[Archived] Time We wake up?....

[ruggles1995]

I know its tough, but its actually time to start reallising what kind of team/club we now are. This is not the club I fell in love with, things have changed obviously. But we need to start realising it and get on with it (easier said than done). We used to be a 2nd tier team in the good old days and some fans and other clubs believe thats where we should be due to the size of the club, fanbase and town etc. We are now back in 2nd tier football where we once were along time ago for many a year. New owners new players (dreadful all round I know and not really many players we look at as heros or are fond of). So after Uncle Jacks hard work to get us to the big time, its now a re-starting game again, we are back to square 1, re-building the club to get back to the big time (if ever who knows). In all honesty I could probably see us following the likes of southampton and sheffield wednesday and fallling down another league into league 1 before we ever get back to the big time. This is reality, this is now our group of players/owners, we now need to wake up and deal with it, the future may not look great for many a year but thats how it is. Yeh sure the attendaces will drop thats normal for any team when things happen to a football such as ours the way they have. As much as I hate to say it this is our club now, yes the are fingers to be pointed at for the reason why we are here and everyone knows who, but we cant do anyhting now apart from cheer on what ever kind of player/players are wearing the blue and white.

Bring on the dingles sunday. We must stay up!

[krypton1980]

The difference between the current players and the players we had pre jack is not so much the quality but the pride & passion. The squad may have been 2nd teir quality but at least they tried. Other than Dunn who else really seemed to care last night ?

[Happyforeverclapper]

I know its tough, but its actually time to start reallising what kind of team/club we now are. This is not the club I fell in love with, things have changed obviously. But we need to start realising it and get on with it (easier said than done). We used to be a 2nd tier team in the good old days and some fans and other clubs believe thats where we should be due to the size of the club, fanbase and town etc. We are now back in 2nd tier football where we once were along time ago for many a year. New owners new players (dreadful all round I know and not really many players we look at as heros or are fond of). So after Uncle Jacks hard work to get us to the big time, its now a re-starting game again, we are back to square 1, re-building the club to get back to the big time (if ever who knows). In all honesty I could probably see us following the likes of southampton and sheffield wednesday and fallling down another league into league 1 before we ever get back to the big time. This is reality, this is now our group of players/owners, we now need to wake up and deal with it, the future may not look great for many a year but thats how it is. Yeh sure the attendaces will drop thats normal for any team when things happen to a football such as ours the way they have. As much as I hate to say it this is our club now, yes the are fingers to be pointed at for the reason why we are here and everyone knows who, but we cant do anyhting now apart from cheer on what ever kind of player/players are wearing the blue and white.

Bring on the dingles sunday. We must stay up!

100% agree with you mate!.Ive posted a similar topic this morn but unfortunately got negative response!

[ada2020]

I think you'll need to do better with your PR spin than this, supporting what Venkys have made us is unacceptable.

[MrT]

I think you'll need to do better with your PR spin than this, supporting what Venkys have made us is unacceptable.

+1

[ruggles1995]

I think you'll need to do better with your PR spin than this, supporting what Venkys have made us is unacceptable.

PR spin?...... BEHAVE! never in my wildest dreams will i defend the chicken farmers. But what am i meant to do stop supporting rovers for the rest of my life. I will support the 11 on that pitch thats selected, I will also give them stick each week (as we seem to be so bad every week). BUT will never support venkys.

[DE.]

What is it about the club and the players you identify with now, out of curiosity? Other than the fact the club is based in Blackburn, what values does it represent that you are proud to support?

Genuine question btw. I ask myself the same thing quite often and struggle to come up with anything.

[Stuart]

It's a deep-seated idea DE.

There is no "apart from them being based in Blackburn". They ARE based on Blackburn, therefore they are our team - whether we like it or not.

There are only two* ways we stop supporting/following the team: one is if it is taken away from us. Although far fetched, I would never support a franchised Blackburn Rovers in this IPL idea, for instance.

The other way is liquidation/closure.

Till then, it's our club, whether we go to games or not.

*I don't count death as an out, you still keep your status then - you just have to keep turning over a lot!

[broadsword]

They'll always be my team, but Wanky's, Agnew, Kean, Shaw, Singh, Dann, Murphy, Orr and possibly a few more, have completely killed my passion.

I find it hard to like the club when there are so many turd-eating weasels about the place.

It's all so reminiscent of the Kidd era. "This club needs its heartbeat back" that was one Kiddism. along with "rubber dinghy men" well we certainly have rubber dinghy men now, counting their cash in the dinghies while the good ship Rovers sinks without trace.

The club's been poisoned by people who haven't had its best interests at heart and all that is left now is an empty shell. A club belongs to the fans, and is the fans and they're being alienated because no-one at the heart of that club cares about it. It's too much to take to have to stand by helplessly and see something you love being trashed by parasites.

It's nasty, leaves a very bitter taste, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. If I had to some the last two and a bit years up in a word I;d say "despair".

[T.J.Newton]

I do have a deep feeling that the club really is at absolute breaking point, Ironic that what I feel could genuinely could be our most important game ever is against Burnley, if we lose I think that would just completely destroy any confidence the squad have left and send us into complete free-fall, another relegation would be the end of brfc as we know it.(but then on the other hand, if we win it could have the total opposite effect and put us in good steed for a positive end to the season and a good outlook for the future)

[Ferrit]

They'll always be my team, but Wanky's, Agnew, Kean, Shaw, Singh, Dann, Murphy, Orr and possibly a few more, have completely killed my passion.

I find it hard to like the club when there are so many turd-eating weasels about the place.

Pretty much my exact thoughts on it all.

[DE.]

It's a deep-seated idea DE.

There is no "apart from them being based in Blackburn". They ARE based on Blackburn, therefore they are our team - whether we like it or not.

There are only two* ways we stop supporting/following the team: one is if it is taken away from us. Although far fetched, I would never support a franchised Blackburn Rovers in this IPL idea, for instance.

The other way is liquidation/closure.

Till then, it's our club, whether we go to games or not.

*I don't count death as an out, you still keep your status then - you just have to keep turning over a lot!

I know what you're saying Stuart. If I didn't feel the same I would have stopped caring a long time ago. I just wonder sometimes what I'm supporting. I hate the owners, I hate the "board", I dislike a lot of the squad. I think the way the clubs treats fans along with its playing and non-playing staff is an absolute disgrace. I'm frequently embarrassed by things the club does or things that come out of the mouths of people who supposedly represent it.

But I'd never stop supporting the club for a second, despite it all. It's bizarre.

[Baz]

I posted before the season started we'll finish nearer relegation than promotion.

Realistically how many of our squad would a Premier league side want? Dann and Rhodes possibly, but Dann started the season very poorly, and Rhodes hasnt got the all round game at the moment to justify paying more than the £8m we paid.

Theres very little in this league, but they are younger, fitter, have more desire, and play in a formation that suits their abilities.

Whilst theres nothing left to play for this season, theres a lot can be done to start building towards next now.

[Ewoodbhappy]

The difference between the current players and the players we had pre jack is not so much the quality but the pride & passion. The squad may have been 2nd teir quality but at least they tried. Other than Dunn who else really seemed to care last night ?

Agreed completely. A bog standard no mark expects £10k a week. Too many freeloaders / owners who are incompetent beyond compare. The club is rotten from tip to core. Not like the old days. Hard working grafters putting in a shift, pulling in the same direction.

Nowadays call someone a lazy useless TW... And your a brutal thug. Cheer them blindly!!!! FFS I'm sick of namby-pamby footballers.

[BlueMonday]

It's all so reminiscent of the Kidd era. "This club needs its heartbeat back" that was one Kiddism. along with "rubber dinghy men" well we certainly have rubber dinghy men now, counting their cash in the dinghies while the good ship Rovers sinks without trace.

The club's been poisoned by people who haven't had its best interests at heart and all that is left now is an empty shell. A club belongs to the fans, and is the fans and they're being alienated because no-one at the heart of that club cares about it. It's too much to take to have to stand by helplessly and see something you love being trashed by parasites.

It's nasty, leaves a very bitter taste, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. If I had to some the last two and a bit years up in a word I;d say "despair".

In a nut shell Bryan

[Jock]

So many pigs with their snouts in the trough at Ewood.

Southampton, Sheff Wed, Leeds and Forest have all got a bigger fan base than us and most have struggled since relegation from the Prem.

[Stuart]

I know what you're saying Stuart. If I didn't feel the same I would have stopped caring a long time ago. I just wonder sometimes what I'm supporting. I hate the owners, I hate the "board", I dislike a lot of the squad. I think the way the clubs treats fans along with its playing and non-playing staff is an absolute disgrace. I'm frequently embarrassed by things the club does or things that come out of the mouths of people who supposedly represent it.

It's Bolton Road, Nuttall Street, the hill behind the Manxman; Ewood WMC; the low sun over the Jack Walker stand blinding the Riversiders; looking down at the shed-like Riverside stand; it's that bloke who sits near you whose name you can never remember but with whom you share a joke; it's sitting with your mates, laughing, shouting and moaning together; it's standing up for corners in the Blackburn End; pointing the "who are you finger" from the Darwen End lower; grumbling about those folks who embarrass us every game by traipsing out along the apron in front of the Riverside with 5 minutes to go when it's 1-1 and we are piling forward (less so these days - the piling, not the traipsing); it's the old fella who watched the turnstiles from inside; the steward who has to duck to avoid her head being knocked off by a stray ball; it's the ball bobbling on the roof of the Riverside; the bloke who nonchalantly kicks the ball back on to the field while walking back from the tuck shop with his chips; the other bloke who tries to head the ball from a miss-hit pass and immediately regrets it but laughs anyway; it's standing up and sitting down when someone arrives late on your row, giving them the nod as they pass and grumbling when they've gone, standing up and sitting down when the need to go to the toilet - and again when they come back; it's cold water sinks and cold air hand dryers and shaking your hands as you go to buy a coffee that's too hot to drink; it's BRFCS, BRAG, the FF, the Trust, the other Trust, the other other Trust, Ewood Blues, Darwen Blues, Norwegian Blues, the Blues Bar (that you have to pay a quid to go in on match days); the picture of Jack lifting the PL trophy; the obligatory walk through the Roverstore with your kids and not buying anything; it's the lady who you can ask for "the usual" in the Brew Room; having your photo taken with Jack's statue; again; and again; and taking photos of your kids next to it; it's people with lowercase first names posting on messageboards; people with psuedonyms and non-de-plumes and acronyms and broken picture frames; it's spammers and wummers and boobs (and his reinvention as a Villareal fan); it's Bob Fleming's funny posts and wondering if he and Ewooddawn text each other sat on the sofa, and whether he's related to Ian Fleming; it's feeling guilty about never reading Parsonblue's match reports despite reading other posts saying how great they are; it's not feeling guilty when you have a sly dig at Ste B knowing your post will be removed anyway; it's missing tashor's posts and hoping m1st is keeping well and GAV isn't going to kill SamDingle; and WHERE'S ABBEY...? it's trying your hardest not to use the ignore function; it hoping Philip is wrong and Paul is right; it's counting chaddy's question marks and exclamation marks; it's debates and rows and vowing never to post again and asking to be unbanned so you can carry on checking the site first thing in the morning and last thing at night whilst brushing your teeth and every hour in between; it's passing something you care about on to your kids; it's teaching them a life lesson and explaining sincerely why they can't support United or City like their non-match-going school pals; it's a connection you have with people in the town and out of town; it's something that ties you to your roots when you go abroad; it's what the savvy tip-seeking waiter talks to you about when you are on your jollys; it's people you know and people you don't know and people you don't want to know.

It's about clicking "Add Reply" without reading your post and hoping you've not made too many typos that your iPhone has turned into a completely left field word (and biddy saying I told you saw)...

But most of all it's just about Blackburn folk having something to moan about. Together.

[adsfortheblues]

It's Bolton Road, Nuttall Street, the hill behind the Manxman; Ewood WMC; the low sun over the Jack Walker stand blinding the Riversiders; looking down at the shed-like Riverside stand; it's that bloke who sits near you whose name you can never remember but with whom you share a joke; it's sitting with your mates, laughing, shouting and moaning together; it's standing up for corners in the Blackburn End; pointing the "who are you finger" from the Darwen End lower; grumbling about those folks who embarrass us every game by traipsing out along the apron in front of the Riverside with 5 minutes to go when it's 1-1 and we are piling forward (less so these days - the piling, not the traipsing); it's the old fella who watched the turnstiles from inside; the steward who has to duck to avoid her head being knocked off by a stray ball; it's the ball bobbling on the roof of the Riverside; the bloke who nonchalantly kicks the ball back on to the field while walking back from the tuck shop with his chips; the other bloke who tries to head the ball from a miss-hit pass and immediately regrets it but laughs anyway; it's standing up and sitting down when someone arrives late on your row, giving them the nod as they pass and grumbling when they've gone, standing up and sitting down when the need to go to the toilet - and again when they come back; it's cold water sinks and cold air hand dryers and shaking your hands as you go to buy a coffee that's too hot to drink; it's BRFCS, BRAG, the FF, the Trust, the other Trust, the other other Trust, Ewood Blues, Darwen Blues, Norwegian Blues, the Blues Bar (that you have to pay a quid to go in on match days); the picture of Jack lifting the PL trophy; the obligatory walk through the Roverstore with your kids and not buying anything; it's the lady who you can ask for "the usual" in the Brew Room; having your photo taken with Jack's statue; again; and again; and taking photos of your kids next to it; it's people with lowercase first names posting on messageboards; people with psuedonyms and non-de-plumes and acronyms and broken picture frames; it's spammers and wummers and boobs (and his reinvention as a Villareal fan); it's Bob Fleming's funny posts and wondering if he and Ewooddawn text each other sat on the sofa, and whether he's related to Ian Fleming; it's feeling guilty about never reading Parsonblue's match reports despite reading other posts saying how great they are; it's not feeling guilty when you have a sly dig at Ste B knowing your post will be removed anyway; it's missing tashor's posts and hoping m1st is keeping well and GAV isn't going to kill SamDingle; and WHERE'S ABBEY...? it's trying your hardest not to use the ignore function; it hoping Philip is wrong and Paul is right; it's counting chaddy's question marks and exclamation marks; it's debates and rows and vowing never to post again and asking to be unbanned so you can carry on checking the site first thing in the morning and last thing at night whilst brushing your teeth and every hour in between; it's passing something you care about on to your kids; it's teaching them a life lesson and explaining sincerely why they can't support United or City like their non-match-going school pals; it's a connection you have with people in the town and out of town; it's something that ties you to your roots when you go abroad; it's what the savvy tip-seeking waiter talks to you about when you are on your jollys; it's people you know and people you don't know and people you don't want to know.

It's about clicking "Add Reply" without reading your post and hoping you've not made too many typos that your iPhone has turned into a completely left field word (and biddy saying I told you saw)...

But most of all it's just about Blackburn folk having something to moan about. Together.

You've put forward a good argument there and maybe a persuasive argument for some, but still doesn't appeal to me anymore.

[Rover_Shaun]

Nicely put Stuart but until I stopped bothering it was just "wishing you'd stayed in the Navvy"

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Its just the town thats left for me now. The owners are scum, the upper management is scum, the managers are a collection of clueless amatuers and the players (bar 1 or 2) are a collection of lazy mercenaries.

Now this might be controversial and might get deleted as such (understandable if so) but I think affection to the town itself has taken a knock in recent decades. Its no secret that the demographic make-up is rapidly changing and the culture along with it, the nightlife has vanished and the Rovers-supporting heartlands are diminishing. Maybe some day Asians will come round to supporting Rovers in large numbers, but until that happens Blackburn will become less of a football town along with less of a Rovers town by the year.

Its pretty simple to me though personally. I like football and I'm from the Blackburn area. That leaves me no choice because gloryhunters are the most pathetically weak of all football fans and being a neutral is boring. I'm a Rovers fan and thats it. As is everyone who still bothers to post on here.

[Tom]

Stuart

[ruggles1995]

What is it about the club and the players you identify with now, out of curiosity? Other than the fact the club is based in Blackburn, what values does it represent that you are proud to support?

Genuine question btw. I ask myself the same thing quite often and struggle to come up with anything.

I also struggle, but then I think of the history and legacy of Jack walker and the previous great players that have helpoed give this club its history it has that we make sure we do ourselves proud for the club and keep together hoping 1 day this club will bounce back.

[philipl]

They'll always be my team, but Wanky's, Agnew, Kean, Shaw, Singh, Dann, Murphy, Orr and possibly a few more, have completely killed my passion.

I find it hard to like the club when there are so many turd-eating weasels about the place.

It's all so reminiscent of the Kidd era. "This club needs its heartbeat back" that was one Kiddism. along with "rubber dinghy men" well we certainly have rubber dinghy men now, counting their cash in the dinghies while the good ship Rovers sinks without trace.

The club's been poisoned by people who haven't had its best interests at heart and all that is left now is an empty shell. A club belongs to the fans, and is the fans and they're being alienated because no-one at the heart of that club cares about it. It's too much to take to have to stand by helplessly and see something you love being trashed by parasites.

It's nasty, leaves a very bitter taste, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. If I had to some the last two and a bit years up in a word I;d say "despair".

[patrickvalery]

a

The difference between the current players and the players we had pre jack is not so much the quality but the pride & passion. The squad may have been 2nd teir quality but at least they tried. Other than Dunn who else really seemed to care last night ?

But when we've had players who tried their best, gave it their all and they were still not liked by many. Kieth Andrews springs to mind.

As it goes, i am in agreement with you. Until the club gets a playing staff who want to wear the shirt and sweat blood for it then we'll be in trouble. But even in our dire predicament with shambolic owners, a rookie manager struggling to get results, a board devoid of any ideas on how to run a football club and a largely average squad, some fans would still moan if we had eleven players giving it everything and still coming up short.

It is just absolute madness imo. Consider all the many many lows of the last few years, all the whispers of wrong doings behind the scenes, the foul mouthed, clueless Kean era. Now we have a manager in place who seems to be making all the right noises about cleansing the club, recruiting players who are willing to put a shift in, talks of a dressing room consisting of players who 'may go into their shell' in big games, etc.... Whether you consider his results to be below par or not, is this not refreshing enough just to hear such things coming from our manager? It seems to me too many fans expected a manager to waltz in and immediately rally the troops into a promotion charge whilst ridding the club of all the back seat parasites in some moral crusade.

Make no mistake, this club is rotten at the moment. To rebuild this will take years. Appleton may not be getting results, but i am happy that a figurehead at the club feels the same way i do about things and seemingly has the muscle to do something about it. If we manage to avoid the drop this season i'd be happy if we could get some characters in to the playing staff over the summer. Some real seasoned pros who lead by example. Because, although there are pockets of talent in the squad, they need someone on the pitch to give them confidence to use it. Someone who makes players like Ollson, Kean, Rhodes, King, and even Pedersen believe that they have the fight to suceed in this division. The squad is and has been desperately short on leaders for years. We all saw the lift Jermaine Jones gave the side during his brief spell here. Having someone in the trenches with you who is willing to dish it out is paramount in any struggling side in any division. But when you look at our squad do you see it? The closest thing we have is Jason Lowe imo. And i'm sorry, but a kid in his early twenties is going to struggle to inspire a squad of footballers at any level.

I am afraid dear old Uncle Jack has raised the bar for too many fans. The heady days of the early nineties are long gone and success in the present day will only come about by putting in solid foundations. There is no quick fix here. I fear i am repeating myself regarding Appleton, but i think he needs time. Knee jerk reactions to poor results won't help the situation at all. He may not be the man to build a successful Rovers again. But the way i see it is when your building a house you don't get an interior decorator to lay the foundations. You get a ground worker. The time to put together the fanciful extras to make the house attractive is a long long way down the line. It seems to me that maybe Appleton is about the best ground worker we can get at the moment.

[K-Hod]

It's Bolton Road, Nuttall Street, the hill behind the Manxman; Ewood WMC; the low sun over the Jack Walker stand blinding the Riversiders; looking down at the shed-like Riverside stand; it's that bloke who sits near you whose name you can never remember but with whom you share a joke; it's sitting with your mates, laughing, shouting and moaning together; it's standing up for corners in the Blackburn End; pointing the "who are you finger" from the Darwen End lower; grumbling about those folks who embarrass us every game by traipsing out along the apron in front of the Riverside with 5 minutes to go when it's 1-1 and we are piling forward (less so these days - the piling, not the traipsing); it's the old fella who watched the turnstiles from inside; the steward who has to duck to avoid her head being knocked off by a stray ball; it's the ball bobbling on the roof of the Riverside; the bloke who nonchalantly kicks the ball back on to the field while walking back from the tuck shop with his chips; the other bloke who tries to head the ball from a miss-hit pass and immediately regrets it but laughs anyway; it's standing up and sitting down when someone arrives late on your row, giving them the nod as they pass and grumbling when they've gone, standing up and sitting down when the need to go to the toilet - and again when they come back; it's cold water sinks and cold air hand dryers and shaking your hands as you go to buy a coffee that's too hot to drink; it's BRFCS, BRAG, the FF, the Trust, the other Trust, the other other Trust, Ewood Blues, Darwen Blues, Norwegian Blues, the Blues Bar (that you have to pay a quid to go in on match days); the picture of Jack lifting the PL trophy; the obligatory walk through the Roverstore with your kids and not buying anything; it's the lady who you can ask for "the usual" in the Brew Room; having your photo taken with Jack's statue; again; and again; and taking photos of your kids next to it; it's people with lowercase first names posting on messageboards; people with psuedonyms and non-de-plumes and acronyms and broken picture frames; it's spammers and wummers and boobs (and his reinvention as a Villareal fan); it's Bob Fleming's funny posts and wondering if he and Ewooddawn text each other sat on the sofa, and whether he's related to Ian Fleming; it's feeling guilty about never reading Parsonblue's match reports despite reading other posts saying how great they are; it's not feeling guilty when you have a sly dig at Ste B knowing your post will be removed anyway; it's missing tashor's posts and hoping m1st is keeping well and GAV isn't going to kill SamDingle; and WHERE'S ABBEY...? it's trying your hardest not to use the ignore function; it hoping Philip is wrong and Paul is right; it's counting chaddy's question marks and exclamation marks; it's debates and rows and vowing never to post again and asking to be unbanned so you can carry on checking the site first thing in the morning and last thing at night whilst brushing your teeth and every hour in between; it's passing something you care about on to your kids; it's teaching them a life lesson and explaining sincerely why they can't support United or City like their non-match-going school pals; it's a connection you have with people in the town and out of town; it's something that ties you to your roots when you go abroad; it's what the savvy tip-seeking waiter talks to you about when you are on your jollys; it's people you know and people you don't know and people you don't want to know.

It's about clicking "Add Reply" without reading your post and hoping you've not made too many typos that your iPhone has turned into a completely left field word (and biddy saying I told you saw)...

But most of all it's just about Blackburn folk having something to moan about. Together.

Almost brought a tear to my eye did this post.

Superb Stuart.