January Transfer window 2022

[J*B]

1 hour ago, 1864roverite said:

Out of those clubs only Bournemouth have a lower average home crowd than us. Rovers home average is 12000 even Bradford hammer us hands down with a crowd average ours is the 5th worst in the division because our divided fan base means some will not come to the ground even if we have billionaire owners! Look across the football spectrum and ask why we don’t see our corporate boxes used very often? Why are we lacking in sponsorship ? Why would sky want to out a Rovers game in tv in a ground with no atmosphere when 9k are in a 32k all seated ground ? It’s the main reason why Rovers don’t have a huge cash flow other than the supplemented income from the owners and player sales that’s the reality ! We are not the club of 20 yrs ago we have no Jack walker we have no solid footballing board and we have a divided fan base which adds to the detriment of the club. There are numerous bad owners throughout football however that clubs fans have remained behind the team Newcastle Forest Birmingham Sheff Wed Portsmouth Swindon Bradford Ipswich Blackpool Bolton are all examples yet our own fans or some of them refuse to back the team come what may and that’s the sad part. I am sure that if the fans returned to back the team it might create a whole different picture rather than a scenario that says if they can’t be bothered why should we?

Whoa - one minute:

19/20 Newcastle Attendance (Mike Ashley) - 35,551 out of 52,300 (67% full)

19/20 Nottingham Forest Attendance (Marinakis) - 21,617 out of 30,445 (71% full) 

19/20 Birmingham City Attendance (Cho Hung) - 15,975 out of 29,409 (54% full)

19/20 Sheffield Wednesday Attendance (Chansiri) - 18,573 out of 39,859 (46% full)

19/20 Bradford Attendance - 14,257 out of 25,123 (56% full)

19/20 Blackpool Attendance - 8,770 out of 16,220 (54% full) 

19/20 Bolton Attendance - 11,511 out of 28,723 (40% full)

19/20 Blackburn Attendance 11,460 out of 31,367 (36% full) 

Granted Rovers are bottom of this list - but they've also got the third biggest stadium which skews the numbers and are a town club in the Championship. The reality is any bad owner has a negative impact on tickets sold and the longer that ownership continues to be considered 'bad' the more the number drops. 

When Venkys took over Rovers average attendance was 25,000 out of 31,367 (79% full) which tells its own story. During Venkys ownership we've lost 13,540 fans on average. Where do you work? Would your boss accept a 43% drop in anything? Mine wouldn't!

Some of these will have been away fans, but there's no hiding from the big issue here. Fans have either: stopped following Rovers because they're not a PL side (up to Rovers to fix), stopped following Rovers because they no longer enjoy it (see our huge away followings - this is up to Rovers to fix) or stopped following Rovers because they don't agree with the ownership/management (this is up to Rovers to fix).

 

[Mattyblue]

Most clubs see a small drop in crowds on relegation, we lost nearly half our ST holders overnight, which is unprecedented  - I have always been adamant that a sacking of Kean the night of the Wigan game would have prevented such a calamitous drop off. Keeping him on that summer of 2012 was absolutely toxic for sales.

We’ve never recovered ST (and therefore crowd) wise from that insane decision to keep him on that summer.

[tomphil]

When Bolton dropped out the Prem they lost 5k home fans overnight. They didn't have a Kean or a Venkys or the problems they had later at that time.

All too easy to constantly chuck the crowd line at Rovers but when you are backed by billionaires who've thrown money at it it's a bit straw man.

We are where we are because we've been run horrendously, fleeced, ripped off, neglected and ignored - Fact

The amount of money put in over the last decade way outweighs the lack of crowds and if run properly it would have made a massive difference.  Rovers are what they are and yes gates need improving and both club and fans should do their bit but anybody dreaming of regular crowds over 15k in this division is in cloud cuckoo land.

Long term fans really should know better, this club along with many many others will always need millions of pounds of outside funding to compete at most levels. Thats nearly always been the case and always will be and the level we've had we should be batting way above our weight crowds or no crowds.

If it's really wanted to be successful employ the right people, run it correctly and fund it to the hilt.

Edited December 14, 2021 by tomphil

[JHRover]

34 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Are you just going to deliberately overlook the reason people aren’t going to the games? Spoiler alert- it’s because of Venky’s mismanagement of the club.

Also- corporate boxes being empty for years- you’ve guessed it, that’s also down to Venky’s mismanagement of the club….

I was about to say precisely the same thing.

I am always bewildered at those people who want to credit Venkys for their investment and support and who then at the same time refer to our crowds and income as a reason why we should be grateful to Venkys.

Seemingly oblivious to the sustained relentless decline in our attendances over the last decade due to their management of the club and their employment of incompetents to run it.

It is their fault that we are now mixing with the likes of Luton, Preston and Peterborough on attendances when 5 years ago we were comfortably above them and 10 years ago we were getting 20,000 home fans on. Not natural, not inevitable. They have caused it.

Our poor gates are an asset to those who want to criticise Venkys, not to those who want to credit or defend them.

[tomphil]

11 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

And in terms of pure finance, how many other "town" Clubs have multi billionaire owners who supplement the Club's income by c £20m p.a. ? 

You might be half right here, if we are being honest it's not exactly been supplementing for most of the time. The funding has been required to correct an absolute back log of mistakes and nonsense and plugging the huge financial hole this ownership is responsible for creating.

I do hope one day they do actually become benefactors.

[lraC]

No one to blame other than Venky's for the drop off in attendances, no matter which way you look at it.

For any so called fan to lay the blame anywhere else, is quite frankly appalling. 

[arbitro]

I've said before that I don't blame any fan for not going after the debacle of the last decade. I stopped going when Kean got us relegated and when Coyle was appointed and the seeds were sown for another relegation and I have no regrets or built about doing so. Many supporters predicted these relegations but the owners went ahead and effectively cost the club tens of millions in lost revenue. Every wrong turn this club has taken in their tenure is down to them and to blame the fans who aren't going any longer is plain wrong. 

[Mattyblue]

Some of the fans that stopped going in the summer of 2012 I wouldn’t have believed a year or two earlier, these weren’t ‘Premier League fans’, but proper, dyed in the wool types with decades of attendance.

They thought the club was taking the piss. A few came back with half STs and a ST in 2013, but plenty more will just have got out of the habit and are now long gone…

Edited December 14, 2021 by Mattyblue

[Crimpshrine]

3 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

because our divided fan base means some will not come to the ground even if we have billionaire owners!

Doesn't matter how rich they are. I won't come because of our owners not despite them.

They can chuck as much money at the club as they like, they need to show more respect to the community and the fans.

I don't attend matches at Ewood out of principle. Why don't the owners attend matches ? - They can't be arsed.

I do go to away games which is more than Venky's do.

[tomphil]

6 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Some of the fans that stopped going in the summer of 2012 I wouldn’t have believed a year or two earlier, these weren’t ‘Premier League fans’, but proper, dyed in the wool types with decades of attendance.

They thought the club was taking the piss. A few came back with half STs and a ST in 2013, but plenty more will just have got out of the habit and are now long gone…

And some of them now are getting high and mighty about present crowds i'd wager.

[roversfan99]

5 hours ago, 1864roverite said:

Out of those clubs only Bournemouth have a lower average home crowd than us. Rovers home average is 12000 even Bradford hammer us hands down with a crowd average ours is the 5th worst in the division because our divided fan base means some will not come to the ground even if we have billionaire owners! Look across the football spectrum and ask why we don’t see our corporate boxes used very often? Why are we lacking in sponsorship ? Why would sky want to out a Rovers game in tv in a ground with no atmosphere when 9k are in a 32k all seated ground ? It’s the main reason why Rovers don’t have a huge cash flow other than the supplemented income from the owners and player sales that’s the reality ! We are not the club of 20 yrs ago we have no Jack walker we have no solid footballing board and we have a divided fan base which adds to the detriment of the club. There are numerous bad owners throughout football however that clubs fans have remained behind the team Newcastle Forest Birmingham Sheff Wed Portsmouth Swindon Bradford Ipswich Blackpool Bolton are all examples yet our own fans or some of them refuse to back the team come what may and that’s the sad part. I am sure that if the fans returned to back the team it might create a whole different picture rather than a scenario that says if they can’t be bothered why should we?

I am unsure if Waggott is really lucky to have you in his ear, or if it is not very productive to have someone who thinks so much like him.

Solely blame the fans, lets not bother with constructive ways to get those floating fans back, and lets really absorb ourselves in a culture of how limited we should be.

It is down to the CLUB to get attendances up.

4 hours ago, J*B said:

ns, but there's no hiding from the big issue here. Fans have either: stopped following Rovers because they're not a PL side (up to Rovers to fix), stopped following Rovers because they no longer enjoy it (see our huge away followings - this is up to Rovers to fix) or stopped following Rovers because they don't agree with the ownership/management (this is up to Rovers to fix).

 

I think these 3 scenarios are a little too simplistic. A key factor is pricing which Rovers can also fix to be fair, and unlike attaining PL status (although selling our best player would very much be the opposite of trying to do that) it is much easier to achieve.

If as explained by 1864roverite a series of additional incomes are potentially limited by a 2/3's empty stadium, then surely the club would put even more emphasis on getting attendances up.

Waggott's simplistic examples given in the last fans forum only included extreme examples to "prove" that he is justified in putting up prices so much, ie really high v one off deals. It doesn't factor in a reasonably priced middle ground, and it doesn't consider the long term or any other ramifications.

[Beanie01289]

Anything on transfers I can't read all that again.

[J*B]

8 minutes ago, Beanie01289 said:

Anything on transfers I can't read all that again.

Assombalonga? Toni? 

[chaddyrovers]

16 hours ago, JHRover said:

The studio in the JW stand hasn't been used for years as all broadcasts use a studio off site. I don't know what facilities your journalist friend uses but I don't think it will include the studio in the JW stand by the DE corner flag. My understanding was that the studio we have would struggle to accommodate the ever increasing requirements of broadcasting from the ground.

He used the current media facilities at the club. 

as for the Studio, would Sky pundits and studio presenter even come to the ground given that Sky committed to coming to grounds less for environment reasons. Reducing carbon emissions through sport | Sky Zero | Sky Zero

16 hours ago, JHRover said:

I notice you didn't respond to the point about the inadequate disabled facilities and the need to provide better if we were to get to the Premier League and even if we didn't have to we should still be looking to do so to improve things for those who need those facilities.

I didn't respond to your point about the inadequate disabled facilities cos I not sure what would be needed if we got to the Premier League or what most of the current disabled facilities are. One thing I believe we have got is a room for people with Autism with sensory. 

16 hours ago, JHRover said:

It is a perfectly easy decision. January is a bad time to do business and so a sale of our star player even if by some miracle the owners allowed money to be reinvested would not be value for money and would not be conducive to a promotion push in the second half of the season.

The player will be told that if he wants to leave he can do so in the summer if we don't get promoted.

That might mean we get less for him than in January. It might mean we get more if he continues to fire in goals every week. But it is a price worth paying to try and sustain a promotion push because the reward for succeeding vastly outweighs what we might get for him.

I totally disagree that it is easy decision for the club for the club to make but we are getting ahead of ourselves as new bid has been made Brereton anyway. 

on your point about players not being value surely all this depends who we would target and the length of their contract left at their current club. 

 

16 hours ago, JHRover said:

I bet if we head onto Fulham or Bournemouth pages they aren't discussing the merits of selling Mitrovic in January - because there aren't any - they are serious about promotion and know their best chance of delivering it is by retaining their best players.

Big difference between them and us is the fact they have parachute payments to support their club and keep their best players at the club.  

16 hours ago, JHRover said:

I'm glad you have confirmed where the Armstrong money went - to avoid an embargo last summer (not that we needed to given our recruitment) and that this will keep us out of an embargo moving forward.

I told you this several times and I'm pleased to see that you have finally accepted that FFP was the reason we didn't spend the Armstrong's money. 

Of course keeping out of embargo was totally needed by the club for several reasons including recruiting the players we signed, offering players new contract offers. 

 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Beanie01289 said:

Anything on transfers I can't read all that again.

Maja

Fitness latest of Blackburn Rovers transfer target Josh Maja | Lancashire Telegraph

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

50 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Maja

Fitness latest of Blackburn Rovers transfer target Josh Maja | Lancashire Telegraph

I’d have to see him play for a month or two before I’d be signing in. Bad backs are notoriously troublesome.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[rigger]

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’d have to see him play for a month or two before I’d be signing in. Bad backs are notoriously troublesome.

I thought he was a forward ?

[chaddyrovers]

9 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I’d have to see him play for a month or two before I’d be signing in. Bad backs are notoriously troublesome.

Think someone posted on here yesterday saying his club Bordeaux want to sell and haven't select him in their match day squad. 

I think your point is valid about seeing him a few games before we look to sign him. We need to be very careful if we are looking at signing him

[JacknOry]

Maja sounds a huge risk to me now. Sure, he had great pedigree after his performances here, but he has yet to do much abroad and now seems to have a lot of injury woes. Not sure any other Championships clubs have even expressed an interest.

[Spartakfenni]

8 hours ago, JHRover said:

I was about to say precisely the same thing.

I am always bewildered at those people who want to credit Venkys for their investment and support and who then at the same time refer to our crowds and income as a reason why we should be grateful to Venkys.

Seemingly oblivious to the sustained relentless decline in our attendances over the last decade due to their management of the club and their employment of incompetents to run it.

It is their fault that we are now mixing with the likes of Luton, Preston and Peterborough on attendances when 5 years ago we were comfortably above them and 10 years ago we were getting 20,000 home fans on. Not natural, not inevitable. They have caused it.

Our poor gates are an asset to those who want to criticise Venkys, not to those who want to credit or defend them.

What can Venkeys do to address the situation, and don’t suggest selling up as that’s not going to happen. We need to tell Maggot what’s need to get the crowds in the ground.

[simongarnerisgod]

16 minutes ago, Spartakfenni said:

What can Venkeys do to address the situation, and don’t suggest selling up as that’s not going to happen. We need to tell Maggot what’s need to get the crowds in the ground.

swag has no idea and/or understanding of his target market,hence the to high walk on price and virtually no engagement with fans,i doubt he would listen to anyone either,all the guy needs to do is swallow his pride and ask a handful of fans why crowds are so low

[Spartakfenni]

3 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

swag has no idea and/or understanding of his target market,hence the to high walk on price and virtually no engagement with fans,i doubt he would listen to anyone either,all the guy needs to do is swallow his pride and ask a handful of fans why crowds are so low

I agree he seems to be the bottleneck, he and Mowbray have their ear but they don’t have any idea as a business how to effectively manage the club. While we are stable in the league and looking like we are moving forward they won’t pop the management team.

[Dreams of 1995]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

Maja sounds a huge risk to me now. Sure, he had great pedigree after his performances here, but he has yet to do much abroad and now seems to have a lot of injury woes. Not sure any other Championships clubs have even expressed an interest.

We have taken risks on players before and it has worked out. Santa Cruz, Benni and Bellamy all had bad injury records prior to arriving at Ewood!

[AAK]

8 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Some of the fans that stopped going in the summer of 2012 I wouldn’t have believed a year or two earlier, these weren’t ‘Premier League fans’, but proper, dyed in the wool types with decades of attendance.

They thought the club was taking the piss. A few came back with half STs and a ST in 2013, but plenty more will just have got out of the habit and are now long gone…

Spot on, I was one of them, never had a season ticket since, and go away more than home now. 

why? Because I was fuming for a couple of seasons, then I Just got out of the habit, and don’t really miss it. It would take something from above at the club, to show they really wanted fans back, for me to make that effort, to date it’s never happened.

[ben_the_beast]

2 hours ago, JacknOry said:

Maja sounds a huge risk to me now. Sure, he had great pedigree after his performances here, but he has yet to do much abroad and now seems to have a lot of injury woes. Not sure any other Championships clubs have even expressed an interest.

Agreed. He's a big risk and one I wouldn't be taking. Diaz stepped up, Gallagher is an adequate deputy. We then have Dack to come back too. Between the 3 of them I'm sure that's enough central attacking potency to see us through the season, maintaining a promotion push. 

Biggest priority is a right wing back. Nyambe has looked like the weak link in the side there,  is injury prone and possibly on his way out. 

After him a replacement for Poveda is critical. That would also lighten the load on Diaz and Gally. 

Then everything needs to be put into tying Rothwell down and to a slightly lesser extent Lenihan. If they won't sign then unless somebody stumps up a couple of million I'd rather they went on frees. If they do go. Obviously January replacements are needed.

Long story short. Maja wouldn't be a major priority anyway and his back issues mean we should be staying well clear. It's a huge, unnecessary risk, one I hope we don't go back for out of laziness.