JHRover

There are usually only 2 reasons why someone like Williams would voluntarily leave a club doing well after only 6 months of a 'project' having not even yet had a summer window to prepare for. Either a massive or irresistible offer from elsewhere, or inherent problems/issues in his current role that make it desirable to leave. Given this development comes a matter of weeks after the biggest transfer window shambles in living memory I don't think it is negative to draw links and assumptions that all is not well. I hope it is me making 5 from 2 and 2 but my starting point where this club and these owners are concerned is to look at such developments with apprehension. It isn't normal to join a club under a new super structure in the summer and then by early March be off back to a previous organisation.

I hope that is the correct explanation, I really do, because it is the only one bar some personal reasons on Williams' part in wanting to move back to Wales, that doesn't cause me concern. If that story is correct then it suggests (a) that JDT plans on being here beyond the end of this season (b) the club are willing and able to act on his opinions and (c) is able to do so relatively quickly and in good time for the summer. Lets hope its right and we get a replacement in pronto, because if we balls this up again I think we will be searching for more than just a head of recruitment.

We mustn't forget that even after the Kean period and relegation to the Championship, and even after a couple of distinctly mediocre Championship seasons including the Shebby, Berg, Appleton mayhem, we still pulled in 11000+ season ticket holders under Bowyer. I think it is important to remember that fact because it shows to me that even despite the carnage and relegation that we were forced to sit through we still managed to pull substantially healthier numbers than we have over the last 3-4 years under Waggott. The second big drop off came after Lambert went and they appointed Coyle, chiseling another 2-3000 off Bowyer's figures and really since then, despite the L1 promotion and competitive Championship football we haven't got it back. Important to remember because there is a certain element of Rovers' support, the stuff of Waggott's dreams, who will stop at nothing to convince themselves and others that there is an inherent problem with Rovers' fanbase or that all we are seeing is an organic, inevitable, natural drop back to 'natural' 80s numbers (strangely they never compare to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 90s, or 00s) Also worth remembering that when we pulled in 11,000 under GB the prices were still higher than Notlob and PNE are charging today, so perhaps fair to guess that if we were charging the same as them we'd be getting considerably more than that if we did it properly.

I very much doubt that Williams had any role in the January fiasco. I do find it worrying that someone supposedly in such a position who has had 1 transfer window in the job is upping sticks and going back to the Welsh FA. That doesn't look good whatever your interpretation. I suspect that he's another who came here with expectations and good intentions, only to realise that operating successfully under these imbeciles is virtually impossible. So he's getting out quickly I've applauded the backroom appointments under Broughton. For once resembling a proper competent modern football club. The January window and this news makes me worry that the owners are still undermining the Club.

The concept of an 'early bird' is another totally lost on Waggott. His version of an 'early bird' is a priority window, basically where renewals get a chance to do so not at a reduced price but at a 'held' price which is essentially the basic price from the year before. A proper early bird should be just that - early - not in the summer and it should involve an actual proper incentive to renew early. It's laughable. He's basically admitted his only focus and task is to increase income and cut costs and yet has zero imagination or drive when it comes to bread and butter stuff to make money.

2023-24 season tickets should be on sale yesterday. Never ceases to amaze me how clueless the Club and so many fans are about the situation with attendances. We've 8000-9000 season ticket holders in a 31000 seat stadium. To be getting an extra 4000-5000 walk ons (almost 50% of our season ticket base) turning up for a lunchtime televised game with no ticket promotion is a good effort. Can't imagine many other clubs would be able to turn around and say that only about half the people in the ground on Saturday were ST holders. Usually you'd be way higher than that. Waggott can run a couple of promotions for midweek televised games, he can encourage people to wave their flags. Unless he radically alters his approach to season tickets and in doing so gets substantially more than 8000-9000 buying then it matters little. That isn't just pricing, but is mainly. Also important is actually pushing them and how better to encourage people to buy than during a promotion push and in fantastic form. Instead he will wait until the summer when the dust has settled and then try to sneak through further price increases.

Just normal Rovers routine. Probably find out on Friday they are on sale.

I usually look enviously at rival clubs managerial appointments and wish we'd have got A, B, C instead. Right now I look and don't think there's a Championship club whose manager I would prefer over JDT. The fitness and discipline we've seen at times this season is on another level.

Oh joy. 24 hours of wondering if we'd shift 4-5000 brought to a shuddering halt. We'll do well to fill the bottom tier now I reckon. Cheers ITV.

The rules state it must be at least 2,000 visiting fans, or 10% of certified capacity if less than 2,000. If it was at least 10% then away teams would have had nearly 4000 at Elland Road and 5000+ at Newcastle in the Championship but didn't. Fair is fair - I'd give them the exact number they gave us - and if they don't like it tough. I didn't like paying £30 odd to stand behind a pillar and not be able to use the toilets.

I would limit their ticket allocation to the exact number they gave us. I would be petulant and charge them £1 more than they charged Rovers fans, which is the least they deserve for far superior facilities (only one toilet block at Turf together with obstructed views). I would put them in the upper tier only, no flags permitted, and then cover the entire lower tier with Rovers banners/flags which would look better on TV than simply empty seats. I would charge Rovers fans £15 a ticket and try to fill the other 3 stands. People will say we aren't allowed to charge home fans less than away fans. Well we are are there are 2 ways of doing it: 1) Do what Bristol City did the other week and run a special offer for 'members' whilst away fans get charged full price (£15 for Bristol whilst £33 for Norwich) 2) Or instead designate the upper BBE and DE as premium seating and charge higher prices for those seats, which is effectively what Leeds do with away fans being ripped off sat in the main stand. If rumours are to be believed, and I hope they are, they are getting less than 3000. I hope this is the Club recognising the risk and drawbacks of handing them a huge allocation in the current climate but suspect it is just as much a police decision as anything.

Heads should roll for this. Broughton now needs to do another interview and explain what happened. At most large organisations the CEO takes ultimate responsibility but Waggott has successfully layered the operation over the last 12 months so that there are countless other fall guys along the way and he gets to hide away in the shadows. Convenient. Makes me wonder on how many more occasions this sort of fiasco has occurred over the years but where we haven't bothered or had grounds to appeal it. I suspect quite few. Two big takeaways from it though The manager and team have been let down big time. You might get away with that behaviour with a Mowbray or Bowyer in the hot seat but not with an ambitious bloke. Secondly it will make other players and clubs think twice about doing business with us moving forwards. We can ill afford such a reputation if we've no money to throw at the problem. We need everything going our way. Never mind, Waggott's getting his bonus this year as his revenue targets are hit. Who cares about the rest?

I think it is a good draw for us. With the exception of Grimsby and arguably Sheff U at home I can't see any better looking fixture if you want to reach the last 4. Avoided the big 2 of United and City. Avoided the stress of the dingles Avoided the flying PL sides of Fulham and Brighton including long trek away days at teams you'd expect us to struggle against. With Sheff U of course it will be tough at a ground we tend to struggle at, but Leicester was one of those, and Norwich earlier on in the cup, and we dealt well with those. But it is a fellow Championship club who are by no means secure in 2nd place and will have Middlesbrough / perhaps even ourselves not far behind them soon. It is winnable and what a prize on offer. Lose and there's no shame away at a decent side.

Fans Forum 10th October 2022: "SW stated that work was well under way for the 2023/24 season ticket offering and it was hoped that the public launch would be earlier than has been the case in recent seasons" Almost 5 months later and of course, predictably, absolutely nothing on Season Tickets for 2023-24. No intention of getting them on sale early or attempting to capitalise on positive results. Meanwhile clubs up and down the country have been proactive - Bolton one example - have been on sale for several weeks at less than £250 per adult. We will get the usual excuses - it's too early, it won't make any difference to sales, we don't know what league we will be in, blah blah blah but none of that prevents getting them on sale now and encouraging people to buy early with the potential to get PL football in there. If Waggott or anyone else down there had any serious interest or intention of growing numbers and sustaining that beyond one or two games they would be focusing their efforts on this - and driving it properly - including proper incentives to buy early, proper advertising, contacting all database people now including lapsed people to really get numbers up or at least above and beyond 10-11000 for starters. Until we reach that 'milestone' these odd initiatives even if successful won't fill Ewood if we have 8000 season ticket holders to build on.

You can. Bristol City did it the other week. They charged home fans £15 for their game v Norwich and charged Norwich fans £33. That one is just an excuse for not dropping home prices. There's nothing stopping us doing the same for the Burnley game. Of course there might be trouble - its a derby game. Only way to remove that risk is to shut the ground altogether.

Wow. What can I say. The best performance I have seen from a Rovers team in many years. i'm struggling to think of the last time we played to such a standard against such opposition and so deservingly won. I can't remember another occasion. Should have been out of sight and done and dusted by 60 minutes and thought we would pay dearly for not finishing them off but we then showed the other qualities to our game in the last 20 so much so they threatened little despite having most of the ball. Some effort to churn out that sort of performance and result away at a PL side. Another when it is the 2nd time we've done it this season, comparing to year after year of dismal cup efforts under the last manager. The magnitude of the effort to me summed up seeing Dack and Brereton sat in the commentary box, bringing Jack Vale on for the last 20 minutes and having other youngsters on the bench. We are down to the bare bones and are desperately short on options, depth and experience but boy are they stepping up to deal with it. Still think the squad depth issue will be our downfall thanks to incompetence upstairs. Unlike our media frenzied neighbours who have got to the cusp of the QFs having to deal with Crawley Town and Fleetwood at home we have got there the hard way playing 2 solid Championship sides away and a solid PL side away

Reading will bring about 300 which might now hit 500 with the cheap prices. Midweek, will be on TV for those who want to watch it. I suspect there will barely be any recognisable impact on the attendance. If Waggott was serious about bums on seats he'd be using the dingle game as a local promotion, charging £10-15 a head for that and get tickets on sale now (with refunds provided to those unable to go if it moves date). Charge the dingles £32 each. That won't happen.

With our surprisingly good League performances of the last 2 seasons (being in the top 6 for most of them) this has come with an added issue, that of so many more games being selected by Sky for live broadcast. So much so that we have 2 Saturday 3pm home league games in 2023 - Swansea last week and Luton last home game of the season. I'd imagine this nonsense alone will lead a few to question whether it is worthwhile buying an already expensive ST only to see most of the games shifted to annoying or inconvenient times. The Club are well compensated for these fixture changes by Sky - my view is that some of that compensation should be used to reduce ticket prices to offset some of the inconvenience but of course that is wishful thinking with Waggott in charge. Instead the prices keep on going up whilst the extra money the Club gets is never seen.

It always bemuses me when I see Burnley include the FA Charity Shield as an honour. Burnley, as 2nd division winners, were invited to participate because NEITHER the 1st division winners nor the FA Cup winners could be arsed to take part. I mean winning the Shield AFTER winning the 1st division or FA Cup (a major honour) is an extra feather in the cap, a type of 'super cup' but winning it effectively by invitation/default because the usual participants couldn't be bothered joining in I don't think merits it being treated as a serious honour.

We've really, really, really struggled for goals of late, and that has been all too clear in the last 2 home games where we have just done enough. I fear that those struggles will be even harder to overcome away from home. New manager or not if we want to secure a top 6 spot we need to be going and winning away games and after impressive results at Watford and WBA we should be confident at QPR. Sods law that we hit them at this point but it is still early days for Ainsworth there and he's a big job on in the space of a few days to turn it around. But with BBD and Dack both likely out and the players really putting a shift in of late I'm not too confident. Would love another 1-0 professional display.

I thought it was a better performance and game from start to finish tonight compared to Saturday. I think part of that might have been down to a better atmosphere with a reasonable away following, but it was clear we were more 'fired up' to get into them early on whereas on Saturday we seemed to laid back in the first half. After getting 1-0 up particularly second half it was full of commitment and effort and really should have got a second to put it to bed. But another committed display, another deserved clean sheet despite enforced changes at the back and another win. Like or loathe the way we play the results are coming and I don't think anyone can put a negative spin on them at present or our position. Of course there is a good chance it won't continue with the lack of depth and options we have at our disposal, but JDT is finding a way to grind it out at present. Read somewhere that's the 2nd highest points tally at home in the League. Such a crying shame the efforts of July to January didn't earn him a sliver of backing in January. But that's what happens when owned and operated by charlatans, liars and bullshitters. Maybe somewhere in a recess of a Venky or Waggott brain there is a 'what if' ringing about what could be possible this season if they'd made any effort to reinforce in January. Probably not, but Waggott is still cashing in on the 'jam tomorrow' stuff by referencing potential free agent signings that we all know will never materialise. The Mowbray obsessives can have a few nights off, they were out in force last week after Sunderland moved briefly above us but will be silent now we are back above them, as we have been most of the season.

I think the 'multi year project' stuff is just the usual sort of stuff you get from any new manager at a new club. Particularly important at Rovers where there always seems to be a 'jam tomorrow' approach to things. I think your last line there probably sums it up. By the time the Rovers job came up I think JDT was running out of time and alternatives and jumped into it with whatever reservations and drawbacks there were put to one side. He'd been out of work for 6 months and failing to land a job in the summer might have put him on the scrapheap. He needed to get into work and Rovers were presumably the biggest option he got. I think most new managers would ignore or overlook the obvious warning signs hoping that they weren't going to cause a problem, or that the owners were going to change their approach, or that the issues could be managed. Listening to the likes of Waggott and Broughton probably solidified that, giving him the impression we were a properly functioning football club. And to be fair up until January things were reasonably good on that front - there was backing of some level in the summer (essential of course to replace the exodus of quality from last season) but JDT was wise to go with the 'project' talk having had one short summer and transfer window to get to work. The shenanigans of January however I expect have burned bridges big style. So many people mucked around and made to look like fools, and there's no way I'm believing that its all because of box ticking or someone forgetting to fill something in. The 'internal factors' Broughton referred to suggest ownership issues again. So having done a season here, if he keeps us there or thereabouts and then moves on in the summer he will be able to refresh his CV with a reasonable record here. The only way he stays IMO is if there is some reassurance on future backing or if there's literally no option for him to turn to. He doesn't strike me as the sort who will plod along on the road to nowhere whilst being made a fool of, unlike his two predecessors.

Can't see it with Leeds but what I can see are the predicted rumblings of a want away manager. Disastrous transfer window with zero backing to a manager who has had us in the mix all season. Followed by press conferences where he is clearly fuming with the situation and then keen to remind everyone of how well we've done so far this season and then haven't been backed, whereas rivals have strengthened. Manager then suddenly changes agents within a couple of weeks of the window closing. Followed by 'rumours' in the press for the first time of a move elsewhere. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what is going on here. He's been let down and will be planning a move elsewhere. Whether he gets a better offer, or whether he is prepared to stick it out and collect his salary or throw in the towel and go unemployed for a while is the question. Expect to see more of this sort of stuff over the next couple of months.

Shows how different opinions can be, I've seen lots of complaints online about the performance and suggestions we were lucky to get anything. I don't agree. I thought the performance was pretty decent. We looked solid for most of the game, they had few real chances. We didn't offer much of an attacking threat but rarely do - that's only going to be exacerbated when you're away at a side like West Brom who don't concede goals at home. We showed good spirit to get back into it having gone behind from a bit of a mayhem 20-30 seconds in the build up. That was the culmination of a 3-4 minute spell where they got on top but there wasn't really much more than that. Once 1-0 up they resorted to typical Corberan tactics of feigning injury and timewasting at every opportunity. Ref was content to allow them to, shame we didn't have him at Watford when we were 1-0 up and started getting yellow cards for taking too long on throw ins. Don't think anyone can reasonably complain about draws at Watford and WBA and as far as I am concerned far better performances than we were getting a few weeks ago e.g. Rotherham. In theory some 'easier' games coming up but we know what happens with those.

I'd almost be disappointed in JDT if he wasn't looking for a new job. I know people seem to treat Lambert's conduct as unforgivable in having a release clause and throwing in the towel so quickly but I'd expect no less from any remotely ambitious self-respecting manager. That's the reason we ended up with Kean, Bowyer and Mowbray for a grand total of 10 years between them. People who wouldn't have got a look in elsewhere, all of whom overstayed their sell by date, all of whom knew that they weren't going to get better offers any time soon. This is the Club where ambition goes to die, overseen by wasters like Waggott here to meet their own targets, keep things 'ticking over' whilst the club decays. That's why players with ambition have moved on and why Tomasson will too.