JHRover

Loads of businesses based at Whitebirk, Shadsworth and Darwen. Must be countless people who need somewhere to stay on business trips. Clearly the focus would be on attracting fans, players and delegates before and after games and if we were to get promoted we would be looking at double our footfall with the usual tourists turning up from all over the place to watch the big clubs here. Our USP would be staying at a historic football ground, close access to the motorway and town centre, good parking, pitch views, include gym, fitness centre etc. Bolton have done well out of their hotel in their ground when there's nothing around there to do other than go shopping and plenty of other hotels down the road in Manchester. In the last 5-10 years we've seen a Travelodge at Darwen services, 2x Premier Inn, Hilton at Whitebirk, Marstons at Guide and Wetherspoons all open hotels and they keep coming. I feel we are missing out.

I'm more concerned about finishing above Cardiff than Forest. Forest will be top 6.

The club has already missed the boat on the hotel front by sitting around talking about it for years whilst all over Blackburn hotels catering for different types of clientele have sprung up left right and centre. 'No demand for that' is just another excuse to do nothing when we need to be proactive. Massive Hilton being built over at Whitebirk. Them lads at Euro Garages know a thing about business and can see a demand yet the world famous historic Blackburn Rovers couldnt run a hotel with 15,000 folk minimum coming through the doors every other Saturday. Pull the other one.

Can't see much happening to the Cricket Field end there unless it has to. Capacity wise there isn't the demand for extra, and even if there was the options are very limited with the footprint available. The only way that changes is by buying the cricket pitch and building back but again is all that hassle worth it for a couple of thousand extra? Very limited as to options with the space available. With the size of the existing concourse I can't see how that can realistically change.

I worry more about the games at Barnsley and Wigan than the others. Those will be real battles. Away games at Millwall, Derby and Cardiff very tough also against sides not far off us in the table.

Assuming we don't go up then It's only an achievement if we harness the momentum and build on it, learning from mistakes and doing everything we can to go one better next season. I'd hate people to equate top 6 as promotion, when it isnt. I'd hate people to think it was job done and no need to do any more. We would need to move quickly to strengthen and go again next year aiming to get to the top 2.

We don't need the boxes. Seats in the Riverside, particularly those near the half way line, should be premium seats and the most sought after in the stadium. Sadly because of obstructed views, lack of proper facilities and no shelter for the first 8-10 rows this takes out a huge chunk of seats that in a modern stand could be filled every week.

This will require a different side to our game than that shown at Brentford, Charlton and Fulham. They are going to be hard to break down and will probably be happy with a point. These are the ones If the play offs are a serious possibility we need to win. No ifs or buts. I keep hearing about our remaining fixtures and this lot at home are just about as kind as they get.

I'll bet now that immediately upon safe standing being legalised in the top 2 divisions the majority of clubs will take steps to install it at their grounds. Some have already started to do so and others have said that they will. The reason is that there is a large number of people who prefer it and an acceptance that it improves atmosphere. Do nothing Rovers will be one of the last to get around to it.

The topic was up for discussion some 25 years ago when Jack Walker was spending and he went as far as to have proper plans and models made. At the time the Riverside wasn't in need of replacement as it was still relatively new but it was obviously something that was being looked at. We are now 35 years or more on from when the Riverside was done last and like it or not the standards, requirements of modern day stadia have changed massively since then. It was also put together relatively cheaply at a time when the club was struggling to make ends meet and had to put something up to replace crumbling older stands. This isnt an old stand like at Highbury or Craven Cottage oozing tradition or history. It looks and feels poor. One of the biggest issues is the lack of a concourse and lack of cover for all seats. If nothing else those two things are an embarrassment and make the stand a problem that needs addressing. It's all well and good saying we should wait until promotion before doing anything. But then try to start work when in the Premier League and there is a demand for those premium view seats and we face the prospect of 12-18 months of no Riverside stand and a reduced capacity when the big boys come to town. Logistically it makes more sense to do it asap with a view to it being used in the Premier League. Like how Fulham are doing with their new stand or Bristol City. If we got up now I am almost certain our facilities would need upgrades for modern media and disabled requirements. No way would the Riverside be able to house broadcasters in its current state and I also suspect the studio in the Jack Walker might be insufficient size. In terms of disabled facilities we would be facing a deadline to provide covered raised viewing points and without a new Riverside incorporating these we would either have to rip hundreds of seats out elsewhere or build some horrible platforms in the corners like Burnley have done. The new Riverside has some essential requirements. It needs to be built about 15 meters nearer the pitch without the walkway along the front. It needs spacious concourses offering shelter. It needs to be fully covered without any obstructing columns. It needs to ensure it has adequate disabled and media facilities to meet PL requirements. As part of the job the old floodlights need removing and putting in the roof of the new stand. The old TV screen needs removing. A new one needs to be put either in the roof of the new stand or one each in the corners. The ground would feel much more enclosed without the floodlights and large distance between the current stands. Ideally it needs to be done in a matching style to the other 3 stands, admittedly that might be difficult/expensive. It should include non matchday income streams. Hotels are going up all over Blackburn so there is clearly demand and pitch views of Ewood would be better than overlooking McDonalds at Darwen services. Capacity wise it needs to be at least 4000. We don't need much more than that but any less and it would look silly. Cost wise - FFP exempt so not part of that discussion, other than income from it would count towards Ffp compliance. Billionaire owners who care about their club and never say no to a cheque? Why can't it happen? In reality I suspect we will see nothing until the Riverside becomes a hazard or we are forced into it, then we will get some half baked refurb of the existing structure.

Mixed feelings after yesterday. Would have taken a draw beforehand and with 10 minutes to go as we were hanging on. In the end it is a tough away game gone and a point out of it. In terms of other results we have come through relatively unscathed with Fulham, Brentford, Bristol City, Forest, Cardiff and Millwall all dropping points. Preston cheating again to win another penalty to turn their game around against Hull is disappointing but we need to make up ground this week with our home games. The question of whether yesterday was a good point or two dropped will become apparent this week. Do the business in our home games and we will be looking good. Drop points at home and it becomes too much to allow and too much work to do down the line.

Not sure how or why you would reduce the capacity. Whilst Ewood is too big for us at this level the club should have plans for the Premier League and growing attendances when there. Nobody actively reduces capacity. Millwall have just released plans to build a new 30,000 ground. They've never been in the Premier League and don't get close to filling their existing 20,000 ground but have plans to grow and progress. Brentford don't usually sell out Griffin Park at 12,000 capacity so in some ways a 50% increase is a lot to cover. To reduce Ewood's capacity a new Riverside would need less than the current 4,500. That would look ridiculous and would be completely out of keeping with the rest of the stadium. For me there is more to it than just bums on seats though. We need a 21st century stadium fit for the top flight and plans to have that ready for then. In an era of FFP and the implications of trying to comply with that we need more strings to our bow. We aren't going to get 25000 per week turning up and there's nothing wrong with that. But like Brentford we need to generate off the pitch and non matchday income. Hotel, gym, events, flats, offices need incorporating. Nobody can say that there isn't the demand because all those things are being built nearby. I don't think the owners have ever seen facilities and infrastructure as areas requiring anything beyond bare minimum expense and by god it shows around Ewood these days.

It isn't outside their control to have a ground in their own city. Everyone else manages it including non League clubs who would love to swap positions.

Coventry's owners are suing Wasps/Ricoh owners and have taken it to the European courts. They claim that the ground was unfairly sold to Wasps at a low price. Wasps won't allow them to play there until they drop all legal action around it. If the court action succeeds it could potentially bankrupt Wasps who could be ordered to pay millions more for the ground. The Football League were clear after the Northampton farce that Coventry had to play in the City or within a few miles of it. Quite how they're allowed to play in Birmingham I am not sure. They also supposedly had to progress building a new ground if the Ricoh wasnt viable. Hasn't happened. As ever with the League their bark is worse than their bite. They'll come with these threats on their we website but when challenged or threatened will back down, as we will see with Ffp breaking clubs who still haven't been punished. Why should Coventry be allowed in the Championship when many, many non League clubs are refused promotion for daft things like numbers of seats or size of toilets?

Coventry looking set for promotion but should be refused unless they have an adequate stadium in Coventry to play in.

Barton will hopefully be banned from football at the end of the season when his long awaited trial takes place. Convenient of course that he can carry on through to the end of the season before standing trial for assault. If I go to a football ground and assault someone I will almost certainly receive a banning order within a short period of time, even if it is my first offence. Barton is still working in football almost a year after the alleged incident took place, still hasn't stood trial and has had no restrictions imposed. Double standards.

I don't doubt that Mowbray and his team will have targets in mind and would ideally like to move for them early. Unfortunately the backward structure of him having to wait until May to fly to India to review and agree things before he goes on his family holiday results in a month of delays after the season has finished. Can't do it.

He's also 56, not 57 until late this year. Nearly right though.

I think the majority, myself included, were very frustrated with what we were seeing which seemed to be a never ending cycle of repeating similar mistakes stretching back over more than 12 months and very little suggestion that things were going to change for the better. Preston away was the nadir and I make no secret that after that particular horror show I would have waved Mowbray off with thanks and replaced him. That didn't happen, it probably was never even a possibility, but it was clear around that time including after the Barnsley win that things weren't quite right, the fans were unhappy and Mowbray wasn't comfortable. Very easy to sit here now 5 months on after things have picked up. That's the beauty of hindsight. Of course Mowbray, his confidants and some fans will do the 'i told you so' routine but that can carry on forever in football if you give it long enough. I don't subscribe to the theory that Venkys are backing some long term project. I just think they don't care or pay attention and are happy to leave Mowbray to it because they like him. They did the same with Kean and it ruined us, so thankfully this time we've got someone likeable, trustworthy who is also a decent manager and has been able to turn it around. Some people always want to try and take the highground when there's never any guarantee any particular course of action or in our case no action is going to result in an improvement. I also think this good run of form has really crept up on us and rivals - we haven't really appeared as a side taking things by storm yet we've quietly gone about becoming hard to beat. We've also managed to dispatch teams e.g. Bristol City and Charlton away in clinical fashion. We've managed to get our home form back towards what it was last season where we don't ever seem to play particularly well but don't lose games, whilst away from home we've started picking up some good wins, built upon a solid defence. Long may it continue. First few months of the season i was quite despondent about things and wasn't really enjoying games or how we were playing and wasn't seeing much sign of any progress. Since Xmas I am seeing positive signs and indicators of progress. Lets see what unfolds over the rest of the season. Problem I have is lets suppose we get to 7th or 8th come end of the season. From there we need to invest, be decisive and move quickly to plug gaps and get ready to hit the ground running next year. I don't think that is ever going to be an option under this regime which is why we usually start off slowly and by the end of the season aren't in the mix because we've been playing catch up for so long.

Lol he only joined us to work with Mowbray again. Not because he wanted to be here more, rated us more, we paid more or sees us as a better bet all around. Thank god too. With their excitement over 'beating' us to free agent Bauer and landing Scott Sinclair I wonder how hysterical they would have been had they spent a club record on Armstrong.

Start off by doing away with international breaks and that could reduce night matches by 4-5 a season.

True, credit to the owners and club for that (although we had similar under Bowyer 2013-15 before the rug was pulled out from under him). I'm not criticising Rovers here. I'm criticising certain elements who seem to enjoy creating gossip and uncertainty about our better players when there's very little evidence of anything happening. These sort of things quickly spiral out of control and become fact in the eyes of some.

Never going to get past 99 appearances ?

It's not even a story. Its spreading gossip and rumour. Not doing Rovers any favours. https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/02/20/report-suggests-newcastle-want-to-re-sign-10-goal-eight-figure-a/ Here we go. Doesn't take much to get these sort of things going. Next news is 'local press' in Blackburn have reported interest in him, even though they've just picked up a rumour from elsewhere. Then it snowballs.

It's not even a story. Its spreading gossip and rumour. Not doing Rovers any favours