JHRover

Not sure it is so simple as that. We are in the Bolton position of 4-5 years ago, not the Bolton position of today. 4-5 years ago Bolton were a Championship club losing millions a year and relying on Eddie Davies underwriting those losses every year like he had for the previous 10-15 years. Unfortunately for Bolton Eddie Davies was knocking on, approaching his 70s and was never rich enough to endlessly subsidise them through years in the Championship. He decided enough was enough and he was going to fund them no more. Unfortunately for Bolton they ended up going down to League One and they got saddled with Ken Anderson who has, shall we say, a chequered background and certainly not the cash needed. As for Bolton's current predicament that has come about due to the various amounts they owe to various creditors who are unable to agree on a deal, meanwhile the club runs out of cash under the administrators. For us to end up like them we would need a) Venkys to decide to walk away all of a sudden, b) them to leave the club saddled under their 'debt' and to seek repayment of it and c) nobody else be willing or able to take the club on after them. Clearly the last one depends on what state they left us in. Without wanting to sound blase about the situation a lot has to happen before we end up like Bolton. We've no idea whether that could happen here or not. I'm sure Wigan fans feared what would happen to them after Whelan left but he seems to have done OK so far at finding them new owners.

There's two ways of looking at the crowds thing. Of course back in the 2000-01 period we had both more people coming to watch AND the numbers watching in the Championship were much less on average. But then the makeup of clubs in the Championship has also changed significantly. Historical minnows like Bournemouth, Watford, Burnley who would have got 10,000 a week or so maximum at Championship level have gone on to get themselves promoted, whereas historical big city clubs like Leeds, Villa, Sheffield and Forest have become Championship regulars. Back in 2001 time there were clubs like Crewe, Grimsby etc. in the league. This shows that the make-up of the top divisions has changed significantly. Arguably numbers through the turnstiles have come to be less and less important over the years as rich owners have flooded in and Sky tv money props up the division. Nonetheless it is a fact that clubs like Forest, Bristol City, Brighton, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Derby etc. have in the last 10-15 years been able to significantly increase their attendances having previously had very average gates at this level. They haven't done it overnight, they haven't waved a magic wand, most haven't been able to offer Premier League football or promotion. They've just set out to bring new people in and retain them, think outside the box, employ people to come up with initiatives, improve the matchday experience so kids and younger people enjoy it. Nothing ever changes at Ewood. Still go about things as though it is 1999 rather than 2019. A very small but simple example - when we got our Jumbotron screen it was one of the first of its kind at a football ground in England. We were one of the first to go out and get one. Since then virtually every club has got hold of one and use those screens to do all sorts. Videos, replays, highlights, sponsors, scores. But at Ewood we don't put ours to its full potential. All we use it for is to show the teams, a few scores and then a slideshow of adverts. Yesterday was the 4th home game in a row where the screen displayed a faulty image of the Stoke match from last year over the top of a menu. A small point but it sums it up - a complete lack of interest or effort by those running it to get 100% use out of it. It just looks like people turn up at noon on matchday, switch it on and off we go. It goes on and on. A complete failure to properly honor former players who have passed away. Why? Can't be bothered. Playing music pre-match so low that it can hardly be heard. There has to be more done and every year that goes by without doing it makes it harder to recover.

Its happening with Barnsley, it's also happening with Preston, it will happen with Luton, its already happened with Huddersfield. Small clubs that usually float between the 2nd and 3rd divisions are catching up to us and overtaking us. There are two responses to that. Shrug your shoulders, have a moan, then use it as an excuse for us struggling on the pitch. Or do something about it. I'm afraid shuffling prices about a bit whilst maintaining a price increase, coming up with daft competitions (does Waggott seriously think that people are going to cough up for a season ticket just to potentially give themselves a £10,000 lottery ticket?) are not going to deliver the numbers we need. There's more to it than simply 'freezing' the price and sticking a few posters up and some videos on Twitter. We are way behind the game these days as the club has been reduced to a skeletal staff with little idea on how to grow the fanbase. Football is changing and we are getting left behind. Is that because we are as a club behind the times or because Blackburn is a unique place in the country that doesn't react to things the same as everywhere else? I know what I think is the answer. The whole club needs revitalising and there needs to be an acceptance that we are falling well short as a club. A quick look at Stanley under Holt shows what can be done on a budget to increase numbers. I've done it to death the lack of interest in doing things at Ewood, even from minor things such as improving the bar offerings. Weve closed home areas down, moved people around, put no effort into relocating them. The Darwen End area - not my cup of tea but certainly better than it being closed. Most clubs are actively trying to build singing sections next to away fans, we are actively discouraging that by moving away fans upstairs and breaking up our singing section. Just ludicrous but typical of the downscaling operation. Reading, Huddersfield have recently succeeded in creating singing sections next to away fans. We failed miserably because we had no interest in promoting it or growing it, eventually shutting it when numbers dropped because it saved a few quid.

That's the only one and it must still be about 20 minutes walk from the away turnstiles. Sadly West Brom is one of the poorest grounds in the division for pubs of any standard within close proximity to the ground.

I don't think so. Top 6 at best and to do that he'll be carried by their expensive attacking players.

Wigan will win their home games which will keep them up. Doubt they expect much more than that. Hughton will be a man in demand and will have his pick of jobs. Question is whether he would move up North to manage a struggling Stoke or Huddersfield when he can wait and get something like the Fulham job when Parker gets axed.

The way I read it was that if there's no sign of progress by 5pm Tuesday then they will 'consider' lifting the currently suspended 2 week membership withdrawal notice period. Think the League have to give a club a minimum of 2 weeks notice of being kicked out. Bolton havent yet had that because of administration which means the notice is suspended until ownership is resolved. Bury had it 2 weeks ago so nothing stopping them kicking Bury out. The Bolton one will rumble on a while yet. I'd be interested to know how Bolton provided proof of funding to start the season in administration when Bury haven't been allowed to play due to a lack of proof of funds.

In the end a point was a fair result for both sides. An entirely predictable performance and turn of events. Bet your house on us going in at half time with 0 goals because it always happens at Ewood. Perhaps time we tried changing things around. Thought we were solid enough defensively although did get caught out a couple of times. Going forward I thought we were weary up until Armstrong coming on which caused them problems and could have seen us snatch a win. Seems a lot of people were happy with a point because 'this lot were in the Premier League last year' which ignoring the fact that they'd been well beaten in their previous 2 away games conceding 6 goals in the process to mighty Wigan and Reading. So not exactly mission impossible and their defence is clearly fragile. The fact we've scored 0 and barely tested their keeper to me says we've failed, as the home team, to really take the game to them other than a 5-10 minute spurt late on. Personally I'll never aim or set out for a draw at home no matter who the opposition and i'll only accept a draw as a good result if I believe we've done exceptionally well to come away with it. Having turned up with another offensive no-show I don't think we've done anywhere near enough (again) in front of goal to win the match. This is becoming a recurring them and whilst Mowbray and the team can point to a defensive improvement recently if that means we are completely toothless in attack then it's robbing Peter to pay Paul. Mowbray has to be more astute and organise the defence whilst having much more of an attacking threat. However much positive spin you want to put on things our goals for tally and attacking play simply hasn't been good enough. The positives are that by virtue of a defensive improvement we are putting points on the board, and you would hope with the personnel we have that goals will come. But they need to come soon because 450+ minutes with 1 OG, 1 penalty and 1 header from a free kick is not good enough. Given the expensive collection of attacking players Mowbray has brought in it is concerning that we appear no nearer to going with a unit that can open teams up and bury chances. Waggott wants more people to buy tickets but I'd say better offerings than we've had so far this season would be the best way to do that rather than cash prizes. A good number of walk ons came down for the Charlton game, went home disappointed and the football at Ewood since then has been abject albeit successful in getting 4 points and 2 clean sheets. Personally I'll watch whatever the weather and product but i think some people will want to see some level of excitement and entertainment rather than 0 goals and passing around at the back.

If they approve the new ownership and grant a delay to complete then it might save Bury for the time being but if the new owners are skint or unsuitable or if the takeover runs into difficulties then the problem is only going to get worse. Similar to Bolton - at the 11th hour with a choice between allowing a takeover or watching the club go bust which do the League accept? Either way they are opening the door to severe criticism.

Usually at this early stage Cardiff would be whipped up into some sort of juggernaut coming to town that we'd do well to get a draw out of. Unfortunately for those who are happy with draws and want to downplay expectations Cardiff have started off in poor fashion. 2 defeats from 2 and 6 goals conceded v Wigan and Reading and two late narrow home wins v Luton and Huddersfield suggests they are struggling. At the very least I expect to see us have a few chances and ideally get some goals. Our first half home record is terrible in terms of goals.

Maybe that's why we struggled against Oldham, because their fans were in the lower tier so we didn't benefit from the marginal gains of them being upstairs. In all honesty the only benefit to shoving away fans upstairs is to charge them more for a higher category of seating. We aren't doing that so there's no point.

I don't remember that. I sat in the Blackburn End at the time and they were on tables/stalls opposite the main bars next to the entrance.

I get where you are coming from but again it seems too simplistic to me to simply point towards two local clubs in dire straits and then say we should be happy with our situation because at least Venkys are paying the bills. There has to be some recognition that the problems facing Bury and Bolton are each born from unusual circumstances. Not simply the case of losing money and owners not putting it in. Bolton have gone into admin because they owe money left, right and centre to all sorts of creditors and havent been able to plug the gap with player sales. To my knowledge our only creditor(s) are Venkys and the Bank of India (who lend money to Venkys because of their business dealings and not to Rovers as a football club/also secured on assets in India?) What that all means is the only people who could put us into admin at the moment are Venkys themselves or the Bank (again they appear more interested in Venkys and their Indian assets than us). At Bolton they've had multiple owners, HMRC, loans, and the combination of those over several years has tipped them over the edge. At Bury I think there has been some serious financial wrongdoing there behind the scenes and it seems the events of the last 8-9 months are a cover up operation to prevent it becoming full public knowledge. Very dodgy stuff. In any event their stature, income and assets as a club are very different to ours. Even then there is interest in buying them which is being rejected by their owner demanding too much for his shares.

I think the Wainwrights stunt was more of a Thwaites idea in an attempt to grow that brand just as it was starting to take off and they realised they were on to a winner, before selling it off to Marstons to brew in the Midlands. Probably nothing to do with Rovers as it was served from pop up temporary bars on the concourse rather than from Rovers own catering stands. Have to say I was disgusted to see that Thwaites are now marketing themselves as a 'Ribble Valley brewery' on their new beer pump clips and posters with no mention of Blackburn. Can't remember the last time I had a pint of Thwaites beer. Shame but they obviously see themselves as being above the town these days.

Exactly, so people saying Bell is League One standard and not good enough for us need to compare his CV with that of Sam Hart. Can't say Bell isnt good enough and then suggest replacing him with someone who has done less than Bell in League One.

Bell was excellent for Fleetwood in League One who were a better outfit than Rochdale or Southend. I'm also not sure what impressing against Barrow, Mansfield or Bury has to do with starting on Saturday v Cardiff

Hart is nowhere near good enough to be starting in the Championship and even if he were he's never done before and has played one u23 game since his significant injury in pre season. Not a chance he will be starting.

Despite the massive deterioration in pubs in Blackburn I still think that Ewood is relatively blessed with good numbers of proper pubs within a 10-20 minute walk. Can't think of many Championship grounds that have more. Hull is quite a good one but most of those pubs are quite grim. Preston has a load in the centre but not that many around the ground. Certainly a lot more options than the new grounds.

A good performance and result and a lot to be pleased about last night. A number of good performances across the pitch from another clean sheet through to creating numerous good opportunities and some decent football. Probably more clear cut chances last night than in our previous 3 matches combined. The last two games have shown progress but with plenty of room to go on. Far from the finished article but signs we can be more than strugglers this season. I still worry about scoring goals which I shouldn't with the ammunition we have in our ranks but we still appear to be too indirect and wasteful from good positions for my liking. First game of the season I've properly enjoyed last night with Charlton and Fulham quite depressing and Middlesbrough more relief than enjoyment. Hull will probably be midtable but are a decent side at their place so it's a tough place to go and win. Attendance of just over 10,000 but I reckon more like 6000-7000 there in reality. Can't beat a 1-0 away win, midweek away wins are rare here. On to Cardiff and I'm feeling more confident about things. They've struggled and we have an extra day's rest, we should be confident.

I think anything above £3.50 unless its premium beer is expensive in this part of the world. My local in Ossy charges £2.50 for cask beer and up to £3 for lager. I'd be prepared to pay £3.50 for cask at Ewood if it was good quality as I accept buying it at a major venue carries a premium. When I last went in the Red Rose suite it was a choice between Fosters, bottled beers or Maltsmiths IPA. All were £4+. In the end i went on bottled Theakstons Lightfoot and it was the best part of £4.50 a bottle. Really poor choice and ridiculous prices. As said above, cask beer can be bought for between £60 and £90 a 9 gallon barrel. Approx. £1 per pint to buy. I'm sure if we stuck a deal with Bowland or 3 Bs we could get it even cheaper in bulk. No excuse therefore to charge £4+ a pint. £3 a pint would still see them triple their money on each barrel sold. Stanley do it, dingles do it, even Wigan have set one up with Bowland beer on. They can't argue we don't get enough people on as that is nonsense. It's just laziness and a lack of vision. Sad times when we can go down to Brighton and they make the effort to put cask Thwaites on in the concourse for away fans to encourage them to drink in the ground yet there's nothing of the sort at Ewood.

I think people tend to forget that prior to Ken Anderson taking over at Bolton with Dean Holdsworth they were on the cusp of administration and possible liquidation in the High Court due to unpaid tax. They needed a takeover and quickly otherwise there was a real prospect that they would be wound up there and then. As expected when dealing with a skint 2nd tier football club on the brink of being shut down prospective buyers were in short supply. Without wanting to appear as though I am defending the Football League (I detest them as much as anyone) it seems likely if they had rejected Anderson then Bolton would have been shut down a few years ago. There's an argument that their present predicament, whilst painful for their fans and embarrassing for the League, is preferable to what might easily have been the alternative. The issue goes beyond the inept League and their weak ownership rules. There is a flaw in the League structure that needs addressing and rebalancing and the only ones with the power to do it are the FA and Premier League. Not sure what the FA actually do. They are the ultimate power of the game in this country yet it seems everything is batted off to competition organizers like the Premier League and Football League. Time the Fa did something and used its powers.

The appointment of academy staff should be independent of the manager, in my opinion. We are too dependent on Mowbray, in my opinion. He is first team manager (or is it head coach?) so his remit should be limited to that area. It's a tough and demanding enough job without the need to add extra responsibilities such as overseeing a Category A academy. The club seem determined to follow what is, in my opinion, an outdated management structure where the old school manager is responsible for every facet of the operation from media duties, fans, first team right through to overseeing scouting and recruitment and the academy. I don't think Mowbray can do all that. Infact I don't think many managers in the world could do it all. People may say Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger did it but they didn't. Their influence was through the club but they had extremely well qualified people running the individual departments. Only time will tell if it can work here but for me it is putting all our eggs into one basket. Either because our nutty owners only want to work this way or because we're doing everything on the cheap and have scaled back so much on the operation that we need the manager to run it all on his own because there isn't the structure or staff otherwise to do it. As I've said many times before - we need a head coach who is solely responsible for managing the first team. Then, when that head coach resigns or is sacked (which happens every couple of years in the vast majority of cases) then the disruption to the club is minimal and there can be a smooth transition with a new head coach. When Mowbray eventually walks away or is sacked (likely to happen in the relatively near future given his bosses' background, the nature of the Championship and his age) then the impact around the club is going to be similar to that of an earthquake with all the coaching staff and scouting staff and executive staff singing from his hymn sheet and in place because of him and his ideas. We will then need a new manager to come in and take on the mammoth job of handling Venkys whilst also dealing with all these other things and the not insignificant task of getting good results.

I don't believe that Bolton will be going out of the league. Bury yes but still expect this Dale bloke to hand them over to someone else before it comes to expulsion. I can see the League becoming more imaginative in terms of the 'support' they offer before allowing the humiliation of 2 clubs going out by September. The torrent of criticism towards them and their precious image will be overwhelming.

Oh dear, last thing the League will want is another headache with a cancelled game. The Brentford one had almost been consigned to history. Failing to play Brentford when due Failing to rearrange the Brentford game when directed to do so by the League Failing to play Doncaster when due 3 separate offences and not a single point deducted for it. Can imagine one or two League One clubs will be kicking off before long about this.

Thin dividing lines here. A win or spirited draw and on the back of the Middlesbrough win we could argue it's been a steady yet slow start and start to look upwards. A defeat and its 3 from 4 and concerns reverberate around again. Hull are nothing special yet seem to have had a steady but have had an ok start to the season with a win, draw and defeat. Many tipped them to struggle this season. Surprised they managed to keep hold of Bowen who continues to bang them in. Maybe like us with Dack there hasn't been as much interest as expected. Can we build on Saturday or will old habits return? Hull and Cardiff suddenly represent a good opportunity to progress.