Just now, CP Company Lad said:

Ah well mate. Your were sat on your hands kinda says it all. 

No offence but cone on mate FFS.

Why ? It says I didn't want me and my mate to get tw***ed as we were surrounded by a bunch of morons and nowhere to go, what does it say to you?

I'm getting bored now, come on what, mate, FFS? I'm beginning to wonder if you were one of the cowards, mate. Were you?

Enough's enough: I hope you have a good day out and a shit afternoon.

COYB!! (mate!)

3 hours ago, CP Company Lad said:

You honesty believe Darren ? I'm 50 and seen Leeds all over Europe and been filled in. Attacking Blackburn women and kids in the late 80s ?

He should do because it's correct, mate. To go further, there were actually Leeds 'women' stood at the back pointing out where the Rovers fans were sat. I sat on my hands mate when Sellars hit the post that would have given us the 3-2 win. Spout and deny all you want about who was what and whatever, it's irrelevant, they were hardly brave lads were they?

Just now, 1964w said:

Darren we are not all like that & I'm sorry you had to experience such horrible behaviour

I know you're not and that you can't generalise either. He did ask though.

Great atmosphere tomorrow, Rovers win and there be no bother whatsoever!

1 hour ago, CP Company Lad said:

Really ? Find that a bit strange really mate tbh. Not much history with us and you. Always been a fairly friendly fixture down the years. 

The 'love in' for me started in the Lowfield Stand in the late eighties when I witnessed Leeds brave lads laying into men, women and children indiscriminately, who were Rovers' fans dotted about that bit of a shed, during the second half as we clawed back a 2 goal deficit. Following the match our car was continuously bricked as the car was penned in by other cars on the car park. Two coppers then gripped 2 of the 'brave lads' as they ran away and shoved one of their heads through my windscreen as he was spreadeagled over my bonnet. I've seen nothing since to change my mind and consider that 'scum' is a more than appropriate attachment, mate.

46 minutes ago, JHRover said:

If Bielsa is a 'world class' manager then how come he's managing Leeds in the 2nd division and not Man City or Chelsea?

Bear in mind what they're comparing him with at Elland Road previously: bloody hell, Owen Coyle would be world class!

Found a 'good manager', a belting Sky induced financial legup, highest attendances in the division and you're all getting giddy about being mid table, coming to Ewood and giving Rovers a good hiding! 

Dear me, sorry but I can't abide Leeds. Sheffield United excepted, Rovers could and probably should have won every other game so far this season, on the balance of play, despite not playing particularly well on occasions.

If our key players are on their mettle, play with a high pressing tempo up the pitch, there'll be a lot of miserable knuckle draggers hightailing it back over the M62 mid afternoon.

Rovers to win no question.

2 hours ago, Threepenny Bit Foot said:

Oh dear me. Most expensive full back ever (at the time) and the other an under-rated magician snatched by Sir Howard for our majestic promo push. Come on, keep up!

 

Burke, Robinson and Hird, all also played for 'that lot' too interestingly!

6 hours ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

He certainly lost a lot of credibility with that silly stunt.

All the management speak in the world won't wipe away one jot of stupidity from the decision!

2 pre-season fixtures: Liverpool and Everton. "I know what's a good idea to make a few quid, let's not offer players and club staff any complementaries and charge them face value for any tickets they want instead. It won't demotivate anybody at all because they are all minted."

I'll just leave that there for everybody's contemplation, that's how 'in touch' our executives are! Despite them........

COYB!!

1 hour ago, 47er said:

When (if!) we get back to the Premiership, the size of the crowds will not matter from a financial point of view. Waggot's job then will be to manage all that TV money and up the sponsorship stakes.

 I think we'll see that the attendance figures sort themselves out in that scenario and we will get back to 20000+ a game. Many will be away supporters but so what?

We can switch to moaning about transport and parking then! Happy days!

I'm laughing out loud 47er, wouldn't that just be great?! I've a sneaking feeling that if we can just hang in there until January, there'll be a touch of positive investment here and there, where we all know where it's needed and we'll kick on in the final third of the season.

We all need to play our part but if I were a betting man, I'd stick a couple of quid on Rovers to go up this season and we can then whinge and whine about everything else ...........COYB!!

8 minutes ago, gumboots said:

Waggott can say as often as he wants why there is a surcharge on match day tickets purchased on the day but it doesn't make it right or good business sense. As an initial gesture without any significant cost to themselves, Rovers could drop it. If it brought a few more in to fill some of those empty seats wouldnt that be great? 

Absobloodylutely Gumboots, it's ridiculous.

I think this thread is going great, we're all so passionate about Rovers and so what if 'CatWeasel' wears a Rovers tie, Owen Coyle did too but he looked a right dick because it didn't match his shorts and socks!

In any business, the voice of the customer and their perception, is actually how it is, irrespective of how it's ultimately dressed up.

37 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Not only tap into the actual supporter and get their ideas but theres another 91 clubs all with different ideas and  incentives regarding match day tickets concessions etc. Easy to cherry pick the best ones and give um a try.

Bradford have a thing called WebFlexi ..pay £75 quid then pay half price for match day tickets ( £10 ).Not guaranteed your own seat but allows people who either cant afford a season ticket or people who cant get to all the games so a  Season ticket wouldnt be value for money to get discounted tickets.

Lots of ideas out there ..just need the club to actually try a few !

Absolutely spot on, not everything works for every club because we're all different. Cherry pick ideas as you say.

The synic in me can't help but think that  there'll be some bugger at Ewood, who's reading this thread, nick all our thoughts and ideas and clean up in some form of commission based scheme based on increased turnover and an agent working along side him.........(jesus, get a life darren!)

Beamo!!!

2 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Rovers have a core fan base of around 10k to 11,500 fans. 

We will attract fans to the odds games but I don't see these people turning up to every game like the core fan base will. The damage was done much early in Venkys reign. The average attendance in our last season in premier league was 22,551. That figure will include away fans aswell. 

where are these all these 15k fans who turned up for the Oxford game, how many of them have been back this season? I really wonder, maybe 2 or 3 k. 

Waggott has already said why there is a surcharge for ticket sales after 12pm. 

 

Chaddy, get a grip: We need more bums on seats,  please don't take your bat and ball home but join in the conversation.

The discussion is not about excusing all and sundry for everything but recognising the fact, that there are things that neither we as supporters, or the club have any control over. Let's discuss what the club and what we as supporters can influence positively.

Let's face facts: for one reason or another, 'the club' have p1ssed off thousands over the past 8 years or so, would it not be a smart move to try to address this first and foremost (I don't know how but we're sorry, we ballsed up might go a long way), then a line in the sand could potentially be drawn under that one!

You then move on: should the club have consulted with members of the family stand in the upper Blackburn End or in the Darwen End before shunting them elsewhere? Course they bloody should but what's done is done. There's been an absolute clutter f**k of cock ups over the past 8 years but you can't wind back the clock over anything, no matter how hard you try!

Accept the many cock ups, apologise for them, acknowledge that the club have learned from their mistakes and wish to endorse sensible fan's opinions on how to move on in the future and you'll put 5 to 8000 on the average gate IMO.

Just now, arbitro said:

I've said before on here Nick that Rovers should tap into the fan base for ideas and initiatives. I know of a few on here who have the intelligence, acumen and love of Rovers to bring new, fresh ideas. One of the best managers I ever worked for set up an initiative named Manufacturing Improvement Teams. For the time they ran they saved hundreds of thousands of pounds and generally made the company better and safer. There teams were made up of mainly process guys, the people actually on the coal face.

Absolutely correct.

You know you're preaching to the converted with me Tony, we generally sing from the same hymn sheet. Why doesn't some bugger actually have the humility to ask those that do know? ( I also have to say, without any other agenda!)

47 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I was simply stating a fact Howie, pretty much every club in the country gets substantially bigger gates then they did in the mid 80s, it was the nadir of football in this country, so it isn’t a fair comparison.

We obviously have a core support of 11,000 as they’ve kept going through a horrendous period.

Rovers could do far worse than outsource to and empower a small group of intelligent supporters, incentivise them in some way with the mantra of significantly increasing our core support. It could cost nowt but make thousands....................

13 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Everyone’s crowds were shite in the mid 80s, even clubs like United and Arsenal had half empty grounds, so a daft comparison.

And as for chaddy, if you think £30 is reasonable for one game of lower league football you must have a serious amount of disposable income.

You're right on every count Matty. The game was on it's arse back then: despite all the pomp about their support, even Newcastle Utd have had a period of home gates ranging between 6 to 8,000.

Regarding our own current plight regarding attendances, it's about time everyone got their heads out of their backsides at BRFC, considered the facts and did something about it, rather than scoring yet another own goal by blaming 'the fans' and veiled threats that we'll have to sell to balance the books.

You have to ask the questions of positive or negative impacts regarding attendances on the numerous issues raised on here in this thread alone. All have had a negative impact IMO, otherwise people would not have raised them in the first place. They are ALL absolutely relevant and the sooner the club take them all on board the better.

To sum it all up, a new poster was quoting as a potential free buses from the likes of Darwen as an example: good idea. I've gone to Ewood on a bus from a Darwen pub for 30 plus years, it's been great up until recently. In our pomp in the Premier League years, we used to leave the pub at 2.10pm for a 3pm kick off, picked up by a police bike at the boundary, down the outside of queuing traffic and parked up in the one way triangle opposite Macdonalds by 2.30pm. After the match, away by 5pm, police escort to M65 junction 4 again, before the away coaches left, back through Darwen and back in the pub by 5.15pm - it was brilliant and at the time there were 4 or 5 buses from various Darwen pubs on the same scutch for £3 per person and 50p for kids, everyone loved it. Now a days there's at most 2 and usually only one bus picking up at various pubs: there's never a police escort either way, the parking has got progressively worse year on year and this season, they park the bus on the one way system (Blackburn not Darwen side) for collection after the match, meaning that once everyone's on board, you then have to fight your way through traffic along with everyone else. 

Factor in Owen Coyle appointment after the club had endured Shaw and Shebby, 2 relegations, moving fans for fun without prior consultation, stupid match day surcharges, 12 noon kick offs for big games, no accounting for 18-25s where previously parents had paid for junior tickets, etc etc. Then factor in demography and Sky TV!  How many more things to p1ss people off?

The club could and should do much more to rectify matters, whilst recognising factors that they can't change. The cheep shot at supporters is incomprehensible, out of order and further compounds the issue IMO. Oh, to feel valued!!..........

On 10/10/2018 at 06:24, Bigdoggsteel said:

You're hard 

You were in The Lowfield Stand at Elland Road when Scott Sellars scored a brace to make it 2-2, were you? No, thought not, had you been and sat on your hands for over an hour, you may appreciate my 'love' for Leeds.

Who gives a f**k, we all hate Leeds Scum and WE ARE The Rovers!! 

Get in their face!!

7 hours ago, Mercer said:

Some of us will have seen and remember Shearer's Rovers' debut at Palace in 1992.  A 21 year old signed for a British record transfer fee of £3million+ in 1992.  Like a duck to water, there was never, ever, any doubt about the lad's ability - two superb debut goals and the rest is history.

For big money, particularly now in Rovers' circumstances, you expect big things immediately.

I just can't see what the lad offers or indeed any potential.

Young players who excite like Sessegnon, Alex-Arnold, Woodburn, Ampadu and Rice stand out a country mile and have already shown quality and maturity at the highest levels.  I am not saying Brereton is in the same league but I don't think he offers even  a tenth of what these lads do.  Sadly, I think we've signed a dud.

Thank f**k you said that, the lad's clearly going to be one hell of a centre forward!

COYB!!

10 hours ago, broadsword said:

Davies was 7.25 mill as I remember

That's a great point IMO: For us Kevin Davies was appalling and couldn't trap a bag of cement but he made a bloody good player elsewhere.

I have my views on Brereton and certainly question the size of the fee. However, he's a 19 year old kid who looks a unit. The fee will be weighing on him that's for sure but not half as much as the ridiculous amount of criticism being thrown at him by so called supporters.

Forget the fee, we as supporters haven't paid it and certainly have no right whatsoever to question the spending when we're struggling to get 10,000 through the door for a home match.

Get behind the lad in a positive sense, whether it takes half an hour to tie his shoe laces or not. He's a19 year old kid FFS, half of football is about confidence and what is between the ears, negative vibes so early could ruin him, think about it!

2 hours ago, MCMC1875 said:

There's a huge number of people going away who don't go Ewood. This goes back to Mowbray's first game at Burton on that Friday night. Don't think the club can do anything about this.

Exactly one of my points in question.

Why can the club not do anything about it? Why not ask the question, what would entice them back to Ewood for starters. 

There are so many things to consider regarding our potential support and the club needs to get their heads out of their arses, consider them and do something about it: let's not kid ourselves, there still remains a good number that still won't set foot back in Ewood until they are happy with a formal explanation that Venkys have not raped and pillaged our club but that it was down to other 'dark forces' and that the 'stain' has now gone. I spoke personally to 2 groups of acquaintances  this week that are in this category, their attitude surprised me in honesty but I respect it nonetheless. They regularly take in away games by the way. The other issue is regarding the match day pricing and surcharge attached to paying on the day, it's ridiculous. We need all the fans we can muster given our demography, never mind penalising those that take a decision to attend, last minute, on the morning of the game.

Starting eleven for the game:

I'd personally like to see something on the lines of this (admittedly injuries may enforce some changes):

                                     Raya

Nyambe      Lenihan        Mulgrew            Bell

                                  Rodwell

                Bennett   Rothwell  Reed

                                   Dack

                                 Graham

I'm really excited at our prospects and so chuffed that we've got some pride back.

COYB!!

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Cat A with Sky red button will attract similar home numbers to the Villa game you’d think. So a crowd of under 20,000.

I'm glass half full Matty, you're half empty! buck up!

Sadly you're likely to be proved correct, sad as it may be.

Just now, JHRover said:

At 12 noon I think we'll do well to get more than 20,000 on including the 7,600 from Leeds.

I wouldn't disagree JHR but with a bit of forward planning and thought's 'outside of the box', a great day could be made of it. Meet for brunch at 9.30ish, couple or 3 pints, game and then organise some sort of function for the late afternoon afterwards. I live in hope I know but..................................

Almost 2 weeks away from what should be a brilliant occasion, if our fans come out in numbers to compete with a 7,700 strong, vociferous Darwen End full of 'Leeds Scum'.

Few would have thought that at the start of the season this could have been such a pivotal game in the context of the season overall.

I sincerely hope that TM throws caution to the wind to a degree and that we attack Leeds in the manner that we all know we are capable. Show too much respect and a central midfield pairing of Smallwood and Evans and I fear we'll get turned over.

I hope there's 25,000 plus on the day, here's hoping!

COYB!  WE ARE The Rovers!!..............

9 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Not to mention the Gladwin signing. Remember him ? Looks like he came with an injury and he's been missing for almost a year now !

I fully agree with what both Tyrone and JHRover have said. I can also throw into the mix a potential signing for free late in the close season,  who was the answer to all of our natural width and pace issues in attack and more besides. He was shown the door after a 2 week trial, where he picked up a niggling injury after 3 days and was never truly given an opportunity to demonstrate his abundance of skills. The decision in my opinion was definitely of a political nature, when it was made clear that there was no agent involved whatsoever. Before anyone asks, I am not prepared to elaborate further other than to state it is a fact in every respect. 

In addition to those previously mentioned, you can add Caddis and Whittingham too.