23 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

You are right, and I’m not going to turn down gossip, glad that he had your ear, it’s what makes the football world turn, but it speaks volumes of the calibre of Exec we now have.

To be fair John Williams was exactly the same. He bought us a drink in one of the lounges once and he and I got chatting at the bar. Back at the table Tom Finn joked to Mrs Frost "that's the last you'll see of Ben tonight" and he wasn't far wrong - I got the next round in and we were still stood at the bar. 

I guess the only difference is I didn't get home and share any of that conversation on the internet.

5 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What's the point you're trying to make other than being your usual contrary self?

Never seen anyone allege it cost any more than a total of £85 k to fly BB back, and you yourself have noted it costs "from" 60 k Euros to fly over the Atlantic so the figures would roughly tally up.

As to whether it was worth whatever we paid then I'd say it would have been worth it had he started and made a significant contribution to us winning the game.

I think only Mowbray though could agree to or request that BBD be flown back specially at a cost of up to £85k then leave him sat on the bench for 87 mins!

I can't believe I'm bothering with this, but anyway. There were 6 passengers on the flight. So the alleged 85k is immediately divided by 6.

If you book a taxi from Ewood Park to The Railway at Plezzy, and Mill Hill Cabs quote you 6 quid, that's for the journey, not per passenger - right?? 

Personally I suspect the flight was organised by the Chilean FA and they will also have paid for part of it, so it probably cost Rovers (and the other European clubs who used it) well less than 10k each to get their players back home asap and in the most convenient and comfortable way possible.

Explaining this is not being "contrary", it's pointing out the fact that "Rovers spent 85k for BBD to sit on the bench" is complete rubbish.

15 hours ago, Wheelton Blue said:

Assuming that the 85k was spent over and above what it would have cost to fly Brereton back anyway, and was spent purely so he could play some part in Saturday's game...

I'd say in hindsight, that was a terrible waste of money. He sat on for the bench for 70 minutes, and when he did come on made no material impact on the game whatsoever. 85k straight down the pan. 

This £85k is fiction becoming BRFCS fact. Even arbitro when he posted it flagged it was a rumour. So why you are now running with it in this and the transfer thread I'm not sure. 

You only have to look 2 pages back to see there were 6 of them on the plane. An eastbound private jet for up to 8 passengers over the Atlantic is currently quoted from 60k Euros. 

By your logic if they each paid £85k then that flight cost over half a million quid! It's just nonsense.

48 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Don't you think it's because of what he's done for Chile that we have a reborn, revitalised and confident player. His stock has risen remarkably and we may cash in on that but the Chilean coaching staff deserve huge praise for getting something in a few weeks that Mowbray and his dullards couldn't get in nigh on three years.

Chile wouldn't have gone near the Ben Brereton of two years ago - I doubt San Marino would have. 

So following your logic Mowbray and co will have to take the credit for getting BBD to a place where this international career was even a possibility. 

7 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

So we sign a 7m player, barely play him for 18 months, then when he finally starts coming good, we haven't kept an eye on his contract and he ends up walking out for next to nothing.

Only in Mowbray and Waggott land  

This is criticism for the sake of criticising. Because if the Ben Brereton of 6 months ago had been given a lucrative and lengthy contract extension by Rovers, there would have been uproar on here, probably led by yourself. 

I've been a paid up Blues Bar member for several years, 60 quid a year. Not sure how many members there are, probably between 100 and 200. So the club has probably had between 6 and 12 grand from us this season just for membership. 

Couldn't get served before West Brom game without a half hour queue. People who I know have paid the £60 were walking out and going to the Fernhurst.

Queued for 25 minutes at West Brom half time, absolute shambles. 

That should be solved by more staff and better trained staff, but there is a national problem in this sector and Sodexo are not immune. 

So I don't agree that this change to £3 is a ploy to squeeze potential BB customers, I think it's to prevent a riot from those of us who have already coughed up 60 quid which so far this season has been for absolutely nothing. We'd be getting served quicker on the concourse, and cheaper. It's £5.50 for a Kronenbourg in Blues on a matchday, utterly ridiculous pricing. 

17 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

It's difficult to believe people like this aren't Club plants. Mowbray could gun both  of their parents down in broad daylight and they'd find a positive to it.

The LT comments section is the same. Quite ludicrous and anyone who comes out with any adverse comment is instantly shot down or labelled a troll or a Dingle.

You do realise that this place is exactly the same but in reverse don't you? 

The mere fact that in order to get opinion onto this MB which runs contrary to the group think, it has to be screenshot from FB or Twitter or the LT comments tells you everything you need to know about how insular and hostile this place has become. And those screen shots aren't placed on here to start a sensible discussion, they are placed on here to be ridiculed with no right of reply. 

To use an analogy involving Mowbray shooting family members is quite distasteful IMO. That fan is as entitled to their opinion as you are to yours.

2 hours ago, Ulrich said:

Since we seemed to have reached a census, can we rename the thread the TM statement.

That was yesterday 

6 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

So JH is Richard Oakley? Why would he bother?

This place isn’t representative, just like the LT comments or Facebook. However, there is rarely any nuance in your posts, just unflinching support of a regime that has turned us into a pathetic shadow of what they inherited.

Again a distortion. I've already said I don't think these plans will get past Base 1. That's not unflinching support, it's an opinion that the planning process and RVBC will leave this dead in the water.

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

A new low Ben.

Your contribution to this vitally important thread has reduced to baseless accusations that one of our most forensic, passionate fans on here is a fraud?

Look to the early pages and I’m probably saying Cat A, like JH I’m used to talking about ticket pricing, so an easy slip up to make... or am I secretly Stuart or Rev?

Though shows how difficult even you are finding being a contrarian on this issue...

You don't reply to Stuart or Rev's posts and start the response with the words "I'd missed off .... "

Or for that matter (going back a couple of months) state as fact that the undersoil heating at Ewood has been left to rot. Shown up for the lie that it was when it transpires the undersoil heating has actually been on for weeks at a time this winter.

That's not forensic or passionate, it's making things up to fit a viewpoint.

As for contrarian - not correct. You yourself have often said how this site is not representative of the wider fanbase. It's an echo chamber, total silo mentality. Look at how some posters have treated 1864 and O2G on this thread - not for stating a view one way or the other on the actual plans, but just for pointing out flaws in some of the wilder arguments, or giving neutral information on the actual planning process.

It appears that some regular posters here just want a place where everyone thinks and says the same.

5 hours ago, Richard Oakley said:

You ought to have left defending yourself to others. They're doing a better job. Your reputation ain't worth a damn.

[...] 

the facilities that give us CAT A and we lose that status in an instant and our place in the PL2 top division vanishes overnight. The Academy would go soon after. You clearly don't value the Academy, Cat A status or Jack Walker's legacy. 

Did you know that the correct description is Category 1? There's nearly 2000 posts in this thread and only you and JH Rover who call it Category A 🤷‍♂️ 

And then there's this weird thing where you reply to JHRover in the first person... 

3 hours ago, darrenrover said:

The silence is fucking deafening and says it all for me...hang your bloody heads!!

WE ARE The Rovers!!!

It's not really clear who is guilty of being silent or who should be hanging their heads. Or why you are throwing various forms of the "F" word into every post you make in this thread. 

Personally I expect this whole thing to fall over at the first hurdle, ie these speculative applications for proof of concept will fail.

But let's play devil's advocate for a minute and imagine a scenario where RVBC ignore the lack of infrastructure, inadequate roads etc, and go after the council tax revenue from some new houses, so this actually goes to the next stage. 

That would then be the time to study the detailed plans for the new Training Centre which would inevitably follow. It would also be the right time to raise objections if those plans didn't come up to scratch.

The club is clearly and publicly committing to Category 1. Steve Waggott in the Fans Forum minutes says "the most important criterion for the development was that Category 1 status for the Academy must be retained". The website is even clearer "we are 100% committed" (screenshot) 

The club has achieved and then retained Category 1 ever since the Elite Player Performance Plan was introduced in 2012. That has taken a lot of money and even more hard work.

It also means that the relevant staff at BRFC know exactly what is required to maintain Category 1, and are very proud that Rovers continue to aspire to it and retain it. That's not achieved at CEO or Board level, that's people lower down the admin structure and more particularly the Academy management. 

So personally I don't agree with the speculation that Category 1 can't be done on the new site even if combined with the Senior facility, it will have been discussed and scoped with the people who have kept the club Cat 1 for the last 9 years.

There ends playing devil's advocate. But as above, the only way this moves forward is if RBVC chase the cash above looking after their residents in Brockhall. 

15 minutes ago, den said:

Planning application going in for the houses whatever happens to the Academy or it’s status. These plans have been in the pipeline for quite some time, but Waggott decided to keep the fans in the dark.

I can’t put into words how I feel about the whole scenario. Jack Walkers money paid for everything down at Brockhall and this crew are cashing in on it. 
 

Disgusting.

"The proposals for both sites are inextricably linked meaning the residential development can only go ahead in conjunction with the building of the new training facility" 

49 minutes ago, booth said:

In other words I’ve signed in to take you down a peg, but now I’ll passively aggressively retreat with my tail between my legs.

No one is denying you an opinion, disagreeing is not denying. Coming onto a Rovers focused forum and posting a contrary view when tensions are high isn’t going to gain you much support. Perhaps stick to Twitter where there’s a much more diluted and generally less invested readership. Either that or as they say in journalism class, grow a thicker skin.

That's not fair. Someone's taken a screenshot of his Twitter and posted it on here to be used as target practice for the mob. It's worrying that this MB is now so polarised and so intolerant of alternative views that taking screenshots from social media is the only way to see a different view, because no sane Rovers fan who supports Mowbray staying is going to volunteer that opinion on here. Life is too short.

Even just from the last few pages people who don't want Mowbray potted have been patronisingly tagged as "happy clappers", "superfans" and "Facebook Fanboy Cult". But it's an entirely legitimate position to have as a Rovers fan. I get on a Zoom with about a dozen mates after some Saturday games (sadly not in the actual pub for now) and that group is 80/20 in favour of not sacking. Age range mid-30s to mid-50s. No happy clappers or Facebook Fanboys. Just normal Rovers fans. (About half of them used to post on here, none of them even read it anymore).

Dan Clough has had his Twitter posted in a forum where it was bound to attract venom. Why shouldn't he be allowed to come on and defend himself for a couple of hours, but then get on with his Sunday afternoon? People need to take a step back.

10 hours ago, TheRovers1994 said:

I heard waggot wants the shop moving to a better location just the shop being at the back of the away fans maybe a bit strange.

 a few years ago the plans where revealed for a new 4G pitch abd facility's and the other day I thought why don't we rebuild the BRIC abd have a gym and swimming pool etc on there giving discount to season ticket holders maybe ? 

The old church car park would be a good place to sell so coffee shops abd greggs etc can be there 

A club museum attached to the new stand would be brilliant with a cafe we have a big history we shoukd celebrate it 

Sorry to be picky, but you want to put a Greggs directly opposite Ewood Sandwich Bar and Leavers Pies. 

Think again.

37 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

 Any other manager would at that point had a bust-up with Warnock. Souness would have clocked him probably. Tony "Nice Guy" Mowbray smiles and picks up his latest pension cheque

Mowbray did quite clearly say "f*** off Neil" towards the end of the match on Sunday (at 4.53pm to be precise). It came through nice and loud on the TV. Didn't see any other Neils anywhere around at the time. 

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

The fact that we are the top scorers is irrelevant, it is where we are in the league that matters. 

It's where we are in the league in 104 days time that really matters 

21 minutes ago, Richard Oakley said:

This game was a must win for Mowbray's job. Whenever he's been in that position, the team's gone out and won the game for him.

It really wasn't 

On 19/01/2021 at 13:20, JHRover said:

What an absolute shambles. The people owning and running the club should be thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.

The people I feel sorry for are the ground staff and players. 

The ground staff do the best they can with the resources they are given. It is clear the owners and directors have cut corners and costs and now it comes home to roost.

The players have joined this club presumably thinking they are joining a professional and serious operation hoping to get to the Premier League. 

Yet a stadium and pitch barely maintained, no undersoil heating and blocked drains getting games called off. Its like amateur hour.

I don't believe the volume of rain has been unprecedented and alone has caused the postponement. Neglect of facilities and corner cutting has exacerbated the problem significantly.

Curious how for 25 years after Ewood was rebuilt the rain never caused a postponement and yet during the Venky malaise the pitch is a disgrace and can't cope with heavy showers.

We need owners who care and take pride in the club. It embarrasses me.

Anyone else noticed the Frost covers laid out alongside the Ewood pitch recently? Looks like they've given up on the undersoil heating. Presumably it costs too much or they haven't bothered maintaining it so instead are using sheets to stop the pitch becoming frozen.

The frost covers were donated by the 100 Club to help the academy at Brockhall. It seems these covers have been requisitioned and moved to Ewood Park. 

Not a problem? Well it means the Brockhall pitches aren't covered from frost so the team won't train on there. This is the reason the team have trained on Ewood recently as it is the only unfrozen grass pitch. This is the reason the pitch has rapidly deteriorated into the mess it is because in addition to games it has been used for training.

What an absolute shambles. Venkys, Waggott and Mowbray out asap.

Head Groundsman Trevor Wilkin - directly quoted in the Club Statement:

"Ultimately, the first team needed to train, so Ewood, which has undersoil heating, was used as a training facility for two days in the lead up to the FA Cup tie against Doncaster."

"it really was unavoidable on this occasion, as there would not have been enough time for the pitch to drain into the River Darwen, whose levels were already extremely high"

"The weather had also taken its toll on the training ground, with all the pitches frozen, even though they had been covered with the frost sheets."

In other words, the undersoil heating at Ewood works, the drains aren't blocked, and the frost sheets are still at Brockhall.  All of which makes your attack on the club on Tuesday look rather undermined. Or based on statements which you presented as fact when you didn't actually know them to be true.

4 hours ago, JHRover said:

We can be absolutely certain that if Waggott is behind the 'renovation' it will be a cheap and cheerful patch up job like every other summer and he'll be relying on nice weather and 2 months of no football more than anything else to sort it.

Sharpe could really set the cat among the pigeons by ringing up Andy Holt and asking him how much Stanley have spent on their pitch the last 4 years. That would hammer things home I'm sure when compared to Rovers.

Sharpe could also wind it up by asking Waggott whether the new pitch or new Riverside stand will get priority. Neither likely to happen for a very long time.

The only way any serious work will be done is if the owners are shamed into action or Mowbray brings it up as a big problem.

I hope Mowbray won't even be here by then but if he is i hope he will have bigger things on his plate than the state of the pitch and will be clinging to his job. He's not going to start making additional demands stretching into 7 figure investments.

I've spoken to Trevor Wilkin a few times and I've no doubt he works his socks off and has always done his best. Approaching 40 years at the club is some effort.

Same goes for many others who work hard but unfortunately when you have owners who couldn't give a stuff and bullshitters in the boardroom there's only one way things end up.

 

There is no doubt that the pitch is a mess, and the club has released a comprehensive statement explaining how that has happened, and what they intend to do about it in the short and long term.

I'm not sure why that has triggered you to launch this latest rant against the club, starting off with the words "We can be absolutely certain" but once again based on nothing factual. Perhaps it's because you're a bit embarrassed that your mate Trev has so comprehensively exposed Tuesday's post for what it is.

3 hours ago, Stuart said:

Worrying times

I'm not worried. These owners have paid the bills come what may, even through the pandemic. And seem to be happy to sanction new signings to bolster the defence during this window. 

You and your ilk have held Derby up as the way to create success in this league - yeah, sell the ground to the owners for 50 million quid, yeah sign Rooney on a deal with a betting company for the 32 shirt number

Derby can't even pay December's wages despite all of their dodgy FFP swerves and supposedly new owners. 

People need to stop over-analysing what might happen after the pandemic and think more about how on earth Rovers are still solvent after 10 months of zero income. 

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Im not too sure that social media reactions are relevant at all to be honest.

In which case neither is any opinion  on this website, including yours. 

1 hour ago, LDRover said:

I've noticed a shift in the attitudes on social media towards Mowbray. It has softened on us making the playoffs but now hardened towards this being our level and TM doing well to keep us here.

Makes me so angry reading that shite.

Why get angry? Yet another example of the superiority complex which is evident all over this forum. As you used to write the LET fan column I'm really surprised that you are attacking fellow Rovers fans like this. 

They are as entitled to their views as you are to yours. 

41 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I dont think that everything is rational on here but lets be honest, he has been in and out, and almost symbolic of the last 7 years in which he has been here. A skeptical attitude is totally understandable.

If only you had spelt it correctly (unless you were intentionally merging sceptical with skeletal, in which case the post of the year trophy is waiting ?) 

I just don't understand the hate here (except that it's from the usual suspects who need a target).

His terrifying injury happened in this calendar year!!  How many of his critics would be bouncing back to work full steam ahead after having part of your face and skull rebuilt?

But Evans did bounce back - his comeback game in June he was MOTM against Bristol City, and scored a goal.

And then fractures his big toe. Now that's apparently his fault because he's "injury prone" and "saving himself for NI"

Really?

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

Correct.

I certainly won’t be subscribing to BT Sports but would have dropped a fiver to iFollow to watch

That's what you said, and is specific to this game. BT Sport don't tend to broadcast any of our other U23 or U18 matches. 

23 hours ago, Stuart said:

Wonder why Rovers can’t stream U23 games (and even U18s).

I certainly won’t be subscribing to BT Sports but would have dropped a fiver to iFollow to watch.

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

They probably can, just not interested I'm guessing.

iFollow is owned by EFL. This is the FA Cup and BT have the rights. 

So no, Rovers couldn't have streamed it.