Boycott Or Not?

[RoversClitheroe]

2 hours ago, speedies gonna get ya. said:

I am bloody exhausted and glad this first step has been taken. We were never expecting an empty ground and considering the number of free tickets handed out it is a decent effort. 

I am more disappointed with the fans gloating and trying to call it a flop. They are the ones causing division in the fan base. Why are you reveling in the Raos continuing and attempting to ridicule those who have given up their own time and money to try and get our club back. This has really disappointed me this evening. Time to relax, recharge and go with the next phase. Just to say I have listened to the many suggestions on here and these may be part of the next action. We are going to need as much help as we can get.

Absolutely spot on.

The 'fans' wanting to call it a flop are better off not supporting Rovers in my eyes, and don't even have the clubs interest at heart.

[RoversClitheroe]

1 hour ago, blue_and_white said:

Wages £25m, Operating costs £10m, Income £20m.

That's our average season, £15m per year for Venkys to make up. So who in their right minds would buy a business to lose a quarter of a BILLION every 20 years. Nobody. And I've heard fans say:
1. "New owners can grow the club to raise income" - No they can't. Blackburn will be the first majority-Muslim town, its one of the lowest wage areas in the country, its surrounded by a dozen other clubs and its got 3 super clubs nearby. It's practically the worst club in English football to grow.
2. "The owners can get us back in the PL" - There are 13 billionaire-owned clubs in the Championship, so why don't all the others suddenly spend £150m to do that? One FFP, two it's an insane gamble. If you don't go up, you're in Administration.

Fans don't like the idea of us going nowhere fast for the next decade, well its time to get real. Rovers 1990-2010 was not our natural position in the football pyramid, its not what we deserved, its what we were gifted. Fanbase entitlement whining about "hoofball" helped convince Venkys to sack Allardyce, which destroyed our PL status forever. And fan entitlement is at it again, trying to force out owners that have spent into the hundreds of millions by now because they don't, what, turn up to matches enough and wave their poms poms? In exchange for at best some chancer with 1% of Venkys wealth, who can't cover our massive annual losses, and downsizes us to League 1 for good.

You've literally copied and pasted this from something.

Seems suspicious.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

What I don’t get is the people coming on here criticising those fans who boycotted today, and with the next breath defending the owners who’ve had their own boycott going on for the last decade or so.

[Tomphil2]

1 hour ago, blue_and_white said:

Wages £25m, Operating costs £10m, Income £20m.

That's our average season, £15m per year for Venkys to make up. So who in their right minds would buy a business to lose a quarter of a BILLION every 20 years. Nobody. And I've heard fans say:
1. "New owners can grow the club to raise income" - No they can't. Blackburn will be the first majority-Muslim town, its one of the lowest wage areas in the country, its surrounded by a dozen other clubs and its got 3 super clubs nearby. It's practically the worst club in English football to grow.
2. "The owners can get us back in the PL" - There are 13 billionaire-owned clubs in the Championship, so why don't all the others suddenly spend £150m to do that? One FFP, two it's an insane gamble. If you don't go up, you're in Administration.

Fans don't like the idea of us going nowhere fast for the next decade, well its time to get real. Rovers 1990-2010 was not our natural position in the football pyramid, its not what we deserved, its what we were gifted. Fanbase entitlement whining about "hoofball" helped convince Venkys to sack Allardyce, which destroyed our PL status forever. And fan entitlement is at it again, trying to force out owners that have spent into the hundreds of millions by now because they don't, what, turn up to matches enough and wave their poms poms? In exchange for at best some chancer with 1% of Venkys wealth, who can't cover our massive annual losses, and downsizes us to League 1 for good.

Usual planted bull shit that we've heard a dozen times before in the last decade although nice to see you 'got real' and altered 20 mill a season to 15 mill a season.

If a club gets promoted from this league it wipes those losses out and resets itself financially if done properly but to do that it needs running correctly and funding not massively but sustainable investment year on year on the operation. If it doesn't get those two basic principles it goes backwards bit by bit all across the operation and the loses become more and more until it drops into oblivion regardless of '15 mill a season'.

That's where we are at and it's the opposite of entitlement to point it out, it's called realism.

On the 1990 to 2010 point Blackburn Rovers is about the 12th most regular top flight team in English history which makes your assertion bollocks.

[RoversClitheroe]

We are literally in the top 12 for all time football league 😂😂

[Tricky]

1 hour ago, Hasta said:

I’d take a league one club if the people running it treated the fans, the employees and the club with respect. But the current club treats the fans with no respect, they treat the fans forum and the trust with no respect. The treatment of the women’s team was a national outrage, not so much becausd they didn’t want to spend the money but the lack of information and support the players were given.
How many long standing employees have left under the recent ‘management’? There too many rumours around for some of it not to stick. We used to have our heritage on the walls of the ground, both inside and outside. It was removed and discarded as trash. 
Brockhall land sale, payday loans, transfer deadline mess ups, 150th anniversary mess ups. You cant look at the club as it’s been in the last few years and be proud of it. It’s embarrassing. That’s the bigger picture. Not sucking up to the Venky coin in desperation to keep floundering in the championship under arrogant fools.

Sounds like depression and anger 

1 hour ago, 47er said:

Apart from anything else, the pride they get from knowing they did the right thing.

So basically the same as those that oppose it 

15 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

What I don’t get is the people coming on here criticising those fans who boycotted today, and with the next breath defending the owners who’ve had their own boycott going on for the last decade or so.

No ones defended the owners?

3 hours ago, superniko said:

Bloody hell. Already 12k+ boycotting over the last 15 years.

Sickening seeing comments like this given the clubs situation 

Sickening... really?

3 hours ago, superniko said:

Do you gain anything from going these days, bar depression and anger?

I'm comfortable with putting up with it. Depends how you feel and what you manifest?

[Mercer]

4 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

I would like to thank everyone who chose not to go today as your symbol, that this is bigger than 22 men chasing a piece of leather on the pitch. Id like to personally thank everyone who has supported the coalition and even further given me so much support over the years to try and keep up the good fight against all the adversity that comes with putting your head above the parapet. At 10am yesterday i got the news we all dread, as one of my parents sadly suffered a heart attack and were blue lighted to Blackpool straight into surgery and not in a great way.  In a strange way, it galvanised my spirit of why we do what we do. Without my parents. Id not be here. Id not be a rovers fan and certainly not be so invested in trying to protect it.

Emotions are running high, always are after a game, and the dust settling will evolve in the coming days.

Whats next is the burning question?

For me, its take stock, evaluate, listen, and then the picture will become clear

Glen, sorry to hear the bad news about one of your parents.  Hope the surgery has been successful and recovery is good.  Horrible situation for all the family.

Puts football firmly into perspective.  Life is a precious privilege but sadly so fragile.

Take care.

   

Edited 10 hours ago by Mercer

[...]

44 minutes ago, Tricky said:

Sounds like depression and anger 

So basically the same as those that oppose it 

No ones defended the owners?

Sickening... really?

I'm comfortable with putting up with it. Depends how you feel and what you manifest?

Are you happy with the current owners?

If not, how do you propose the fan base unite and protest together? 

[47er]

59 minutes ago, Tricky said:

2 hours ago, 47er said:

Apart from anything else, the pride they get from knowing they did the right thing.

So basically the same as those that oppose it 

The pride from turning up as usual at Ewood equates to the pride from participating in an almost unheard of boycott of the club? Especially when many boycotters were season ticket holders and had already paid for their ticket?

I really don't think so!

Any way, my gripe with you is not about whether the boycott succeeded or not, its that you positively wanted it to fail.

[Roverreturns]

Embarrassing today, the principle was great but the execution was amateur. Most of the boycott was people who pussied out years ago and today had no impact.

Hurts a few egos but the ones who are gonna save this club and are in the loop aren't the ones who are trying to be celebrities. 

[TheRoversGRL]

26 minutes ago, Roverreturns said:

Embarrassing today, the principle was great but the execution was amateur. Most of the boycott was people who pussied out years ago and today had no impact.

Hurts a few egos but the ones who are gonna save this club and are in the loop aren't the ones who are trying to be celebrities. 

I could not reply to this comment. 

For your information, I have been to several games this season and I am a boycotter

[Roverreturns]

4 minutes ago, TheRoversGRL said:

I could not reply to this comment. 

For your information, I have been to several games this season and I am a boycotter

Several games. Fuck me. And you did reply...

[TheRoversGRL]

24 minutes ago, Roverreturns said:

Several games. Fuck me. And you did reply...

Yes, also season ticket holder until last year.

PS. No one wants a celebrity status.

[TheRoversGRL]

One last thing that I’m going to say on this subject is that all I want as a supporter is to have a well run club and owners that care. I appreciate that other supporters will have a different view. 

[Roverreturns]

2 minutes ago, TheRoversGRL said:

One last thing that I’m going to say on this subject is that all I want as a supporter is to have a well run club and owners that care. I appreciate that other supporters will have a different view. 

We all want that.

[MarkBRFC]

Looks like those who boycotted are saying it was noticeable and a success, and those who didn't boycott are saying it was barely noticeable and looked like a normal crowd.

Truth is it was probably somewhere in the middle, not a roaring success but not a total failure either.

The constant sniping from both sets of fans on the divide though is becoming very tiring.

[Lancaster Rover]

Like everything in society it seems people have to pick polar opposites, or be categorised in such a manner. so now there seems to be a position where division is turning attention away from the owners (and representatives) and energies being focussed on falling out with each other.

[dingles staying down 4ever]

2 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Looks like those who boycotted are saying it was noticeable and a success, and those who didn't boycott are saying it was barely noticeable and looked like a normal crowd.

Truth is it was probably somewhere in the middle, not a roaring success but not a total failure either.

The constant sniping from both sets of fans on the divide though is becoming very tiring.

I ended up going. I know many on here will call me names but I had to go for family reasons. 

Anyway here is the truth. It was noticeable before the game behind the BBE that there were many absentees. The BBE looked like it had gaps where previous games there werent. Riverside looked like there werent many boycotting. JW also looked less full.

The fact that is because the ground looks empty at the best of times in modern times only those who go every game could tell there was a protest.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

4 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Like everything in society it seems people have to pick polar opposites, or be categorised in such a manner. so now there seems to be a position where division is turning attention away from the owners (and representatives) and energies being focussed on falling out with each other.

Falls right into Venkys hands doesn't it..divide and conquer.

[Herbie6590]

10 hours ago, blue_and_white said:

Wages £25m, Operating costs £10m, Income £20m.

That's our average season, £15m per year for Venkys to make up. So who in their right minds would buy a business to lose a quarter of a BILLION every 20 years. Nobody. And I've heard fans say:
1. "New owners can grow the club to raise income" - No they can't. Blackburn will be the first majority-Muslim town, its one of the lowest wage areas in the country, its surrounded by a dozen other clubs and its got 3 super clubs nearby. It's practically the worst club in English football to grow.
2. "The owners can get us back in the PL" - There are 13 billionaire-owned clubs in the Championship, so why don't all the others suddenly spend £150m to do that? One FFP, two it's an insane gamble. If you don't go up, you're in Administration.

Fans don't like the idea of us going nowhere fast for the next decade, well its time to get real. Rovers 1990-2010 was not our natural position in the football pyramid, its not what we deserved, its what we were gifted. Fanbase entitlement whining about "hoofball" helped convince Venkys to sack Allardyce, which destroyed our PL status forever. And fan entitlement is at it again, trying to force out owners that have spent into the hundreds of millions by now because they don't, what, turn up to matches enough and wave their poms poms? In exchange for at best some chancer with 1% of Venkys wealth, who can't cover our massive annual losses, and downsizes us to League 1 for good.

1. Who buys football clubs? Ask fans of Wrexham, Birmingham, Reading, Bolton, Wigan etc

2. You dont go into Admin because you breach FFP - you go into Admin when you stop funding it through choice or via the bank if you’ve mortgaged the club to the hilt

3. Venky’s sacked Allardyce because he wouldn’t kowtow to certain “advisors”

4. If Suhail carries on cutting costs, what we will have is the equivalent of “some chancer with 1% of Venky’s wealth who downsizes us to League One (or lower)

 

[philipl]

From a Rovers TV perspective, the ground was visibly emptier than at any other point this season and the Rovers TV commentators were talking about the boycott.

There was a younger person sat next to Gestede in the Pasha row in the directors' row. Anyone know who it was?

[Gav]

As the dust settles on several weeks of 'soul searching' for many, I think its really important to point out that the boycott was a major success, you have to look beyond the thousands that didn't attend and understand the end game here.

The fans frustration and plight of the club is once again being discussed across all the major news outlets in this country, that alone is a massive success, its advertising money just can't buy.

Moving forward we need a concerted/consitent effort for more of the same, linking boycotts & "Not a penny more" to key events in the clubs recent history:

“On this day on 1992, Blackburn rovers broke the British transfer feee xxxxxxxxxxxx Today Blackburn Rovers only have xxxxxx” Or something sililar, you get the picture.

The fans in the background are doing a great job on the marketing and awareness side and a shout out to the fans who boycotted and attended yesterday, well done to you all, it’s a tough decision not to attend, whichever side you came done on.

VENKYS OUT – NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

[Dreams of 1995]

58 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Looks like those who boycotted are saying it was noticeable and a success, and those who didn't boycott are saying it was barely noticeable and looked like a normal crowd.

Truth is it was probably somewhere in the middle, not a roaring success but not a total failure either.

The constant sniping from both sets of fans on the divide though is becoming very tiring.

I would say that the truth about the ‘sniping’ is probably in the middle too

By and large, it is a handful of accounts posting about “boycotters” or “happy clappers” all the time. It’s not a majority of people at all. I would wager it is around half a dozen either side - a very loud but very small minority who are just entrenched in their arguments

Best to ignore them

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

35 minutes ago, philipl said:

There was a younger person sat next to Gestede in the Pasha row in the directors' row. Anyone know who it was?

Probably our next CEO doing his on the job training.

[Lancaster Rover]

46 minutes ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Falls right into Venkys hands doesn't it..divide and conquer.

Absolutely, which is why my opinion is that to turn the tide of opinion you have to systematically pull apart and detail the ‘facts’ of finance, decision making. 
 

Humans believe what keeps them safe, happy and meets their world view. Unless you can provide undeniable evidence to change their mind. Whilst people are able to say ‘but Venky’s out in 20 million a season’ their minds won’t be changed. There needs to be an almost forensic breaking down of how they do or don’t find the club. 
 

Many match going fans aren’t plugged into sites like this and still get their info from the LET and official website. So to expect them to have a forensic understanding of the Agnews, Hunts, Pasha’s and Gestede’s of the world is misguided. Their eyes need to be opened and treated with respect not branded happy clappers and idiots.