RevidgeBlue

Have to disagree on this one. Evans is an over paid over-rated dud I'd be delighted to see the back of. I can't believe he's lasted at the Club as long as he has. The problem we have is that Johnson falls into exactly the same category and is arguably even worse. It's like trying to pick a Championship level striker between Brereton and Gallagher.

That was obviously the way to go, with the exception that once fans are allowed to go back to games, the £7 surcharge and removal of i-follow shouldn't be optional, it should be automatic. The way he's done it has given him the excuse to get rid of cheaper tickets altogether and blame it on Covid, has given him the excuse to charge up to £169 on a £399 ticket this season for something with no tangible benefit in a two thirds empty stadium (guaranteeing your own seat) and has potentially locked us into a never ending spiral of price increases with future prices potentially set at a level many fans either won't be willing or able to pay. I'm sure he'll want to stick headline prices up again next season to compensate for any "refunds" given against this season's ticket. £450+ to get in anywhere in the ground next season to watch a potentially struggling lower mid table Championship outfit with further standard increases in following seasons? Exceptionally difficult times for everyone, an inferior product temporarily on offer, yet I'm sure most people would still have rallied round a cheaper season ticket, a price freeze or even a minimal increase. So what do we do? Put prices up and not only that, by an unprecedented 25% in the Riverside thereby completely removing the option of a slightly cheaper ticket for those that need it. Still can't believe we've done it tbh, it's completely inexplicable and bizarre.

£660? Blimey this isn't 1992-95, I wouldn't risk £66 on this bunch or any team managed by this manager! We might be going in my acca this weekend that's about your lot! (Good luck if you're trying to get your free ticket this way btw)

Must win game regardless of personnel and formations. Be a very long season indeed if we can't win this type of fixture.

Spot on, same position as I would be in as regards physically going down to the ground now Swag has frightened off my friends.

Spot on. There is a huge irony that Waggott will no doubt have put huge numbers of fans off attending Ewood Park this season when permissible with his appalling attitude towards a likely handful of refunds for last season and the completely unjustified and excessive price hike for this. Then in the next breath he has the begging bowl out in rather public and unedifying fashion asking local MP's to lobby for the ground to be allowed to be opened. Too late mate, there probably isn't going to be a great deal of need to get the ground open the way you've behaved. And whilst I don't agree with any of the regulations surrounding Covid, we are where we are with them Nationally so it would have been far classier and more dignified to do your lobbying in private and convince the powers that be that all requirements are being met behind the scenes. Nevertheless, this fresh plea clearly indicates we are right in the **** and has provided a fresh tug on my heartstrings. I am in a moral conundrum and am completely split between not being prepared to be taken for a complete mug any further by this absolute idiot Waggott and drawing a line firmly in the sand, or supporting the Club and even upgrading my ticket to help out as I would be gutted if we we went under at a point when I hadn't renewed. Apologies for the public soul searching as I realise whether I personally renew is of no interest to anyone else and I used to give gumboots a huge amount of clog for doing the same so I'm being a massive hypocrite in that respect. I suppose the wider theme is that if Swag is grinding my gears to this extent then many others are presumably feeling the same. I think I'll do the same as Arbitro and write to Swag telling him exactly what I think of him at which point I might feel a bit better. Renewing isn't exactly going to make him change his ways though.

Right. The mate of mine who I normally go with in the Riverside has texted back as follows: " Not rushing, might get a half season ticket. Can't see there being a problem getting in. It's a bit much." So that looks like there's at least 3 of us down there unless I have a drastic change of heart

To be fair, at £599 that's a lot better value for money than £399 for the Riverside imo. Edit: once fans are allowed back in that is.

Far too sensible and very similar to what I've been advocating for ages. When nothing was available I'd have signed people up to a membership at a nominal monthly fee. Could have been a token reward or credit given in the Club Shop, Concourses or against a Cup ticket at a later date. Once it became apparent that only I follow was available for a period give upgrade everyone to that for £10 per game. Once fans allowed back in, upgrade them to full amount. The way round SW has actually done it has given him the excuse to phase out cheap tickets completely and blame it on Covid, and offer a potentially meaningless refund in real terms depending on how much prices are increased in following seasons.

Just for the sake of completeness, does anyone know what you get for paying £599 for a Jack Walker Diamond Club ticket?

Me too Tom. Been thinking it through this afternoon and the more I think about it the more worried I am getting, not just for me, but for the future of the Club in general. To me, the promise to make concessions against next year's prices only has any value in real terms if introduced in conjunction with the promise of a blanket price freeze for next season. Otherwise the Club could just hike prices up again next season and the season after that to compensate for any refunds given this season. And where would that leave fans who decide to leave it for this season? If Swag puts another £50 or so on prices next season then unless you bought this season you're looking at a minimum £450 - £500 to get in anywhere in the ground! A huge section of the fan base could be priced out for good. I really do fear Waggott is taking us down a long slippery and ultimately disastrous road.

Me too. Even for me on my own, £5 x 23 - (£115) or £399? Viewed objectively it's a no brainer. For people in a multiple ticket household it's even more difficult.

I don't think an £80 increase on a £319 ticket for the Riverside is acceptable personally. Maybe a blanket 10% increase across the ground might have been tolerable.

All this could have been introduced a couple of months ago giving people time to think through their options. Imo details have been cynically brought out only a few days before the start of the home season to pressurise people into making a rush and snap decision to renew so they can get their i follow pass in time for the first home game and also because they have this vague threat of eventually losing their normal seat hanging over their heads. Other important information has been left unclear (I suspect deliberately) - is the direct debit scheme still available? - Is there a set deadline for passes this year like normal with season tickets or will they be available throughout the season on a pro rata basis until fans are finally allowed into the ground? I also suspect next year's "refund" for matches watched on i follow this season won't be worth a bean. All Swag has to do is to calculate the amount to be refunded and put prices up by a corresponding amount over a couple of seasons to compensate. One further thing also really got my goat on the Club website. Let's face it prices have gone up because we're even more skint than normal due to the Crisis. However on the website instead of being honest and upfront about it the flimsy excuse for the massive price hike is that if they have to move someone out of JW upper then it's not fair that he's paying more than someone else. If that really were the reason and was a genuine possibility, then everyone including the guy in JW Upper should be on the lower price to be on the safe side. You don't punish everyone to protect the feelings of the guy who's moved! And the guy who's moved still isn't getting a seat of the same quality regardless of what everyone else is paying. Waggott really is taking everyone for mugs and seems to be hoping that by rushing it through at the last moment people either won't notice or even if they do that blind loyalty to the Club will hold sway.

What I don't understand is, recent local regulations have superceded those guidelines haven't they? There's no such thing as a social or support bubble locally now is there? I thought you couldn't see anyone from another household either inside or in their gardens due to extra restrictions brought in. All complete bollux imo but nevertheless we are where we are with this ad hoc enforcement of partial local lock downs unfortunately. Does this mean some grounds will be allowed to re-open and other grounds in areas with extra restrictions (like Blackburn) won't?

Good post. People keep mentioning his confidence is low, is it any wonder the way Mowbray has treated him, signing him for £7m then virtually mothballing him for 2 seasons, then when he does get a run out it's out wide. When people were listing BB's deficiencies earlier, that's what I think when I see Gallagher. Of the two I think BB looks by far the better bet but admittedly it's a desperately low bar to compare against.

Cheers Parson. I need more clarification on that point I think, also on rhe point of whether or not I can or can't sit with friends as there is reference on the Club website that if you wish to sit with "friends or family" you can create your own "bubble" on the ticketing system. Edit: when I say "sit with" I mean at a socially distanced interval, a couple of seats apart as opposed to right in the next seat as normal.

OK thanks. Not applicable to me. So, have to go down on my own, Swag's 25% price hike. I'll have a look at the full range of prices and options later but it isn't looking the most enticing prospect.

Why can't we give Brereton a try where imo he needs to be, centrally?

Me neither. Conversely I think Buckley looks a great player. Which probably means in Tony World that JRC will be virtually ever present and Buckley will be banished out on loan to the stiffs somewhere.

"Get that bus ahtttt!" Good old Reg would have been better than Luke. Reg's old Mum in the programme, Doris Hare, would have been better than Chris Brown! ?

That puts a very different slant on it for me and would mean I have to attend matches on my own. How do you mean "anyone in a bubble?" ? Also are masks compulsory? If they are, I'm out.

Cheers for the explanation on that point John. Bearing in mind local restrictions in BWD etc Are you OK to sit with a friend from a different household because if not I suspect it'll kill the whole thing stone dead.

My thoughts exactly. Hope we're not being used as bait to catch a bigger fish (again). Continually reading any deal is "close" makes me nervous. Can't be that close or we'd be reading it was done and dusted.

He's done it already though, hasn't he? My ST in the Riverside has gone up a whopping 25% from last year from £319 to £399. If he does similar again next season then he'll probably have compensated for the majority of refunds given out because of Covid. Whether it turns out to be clever bit of sleight of hand or commercial suicide remains to be seen based on the actual uptake. There's a lot to process here, I want to help the Club but frankly I don't think the Riverside is worth £399 and it doesn't sound like the match day experience would be much fun, indeed it sounds quite the opposite. I'll have to see what my mate in the Riverside thinks about it all, frankly I don't know what to make of it at the moment, if he doesn't want to renew I'd be split between not bothering at all and watching on I player or going the whole hog and ordering the best package available in JW upper. Ayala's don't pay for themselves I suppose......... BTW, whatever happened to "How can we sell something we can't guarantee?" That's gone completely out of the window hasn't it? Glad to see we've finally woken up but why couldn't this have been done a couple of months ago like many of us wanted?