And last season it was 'missing Dack, Evans, Cunningham etc' as the standard excuses. There is enough in this squad still to fashion a team to get results in games like today and previous ones. Whoever is in we still have all too often the same poor patterns of play, same mistakes by the same people who are often the 1st on the team sheet and worst of all the lack tempo and having a go. In short it's the same old same old, all clubs have to roll with the punches but we always seem to ready with the standard excuses. As others have said fine if you want to settle for midtable again but no good if you are set on going places. The vibe again is the former not the latter but there's always next week and the week after and all that. We have good absentees but the squad is there now, is it being used correctly even in times of difficulty ? I'm not so sure.

That is what really annoyed me about yesterday. Rothwell apart, there seemed to be no real desire or urgency until Luton scored. It's as if the players and Mowbray were happy to sit there at 0 0 for 90 minutes. We can list the excuses - injuries , covid, referee etc but there is simply no excuse for continued lacklustre performances.. We had 11 players on the pitch who were more than capable than beating the 11 from Luton but we didn't really look interested. Unacceptable. Some people saying it's a decent draw because Luton are above is in the league - well they really shouldn't be. When Mowbray took over they were in league 2 and have spent a fraction of the transfer fees and wages that we have since then. We should be out of sight compared to Luton by now. According to 'transfermarket, our squad is worth £42 M to their £14 M. Slow build my arse! The problem is endemic. Venky's have no interest, Mowbray and Waggott on easy street, and under no pressure the players are coasting. Not surprising though really - it's been like that for 10 years - no pride in the club or the shirt.. Depressing indeed.

I observed Venus' remonstrations with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. Pleasure because I was happy that someone in the Rovers ranks was standing up and taking issue with a diabolical refereeing performance. Looking at the dugout you'd be forgiven for thinking today was some sort of pre season friendly such was the lack of presence. I even began to question if Mowbray was even there. It was good to see someone taking issue with things. Embarrassment because that is the second time in recent months that we have gone to Luton with all the talk pre match and in the end not come away with a win and look rather silly whinging about things rather than just delivering the goods on the pitch. A draw was a fair result on the balance of play. If you're happy with a draw at Luton then you'll be happy with mid table rather than promotion. Enjoy it. If you want promotion then today is another 2 points dropped and further off the pack. Really no more to it than that.

10/10. This underachieving has been going on for the best part of ten years now. Don't anybody mention the promotion, we out skilled teams then but the number of games were we out enthused our opponents you could count on the fingers of one hand. I've lost count of how many times I've said this but until we have a group of players who win more tackles, second balls, interceptions, contested headers, run further etc that our opponents we'll lose as many games as we win. There's no such thing as a free lunch in football, the team that wants it most usually gets most out of the game.

They will ONLY sack him if he manages to land us in the bottom 3 .... He’s surrounded himself with Yes Men .. From the useless coaching team to the Director .. He sings Waggot songs and they all stringing along the Venkys .... Just doesn’t feel like a normal club... but as Mowbray says we will bag the point V the mighty Luton and move on .... and on .. and on ...

TM is quoted as saying "they are a difficult side to play against, they are very well organised." I'm left wondering what he expects? Being organised might be foreign to him but its a starting point for managers isn't it? You build on that.

Barca are 11th in La Liga this season so in a way we are playing like Barcelona ?

Yes the budget comparers tend to blank out that when the boot is on the other foot although i'm not a big believer in it for one off games anyway. Like you say 11 v 11 and it often comes down to who wants it most and who is prepared to go the extra mile as often as they can not just when the backs are against the wall. It's clearly evident at Ewood how comfortable everything is when there are viable excuses to hide behind before a ball is even kicked. After a two week break they should be champing at the bit lets get down there get 3 points in that bag if possible. No lets go and tip tap about instead a draw is a draw and if we lose well it's down to covid and injuries. Shrug the shoulders, that's life. Can't stand that attitude although i don't expect to win every game i expect those selected to have a real good go. They'll need to up the ante against the knobbers that's for sure.

He's way too cautious. As others have said, starting Trybull and Johnson in central midfield does not give us the opportunity to quickly release our forwards. Always over-thinks it, always over-rates the opposition. Let's play to our strengths rather than our opponents.

About two seasons ago after the PNE away game. It was clear then Mowbray wasn’t up to it.

A very good summary of Rovers in 2020, giving away a needless soft goal, flattering to deceive, fairly disjointed and ultimately found shifting the attention away from our own failings by blaming officials. The decisions at the end were undoubtedly questionable, the Brereton one to be honest he was looking for as he often does but the Armstrong one seemed a definite foul, but lets not fuel a narrative that it cost us the game. We should have had a free kick, I cant remember us scoring a free kick in the League since the Mulgrew days so the chances of getting a winner would have been a small, and a red card at that point would have been fairly immaterial. We drew because we didnt play very well, because we conceded a stupid goal, because we didnt play particularly well and we didnt create many clear cut chances. Many players again would struggle to get beyond maybe a 5 or 6 out of 10. That is now us 7 points away from the play offs, we cant accumulate points at a top 6 rate without having over 2 wins worth of points to make up just to catch up. We are loitering in the bottom half yet there is this illogical assumption that we are not far off going on a sudden and uncharacteristic run of wins. Performance wise, Kaminski again was very comfortable in goal. Douglas I thought looked a huge upgrade on Bell, Rankin Costello on the other hand was poor in both directions and although his injury is unwelcome, Nyambe is the better right back without doubt. Lenihan was fine I though, Wharton can defend although he is really poor on the ball and there were once or twice that it played us into danger. The midfield balance was all wrong, Trybull is so ponderous on the ball and didnt impress in a position he doesnt suit. Johnson wasnt particularly influential and his booking was totally needless and costly. Rothwell tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck but mainly it came to nothing, same with Brereton. Elliott was really poor I thought and Armstrong totally anonymous. Gallagher did well to sneak in to get a goal from a clever Douglas knock down. I just find it frustrating, we dont seem to be going anywhere, I cant shake this feeling of stagnation, I question both the manager and the players and for me blaming the referee is just a smokescreen and an easy place to shift blame to cover our own failings.

We've played 7 decent teams in the league and not beaten a single one. Time for TM ro jog on. I have no faith in the owners choosing a better manager given their attachments to an agency, but even so I think that TM has really run his course. He's run out of ideas, is getting a squad to underperform and still has a shed load of the same mistakes being made. This is a manager on a down and we need to get rid before he takes us with him.

So how long does he get? Should he be allowed to ruin yet another season or should someone else be given the chance to try and salvage something out of it? If the latter we need to be making the change in no more than four or five games time imo.

Think of it as Limbo psychology. All very sad lol..... Every one of their neighbours and local rivals have tasted top-flight glory in recent years. There are PNE fans in their late 60's, who have never seen their team play a single game in the top flight. The likes of Carlisle, Notts County, Oxford, Bournemouth, Wigan, Barnsley, Bradford, Swindon have all been there since PNE.

We used to hear all the same tripe from Dingles, then they actually made the promised land and now they struggle to sell 18,000 home seats.

Preston fans remind me of men with short man/dick syndrome, unhappy with their small height and it shows, bitter and jealous towards their rivals they have so much to try and prove. Believe me it would upset them much more if they lost then it would us. However it's always beautiful to silence cocky little jack Russells up.

Always going to be ‘what ifs’ with Mowbray in charge I’m afraid. Right now the focus is on Dack and Travis. In the new year it’ll be something else. I’d wager we’ll coninue plodding along exactly where we are right now under Mowbray. No huge danger of doing down but we won’t lay a glove on challenging for the top 6.

Pure conjecture Philip. If's, buts and maybes. The fact is we are just not kicking on as many thought we would. Mid table is where the level of Mowbrays managerial ability tells me where we should be. He is Mr Average, good runs, bad runs interspersed with really good play and poor play with very little consistency. After seven turgid years of that lot many thought he is just what we needed and that could well be true of his first couple of years but when we should be kicking on we are still stuck in the long grass. I just want better for my club.

Technically he does start every excuse with something like we’re not making excuses BUT... makes excuses.

Does anyone know when the next Zoom chat or whatever will occur for the Fans Forum? I'd love to know when the current commercial deal ends and if there are plans to change it. Are they aware how generic their offering is and how much more money they could take in if anything looked different to the stuff they sell in Matalan (unfair on Matalan; they do decent shirts)? The last time I had to spend my club cash it took me half an hour to find anything on their site even slightly appealing (in the end, I went for several bags of jelly babies, some cola bottles and a scarf which I got rid of without ever wearing). Every single t shirt was beige or navy dreariness with a crest attached. Why are blue and white halves such a rarity on our merchandise?! The pictures below illustrate the point. I'm partial so obviously picked out stuff to back my view but it is hard to find something genuinely attractive. I know that I could e-mail them myself but I also know that I would get a generic response: "We at Blackburn Rovers remain committed to providing our supporters with an attractive range of items" You can hear the person yawning as they type it...

You got lucky there Bazza, god bless your old man!

I'm 77. ? I'm a Preston boy and my mother and all her family, my grandad, uncles and cousins, were North Enders. I remember them being promoted from Div 2 and finishing runners-up in Div 1 the following season ( I think). They had a fabulous team which contained Tom Finney, Willie Cunningham and Tommy Docherty among others. They drew big crowds then, a lot coming down from Lancaster and Morecambe areas. Fortunately for me my dad was a Rover and was taking me to Ewood to watch a struggling second division side playing in blue and white quarters. This was just before we brought in Langton, Quigley, Kelly and Briggs. After that it got a lot better. I had a friend, Bob Plunkett. I would go to his house on a Saturday afternoon to see if he would come and play out. His mum always said, "He's gone on't North End". I never learned. No doubt he would have come to my house on other Saturday afternoons to be told I'd gone to the Rovers.

We could lose 10-0 and it would be business as usual down at Ewood on Wednesday morning.

Go back to 4-4-2. Make the back four and midfield four solid, with stopping the opposition a priority to all of them. Heck that should be any average teams plan. When you are continually exposing the defence it’s as much as you can do. Go back to basics. We are currently trying to be Barcelona and it’s not working.

Says more about your judgement that it does anything about Mowbray.

Yes sleeping giant syndrome that's a good one for them iv'e heard it a few times, like a mini Sunderland are Preston. If we did what Rovers did we'd be getting 30k plus every game. Massive catchment area, biggest team in Lancashire a real sleep giant not like Rovers or Bolton ! Comatose dwarf more like.

tbf to preston,they hav`nt had much to cheer about since the 1960`s,it`s not surprising they are bitter and angry,seen blackpool,rovers,burnley and bolton all reach the top flight,while they languish in their own sad world of " we are a sleeping giant syndrome",i have no dislike for pne,i don`t really consider them a rival

Verdict: The quest for hard evidence in Rovers' top six bid | Lancashire Telegraph There isn't any hard evidence...but it's nice to see Sharpe finally raising the issue. Mowbray's got away with baseless 'Top 6' talk for over 12 months now.

Who is our key midfield player? Holtby? Travis? Only the other day when he was out injured it was Rothwell now because he is back its someone else. Lenihan is a first choice centre half and he is not injured and it can't be a surprise to anyone that Ayala and Williams are injured their careers the last few years have been littered with injuries. As for Dack he has been missing for 11 months so it was hardly a surprise that he was missing and we have had two windows to find an alternative to him

Presuming you mean on Ben at the end. Definite foul but probably just outside the area. The unpunished foul on Arma just before was a rugby tackle. Still pinning this droped 2 points on Mowbray. So many things wrong with the team set up irrespective of unavailabilities.

By the river surely?!!

I think we have got to stop defending Mowbray at all costs and get real. Teams will miss players, theres 35 games left, Mowbray scraped the barrell on deadline day and we are left lightweight in central midfield and the defence is still shit. What's the point, might aswell guve someone else a go. Pearson in Mowbray out

Rovers Ladies will face Coventry United at the fantastically named Butts Park Arena tomorrow (Sunday, 22nd November) at 2pm, Last Sunday, Coventry lost 9-1 v the newly full-time Leicester City & lost 4-0 in the Conti Cup v Sheff Utd midweek. Last season we drew against them twice (one of them was the game Rovers Ladies played at Ewood Park). If Rovers win, they will go up to 5th (of 11) in the League. Coventry United will be providing a livestream of the game on their Youtube channel that can be found here:-

There comes a time when the players get tired of the same old voice. I think that time is now for Rovers.

If we were to do any damage to the top 6 then Mowbray should of done it by now. Had more than enough chances. The one season where we have a half decent squad he’s still struggling! We need a new face in. I guarantee we would see the best from most of the players.

Wasn't a spectacle, but it happens every single time after internationals and not sure why i ever expect any different. Many poor games. Glad to see Brereton giving it both barrels to the ref, he would never have done that last season and just accepted it with a wimper . The coverage was so crap I lost interest in parts. Must do better on Tuesday, hopefully we will without their cup final fans in attendance.

At the end of the transfer window i was thinking finally we have a side to challenge for promotion,i forgot for a minute we had a terrible manager,i should have realised we have no chance of promotion with this manger in charge.Another season over by the end of Feb stuck in midtable is what we have to look forward too.then we'll get the Mowbray apologists saying oh we got 1 more point than last year,we are making progress.

I don't understand why Mowbray has to speak to the owners about new contract extensions for current players who are real assets. Surely he and Waggott control the budget for the playing side and they should be able to sit down with the players representatives and start negotiations. I wonder if he spoke to them about the extensions that some of the dead wood were given over the summer?

No angst for me. I stopped going to Ewood when Anderson took over. Can't wait to return when we don't have casual owners

I'd say it was divided into 2 halves - you can't see the shirt from both sides at the same time after all. Is the Bristol Rovers shirt divided into eighths? It's been done to death but still splits the fans! Back to PNE anyway. About time we beat them

Put the Jerusalem mug design on a shirt and take my money!

I'd buy the footballtown stuff any day but they're slim-fit and, well, I'm not... It does seem like the stock response at Rovers is: "We don't currently do that." or "We no longer stock that.". No thought or ingenuity and no-one willing to push themselves. The same attitude shows itself when cleaning up the surrounding area or initiatives to attract fans are suggested. Surely a little market research would tell them that fans want something a little different with a unique, Rovers look as per the unofficial sites mentioned. This site rarely goes a page without a bitter argument starting but each reply here seems to give the same desire. FORGET GROVELLING IN THE TELEGRAPH. GIVE US SOMETHING WORTH BUYING AND WE WILL GIVE YOU OUR MONEY!

On the Rovers Radio programme yesterday it was said that Ribiero had approached Rovers to supply replicas of the kits from the 80's (the yellow one with blue pinstripes I presume?) and Rovers had turned them down. That would sell in big numbers surely? I don't buy kits normally but I'd buy that.

Kaminski Nyambe - lenihan - wharton - douglas Holtby - Trybull - Rothwell Elliott Armstrong brereton Subs: pears, carter, bell, davenport, downing, buckley, dolan, gallagher, chapman There will be a lot of calls to drop Trybull after Saturday but I think he will be a good player for us so long as he is the defensive midfielder, he isnt one of the wide centre mids at all

I'm not sure he's up for it at the moment. His best pal died recently and he must still be in bits

One year PL, one year top in the Championship. rinse and repeat. I could take that as a Slow Build as I am sure that Norwich after paying off debts accrued will reinvest properly when timing is right. They have reasonably rich owners but nowhere near the wealth of our Billionaires so chose caution and not a PL investment gamble to stay up. It working out fine ... so far, and a damn sight better than our feck up. The Jam Today approach when there is actually jam on the table is ok.

Those were the days

Lots of teams suffering with injuries and Covid issues in the Championship. Bristol City had to shut their training ground and only re-opened on Thursday. They had quite a few staff and players test positive, including the manager. As he said though, 'no excuses'. That's where he differs from Mowbray.

On the money IMHO.

I feel like this list should be made up of: 1x GK (must be a given, in any teams list) 1x Def 1x Mid 1x Att And then the final place for a player in any position you see fit. Its a fitting testament to Mowbrays time here that a few people are picking 3x attackers and no defenders.