Venky’s & Waggott Out Protest Ideas

[Bethnal]

8 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Obviously my point is being missed here. To be clear, I was massively against his appointment from day one (unlike a fair few on here), a ridiculous appointment, he’s out of his depth and shouldn’t be here.

However, I accept that much of the fanbase don’t get in the weeds like we do, they won’t understand why you are going after ‘football’ people too - we need to bring as much of those fans along with us. 

Division is what the regime want and have utilised against us from day 1.

(But I’ll leave it here as I’ll keep repeating myself every time someone else goes ‘well, feck him, he’s fair game’, ‘he’s up Swag’s arse’ etc).

Three points on Gestede:

unconfirmed but he was having a pop at fans in the JW upper last home match, or so I read.

He’s extremely under-qualified to be in the role, as the other two are, really. The reaction from other clubs’ fans speaks to why he’s a valid target.

He pledged to be open, transparent and communicative with the fans when he was appointed and he’s done none of it. He’s not been here as long, but he’s fallen immediately into line with the other two, or so it seems.

[47er]

7 hours ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

I would urge those with an account to argue their case in the comment sections of places where there is not a lot of support.

For example the lancashire evening telegraph. Some really infuriating stuff on there.

Surely some Venky plants on there? Or they've had a labotomy.

[47er]

10 hours ago, Roverreturns said:

Hello, daily visitor to this site for 20 plus years and one time regular poster.

I think the statement has been cleverly worded and the current situation has prompted me to post a comment for the first time in probably 15 years.

No one wants Rovers to return to the well run, successful club it is more than I, and a positive, unifying approach which relies on a calm logical statement rather than personal, vitriolic attacks is absolutely the correct approach and will gain the right kind of attention.

We dont know what the response is but this will clearly dictate the next steps so let's wait and see.

However for me there is one missing piece of the jigsaw which may add weight here, and again, only in a positive sense. In tandem with this approach I think it would be significant, and logical for those who have committed to stay away from the club until Venkys are gone to return for the final few games, boost the crowd and support an unlikely play off push.

Of course this would only be on the basis that the request of the statement is met and that the board stay away but for me this gives the Not a Penny More Crowd a great opportunity to back the club and not the ownership as they vociferously claim to do.

Forget the limited value to the owners of the cost of your ticket purchase, it would be a drop in the ocean, IF the board agree to stay away, make a point, vote with your feet, help put an end to the shame of our poor attendances and get behind the team.

Prove that staying away isnt just about apathy and that you really bleed blue and white, not just on a forum. 

It would be great to see this campaign formally adopt this idea. Imagine what weight would be added if the home attendances were boosted by the many thousands that it appears are staying away for only one reason.

Venkys will probably conclude that if they sack Waggot and Gestede everything will be alright!

"look, we did what you wanted"  !!

[simongarnerisgod]

will be ever so slightly toxic if we lose tommorow (likely) and perform poorly against middlesboro (highly likely),you could feel the mood changing against cardiff

[SuperBrfc]

Gestede is lower down the order, he still needs to go, but the two above him are the major issues at ground level. Especially Pasha. Both of those deserve the most scrutiny, flak and time in the spotlight.

I don't particularly dislike Gestede, he shouldn't be in that role, but I think both he and Yasir Sufi are being put forward as shields, without either of them realising it. Both come across as good guys and both need to get out of there, IMO.

Rudy hasn't helped himself one bit though, by spouting the party line about time, journeys, loan signings, trying to champion us as a brilliant "development club" for Premier League kids and by talking as if the fans are thick I.e transfer fees in instalments.

However, I think that's him trying to find his way in his role and I think there's also bit of naivety on his part. Despite that possibility, the above are the reasons why he is being grouped in with Pasha and Waggott. He's doing their bidding, therefore has to leave with them. Now.

Question marks remain about Rudy's appointment for me too. In 2021 he was playing under Steve Kean out in Australia.

In 2023 he turns up here at Rovers, initially on work experience, and is now being touted as a possible Waggott replacement in the near future. Based on what? Who recommended Gestede to Pasha? Or did he just randomly ask Rovers for some shadowing work one day and get lucky?

If Gestede is to be the next CEO, I want to know how that decision has been reached. We won't get to know and my radar has an all too familiar bell sounding, which is another reason why Rudy has to leave with the others.

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Disagree on Gestede. As an ex-player on the ‘football side’, he’ll not be seen as fair game by a sizeable chunk of the fanbase in contrast to Venky bean counters like Swag-hail.

That was the only misstep for me today. It’s vitally important to keep the messaging tight as we need to keep as much of the fanbase as possible onside this time if it’s going to be different than all the previous campaigns.

The guy who came out and told us to be grateful for venkys?

Fuck that insidious little prick, he wants to be in woth the big dogs then he can take all the shit that's coming their way.

[roversfan99]

30 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'd rather they left and we got new owners who were well meaning and committed but who were also willing and able to fund the Club.

If you're saying that Venkys are choosing not to put money in as opposed to being prevented from doing so because of the Court case I agree with that. Whether or not in a year with no sales they would inject just enough money to prevent us from going under is yet to be tested. However Im fairly certain they'll never fund us properly in a way that would allow us to progress and or to develop and sell on players.

Hypothetically if the Court case was finished and they were still willing and able to inject £20m p.a. into the team and Club infrastructure regardless of net transfer activity then we might be better off with that than with well meaning but skint owners AS LONG AS we had proper management on the ground and a decent Head Coach to ensure the money didnt go to waste as it always has in the past.

. It's a moot point though as it will never happen; it seems fairly clear they've given up on the Club and they never employed suitable staff even when they had a modicum of interest.

Its this willing and able to inject £20m a season in that I dont get. It makes out as if its done out of anything other than necessity to cover costs.

They will have to "pump money in" each year going forward because like any Championship club we spend more than we receive. They had been intent solely on reducing losses even in the years before the court case. Selling Armstrong and not reinvesting anything was a similar example. I dont get why you make out as if they were chucking in money prior the court case as some sort of attempt to progress the club, it was merely to pay the bills which even then were kept as low as possible. The only difference post court case is that the primary objective of reducing losses has been actioned even more aggressively and it happened to coincide with Wharton being ripe for a sale.

[Upside Down]

3 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Its this willing and able to inject £20m a season in that I dont get. It makes out as if its done out of anything other than necessity to cover costs.

They will have to "pump money in" each year going forward because like any Championship club we spend more than we receive. They had been intent solely on reducing losses even in the years before the court case. Selling Armstrong and not reinvesting anything was a similar example. I dont get why you make out as if they were chucking in money prior the court case as some sort of attempt to progress the club, it was merely to pay the bills which even then were kept as low as possible. The only difference post court case is that the primary objective of reducing losses has been actioned even more aggressively and it happened to coincide with Wharton being ripe for a sale.

One thing we need to do is set the record straight on that point.

They've never invested a single penny into the club.

The only thing they've done is cover the losses that they themselves have created and are responsible for.

[47er]

If Venkys really were interested in the Club they wouldn't have tp put £20M in year after year.

They'd appoint people who were able and who cared. 

People with their ear to the ground and knowledge and empathy with supporters' feeling and hopes.

We have none of this at Ewood. In that sense we are a dead club.Just a matter of time unless we stand up for ourselves.

[roverandout]

Did Glen say Broughton doesn't communicate with the fans? Is he aware he left the club?

[glen9mullan]

9 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Did Glen say Broughton doesn't communicate with the fans? Is he aware he left the club?

No , I stated Gestede, whilst also stating at least Broughton didn't let contracts run out

[roverandout]

32 minutes ago, glen9mullan said:

No , I stated Gestede, whilst also stating at least Broughton didn't let contracts run out

Ok my apologies 

[bluebruce]

4 hours ago, Paul Mellelieu said:

Tactically brilliant from Glenn and co. I tip my hat to you.

Agreed.

I'll be honest, when I read the statement earlier today, I thought 'wtf is that? That doesn't fix anything, they'll ignore it, promotion isn't on the cards and Venkys are the problem anyway'. Then I thought about it in terms of how the club would react and I realised it was very astute and had been carefully thought out.

If they accepted the demand it made them look weak. If they ignored it it made them look arrogant and uncaring. I imagine it was expected they'd do what they did, and refuse to comply, with BS fluff to boot, and now even the fans groups on FB are spitting feathers at them. It's the most united against them I've seen the fanbase in ages.

Well played to those involved. That was a chess move right there. Like when someone moves a minor piece in a seemingly unimportant part of the board and you think 'wtf are you doing that for'. Then the longer you look at it you realise you're fucked.

Here's praying for checkmate in 3 (months, not moves).

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Obviously my point is being missed here. To be clear, I was massively against his appointment from day one (unlike a fair few on here), a ridiculous appointment, he’s out of his depth and shouldn’t be here - another symptom of the disease that is this ownership.

However, I accept that much of the fanbase don’t get in the weeds like we do, they won’t understand why you are going after ‘football’ people too - we need to bring as much of those fans along with us. 

Division is what the regime want and have utilised against us from day 1.

(But I’ll leave it here as I’ll keep repeating myself every time someone else goes ‘well, feck him, he’s fair game’, ‘he’s up Swag’s arse’ etc).

I don't think your point is being missed. I think people just don't agree with it.

Plenty of us didn't like Gestede in the first place after jumping ship as fast as he could (and forcing the move a little too cheaply in my opinion at the time...as emphasised by an interview I saw recently). Then the appointment itself was a joke as he had fuck all credentials for the role. Then he came in giving it ten about how he would improve communication with the fans...followed up by hardly ever speaking to the fans and doing it less than GB had. Radio fucking silence after the January debacle. Seems happy to do podcast interviews about his whole career and him as a person or whatever, but fuck all communication through channels the fans regularly check. It's also highly suspected he was part of the power struggles and, well, differences of opinion on player signings shall we say, that resulted in Park (again) and Eustace leaving.

On top of all that, imagine that we somehow got rid of Swag and Pasha. Who would fill Swag's role? You can bet your arse it would be the unqualified bloke who still hasn't done much of note in the business side of the game, and to me and others, seems like he may be a tad sketchy and very self serving. Why root out Swag just to have a younger version slide into the role?

No, fuck that. Target them all. And Venkys. Clean slate, purge the virus wherever we find it. Enough is enough.

[bluebruce]

In fact, if there has been a misstep, I don't think it's targeting Gestede, but I do wonder a bit about the timing. The game tomorrow (today now) is away. I feel like maybe it would've been better to release this Tuesday or Wednesday. A couple of days for it to stew and simmer before the home game on Friday would've been perfect I think, for them to get a bucket load of abuse. As it is, there is a week (and maybe a good result) inbetween, and fans may lose interest or find ways to justify it all to themselves as their Stockholm syndrome has time to kick in.

I'm curious (to those who organised it), is this timing because of the Venkys court case being delayed again, or was the timing around home matches considered and there is something I'm missing?

[glen9mullan]

24 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

In fact, if there has been a misstep, I don't think it's targeting Gestede, but I do wonder a bit about the timing. The game tomorrow (today now) is away. I feel like maybe it would've been better to release this Tuesday or Wednesday. A couple of days for it to stew and simmer before the home game on Friday would've been perfect I think, for them to get a bucket load of abuse. As it is, there is a week (and maybe a good result) inbetween, and fans may lose interest or find ways to justify it all to themselves as their Stockholm syndrome has time to kick in.

I'm curious (to those who organised it), is this timing because of the Venkys court case being delayed again, or was the timing around home matches considered and there is something I'm missing?

The timing to release at 9am today was for these reasons.

1. We have to legally notify the club if a press release is imminent if we name individuals.

2. With international break just ended, we knew it be slow news day bar press conferences today, so for this to go National (we are championship so less air time) it was perfect slot 

3. We knew club had a big PR campaign on route about backing the team, whilst Gestede has interviews lined up Tuesday. We also knew the manager had his presser today and it would scew the script they intended to brief him on.

4. We knew by giving them the heads up yesteday they'd be fumbling a reaction to a potential protest. They'd called a senior leadership meeting to head this off, unbeknown to them our unity message both screwed their PR campaign and every response they thought they had covered.

5. We expected them to refuse the request to not attend, whereas in essence they now become the protest organisers.

6. We expected this stance giving us a whole week to plan for next Fridays game, a phase 2.

7. The story which has run today has played out 100% as we expected, which now makes us stronger because we have their measure.

 

We had to take a risk, i think even our own supporters were expecting a protest to be called and a rant at venkys. We measured the risk of by pushing for pre 10am traction. We'd already primed the media and done some market intelligence to see how it would land with the media.

Experience has certainly paid off here, understanding what we did previously, what worked , what didn't, but also being cute. It was always going to end supporters 1 v 0 board, today. However their statement has probably just made it 2-0, as they are clearly on the ropes, before we've even turned up the heat.

This is our first coalition action but we are already moving with the next. This one's history. 

Edited Saturday at 01:48 by glen9mullan

[Forever Blue]

Gestede is fair game. He said we should be ‘grateful’ to the people who have destroyed the club. 

[...]

3 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

Gestede is fair game. He said we should be ‘grateful’ to the people who have destroyed the club. 

Full clearance needed.

[...]

3 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

The timing to release at 9am today was for these reasons.

1. We have to legally notify the club if a press release is imminent if we name individuals.

2. With international break just ended, we knew it be slow news day bar press conferences today, so for this to go National (we are championship so less air time) it was perfect slot 

3. We knew club had a big PR campaign on route about backing the team, whilst Gestede has interviews lined up Tuesday. We also knew the manager had his presser today and it would scew the script they intended to brief him on.

4. We knew by giving them the heads up yesteday they'd be fumbling a reaction to a potential protest. They'd called a senior leadership meeting to head this off, unbeknown to them our unity message both screwed their PR campaign and every response they thought they had covered.

5. We expected them to refuse the request to not attend, whereas in essence they now become the protest organisers.

6. We expected this stance giving us a whole week to plan for next Fridays game, a phase 2.

7. The story which has run today has played out 100% as we expected, which now makes us stronger because we have their measure.

 

We had to take a risk, i think even our own supporters were expecting a protest to be called and a rant at venkys. We measured the risk of by pushing for pre 10am traction. We'd already primed the media and done some market intelligence to see how it would land with the media.

Experience has certainly paid off here, understanding what we did previously, what worked , what didn't, but also being cute. It was always going to end supporters 1 v 0 board, today. However their statement has probably just made it 2-0, as they are clearly on the ropes, before we've even turned up the heat.

This is our first coalition action but we are already moving with the next. This one's history. 

Our Club, Our Time.

👏 

[bluebruce]

3 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

The timing to release at 9am today was for these reasons.

1. We have to legally notify the club if a press release is imminent if we name individuals.

2. With international break just ended, we knew it be slow news day bar press conferences today, so for this to go National (we are championship so less air time) it was perfect slot 

3. We knew club had a big PR campaign on route about backing the team, whilst Gestede has interviews lined up Tuesday. We also knew the manager had his presser today and it would scew the script they intended to brief him on.

4. We knew by giving them the heads up yesteday they'd be fumbling a reaction to a potential protest. They'd called a senior leadership meeting to head this off, unbeknown to them our unity message both screwed their PR campaign and every response they thought they had covered.

5. We expected them to refuse the request to not attend, whereas in essence they now become the protest organisers.

6. We expected this stance giving us a whole week to plan for next Fridays game, a phase 2.

7. The story which has run today has played out 100% as we expected, which now makes us stronger because we have their measure.

 

We had to take a risk, i think even our own supporters were expecting a protest to be called and a rant at venkys. We measured the risk of by pushing for pre 10am traction. We'd already primed the media and done some market intelligence to see how it would land with the media.

Experience has certainly paid off here, understanding what we did previously, what worked , what didn't, but also being cute. It was always going to end supporters 1 v 0 board, today. However their statement has probably just made it 2-0, as they are clearly on the ropes, before we've even turned up the heat.

This is our first coalition action but we are already moving with the next. This one's history. 

Good. Kick their arses.

I love the feeding them their own medicine element - using the same kind of unity fluff they put out themselves. Fire with fire. Burn it all down.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

4 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

The timing to release at 9am today was for these reasons.

1. We have to legally notify the club if a press release is imminent if we name individuals.

2. With international break just ended, we knew it be slow news day bar press conferences today, so for this to go National (we are championship so less air time) it was perfect slot 

3. We knew club had a big PR campaign on route about backing the team, whilst Gestede has interviews lined up Tuesday. We also knew the manager had his presser today and it would scew the script they intended to brief him on.

4. We knew by giving them the heads up yesteday they'd be fumbling a reaction to a potential protest. They'd called a senior leadership meeting to head this off, unbeknown to them our unity message both screwed their PR campaign and every response they thought they had covered.

5. We expected them to refuse the request to not attend, whereas in essence they now become the protest organisers.

6. We expected this stance giving us a whole week to plan for next Fridays game, a phase 2.

7. The story which has run today has played out 100% as we expected, which now makes us stronger because we have their measure.

 

We had to take a risk, i think even our own supporters were expecting a protest to be called and a rant at venkys. We measured the risk of by pushing for pre 10am traction. We'd already primed the media and done some market intelligence to see how it would land with the media.

Experience has certainly paid off here, understanding what we did previously, what worked , what didn't, but also being cute. It was always going to end supporters 1 v 0 board, today. However their statement has probably just made it 2-0, as they are clearly on the ropes, before we've even turned up the heat.

This is our first coalition action but we are already moving with the next. This one's history. 

I absolutely fucking love this

[wilsdenrover]

4 hours ago, glen9mullan said:

The timing to release at 9am today was for these reasons.

1. We have to legally notify the club if a press release is imminent if we name individuals.

2. With international break just ended, we knew it be slow news day bar press conferences today, so for this to go National (we are championship so less air time) it was perfect slot 

3. We knew club had a big PR campaign on route about backing the team, whilst Gestede has interviews lined up Tuesday. We also knew the manager had his presser today and it would scew the script they intended to brief him on.

4. We knew by giving them the heads up yesteday they'd be fumbling a reaction to a potential protest. They'd called a senior leadership meeting to head this off, unbeknown to them our unity message both screwed their PR campaign and every response they thought they had covered.

5. We expected them to refuse the request to not attend, whereas in essence they now become the protest organisers.

6. We expected this stance giving us a whole week to plan for next Fridays game, a phase 2.

7. The story which has run today has played out 100% as we expected, which now makes us stronger because we have their measure.

 

We had to take a risk, i think even our own supporters were expecting a protest to be called and a rant at venkys. We measured the risk of by pushing for pre 10am traction. We'd already primed the media and done some market intelligence to see how it would land with the media.

Experience has certainly paid off here, understanding what we did previously, what worked , what didn't, but also being cute. It was always going to end supporters 1 v 0 board, today. However their statement has probably just made it 2-0, as they are clearly on the ropes, before we've even turned up the heat.

This is our first coalition action but we are already moving with the next. This one's history. 

Clear and concise communication with the fans - other’s could take a lesson from you.

Thanks 👍

[Mattyblue]

We’ll see if Gestede is fair game with what the wider fanbase thinks at matches. If he’s on banners/part of chants too, then great.

If folk are scratching their heads, then it was a misstep and a distraction from the ultimate cause.

[damo100]

Absolutely fantastic what Glen Mullen and many other supporter groups have done.

Extremely well thought out and smart, even if we are still seeing the odd Venky lovers on social media.

Very clever, support the team etc, an excellent job, phase 1 (ironic) can't wait for phase 2..

I know from reading Glen's many posts, this was done to appease our diverse fanbase, in the hope we all sing from the same hymsheet instead of disagreeing with each other. 

This feels different to what's happened in the past, it feels like the end of our knightmare could be ending soon.

Glen Mullen, you are an absolute star, Rovers fans are lucky to have you.

[Ferrit]

4 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

Gestede is fair game. He said we should be ‘grateful’ to the people who have destroyed the club. 

100%, fuck Gestede.