On 17/06/2020 at 18:04, Stuart said:

I just find it bizarre that despite people still working from home and teaching unions still insisting kids are not safe to go back to school that nobody else is really taking this pandemic seriously anymore - including football.

The protests, and the lack of any real coverage anymore of the impact, have made people feel like they are immune.

Sadly very true Stuart. I went to ALDI Ewood yesterday. Last week staff on the door, sanitizing station for trolleys, gel for hands. Yesterday two empty gel containers on a window ledge.

The virus is still with us but millions have suddenly relaxed. Personally I'm redoubling my efforts to stay safe.

24 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Yes, I did. Apologies.

By the way, is there no way you could connect a HDMI cable to your laptop and use your TV as a second screen?

Unfortunately not. I use a Microsoft Surface Pro and these don't have the ports.

37 minutes ago, Stuart said:

A different take on the no refund policy and instead offering games on iFollow.

If the club offered STs next season on the following basis...

1) iFollow home and away games “for free” while games are BCD

2) A return to the ground at some point over the season (at which point iFollow would cease)

....would people pay £350+ for a 2021/22 ST?

I like this question! Do you actually mean 2020/21?

I think we both know the answer to this one Stuart! Not a chance, absolutely no chance. It's another reason why involving and considering the paying fan - not only the Sky subscribers - is so important. If the club want my money they have to offer something of reasonable quality. iFollow is laughable.

The next time I buy our two STs will be when I can sit in the ground. If I could Chromecast or similar on to the TV I'd consider it but not at £350 perhaps £100-150. I pay £96pa for Netflix and receive a good product. There are standards out there to compare with and with iFollow we are offered very little by comparison with other platforms. That's the problem the EFL has to overcome.

I'm surprised the thought of Chromecast hasn't been raised before. There is no way I'm going to sit at the dinner table hunched over a laptop for 90 minutes.

At present I doubt if I'll buy a full ST much before July 2021. Provided adequate measures are in place I'd expect to buy one for the home matches from March 1st 2021 onwards.

Just one comment on next season and deferred refunds etc. My expectation is next season will be so short for ST holders in the ground that +/- £50 deferred refund against a new ST would mean the majority pay little more than another £30-50 - I don't have the inclination to work it out exactly.

We won't be back at Ewood before March 1st 2021.

9 hours ago, JoeH said:

I'd like to issue a public apology to @Paul. The clubs most recent statement IS a complete abandonment of the supporters, I'm completely disgusted by it and I think you most definitely now have every right to be angry. 

Amazed at the response they've given here.

Thank you Joe, this is a very gracious comment.

I have long known football in general and the club have no regard or concern for fans. The thing which has caused me to be so angry is the Covid-19 situation has confirmed this, confirmed something a bit of me hoped wasn't true.

Thanks again.

1 minute ago, JoeH said:

Second quote clearly speaks to refunds. Everyone is welcome  

I'll ask you again where does it state the refund policy?

3 minutes ago, JoeH said:

"The logistics of how season ticket holders will gain access to the iFollow stream for the remaining games are still being finalised by the EFL."

"The club will inform season ticket holders of the next steps as soon as they are finalised via the club website, our social media channels and by email."

"Rovers are currently working on a comprehensive operational plan for the four remaining matches to be played at Ewood Park and hope to be able to provide supporters with further information (including an FAQs document) regarding the streaming agreement over the coming days.

"talkSPORT will provide exclusive national radio commentary on some Championship matches."

I'll ask again. Where? As @Mattybluesays there is no mention of anyhting other than working on a plan.

Let me give you an example. I had tickets for three events at the Bridgewater Hall. This venue deals with different events every night across a wide and diverse customer base. The initial statement was on the lines of "for events to the end of April full refunds will be offered. The ticketing agency will be in touch with you. For events in May please check back after DD/MM." I checked back on the required date. I know exactly what is happening, my concerns have been addressed. End of story and very happy with the outcome.

Rovers have four events to deal with involving a known fan base. Perhaps they should ring the Bridegwater Hall for some advice?

Just now, JoeH said:

B*llocks. They've already outlined the plans. I think you're just looking to have a dig at this point. You will be able to stream online, or get a refund. The club have to sort so much, they WILL get round to you. I don't see what's so completed. Statements HAVE been made, plans ARE in place.

Where?

Just now, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

Get a grip.

The club have said that they’ll be providing further details as to how the system will work. What more do you expect them to do? If you’re not sure about how to use the Rovers online accounts, have you tried to contact anyone about it? Or just resorted to slagging off the club on the internet?

Fans can’t attend the games for obvious reasons so ST holders are being allowed to watch the games online for free. How is that ‘forgetting’ the fans?

Clearly this is out of the club’s hands and I don’t see a better alternative to what is being proposed. 

Yes, I've contacted the club on several ocassions regarding the problem. I've explained it, the club agree it's an issue but have never got back to me on it. I know precisely how to use the online account - it doesn't work though. I give the club the reasons, they agree it's an issue for me and other fans and fail to fix it.

4 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

I think the EFL are still working on the logistics which is why you have not yet received a communication with the detil.

We shall see. I'm afraid this situation has caused real damage to my relationship with football and the club. Football has had 10/11 weeks to come up with a statement. It has failed to do so.

Just now, Mashed Potatoes said:

According to a report in the newspapers 2 days ago season ticket holders at all clubs in the Championship will be able to see all remaining home and away on iFollow for free- that strikes me as a very fair compromise.

The club have not communicated this to fans. It's one email, that's all. My account doesn't work so it's irrelevant if I have to use this as a log in.

17 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I'm going to rant a little now, so skip ahead if you'd rather not listen:

Give the club a chance. This is a HUGE logistical task, and most clubs are down on staffing to sort it too. They've got to consider so many things, sort so many technical things too.

 

Half the fan base will want to watch on iFollow - well there's the log ins, the increased streaming viewership, potential fraud etc.. to consider.

The other half want money back - well then you've got to analyse the purchase history for ST holders, half season ticket holders, 6-game holders and 4-game holders. You've then got to contact everyone that's just been mentioned, explain their options, execute their wishes.\

There's 9,000+ people, all wanting different things, it's a massive undertaking even for giants like United with their infrastructure. Give the club a chance and just relax a little, in time, all the options will be available for refunds and whatnot. Seems absolutely astronomically absurd to me to be getting angry over something like this. It's going to happen. Christ.

 

Consider the role of somebody in the ticket office right now, consider what their day looks like. Can you just imagine the pressures on clubs right now to get things right. They've got so much shit to deal with, stuff that nobody is prepared for because this has never happened before. I don't know if you've ever rung to get a refund for anything before but even at the best of times that's a ten minute phone call.

Let's say right now it's still a ten minute phone call, and let's say 4,000 people want their money back. You're looking at 40,000 minutes of phone time to refund those people. 480 minutes per working day to do phone calls. Let's say there's five people answering the phone, so 2400 minutes a day. 40,000 minutes, divided by the 2400 minutes possible to complete every single day, leaves you with 16 days worth of work just in phoning people and sorting refunds. SIXTEEN days worth of work for the ticket office, just sorting out refunds. Well we haven't got that long, the season starts sooner than that. So everyone's already run off their feet just dealing with this half of the requests.

Now consider the other 6,000 ST holders, the ones who now want an iFollow log on that they've never had before. Imagine the phone calls for troubleshooting those issues, getting people online, making sure the servers can cope with that load. 

Imagine the work being done to try and ensure that every single fan can get exactly what they want, imagine how little your individual issues matter in the grand scheme of things, and give them a God-damn break. They WILL get round to you, they WILL sort things out, and when they do they deserve a round of applause because right now it must be an absolute nightmare for them.

Hmmmm.........I had tickets booked for a number of events. I checked with the venues online. All of them have a statement on their website telling customers what will happen as regards refunds, reschedule, credits etc. It's easy.

Football has done nothing for the fans who turn up every week. Rovers have done nothing. An opportunity has been missed. It is abundantly clear the only fans who count are the ones who can't be arsed to leave their armchairs on a Saturday afternoon. That's fine, football doesn't want me so f*** football.

2 hours ago, bluebruce said:

I'd say it makes more sense to compensate you to the tune of £4 per game and let you watch them without further cost. The club can't afford to risk writing off the full amount if you and thousands of others decided not to pay it, or use an illegal stream instead.

But if you're getting to watch all 9 games, not just the home ones, without extra cost, you're actually getting a much better deal than the rest of us rubes (bar the illegal streamers). I've not read much on it yet so don't know if you get all 9 or just the home games.

I understand your point and reasoning but don't agree. The majority of other forms of entertainment have or will offer a full refund for events which have not taken place. Where refunds are not given the event is or will be rescheduled and people then get the chance to choose between attending or a refund. Rovers can't reschedule so should offer first a credit against the next purchase or a refund. I'm owed +/- £100 on STs and car park.

I don't think the club will lose the income from thousands of fans not paying for iFollow in these circumstances. We have +/-  10,000 ST holders who should be offered iFollow for free. If 5,000 log in to watch that would be a good number, the likelihood of all ST holders watching is very, very slim. Our gates are what +/- 13,000 so that means there are a potential 3000 regular walk ons who might be interested in iFollow. Again would they all watch for £10? Highly unlikely. If 6500 use the service I think that would be a success, though we will never know the number. The service is there, the bulk of our crowd is ST holders who should receive it for free, that is we've paid for it if no ST refunds are offered. Very few others will be interested so the club will lose minimal income BUT would gain real kudos by offering the service for free. This would cost nothing because the club are already incurring the cost.

I've had a myrovers account for years. I created a new one in January as requested to all fans by the club. The account has never worked correctly. I understand why, I've explained this to the club and the club acknowledge the problem. I've raised the issue several times and never received the promised response. I'm not going to run around trying to get it fixed again.

To make iFollow work simply in the current situation the club should issue a link. ST holders could be allowed a single log in per match using their ST number. Everyone else pays by credit/debit card or PayPal. Job done.

In my view the club and football in general have screwed up everything connected with the fans who go to the ground. chaddy I don't give a hoot about the millions who watch on TV, I'm interested in myself and my son and the thousands who turn up every week. Not one word has been uttered to suggest anyone in football is thinking about us. It makes me extremely angry and has damaged my view of Rovers.

As an aside are people aware the NHS Blood Transfusion Service turned up at the ground last Thursday to find the whole place locked up? Everyone seems to have forgotten they were coming. Blackburn fire station accomodated the service at something like 90 minutes notice. I know people who were very unimpressed by this. Demonstrates the levels of service the club are giving during the Covid-19 crisis.

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

Cant wait for sport restarting now

Gosh didn't know that.

12 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

I've been watching it. I remember Euro 96 like it was yesterday. We should have won it. Venables did a great job. Wish he had carry on after it. 

BBC tv is boring at the best of the time. Without Football it dire. Spooks gone from it. Casualty is good. But that's it. 

I've watched the Match of the day top 10 shows and presenters best 3 matches over the last few weeks it been good. 

I dont know if you watched Harry Heroes on ITV a couple of weeks ago. Really good. Always good beating the Germans 

If you think Casualty is good TV there's nothing to say.

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Why has Shearer sunk? 

Watch BBC now. It's nothing more than filling screen time.

1 minute ago, toooldforthis said:

You are not alone in thinking this way.  At least you've received an email from the club.  I haven't.  Despite having a ST for over 40 years.  So, as I understand it, as a ST holder I have already paid roughly £14 per game for these last 4 matches being shown on iFollow.  But non-ST holders are only being charged £10 per game.  Would it not make sense for me to demand a refund for these last 4 games, and then pay only £10 for each game individually?  What am I not understanding here?

 

 

Yep. I'd happily have a refund and forget about it..... forever. Why should I bother? The club couldn't give a fig.

Just watch TV now to understand the depth to which a hero like Shearer has sunk.

10 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Rovers will be in contact with ST holders about the ifollow with further information shortly. 

Yet more of your usual nonsense. I'm already disengaged because the club sent out a "statement" which said nothing. I have a MyRovers account, it no longer recognises me. My club has kicked me out. Why should I bother to read the next email?

People like you need to wake up and smell the coffee. I've been at Ewood longer than you've been alive and the club have done more to leave me abandoned in the last few weeks than Venkys in the last ten years.

You clearly do not understand. The purpose of communication is to inform people of what they should or should not do. I don't need any "we will contact you shortly." I need one email, click here to watch Rovers. It's simple, it's good clear communication and not the bollocks coming from Rovers or football in general.

Stop watching through rose tinted glasses. I'm gone until the club shows me why I should come back.

On 06/06/2020 at 16:25, Stuart said:

All 9 games free on iFollow for ST holders.

So £90 of “value”.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2020/june/rovers-to-review-streaming-plans/

I've read this several times. I've also read the club email to me several times. I haven't got a f****** clue what I'm supposed to do if I want to watch Rovers on iFollow. I've only a very vague idea of how to use iFollow as I'm always in the ground!!!

All of which, once again, demonstrates the extent to which football has forgotten about the fans. The people like me who turn up every single frigging match come rain, hail, sun or snow.

I have a MyRovers account, I have a log in to buy tickets, which doesn't always work, and now I have to make sure I have a "single MyRovers log in account."

The longer this goes on without any serious consideration for the fans who turn up every week the less likely I am ever to set foot in any football ground again.

I'm quite good with IT but everything coming from the club and football in general leaves me cold and confused. I doubt any of the people issuing these statements have any understanding of the confusion they are creating.

Football today is money. Nothing else and I no longer count.

All we need is a link, click here to watch Rovers. It simply doesn't matter if we have a season ticket or not.

7 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You're the one who is particularly worried Paul, what sort of measures would you like to see?

Who said I'm particularly worried? You did, twice! I'm not fretting about it at all. I want to watch Rovers but I am not going to put myself at risk to do this. Therefore without adequate controls I will not go to Ewood. It's not just football - I will not get on a plane, for example, until I'm sure of my personal safety.  My one dilemma is my son will not understand the situation and that is something I'm grappling with. Do I put myself and son at risk by entering in to a situation I would not countenance for myself alone?

It's my belief those people who wish to protect themselves from Covid-19 will continue to practice social distancing. So the first measure I'm interested in is how will 10,000 people be controlled so as to provide social distancing through the turnstiles? I've already made the facetious point this is a 20km queue. It's a valid point. If I go to my local Tesco I'm expected to queue for 40-60 minutes. The result? I don't go to Tesco anymore because it is clear to me Tesco has failed to find a solution to the problem. Aldi and Morrisons have no queues.

It's not for me to detail the measures clubs take to protect their fans. It's up to the clubs, as it is with every other establishment, to provide an environment in which customers/fans feel safe. I simply won't go to places that cannot do this. I've accepted my life will contain a new level of risk, I've no problem with this. I do though have plans and ideas on how my actions will change to minimise that risk. That's a decision for individuals to make, I intend to remain healthy.

I realise there are those who feel the precautions we have been urged to take are to some extent unnecessary or are over the top. That's fine, no problem except those are the very same people I will do my best to avoid at all times.

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

we don't know this so lets leave it to experts from Oxford University and other people who are working on the vaccine. Sarah Gilbert from Oxford University was confident of a vaccine by September when talking BBC in April. We have ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine as long as it works

The EFL clubs know fans are important to their clubs and the community. 

If the football authorities and the government had no interest in the fans then they wouldn't have put every Premier League game on TV so fans of all PL clubs can watch them. I expect the EFL will do similar with the games. Whether it watching online of Sky Tv. 

I disagree that Football has forgotten me. They have provided me with plenty of TV Coverage to watch live football. 

 

 

If you seriously believe there is going to be a vaccine any time soon you're simply being lead by the nose by the media. Do a bit of research on how long it takes to develop, test and manufacture a virus. You're in for a major shock.

Putting PL football on TV has got nothing whatsoever to do with football fans. I am talking about fans who go in to the ground. Restarting the PL is nothing more than fulfilling contractual obligations to the TV companies. The way this is going football couldn't give two hoots whether or not you ever go in to a football ground again. Personally I have zero interest in watching TV football. If there is a game I want to see I go to the ground. That's what football fans do.

3 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

And who says it will be safe by then and what happens if no vaccine or treatment is found? 

 

There won't be a reliable vaccine for years, if at all. This is why the clubs should be working now to understand how they will achieve safe attendance.

If the clubs do not resolve this situation football will become a TV sport. In other words football in this country will be dead.

As @Stuart so rightly says the footballing authorities reinforce with every day that passes they have zero interest in the fans or in finding ways to return fans to the grounds.

Rovers should take a lead on this. There is no reason at all why the club should not work on this immediately. The management would gain significant kudos amongst the fan base and the wider game.

Football has forgotten me.

5 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Testing completely irrelevant then?

Utterly. It's a snapshot and one which the government are using to mislead people.

I'm OK today.... let's see what tomorrow brings.

8 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Finally!

The report was presented by the Premier League to the team captain of each club and PFA. Well if you object to the report good for you Paul. But the report is there. Teams and managers have accept the report and protocols in place otherwise they wouldn't have return to training. Hopefully Rovers will be back on Monday

Football is coming back in this country and will be TV until Christmas. At least it's back in some capacity and fans will have back some sport. You probably wont watch anyway. 

 

If the PL think players are only in this range of contact for 88 seconds on average per match they are even more unfit to run the game than I previously believed.

You'd believe any nonsense that's spoon fed to you via a media that relies on brainwashing viewers.

8 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Well firstly Paul, it isnt my report is it? 

Football is coming back. It will be TV sport until We can resume attending games. But like most sports I watch anyway like test cricket, NBA, golf or F1 or other football games. You may not watch any of them but alot of fans do. 

You say my link doesn't contain any reference to 88 seconds? Suggest you take a proper look but here is 88 seconds reference in the link

Apologies I did eventually find that bit about 88 seconds.

It's not my report! Hilarious. You presented the information without comment. At the very least it requires some consideration. You're the one arguing for football to return and should give due thought to the "facts" you present.

Suggesting any footballer is only at risk for an average of 88 seconds is obvious and total nonsense to anyone who has watched any football match.

Why don't you think about what you post?