Pre-season 2019/20

[Oldgregg86]

That last friendly better be against real Madrid. Pathetic

[Guest]

Rich Sharpe saying Rangers all but confirmed now.

[Oldgregg86]

Just now, JoeHarvey said:

Rich Sharpe saying Rangers all but confirmed now.

At ibrox ?

Edited May 21, 2019 by Oldgregg86

[JHRover]

1 hour ago, benhben said:

Is it a conscious decision by the club to play all pre season games against lower league opposition and away from ewood or some sort cock up? 

We had liverpool and Everton at Ewood last summer. They were a good test and had a decent crowd

I think the club loses money on the home fixtures, and combined with the hassle of organising extra games and ensuring the pitch is ready 2 weeks earlier than it needs to be means we don't see many at Ewood. That doesn't bother me as such as unless we get a true glamour fixture like the Barcelona one we aren't going to get good numbers on home games. Even the Liverpool and particularly Everton ones last season weren't exactly well attended. Loads of empty seats even after the local tourists had turned up with their cameras. I imagine Rovers had to pay to persuade Liverpool to turn up or at least give them a share of the takings so doubt Rovers were left with much after that.

It's a given that most fixtures will be local(ish) away games against lower division opposition. Always has been. Don't mind 2-4 games against the Bury's or Blackpool's particularly midweek.

But we all need at least one 'curtain raiser' or big game to look forward to and whet the appetite ahead of the new season. If we get an away game at Rangers I think most people would relish that game and a trip up there. Sharpe seems to be putting his neck on the line as far as he ever does tonight with that one but I still have my doubts.

The rest are very much 'meh' fixtures, not even the novelty of a couple of new grounds to go to and 3 of them we played in the league the season before. The fact that all have taken players from us recently, or in the case of Blackpool are managed by our ex-assistant, suggests they have been arranged off the back of those deals.

Most frustrating for me is the lack of foreign match. The real curtain raiser for me was going away to Austria or wherever and watching us play a European side in a foreign ground. Fantastic. Used to look forward to it for months. For some reason we're one of the only clubs at this level to seem to want to avoid such fixtures. Presumably because those sort of games are harder to arrange than picking up the phone to the mates down the road. No good for those supporters who enjoy going though.

 

[Mattyblue]

Aye, had a great craic at 1860 Munich in the Hughes days.

[oldjamfan1]

12 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

At ibrox ?

That’s my understanding of it from Rangers fans in Glasgow. Sunday 21st July seems to be the suggestion.

[Oldgregg86]

Just now, oldjamfan1 said:

That’s my understanding of it from Rangers fans in Glasgow. Sunday 21st July seems to be the suggestion.

Belting thanks for that. 

[Neal]

Will go to Ibrox for this one. 

[MarkBRFC]

The Rangers game will be a cringey one I think.

Loads of lads pretending that Rangers are there "second team", singing pope songs etc.

Count me out.

[Mattyblue]

WATP, No Surrender  etc 

[1864roverite]

It’s not about Rangers it’s about BRFC and supporting our team????????

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

4 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

The Rangers game will be a cringey one I think.

Loads of lads pretending that Rangers are there "second team", singing pope songs etc.

Count me out.

CAN'T WAIT!!

[Oldgregg86]

Has this been confirmed now.

Any news from India ?

[JHRover]

20 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Has this been confirmed now.

Any news from India ?

No and no. 

[JHRover]

Still no update a week on. Sharpe reckoned all sorted and just crossing the t's and dotting the i's....

We'll need another one if Bury go bust soon

 

[matt83]

Starting to lose hope for any interesting or half way decent opposition this summer. If I’ve got it right:

 Last week in June Austrian training camp

Saturday 6th July vs Barrow

Sunday 14th July vs Rochdale

Wednesday 17th July vs Mansfield

Weekend of 20th/21st July free 

Wednesday 24th July vs Bury

Saturday 27th July vs Blackpool

Saturday 4th August first game of the season.

Suppose there’s a weekend free for someone or turn barrow fixture into a rovers xi game but looks like slim pickins

[MarkBRFC]

Thought that free weekend was for the Rangers game that just hasn't been confirmed yet?

 

[Vinjay]

The only one which makes any logical sense is the Rangers one. Whether it's home or away. I've expressed similar thoughts before that playing lower league clubs (with possible exceptions like Sunderland or Coventry away) is a waste of time. Teams can always be invited to Brockhall behind closed doors there's no need for Blackburn Rovers to visit someplace like Barrow or Accrington who are often included. 

It would have made sense to invite prominent European opposition as well. Especially with new corporate hospitality partners replacing Northchoke. Granted it would have been difficult for them to negotiate such terms but you would think they may have suggested it. 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Vinjay17

[JHRover]

I get the impression that arranging pre season is just done like everything else at the club. As cheaply and easily as possible. Rather than setting our stall out with some ambition to get games against a couple of decent European sides, try to get some interest going ahead of the season, try to lock horns with a decent side to test ourselves, its much easier to give Rochdale or Bury a call who will be more than grateful for the game with 500+ away fans turning up spending £10-20 a piece.

I initially believed it was a result of inexperienced and relatively unknown managers in Kean and Bowyer who didn't have the contacts to sort games out but its been the same under Mowbray.

I think the Waggott experiment last season of bringing PL 'giants' to Ewood failed to deliver the full houses he expected and so hence no home games this year.

I find myself wondering why they go straight out to Austria in late June to train rather than in early/mid July as most clubs do and we always did traditionally. Is it purely because Mowbray prefers it that way or alternatively is it because it is cheaper to fly out there and book the hotel and facilities that week when other teams don't want to go?

The lack of a fixture abroad is disappointing. We appear to be going backwards on that front. Gone are the days of Hughes and Allardyce going abroad and playing 2-3 matches in Germany/Austria. Since 2012 we've had but a handful of fixtures abroad.

The 5 games announced so far are extremely dull and uninspiring. It is of course accepted that there will always be 3 or 4 of these lower league local sides but given we've played these sides very recently in the League it doesn't really generate much interest.

It's now 2 weeks since Richard Sharpe said the Rangers game was good to go and just a case of rubber stamping the arrangements. I think it is safe to assume a similar approach to pre-season and forward planning as there is with budgets and transfers - nothing incurring significant expense can be done without authorisation from above.

[Mattyblue]

I’m not particularly arsed about the fixtures in themselves being ‘unglamorous’.

What is strange though is that Mowbray himself said he doesn’t want to largely play lower league sides. Last season’s friendlies showed that. This time we are seemingly back to them.

[Sparks Rover]

52 minutes ago, matt83 said:

Starting to lose hope for any interesting or half way decent opposition this summer. If I’ve got it right:

 Last week in June Austrian training camp

Saturday 6th July vs Barrow

Sunday 14th July vs Rochdale

Wednesday 17th July vs Mansfield

Weekend of 20th/21st July free 

Wednesday 24th July vs Bury

Saturday 27th July vs Blackpool

Have they brought the Manx Cup back?

[Stuart]

Just now, JHRover said:

I get the impression that arranging pre season is just done like everything else at the club. As cheaply and easily as possible. Rather than setting our stall out with some ambition to get games against a couple of decent European sides, try to get some interest going ahead of the season, try to lock horns with a decent side to test ourselves, its much easier to give Rochdale or Bury a call who will be more than grateful for the game with 500+ away fans turning up spending £10-20 a piece.

I initially believed it was a result of inexperienced and relatively unknown managers in Kean and Bowyer who didn't have the contacts to sort games out but its been the same under Mowbray.

I think the Waggott experiment last season of bringing PL 'giants' to Ewood failed to deliver the full houses he expected and so hence no home games this year.

I find myself wondering why they go straight out to Austria in late June to train rather than in early/mid July as most clubs do and we always did traditionally. Is it purely because Mowbray prefers it that way or alternatively is it because it is cheaper to fly out there and book the hotel and facilities that week when other teams don't want to go?

The lack of a fixture abroad is disappointing. We appear to be going backwards on that front. Gone are the days of Hughes and Allardyce going abroad and playing 2-3 matches in Germany/Austria. Since 2012 we've had but a handful of fixtures abroad.

The 5 games announced so far are extremely dull and uninspiring. It is of course accepted that there will always be 3 or 4 of these lower league local sides but given we've played these sides very recently in the League it doesn't really generate much interest.

It's now 2 weeks since Richard Sharpe said the Rangers game was good to go and just a case of rubber stamping the arrangements. I think it is safe to assume a similar approach to pre-season and forward planning as there is with budgets and transfers - nothing incurring significant expense can be done without authorisation from above.

Nor does it test the team.

We had similar planning in 2011. I seem to recall Kean coming out with some bull like winning being a habit. We hammered the likes of Curzon Ashton, Oldham, Kendall and Harrogate. Lost to Villa and drew with Preston.

However, it really isn’t any kind of preparation, we lost the opening three PL games, winning one in 12, and it was also the season we were relegated.

Ironically, our glamour pre-season tie was away at Rangers... and we lost.

[Stuart]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

I’m not particularly arsed about the fixtures in themselves being ‘unglamorous’.

What is strange though is that Mowbray himself said he doesn’t want to largely play lower league sides. Last season’s friendlies showed that. This time we are seemingly back to them.

It does make one wonder how joined up Mowbray and Waggott are.

[Guest]

Prices for Rochdale rather cheap. I'll assume you can buy on the gate, but if someone knows you can't, let me know.

[MarkBRFC]

It says in the article on the official site that you can pay at the gate.