. The places has only been full 3 times since 1995.
That is shocking. But people keep ignoring it. Like they ignore our 11 thousand home crowds, but wish for better times. Clubs with only 11 thousand fans will not go far. Only money talks.
And the club is a skeleton of what people think.

The is only one thing that has never changed in those 25 years since we got to spend Jack Walkers money. Fans expectancy. That's stayed like we still have more money than 95% of clubs in football, because we have a rich owner, and FFP didn't exist. There are people out there that truly believe one day we will return. We won't.
Not a chance, it would be embarrassing.
So instead of just understanding where we are and why, people are constantly disappointed. Abd will demand we sack managers to chase success.
We are a mid table second division club. Who is actually punching above its weight. Your all very lucky to still have a club. My hometowns club were not so lucky. One that still manages to play at the second best level in the best country world wide of a football obsessed world.

It boils down to this, what TM said. You cant keep selling all your best players and saying to the manager 'well we wont give you anymore, go play an 18 year old from the academy'. You wont find success that way. You also need to invest.
We didnt. We never bothered to re-invest.
So anyone truly believing anything will change with this manager will be very disappointed. As they will sell players under him aswell, and ask him to make do with Jack Vale. Until fans decide they will blame all of that on the current manger, and the cycle continues.