That works if there’s a limited amount of articles you can read for free before it shuts you off (like how the LT website is set up now). But if they are setting up a model like The Times, for example, you can’t read anything without signing up.

Only quality journalism can have a working business model that includes a paywall - The Times, The Athletic etc in the UK, the big US newspapers. People buy subscriptions for ‘long reads’, in-depth investigative reporting, features, magazines supplements etc etc. The LT is obviously in dire straits with the collapse of sales of physical papers, especially at local level and they mustn’t be able to wash their face with online ads. But the industry has structurally changed and low brow papers and small, stripped out organisations like the LT just won’t get folk taking out subscriptions. As an example, The Sun tried a paywall… lasted about 6 months. There is nothing the LT offers that you can’t get for free on Lancs Live… perhaps the LT won’t exist at all as a stand alone title in a couple of years (it largely doesn’t already with no HQ, a shared editorial operation with Bolton/Bury papers and sub editing in South Wales).

Lancs Live laughing heartily…

What are you disagreeing with? Oxford proved that a feel good occasion, party atmosphere and a tenner to get in will get folk in. A normal mid table game in winter won’t be doing that. Your post is contradicting itself, Oxford proved that there’s no mass hatred of Venky’s keeping folk away, just a crap team and atmosphere… and we know who to blame for those two realities.

So nothing to worry about then if the few senior pros we have left are refusing new deals? Onwards!

You aren’t getting it 1864. Most fans who no longer go don’t ‘hate’ the owners and aren’t not going as a result of said hatred. What is actually happening is that they’ve either long moved on to other hobbies - as happens when you get out of the habit, or as a result of a decade of chronic mismanagement they see an average team, average results, average manager and an empty ground and think ‘nah’. And no gimmicky £15 tickets for an odd game or a couple of quid knocked off a midweek game in winter is going to make much difference whilst we forever tread water between about 10th and 18th in the second division (at best). A floating/lapsed fan is a consumer and isn't going to be guilt tripped - ‘play your part!’, ‘get behind the team!’ - into spending their hard earned on what they see as a bang average (and not cheap) product.

You either want to compete at this level or you don’t. If you can’t/won’t pay the going rate for the likes of Darragh Lenihan and believe the team will improve with a squad of academy grads, young lads brought in from the lower leagues and loanees, with minimal senior pros, then go for it, but don’t be surprised when we end up in the same division as Crewe and Lincoln.

There isn’t some mass boycott because of the owners and especially not due to Steve bloody Waggott, a third rate administrator who most fans out there wouldn’t know even if he they tripped over him measuring up land down Langho. Though what is undoubtably true is that crowds have collapsed this past decade because of the appalling decision making of the owners from 2010 onwards and the bang average teams we’ve consistently had since. Average team, average (at best) managers, never any chance of a promotion or even a flirtation with the top 6, ever increasing ticket prices (with zero marketing for said tickets), ergo a piss poor atmosphere in a two third empty ground - it’s a vicious circle. Nobody goes because it’s crap, it’s crap because nobody goes.

Club have just tweeted re tickets…

Certainly a welcome campaign to see, a bit of initiative down there for once. But let’s be realistic, we are in our usual mid table position in the Championship, so a ticket at £15 for a standard game in November instead of £25 won’t be seeing a stampede through the door

What is ‘extraordinary’ about Blackburn Rovers being mid table in the second division year after year? Such mediocrity wasn’t good enough for us in the 80s when we actually didn’t have a pot to piss in, so why is it now deemed ‘extraordinary’ to be consistently about 13th in the Championship with billionaire owners?

I haven’t had any since about 2011.

He was obviously trying to work his way back into the game, recent media work, new Twitter account etc. He’ll have torpedoed that now…

If only the takeover had happened in February instead of October…

They are passing on what they heard, so is obviously second/third hand info. So of course it isn’t a verified ‘fact’ when then posted on an Internet forum. All kids of gossip leaks out of football clubs.

You’re right rigger on both counts. A fair number of school kids in high viz jackets in the family stand yesterday.

New ST kicks in next week, so of course we mark the sales period with defeats at Hudds and Blackpool followed up by throwing away a two goal lead…

Like I’ve put on the TM thread, there’s not even a hint of the crowd even being close to turning. You would have to go back to Hughes for the last time a manager was seemingly so universally backed by the Ewood crowd…

Thing is JH, I’m not sure many of the remaining match goers even have much idea of who Waggott is, never mind his relationship with TM etc. A lot of folk I now see/sit around seem happy enough to just go and watch a team in blue and white every couple of weeks or so. They certainly don’t have the angst or tendency to deep dive into all things BRFC like us sad bastards on here (case in point, this post is at twenty to ten on a Saturday night!).

Do you still go Waggy? I can only assume you don’t if you think that turn of events could possibly happen next Saturday. We could get a tonking both games and there would hardly be a ‘Mowbray, sort it out!’, nevermind an ‘Out’ chant or any ‘hounding’. The fella is on easy street with the Ewood crowd, nobody else has had the support in his pocket this much since probably Hughes.

A whole ONE player on international duty, must have been like a ghost town down there, though these are the hurdles you have to face when ‘the journey’ leads to such a quality squad, ay!

Good job that lot have just re-developed Gawthorpe or they’d be buying Brockhall off us (PNE Euxton style)… ’So negative! Get real, we can’t turn down a deal like that from an established PL side. Those state of the art Portakabins up Whitebirk sound fantastic. Well done to the club 👏‘

Does anybody else’s heart sink every time you see a new post on this thread? (Oops, now I’ve added to it!).

You could ring the ticket office up and buy over the phone? They’ll then have them ready for you to pick up on the day. Otherwise just roll up and buy, normally a queue after 2pm.

Putting the nonsense of Wenger’s plan for a bi-annual World Cup aside, I did like his idea of playing all qualifiers/internationals in one ‘international window’ instead of interrupting the domestic game four times a season.