Rovers and Covid

[philipl]

The 20/21 season is going to be dominated by the pandemic whether we like it or not.

There are indications that the pandemic has wiped out home advantage. Results if anything are now favouring away teams and analysis of refereeing decisions are showing that the slight bias that did exist to the home side has evaporated. Would Martial have seen red in front of 75,000 at OT yesterday? It was a crazy sending off but those sorts of decisions simply don't go against the Mancs at home normally.

I am going to stir things a bit but for all the horrors of coronavirus, I think Rovers could benefit disproportionately.

Going back in time, the polio epidemic in Blackburn in 1965 undoubtedly resulted in a really good Rovers team dropping out of old Division 1 like a stone. Could a pandemic have a reverse effect now?

- financially Rovers have the Venky's blanket. The danger of Rovers following Blackpool, Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester into football hell doesn't exist from what we can see or know.

- that is very different from saying Venky's will (or even can- FFP isn't suspended) spend this season to drive promotion but which clubs in the Championship have spent big this summer to buy a ticket to the Premier League?

- conversely, Rovers with their tiny matchday income are far less affected financially by having no crowds than almost any other club in the Championship. Only a few clubs have smaller crowds but their commercial income and matchday prices are typically as high or higher than Rovers. Blackburn is a seriously economically disadvantaged area.

- Rovers are going to benefit more than most not having to play in front of hostile away crowds. With the best will in the world and I have been to Ewood in the Championship era and "hostile" is not an adjective you can apply to Ewood as an away day experience.

- in fact not having the crowds in at Ewood may benefit Rovers. The Ewood home crowd is amongst the most aggressively critical of home players anywhere. The fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate are to be heard all round the pitch at Ewood- be honest. Players are professionals but they are also young lads who hear those choice invectives. Not having a home crowd will probably positively help a good proportion of the Rovers team and backroom staff.

Edited October 5, 2020 by philipl

[Mattyblue]

Where are all these ‘hostile’ Championship grounds? I’ve been to pretty much all of them and I can’t recall many.

Can you quantify how this non hostile Ewood crowd has somehow ended up also being more ‘aggressively critical’ than anywhere else? Considering the shite we’ve endured for a decade, the Ewood crowd has been more than patient - the way Ewood has been right behind BB is testament to that. And an odd fella shouting bollocks is a Blackburner phenomenon now?

Who needs Dingles when you have our own fans spouting such inaccuracies...

Edited October 5, 2020 by Mattyblue

[tomphil]

Don't agree it's aggressively critical at all that seems based on the messageboard more than Ewood to be honest.  Plenty home crowds get irate and quicker than our lot but maybe they are quicker to back them as well so perhaps that's a difference.  

I just think Ewood is too quiet, has always had bad acoustics being so big and far from the pitch with just a scattering of fans in most lower areas now. That probably highlights the less than supportive gobs scattered around but no need to make it sound like some sort of lynch mob. Strange how the manager and players can't wait to get fans back in and have said so repeatedly.

Also a bit strange how we usually have a decent home record most seasons. As said above i think you'll actually find Ewood being one of the most patient crowds in the country, too patient probably.  As made out by the moaning there isn't enough aggression quick enough when we want a manager out.

Can't have it both ways i'm afraid and it's the lack of numbers that makes it too eerie these days that's the problem rather than being too critical. Not that those in charge do anything whatsoever to help that.

On the overall picture i agree lack of crowds will have an impact on some bigger clubs for sure the ones used to having tens of thousands in there. The influence down the years on officials at Anfield and OT to name two has been farcical at times bordering on corrupt. 

At Ewood though over the season i don't think it'll make much difference, might help a few youngsters maybe. For balance though when it's a tight game or a boring draw there is no one there to get you over the line or give you a verbal kick up the arse to try and win it.

Edited October 5, 2020 by tomphil

[1864roverite]

Let’s see, brum, Boro, Leeds, Stoke, Preston and millwall spring to mind. Been to them all many times and Stoke is perhaps the worst set of fans around!

[Mattyblue]

Went to Stoke last season and it was a half empty morgue. Birmingham and Boro the same.

Thats generally what happens when you become a middling Championship club.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Mattyblue

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

I think it was Jimmy Armfield who said Rovers 'don't have a crowd they have a jury'. 

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

 

- in fact not having the crowds in at Ewood may benefit Rovers. The Ewood home crowd is amongst the most aggressively critical of home players anywhere. The fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate are to be heard all round the pitch at Ewood- be honest. Players are professionals but they are also young lads who hear those choice invectives. Not having a home crowd will probably positively help a good proportion of the Rovers team and backroom staff.

This is the biggest load of crap I have seen on this forum in some time!

I havent heard these fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate which I should be able to seeing as they can be heard all around the pitch. And "aggressively critical?!" Have a word with yourself.

[Mattyblue]

Just a pointlessly divisive thread to start when the forum and team is generally in a good place.

[Uddersfelt Blue]

There will always be individuals who are quick to voice their criticism of players but I think it’s dangerous to generalise as something that is specific to Ewood when it isn’t in my experience. 
 

On the contrary, Rovers fans are usually very supportive of young players and only want them to do well. I don’t hear much in the way of personal abuse if they don’t. 

[tomphil]

Could well be advantageous on the road helped by the fact we can be a good counter attacking side. 

Get a goal or two up away then the home crowd gets angry and their lot get back into it. That's not there now so its got to help sometimes.

At home though it won't make much difference. 

[Sparks Rover]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

The 20/21 season is going to be dominated by the pandemic whether we like it or not.

There are indications that the pandemic has wiped out home advantage. Results if anything are now favouring away teams and analysis of refereeing decisions are showing that the slight bias that did exist to the home side has evaporated. Would Martial have seen red in front of 75,000 at OT yesterday? It was a crazy sending off but those sorts of decisions simply don't go against the Mancs at home normally.

I am going to stir things a bit but for all the horrors of coronavirus, I think Rovers could benefit disproportionately.

Going back in time, the polio epidemic in Blackburn in 1965 undoubtedly resulted in a really good Rovers team dropping out of old Division 1 like a stone. Could a pandemic have a reverse effect now?

- financially Rovers have the Venky's blanket. The danger of Rovers following Blackpool, Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester into football hell doesn't exist from what we can see or know.

- that is very different from saying Venky's will (or even can- FFP isn't suspended) spend this season to drive promotion but which clubs in the Championship have spent big this summer to buy a ticket to the Premier League?

- conversely, Rovers with their tiny matchday income are far less affected financially by having no crowds than almost any other club in the Championship. Only a few clubs have smaller crowds but their commercial income and matchday prices are typically as high or higher than Rovers. Blackburn is a seriously economically disadvantaged area.

- Rovers are going to benefit more than most not having to play in front of hostile away crowds. With the best will in the world and I have been to Ewood in the Championship era and "hostile" is not an adjective you can apply to Ewood as an away day experience.

- in fact not having the crowds in at Ewood may benefit Rovers. The Ewood home crowd is amongst the most aggressively critical of home players anywhere. The fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate are to be heard all round the pitch at Ewood- be honest. Players are professionals but they are also young lads who hear those choice invectives. Not having a home crowd will probably positively help a good proportion of the Rovers team and backroom staff.

So, you slag the country off constantly in the ICBINF , and now you're slagging off the rovers fan base....

Why come here Phillip.?

[K-Hod]

2 hours ago, philipl said:

The 20/21 season is going to be dominated by the pandemic whether we like it or not.

There are indications that the pandemic has wiped out home advantage. Results if anything are now favouring away teams and analysis of refereeing decisions are showing that the slight bias that did exist to the home side has evaporated. Would Martial have seen red in front of 75,000 at OT yesterday? It was a crazy sending off but those sorts of decisions simply don't go against the Mancs at home normally.

I am going to stir things a bit but for all the horrors of coronavirus, I think Rovers could benefit disproportionately.

Going back in time, the polio epidemic in Blackburn in 1965 undoubtedly resulted in a really good Rovers team dropping out of old Division 1 like a stone. Could a pandemic have a reverse effect now?

- financially Rovers have the Venky's blanket. The danger of Rovers following Blackpool, Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester into football hell doesn't exist from what we can see or know.

- that is very different from saying Venky's will (or even can- FFP isn't suspended) spend this season to drive promotion but which clubs in the Championship have spent big this summer to buy a ticket to the Premier League?

- conversely, Rovers with their tiny matchday income are far less affected financially by having no crowds than almost any other club in the Championship. Only a few clubs have smaller crowds but their commercial income and matchday prices are typically as high or higher than Rovers. Blackburn is a seriously economically disadvantaged area.

- Rovers are going to benefit more than most not having to play in front of hostile away crowds. With the best will in the world and I have been to Ewood in the Championship era and "hostile" is not an adjective you can apply to Ewood as an away day experience.

- in fact not having the crowds in at Ewood may benefit Rovers. The Ewood home crowd is amongst the most aggressively critical of home players anywhere. The fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate are to be heard all round the pitch at Ewood- be honest. Players are professionals but they are also young lads who hear those choice invectives. Not having a home crowd will probably positively help a good proportion of the Rovers team and backroom staff.

That last paragraph is just nonsense. But I suppose living in Malta you know more about the nature of our fans than those that ordinarily go to matches week in, week out....

[Mattyblue]

Just shows that most fans don’t ever spend much time sitting with fans from opposing teams, as you would see the exact same behaviours with them.

That’s simply football crowds.
 

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Mattyblue

[philipl]

33 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Let’s see, brum, Boro, Leeds, Stoke, Preston and millwall spring to mind. Been to them all many times and Stoke is perhaps the worst set of fans around!

Those are the places I had in mind.

Also can recall full grounds at Sheffield United and Derby getting pretty raucous. For a small ground Prenton Park could get pretty feisty.

Maine Road was never a nice place but the Etihad has thoroughly disinfected that atmosphere.

[tomphil]

20 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

I think it was Jimmy Armfield who said Rovers 'don't have a crowd they have a jury'. 

More like a magistrates court these days though.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

2 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Just a pointlessly divisive thread to start when the forum and team is generally in a good place.

I doubt this topic will affect the team's form in any way. 

[philipl]

17 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

This is the biggest load of crap I have seen on this forum in some time!

I havent heard these fog horn know nowts berating their pet hate which I should be able to seeing as they can be heard all around the pitch. And "aggressively critical?!" Have a word with yourself.

Where have you been in the ground?

There is a portion of the Rovers crowd that is not happy if it isnt worked up into a frothy rage about something- usually one of our own is the object of scorn.

[Mattyblue]

Just now, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

I doubt this topic will affect the team's form in any way. 

Well obviously!

I mean on here, been most cordial, for once.

 

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

Don't agree it's aggressively critical at all that seems based on the messageboard more than Ewood to be honest.  Plenty home crowds get irate and quicker than our lot but maybe they are quicker to back them as well so perhaps that's a difference.  

Exactly. The Rovers crowd is just moan-y, like a lot of crowds. We are rarely, if ever, aggressive. 

[Mattyblue]

1 minute ago, philipl said:

Where have you been in the ground?

There is a portion of the Rovers crowd that is not happy if it isnt worked up into a frothy rage about something- usually one of our own is the object of scorn.

You’ve still not explained how this is an Ewood phenomenon, and how much time in recent years you’ve spent sitting with the home support of our divisional rivals to decide to start this this very odd thread.

[philipl]

The point of the thread is this.

Rovers are almost certainly net beneficiaries in comparison to the other clubs in the Championship in what is otherwise a total shit show with this pandemic.

Look at the numbers. We are less dependent on match day income than almost every other club in the Championship. That is why without being extravagant in the transfer market we are skating on FFP thin ice all the time.

I also suspect when the bean counters up and down the land decide what is necessary, some interesting opportunities will open up for Rovers in the remaining two weeks of this window and the January window. Equally unlike other clubs, Rovers are not forced to sell.

[K-Hod]

I think this would have been a good thread barring the last paragraph, if I’m honest.

Why the OP felt there was any need to heavily criticise our own fans completely inaccurately escapes me though.

[K-Hod]

Just now, philipl said:

The point of the thread is this.

Rovers are almost certainly net beneficiaries in comparison to the other clubs in the Championship in what is otherwise a total shit show with this pandemic.

Look at the numbers. We are less dependent on match day income than almost every other club in the Championship. That is why without being extravagant in the transfer market we are skating on FFP thin ice all the time.

I also suspect when the bean counters up and down the land decide what is necessary, some interesting opportunities will open up for Rovers in the remaining two weeks of this window and the January window. Equally unlike other clubs, Rovers are not forced to sell.

Almost like you could have said that in the first post without slagging the fans off without foundation....

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

Just now, philipl said:

Look at the numbers. We are less dependent on match day income than almost every other club in the Championship.

Is that actually backed up with any evidence?

[philipl]

5 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

Is that actually backed up with any evidence?

 

Only Rotherham and Wigan had smaller matchday revenue than Rovers.

Only Sheffield United, Millwall, Rotherham, Preston and Wigan had smaller commercial income- actually that is pretty good being ahead of Sheffield United and Preston.