Miller11

On the topic of stand closures, Waggott is desperate to knock down the riverside and redevelop. His big dream is to build a hotel. Doing this would doubtless drive away even more fans. I think there’d be a significant number who would just stop going rather than relocate elsewhere.

This is nowhere near as simple as some, including Waggott, seem to think it is. We need to get more fans through the gate, broadly let’s put these in to two categories: New and Lapsed. As @JHRover pointed out in his superb post, you can’t compare crowds now to the 80s. There was a huge surge in footballs popularity in the 90s, but 20 something years on, it’s all change again. I know lads who love football... talk about it, play it, watch it, spend vast amounts of money on it... but to them it’s a television program. Kids are increasingly going to grow up thinking this way. The exposure to football on TV, not to mention online services is mind boggling. Not only do we (and all clubs at all levels for that matter) have a real fight on their hands to get people to break their habits, they have to offer an experience that people want to repeat. There is no quick fix. It’s about being innovative, inclusive and engaging over the long term. It shouldn’t be a 2/3 times a season thing, it needs to be constant and targeted towards the entire community. A few suggestions off the top of my head: - Missed the boat in this one, but go to freshers fairs at UCLAN, Lancaster Uni etc. Offer a package to freshers £30 for tickets to 3 games and put some coaches on. It’d take a couple of iPads and a couple of people to shift a few tickets and to potentially add loads of names to the ticket office database. - Go to some of the big employers in the area, offer them some heavily discounted match tickets. £25 for a family of 4, or maybe a tenner a pop. Make it so they can buy them direct from the employer... can’t see many companies turning down free perks for their staff. Might get a few workmates deciding to give it a go. Rotate it around to give each one a few opportunities a season - Become far more visible in and around Blackburn - get to events, support the community more. Have a word with Gaz Aspden about the upcoming Spezial exhibition he’s doing, send a few players along, sponsor it. Saw a post on social media from the organisers of Darwen Live looking for people to get involved and potential sponsors. Just have some visibility and presence around Blackburn, Accy, Darwen, Clitheroe... nobody in any of those places should be able to organise an event or anything without getting a phone call from someone at Rovers asking how they can get involved. If you want the community to support you be more involved in it. There is a whole other massive discussion around improving the match day experience. Again, something we don’t see enough proactive attempts at. Lapsed fans Probably need to be broken down further into those who have drifted away, and those who are making a conscious decision not to attend. I fall into the latter, so feel I can give an informed opinion on this. I can get a free ticket to any home game, but this means sitting on my own, in a stand I don’t like. It’s not the Rovers experience I know and loved for 20 odd years. I told Steve Waggott that I am still very distrustful of Venky’s, and while I can’t see my stance towards them changing, I wasn’t a million miles off deciding to get a season ticket again this year since I got to the point where I’d had enough about 4 years ago. He was making the right noises about understanding what the fans had been through, and needing them back. I told him I didn’t have the answer, but felt that I needed some sort of gesture from the club. I don’t feel I’ve had that and still feel a disconnect to the extent that I don’t want to part with my money. Coming out and saying “we’ve done all we can, it’s down to the fans now” isn’t only stupidly divisive, it’s also a load of bollocks. Judging by the thoughts of others on here there are as many barriers being put up for lapsed fans to return than pathways for them... if not more.

Not getting into every point you’ve made, but this one annoyed me. If you sit near the back, the gantries definitely obstruct your view. The side to side head movements to avoid the pillars quickly become second nature to anyone who sits in there, but the stupid, empty gantries are just in the way. To suggest the club can’t possibly do any more is ridiculous. It’s something they should always be thinking about. It seems to me that the current tactic is to milk every penny out of their current captive audience rather than bring in new fans or re-engage. Fruit bags, no problem... but Stanley gave every primary school pupil in the town a free kit. I know which I’d have preferred as a kid. For all the attempts Waggott has made at bridge-building, coming out and saying “we can’t do any more, the stayaway fans have to do their bit” does no good whatsoever. I see plenty of people who still get their season tickets bought for them off their parents having a pop at and questioning the loyalty of fans who’ve recently got fed up with the goings on at the club having been loyal fans for decades.

Nothing really surprises me these days when I see a line up on a Saturday. We have absolutely no defined style or identity. We remain very reactive to the opposition - sides that trouble the top 6 tend to have the opposition worrying about them. Adarabioyo in is a good call, but I would have dropped Lenihan for him. Seems strange altering the formation when they will almost certainly play a 4-4-2/4-5-1. They have rung the changes a bit too, 6”6 Matt Smith only makes the bench. They could quite easily overwhelm us in wide areas - expect Romeo to get forward plenty... and sadly I can see Mahoney getting a lot of joy 1 v 1 with Bennett. You'd expect we are going to try and play it on the deck a lot. Genuinely intrigued to see how long that lasts.

This came as a surprise to me - just had a bit of a look... I think it would be a terrible move on our part.

Expect them to play a back four of Romeo Pearce Cooper Wallace They will deal comfortably with any long balls through the middle. Only Romeo is under 6’ 2 (very decent full back though) so I wouldn’t be surprised to too Gallagher on the left wing up against him. Our players should be under strict instruction to avoid conceding as few corners or free kicks as possible. I think we will completely fail in dealing with the threat of Cooper and Matt Smith in the air. Mahoney has looked good for them so far, and could give Bennett a few problems. Unsure on fitness, but I’d line up: Walton Nyambe Adarabioyo Williams Cunningham Bennett Johnson Travis Downing Dack Gallagher

Seriously Mike? Nowhere near the standard of takeover. Match for match there is absolutely no comparison. Not to mention the production values, pacing, psychology. Far too much amateurish nonsense to be anything like a threat to anything WWE puts out. Janela, Havoc, Stunt, Cassidy, Dark Order, Chuck Taylor, Nakazawa, Librarians for starters are all dire and you can see better wrestlers at any indie show in any town on any given weekend. Omega and the young Bucks are just overhyped high spot merchants. MJF is the best heel in the world but not used properly. SCU under-utilised. Jericho, Cody, Page, private party and Pac are fantastic, oh, and Dustin obviously. Coming across as being jobs for the boys and inside jokes playing to a very narrow fan base. I think they will be luck to survive 6 months.

I don’t know a single Rovers supporter who could find one neutral thing to say about Kean, let alone a positive. He is rightly despised universally by our fan base. If 1 in 4 of people responding don’t hate him I’d suggest not everyone you’ve asked is very invested in the club. Peddling a silly, divisive, media coined term like “remoaner” doesn’t help you come across as reasoned or balanced either by the way.

That would probably lead me to ask if I’m asking the right people

Because it’s nowhere near that simple. I don’t know if it’s your aim or not, but that’s the same divisive line a lot of people seem to be using at the moment. It’s a pretty common narrative amongst a growing number of our fans to categorise other supporters in one of two camps, pretty much as outlined in that question. It’s used by the more “positive” side to attack the more “negative” side frequently. My colours are pretty much nailed to the mast as far as Venky’s are concerned, and unsurprisingly I speak to and associate with a lot of people who despise them as much as I do. There is never any talk of “making them pay” aside from an odd off the cuff comment. The prevailing thought presently is generally concern for our future, because of their idiotic actions in our recent past. Some poignant reminders of their actions recently on here (see Bury thread). And while Jerome Anderson’s involvement can not be understated, absolving Venky’s of any accountability is absolutely ridiculous in my eyes. Jerome wasn’t responsible for Shebby Singh or Owen Coyle (was he?). Even if he was, its under Venky’s watch that they have taken us from the model of how to run a team sensibly and survive in the Premier League to absolutely bleeding money. They have lost a generation of fans. They have taken us from being 20 years ahead of Burnley to 20 years behind them in less than a decade. Everything has been dumbed down at the club from top to bottom after the foundations Jack built. Its not even like we did what other clubs did and shot for the moon, over stretched ourselves and paid for it later. It’s just been one long downward spiral caused by negligence, mismanagement and arrogance. And a runners up position in the third tier, though fun in isolation, isn’t a decent pay off. Any discussion on the last 10 years, what’s happening now, and what’s likely to occur in the future needs to focus on Venky’s... and there’s nothing good to say there.

Not been on here for a bit. Current thoughts: AEW is rubbish. TakeOver Cardiff was fantastic.

Please could you answer this Joe. Just had a look at the questionnaire you’ve put out, before I answer it I think I’d like to understand a bit more about the project. Im not keen on this question:

More than happy to give you an interview Joe - though I may not be able to give you the sort of content you are after.

Absolutely. A proper flat 4 in midfield. Bollocks to accommodating Armstrong with this wide forward nonsense. I’d have said Downing ahead of Chapman, but either would do just fine for me. Walton Nyambe Tosin Williams Cunningham Chapman Travis Johnson Rothwell Dack Graham Not a chance, but I’d love that lineup on Saturday.

What did he do?

Bennett is taking some time off twitter after the nonsense following the Charlton match. Got that from the horses mouth.

Think it could definitely be a factor. I remember reading some of those features they did where they ask players questions. Lots of his team mates said Nyambe was very quiet, and a few were taking the mickey. Nyambe said at weekends he likes spending time with his family and going to Church. Kind of got the impression he wasn’t so much one of “the lads”.

I think we all have a tendency to overestimate how much the money they put into Rovers ultimately means to them. Yes, they are sinking cash into a bottomless pit, but it’s not like they will be making any sacrifices... Balaji won’t be considering flogging a roller to make sure the guys in the ticket office get paid. While we have a football club losing money hand over fist, one whim away from oblivion, they have a 99.9% share in a football club - to the value of about 180 million quid. As part of their wider business portfolio, and sat alongside their other billions worth of assets, not only is it not a big deal... it makes sense for them to carry on as they are. “Pulling the plug would not only be catastrophic for us, but wipe the money they have “invested” so far off their net worth.

Seems a very poor decision seeing as he should be nowhere near the team if Mowbray bothered to pick our strongest 11

Done well to con Sam Allardyce and Giovanni Trapattoni into being a regular fixture in their premier league and international sides then... not to mention winning Irish player of the year while doing so. Better goals to games ratio than Tugay, and of course Brereton.

Keith Andrews was a far, far superior player to Bennett!

Bloody hell, that’s slim pickings. I'm not overly enamoured with Lenihan’s on field leadership and communication qualities. He is remembered for bollocking Raya once, where he was also culpable. Just shows how meek they all were last season. Got to be Johnson for me. Looks the part early doors. Downing would probably be higher on my list than some of the others there too. Fully expect Mowbray will give it to Bennett though.

I wouldn’t either. Sat deep in a 5 man midfield he’d do a good job. Doesn’t fit our system, but I think his attributes suit that role far better than centre half. Think he found his to centre back for us due to our 9 year neglect of the defence. Nobody really knew where he played when we signed him.

Are you listening Tony?

I asked my North End mate if he can do a job at centre back... ”He can do, but he’s wasted there”