Your calculations the other day were interesting. If we're only giving Leeds 6,800 then we're leaving 1000+ seats empty in the DE. If we set the limit at 5,500 (still more than any other Championship club offers) we'd have a large away following to cash in on whilst also not giving them the full DE (avoiding the 12 noon kick off nonsense) and would also in theory be able to keep home fans in the DE. It seems for the sake of 1,200 or so extra away fans Rovers think it is worth shutting the DE to home fans and moving kick off to noon thus reducing the number of home fans in the ground. Meanwhile if they were really so obsessed with having as many away fans as possible there are 1,000 empty seats in the DE that they could sell for £30 each - why are they being left empty?

Bruce getting some real unfair stick but not really surprising given the club he's at and the people in the media who love to stir it up. I don't really like the bloke but he's right, it is disrespectful and a symptom of the modern day trigger happy twitter/FIFA/Championship manager world we live in. Incredible stat mentioned last night - in Bruce's last 6 Championship seasons he's been promoted 4 times and reached the play-off final last year where they lost narrowly to Fulham. Should Villa be getting promoted? Arguably, given the squad they have and money they've spent, but there are another 5 or 6 who have invested heavily too. Being a 'big club' is utterly irrelevant and its amazing how many people still cannot understand that having 30,000 a week turning up means nothing in terms of winning games. They had a similar start last season and then ended up in promotion contention throughout and reached the play-off final.

Not sure on Smith. Never won promotion, never managed at a big(ish) club, had plenty of time to do it his way at Brentford which he wouldn't get at Villa. Mark Warburton did just as well if not better at Brentford, yet he doesn't seem to get a mention these days. Villa fans are delusional. Remember them moaning about Martin O'Neill when he delivered three consecutive top 6 finishes because he hadn't got them into the top 4. Never happy.

Think I'd sooner stick with Bruce to be honest. For their supposed dreadful start they're only a few points off the top 6. I'm sure he'll have them in the play-offs, at least. The next few days might see a couple of heads roll with the international break providing an opportunity to appoint a replacement. I reckon Ipswich will stick with Hurst for now but Rowett at Stoke and Neil at Preston must be on very thin ice. Those nutters at Hull might make a change soon too.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/october/ticket-news-swansea-city-a/ On sale from today, just £30 each for adults. 5 hour+ each way trip on a Tuesday night, on the red button. Do they want any travelling fans to bother or would they just prefer home season ticket holders and the tv cash?

Got to laugh at Ken Anderson's notes on Bolton's website tonight moaning about falling crowds at their place and saying he's hoping for a bumper attendance v Rovers on Saturday. Meanwhile their fans are being charged as much if not more than we are for a ticket for a match that is live on TV. Another one that must be completely out of touch with reality if he thinks folk in this corner of the world are going to queue up to pay £30-£35 for televised Championship football. Also heard we'll be selling Swansea away tickets shortly at £30 each. Tuesday night on the red button. Almost as though they're trying to persuade people not to bother going. Clubs will just count the coin and carry on. Disgusting.

It seems so, yes. For some reason we persist with being one of the last to release details.

We'd sold about 1800 this afternoon which seems to have been a surge over the last week having only sold 600 before open sale. If we could get to 2500 or more we've done alright considering pricing and tv.

Part of the appeal and allure of football, certainly in years gone by, was that you could make a late decision on the day to wander down to the ground and get on just before kick off without any hassle. The game managed quite well from 1880s through to 2000s without matchday surcharging and without ticket only stadia, when blokes could decide an hour or two before kick off to walk on and pick their stand at the last minute. Modern day gimmicks like matchday surcharges stem from one thing - control - clubs and authorities want to control everything in advance - they want to be able to plan ahead and know what is coming rather than running any risks. Same when providing database details or logging in online when buying - all part of a grand plan for everyone to be on the system and their activities registered. Places like Man Utd you can get away with it but in the 2nd tier when you've 20,000 empty seats its absolutely pointless, as even if we had 7,000 turn up at 2pm we should be able to accommodate them all easily and safely. I don't know many theatres or cinemas where you get charged more on the day for a ticket than the night before. Trains is a futile comparison as people have little to no alternative in terms of getting around the country. Attending a football match is very different.

There's 'young people' everywhere. You could equally argue that Nottingham is a far more competitive place to try and entice them in as it is a city with all sorts of forms of entertainment to occupy 'young people' on a Saturday than getting them down to the football. They are also a club that has had no success of any note for 30 years and hasn't even been in the top division for 20 years. I think Ewood looks appalling on matchdays really. Even under Gary Bowyer, when home gates were barely any bigger than they are at the moment, just having home fans in the Darwen End and BBE Upper made the whole ground feel fuller and a better atmosphere. Looking at the BBE with the upper tier shut and about 3000 in the lower tier is dreadful. Again, what sort of club responds to a promotion by bumping prices up across the board and shutting a home area down? Rather than set our stall out to increase sales massively it seems to me that a conclusion had been reached before we even started that we were aiming low by closing more areas and aiming to milk existing ticket holders whilst deterring new ones. 17% hike is not a small figure. The whole thing needs a radical re-think, because the atmosphere and ground on a matchday is tired and poor. For me it needs fresh ideas all around rather than just repeating the same old formula that we've had for 20 years. The Upper BBE is dead space. That should be promoted as some form of youth zone or something. Not a family stand but somewhere people between 15 and 25 can go for a heavily subsidised rate.

I see some similarities between Sheffield United and ourselves. Both recently promoted from League One, both seem to have spells of playing some exciting football, both suspect defensively, both teams that have been assembled on limited funds in comparison to most. Could do with 4 points from the next 2 to keep momentum going into the international break. Any less than 3 from 6 this week and I'll be disappointed. Think this one will be more difficult than Villa or Forest despite them not having the over the top media frenzy behind them.

Rather than erase him from history it is important to remember him. I'm sure him and his associates would love it if everyone forgot about him and pretended he had never happened whilst he suns himself somewhere using his ill-gotten gains. Some things can't and won't be forgotten. It's a lesson we all need to remember. Isn't it strange though how he hasn't managed to get work in the UK since Rovers. Owen Coyle, despite a succession of disastrous jobs, still manages to find work in management and in the media, yet Kean is nowhere to be seen. He had big fans like Ferguson, Moyes, Rodgers all keen to stick up for their mate who haven't offered him a job since then. Interesting. Brunei though, perfect if you've a lot of cash needs stashing away....

One suggestion would be that 1875 members get a significant reduction in the price of a ticket. Not just exemption from the surcharge or whatever it is they get. I'm not sure what benefits there are at present to membership. I am very unhappy that I've effectively been forced into getting membership and paying an extra £10 on top of my season ticket increase just to enable me to be first in the queue for away tickets. My purchasing history should ensure I get priority, not signing up to some daft 'club' which has very few worthwhile benefits. I'm not interested in going to the training ground or winning a copy of FIFA. Club Cash is no use when stock has run out in the shop by mid-September and tracksuit bottoms are costing £50. That's another way of getting around the away fan issue - offer high ticket prices but with a significant reduction if an 1875 member. That way we can continue to milk the away followings but also provide a way for home fans to get on for a reasonable price.

The cost of staff can come out of the ticket price, why does there need to be a surcharge? Do you pay more for merchandise from the shop on matchday because they've more staff behind the counter? Do I expect to pay more for a pint in the pub because its busier and they need extra bar staff on? Its all just an excuse. They don't want large numbers turning up unexpectedly at the last minute. It's too messy, too much hard work. They want everyone on the database, ticket issued and details registered well in advance. They want to know who is coming, where they are sitting. That's lovely but there are a lot of people who aren't prepared to commit to that days in advance and just want to decide on Saturday morning. Wigan offer cash turnstiles on 2 stands. Any sensible reason we can't do similar? The Darwen End was attractive to some people, I think, because it was different to the rest of the ground - it was originally promoted as being significantly different - it was significantly cheaper than other areas, had unreserved seating, standing was permitted and was promoted as a singing/dancing area. Once that shut it wasn't as simple as moving it to another area, as prices would go up in line with that and the people who went in there would have to mix with people who want their own seat and want to sit down. The only way it was going to work properly was if the club cordoned off a block of the BBE and did what Palace do with their Holmesdale End and encourage a block or blocks to stand and sing. That hasn't been done. You're right that existing fans who are used to going will usually find a way to attend, but it isn't those people we should be looking at. It is the drifters, odd gamers, part timers etc. who we should be trying to get in as easily as possible and once in trying to entice them to come back for more.

It's like the Leeds game - the sort of 'attractive' fixture that we should be earmarking as a bumper home crowd - there will be a big away following, Premier League atmosphere, with a bit of luck two sides at the right end of the table - in normal circumstances with 6,000-7,000 away fans we should be looking at 23,000+ on Ewood. What will be done to encourage as many home fans as possible to attend? 1) Game moved to a noon kick off - the result being that lots of people will not want to go as they have to travel from afar early doors, can't go for a pint beforehand, the atmosphere will be more subdued 2) Tickets will only be sold to database members - again limiting the amount of people who can buy 3) Charging category A pricing - simply too expensive for a run of the mill 2nd division game 4) No tickets on the day/£3 matchday surcharge - deters anyone from making a late decision to go 5) Ticket only admission - have to buy in advance or queue in the rain for 20 minutes to get a ticket Every single one of the above the club could do something about to make the game more appealing or accessible to home fans and yet they choose to do all the above.

None of the big grounds in this league are full. The only ones I can think of that get close are places like Brentford and for the odd game places like Millwall and Swansea but they are small grounds. Look around at the rest of the grounds and many have 10,000+ empty seats on average. It would be nice to get another 2 or 3 thousand on top of our current average as that would haul us into average crowd territory and the place would feel much fuller, but you're asking a lot to do that whilst bumping up prices by 17%, shutting home areas and putting in place ticket only admission and £3 matchday surcharges. Make it as easy as possible for people to attend, don't make them jump through hoops just to get in. The average home gate in this league is about 19000 and so we're about 5000 short of that at present.

Yeah, though they had a similarly poor start last season and ended up comfortably in the play-offs and in the race for the top 2 most of the season. Early days yet. The surprise was the Sheffield Wednesday defeat as their record at Villa Park under Bruce has been exceptional and it is very rare they lose league games there. Cornerstone of any successful side. He's falling victim to the same sickness in English football as all the 50 something old fashioned managers have - Allardyce, Moyes, Bruce, McCarthy - all shown over time to be exceptionally good at what they do yet the media-geared pro-foreign head coach route is pushing them out. No doubt about it that when/if Villa do sack him off they'll appoint some foreigner who highly likely won't do any better than he has done. Would be great if they went for someone like Dyche when they make a change but we know it won't happen.

Ipswich and Preston are examples of why FFP has completely failed. Two clubs that by most measures are 'well run' financially in that they don't spend great deals, have models of signing players on the cheap and developing them for profit, yet both are now struggling under young managers and coming under immense pressure as they sit in the bottom 3. Meanwhile the cheats who break FFP rules, the majority of which have got away with no punishment for doing so, are sitting well ahead of those clubs after spending multiple millions more this summer. Birmingham one of them. Any news on that points deduction yet?

Yes there are rules but a bit of imagination and the rules can be got around. It's all about corresponding areas - clubs cannot charge different prices for fans in the same areas of the ground. So if we decide that away fans are based downstairs in the Darwen End then we have to charge the same price as home fans in the equivalent area e.g. Blackburn End lower tier. We could charge less in the Riverside and Jack Walker. If we decided to put them in the upper tier of the Darwen End then we could charge at the equivalent rate to the Blackburn End upper tier. Bolton often put the away fans upstairs where they can charge away fans more than home fans. We decide to give away fans the cheapest or second cheapest zone of seating when we could move them to a more expensive zone if we wanted to. We're blessed because we've got plenty of space and different places to have away fans and upstairs in the Darwen End is ideal on segregation lines and is of ample capacity for most clubs. We don't do this. Either because we're trying to be nice and not upset anyone or because nobody at the club has any interest in these sort of issues and are quite happy for our fans to pay more than away fans coming to Ewood who get the freedom of the Darwen End and who pay less than home fans in the Jack Walker stand.

First goal as ever crucial. If we keep it tight and get 1-0 up I can see them struggling as they have in every other game they've conceded in this season. Their manager struggles when his sides go behind and their fans will get very restless too. If they go ahead then we'll struggle as our game plan will be out of the window and we don't look like a side that has the capacity to come from behind away from home. We need to go with no fear and not pay them too much respect although we've already had it this week about what a good side they are and how they'll get going eventually. Wigan went there and won 3-0 not long ago and I doubt Cook was telling their players what a good side Stoke were. A point away will be a decent result and will keep us ticking over however we could do with pulling a win out of the bag rather than keep taking draws. A point here will make it 3 from 3 which 90 minutes into the Villa game would have been a disappointing return.

If they go up they'll have to move to a new ground in the summer as they won't be allowed in the Premier League at Griffin Park. As it stands they are due to move into a new 17,000 seat ground in 2020.

So about 850 short of the stretch target, although if we get say 350 half season tickets sold then we're about 500 short and at 10,000 season tickets. I don't actually think that is too bad all things considered, e.g. the quite significant price hike. There's only so far you can push season ticket holders at this level in pursuit of increased revenues. I don't expect the club to subsidise cheap tickets as they were 10 years ago in the Premier League, but we're past that point - we no longer have cheap season tickets, we've got competitively priced tickets where some clubs are more expensive and others are cheaper. If revenues are the concern then the club has to do more from a sponsorship/commercial point of view. Stock in the club shop running out in mid-September = unacceptable. More sponsors needed although at least it seems efforts are being put in on that front, the question now is whether these deals being struck with companies like Watson Ramsbottom, 10 Bet and Totally Wicked are lucrative going rate sponsorships or are we missing out on what other clubs get? Interesting going to Derby on Tuesday and I look around their stadium and they are awash with large companies sponsoring them. Their digital boards have companies like Greggs advertising, Bavaria beer, Toyota - large national/international brands. I don't understand how/why Derby can attract such sponsors and we cannot. Greggs have 3-4 shops in Blackburn alone. Very few companies based at Guide, Whitebirk or Darwen have sponsorship in place at Rovers. More to be done.

Ultimately though it comes down to investment not crowds, although it could be argued that those clubs that attract the rich benefactors are usually those with bigger crowds or potential for bigger crowds. Bournemouth/Watford/Fulham the sort of clubs that don't get big crowds yet they chucked a fair bit of money at it and succeeded. Bolton/Preston have no money or at least owners who won't put serious money into buying decent players so will likely struggle irrespective of whether 10,000 or 15,000 turn up to watch. Brentford very much a special case as their model is so unique that they manage to improve and recruit exceptionally well despite having their best players poached each year. Suppose we're sort of the middle ground. Our owners won't spend on the level some will, yet it seems they have more ability or willingness to spend than people like Anderson at Bolton, Hemmings at Preston or whoever is running Wigan these days. I don't know whether we should be grateful for that or not. I'd like to think had we done what PNE did last season and gone very close to the play-offs that Venkys would have chucked some money the manager's way to try and go one better this season but it seems for whatever reason that hasn't happened at PNE. Hemmings is another 'billionaire' on paper yet it seems most of his wealth is tied up in property etc. He's also knocking on in his 80s so he and his family probably have one eye on what is going to happen after he goes. Davies at Bolton and Whelan at Wigan and even ourselves with the wretched Walkers - examples where popular owners when they pass away or prepare to do their families aren't as keen on funding the football club afterwards.

They won a solitary FA Cup in 1938, other than that their other 3 major trophies were way back in the first couple of years of the Football League.

Seems to be a bit of controversy around their proposed new training ground at Ingol. They went through a very public and drawn out planning process and rallied supporters behind them to get permission to build over the golf club there with a new training ground and hundreds of new houses yet nothing seems to have happened since. The club insist that things are progressing and it will get built but one or two are suggesting that the priority is on getting the lucrative housing built. I don't see them as a good side. Perhaps not a bottom 3 side but they certainly overachieved last year in going close to the play-offs and haven't really looked like they've strengthened since then. Not sure Neil is as good a manager as some think - he got off to a flyer at Norwich and took them up but the longer he was there the worse they got and again at Preston he inherited a decent side from Grayson, built on that and now they seem to be in a decline.