Championship - 22-23

[47er]

5 hours ago, ageoftherover said:

I think you could make the case we're a club on the rise and by extension this reflects on an improved performance by the owners. Improvement on "dropping from a stable, mid table prem club to League 1 in half a decade odd" is a very low bar to be jumping from though, and top 10% seems a massive stretch.

or "and by coincidence"

[JHRover]

Things are undoubtedly better and improved from where they were 5-10 years ago.

If you don't pay much attention or come at things externally as supporters of other clubs do then you might be forgiven for thinking that things are normal here and that Venkys are doing a good job.

I certainly wouldn't go that far. Things are better, I'll give them that, though I'm not sure that is entirely down to them suddenly deciding to do things properly and more due to them finally allowing some decisions to be made and some sort of structure to exist on the ground without their interference or undermining it.

But I think results and good management by JDT and, yes, Broughton, are to a large degree masking what remains a relative shambles behind the scenes.

The signs are there - Waggott still allowed to remain in situ despite everything, ST numbers and attendances dropping, commercial suicide with no merchandise in the shop, decaying ground and pitch with zero investment, assets being allowed to leave for nothing with zero response from India, Mowbray allowed to remain in place until the very end with zero response from India, then they tried to persuade him to stay at the 11th hour - quite clear that there was a wall of silence and those on the ground were stuck waiting for instructions.

It has worked out well for them because they agreed to bring in Broughton and he had the good judgment to turn to JDT. But it could just as easily have been a failure.

One look at what happened in January tells us all we need to know. And I'm sorry yes the owners remain ultimately responsible for that - they didn't provide backing to strengthen or if they did the people they pay to run the show failed to get it done. The end result is it could undermine our promotion bid and I don't believe for one minute that is all down to someone forgetting to send a form off.

[Mashed Potatoes]

6 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Things are undoubtedly better and improved from where they were 5-10 years ago.

If you don't pay much attention or come at things externally as supporters of other clubs do then you might be forgiven for thinking that things are normal here and that Venkys are doing a good job.

I certainly wouldn't go that far. Things are better, I'll give them that, though I'm not sure that is entirely down to them suddenly deciding to do things properly and more due to them finally allowing some decisions to be made and some sort of structure to exist on the ground without their interference or undermining it.

But I think results and good management by JDT and, yes, Broughton, are to a large degree masking what remains a relative shambles behind the scenes.

The signs are there - Waggott still allowed to remain in situ despite everything, ST numbers and attendances dropping, commercial suicide with no merchandise in the shop, decaying ground and pitch with zero investment, assets being allowed to leave for nothing with zero response from India, Mowbray allowed to remain in place until the very end with zero response from India, then they tried to persuade him to stay at the 11th hour - quite clear that there was a wall of silence and those on the ground were stuck waiting for instructions.

It has worked out well for them because they agreed to bring in Broughton and he had the good judgment to turn to JDT. But it could just as easily have been a failure.

One look at what happened in January tells us all we need to know. And I'm sorry yes the owners remain ultimately responsible for that - they didn't provide backing to strengthen or if they did the people they pay to run the show failed to get it done. The end result is it could undermine our promotion bid and I don't believe for one minute that is all down to someone forgetting to send a form off.

You say ST numbers and attendances are dropping but isn't it the case that both are higher this season ?

[AllRoverAsia]

1 hour ago, ben_the_beast said:

Whether we like it or not, I think we're in a better the devil you know position with Venkys right now. We have an outrageous amount of debt owed to them, which makes any sale very difficult to navigate and comes with a lot of unknowns. 

If we look at their entire tenure it's been horrendous which has all been their fault. The bar couldn't have been set any lower. That low bar has gradually risen. Through luck at first, primarily with Mowbray. He brought about a new problem as they finally saw somebody they could trust and was handed the keys to the kingdom, which is no way to run a professional football club. He was a step up from what came before though. 

Where we are now, is the beginnings of how I'd like to see the club run, but deadline day did highlight there are still incompetent people hanging on in there. Nevertheless this seasons setup is a significant raising of the bar.

The issue we always have with Venkys is we are one decent employee leaving, away from meltdown as there has never been succession planning. If Broughton were to leave I can't see us being swift in filling his void. We're also yet to see if JDT would be bulletproof like Mowbray was and Venkys fluctuating levels of investment are always a worry.

All in all though, if new owners were to come in, this is the type of setup I'd want to see. The learning process has been slow, but there is evidence it has happened and evidence they have slowly worked out how to find competent footballing people who they're willing to trust. It doesn't mean we forget the past and the damage done, but for me they actually represent the option which offers hope of progression with the least amount of risk right now.

They tried to recruit numerous managers before finding one in JDT who said yes.

 They stumbled upon GB as DoF after failing in a managerial search and it was GB who recruited JDT.

To give it reality "they" did FA and it would have been Suhail and Waggott, FFS, who were getting nowhere until GB.

I give no credit to Venkys apart from at least 2 years too late binning gurnernan.

They haven't worked anything out apart just maybe advanced bookkeeping.

[Mattyblue]

8 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

You say ST numbers and attendances are dropping but isn't it the case that both are higher this season ?

They are up from the lowest of low ebbs post Covid, but 9,000 is still one of the lowest sales figures we’ve had for over 30 years (and some of the lowest in the divisIon). Attendances are booming across England… said boom has passed us by.

Vast improvement is needed for a club that has spent pretty much two seasons at the top end of the table.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Mattyblue

[roversfan99]

15 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

It all depends the circumstances of what happened and how far it went. Something deffo went on. Too many people had the info at the time

Or people were repeating the same nonsense. Either way, whatever happened, they didn't sack him which is all that matters, hence my point about not judging on results.

[roversfan99]

Yet football is nothing without fans according to Sky.

[only2garners]

Does anyone know how many league games we have been live on Sky this season?

[Sweaty Gussets]

3 minutes ago, only2garners said:

Does anyone know how many league games we have been live on Sky this season?

main feature and the red button?

[Mattyblue]

Since the restart on 10th December, I think we’ve been shown/chosen as a ‘main’ Sky Sports game 14 times (obviously that could end up as 16 if Luton and Millwall get picked) in 25 games.

17 (possibly 19 by the end of the season) on Sky out of 25 if you include red button.

Unheard of for a team that’s largely spent the season pretty much out of contention for automatic promotion.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Mattyblue

[JHRover]

Maybe it suggests, contrary to the narrative espoused in many quarters, that we actually are a big fish in this league and one which Sky can see commercial value in putting us on tv so often now they don't have their precious Leeds, Derby and Fulham to exploit.

[jny]

 

7 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Since the restart on 10th December, I think we’ve been shown/chosen as a ‘main’ Sky Sports game 14 times (obviously that could end up as 16 if Luton and Millwall get picked) in 25 games.

17 (possibly 19 by the end of the season) on Sky out of 25 if you include red button.

Unheard of for a team that’s largely spent the season pretty much out of contention for automatic promotion.

Do we get any £££ from each of these games being shown?

[only2garners]

Just now, jny said:

 

Do we get any £££ from each of these games being shown?

Yes, although hardly anything for away games.

[only2garners]

3 minutes ago, only2garners said:

Yes, although hardly anything for away games.

I just tried to check what I thought the numbers were. It's £10K for an away game and an amount up to £100K for a home game dependent on the time slot.

[Gordon Gekko]

Just seen the playoff final has been confirmed for Saturday 27th May. FFS I’m on a stag do, it’s normally the bank holiday Monday!

[Aqualung]

Feel sorry for anyone who paid for a season pass on RoversTV. 

[only2garners]

1 hour ago, Gordon Gekko said:

Just seen the playoff final has been confirmed for Saturday 27th May. FFS I’m on a stag do, it’s normally the bank holiday Monday!

It was on Sunday last year.

[Sweaty Gussets]

[GHR]

12 hours ago, only2garners said:

It was on Sunday last year.

Sure it used to be Sat in even years and Mon in odd years, changed to consistently Sat a few years back.

Edited March 24, 2023 by GHR
Corrected

[Mattyblue]

5 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Fair enough, had to do something.

Christ knows what kind of turn out we’ll get for such a ridiculous time.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Fair enough, had to do something.

Christ knows what kind of turn out we’ll get for such a ridiculous time.

You must have better eyesight than me. KO time and date anybody ?

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

You must have better eyesight than me. KO time and date anybody ?

In the margins. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

In the margins. 

Thanks, is it 8.00pm KO ?

[only2garners]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Thanks, is it 8.00pm KO ?

7.45

[chaddyrovers]

5 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Since the restart on 10th December, I think we’ve been shown/chosen as a ‘main’ Sky Sports game 14 times (obviously that could end up as 16 if Luton and Millwall get picked) in 25 games.

17 (possibly 19 by the end of the season) on Sky out of 25 if you include red button.

Unheard of for a team that’s largely spent the season pretty much out of contention for automatic promotion.

The guy who picks the games for Sky Sports must be Blackburn Rovers fan ir he had a bet on us getting promote this season 😉

46 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

You must have better eyesight than me. KO time and date anybody ?

7.45pm kick off time 

15th April