roversfan99

The main thing you was pushing was tickets for a certain number of games to suit people working shifts. The only reason you suggested it was because it is one that may affect you and my counter argument was that it would just lead to current season ticket holders opting to downgrade to the new ticket which would offer much less games. All of these potential reasons you list are not reasons that are new. Theres not a sudden shift in Rovers fans work shifts/patterns or increased family committments. For every fan who suddenly cannot go because of new shifts or family committments, another fan will be able to attend again. Id love to know whats going on in your head for that to be one of the main reasons as if theres been a sudden change. The club cant do anything about personal circumstance anyway, just like it cannot cancel christmas. What it can control, ie Waggott, is how much it charges for season tickets, whether it charges a matchday surcharge, and whether it comes up with inventive ways such as clever promotions to increase attendances. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16977667.rovers-chief-executive-discusses-ewood-park-crowds/?ref=ar And where does it say that the target includes half season tickets? Waggott shows concern, shows a total ignorance towards historical sales, and a blatant disregard for the importance of cost, seemingly working on the assumption that as long as the team are doing well, price becomes less important.

Either way, do you agree he should be judged on meeting targets like anyone else? Whats that got to do with anything? I didnt mean for me to take advantage of or personally benefit from, the whole thread is about attendances. I meant in terms of getting higher attendances, you mentioned christmas as a potential reason that may limit attendances. My response being, it is the same every year, so why arent the club and Waggott more creative and proactive in coming up with deals to make it more affordable?

Didnt have much to do, a couple of dodgy kicks par for the course really and seemed slow to get down for the goal but the header was textbook, back from where it came from.

Bar Mercer, who wants Mowbrays head? And who said we would go down?

Either Waggott has overestimated potential sales or his pricing has caused sales to fall below target. One of the 2. He deserves criticism and questioning either way, just as Mowbray would if he finished below his target, or say Dack scored less goals than his target. My qualm is not with matchday pricing, it is with a lack of a special deal/promotion.

If you think the prices are "about right" then why did our season ticket sales fall below Waggotts target? Christmas comes every year, it is up to Waggott to empathise with supporters and make tickets more of an attractive and affordable proposition regardless. Sheffield Wednesday at home for example seemed perfect for a promoted deal of some description. Each to their own, but feels like a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face to make a statement.

I would understand if today that was the reason behind Nyambes exclusion from the starting 11, but I don't think Bennett should be guaranteed a place. I think Reed has all of the qualities you mention whilst providing a level of additional quality, albeit both were poor today. Totally agree on your point about goals from open play, and find it bizarre that anyone can question Dack's inclusion, if only for his goals alone.

I feel like Brereton would be more effective if he spent more time within the width of the 18 yard box, something hes obviously told not to do by a manager who seemingly doesnt trust him centrally. I felt like after our goal any potential search for a winner fizzled out and half the time we had no focal point in the box when we got into crossing positions. I thought our crossing all day was absolutely shocking, Bennett was particularly bad in the first half, Bell throughout too. Need to take far more care crossing into areas where our opponent has 2 big centre backs heading everything away. Whilst I appreciate that Bennett has many qualities, is it just his attitude that makes you feel he should be guaranteed a place in the team? Or is it a lack of belief in Palmer and Rothwell? Today I felt he was shoehorned in at right back wrongly because it was easier than dropping him. Mowbray had decided to play 2 attacking players wide and I felt he was vindicated in the amount of chances we created. But I felt he should have started Nyambe.

The argument "they cant give them away" is a straw man argument. That isnt the only alternative. The price has been increased following last season, thats what is questionable. I also dont think that enough is made of Waggott's admitted inability to hit his own sales target. Proof more than anything else that he under-appreciated and underestimated the importance and impact of raising prices. I find it strange that people are of a mindset whereby their instinct is criticise fans for not buying season tickets. The target of potential buyers of season ticket holders arent dedicated regulars, otherwise theyd already have a season ticket.

Played a key role with Dack in giving Graham a brilliant chance early in the second half. I think a lot of the reason as to why Rothwell is such a favourite and Palmer not so much is the way they play. Rothwell charges round everywhere like a labrador but does he have any end product most of the time? Not sure.

A very poor result and further proof of a worrying underlying issue in an inability to beat the weakest teams in the division at home, as we also saw v Millwall and Reading. This will need fixing urgently if we want to trouble the top 6. That being said, we had more than enough chances to win in that second half, we battered a very poor Rotherham side and justified a very positive attacking selection by Mowbray. Armstrong's directness was very similar to how he played v Leeds, he played like a natural winger and needs to take more care with his end product but he was a constant menace. I'm surprised to see such a mixed response to Palmer and how he did, I thought he was our most inventive player and hes also massively improved in terms of work rate. I also dont think that Bennett merits a place in the starting line up, Mowbray was correct to play 2 attacking wide men (and should do so more often) but wrong to shoehorn him in at right back where he again was poor in the first half. Nyambe was excellent when he came on and needs to come into the line up, with Armstrong and Palmer wide, and Bennett as the odd man out on the bench. When he moved centrally he kept relieving the pressure by taking speculative pot shots. Elsewhere, Raya was relatively untroubled but seemed very slow getting down for their goal. Bell is a load of crap and isnt good enough. Lenihan was very good and Rodwell fine beside him. Smallwood was quite poor first half, and Reed was affected by his injury for quite a while. Graham wasted a few golden chances and Dack wasnt at his best again but he is like a magnet to the ball in terms of anticipating and taking potential chances. I dont get how you can justify questioning Dack being a guaranteed starter. He is a regular, consistent source of goals in a team that doesnt score that many, he has scored far more than our other 5 attacking players combined, and his goals alone should justify a place regardless of how he is playing otherwise. You mention the fact that he keeps scoring as if its not enough, or as if its not that important.

What a bizarre argument. Your pompous attitude towards floating fans I hope is one not shared by the higher ups at Ewood, we need to embrace and appreciate that those beyond the already attending will need more persuading. To imply that we may not even want any extra fans to justify the pricing is ridicilious!

Smallwood would be nowhere near the Premier League even if he was fast. Hes neither good enough on the ball nor good enough at reading the play to be a Premier League player. He is a useful player to have around dont get me wrong but he is limited at the same time. For me our best central pairing when fit and available would be Reed and Evans. Rodwell is also potentially above Smallwood as he is far better on the ball. With Raya, and the decision being made to postpone the surgery, I suspect that the mask wont be going any time soon. If hes comfortable wearing it then we may as well play him otherwise it makes postponing the surgery a strange decision.

You cant say give him the season and hell to the consequences because if they fall further away and their issues are not rectified it would get to the point where a change is the best course of action. Thats a big if and he may turn it around but you cant just say "give him the season." I think you are overestimating the quality of the League. Dont get me wrong it is great to watch but thats not necessarily because of the quality.

Agreed on last season but hes still got some very good Championship players at his disposal. West Brom fans seem to be losing patience at his inability to stop them conceding, his stubborness towards playing a system that doesnt suit his solid but limited centre backs and also his excessive loyalty to the experience players such as Brunt who is too old to play in a midfield 2. With their squad they should be expected to be in the top 2 but they have hit the buffers so he will need to get a couple of wins or the fans will continue to get restless.

Its not because they are in the Championship, where the standard is obviously worse than the Premier League. All 3 players are/were just past it in general. Whittingham was let go by Cardiff after a season on the fringes, and struggled to meet expectations even in League 1. Brunt was hopeless in the Premier League last season, and Murphys game time at Fulham had decreased before he joined here, which was at a time when our club was in turmoil and Murphys motivation had gone. Look at Pablo Hernandez and Stewart Downing. 2 old players playing key roles for their respective sides in the Championship. The Championship is a great league to watch due the competitiveness, not necessarily the quality.

Did he though, quotes suggested the only thing stopping him joining on the last day of the window was a lack of a replacement at Boro?

For a player who came with the reputation of an attacking wing back, he cant attack at all.

Williams looks more comfortable at left back in my opinion, as @BlackburnEnd75 rightly said he made an awful mistake against West Brom and against QPR he had nothing to do defensively. We also need him at left back as Bell is often a bit of a weak link.

Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Rodwell Reed Palmer Dack Rothwell Brereton Subs: Leutweiler, Bennett, Smallwood, Armstrong, Graham, Downing, Bell Ive assumed Raya and Mulgrew are going to be fit. Id like to see the shackles off as this is on paper almost as winnable a game as we will get. 50/50 between the striker, opted to satisfy the want to see Brereton played centrally but would be equally happy with Graham.

Surely no one still holds the opinion that we should sign him in January?

Waggott came in after wed just won 6 in a row last christmas, Mowbray is the one who had already charged us forward and his results are tangible proof of that, he has already made plenty of signings including Dack, nothing to me suggests Waggott has improved that side of things individually. In terms of decisions we know he has made. His increased pricing strategy has obviously not been the success he intended it to be otherwise we wouldnt have fallen below his own targets. No one is asking for them to be given away so thats a meaningless comeback. The fact that there were neither home fans (something I disagree with) nor home fans in the lower tier of the Darwen End had a negative impact on the atmosphere in my opinion. Surcharges existing in the past is irrelevant, hes chose to keep them thus is open to judgement on them. His choice is to milk the fans who will go anyway rather than pursue getting increased attendances. Thats an approach thats up to him but one he will be judged on. You think thats a good idea but I disagree. My main point is that its unfair on Mowbray to couple him and Waggott together in praise for our recent resurgance. Mowbray had been at the club for nearly a year before Waggott showed up, which was when Mowbrays work was really starting to bear fruit, hence the 6 wins in a row. Saying they are both responsible is disrespectful and unfair to Mowbray IMO, only Mowbray deserves the praise for that.

I think in the last week or 2 most people have agreed that he has shown glimmers of promise, hence the debate moving very much on to how to use him to get the best of him, with the common conclusion that it is in his natural position as a central striker. Its impossible to remove the fee from the judgement whether people like it or not, simply because there is always the opportunity cost to consider, what else could we have got, has he fulfilled what we needed. Quotes from Mowbray saying we are lacking a striker when the one hes signed for lots of money has been earmarked as a wide man are always going to provoke a reaction. Then he played as a striker and had his most promising cameo with work in central areas. The last point you are totally right, no matter what rubbish people say contrary, everyone will be happy if he does well.

They did about the individual players. When Ferguson signed Djemba Djemba and when Jose signed Steve Sidwell, the fans undoubtedly questioned why their otherwise successful managers had signed those individual players, just like when Mowbray signed Ben Gladwin. I think that Mercers opinions on Mowbray and Brereton are very harsh but at least they are explained and constructed, whereas your arguments are not, points such as "Parson agrees with me" "stop moaning for the sake of it" "I'll trust Mowbray more than you" and "youre never happy." And you still havent said what Waggott has done to turn the club around personally. "Best chief executive since Williams" is not only the lowest benchmark you could ever set, but totally unsubstantiated. Mowbray, yes I agree hes turned the direction of the club around.

My main point is that you've blamed everyone but the manager. Why sign Kyle Bartley when you need a right back more pressingly? Even if the assistant manager is having an impact, he isnt making the final decisions, it is up to the manager at the end of the day.