BLACKBURN Rovers held the first of two supporters’ consultation meetings to be staged at Ewood Park this season on Thursday night.

Our Rovers reporter Paul Wheelock picks out the key points from the evening.

PRESENTATION

THE meeting started with a prepared statement from owners Venky’s followed by a PowerPoint presentation from director Mike Cheston.

He revealed the club has committed to spend £11m on contracts – in their entirety and excluding bonus and appearances fees – for the new signings made in the summer.

Cheston also confirmed that season ticket sales are down from 10,000 last season – a figure which included half season ticket sales – to 8,500.

The presentation also showed that, compared to other Championships clubs in 2015-16, Rovers had the ninth highest average basic wage, the lowest average season ticket price, the fifth lowest revenue from season ticket sales, and the sixth lowest amount of season tickets sold.

Cheston went on to highlight the work of the club’s Academy and Community Trust before the presentation was wrapped up following calls from supporters in attendance to get on to the issues they felt were not being addressed.

OWNER COMMUNICATION

CHESTON and manager Owen Coyle both stated that they do not deal directly with the Rao family on a daily basis. Instead they go through the owners’ representative, Suhail Pasha, who Cheston confirmed is now an employee of the club.

Cheston said Pasha was ‘not able to be here tonight’, and that the club ‘had moved the date of the meeting in the hope of having at least Suhail present but even then it’s not been possible’, but did state he would ask him to attend a meeting with supporters.

Coyle said of his working relationship with the owners: “Of course it’s maybe not as quick in terms of the process of the answers I want back. It’s just goes through the other one to get to where we need to be. Can it get frustrating sometimes? Possibly. But you’ve got to make the best of that. Like any manager I want everything yesterday.”

Cheston added: “The owners have asked me to act as the director responsible for the operations of the club and I’m also working with Suhail. There are a lot of owner-managed businesses where you have a chief executive and a board who report to the owner who is not on site. That was the case when Jack Walker was here and Robert Coar was chairman. I also do echo Owen’s comments that at times it can be frustrating. You know what the decision is, it’s a key decision, we want to communicate it quickly, I’m prepared to do it, but I know I need permission. That increases the time delay when you don’t need it sometimes. However I can tell you Suhail has been very responsive.”

Non-executive director Coar, who was chairman of the club between 1991 and 2005, added: “In truth it is no different than when Jack was here. I spoke to Jack on a daily basis, we sorted what was going on, if Jack wasn’t available for a few days, I knew what the parameters were, and I was left to get on with it. At the end of the day I don’t think you’ll find many owners who don’t want to see where their money is going and how it’s being spent.”

OWNER INTENTIONS

CHESTON stated Venky’s ‘have no intention of selling the club in the foreseeable future’ before attempting to outline their short and long-term plans for Rovers.

He said: “The short term is they remain committed to the club and they have no intention of selling, that’s my interpretation. In the long term they have said they would like to see us back where we belong, which is in the Premier League. There’s a building process we have to go through. They continue to fund the club”

Coyle added: “I want to bring stabilisation and, once we have shown we are good, hardworking people who can put out a team which can be competitive, within the fact that financially it was less than what it was last year, my understanding is that if we show that, we will then get the backing to make the push to where we want to be.”

Cheston, who squashed online rumours of sales of land assets like the Brockhall training grounds, added: “We can’t keep looking to the owners. We have to find a way to make the club sustainable in any way we can. We’ve got to try and generate revenue, reduce costs, and yes, look for funding. I provide projections to the owners and it requires further funding. They’ve already said in signed statutory accounts they will continue to fund the club for the foreseeable future.”

LACK OF INVESTMENT

ROVERS made just one paid-for signing in the summer, the £250,000 spent on Derrick Williams, after selling captain Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy for a combined £10m.

Coyle said: “It wasn’t for the lack of trying. I’m not talking about £10m. I tried to buy Stuart Armstrong from Celtic for £1m and I offered £1m for Alfie Mawson from Barnsley who subsequently went to Swansea City for £5m. I think for us to develop there’s got to be investment in the team. I’ve said that to the owners. I’m not a lover of signing players who are 31 or 32 for transfer fees. Good Bosmans, absolutely. When we invest in a player, if we can get them at the right age, so they can grow and develop, play very well and be assets, then I think that’s a very good business plan as well as improving our team.”

Coyle added: “Grant and Shane are nice lads but their heads had been turned. I didn’t want to lose Grant, he was under contract, and I felt he was one I’d be able to keep. But before I came in a lot of stuff had gone on and on my first day I got a phone call saying he wanted to go to Newcastle and I don’t even think a bid was in at that time. Shane was half the player he is capable of being.”

MANAGER APPOINTMENT

COYLE admitted he met Balaji Rao after being interviewed for the job by two Venky’s representatives.

He said: “I met with Suhail and one other Indian gentleman, advisors to the family, and on the back of that I met with Mr Bala, and on the back of that I was offered the job.”

Cheston added: “We completed the interview process at the time and then I went on holiday and I was abroad when we became aware of Owen. The process had to continue without me.”

WALK OUT

SUPPORTERS representing the BRFC Action Group walked out, with about 20 minutes of the meeting remaining, after a discussion with Coar, which saw him questioned over whether he had done enough over the last six years to save the club from decline and protect Walker’s legacy.

Before exiting the meeting the BRFC Action Group stated that Coar had told the fan who had asked the question, ‘he will see us in court’. The alleged remark was not picked up by the microphones.

The BRFC Action Group later tweeted: “When Robert Coar was asked if he’d done enough for this club over the last six years... he threatened the asker with court action. Hence why we have walked out of the meeting.”