Wot! They could jettison these two alone and refund supporters!

I think a lot will feel similar. Everything he has done to date is about short term gain. Pennies now over pounds later. The sad thing is that eventually Waggott will leave to another six figure job and we may be left with nothing.

What happened when the club treated fans with similar disdain with FA Cup final tickets? Fans only returned when Jack Walker got involved. In FFP world Jack Walker would not be allowed to revolutionise the club to do so again. Waggott Out.

Just when you think Waggott has a chance to prove what kind of individual he is... ...he does so. It wasn’t that long ago we were asked to believe that Mowbray had to convince Venkys to keep their money in their pocket as they were desperate to fund success, now they are playing pauper over ST refund requests. Cash cows is all us fans are to the current regime. Question though, in these desperate times requiring commitment: has a single first team player or board member taken a pay cut?

“80% of the season completed” is exactly the reason it should be null void. Some clubs are going to be relegated with 20% of the season left to play! This could cause financial ruin for them through no fault of their own. Conversely, any club who faces financial ruin because they don’t get promoted has really only themselves to blame. There is nothing fair about a PPG finish and teams promoted or safe will vote against it. Only relegated teams and those who could make the play-offs would vote against which would almost certainly be less than half. Finishing a season with a set of different rules isn’t the same season anyway. The current situation is about Liverpool and Leeds. “Having your cake and eating it too” is calling the situation “unprecedented” and also saying “the show must go on”.

Agreed, I could definitely see the PL clubs turning their backs on L1/L2 clubs and instead ‘helping’ the EFL by putting their own U21 teams in there to fill the gaps left by long standing community-bonding clubs. Bury x 48 and you’re on your own folks.

A majority vote in this scenario is completely unjust. There would only ever be a minority of clubs impacted negatively so any motion would always carry at their expense. The ‘football family’ is an oxymoron. No finish to the season should have meant null and void. It’s the only fair and equitable outcome. Nobody earned promotion, regardless of how well they had done to that point or how much they “earned” or “deserved” it - according to some. Nobody had been relegated - notwithstanding Bolton’s certainty for the drop. A vote simply allowed the EFL to abdicate any responsibility and enable them to blame clubs. Who are clubs going to sue for losses? It’s a cop out, an understandable one perhaps but still a cop out. It is what it is now though, and we move on but the EFL should never again utter the now derisory phrase: integrity of the game. There is none. A little like ‘fit and proper owners’. Pah!

Think of the Netflix drama though!

Liverpool and at a stretch Leeds I could just about stomach. Losing a young star in the making to Brighton would be tough to take.

Doesn’t sound like a club that has been building for the future! Also need to replace Danny Graham. So to sum up, we have a couple of centre midfielders, one left winger, one centre back and one right back. And no goalkeepers!

It’s not just results though. I though Big Sam was exactly the right manager for us at that time. We needed to stay in the PL. As it turned out the windfalls were just about to land when Venkycide happened. But... The football was extremely dull for long long periods, and consequently the atmosphere while he was here was utterly dreadful. Granted, we won a lot of home games so you went away from Ewood happy or at least with bragging rights but not a lot else. Entertainment is goals, then near misses, then chances, then great attacking build up play - a long ball into the box was only good if it ended with a goal. Allardyce just got enough balls into the box to play the stats. It is also the saves and near misses at the opposite end but entertainment for a different reason. I think some greatly underestimate the impact of a manager and his preferred style of play. Particularly as exciting players can incur the wrath of a more negativity-minded manager creating a double bubble: a manager actively preventing excitement in favour of game management. I should point out that the match excitement debate is completely different to the results debate. Mourinho being the classic example. In those situations the excitement is about the league table in between games rather than in-play enjoyment.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the broadcast was ‘just behind live’ or even delayed up to a minute for that reason: to mute... inconsiderate language.

I’ll give you that Roger. I wasn’t counting Tony.

If there is to be a better atmosphere there needs to be more attacking endeavour on the pitch. The last time we had a real atmosphere was when Mark Hughes was here and our brand of football was exhilarating. Pinging diagonal balls from defence to the wing has been a feature of Mowbray’s approach and it certainly doesn’t generate excitement. Conversely Rothwell taking the ball forward 20 or 30 yards at pace certainly did and he got regularly made a scapegoat. Then he gets hooked because his style doesn’t fit with Mowbray’s. Oh, for a manager with an attacking wing-led, two forward philosophy like Hughes or Souness. (It can be done!) The atmosphere at Ewood has always been about what happens on the pitch, rather than terrace (or seating) “parties” where the football is almost incidental. Interesting link from back when Rovers were ‘relevant’ to anyone but their own hardcore... https://metro.co.uk/2009/08/10/blackburn-rovers-top-exhilaration-league-328324/ We are affected by what we see on the pitch, there’s an intensity with which we watch and react. I suspect across NW clubs who pay more of their % disposable income than most, so maybe more invested. (Incidental unrelated stat: there have been as many managers in the 20 years between Don McKay leaving and Sam Allardyce, as there have been in the 10 years of Venkys - anyone know how many, without Google?)

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/

It’s a good point you make. It certainly doesn’t feel as though clubs, club staff and fans are “in this together”.

We won’t announce anything like that “until we know what division we will be in”. You are bang on the money with your observations though. Waggott has long used loyalty as the stick to lead the cash cows, sorry, supporters, with. £300k... for what? Leading a loss-making, cash-haemorrhaging, fanbase-shrinking club. What’s the measure of success? Promotion from L1? Punching above our weight as a small time northern club? What can we expect Madame with such an uncommitted local population who won’t pay whatever prices or schemes we set up?”. It could be argued that the fan-fending approach is helping to maintain the facade that “thinking big”, let alone trying to increase attendances, is pointless. BCD is going to be a weight off. In contrast Derby are showing their commitment to fans and will get it back in spades. Over to Waggott...

Ben Brereton: Training Ground Ronaldo BCD might suit this fella. Play-offs here we come!

Coronavirus should have been the great leveller. Sadly the PL is going to be propped up and will probably outlast the rest of the EFL.

That’s another way of looking at it I guess but let’s face it, it’s not close to being the same product. iFollow our to be a couple of quid per game, or £10 per month. That’s the going rate for streaming movies and tv. And I’d still rather watch live at £13 per game. Sadly, the longer this goes on and the more we hear that TV is more important than fans, the less interested I become.

I’d like a refund but the club could probably point to a contract clause where they don’t have to provide one. And there’s the rub. iFollow will allow season ticket holders to watch (presumably home games) for free. Fair play. Although it is still down to clubs but it would prevent a refund. Although Waggott could still go down the cynical route of a discount on a future season ticket - meaning you have to pay again to get anything back - but let’s see. However, it will cost £10 to watch games that you don’t already have a ticket for? £10 to watch what will effectively be a training game for points. Move over “Champagne Football” we’re in for Lambrini football at champagne prices!!

Mirrors my thoughts. What I want to understand is, why are Chelsea considering spending £50m on any player at this moment in time? What is the measure of whether that signing is a success? (Not) Winning trophies in a soulless stadium has diminished the achievement but winning it in a body-less stadium? Is Champions League income still such a major stream that such sums still need to be expended just to keep the wheels going? The prestige of being a football club owner must surely be massively diminished with no supporters there to “fan the emperor”. We are watching football die as a spectator sport and the rats are scrambling to survive by carrying on pandering to TV executives. Well, they’ve made their beds by allowing themselves to get into this state. I certainly don’t see why the exchequer should bail any of them out.

If the only football is PL football then football is dead. You talk about contractual obligations during a global pandemic. This is force majeure. Clubs cannot be compelled to play. The reason they are is because they are addicted like crack addicts to TV-money-heroin (to “pay (ridiculous) wages and (obscene) transfer fees”) and going cold turkey is going to hurt. I’ve no sympathy for them. BCD is not football.

But it’s not even about survival of the fittest, it’s about throwing more money at the most bloated debt ridden, unsustainable clubs and bollocks to everyone else. If the EFL becomes 24 teams then it will die anyway - and I hope it does such is the distain that it has shown two-thirds of its members. It’s not even guaranteed yet that it won’t just be the PL that goes ahead. Why aren’t strides being taken to find a way to protect all clubs. The current approach to go BCD rather than wait until 2021 increases the likelihood of low league teams going bust. The issue here is TV money. If all clubs stuck together, Sky and BT would have to back down. Football holds more cards that it is letting people believe. But it’s all about the few making big money at the expense of the many. Everything wrong with the ugly world exposed by this pandemic has been epitomised by the PL gravy train. EFL members (L1,L2 and half of the Championship) should walk away and form their own regional sections as three leagues. Start again.

All that will happen is that for every club that goes to the wall, a non-league side will take their place, and the FA will just lower their standards (e.g. ground specification) accordingly. The gap between top and bottom will grow. The bigger concern is what happens if grassroots and non-league clubs fold in big numbers. Thanks for that. Good post. I think the big deal for me, as I’ve alluded to in the post above, is that football exists outside of what can (or will) be televised. Watching on TV is going to be “acceptable” (at least until the novelty wears off) for about 30 or 40 English clubs (and so-called “neutrals”). What about the rest of the 62-72 poor bastards who Sky/BT have no interest in? If you consider a world where TV rules then FFP starts to make more sense. The ethos being that only clubs with big fanbases make it to the top. They start by giving their money to their clubs to make them successful on the pitch. Then eventually they give that money to the TV companies instead who give some of that back to their club. TV company execs/shareholders will benefit a heck of a lot more from a Leeds or Sunderland being in the PL than a Barnsley or a Blackpool. Throw in VAR to help to influence results and make TV replays integral to the rules... Yes, it’s tin foil hat territory but this has been the direction things have been heading for a while. Coronavirus has simply created an urgent need to get there faster. ”But TV football is better than no football!” Chaddy cries. Maybe, but not if you are a fan of an unfashionable lower league team. Not until your club is wiped out and your grandchildren support their favourite “TV club” instead. Let’s hope I’m wrong and we are all back at Ewood some time next season...