Lets stop with the suggestion that our problems are created externally by Sky tv and fixture changes (along with other factors beyond our control). Such talk is just playing right into Waggott's hands. He would love nothing more than to convince everyone that he's done all he can and that our problems are the result of external issues. Poor us, it's Sky's fault. Our biggest issue is that we are too expensive. That isn't Sky's fault, it isn't caused by games being moved. If anything having such a large number of games moved due to TV should see our prices drop further as we get more income from TV to offset it. Our issues are caused by a short sighted attitude and approach installed by absentee owners with no interest or understanding of the fanbase or its long term health. In a little over a decade they have reduced our ST base by over half, down from 18,000+ in 2011 to limping our way to 7000 in 2023. Like most other problems at this club that is ultimately the fault and responsibility of Venkys. Not the big bad FA/EFL/FFP/Sky. The other problem we have is complete and utter laziness and lack of imagination on sales. Other than occasional tweets and website posts I've seen zero promotional material for season tickets. Looks like they've completely given up on the idea of sending renewal packs or even advertisements out to people, and I live but a few miles from Ewood and there's no posters, banners, nothing. They can't be arsed because they know ultimately that their jobs are secure come whatever happens. Why bother making more effort?

Luton have got where they are through pure hard graft, overcoming financial disparity to get into the top 6 two years running which signals they are doing something right. I don't like them at all but I can recognise a club doing things properly and getting their rewards for it. Coventry manipulated the fixture list and got away with it, allowed to postpone games left right and centre early on this season and I said at the time they should have been sanctioned for it but the weak EFL imposed a suspended sanction, so it is clear they broke rules but the authorities ineffective in enforcing them. Middlesbrough have broken FFP each and every year and got away with it so whilst it might be in our interests to get rid of a big spending rival for next year I still hope that one day the EFL grows a backbone and imposes sanctions on them for their losses. Ordinarily I would prefer Sunderland to go up of the four but obviously with what I consider significant disrespect from Mowbray together with them pipping us on goal difference it would be the stuff of nightmares for them to do it. So Luton it is please.

Or alternatively he's delighted to be offered a new deal at Rovers having looked destined for the exit for 90% of his time at the club here and facing a move to League One or Two.

It would be a massively disappointing start to the summer to see them flog Kaminski and promoted Pears to No 1 but that's the inevitable suspicion here. I've no particular arguments with Pears getting a new deal. He's a good age, popular around the place and showed enough in the second half of the season to suggest he can do the job to a good level when needed. But last season also showed that you need more than one option in each position, because an injury, suspension or problem is never far away. Of course it would be typical of this regime to spot an opportunity here, promote Pears then flog Kaminski (who is better) probably for a couple of million to a grateful rival and pocket the cash. Come the new season I hope to see Kaminski over his injury and starting, Pears as a capable deputy.

The walking talking contradiction strikes again. Presumably if they miss out it will be handbrake on again telling them all about what a young squad they have and the 'we can't compete' mantra. Through a fortunate combination of negligent ownership and a fanbase beaten into submission he got away with that for years at Ewood. He won't get the same with a switched on owner and vociferous fanbase.

I'm struggling to understand this price rise at the end of May but we aren't going to tell you how much routine. Has any other club adopted such a haphazard approach to season tickets? It neatly sums up the fact that they are making it up as they go along. It seems to me that they have reserved the right to slap a hefty price increase on at the end of the month in the event we managed to make the play-offs and got through them. Obviously with play-off final day being end of the month they wanted to wait until then and then if we pulled off the miracle and got up Waggott could then celebrate that achievement by charging everyone a load more off the back of promotion. Of course totally cynical and exploitative, not the sort of behaviour you would expect to see from a club desperate to grow attendances and once awash with PL cash ticket revenue becomes even less useful. I remember Dave Whelan saying a few years ago that such was the insignificance of Wigans ticket revenues whilst in the PL that he was contemplating a time when they could give STs away and it would barely make a difference to their operation. That's the view of a successful bloke who loved the game and his club and wanted more people watching. Meanwhile Waggott, with no track record in business or football worth shouting about, would prefer to use PL promotion as a way to cash in. He just makes it up as he goes along. I predict that if we get to late June and sales aren't as high as he expected or budgeted for he will come up with some other off the hoof scheme to try and bolster income. He tried the 'jackpot' stunt where buying a ST entered you into a prize draw and his other one is to concoct the 1875 membership to rake in a few quid more from the most loyal fans. What a repulsive individual he is.

Preston always seem to be ok. They've little money or creativity in their ranks but manage to bring in enough to finish mid-table every year so expect them to do similar again next year. Will Leicester be allowed to enter the EFL? Another lot who contravened FFP rules on their way to the PL and allowed to get away with it. West Brom also seem to live a charmed life so wouldn't surprise me if they gambled, managed to keep most of their squad together under Corberan and were in a promotion push next season. Every year I tip Stoke to do well with seemingly most of the ingredients in place for a good push and every year they end up struggling.

What the Head of Marketing really needs is a unique selling point to try to push forward and use to broadcast the club around the world. Something like having a Chile international playing for the Club. Marketing response? A couple of t-shirts on sale in the club shop a year or two ago.

I'd bet my bottom dollar on Accy being one given the money Stanley must have made from Rovers fans on tickets and bar sales last year. Wouldn't surprise me if Port Vale was one with the Dunn/Flitcroft/Dan Butterworth connection.

What sort of operation starts selling season tickets without deciding/announcing the full pricing structure?

The thing with Mowbray is that because he has the media lot hanging on his every word and thinking he's great with the old tea and biscuit routine reminiscing about life in 70s Middlesbrough he thinks that makes him clever and able to outwit all before him with his comments in the press. Unfortunately applying any scrutiny to his comments quickly reveals that he isn't as clever as he thinks, he's at best completely contradictory, and on other occasions rather insulting. Anyhow, thankfully he's gone and history around here, yet it seems he and others cannot let it go, still bitter that he was let go. It was clear at the time that he harboured a desire to stay on but that the offer wasn't forthcoming in a timely manner. In all likelihood another disgraceful performance from Venkys and the buffoons they employ but I do find it a bit funny that having had over 5 years of well paid employment and being able to run the operation as his own kingdom with little to no pressure or scrutiny from upstairs or the fanbase that he's now got 'pundits' spouting off about how hard done to he was here. He had it made at Rovers, and when the inevitable dip comes at Sunderland when they run out of momentum they'll offer him nowhere near the patience he got here.

It's clear he can hit his targets off 8000 ish ST sales at these high prices. We will probably limp our way there over the rest of the summer, but given the price increase even lower sales will likely see him hit his financial target. And that's all there is to it. Job done, arse covered, wage justified, bonus paid, box ticked and another year in the job until we do it again.

We can usually pick any 4 from Stanley, Rochdale, Oldham, Fleetwood, Morecambe, Barrow, Carlisle, or occasionally we have gone slightly further afield to Hartlepool, York, Grimsby, Lincoln, Port Vale, Mansfield etc. Suppose the interesting ones will be whether we bother with a home friendly, which I think is unlikely unless we manage to persuade a 'big' club to come to Ewood otherwise it won't be worthwhile for Waggott And whether we are playing a game overseas, which hasn't happened for the last 6 summers since we played in Salzburg v Sparta Prague ahead of the League One season. It would be nice to do something abroad again but expect as is the tradition Rovers will keep any such plans a closely guarded state secret until a few days beforehand making it difficult or impossible for any supporters to be involved.

Must have low operational costs 10 miles down the road, or maybe billionaire owners generously funding the club every year. One thing they won't do is spend £300k a year employing a spiv

The 'super saver' period not exactly delivered the results that you might expect from 'super savings' then has it? Another failed policy from Waggott....yet on he continues. Not a very good track record has he? Of course it wasn't a 'super saver' at all. It was a 5% reduction IF you bought early (before the end of the season) and in doing so you lose the £15 club cash that has been added over the last few years. I also note the usual silence from the Club on 1875 membership for 2023-24. Last year they made no reference to a membership scheme when releasing season tickets, only suddenly announcing 1875 membership at the 11th hour after most people had signed up for their season tickets. This then had the effect of forcing anyone who wanted priority on away tickets to cough up additional money. A cynical underhand money grabbing stunt. No news on whether the same will happen again this summer but I think it is important to know when buying a season ticket whether that purchase is going to put me in a position of priority on away tickets or whether that is going to be taken away from me by the late introduction of a membership scheme.

'Around' 7000 almost certainly means 'less than'. Better than expected after the horror of the 'hoping for' close to 6000 announced last week but still weary numbers all things considered. Less than 50% of what Bolton have shifted in League One. With the price now going up you wonder just how many people there are who haven't gone in at the lower price but will then sign up for the higher price.

Buyers will only ever come forward with serious intent if they can see there is a genuine intent from Venkys to sell. Just like buying a house, people don't go around putting offers in for people's houses unless there is a 'for sale' sign up. This doesn't mean that there is no interest and no alternative to the current ownership. Interested parties won't waste their time putting plans together to buy Rovers unless it is made clear Venkys want to sell. I don't think that will change with promotion. It might mean more people are interested in buying the club, but it doesn't mean for one minute Venkys will do anything to encourage a sale. If they wanted to go down that route they'd have acted on our strong January positions of 2022 and 2023 to try and get us promoted. I don't think much would change with a promotion. I think it would take the money men in India by surprise to suddenly have a surplus of cash rather than substantial losses to plug but I think they would carry on as they are at present. Silent, disinterested, doing nothing, club on autopilot, clowns running it on their behalf. At best the transfer kitty and wage bill would be enhanced but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one given the time it takes them to do anything.

Thanks Venkys, as Waggott is always quick to point out that without their support and benevolence none of this would be possible

There will be a lot of sh1t stirring from Radio Lancashire and Lancashire Telegraph in there as well. Quite why they are raising his future as a topic for discussion on the day of the final game of the season I don't know, but can safely say they wouldn't have been asking Kompany about whether he will be staying where he is. In their desperation to find something to talk about they will fan the flames of speculation and rumour. They do it with our better players all the time too.

He's accomplished more in his first season than Mowbray managed in 4 years at this level with less money, less time and less options at his disposal. We can but wonder what this manager might have made with Armstrong, Elliott, Rothwell and others at his disposal. Nevertheless 7th represents our highest league finish in over a decade of Venky created misery coupled with our two best cup runs in a long time, and but for the finest of margins in cup and league it could have been considerably better. The bloke has done very well in my opinion, and I really worry about the future if he departs or if there is no backing in the summer. Leaving the club in the hands of the shysters upstairs and further cuts will leave us looking over our shoulders.

It is obvious what is needed, and if there was a determination at the Club to succeed then confidence could be high ahead of next season. Having missed out by the finest of margins with a young squad experience and learning should take care of a lot of things, but 3-4 additions of course essential. Unfortunately with these rancid owners and the likes of Waggott stinking the place out for another 12 months and raking in his salary/bonus we will see more excuses and frustration. Talk about revenue and woe be us whilst waving off investment Brereton for £0 just a year after losing £10 million of assets for nothing. Any heads rolled for those debacles yet?

These are the questions Waggott won't want people to be asking. Doesn't fit with the 'woe be us' narrative of having no money, low income, completely reliant on Venkys and that justifies screwing the fans for every penny. This TV money isn't a bonus or prize, it's compensation to offset against inevitably lower attendances when people prefer to watch from home rather than buy a ticket. We know it will go straight into the coffers with no mention of it from Waggott, but if he was serious about things they'd be using some of this money to reduce ticket prices and encourage people to still come to Ewood. Instead we still have some of the highest prices. One of the reasons we've been selected so many times might be because, contrary to the party line, we are actually a well known and well followed club by the standards of this division and whilst we don't get droves turning up at Ewood we are actually seen as a better bet on viewing figures compared to most of the dross in this division.

He did the hard part and got a small, young squad into the top 6 heading into the second half of the season having only arrived late in the first place due to ineptitude in replacing Mowbray. The 'powers that be' failed with the easy part, which was to back him during January with a couple of half decent additions that might have made the world of difference and got us over the line. If they failed to back him in January, when exactly are they going to back him? Answer = never. And he knows it. Bowyer and Mowbray put up with it because putting up with it was their only ticket to being a Championship manager. A bloke like JDT, with contacts across Europe and a stellar playing CV behind him will have plenty of other options coming up and he isn't afraid to give up a good number (Malmo) in pursuit of something better. Lesson to learn = these cretins have no intention of changing their ways or making the effort to get promoted. It's autopilot mode with the club doing what it can with whatever Venkys set in the summer and that's your lot.

Who or how is it decided that Brentford get home advantage in the final? Already got train booked back from Millwall

So the Premier League Cup final v Brentford has been confirmed as taking place at their ground on Tuesday 9th May, 7:45pm kick off Annoying for a few reasons. One is that we seem to have agreed to surrender any home advantage by playing a 1 legged final at their ground - in the past these have been 2 legged finals. It is also annoying that it comes the day after our trip to Millwall, making it a nightmare to get to and it will be hard to get a train back from there at night. I'd have liked to have gone to the final and also to Brentford's new ground but seems Rovers are happy to just go with the flow.