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Absolutely! They have got it so wrong in WWE. Every feud is dull as dishwater. They are introduced in a rushed fashion, become massively repetitive, and never have a blowoff at the end. Back in the territory days they would use TV to build the feuds and let them play out on live shows, meaning they weren’t overexposed. In the early days of PPV they would have one show every three months or so, and they built genuine anticipation. They really need a rethink. There are definitely too many shows (TV and PPV) but their roster is more than big enough to cope with it. No appetite to change from the current formula though, which is why I’ve all but given up.

Haven’t caught Revolution yet, but I’m planning on watching it all. Seen the results and bits of clips. Not a fan of Orange Cassidy at all and I can’t see this match doing PAC any favours whatsoever. Big credibility clash. I’ve seen people awarding the tag match 6 stars and heralding it as “the best tag match ever”. I very much doubt it will be to my tastes at all. And having read @DE.’s summary, I know the near falls are going to annoy me. I’m massively looking forward to Cody and MJF. They are both absolutely on fire. Both WWE and AEW should be using these two as a benchmark in terms of storylines and character development. Presume Statlander will be poking noses, so I’ll likely skip that one, but the other matches are intriguing and I’m looking forward to them. I’m not really on the Moxley bandwagon. Will be interesting to see where the title picture goes from here though. Is Jericho taking some time off to tour? If so I think they will miss him. Badly.

I thought he should’ve been, but we didn’t bring in enough defensive reinforcements. You can’t say he was finished last season when he started the first game as captain. There is something more than meets the eye to it all.

The whole Mulgrew situation is very strange. He was pretty poor defensively in the latter half of last season, so much so Mowbray felt the need to make his infamous ‘defenders are coming’ speech. Yet Mulgrew still started the first fame of this season as captain before his out of the blue, last minute loan to Wigan. He’s seemingly finished and not in contention for a place in the squad, under any circumstances, and he’s still got a further year to run. Something has happened.

So for what seems like about the 1,000th time in the last 10 years, we are debating how best to cobble together a back four. Despite a pretty horrendous run of injuries to attacking players, we are still spoilt for choice in those areas. This failure to properly invest in the defence has cost us plenty of times before, let’s hope it doesn’t again.

I’m glad he’s nowhere near the starting 11, but with defenders as thin on the ground as they are surely he’s worthy of a spot on the bench instead of one of the three strikers. As the game went on it became more and more apparent that the only likely source of a goal would have been a bit of individual magic... something like a Mulgrew free kick.

He could’ve put up 37 and I still would t have fancied us to score. One of them days.

After the consultation meeting, as part of a discussion with a group of fans, somebody stated something along the lines of “It would be amazing to go up even for one season, purely for the money”, to which Waggott replied “Absolutely, we could do something with that stand, get the hotel.” He’s absolutely obsessed with the idea. Anything else is secondary to him.

The latest episode of the Jim Cornette Experience is well worth a listen. He watches Raw for the first time in years and critiques that alongside Dynamite. Don’t want to issue any spoilers, but highly recommend it!

Bloody hell! Feel for you there pal... I’d kill for one of those seats!

Absolutely right. I’m no horticulturist, but I believe it had something to do with the the pitch getting too much/not enough water/light. The original plans for the bowl style stadium gave a lesser capacity than we have now. 25kish. And no executive boxes breaking up the tiers. The mock up of the planned Riverside redevelopment, which was shelved after the 1999 relegation, is still in the boardroom... or at least it was when I used to run ground tours.

I’m amazed there is so much appetite amongst our supporters to do anything at all with it. We certainly don’t need extra capacity, we don’t need any more corporate facilities either. We can’t shift sponsorship either. Money would surely be better spent elsewhere. Waggott is obsessed with the idea of a hotel, “like we had at Coventry”. Make if that what you will. I think he’d like to see some sort of conference centre, I’m not convinced, and I certainly don’t think the Riverside is the place for it... due in no small part to the river! Selfishly, it’s my stand of choice, and has been since it was rebuilt. I’ve tried every other stand but I prefer the view, perspective and the aesthetic of the Riverside to any of them. I know I don’t really have a say if I am boycotting, but I doubt I’m alone in this. There were some rules around emergency vehicle access... you may notice the hash markings at either end of the walkway at the front. The Riverside was the designated entrance for fire engines and the gap at the front of the stand big enough to accommodate them. Don’t know if there is now an alternative or if there has been some change, but this was definitely the case. Also, the wall at the front of the Riverside is the oldest part of the ground still standing. I like that. I wouldn’t be opposed to making it a safe standing area in the future, depending on how things pan out.

Not just digging out you here Chaddy, but the amount of stick referees get is ridiculous. He was by no means perfect today, but it’s not only a tough job, it’s a completely thankless task. Wherever you look these days people love moaning about how refs are incompetent and ruining the game... these are the same people who celebrate ‘shithousing’. Players attempting to cheat and con the ref is widely accepted. Teams work on it. When they are successful at it it’s all the referees fault. These ridiculous expectations, along with the massive scrutiny and inevitable outrage they face have led to shit ideas like VAR being introduced.

That would be fine by me! It was so hard leaving out a lot of the people I did!

I’ve added an interview segment to mine... 1. Intercontinental Championship Match Ricky Steamboat v Kurt Angle v Curt Hennig 2. Sherri Martel v Charlotte Flair 3. Cruiserweight Championship Match Eddie Guerrero v Koko Ware v Jushin Liger v Jody Fleisch 4. Haku v Brock Lesnar (w Paul Heyman) 5. Tag Team Championship Match Midnight Express - Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane (w Jim Cornette) v Hart Foundation - Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart 6. John Cena (w Nikki Bella) v Rick Rude (w Bobby Heenan) 7. Sting V Undertaker 8. TLC Match Rock n Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) v Steiner Brothers v Thrill Seekers (Lance Storm and Chris Jericho) v Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) 9. Brother Love Show with Guests Jim Cornette and Vince Russo 10. World Title Match Randy Savage v The Rock 11. War games: nWo v DX v Four Horsemen Team nWo: Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, Syxx Team DX: Shawn Michaels, HHH, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg Four Horsemen: Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham

It’s coming!

Just as a bit of fun... Come up with your fantasy Super Card. Here are the rules: 10 matches, this must include: 1 x World Title match, 1 x Tag Title match 2 other title matches of your choice 1 Women’s match 1 triple threat match 2 Stipulation/Gimmick matches One match can tick more than one box, for example, Eddie Guerrero v Daniel Bryan for the US title in an iron man match would be a stipulation and a title. You can pick anyone, from any era. Living, deceased, active, retired, whatever. The only other stipulation is you have to pick matches that have never been done before. Or at least not in the characters you choose.

The ACV allows the trust a period of 6 months to formulate a bid. I’m assuming that they have to be notified before any sale goes ahead, and then the clock is ticking. How much chance there would be if raising adequate funds, or how much could actually be done if Venky’s were determined enough I don’t know. What it does prevent is a quick, quiet deal. It also prevents a ground sale being used as a get out of jail card. The quickest they can raise any cash would be 6 months. So if the FFP threshold is June, they’d need to have stated their intent to the trust before now.

Maybe two of them. I’d say Armstrong would be another. Suppose it depends on the level of any shortfall. Prices can be crazy these days, although we didn’t do well at all on Raya. With the apparent shock market values have caused this window, you’d hope they’d be aiming for decent fees for our better players.

I get the impression that Mowbray, Waggott and Cheston between them have to really have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to FFP. Mowbray said there was pressure from the owners to sign someone. No mention of this was a specific price, position or player (kind of wish I’d asked). Again, just speculation, but maybe this is a contributing factor to why we overpaid for Brereton and the weird circumstances around the deal. The entire set up is odd. Waggott needing sign off to run a ticket promotion. I thought that’d be well within his day to day remit. Then on the other hand they are trying their best to throw cash around like drunken sailors. Their level of involvement seems inconsistent. I agree we need to increase ticket revenue, but we’d need to sell 60,000 season tickets at £300 to break even. Nothing more than a prediction, but I expect a significant player sale at the end of the season to ensure we keep within the FFP threshold. I’m pretty relaxed about this. Needs must. I’d much prefer this than selling Ewood.

You’ve got a point @Bbrovers2288 as did @JoeH several pages back. These meetings are a requirement set out by the EFL, and sanctions can be imposed if they don’t take place. This is the entirety of the regulation around them: 118.1 Clubs shall hold at least two meetings/fans forums per Season to which its supporters (or representatives) are to be invited in order to discuss significant issues relating to the Club. The framework for these meetings shall be documented in the Club’s customer charter, but are subject to the following minimum criteria: 118.1.1 Clubs must be represented by the Club’s majority owner, board director(s) or other senior executive(s); 118.1.2 where meetings are not open to all supporters wishing to attend, the supporter representatives must be elected, selected or invited in line with basic democratic principles; and 118.1.3 individuals cannot be excluded by the Club without good reason (the Club acting reasonably). Again, I don’t feel they are fit for purpose. Our owners and their main man do not attend. The minute the words “we can’t speak for the owners” are uttered, and they are frequently, this becomes apparent. There are always attendees there from Rovers Trust, Ewood WMC group, BRFCS, the Rovers Facebook Group, Ewood Blues, 100 Club. The usual people who represent the action group weren’t there last night, but they may still have been represented. New York Rovers did have an invite too. There are other groups too, not sure exactly who, but there are a lot of faces I recognise that aren’t from any of the above. The club ask that some of the attendees from each group stay the same from meeting to meeting. Each group has its own ideas and priorities (I’m deliberately avoiding the word agenda). I go as part of a group that has for the last few meetings been responsible for most of the questions, both submitted prior and at the time. I’m sure this annoys a good proportion of the room. Most of what we want to discuss is regarding the owners and we have been vocal in criticising the fact that Mowbray is in attendance and Venky’s aren’t. There are a lot of people who have never said a word in these meetings, that’s their prerogative completely. There are also plenty who seem to primarily want a chat with Mowbray at the end. Personally I feel these need a rethink, and so does the fans forum - for me that is where issues like kits and catering need to be discussed. Consultation meetings ought to be about ownership, governance, finances and long term plans. I don’t know where transfers should fall. Maybe they shouldn’t be discussed, aside from overall strategy, I don’t know. Sorry for another long post!

This isn’t intended as a thorough summary of the meeting, but here’s what I took away from it. This is from memory, not my notes, please consider this my observation and interpretations. Transfer Window Disappointing window, what happened? Mowbray disappointed we couldn’t get anyone in. Wasn’t for want of trying. Spoke about the difficulties around this for 25 minutes. Shocked by wage demands and asking prices. Won’t break wage structure. Got close on some deals. Has to field questions from Venkys as to why he hasn’t bought anyone You said defenders are coming, while we got some loanees, why do Venky’s seem reluctant to spend on defensive reinforcements, but happy to spend elsewhere? Mowbray angry We’ve changed goalkeeper, brought in Adarabioyo, Lenihan is good enough to get us promoted, loves Nyambe’s attitude and believes he can make a top player. We can’t bring in an entire new defence, doesn’t know what people expect. Clarified point that it was not a question aimed it Mowbray, it was about long term strategy and a reluctance from the owners, money made available for expensive attackers We aren’t going to find a centre half who can, pass, tackle, head and read the game – they will be in the premier league. Its an important position, seemed to concede we could do with investing there, but stated it is difficult. Walton wasn’t a target, fell into our laps at the end of the window. Others fell away. Knows he makes the odd mistake like all keepers, had the option to replace in January. Are we not going to be back at square one in the summer as loans and contract expire? Yes. Mulgrew has another year (just an inkling, but he didn’t seem overly happy with the Mulgrew situation) Bell has an option in the clubs favour for another year Aiming for 2 keepers Centre halves massively important, would like to work a bit of magic with city and get Adarabioyo on loan again Budget was around £1.3 million, they can always ask for more Are defenders and goalkeepers a priority in the summer window? Yes. Commercial Why do we have a third kit? We are not Man Utd with faceless fans. It is exploitative. Waggott Angry – I would never exploit anyone Grey kit has sold brilliantly Sold out 2 runs of 3rd kit Mowbray looked at Slaven Bilic and neither of them could believe we had been allowed to play in those kits as it was difficult to tell the grey and West Broms kit apart. So many teams in this league play in white, and grey is close to white Didn’t ever want to have to borrow a kit Mowbray doesn’t decide who wears what kit Waggott, the kit men, people from umbro and people from marketing sit down and review kits and decide on them Might use same 3rd kit next year Steve, you made a comment, "We couldn't have done more, where is everyone?" How do you think a remark like that is received by supporters, who already feel they have been treated with contempt for a decade? No disrespect intended – it was meant to be a rallying cry We fell short of the target (10k target, sold just over 8k season tickets, £325k shortfall) Went to bat for the fans with the owners to ensure no price hike Tries to understand economic pressures within the area Oxford game was an event, not a match. People haven’t been back – not core support as highlighted by them going on the pitch Scrap the Waggott tax. Planning around catering People come to watch the game, not because of pies and Bovril. It’s a barrier. And expoits fans and stops spur of the moment decisions I don’t see it that way, we have the 1875 membership, that helps limit the cost of category A+ games Lots of discussion round this – would consider it Can’t make every game a tenner Needs signoff from the owners on pricing issues and initiatives Speaks to people at away games who still wont set foot in Ewood – understands why, hopes to re-engage The 10k giveaway was a bad one wasn’t it? It can’t have lead to a single sale. Yes it was a bad idea. Almost done as an afterthought Why is their primary use of the electronic advertising boards to promote Venky’s brand? What commercial value does this have to the club? Not the primary function Much of the advertising remains unsold so can account for this – it has a value. Same with the Riverside. Answered concisely and well. If and when we sell advertising, we will see less of the Venky’s logo Stadium Can we move away fans into the lower tier? Fans forum have been relentless on this issue Lots of discussion on this – opinions mixed Marginal gains V loss of atmosphere Opposition fans can sometimes seem to suck the ball into the net Looking at getting home fans behind both goals Refillable glasses and greener options Sodexo looking into it. Aware of H&S issues Lack of suitable allergen friendly options, and limited knowledge of catering staff Disappointing. Will raise with Sodexo. Improvements to lounges mentioned in the intro. Finance/Ownership FFP position Over to Cheston – As it stands we are FFP compliant. We don’t have to report this yet, our accounting period is at the end of June so there is time to fix any issues if needs be. Wasn’t giving anything away or getting into specifics. Almost defensive. Clarified the three year period FFP relates to Has there been any talk of a sale/buy back of Ewood? Cheston: No Waggott interjected: Not at all happy! This has come from the fans forum. I’ve been misinterpreted. We said we were aware of all options available to us and suddenly we are selling Dack and selling Ewood. Had to field calls from the EFL as this got out and hadn’t been discussed with them They are aware of the ACV status So while its not imminent, is it something that may be looked at down the line should we need to remain FFP compliant? That’s hypothetical at the moment We’d need to sit down with all stakeholder. There are legal ramifications. We are a long way off that point. I’m very concerned about the levels of debt, and the recent losses reported are unsustainable. The owners are committed. They can’t do any more. We are very tightly audited, and the accounts cause no concern. They have made guarantees to continue funding, no reason to expect any change any time soon. Desai made a promise to "absolutely respect Jack Walker's legacy." As we approach the Venky's 10 year anniversary, what is your assessment of her delivery on that promise? Waggott not happy We are working with the trust on securing a heritage grant. This club has great history and needs to be celebrated more. We’ve maintained the statue. Disappointing turnout for a well publicised plea to clean the grave, which Waggott was one of only 10 people to attend. He is all about respect. Part of his ethos. All employees have to subscribe to it. If anyone feels he has disrespected them, please approach him. They can take it offline. I think the disrespect to Jack’s legacy is more around how the we have gone from being the model example of how to run a town club, took us to the top of the pile, and we’ve had a decade of decline and never got near promotion in that time. Can’t comment on what went on before I got here Humble people etc etc We want to get promoted and so do the owners Tony Parkes There was a great deal of understanding around this. Rob Coar and Lynsey Talbot had both been looking at fitting tributes and been in touch with the Parkes family. Bayes did a good job of explaining Tony’s current condition. He has recorded his acceptance speech for the next hall of fame class already. Tony will be at the game tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be surprised if something was announced then. Happily there seems to be a real willingness for the club to do what ever they can for Tony. After the meeting Spoke to Waggott – he was amiable and professional, and as always appeared open to discussion. Stated that a lot of the questions were aimed at Venky’s and they weren’t there to answer. Mentioned links with HSH (see previous posts of Venky’s welcome or not thread) Knows of the three and their links. Understands why this would be a concern. Isn’t a fan of agents. Won’t go above a 5% agents fee and has lost out on deals because of this stance. Always pays them last and prioritises local contractors, PAYE, HMRC etc. Has been pulled up about it in audits but will continue to keep them as last priority. Mentioned a couple of particularly bad agents and deals. If and when the time comes to replace Mowbray (the way he worded it was ‘If Tony comes to me and tells me he’s had enough’) he will go to market, do his due diligence, and get the best man for the job. I pointed out it wasn’t his integrity or judgement I was questioning. Ultimately they are the owners, I’m doing what I can to make this club successful. Spoke about the attendance issue We spoke at length last time about this too. Mentioned the podcast I did with @Herbie6590 on here, and how positive I was after that. There are a small number of fans reluctantly not attending because of Venkys, a bigger number not attending due to league position and falling out of the habit, and a massive number of potential fans who see football as a TV or streaming experience. Its difficult and there is no magic formula. He is aware of a guy on Facebook who has started his own streaming service where he charges people to watch Rovers games. Spoke about Venkys I said their long term view is unclear. There seemed to be a lot of understanding about what had gone on before. He asked if I thought there was anyone still there from those times before he arrived who I was concerned about. I said yes. He asked me to elaborate. I said obviously people like Lynsey Talbot and Rob Coar were fine and part of the furniture... and then there was Pasha. All he really said about Pasha was “I certainly wouldn’t call Suhail a low level employee.” And something along the lines of ‘He is the owners man and long term business advisor’. He keeps trying to get them to come to a game. I was in the minority of one in the small group of fans involved in this chat who thought this was a bad idea. He mentioned that they were reluctant since they get pelted with a snowball, everyone acknowledged the fanbase had softened. There would be some negativity displayed towards them, but they (me included) would likely be shouted down. I said I didn’t feel they were humble. Waggott said they he had told them “They don’t need to turn up in helicopters or a convey of Rolls Royce’s, just a Mercedes 7 seater with blacked out windows, just come in quietly and watch the game.“ Balajio’s son is football mad. He will be the one signing the cheques one day. They want to get him along and involved. He’s the one at Reading Uni. Other bits and pieces that came up Heritage project sounds great – he wants people to get involved Chapman walks around with a hang dog look on his face. Doesn’t want to play for the u23’s… “Well, if Danny Graham can play for the U23’s you bloody well can!” We could do with that pace he brings. Its his head that’s stopping him. We raved about Nyambe and Travis a bit Brereton hasn’t worked out as we’d have liked It would be great to get promoted even just for a season. He’d want to invest in the infrastructure, get a hotel or something at the back of the Riverside – do something exciting with it, not increase the size. Safe standing a possibility Summary From my point of view, I really want to be able to distinguish between them and the club, and Venky’s. I recognise my refusal to buy a ticket is futile. It harms my enjoyment more than its intended target. When I didn’t go the criticism was ‘You aren’t supporting the team’, when I take up the offer of free tickets it’s ‘You aren’t supporting the club’. I don’t like doing either, despite what you may think @Paul Mani My intention is to buy a season ticket again and sit with my family and friends, providing there aren’t any idiotic decisions taken in the coming weeks. In my opinion Waggott and Mowbray are likeable, committed and honest. I think they have the best of intentions, and that’s not something I’ve been able to say about some of their predecessors. So yeah, I need to make that small commitment. Plenty of positives to take away, but plenty will remain unanswered as long as Venky’s remain remote. These meetings aren’t fit for purpose.

Waggott told me he couldn’t comment on what happened before he arrived. He acknowledged that he understood why it would be a concern. He told me he doesn’t like agents (I’ll go into detail later). The issue here is with Venkys, not Mowbray or Waggott - I like both of them, though don’t agree with absolutely every decision they make. If it’s of no concern to you, then fine. Coyle was a horrendous and damaging appointment, Mowbray worked out. I’m very concerned about who his eventual successor may be and how he will be appointed.

I’ve got that exact feeling every time I’ve spoken to him. He’s so passionate about what he says too. He’s definitely one of the good guys and a real positive at the club. The circumstances of his arrival worry me, but It has paid off on this occasion. He’s a good fit.

Tony Mowbray, Owen Coyle and Paul Lambert are all represented by HSH. HSH has three directors listed with companies house, namely, Stephen Horner, Dave Sheron, and Craig Honeyman. Honeyman is a former director of SEM. Horner and Sheron are both former SEM employees and were named alongside Jerome Anderson in a lawsuit brought about by Gavin McCann, which suggests they work together closely. Why are these people still having significant influence in the running of the club, if Venky’s have ‘learnt their lesson’?