[Archived] Oxford Utd at home

[nathan_rovers1]

Just now, 47er said:

Blackburn End Upper open for Saturday's game!

And there are already tickets sold in there! 

[bboy]

I'm coming in from Ireland for this one!

[Leonard Venkhater]

10 hours ago, Vinjay17 said:

Problem is most people say his past allegiances (if that's what you call walking out on a club mid season) had absolutely nothing to do with it. That insults my intelligence. Slade and Redfearn looked like worse candidates than Coyle to me. As I've said before I felt Rovers had a marginally better chance of staying up with Coyle (after all Bolton and Wigan didn't get relegated from the Championship while he was there) than Redfearn/Slade and for me that should have outweighed his previous associations. Should emphasise once again that didn't justify the appointment but the list was so bad that any positive needed to be grasped at. If John Barnes and Tony Adams had been appointed as joint managers some people would have preferred that over Coyle based on nothing more than his past. 

I would have preferred Joyce over them (despite his links to United and people should understand while I don't like their fans just look at the sheer number of unpleasant people associated with them) though couldn't understand why Wilcox wasn't at least approached given his past with the club and being in an equivalent role to Joyce. Most people didn't know anything about so called agent links and we still don't know what Warnock was asking. As I've said before one remark made to me was he wanted to work twice a week. I can't see Tan allowing that (not sure what his situation is at Cardiff) but maybe they paid him more so he agreed to more days. Coyle left Houston (hence why he wasn't mentioned earlier) and if he used anything to his advantage it was probably his wage demands being low. Hardly a crime. Once again he wasn't the only one who defended Kean. People like Dalglish did though maybe he woke up that day crying over Geoff Thomas more than usual. So did Ferguson but people would rather quote him on Anderson when it was nothing more than defending Allardyce. Plus Anderson screwed over Man City to a lesser extent (you really think Ferguson cared about that?) so lets not believe Ferguson was looking out for Rovers in any fashion.  

Interesting.

The Coyle SEM links were pretty well known imo. There were several articles re the SEM infestation at Bolton and Coyle's public support of his stable mate,Steve Kean,  was ..er..well remembered by many of our fans.

Even a 7 year old would have known that relegation was a nailed on certainty, when the weakened squad that "survived" under Lambert was now going to be managed by Coyle. Wigan and Bolton fans regularly told me that we were doomed, as if I hadn't already realised. 

Moreover, that Burnley connection certainly looked like  two fingers to the fans. Someone getting his own back?

Not for the first time, I was genuinely wondering who stood to gain by a seemingly deliberate relegation? 

Anyway, it looked like someone else intervened to force a change of plan, but just too late. God, I even wondered if this was just to give the impression that it wasn't deliberate..that they were trying to keep us up...and, then, whether someone worried that Mowbray might actually manage to succeed in saving us.

Something was clearly amiss that Coyle summer and that went in on top of a deep seam of mistrust. 

As I joyously celebrate what is our lowest league position in 38 years, (I never thought I would be saying this), but this season in the third tier has done us a world of good lol..

Was that the plan all along???!!

[Bigdoggsteel]

                  Raya

Travis Lenihan Mulgrew Bell

   Smallwood Whittingham

  Bennett Payne Armstrong

                Graham 

I am torn between Whittingham and Tomlinson, but went for experience 

 

[JHRover]

12 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Interesting.

The Coyle SEM links were pretty well known imo. There were several articles re the SEM infestation at Bolton and Coyle's public support of his stable mate,Steve Kean,  was ..er..well remembered by many of our fans.

Even a 7 year old would have known that relegation was a nailed on certainty, when the weakened squad that "survived" under Lambert was now going to be managed by Coyle. Wigan and Bolton fans regularly told me that we were doomed, as if I hadn't already realised. 

Moreover, that Burnley connection certainly looked like  two fingers to the fans. Someone getting his own back?

Not for the first time, I was genuinely wondering who stood to gain by a seemingly deliberate relegation? 

Anyway, it looked like someone else intervened to force a change of plan, but just too late. God, I even wondered if this was just to give the impression that it wasn't deliberate..that they were trying to keep us up...and, then, whether someone worried that Mowbray might actually manage to succeed in saving us.

Something was clearly amiss that Coyle summer and that went in on top of a deep seam of mistrust. 

As I joyously celebrate what is our lowest league position in 38 years, (I never thought I would be saying this), but this season in the third tier has done us a world of good lol..

Was that the plan all along???!!

There were certainly different agendas at play and different people making decisions. We started off with Cheston supposedly leading the search for a new manager and we had supposedly interviewed the likes of Warren Joyce, Russell Slade, Neil Redfearn and Alan Stubbs, a woeful collection of managers. Then in the middle of all that was the Warnock link which would have been an outstanding appointment, it is obvious that he was at the very least interviewed and I've been told by numerous people it reached a stage where he had agreed a budget and agreed to take the job, then all of a sudden whilst Cheston was on holiday someone else pulled the plug on Warnock at the 11th hour and Coyle was parachuted in from the USA.

As you say, something amiss and we'll never get an explanation as to what actually happened or who was making the decisions. Even after that the decision to stick with Coyle until February and appoint a Director of Football mid-season only to then get rid of him in the summer and revert back to a more traditional manager rather than head coach structure - all very strange.

Things seem to have taken a turn for the better since Mowbray met them in India and I've come to the conclusion, having seen Kean, Bowyer and Mowbray all travel out there to see Madame, that the only chance we have is when the manager establishes a direct link with Madame and her husband. When that direct face to face relationship ends then we end up in trouble as things don't get done and middle men add to the chaos and confusion. No coincidence that our periods of particular mayhem have been under Berg, Appleton and Coyle when none had a direct line to her. Hopefully Madame will be very pleased with Tony's performance this season and will have renewed confidence and optimism. She seems to hold the purse strings and makes serious decisions, when she loses interest or doesn't find time in her diary to deal with Rovers issues then things unravel quickly.

[K-Hod]

Being honest, I'm really excited for Saturday. (Not that much for the match).

Day 1 of my birthday weekend and due to a regular Saturday night gig which I've got the night off from, I'm going to the match and having some beers.

It would be great to see some folk from here in some of the various hostelries in the Ewood region or even in Darwen afterwards.

Though as the night wears on, I suspect I'll reach peak weapon, so apologies in advance for that.

But as basic bitches on Tinder like to quote 'if you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best'.

[Vinjay]

2 hours ago, Parsonblue said:

Why would there be?  They've back the manager, put a management structure in place at Ewood and are continuing to pay the bills.  

Respect for Jack Walker perhaps? People with longer memories than a fruit fly?

[benhben]

Got a sneaky feeling the title isnt done and dusted. I think we will win this and wigan havent been setting the world alight lately with an away trip to finish with. 

Big crowd and a 3-1 win for Rovers. Lets see what Wigan do. 

 

                     Raya

Travis Lenihan Mulgrew Bell

Bennett Wittingham Smallwood 

                    Payne

        Armstrong Graham

[gumboots]

How very frustrating that if I'd waited 24 hours I could have had tickets in the BBE upper. Never mind.  If I and others had waited they might not have opened it ?

[JHRover]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16196519.Rovers_plans_for_the_final_game_of_the_season_announced/

[JAL]

18 minutes ago, gumboots said:

How very frustrating that if I'd waited 24 hours I could have had tickets in the BBE upper. Never mind.  If I and others had waited they might not have opened it ?

You can always transfer them.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Just bought the last ticket in the Jack Walker Upper Block W08. There are just 103 tickets left for the whole of the Jack Walker Stand.

Blackburn End Lower sold out.

Blackburn End Upper, now open and selling reasonably well.

Riverside, just singles left in most of the blocks other than the block nearest to the Darwen End. Overall, looking good.

Darwen End Lower, tickets sold in all blocks but still plenty left.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see 24k home fans on plus a reported 1.5k from Oxford, so looking at a crowd of just over 25k. Better than envisaged.

[nathan_rovers1]

What is the split between upper and lower in terms of numbers or the Blackburn end? 

[Mattyblue]

Around 5k bottom, 3k top.

[Admiral Nelsen]

Just now, nathan_rovers1 said:

What is the split between upper and lower in terms of numbers or the Blackburn end? 

Stand to be corrected, but I was under the impression it was somewhere in the region of 4.5k in the bottom tier, with a bit over 2.5k in the top. 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Great to see...going to be a smashing day with the celebrations planned.

[Parsonblue]

1 hour ago, Vinjay17 said:

Respect for Jack Walker perhaps? People with longer memories than a fruit fly?

So I assume you'd been keen to show equal respect to Laurence Cotton?

[gumboots]

54 minutes ago, JAL said:

You can always transfer them.

I know but I'm not at home atm and they haven't arrived yet. I'm back tomorrow and off again straight away Thursday so I think we'll stick with what we have this time round

[Vinjay]

9 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

So I assume you'd been keen to show equal respect to Laurence Cotton?

It's harder for people to connect with someone they have no personal memory of. Also it's Jack's work they (and his family) have dismantled whereas Cotton was so long ago it's been dismantled, repaired and dismantled again over and over. The timing with WW1 didn't help though I'm not gonna say the club could have had more league titles given butterfly effect and all that.

I'm not being "pious" as one of your close associates would put it. I doubt people will be chanting "Venkys Out" this weekend anyway though can't imagine any positive sentiment either. I won't deny that their activities last summer didn't hurt the promotion campaign but it hasn't outweighed their damage and disrespect. Not by a long shot.

[gumboots]

People won't chant Venkys out because that's not what this weekend is about. Doesn't mean they won't think it or dwell on what might have been if decent owners had rocked up and not them

[Claytons Left Boot]

39 minutes ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

Stand to be corrected, but I was under the impression it was somewhere in the region of 4.5k in the bottom tier, with a bit over 2.5k in the top. 

Both the Blackburn and Darwen Ends hold 8k each split between 5k Lower and 3k upper.

[tomphil]

Actual seats available usually seem to be in the c4800 Lower tiers & 2900 Upper range.

Wasn't there an argument floating about somewhere once that the BBE holds a few more than the DE overall ?

[Mattyblue]

It will due to the divider down the middle.

Plus, the Radio Rovers studio seems to protrude a few rows in that back corner towards the Riverside.

[philipl]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43961398

Will make the Oxford selection interesting.

Motivation sky high or rock bottom..

[tomphil]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

It will due to the divider down the middle.

Plus, the Radio Rovers studio seems to protrude a few rows in that back corner towards the Riverside.

Aye good point.