JHRover

I've just had a look on the ticketing website and I think someone has been on the fiddle. If you look at the JW stand I reckon there's at most 2,500 available seats. Logically in a stand of 11,000 capacity that would mean at least 8000-8500 sold or allocated. Add to that at least 3,500 in the BBE and another 2,500 in the Riverside and we should be well on the way to a gate of around 15,000 home fans before adding in Charlton and walk ons. I suspect when the figure is announced it will be 2000 or so short of that figure. It seems they are making substantial numbers of seats 'taken' in the JW upper when I don't think they will be.

I've got one thanks

Reading Waggott's comments in the Telegraph today I think he's in cloud cuckoo land. Rovers 'couldn't have done more' to increase attendances. If that's his real view of the situation its probably time.for him to pack his bags and get someone in with more idea. I've seen very little change in the approach to season tickets than we had 5-6 years ago except prices have gone up and stands have been closed. The club have upset large numbers of people by moving the family stand, kicking season ticket holders out of their seats and putting prices up. I'm not aware of other clubs doing such things. We're doing nothing that isnt the norm at every other club. A quick look at Stanley's pricing and engagement with fans shows us up. The usual pro-owners stuff. They're apparently doing everything they can and it's the fans who don't buy tickets that are the issue. Perhaps if they'd have cared for the fans back when they arrived we wouldn't be in this mess. Waggott keeps having to ask the owners for money. Shame for them. We kept asking for Kean to be sacked and for the club to be run properly, it still isn't. Actions have consequences. Get us promoted and we won't need as many hand outs.

Bolton seem to think they should avoid further points deductions for what happened last season as it 'isnt fair' on their fans or potential new owners. What about whats fair for the other 23 clubs in their league though? Why should Bury, Rochdale, Stanley have a tougher job to survive just to make life easier for Bolton?. Another 6 points off Bolton's tally might be unpleasant for them but will make it more likely a club that pays its bills will survive in the league.

None of their signings last summer were well known but they wiped the floor with us when we went there. I'm not saying I'm particularly envious of their business but I do think there is more clarity and decisiveness at some of these clubs and it helps them. Preston another lot. Not got as much cash as here but they address problem areas more decisively than we do and don't use limited funds up on project signings to try and make the owners money and don't keep persisting with experiments like we seem to enjoy doing. Proof will be in the pudding but I don't think Wigan will be down there. A formidable home record to fall back on.

I expect Wigan will finish above us this season, or will be in a similar area of the table. Call me negative but I see them as signing players for specific roles within their team, whereas we seem to like collecting players the manager 'trusts' or for their professionalism and versatility rather than With a particular job in mind and an immediate place in the team. I see Mowbray as a manager who ties himself into knots with his recruitment and tactics, trying to balance his desired way of playing with the realities of the squad and an inability/refusal to do anything about it hence starting the season with the same old defence. Only time will tell but I'm at this point unimpressed and quite astonished by our approach to the transfer window this summer. We're a 2nd division side who finished in the bottom half of the table likely to be starting the season with a defence made up of midfielders and £12 million on the bench.

Heard all this last summer. When January arrived, despite supposedly having money, nobody arrived. This summer, despite supposedly having money, we've signed 2 youngsters on loan to 'address' Gk and defence and used up the Raya money on Gallagher. Remains to be seen if we do any more but.if the rumours of chucking low bids around Germany are correct we aren't aiming for upgrades just number up squad fillers.

My predictions: 1) West Brom 2) Stoke City 3) Fulham 4) Cardiff City 5) Bristol City 6) Derby 7) Preston 8) Leeds 9) Nottingham Forest 10) QPR 11) Wigan 12) Reading 13) Huddersfield 14) Brentford 15) Rovers 16) Luton 17) Middlesbrough 18) Barnsley 19) Wednesday 20) Millwall 21) Swansea 22) Birmingham 23) Charlton 24) Hull Man City, West Brom, Sunderland and Scunthorpe to win the 4 divisions.

But Stoke, Middlesbrough, massive clubs for us to try and compete with

People at Sky and other media outlets generally have very little idea. They look on from afar, see a team that doesn't get much attention, see that it was midtable most of last season, see that it hasn't lost anyone significant and has added a couple of quite well known players and suddenly we are dark horses. Those who watch us regularly.see the finer details of a team leaking goals which has done very little to address that and is likely to be kicking off on Saturday with the same defence as struggled last season. You don't get out of this league without a solid defence that doesn't give goals away. The nearest team to doing so was Fulham but they had an outstanding collection of attacking talent to cover it.

I think we actually agree here so not sure what the issue is. No player no matter who should be 'guaranteed' a certain number of games. It should depend entirely on how they play and perform on matchday and in training. So the talk about us not being able to promise Bauer or the City lad a set number of games I think Is probably nonsense and just an excuse for us failing to get them. As if Preston have promised Bauer a certain number of appearances. But if we are looking at players to sit behind Mulgrew and Williams and fill in when needed with no serious intention of playing them regularly then it is no surprise we are missing out on targets. Anyone we try to get should be with a view to them being better than those here.

Yet none in the problem area.

Twas ever the case. For some reason we go after people then tell them they won't be playing. No wonder we can't sign anyone!

So are we going to be seeing Premier League level of recruitment as a result of this 'multi million' spend? Looking forward to it.

I still don't get this frequently floated about concept of promising people game time and us backing out of deals on that basis. Any defender we bring in should be expecting or expected to establish themselves as regulars in the team. Why are we going after people we don't think are going to be playing? The inference then is that Mulgrew or William's will be playing regularly, which suggests we aren't serious about progressing. Same thing happened with Bauer. Apparently Preston 'promised' him more game time than we would. Eh?

I do wonder about some of these figures and whether they are being inflated portray the owners in a positive light. 1) the £3 million going into the academy I understand isnt a voluntary donation. It is a requirement of Category A academies. If it isnt spent the academy is downgraded. 2) I find it hard to believe that analysis booths and software for scouts has cost millions of pounds. We could build a new training ground for that sort of money.

Looks like the sarcasm was lost in translation. Quite clearly conversations take place at the start of the process. My response was to someone suggesting we suddenly discovered that City wanted a set number of games, which isnt the way it works. Those sort of requirements become clear at the start, not 2 weeks in.

No, it was relaid as per every summer, but don't think it went much further than that. Waggott's comments about £300,000 investment in the pitch were made out to be some substantial upgrade but when divided up across 3 sites isnt that much and reflects annual maintenance costs.

I wonder what the terms of these PFA loans to Bolton are.... I'm still struggling to see how Bolton are realistically going to be able to start the season in any sort of shape. At the last count they had 7 contracted players and several of those had handed in their notice. Whilst they might be able to bring in trialists presumably those have to be registered as Bolton players by this time Friday or they won't be eligible for Saturday. Certainly appears there is more determination to ensure Bolton keep going than Bury.

The lack of games in Europe also comes from this, IMO. Clearly organising matches against decent European opponents and allowing fans on to watch requires a pitch, facilities, stewards, all of which cost money. Much easier and cheaper to jump on the bus to Bury or Rochdale. The problem with this is clear - we can't test ourselves against decent teams nor increase the clubs profile abroad or build links with European sides. The Liverpool and Everton friendlies last season were an attempt by Waggott to fill Ewood and make money, yet they weren't as popular as expected and personally I didn't enjoy them being surrounded by locals only there to take photos of Liverpool players.

Remained unbeaten. Having locked horns with non league Barrow, 4th division Mansfield, bankrupt Bury and Rochdale on our training ground. Mowbray won't be playing the youth. He wants them out on loan.

How many other clubs have started pre season games with a defence made up entirely of midfielders and in February had no fit CBs?

I don't think I said I want Bolton or Bury to be expelled from the league. I would never wish such a fate on anyone. I said it is getting to the stage now where the League are probably going to have to start looking at that as the only way of drawing a line under this sorry saga and moving on. At what point does an attempt to do the 'right thing' by Bolton or Bury become a problem for the integrity and honesty of the competition? When you've the real prospect of Bolton failing to fulfill their fixture obligations not for the first time this year how many more times can that be allowed to happen? There are many clubs in non-league who would love the opportunity to have a place in League One who would fulfill their fixtures, pay their bills and not jeopardize the competition. That is what is ultimately going to happen here - if Saturday is 'suspended' then what happens? If you were a Wycombe fan, missing out on your first game of the season, a home banker and chance to tick off a game against a recent Championship side with 3 points, how would you feel? How about if the game is replayed after Bolton have been taken over and have managed to recruit a dozen half decent free agents and put together a competent side that then beats Wycombe and they miss out on promotion? The ramifications go way beyond doing the 'right thing' by Bolton - it affects the integrity of a multi-million pound competition and the hopes/aspirations of football fans across League One and below. As for us going the same way that depends on a wide range of variables that at this point none of us have any real idea about. Of course they could bankrupt us. Alternatively they could wipe their debt clean and find more suitable fit and proper owners to repair their mistakes. Many clubs have been taken over at this level and only a small number have run into serious financial trouble as a result. Not saying it wouldn't happen, it might, but then there's Wigan, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Barnsley, Leicester, Watford and co. who weren't bankrupted.

I'm disappointed with our business because, in my opinion, we have Failed with a capital F to address our defensive weaknesses of last season. I believed our manager in March or whenever it was when he made his comments that he 'got it' and would be moving quickly and decisively to address it. Here we are and it hasn't been addressed. The latest botch job in the process has been failing to land a kid on loan after losing out to PNE in a 12 month long pursuit of a free agent from Charlton. I'm disappointed with pre-season because I think it has been poor. With the exception of Rangers I don't see any sign of our players being properly tested and it irritates me to see rival clubs lining up against continental top division opposition all summer whilst we turn up against a team of Bury trialists. I think it is badly organised, unimaginative and just another sign of the small scale, provincial, low cost approach we operate with these days. The alternative optimist appoach to the lack of signings is to pin hopes on Mowbray promoting the youth and them doing the job or suddenly things improving with the existing back line. Neither are likely to happen, IMO. Mowbray has shown no desire to promote the youth, the best of them (Nyambe) has lost his place to Elliott Bennett whilst the others (Costello, Grayson, Hart) I don't think are ready for Championship football. Mowbray will persist with the same personnel because they are the big hitters in the dressing room who he has had in his corner since the day he arrived. You're an optimist Chris but even you must be starting to have doubts about things now?

Sadly I'm getting flashbacks now of the last couple of transfer windows and in particular January. We had all similar stuff about 'we've got x days left' 'other clubs aren't doing much' 'plenty of time to go' and numerous 'links' to decent players with Mowbray and Sharpe saying it was going to happen. Then it didn't. It all comes across as quite amateurish and pub league standard down at Rovers these days when compared to rival clubs. All well and good pointing at Leeds or whoever and that they haven't been throwing money around signing players but those clubs have structures in place with on the ball owners, chairmen, sporting directors who can act quickly and decisively to get targets in at the last minute. It appears we've now got Mowbray's assistant handling transfer negotiations and then god knows how long of a delay whilst India decide whether or not to approve it.