When I think of Birmingham city 3 things come to my mind 1- Robbie Savage Loved Robbie when he was here. He was a real warrior in that Hughes team. Snarling and snapping around midfield. Thanks Brum 2-Alex McLeish Big Eck, a gruff Scotsman who these days can mostly be found fighting with Tony Mowbray about how much he is allowed flog that old war horse Charlie Mulgrew. Did well at Birmingham, winning their last major trophy, the 2011 league cup. The win was against your textbook later period Wenger team, devoid of bottle. The winner coming from a last minute Obafemi Martins goal on his 54th birthday, which was nice. 3- This Well at least when he went back to Rovers the most embarrassing period of his career was over. Well, mostly. Recent times Following the cup win and relegation from the Premier league, like many clubs, they have had a bumpy few years. They are owned by a Hong Kong based business man and following my intensive 5 minute online research on this, I am even more confused. In short, lots of shenanigans have gone on there since he arrived on the scene. I remember them sacking Gary Rowett when on the cusp of the play-offs, only to make a disastrous appointment in Zola. they floated around relegation after this, up until their last managerial appointment. In a match that looks to have worked out well for both parties, Gary Monk has gotten his promising looking career back on track at the club, after dodgy spells at dodgy Leeds and not dodgy Boro. They are currently sitting in 9th place ,equal on points with their illustrious hosts. This is a huge game for both sides as we are now getting to the point where you either break from the middle pack and keep touch with the play-offs, or you drop off to mid table obscurity(or worse). A quick look at their squad suggests to me that Monk is getting the best out of the players at his disposal. They have their financial difficulties and were restricted during the summer when it came to incomings, so credit to Monk. This is the kind of game we must win if we have any hopes of keeping in touch with the play-offs. Hopefully the performance is more Sheffield Wednesday than United. Prediction 2-1 Rovers

Like many, Gestede had his best years at Ewood. He isn't the answer to what we need.

Mahoney will score and kick off 100 pages of debate on here. Then Andy Todd will kick Bishop Dugarry up the arse

In both of those cases, and Bradford too, the massive reductions were made following or during periods of success. Bradford did it shortly after promotion from League Two and their run to the League Cup final. Huddersfield did it ahead of Wagner's first full season and did all the promotional stuff with creating a singing section next to the away end. Forest did it following their takeover ahead of Karanka's first full season whilst throwing silly money at transfers so everyone expected them to be pushing for promotion. Not sure how cheap Forest have made their tickets but I know there's good deals there for young adults and students (better than can be found at most clubs). I suppose some could argue that Bradford and Forest have vastly greater catchment areas than we have to tap into but that doesn't explain the Huddersfield one where as you point out their gates were below ours the season before and then almost doubled. That's what good marketing does. I very much doubt Huddersfield limited their promotional material to posters round their town centre, they were pushing it all over the place in all sorts of ways to get as many as possible buying into it. No doubt a full house every week assisted them on the way to promotion and has probably, in conjunction with their time in the Premier League, resulted in a new generation of fans who will be getting into the habit of going every week. Financially they probably did ok out of it with 20,000 paying less for tickets but spending on food, drink and merchandise whilst there. Maybe it is asking a lot for us to go to those prices but the proof it there that it works. Sadly I think that the boat has been missed. The positivity of last season and promotion was the time to do it, yet we had no imaginative pricing, no serious promotion, delayed our sales window and put prices up by 17% whilst closing another stand. All things you wouldn't do if you were serious about significantly increasing crowds. You would have got them on sale as soon as practically possible, at the very least during the promotion run-in, at the latest of the Oxford game, you would have kept prices frozen or at most increased them ever so slightly, embark upon a significant promotional campaign over several months, and don't annoy people by shutting stands. I wasn't a fan of the DE as it was as there weren't enough people in but the result we've got with a cluster in the JW lower and it seems some no longer going to games is a poor outcome. People will respond to periods of success as Oxford showed. If this season pans out as expected and we finish mid-table that will be a success (in my opinion) but it isn't the sort of success that will entice people to flock to the ground. Promotion, play-off campaigns, significant investment and impressive recruitment are what makes people take an interest and bumping up prices rather than trying to fill the place up more appears to be opportunity missed.

I’m still of the opinion that Lowe is the worst player I’ve ever seen play for Rovers, utterly talentless. He was the common denominator in our downward spiral. We’ve only had good times since he left and he’s only had bad times, which says it all really. Being the worst player in a relegated Premier League side and then a few years later being the worst player in a relegated Championship side takes some doing, but Lowe did it. The fact that he had the cheek to reject a new contract offer from us and leave on a free shows the character of the man, I will boo him everytime he plays against us.

I’ve found it hard to take to Armstrong......even in the games where I was loading him with heavy blue stars (6 in one match!) Watching Conway against Wednesday brought it to a head; Armstrong will only ever be a “pretend” winger. He may do excellent things in the build up but invariably the endpiece is lacking in imagination or effectiveness.

Andrews did at least point forwards a lot so at least he showed some intent ! Thing that stuck out for me with Lowe was when he was in the England U21's I think he was captain and head and shoulders above most of the rest in terms of appearances in the Prem and a main part of a Prem first team squad. Watched a live game and was quite proud and exited because of all that with him being a Rovers player yet he was the worst player on the pitch by some chalk. Not just saying that now to knock him but was very disappointed at the time and couldn't see what all the talk was about him at all but then again it was mostly Kean talk. He never changed or got any better as time went on and I do in a way feel a bit sorry for him because he's just one of those you stick a key in, turn it on and off he goes so it's a shame he never had a few season when young under a decent first team coaching staff and manager. Very little football talent to harness but he could've been made into a competitive right back maybe. Then again after the contract he got here and the chances he was afforded under Bowyer etc any sympathy disappears he was a very lucky boy although no doubt he's always worked very hard. Had he come through at a lower league club not run my idiots and crooks he'd have struggled to make it very far up the ladder on ability.

Is that a Father Ted reference?

Come on lads, let’s get an AFTV rendition up and running with some of the regular forum contributors after home and away games. It would be great fun! I wonder if we could find anyone to host such a thing (someone who goes to most if not all the matches) and get involved with the guys at Rovershat, LT and the Rovers Facebook group. Think it could bring attention to the club and bring more traffic to this site if BRFCS run it on their channel.

That was called the "Lowe shuffle" , his equivalent of the Cruyff turn

He'll go down the Keith Andrews route and keep moving about probably he's a first on the training ground last off apparently so they'll always get a gig somewhere but if he wants to stay at this level he'll need to be very realistic with his wages. Food for thought - Andrews came to Ewood from a career mostly in league 1 at the age of about 29 and onto a 20 odd grand per week contract which eventually became 30k plus pwk. All it takes is a friendly manager or agent !!!! Mr Williams what were you thinking........

Any chance to post this which sums him as a player and his career at Rovers perfectly...

Hey everyone, just to let you all know we have re-launched the BRFCS YouTube channel and would welcome any suggestions, contributions etc. To get the ball rolling, we have put our 2017 Christmas Podcast up there to whet your appetites for the 2018 Christmas & New Year ones we have planned...? Please subscribe if YouTube is your thing & we’ll put our creative hats on...?? https://www.youtube.com/user/brfcsdotcom

An Assessment of Player Performance v Middlesborough Each player was judged on the following criteria: Instance of excellent play * Instance of decent/good play * Instance of disappointing/poor play * Instance of terrible play * E&OE Ratings Raya ****** Nyambe *********** Mulgrew *************** Downing ********************* Williams *************** Evans **************** Reed(84) *********** Smallwood(74) ******* Conway(69) ********** Dack ************ Graham ********** Armstrong(69) ********* Rothwell(74) ****** Brereton(84) Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings above) 3. Boro corner. Mulgrew loses his man and is beaten to the header and Evans is there to hack clear, 2 yards out. 8. Reed, Evans, Smallwood passing it around in midfield but making no progress. Boro’s giants are just tempting them to hit it long. Yep, there it goes and Graham is offside anyway. 9. The ball is poked through to Hugill unmarked, with his back to goal, on the edge of the 6 yard box but Williams gets a meaty challenge in before he is able to turn and shoot. From the corner Graham flicks it away but Mulgrew had lost the dangerous Flint again! 13. Nyambe moves towards the box and squares to Dack who turns and shoots but it’s deflected wide for a corner. 16. Nice lay off by Dack to Evans on the edge of the D but Evans, in a great position, dithers and is dispossessed. Disappointing ending! 18. Evans looks off the pace as he is left trailing. Fortunately Conway gets back and blocks for a corner. 19. Besic lets Dack dispossess him and there is a clear run on goal. Besic pulls Dack’s shirt and he’s off! Red card. Good grief! Mulgrew curls the free kick into the net from 25 yards…….bottom corner, bent round the wall from a central position. 33. Nice corner from Reed and Downing rises well but under pressure from Flint he heads over. 36. Good crossfield ball from Williams finds Nyambe who feeds Reed Just inside the box. He squares to Graham right in front of goal but the defender blocks his shot well. Close but good defending. 40. That’s the third interesting long ball into space down the right wing from Downing. This time it’s a bit too far for Reed but he wins a throw for his persistence. (Nyambe collected the other 2). 41. Evans wins the ball nicely in midfield and Dack sends Graham away into the edge of the box. His firm shot is parried by the keeper straight to the on-rushing Evans in the 6 yard box but he puts it wide!!! It came to him fast but he sliced it. 49. A Boro long throw causes a bit of panic ping-pong. Evans is too timid with his attempted clearance (not the only one). But there’s a foul and we survive. 50. Good clearing header by Downing takes care of a dangerous cross into the box. 51. Dack sprays a lovely crossfield ball to Conway’s feet. He waits for the on-running Williams who sidesteps his man on the edge of the D and squares the ball beautifully to Dack who’s shot hits the post. It’s cleared. 57. Nice interplay by Conway and Reed in the box and Conway cuts it back for the on-rushing Dack but the defender is strong enough to hold him off. The ball is launched far downfield over the top of the entire defence and Hugill is clear on goal. Mulgrew does brilliantly to get back and get in the critical, perfectly timed challenge; Downing clears. 60. Nice through ball from Smallwood to Graham in the D. He turns and feeds Reed. Reed squares back to Graham but his shot is deflected for a corner. Too many Boro players for a clear shot. 61. Assombalonga scores a great goal from outside the box. 68. The lethargic Evans sucking the momentum out of our play yet again with another backpass. 75. The third foul by Armstrong in the 6 minutes he’s been on the field! 77. Out of the blue……Reed is ambling along centrally about 25 yards out and he decides to have a shot. The goalie parries the firm shot away. Downing loses out on a 50-50 in midfield and Boro are away. Nyambe blocks the shot. 83. Evans wins a header in midfield and Dack picks up and holds off 2 men before threading a sublime ball into the box for a fast arriving Armstrong. Instead of burying the ball in the net, he takes a touch and loses control. The defender gets a foot in and it’s a corner. 84. A howler by Downing. He airkicks a simple lobbed ball and the Boro man is free and clear! He lobs it over the outrushing Raya but it’s weak and Downing is back to hack clear. Lucky! 87. Another long throw by Boro causes panic in the box; Raya collects eventually.

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/december/a-day-to-remember-2018/ As I recall from previous years this is always a poignant event as I recognised several Rovers fans on the big screen who sadly passed away in the previous year. Well done Rovers for showing respect and also giving the fans an opportunity to show our respect to them and their families.

There is a young fell who does match blogs, I think he goes by Briggsy boy. He is good now. Ye should try and get him involved

Raya Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams Smallwood Evans Reed Dack Conway Brereton

That chicken advert..are you serious lol?

You have lost me. Who is disrespecting what now?

Sure is

Injured at Boro.

Getting splinters in his backside on the regs at 'Boro. Strange really, as you'd think he'd be the stuff of Pulis' wet dreams.....

Done.

I can remember laughing out loud, it was like a comedy sketch. You just needed the "wahh wahh wahhhhh" sound effect and you'd be good to go. Wouldn't have been laughing for long if they'd gone on to score, mind, but I had at least a few minutes before that happened.

Get the free ticket and give it to someone on facebook or something pal, someone who maybe can't afford tickets.

x 1000. When I was at Boro on Saturday I noticed half ST's were on sale at approx £275. Rather puts into perspective people moaning at our full season ticket prices starting at £320.

I find it slow and I love it for it, tend to play an hour or so at a time and most occasions I don’t do much to further the story just head out and see what happens

Or, the other ten were carrying him.

I'd rather give my hard-earned cash to Rovers than a team I don't support.

Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning

Me too, another great night at KGH.

The Small Faces - Tin Soldier

Macaully bonne. Plays for leyton orient, 23, top scorer in the national league. Scored 8 in his last 9 games. Tall, quick, good in the air and can use both feet. Being linked to a host of premier league clubs as the next vardy from non league. Never seen him play just what I've heard but must be worth a look and fits into the venky model

I think our next 5 fixtures will determine where our season goes. We play 9th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. 10 points from these games and I reckon the play offs are possibility. Lose a couple and I think mid table is the best we can hope for. That is unless we are set to sign another teenager this time called Mbappe.

My point still stands. The success of the team over the past 18 months has been effected positively by Mowbrays signings. All of the players I have mentioned have contributed and that’s a fact. No one is saying that they’ve been perfect but the ‘mainly miss’ point is ridiculous imo.

Ahhhh so what’s your point? That Coyle’s recruitment is the reason for our success? Maybe Lamberts? Or that one game (Saturdays) is accountable for the managers whole tenure. Dack, Armstrong, Smallwood, Antonsson, Samuel, Caddis and Bell all played a role in last years promotion. The first three on that list were arguably pivotal. This season, Armstrong, Brereton, Reed, Rothwell and Palmer have all scored or assisted thus showing a direct impact on the team performance. Whilst I personally think Rodwell has also made a decent enough start. I don’t get how narrow minded this argument is. It’s really simple, we don’t get promoted last season without the players mentioned above. And we don’t make the start we have this season without the impact of the others Iv mentioned. We know this because they’ve directly effected our matches in terms of goals and assists. Just because some of them signed this season aren’t regulars doesn’t mean they’re bad signings. He’s openly said he expects the likes of Rothwell, Brereton and Davenport are signings that will benefit us over a long period. In all of his reign I can only think of Whittingham who came with a rep, likely on decent money and failed. We’ve never had any bad apples brought in either. No rumblings in the dressing room... AND in the middle of all this we currently have (arguably) the best player in Championship on our books who was signed for £750k and will likely go for £20-25m in the summer. That’d be enough for most fans. Obvs not ours! ???

People talk about us being "a newly promoted side" and "overachieving" like we've spent the last 10 years in League 1 and are just finding our feet in the Championship. Most of this side were in the squad that narrowly slipped into League 1, briefly, on goal difference. Mostly because of Coyle's ineptness. We have loads of players with decent Championship experience and, apparently, the finances to compete in this League. So why shouldn't we be aiming for more than just bobbing around mid-table?

He didn't look at it differently though. He was as cautious and petrified of the opposition last season - whether we were against Wigan or Bury - as he is this season. We were promoted because our team was far too good for that division and Mowbray, for all his tactical faults, is able to command the respect of his players. I think we'll finish mid table this season, and I think that's where we'll finish pretty much every season as long as Mowbray is here. The only way we'll go up or down is if our team either significantly improves (I'm talking becoming the best in the division) or declines (similarly becomes one of the worst). Mowbray is a good bloke and a safe pair of hands with a decent squad, but he doesn't have the courage to propel an average team into promotion contention imo. I'd love to be proven wrong but I believe we would need massive investment from Venky's to get promoted with Mowbray at the helm.

Ten of the starting team were the nucleus of last season's promotion winning side and eight were here when Mowbray arrived. Six of the seven substitutes were Mowbray signings. If we are going to kick on the new signings have to genuinely make us stronger.

Absolutely no chance of top 6. The team and the manager aren't good enough. Far too many drawn games we should have won - yesterday was another example

We've no chance of the top six. We draw too many and concede too many. We're a competitive side built on usually being hard to beat, but we're far too inconsistent to entertain top six ideas. Nothing wrong with any of that given where we've come from over the last couple of years and nothing to fear in this league as we have seen but you need to be more clinical, more ruthless and more resolute defensively than we have been to push on. I also think we need better options from the bench who can change games in our favour. That doesn't happen often enough. For me we're still playing the same way away from home as we were last season. Last season we got away with it most of the time because we were up against Walsall and Oxford, this season expecting this team to see out 1 goal leads is asking a lot. Reality check is that whilst we're still in a decent league position points wise gaps are appearing above us and those just behind us are closing in. Quite conceivably we could drop significantly over Xmas IF we struggle against the top teams. IF we pull out a couple of surprise wins then we could equally rise but even draws whilst good results will see us drift off the required pace.

Oh, please tell me it's Gav!!?

The source of my most embarrassing Rovers moment. When he made his home debut I was waiting outside the main entrance with my young son who was collecting autographs. I thought Jeff Kenna came out so I asked him to sign my son's autograph book. While he was signing I congratulated him on playing well. He said ' I wasn't playing today'. When I looked at the autograph it was Tony Gale !

And now we have a leader His name is mow buryee You'll never take the rovers We f.....ing ate burn elee

A shout out from the BRFCS hood, having sensible gun laws results in this and only feelings are hurt, innit, respect

You really shouldn't be laughing at things like that. We'd need to order more laughing emoji's if people did the same to you.

"The emergence of Jason Lowe is the reason why Michel Salgado is not in the team.." Paul Agnew, Radio Lancashire interview, 2012