[Archived] Goodbye Rovers

[chris]

You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!

[Mike Graham]

I really can't imagine a situation where I would stop supporting the club that I have followed for almost 50 years. Like PB I have experienced good and bad times. This is one of those bad times where the uncertainty brought about by significant changes is causing us all to re-evaluate our loyalty.

Clearly mistakes have, and continue to be made by Venkys, but if they are truly commited to the success of their new asset then we have to maintain hope that things will turn around.

I will not criticise anyone for withdrawing their support but attending Ewood and getting behind the lads, yet making it known to the owners that we are not happy with things is surely far better.

As someone else pointed out, the current owners and management are just temporary tenants at Ewood Park, whilst we the fans are the one constant.

I say stick with the Club, there are enough out there wanting us to fail because of the Walker era, we don't want our own fans turning against us.

UB, I respect your comments and I will always be a Rovers fan, under different ownership I guess I would still be at Ewood even if we wre in the Evostick League.

The issue is the owners, the management structure and the treatment of the fans. If you read all my original post you will see that I did make it known (by letter) that I am not happy with things and I give detailed reasons along with reasoned arguments and examples.

The fans are being treated with contempt, as if we are merely cattle fodder paying customers who can be treated as the Club feels fit, the letter from Paul Hunt confirms this. I am not prepared to be treated with contempt via a poorly constructed fob off letter (cut and paste) by the Club that I have loved for 45 years.

[Stuart]

You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!

Well Venkys do seem to think we are "programmed to receive"!!

[ad0102]

i will go with apathy but seeing that clown in the dugout makes my stomach turn, i wont let these rotten apples drive me away from MY club.

This post sums up how I feel exactly. Watching Kean on tv made me feel sick last night. Venkys 100% responsible for this mess.

[PAFELL]

I wish we had some dirt on their other business that supporters could expose. If they want to hurt our club, then hurt them back. Because I think that is maybe the only way to make them listen. Rovers supporters feel for the club.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Managers and owners come and go. You dont stop turning up at games simply because you dont like the manager/owners. Are you a Rovers fan first or a Venkys hater first?? Did you stop turning up when Allardyce was in charge due to the dull football we were watching?? Or during 04/05 under Souness?? No. Screw Venkys and turn up. Surely a true fan will hate the owners, hate the manager and yet still turn up to watch the team??

[gumboots]

Managers and owners come and go. You dont stop turning up at games simply because you dont like the manager/owners. Are you a Rovers fan first or a Venkys hater first?? Did you stop turning up when Allardyce was in charge due to the dull football we were watching?? Or during 04/05 under Souness?? No. Screw Venkys and turn up. Surely a true fan will hate the owners, hate the manager and yet still turn up to watch the team??

I actually tried not turning up when Allardyce was appointed because i couldn't stand the man. I couldn't stay away. However, I ended up giving him respect for the results even though personally he made my stomach churn. However, Kean does not have the merits of decent results to make up for the fact that he's a to put it mildly, not a very nice man, and I don't blame anyone for not going to Ewood at the moment.

[47er]

Managers and owners come and go. You dont stop turning up at games simply because you dont like the manager/owners. Are you a Rovers fan first or a Venkys hater first?? Did you stop turning up when Allardyce was in charge due to the dull football we were watching?? Or during 04/05 under Souness?? No. Screw Venkys and turn up. Surely a true fan will hate the owners, hate the manager and yet still turn up to watch the team??

Ince/Souness/Sam's style( if that's what you think) were difficult for us but this time its different. Very different.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

UB, I respect your comments and I will always be a Rovers fan, under different ownership I guess I would still be at Ewood even if we wre in the Evostick League.

The issue is the owners, the management structure and the treatment of the fans. If you read all my original post you will see that I did make it known (by letter) that I am not happy with things and I give detailed reasons along with reasoned arguments and examples.

The fans are being treated with contempt, as if we are merely cattle fodder paying customers who can be treated as the Club feels fit, the letter from Paul Hunt confirms this. I am not prepared to be treated with contempt via a poorly constructed fob off letter (cut and paste) by the Club that I have loved for 45 years.

I totally agree that to receive a standard letter would be frustrating and is clearly unacceptable.

However I suspect that the Club and it's employees are struggling to cope with what is an unprecedented situation, and frankly don't really know what to say.

Like many, I am absolutely amazed that Kean has remained as manager for so long. I even had a bet at 50/1 in February that he would be the next manager to be sacked.

What I am not going to do is to let this fiasco deprive me of what I love doing, and that is watching my team every week. Of course I can catch games on TV or PC but nothing beats the experience of being there and supporting the lads. The current situation should not deprive you of being able to do the same.

[Alan75]

No stick from me PB.

Like you after 40 plus years I have dont feel as if it's my club anymore and have lost the my enthusiasm to attend whilst the current owners are running the club.

I can appreciate there is a different culture but I will not be treated as a fool with false promises from the manager and owners.

It's like going to your local and getting a bad pint, which occationally you can understand but when it's served up every night and the landlord just shruggs your complaints off, then you stop visiting that watering hole, until a new landlord is in place.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Surely a true fan will hate the owners, hate the manager and yet still turn up to watch the team??

I wouldn't start a "true fan" debate as many may argue that a true fan would do everything in their power to protect the well being of the club. If that means withdrawing support on match days, yet attending protests against the manager/ownwers who are ruining the club, then that may be considered a sacrifice only a "true fan" would make.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Ince/Souness/Sam's style( if that's what you think) were difficult for us but this time its different. Very different.

I agree, but some fans stayed away because of Allardyce's style of play. I didnt agree with them at all but they had their reasons.

For me I support Rovers more than I hate the current manager or ownership and that's why I still turn up.

I genuinely believe that Venky's arent BAD people they're just astonishingly naive. If Venky's were crooks or just wanted to asset strip the club then I think i may refuse to turn up, but Venkys do seem to be genuine in their attempts to succeed as owners, they're just making too many mistakes.

[riverside returns]

I sympathise with PB and also agree with many others on this board that there is something inherently wrong with the club at this time and it is not easy to put a finger on it.

I, due to other commitments, was unable to jsutify having a season ticket this year after many years. I too recall the 'dark old days' travelling to such places as Oxford, Swindon, mansfield, chesterfield, wrexham, matlock town to name but a few, to follow 'my team'.

I have spouted many times to friends over the last few years that football was getting killed by the media. I have detested how 'men' can fall over at the touch of a breath across their bows, how they can be paid vast amounts of money for doing something that I would do just for the enjoyment.

It is not just something in the Ewood camp that is rotten, football is rotten to the core.

I do hope that there is a tide of change coming at Ewood in the very near future. I wish the owners would either put up or shut up with regards to the club as the current situation is untenable.

PLEASE SAVE OUR CLUB FROM BEING THE LAUGHING STOCK OF ALL.

[onlyonejackwalker]

No criticisms from me PB. I have only been attending since the early 70's so I am a whippersnapper compared to some of you guys!

I cannot explain how proud of the club I have been over my lifetime.

I cannot explain how disheartended I have now become under the chicken pluckers.

I do not now travel away from home, nor did I attend against Orient or Wednesday. I still have my ST. I do not now buy from the club shop, nor use the councourses. I continue to buy a programme.

Nothing lasts forever, apart from fan support. Take heart from that. They won't be here forever.

WE WANT OUR ROVERS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

KEAN OUT!!!!!!!!!!

[Doug]

Halifax away, I was at that game, very vague memory of a wall collapsing or being pushed over or was that Rochdale? PB, you have my full support. Even in the dark days of div 3 it didn't feel as negative as it does now. I remember driving back from Notts County when we just missed out on promotion (it was 2 up in those days and we finished 3rd I think) feeling very miserable, and these times make me feel worse. It litteraly makes my stomach turn when I reflect on our hard times through to the great times and these last 10 months have been appauling. My own feeling is The club has lost its soul!!

[EWOODACE1]

i feel the same. i cannot get excited about going down to ewood anymore. football is shocking, atmosphrere is tense and there is no passion within the club anymore. players seem to be against the fans by supporting kean, some even tell us to get real. our owners watch (if they watch at all) from afar and our manager only wants to see if he can turn it around and doesnt seem to care what hes doing to our club in the process.

it apears we are forever being lied to from manager to owners.

also the prem is a sad place to be these days as there isnt anything to play for. 6-7 clubs have become so powerful now that they just want any decent player that breaks through into a club and come in and take them away. and then they want us to feel sorry for them when the lose their ronaldo's and fabregas's when a bigger team comes in for them. now i know the prem is where we want to be but unless your fighting relegation there is nothing to play for.

venkys are a laughing stock and they have unfortunatly took the rovers brand with them and i dont even think they realise or care. even if kean goes which about 90% seem to want now where are we going to go. do we trust venkys to make the right decision.

i will be there tomorrow but i have to be honest i really dont want to be. take that as you may but its hard to feel anything but sadness for our club right now

[gumboots]

Halifax away, I was at that game, very vague memory of a wall collapsing or being pushed over or was that Rochdale? PB, you have my full support. Even in the dark days of div 3 it didn't feel as negative as it does now. I remember driving back from Notts County when we just missed out on promotion (it was 2 up in those days and we finished 3rd I think) feeling very miserable, and these times make me feel worse. It litteraly makes my stomach turn when I reflect on our hard times through to the great times and these last 10 months have been appauling. My own feeling is The club has lost its soul!!

A club can't lose its soul while there are fans who care enough to try to do something about it. It's a bit like the Snow Queen by Andersen where Kay is saved by the persistence of Gerda. We have to keep on and we have to keep believing that we can get rid of Kean. It's not enough but it would be a start.

[m1st]

What a brilliant post, PB; it says better than I could how I feel about the club at the moment. I don't remember ever seeing such a large voting up for any post on here.

I've been following Rovers since the first match I can remember my Dad bringing me over from Blackpool to see [Fulham; October 1953]. There have been highs and lows so, like others on here of similar vintage, I've seen us in some desperate places [for me, the nadir was the 0-4 away defeat at Colchester in the League Cup replay in September 1977] and in Europe [not as often as you, PB, sadly; but circumstances didn't allow].

I presently live about 25 miles away and no longer drive, so am dependent either on mates who live further away and will detour to collect and return me, or on public transport, to get to games at Ewood.

I was talking to one of these friends last night [before I'd seen this thread] and said that I was doubtful for tomorrow's game for a number of reasons:

I fear we're going to be seriously stuffed tomorrow, and while I've seen us stuffed before [see two paragraphs above], I don't think I could stomach Baldrick telling us what "positives" he's drawn from that stuffing;

I'm not in the best of health at present and, while I could get to the game, I'm beginning to question whether it's worth the effort; and

I'd be unlikely to be home before 6.30, so it just begins to feel not worth the effort. It begins to boil down to the old "joke": "Why should I bother going to see that lot? They never came to see me when I was poorly."

And that's because the club no longer feels to have any direction. It feels like that we're a sort-of bauble for the owners, who have no real feel for what running a football club in the Premier League in the 21st Century entails. I held no particular brief for Sam; but at least he kept us in this country's top Division. I'd love to be proved wrong [but I'm not holding my breath] but under the present ownership and, particularly with the present management, there's no joy to be derived from watching them slide out of contact with the rest of the Premier League.

Paradoxically, I'll always be a fan of the club. Woe betide any of my neighbours, mainly Manure or Citeh fans, who slags us off, even under present management; they'll still get the rough edge of my tongue. I still go to away games where I can tie it in with visits to family and/or friends; but much less often. And, as I said on another thread a few weeks ago, I'm so "sad" that I "collect" away grounds where we've played so I'm looking forward to visiting South West Wales in the middle of April next year. And while it isn't comprehensive, I've a collection of programmes which used to drive the erstwhile Mrs m1st to despair and which brings back mixed memories. But my seat in the Riverside is going to be vacant much more often than it ever has been since the new stand was built.

[Paul Mellelieu]

I have to force myself to games these days and like others refuse to pay £40 to go to away games.

Forcing Kean out is obviously the priority, but we all know that he's the symptom of the club's ownership problem.

Surely the slogan that's most apt is "We want our Rovers back".

The wider issue hinted at in a number of the posts is the state of the game and that only three clubs have any chance of winning the league; that earning £200k a week is sickening considering the world around us right now.

Two other thoughts: how many folk will pay £400 for a ST and if we do win a couple of games and somehow push up the league, where will the anger go?

[Doug]

A club can't lose its soul while there are fans who care enough to try to do something about it. It's a bit like the Snow Queen by Andersen where Kay is saved by the persistence of Gerda. We have to keep on and we have to keep believing that we can get rid of Kean. It's not enough but it would be a start.

Unfortunately never read that book. I'm afraid I disagree, I bet most old Rovers fans feel the same way, Rovers have been part of the family to me for over 40 yrs, and I do not recognise it anymore! I was proud to be a Rovers fan (in Bolton, in the 70's, you wouldn't believe the sh!t i got) and went everywhere. And I can assure you, I do care enough, more than you will ever know!

[USABlue]

You shouldn't get any stick at all PB. There are quite a few of us 'older boys' who share your views and concerns about how Venky's are running/ruining our club. A downward spiral if ever I saw one. Unfortunately I think it will be some time before the ownership changes. I still buy a season ticket out of blind loyalty and will continue to do so, but you never know. There are many other factors, away from BRFC, that turn me off. A competition where, at the start of the season, seventeen of the twenty clubs admit they have no chance of winning it. How absurd is that?

I don't know whether it's nostalgia or just because I was a young lad then, but I still look back at the 1972-75 period as the best ever time watching the lads. More honest then. The away trips, Ewood Express, League Liner, standing terraces, a real togetherness even if the big clubs always came calling to nick our managers. More passion from the fans then as well. There's no way we would have let this sorry situation drag on for so long in those days. That's no slight on the tremendous efforts of Glen & Co who I think have done a superb job.

Anyway, I'll be there on Sunday giving Kean as much verbals as I can. He'll be gone shortly because the fans always have the casting vote despite what some of our younger supporters think. Vemky's will then have to get the next appointment right or the vitriol will be directed solely at them - sadly it will prove to be a little harder getting rid of them.

Good luck - if you fancy the Saints v Wigan game in 2012 at the new stadium, pm me if you are still tuning in to this site!

Stop it Clayton you'll have tears in me eyes, sad sad state of affairs right now.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I fully understand Preston blues viewpoint and feelings.

I am also painfully aware that many others outside our Blue 'n' White world would literally 'dance on our grave' if matters really went t1ts up.While Rovers are still at Ewood,for me personally,there is something very much worth fighting for.

It's up to us fans to show the current lot that we want OUR Rovers back.

[gumboots]

Unfortunately never read that book. I'm afraid I disagree, I bet most old Rovers fans feel the same way, Rovers have been part of the family to me for over 40 yrs, and I do not recognise it anymore! I was proud to be a Rovers fan (in Bolton, in the 70's, you wouldn't believe the sh!t i got) and went everywhere. And I can assure you, I do care enough, more than you will ever know!

Not for one moment doubting your committment. Indeed it is that that makes me sadder than anything - that those who have followed for years through some very hard times( I have only lived in the area for 28 years and don't remember anything before about 1988 when my husband felt our son was old enough to be taken to Rovers) no longer feel part of the club. It's bad enough for me and I'm a latecomer. However, other clubs have felt this way too and so long as fans who know what it should be like remain, clubs continue.

[Derbyshire Blue]

Halifax away, I was at that game, very vague memory of a wall collapsing or being pushed over or was that Rochdale? PB, you have my full support. Even in the dark days of div 3 it didn't feel as negative as it does now. I remember driving back from Notts County when we just missed out on promotion (it was 2 up in those days and we finished 3rd I think) feeling very miserable, and these times make me feel worse. It litteraly makes my stomach turn when I reflect on our hard times through to the great times and these last 10 months have been appauling. My own feeling is The club has lost its soul!!

It'll always be our club who evers running the show. Venky's have made a real mess so far, they will soon have to make major decisions and all we can do is pray they get them right as we would with anyone in charge.

Rochdale when the rear of the Stand wall fell into the Street, My first visit to Halifax night match I went straight through the fence behind the stand, second visit crowd forced the main gates open and again in for free : )

[Doug]

It'll always be our club who evers running the show. Venky's have made a real mess so far, they will soon have to make major decisions and all we can do is pray they get them right as we would with anyone in charge.

Rochdale when the rear of the Stand wall fell into the Street, My first visit to Halifax night match I went straight through the fence behind the stand, second visit crowd forced the main gates open and again in for free : )

I think I must have put my feelings into the wrong words. My dissapointment clouds my judgement and literacy! Having been through the 5000 crowds era, I feel a closeness to the club, it's my club, I'm part of it and they appreciate me as a fan. But, that seems to have gone now. I do hope it returns.