Good win. If you can't beat bottom of the league, even with injuries, then you aren't going to get playoffs. With results in our favour elsewhere too, it is good to climb back into the playoffs. Also, in a way, makes the last 2 hard fought draws more worthwhile as 5 PTS from the last 3 games is a solid haul. A lot of football still to play but am glad we are still putting up a fight for playoffs. 

9 minutes ago, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

I don’t disagree but equally, I’m not confident that we’d regularly get higher attendances regardless of price. We’ve been in the play off spots for a decent portion of the last two seasons and attendance figures have largely been static - even with cheaper midweek tickets. The club certainly need to be more imaginative but barring one off games, Im not sure we’ll see decent attendances until/if we make the PL.

I think several of the issues also include fluffing it repeatedly whenever we have looked like playoffs. Last year we plummeted from 2nd and even under a very talented GB team we didn't make playoffs. Given we've never been in them once under Vs and our deadline day transfer debacle you can see why fans may be a tad unenthused, before we even consider the general state of the club or the Dominic climate. 

You must be dire when Southampton beat you! All that money spent and Chelsea don't remotely look like a team. 

Warnock continues to show he knows what he is doing when it comes to a relegation fight. Smart move for Hudds appointing him. 

7 minutes ago, CambridgeRover said:

Watford away, west brom away, swansea at home

5 points! Great return.  And that is without any striker!!

Agreed. These 3 results are the stuff of playoffs. Getting tough draws and winning at home.

Blackpool will be pretty indicative of whether we can get into the playoffs. If we have had a wobble and the regular wins come back - the 2 away draws being the start of our uptick in form - we may do it. If we botch that game it's probably1 step forward, 1 step back. 

The issue isn't the very credible draws Vs tough opposition, the issue is that we fluff the other games that are (on paper) more winnable. 2 draws is great in isolation vs tough opposition. The issue is that when it's surrounded by other draws and losses, it continues a winless run.

Imo we are putting too much pressure on these games due to poor results Vs the likes of Rotherham and Wigan. But then this has been an issue in the past, including in our league 1 promotion season. 

2 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Oh I’m not worried, just curious 🧐- there may be an explanation and it’s just too early for me to see it for myself.

 

I think the explanation's fairly obvious. 

Said it with Huddersfield - when you can't win with a man and goal advantage against relegation rivals you know the team isn't in a good place. Southampton did one worse and lost said game. 

Pretty sure that Jones comments about the panderijg to the players has backfired. Think the team are glad to get rid of him too. 

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

Wickham would be a really desperate signing, he isn't particularly good on the rare occasions that he is fit enough to play.

Is he better than Vale? Yes, every striker in the league is but Vale shouldn't be playing even amongst our limited options. Brereton, Dolan and Gallagher should be the 3 choices.

Yep he's a bit of a desperate signing but we are in a pretty desperate signing. I'd imagine he'd be pretty cheap and on a pay as you play deal a bit of physicality and someone to get on the end of Thomas's crosses could be just what we need. It's a very bargain basement signing but that's where we are at and he's a huge upgrade on Vale and gives us another option. Agree as to who our front 3 should be but even then, the 2 bigger names are misfiring so much we're crying out for another option. Would I recommend it if there was y'know a transfer window? No. But as there isn't I think he's the best of a poor situation. 

A few Championship related musings:

1) Connor Wickham is signing for Cardiff. Now I don't really rate him, however he is a free agent and has a few goals at this level and a bit of physicality when fit. All in all that's a massive upgrade on Vale. Disappointed given our glaring need for a striker, we didn't go for him. 

2) Surprised Brum beat WBA tonight. Thought Albion were on a roll so a very impressive win. It works in our favour too, and shows that whilst we are determined to arse it up, that the championship will give you chance after chance to get it right. 

3) Smart move for Hudds getting rid of their boss. There's still a decent championship team in there. Not winning when ahead with a man advantage Vs a poor Blackpool team showed how much he was struggling. 

4) For all Swansea managers protestations of moving on and everything being fine after their own deadline day debacle I get the feeling it's not a happy camp and he'll be off soon, maybe at the end of the season. 

A few thoughts:

Rovers it seems have the reverse of the Midas touch, with everyone working for us turning out to be thoroughly dislikeable. Horrific comments that are totally negligent. 

Only at Rovers would results not be looked at. It goes against the very essence, the purpose of the game, to not consider results! I mean we don't tune into Final Performance but Final Score (well maybe not even that but you get the point.)  Points, games, trophies are decided by results. Utter gaslighting and an utter different reality to the game. And you wonder why the fanbase is declining. 

Comments like this, where's the hope? JDT (just doesn't think?) it seems is as big a tool as all who came before. There's no good guys in the club fighting against the tide of manure dragging us down. 

Certain posters it seems would argue for a military dictatorship or slave labour if it supported the club. But then certain posters are clearly a parody WUM account as no one, literally no one, is that hypocritical and lacking in self awareness. Probably best to not bite. The club can cause you enough stress all on its own. 

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Problem is he doesn’t give a flying feck about the long term health of the fanbase.

Hit his revenue target (and bonus) for a couple of more years by just rinsing the remaining c8k for as much as possible and then drive off into the retirement sunset with the dilapidated shack that is BRFC in the rear view mirror.

Oh I'm sure he doesn't care in the slightest. Shocking though given that is, or should be, a key part of his role. 

On 09/02/2023 at 19:50, K-Hod said:

It was when Steve Waggott retorted to my comment about our season ticket sales, with ‘I bet they didn’t make as much as us thought, did they?’

What a pillock. Waggott not you. I'm not convinced he's correct mind. Even if he is he's not seeing the bigger picture. More fans overall brings in more money when factoring in shirts, pies, programmes (oops, missed that one) and so on. Also there's a thing called longevity of the club that he needs to consider. An aging fan base of only 8-12 k is only going to go one way. And I think we see it on here too, the average age getting older. At this rate another 10 years and we could be nearer 5k. Then of course there's growth. More fans, more growth, more revenue for cup matches etc. It's a terrible logic. A level business tells you more repeat customers is better for the long term viability. 

On 09/02/2023 at 19:50, K-Hod said:

I’m worried that those in the corridors of power don’t get the fan base at all and the lack of even considering lowering season ticket prices was odd.

Ticketing is only one of the areas they very loudly demonstrate they don't care for the fans. It's clear the contempt fans are held in. 

On 09/02/2023 at 19:50, K-Hod said:

They mentioned that they’d ‘done a cheap ticket offer for the Birmingham cup game’ and there wasn’t much take up, so cheap tickets don’t always work and all this sort of thing. I highlighted that the 3rd round FA Cup is always poorly attended.

Others have shown how stupid this argument is. Agree with those saying he's trying to justify not lowering ticket sales. 

On 09/02/2023 at 19:50, K-Hod said:

I think my main worry is that they give up too easily and hide behind easy excuses of parachute payments and all that.

Like ‘oh well, they get more money than us, so we might as well not bother competing with them. It’s the seemingly defeatist mindset that I just can’t get on board with tbh.

 

This is criminal. And as Luton have shown repeatedly it's not true. Millwall also punch above their weight and there have been a number of clubs over the years who have gone up without parachute payments. Money helps, certainly, but it's not essential. Add in we often don't do better than Millwall or Luton neither of whom have better budgets than us and that shows we are failing by even our own shoddy yardstick. 

Sometimes wonder if they'll kill off the fan base before they go. Got to admit I'm close to giving it a complete miss till the lot of them bugger off. 

Well in the last 48 hours the club have shown they don't give a proverbial about:

Promotion

The fans

Signing players. 

Not hard to see why people may be disenchanted. I mean what's left to support? They aren't even sticking to their (not so attractive) plan of making a few quid on players, with daft decisions like not selling Bereton and Morton blocking out players progress. What's to get on board with? We're watching sheer negligence from the owners downwards. 

Brittain is getting into Cory Evans type of fitness for us. 

Other than cb and our constantly injured rb it's our strongest team - in fact only Hyam could be counted on to start outside this 11. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64407193

Try to handle the shock but Evans is out for the season. Glad he's off our books. 

4 hours ago, speeeeeeedie said:

I'm not going to go back through your posts but you have defended Lampard over and over since he was appointed at Everton. I (others too) have continually pulled you up on it.

You've gone from explicitly stating that he was the man for the job, to give him time, and now that he's been fired your stance is that it's the club that's in a mess, therefore not Lampard's fault as nobody would do a good job. 

Mate, it's a wind up.There's hypocrisy all over the place, as you repeatedly state. Its utterly implausible that he doesn't know that's what he has been doing. 

Even the club being such a mess it impacts every manager, was a point I made about Rovers (and references Everton as another example) the other day, which wasn't recognised whatsoever. The goal posts shift constantly to piss people off. No other explanation for such inconsistencies. 

Back on topic - Everton are goosed with or without Lampard. 

8 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Just absolutely beyond mental to state something like that as fact.

 

Unless you're just trying to convince yourself. 

 

It's clearly a wind up mate. 

An outrageous statement at odds with history blended with condescension and disparagement of others views. It's a good effort mind. 

2 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

These tinfoil hat theories baffle me.

Why put up with all the hassle? Just sell the club if you don't care - or I guess liquidate it if you're that way inclined.

The evidence points to it being more than tin foil hat theories. Indeed, as you say if they weren't bothered (about something) they would have got rid of the club. 

The only thing that makes sense is they want to avoid scrutiny that would come with a sale, liquidation or even the premier League spotlight (though it did bugger all for us before) and see us plod along at this level.

Anything else doesn't make sense. Unbothered they would have sold, bothered they'd have done something else by now. Even error rather than design would have seen the latter. 

So I don't think it's a conspiracy whatsoever. 

5 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You mean, shrinking the season ticket base to historically low levels, raising prices for a season when no-one could attend, removing affordable season tickets and failing with an inherently fraudulent scheme to flog off the training ground?

 

I think @Mashed Potatoesis saying this is Maggots brief. 

This is what gets me. No one with and nous should or would do this, which is why its unfathomable he has done all of those things. No one could be that idiotic unless instructed to do so. 

And if instructed to do so he's still an utter low life for agreeing to do said stuff. 

For me it comes down to I'd expect better from a business studies undergraduate student. He's stealing a living. 

27 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

I think that argument -or something along those lines - has been used about 6 or 7 times in the last 7 or 8 years. There has to be a point where you give the man you have a chance - if your strategy changes every year it means you don't have a stategy at all.

There's a couple I'd have given more.of a chance. Big Sam being foremost amongst them. However Lampard with his past record wouldn't be one of them. He's not what they need at all. 

If it was someone who had proven pedigree and fitted I'd give them longer but Lampard hasn't got the oedegree, results or fit to warrant this imo. 

26 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Us fans might, not sure the club will have any regrets. They have written this season off after all….

Indeed. By we I primarily mean the fans. 

Also when was the last time a season wasn't written off by the powers that be?

In isolation a point with 10 men is a good result. Look at the thinness of the squad and it confirms that opinion. 

Problem is this is our run of winnable games to cement our playoff place. So far it's 1 out of 6. In that regard it's not going well at all. 

And whilst it's so important we get the right people in, especially with limited budget, once again we see how there was a need for deals to be done quickly. A new signing or two might have made all the difference in the last couple of games. Whilst getting it right takes priority, which may take time, I have a feeling we may end up regretting our January inertia. 

3 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

As I said, you had no constructive reason to suggest that I was being over critical of Vale having at the time not seen the game.

He may aswell have not played, and until you actively say what Vale offers to the team, at which point a normal debate can occur, then I will presume that the riddles you talk in about him are covering the fact that deep down you know that he offers nothing.

Good idea not to feed the troll. Never will get those qualities, as engagement and discussion isn't the aim here. Also in fairness Vale doesn't have any. 

The most constructive argument we've had on here for Vale is our other strikers are just as crap which is hardly a ringing endorsement.. ( imo may be true the last couple of performances but on a wider level isn't true as Bereton and Gally have shown something at this level before.)