17 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Surely these facility repairs and safe standing could all be funded comfortably from the £25 million cash coming into the club since last summer? Or are we supposed to forget about that.

Just like we are supposed to forget that not long ago Coventry were a 4th division side playing in Northampton, so yes I take exception when Rovers employees are using them as an example of what we could/should be. The only reason we are below them is because of mismanagement at our end which has been bettered by virtually every other club in the Football League.

Or the £15 million for Armstrong... Kaminski, Phillips, Raya money.... the list goes on

1 hour ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I really don't understand the complaints about the away fans filling out the darwen end! Fair play to them i say!! 

In my lifetime(admittedly that's just from the very beginning of the Jack walker era onwards) the darwen end has always been the away supporters end🤷‍♂️ apart from occasional periods (mainly under the Vs) where sections have been made available to rovers fans to

It's sad that we no longer get close to filling out the other 3 stands and yes that is mostly down to the Venkys gutting the heart out of the club and waggot continually looking for ways to extort rovers fans

 

One problem i do see at ewood is that rovers fans themselves are very fragmented(not sure that's the right word😅) on matchdays. It's like the blackburn end, JW and riverside supporters are all singing from a different song sheet.

They annoyed me at the time but maybe we should get the drummers back in the blackburn end to get us all in sync 😄 

Why when we had the singing section in the Darwen end back in the prem days it worked well.

1 hour ago, Groundhog said:

I just can't believe we didn't offer any incentive for the home fans for this game to counterbalance offering the whole Darwen End to one of our biggest relegation rivals - kids for a quid etc - just proof no one in charge at Ewood prioritises the support.

For all those saying "the crowd doesn't matter" - where you there at Ewood on Saturday? When you have L1 level players like ours who crack at the merest hint of pressure, at home, trying to force the issue in a game against a team fighting for their lives. They literally sucked the ball in to make it 3-1 FFS! 🤣 (sorry trying to see the light side, it's hard)

Comparing 7k away fans to 37k home fans at Leeds away isn't the same thing - it was a magnificent performance but it was a free hit, almost no pressure, no expectation and we grew into the game from a confidence point of view, a backs-against-the-wall performance when no one expects anything is a different kind of approach mentally and tactically compared to trying to force the impetus against a stubborn, determined opponent at home who are willing to scrap.

I don't want to go over old ground, but who's decision was it to limit the Dingles for 2000? Did it come from JDT? I can't remember. If it was, and although it didn't effect the result in our favour (although it was a "better" performance), it just shows what happens when someone with a competitive and ambitious spirit is calling the shots. 

Under 12s free with an adult I think. Not that it helped much. Atmosphere in the home end was a joke for a relegation 6 pointer. Not sure if it was the early kick off, the fact it felt like we were at Hillsborough or the football was shocking. I suspect a combination. When you are fighting at the bottom like we are you need every advantage you can get and I think it was the wrong decision to give them the DE. 

Zero effort goes into the club to filling the home ends. I nearly killed myself laughing when we won the EFL fan engagement award. It takes the fans themselves to actually do something to improve the experience at Ewood. Where is the safe standing, the encouragement for fans generating an atmosphere, flags, scarves. You look down the road at Bolton they have great pricing and they have sold 15,000 season tickets for next season already! We are beyond a joke. 

3 hours ago, JHRover said:

End of the day Rovers have proven that they are only interested in taking the easy route to get where they want to be.

Its easy handing over the Darwen End to Sheff Wed, Leeds, Preston. Just agree, print off the tickets and watch the cash flow in. No real effort required.

It is justified on the basis that we have the space to do it and we need more people in because home attendances are low.

So what about increasing home numbers?

Sadly for us this is where it falls down. This is where effort is needed, because you have to make serious, sustained efforts to engage and attract new people and get them coming on a regular basis. It takes a plan, it takes effort, it takes imagination.

All lacking at the good ship Ewood, rinse and repeat same old dreary approach each and every year. Other than changes to prices (almost all increasing) what is different about matchday or ticketing now compared to 10 years ago? Nothing. Nothing changes, no imagination, no planning. No singing area, no cheaper area, no safe standing area, no 'ultras' or flag waving area.

No sir, not a jot of interest in any of that as it requires EFFORT.

Emulating Huddersfield, PNE, Bolton and implementing serious price reductions with a view to adding thousands to the gates and engaging new, younger supporters?

No, can't do. Too much risk, FFP, wouldn't work here (no evidence).

This is where the gripe with me lies. Quite happy to take the easy option to grab the low hanging fruit and cash in on away numbers, no willingness to make any effort to fill up Ewood and maybe one day not have 20,000 empty seats sat doing nothing, or maybe not be under pressure to take the away coin every time.

Absolutely spot on and to think the club just won the EFL fan engagement award. It's laughable really. 

Medium please

Car full going for this now after the new manager and win Saturday. Optimistic but would take a draw. Anyone know how many we have sold?

Damien Duff is our club record according to TransferMarket about 24.5M euros. If we can get a club record fee I think we have to sell but you just don't have any confidence whatsoever of it being used to reinvest in the squad. 

Have you really just compared us to Coventry and Sheffield. Two big cities and Blackburn probably has a smaller population than Wrexham

£15 million isn't enough imo. If you look at recent championship transfers to premier league teams.  

Alex Scott - 23m 

Tyler Adams - 27m 

Keane Lewis Potter - 19m 

He's not inexperienced is he - nearly 80 appearances in league 1 and 2 and only 20. He's got some height as well which this team lacks

49 minutes ago, SuperBrfc said:

It always pleases me to see the minnows looking forward to their big day out at Ewood Park. We see it often with PNE. While it is impressive that Wrexham have sold that many in such a short space of time, would there be such a fanfare and following if they were drawn away at Luton, Plymouth, Barnsley, Burnley and the like? If the Wrexham fans are honest with themselves, they know the answer to that. They have only sold this many because it's Blackburn Rovers they are up against. Only six or seven other clubs in England would cause Wrexham fans to snap up tickets this quick, and they know it.

Unfortunately, they are in for a major shock when they see for themselves the damage that has been done by 13 years of Venky's. That doesn't change the truth though regarding their fans:

🎵 Come to see the Rovers,
      You've only come to see the Rovers,
      Come to see the Rovers... 🎵

Didn't they take 5k to coventry recently?

1 hour ago, neophox said:

They also signed the Radulovic guy who couldn't get in to swedish team AIK and were sent to Finland....

and  Rhys Healey: Huddersfield Town sign Watford striker for undisclosed fee - BBC Sport

I thought he said he wanted to be closer to his family in Boro 

If we had any sense we would spend every penny we have on a striker so surprised to see a defender mentioned. Could mean an outgoing. Carter would get my vote for POTY if Szmodics hadn't scored so many goals. 

6 hours ago, Mike Graham said:

We are asking all fans to get into the theme for the day which is a ‘Blue & White Christmas’ and to bring your banners and flags and help make a decent atmosphere at Ewood.

We also have the three large We Are The Rovers Supporters Trust banners for the BBE (one for possibly the JW Lower towards the DE).  We are looking for 3 responsible individuals 😂😂😂😂 who will ‘own’ the banners and take them to Ewood on match days and also away grounds where possible.  Please come forward via this mb and you can pick the banners up at our hut we will be using at the BBE fanzone at the Watford game.  Thank you.

Not to discourage anyone but it's a nightmare taking flags, especially to away games. They look at you like you've come with a bomb on your back. They want you with a tape measure taking dimensions and you need a fire helmet. Even at Ewood been told they need to be pre-approved etc

Apols if this has already been posted elsewhere but it's a good listen 

https://youtu.be/LdRzdcUTtgk?si=LaMi2jY_87Tj5KcB

Hope the snow holds off. £17 open return from Piccadilly to Sheffield I thought wasn't too bad. Few beverages and 3 points hopefully to make it 5 away wins in a row. When is the last time that happened? I think we only won 6 away games all seasons last season. 

Rovers 2 - 0 - Leonard, Szmodics 

I noticed the crowd funding question thrown in. Only a matter of time before something happens in NO1. At the Preston game in NO1 the steps were impassable and must have been two to a seat in some parts. 

Safe standing mentioned again. Another questionnaire on the road to nowhere. It was chaos in NO1 at the Preston game. 

Looking forward to this one. Biggest game of the league calender for me. 6000 Nob End. I class these as a big rival obviously not in the same bracket as Burnley but Notlob and Nob End are the next on my list for sure. Dolan 1 nil. 

Postponed due to Storm Agnes so Waggott can escape for another few days

The new safe standing areas are essentially terracing aren't they. I'd say 50% of the premier league teams have it now and lots of championship teams, league 1. I say new but it's been around for a while. As with everything Rovers late to the party.

Looking forward to Stockport tonight. Although I think the 'strongest' team will be reserved for Girona tomorrow I think we might see Pickering, Ennis and Adam Wharton tonight. Maybe even Carter and JRC who are both from Stockport. 

3 tickets purchased for Girona as well. Looks empty on the ticket map which is surprising as the ticket prices are very reasonable. Girona look a very good team on paper played champions league and Europa league last season. Pablo Torre from Barca one to watch. 

14 hours ago, Mhead2 said:

-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)?

Is this actually happening then yes? Might be worth a specific piece on joining in with this on socials