On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 08:08, Paul said:

It doesn't look great but it didn't look so good with at most 2-300 huddled in a back corner. That's not a criticism of the fans.

There's more noise from the BBE than for several seasons and this will increase. The JWL area is very quiet and I doubt will last much longer. If I had been in the DE and had moved to the JWL I would now be looking to moving to the BBE.

Personally I will never go on the Blackburn End, cant speak for others mind.

I thought Danny Murphy would be a great signing  also Etuhu

What's the opinion on if Burnley have qualified for Europe?


Yes they have qualified for the qualifying rounds, but is that classed as qualifying for Europe? 

I hate a friend of a friend stories, but a colleague recently bumped into former Rover Kevin Stonehouse now a scout at Newcastle. Obviously they got chatting about all things Rovers and Dack was mentioned as one that Newcastle are keeping a close eye on (No doubt scouts of a few Premier and Upper Championship Clubs are).

I have said before and still think Dack will become our biggest outgoing transfer at some point. The lad has the natural talent that can't be taught. He looks as though the step up to Championship is going to be a smooth one. People will no doubt be looking at whether he can step up another level.

All we can do for now is enjoy watching him and hope that he can meet his ambitions at Rovers for a while longer.

1 hour ago, AggyBlue said:

Great three points won through grit and determination.

Although there was a lack of quality from us, I really enjoyed the match.

Arte Et labore

Bradley Dack, will at some point move onto bigger things than Blackburn Rovers, he could well become our biggest ever transfer. I just hope that when the time comes the club hold out for a big price and don't just accept a "good offer". When you look at some transfers of late Dack could sell for a huge amount.

Every player at every club has a price

The man who had a dream, and shared it with his townsfolk.

R.I.P. Uncle Jack
 

51 minutes ago, Paul said:

Really? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Presumably these fans want to watch Rovers yet deny themselves the pleasure. I realise people are upset and it appears the club didn't handle this well but I, who have no interest in sitting in the DE, have been fully aware all summer of the closure.

This smacks of if I can't play by my rules I'm taking my ball home.

Seriously yes, I was surprised to hear this too. Maybe It was the straw that broke the camels back for them after a few years of turmoil? Maybe just a convenient excuse who knows?

28 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I never get the 'if I can't sit/stand in my seat I'm not going'. I've been in my seat for nearly 25 years, I too would be narked and I'd have a good grumble if my area was closed, but give up watching my club over it, never (yes this is easy for me to say because they won't be closng the BBEnd lower, but I can promise you!)

However, without doubt the club has missed a trick here, a decent bit of PR could have been something like;

'With the Darwen End now away supporters only, we invite all singers to join our new Barmy Army (or a better title ha!) section, bring your banners and flags!'   

The club definitely missed out on this, Waggot even discussed and like a #LoudAndProud hashtag, but then nothing.

3 hours ago, AshleyClifford said:

Regarding the darwen end, it was never that busy. I’m sure someone could provide figures. If the club made a promise to advertise a potential relocation to the w01 w02 they should have done it of explained why they can’t. If it was an announcement at a fans forum then strictly speaking it’s been done. I know about it because it’s been mentioned on here , and on the rovers face book group, I expect people will also talk about it with friends and colleagues - so I think the awareness is there.

in fact w01 is available this season, last year it was used as segregation. 

This sort of thing has to be organic. I have sat in the jack walker lower for the past 3 seasons, and I for one would not be happy if someone either stood up in front of me all game/or decided they liked my seat better.  I do enjoy standing at football but I would not want to be in someone else’s way. 

The disappointing points are that the club clearly didn't learn from the BBE Upper family stand closure with lack of consultation, The club promised that "Ryan" I think it was? The Twitter and social media guy would be in touch and help spread the work and build interest which didn't happen. As it stands now some have scattered in the other 3 stands some haven't bothered renewing. 

43 minutes ago, meadows said:

I’ve been vehemently and publicly critical of many aspects of the club for aeons. The programme, the 1875 membership scheme, ticket pricing for a couple of examples so to suggest I would toe any club line is just a gratuitous & wildly wide of the mark insult. 

I’m disappointed you resort to such a childish jibe in what was a civilised discussion and bid you a good afternoon and hope you enjoy the season wherever you are located. 

Likewise, lets hope its a good one for all fellow Rovers fans

3 minutes ago, meadows said:

If the club wrote to me today and informed me that the Riverside was shut for the season I’d be quite capable of deciding what to do between now and the Reading match which is the first game I can attend. I might be disappointed and disillusioned with the decision but as a grown man I’d be capable of deciding whether I wanted to continue attending and consulting with my kids as to what our preference was within a fortnight. 

 

Are you being deliberately pedantic? I could have organised a new seat with my wife and kids too, without the help of the club but sadly I'm not able to discuss ideas every other fan in the DE over dinner.

Just now, meadows said:

Quite seriously what exactly would you have expected the club to do in this regard? Football is all about spontaneity and fans organising themselves, not being regimented and packaged and homogenised by club hierarchy. 

How do we think The Kop, the old Stretford End and North Bank, The 1970s Blackburn End and The Long Side became places of communal celebration & togetherness?

I’d genuinely like to know how you think Waggott should have pitched any attempt to drum up support for what after all was your vision and suggestion more than three months ago?

Steve Waggot was very enthusiastic about the W01 - W02 idea, he actually stated he thought that was the ideal place to move the DE fans too. Steve also promised the club would promote the idea via the clubs social media platforms. @Rovers twitter has around 500k followers, I have around 700 so the difference in promoting this would have been significant. This wasn't a fan group idea, this was just a small number of fans from the DE trying to work together.
I dare say had the club promoted the idea as promised we wouldn't be having this idea now as you would then agree it was a wonderful idea and great initiative by the club

2 hours ago, meadows said:

I made no reference whatsoever to the announcement to close the Darwen End to home fans or the timing of it. I have no strong opinion on it other than to say it often looked tawdry seeing a bunch of 14 year olds run towards the away fans. I can’t say the singing from that corner ever registered where I sit level with the Blackburn End penalty area on the Riverside

What I did say was there was plenty of time for everyone to make alternate arrangements and if a singing section on the Nuttall St was an attractive proposition surely you didn’t need a club-led and endorsed marketing plan to sell the idea?

What did you want Waggott to do, forcibly re-locate people and instruct them to sing? 

Maybe it didn't travel that far? I do know the noise reached the halfway line as managers would acknowledge it but I appreciate it wouldn't be heard at the other end of Ewood as the BBE couldn't be heard 90% of the time but I've no doubt they would be singing.

Id say finding out during the last game of the season didn't leave plenty of time, a fact that was agreed by Waggot and he apologised for that. Posting on FB etc only reaches a limited audience. Given a few week notice every one in the Darwen End could have been made aware of the plans.

No I want the club to STOP forcibly re-locating people, as for singing we all no the two side stands simply don't bother the BBE no doubt do but not loud enough as was the case with the DE.

When it is the turn of the Riverside, which  will happen, I genuinely hope the club afford you better treatment than the BBE Upper and DE received.

 

2 hours ago, oldjamfan1 said:

These two sentences seem to contradict each other. Walking the walk means taking responsibility, which he appears to be doing, for that particular decision.

talking the talk is in reference to promises made about working with fans to promote and develop the new W01 W02 area, walking the walk is about delivering on such promises which as of yet hasn't happened.

Just now, meadows said:

Presumably every single one of them was aware of the plan to locate the Singing section in the last section of the Enclosure. I was. Is the fact that many have decided not to bother Steve Waggott’s fault? 

Anyone who wanted to join you afresh was surely aware too. 

 

Seriously? When was you made aware of the Darwen End Closing? I spoke to two lads a few weeks ago who still didn't know?

The club could have and should have announced this ahead of the last game of last season.

4 hours ago, meadows said:

Who sits on this mythical jury? I think if you were to poll all 9,000 season ticket holders and ask them if he’s done ok you might get a shock. 

Run your mythical poll amongst the fans who without warning or consultation had their stand removed for the new season and you too might get a shock.  

Waggot has stated in both public and private meetings that the decision to close the Darwen End to home fans was solely his.

He talks the talk, but the jury is out on whether he can walk the walk in my opinion.

11 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I’m not against the closure of the Darwen End, I believe concentrating the home support into fewer areas is for the best.

However, using these supposed massive away supports as the main reason for doing it is disingenuous.

The standard away allocation was one half of the bottom tier and the top tier, if required, so not far off 5,500 seats. I’m still to be convinced that even half of all these clubs being mentioned will be bringing more than that...

When we raised this point with Waggot his estimation was that half of the visiting teams would sell enough to warrant the full Darwen End, so that is expecting more than 23 teams to bring over 5,500 fans. I still think this is a massive overestimation. Lets see how it goes Millwall up first

5 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Some consultation with the Darwen Enders pre STs going on sale could have helped.

I'm very disappointed with the club on this, Steve Waggot assured us the club would work alongside the fans on this. The twitter guy was meant to get in touch and promote the idea on social media.  I hope Mr Waggot doesn't turn out to be another empty vessel when it comes to delivering on positive words.

From speaking to a few from Darwen End, many have gone into different stands some in BBE some in Riverside and some in JW stand, which I feared may happen. This will see even smaller pockets of fans trying to create an atmosphere. Very poor planning by the club in my opinion.

Worth considering, if you're a goal up in the closing minutes the opposition usually throw the proverbial kitchen sink at you and up their game by 20%. Lets be honest the Ipswich equaliser was disappointing but it was also a fluke. 

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Did he speak? 

No, just grinned as we walked past his office.

Just now, Scotland1 said:

Let me guess wants offices back?

I think he has an office in the Bburn End 

Just now, perthblue02 said:

Wonder if there is still a grinning ghost of many names in the boardroom? or as he gone back to looking after biscuits and helping just like family members?

If you mean Suhail, he was in Ewood when we met with Steve Waggot the other week about the Darwen End.

Still gutted about this, I was so looking forward to wearing my new shirt on holiday with real pride for the first time in years. The pale blue is annoying but could grow on me, BUT the toilet seat looking logo is horrible, and I just cannot imagine wearing that.