2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Man, he is 51 years of age! ?

Kept his self fit though since he retired he's never stopped playing one way or another plus he lost his licence once when he lived in Lytham and was seen steaming around everywhere on a mountain bike so that might've helped ?

Mowbray's been able to spend a few quid but also considerably increase the 'book value' of the squad as well at the same time.  Bowyer was the only other whose done that so hopefully the ownership takes it on board.

Steady manager - steady spend = decent team, squad value and future transfer revenue on a continuous basis.

Ultimate aim a squad strong enough to challenge for promotion but able to withstand and replace the odd large sale now and again.

Marginal gains could be seen as there's nowt in the pot in Jan aside from a few coppers to tweak in house depts.

Good though that  TM and co are looking at the finer details on the inner workings it all adds up.

That should be on  20ft by 20ft billboards on every A road into town !

If it was a bit cheaper maybe a fuller home end would've turned up isn't that the point ?

An almost 50/50 home v away ratio is hardly something to celebrate unless of course you are a man in a suit with no affinity to the club just counting the beans and reporting back to your bosses.

24 minutes ago, MCMC1875 said:

Every game should be the same price in one season. It was this way for over 100 years. I pay to see Blackburn Rovers. Cat A/B/C should be scrapped.

Single tier pricing would probably be best but failing that the A/B/C shouldn't be dictated predominantly by trying to fleece any away support who is likely to bring over a thousand because that is the way it seems structured.

It isn't done with home fans in mind and that is annoying.

I've worked at various points with PNE fans as well as lived in an area where they were the main local team and I also have a few friends who follow them so over the years you get a good idea of how they see Rovers and our fans.

Don't think hatred is the right word it's a bit different to dingle levels but certainly bitterness would describe it well or maybe jealousy but definitely a lot have that big Rovers chip on their shoulders.  Possibly a generational thing 30-50 year old types who've always seen it as a rivalry from the doc boot days then for all together different reasons in the 90's when every local club got a real dose of the green eyed monster towards t'Rovers !

PNE though are a bit unique as unlike Burnley and Bolton they've never got over it because they've never scaled the Prem heights themselves and we haven't played each other that much over the last 3 decades so they haven't been able to get it out their systems with a few victories etc.

I'd also say chatting to people at the school gates or over the garden fence you'd probably expect polite banter but working with a load of hairy arsed older blokes in a factory when you're 19 and the only Rover they've come across away from a match day gives a totally different feeling to it ......?

16 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

2,500/ 3,000 or so people are buying match tickets every week, that’s as many as we’ve ever really sold week by week, even in the PL. So, even though I do think £25-£30 is too expensive, that’s not the reason crowds aren’t what we want and I think we focus on the red herring of match ticket sales a little too much on here.

It’s very simple, the vast majority of our support has always come from STs and we just didn’t sell enough of them in the summer , we’ll probably sell a few hundred half STs, but there’s not a lot else we can do about season tickets for the next few months.

That’s why it is essential that we sell significantly more next time round. No more price rises, get them on sale earlier etc etc, it is the only way we will raise crowds, if we don’t see a significant increase we will be having the exact same argument this time next year.

Are there actually that many buying single match tickets or are corporates counted in as well along with complimentaries etc ?

If they are then every one of those 2/3k should be treated as a potential half ST buyer and maybe should be targeted with some incentives.  That's what the database is for after all.

58 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

....what about... police intelligence?

You mean where a group of officers stand filming sections of the crowd all game at tax payers expense ?

How many does it take to operate a portable camera .....

Police Force ...... clue is in the title.

Couple of years ago we went early  doors to Lancaster on a 40th do, got off the train at Preston from Chorley to be rounded up by plod who were there in huge number gathering up Sheff Weds fans who were arriving for an early kick off at PNE I think.

Only a bit of sweet talking to a nice sensible young WPC saw us able to go on our way otherwise it looked like we were being bused to weepdale along with a load of angry Yorkshiremen whether we liked it or not !

35 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Football fans en masse are nothing, if not fickle....

Partly and partly not knowing an arse from an elbow unless someone has told them the difference !

Meanwhile those who know a striker when they see one and know they are worth their weight in gold said he'd still have enough to do a job in league one and he did. It is all catching up a bit with him now but again that was to be expected. That's why we've screamed for proper back up so he can be managed properly and take a good rest now and again.

No hiding place in this league.

Who was beating the drum day in day out virtually everyday the other summer saying his legs had gone ?  

Fickle is not the word.... ?

Think there might have been some shuttle buses on a few seasons ago or maybe it was just an urban myth.

Is the Pune light about to turn red again on incomings just before the window ....... ?

Maybe allowing him to splurge on Brereton was a sweetner.

If there's a point to be missed you know who'll miss it !

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

He plays Bell in position, no? 

When he first signed him he cost money at a time when we weren't spending so he represented a big outlay and they chased him long and hard to get him here. He was established LB at Fleetwood so it was fair to assume Mowbray saw him as a serious challenge to the LB spot at Rovers however on signing he tried to shoehorn him in on the left wing then it seemed like maybe he saw him as the left sided man in a back three or something.

He's been in and out but of course his failure to nail down a regular spot isn't all down to the manager but he does like to swap them about even when they've had a little purple patch. I genuinely think if TM could've got away with playing his as a defensive left mid he would've.

If you could blend him and Williams into one you'd have a very good left back to be fair.

5 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Hes a left back

I know he is !

But you already knew that eh....

4 hours ago, rigger said:

Yesterday I was disappointed with Dack and Graham. But when it came to having an ineffectual game Bell won hands down. I think it is time TM admitted to himself that he has signed a dollopper in Bell and dropped him.

Bell gets filed in the Samuel signing category, similar fees as well tied up in lads who he's reluctant to play in their natural positions consistently when they are fit.

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

If an employer pays a small fortune for your services then as an employee you should feel some pressure to deliver !

Obviously BUT TM has gone softly softly on BB and said multiple times he's one for the future not the present - that's Mowbray speaking not me - so too me i'd have got in another striker on loan from somewhere who can back up, stand in for Graham upfront knowing my main target man wasn't getting any younger and carries niggles and my one for the future big investment was just that

Playing Dack upfront was seemingly the first fall back option in mind though, he can do the job against certain teams but against many with robust centre halves he can't. There's Armstrong as well who can do but similarly to Dack only at certain times.

I don't think the big signing was dodgy as in the past but I do think there is a bit more to it than meets the eye, perhaps a bit knee jerkish or ordered to find someone like him from above or something. The main bollock dropped is lack of genuine back up for Graham.

Considering we'd no idea what was going to follow Lambert and then with what eventually did I don't think there was any cause for celebration anywhere. Relegation was awful and looked like the final bell was really tolling for Rovers under this lot but at long last the law of averages went in our favour and whilst browsing the football manager scrap heap they literally finally landed on a 'gem' experienced enough and suited to our type of club and the mess it was in.  I don't think it was anything other than that.

I genuinely think Lambert would have turned out to be something steady but uninspiring along the lines of GB had he stayed but we'd certainly have avoided relegation for the time being. Probably he'd have had us plodding in lower mid Championship for a while at best so what would've happened after that who knows, he may have left a solid base but any appointment like Coyle would've ruined it anyway.

One thing I will admit is Lambo was/is seriously overated, mostly by himself I think.

Again the lack of a genuine back up striker was highlighted yesterday, I don't feel that should reflect on BB there should be another decent striker in the squad to back up DG and keep the pressure off Brereton.

Could end up being the difference between a good season and an average one.

I hope Usyk does it the right way and builds himself a proper HW career he's a chance of becoming like the new Holyfield. If hearn and Sky have anything to do with it they'll have him straight in with Joshua after beating a couple of barely ranked tomato cans Fury style.  Then he'll get his arse kicked, they'll all make a lot of money and it fills a slot for AJ but Usyk will have to start all over again, give it a few years though and the landscape could change and open right up for him although he is already 31 so he might have money in mind first and foremost now.

7 minutes ago, AAK said:

Poor result really. Failed to beat Reading, Millwall and Rotherham at home. Just missing that bit up front, a Jordan Rhodes who will always bag dare I say. 

For all the daft flat track bully remarks and he only scores against the lesser sides well todays game is the type he regularly wins for you.