35 minutes ago, booth said:

He’s an awful keeper. i can’t remember a worse keeper I’ve seen in a Rovers shirt.

I must be older than you, then @booth.

"De mortuiis nil nisi bonum"; may he rest in peace; and all that, but John Barton could well have been the Aynsley Pears of his day.

28 minutes ago, ItsRoverZ said:

Hope it doesn't all go pear shaped 

COYB

A pun it will; happen it won't!😉

4 hours ago, tomphil said:

 

It has on closer inspection with the exception of Diaz who left for nothing after costing around 7 million.

Raya money went towards Gallagher, confirmed by Mowbray himself at the time.

Armstrong money keeps getting brought up but the profit from that was around 4 million and when it came into the accounts last summer it was spent on Hyam and Brittain etc.

Ah, right; thanks @tomphil. I must confess I don't peruse the books as closely as I perhaps ought to.

Besides, I thought a fair bit of the profit on the Armstrong deal found its way back to NE4, due to the terms on which Newcastl United had sold him to us.

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

2019  academy prospect Raya was sold

2021 young signing then developed Adam Armstrong was sold for 3 times more than was paid.

In between Bradley Dack would have been sold had he not been injured and Ben Brereton was signed with the clear intention to develop and sell for profit.

Of course that has always been the intention it was just never forced on Mowbray but he raked in at the time c7 million profit on those two. So the funders were happy value was going into the squad and there when needed.

Now sales are being forced again but they wouldn't be able to be if there wasn't value, even small value from developed players.  The real issue is the gross incompetence of them letting 4 or 5 players slip through the net for nothing.

I doubt that was the intention but somewhere along the line they all right royally ballsed up again.

With respect, @tomphil, surely another question that hasn't been properly answered is why on earth that money raised on Raya, Armstrong & Brereton Diaz wasn't re-invested in younger players to replace them? I'm not being naïve if I believe our scouts can identify them, am I?

Hopefully, the Director of Football set-up will prevent that in future. And equally hopefully, our owners won't tamper with it.

7 hours ago, arbitro said:

Honestly? So you won't be watching the game because of who the goalkeeper is?

One of the things about Message Boards is that they don't have "Irony filters". And while I don't know @ItsRoverZ , I wouldn't be surprised if his comment was an ironic one.

After all, Pears is very much of a "Marmite character", isn't he? You know, "I may never have knowingly eaten anything with Marmite on it but that doesn't stop me 'knowing' I wouldn't like it.

My initial feeling when reading this thread was that I don't remember reading a preview thread with such low expectations of the game.

So I'll play the odd one out, and expect a Rovers win. Maybe with a penalty awarded by a benevolent referee; but "a win is a win", isn't it?

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

“ What we’ll be left with  “ is the same wankers that have got us in this position, the same wankers that appointed him in the first place. The same wankers that’s would possibly appoint somebody worse if that’s possible. They’re like the cockroaches that would survive a nuclear war.

Brilliant analogy, @Tyrone Shoelaces !!

On 26/09/2023 at 11:48, cesus said:

I honestly think the lapsed fans have gone. People can only take being humiliated so many times, I honestly believe this clubs decision tomorrow night will send some people away forever too.

The criminal thing that people like Waggott have failed to realise is you may have lost the vocal disgruntled fans which may please them, but they are doing absolutely nothing to bring on the next generation of fans.

The owners/Waggott are merely a custodian of the club yet they are seriously putting the future of the club in jeopardy.

The "lapsed fans" started bailing out soon after the Walker Trust sold us. We're down to the hard core of loyal fans now.

Another effect of that is on local industries. You may not think of The Manxman - and other pubs - as "industries"; but people earn their livings selling beer, as much as (say) building houses.

I remember, even in the glory days, the Landlord of The Manxman telling me and my mates that it was the Saturdays of home games that balanced his books.

On 23/09/2023 at 21:43, J*B said:

He should be offering free tickets throughout the stadium, not closing stands if he’s only selling 1,500 tickets. Every school, church, mosque, sports club and youth zone within 10 miles should have the offer for unlimited free tickets. 

I dislike this man more and more as days go by. Lacking in ambition, lacking in awareness, a glorified credit controller that doesn’t dare rock the boat. Exactly the type of person I actively avoid hiring.

It's seedcorn work; even if only 10% of the recipients of such an offer kept coming back, we'd soon be at healthy attendance figures.

On 22/09/2023 at 11:11, Miller11 said:

We Are The Rovers met with Steve Waggott yesterday. Obviously the issue of closing the Blackburn End for the Cardiff game was high on the agenda.

Firstly we conveyed our disappointment with the decision and the strength of feeling within the fanbase.

The response was that uptake for the game was expected to be extremely low. At present it looks like a crowd of around 2,000 with less than 1,500 tickets sold. Whether this is a cause or a symptom of the closure of the Blackburn End is another question, but it’s pretty horrifying.

It’s a financial decision based on numbers. We asked if it would’ve been possible to house the visiting supporters in an area of the Jack Walker stand and open the Blackburn End instead of the Darwen End. This would’ve meant that a police presence would be required which would have had an additional cost higher than opening an extra stand.

There was an acknowledgement that the communication needed to be better around the whole decision.

 

Well, Amen to that acknowledgement!!

Although I must say I'm not holding my breath that any future decision emanating from the office of the club's CEO will be any better communicated.

More likely, I think, that sw4gg0tt - how puerile! - will think that he's got away with that one and look for other "balancing the books" ruses.

In fact, he's already trying one on.

Last season - even though my season ticket was for the comparatively plebean Riverside - I bought three seats for the Nottingham Forest League Cup game in the Premier Suite for myself, a very dear friend of the Forest persuasion - nobody's perfect! - whom I first met at church 60+ years ago, and her daughter.

During the close season, due to age and increasing infirmity - those of you on here who know me not just as a nickname will know I've had mobility difficulties all my life - I decided to upgrade my season ticket to the JWU, as much for the lift to get me and my walking sticks to the level of my seat as anything else.

If I'd thought properly about the consequences of what I'd done when I bought the Forest tickets, I would have realised that, in so doing, I'd probably had my name entered on a database in sw4gg0tt's office probably headed "Mug who could be milked."

Sure enough, at 3.01 pm yesterday afternoon, an email pinged into my Inbox invitation to purchase a seat - either in the Premier Suite (£150) or Jack's Kitchen (£80) - with a discount of 20% for the Leicester City game because I'm a season ticket holder.

You - I! - can't reply by email because the email one of sw4gg0tt's staff had sent was one of those from an unmonitored source. It was in fact the second similar email I've had in recent days.

I replied to the first one by contacting the ticket office, telling them that I haven't yet been able to use my current season because of my state of health and I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get to Ewood again.

I hoped they would be able to read between the lines, so I didn't actually add, "So there isn't actually any point in sending those emails to me". Got that one badly wrong, didn't I?!

3 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Hope we get the geordie cnuts and put them out. Can't stand them

Some of my best mates are Geordies; would absolutely love it if we beat them! 😉😄

1 hour ago, B16Rover said:

This is probably hung up on a poster behind waggots desk 

Yeah, it's the sort of poster that would appeal to a man whose email address includes w4ggOtt.

On 25/09/2023 at 22:53, simongarnerisgod said:

andros townsend without a club,any slight ambition on our part would be out there asking him if he fancied getting fit with the aim of a contract,it`s not as if clubs are queing up to sign him

He was one of the panellists on 'Monday Night Club' on Radio 5 this week, pretty well putting himself in the shop window for any club where his child(ren) would still be within travelling distance of their school(s?).

No real mention of any footballing abilities to attract any Rovers fan who: i) may have been listening; and: ii) couldn't properly recall him.

3 hours ago, lraC said:

Riverside is closed too, but I get your drift.

You can tell I've failed yet another late fitness test for tonight, can't you?!

But, "Aaghh!! Is NOTHING sacred?!!?" 😯

1 hour ago, lraC said:

I just called and got through first time and was answered within seconds

I asked for a ticket for the Blackburn end, but was of course told it was closed, so I could only buy one for the Jack Walker Stand. I said I don't like it in there, so thanks anyway.

No resistance or any attempt to persuade me to buy one though.

 

Typical!!

They didn't even offer you a Riverside one?? It's like they want the game played behind closed doors!

7 hours ago, sharpysharps86 said:

7 hours ago, sharpysharps86 said:

I had a similar scenario with the home shirt. In the end I emailed them and then within a couple of hours it had been dispatched.

For a split second, I worried that Waggott had infiltrated us, reporting on a success.

Then I saw it was from "one of our own".

20 hours ago, rigger said:

I had a reply from Christina Haynes, with regards to my E-Mail to Waggott. She states that the closure of the Blackburm end for the Cardiff cup game, is to save money. A piss poor decision, in my opinion

... and a very weak reply from Christina Haynes - who she? - imo.

If that's all it said, it surely opens itself to a reply asking - for starters - some figures itemising the savings made.

23 hours ago, Shirley Crabtree Wrestler said:

That's the thing about goodwill - it is often assumed to be elastic by those who rely upon it to get more out than they put in, but of course it is completely inelastic if constantly abused. There comes a point in any relationship, however, where the broken elements (trust, goodwill, reciprocity, capacity to accept disappointment) are all too far gone to retrieve. And that is where so many Rovers fans have sadly reached, in their relationship with what was once a wonderfully run, family oriented club with a proud tradition and a bright future.

We all know that the state of the game isn't what it was when Jack Walker was around, and there are plenty of clubs that have endured and come through desperate times and odious owners. But it does feel like Rovers have had a particularly painful fall from grace, especially when the club now seems to be run simply as a line on a spreadsheet for owners who neither give a toss, nor seem to have a plan for changing the script (other than to run us into the ground).

So fair play, RogerB and all you stalwart who endure the decline first hand at our shadow of a stadium. Let's hope the boys can put a smile on your strangely dislocated faces on Wednesday evening, and that there is a loud and continuous chorus of "Open Up the Blackburn End, and Waggot Waggott OUT!" from the JW from kick off to final whistle.

Rovers 1 Cardiff 1 Bluebirds to edge it on penalties 18-19

Now they would be chants worthy of listening to and singing along with!

And don't forget that the match may not be on ITV until just after midnight Wednesday/Thursday; but if they're clear enough to be heard, they'll hopefully provoke comments from the TV company 😁😄😅😂🤣

On 25/09/2023 at 07:10, arbitro said:

I don't know for certain but an educated guess would be that it's configured like that to deter anybody contacting him directly. If you see all other employees email addresses they are configured as jbloggs@rovers.co.uk so to contact somebody direct just change the name. I think Swag doesn't like us plebs being in contact directly with him hence the stupid email address.

But he probably doesn't like it, because it takes one to know one, @arbitro ! 😉

On 24/09/2023 at 19:53, arbitro said:

Can I respectfully suggest that anybody who isn't going due to Waggott's stupid decision at the very least let him know. He will use a low crowd as justification for his decision and, as usual disregard important truths. It will only take a few moments to email him on Sw4gg0tt@rovers.co.uk

If you are contacting him please be respectful.

Pity we don't have our owners' email addresses for the "cc"!😉

On 24/09/2023 at 22:03, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

More like 3,136.

If we're lucky. 

20 hours ago, DE. said:

https://www.twtd.co.uk/blogs/21959/opposition-preview--blackburn-rovers

Pretty detailed opposition preview from the TWTD website. Interestingly going with a 2-1 Rovers win. 

Wow, that's one helluva preview!

Interesting Board, too; but seem to have a lot of adverts. Visitors - even those who register - get hit by adverts - makes you (me!) appreciate Premium membership of Brfcs! 

Interesting, also, they feel the need to remind members about the need not to be offensive in their comments; must be quite a sparky place. 

On 21/09/2023 at 12:21, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Very hard fixture this,Ipswich on fire,Rovers just treading water.

2-1

So, if we smother them, then?

I'm not sure @SIMON GARNERS 194; he and his wife are on holiday at present, but I'll check and PM you when they're back.

It certainly sounds like him; you couldn't meet a more affable man, imo.

1 hour ago, neophox said:

After losing to Sunderland.... we may produce a shock on saturday.

Funnily enough, this wouldn't surprise me. Like I said above, it could be a rewarding result for those who are able to go.

43 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

Rovers will start well - miss a couple of great chances - then Ipswich will score a goal out of nothing and go on to win 3-0.

Hirst is nailed on to score as well just to rub it in.

Pears will be questioned about his efforts for the second and third goals.

 

... JDT will "do an Arteta" (= substitute the goalkeeper) and Waldstedt will - finally - start his Rovers' career.