As this tortuous season draws to a close and we are still wondering if it’s going to be Cambridge or Cardiff next season, I can’t help but feel a growing unease about our club. Our club? It is our club, the fans as the owners are merely temporary guardians but why does it matter so much?

It matters because it’s ours, it’s years of tradition, it represents community and it represents our families. My dad took me, I got the bug and I’ve passed it on in huge dollops to my kids. That’s why it matters, family, mates and great days, the highs the lows the despair the joy.

But this season the hard facts are beginning to bite. A poor season on the field served with huge embarrassment off the field. The breakdown of the McGuire deal on the back of the O’Brien one last season was excruciatingly painful to watch as our reputation took yet another body blow.

GB has done his best to “sort of“ address concerns and reassure a worried and desperate fanbase but the financial saga and judicial woes of the hugely wealthy but awfully absent owners pours tonnes of salt in open wounds.

Why do they persist? What is their end game? Who is accountable for this season and its embarrassing off field failures?

And what of those who run the club in their absence? Do they understand how we feel or is it the same as our incumbent government who seem blissfully or wilfully unaware of the worrying state of affairs? It feels very much that they don’t sometimes.

So moan, moan, moan and everyone is good at that but but let’s try & be constructive, looking forward what should the club do…

On the field affects off the field and vice versa. Not rocket science to those who care.

Any club that stands still goes backwards and that is exactly what we as a club are doing. People may disagree but a finger in the air test (not an exact science) will say that this description is generous at best. It is so important to retain our current fanbase firstly and then grow it.

Matchday atmosphere is something akin to a funeral and as for the Wild Rover song…just ditch it!!! If we want the future generations…and I’m talking the 15 - 24-year-olds…to come, generate atmospheres and get the place bouncing. Introduce safe standing as soon as possible and encourage passionate support and radically re-think the pricing and matchday approach. Other clubs are literally streets ahead of us in this and are reaping the rewards.

The catering leaves a lot to be desired and Ewood itself looks very very unloved which possibly reflects the attitude of the owners. All of this impacts on people’s desire to attend. We Are The Rovers (WATR - The Rovers Trust) is very important in safeguarding what we have and I know they are trying to influence lots of things for the better.

The club leaks negativity at times and this needs to change quickly. The lack of meaningful  communication to the overall fanbase at critical times is laughable.

All we ask is that the club engages with the fans properly and with honesty. The vacuum of information other than the poor admin being put out to dry provides a breeding ground for discontent. This is not the way to run a business (even though to us it’s much more than that).

1.     Please stop pricing people out and introduce realistic ST and matchday prices that reflect the economic reality of the fanbase.

2.     Create & share a compelling vision that embraces growing our fanbase, not a short-sighted view amounting to pennies received for one season ( I accept financial difficulties make this hard but surely it’s worth it as the owners are seemingly here for the long haul as Steve Waggott continually reminds us).

The club does get lots of things right it should be said and there are some fantastic people who work at the club and in all the anger and vitriolic criticism this should never be forgotten.

The purpose of writing this is for future generations…I want them to enjoy the highs, the lows and to feel the passion and despair. Right now, we as a club are in danger of losing the future.

Our message to the club is …Don't be responsible for the long term ruin and demise of the most successful town team of all time. It really matters to us.

COYB