Crucial game coming up on Wednesday night at Vicarage Road against the newly relegated Hornets. After 5 games, 7 points and it'is absolutely mid table esq and one point from 2 latest home games has been disappointing to say the least. How often after 2 decent performances and results, are we swiftly brought crashing down to earth by two equally poor displays. All the new signings should all be available for Mowbray to freshen up his squad. Early days granted but for me it's a must win game on Wednesday. I couldn't begin to guess on the team selection but I'll start us off with Kaminski in goal......

I broke my duck of starting match threads which produce a win with our 3-2 victory at Cardiff in the twilight zone in May so I hope I am not resurrecting previous perennial bad luck by starting this thread... Being a contrarian.. Forest changing Managers at least means TM won't have spent two weeks obsessing about what Forest are going to do and disappearing up his own tailpipe producing a team and tactics that totally bemuse the out of position Rovers players. Unless he is Mystic Mog, he won't know what Hughton is going to conjure up from that huge Forest squad which will most likely include at least two new signings making debuts. His only option is to concentrate on what Rovers are going to do and hopefully formation and tactics are a given. We will have 4-3-3 with players in their natural positions again please Tony. However, choice of Personnel could be a bit more tricky. Hopefully we will only have Travis, Dack and Butterworth unavailable which means Stergiakis, Rankin-Costello, Lenihan, Ayala, Evans and Gallagher should all be available and that is without reckoning on one or more AN Others signed before the transfer window cut-off to be available for selection. Established players are not going to be in the matchday 18, quite apart from getting a starting slot. It would be really cruel to see Buckley and Chapman not making the bench but that would seem likely for at least one of them. Big decisions will need to be made selecting between Nyambe and JRC, Ayala, Williams and Lenihan, whether to bring Evans in especially if he has two more good games for Northern Ireland, and one from Gallagher and Dolan. I suspect if an AN Other signing is a left back with a sweet cross in him, Gallagher will get that nod in the expectation he will nod in a cross or two coming in late at the far post... Equally I expect Gallagher will be ineffectual and replaced by Dolan before the 70th minute. I just hope Mowbray doesn't overthink permutations and starts saving players for the journeys to Watford and Coventry which happen within seven days of the Forest game. We know Forest will come to Ewood all fired up wanting to start their season five games late under their new boss. We know they have some very good players. We know Kaminski is going to have to be outstanding to keep his run of clean sheets going. We know Rovers are going to have to be at their best in taking their chances to win this one. Deep down we also know if 20/21 is going to be a very special season for Rovers, this is the sort of game we have got to be winning.

Cardiff (H) - Saturday 3rd October 2020 Cardiff City at home. A bang average start for the Bluebirds, with losses to Sheffield Wednesday and Reading sandwiching a win over struggling Nottingham Forest. Greg Cunningham is expected to play left-back for them which should certainly be interesting. Kieffer Moore will provide an aerial threat through the middle, with Junior Hoilett off the left always being dangerous. For Rovers, Joe Rankin-Costello won't play after picking up a hamstring injury. Bradley Dack, Daniel Ayala, Sam Gallagher and Corry Evans all expected to not travel to Ewood. Score Prediction & Scorers: Line-Up Prediction: Line-Up Wishlist:

Derby away next week might seem a tough game when the fixtures come out but theres no reason why we shouldnt go there targeting a win. 2 losses for them so far at home to Reading and at Luton, and seemingly problems at both sides of the pitch. They signed Kamil Jozwiak who we have been linked with and who set up a goal before going off with a knock, as did Jack Marriott who went off after scoring his first goal in a while. Would like to see a new LB in this week but based on Mowbrays comments it seems we are having a re think in terms of transfers so assuming we dont add, I would go: Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Ayala Williams Rothwell Johnson Holtby Dolan Armstrong Brereton Subs: Eastham, Rankin Costello, Wharton, Davenport, Buckley, Chapman, Gallagher 2 changes, both at full back where Nyambe comes back in. Also Bell is a weakness and Williams is a better defender, and that in turn allows Ayala to come in. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off.

The return of Gareth Ainsworth. Rovers have been refused to become a pilot scheme for this game, so no fans will be attending. ST holders will be able to watch via iFollow as part of their ticket, I assume everybody else can if they pay for a £10 match pass. If you do intend on buying a match pass buy it in advance and test it out or risk iFollow chaos close to the game. Wycombe are going to want a fight. Sadly, I suspect after not playing in 2020, Ayala won't be ready for a fight. Travis, our head fighter, is injured for the foreseeable. With that in mind, I would go.. Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Williams Bell Davenport Holtby Evans Brereton Gallagher Armstrong

Newcastle fairly comprehensively undid West Ham and looked far more potent in a long time so a bit of a thrashing might be on the cards tomorrow night. We have been drawn against them rather often in the past 30 years so getting progress past them is rather over due. Just hope Ben is not asked to take a penalty... I would stick with Saturday's line up but fancy we will see Tony's tombola.

Bournemouth won 5-3 in a friendly v today. Not the ideal opening fixture in terms of difficulty. With Mowbray pulling his finger out and getting some defenders in prior seemingly an impossibility, would personally go with this: Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Wharton Williams Travis Evans Holtby Brereton Armstrong Rankin Costello Subs: Eastham, Gallagher, Chapman, Rothwell, Buckley, Davenport, Johnson Obviously Dolan very unlucky to miss out on a weak looking bench and am happy for him to be sub over either Chapman or Rothwell really. Dont want to see Bell hence the choice on the left hand side of defence. Rankin Costello is back up to step back into defence should we get an injury. Cant say that I have any confidence on opening day, even with Bournemouth in some sort of limbo and with a rookie manager. Only goal threat comes from Armstrong and defence is hardly a strudy one. Would love to be proven wrong and see us get a good result.

Doncaster Rovers (H) - Carabao Cup Round One - Saturday 29th August 2020 - 15:00 Kick-Off @ Ewood Park Streaming: Game will be available to view but no news whatsoever on who will be able to access and how given that Rovers haven't released any club communications for months. SkySportsNews will be showing the goals at they go in I would imagine, which may be a good option for those with the service. Edit: available via iFollow Injuries: Ryan Nyambe (Confirmed), Sam Gallagher (Doubt), Dack (Confirmed). I guess one of the main questions involves a certain Tyryhs Dolan, who's played admirably across two substitute appearances in the friendlies up at Fleetwood Town and Blackpool. A goal and an assist inside 50-something minutes of football for a young 18-year-old who's never made an official senior debut is fairly impressive, albeit against some questionable defences. Able to play out on the left-wing or the right, I think given Brereton's two goals it'll be a question of whether Harry Chapman starts on the left or if Tyryhs Dolan does. Joe Rothwell came through the week uninjured after coming off against Fleetwood Town, so will be available for selection. Effectively another glorified friendly, with the competition losing meaning season upon season, and Rovers setting up to play on their third game of pre-season. With Ryan Nyambe unable to play, Joe Rankin-Costello is expected to be given a start at right-back, although there's always a possibility with Mowbray that Elliott Bennett takes the spot. You'd expect Lenihan and Wharton to be given the nod to start together as the defensive pairing, and despite a below average performance last night, I don't think anyone would expect anybody other than Amari'i Bell to start at left-back. Both Corry Evans and Bradley Johnson had better pre-seasons than they did end to BCD seasons. In-fact I've seen many posters and social media comments along the lines of, Travis was the worst of the three over those two games. It may be that somebody like Jacob Davenport ends up starting, but that all comes down to how important Tony Mowbray sees this game as being in the long run. Questions from me to you: Your starting XI for the game? Does Dolan start in your XI or is he better off the bench? Who's the better keeper, Fisher or Eastham? Score prediction for the game? *why on earth I thought this was away I'll never know. Amended!

https://www.lcfc.com/news/1788953/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lcfc.com%2F free link to watch the match

Blackpool - (A) - Bloomfield Road - Tuesday 25th August 2020 - Streaming Options Available through Blackpool website https://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news/2020/august/new-live-streaming-service-for-everton-and-blackburn-games/ For streaming info. £5.99 match pass seemingly but all will be confirmed before kick-off. Looks less likely that Rovers will be permitted to stream this for free on YouTube as we did at Fleetwood. Mowbray expects players to get a bit more game time in this one, so maybe we won't see two entirely different XI's for each half. Joe Rothwell is said to only have a knock and not an injury, so that's good news. Match kicks off at 19:00GMT.

Fleetwood Town (A) - Highbury Stadium - Saturday 22nd August 2020 - Pre-Season Friendly Streaming Information Unavailable, Rovers to inform fans nearer the time, Everton game confirmed to be streaming on their platform. Interesting pre-season ahead of us now, with Fleetwood Town away in a weeks time. When the "Pre-Season" thread was first devised I said I thought a game against Joey Barton would be perfect for us, all this talk of Premier League opposition and testing ourselves against these big teams, but the reality is that we struggle against teams that sit back, defend in an organised block and get stuck in. One of our biggest blessings going into next season is that we don't have to travel to the DW again! Fleetwood missed out on promotion after losing their semi-final tie with promoted Wycombe Wanderers. They've lost their star right-back in Lewie Coyle to recently relegated Hull City, but they have just picked up Morgan Boyes on a season-long-loan from Liverpool's Under 23's. Fleetwood Town won 4-2 against Carlisle United in their first pre-season friendly of the 2020/21 season, and whilst Carlisle are a league below, a 6-goal game shows that they won't just sit back and defend, they'll have a go at us. They've got Glenn Whelan, Paddy Madden, Ched Evans, Josh Morris (former Rover) and Callum Camps just to name a few in their side. Onto Rovers and it isn't looking great. Probability says we're playing this fixture in last years kit, as no announcements have been made, with the clubs retail officer recently telling a forum member that they don't even know when the release date is. Home, away and goalkeeper shirts will be made by Umbro and sponsored by 10bet again, and it's gotten to a point now where they may aswell just leave last years designs on all bloody season! Andy Fisher is expected to start in goal ahead of Joe Hilton. Fisher has been at the club longer, and whilst of similar ages and abilities, Fisher also has a little more mens game experience under his belt, having spent the last three seasons out on loan at League One and Two sides in Northampton & MK Dons. Amari'i Bell and Derrick Williams are both expected to be back in full fitness, whether you take that as positive or negative news is your choice, and the loss of Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel means that the toss up of "who'll start up front" becomes a three horse race, but the expectation is that Brereton, Gallagher and Armstrong will probably all feature. Last years pre-season games featured one team in one half, and another team in the other, style tactics from Mowbray and his coaching staff. 9 half time subs away at Blackpool last summer was quite a sight to see on the touchlines! So it wouldn't be a shock to see a slightly odd line-up at kick off that gets moulded as time goes on. We won't see Bradley Dack, who isn't far off now but still not ready for games. Rovers are quite openly trying to get shift of Charlie Mulgrew as they were last summer, as reports in the LT suggest, so it wouldn't be a shock if Mulgrew doesn't feature, or maybe even travel. Joe Rankin-Costello, John Buckley, Dan Butterworth (now back fit), Joe Grayson (now back fit), Scott Wharton and Stefan Mols will probably all be hopeful of being able to come along on the coach and getting some minutes. I think some interesting questions WILL be answered though, outside of the ones we know won't be answered (kits and goalkeeper): What formation will Mowbray go with? Will we see something new? Will Armstrong go down the middle or out wide? How can Andy Fisher cope with decent opposition? What's his kicking game like?

Broke my voodoo by Rovers winning at Cardiff. We lost at home to.Luton in a Mowbray horror show when selection tactics subs and motivation were all wrong to.set up this absolute must win game ... For Luton. I fancy us to win this and get close to the 5 Reading scored at Kenilworth Road. Luton are a very limited side and even with injuries we probably have two complete elevens who could beat them. I would like to see yesterday's starting team with Buckley in place of Johnson. I fancy Luton tactics will be to keep it tight and profit from the inevitable Rovers mistakes. Total dig in if Luton get ahead. If we score first we will get lots of chances to add to the lead.

There is a game on Saturday at 3pm. We are in it. Reading are also in it. This is an absolute must-play game. It's crucial that we play this game. For Reading also, it's extremely important that they play this game. Mid-table mediocrity bragging rights are on the line. If we don't field a team that can play this game, we will have no chance of achieving our dream of fulfilling our fixture list. The stakes are now very real. I'm hoping we can field a team that definitely includes Bennett. This hope is the best way to make sure I'm not disappointed. It might be best if he plays in goal, as I think it's the only position he hasn't been crammed into, with Walton as a false 9. I expect Tony to field a never-before-seen formation so that we can have a talking point. With the playoffs and relegation no longer on the cards, we should probably try out more of the youngsters and players with a future who need to keep developing. So the out-of-contractors and the loanees will definitely play in our 2-6-1-1 formation, with 6 CMs, Gally RW, no LW and Walton as the false 9. I can't emphasise strongly enough how excited I am that we are in with a great chance to play this game. Anything less than 0 points is just unacceptable.

how does everyone think we will do? any lineup thoughts? Millwall recently have been playing 3-4-2-1 formation.

Tough game. But I expect the same team. What do people think?

In an alternative universe before our kick off on 27 June, this looked like it could be the decisive battle for 6th place. Well Cardiff need to keep winning to remain in 6th. My doing match threads has a 100% record of defeats for Rovers since coming up so I have started this one deliberately to put us out of our misery. Not going to hazard a team selection beyond Downing at Left Back.

Dont know if this is the best place to put it. But I really think at the moment we are at a crossroads in terms of naming our best side. I sort of understand the thinking behind this new elaborate formation to an extent but it needs to be binned, Holtby like Dacks influence is massively compromised when you ask him to essentially lead the line. Of course we have to try and get that unlikely 6th spot as long as we mathematically can but perhaps we also need to be trying to finally come up with a successful way long term to bring together an imbalanced squad. What formation do we play? We HAVE to play a number 10 because our best player is a 10 so theres little point planning a formation without him, plus Holtby is best as a 10, and even Buckley has had his only good game at Charlton as a 10. That sends you towards 4231 again but the problem is we have absolutely no competent players to play wide roles, and that leads to this wide strikers bollocks. This is where our previously imbalanced recruitment hits us hard. We already need a GK, CB and LB minimum defensively. We also need a real revamp in wide areas. Sadly with the current situation any hope of adequately fixing all of this is unrealistic. We need to come up with a way whereby we can use our technical players to dominate games, but still have that attacking threat. Looking ahead to Tuesday night, I think the most obvious change to make first is Downing to left back. Not ideal but in the absence of our 2 LBs hes the only option and a competent option at that. Id pick Davenport over Johnson (who again looks a busted flush) in CM, and Armstrong up top is an obvious one. Always reluctant to move Holtby but again when Dack is back he may need to go somewhere else anyway, maybe have Rothwell (so lucky to have another chance) coming in from the left, Holtby from the right giving us technical players at LB, Adarabioyo at CB, then the 2 CMs and ahead Rothwell and Holtby cutting inside to hopefully get us plenty of possession. Nyambe and Downing overlapping, and Brereton as a 10 off Armstrong? Walton Nyambe Lenihan Adarabioyo Downing Travis Davenport Holtby Brereton Rothwell Armstrong

Looks like Travis will be fit for the game but Wiiliams, Bell, Evans injured. Brereton banned. Buckley is back.

Wigan Athletic vs Blackburn Rovers DW Stadium Saturday 27th June 2020 3pm Kick Off (Behind Closed Doors) (Available in full on iFollow, goals as they go in on Sky Sports and highlights on Quest (Sky channel 144) from 9pm Saturday.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lovely win against Bristol City last weekend just gone. We've got the Wigan game fast approaching, but all the fixtures are fast approaching with the way they've all been crammed in. Originally scheduled for a midweek game, we were expecting to take a dwindling away following - but now there'll be none whatsoever. As with the City fixture, this no crowd malarkey could be a good thing for some of our players. I think most of us agree than Ben Brereton's best game in a Rovers shirt came on Saturday. The main question though, and it is a tough one, is who does he start? Wigan are a much more direct and physical side. Against Huddersfield Town where they won 2-0, they had just 30% possession. They will happily wait whilst we play it round the back and hit us on the counter. We have to approach this game differently to the last. Therefore could a Danny Graham start be warranted? Maybe we need to play a formation with wingers to try and get the ball in the box? Where does Sam Gallagher fit into that? Or Ben Brereton for that matter. A win in the right circumstances could take us into the Top 6, with a trip to lowly placed Barnsley to follow. A plus 9 goal difference is also vastly superior to a lot of play-off chasing sides, which could come in handy at the run in. Lots to discuss before another big game! Hopefully no, or at least less, iFollow issues will persist into the next round of fixtures either. Looking forward to the game and hearing people's thoughts. Some highlights for the perusal of those as bored as I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hUskn1tX_I / Highlights from 18/19's 3-0 victory at Ewood Park https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NDnFYCqU8o&t=78s / Highlights from 17/18's League One clash which ended 2-2.

Blackburn Rovers vs Bristol City Saturday 20th June 2020 Ewood Park (Behind Closed Doors) 15:00 Kick Off - Available on iFollow free for ST holders, £10 for non ST holders. Wow! Finally a real match thread. It's been so long. I guess this feels a little like a reset for everyone and every club in the division. Form out of the window, more players back fit and ready to play. So many questions to mill over before Saturday! I just can't believe that in 6 days we'll finally be seeing Rovers play again. Whilst we'll all disagree about club policy, and BCD football - lord knows we've spent 2 months disagreeing over it - it's nice to know that there'll finally be something tangible to discuss throughout this next week. Who would you like to see play? Who do you think will thrive in the final 9 games? What do you make of the race for 6th, who grabs it, is it us? Excited to discuss below

Match Thread: Kind of Set to play Liverpool today with Lewis Holtby also set to feature in the game as seen on Instagram. Liverpool TV nor Rovers are showing the game in any capacity, I wonder whether Rovers will live tweet it either? Probably not. Hoping Rich Sharpe might provide some updates for the Lancashire Telegraph. Does anyone on the forum know where this game is taking place? Ewood or Brockhall?

Lenihan returns, as will a back four featuring Nyambe in his favoured position. 3pts & results going our way puts us into 6th position. Bristol City of course face us, whilst Preston take on Luton Town away. Cardiff host Leeds and Millwall host a Derby County side who just annihilated us at the weekend. Balance of probability says that Rovers and Preston pick up wins, with Cardiff, Millwall and Bristol City most likely drawing or losing. Despite a poor performance at the weekend, I feel that with the pressure of "win and we're in the play-offs" lifted (albeit self-inflicted) we'll probably pick up a win here. Bristol City have been in even worse form than us over the last six matches, picking up just one win in seven matches. In typical Rovers fashion, I see us keeping faint hopes alive, just so they can be crushed again with the back-to-back away games at Wigan and Barnsley coming up. Away from home, City like a 1-0 victory. They've managed this result at QPR, Reading & Cardiff this season. In-fact, Lee Johnson's side very rarely score more than a goal or two, a team etched in a similar fashion to Fulham who very much grab their goal and sit (ignoring that 6-0 win earlier this season!!). We managed to pick up a win at Ashton Gate earlier in the season, in one of our stronger performances of the season - where Bradley Dack didn't feature as he won't on Saturday. Usual Q's: Your Starting XI and Subs Does Brereton need to be dropped? Can Mowbray continue to justify Sam Gallagher's starting spot every week? How does Danny Graham fit into our squad now? Score Predictions & Goal-scorers As per Mr @Sparks Rover's Review, I'll be adding some new content to this preview - apparently it simply isn't good enough. Recent form for both sides, fixtures for other 6th spot hopefuls and an insight in the away sides playing style just simply isn't enough and I need to do more. So, specially made for Mr @Sparks Rover, I'll continue: I attended the Bristol City fixture last season at Ashton Gate, it was very early on in the 18/19 campaign and we were hammered 4-1. At that stage, if you'd have told me that by this time this year we'd be in the same position, clamouring to reach the same spot in the table, I'd have been delighted. Now it has to be said that Lee Johnson has let some key players go, and lost some other key players he may have rather kept hold of, since then. However, Bristol City still boast an impressive team. They definitely seemed to struggle in this seasons reverse fixture when it came to chasing leads, and I'm hopeful that if we can nick an early goal on Saturday that we can prove this theory to be correct. Rovers love an early goal, we've been one of the most potent sides in the division within the first 20 minutes of games this season. Bristol City have announced that to date, over 300 tickets have been sold from the club's initial allocation, which for a team in the position they're in, is a pretty lowly figure for a Saturday 3pm kick off. Another interesting stat is Bristol City's 14 shots, 8 on target, against tough to beat Fulham. They came away with a 1-1 draw but certainly proved more of a threat against them than we managed in our two losses to Fulham this season, home and away. Their xG was 1.68, a respectful figure given the difficulty most sides have in breaking down Scott Parker's side. In health news, this could be our last home game in front of a crowd for a while, who knows! Obviously it's all speculation, but with sporting events, leagues and competitions being suspended across Europe, and current statistics having the UK around "two weeks behind Italy", we may not see a home game at Ewood Park in person for a while after Saturday.

Wigan Away replacement Match Thread! Fresh from a promotion season, our first game of the newly formed Premier League season takes us to London as we face Crystal Palace away. A stream, from the moderators, I hear you ask? You heard that right. Watch below:

Whilst the EFL is on lock down and we have some members self isolating, BRFCS will be live streaming classic Rovers throwback games to give us all our Rovers fix. Todays match sees Rovers face a strong Manchester United side, featuring Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez, who are chasing down the title. Team News: Rovers: Friedel; Emerton, Samba, Nelson, Warnock; Bentley, Reid, Vogel, Pedersen; Santa Cruz, Roberts Subs - Brown, Mokoena, Ooijer, McCarthy, Dunn Man Utd: Kuszczak; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs; Tevez, Rooney Subs - Foster, Pique, O'Shea, Nani, Park Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/BRFCSdotcom/live