13 minutes ago, Penwortham Blue said:

Hello, is that you Swag 😊

Ok. Just trying to put a bit of balance to the boring rhetoric of why don't we spend the Wharton money, why don't we cut all our.ticket pricing, why do we encourage large away attendances, why is our commercial department so pathetic, etc etc.

6 minutes ago, tomphil said:

How many clubs have a stadium as empty as hours, regularly complain about lack of fans and atmosphere yet do nothing about it other than pray for big away followings.

That is what is lame and seeing as you've already mentioned a certain set of prices as an even lamer excuse perhaps you could enlighten us with a few suggestions instead.

Other than carry on fleecing the ever dwindling hardcore of course.

I read all the pathetic nonsense about big away followings. I didm't pull you up on it. Affecting Pears performance blah blah blah. Clean sheets at Leeds and Leicester, but some Sheff Wednesday fans made him terrified?

If it was me, I'd sell as many tickets as possible, as often as posible in the away end.  We are skint. What business turns away paying customers? Where's the sense in that?

I pointed out the figures to illustrate there is no financial benefit to price reducing tickets to attract day trippers. In fact it irritates season ticket holders who've paid upfront. Plus its hard establishimg value and getting prices back up once prices have been reduced.

I knew you'd have nothing to contribute, hence asking you. I'm not suprised as it is a very delicate situation as so much damage has been done. 

A longer term plan for fan engagement, taking the club into the community. But that relies on staff going up and beyond, player / mascot involvement and our club isn't like that anymore. Maybe contact all ex season ticket holders or one off attendees. Create a better match day experience if possible.

Like I said when preaching. Success on the pitch is the best way.

27 minutes ago, tomphil said:

I'm sure you pretty much preach this teacher to pupil type sermon every summer and i'm sure most of our fans are well aware of all the details.

The ST thing above is such a weak argument i'm surprised you included it to be honest, getting fans back into the ground regularly is a priority. In order to do that a small hit in takings will have to be swallowed like Preston have done, like Bolton have done.  Their cheapest STs are over a hundred quid less than ours.

A fortune to open stands ?  Again what bullcrap the bloody things are already open all it would need to comply is a few more stewards.  The extra spend in the ground/shop etc will easily cover that.

The figures you posted are a nonsense, how is 12,500 grand per game going to bankrupt the club ?

It is easily covered by the extra tv money or a good cup run or loose change from the near 40 million quids worth of players we'll have sold in a year by the time Sammie departs.

Get fans in, take the hit, rebuild the ST base number ONE priority.

Sermon? Teacher to pupil? Sorry if it reads like that. I just get bored people getting carried away when we sell a player.

I like JHRovers posts. But he started by asking what major financial trouble is the club in?  Well it couldn't be any worse.

If it was as straight forward as price reducing tickets as you always lamely suggest, every club would do it. Ask yourself why they don't.

Let's hear your suggestions on how to get more fans in. I'm all ears as I'm sure are all the commercial staff at Rovers.

3 hours ago, JHRover said:

What 'major financial trouble' is the club in?

Over the last 3-4 years it has barely spent anything be that on transfers, facilities etc.

Our wage bill has been drastically cut.

We make substantial annual losses but we are no different to any other non-parachute laden Championship side in that respect.

If you are referring to the 'issues' preventing the owners from sending money over that's a different matter altogether. That is their issue and their problem to sort. It isn't the club's fault or a result of the club's financial structure.

With or without Szmodics being sold we should be in a very strong financial position going into the summer. As you rightly state we have already brought in over £25 million from sales since last summer and are likely to go past the £30 million mark with Raya joining Arsenal. None of that has been reinvested yet.

Most other professional clubs would be ready to push 'go' on multiple quality signings using a large chunk of that cash to ensure we hit the ground running this summer and next season.

We all know this won't happen and it sums up the miserable existence of BRFC in 2024 that rather than relish a rebuild and reinvestment and a brighter future pretty much all the transfer talk is about weakening ourselves further by offloading the one positive from this season. Unfortunately many will be suckered in by false promises of reinvestment which won't materialise and then they'll come with more ridiculous excuses about admin issues as to why not.

We lose anything from sixteen to twenty million per year. Just let that sink in. 1.5 to 1.75 million per month. 400k a week. 55k per day.

Our debt rose 11 million from 152 million to 163 million. 144 million of which is owed to the owners. We have a wage to turnover ratio of circa 123%.

Far be it for me to stick up for the people who got us into this mess. Wasting all the brilliant work, investment and income from PL money, Uncle Jack, John Williams, quality managers, countless players and thousands of fans.

The financial negligence and overall stupidity of these owners has been astounding.  We used to lose 2-3 million per year in the PL, turning over circa 50 million. An amount easily covered with the occasional player sale.

But now we lose circa 20 million per year. 

However, I keep reading how a poxy 20 million here, a percentage sell on clause there, a potential player sale to come, suddenly means we have cash to burn. We don't. We are skint.

We will lose another 20 million this season. Bang goes the Wharton money. We will lose 20 million next season. Bang goes the Szmodics money.

This doesn't touch or make in-roads into the debt. That is simply running costs. The owners aren't suddenly cash rich from Rovers. There is zero money available. Zilch. Nothing. Empty purse.

Meanwhile I keep reading how a more astute commercial team would generate huge money at the Rovers! How? More programme sales? More perimeter board advertising? More weekly lottery sales? Concourse advertising? Shirt sponsors? Merchandise sales?

No chance, unless the team is doing well. Take it from me, absolutely no chance at all, when you are getting battered away at Huddersfield, Wednesday and Bristol. The commercial team actually do really well to retain what they get. I'm amazed we haven't lost more sponsors. Plus we have some very loyal supporters / companies willing to maintain relationships.

You will only sell more programmes, shirts, burgers, lottery tickets, concourse advertising and sponsorships if the team is doing well on the pitch, there is a feel good factor around the club and more people attend the matches. Guaranteed. Selling anything to do with the team when the team is getting battered is like trying to sell double glazing.

As to half price tickets, ticket giveaways etc. It costs a fortune to open additional stands, on stewards, police, ground-safety, turnstile operators etc. 

12,500 fans at £ 25.00 = £ 312,500.00

20,000 fans at £ 15.00 = £ 300,000.00 - plus a ton more fixed costs. It's a no brainer to simply cater for the die hards.

The only reason we have stayed afloat is money from player sales in Armstoing, Kaminski, Bereton, Wharton and others. That is why we sold Adam and our captain in January. Because we are flat broke.

We have actually done quite well in player trading despite the constant criticism on here. The Raos deserve credit for that and also for not letting us fold. But so they should as the first five years of their reign caused all.of this.

There is no way to fix this unless you want a big cash injection from.the owners and a winner takes all gamble. Or we get lucky with a manager like Ipswich have, on an average salary at 9k per week.

Commercially we are broke and the business does not function. Jusr like 80% of all other clubs. God knows why these clowns keep funding the debt. 

2 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Sammie reminds me of Craig Bellamy.

He reminds me of David Speedie.

It was obvious somethimg had to change and JDT had to go. Everyone was scoring three or four against us.

With a new manager, i didn't suddenly think we would charge for the play offs and start winning every week. 

It was sensible to try and solidify defensively. Most would have done the same.

We all know we are limited down the spine of the team. Our keeper, centre halves, centre midfielders and centre forward are as crap as ive ever known. Gennoe, Faz, Barker and Garner would walk into this team. Or Moran, Cowans and Speedie. I don't rate most of our team at all. They can all sod off for me.

So what chance did Eustace really have to shine and do well? Probably a somewhat limited one.

However and having said all that, I really don't like the bloke at all. I  tried and gave him a chance. But fawning and smug we have seen it all before. He should be putting cones out. He has not done anything any average manager from any division could, or would have done. 

In the abscence of more talent, most of us on here would have identified the best 14, dumped Gallagher up top scoring or not, employed three big centre halves, got men behind the ball and relied on Sammie to nick the odd goal. Then hoped for the best. And that's what he has done. Nothing more, nothing less.

These owners have lumbered us with some of the worst players and managers in my lifetime. Eustace is yet another one. I'm one of the few who give Eustace the Stoke game. I'll also give him the relegation if we go down. 

Not one of us would miss him if he was sacked. Go and get Hughes, Moyes or Allardyce. Someone in charge with some proven history, track record, strength and spirit. Go and find Curbishley see where he's up to. Go and get that big bully Pearson. Get a bloke in charge to deal with all our snowflakes. Grit, belief and determination will be needed if we go down, but can also get you a long way in this division. Look at Ipswich this year and Sheff United last year.

Just stop employing these bumbling, illiterate, pathetic under-performing idiots. I know, I know, I'm talking to myself.

2 hours ago, rovers11 said:

I think Preston will get at least a point tonight meaning Leicester will need something on the final day to win the title. Even if they don't, we're not getting anything there so I don't think it matters. We're totally reliant on one of the teams below us not winning. It's therefore not in our hands on the final day in reality.

I'll personally be keeping a very close eye on the Plymouth game as I think that's the key one. 

North End are 2nd bottom of the last six form guide with only Rotherham below them. I love how they collapse each season. Their fans are genuinely long suffering.

It is very difficult getting points in professional football. As we and other teams low down keep demonstrating. I have believed all along that we will stay up, but only because the other teams simply cannot accrue enough points to save themselves.

It's been a thoroughly depressing season. I foolishly had high hopes for us this year. 

Leicester already promoted. Coventry's hopes hanging by a thread.

Regardless, I expect them both to be professional and try to win.

Our options are very limited. Eustace knows his best 14. Unfortunately, we struggle to score goals and some of our players are prone to disastrous errors. 

Rovers 1 - Coventry 2.

23 hours ago, JHRover said:

With you 100% there. Its the feeling of hopelessness, and betrayal.

Over the last 12 months or so I've felt not frustration, hope, optimism for the club, but feelings ranging from dislike to outright hatred. I'm ashamed to even be associated with it.

It's tough. I certainly have had to do a lot of soul-searching and will again this summer, it certainly isn't normal peaks and troughs of supporting a football club, it certainly isn't enjoyable or healthy. But I'm not one who can just switch off my emotional investment in the club and walk away (yet). So I'm in this limbo zone which I suspect many others are where I keep going, keep coming on here, keep thinking about it, but just feel numbness and disgust and weary resignation.

Its almost like a state of civil war. There's an enemy within that needs defeating and destroying before we can even begin to think about anything else, and peaceful coexistence with that enemy is no longer an option in my book.

Sums up my feelings from when Big Sam was sacked and Kean was recruited. It was obvious what was about to unfold.

I've been in footballing limbo ever since those events and that was the last time my family and i had a season ticket. 

Well, well, well. A bit nerve racking at the end, but brilliant result for the club.

4-0. This has been truly pathetic.

4 subs. Thats a first in 48 years supporting.

Congratulations to Eustace, I am sure he will be feeling a touch happier now.

Brilliant result. Well done to all involved.

Chuffed for the travelling fans. Chuffed for the manager.

Very good value for the point. Pity we didn't offer more going forward. Clean sheet. Clearly the players are playing for the manager.

42 minutes ago, lraC said:

I am basing what I think on what I saw on Tuesday and yesterday.

We were all over the place at the back yesterday. It wasn’t as though some slick passing or great through balls were opening us up, a simple punt over the top and their striker was through.

That happened at least 3 times and let’s face it, we were very lucky not to get hammered. 

Fair enough. Let's hope I'm right and you are wrong. If any of us were any good at predicting results we would have all won the pools years ago.

2 hours ago, lraC said:

We will definitely get beat and assuming Boro can finish better than Plymouth can, it will be resounding.

Given the return of 4 points from 6 games and no wins so far, this will rank as one of the worst starts ever for a Rovers boss.

There will still be no action taken and the odd poster still believing we will stay up.

PS Huddersfield just went one up. 

I believe we will stay up. I know i'm in the minority. I'm not sure why there is absolute certainty we are already relegated. Might as well give up now reading a lot of the posts on here.

You don't get draws at this level if you are unorganised, are not trying, have no belief, zero structure and useless players. It's only a week ago we were all proud of the team against Newcastle. 

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Lets be honest that winning in India is a toughest task in World test cricket. 

I do think it is time we move on from Bairstow in the test team and he just plays white ball cricket. Probably Foakes aswell. 

I would bring Brook in at 5 and look for a new test keeper. 

On the bowling front, Jimmy Anderson is simply world class player. Bashir and Hartley will improving and hopefully continue their development now

Yes its a tough series. Hence why you need to be committed and focused. Prepared and ready for the challenge ahead. What a crap gameplan we employed.

Crawley gets a pass. Technically he's not good enough to open, has not reached three figures in any innings, but has consistently made runs and is worth his place in the team.

Root is obviously good enough, bit I challenge anyone to justify why any other batsmen should remain in the side. 

Two new openers. Promote Root to bat at 3. Crawley at 4. Brook 5. Stokes at 6 or 7 as long as he is bowling as well. Batsman wicketkeeper at 6 or 7. Bowling all rounder at 8, like a Moeen Ali.

8 batsmen and 6 bowlers. Sacrifice a dedicated keeper.

This series has been a total car crash. Should have been 5-0. We've lost this test by an innings in three days. Absolutely effing pathetic.

Duckett and Pope are simply nowhere near good enough. One fortuitous innings each out of 10. Front line batsmen? Front line effing garbage. Crawley has huffed and puffed, puffed and huffed, the obligatory beautiful cover drive, but has the concentration of a teenager, or 6 week old labrador and clearly should be batting at four or five. No one will convince me hes not thick as pig shit. Root played like he was on crack, meths, skunk and diazepan for three tests. Effing hysterical if your one of 2 billion joyous Indians. Unfortunately I'm not. Some of those ridiculous shots he played were unforgivable. Then suprise, suprise he started scoring heavily again when he played his natural game. Shock, horror. Wheres his scoop gone the last two weeks? Tit. Stokes as a test batsmen simply isn't good enough, shuffling indecisively about his crease. Hes averagine less than 20 this series! My effing next door neighbour could do that and she's at least 75. At least! Probably nearer 85 although I've never enquired. That why I cut her lawn. Bairstow with his childish across the line run a ball stupid scores of 30. Neither use or effing ornament. Gormless Yorkshire twit. Argghhhhh!!! Foakes with his dominant right hand chipping to short mid-wicket every other dismissal like a total effing numpty. What the fack. Its like groundhog day watching him get 20+. And the longest ever tail since Caddick, Mullaly, Tufnell and Giddens. But without the laughs at Caddicks long barrier and Tufnells stoned lack of bravery. I'd rather watch Willis and Malcolm. Useless. Totally effing useless. The lot of them. So, so disappointing.

Occupy the crease. Take the shine off the ball. Tire out the bowlers. Let the moisture dry out of the wicket. Play on the ground. Protect your castle. Play straight. Rotate the strike. I'm talking to myself.

Scoop. Reverse sweep. Play across the line. Play in the air. Get out. Lose the match. Yippee!!!

Boycott once scored over 200+, batted for three days and was dropped for slow scoring. Thou shall not pass. Oh for some of his effing guts amongst these pathetic snowflakes.

Still don't think we will go down. Not saying we are any good and the trend of the last 18 games isn't positive, but equally there are some very poor teams around us and all are struggling for points.

It isn't a must win game either. There's loads of time to get more points if need be. There's very little difference between the bottom 16 clubs, irrespective of current league positions. 

Yes I liked JDT. Yes it made sense to me to recruit in his style when he left. No I wouldn't have rushed to get Eustace. But at least we have woken up, stopped conceding so many and are now much harder to beat. Plus we have SS for a few more games at least and he's a spunky little fighter.

Rovers 2-1.

470+ for 8. India's top 5 all make over 50. Painful.

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

 

McCullum and Stokes need to rethink strategy - the gung-ho Bazball approach has been exposed.

 

It's not been gung ho though Jim. Its often been poorly thought out, ill disciplined, pre-meditated and strangely crafted / manufactured. Gung ho suggests a level of freedom, aggression, belief. certainty and focus. It's been weird, like we have never played in India before. 

5 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Another horrendous surrender.

"England Collapse" should be the England cricket team's official title 

For me, only perhaps Crawley and the young spinners come out of this series with any credit.

Looks like 4-1. Should have been 5-0. I think we approached this series very naively and a few might pay the price.