[Archived] Ask Your Questions To Shaw, Myers, Bowyer

[Mike Graham]

Terry is an arsehole Parson, Rovers to the core or not. Sounds like he acted like one last night also and spoilt the final part of the evening.

From my dealings with the guy he is a 1st class tool. Not the sort of guy you want to associate with.

[TeamGB-11]

Sounds to me like terry is the type of fan some would like silenced perhaps..

[den]

We have less than 10,000 regulars.

BTW, did anyone ask Bowyer about his weird team selections and barmy substitutions?

I meant we have regular gates of 12000.

One guy asked why he didn't play the clubs two top goalscorers together, more often. He said they both achieved over 20 goals, so it didn't affect them. He also said its not about the individuals, it's about the team.

He was asked what he said to the team at half time in the Fulham game that changed the performance for the better, but he refused to accept that we were poor. In fact he thought we were the better team in the first half - demonstrated by the fact that their keeper made more saves.

Gestede was sold for £6m. We never got offered £14 m for Rhodes. The Rhodes offer from borough was made up of a lot of Add ons.

[DE.]

One guy asked why he didn't play the clubs two top goalscorers together, more often. He said they both achieved over 20 goals, so it didn't affect them. He also said its not about the individuals, it's about the team.

Hmm, an answer that would hold more weight had we not finished well off the playoff places. It would suggest the team did not benefit from the selections made, despite having two 20+ goalscorers in the squad.

[yoda]

We have not sold a single corporate box this year.

We have less than 10,000 regulars.

BTW, did anyone ask Bowyer about his weird team selections and barmy substitutions?

Yes someone did ask that question, GB did his best on the answer, injuries, gelling availability etc

[JHRover]

Go sell boxes is easy to say. We found that difficult when we won the PL.

Every other club manages it. Why are we so unique? I'm not expecting a queue round the block. But 20 boxes all standing empty every week at a club of our size is outrageous.

There is something seriously wrong. Whether that is in the price or in the method. Smaller clubs than us can find businesses to support them. Why can't Blackburn Rovers?

The.answer isn't to shrug our shoulders and say we can't do better. If Rotherham and Preston can do it then why can't we? One box for a season, even if only £10,000, equates to about 50 season tickets.

[patrickvalery]

Just listened to the radio recording and I have to say that two of the three sounded good sorts and like they knew what was what. The other..... Well I think there's hope for me yet that I could be a football club managing director.

Although (and no offence Glen) I thought his comment about your dealings with shebby was fair game. That said, it smacked of petty squabbling and that's not what's required of top brass at our club.

Maybe I'm just a bit easily pleased and not discerning enough. But I just quite enjoyed listening to it.

[yoda]

Every other club manages it. Why are we so unique? I'm not expecting a queue round the block. But 20 boxes all standing empty every week at a club of our size is outrageous.

There is something seriously wrong. Whether that is in the price or in the method. Smaller clubs than us can find businesses to support them. Why can't Blackburn Rovers?

The.answer isn't to shrug our shoulders and say we can't do better. If Rotherham and Preston can do it then why can't we? One box for a season, even if only £10,000, equates to about 50 season tickets.

Good post,

This should be all over the Rovers website, promotional material, all affiliates and any where else that someone would/might read it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_10_15_price_of_football.pdf

2nd cheapest in the Championship, cheaper than many in league one and cheaper than a few in league 2, if our marketing department can't get some mileage out these stats some serious questions need asking, are you Reading Mr Myers ?

[the original david brent]

Lastly too much time spent on "Where are my Bolton tickets?"

I listened to it on radio lancs - he sounded like a complete and utter plum. I was cringing listening to him.

If I was Myers and this bloke had sent me 4-5 emails about his Bolton tickets I would have ignored him too!

[yoda]

I listened to it on radio lancs - he sounded like a complete and utter plum. I was cringing listening to him.

If I was Myers and this bloke had sent me 4-5 emails about his Bolton tickets I would have ignored him too!

Then again Myers could have just said, see me at the end and I will take your details and look into it for you

[Baz]

Then again Myers could have just said, see me at the end and I will take your details and look into it for you

Exactly my thoughts.

He should also have asked anyone with ideas on how to bring revenue to the club to contact him as well.

[JAL]

Bowyer's best moment from last night

https://audioboom.com/boos/3690428-audio-onerovers-boss-gary-bowyer-everyone-desperate-to-get-club-back-where-it-belongs

BBC Radio Lancs full Q and A season

https://audioboom.com/boos/3690559-listen-again-onerovers-fans-forum-gary-bowyer-derek-shaw-alan-myers-andybayes

How many games have they won ?

How many players have they signed ?

How much money are they losing ?

[patrickvalery]

Less than they should.

Enough within budget to keep us competitive.

About 20m p/a

[the original david brent]

Then again Myers could have just said, see me at the end and I will take your details and look into it for you

Myers said numerous times he did reply and then also mentioned he had spoken with 'Ben' which the bloke conceded he had.

He didn't seem the kind of rational bloke who would have accepted a 'see me at the end' response.

[JAL]

Every other club manages it. Why are we so unique? I'm not expecting a queue round the block. But 20 boxes all standing empty every week at a club of our size is outrageous.

There is something seriously wrong. Whether that is in the price or in the method. Smaller clubs than us can find businesses to support them. Why can't Blackburn Rovers?

The.answer isn't to shrug our shoulders and say we can't do better. If Rotherham and Preston can do it then why can't we? One box for a season, even if only £10,000, equates to about 50 season tickets.

Is not because the corporate side of Blackburn know exactly what's going at the club thus keep well away and will do so until there is a change.

[patrickvalery]

There did seem a concerted effort to push the corporate side of things. That's pretty alarming imo. The life blood of this club is fans through the turnstiles. If we want corporate sales then sell a product deemed worthy of entertainment. A manager with the mindset of bowyer (and I'm not being critical) won't bring in that clientele.

[A cup of beans]

But did he say 'right good go' or 'ever so well' though..?

Only joking..

2 or 3 "right good go (s)"

[A cup of beans]

Exactly my thoughts.

He should also have asked anyone with ideas on how to bring revenue to the club to contact him as well.

He was too busy waffling on. Loves the sound of his own voice.

I couldn't relate to him or anything he said.

[mark1875]

I'd just like to echo Paul's sentiments really...

As a committee we had discussed doing this for some time now and we had mooted it with the club for a long time, it was about making sure the time was right for those at the club and for the supporters. There was a mix of questions and a mix of reactions, some people believe the past shouldn't have been discussed, however everyone was fully expecting it to be. The key thing we discussed in many committee meetings prior to the event was that we have asked those questions on a numerous of occasions and ongoing, however 90% of the audience last night hadn't done, they hadn't had the chance to do so and last night was that chance, so of course they're going to ask what has been on their mind for weeks, months and years.

What we had last night was a mixture of supporters, some concerned, some hurting, some content, some positive and it was important that every one of those people got to ask their questions and have them answered first hand. We on the committee of the Blackburn Rovers Football & Community Action Group made two promises in the run up to this event, the first one was that we wouldn't hog the floor and we wouldn't ask any questions ourselves, because as both an FSF & FSE affiliated Supporters group, we have to be given that platform regularly and Wednesday night was not our time, it was every supporters platform.

Our second promise was that questions would not be screened, that the panel would have no warning and no preparation time for what was coming, it was vital to the event that this happened, had anybody insisted that this wouldn't be the format then quite simply the event would not have happened, and we are delighted this was the case.

First and foremast let me applaud the supporters who attended on the evening, it is not often that supporters get such a unique opportunity to ask questions, discuss their views, suggest their ideas and let the people running the club know where they are failing or succeeding. Without the supporters, a football club is nothing - so secondly let me thank and applaud Alan Myers, Derek Shaw and Gary Bowyer for agreeing to take part in this event, which they all agreed to do without a moments hesitation and had in fact been looking forward to it for a long time.

As far as individuals supporters behaviour on the evening goes, Terry has taken a bit of stick since the night, what i will say is that he is very passionate about the club, he's seen better times and he's seen worse times but he's still here and he's still supporting and his opinion is that this is what everyone else should be doing, some will agree and plenty will disagree. Terry goes everywhere watching Blackburn Rovers, with the Ewood Blues and he is active on the Fans Forum and meets with the club regularly via that platform, he wears his heart on his sleeve and is genuinely a nice bloke. The audience last night was full of passionate Rovers supporters, all with their own opinion and at times it got a little heated but bar one incident towards the end it was never threatening to get out of control.

The floor was managed well by Andy Bayes, who was excellent on the evening as always.

The directors knew what they was going to face, i have chaired meetings with them enough times and asked the same tough questions, questions put to us, to take with us by the supporters. As a committee we have asked Alan Myers' where his communication is and what difference would it make if he wasn't here. I have sat and read out to them court transcripts and told Derek Shaw he is accountable and asked him why still has a job, which resulted in a very very angry response, one i wouldn't care to repeat and one you wouldn't expect from the MD of a football club, however again passion causes reactions and meetings with the club and events like this can cause reactions and get heated. But they have had the tough questions and the short shrift from us in meetings, so they had to know what was going to come this week from the audience.

To some people FFP was the most important subject, to some people it was the competence/incompetence of the board of directors, to others it was the lack of ticket sales or hospitality packages, to the odd one it was Bolton Tickets, however each question was important to the individual asking it, and that is what the event was for, it was designed for people to ask what mattered to them. Some will believe certain questions wasted time, however everyone who attended got the opportunity to ask what they wanted/needed to ask, and that is great.

It was sad to see supporters disagree heatedly with each other, we have all suffered the same pain, we all have the same worries and the same dreams....The young lad from Accrington who came across extremely well in his questioning (whose name by the way is Zac) who put his point to the board about lowering ticket prices for the Burnley game, he hit the nail on the head when he said 'whether you like or not, we need those fans' whilst talking about the walk-on's, the occasional match attending supporter...........after all, We are all Blackburn Rovers, whether you attend 46 games, or 4 games, everyone has different circumstances but we all support Blackburn Rovers and a person who would truly, honestly sooner see 10,000 'proper' fans as oppose to 25,000 rovers fans, really doesn't want the best for Blackburn Rovers Football Club.

What the event has given is the opportunity for people to make their own impression of Alan Myers and Derek Shaw, for many this would have been the first time they have spoken to or indeed met the board of directors. The questions were at times tough and the answers given now allow people to make an informed judgement, which many have already relayed on this message board since.

I am aware and i understand that many people don't want to hear from the board, but they want to hear from the owners, and believe me I am aware that if the Rao family were forming the panel, we could have sold every seat inside Ewood Park, and i agree with those people, it is the owners who need to be doing this. I heard questions last night that were in relation to things before Alan Myers and Derek Shaw were even here, and we all know the slide began long before those two arrived, but the sad reality is, the owners aren't going to sit at the top table and answer the supporters questions, hopefully one day we will get some form of platform in which something like that can be possible, we keep asking and we will keep trying, however being able to have the conversations with the guys entrusted with the running of the club, shouldn't be a bad thing and shouldn't be taken for granted, it was a hell of a lot worse when nobody was talking and nobody was listening to the supporters. Equally that opportunity and that platform should not be limited to select supporters or supporters groups, and last night myself, Paul and the rest of the committee are delighted that we were able to offer that platform to many people, hopefully everyone in attendance was able to take something away from the event with them.

[AllRoverAsia]

I've just listened to the Q&A on Rado Lancs. Bowyer came across well. Shaw started ok, but hadn't prepared very well. He did they ''I didn't know'' so much it was embarrassing. If he had any decency he would walk.

The lad who asked what's in it for the owners never got a proper answer just waffle.

The lad who talked about pricing to get fans into Ewood again got a reply from Myers about Rovers away following.......it then cut off and finished.

My main impression is of Myers who ran his mouth a lot but said nowt but PR crap, b-ullshitter first class. He wasted a lot of the Q&A time which would have been better spent grilling Bowyer and Shaw.

Well done to the Action Group for arranging and for all those attending.

[Amo]

Someone asked the question why our player of the season, Marcus Olsson, was dropped for Tommy Spurr. Bowyer's response was that Olsson needed a wake-up call and he got the desired response out of him. Conveniently omitting the fact that Olsson only forced his way back into contention because Spurr got injured.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Someone asked the question why our player of the season, Marcus Olsson, was dropped for Tommy Spurr. Bowyer's response was that Olsson needed a wake-up call and he got the desired response out of him. Conveniently omitting the fact that Olsson only forced his way back into contention because Spurr got injured.

Or perhaps the slackening off and the desired response may well have been on the training pitch

[Blue blood]

Someone asked the question why our player of the season, Marcus Olsson, was dropped for Tommy Spurr. Bowyer's response was that Olsson needed a wake-up call and he got the desired response out of him. Conveniently omitting the fact that Olsson only forced his way back into contention because Spurr got injured.

If Olsson needed a wake up call I don't know what Marshall and Lowe needed earlier on in the season. A resurrection perhaps?

Not convinced by any of those at the top, which doesn't bode well.

Another thing discussing with Rovers fans in response to the forum is just how perilous our support base is. We've often wondered/worried about who the next generation of Rovers fans will be/where they are from - but it's probably gotten a lot more serious than 5+ years ago.

Even with our die-hard 10K say, and I'd imagine there is a little less than that, there's no guarantee they will have children, have children who like football, will follow Rovers. If each one manages one kid who supports rovers fanatically we'd only remain the same kind of numbers and I'm being very optimistic.

Being from a town has little relevance any more - it didn't 8 years ago when I was teaching, it certainly doesn't now. Can't think of too many places where being from a place makes a huge difference to who people support. Jokes of manure fans in Surrey aside, kids today often support one of the big 4 (or bizarrely liverpool) regardless of where they are from. Certainly from what I've seen in Lancaster that's the case.

Then there's floating fans who come along. Problem is there are so many less of those, and often these are the ones who develop into hardcore fans. I, and my family, started going occasionally and increased in frequency (although of late have dropped off for a mix of reasons) but often it's through going a few times and then people get hooked. If we're not attracting people as one offs and infrequent spectators, then we're cutting off a huge section of potentially die hard/more regular fans. Even in 10+ years from now with the current regime, assuming finances don't get us, perhaps a lack of supporters could grow even more damaging for the club.

[AndyNeil]

it was stated on Monday night by Alan Myers that the under 8s account for just 3% of the season ticket holders this season. Somebody then suggested that the free under 8 season ticket be allowed in parts of the ground other than the family stand to which Alan Myers mumbled some unfathomable response.

Having said that, if people were that keen for their kids to go, is £60 for 23 matches really such a big ask?

[Blue blood]

it was stated on Monday night by Alan Myers that the under 8s account for just 3% of the season ticket holders this season. Somebody then suggested that the free under 8 season ticket be allowed in parts of the ground other than the family stand to which Alan Myers mumbled some unfathomable response.

Having said that, if people were that keen for their kids to go, is £60 for 23 matches really such a big ask?

Paragraph 1 good point. A way forward perhaps - although tbh I'm not sure whether kids really get into and can watch a football match under the age of 7 anyway. That's been my experience - their attention wanders.

£60 for a lot of families can be classed as a lot, although kids phones, trainers etc. probably all cost as much so it's not much of an argument. Probably more relevant is that £60 is a lot for something not considered essential, or that is considered frivolous by parents. If they don't see the value of it they may be reluctant to spend that much. Plus most primary aged kids need to be taken, so that's an additional expense, which especially if the adult isn't keen may be prohibative.