It all started with the takeover by Venky’s and the introduction to East Lancashire of Jerome Andersen.

We all know the history now. They came, they sacked Allardyce, they almost relegated us. John Williams predictably walked out, fed up of being constantly bypassed by the new Ewood Park hierarchy.

It’s a travesty what they have done to Rovers. Everyone (with a couple of exceptions) on the terraces and the media can see it. So why can’t they?

Venkatesh Hatcheries has ripped the soul out of my beloved Rovers.

They have not done this intentionally, of that I am certain. I believe they do have the club’s interests at heart. Why wouldn’t they? It’s a simple equation. Club does well, Venky’s does well. So where has it all gone wrong?

Venky’s and its owner Mrs Desai know nothing about football. They know nothing about the Premier League. Rumour has it they didn’t even know that relegation existed. This is not their fault. They have been poorly advised from day one.

To give an example of this, the PR disaster that is Paul Agnew went with Granada Reports to to Pune as part of the three-parter they filmed for the ITV news show. Any half decent press officer would prime the owners beforehand. Tell them what it would be a good idea to say, so as not to reflect on them in a bad light.
A bad press officer would allow one of the Rao brothers to say, on camera, that Rovers will finish eighth and win a cup next year. This in the middle of the most ominous looking relegation battle since 1999.

I am not necessarily anti-Venky’s. I am anti-whoever is making them look stupid. They need to be more visible and more available to the fans. Let us, the fans, speak to you. Take our advice, for we know more about Blackburn Rovers than any other fool that is destroying any reputation you were hoping to build in England.

Steve Kean’s appointment was a surprise. But then, fair enough, give him until the end of the season and assess the situation. Don’t give him a three and a half-year contract. That was an error.
The Rovers gaffer has now become a figure of hate for many Rovers fans, and is not popular in the press. I would also assume his reputation in football will have taken a hit. He certainly won’t be offered any other management roles in the near future.

John Jensen’s appointment was not “exciting”. I was excited to hear that I would be excited by the “big name” assistant manager that was being lined up. I was not. I was disappointed. In fact, being pretty young, I didn’t know who he was.

Then came the transfer market. Ronaldinho and David Beckham. No thanks. Let’s concentrate on players that want to play for Rovers and who will not cost the earth. Roque Santa Cruz on god knows how much a week is yet to score a goal and looks uninterested. Ruben Rochina has a couple of nice touches then fades into the background. Mauro Formica is an enigma. He may well be one for the future, but why sign him in January for £3.5m?

January transfer windows exist purely to strengthen the squad with players to be used immediately. Not to sign unknown Argentine youngsters that won’t kick a ball until the following pre-season.

I have witnessed – and thank god, and Olsson, that after yesterday’s nervy performance it is now over – the worst run of Rovers results in my lifetime.

Home games against Blackpool and Birmingham have slipped by with only a point to show for them, and an easy win for Everton at Goodison the other week was just embarrassing. You cannot help but think Big Sam would have taken a win from one of those 11 games. Yes Kean, I was pleased with the performance at Arsenal. A 0-0 draw there and a solid performance was delightful, but to follow that up with a dire draw at home to relegation rivals Birmingham was simply not good enough. Like the Blackpool and Newcastle games before it, that was simply must win.

Yesterday’s win, although a massive relief that led to pure joy, was not pretty. Had Bolton not been severely depleted, I fear a wasteful Rovers would have lost that game.

The defence looked nervous, and the final third seemed woeful. It was a good job we could rely on Olsson to score, because we couldn’t rely on Jason Roberts, Benjani, Steven N’Zonzi or Morten Gamst Pedersen, who all missed great chances to finish the Wanderers off.

After all that negativity, we now have a silver lining. A win saw us reach 38 points. Results have gone our way, and relegation is not as likely now as it was pre-win.

In the summer, we can really see what Venky’s are all about. Will they back Kean, as they have said on so many occasions? Or will they bite the bullet and fork out his pay-off to end his contract early? I think he’s here to stay.

One thing is for certain, and that is Kean has the players on his side. We see it every week. They do work hard for him, it’s just a pity they aren’t very good. Against City they showed real fight and were devastated not to win. Yesterday they showed the same fight and were delighted to take the points. Perhaps a summer of bonding and team-building is what Kean needs to show what he can do. Who knows?

Should we avoid disaster and stay in the Premier League, every player’s worth needs to be scrutinised.
Santa Cruz, see you later. Mame Diouf, ta ta. Let the deadwood go; Benjani, Andrews, Emerton, Grella, etc. Wipe these drains on resources off the wage bill and start again. Venky’s only need to put in £15m in transfer kitty and we can pick up a couple of decent players that will certainly improve what we currently have.
Do Venky’s have that sort of money to invest? Who knows.

Referring back to my first question, I have found this season extremely stressful and very difficult to take in, particularly with all the changes that have gone on in and around the club, but I’m hanging on in there. I will be renewing my season ticket next year regardless of what division we are in. I’d renew if we were in the Conference. But I know of many who will not. And that is all down to the owners.

Venky’s, you have a lot to answer for, but if we retain Premier League status, you can put things right.

However, apart from one seemingly serious bid – the Daniel Williams consortium – which fell through a while back, there’s been nothing serious.

Last Sunday, the People (I think) reported that a Thai consortium and an Indian made up two separate takeover offers. This was not met with a great deal of expectation. We’ve heard it all before and nothing ever comes of it.

Now though, it would seem, a takeover might be a realistic possibility.

I say might, as while I write this I am currently led in bed, having been to a friend’s house with my finger off the Rovers pulse, only to discover a Times article which seems very serious:

An Indian entrepreneur is close to completing a £25 million takeover of Blackburn Rovers after targeting the Lancashire club on account of the town’s large Asian population.

Blackburn’s board has given Saurin Shah, little known outside his home city of Mumbai, permission to begin the due diligence process after several weeks of secret talks. He hopes to complete the takeover by mid-July and to establish strong links not only with the town’s Indian population but also, more globally, with cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), of which his uncle, Niranjan, is deputy chairman.

Shah approached brokers in London about buying a Barclays Premier League club in April and quickly settled upon Blackburn after learning that the town has a large Asian population as well as historical links to the textile industry. According to the 2001 Census, 14.3 per cent of Blackburn’s population is of Indian origin, with a further 11.5 per cent of Pakistani origin.

Shah’s vision, through his Qubic Sports investment vehicle, is to create strong links between Blackburn and the IPL, which would allow cross- marketing. India is regarded by many Premier League clubs as an area of huge potential growth and Shah believes that his links with the IPL would leave Blackburn well placed to secure a strong position in that market.

Negotiations are taking place through Rothschild, the investment bank, and Chris Nathaniel, the chief executive of NVA Entertainment. Shah, with Nathaniel, attended Blackburn’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Ewood Park last month as a guest and has persuaded the board of his willingness to invest in the playing squad and in the club’s infrastructure.

Blackburn have unofficially been open to offers for the past three years, since the trustees of the late Jack Walker, who bankrolled the club to the Premier League title in 1995, made it clear that they were eager to offload their stake. The money from the Trustees of the Jack Walker 1987 Settlement has all but dried up, which has caused John Williams, the chairman, to search for new investment.

Williams said recently that, for the first time in several years, Blackburn expect to “revert to being a trading club rather than a selling club this summer”, with Sam Allardyce, the manager, being given money to invest in his squad — in part thanks to last season’s success in securing a top-half finish in the Premier League. Under Shah’s ownership, the intention would be for Blackburn to attract far greater commercial revenue in India and beyond, which would give the club the means to ensure that they remain an established and sustainable Premier League side.

Williams told The Times in April that Blackburn had performed a high-wire act for the past ten years, their relatively small match-day revenue prompting a considered strategy of investing heavily in player salaries — their wage bill of £46.1 million in the last financial year represented 90.6 per cent of their £50.9 million turnover — to maintain Premier League status.

Earlier tonight, I received a text from a friend asking if I knew anything about this Indian fella. I replied nonchalantly that no, I did not, and I didn’t think the rumours had anything in them. Now, it seems, there may be.

I won’t know anything until later – which will probably be now as most will read this in the cold light of day – but I’ll be honest, the fact this story appears in the Times, and not a red top, really gives it an added credibility in my view.

It’s also been given a fair amount of space in terms of word count.

I know one particular commenter on here, who also hosts his own blog, has been very vocal in his belief that Rovers desperately need to be taken over, and in many ways I agree with him.

In 10 years time, without investment, Blackburn Rovers will be a lower league club. As the money continues to talk in the Premier League, those who have none will suffer.

Rovers are extremely well run with an excellent chairman, who gave another full and frank interview about the state of the club’s finances in the Lancashire Telegraph for the second year running yesterday, but that is only worth so much in today’s game.

We do need to be taken over, but we must ensure that the right people are chosen. Is Saurin Shah the man for the job? Let’s wait and see …

However, a couple of articles this week have got my juices flowing.

Article one appeared in the Daily Mail, listing the owners of all the Premier League clubs and how much money they have. I’ve stolen their graphic to post below, but technically I’m an employee anyway so I hope they don’t mind…

It shows our gracious benefactors, with Uncle Jack’s money, very high up in football’s rich list, with £590-million to their names. That’s £160-million more than Walkersteel sold for back in 1992.

Now, I know they’re trying to sell up, but until the sale they’re stuck with us. When Jack died he left that money in a trust, with some instructions in place, I’m no financial expert but I believe we get the interest or a percentage thereof, from the money as it sits in the trust.

Apparently, that equates to about £3-million a year at the moment. Hardly enough for Rovers to compete in the Premier League and, despite us being, in my opinion, the best run club in the league, it’s a fact that without significant investment we will get relegated at some point over the next five years, as the big-money men take control more and more every season and we are going to get left behind.

It makes me sick that they can sit in Jack’s box every game and watch us head ever more gloomily towards oblivion. In the grand scheme of things, I believe the trustees are about 19th in the football rich list. And that puts them about 7th in the Premier League rich list, yet we continue to struggle…

Article two, which I’m not quite as bothered by, regards the England goalkeeper situation. Paul Robinson has, without doubt, buried his past demons since he was brought to Ewood by Paul Ince at the start of last season. Big Sam stuck by the Hull-born former Spurs keeper, who made a howler for England and lost all his confidence, which ultimately lost him his place at Tottenham.

I am confident that he is good enough to merit a place in the England squad.

Anyway, Martin Lipton’s blog looks at the contenders for the England number one shirt. They are Robert Green, David James, Joe Hart, Ben Foster and Robbo.

Immediately I say Robert Green, then Robinson. David James is too old, Ben Foster too shit and Joe Hart too inexperienced. Through scoring the contenders in ‘decision-making’, ‘shot-stopping’, ‘kicking’, ‘penalties’ and ‘gaffe-factor’. From that Robbo comes third with a paltry 33 out of 50. Robert Green gets 40, while pensioner David James somehow manages 38. How a 39-year-old keeper can be realistically suggested as an England number one is beyond me!

I’ve always liked John Williams, and everyone else on the Rovers board.

Give us the board of most other football clubs in the Premier League and I’m pretty sure we’d be a struggling lower league side with huge debts to pay off.

Luckily, we’ve got Mr Williams, who makes us one of the best run clubs Premier League.

This slightly worrying, but fantastically frank, interview with the Lancashire Telegraph’s Andy Cryer demonstrates this to the full.

How many other top flight chairmen would come out and tell the fans what’s going on quite as clearly as this?

ANDY CRYER: John, I’d like to talk to you about how you feel Rovers have fared on and off the pitch during the summer.

Let’s start with off the pitch. The club has for some time been at the forefront of affordable football. You reduced season ticket prices again this year. Has it worked?

JOHN WILLIAMS: In a word, yes. Our strategy is clearly based on price/volume.

Season tickets are up from 14,000 to 18,500 (19,000 like for like if you factor in likely half-season ticket sales).

So, we’re talking upwards of 30 per cent. A great result during difficult economic times.

Income will be like for like very similar but in terms of taking back Ewood and the improved atmosphere we’ve got a result.

Now it’s about finding the right balance between home/away match day support using price promotion where appropriate to top up. I think average gates of 25,000 are on the cards.

AC: Turning to matters on the pitch, are you feeling confident for the season ahead?

JW: I think we’ll do well. I recognise we’re in a results business and so far one point from three games is disappointing having played well especially versus Sunderland.

If we continue to perform well and can stay clear of injuries we will have a decent season.

AC: How would you judge Rovers’ performance in the transfer window? Was it a good one?

JW: I believe it has been successful overall but only time will tell.

The fact is that since Sam’s arrival, we’ve had close to 10 in and 10 out.

That is considerable upheaval by any standards and it will certainly take time for things to gel.

There is new blood in all playing departments and a well balanced squad with genuine competition all over the pitch.

We’ve got a great balance of age and experience, got more pacey midfield options, excellent back four options and a potentially exciting strike force.

We’ve been able to do this and balance the books which is essential with no new money coming in from the top.

AC: John, you say balance the books, but most fans see sales exceeding purchases. Can you explain in more detail?

JW: I’ll have a go.

Last season 08/09 we started, as always, with a close to break-even budget (before transfers) based on finishing ninth and a wage bill of circa £44m.

Ninth was two places below the previous season’s finish and £44m a 10per cent increase in wages.

These measures were necessary, we thought, to give the new and relatively inexperienced manager (Paul Ince) a good financial foothold given that there was only a very limited transfer pot, but we didn’t have to sell (so ‘even’ trading was the plan for players and the Bentley and Friedel monies were used to fund incoming transfers).

Prior to 08/09 we had kept a very tight rein on our wage bill, we’ve had to.

In the five years 03/04–07/08 it grew by just 6per cent (CAGR) against a Premier League average close to double that.

At the end of the season we finished 15th (not beating West Brom cost us £1.5m but we couldn’t complain, Sam had done a great job).

Wages had increased to £46m plus, this mainly due to the unbudgeted arrivals of Dioufy, Gael Givet and new football management.

There was also a drop in TV games against budget and overall a combined circa £7.5m loss against plan.

This is the gap that had to be plugged from the Santa Cruz deal.

Incidentally the guaranteed money in this deal is £15m; other figures quoted include contingency payments.

For years we have stretched ourselves budgeting a league finish above that suggested by the wage bill.

You know I’m a great believer in the parity between club wage bills and league position.

This year we took a more pragmatic approach to our mantra of break-even, a 13th place finish would support circa £41m annual wage bill (which we believe will be the 13th highest) and therefore we needed to get £5m off the wages – a figure which has been bandied about for some time.

We have failed to do this. We felt in conjunction with Sam that to remain competitive we needed to follow the one in, one out plan.

And not surprisingly wages are running very similar year on year.

So we have filled the resulting £5m hole with the difference in transfer fees between Stephen and Pascal.

In summary, the maths works as follows: Money in from transfers £26m, money out including agents fees, levies etc. £13.5m, headcount like for like and wages like for like.

Where has the 12.5m gone? £7.5m has gone to last year’s P&L as explained (wages, TV games and league finish) and £5m to support this season’s wage bill.

I suppose the most sobering thing about this is that even if we stretch ourselves to achieve break-even at operating level that still leaves nothing for player acquisition. So trading is the name of the game.

I’m not entirely comfortable about funding wages from transfer fees but developing players, buying low and selling high has, by necessity, become part of our business.

AC: How long is this level of wage bill sustainable?

JW: With wage bills rising all around us it has to be sustainable if we are to remain competitive.

The problem is that yesterday’s £20k per week is today’s £30k per week. It is never ending.

You can be sure that when our big players move on they almost without exception get bigger wages.

The fact is in comparative terms we are sliding down the wages league despite our too-high spend.

The good news is that next year sees the start of a new TV cycle which we hope will increase turnover to help sustain wages at their current level.

That will mean we can return to the status of a trading rather than selling club.

But it is always going to be a stretch. We know it’s really a turnover problem, if wages were at what most observers deem to be an appropriate level of turnover we would need to add another £20m to the top line.

To put that into perspective, this year’s total ticket revenue (season ticket sales and match day home & away sales) is £7m.

The fact is that every available penny goes on football.

We have lots of calls on our cash, running a 65 acre estate over 3 sites is in itself expensive, but football comes first. All this having been said I still want wages to come down and will work with Sam to exploit every opportunity that presents itself.

AC: There is a lot of talk about debt in the PL, are you comfortable with Rovers debt levels?

JW: I wouldn’t say comfortable, but it is manageable and there is nothing wrong with debt as a source of funding.

We are fortunate to have an excellent working relationship with our bank which has been built up independent of our owners over a number of years.

I believe they trust us to make responsible decisions.

They have not asked for debt reduction despite the credit crunch and we have certainly not offered it.

We are pushing our overdraft levels to the limit because we are trying to win football matches.

Of course in the medium to long term debt reduction would be desirable, perhaps even sensible, but this is not currently on the agenda.

AC: Any news on the sale?

JW: Nothing concrete, but everyone knows suitable new ownership with new money coming into the club would be the answer.

Work in progress I’m afraid is all I can report.

AC: Will the trust provide new funding in the meantime?

JW: Unlikely, but never say never. In fairness to them and contrary to some uninformed opinion, they are not taking money out either.

There is an agreement to repay a small fixed-term loan but they have agreed to fund an important strategic land acquisition for us.

Our relationship with the trustees remains good. To be fair, they have never interfered, they know the lack of funding is a source of frustration for the board but we just have to get on with it.

I do get depressed at times when I see the spending power of the clubs with big fan bases and / or wealthy owners putting in money.

But they’re not better than us, they don’t work any harder, they just have more money.

Many of them I know look with envy at our achievements on and off the field over recent years.

And they certainly don’t have a greater ambition than us.

Indeed my greatest fear is not that we haven’t stretched ourselves enough, it’s that we have stretched ourselves too far.

Some of our fans I know for sure feel the same frustrations, but lack of finance is nothing to be ashamed of.

We should in fact be proud to be supporting a big club in a small town.

We deserve to be in this league, it’s no fluke.

AC: John, have you got a prediction for the season?

JW: To aim high without risking the financial health of the club, but not to be too disappointed if we don’t make it.

We’ve got an excellent squad in my opinion, easily capable of mid-table and I would dearly love to win the FA Cup.

We are starting our longest stay in the top flight since 1936, not too bad for the town club in the land of the giants.

AC: And finally John, are you still in favour of the transfer window system?

JW: Yes. I would do away with January altogether and close the summer window before the first fixture, but it’s difficult to harmonize across Europe though.

I’ve just ordered my Dad and myself one. Hoping to get decent Blackburn End lower seats,  I was bitterly disappointed. The stand is sold out. Yes, Rovers and sold out in the same breath! The woman in the ticket office couldn’t believe what she was saying!

The board’s excellent season tickets offer has obviously been well received by the community, who have snapped them up in double quick fashion!

I’ve ended up five rows back in the Riverside Stand, not my ideal place to be, but at least I’ll be in the ground!

However, we are still within the deadline for current season ticket holders to renew their’s, so if anyone daft enough to cancel their ticket does so, hopefully I’ll be shifted into the Blackburn End where I belong!

This turn of events has left me feeling both disappointed that I may not be sat in the Blackburn End, the stand I’ve sat in for as long as I can remember, but also very excited for the atmosphere within the ground.

Hopefully we can shake off the stigma of having a half-empty ground every week and other sides with a much larger fanbase laughing at us, and show them that with a bit of consideration for the fans, and a price reduction on tickets, they may well respond by buying turning up in their droves!

Bring on the new season!

I’m back online again, hopefully for good, and I have a lot to write about over the coming days.

Indeed, there’s been a lot I have wanted to write about over the last month but have been unable to!

Anyway, top of my agenda, is a great big thank you to Mr John Williams. A man not many people outside of Rovers will be familiar with.

He’s not a famous club chairman, like those higher up the football spectrum, but in my eyes, he is the best. By a long shot. A man who has kept the interests of the fans very much at heart with recent developments at the club.

I speak, of course, about the Taking Back Ewood initiative, which saw a major attendance boost in the last three games of the season. That attendance boost, which culminated in four walls of Rovers fans (the away fans tucked up into the top tier) and an inevitable improvement to match atmosphere, saw an improvement in the players’ performances and a much-needed feeling of togetherness throughout the club.

A struggle against relegation usually brings this out in clubs. The added pressure of the perilous possibilities provides the club with a chance to call on the fans to come out in their droves and raise the roof, ‘be the twelfth man’ and guide us to safety.

Instead of simply saying this, Mr Williams used actions, instead of words, and gave the fans an amazing opportunity, which they duly grasped.

This mentality has been employed with the season ticket prices for this season.

I have made no secret of the fact I have not been a season ticket holder since 2005. Not because I didn’t want to go, simply because I moved to Lincoln and couldn’t afford the commute every other week. Since then I’ve lived in Scunthorpe and now Hull, where I have only recently moved.

Under normal circumstances I’d adopt the usual policy, go to as many games as possible, buying tickets as and when, but this season, with a season ticket in the Blackburn End Lower at just £199, what excuse is there? Heck, even my dad said he might get one and he hasn’t gone since the end of the 04/05 season either.

This thought is one that many Rovers fans will be feeling. Those who used to go week in week out, then stopped for whatever reason. Cost, disillusionment, whatever their excuse may be, many are now reconsidering.

In these difficult economic times, and with football becoming bigger business each year (£80million for Portuguese prick), this offer is just what football needs.

Rovers are once again revolutionising things. The first Premiership club to offer ridiculous price reductions in an effort to give something back to the fans, not just taking from them like many other clubs do.

A mate of mine is a Norwich City fan, having just been relegated from the Championship their season tickets have increased… To around £600! That is now £400 more expensive than a team two divisions higher!

Someone told me, and I’ve taken their word for it, that Rovers’ season tickets were now only more expensive than those at Huddersfield Town and Accrington Stanley out of all the tickets in the top four divisions.

That includes teams like Dagenham and Redbridge, Bury, Oldham, Brentford and Lincoln City. These teams play at a much lower level, with much worse facilities and a much lesser standard of quality for the viewer.

So I propose a new chant down at Ewood this coming season:

ONE JOHN WILLIAMS, THERE’S ONLY ONE JOHN WILLIAMS, ONE JOHN WILLIAMS!