Fella who talks of nothing more of dinner parties with Dingles, turns his nose up at the oiks in the stands, and was too scared to attend the derby last season, now bemoaning Ewood and its fans as ‘docile’ and un-hostile. 😅

The Grand old Riverside..

I was hoping he was found dead in Luton with a cactus up his arse and a copy of Mein Kampf in his hand. That would destroy any sympathy idiots like Moyes would still have for him.

The most depressing bit for me is that we will likely have a few quid to play with, but who is JE realistically going to attract? JDT was a legendary international-class player and he clearly knew what he wanted - we just couldn't afford them (or sabotaged the deals). It would be the most Rovers thing ever if we spent £10m-£15m this summer and wasted it on a load of dross.

It took Mowbray 5 years of 'development' to get us to 69 points. That includes 10 transfer windows during which he was only forced to sell Adam Armstrong and had, comparatively speaking, a massive budget. JDT came in 2 weeks before pre-season started having just lost Lenihan, Nyambe and Rothwell The way to do this is simple and obvious. It doesn't need someone to reinvent the wheel with clever strategies. It needs price reductions across the board, it needs people to see value in the product and it needs serious sustained efforts at selling. When it comes to value in the product there are many aspects to this. Selling all your quality players, spending no money, throwing in the academy kids - this is not going to persuade anyone that you have any ambitions or serious intentions. With half the games being midweek, red button, Sky, dodgy sticks, lunchtime kick offs then the price of a season ticket has to reflect this as a large number of people will be unwilling or unable to get to those matches. So you have to have a price whereby it is still worth being a season ticket holder even if you miss all those games. Preston and Bolton - £250 per adult. So even if you missed 50% of all the games you are still getting the other 50% for a reasonable price that's still good value despite the Sky tv and kick off nonsense. But at £400 per adult if you miss 50% of the games you are looking at a price which is hardly worth it when the club often offers matchday tickets at £15-25. People will just pick and choose and not be any worse off. There is also an onus on the club to drive sales. Putting a few tweets out and tacky straplines about commitment or similar isn't enough. You need to engage clubs, schools, previous buyers, get people buying in groups. This takes time and effort. You can't do it overnight. Too much effort here. Waggott has got away with his low hanging fruit policy for 5-6 years milking the results of Mowbray getting us back up and protected by Covid and then JDTs good season. I think he's going to get the results of his ruinous policies very soon. May need to bring forward that retirement date.

No other Championship club has had to sell £25 million worth of players (+ substantial wage reductions) just to keep the lights on Why have Rovers? They will try to normalise our situation making reference to annual losses and FFP but it isn't normal. Its unique.

No doubt about it, we need something in this game, I am going to keep myself busy with other stuff, I think if I watched it I would seriously trouble my heart

Cov sold out their allocation yesterday (4,339) and have been told they can’t have more. Yet, for the previous relegation six pointer they rolled the red carpet out, 7k, then a few hundred more as if that wasn’t enough. They make it up as they go along down there 🤷‍♂️

The Three Caps - Cool Jerk

Any manager that doesn't try to win or get level in a massive game deserves any pelters that come his way.

I think that farce follows the farce that we weren’t able to get better performances and results with him in the team. He should’ve been our Dewsbury-Hall, albeit he is still very inexperienced. It’s something of a pattern as we see Branthwaite having another good game for Everton. We’ve had talents at the club but rarely been able to put together a coherent team. I’ve been cautious about overstating Wharton’s performances but I think one thing he is doing for Palace is simplifying their game. He plays clever passes but he also plays with minimal touches. Palace’s lauded individualists probably need a player like Wharton. He also seems to have helped Will Hughes improve past few games.

I did have a reply ready for this but I deemed it inappropriate for a football forum! 😄😬

He made the right choice to come, absolutely. But he then made the wrong choice in heading it to Hyam (instead of getting it as far away as possible). More importantly, he stops then saunters back to his goal, rather than sprinting back to his line - as you'd expect in that situation. He definitely played his part in the first goal. The 3rd is just bizarre how we didn't stop the ball from going over the line. The very worst case is an indirect free kick, which they're never scoring from.

We just rest them during the 90 minutes.

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.

Well a point against Sheffield W would now had been massive....

The striker pool below Gallagher now consists of Telalovic, Vale and Leonard. That says everything you need to know about operation downgrade.

Fuckin what cunt!

Because we're better on the counter attack. Have been for a while. But I think a stat was put up during the Wednesday game on Sky for just Eustace's reign. And over 50% possession had less points result than under. Even though we're at home, a relegation battle makes teams more cagey. Cov now have nothing to lose, all guns blazing, come at us hard. We sit back, low possession stats, then pick them off on the break with Sammie and Dolan's pace. Easy peasy right.

No wins at Ewood in 8 attempts for starters. I’m a Rovers fan and if I see a manager coming out with sound bites and making out things are all rosey, when I can clearly see the exact opposite, he becomes unpopular in my mind. If I feel that way, unless I am the exception, then I suspect others will too. Do you have any evidence that he is popular and do you feel in your heart of hearts that he is popular either with you, or the fans in general?

Signed lots of quality at Birmingham as reflected by their league position. Ollie Burke? Dreadful player. Absolutely no chance of us geting Johansson. Id be amazed if we dont stick with the 2 clowns signed on deals for the forseeable. Even more amazed if we spent a million on a keeper that is actually good.

I need to reel that in a bit, I'll end up as the next manager and/or CEO.

I am 100% sure that the above squad ends in League 2.

I think ideas of him going on a run are beyond fanciful. He has always looked well out of his depth, another symptom of the owners cutting budgets beyond reasonable levels.

Wasn't he one of the lads that had the same agent as JDT ? Now he's getting even less of a sniff than before, make of that what you will.

As JHRover said earlier, we should be seeing incomings before anyone else leaves. The squad is threadbare enough as it is. We'll have 5 players in the previous match day squad return to their parent clubs or have their contracts expire. Then whatever happens with Dolan & Gally on top of that. Get rid of anymore before we add to it and we'll have the admin staff on the bench before long.

Be a pretty quiet forum if no-one gave their opinions.

I actually think it’s a really kind fixture for us, I wouldn’t fancy us against anyone top middle or bottom but a team out on their feet and exasperated should be there for the taking

er,probably because he`ll earn a ****load of money😁

Rovers have to lower the prices this coming season with the new TV deal coming which the EFL wanted more money from TV revenue. Games will be moved to a number of different kick offs from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Rovers should charged £199 for Riverside, £249 for BBE and lower JW, £280 for JW upper wing and £330 for JW upper centre I think Rovers also need to look at match day prices policy where you need to make attractive for walk on fans to attend also. £10 for midweek games, £15 to £20 for weekend games I hope Rovers actually serious think about this cos some people won't be attend to every game due to work or family commitments was kick offs changing.

Hull 1 up. Hull could have a significant part to play in keeping us up. They win tonight and Coventry are out if it. They win on Saturday against Ipswich and it would mean Leiceter will almost certainly be promoted by the time we play them. Going into the final day, Norwich would need a result against Birmingham to secure a place in the play offs whilst Hull would be desperate to beat Plymouth to have a chance of getting into the play offs. Come on Hull basically! I have more faith in Hull doing their bit to keep us up than I do in our players.

Hopefully the ‘95 one. I appreciate they’re now in their 50s but I’d still have more confidence in them getting the win we all crave.

The difference between JDT’s style of football and demeanor and enthusiasm compared to Mowbray are poles apart. As was being eluded to here, had he been backed, not only was he likely to get us up, he would have done it in style. That ship has sailed and will not be back in the harbor any time soon.

Cesspit

A long rest needed, but that will come on Saturday

Nice shoutout in Parliament.

The 'timing' of all those court hearings has been just perfect enough to impede the football club. Another monumental Venky coincidence.

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.

He needs to be a target. Get him scared and out of our club.

Stevie Wonder - He’s Misstra Know-It-All

Still can't believe how many no fucks given and not a care in the world attitudes before last night's undeserved awards Should be a no distraction week and fully focused on the cov game , not blowing smoke up there fragile egos when a huge important game coming up. If there are awards do it when it's over ffs.

I totally agree. Why don’t we go back to being level is deemed to be onside, and when the lines are drawn, if the red line and the green line are touching each other then that is also classed as onside. There should be a defined distance between the lines before it’s called offside to negate the exact moment the player passing the ball actually touches the ball. Goal line technology is perfect and immediate, just like Hawkeye at tennis. Why VAR takes so long is a joke and therefore needs to be scrapped until a better solution is found.

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's not that complicated - the owners have simply turned off the taps. They did it to Lambert, they did it to Mowbray at the end of his tenure and they've done it to JDT. The squad cost two buttons and a piece of string to put together and it's showing.

Not sure why people seem to be struggling with this one. Generally, for another plodding mid table season, give Sunderland, Leeds and yes, Sheff Wed, the full end and take their cash, we can’t fill the seats ourselves, so it is what it is. However, in this very specific instance, how about not giving a relegation rival any kind of advantage at your own bloody ground for a huge six pointer with three games to go. Take every home advantage possible, don’t pocket a few extra grand but risk losing millions.

Yep but the lazy and the clueless who run the club won't acknowledge the desperate need to reboot the season ticket base and get as many home fans in as possible. They'll just say if we restrict the 4 or 5 potential huge followings per season ticket prices will have to rise again to cover it. No interest whatsoever in the cost of points or home fans being pissed off with it. The DoF should be walking into Waggot and the shadow mans offices and saying 3 times you've filled that end with away fans this season and 3 times we've lost with many of the goals coming at that end and a few resulting from complete howlers. That's 9 points. Of course there is the bigger picture but it also needs acknowledging they've created a development team as a first team propped up by a few senior pros so the dynamics are different than they were a few years ago. A squad of 30% home grown kids, young loanees and average journeymen needs and environment it can thrive in and use every advantage possible in the quest for enough points to tread water. Restrict the big city teams to 5k filling upstairs first that's more than adequate and food for thought is Sheff Weds if that was a dead rubber would've brought 2.5 to 3.5k tops. So for a few extra quid that will neither make or break the financial mess at Rovers we've rolled over and allowed them double that for their big day out and most important game so far. Well done.

No Jim’s quite right to point it out - it is all down to upbringing, my dad instilled in me local pride, the importance of heritage and passing down the baton between generations when supporting your local club, indeed it is what ‘the club’ is - and to have nothing but contempt for the local glory hunting Liverpool and Man Utd ‘fans’ and for them to ‘win’ as little as possible. Thank you dad.