On the whole keeper thing;

First things first, we need to bring a solid Championship #1 in - someone like Johansson or Iversen would be ideal. Failing that, an older experienced head would be fine (maybe not Ruddy though).

Then i'd sell Pears - he might bring in a modest fee and his wages are probably the higher of the 2 we have.

I wouldn't give up on Leo so soon, I feel it's something we'd live to regret - he does have potential. Bare in mind that he's young, has had to move country and joined the Club during a tough season, in which most of the players in front of him have also been shite. Keep him, let him learn under the new #1 we bring.

Doubt we'll win this one, then again I said the same against Leeds... I also thought we'd beat Wednesday.

No idea which version of this side is going to show up. Honestly, I just can't wait for this season to end!

At the current prices, we probably make around £3m from selling ~7k season tickets.

Apparently we, and other Clubs will receive around £3m from this new TV deal, which itself is set to lower gates across the board.

Now is the time to for Swag to take the gamble. He's got his usual £3m there before even selling a single ST. If he doesn't drop the prices, Ewood will be a graveyard next season.

The prices Chaddy has mentioned sound about right. It's highly unlikely with Waggott at the wheel, but they should be priced like the below;

Ultimately there are 2 options for Waggott;

- Use some of the £3m (from the TV deal) to subsidise ST prices like the above.
- Throw the £3m into the black hole, and keep ST prices as they are (or raise them) to continue rinsing the gradually decreasing 7k loyal fans.

Hmmm, wonder what he'll choose...

23 minutes ago, J*B said:

Sorry folks, while DE is speaking truth here, I added a word filter into the forum about 2 years ago when @chaddyrovers kept turbo posting we should sign "Jay $tansfield" so that every time he say "Jay $tansfield", it automatically changed his post to "Luca Toni". I found it very funny. 

Testing...

Luca Toni

Edit: That's brilliant 🤣👏

25 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

I know its hard to be optimistic but Millwall have won their last three and will want to finish the season with five straight wins if they can.

I know what you mean, but just feel like Plymouth could dig deep and grind something out.

We played them both at Ewood within a week recently, and Plymouth looked like the better of the two sides... though I suppose that could be more down to how "Jekyll and Hyde" we are.

2 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

The bookies are correct.

Huddersfield and Plymouth will not finish above Rovers.

I'm not saying that they will both be relegated.

We are safe on 49 points.

I hope this survives the time test.

Can't see Plymouth losing to Millwall, I think they'll get a point at least which will be enough to overtake us (assuming we lose both games) on GD.

8 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Signed lots of quality at Birmingham as reflected by their league position.

Ollie Burke? Dreadful player.

Absolutely no chance of us geting Johansson. Id be amazed if we dont stick with the 2 clowns signed on deals for the forseeable. Even more amazed if we spent a million on a keeper that is actually good.

In all fairness, Birmingham (and the signings Eustace made) were doing really well under him, things only went to shit when Eustace was sacked and Rooney was appointed.

Fully agree regarding Ollie Burke though - he's shit.

Recent Income
Phillips - £2m
Kaminski - £2.5m
A. Wharton - £18m

Summer Income
Szmodics - £10m (almost certain to go, price a rough guess)
Raya (sell-on) - £4m

In total, that right there would be just over £36m from selling assets since last summer... THIRTY-SIX-MILLION-POUNDS.

As a result of the above sales (plus others walking for free), our team is absolutely dogshit and currently on the brink of relegation.

If we don't reinvest at the very least 25% of that income into the playing squad, then i'll honestly give up. I won't buy my family season tickets as planned, and won't set foot in Ewood again until they're all gone.

25 minutes ago, JHRover said:

With you 100% there. Its the feeling of hopelessness, and betrayal.

Over the last 12 months or so I've felt not frustration, hope, optimism for the club, but feelings ranging from dislike to outright hatred. I'm ashamed to even be associated with it.

It's tough. I certainly have had to do a lot of soul-searching and will again this summer, it certainly isn't normal peaks and troughs of supporting a football club, it certainly isn't enjoyable or healthy. But I'm not one who can just switch off my emotional investment in the club and walk away (yet). So I'm in this limbo zone which I suspect many others are where I keep going, keep coming on here, keep thinking about it, but just feel numbness and disgust and weary resignation.

Its almost like a state of civil war. There's an enemy within that needs defeating and destroying before we can even begin to think about anything else, and peaceful coexistence with that enemy is no longer an option in my book.

Couldn't have put it any better 👏

I was looking forward to the season being "over" yesterday and expected a win, would have been a nice bit of relief for us fans... Nope! Here we are again, right back in the relegation mix.

This squad is just shit. Zero consistency, soft as they come and not an ounce of passion (barring Sammie).

Wouldn't be surprised if we got stuffed... also wouldn't be surprised if we went and won. No idea what version of the team is gonna turn up - can't wait for a few months off!

4 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Did Eustace have any control over transfers at Birmingham does anyone know? 

Be interesting to see what players he brought in if he did.

Presumably yes, made some decent signings at the start of this season - had them playing well too.

I've wondered if he'll try to move in for any of them, wouldn't say no to a good few of their players. Possible, if they go down.

14 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Probably be about 5k match tickets sold by KO then, nothing wrong with that.

It is what it is when you only have 9k ST holders, sell more STs = bigger crowds, simple as that.

Yup, but this is Waggott we're dealing with!

He doesn't care about bigger crowds or atmosphere... he's happy to price out most of the local population whilst rinsing the loyal supporters who'll pay pretty much anything. All that matters is that he meets the targets set by his overlords.

Home Tickets sold so far (via the ticket map SVG);

Jack Walker - 5,573
BBE Lower - 4,432
Riverside - 2,055
Total - 12,060

We normally get a couple thousand walk-ons too, so factoring in that and the away support, it'll be an okay turnout overall.

Massive missed opportunity by Waggott though, could've near-filled the place had he dropped the prices right down a few weeks ago.

I think it's likely that we could look at players from the Teams that get relegated, provided we aren't one of them of course.

Some decent players are there to be snagged from the likes of Huddersfield, Birmingham, Stoke, QPR and Plymouth.

6 minutes ago, J*B said:

Priority List - 

Keeper: Pears & Leo both shown they're incapable at different periods. Leo will likely stay and develop as No2, can't see Pears ego letting him stay as No2. Sell Pears, buy a No1.

RB: We only have one right back. Brittain needs competition. 

CB: Don't want either Koumetio or McFadz and we need five CBs in the squad. Carter, Hyam, NEW, Wharton, ORoirdon. 

LB: Pickering is our only left back. If possible I'd sign Christene, I think he's significantly better than Pickering.

CM: Existing viable options are Tronstad, JRC, Buckley. Will Travis come back? Based on what we've seen it'll either be Tronstad or Travis, will Travis accept that? Will Buckley ever come good? I don't want: Fleck, Garrett or Ayari. That means I need at least one creative CM with another needed if Travis doesn't want to stay.

Wide Players: Unlike others, I've been really impressed with Sigurdsson. He didn't have a pre-season and clearly signed for JDT who was subsequently forced out. I like Dolan, he can be frustrating but he's capable. Hedges is a very good player to keep within the squad. I make that three players and ideally want four. Hopefully Markanday is sold, he's shown glimpses but in the most part has been terrible. 

Strikers: Szmodics is obviously vital to our club. Gallagher should be sold in the summer - he has his positives but his contract is running out, he clearly wanted the Ipswich move and he's never achieved stats to back up what we paid for him initially nor his high contract. Telalovic and Vale need to be sold, frankly I'd be fine seeing both released on a free. 

I therefore think across signings, loans and promotions we need to fill the below, colour coded as 'green = must be experienced and permanent, yellow = could be a short term loan with a buy option, red = could be a young player either purchased or promoted'.

No1 Keeper

A CB that is fighting to be our third behind Carter and Hyam

A right back that can push Brittain

A left back that is better than Pickering

A creative CM that is tall, strong and can create chances. 

A tackling CM in the mould of Tronstad if Travis leaves

At least one wide forward who's at least as good as what we already have

A first choice no9 striker to replace Gallagher

A back up striker that is actually viable to replace Telalovic and Vale. 

That's 5 expensive, first choice purchases or free transfers.

3 top-flight loan players

1 cheap player - either a free transfer or internal promotion. 

Leaving the squad as:

New Keeper, Wahlsted, 3rd Choice Keeper

Brittain, New

Carter, Hyam, New, Wharton, ORoirdon

New, Pickering

JRC, Tronstad, Buckley, Travis, New

Sigurdsson, Dolan, Hedges, New

Szmodics, New, New

I make that 23 players, so we're allowed another two plus youth I believe? Youth can be: Leonard, Batty, Gent, Barnes, Gilsnan, Fyles, Eastham, Gamble, Finneran.

Agree on most of that.

Out of interest, who would be your ideal (and realistic) picks for some of the signings you mentioned?

23 minutes ago, islander200 said:

Why would we be getting McGuire on a free?He will cost a transfer fee 

Not sure if Sibley out of contract at end of season but he wouldn't be free either as he is only 22

Ahh yeah, realised McGuire's contract runs until December, I thought it was due to expire in June - my mistake!

Sibley's contract expires in June yes.

The window opens in 7/8 weeks, they need to get their ducks in a row, agree a budget and start narrowing down the list of targets.

If we're allowed to spend, i'd be over the moon with something like the following;

Duncan McGuire - Free
Louie Sibley - Free
Liam Millar - 2.5m
Harrison Burrows - 4m    
Karamoko Dembele - 800k
Abu Kamara - 2.5m

That'd be just shy of 10m spent, incredibly optimistic and unlikely I know, but could become more of a possibility if/when we sell Szmodics.

Either way, I hope Gregg is able to spend a good few quid with all of the millions we've had (and have) coming in.

13 minutes ago, Neal said:

I keep a eye on league 1 every season to see if there's decent value for us. We've done well from this market in the past... e.g. Rothwell, Dack, Szmodics but this season there's not that much to pick from that wouldn't cost too much. A lot of the top goal scorers are of an age that doesn't offer a lot of resale value. 

 

I like Harrison Burrows at Peterborough, think he has the most assists in the league but top 6 champ clubs were sniffing around in Jan. 

 

Poku also at Peterborough, tricky, decent amount of goal involvements this season would be a good signing but with both him and Burrows... Their chairman will want top top dollar. 

 

Ricardo Santos at Bolton might not be a bad one, think he's in the last year of his contract, Fulham were sniffing around a couple of seasons ago. Big strong centre half. 

 

Many have mentioned Miles Leaburn might be worth taking a look at but would be dependant on price of how much of a gamble that would be. 

 

Perhaps Karamoko Dembele might finally be a serious consideration after being linked with him last summer. A solid 11 assists and would offer some genuine pace out wide that we've been lacking. 

 

Other than those, I'm not sure what else there in that league that would be a good option unless some of you know of any other potential league 1 gems?

Would like to see us move for Abu Kamara, he's had a solid return for Pompey this season and receives loads of praise.

Right-winger, left footed, will go back to Norwich with only a year left on his contract there.

Might cost a few million, so if we're allowed to spend (unlikely) I hope we move in for him - could turn out to be the next Morgan Whittaker... only 20 years old too, so ticks that box!

I've always sensed a bitter vibe from Hyam, more so this season. Can tell that he didn't really want to come here, but Coventry gave him no choice - if they wanted him back I bet he wouldn't even hesitate.

He has no passion whatsoever for Blackburn Rovers, his heart isn't in it - yet he was made Captain.

Rip the armband clean off him, play Carter for the rest of the season and tell his agent to find him a new Club.

For the first time in a very long time, I might not even bother watching the game... it's almost guaranteed to ruin my weekend.

After last night's shit show, i've never been so sure of anything in my life, we'll lose this by at least 2.

25 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

It was part of a bigger presentation with various ideas, some were better received than others and hopefully some will be incorporated.

The basic gist of it was:

- Need for entry level priced tickets in under occupied areas (limited number, very cheap)

- Slight reduction to standard ST price

- No change/slight increase to premium ST price

- Removal of barriers to stop people buying one (alternative to finance company backed DD, pro rata prices available into the season without deadlines)

- Additional benefits for those willing to pay more (the exact wording being instead of milking the hardcore offer them something extra), we suggested a number of “bolt ons” that could be sold with a ST

- Family discounts throughout the ground

- New category for U8s

- Flexi/PAYG tickets - a lot of discussion here particularly as we will have even less Saturday 3pm kick offs next year, and there is obviously a need to make sure a full season ticket remains more cost effective

It's a start! Assume we're still likely to be looking at ~400 for an Adult ST.

Hopefully the Family discounts are taken up and are decent, I have 2 Adult and 2 Kid ST's to buy when they drop!

I recall that season ticket prices were discussed during the secret meeting with Swag and a few of the senior players recently... do we think there's any chance that he's taken the feedback on board, and will offer prices more reasonable for the area?

What do you expect the prices to be this year? Of course, the league we are in will be a big factor.

If we stay up, i'd hope for the maximum adult ticket price to be £350 - in the JW Upper. £299 in the Riverside, and somewhere in the middle for the JW Lower and BBE. Though that's probably dreamland stuff with Waggott running the show...

I've always seen the potential in Markanday, and he's starting to show us what he can do.

He seems much more comfortable at this level now, and lately has started to look visibly stronger, faster and more skilful.

Hope Gregg offers him an extra 3 years on similar terms at the earliest convenience, can see him having a blinder next season.

Recent displays have restored some faith for me, I think we'll manage 2 wins and a draw from our last 5 and survive fairly comfortably with 53 points.

Bristol City 0-1 Rovers
Leeds 2-0 Rovers
Rovers 2-0 Sheff Weds
Rovers 1-1 Coventry
Leicester 1 - 0 Rovers

Would like to see us go for 4 at the back again;

There's a very good case for starting Dolan over Gilsenan, it's likely the more sensible option... but I honestly think that it won't take Gilsenan long to make that LW position his own. He's young and hungry, give him a chance I say!

I avoid posting my predictions, as historically they always tend to go the opposite way - but I must say that I have a good feeling about this one, for some unknown reason.

Not sure if we'll win, but I don't think we're gonna lose. COYB!