9 hours ago, skous18 said:

Maybe monkey noises in the UK sound like booing and thats why you got confused, who knows ?‍♂️

I'll be honest. Masked men giving Nazi salutes and racially abusing others can't really be misunderstood and it's not a subject for levity. It's not a Bulgarian thing. It's not an English thing. It's a issue for humanity that vermin across the world from Charlottesville to Sofia via Stamford Bridge can still grow up thinking this is fine.

I think we can all agree that the only realistic way we'll ever get our various finances/attendances/ownership issues sorted is promotion.

Accordingly, I can't really see a difference between lower Championship stagnation and League 1. Possibly catastrophe might be hastened by relegation but it's coming anyway as things stand losing so much every season with Venkys liable to pull the plug any given year when we least expect it. Can Mowbray be the man to get us up? No. I have thought that last season and this (it's not a reaction to today). That being said, what benefit is there keeping him? None as I can see. Decency and honesty steadied the ship. Now it's listing again.

I don't have opinions on which up and coming manager we could get. Or which decent name we haven't considered. As for: "The idiots will pick someone worse!"... You can't do worse than this turgid mediocrity. Time to jump on the merry-go-round.

Simple question. A few decent outings aside, does anyone disagree with any of these statements?

1. Graham is better than Gallagher

2. Strikers are best played up front.

3. Holtby and Rothwell are both better than Armstrong.

4. Nyambe is better than Bennett.

5. Dack's been indifferent all season.

39 minutes ago, MCMC1875 said:

Really?

1. Get season tickets on sale in April £300 JW, £200 BBE & Riverside.

2. Matchday tickets £20. West Brom do it.

3. No attendance surcharge.

4. Get transport organised to home games. £3 return from Blackburn & Darwen. £5 return from Ribble Valley, Hyndburn, Rossendale & South Ribble.

5. Resurrect the Supporters branches 

6. Abolish 1875 club to make season tickets more prized.

7. Pie & pint £5. Happy hour 1-3 and 5-6 £2 a pint.

8. Reopen the original family stand.

9. Restart Radio Rovers.

10. Stop moving kick off times and treating the supporters like idiots.

11. Get some decent beers on sale.

12. Turn the tannoy down to encourage singing.

13. Reuse the original TV gantry. The sight lines at the back of the Riverside have been ruined by the 3 new ones.

14. Abolish Cat A1/A/B pricing. It was originally brought in for games against top 4 Prem clubs, not 2nd division rubbish let alone 3rd division.

15. Show some respect to the paying season ticket holders by cutting back on the freebies. 1,000 complementary tickets is ridiculous for a club struggling to pull in 12,000.

16. Last but not least, get some weedkiller sprayed behind Bolton Road in front of the JW Stand. It's a bloody disgrace.

In a perfect world, all good ideas (from a personal POV Radio Rovers was garbage though). Unfortunately, this list can be simplified to: Charge peanuts across the board as if we're a League 2 nobody so less incoming and spend more on coaches, radio etc ie. more outgoing. Not going to happen. Moving kick-offs is rarely the club's decision; it's Sky's. Giving out freebies is an attempt at growing the support base which we're all moaning they don't try to do enough.

Torn on this. In isolation, he would be an excellent addition but who would drop out? I can only assume he'd take Armstrong's place and further push Rothwell down the pecking order as part of the supporting 3. Would this make Gallagher the central striker? Do we really need this? Money no object then the more the better but I'm guessing he'll command quite high wages. Can we afford him?

A comfortable win. We vastly improved when Rothwell came on and we put an actual forward up front. Armstrong looked very poor. Hard to choose MOTM but I'd give it Williams. Who knew such a weak left back would be so immense in the centre?! Wish we'd have gone hard at them at the end instead of easing off though.

Do you reckon they've cottoned on that the new caterers have bombed? https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/september/beat-the-clock/

If the point is to prepare them for the first team, why is Chapman up front and Hart on left wing?! Samuel looking a passenger with nothing sticking. 45 mins of running I suppose. Impressed by 4. Is that Lyons?

No Rankin Costello tonight but Hart is on show. Spoilers?

Just now, Atko's Engine said:

Those at Hull, what are refreshment prices, variety & quality like? Good or not compared to Ewood?

A bit cheaper (not much). With it being a newish ground in the middle of the park, no options around the ground; not even a burger van.

I'm here but no-one else is! 9 people in away bar. Should be a cracking atmosphere...

First trip to Ewood this season and think I'll try out the new menu. Can't complain about prices without quality...

Erm...

40 minutes to kick-off and the pies  "aren't ready". I can forgive many things but 6 servers watching a stack of pies warm up? Piss take...

Just now, Oldgregg86 said:

Just got in. Did we sign anyone. Did we lose anyone

did magloire go to rochdale

Who knows, who knows and yes. You've joined us right when the excitement meter went ding.

Honestly so glad I got a Fulham ticket now. One depressing way or another surreal one, it's going to be an experience...

Firstly I must admit I didn't go yesterday as Garstang Show was on. Any point I make might get countered by: "In the ...th minute, they did this...". It does seem though that the pattern all through pre-season which everyone, including Mowbray, could see carried on into the proper stuff.

1. Certain players really slow our play down. Bell and Mulgrew stood out in this for me against Bury and Blackpool.

2. The ONLY player capable of breaking past players and disrupting the opposition's shape is Rothwell. Without him they are able to sit in banks relatively easily.

3. Dack has seemingly lost himself somewhere in midfield.

4. Playing strikers on the wings in folly. They're not in a place to score (the thing they're supposedly best at), they can't cross as well as proper widemen and, MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR US, they are inexperienced at helping out full backs. This also means that full backs will hesitate to bomb on as they know the winger isn't able to cover them if they're left high up the pitch in a counter attack.

5. Point 4 would matter a little less if a decent full back was played. No-one has ever argued that Bennett is better than Nyambe. As far as I know, Mowbray hasn't ever claimed this either. WHY IS HE PLAYING?!

Just now, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Pure folly to focus the club's efforts on the Towns Asian population,Cricket is their main Sport.The few who do follow football choose to wear the Red of either Utd or Liverpool.

From my experience they will definitely not pay good money to watch footy at Ewood.

That's the reason why we SHOULD focus on this. This is not an easy task and won't happen overnight. This is a project which may well take decades.Parents will pay money for almost anything given sufficient pestering. We just need to work in schools and in whatever youth social activities there are to convince the young to give live football a shot. Going to a live game is always better than watching big clubs on the tv. To begin with, I would focus on this aspect and try to hook a few that way.

To be honest, I don't see ever cheaper tickets as the answer. We can demand dirt-cheap prices all we like but that would completely defeat the point of selling an extra thousand. We need finance. Either it comes from India or it comes from us. If tickets cost £15 a game, there'd still be those asking for discounts for certain games (kids for a quid is great as a one-off by the way).

Those who don't go for whatever reason, be it protest, distance, price, fine. Those who go, fine. Let's not go over old, poisonous ground.

There are only two ways of getting larger (I'm talking around the 20k mark) attendances regularly. One is promotion back to the top flight and the other is establishing a core of Asian fans over several years. This is clearly on their agenda and is already having an effect. It is noticeable that the number of Asian fans attending is beginning to creep up. Personally, I'd have taken the change of caterers as an opportunity to include a halal option with massive marketing of these efforts with leaflets for every house down Audley, Whalley Range etc.

Same comment in Season Tickets thread. Merging?

To be honest, I don't see ever cheaper tickets as the answer. We can demand dirt-cheap prices all we like but that would completely defeat the point of selling an extra thousand. We need finance. Either it comes from India or it comes from us. If tickets cost £15 a game, there'd still be those asking for discounts for certain games (kids for a quid is great as a one-off by the way).

Those who don't go for whatever reason, be it protest, distance, price, fine. Those who go, fine. Let's not go over old, poisonous ground.

There are only two ways of getting larger (I'm talking around the 20k mark) attendances regularly. One is promotion back to the top flight and the other is establishing a core of Asian fans over several years. This is clearly on their agenda and is already having an effect. It is noticeable that the number of Asian fans attending is beginning to creep up. Personally, I'd have taken the change of caterers as an opportunity to include a halal option with massive marketing of these efforts with leaflets for every house down Audley, Whalley Range etc.

Copied and pasted in Attendances. Any chance of combining the threads?

Anyone else go? I popped down to look at training and check out the new concourse food offerings. Plenty of families on the rides out the back. Good weather and good times had by all. We do seem to be putting a lot of effort into hooking the next generation these days, fair play.

On the other hand, I did note a general price increase for food. The new menu seems a bit 'glossy'. What the hell is a Meister dog?! What exactly are 'dirty fries'? Whatever they are, they're £4.50. Chips up from £2 to £3. Wrights pies at £3.60. Think I'll stick to the van at the back of the club shop...

He'll be OK as a goal-scorer at League 1 but will still need some patience. When he got a few games for us in that league, he did score a couple but it never led anywhere. Got to be honest, he really needs a move to a club where he is undisputed first choice up front playing to his strengths in the 6-yard box. Best of luck to him.

As someone who went yesterday, I thought it was a lot more even than you seem to. Our lack of energy from back to front played into your counter attacking plan and a few scrambles could have gone the other way and led to goals. Admittedly, we had an extra gear to give if we'd needed it.

I'm hoping that the full backs are cobbled together and Downing moving back affected left wing. Those 3 positions aside it looks OK. Hopefully CB gets sorted this week.

I thought this would be our first XI. I can't be right, can I?!

Just now, Stuart said:

The blue looks a different shade again in that photo. Still haven’t seen it live.

It's definitely the same blue. Weird how every photo looks a different colour. Personally like this blue but can't stand the away kit.

18 minutes ago, Feed the Yak said:

Is it only available in store do you know? Would be great to see a pic. 

There's a rail of ladies' kits in the store with a few men's versions. The guy behind the counter seemed surprised when he went for the stock boxed kit and I wanted this version off the rail.

Just got the ladies' team home shirt (men's XL size). Identical in every way to the men's team but with Watson Ramsbottom in a pleasing red to match the trim instead of 10Bet. Quite pleased...