The Venky's blamed for Blackburn Rovers "downward spiral" amid Lewis Travis exit talk | OneFootball

Yet another of the club's key players wants to leave Ewood Park in favour of an opportunity elsewhere.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Blackburn Rovers are in a worrying situation as their captain, Lewis Travis, has asked to leave the club following interest from Derby County.

A report from The Times on Tuesday revealed that the Rams had put in a second offer for the midfielder worth £1.5 million plus add-ons, but it had been rejected. Blackburn are holding out for £2.5 million, as per the national outlet, which is said to be frustrating John Eustace's side.

The 27-year-old is into the final year of his deal but has not been offered a new deal by them. Following Tuesday night's EFL Cup defeat to Bradford City at Ewood Park, Rovers boss Valerien Ismael revealed that the Lancashire-raised player has asked to leave the club.

Worrying assessment of Blackburn Rovers laid out as Lewis Travis makes his feelings clear

It's been a summer of frustrating departures for Rovers. Danny Batth and Andi Weimann have already moved to Pride Park to link up with former boss Eustace. Tyrhys Dolan also left the club as a free agent and went on to join Espanyol. Star right-back Callum Brittain has also been sold to one of Blackburn's Championship rivals, Middlesbrough.

All of this outbound activity has not made Football League World's Rovers fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, too happy. He believes that the club is in a "downward spiral" and haven't been proactive enough in trying to convince these players to commit to Blackburn long-term.

"I think it just shows where the club is at currently and how bad things have got," said Middlehurst.

"If you look at the transfers that we've done, we've lost Tyrhys Dolan, Danny Batth, Andy Weimman, Callum Brittain. Now it looks like Lewis Travis will be on his way out and Ainsley Pears is also looking to be on his way out as well. And that's the core of last season's starting team.

"We finished seventh last season. Really the club should have shown ambition by offering contracts to these players to keep them. And they didn't put the effort in and they've gone elsewhere. Lewis Travis, again, apparently Darby have come in and offered more money, and that just shows that we're not rewarding these players.

"Lewis Travis has been at Blackburn since he was a kid. You know, we've kind of moulded him into a player. We've made him in into the player that he is. It's just really disappointing to see where the club is at the minute. And I can't see things changing until the eventual happens, which is Venky's (the owners) and Suhail Pasha (the chief operating officer) leaving.

"It's just a very great lack of ambition, and I think Blackburn are in a downward spiral."

Blackburn Rovers need to fix their operational issues

A team that finished so high in the Championship shouldn't be losing its best players to one that narrowly avoided relegation, but, alas, that is the state of play at Ewood Park.

It shouldn't be considered as a reflection of the manager. Ismael did really well to keep the team on track after Eustace's departure and got them within touching distance of a play-off spot. But everything else, in terms of the running of the club, has to take blame for a long-serving player - their captain - ultimately wanting to leave.