JHRover

As other clubs at this level, above and below, are showing, the general attitude is that it is a good idea to sell them rather than 'wait and see' what happens with Coronavirus. As it stands, and as it has stood for months, the expectation is that at least 25% of grounds can be filled from the start of next season. Some might 'get off' on predicting that it will all unravel and we will have to go back into a lockdown but really this has to end, and soon, and people and businesses have to approach life as though it will. Approaching life with panic and hysteria every time a variant appears or positive test numbers go up is going to mean we never get out of this. Proactive clubs, starved of fans and income for 15 months, would sell season tickets wherever possible, and deal with any issues down the line IF they actually happen. Not here though the logic appears to be the reverse. Do sweet F A for months and then expect to sell a reasonable amount in an impossibly narrow timeframe. We saw how that one worked last year with the insane 2 week sales window in September just as cases were escalating and lockdown became more likely. A pitiful 2500 were sold. As it stands there are only two clubs that were in the Championship last season and will be next that haven't done anything. Rovers and Derby. And Derby are in a real mess with their relegation battle, money issues and takeover chaos. Everyone else has got tickets on sale. This includes clubs with little grounds with far less room to play with than we have at Ewood - QPR, Luton, Bournemouth We are 'blessed' here because there's no way we'd sell more than 8-9,000 under this joke management, so even if we got to that figure we could still limit attendances to 25% of capacity and have no issues. And if it was 0 fans in the ground you would simply provide a range of refund options- give people their money back (what a novel idea), keep hold of it and knock it off future tickets (although Waggott lied about doing that last year) or invite people to donate it to the club. Everyone else has managed it - why can't we?

They should already be getting signed up and done now, during the quiet months, to avoid problems next season like we've had this. You say some will 'certainly' sign new deals? Will they? Will they even be offered new deals? If they are, will those offers be remotely good enough for good players who could get much more elsewhere? We've been banging on about contracts now for months and yet only a couple of senior players have signed new deals since before Xmas. One was Dack, who I believe had virtually agreed a deal prior to his injury and that was 'on ice' until he made a recovery. The other was Bradley Johnson who probably had something in his last deal for an extra year. Then there's the year extensions on the others that have had to be activated in the absence of new long term deals being sorted. Certainly seems to me there's an issue or inability at the club in getting new contracts sorted. And if that's the case what's the point in all this? What's the point in having an academy to develop players, persevering with them as they develop in the first team, attempts to build a squad, moans and groans about how hard life is and how unfair the rules are yet we can't even get our own house in order and can't secure what we have to protect our own assets.

So now that Preston have announced prices, on sale from Monday, by my reckoning that leaves just ourselves and crisis club Derby (nearly relegated, ownership issues) from those in the division last season to still have announced absolutely nothing on season tickets. Then there's WBA and Fulham coming down and Hull and Blackpool coming up who are yet to announce anything. Fortunately for those clubs they can rely on a solid core of buyers/promotion bounce to do them some favours. Shame about that pandemic causing havoc with our plans though.

Nobody is paying £20 million for Armstrong. The club can try and create a bidding war but it won't happen. If we got near to £15 million I'd be pleasantly surprised. That's not me saying Armstrong isn't worth £20 million. Because in this day and age I think he is - he has everything that attracts a premium price in today's world - English, scores goals, still young, bags of pace and good injury record. All those attributes should bump prices up considerably. We should be sat here relaxed and rubbing our hands like Brentford did with Ollie Watkins. We should have Armstrong down to 2,3,4 years and be putting our feet up waiting for someone to come in and bid for him and being able to name our price. Then its a win-win situation because if he was sold we'd be able to spend heavily on the squad and if he wasn't we'd be set for another 20 odd goals next season. But in view of his contractual situation his price will be much less. The crying shame is that even if we got only £10 million, a steal in today's market, there's little we could do about it other than accept the offer and yet Mowbray would earn all sorts of brownie points with the owners for increasing his value and landing them a windfall, when actually he should be hauled into an office and asked to explain himself for allowing this situation to develop. Sell Rothwell to generate funds to give Armstrong a new deal? Nah, that's just another excuse for offloading Rothwell. We've shaved about £100k a week off the wage bill with Williams, Mulgrew, Evans, Bennett, Downing, Bell all on their way, plus the Raya bonus for Brentford's promotion. If we can't give Armstrong a deserved rise and new deal now then we never will be able to. That's of course assuming the owners have authorised expenditure on any senior contract extensions. The only ones to happen have been the in-built 12 month activiation clauses which don't really count as new deals anyway.

Meanwhile League One side Sunderland had sold 21,000 season tickets by 1st June. Good job there's no pandemic on Wearside.

Someone on twitter called Tom Leach, who is writing for the Hampshire press and likely to be far more reliable than the Lancashire Telegraph copying gossip from the Daily Express.

And just like clockwork as the Armstrong to Southampton 'story' has been rubbished by a proper journalist another club, this time Norwich, emerges as being 'in' for him. I wonder which end these 'links' are coming from? Either Rovers or his agent would be my guess rather than the PL clubs.

I've long suspected the people down at Rovers, mainly Mowbray and Waggott but also the others underneath them, are uncomfortable with the beast that is Blackburn Rovers in its current format. Former PL mainstay, successful club, PL ground, reputation, facilities, yet managed and overseen by a group of people very much not up to that level. This club remains a PL outfit in all but name and management. Awkward for the management incapable and probably not interested in Mowbray and Waggott have shown no real desire to harness the club and its assets and put them to good use, instead it is always about trying to dumb down, reduce, dilute and make excuses. So no suprises that possession of an elite facility in the lush surroundings of Brockhall is awkward for them. Both for what it represents - the pinnacle of Jack Walkers legacy still to this day setting us well ahead of rival clubs - and for the value it contains for raising cash and getting hands on it. Waggott will also know that the only justification for leaving Brockhall and moving to a new site (other than admitting it is financial) is some concoction about how it would be better or advantageous for it to be nearer to Blackburn and withiin BwD. Anyone with any understanding of the area would know that this is nonsense but unfortunately many people will believe it.

I had it this morning when I used Firefox but now using Chrome it is the old site.

I've heard some rubbish in my time but the suggestion that the training ground for Rovers needs to be or should be within the boundaries of BwD I think tops the lot. Of course if we didn't have a training ground to start with it would make sense to look as close to home as possible for a site to build one but this conveniently ignores the brilliant facility we have not 20 minutes from Blackburn which is set in beautiful countryside easily accessible from the M6 and A59. I too find it strange how Waggott made a comment about how it might be better being in BwD and then lo and behold someone I've never heard of before is turning up at fans forum meetings arguing it would be better if it was. It's one of the more daft suggestions I've ever heard. Brockhall is absolutely perfect as a location for a private training ground where professional players would want to work.

Why does anyone expect Waggott to honour refunds after what happened in 2019/20?

The owners will only notice it when the finance men raise it at the annual review. Waggott won't be bothered because he can just blame Covid and screw a bit more out of those who do go. Not long off retirement now anyway so his legacy of reducing the fanbase each and every season is certain to be intact. He can window dress by shutting the Riverside and moving the 1500 or so out of there and into the JW lower and BBE so it will look more full on telly. If they ever do notice or care about plummeting numbers it will be too late and they will be gone, many unlikely to return.

The pragmatic move would be to give Armstrong a long term new contract extension, protect our asset, build from there and make an assault on promotion. That is what a serious club would do. That is what Brentford have done with their star men which is why they've made so much money and been able to reinvest substantially in replacements. That is why Mowbray's talk about us copying Brentford is little more than lazy drivel to sound impressive. Actions speak louder than words. Given we haven't even managed to sort out deals like JRC and various other players who are on a relative pittance by Championship standards I think we can safely say that even if the club is trying to offer him a new deal (and I'm not convinced any serious efforts have been made) we aren't going to get very far for it. All well and good talking about a wage structure/ceiling but if it is the difference between getting £20 million for Armstrong or £7 million then surely it is a price worth paying to cough up on a wage increase? There is no other good outcome for Blackburn Rovers from this. The other options - those being keep him until January or next summer or sell him now - are damage limitation options. Best case is we get a reasonable fee for him (not that Rovers will benefit from it). If anyone at Rovers thinks we are getting £20 million for him with 1 year left on his deal then they need sectioning. This bravado will come to nothing and will achieve nothing other than wasting away precious time and making it even more difficult to source a replacement. I remain doubtful that a Newcastle or Southampton will be interested. I think it will be a case of Rovers then touting him around various rival Championship clubs who will then exploit our desperation and get him for a pitiful fee. If the intention is already there to use the loan market for such replacement then I suppose it suits those at the club to leave his departure until the last minute, that way nobody can expect reinvestment of funds and season ticket cash will already be banked.

Agreed. Most clubs can survive dark days because usually they only last for a few years and then a resurgence begins. The Boltons, Blackpools, Lutons, Portsmouths have had financially enforced hardship which has lasted 3,4,5 years but then they've come out of the other side of it soon after with what appear to be decent new owners who understand their clubs, clear the decks financially and put the effort in to rebuild it. We are now into year 11 of this ownership with no end in sight. Unique because most people would either have got fed up or run out of money by now. Venkys appear to have endless reserves of both. That period of time will wear down anyone. You can get away with 3,4,5 years of diminishing crowds, spiralling performance and neglect but we are looking at an entire generation here. It is difficult enough as a 2nd tier club in this area of the country but when you combine it with what we have here - will the club ever recover from it? I know Waggott and the people at Rovers will spin it and claim that work is done to engage with the community - pointing at the Community Trust and their work and the employment of this 'liason' officer or whatever he might be but it is barely scratching the surface. Proper efforts to engage fans - ticketing initiatives, improved matchday experience, travel to Ewood - all neglected because they require too much effort to put in place.

I've read Rich Sharpe's article twice and can't see anything in it that suggests Southampton have any interest other than they are "said to be in the market" for another forward. Given Rich Sharpe (not that I particularly blame him) doesn't even have the inside track on what is happening at Rovers, am I supposed to believe he knows who Southampton are looking at? Or rather is this just complete guesswork based on the sort of clubs likely to be interested in a young British player from the Championship? It remains a source of interest for me that the club has just waved off 10 players yet all the focus and attention is on who we are going to sell Armstrong to. Just what is the aim here and who is pushing this?

The only things we can base predictions on right now are what we have and what we think we are likely to have. Right now, with the players leaving and the strong likelihood that we will flog Armstrong, with Dack out until the end of the year and may not recover, and a poor manager still here after last season's shambles the only logical prediction I can come up with is a long hard season of struggle. Everything that has come out of the club (admittedly not a lot) since the end of last season points towards cost cutting and extremely limited funds (if any) to strengthen the squad. Now that might be Mowbray and the club being canny and crafty and leading people to believe funds are tight, but I think more likely is that it is true and we are skint. This might change, if they surprise us with some funds or rabbits out of hats in the transfer market. But I think both are unlikely to happen. My expectation is the only hope they have for funds being made available for new players is by selling some first. And top of that list is Armstrong. I wouldn't trust that to happen. I think expecting reinvestment of substantial funds from Venkys is optimistic - see Rhodes and Gestede. The money is more likely to disappear under the banner of FFP rules and excuses about not having enough time to get replacements in so we get some loans instead.

Because for all the talk and sob stories about how hard up we are and how tough it is the long and short of things is that the club doesn't really want to grow the fanbase or maximise sales. It is nothing but a convenient excuse for poor performance - that we have relatively small gates and need more money - but actions (or lack of) speak louder than any words and they just don't have the interest or desire to change it. In the past they've known that 8000 will sign up come what may and eventually they decided that with that in mind they were going to screw those 8000 for every penny rather than increase beyond 8000. I think they arrogantly assume that the same 8000 are sat at home desperate to get back to Ewood and will be sat by the phone waiting to sign up as soon as the club can be bothered to do anything. I think they might be in for a surprise from how I'm feeling and what I've picked up from other regular season ticket holders.

Would also expect a game against Fleetwood. The Grayson and Dunn connection there. Unless Grayson is miffed we've let his lad go.

We were close to getting stuck in a relegation battle and that was with Armstrong firing and and Elliott in the ranks and after a good start to the season. Unless something surprising happens and assuming the status quo remains then I fully expect a relegation battle and possible relegation. You can't operate like we operate and expect much more. A good budget and being able to outspend other clubs might keep heads above water but when that stops and players are sold it will be a downward spiral. We've seen it all before. Seems lessons haven't been learned.

I would certainly hope or think that there is potential here to resurrect Rovers TV and actually produce a channel, even if just via YouTube or the club website at limited hours, to a good standard. I notice that Charlton have their own in house channel which includes all sorts of pre and post match interviews with people at the club. In this day and age and with the Covid remote viewing experience to draw from there should be good value to it. They want to promote the womens team so putting their games on it is one way of getting people to watch. They could also broadcast all the u23 matches home and away.

I just can't understand this 'trusting' a CEO thing. It just isn't the real world. On what planet do billionaire businessmen keep hold of a loss making enterprise and allow it to fail because they don't 'trust' anyone to run it for them? It's nonsense. It is also nonsense that you would employ substandard or clueless people - Kean, Waggott, Agnew, Singh - because you do trust them and allow that trust but incompetence to ruin the club. I could - almost - believe and understand it if they had been at the club for 6 months and were still finding their feet and getting to grips with things and they were new to . But after nearly 11 years I just don't accept, believe or understand it. Nobody - nobody - no matter how rich or clueless - buys a business on the other side of the world, in an industry they have no knowledge of - and then allows that business to underachieve and fail and doesn't take steps to sort it because they don't 'trust' someone to run it for them.

It is almost beyond belief. Last time I checked we were a professional sports club operating in a multi-million pound competition aiming to get to the most lucrative league in the world. Yet you could easily believe this is just a part time amateur operation with no purpose or aim other than to recycle players and keep certain people comfy. I don't know what part of this is worst. a) That we are so devoid of ambition that we are offering people like Bennett and Chapman new contracts b) That those players haven't ripped our hands off for the chance to stay at this club c) That we are still mucking around with this 'will they, won't they' approach heading into June. Any offers should have been put forward months ago and they should have been jettisoned already if they showed any reluctance to sign. Whatever it is it isn't good enough, on any level. Typical Mowbray and Rovers though. No aim nor ambition for next season but make sure the good lads have another year or two out of this if they fancy it. Amari Bell didn't. Makes you wonder what pitiful terms we are offering here, but with Venky taps turned off it will be whatever Waggott can find rattling around the club coffers. Enough to hand out deals to a few of the academy lads but not enough to sign game changing quality.

The point of course is that there was a claim going round that he wouldn't be obtainable for a Championship club and particularly not one in the North of England without substantial investment. Unless the Prince at Sheffield United is suddenly changing his ways they won't be throwing tons of money at it. If Venkys (apparently billionaires who want us to get promoted) wanted Jokanovic we could have beat Sheff Utd to the chase by lining him up to take over several months ago. We haven't done it because they don't want to. Not because Jokanovic wouldn't come. He clearly would if the offer was right.

That's our choice. Venkys could pay him if they wanted to. Sheffield United are hardly rich.

Turns out he did want to leave Qatar and return to the second division, after 2 years of people saying he was unaffordable/unobtainable.