That’s as poor a half as I’ve seen this season. Very insipid totally lacking in energy. 

21 minutes ago, NeilInBristol said:

just about to say Garrett is having a good game so far but then..ouch! def a yellow!

I’m watching on TV and seen 3 replays. Never a yellow. Commentary team said we are giving up tackling if that’s a foul. 

11 minutes ago, sympatheticclaret said:

Yes, very well .... lovely man, he was my first Coach at u16's at Blackburn, together with John Whitney, who went on to work for Rovers for years, after retiring from the police. John passed away in July of last year ...

He was my teacher in the eighties was Ted. Rugby mad too and I know he played at Blackburn RUFC.

Very brave too, as I know he carried on working after his MND diagnosis.

1 hour ago, sympatheticclaret said:

I may have mentioned this before, in late 2017, I organised a re-union of Blackburn Rugby Club's u19's teams from 1980-83. I traced 51 lads who'd played for us in that time, through personal contacts, Facebook, Linkedin etc. ..... only 4 ( FOUR ) actually still lived in the Borough of Blackburn and Darwen !! They were spread far and wide, including Italy, Sweden and 2 in France, but by far the most common residence was the Ribble Valley ...

I also do some supply teaching, and have worked at 3 Blackburn & Darwen schools. Speaking to some of the lads there, there were some Rovers fans, but what was noticeable was the support for Liverpool among the Asian heritage students, really because of Mo Salah, who's a Muslim. Food for thought ...

 

I bet you know the late Ted Cooper mate.

1 hour ago, Mike Graham said:

There are only about 150 tickets left in the whole of the JW which equates to 10,650 sold in that stand when taking into account the netted off area which surely should be removed today.  I cannot recall it being that full for 15+ years.

Good luck today guys.

I can't be there myself, but will be watching on Rovers TV with my son, daughter in law and a couple of his mates are going.

I know you have put a lot of work into this, so hope is proves to be the success it is looking to be right now.

Would anyone be prepared to sign a vote of no confidence in Waggott.

Given the fans takeover on Saturday, perhaps something can be drawn up and made available somewhere on one of the stalls.

We the undersigned, as supporters and by default custodians of BRFC declare that we have no confidence in the current CEO and would therefore like the owners to remove him form his position.

Below are a number of his failings that we consider to be harmful to the club and furthermore have put the very future of the club in grave danger.

1. Over pricing of the season tickets for several years.

2. Over pricing of match day tickets and made them difficult to purchase.

3. Overseen a huge drop of in both season tickets and tickets for the casual supporter.

4. Been unable to provide merchandise in the club shop, including replica shirts for the supporters to purchase

5. Allowed the general maintenance of the ground and pitch to decline to unacceptable levels.

6. Seen the club get involved in a very public and embarrassing failed transfer, due to incompetence that could well have cost a premier league place and the riches that entails.

7. Allowed the contract of players to expire and therefore see potentially millions of pounds in transfer fees leave the club.

7 hours ago, Waggy76 said:

We are a bottom 6 team , the players are not good enough...

We are definitely a bottom 6 team, so full credit to the manager for him getting us much higher so far.

We will not finish in the bottom 6 either, despite him having a hand tied behind his back.

The blame for the state of things lies squarely elsewhere, so hopefully the negative comments made in here about JDT are born out of frustration, in particular after the drubbing we received.

If the manager moves on to a normal club, he will succeed there in my opinion and I think he is the real deal. 

25 minutes ago, booth said:

And they can't sell the club due to the amount of debt they created, and aren't willing to write off. So we're stuck with them as no one  else will take on the £150m plus debt. They've manufactured an impossible situation all round.

I don’t think they will have any other option than to write the debt off, whether they like it or not.

I sense the authorities in India are going to come down on them like a ton of bricks and force their hand.

It will either be sell it or administration and I don’t think it’s far off.

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

No shame in losing at Southampton. They have a better team and squad than us, for a number of reasons, and they have dealt with pretty much everyone who has gone there this season, apart from Leicester and Ipswich. 

What is really annoying me is the number of goals we are shipping. People will make out that Southampton are dismantling all they come up against but in reality their wins at home have usually been tight affairs decided by a goal or two.

2-1 v QPR, 3-1 v Leeds, 1-1 v Rotherham, 3-1 v Birmingham, 2-1 v WBA, 1-0 v Bristol, 2-0 v Cardiff

We break new ground by shipping 4.

I don't believe this is all down to Dominic Hyam being injured, and if it is I think that is arguably more worrying that we are so reliant on his presence to stop the flow of goals. 

38 goals conceded in 22 games. Only Rotherham and Norwich have let more in. 11 defeats in 22 games, only the bottom 3 have lost more. These are deeply alarming statistics for me, they suggest a big problem somewhere.

You are right. There is a big problem, in fact there are two very big problems, the owners and the CEO are strangling the club and knocking the stuffing out of the fans. 

1 hour ago, 47er said:

Hirst is interesting. He was scoring at Portsmouth before we got him and he's scoring regularly for Ipswich at the top of the League. For us he was utterly useless and didn't score a goal.

There has to be some story or other there!

So was he a bad signing or a good signing but one that didn't work for us for some reason?

It happens both ways this.

The two that immediately spring to mind are Gestede and Santa Cruz. Great for us, but so far as I remember poor elsewhere.

If I was a director or decision maker and saw the Rovers 0-3 win there, I would be straight on the phone to his agents.

We played a perfect tactical game that day and given the shackles on him, he is performing way above the level he should be right now. 

2 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

"Holding everything together since 1875..."

I was going to change it, but think I will leave it now. I am a little rusty with the spelling anyway. 

36 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

Just to confirm the detail in our article regarding what the Commnunity Trust will do with funds raised…

https://www.brfcs.com/magazine/articles/fan-takeover-2-a-mega-deal-for-the-watford-game/467

 

https://online.fliphtml5.com/lcgr/rwzo/

That’s absolutely brilliant and why Rivets fans are the best in the land. 

1 hour ago, ABBEY said:

Dark forces still at work ?

Almost certainly and they never went away.

Put yourself in the owners position. The have thrown over £250 million away as we speak and now they are prepared to go to court to get permission to thrown another £11 million away.

If we believe what we are told, then they are still prepared to go back to go to court to get further permission, to throw even more away, because they are honourable people.

What a total load of shite and if you wrote that in a fictional novel, it would be rejected, for being too far fetched.

These people must think we are all morons. 

46 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

In the case of Gallagher, whilst what you say is valid in general, in that particular instance I'd far rather see that than him get yet another new deal placing him alongside our top earners. Our number one priority for this window ought to be trying to get a million or so for him. He wasn't bought "cheap" exactly the opposite and imo we should have cut our losses on him long ago.

I fully agree, he certainly should not be offered a new deal and I think he is already very close to, if not the highest earner at the club.

I genuinely had this from the horses mouth when I asked the question about flogging him and was told in an almost mocking way "Who would take Gallagher?". 

The big thing here now, is the money we paid for him and the amount spent on wages, goes completely against our current aims (or lack of them I guess) to buy them cheap and make a profit. Granted he was bought a while ago, but he will be leaving for nothing, that is almost a certainty. 

Whose fault that is, is up for debate perhaps.

6 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What an absolutely contemptible shower of shite Waggott is - no pressure on any manager to succeed, no desire to put extra bums on seats by tweaking prices and more or less resigned to the manager walking out at the earliest available opportunity with no apparent plans afoot to try and tempt him to stay.

"As long as I get my £300k p.a. - I'm all right Jack."

I didn't eventually get a ST this year, I couldn't in all conscience justify  handing over £400 to absolute charlatans like Waggott and Broughton. I'm facing the same dilemma now at half ST time - can't even really bring myself to send them £210.

Talking of half ST'S bet they'll be absolutely flying off the shelves with the "Buy a half ST. We're not really bothered about results, but with a bit of luck you might get to see us sell some of our best players" pitch.

Or in the case of Sam Gallagher, roll, up roll up, get your lovely half season ticket and if he is fit, see SG play his final 10 home games for us, before he leaves for nothing and we prove yet again that buying cheap and selling at a profit, still isn't working either.

One thing I haven’t mentioned so far about my meeting, was that Waggott asked me if I was recording the meeting. Why he would ask that I really do not know, but perhaps indicates he has something to hide. 

9 hours ago, benhben said:

19. JDT contract - it is a 3 year deal with no talks of a new contract planned at this stage, he is ambitious. We asked why JDT thinks he was sold a pup?  He reiterated that its the same job as its always been with no pressure on league position. Its always been about developing and trading regardless of financial restrictions this summer.

I cant get my head around why any club and CEO would state this to the manager and fans. There is literally no point in turning up if this is the case unless you see the entire clubs existence as nothing more than a business to make some money.

Sooner this guy is out the better.  Cant tell me Ipswich etc have a much bigger income than us yet somehow seem to have ambition. 

The craziest thing in all of this, is how would developing a couple of players now and then, make more financial sense than having a couple of seasons in the premier league? As we all know, we have been in touching distance at least twice, at Christmas, in the last couple of years, yet managed to blow any chance, by not getting the window right. 
Last seasons fiasco, seems to fly in the face of the narrative, unless the O’Brien attempted signing was a red herring. Why go for him and why offer to sign him permanently, if we went up, if the only ambition we have would be to develop him and sell him on.

Someone seems to be sending out contradictory messages here, but what for?

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

If TM’s agent had happened to have wrangled an extra two years on his deal he’d still be here now.

This is the only club that just doesn’t sack managers. Just once (and that was that total clown with the head tennis and doughnuts training sessions) in eight years.

We have sacked a few actually. Coyle, Berg, Appleton, and the twit you mentioned, wasn't sacked, he resigned and sued the club.

43 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

It’s all transactional to Swag. Very simple equation, he knows he will hit his financial target with 8/9k buying at £400/£500, he can’t be certain that he can still hit it by selling more under £300.

So why take a risk? More bums on seats? Better atmosphere? Why does he care about that? Sounds like too much hard work, think of the extra stewards and cleaners!

yet again, the owners are to blame, as you are bang on the money with this.

We as supporters and real custodians of the club, have an interest in increasing the fan base again and dropping the prices and offering other incentives, is the way to go.

With targets being monetary, set by the owners and Waggott knowing only too well, that the real loyal fans (who can also afford it) will pay the excessive prices, it just puts the very future of the club in more peril.

He will sail off into the sunset, with his pension and nest egg nicely tucked away and will not care on iota of what happens to the club, after his departure. 

That's a brilliant post by Glen and I admire them for attending the meeting and for getting the answers they did.

I also had a meeting with Waggott, which I think was earlier the same day. Mine lasted for about an hour and I found him to be a bit like a politician, padding out answers and maybe avoiding a couple too.

I did not get anything like the amount of information that Glen and Mark did, but can point out a couple of contradictions he gave to them in his answers compared to mine.

He made out that the funding re received, keeps us afloat until February and suggested that the court had now set a precedent and therefore would be unlikely to not allow future funding. he did got to great lengths too, in suggesting how he had to provide a statement for all outstanding commitments and had to provide a precise breakdown of exactly what the funding was for.

I pressed very hard about fans being priced out of buying season tickets and suggested a HUGE marketing plan was put in place for the 150th anniversary, suggesting a 20% cut in season ticket prices and a big drive to get lapsed season ticket holders to return. He did not like the suggestion of the drop in prices.

I also put it to him, that I believe Venky's have something to hide and that is the reason they remain. He refuted that and would not be drawn into a debate about the initial takeover and my suggestion that the fall from the premier league was a managed catastrophe. He insisted that Venky's are proud people and remained in situ for that reason, more than anything else. I did suggest that now was the perfect tine for them to put the club up for sale and bow out gracefully, as they have the much publicised problems now with the illegal payment from 2010 to date story and on going problems and adverse publicity, that is clearly bringing. They have no way of getting back, what they have put in, so why not put the cub up for sale now and cut their losses. Who in their right mind would carry on under these circumstances?

One other thing to mention was that he almost seemed resigned to losing JDT and I am now even more convinced that there is a rift between them that cannot be repaired. 

I would much rather SWAG was given his notice now than JDT.

1 hour ago, Mike Graham said:

Superb this guys and makes me really proud to be a fellow supporter.

6 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

He's started 6 games and been subbed on in 7 (basically he's played 34% of our total minutes and has 5 goal contributions).

My worry about Leonard is his finishing - I don't know if he's clinical enough. I do think he'll have a long career as a professional though. 

I have high hopes for Leonard and think once he gets used to playing in the first team, he will be more composed and that will help him finish with more aplomb.

I don't think for one minute, he will turn into the legend he is, but a listen to the excellent podcast with Simon Garner and the lads, has Simon telling the story of how he turned down a move to Halifax. Had he not decide it was not for him, we would have lost him, before he got started.

I knew about him turning down a move, but what I didn't know, was the rift that caused between him and Howard Kendal (RIP) and hoe he only got back into the side due to an injury crisis.

For anyone who might have the owners ears, let them know the fans are doing a better job than the CEO of promoting the club. Perhaps a takeover of the whole operation instead of a match, could be the way forward. 

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

There are players to consider both at the club and potential signings as well as an anxious fanbase and inevitable journo questions to field.

So yet again giving the impression that it isn't a future priority or he even gives a fuck isn't a good vibe at all.

His answer at least has to be that's something we'll be discussing in due course or next summer or the like.  The answer he did give leads us right to where we are here, asking why it isn't a priority to at least at some point explore the possibility of an extension even if it comes to nothing.

Imo Waggot will be happy to downgrade again to someone even rawer and cheaper i don't think for one min he'll present JDT with a contract he'd feel was worthwhile signing.

 

I'm pretty sure most fans are happy with JDT and I would hope that the powers that be are too, be that Waggott, the owners representatives, or the owners.

I think he has got most things right and his style of football is certainly a joy to watch, especially now that we seem to be getting more things right at both ends of the pitch.

If we simply let JDT run his contract down and go to succeed elsewhere, it would be a crying shame. If Waggott and him have fallen out (which I think is highly likely) then once again, the fans are being sold short.

They guy should be backed as much as possible and given an offer he can't refuse to extend his stay.