Steve Waggott

[Upside Down]

7 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

I was quite alarmed regarding how little he appeared to know about the journey the fans have been on. If this is the truth/reality i'm not too sure yet.

To be fair just going off the season ticket prices I'd say he couldn't give a toss.

Thank you for your efforts, asking challenging questions and honest reporting of the whole affair.

I can imagine that he would be a very welcoming and personable guy but at the end of the day actions are what count.

Pleading poverty due to FFP, every club has to deal the same rules. One of the main reasons we struggle so much is the total lack of commercial revenue generated by the club. 

Season tickets, Ewood maintenance, commercial activities. All failure. 

Oh and he tried to flog the training ground.

[lraC]

Brilliant stuff Glen. There are people on here who have been advised to read Glen's blogs in the past and declined to do so, due to it being one man's opinion and not absolute fact.

I know from discussions and by having the opportunity to meet like minded people, directly due to Glen, that what he has stated in those blogs and on here over the last few hours is spot on.

The fact that he has once again, gone to the trouble to do this and to report his findings with no holds barred on here, just shows what he is all about. Also the fact that he stood up to people like Kean and Anderson in the past and told them where to go, when being offered life changing money for his silence, tells us all, everything we need to know about him.

To have Glen as a fellow supporter, doing what he does, makes me proud once again to be a fan of our unique club.

Glen, your late brother would be very, very proud of you.

Well done.

[Sweaty Gussets]

Appreciate the efforts Glen.

I don't think Waggott has given away much re the transfer dealings - GB said himself we had a 'healthy budget' but that we still had the same 'wage structure' i.e. money for transfers but a very definite wage ceiling. Interesting that transfer fees are not seen as part of the equation as far as FFP goes, but it's all down to wages. 

Hopefully when you meet him again you can ask about the fan experience, specifically why we are paying over £100 more for season tickets than North End fans? Was that his decision and does he think the 'quantum of cash' raised justifies it, considering the 'quantum of cash' raised by PNE will the same if not more than Rovers,  and they'll also sell a lot more pies etc 

Could you also please ask him about his contemptuous comments in general about our fanbase and level of support over the years and why he thinks we've only sold 8500 Season Tickets and PNE/Bolton are nearer 13000. Maybe he can join the dots on that one?

Waggott's done very little for the paying customer in my view. I have no idea what his remit is but if it's increasing the customer base and increasing revenues then he's not doing a great job. There's a lot of optimism round the club at the moment with the appointment of JDT, I think it's therefore criminal we've sold 4/5k less season tickets than Bolton/PNE. The fault for that lies squarely at the feet of whoever decide the pricing. 

The most constructive part of your meeting IMO is that it dispels a lot of the weird myths and conspiracies around the owners. It's fairly clear they'll back their manager. In the context of the Championship the Rovers managers job is a good job to have. They can't say they aren't supported. Their attitude to the Academy is also encouraging (let's not forget Mowbray's questioning of the validity of spending £3m a year on it when he could have that money himself for the first team). They aren't great owners (to say the least), they trusted the wrong people, but eventually you have to judge them by their actions - they haven't cut and run (yet) and they continue to fund the club and continue to do what they think is best for the club. It could be a lot, lot worse. 

[JHRover]

Fair play to those who have gone to the effort of meeting with him and then reporting back on here as to the outcome.

Personally I don't believe a word he comes out with. People like Waggott get into the jobs they are in through an ability to talk a good game. There's a lot of them in football and its half the reason they get employed in the first place by owners with no interest in doing the dirty work but keen to keep people quiet so they pay people big money to provide a facade for them.

I'm focused on what actually happens. I think his policies and performance range from mediocre at best to self-destructive at worst and have caused significant damage in some places like season ticket sales.

I can't imagine any situation whereby he would meet with fans and admit that it was Mowbray who got him the job, or admit the owners are cutting back, or admit there are major structural problems at the Club. If he did any of those things he'd be out of a job quickly.

[JHRover]

2 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Appreciate the efforts Glen.

I don't think Waggott has given away much re the transfer dealings - GB said himself we had a 'healthy budget' but that we still had the same 'wage structure' i.e. money for transfers but a very definite wage ceiling. Interesting that transfer fees are not seen as part of the equation as far as FFP goes, but it's all down to wages. 

Hopefully when you meet him again you can ask about the fan experience, specifically why we are paying over £100 more for season tickets than North End fans? Was that his decision and does he think the 'quantum of cash' raised justifies it, considering the 'quantum of cash' raised by PNE will the same if not more than Rovers,  and they'll also sell a lot more pies etc 

Could you also please ask him about his contemptuous comments in general about our fanbase and level of support over the years and why he thinks we've only sold 8500 Season Tickets and PNE/Bolton are nearer 13000. Maybe he can join the dots on that one?

Waggott's done very little for the paying customer in my view. I have no idea what his remit is but if it's increasing the customer base and increasing revenues then he's not doing a great job. There's a lot of optimism round the club at the moment with the appointment of JDT, I think it's therefore criminal we've sold 4/5k less season tickets than Bolton/PNE. The fault for that lies squarely at the feet of whoever decide the pricing. 

The most constructive part of your meeting IMO is that it dispels a lot of the weird myths and conspiracies around the owners. It's fairly clear they'll back their manager. In the context of the Championship the Rovers managers job is a good job to have. They can't say they aren't supported. Their attitude to the Academy is also encouraging (let's not forget Mowbray's questioning of the validity of spending £3m a year on it when he could have that money himself for the first team). They aren't great owners (to say the least), they trusted the wrong people, but eventually you have to judge them by their actions - they haven't cut and run (yet) and they continue to fund the club and continue to do what they think is best for the club. It could be a lot, lot worse. 

It only dispels anything if you take Waggott's word for it. The problem I have is that frequently he has said things are happening or going to happen and they haven't. So I can't take Waggott's word for it.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

Sensational stuff Glen, so interesting to understand more about the inner workings of the club!

Sounds like you held him to account more than he has ever been previously with fans discussions, but again it's clear he is good at what he does on the schmoozing side - any half decent CEO should be. No doubt you won't but don't let up in any future meetings with him, he's arrived at Rovers after the complete shit storm but a lot of unacceptable things have still happened on his watch.

Very much looking forward to the next installment. 

[Sweaty Gussets]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

It only dispels anything if you take Waggott's word for it. The problem I have is that frequently he has said things are happening or going to happen and they haven't. So I can't take Waggott's word for it.

Their actions dispel the myths, not Waggott's word. He just confirms what any rational observer has already decided. 

[Mike E]

47 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

I was quite alarmed regarding how little he appeared to know about the journey the fans have been on. If this is the truth/reality i'm not too sure yet.

When @Miller11 has presented collated fan opinion on the last 10 years to SW, he was very surprised. Think he generally expected us to be happy with promotion to the Championship, forgetting about the journey down to L1.

[1864roverite]

22 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Fair play to those who have gone to the effort of meeting with him and then reporting back on here as to the outcome.

Personally I don't believe a word he comes out with. People like Waggott get into the jobs they are in through an ability to talk a good game. There's a lot of them in football and its half the reason they get employed in the first place by owners with no interest in doing the dirty work but keen to keep people quiet so they pay people big money to provide a facade for them.

I'm focused on what actually happens. I think his policies and performance range from mediocre at best to self-destructive at worst and have caused significant damage in some places like season ticket sales.

I can't imagine any situation whereby he would meet with fans and admit that it was Mowbray who got him the job, or admit the owners are cutting back, or admit there are major structural problems at the Club. If he did any of those things he'd be out of a job quickly.

 

21 minutes ago, JHRover said:

It only dispels anything if you take Waggott's word for it. The problem I have is that frequently he has said things are happening or going to happen and they haven't. So I can't take Waggott's word for it.

Can I politely suggest that you go and speak to him and arm yourself with your personal knowledge of the footballing side of Ewood, the views and opinions of others, blogs and quotes, documentary evidence that is readily available and your optimal research on SW himself and then and only then see if your opinion changes. Oh yes, I forgot to add compare it with your own experience of running a multi million pound football operation both pre and post a worldwide pandemic.

[matt83]

9 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

 

Can I politely suggest that you go and speak to him and arm yourself with your personal knowledge of the footballing side of Ewood, the views and opinions of others, blogs and quotes, documentary evidence that is readily available and your optimal research on SW himself and then and only then see if your opinion changes. Oh yes, I forgot to add compare it with your own experience of running a multi million pound football operation both pre and post a worldwide pandemic.

Don’t be daft. Why on earth would he need to be schmoozed by Swag to form an opinion on him. The only things the CEO needs to be judged by is how the football club is being run. Whatever he’s telling people is fine but the reality is the club is a total shit show. Or to put it another way we’ve listed many of Swags failings as CEO. What are the things he’s done well? How have rovers improved since his arrival not on what he’s said but what’s actually happened?

[1864roverite]

If you ever want to judge a person properly then you need to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Its the only way you will ever be able to get a true opinion of that person.

Also, if you want to find out what is really happening at the club you need to get inside that circle because unless you do you wont ever know!

Nowt daft about that is there?

[47er]

1 minute ago, 1864roverite said:

If you ever want to judge a person properly then you need to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Its the only way you will ever be able to get a true opinion of that person.

Tell me then---how do conmen ever make a living?

[arbitro]

14 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

 

Can I politely suggest that you go and speak to him and arm yourself with your personal knowledge of the footballing side of Ewood, the views and opinions of others, blogs and quotes, documentary evidence that is readily available and your optimal research on SW himself and then and only then see if your opinion changes. Oh yes, I forgot to add compare it with your own experience of running a multi million pound football operation both pre and post a worldwide pandemic.

I think your first sentence is good but you've killed it with a silly sentence at the end. 

[1864roverite]

3 minutes ago, 47er said:

Tell me then---how do conmen ever make a living?

By not getting caught out!

[Wheelton Blue]

11 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

If you ever want to judge a person properly then you need to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Its the only way you will ever be able to get a true opinion of that person.

Also, if you want to find out what is really happening at the club you need to get inside that circle because unless you do you wont ever know!

Nowt daft about that is there?

My view is the total opposite.

I judge people by their actions and the outcome of those actions, not by what they say they're going to do.

[Mattyblue]

14 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

If you ever want to judge a person properly then you need to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Its the only way you will ever be able to get a true opinion of that person.

Also, if you want to find out what is really happening at the club you need to get inside that circle because unless you do you wont ever know!

Nowt daft about that is there?

Yes, it’s very daft, this is 21st century business, not some kind of Medieval blood oath.

You judge people in executive positions on their results, not on how they come across over a boardroom table. By definition, CEOs are smooth operators, who will spin all kinds of yarns to how their operation is doing x, y and z, means bugger all if their business is on its arse commercially.
 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Mattyblue

[1864roverite]

Then imo that is a clouded judgement because when you look into the eyes you know if they are lying, kow towing, bullshitting and blagging you🤫

And I know because I have sat across from some of the biggest lying scumbags who have walked this part of our world!

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

I think he’s telling the truth there. It makes sense when you look at pricing. ‘We just got promoted, so give us your cash’. ‘We’ve had Covid, give us £450 to £500 for a JW season ticket’.

He seems oblivious that we are a town club with challenging demographics and a small catchment area to begin with, plus 10k+ have walked away this decade. 

Like John Williams, any CEO here has to think outside the box, now more than ever, and he is either unwilling or unable to do so…
 

I think he came in with a remit to jack prices up to a more comparable level with others in the division. He talked at the time about devaluing the product and i'm sure it was mentioned on here that in private he was of the opinion Rovers prices were too cheap.

Plus it fits into his well documented and publically stated business mantra that he's a squeeze what you have as much as you can guy. As opposed to a speculate to accumulate guy, everything that's happened since hes been here points to that.

Some of it probably needed doing but he went too far and has missed several opportunities to re-engage a few more thousand. He seems to have totally missed the point there was reason why prices here were cheaper.  It wasn't just out of some daft random act of generosity by this ownership or the previous one.

You have to price to your market and area not your brand name around here.

[Wheelton Blue]

2 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

Then imo that is a clouded judgement because when you look into the eyes you know if they are lying, kow towing, bullshitting and blagging you🤫

And I know because I have sat across from some of the biggest lying scumbags who have walked this part of our world!

Waggott might be the most honest and well intentioned person on the planet.

But if his actions fail, then he fails. That's what matters, not what his eyes look like.

[tomphil]

18 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

If you ever want to judge a person properly then you need to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to. Its the only way you will ever be able to get a true opinion of that person.

Also, if you want to find out what is really happening at the club you need to get inside that circle because unless you do you wont ever know!

Nowt daft about that is there?

And if you want fans onside and re-engage then you keep open, clear honest regular lines of communication to them.

Just remember for a min that's HIS job and there are literally multiple ways to do yet he turns down the local paper requests.  We can't have ten thousand people in a queue at his door every few months to look him in the eye.

Not using the outlets available is plain daft.

[roverstdt]

12 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

I then started to discuss what the set up of the club was before the latest appointments, I stated that we'd spent years ridding the club of the parasites who were sucking the life out of the club. This journey had seen me attend the FA to meet Newton, The premier league to meet Scudamore, The football league to meet their board, and to Parliament flanked by our our local MP's to speak under Parliamentary privilege to call for an inquiry into football governance. Steve was speechless, he did not know this had occured and asked what sort of things did we present?

The main points I pointed out, was despite the club denying there was third party interference with Kentaro, there was a legally binding agreement between Rovers and Kentaro, for them to run the club and for them to make decisions in the best interest of the club including retainment and recruitment of staff.

I stated the FA had told the club to get their ship in order as the embarrassment this brought to the top governance of the english game with Kentaro being one of the national teams largest corporate partners would have a detrimental affect on the integrity of the national game. The FA Issued a number of gagging orders to prevent the truth, hence I went to Parliament to speak and instigate an independent review and questions from the sports minister to both the premier league and F.A Regarding independence governance. This was also the first step for the bill of the independent review which is now known as "Fan lead" which has been presented to club by the Rovers trust recently,

So based on the above I then asked

4. Could you explain the current structure of how the club is run? what autonomy you have? who is running the ship? Who is making the operational decisions? and what part does the current administration play given those previously had as much power as a broken light bulb, and used there time more to profit personally from the clubs demise?

Steve stated that there is a board of Directors which he is head off as the CEO, Which includes the likes of Cheston etc, and also Suhail who is the owners representative on the ground here in Blackburn

I then stated - Suhail was part of the negotiating team with Kentaro when the club was bought, his links have been a constant, i'm concerned he is still here given the likes of Honeyman are still getting clients into the club, did you know Honeyman was the former MD Of SEM Kentaro?

Steve Stated having Suhail around really works well, he is very supportive of the board and his relationship with the the staff and board is very healthy. He is also good at helping the board in terms of how best to communicate certain things to owners in a respectful way, given the culture differences

I then re-directed the question and brought Lindsay into the conversation. I stated to Lindsay that she had been at the club a long time and had worked under the Jack Walker regime too, abeit in a different capacity. Given she has also worked under ever board since the Raos bought the club, I asked in your opinion do we now have a similar reporting line as the one we had when Jack owned the club?

Lindsay was not hesitent and immediately stated yes, she said Suhail is like Brown was for Jack, his man on the ground whilst he was in Jersey (just like the Rao's in india). She stated the board now operates like the pre walkers trust days where the board run the club, do their annual reporting, make decisions on recruitment, marketing, strategies and just like the board under jack, if more money is needed or a significant purchase is needed, its relayed to the owners and they sign it off

This is all we got through in this meeting with another meeting scheduled for September

Main points to note and these are vital:

1. The board structure is exactly what we have all championed for 10 years plus, a board that makes the decisions, is accountable for those decisions.

2.The owners continue to say yes, and always make the money available be that for players or to service debt.

3. A point I have not fitted in the questions, is that its very clear Steve Waggott talks directly to the owners on a regular basis, and more importantly those discussions are heavily with Madam and Mr Venky, It had long been thought that this was Bala's toy and the wider families interest and wavered. However this is not true, the head of the family is very much the driving force in supporting the board both financially but also in all they do by giving them the trust and autonomy to act in the clubs best interest.

4. Steve Waggott in person is not the same Steve Waggott we've heard in interviews, his passion, knowledge and general persona is probably the best I've seen from anyone within the club in my time, and that includes the Williams Regime. Although I'm only 5% through my questions for him, which I will pick up again in September, I can tell from my first meeting that my position/opinion on him prior to meeting him, has changed somewhat. I have been involved in lots of these type of meetings, and I don't go easy on people. I actually told him, this Steve Waggott is actually quite marketable. I can understand why many after meeting him are jumping to his defence, because I actually think with the right approach, he could become one of the most influential people the club ever has.

5. There is evidently lots of work to do to rebuild, and a lot more questions I need to ask, but early signs I think are good for all of us,

 

Finally I apologise for any spellings, missed words etc, It was a lot to write to get it out to you all. I appreciate the nice comments and efforts people have gone to, to read these post

Just want to say a big thank you Glen. I remember all those years ago seeing you fighting this and always going to Rovers and never backing down. Not too overly flatter you 😉 hahaha. But i just want to say thank you, even a few years back you probably won't remember but taking the time to personally respond to an email i sent to you with a few questions, and seeing you take the time away from your family and your own personal time to go and get answers it is very much appreciated! 

 

Between you and Kamy you guys have been invaluable to the Rovers Community! 

[Gav]

Many thanks to @glen9mullan for his time and effort once again.

We've had 12 months of cock waving from certain quarters, "We can't tell you this, we can't tell you that" and here we are, straight to the point, on the open forum for posters to read.

I've long been of the opinion we are better off with a CEO than not, this has reaffirmed that view for me, he's come across ok here, but we need initiatives and actions from him, not just words.

Thanks Glenn.

[1864roverite]

11 minutes ago, Gav said:

Many thanks to @glen9mullan for his time and effort once again.

We've had 12 months of cock waving from certain quarters, "We can't tell you this, we can't tell you that" and here we are, straight to the point, on the open forum for posters to read.

I've long been of the opinion we are better off with a CEO than not, this has reaffirmed that view for me, he's come across ok here, but we need initiatives and actions from him, not just words.

Thanks Glenn.

It’s not about cock waving Gav it’s a personal choice so get over it !

[RV Blue]

2 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

It’s not about cock waving Gav it’s a personal choice so get over it !

He’s allowed to have an opinion about your personal choice.

[Mike E]

16 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

It’s not about cock waving Gav it’s a personal choice so get over it !

Guilty conscience, methinks.