Dreams of 1995

There’s absolutely no reason for any of the clubs to vote away their future right to eat at the big table. “Turkeys voting for Christmas” comes to mind. It’s an opportunist power grab by the upper echelons of the game, who make no mistake about it have ambitions beyond a meagre “English game”. They see themselves as Worldwide brands and are looking at using crisis capitalism to accelerate that. If this gets passed through I’ll be done with professional football. Sadly I don’t think it will matter much, but the best each of us can do is start to support our non-league friends and put our money where our mouth is.

I think it’s less about lacking ambition and more about being desperate for cash.

Brereton never develops in my opinion. I got £17m + add ons from Wolves after promotion and he failed badly there. Think he is mincing it about in the lower leagues on my save right now.

Best football we’ve ever seen? Come on man, far from it actually. It’s been fantastic to watch the last 5 games, even the losses we performed well, but it is by no means a sign that this squad plays the best brand of football. Souness early 2000s and Mark Hughes after both played nicer football. There’s not a passer in this team that remotely resembles Tugay. Holtby is good, but he’s a league below. They have some way to go to match them squads.

Same thing happened to me only this weekend man. Back end of last year I tore my right quadricep, I only managed 15 minutes of the last game of last season after it. Played all pre season and managed a start this weekend but even the lads have said I'm a second off what I was before. I could notice it too, I weren't sliding when I otherwise would have and in general just being fearful of going into the same tackles as I otherwise would. Anyway, first start back on Sunday and within 15 minutes I've pulled the tendons in my left ankle. I did it because I made a sliding tackle when before this injury I know I'd have made the 50/50 and put my foot in right away. Left ankle got caught under my backside trying to make up for it and so came the crunch. Ankle in a moon boot and potential surgery on the way. Tearing my quad was my first injury in nearly 20 years playing football, since then I've barely gone 45 minutes without a knock or being behind the pace. Although I blame the lack of physio and the fact I'm a desk jockey now whereas before I was on site active all the time.

Talk of Phil Jones is pie in the sky but even if it wasn't I wouldn't want him. He hasn't gone a season injury free in the past 5 or 6. The last thing we need to be doing is breaking the bank signing a player to sit on the physios bench. We have Mulgrew for that.

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven is a place on Earth

Rhodes is ten times the finisher Armstrong is IMO.

I think this league is there for the taking. The 3 premier league teams to be relegated were all pretty dreadful and are probably at the right level for their squad. Bournemouth are perhaps the better of the 3, but they are / have lost their better players. Last season Leeds and Baggies' squads were good enough to pretty much guarantee a top 6 finish but I don't think we even have 2 teams who we can guarantee play offs for. You have to suspect that eventually the Premier League quality of Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich will show itself but I'm not exactly frightened of any of them. I can't see Reading and Bristol City keeping up this form but in this league nothing surprises me. I'd place a wager that we are amongst the best in the league at the moment and suspect the top 6 will consist of the likes of us, the three relegated teams, Swansea, Brentford, Milwall, Bristol City & potentially Boro. Any variation of that won't be far wrong.

Same team except Nyambe for JRC. Cardiff is a different challenge for us. They've got out and out wingers in Ojo and Hoilett so our full backs will be in for a tough day but suspect they will be more than up to the challenge. There's not really anybody that worries me as I think Lenihan and Williams can handle Moore between them. Predicting a 3-1 win With any luck Brereton to get on the score sheet. He has done everything but score this season and deserves his reward. Feels strange already looking forward to a game.....optimism well and truly back.

Nyambe for JRC and then exactly the same side that played Wycombe. Easy 3 points. I'm going for a 2-0 win for back to back clean sheets and an Armstrong brace.

Our package goes above and beyond the likes of Bolton's, who for some reason have been held up by some on here as a "how to do business". Remarkable, really. No Bolton fan was offered a refund pro-rata the ticket. It was a "buy it and that's it" kind of deal. They are of course helped by the fact their average tickets cost less than an iFollow pass, resulting in an instant saving guaranteed simply by purchasing the ticket anyway. Probably goes a long way to explaining the 7k sales they have had. The only bad thing Waggott has done in this whole debacle is put that price increase in possibly the most poorly timed money grab I have seen. Literally everything in economics is currently trending towards reduced prices (reduced demand = less cost generally) but here we are. The club have probably missed a trick here. They could now be saying to supporters: "there's a price increase coming next season providing fans are allowed back in, however if you buy our season ticket as priced now (last years prices) we will freeze your rate for the following year plus reserve your long-standing seat". That in line with the pro-rata refund would have given us the best package available probably in the League.

I don't think you can accuse Waggott of over pricing. We are priced within the average ST sale price for Championship clubs. In some areas we are lower than average, ie our most expensive. Again, the price hike came at a silly time, but for years we as fans have gotten used to a product that is undervalued in respect to its market comparison. Waggott might have sold more tickets had he not raised it by however many % but that was a commercial risk he took. I don't think we would have got anywhere near the 8k sold mark even if prices remained the same as last season. There's a whole lot of rants about Waggott on here that are both fair and unfair in equal measure. He does strike me as a cheap skate, and everything he does has an element of cheapness to it, but at the same time he is in an almost impossible position of trying to satisfy our now expected low-cost season ticket with the accountants demanding increase in revenue. If the price hike was too expensive for some then it should be more of a jibe at the modern game. You cannot blame our executives for pricing within the average ticket price. Had we been excessively over the market value then the argument stands up to scrutiny, but the simple fact of the matter is that we are bang average in our pricing.

I'm hoping that people are overestimating others' ability to 'fall out of the habit' of football. This isn't like it is a voluntary stay away for some fans. Behind closed doors is a policy forced on us, and presumably by the time it is lifted we will have fans itching to see some football again.

What more can the club do? They have now released kits, season tickets, sold cardboard cut outs, sold iFollow passes. How else can they generate cash flow when the country is once again entering a state of restrictions? All businesses are suffering, not just ours. The above league of losses, if you will, is testament to how we are performing in comparison to other clubs. Cardiff are neither here nor there in terms of expenditure but they are losing a staggering amount of money per match day. The next step is perhaps introducing a 'membership fee' a la the Bundesliga but I doubt many Rovers fan would stump up £50+ for a membership fee to a club that won't offer what the German clubs do - a vote / share Genuinely unsure at what kind of strategy you are after from Rovers to generate income in the event of a Covid-19 restricted lockdown.

You learn something new everyday. Always assumed that because you could at non-league games and in other countries it was an FA rule not law. Needs changing in this day and age imo.

That’s a fantastic idea. However I believe there is a stupid rule which prohibits alcohol being consumed whilst viewing the game if I remember correctly from my time at Aston Villa. This is an FA rule so it would be up to them to cancel it, but I suspect if they don’t it will scupper this idea unless you agree to only have soft drinks served.

If he does do that then I would suggest it would be the nail in his coffin at Rovers. The price increase would have to be on around £170.00 to counter any credit you get back on a £399 ticket. It just won't wash. Even if he tries to claw back 25% of that it is still nearly a £50 rise on top of the increase in prices this year. I don't think you will see a price rise of that magnitude in any commercial business except maybe ones that rely on resources prone to fluctuations (gold, oil, whatever). This is why I genuinely think Rovers will further discount tickets next season. It makes the most commercial sense. It is definitely something I'd be doing if I was working in their department. Although I massively underestimated the uptake in season tickets this year, so any further discount won't benefit the majority and only the 1,200 that have purchased tickets this year. I suspect any reduction in price next season would only bring it back in line with last years ticket prices. I don't think it made short term business sense, as seen by the uptake, but I don't know what the long term commercial plan is. A £80.00 rise is near enough 20% so something suggests a further adjustment in the prices will follow. Again, all guesswork.

The cash has left your bank but that doesn’t mean it’s spent. Although you are right about not knowing what will happen in the next 12 months so, in a short term accounting view, you are right. Like I said to Hoochie though if you are in a position to wait for your money back and want to watch every game, assuming no fans are allowed back this year, then it makes financial sense to buy a ticket. I understand this won’t work for everyone. Honestly, if the price rises next year to offset club credit then I’ll eat my hat and seize watchin Rovers whilst he is in the stadium. That just isn’t business savvy and I won’t try and make out like Waggott would do that because I think it’s unfair to berate the man for something he hasn’t done

That's not necessarily true though Mark. It will cost you £390.00 as you will receive the rest of the money in club credit. Your cash outgoings might show a figure similar to £559.00 but your accounts next year will benefit from that. It is also impossible for him now to reneg on the refund pro-rata because it is written into the contract when you buy the ticket. The only possible get out of the discount is to rise tickets in line with the pro-rata refund offered, but that is business suicide.

Yeah but if you have the cash to be able to stomach the 'loss' now for the credit next year, and you are going to watch every game, it is definitely worthwhile buying a season ticket. All the streamed games comes to £460.00 if you buy them seperately at £10.00 each. All of the streamed games would come to £390.00 if you buy a season ticket, get your free 7 games and then use the money you have "lost" this year (£7.34 x 23) as a discount for next seasons. Am I not explaining it very well? ?

I don't think there is room for any further price increases if you ask me. The more I think about this this years pricing structure the more I think it is setting us up for a reduction in future years. Years ago Rovers devalued their product by offering it at such a low price in respect to the market value of the time. This had short term benefits but obviously has affected the way we think about tickets in the long term. The only long term benefit would have been if people had appreciated the product, changed from their usual product (not often seen in football) and continued to purchase the product in the long term. As football changes year on year it was an unrealistic expectation. Relegations, disillusionment and other factors saw off the increase in fans and left us back with the regular patrons. The market value now tells us that £499.00 is now at the very peak of acceptable East Lancashire pricing for Championship football. There simply isn't room unless the product changes in value, ie: promotion. Even then, a steep increase would be rightly met with derision because there wasn't a similar steep decrease when we played in League 1. Overall I think the logical next step for Rovers commercial team is to reduce the prices next year and give fans a 'double benefit' of discounted fees from this year, and a cheaper ticket next. It might bring back some good will and encourage more on board with a similar tactic used by Williams but one which doesn't overly devalue our product to way below its market value.

There isn't but the club gives you a discount of x amount in respect to the price of ST bought. So if you buy a season ticket for £399.00 you get a discount of of £7.34 per game you can't attend in the ground. £399.00 divided by 23 gives you £17.35 per game. Once you subtract your iFollow pass which is £10.00 it leaves you with the discount the club will provide. But they only subtract 23 x £10.00 and you get the midweek away games for free. Whereas if you don't buy a season ticket you will have to buy the midweek games @ £10.00 a pop. So a season ticket saves you £70.00

Ah you only get the 7? That still comes with a £70.00 saving. You have "lost" your £230.00 but recover it in the value of iFollow, if you recognise its worth at £10.00 a go that is. Effectively it is a no lose situation for a fan, providing you will watch all 30 games via iFollow. If you have a likelihood of missing the iFollow streams then it probably isn't worth buying a season ticket because the cost of the stream is the same whether bought in advance or the week before. @Hoochie Bloochie Mama Correct but you'll only pay £230.00 if you buy a season ticket. The remainder of the season ticket price is given as a discount to next year. So, effectively, again considering the fact you have to watch every game, you will get 7 free games with a ST.

If you are the type of person that is likely to buy every streamed game then buying a season ticket is a no brainer in my opinion. You have a fixed loss of £230.00 - which you'd have spent on tickets anyway. You save £230.00 from not having to purchase away games - I believe this comes f.o.c for season ticket holders doesn't it? You save your ticket money less the iFollow cost of £230.00 towards next seasons' ticket.