gumboots

But getting people in the ground on match days between now and the end of the season may be what's needed to increase St sales next season

I've turned up quite often at the cinema to find there's a special offer on tickets and the person behind the counter is keen to help me get it. I've also turned up at rugby games a few minutes before the match, got tickets for the same price as if I'd been there hours before and sometimes found it includes a drink at the bar or kiosk after the match too. Not everyone imposes surcharges

You can't believe they complain about the 3 pounds surcharge or the increase in 1875 membership? Not everyone can or does prioritise attending Rovers games so that they don't think about cost in the way you seem to. For every family cash priorities are different and everything that makes it harder for people to attend matches in any way is important, especially when the ground is half empty. The point most people here seem to understand is that getting people back as season ticket holders requires getting them back into a habit. Make that habit harder than it needs to be for them means many will simply stay away.

Of course there won't be 1000s extra. Nobody is suggesting that it makes a huge difference but it's just another hurdle that the club don't need to put there. On basic wages they wouldn't need a lot more ticket staff to cope and probably no more stewards. So the cost would be covered with very few extra fans coming in. It's an excuse the club does not need to give people like me who still haven't made it to Ewood yet this season

Why? Late ticket sales are something to be encouraged in many ways. Often they're a group of people who suddenly decide to do something together. You ring a friend and say I fancy going to Rovers this afternoon.. Do you want to come with me. Hey presto. 2 more seats sold. I do it all the time with other things. Why not rovers?

Reincarnation is not biblical. In fact Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus where the rich man who's a bad'un dies, gets what he deserves and asks if the beggar Lazarus who's also died and gone to heaven can go back to warn his family and the reply is that there's no chance. Story to illustrate a completely different point but in my opinion suggests that reincarnation doesn't happen in Christian belief

I'm a Methodist local preacher who worked in a 90% Muslim school. I would discuss my faith with anyone who asked and was prepared to listen to what they had to say, but I would never have overstepped the mark and tried to belittle what they believed or in any way influenced their belief because that would not have been appropriate in my job

Now that's not true and you know it's not. Criticism of some of his apparent tactics or selection choices does not mean we don't appreciate all the other stuff we do like about him. You need to learn to separate the 2. Nobody is infallible. Nobody gets every bit of everything right every time. I don't know if you watched Michael Palin in North Korea when he was talking about one of the things we believe in the world outside dictatorships is that everyone can be criticised even if they are loved. The Korean girl found this a strange concept. There seem to be a couple of people here who feel the same way. Mowbray is appreciated and even loved by many here for his passion, his work ethic, the team spirit he's instilled, his man management skills, bringing the we're all in it together feeling back for fans, getting us promoted - the list goes on, but that doesn't mean that we have to accept everything he does without debating its merits.

Nobody doesn't think Mowbray has turned the club around, but that doesn't mean he is above being questioned or even openly criticised if people think he's got something wrong. We don't live in a place where criticism is frowned on. Of course if it turns out that your opinion is rubbish and the manager did in fact get it right then you need to be big enough to admit that too.

Absolutely true especially if your partner and a couple of kids suddenly decide they would like to come with you afterall. £12 on the cost of the tickets. My son was so reluctant to attend his first match that he and his dad missed the early goal in the match, but he had a season ticket for years after that and was a walk on at many other matches. You need to get people in. I went free for several years with school parties but had at least 15 years as a season ticket holder. That's how I know making it as easy as possible for people to get into the habit is important

I said exactly that. If we were all held to account over every daft thing we've ever said we'd be in a right mess. It's not that it wasn't a bad thing to say just that he's probably asked himself over and over why he said it in the first place and how he managed to come over sounding so crass. I hope he makes a quick recovery

I don't think anyone can deny that our season tickets are reasonably priced if you can attend enough matches, although the increase this year was a bit steep. However, walk on prices and especially if you factor in a surcharge are high. I wouldn't suggest cheap match day tickets overall but a flat rate of £25 or so without surcharges might make a difference to crowds as would the occasional really cheap promotion. Its about getting people through the door in the first place then hopefully converting them to season ticket holders. There has to be more the club can do without annoying existing st holders or offering a price that costs more than it brings in.

Souness was saying how good he was last night on Monday Night Football. Said oposition managers always asked where he'd got him from

Will venkys even answer the phone? Or will they insist Levy travels to India to deal with them in person? With them, who knows? No point worrying about Dack leaving in January. If he's going, he'll go, and not a thing we say will make any difference. We can debate it, but we can't second guess what our owners will do

We took our grandson to the Oxford match. Noisier than most recent matches. He wasn't quite 2. He loved it. Was fascinated watching the crowds, the match, the mascot, everything. Every child is different. Your daughter may live it

Can I just say, having few things I have to do now I'm retired, I quite often decide to do things at the last minute. Having spent my life up to then ruled for large parts by the ringing of a bell, being able to make spontaneous decisions is one of the privileges of getting older. So last Saturday I came back from a course I'd been attending and decided at 2.30pm that since the weather had improved greatly, I'd go and watch Clitheroe. Now obviously to get from Clitheroe to Ewood I'd have to decide a bit sooner, but with smaller crowds than when I used to have a ST, probably not much before 2pm. So yes, people do decide at the last minute to do things based on all sorts of criteria. And provided we stay within posting rules, well talk about whatever we want on here. We know that it may change nothing per se, but the point of a message board is to allow you to get things that annoy you off your chest, and to explain the reasons why you're annoyed.

Makes a bigger difference in rugby though. In football I think you'd need longer than 10 min for it to make a difference

Immediate goodwill towards him and the club if he'd scrapped it. It's not a lot on one ticket but if you pay for more than one eg you, your partner and a young family member it's a lot. And it's the principle of it. Why should you be penalised for deciding at the last minute you want to go and can? You'll already pay top price for your ticket compared to season ticket holders etc. That's what you expect when you're picking and choosing which matches to attend. But why should you pay more if you can't decide till nearly kick off? If there's room for you, and there certainly is at Ewood, then you should be allowed to purchase a ticket at the standard price. Other sports do it. Why can't we?

For some, getting the money together is a big thing, especially if they're paying for several tickets. Getting them on sale soon would give them a chance to decide what they can say no to between now and the half season tickets starting in order to be able to afford to commit to half season tickets. We all know that if there's something you have to pay for, the longer you have to put money away the easier that payment becomes, as you can give up lots of smaller things rather than deprive yourself of something you really want or need.

This sounds like rugby rules where the ref doesn't stop the clock for short things like minor injuries but does for infringements that need dealing with in more depth. The time keeping isn't done by the ref and time is not arbitrarily added on at the end at the refs estimation. When the clock reaches time the next stoppage finishes the match. If you're looking to score you just keep the ball in play so time can go on but once the opposition can get the ball off the pitch, the match ends

I'm with you here Chaddy. I have sky. I don't use it to watch Rovers as I don't enjoy watching them live on tv. If I'm going to actually watch the whole thing I would be at the ground. But I watch cricket, rugby, films and other programmes on it and the money that makes for them means they can pay everything they do to televise football matches. I can't help that. If it were possible for everything to be on terrestrial TV I'd be much happier but then you'd have to pay much more for terrestrial TV.

Waggott can say as often as he wants why there is a surcharge on match day tickets purchased on the day but it doesn't make it right or good business sense. As an initial gesture without any significant cost to themselves, Rovers could drop it. If it brought a few more in to fill some of those empty seats wouldnt that be great?

You're right about moving fans without consultation being a big thing. I'd say it was definitely the tipping point for me and I said at the time it was the thin end of the wedge. You've admitted you like sitting where you sit. So did I and Cheston took it away just like that. I told him what I thought when I wrote to him to explain why I didn't renew my season ticket. Upset about it? Damned right I was

Oddly enough, one thing I never do is watch Rovers on Sky. I would far rather go to a live match. We have all the sky matches available but I can't stand Rovers on tv. Don't know why

He didn't actually say Neal had made any suggestions. Just pointed him to this thread where we all, season ticket holders, occasional attenders, non attenders, lapsed St holders, disgruntled at being moved from stand without consultation fans, never miss a match fans and any other group you can think of, have had our say.