As Chair of Trust when we were offered the chance to sponsor the pre-Season friendly I immediately thought of a few personal and Rovers targets:

-can "We are THE Rovers" do it?!!

-can we get near to 5,000 supporters there?

-will the other Fan Groups support us?

-can we show the Club that cheaper Programmes can sell larger amounts? Thanks 4,000 Holes for a supreme effort.

-will the Crowd take up the edited version of "A Day in the Life" from Sergeant Pepper at 2.55pm(Goosebump time if they sing it)?

- can we have a good day out(inc Band) and get a last minute sale of Season Tickets.?

Lets support our young Team from our superb Academy. But keep thinking Big!

Please say hello to the Trust people on Saturday- if 4,000 Holes will let me, I will be selling lots of Programmes(£2 in coins please)

THANKS to everyone who has tried hard to put this on.

1 hour ago, 1864roverite said:

Questionable?

we won’t replace Mowbray with anyone above the likes of a Grayson level!

we won’t have a budget!

we won’t sell 2k season tickets !

we will promote Venus into head coach!

we will not have a decent pitch to play on !

there will be no investment !

we won’t have a sports science department 

venkys are not bothered and have pulled the financial clout ! They have turned the taps off!

 

This list is not exhaustive but is reflected by commentators on this forum, just go back and have a read and you will see them. There are more like, Benson is shite, Lowe is useless (I agree on this point I may add), Waggot is a clown and doesn't know his arse from his elbow, Pasha is a no mark venkys puppet and so on.

There is a constant air of negativity from so called "hardenend" Rovers supporters, especially on this forum.

Don't get me wrong, the last 12 years have shown incompetence on a grand scale, money frittered away, money going missing, agents at work screwing the club, players stealing a wage aka living, astronomical wages, poor leadership and shocking managerial decisions added to gross incompetence off the park.

Yes there has been a total shit show by the owners of our club which has rightly brought angst, anger, despair, more anger and even rage, it has forced fans away from the club and yet, they remain at the helm, funding the club, holding their debt, paying the wages, sustaining the club through a pandemic and please don't quote other clubs have done the same, just ask Derby fans how they feel about their own club and its current status.

You are wrong to assume Steve Waggot is my friend, so very wrong it is surprising the comment came from you as your posts often come across as being those of a smart person. You don't know me, neither me you, but I am sure we have shared and probably still do, strong feelings about BRFC.

To think that I hang on every word SW says to me is a little disrespectful. I am not one of those who simply listens to his utterings and go away thinking the world is ok in the world of BRFC. I am a little bit more intelligent than perhaps you give me credit for.

Let me enlighten you a little. Before I ventured to Ewood to see him last year, we had exchanged a large number of emails where I had outlined my own concerns and views on BRFC. I was armed with all sorts of research, I spoke with many, some from this forum, exchanged emails, read various accounts, weeded the wheat from the chaff in respect of what was right and what was utter shite, what was the truth rather than speculation, researched SW himself, spoke to Coventry and Charlton fans about him, I listened to his talks on LinkedIn and I spoke to people who have worked with him over 25 years to gauge what kind of person he was going to be when I conversed with him. I must add, that as an experienced investigator and interviewer, I was pretty much armed with everything that I needed.

Before the Cardiff game last season he gave me 3 hours of his time pre match, which in itself showed he actually cared about taking time out to speak to a supporter face to face, man to man before a home game and in which he put me first rather than the Cardiff executives. I know he had taken in various fans forums as well as meeting with other supporters. And this is the best bit, I had actually spoken to some who had attended such meetings just to see if the message was going to be tittle tattle, similar or with or without any foundation - in other words it was to seek out the bullshit.

My first meeting was very well received, I didn't just meet him, I met with other figures at the club.  I learned a lot about him during that meeting and I will say that he was open, brutally honest, told me things perhaps he shouldn't have (and to this date have remained confidential) and told me about the future changes he was beginning to oversee at the club as it began to recover from the covid pandemic. I was shown in black and white, a blue print for the future, how he saw the club in the future and not just for 2023/24 but beyond, the plans by the owners, the plans around Ewood and the future of the Academy. We talked about many things from St sales, the home crowd, the Ewood experience, the community links, commercialism, food and drink inside the ground, the supporters club, communication, The Blues Bar and many other things. Armed with all of my research, I was happy with everything that he said and told me. I didn't suspect nothing apart from a willingness to make BRFC a better experience to to try and right the wrongs of what has gone before.

My next meeting was even better in some respects. I managed to speak to two players, the groundsman, other staff at the ground and two very well respected ex-players who were there before I met with those inside Ewood. Again, armed with everything that I needed added to what we had spoken to before, SW spoke with added enthusiasm about future plans. I saw for my own eyes the developments in the behind the scenes work, I was fully updated with what was happening with recruiting staff in particular the process of finding the new manager. I was given an insight as to how it would be approached and so it proved in the appointments we have seen across the backroom staff.

I might add that I shared my findings with a select few before even mentioning what I had done for two reasons, to see if there was anything to corroborate what I had been told as being factually incorrect and then also to establish just how much, if there was, bullshit had been spouted with a view to placating a concerned fan. Some of those exchanges will forever remain in confidence because I do not want to expose the link that I have to all things at the club!

So, back to your opening gambit. Yes I do think there are times when the club needs defending but let me also say, there are times when the club needs to brought to account and when that is the case, rest assure, I am more than happy to let the club know my feelings which will be consummate with other supporters who have the same concerns.

You can say all the negative things you want about Steve Waggot as he is the CEO. He knows he has to broach and improve communications at the club, he knows he has to engage the home supporters and he damn well knows that he has to seek the balance as regards match ticket/season ticket prices. He is fully aware Ewood needs more than just a lick of paint and he knows more than ever the home fans need an Ewood experience to be proud of. These are all things that we have spoken about and not just him.

Rovers were actually caught by surprise with Mowbray's outburst when he announced his intention of not seeking to speak to the club, they were even further disappointed with comments that were attributed to him in another media publication hence why he found himself on gardening leave and out of pocket! It was at that point, Rovers set about the process of a change of direction for on field activities and now it is all sorted. They knew they were losing three backroom staff and they knew they had to replace and reinvigorate the scouting team set up to go alongside the new model.

He knows there are major issues with fans wanting cheaper tickets and I agree, I am one of them but at the same time there has to be a bit of a reality check on finances when money only goes so far and priorities have to be put in place.

Commercial wise, I would now expect a better service and operation with a new manager in place - it isn't about cut backs as some might claim, it is about progressing the off field activities and making sure the club operates at a better level. Kits are now almost ready for next season and will be released sooner than we have ever seen, the whole aspect of the commercial side is undergoing a full review from the corporate prices, food offers and drinks in corporate facilities and on the concourses. I as well as many others have pointed out that paying £350 for a pie that is as solid as a rock is not value for money especially when you can get two for that price opposite the ground. Charging fans for the Blues Bar entry is so very wrong, the price of a pint is not too bad but could be cheaper if the fans are encouraged to come to the ground, pre match entertainment outside the Blackburn End has shown it will entice supporters to the ground early rather than head to the moorgate where the music puts you off as its too loud for a chat, it is this kind of topic we talked about.

Ticket prices are a must to be targeted and for all sorts of reasons, he understands this and is constantly looking at it although this brief is for the TO manager who has so far failed to listen to fans, I am at a loss why he or the club have failed to responds to the Trust letter with what I consider to have contain some excellent proposals.

I hope that  I have put my POV across as to why I defend the club as I do!

 

Whilst  the above excellent post is in the wrong thread, as Chair of the Trust, I have also met with Steve W. on many occasions and usually for a long Dinner(where I insist on paying 50% of the time). I usually have a list of issues that I write down and make sure I cover in conversation. Two Christmasses ago I gave him a Christmas present: Mike Jackman's excellent The Essential History of Blackburn Rovers. For a specific reason of course, because one of a number of issues I do not sympathise with him is the lack of any awareness within BRFC of East Lancashire's economy, environment and (most of all) mentality. With the exception of Lynsey Talbot I must add. 3 years ago I did a presentation to the Marketing team(plus 2 Senior staff) and this fell largely on stony ground. The departure of Greg Coar may help, but its slow,slow progress. The Trust "Marketing Prospectus" will be reviewed again and then despatched to Club again in September, specifically for the new Marketing Manager.

BUT through all this I have and still regard SW as a friend and under the old system he was at Brockhall far more than at Ewood.....I hope this will change from now.

And the 3 things I said to him I could NEVER agree with him were:

-Pricing structure and levels

-the lack of awareness of the state of the Riverside and its place for fans of the Club

- and marketing of the Club(especially after £10 matches) and  across Lancashire, not just around Blackburn with Darwen

He will eventually retire but Rovers Supporters never retire! And its very much OUR Club.

Really welcome JDT and ,especially, Gregg Broughton. 

More on the future Trust tactics and projects this Wednesday 22nd from 7.30pm....all welcome to Billington Band Club.