JHRover

Any waverers reading today's communique from the Club may well have just had their minds made up for them. A totally rushed, half arsed, pointless, unhelpful, insulting and antagonistic statement, as usual failing to do anything to tackle the issues we face instead coming out with blatant lies and nonsense.

Neil Yardley's phone will be ringing off the hook this afternoon as Waggott/Gestede hurry to arrange an in-house interview to try and head off this anger and 'prove' their communication efforts via a comfy sit down chat at Brockhall. That's the usual way of it - once the fans discover a plot or anger is building then do a 10 minute planned interview and come out with a few of the typical soundbites to try and pacify the support base.

"While differences of opinion exist, our shared goal is clear - to drive the club forward together" Potentially the most offensive, untrue and inflammatory official comment from the club I have seen

I actually wrote my post above before I read that!

My prediction for the club statement (If one is released). We share and understand fans' frustrations at recent results following the departure of John Eustace The owners remain committed to ensuring the club improves and progresses We all need to get behind the team and Ismael as they battle to finish in the top 6 The new structure being assembled aims to ensure a brighter future in the summer and no repeat of past mistakes Season ticket sales since Tuesday have been encouraging and we thank those fans for their commitment Communication is very important to us and we take on board concerns and are willing to work with fans. Textbook stuff.

I see that this has been broadcast on Sky Sports News already which is good. Of course you then get comments asking about what the problem is, which shows how out of the loop some people are, but hopefully it makes a few more aware of the problems.

That and he hopes that the £50 price increase will sufficiently cover the cost of installing the safe standing rails to begin with, so essentially the fans are still funding the 'improvement' to Ewood rather than the owners or club. Basically just an underhand alternative to the crowd funding they had the audacity to suggest in a meeting. And lets remember they are only installing 400 of these seats, so about 8% of the lower tier.

It's the never ending conveyor belt/revolving door of new 'heads of' clicking into gear again, just in time for the summer transfer window and season ticket renewal time. Almost an annual event now. New 'head of' leading us into a 'new era', new manager/head coach, raft of new players. None of this is important, because what we actually need, new owners and new directors, remains a distant dream, and because of that everything else beneath remains totally futile, pointless and a waste of everyone's time. Unfortunately some still won't learn and I give it six weeks before we're being told to forget the past and get behind the new head of recruitment and head coach as they look to build an exciting new era. I'll be amazed if he makes it to the 12 months stage.

It is interesting how they want to compare us to other Championship clubs when they can find figures that suit their agenda, such as those appearing in the Lancashire Telegraph and those that Yasar Sufi has been spouting on twitter. They've obviously spent time scouring the internet for details on what offerings are available at other Championship/Football League clubs and are now trying to compare Rovers' to those as justification for the Ewood Park prices. They aren't so quick to draw comparisons when it comes to investment in players, contracts, facilities, general management, not allowing your manager and players to walk out the door to rival clubs. They want to compare to rival clubs when it suits, but when it doesn't, for example when there is an expectation on them investing in the transfer window or reinvesting proceeds from sales, they are very quick to point out that our gates don't stand up to rival clubs or our revenues are less and we can't do a,b or c. Of course we have 20,000 empty seats most weeks, which nobody else in the EFL has (save for MK Dons). We have managed to buck the national trend of substantial increases in attendances and have largely stagnated over the last 15 years. We have managed to make the conditions of the club intolerable to the point where our last two managers have run off mid-season including to Derby County. There's plenty more to go at on that front which kind of puts us into a different bracket to most other clubs. They really do seem to have an attitude there that all the nonsense that these owners and executives have created and inflicted over the last 5-6 years is gone, forgotten, irrelevant, nothing to take into consideration, all in the past, not a factor. I and many others don't forget or forgive just because now it's time for them to collect their money from us. They really do seem to have an attitude that the one and only concern of supporters is how much a ticket costs and how that compares to others. Ignorant or simply overlooking all the other stuff that has been going on that THEY have been a central part of. THEY are still here and THEY are likely to repeat it all over again as soon as they get a chance.

I put 'maybe' but that isn't based on any one of cost, results or who we sign in the summer. It is based on how I feel overall when the time comes. On balance I'm more likely than not to renew, but that doesn't make me feel good, happy or excited, it is begrudging and reluctant and I ask myself why I bother. A renewal if done will be a combination of habit, not wanting to lose my seat and routine of going to games with my dad and friends.

But what about Waggott's targets and remuneration? We need to remember at all times that the ONLY motivation here is maximising revenue, not because it helps the club but because it helps Waggott keep his job and maximise his own income by saving Venkys money. Nothing more to it than that. Filling Ewood, maximising numbers, encouraging new buyers, all sound good and logical at a normal club but not issues of concern here.

Fundamentally the literature on the club website has clearly been thrown together by someone with little idea about the realities of what has been going on at this club and just basically marketing drivel. "Join us in creating unforgettable memories together" "This year we celebrate our past and embrace our future" "From humble beginnings to three time Champions of England" Rabbiting on about totally irrelevant stuff about being founder members of the League and former PL champions I wonder how much the club have paid someone to come up with that drivel. The very future existence of the club is up in doubt, dragged through the Indian courts and seemingly on the cusp of financial collapse with negligent and potentially criminal owners and yet they really think nonsense like this is going to boost sales? They are totally clueless. The ST campaign is just a box ticking exercise - a chance for Waggott and Sohail to hit their targets on revenue but even if missed there will be no consequence other than perhaps a slightly reduced income. All this process does is determine whether slippery Steve and the stooges collect as much income next year as they are hoping. Nothing more, nothing less. They will batten down the hatches and pretend all the chaos and destruction of this season, last season and the one before never happened or that it was nothing to do with them. Total charlatans the lot of them.

Does anyone reckon Steve Waggott or Sohail Pasha have ever paid for a season ticket anywhere in their lives?

The brass neck that they claim to be doing this with 'sustainability' in mind. Absolutely nothing this club has done in the last decade, be that running assets' contracts down, failing to invest in personnel, allowing tens of millions of players to walk out for nothing, neglecting the commercial department, employing sub-standard executives etc. etc. etc. is indicative of a club with any interest in 'long term sustainability'. The only thing they want to sustain is making life easier for Venkys and keep the bonuses flowing on the gravy train for Waggott and co. Attempting to use the 'sustainability' buzzword as it sounds good and tugs at the fans emotions.

I suppose I shouldn't moan as my area has been 'frozen' at £349 in the JW Lower....IF I commit and buy before 2nd May, which I have already decided I won't be doing as this is too big a decision to rush into before the summer chaos unfolds Precisely how Waggott is approaching this - come up with an early deadline and price hike afterwards to force people into renewing quickly before the reality hits home in May, June and July. I also find it outrageous and totally unacceptable that they refuse to disclose pricing for phase 2, thereby preventing people from making an informed decision on whether or when to buy. You basically are coerced into a quick decision to sign up as if you don't you run the risk of being subjected to a massive increase in May. At least give the people the info they need, but then again suspect they won't even know because they will be intending on adjusting the phase 2 prices to address the response in phase 1. If Phase 1 is a disaster for their figures they will increase phase 2 even more to try and meet Waggott's targets. Disgraceful. None of this is about filling Ewood or achieving anything as a club. It is all about meeting his targets.

Also Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, West Brom, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Preston could all join the club if they win a major trophy this side of 2100.

So still no prices yet boasting about them being on sale tomorrow. They have a unique way of doing things I'll give them that. Sales figures suggest that it doesn't work particularly well and I'm sure this summer will be a continuation of the decline, no matter what figures Waggott massages to make it look better than it really is.

I can't make a decision until prices are released. I find it bizarre that you or anyone else would expect anyone to commit to a position on anything before the club can even be arsed to announce prices. You and Rovers seem to have this attitude/belief that people should just renew regardless of things such as price. I'll be honest with you - I am undecided - there are many, many factors to consider. Price is of course one, but personally speaking not the most important issue. The ludicrous number of games moved to inconvenient times is a major issue which I accept Rovers don't control but I expect to see Rovers reducing their prices to compensate for it. My job and circumstances do not prevent me from attending midweek and evening games but I don't enjoy it - I do not want to rush back from work then rush down to a morgue-like atmosphere on a Tuesday night then not get home until nearly 11. But beyond all the above is the other stuff that has been repeated many many times and is within Rovers' control and I am loathe to sign up for it again. I certainly won't be rushing into a decision in March/April. I think that is what Waggott is banking on - people signing up and handing their money over before their summer agenda is revealed. I'll make a decision at the last minute when I can weigh up the pros and cons.

I still find it hard to comprehend that having announced they are on sale from Tuesday they still haven't released any information about categories or pricing. I've never seen that done before. Surely you release the prices before putting them on sale so people know what the deal is and can get their funds in order to buy? There are only two possible explanations. One is that they are going up, they know full well the furore that this is going to create and the impact this will have on already pitiful sales, so are trying to just delay that as long as possible. Or despite deciding to put them on sale in 2 days' time they haven't got around to finalising pricing or perhaps haven't yet informed those in the media department of the details, which wouldn't be a surprise down there.

Not interested. You'll be saying the same thing in the summer if (when) we release / sell half this squad that has us in the top 6 under a good manager. We will downgrade under this regime. I am certain of that.

The stooges will be hoping and praying that other Championship clubs come in with cash offers for Travis, Hyam, Carter, Tronstad and Brittain. Between them there will be a few million to put into the drawer, a couple of the higher earner off the books and an opportunity to go and get cheaper replacements. This is the long game - they will refuse to even speak to them about new contracts and in doing so force those players to scour the market for new clubs - they can't sit around for months or years waiting for Rovers to offer them terms, they will have agents looking at what else there is out there. Who can blame them. So then when their heads are turned and minds made up to go elsewhere Rovers can play the victim card and pretend that they wanted to keep those players but in the circumstances need to be letting them go. They've done this time and time again, such as with Lenihan and Nyambe. A lot of people fell for it last time. Surely they won't be so stupid to fall for it again?

This is the core issue for me. If I believed that things would change, that things would be done differently next time around, it would be easier to get behind. But they've done it 3 times in 4 years and will do it again. If by some miracle - and I mean miracle - Ismael surprises us all and overcomes the odds to have us in promotion contention next January we know from hard experience that they will sabotage us again by refusing to back him in January. So its all rather pointless. Even when a golden opportunity drops unexpectedly into their laps they act to throw it away, ridiculously claim to have invested in January and then expect everyone to rock up and pay to at best repeat it all again next year, probably endure far worse once inevitably the recruitment and contract policy catches up with us.

How do you know you will be renewing when you haven't seen any pricing or policies yet?

£1.50 off in celebration of our 150th anniversary if you sign up and pay before the end of March will be the sort of pointless silly gimmick that he'll come up with. I'm noticing a LOT of people on twitter and Facebook saying they won't be renewing because they've had enough of it. In some ways sad to see it has come to this but perhaps necessary as nothing else is going to shift the scum than something drastic happening like a collapse in ST sales.

In my experience with the stooges if there is something they aren't telling us it is because they don't want us to know about it. If there was going to be a good offer or price reduction they would have gone public with it boasting about it by now. They're keeping it quiet for a reason - it will be at best a price freeze, probably an increase. Steve and Sohail's bonuses and pensions need topping up. A familiar dose of emotional blackmail in this advert, "Be part of our story" "It is about so much more than just football" "It is about uniting as one club, one community and one family" Basically we can't offer you anything positive on the football front so just forget about that and buy one for the 150th anniversary and 'doing your bit' for the community and family. Laughable. They should be ashamed and embarrassed to even mention such a landmark event given their conduct.