Says a lot about the direction of the club and what has happened in the last 6 months that weve gone from 7th to being happy about other results because teams might try harder against teams in order to keep us up. Best player sold, captain loaned out, no funds from the owners and an ambitious manager quitting and replaced by one that seems out of his depth. Thanks Venkys.

Just get the fucking job done, please. For once this season, just turn up when needed and win a fucking game of football. Can't wait for this miserable season to be over.

Maybe its just me, but I have a real sense this season, that the club have gone back 12yrs on and off the pitch. I haven't been to a game since Wharton was sold and JDT walked and I have no intention of attending anytime soon, they can shove the season tickets where the sun doesn't shine to be frank. In my opinion we made JDT's position untenable, after what can only be described as a superb first season. He came in during the summer, after many managers had turned us down, and seemingly pulled rabbits out of hats week in week out. We hit last summer with a real sense of optimism, the club able to push on, the football excellent at times and then the bombshell that our bent owners are in court and funds are pulled, the taps turned off, coincidence? or just criminality? Either way the club suffers, the fans suffer and its back to 2012 all over again. Selling Adam Wharton this season was absolutely criminal, they couldn't wait to get the lad out of the door. Here we have a Rovers fan playing for his boyhood club, a future England star, sold from under the managers nose as soon as a bid came in. I don't care about administration, I don't care if we needed the money, they sold at the first opportunity that arose, that is the point here. Then JDT walks, lied to again by owners who promise so much, yet deliver so little and its back to square one, the best manager in 12yrs and they've bolloxed it up. Then on the back of that we have the players, our wonderful players who put us in the position, telling the fans they need more backing, more people coming through the gates, talk about no bloody accountability of self-awareness! Needless to say, our season ticket money will be staying in the bank, I doubt I'll go again until these owners leave, but when they do, we have 5 season tickets waiting to be bought, the clock is ticking for these abhorrent owners.

Stay up or go down, for me, Eustace has to go. Simply don't think he's up to it. Young and upcoming - no, the guy's in his mid forties with a track record of 3 years at Kidderminster, caretaker spell at QPR and a brief spell at Brum until it seems the owners concluded he wasn't the man to deliver their ambitions. So, in my book, Eustace has achieved very little as a manager, is relatively inexperienced and has certainly not been 'in demand' and for that there would have to be reasons why. I think his league record with Rovers is very, very poor and we go into our last game still with a real risk of relegation and hoping and praying results go our way in other games. To average less than a point a game over the course of a season will get you relegated. What a state of affairs. Eustace's record P15 W2 D8 L5 F13 (5 of which came in 1 game) A18 P14 Eustace's home record P7 W0 D5 L2 F4 A7 P5 At home, we have failed to score in 3 out of our 7 games (and 4 games out of 8 away) and his home record includes games against teams of the ilk of Owls, Plymouth, QPR and Millwall - just one win against any of those teams and we would now be safe. Think his game management yesterday when a fatigued Coventry went down to 10 men for 40 minutes (including added time) was negative, unimaginative and potentially catastrophic with our failure to get a win. IMO, he's a 'yes man' (unlike JDT) who causes no ripples in the boardroom, is weak and therefore a player's dream, is negative and also tactically inept. I also find his interviews cringeworthy, IMO, full of cliches, platitudes and bullsh1t. Sadly, no matter what league we are in next season, I think Eustace will remain in charge. If we are fortunate enough to stay up then I think relegation will be nailed on with Eustace, if we go down, think we will be no better than mid table in League 1. As one of the Apollo 13 astronauts said 'Houston, 'we have a problem'.

Pears - didn’t chuck one in huzzah. Now clear off Brittain - taken a real dislike to this fella, not fit to lace Heaton’s or Brannigan’s boots. Eff off. Carter - the only defender who makes a forward worry what might happen if he traps the ball. Mcfad - a worthy past it successor to MacNamee, a real captain’s performance. Hyam - worst captain in our history. Only not a spineless disaster when he has no-one to mark and got his dad beside him to tell him what to do. Get rid. Pickering - too timid to play wing, too slow to play back. Cheerio. JRC - I like him as the extra attacking midfielder, not convinced by him being the attacking midfielder. Play him in a 3. Tronstadt - Automatic pick Dolan - when he plays 1/2 touch he can be really effective, once the triple salko’s start he’s Sunday league. Sammy - start carving the statue Gally - oh, there’s the statue. Sayanora, finally.

Sorry folks, while DE is speaking truth here, I added a word filter into the forum about 2 years ago when @chaddyrovers kept turbo posting we should sign "Jay $tansfield" so that every time he said "Jay $tansfield", it automatically changed his post to "Luca Toni". I found it very funny.

Tells you alot when you can try and skew the numbers to defend him by adding on a game he wasnt in charge of and dismissing the cup exit and you still only get to 3 wins in 16. Its not rocket science, against a 10 men with no interest in attacking, you can lose one of the 3 centre backs for a more attacking player. At the end of the day, he hasnt had the easiest of hands but has anyone really seen much to suggest that he can take us forward? His record of wins and points is horrendous and he has massively eaten into the healthy buffer above relegation.

Great post - but I just worry, and sorry to be so pessimistic and potentially piss on any optimism you may have, that I feel this is a step too far for most. It's all about hope, and lack of it. When we went down under Mowbray, there was a core of players you could get behind, and Mowbray seemed a steady hand and offered a glimmer of normality, both on and off the pitch. We signed Dack, and the team regained an identity. The League One season was fantastic for many people under 30 who missed the glory days in the 90s - and it did what most relegations do, the cliche of galvanising a club. There were still issues but it felt like a small reset and things could start to improve, especially the relationship between board and fans, not just the usual case of success sweeping issues under the carpet, but a real chance to rebuild. When we went down under Brian Kidd there was trust in the board and the owners that they'd guide us through it and make sensible footballing decisions, which they did. I actual miss the days, when for example, we were losing at home to Stockport in the league cup in 1996, stood in the BBE chanting "we want Harford out" that the board would go away and listen to the fans and do the right thing, that fans and board were on the same level. This is what is getting to supporters at the minute - that whatever they do, it doesn't matter, there's not that connection any more. The only way to move onwards, and to be honest a total pipe dream, is for the Venkys to leave, magically write the debt off, and we get new, sensible owners who are sympathetic to the area, and who can put a pro-active board in place, whatever division we are in. It pains me that the Wanderers are doing an amazing job, and getting 15,000 season tickets, it's madness. Of course I don't want administration, I don't want job losses, and the more we struggle the harder and harder it will get, but even in League Two with a small fanbase, with the right owners and some clear messaging and direction, you'd get that siege mentality that would make matchdays a passionate affair again. I get we need to reduce expenditure, and I get we need to become a selling club to survive in the current climate - but it seems whatever new model or scenario we set ourselves up for, there's issues, and it just wears away at us fans, wherever we turn we just can't seem to make anything work: - we try and be proactive, hire a DoF, sign an ambitious coach and start to develop a model (JDT, Lambert) - but the owners turn the taps off and there's a clear divide behind the scenes. Fans see an identity and a plan and get behind it, but there's that nagging feeling it'll be short-lived, so what's the point? - we, as supporters, get our heads round that our youth is our "identity", and except that the team might struggle but we'll be watching our "own" play week in and week out, and we can get behind that and support them, but we then sell them off before we have a chance to actually watch them grow in our side, the money goes into general admin, we don't see it reinvested. I get it - but it's still sad to see, it's something else you can't get excited about. - we hire a steady hand in Mowbray, but let a number of transfer windows come to nothing even when the team are riding high, and let a bad situation drag on and fester for too long causing the club to stagnate. - we go from a "solid" if old-fashioned recruitment setup under TM, a network of mates basically, but it worked, seemingly using his connections to sign great loans and gems from the lower leagues, giving the fans trust and excitement in any new signings, to now seemingly scraping the barrel of Europe. And if we do get the basics done, the i's dotted, and get the forms sent off in time, if we do actually sign players, they are literally the bottom of the list - whilst other teams seem to steadily strengthen and sign lads who can out-fight us and who are better at a rough and tumble scrap in the Championship. So now the fans immediately doubt any new signings. When was the last time we got excited about a sub coming on and changing the game? When was the last time you saw a new signing on the bench and couldn't wait to see him get a run out, that roar from the BBE when he comes on the pitch? I've totally forgotten that feeling. The way the ground fell silent and emptied after the Pears calamity on Sunday, that's the feeling I get - it's total apathy, because we just can't see a way out, or a way to turn. There was time in the game to lift the team and a "normal" scenario would see team and fans as one trying to claw back some respect, but because of this gradual dumbing down of the squad, you know what's coming - we don't have the players to perform under pressure. Couple with everything off the pitch, it's like we've been neutered as a fan base. We never come from behind, we never score late goals, this stuff is so telling, it really means something - there's a reason why Utd in the 90s kept scoring late goals, the whole "Fergie time" aspect, the whole place had belief. As someone else put it better than I could, we've got billionaire owners yet need to sell the crown jewels to keep the lights on. We're at a point of complete stagnation. So what's the model under Eustace, I presume treading water from one season to the next? Bringing on youth and selling for a profit I presume, while the mysterious 20m leaves each year. Normally I would give him the benefit of the doubt, based on a normal scenario of him being allowed to sign his own players, just to see if he can pick a player and build a team - but who knows what our transfer policy is now, it's all up in the air. Apologies for the long winded rant.

It will take more than cheap tickets to entice people back. There also has to be something to believe in, some ambition, someting to hope for. We have none of this with this lot in charge.

I've seen enough to think that JE isn't the man.

Because he has taken us backwards since he came in.

I don't disagree on JDT's latter games but, come on, 14 points from 15 games in Eustace's tenure is absolutely pitiful.

Sad news re Scott Wharton…a bad knee injury ( ACL plus other issues ) a long term recovery. I wish him all the best. He often thinks he’s Bobby Moore ..but he’s an honest lad who plays for the shirt…he will be missed .

When you turn your first team squad into a development squad at Championship level with the only aim to stay up and sell players then who can be surprised this is where it leads ? You reap what you sow and the main issue has been individual bad mistakes and the only thing as consistent as that is Sammies goals. They are the only thing that has kept us from complete disaster up until now and along the way one or two other senior pros who have been trying to carry the can have dropped off badly down to the level this stupid new 'model' has taken us. All alright upstairs though because we've raked in 25 million in sales to rescue the owners blushes so the execs are blue eyed boys in India, bonuses and hampers all round. Downgrade continues in summer one way or another.

I know how he felt. However he, like several of our lot, has no right to be too critical bearing in mind how many times he has lost possession, missed tackles and wasted attacking positions, this season. Pears' errors were atrocious, but the lack of quality, focus and fight goes well beyond the goalkeeper in this team.

Yep another day of watching a rowdy DE full of big city day trippers on piss enjoying their big day out at Ewood ! From another club reborn from the doldrums whilst we trudge aimlessly on providing a gravy train and nest egg for a few useless disconnected individuals in head office. But hey why aren't there 20k in home sections cheering from the rooftops this team who've let us down for 3/4 of the season ?

As regards the game, I just wish we had more than one player who had even the slightest idea about how to shoot. I also wish we had a bench with at least forward on it to come on and try to change things up top (Telalovic isn't that). But my post is mostly about why I wasn't in my usual seat. In my Blackburn school, the overwhelming majority of football-mad children (seriously obsessed) are Liverpool or Utd fans with the odd City fan. During a recent poll as part of a computing database lesson, I was the only one in the whole class to show a preference for Rovers (10 for Liverpool, 14 for Utd, the rest for "whoever Ronaldo plays for"). They have absolutely no clue about the subtleties of being a supporter beyond saying, "We're better than you!". The 'die-hard' Liverpool kids have honestly never heard of YNWA and the City boy freely admitted he didn't actually care about City at all but Haaland was amazing. I say this because all that matters is the glory-hunting, fashionable aspect of this. Their entire football knowledge comes from online or on Sky beyond break-time kickabouts. Matchday visits are all but unheard of for any of them. Which brings us to the Ewood Express... At no point in my entire childhood was I EVER as excited to watch a game as the 6-11 year old kids I took today (or against Plymouth the other month). Starting their own chants, joining in with the singers below (up to a point as they're good, naiive kids who don't swear), willing Rovers on. They loved it (one lad did ask where the commentary and spider-cam was). Ignore the EDL-supporting, knuckle-dragging cretins on Twitter moaning about Islam. Kids of every background absolutely had the time of their lives today. The desire to support their local team is bubbling under. They want to go again . It won't matter though. Until we have a Premier League team, they will always choose the big city reds and Rovers will be a 2nd club like we might have a patronising fondness for little Accy Stanley. They all ask me about Rovers every Monday like, "Poor old Sir needs comforting; let's show some solidarity." The older generations' apathy (one parent actually asked me at pick-up what stadium we were going to and whether it was a game even though he'd signed up and paid the £8) is NOT present in the kids and this lot would definitely start attending in ten years time IF we had the right 'product' but they will not stop the fanboy/girling for CR7 or Salah in favour of Sam bloody Gallagher. Yasir's work is for nothing without actual success.

Whatever happens next Saturday, Eustace simply has to go. Not a single home win since he took charge, and we've never really looked like getting one either. We are set up to try and get a 0-0 every game and never look like scoring. It's appalling. Yes, we have very poor players but so do QPR and Sheff W, but their managers have transformed them.

We had a very short period where we had a manager who would question the status quo. Publicly call out false promises and try to hold those responsible to account. Those on the gravy train (almost everyone high up at Rovers), are obviously delighted with the current predicament of yes man with no talent, skill, CV, evidence of success, evidence of decent football, evidence of wanting to know our town, region or club churning away shit performances along as it keeps all those guys out the limelight. Of course Waggott prefers this than JDT mocking his lies about our leased coach/bus. Of course the shadow man prefers this to JDT saying budgets have been cut and he was fed lies etc. Just all topping up their pensions with no shits given to Rovers. When we beat Leeds Eustsces celebrations were straight to the box behind him (lots of managers do that in fairness). But, If anyone cared for the club they’d be to fans / players / staff not to your boss.

Regardless of what happens next weekend, (and on the balance of probabilities we'll most likely just have enough) - this guy clearly ain't good enough to take us forward. Set up not to lose against a knackered team, at home, with owt to play for, when we need the win.

I’m sorry but whatever you think of Eustace, he’s done nothing to warrant a red card

Really, really, really? Think his record with Rovers is dire. This is a manager who has failed to win a single home game in the league including games against QPR, Plymouth, Millwall and the Owls. IMO, a weak, negative and cliche ridden bullshitter.

They’re down to ten men, keep 5 at the back, sound. What a shithead Eustace is.

I'll be happy if I never see Sam Gallagher in a Rovers shirt again.

In the Supporter Consultation meetings (whatever happened to them) there was quite often some direct questioning of Rovers officials so Waggott came up with a diversionary tactic. He brought Mowbray along to at least two and he pretty much tried to take the floor whilst regaling us with stories of Middlesbrough past. It didn't really work but gives you an insight into how Waggott works. He doesn't like confrontation and likes to have a human shield which, by the way insults our intelligence. He certainly wasn't comfortable with Tomasson having digs at him and was fearful he would go full blown anarchist when he was stopped from speaking to the press. It's how Waggott works. Big wage, little responsibility.

I quite often come on here to get a crumb of comfort, reading what other fans have to say and knowing that we go though things as a collective, rather than wallowing in some of the crazy decisions being made at the club. The two posts on the previous page made by Vyeo and JH Rover are both absolutely brilliant and sum up an awful lot of what I also feel. Despite things looking very grim right now and our immediate future being perilous, having people on here sharing the pain and caring so much about the club, does still give me hope. As individual fans, we are pretty powerless, but I do firmly believe that eventually the incompetents in place (including the current manager) especially the owners and current CEO will be gone and we will all still be around to see the club ride again.

It's been so depressing over the last 4-5 months that I have not been able to muster the energy to post my thoughts about our farcical season. But after watching that s-show yesterday, I feel that I need to let it out. I'm in the Eustace = useless camp. I did not like his appointment from the start, because I thought his good spell at the start of the season was a purple patch and not indicative of his normal standards. But I did not want to pre-judge him and certainly hoped that he would come good. Given our constraints, we need our head coach to be able to get the team to produce at 110% of as a collective, and I just don't think he has the tactical and coaching nous that we need to be able to do so. Eustace's initial comments about togetherness sound like an empty soundbite recycled from JDT, who in contrast, meant it when he said it. In fact, Eustace lost me on day 2 with his dramatic entrance in the second-half of the Stoke game. I thought he saw that we had a safe win, and wanted to claim credit for it, though I'm sure one could argue that he genuinely wanted to shore the team up. For me though, it was more performative than substance given that he had not had any training session with the team before that. The fact is that the Stoke game was one of the few positive games that we've had in the last six months, and Eustace did not set the team up. Since then, I've not been impressed at all with Eustace's contribution. Sure, he shored the defence up somewhat, but the team as a whole looks disjointed. For all the players' complaints about JDT and our poor results this season, we could see a plan and a method to the madness - there were indications that the players knew what to do, what patterns to play, and were well-drilled. Whether they could do it or not is a different story, but on balance, I would argue that JDT extracted more from them than they otherwise would have been able to produce. In that sense, our current situation is just a reversion to their normal standards. Going back to statements and how he presents himself, Eustace has also proven useless. No clear communication, hides in generalities, and as yesterday's comments show, does not pursue accountability and certainly does not set the right standards. These are basic leadership traits which you would expect a good coach/manager to possess. I hoped he would prove me wrong; after all, who expected Gary O'Neil to turn out so well? Unfortunately, Eustace is more in the Ince/Coyle/Appleton class. On JDT, I lament what could have been everyday. I think he's the best we've had in the last decade, and could have done something special with us. It pains me but objectively, I definitely hold JDT responsible to some extent for this season's mess too. In this regard, I think his broken relationship with the board is the key factor. There was no trust after the Lewis O Brien incident last year and no alignment of vision, and I think JDT found it difficult to be motivated in such a demotivating environment. If Maggot had been more professional, if the board had been straight with JDT, if they had set more ambitious targets despite the financial difficulties - tell JDT we need to ride it out this season, that we still want to have a good go despite the limitations, find a way to do it - we might have had a better outcome. (Remember, JDT showed that he could deploy tactics to shut the shop and play the dark-arts when he first arrived - I remember this well during our win/loss sequence in the first half of last season, when we barely conceded when we won, and it looked like we were playing some form of 90s Italian tactics.) Instead, Maggot obfuscates and publicly says that mediocrity is ok, sets no targets except to develop players - well, my assessment is that JDT decided to work to rule and gave Maggot exactly what he asked for by playing an expansive game at all costs and giving kids like Adam Wharton and Harry Leonard (too) much game time, even when it might have been better to rest them at times. In the end, JDT's departure was inevitable. That said, if we got relegated, I would still have more trust in JDT to create something with a youth squad in L1 - in fact, I would be pretty confident of a reset and our chances of winning the league by a clear margin, given how we regularly spanked lower league sides with youth-heavy teams over JDT's reign. Now with all the above said, the root cause of our woes is still Maggot and Venky's, no doubt about that. I don't know how involved or uninvolved the Venky's are on a day-to-day basis, but if we had a competent CEO who can set the agenda correctly, aim high, and maximise what he can within his remit, we may have a fighting chance. Instead, we have a chancer, more than happy to settle for the mediocre, so we get what we get. Put it this way, if we sign Coventry rejects (both in the boardroom and on the pitch), we get Coventry-standards (the terrible version from a couple of years back, not the heroic one at Wembley yesterday). Finally, our prospects this season - we're certainly doing our best to snatch relegation from the jaws of safety. I've had a foreboding feeling all season. Too many similarities to our relegation in 2016/17 - massive cost-cutting, terrible signings (Telalovic - Stokes, Moran loan - Emnes loan, Greer - McFadzean etc), the same type of FA Cup draw (good effort and near upset against a big PL team - Man Utd then in the freezing cold and Newcastle this time), freakish results in the run-in (I remember thinking that we had done enough when we beat Villa(?) was it, and Brentford on the last day), but the other relegation candidates fought hard and chalked up enough points elsewhere. I'm praying for a miracle in our last two games, but am not optimistic. If we somehow survive this, I pray that we can somehow reset in the summer. But back to the start of this post and the theme of this thread, Eustace is not the man to get us there.

It is a fact we have gone backwards since Eustace came in. When he came in we were 17th in the table and 8 points clear of relegation. Now we are 19th and 3 points clear of relegation and have not managed to register a home win under him.

A one man team. Szmodics fire blanks, so does the entire team.

An opportunity to repeat my favourite Two Ronnies news item: All animals have been released from Battersea Dogs Home. Police say they’re desperately looking for leads.

The players have proved time and time again at Ewood this season that they are complete bottle jobs. We have barely taken a point off anyone at home and just turn up expecting to lose these days. All we hear before these 'crucial' games is about how the fans need to get behind them and all stick together. Then when Saturday comes they play like non-league plodders kicking them in their own net or passing it out of play. Then after the game the manager and players say "we have an incredible opportunity next week to put it right". Well guess what dickheads you have run out of games.

Step one, get rid of Steve Waggott…

I’m surprised to see the club even mention the possibility of crowd funding for safe standing What next, crowd funding for a jet washing of the flags?

The only people to be lauded IF we manage to stay up are JDT for the points accrued at the start of the season and of course Sami for his goals. Without either, we would already be down by now.

5 at back at home, in a must win 😫.

They are all pathetic. The part they have played in getting us into this situation is not to be underestimated. They succeeded in getting rid of the boss that demanded more and better from them and are now happy and content with some brainless chump that lets them walk all over him and clearly gives them the message that it's not important to win games, you just have to turn up. The worst squad this club has ever had.

It’s not “ the freeze “ , nor the 3% increase, nor the possible reduction. I will not be renewing as I can , no longer , stomach the rot from the ownership and the management. We’ve had similar unpleasantness for many seasons but the complete lack of guts of the “ men “ wearing the shirt has finished me off. I stood embarrassed at the final whistle of the Sheffield W game …I was angry, frustrated…but most of all sad…..as I will not return to Ewood as things stand with this shell of a club. My first season was 1964 ..60 years , I saw before Jack’s money, during it and since it.I saw some poor stuff but never what is being produced now. I’ve never felt as disconnected as I do now. I truly hope we survive for those who continue to support ..as for the club…that’s me done. Very sad day for me …

We go into every game trying not to lose as opposed to trying to win. Evidently that's what Eustace believes is the best approach to keeping us up, but he must rate our squad extremely poorly if he won't even deviate from that strategy at home to teams below us in the league.

I'm a big JDT fan, but I haven't seen anybody defend his record for the final 15 or so games. He'd clearly given up and wanted out - and this came across loud and clear. The fact that those final 15 games, as horrible as they were, equal's JE's new manager bounce (his first 15 games) is beyond worrying.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Mowbray but he was leagues ahead of Eustace.

2 wins in 17 now, hasnt won a single game at home and less than a point per game. He persisted with 5 defenders despite the extra man and against a team that had no interest in attacking. Good on him for getting sent off by getting involved in some nonsense he could have stayed out of. He came in with us 7 points clear and his pitiful inability to win football matches has taken it to the final day. Im amazed you seemingly remain convinced that he is the man to take us forward. Well, i would be if it was anyone else. You must think his results of getting less than a point a game is adequate to convince you that he is competent enough. And im sure you will be until he goes.

Eustace with a 13.33% win record after 16 games in charge. Previous manager left us with 44.44% over 90 games. If we know anything about this club, it’s that they’ll remove even more resources next season and that win record likely gets even worse (whether we’re up or down). I don’t believe he’s the manager to do the necessary and he’s got himself sent off in the penultimate game of a relegation dogfight. He could feasibly not manage another game for us from the touchline, if he’s chopped after relegation. He’s been a bad appointment by an inept CEO, as a result of totally reckless administration by the board/executive team. He needs to go.

Total passenger. He’s gone in the summer and not a moment too soon

Obviously Sammie just cracks on and gives his all regardless of ‘the noise’ but interesting that he alludes to the ‘negativity’ of journalists, we only really have one that reports on Rovers and he’s not exactly The Sun going after ‘Turnip Taylor’ c1993. If young Elliot is seen as some negative force it gives further insights to their mindset behind the scenes and just shows how weak and unwilling to face any kind of criticism this crop of players are (which we know already from their comments in ‘the meeting’, oh, and their performances).

In the channel today, a ship carrying blue paint collided with a ship carrying red paint…both crews have been marooned…

The right choice would have been Pears heading it out of touch and not playing a header to a player facing him and at an awkward height.

Did he? FFs. He likes to point out excuses and then say “we won’t use it as an excuse”. If it’s not an excuse then don’t flippin mention it in the first place.

That's because it's always been a small town family club fanbase and a fairly big ground not often full, plenty other clubs have the same type of fanbase. It's the stadium itself that is the giant white elephant way too big and way too accommodating for visiting fans from much larger areas. PNE and Burnley, Blackpool and Bolton fans no different whatsoever....their stadiums are though. As someone who has travelled all over supporting Rovers through various periods of form etc i will die on the hill that most places are the same when their team is shite, their are problems at the club or there is nothing to play for. The exceptions are very rare but again most don't have a stadium way to big for their core fanbase and town. Coventry, Sheff Weds, Derby, Stoke, Boro, Sunderland, West Brom, Villa, Brum, to name a few iv'e visited regularly over last decade or so and all shite atmosphere and empty seats all over the gaff when things weren't going well. Yet again amongst our small minded fans it only ever happens at Ewood !!! Have some of you lot ever actually been anywhere else apart from when Rovers were on a good run ?

Any professional footballer, including goalkeepers, should be capable of cleanly striking through the back pass Hyam provided. Pears was not expected to control the ball, take it around any approaching SW player and then produce a defence splitting ball which would create an opportunity for Rovers. All he had to do was launch the feckin ball to an area of safety. It was simply a huge error made even worse by his lamentable efforts to rectify it before the ball entered the net. As for the first goal, being so far out of his goal, he should quite simply have played safe and found touch as clearly Hyam would be under pressure. The bottom line is Pears is a very poor all round goalie with so many flaws in his game it's untrue. Many of us have been saying this since Mowbray brought, metaphorically speaking, one of his 'favourite sons' to the club. Pears has cost us both countless goals and points and should be jettisoned from our club as soon as possible. Sadly, he may have caused our club irretrievable damage.

This post should also be framed and put in the boardroom. My thoughts exactly. If only anyone at the club with influence truly cared like the fans do. The board will be happy life has got easier because standards were being driven, often through the media by Tomasson - a man with intelligence, charm and charisma; traits you could say the club and certainly the CEO lacks. He wasn't perfect but we hadn't seen expectations like it at Rovers in over a decade and JDT brought them back for a season and a half... but with the people above him and the owners it was never going to last. I called it the moment he joined but it was "Brilliant" off the pitch, while it lasted.