Simon, cash out. Now. Immediately. 

Please.

3 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Looks like Forest have chucked all of their new signings into the team together. McKenna, Arter, Mbe Soh, Christie, and then Taylor, Freeman and Blackett too. Certainly hasnt been reading the Mowbray text book. Huddersfield have a terrible team on paper.

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Just as bad!

Forest played 3 lost 3. The game isn't played on paper, certainly not in this crazy division. 

46 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I still dont think you understand why that argument is a load of bollocks, because the club could never know.

They waited and then announced when they thought one thing, 7 days later, the situation is the total opposite. They were in the same position in terms of being SURE as they would have been had they announced them 2 months prior. That argument makes zero sense, and indeed was proven as such because even when they THOUGHT they were sure, the whole thing changed almost immediately after putting them on sale.

That uncertainty always would have been there and was always there, thats not a logical reason, even objectively, for a delay.

 

You're using the benefit of hindsight of the last 7-10 days to criticise the club (again) when over the last 2-3 months, the direction of travel had been very much towards opening things back up again and after holding the pilot events there had been genuine hope of getting fans back inside football grounds in the very near future.

The fact that this "second wave" (if that's what it is) became a thing just a week after STs going on sale clearly is going to stop sales in their tracks, but it's not fair to expect that the club should have been able to predict when and how Covid-19 cases would evolve, or how the government would respond specifically in relation to fans in grounds.

Also, whilst so keen to throw mud at BRFC, you neglect to mention that the argument all summer long for having STs on sale when those other clubs did was because they would have money to invest on signing players and we wouldn't. That is conveniently overlooked now that we have made signings despite not having had STs on sale.

And those much loved rival clubs who have sold thousands of Season Tickets - without being able to tell the people who were buying them what exactly they were paying for - will now be either having to hand the money back, defer, or invent some other method of refunding their fans.

At least those of us Rovers fans who have bought, knew exactly what it is we were getting. I can quite imagine the uproar on here had they put "something" on sale in June and then following last weeks government intervention said "sorry, you can't come to Ewood and we've spent all your ST money on a new goalkeeper so you can't have it back"

3 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

So by a combination of not putting memberships on sale early enough and when they were finally put on sale raising prices by up to 25% at a point  in time when it was obvious that it would not be possible to attend in person for large parts of the season, Waggott has single handedly managed to decimate the season ticket base from around 8'500 to c1200.

Hats off to the bloke, genius, that takes some doing even in the current climate.

That's factually incorrect. Several pilot games took place at the weekend with fans in grounds. It's only today that the "pause" has become reality.

Regarding not putting STs on sale early enough, I'm sorry that's just rubbish! People have been happy to quote Luton, Bolton, Salford, Stanley ST sales figures all summer on here as proof that Rovers had got it wrong. 

So Bolton have sold 8,000. Luton 5,000. Let's now see JHRover and co post links to those clubs refund policies for their thousands of fans who have been shelling out cash all summer for a product now confirmed as undeliverable. 

5 minutes ago, Mercer said:

I'm not that feckin old!

Look, if I hear something I post it along with names like Michel the French goalie (posted weeks ago and then Sharpe in LT mentioned) and Juklerod (posted yesterday).

I think Rovers' transfer 'policy'- if you can call it that- is all over the place and I very much doubt even Mowbray knows what will happen when he walks into 'the building' each day.  IMO, there will be one 'big' departure before the window closes, mainly to help the cash position and partially to facilitate a couple or so of permanent signings. 

The evidence so far suggests the complete opposite.

Two of the most important positions which needed addressing have been, with high quality recruits at fees and wages which are acceptable. 

But the real coup may turn out to be moving so quickly to sign Dolan as soon as he became available. There must have been other interested parties given what we have seen so far. 

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

So he isn't out of contract in 8 months?

So come back and use your strawman argument in 8 months, if he leaves. 

Don’t pretend it's "likely" when you don't have the slightest idea what the player or the club intend to do regarding a new contract. 

23 minutes ago, JHRover said:

What's the point in giving all these youngsters a chance if we are just going to let them leave for nothing as Nyambe is likely to do?

Now you're just making things up. 

23 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Hearing WBA fancy Armstrong

Give your ear trumpet a clean then 

4 hours ago, JHRover said:

3 signings absolute minimum needed, assuming we have given over trying to shift Williams out and the manager starts speaking as though he is part of our plans moving forward.

Realistically it is 4 or 5 required to add the necessary depth to the squad given the outgoings.

No way. 4 or 5 more players? I want to see our promising crop of youngsters given a chance, not pushed away from the First Team by unnecessary squad padders.

10 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

The bit in bold is just blatantly obvious, of course he’s been left behind on the pitch, so no idea how that paints ‘99 as clueless.

The fact he obviously plays a role off the field and looks a very popular club captain is a totally different issue, and probably why he will be here until his contract runs out in 9 months time, and I’ve no particularly issue with that, lot of cogs to running a successful sports team.

Because -

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Hes always given his all and has a year left on his contract, I personally think it would be best for all if Bennett could find a home elsewhere, even if it means supplmenting his wages. Hes League 1 standard although maybe someone near the bottom of this League may find some use for him.

When the 1st team squad is mainly youngsters, Graham, Downing, Smallwood have gone, Mulgrew is out of the picture, you need characters like Bennett in the dressing room.  Even Lenihan is young for a captain. Mr 99 doesn't seem to understand this.

Williams looked like he was being sold (hope we now keep him - don't see where a better back up is coming from), Holtby has only been here a year and Johnson blows hot and cold. Bennett is a consistent senior squad member in the dressing room now the likes of Graham and Downing have gone.

51 minutes ago, windymiller7 said:

Thanks for the reply. Didn't try the option a 2nd time so don't know. (Wish I'd waited a bit for your reply now!)

Renewed anyway but let's just say I'm gonna be a bit skint for a couple of months now!

Surely the better idea would be just to go with the Premium Credit option first time!

Finance company is V12 who were used last year.

V12 take the risk, ie Rovers get all the money up front and if someone stops paying the installments it's V12 who lose out. 

The Premium Credit back up option last year was offered after V12 were rejecting people but was done on the basis of Rovers taking on the risk. I can't see that being offered in these circumstances.

I'm not sure how V12 assess people because my credit score is far from ideal yet over the last couple of years they've financed me a new washing machine, a new laptop and last years ST ?‍♂️ 

14 minutes ago, Ricky said:

Why is the keeper not up for that corner. 10 seconds left and we don’t push the 6ft 4 keeper up!

Not only that but of the 5 corners we forced in the last 8 minutes of the game, we took 2 of them short and never had enough outfield players in the box never mind the goalkeeper! FFS! 

I do think that people forget that in 2006-7, a Blackburn End adult Season Ticket was priced at £425, for a 19 game season so £22.37 per game.

The first big Sky TV money subsidised reduction saw that drop to £299 for 2007-8, and of course they dropped it to £199 a few seasons later again on the back of TV cash.

The fact that 14 years later the price of an Adult ST in the Blackburn End still isn't back to what it was before those price cuts says everything about the risk of going down that route at the time, even if it did have the desired effect of creating a significant boost in ST numbers in the short term. The Sky money which in effect paid for those price cuts is long gone.

So whilst a 50 quid increase is never going to be met with fans cheering from the rooftops, in context the prices are reasonable both in comparison to the early 2000s at Ewood and to other clubs in the division today.

34 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Can't see much for us here.

They'll be on a high after tonking West Ham and we'll probably be starting the season off with 2 straight defeats.

Apart from beating Doncaster. Which is why we're even playing Newcastle 

3 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

Completely gutted when he left cos he was one of our own that was obviously PL quality.

Massively shit decision to flog Raya.

David Dunn is one of our own. David Raya isn't, despite his amazing progression through our academy system into the first team. 

Too many mistakes, and of course all keepers have a catalogue of howlers. I can still see the Collymore / Flowers bobble ? 

If Raya does move to Arsenal for the money being talked about and we take a cut then it's an absolute result imo ?

Comfortable with the ball on both feet, good distribution, pushed the defence further up the pitch by coming so far out of the box at every opportunity. Didn't really get tested today because no human could have saved any of the 3 goals. First impressions = certainly better than Walton. Probably better than Raya. 

In that interview clip he refers to Season Ticket pricing being higher in the Jack Walker Upper than in all of the lower tiers. With no reference to corporate. I think someone set a rabbit away this morning and caused several pages of unnecessary chaos! 

Quote from the LET article :

"and the Jack Walker Upper to be for the corporate angle, because we’re looking to get the number of people in we can using the lounges and there will be tickets for people up there who want to buy on a season ticket basis.

“The lower tiers are going to be one price, including the Riverside, and I want those to be filled before we start to look at the Blackburn End or Darwen End upper tiers.”

Am I interpreting this wrong, because to me that bit in bold reads as normal Season Tickets will be available in the Jack Walker Upper. Which would make sense because if it's going to be open and stewarded for corporates then they may as well sell tickets in there. 

Confused. Needs clarification. 

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

I'm not talking about specifically selling tickets for the Wycombe fixture on its own. I am talking about getting season tickets on sale asap before Wycombe so we can sell as many as possible with the incentive to buy being the first 5000 to do so will know they are going to get entry for the 'pilot' fixture. Those who delay won't be guaranteed admission.

'Just let anyone in' was in reference to the fact that we are unlikely to be in a position to need to exclude anyone. The way we are going we will do well to shift more than 5000 season tickets. Especially in little over a week. My point was that given likely sales figures at this late stage in the day we are not going to be in a position where we need to turn thousands away or run some elaborate ballot system to select the lucky ones. Pretty much everyone who wants a ticket will be able to get in even at only 15-20% of capacity. 

How many do you think we would shift before the Wycombe game given they aren't even on sale yet. I reckon 5000 max. No away fans or single match tickets - there should be ample room for all those people at Ewood.

You think Rovers have been sensible, I don't. They aren't interested in 'protecting fans' as they are already lining up another price increase. You do realise that we are in a very small minority here? Do you really think the Venky installed operation with Waggott here is ahead of the game and competition on this or just behind as usual?

I don't understand why you want the club to rush into selling STs before Wycombe when they can't tell us what we are buying. 

Look at it from a different angle. You are relatively young in the Rovers ST demographic. We have a significant percentage of less young ST holders, and many who would be classed as vulnerable in these strange times. 

They don't care when they are able to buy a ST. They just want to hear evidence that if they go to Ewood they will be safe so that buying a ST is even an option.

Who cares if not selling a product that can't be delivered means we're in a "small minority"? Even if that's true, why does it matter?

And the earlier argument (as in a few weeks ago) that ST money was needed to buy players was clearly wrong. Half a million quid appeared for the keeper and just short of a million for Kipre (bid accepted by Wigan).

Ready cash does not seem to be an issue, so why sell Season Tickets when the product is unavailable? 

4 hours ago, matt83 said:

I’ve been to 3 games. Think they capped them all at 400 fans. Frankly could have let more in. Not that there’d be many more wanting to go. Could easily start with a bare minimum of 6k at ewood as a trail then ratchet things up 

Congratulations. In the meantime somewhere near Sunderland, 300 fans are having to self isolate because they went to one similar game. Pay your money, take your chance. 

7 hours ago, JHRover said:

Why don't they just put them on sale now and allow entry for Wycombe to the first 5000 who buy them before the 19th September.

Seems fair to me. We probably won't sell that many by then anyways so don't need to worry. Just let anyone in.

Only problem is that with the club shop closed those who don't have Internet access might struggle to renew. Doubt Rovers will be bothered about that though.

Because putting anything on sale for the Wycombe match before there is government approval for the pilot would be even more stupid than selling Season Tickets.

You do realise that when grounds in the Football League and Premier League DO get permission to allow fans back in, the Track and Trace protocols will make going to the post-Covid pub or restaurant look like a picnic, don't you? 

"Just let anyone in" just isn't an option. I'm astonished you have even typed those words in that order. 

5 hours ago, JHRover said:

No money and no fans whilst others get on with it. And we wonder why we struggle.

I've repeatedly said that Rovers have taken the sensible and correct approach by delaying Season Ticket sales, in order to protect fans from buying a product that can't be delivered. Your favourites, the Lutons etc, will now be wasting admin resources on refunding money or issuing streaming codes because they have taken cash from their fans on false pretences.

5 hours ago, Amo said:

Don't these companies pour money into marketing divisions?

I know BRFCS is a small sample size but there's always a clamour for the red & black halved jersey, and I bet there's plenty of fans outside here who'd lap it up.

Seems the club are missing a trick.

There does always seem to be a clamour for red and black halves, but last time (2007 as posters above have mentioned) whilst it was a much loved shirt and sold well, it wasn't the commercial triumph that you might have expected. 

It was significantly outsold by the 2008 away shirt 

Which was in turn itself battered in the sales figures by the 2009 shirt

Not only that, but the 2007 home shirt sales were (in comparison to normal) disastrous because the red and black halves cannibalised the blue and white. 

I was told the logic for all this - it was 10 years ago but I'll try and recall accurately. Because the halved shirt is so distinctive, it is generally worn by fans only on football related occasions, like attending home matches or playing 5-a-side with mates or whatever. You don't grab it as first choice to nip to the pub or do the weekly supermarket shop because it stands out and immediately identifies you in an environment where you might not want to be identified. 

What they achieved with the next two away shirts (and especially the 2009 white one) was something that would much more readily be used as everyday leisurewear, which was why they both outsold the red and black halves, and also why that shirt caused the drop in home shirt sales in 2007. People didn't want to buy two "non-leisurewear" shirts so chose one or the other. 

In short, Umbro (or Nike, Kappa, whoever) realise that the home shirt is basically untouchable bar a few tweaks around the edges, and therefore home shirt sales don't vary much from season to season. So the away shirt is the only chance to be creative in an attempt to boost sales.

Which is why commercially it just doesn't work to have both as halved, and that's why it has been 13 years since it happened. 

On the question of 3rd kits, we've had one 4 of the last 10 seasons (12/13, 14/15, 16/17 and 19/20). The 6 seasons where we haven't, the away kit has either been predominantly red or yellow. 

So can't see any justification for a 3rd kit this season, especially as the blue away shorts can be used instead of the white ones with the home shirt against teams with mainly red home colours but white shorts. 

2 hours ago, Stuart said:

Take a look at what Bristol City are doing

It's like Club we love of the Week on here. Last week it was Bolton, before them it was Luton. None are directly comparable and are just picked by the same posters to take pot shots at Rovers. 

Bristol City have been selling 20-21 Season Cards since March, so of course they now have to explain very precisely, to all of their fans who have shelled out between 366 and 636 quid blind over the last 6 months, what they will / won't get for their money.

And - contrary to what some people have been saying on here when queuing up to slate Rovers for being slow to get STs on sale - what a surprise Bristol City are now having to refund money already received for games that fans can't attend. 

Rovers NOT taking fans cash on unknown or false pretences is actually the best practice in these turbulent times, and the fact that players are being signed for real fees also suggests that behind the scenes things are at least under control. Wages are being paid. 

So the only valid complaint can be the frequency and/or tone of the communication to fans.

Taking a look at what Bristol City are doing, they have gone with YOUR CITY OUR CITY. That's broadly the same as WE ARE TOGETHER. 

7 hours ago, Stuart said:

Fans need to be listened to more. This is an important revenue stream.

6 hours ago, Stuart said:

Don’t apologise for having an opinion bud. We are all different.

And that's precisely why listening to fans more wouldn't change a thing! You'd still end up with a shirt that some people like and some people don't like! ?