‘Rovers are where they are now because of Jack overspending’ was another tweet. We had a small, manageable debt and were a comfortable PL outfit when his half wit family sold us for a pittance. Total ignorance of our situation. The Twitter-fame has gone to his head.

Im sick of the fact Raya has an erratic kick being a justification. Jason Steele got an assist once you know. The number 1 attribute you fundamentally want from your GK is shot stopping. Who cares if Raya gives the Riverside catching practice a few times a game. Look at the Brentford 1-0 win at home. Few goalkeepers in the world would have kept a clean sheet that day. We are not in the Paul Robinson, Tim Flowers, Brad Friedel market anymore. Robbo was probably our last proper goalkeeper and was decent and had a phenomenal kick - Robbo was also the England #1 for half a decade before we signed him thanks to a dodgy backpass got him crucified. Raya is an instinctive and impressive shot stopper, improve his back 4, start playing a positive style of football without 8 defensive players and for the love of God improve his GK coach and leave him be for 12 months. Raya is close to, if not in my "top 5 last players to sell" list. (Lenihan, Dack and Travis being the top 3.)

Completely agree he would be ideal. Not perfect but everything we need. Get stuck in,lead the defence and will help lenihan. Also knows the club and possibly available for a reasonable price

I pay £3.50 fare from Darwen and I think the double decker bus is around £180 to hire. We are dropped off at Ewood WMC and picked up behind the old Albion pub. It does seem we given priority over traffic afterwards and quite often are back at the Craven Heifer pub before 5.20.

Mowbray is just a naturally overcautious manager, he'd rather play it safe than potentially leave the team in a vulnerable position by exposing gaps for the opposition to exploit. It's a commendable attitude in some respects, but there are two major issues I have with his approach. Firstly, he seems to wait far too long to change things. We went on an embarrassingly long run of terrible form from the beginning of February before he finally made some serious changes which brought instant results. At that point he had little choice but to continue on with it, and since we were safe at that point and had no realistic chance of reaching the playoffs there was no real pressure if we got a couple of really bad results along the way. Secondly, he is far too cautious against teams which are inferior to us - particularly at home. Because of his overthinking we rarely start off on the front foot against teams we should be beating. I have no issue with taking caution away from home (although our away form this season was pretty poor anyway) or at home against the better teams in the division, but I don't understand it when we're playing teams like Rotherham, Ipswich, Millwall, etc. Those are situations where he needs to be more courageous if he has serious ambitions of getting promoted. I'm still hopeful that the tail end of the season will have opened the manager's eyes a bit, and with a decent summer we may have a good 19/20 season. A poor summer window and no lessons learned from last season could see us in some serious trouble though. At this point I really feel like it could go either way.

Shwinnggg!

His apologies ring very hollow. He’s just realised that it’s 2019 and public figures are vilified for stuff like this. I’m pretty sure he meant what he said. It seems patently obvious that resents what’s Jack Walker did for this club and he has taken aim for today’s football ills on the wrong target and on the wrong day. Ironic that he is trying to do the same thing for lowly Accy. Odd that he singled out the names he has for his outburst. Abramovic is infinitely more responsible than Jack could ever be accused of for today’s ownership problems. Jack bought his boyhood club and for a fleeting moment restored it to its former glory. While Abramovic was the start of the “Pick a Random (London) PL Club as a Bauble” phase that has brought clubs to their knees.

Local man makes money, buys the team he supports and lives the dream. Aye, not fit and proper at all....

What a poor advert for the FA Cup and English football in general that Final was. I gave up watching it when the 3rd Citeh goal went in and expected to see a minimum of 6 by the time I checked back. There is too much being earned by the top 4 or 6 Clubs in our game and the rest have zero chance of winning anything meaningful. Teams like Citeh can, for me, fuck off and play in a European or World League. Just read on Facebook that the Citeh bench cost 4 times more than the entire Watford team.

I think hanley. Time on the bench might have done him good. Should be in his prime and I'd have killed for him in a lot of games the season gone. Farker did make him captain

Stanley have real ale marquees, live bands, £1 a pint after a win, an ‘ultras section’ where the club work with the fans on flags, banners etc. Free shirts and tickets for every kid in Hyndburn. Not bad for a club struggling to attract 4 figure crowds two years ago. Good job Holt didn’t just think ‘bugger it, we are a small club, nowt we can do’

I’ve been at Ewood every step of our decline, like 10,000 or so others. I’m enjoying our recovery (of sorts), and wish there were more there to see it. But I’m aware that there is also the floating fan that isn’t as committed as me, chaddy, JH, Paul etc, so they need enticing in. As ‘well, they should just turn up, I do’ isn’t a solution.

Direct competition doesn't sound like an upgrade in a position that has costed us loads of points. It's just another wage added on the wage bill without significant improvement. Raya is a decent keeper but I don't see him being any better than that. Fair enough, he's pulled off some good saves in the past few season but that should be the requirement of any goalkeeper at this standard... Even Leutweiler pulled off some decent ones at Norwich and I recall Simon Eastwood pulling off a few too... Doesn't mean any of them are or were good enough to be in a promotion pushing side. I do agree that people are being a tad sentimental about him.

What I don't get is he dropped some of the under performers and then offers Conway a new contract. Alice in Wonderland stuff.

Different posters have different opinions. Whatever next?

Brilliant. And Ted can’t even take offence because he is the bigger man and will just ‘move on’.

If we can get good money for Raya and a solid replacement is lined up, we should sell. If we are serious about mounting a promotion push, he has to go. He doesn't command his defence, he isn't dominant in the six yard box, his distribution is poor and he has started dropping clangers out of absolutely nothing. Yes he can pull off worldie saves but it just doesn't offset those frailties. We need to plug the holes in defence, that's the difference between where we ended up and a playoff place this season.

My long held suspicions about Holt's dingle leanings are seemingly well founded. Exactly the sort of comment a resentful claret would come out with. Of course he would deny any such tarring as it doesn't fit his Accy lad image. Not only very disrespectful but also incorrect. Walker's investments here were not gambling the clubs future but were putting in place infrastructure to enable the club to grow and thrive longer term. Also seems to be ignore the massive profits on player trading which is the hallmark of a well run and sustainable club. Ignorance but agenda driven.

That header still features prominently in my nightmares.

With the gadgets he can make, he might very well keep a few clean sheets.

Anybody else disappointed this wasn't a thread of pictures of Claudia Schiffer

Do you genuinely believe he will become Spains number 1 one day? A goalkeeper as far as im aware never played for the Spanish youth teams, who is struggling at the moment to convince he is a competent Championship goalkeeper, whilst in terms of competition, he is up against Kepa, a 70m keeper playing regularly for Chelsea who is one year older, and even De Gea (admittedly after a bad season himself) who is only 28.

I keep going back to talking about the AJBell. They run the buses from the Trafford Centre to the stadium free on match day and cars are held in the car parks for 20 mins after the match. Increasingly the buses are being used as car parking near the ground is more limited as development takes place. Does it increase crowds? I don't know but it certainly improves the matchday experience as a whole. Buses leave from 2 hours before the match so you can get there early and eat, drink etc, or chat with players in the shop where those not playing because of injury help out and youngsters can have photos with other players designated to be in the Shark truck that week. A marquee has live music. After the match buses run for an hour after the match so you can stay behind for a drink afterwards if you so wish or get away quickly if you need to as the buses have priority for 20 mins. Now Rovers can't do it for free necessarily and they'd need to look at pickup points and whatever but although people say parking is easy since the changes in road layout and the closure of some car parks we've found it less so on the occasions we've attended. A bus service from the Ribble Valley even if it started in Whalley not Clitheroe might be a good idea. And there are other areas like Chorley that might benefit from a similar service. Like it or not, travel is part of the matchday experience and the easier it is, the more likely people are to go to matches and keep going.

Building from the back is how it's done and a good experienced keeper who's a bit more commanding especially to his centre halves HAS to be followed by another centre defender of similar stature and hopefully a good left back. That's positive building blocks for this team imo otherwise there'd be no point flogging him unless the money is used properly. Let's remember Souness, not a defensive minded manager, started right there with bringing in Brad for what was already a good and popular keeper in Filan. Turned out a no brainer, going way back we were struggling all over the park under Mackay after a few great seasons but the first thing he did when Jack gave him some funds was get in Mimms, Dobson and a big lump up front in Livingstone. I'd suggest that's a good way to go right now. Kenny replaced a good keeper in Mimms with Flowers and Robinson was a solid if not spectacular replacement for Brad. Simply put if you want to get anywhere you just must have a good reliable safe pair of hands in the sticks. Raya himself was an upgrade on Steele so the process is ongoing. Forget all the misty eyed stuff if it was done for the right reasons i'm 100% with it...........as ever though that remains to be seen but we are now not sticking plasters over holes we are in an actual position to upgrade if there is funding. First time that's happened for a long time.

Lesson to be learned here is you really shouldn't talk about things that you dont understand. Blackburn Rovers, the club that Jack built.

Ted can't post on the internet without his usual touch of arrogance and assuming he knows better than everyone else. Ted then wonders why people find his tone a tad annoying. Ted doesn't know anything better than anyone else. Don't be like Ted he's a bit of a helmet.

I realise you aren't the brightest but he clearly states that the police saw it and did nothing. What he didn't tell you is someone rang him rang him later using a voice distorter and threatened to kill him and his cat.

It’s my belief that folk post what they actually think the first instance. I suspect he’s only issued an apology later as someone may have pointed out to him that Stanley have Rovers fans watching when we are away from home. As far as I’m concerned he can stick his apology where the sun don’t shine and as I alluded to a couple of weeks back, Stanley could quite easily have been rivalling us if we hadn’t got promoted from the first division at the first attempt. Lets forget all this nice Stanley bollocks, they aren’t Rovers!

Totally different scenarios mate. If Raya was to be Spain's no.1 he would need to already be at a higher level than reserve keeper(which I imagine he will be next season) at a lower half Championship club.

Ah the good old council. Rather than putting empty land at Ewood to use by allowing people to park there in safety they build a gypsy camp there and leave the rest to fall into rack and ruin. Then put extra parking wardens on duty and drop them all off ahead of the game to try and issue some fines to boost the coffers. Trying to exploit Rovers fans for extra cash. Disgusting. Meanwhile the town goes to the dogs. The council are complicit in the difficulties.

Raya would have to go for me. When I first saw him 3 or 4 seasons ago, I thought we had a real prospect on our hands. However, two full seasons as our number one and in my mind he's not developing / improving as he should and as good young goalies do. If anything, I think he's going backwards. IMO, we also need an experienced goalie coach who's done it and got the tee shirt. IMO, the community trust, where I think Benson started at Carlisle, is Benson's level. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys. IF we sign Joe Hart, can anyone really imagine Benson coaching him!

I am certainly in favour of keeping Raya as I think there is still potential in him, however a future Spain NO.1 is somewhat deluded. He may one day be a lower Premier league team keeper, but not a hope in hell he will be one of the best keepers in World football.

He would walk into our back 4. Remember mate, we let more goals in than nearly every team in the football league

All keepers at our level make mistakes, the very best keepers make mistakes (look at De Gea this season). Leeds’ keeper against Derby has played 25 times for Madrid, and he was awful. Raya is a good Championship keeper now, in a few years he will be a good Premier League keeper.

Glen posted a commendable record of events. But Glen like many of us at that time became far more expert in the laws, consequences and suppression tactics relating to publishing or not than any of us had any wish or need to before or since... Hence no documentation of the type blueboy is looking for. He should have been around in 2011 then he wouldn't be so flippant. Think of it as an iceberg. What you can see on the surface automatically means there is something far bigger and nastier underneath the water line. Anyway, it is a shame all of this is on this lad's thread whom I understand is genuinely a youth footballer and is genuinely being assisted philanthropically by the Raos. in no way has he any guilt by association with events of more than five years ago when in all honestly there was a shift from the evil to the merely clowning incompetence. Ian Herbert called it right in the season review pod cast I believe in identifying a further shift to something pretty good when Coyle got sacked.

He did and there it is still all out there for all to see. I am sure some will bury their heads in the sand and suggest that Venkys were just badly advised, but things went a lot deeper than that. http://roversrevisited2.blogspot.com/2016/09/good-money-if-you-can-get-it.html

Raya's young and has plenty time to develop into a decent keeper but tbh I've never seen a potential Premier league great in him at all let's be honest since he was head and shoulders too good for the U23s he's been a little bit overhyped. Great reflexes but a lot of basics need massive improvements and he's two full seasons In now as no1 although only one at Championship level obviously. Bleated on about it before but to me it was a right cock up leaving him on our bench for a season or two after he'd been on loan at Fleetwood and done well. They should 100% have had him out somewhere else for a bit learning his trade. 90% of being a good steady keeper is in the head if you can do the basics right it's all about judgement and communication next and this is where he still struggles plus he looks to be about 5'11" and sadly these days to be a real top keeper you need to be a good few inches taller. Definitely enough about him though to develop into a good Championship stopper he's just a kid still learning on the job so I wouldn't get rid of him unless there is a good experienced ready made no 1 available to come in although that will cost, would be worth it imo if he isn't old and could serve us a good few years. Getting rid of any good player only makes sense if you replace them properly but personally I don't see Raya as a key player to the team like the Dacks, DGs, Lenihens etc but it would be crazy to cash in now just for the sake of it.

For those who bothered to find out, what was going on in the first few years of Venkys ownership, most will know about the death threats and also other very untoward things. I have spoken at length to one individual, who was put through all sorts of personal trauma and who received a death threat. Someone has asked if it was reported to the police, well yes it was, but unfortunately it was never investigated properly. As many people will know, anyone who stood up to what was going on at the club back then were sorted in their own way. Whether you were the first team manager, a club executive, or simply a pesky fan getting too involved, it didn't really matter. I would suggest that's why the people who knew what was really going, on, will never rest, until the current owners are gone. http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2012/05/08/revealed-new-leaked-blackburn-letter-lays-bare-crisis-and-torment-inside-ewood-080501/

The independent buses from pubs in Darwen illustrate the point in question. I know for a fact that if the facility wasn’t there, a number of people wouldn’t bother going to Ewood. It would be worthwhile trialling something similar from Chorley, Clitheroe, Accrington etc to see how it went.

You’re missing the point. If we could be doing things better, we should be aiming to.

The best goalkeepers have a quality that is much harder to quantify than saves and costly mistakes...it's their ability to marshal a back four and develop confidence in the whole unit. The key to this is communication. Sadly, I feel this is where Raya is lacking. He undoubtedly has ability and indeed makes spectacular saves, and has saved us many points, but I never feel the whole unit is secure with him behind them. Having said that, he remains our best option of the keepers on our books. If Raya is to be sold we must sign a replacement beforehand. Of all the names banded about I'd probably prefer Ruddy, mainly for his stature. There does seem to be a lack of obvious alternatives though

Jeeeez you don’t get top class keepers from your academy by selling them at 24/25. I agree he’s made mistakes but that’s part of the process. For me - if we sell Raya it sends out all the wrong signals and will massively frustrate me in terms of what we are supposedly trying to build.

Surely winning more games is the best, and probably only, way to improve the matchday experience. Success on the pitch is the only way forward. I've never been to Stanley but I'm struggling to understand how the matchday experience at the Crown with an average gate of 2827, 24th in League One, watching the team which finished 14th is better than a visit to Ewood Park??? If it's so good why would less than 3,000 bother to go?? If people want a better matchday experience the answer is simple..........

Found these online and thought they where really interesting - a full league review, images below... Shot Dominance The number of shots taken against the number of shots the opposition took Attacking Effectiveness Shot conversion, essentially. Bottom right is good, top left is bad. We come under languidly clinical, essentially didn't get lots of chances but took them. Defence effectiveness Exact opposite of above- top left is good - able to reduce opposition shots take more shots without conceding, bottom right is bad, opposition get lots of opportunity and take them. As predicted, we dont do well here. Expected goals The graph speaks for itself and sums up pretty much everything I thought about the year. Decent attack, poor defence.

I'm not sure 4 hours in a car every day is ideal for his hamstring, or Graham's back issues.