[Archived] Rovers V Brighton

[PAFELL]

You miss the point.

The question is did Rovers strain every sinew to ensure the match went ahead ?

If it rains hard, continually and you do nothing, the pitch wont look pretty. If you have an army of groundstaff doing their stuff and using at least one of the mopping-up machines that you see at most professional stadia these days, you have a fighting chance.

Maybe we should sack Steve Patrick and get the lad in from Accie as he got that game on with nothing like the resource availablre to Rovers.

Why would they NOT bust a gut to try to get this match played. what reason could they have for wanting a postponement?

In all these wild tales going around. Nobody has yet to say why the club would want to match postponed.

I remember coming to ewood a few years ago when I thought a match may not get started or finished. If I remember it was Boro, rovers lost. There were puddles all over the pitch. Many other fans who were sat near me wondered if the match would even start, let alone finish. So it happens, can happen for a number of reasons that a pitch is demed unfit to play on by one ref and another would say it is ok.

[Steve Moss]

The facts are, it's the first time that I can recall a match being postponed at Ewood for years and years and years. We are supposed to have one of the finest pitches in the country attended by one of the finest groundsman in the country. We are the only PL/Championship match off. Accie are playing despite being only 7 miles down the road and supposedly having one of the worst pitches in the country. Does today's postponement not strike you as unusual ?

It's not the same thing (snow, not rain) but when I traveled to a Rovers game in March, 2010 vs. Birmingham it was postponed due to weather. I did manage to see the Tottenham v. Rovers match in London, however.

[Amo]

That's one problem with the current state of our club. Just about anything untoward will be viewed as a conspiracy theory.

[DE.]

I don't buy into the club purposefully postponing the match... the only reason to do so would be if they planned to sack Berg and replace him with Hughes, and didn't want Berg to take today's match, I guess... but it seems incredibly farfetched to me.

Most likely is that, like everything else at the club, the maintenance of the pitch has fallen to sub-standard levels and left us embarrassingly as the only team in the top two divisions unable to play a game due to the weather.

[K-Hod]

That's one problem with the current state of our club. Just about anything untoward will be viewed as a conspiracy theory.

+1

[Kelbo]

I was having a joke, feel free to remember your sense of humour next time I make such a post......

Sorry if it was taken out of context but I merely expressed on here what I had been told, I simply dont trust the owners or Singh and wouldnt put it past them to be honest, there was a bit of a protest planned today, plus the weather and of course Christmas shopping, all these things would have had a - 10,000 attendance, maybe the replayed game will have Gomes and Best available!!

[K-Hod]

Sorry if it was taken out of context but I merely expressed on here what I had been told, I simply dont trust the owners or Singh and wouldnt put it past them to be honest, there was a bit of a protest planned today, plus the weather and of course Christmas shopping, all these things would have had a - 10,000 attendance, maybe the replayed game will have Gomes and Best available!!

I've zero trust in them also.

Think I, along with everyone else, am just frustrated!

[Stuart]

Most likely is that, like everything else at the club, the maintenance of the pitch has fallen to sub-standard levels and left us embarrassingly as the only team in the top two divisions unable to play a game due to the weather.

Which is still unacceptable.

I can't remember our last home Boxing Day match off the top of my head (I think it was Liverpool away last year) but we now have no more home futures this year.

We'll have had 5 matches in December - not including today - and only one of those at home. The Championship fixture generator is garbage.

[Ossydave]

Hell fire how utterly pathetic this thread is with the usual suspects Philip and Mercerman talking tripe. Games were also called off at Witton and I'm sure many other places today, I know they aren't professional pitches but the rain has been shocking.

[chaddyrovers]

Chaddy, when Venky's bought Rovers, we were told we would no longer be a selling club. Hmmm.

You believe what you like but personally, I do not trust our owners or operational management.

You also Said that Holloway would be next manager after Kean and Berg would be sack this week before Today's game. neither can true did they

[Stuart]

Hell fire how utterly pathetic this thread is with the usual suspects Philip and Mercerman talking tripe. Games were also called off at Witton and I'm sure many other places today, I know they aren't professional pitches but the rain has been shocking.

We've had far worse rain than the Dave, and games have still gone ahead. That's why the club employ professional grounds staff.

[PAFELL]

I don't buy into the club purposefully postponing the match... the only reason to do so would be if they planned to sack Berg and replace him with Hughes, and didn't want Berg to take today's match, I guess... but it seems incredibly farfetched to me.

Most likely is that, like everything else at the club, the maintenance of the pitch has fallen to sub-standard levels and left us embarrassingly as the only team in the top two divisions unable to play a game due to the weather.

A few years ago v west ham, Rovers were the only team in the prem to play on a particular day. It is just one of those things that can happen at times.

But any little tale or incident at the club at the moment creates its own conspiracy tale.

I have had a few Brighton fans contact me this afternoon. Some asking how to get to accy, some about good pubs to go to. Most were not surprised the match was postponed. They had travelled up by coaches, seen numerous fileds and areas flooded as they travelled through the country. Some even thought that coaches may not make it at some point. They took the postponement in their stride. Sadly for some rovers fans, its just another reason to make up stories / conspiracies.

The match was called off by the referee. Whats the next tale? The ref was he bribed with a free chicken for christmas.

There is no reason why the club would want this match called off.

[Mercer]

You also Said that Holloway would be next manager after Kean and Berg would be sack this week before Today's game. neither can true did they

Chaddy, as regards Kean's replacement, please tell me who thought Berg would get the job until about 3 days before his appointment ? Think the answe is virtually no one.

As for Berg - the same person who told me that Kean would not be in charge against Charlton also told me that he/she did not expect Berg to be in charge for today's match. Let's see if he is around for Boxing Day !

[blueboy3333]

A few years ago v west ham, Rovers were the only team in the prem to play on a particular day. It is just one of those things that can happen at times.

But any little tale or incident at the club at the moment creates its own conspiracy tale.

I have had a few Brighton fans contact me this afternoon. Some asking how to get to accy, some about good pubs to go to. Most were not surprised the match was postponed. They had travelled up by coaches, seen numerous fileds and areas flooded as they travelled through the country. Some even thought that coaches may not make it at some point. They took the postponement in their stride. Sadly for some rovers fans, its just another reason to make up stories / conspiracies.

The match was called off by the referee. Whats the next tale? The ref was he bribed with a free chicken for christmas.

There is no reason why the club would want this match called off.

BlOOdy Rovers fans again. How dare we question the motives or competency of the people running our club. They've been faultless up to now!

Jolly big cheer for those stoical B&HA fans who've not had Venkys & Co ruining their club for 2 years.

[Ossydave]

We've had far worse rain than the Dave, and games have still gone ahead. That's why the club employ professional grounds staff.

Look at the picture, not a chance you could play a game on that pitch! It's rained constantly all day, it would have got worse and started cutting up to buggery too

[Gav]

We've had far worse rain than the Dave, and games have still gone ahead. That's why the club employ professional grounds staff.

We do have great grounds staff, thats the reason why we hardly ever have a game called off Stuart. The rain started last night and never really stopped, its still hammering down now and has been for the past 3 days.

[Mercer]

But any little tale or incident at the club at the moment creates its own conspiracy tale.

The match was called off by the referee. Whats the next tale? The ref was he bribed with a free chicken for christmas.

There is no reason why the club would want this match called off.

Maybe the moon is made of green cheese in your world Pafell !!!

It's simple, if you want a game of football played, you pull out all the stops. Accie had the same rainfall - is their pitch better than ours ? is their groundsman better than ours ? do they have more groundstaff and better equipment than us ?

Cryer thought :

Andrew Cryer‏@CryerRovers

Doesnt look as though that predicted deluge has quite come does it. I reckon it could have gone ahead

Don't you think it's strange that little Accie get a game on and we can't and are the only PL/Championship game off.

IMO, we are possibly looking at either incompetence or p1ss poor planning/management which is no surprise in my book where Rovers are concerned.

Given the almost certain shocking attendance and the turmoil of recent days at Ewood, I don't think there would be too many tears shed about a postponement. Having said that, lose the next 2 games, both away, and we might struggle to recover.............................especially if Kelbo's friend is correct and we get points deducted.

.

[Stuart]

Look at the picture, not a chance you could play a game on that pitch! It's rained constantly all day, it would have got worse and started cutting up to buggery too

As I said, we've had far worse rain than this.

Something has gone wrong with the prep or the attempts to prevent or fix it - or the technology has failed. Blackburn wasn't the worst place on the country for rain this week yet there was only one PL or Championship level game off.

[grizfoot]

Could work to our advantage this to be honest. Should be fresher for the up-and-coming festive period games and the rearranged fixture should come after January when hopefully Berg has done some business in the transfer window and improved the squad.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but it does seem a little odd this game be called off especially when Accrington's game went ahead as well as all the other Championship fixtures. Then again I'm not really complaining and as I said could work to our advantage depending what happens in January.

[EWOODACE1]

tbh the game being called off was a blessing in disguise. myself, dad, brother and 2 fiends who are all st holders where not going to bother. blackpool was so bad ( as well as the last 2 years ) that i just didnt want to bother. going somewhere that just fills me with anger has finally took its toll

[DE.]

I find it incredible how quickly people are ready to jump to the defence of a club that has not only shown total contempt for the fans time after time over the past two years but has proven itself to be incompetent on every level.

I have no interest in starting conspiracy theories, but it's amazing that so many seem completely aghast at the idea this game might not have gone ahead (the only one in BOTH of the top two tiers) because our ground staff did not prepare properly.

[Gav]

People seem to hold Accrington up as some sort of benchmark for our game, which is daft really.

Quick story, a colleague of mine drove from Ewood to Bromley Cross a couple of weeks ago and it took her 3hrs to travel that short distance. She went through Darwen and up past Ocean Palace, covered in snow, roads blocked and people abandoning vehicles and walking home. Hardly a drop of snow in Darwen town centre, Blackburn, or the route to Bolton via Abbey Village.

So what happens in Accy or anywhere else for that matter doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story at Ewood.

[Kelbo]

Just been speaking to a groundsman who knows Steve Patrick, he says no way would Steve have left the sprinklers on by accident, he would be looking at the forecast and the sprinklers would be used accordingly, thats part of his job, the length of the grass has to be precise and normally the same lenght as where the first team train so that they are both identical as can be, he did say, as posted earlier, the manager would tell the groundsman whether to play it fast or slow and the amount of water would determine that!!

What he did say, was the amount of rainfall is not considerably more than that which is put on by the sprinklers and it makes him wonder!!

[Harrier7]

There simply has got to be a reason as to why a club in an area with the same amount of rainfall and a playing surface renowned for holding water can play a match and yet Rovers with far greater facilities and manpower cant,

What you need to know is that Accy made huge efforts to improve their drainage over the last couple of seasons and the improvement is remarkable this season. The pitch played immaculately today in spite of the ground surroundings being underwater and the match being played in non stop rain! Buzzer the groundsman got a big round of applause from the Clayton End before the start.

[Stuart]

We're getting to the agree to disagree point GAV.