Carabao Cup - next round, moving on - draw.

[Sparks Rover]

3 hours ago, tomphil said:

If tickets were 20 quid there'd be 3k away fans not 5/6 thousand rocking up and there'd be about 4 thousand home fans.

So you're looking at a seven thousandish crowd where'as now it should be around the 12k mark.

Don't anyone tell me discounted tickets haven't worked those who do are missing the point. You're nearly drawing in double what you would at league match prices or a slight discount.

Probably works out as a slight loss actually compared to keeping the league prices.  The kids tickets kill it.....they need to rely heavily on selling over priced horseshit disguised as food.

Deffo think Tesco expected to sell at least 10k home tickets.

[andyh]

On ESPN+ in USA

[Mattyblue]

6 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

 

Deffo think Tesco expected to sell at least 10k home tickets.

Probably did. Bit like pricing Wigan as Cat A thinking it’s some big derby he can exploit.

5 years here and he’s still as clueless as the day he started.

[tomphil]

To be fair Tesco wanted to charge a tenner but wasn't allowed although something a bit more imaginative for the Preston match involving this one might have served to boost both gates a bit.

Completely beyond these lot though.

[Mattyblue]

December 2019, Sky moved the Wigan game to an evening KO on the 23rd December. We made it a tenner and nearly 18,000 home fans turned up, our most for any Championship game since relegation. 

It’s all about picking the right time and event (with no daft strings attached like ‘season ticket holders bring a friend’ etc) for ticket offers. In that instance, non local residents back with the family for Christmas or big groups fancying taking in a festive game  

Do that and it will bring plenty in.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Mattyblue

[tomphil]

The mindset of the fanbase is key, back then we thought we were in decent shape and thought we had ambition.

What has filtered through since then is we are very much a water treading setup with the only real ambition to develop players. People often need motivation alongside price initiatives but beyond the hardcore that has all but disappeared.

That's why price initiatives need doing in games like the Preston one, ten or fifteen quid for that and despite the Dingle debacle, early tv and apathy we'd still be looking at 21/22k+.   Might have helped the team as well making it an occasion instead of a hollow atmosphere except for away fans big day out.

On the back of that you'd get more turning out for this but critical thinking doesn't apply at Ewood it's just hit that takings target however. Collect your wages and breathe out, job done for another year.

 

 

 

th

[USABlue]

10 hours ago, andyh said:

On ESPN+ in USA

I be watchin it On Demand after I get home from work.  Hope it's worth the wait.

[roversfan99]

Hope he doesn't get silly with the changes, I want a proper go at getting into the quarter finals. Make a few changes, maybe bring some of the likes of Adam Wharton, Travis, Hedges Szmodics and Markanday in, but not token appearances for Edun, Garrett, Pears, Hirst etc.

[Wheelton Blue]

2 hours ago, tomphil said:

The mindset of the fanbase is key, back then we thought we were in decent shape and thought we had ambition.

What has filtered through since then is we are very much a water treading setup with the only real ambition to develop players. People often need motivation alongside price initiatives but beyond the hardcore that has all but disappeared.

That's why price initiatives need doing in games like the Preston one, ten or fifteen quid for that and despite the Dingle debacle, early tv and apathy we'd still be looking at 21/22k+.   Might have helped the team as well making it an occasion instead of a hollow atmosphere except for away fans big day out.

On the back of that you'd get more turning out for this but critical thinking doesn't apply at Ewood it's just hit that takings target however. Collect your wages and breathe out, job done for another year.

 

 

 

th

There is no pricing strategy, it's all off-the-hoof, short term thinking that starts off at the beginning of each season with how to fleece the core season ticket base.

I thought that they should have done a combo ticket deal for the Preston and Forest games. Something like £20 for PNE and get a Forest ticket for a tenner. That would have seen bigger home gates for both matches.

Opportunity missed....yet again.

[rigger]

1 hour ago, Wheelton Blue said:

There is no pricing strategy, it's all off-the-hoof, short term thinking that starts off at the beginning of each season with how to fleece the core season ticket base.

I thought that they should have done a combo ticket deal for the Preston and Forest games. Something like £20 for PNE and get a Forest ticket for a tenner. That would have seen bigger home gates for both matches.

Opportunity missed....yet again.

It is only an opportunity missed, if the Rovers wanted to increase the home crowd. I don't think they do.

[Dreams of 1995]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Hope he doesn't get silly with the changes, I want a proper go at getting into the quarter finals. Make a few changes, maybe bring some of the likes of Adam Wharton, Travis, Hedges Szmodics and Markanday in, but not token appearances for Edun, Garrett, Pears, Hirst etc.

How are you putting Garrett in the same breath as them?

Jesus christ lol talk about harsh

He's our own player, come through the academy and is 19

Yet you call for Markanday, who has poor in youth games and his opportunities in the first team

[Admiral Nelsen]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Hope he doesn't get silly with the changes, I want a proper go at getting into the quarter finals. Make a few changes, maybe bring some of the likes of Adam Wharton, Travis, Hedges Szmodics and Markanday in, but not token appearances for Edun, Garrett, Pears, Hirst etc.

 

I wouldn't mind Edun playing. Pickering has a tendency to pick up injuries and we're stretched at full back as it is. 

Garrett too did okay against Sunderland too, so I'd be happy enough with him getting some gametime. Maybe not starting given the amount of competition we have in midfield. 

[RoversTilliDie]

After the Preston disaster, let's turn it into Fortress Ewood again and give it 100% winning our home games.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

How are you putting Garrett in the same breath as them?

Jesus christ lol talk about harsh

He's our own player, come through the academy and is 19

Yet you call for Markanday, who has poor in youth games and his opportunities in the first team

The fact that he has specifically come through our academy and is our player wouldn't come into the decision making for tomorrow night.

I haven't been impressed in the few games he has played, to me he got man of the match v Sunderland because it was his debut, he was really limited on the ball and we struggled to keep it in general, he then came on v Birmingham and struggled to get to the pace of the game, then at Coventry and stupidly dived into a challenge, then he found it tough like to be fair they all did at Burnley.

Plenty of time of course before I am accused of writing him off or anything like that, I think the best course of action would be to bring in a much needed more experienced midfielder and to loan Garrett out to League 1 and re-assess in the summer.

With central midfield, Adam Wharton and Travis could both come in without weakening the side, if we chose not to stick with those who played at the weekend.

1 hour ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

I wouldn't mind Edun playing. Pickering has a tendency to pick up injuries and we're stretched at full back as it is. 

Garrett too did okay against Sunderland too, so I'd be happy enough with him getting some gametime. Maybe not starting given the amount of competition we have in midfield. 

Edun is really bad though and it would significantly weaken us, any rotation ideally would be done without making us less competitive.

As it is, sadly it does seem like Tomasson will be making wholesale changes. It saddens me in general about the attitude that both managers and supporters alike seem to have towards cup competitions is one of disregard. We have been bumbling along for a decade and yet we seemingly turn our nose up at the potential of a cup quarter final in a competition that holds great memories 

[JHRover]

As I said last week the Carabao Cup draw pitting us against Forest at Ewood was made on 10th November. No announcement about tickets was made until 25th November, then it was 15th December before the website, twitter or any other media channel of the clubs made any reference to the game. Since then there have been a few reminders.

That does not suggest a club keen on getting as many people as possible to the game. It suggests a club that couldn't care less and is run in amateur fashion.

Only yesterday an advertisement appeared aiming to 'cash in' on the Forest fans by opening the Legends Lounge. £10 a time to include a first drink. So basically £10 for your first pint and £5+ thereafter when you can go into a pub 5 minutes away and drink at £3 a pint. If there was strategic thinking the Legends Lounge would have been advertised weeks ago, but in typical Waggott fashion it is last minute afterthought aimed at cynically grabbing extra cash from a suprisingly large away following.

Unfortunately he will probably use a poor turnout as evidence that pricing doesn't really matter - cheap tickets yet a small home turnout will be used to justify why he doesn't cut prices for league games.

 

[Dreams of 1995]

37 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The fact that he has specifically come through our academy and is our player wouldn't come into the decision making for tomorrow night.

I haven't been impressed in the few games he has played, to me he got man of the match v Sunderland because it was his debut, he was really limited on the ball and we struggled to keep it in general, he then came on v Birmingham and struggled to get to the pace of the game, then at Coventry and stupidly dived into a challenge, then he found it tough like to be fair they all did at Burnley.

Plenty of time of course before I am accused of writing him off or anything like that, I think the best course of action would be to bring in a much needed more experienced midfielder and to loan Garrett out to League 1 and re-assess in the summer.

With central midfield, Adam Wharton and Travis could both come in without weakening the side, if we chose not to stick with those who played at the weekend.

Nonsense. Garrett had a damn good game vs Sunderland, did well at Blues and did well when we played Bradford in the cup too. 
He came on at half time vs West Ham and did well, even scoring the winning penalty 

Loaning him out to League 1 is a far cry away from putting him in the same bracket as Pears and Hirst. Garrett deserves far more than that - being a 19 year old who has shown more than either of them two have in his handful appearances at senior football 

Garrett has also shown a lot in youth level football for Rovers, unlike Hirst or Markanday

It just seems odd that you call repeatedly for Markanday, despite how consistently poor he’s been at all levels for Rovers this year, but say you don’t want a token appearance for a home grown lad that’s shown far more at all levels!! If we talk about weakening the team then on current form out of the two it is Markanday who weakens the team more than Garrett

But then you do have form for rubbishing our young lads early on. Swings and roundabouts I guess - come from Tottenham you get a chance; come through the Rovers academy and have a bad game and all of a sudden you need League 1. Madness talk if you ask me! But football is a game of opinions and all that 
 

[simongarnerisgod]

2 hours ago, Admiral Nelsen said:

 

I wouldn't mind Edun playing. Pickering has a tendency to pick up injuries and we're stretched at full back as it is. 

Garrett too did okay against Sunderland too, so I'd be happy enough with him getting some gametime. Maybe not starting given the amount of competition we have in midfield. 

edun is a car crash at left back,he`s acceptable playing through the middle but still very limited

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Nonsense. Garrett had a damn good game vs Sunderland, did well at Blues and did well when we played Bradford in the cup too. 
He came on at half time vs West Ham and did well, even scoring the winning penalty 

Loaning him out to League 1 is a far cry away from putting him in the same bracket as Pears and Hirst. Garrett deserves far more than that - being a 19 year old who has shown more than either of them two have in his handful appearances at senior football 

Garrett has also shown a lot in youth level football for Rovers, unlike Hirst or Markanday

It just seems odd that you call repeatedly for Markanday, despite how consistently poor he’s been at all levels for Rovers this year, but say you don’t want a token appearance for a home grown lad that’s shown far more at all levels!! If we talk about weakening the team then on current form out of the two it is Markanday who weakens the team more than Garrett

But then you do have form for rubbishing our young lads early on. Swings and roundabouts I guess - come from Tottenham you get a chance; come through the Rovers academy and have a bad game and all of a sudden you need League 1. Madness talk if you ask me! But football is a game of opinions and all that 
 

Your last paragraph suggests that you are going into this conversation with a confirmation bias over the unfair idea that I want to "rubbish our young lads" which means I am fighting an uphill battle to start.

I have been as critical as anyone lately at the exclusion of Adam Wharton, I try and judge the players as individuals, we all have our opinions and I have not been overly impressed by Garrett from an admittedly very small sample size, not to say that he won't make the step up in time. 

But the main thing is that I want tomorrow nights team to be as close to our first team as possible. Garrett is 5th choice and assuming we play 2, there are 4 players who I would prefer to see in there, thus playing him would IMO weaken us. As much as Pears or Edun, perhaps not. I still think we need a more experienced head in midfield so rather than giving Garrett an occasional cameo, I would prefer him to get 20 games in League 1 if possible.

Markanday is a strange one, he himself has rarely played but when he has, I have enjoyed watching him and think he has a spark. That being said, I would prefer us to start Hedges and Brereton with Dack and Dolan tomorrow, Gallagher limped off at the weekend so I would go with those 4 who IMO would be the strongest set of forwards we could play. 

[tomphil]

I'm happy with Edun and Garret playing, a few of these lads will have scouts watching for potential loan moves so hopefully an incentive.

Especially if they don't want to leave here.

Not sure what side Forest will turn out it's not like they are short of options bur i'd hope for a much changed side from them. No bad thing they were the best side bar Fulham to come here last season.

Rovers   1     Forest   1

Pens.....

11,189

Edited December 20, 2022 by tomphil

[only2garners]

2 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Your last paragraph suggests that you are going into this conversation with a confirmation bias over the unfair idea that I want to "rubbish our young lads" which means I am fighting an uphill battle to start.

I have been as critical as anyone lately at the exclusion of Adam Wharton, I try and judge the players as individuals, we all have our opinions and I have not been overly impressed by Garrett from an admittedly very small sample size, not to say that he won't make the step up in time. 

But the main thing is that I want tomorrow nights team to be as close to our first team as possible. Garrett is 5th choice and assuming we play 2, there are 4 players who I would prefer to see in there, thus playing him would IMO weaken us. As much as Pears or Edun, perhaps not. I still think we need a more experienced head in midfield so rather than giving Garrett an occasional cameo, I would prefer him to get 20 games in League 1 if possible.

Markanday is a strange one, he himself has rarely played but when he has, I have enjoyed watching him and think he has a spark. That being said, I would prefer us to start Hedges and Brereton with Dack and Dolan tomorrow, Gallagher limped off at the weekend so I would go with those 4 who IMO would be the strongest set of forwards we could play. 

At West Ham Garrett was much better than Adam Wharton. There seems to be an automatic assumption on here that Adam Wharton should be starting regularly and Jake Garrett is a sub at best. Part from the Blackpool game I’m seeing no evidence of that. It’s way too early to be making definitive predictions about both to be honest.

[roversfan99]

32 minutes ago, only2garners said:

At West Ham Garrett was much better than Adam Wharton. There seems to be an automatic assumption on here that Adam Wharton should be starting regularly and Jake Garrett is a sub at best. Part from the Blackpool game I’m seeing no evidence of that. It’s way too early to be making definitive predictions about both to be honest.

Wharton was really good v Stoke and also at Hull I thought, as well as from a slightly more advanced role v Boro and when he scored v Birmingham.

[neophox]

Wonder if we have a clause to send Hirst back in january? Hasnt worked out at all.

[neophox]

Think this team will start:

 

Kaminski

Rankin Costello, Hyam, Wharton, Mola

Hedges, Morton, Buckley

Dolan, Dack, Brereton

Dont think Pickering will be risked for this game as he's been out for a while... save him for the league games.

Edited December 21, 2022 by neophox

[arbitro]

15 hours ago, JHRover said:

As I said last week the Carabao Cup draw pitting us against Forest at Ewood was made on 10th November. No announcement about tickets was made until 25th November, then it was 15th December before the website, twitter or any other media channel of the clubs made any reference to the game. Since then there have been a few reminders.

That does not suggest a club keen on getting as many people as possible to the game. It suggests a club that couldn't care less and is run in amateur fashion.

Only yesterday an advertisement appeared aiming to 'cash in' on the Forest fans by opening the Legends Lounge. £10 a time to include a first drink. So basically £10 for your first pint and £5+ thereafter when you can go into a pub 5 minutes away and drink at £3 a pint. If there was strategic thinking the Legends Lounge would have been advertised weeks ago, but in typical Waggott fashion it is last minute afterthought aimed at cynically grabbing extra cash from a suprisingly large away following.

Unfortunately he will probably use a poor turnout as evidence that pricing doesn't really matter - cheap tickets yet a small home turnout will be used to justify why he doesn't cut prices for league games.

 

I have checked the Forest website and twitter and the advert about the Legends Lounge being open doesn't seem to appear on any. So how will the Forest fans know about it? 

[Mattyblue]

It is on their website, fourth news story down. (They’ve sold over 6,500, by the way).

Edited December 21, 2022 by Mattyblue