I watched the FA Cup game this afternoon and Roy Keane in the after match comments on Man Utd said an interesting thing - “ this set of players are extremely difficult to like “. Just how I feel about the current Rovers team.

All I can think about is how that performance AGAIN was by a bunch of players that sat in a function room sulkily moaning about how the fans were unfair on them. The absolute arrogance, delusion, and cheek of that moment hits hard today. Fuck the lot of em.

The club have essentially trapped themselves on ticketing due to their high season ticket prices. Gradually increasing season ticket pricing to a point where we have one of the highest starting adult prices, despite the greatest number of spare seats, one of the least affluent and most competitive areas in the country, before we get on to the other nonsense that goes on here under these owners. this is only going to get even more problematic with increased Sky coverage, dodgy sticks, red button, less 3pm Saturday games. Not only does this all put many people off buying a season ticket in the first place, but also it prevents the club, or seriously restricts it, in offering 'cheap' matchday tickets on a regular basis, as to do so would effectively undercut or wipe out the price benefit of being a season ticket holder. This effectively means that we've got little alternative but to keep prices high to ensure season ticket holders still get 'value' for their money. Ultimately it means we will be stuck in a rut as you aren't going to get massive numbers of people paying £25+ to watch Championship basement battles, especially not on Sunday lunchtime, Tuesday night etc. There is a solution. Radically rethink the season ticket offering particularly on pricing and go down the route of Bolton and Preston. This doesn't mean just cut prices and sit back and wait for people to come. It means coming up with a marketing plan. It means getting them on sale early. It means pushing them in areas, communities, clubs, schools, way above and beyond the current 'efforts' of BwDBC only. Get the prices down, emulate Bolton The ground is immediately more full, and then the added bonus is you can start offering matchday tickets at £20 a head knowing that even if you did it every week a season ticket holder would still be saving £100+ over the season.

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.

Firstly I think Eustace got it wrong today with his decision to play a back five. Because it worked really well at Leeds he didn't have to go with it today and whilst it wasn't the reason we lost it certainly helped Wednesday dominate midfield who won pretty much every second ball as they outnumbered us. As the manager he has to take responsibility for results and whilst he has been here they have been poor and the concession of eight goals recently puts to bed the theory we have stopped the flow of goals against. It's not good enough and from the high of Leeds last week the players seemed to be expecting to win on the back of this by just turning up. Individual and collective mistakes are really hurting us and the players looked like they were feeling sorry for themselves after Wednesday's second goal. They showed very little character and the body language really worries me as we go into the last two games. Not one player comes out with any credit today (contrast that to a week ago) and defensively we were shocking as Wednesday couldn't believe their luck. Pears will rightly come in for the most criticism but pretty much every player showed very little courage on the ball and took the easy option far too often which again played into their hands. The biggest worry from the last four games is which Rovers will turn up for the Coventry and Leicester games as our bipolar performances have really confused us. I was desperately trying to avoid the word 'bottle' but that is what it might come down to. If it does I fear for us.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s it for the season now - we won’t get a point from Coventry or Leicester, 49 points is our lot and we will have to rely on the clubs below to be even more inept in order for us to stay up. The win over Leeds was obviously an aberration. The “display” today was that of team of players who, with one of two exceptions, have no hunger for the fight, no pride in the shirt and no pride in the club that pays their wages. They, and the manager, should apologise to long suffering fans who deserve better than what was on show at Ewood today

Right, I’ve calmed down (just). That was THE WORST match I have ever seen at Ewood. Worse than the Wigan chicken fiasco, worse than any thumping we may have received and worse than any derby defeat. From the ultra negative 5 at the back to the non-existent midfield to the lack of creativity to the worst performance by a Rovers keeper at Ewood in memory…add in the fact that all 3 goals were gift wrapped, that we allowed the away team (and relegation rivals) to fill the entire Darwen End (too right it felt like a home game…quote Wednesday player) to the ridiculous inevitability that any substitution would make absolutely no difference to our plight and to cap it all off, nearly 20 minutes of stoppage time in a match that was pathetic from stop-start to an eventual (bloody eventual) finish. I’ve never felt so bereft at what I was witnessing…so utterly and totally aghast at the shower of ineptitude in front of me. Wednesday were a limited but powerful team, that’s all. We let them dominate, we caved in, we put up no fight, we stunk the place out and then some. Regardless of how Coventry will be after today’s epic semi-final (and didn’t they show the pluck and fight we so dismally lacked)…we won’t beat them…we don’t beat Coventry when all is rosy in the garden let alone when we’re as bad as we are now. I really don’t want to go next week, any more torture and I might have to insert my season ticket card into an unmentionable Eustace orifice. It’s Sammie Smodzics plus ten imposters. Pathetic, morose, moribund and defeated. Are we going down? We deserve to be and it’s still a real possibility. Pity the teams that finish below us

Think we are a shambles from top to bottom. IMO, we have a bullsh1t joke of a manager leading a bunch of the most spineless individuals, masquerading as footballers, I have seen in 60ish years supporting Rovers. We won't go down - a point against a knackered and disinterested Coventry is all that is needed. The club needs sweeping clean from top to bottom but sadly, unless the Indian courts bring about our insolvency in August, this will not happen and relegation will almost be inevitable next season. Time for a long walk, a few pints at the local and a nice bite to eat tonight.

Everyone still think it was a good idea giving Wednesday a Wembley final at Ewood? think Waggott missed a trick there not selling a few thousand more Wednesday tickets in the Jack Walker. The club contributed to a great occasion for them. On and off the field. Encouraged nerves and bottled it. Our CEO is a scumbag, has been for years in football.

Please don’t shout at the players! It upsets them, especially the captain.

If Kaminski or any decent GK played for us this season, we would have been mid table easy even possibly in the top 10 with all of Szmodics goals. No other team in the championship has pair of unreliable GKs like we do - Fact Whether we stay up or go down we will need a new GK for next season

I think back to the impromptu meeting between some fans and senior players which was brokered by Waggott. Hyam was whining about being booed off at half-time by some supporters and the effect it had on the players. That told me a lot about his character. And then the 'calm down' gesture to some Riversiders near the end of the Millwall match when he took the easy option of going backwards instead of forwards. He's certainly not captain material.

For the first time in 30 years of watching Rovers with my 76 year old Dad, he's suggested not going on Saturday and just going for a walk instead and turning his phone off, it's that bad. He's usually pretty pragmatic and optimistic even at the worst time, always siding with the players, but I think that second half finally did for him. After the match we both just stared into space over our pints. Not felt this low for a very long time, it's a different kind of feeling - think it's the lack of hope or trust in anyone at the club from players to board level, feels like a truly lost cause.

I’d love to care as little for the club as the players, management and ownership seem to. It would make all of this at least somewhat bearable instead of ruining my weekend week after week. Hateful bunch of tossers from top to bottom.

For goodness sake Chaddy. Firstly, if folk in the work place performed as poorly as these, IMO, overpaid, overrated, cowardly bottle jobs then bollickings from both colleagues and management could be both expected and justified followed by a swift departure through the exit door. If our 'soft lads' can't stand the heat, which comes with the territory, then get out the feckin 'kitchen' I don't know how you sleep at night constantly trying to defend the indefensible.

You must have forgotten the defeats at Birmingham, Bristol City, Swansea, the limp home games against Millwall and Plymouth, the hiding we took today....the total lack of any ambution beyond a 0-0 against most sides, amazing what 2 surprise away wins against the form book does to the brain eh??

I bet he’d drop it .

Pretty much agree with the lot of it. What a post. JDT by no means perfect but he had valuable assets. Ambition, drive, personality, a vision. I think back to last season, particularly August to February, and the first half of this season, and this was a guy capable of dragging this club out of the stinking cesspit that it has been dragged and into a potentially bright future. Alas as we saw with the Allardyce fiasco, as we saw with the Bowyer/Lambert fiasco, these owners and their minions will always find a way to derail and destroy any positive momentum or progress and set the club back years. I should have known better but I admit I believed. I genuinely thought that with the Director of Football approach and JDT leading it and after the season we had, going so close in league and cup, that the ingredients were there to take the next step and crack the play-offs. More fool me. I can't describe the disappointment I feel about the way in which once again these people have destroyed something that should have been good and positive and that fell into our lap almost by accident after Mowbray finally left. Yes it was clear that JDT was burned by the O'Brien fiasco, yet he stuck at it and we still went close last season. It was clear he was unimpressed by the summer's shenanigans yet he stuck at it, moved his family over, accepted the constraints and we, somehow managed to get ourselves sat just outside the top 6 in December with this squad. Then a third transfer window of nonsense, culminating in Adam Wharton being sold, the McGuire disgrace (what sort of club treats other clubs and players in such a disgusting and humiliating fashion?) and no reinvestment was the straw that broke the camel's back. Totally understandable for anyone with any self-respect to draw a line at being undermined by your colleagues. Of course ownership and a board with any finger on the pulse would have sacked JDT once it became clear that the damage was irreparable and the direction things were going. I agree that he was essentially saying 'f... you' to them and going gung ho wanting to be fired. Yet they couldn't even manage his departure correctly. It came far too late, even in the week it happened they took days on end to announce it. They're just a disgrace. There's no coming back from this in my book. It's happened too many times and I won't fall for it again.

The excuses on here are embarrassing, hardly a word for our brilliant owners who have lied to JDT, pulled the plug on funding for years and are running the club into the ground. Look no further than them to lay the blame. VENKYS OUT - NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

We’ve failed to beat Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Huddersfield this season. 6 games against three of the worst teams in the league and not a single win. What an absolute disgrace!

100%. And to think people used to call Ryan Nyambe who rarely if ever had a bad game.

You'd drop Dom Hyam in a heartbeat Chaddy. Everyone in the world can see it bar yourself and Eustace. Should have had the rest of the season on the bench at HT in Bristol.

Short term FC in full view today again Goalkeeper - had a very good keeper in Kaminski, got an offer, jumped at it, pocketed the cash and promote Pears to No 1. A costly decision but motivated solely by what they thought was a simple case of promote Pears and all would be fine whilst they pocketed the millions. Could end up costing us big time given some of the frankly laughable, amateurish goals conceded by Pears and Wahlstedt this season. Short term cash grab from 7500 Sheffield Wednesday fans. Happy days, helps pay the bills. But possibly a result that costs us Championship status and with it £10 million overnight, and I will certainly be wondering if a different outcome could have occurred had we not given up home advantage and invited the away side to build a wall of noise infront of which our weak defence and keeper collapsed. Short term cash grab by loaning out the captain in the first week in January. Short term cash grab by selling Adam Wharton on deadline day. Happy days. Yet two more proven capable players offloaded with no replacements, again potentially costing us Championship status. I wonder if any dots will be joined in the brains of those running the show or will it just be a shoulder shrug.

When are the season ticket details out? If they aren’t £200 each with a free kid ticket they are wasting their time! SW and GB are a disgrace and have just about failed in everything they have done! Venkys simply don’t give a shit and a message from them every 6 months that’s written by Waggot wont change my mind. Everything at the club is toxic. Match days are the most boring I’ve ever known them and nothing looks like changing. If we somehow manage to stay up there needs to be some big changes at the club both on and off the pitch.

Eustace has had some of the easiest and winnable games in his tenure and he’s failed miserably. Not a single home win under him. Has to go, in my opinion.

The players had thrown JDT under the bus The reality is that none of them are fit to lace his boots. It speaks volumes of our "senior council" that they were prepared to be so blatantly lacklustre under him. Was it Callum Brittain who had a veiled dig after the Stoke game? JDT had only just left and he was ready to start the blame game There are a number of players I'd be looking to move on if I were Eustace. I'd start with Callum Brittain and Dom Hyam who, in my view, have been quite stand out in their poor attitudes We have lost too many big characters in recent years. What we have replaced them with are either young lads, or are just not comparable. Losing Kaminski, Ayala and Dack in one window is tragic

End of the day Rovers have proven that they are only interested in taking the easy route to get where they want to be. Its easy handing over the Darwen End to Sheff Wed, Leeds, Preston. Just agree, print off the tickets and watch the cash flow in. No real effort required. It is justified on the basis that we have the space to do it and we need more people in because home attendances are low. So what about increasing home numbers? Sadly for us this is where it falls down. This is where effort is needed, because you have to make serious, sustained efforts to engage and attract new people and get them coming on a regular basis. It takes a plan, it takes effort, it takes imagination. All lacking at the good ship Ewood, rinse and repeat same old dreary approach each and every year. Other than changes to prices (almost all increasing) what is different about matchday or ticketing now compared to 10 years ago? Nothing. Nothing changes, no imagination, no planning. No singing area, no cheaper area, no safe standing area, no 'ultras' or flag waving area. No sir, not a jot of interest in any of that as it requires EFFORT. Emulating Huddersfield, PNE, Bolton and implementing serious price reductions with a view to adding thousands to the gates and engaging new, younger supporters? No, can't do. Too much risk, FFP, wouldn't work here (no evidence). This is where the gripe with me lies. Quite happy to take the easy option to grab the low hanging fruit and cash in on away numbers, no willingness to make any effort to fill up Ewood and maybe one day not have 20,000 empty seats sat doing nothing, or maybe not be under pressure to take the away coin every time.

My bias is not recent. I thought Pears crap since Mowbray signed his mates son to help out Boro get shut of a player they didn't want on their books. His rare good performance just outliers.

one thing we don't need is a performance , only thing we need is win.

Chaddy, the problem with your opinion is that if the Club sacked Eustace later today you would perform a complete u turn and say that it was the correct decision.

I'm sure Abbey isn't earning £10k per week and being a huge part of a team that 1000's of people have an emotional investment in. Comparing a professional, championship level footballer to a normal job is ridiculous.

If most people performed as consistently shit as they have in the last 5 months then they would not still be in their job.

And the striker he bought can't get off the bench when we desperately need a goal. The whole club needs gutting from players to manager, Directors of football to CEO, board of directors to owners. ALL are fucking horrendous and continue to destroy this once proud club.

You can’t replace quality players with free transfers and loans from Premiership youth teams. If you do, the clubs heading for the lower leagues. Zero transfer funding from the owners, you can’t replace Kaminsky and Diaz with a handful of magic beans.

Woeful. Inept. Ridiculous. Eustace had a full week to prepare for a game that if won would have guaranteed Championship football next season. It looked like he gave them the week off. I don't think that Rovers had a shot on target in the second half. That in itself is a sad indictment of the performance. Rovers subs bench is an embarrassment. Markanday? Buckley? The young lads? Pears and Hyam will get most of the grief for their errors, rightly so, but all 3 of their goals started with Rovers having possession and comfortably so. Goal 1: Sheff Wed corner, Rovers win it and start a counter attack. Dolan plays an utterly stupid pass toward the touch line. Wednesday intercept it. Goal 2: Rovers throw in on the half way line. The ball goes to Szmodics who had not 1 but two bad touches. He loses it. Wharton then erratically dives in, cue break and goal. Goal 3: Rovers throw in. No Wednesday player close. The ball goes back to Hyam. The rest is history. All in, blame the players for a bad day, but ultimately blame Venkys for putting the club in this situation.

Happy clappers at the end clapping them.and arguing over irate fans what's that about . The players got it at the end , I presume hyams fanny is hurt again. NOT FIT TO WEAR THE SHIRT.

The FA are astonishingly weak and quite simply have acceded to the big Premier League clubs but at the expense of others who don't have the benefit of being state owned or have billionaire owners. In a normal world this should have been decided democratically by all the full member clubs not just a few who are selfish. Most of the big clubs could actually field two separate teams full of experience and internationals. The FA are there to act in the best interests of all the clubs but don't. It's interesting that they have slipped this in before the new regulator is appointed. Hopefully ITV and BBC also have something to say as they are losing live matches to broadcast. The FA Cup was once the jewel in the crown of English football. It's the very people who should be protecting it that are damaging it.

Precisely. They want to be able to play their strongest teams in every match and yet they have ridiculously massive squads (to the detriment of all the other clubs) Then the same said squad size allows them to change half a team if a match isn’t going their way. At this point, I really wish they would all fuck off to their so called super league.

Like the 5 sub rule - fundamentally changing the fabric of the game to benefit the bigger, richer clubs.

Great article Rich, I think you have it nailed it. For me, despite the poor form from December, JDT was the answer. He and his ambition scared the hell out of Swag and the other idiots behind the scenes at Ewood. If they had backed him last year we would have at least made the play offs and if they had backed him in the summer with a reasonable transfer kitty and salary budget, he would have taken us close again. They tried to crush his ambition and infectious enthusiasm and it became untenable for him and with him leaving, I really do worry about the future of our once great club. Scandalous.

Coventry been going well since David Brent started topping his pension up at our place

Only 1 player in the starting XI from the last 2 transfer windows. Sums up Broughton's contribution to our current situation.

If you sell all your best players and replace them with dross, this is what happens. Is anyone surprised?

He is the perfect captain for our current mess and not in a good way. Weak, cowardly and soft. Showed himself up in that "secret" selective supporter meeting moaning about the boos. A proper captain says something like "we understand the frustration and arent happy ourselves but will do everything to make it right." Say what you want about Travis' ability and even that he can be petulant but you see leadership qualities shining through. For Hyam its the opposite.

At a proper club if a player has repeat poor performances they’re out. At Rovers we can’t do that because we haven’t got the players to bring in to replace the weak links. Drop Pears - Who for ? Drop Brittain and Pickering to bring in whom ? Drop Gally to bring in Telly ? The bottom line is our squad is poor as piss.

No. It's not even Pears' worst fuckup. Have you forgotten him chucking it in his goal against Wigan?

And there he is in the post-match, smiling away, saying how great we were but 'goals change games'. I have no more words for this, it's like we're being gaslighted.

Let Damien Johnson take charge for the remaining games and get rid of Eustace.

Also a word for Stevie W- what a brilliant decision to give Wednesday all those tickets- I’m sure when we are in league one those extra few pounds will help

‘Strange upbringing’ 😅 I have what connection to Man Utd or Liverpool? I’m a Blackburn Rovers fan, in reality I couldn’t care less about the PL, who’s in it, who wins it - but do I want the red shirted armchair fans of east Lancs getting any reflected glory whilst they take the piss out of ‘shit’ Rovers, their local club? No chance. Up the Gooners.