I've always been an admirer of this lad and actually thought he was deserving of keeping his place ahead of Kaminski at the time. I argued with many mates who were convinced Whalstedt was a better option when he's clearly not even in the same league. Don't get me wrong, he has made errors in the past and he did make some notable errors last season but he also had some great games that he was never given credit for because people had already made up their minds. Since he's come back in, he's been absolutely brilliant in my opinion. On Saturday he kept us in the game but the fans got on this lads back so quickly when he makes a small mistake. Seems some already made up their mind that they think he's sh*t and to me it just seems a hivemind mentality. I personally feel i'll always give credit and criticism where it's due and this boy for his recent performances deserves a lot more. There was a fella giving him pelters all game on Saturday but not once clapped him or gave him credit for keeping us in the game. An English goalkeeper at 25 years old, giving us performances like he has done recently is someone I see as a real asset, he's made some mistakes but you have to make some to become better and to me he looks like he's improved a lot. Even the small things like watching his near post better, his starting positions and angles when closing down 1 on 1's. His distribution has always been good aswell. Was nice to hear a chant of "England's number 1" and I really hope the fans start to get behind him now because his best years are firmly in front of him. Keep that chant going. Last night's performance was a real display of how good he can be especially when he has the confidence of the fans behind him. Well done Aynsley Pears.

The attendance for the Newcastle game of 22,730 just doesn't add up. Approx in each stand including corporate. JW - 9.5k BBE - 4.8K RS - 2.5K DE - 7.5K Total = 24.3k Look at it another way Capacity of Ewood is 31,367 take 22,730 you're left with 8,637 empty seats. BBE upper - 2,900 RS - 2K DE - 400 JW - 500 Total 5,800 empty seats If all were sold that's a sold out stadium of 27,530? Were have the missing 3k seats gone?

What has happened to the general maintenance of Ewood of Park..does anyone at the Club care anymore?. We were gifted the new Ewood Park from Jack Walker,a legacy dear to all Blackburn Rovers fans and the People of Blackburn in general. 'We will respect the Jack Walker legacy' fawned Madame Desai...yeah right! The current state of the Stadium is not acceptable,I urge fellow Board Members,Fans Forum and even visiting Telegraph Reporters to get involved on this thread and issue. Further photos will follow as hopefully it will shame someone at the Club into taking action,It's shameful and embarrassing for a Club of our Stature...PLEASE VOICE YOUR CONCERN.

We keep slagging off the "Venkys" but it is the Rao family that have ruined the club. The Rovers manager was prevented from speaking at his regular Friday presser yesterday but has spoken today. Last summer the "project" that he had agreed with the owners changed completely. He had just missed the play offs on goal difference but was told there was no money for transfer fees or wages, the budget was considerably reduced. Under these circumstances he offered to resign and leave the club without any reimbursement. No, the owners wanted him to continue so he moved his family to the Ribble Valley and continued to work long hours. This current transfer window the budget was cut again and despite selling a 19 year old star player for £18m+ there was no money for transfer fees. The owners, the Rao family, are being investigated by the Indian government for fraud, perhaps even money laundering. They are not allowed to transfer money out of India without permission. The court case is ongoing. When the Rao family bought BRFC they didn't know a club could be relegated. They were allegedly conned by advisors. The Rao family are stupid, ignorant, dishonest and dishonourable people. They are an embarrassment to their family and country. Let's forget Venkys and go after the real culprits?

Chorley match yesterday was the only one in national league north to be played others postponed due to weather and clubs refusing to play. The season resumed whilst the vote on whether to continue or finish remains outstanding with clubs having a 28 day period to vote. Why restart when you may stop again in two weeks. National league threaten clubs who refuse to play with fines and point awarded to opponent. Bradford pa have voted to stop on the grounds they didn't agree for the second tranche of money to be a loan earlier in the season. Their opponents Farsley Celtic have also voted to stop so national league can't award points to opponents in this case. Bradford say why restart season and spend thousands they don't have when result in a few weeks of the vote may see season ended. Makes sense. National league have got themselves in a right mess if clubs can't afford to play the game how do they expect them to pay a fine. It is also possible for the individual national leagues to vote with a different outcome it appears. Would they not be better having a lengthy pause and restarting again say in May and playing during the summer when covid rates are lower and there is a possibility of fans getting back in the grounds to some degree and generate some income to maintain the clubs. Some out of the box thinking is required rather than just giving up

I know, I know, it has only been one match. But this messageboard is so often inundated with total negativity that I thought it might be time to enjoy a little bit of optimism. We're off to a great start. We've got a young squad that a lot will be envious of. We play a brand of football that is genuinely really enjoyable to watch. 1 down. 45 to go. This will almost certainly age badly, but let's just take a moment to embrace the positivity. A couple of more signings and there could be reason to hope for - and maybe even expect - a good season.

Will he get recalled by the new guy ?

We need to get rid of venkys!! Please someone takeover?! We can be a premiership team again! Our young players are good!

My second season with a streaming subscription. I've been to Blackburn but not Ewood. I need to fix that.

A sad ending to a wonderful managerial career but I will be forever thankful for Roy’s one full season at Rovers. 97-98 was one of my favourites for numerous reasons: 7-2 against Wednesday, 5-3 against Leicester, 5-0 and 4-0 against Villa, 3-1 at Arsenal…the start to the season that had us briefly in the running for the title, Sutton and Gallacher banging in the goals with Sutty sharing the golden boot with Dublin and Owen…Ripley remembering how to score, Duffer starting to cement a place in the side, Henchoz solid at the back, Gary Croft’s winner against Chelsea (a collection of words that no supercomputer could ever put into a sentence!!!). It was a shame that things went downhill quickly for Roy after that and I honestly believe we’d have survived if he’d been given the full second season (despite some questionable purchases). My favourite Roy moment was him trying to quote Forrest Gump in a post match interview only to struggle before admitting he’d only seen the film in French!!! Roy was (and still is) an honourable man and I wish him all the best in his retirement. My fond memories of that season are mainly down to his hard work.

Apologies if I’ve missed any recent discussion on this topic, but thought it warranted a thread. Recent comments from the manager, sorry head coach, suggest JRC is pretty much done here. I have mixed feelings on this. It’s undeniable he hasn’t got near to realising that early potential yet, but I still think there is a player in there. Where has it all gone wrong? Obviously the injuries haven’t helped, but I strongly believe that being shoehorned in at right back has wrecked him.

I usually avoid social media(with the exception of a few forums, this one included), but recently I’ve found myself on Twitter, Facebook and the LET website. In the last few days I’ve seen some absolutely baffling views expressed by some of our supporters/fans. I’ve started screenshotting some of them, so I thought I’d create a topic where we can document and marvel at the stupidity, naivety and Ignorance. Maybe this can be used constructively to educate and guide them? I’ll start with this I found on Twitter today. Also some I found at the weekend on the LET, wow the comments section on there is truly something!

The Venkies should be a banned word, they will never leave the club until it gets personal and losing face in India is a major event. It’s the Raos that should be targeted/referred as

how do we shame elliots venkygraph and/or bayes station to grow a pair of bollox and demand answers from the scum in pune or even get pasha on record . DO YOUR DUTY

TIME TO WAKEN FROM THY SLUMBER

Evening i am trying to obtain the following with the exact dates or info as to their existance. I appreciate that these are very scarce but was hoping someone may be able to help? Also does anyone know if the same programme was used for the LC Semi at Ewood Park as it was postponed 02.04.62 then played 04.04.62 or did it have a stamp on it? Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks iain

Hey all, there's been a lot of talk on the website about getting shirts to show our frustrations with the ownership. The podcast that I'm a part of is about to launch some new swag and we've quickly thrown in some 'save our club' related shirts and sweatshirts. At the moment there is only one shirt up, but the final designs are being added for alternatives. If anyone has any suggestions for designs just make a comment and we can look at having them added in. All profits will go to a charity - please feel free to suggest a local charity in the Blackburn area and we will forward all of our proceeds (the hosting site takes out the cost of materials, shipping, and their fee) to a suitable charity(ies). Our future guests do include some representatives from the Football League and Premier League (as well as footballers and coaches), so it is a topic that we will be discussing with some fairly relevant figures. You can check out the podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lcE9bcFERR1kFlujkaBW9?si=bca4afcdd4494851 The gear itself will be of decent quality with nice material and embroidered logos, so this is to avoid just shipping out low-quality stuff that people will wear once or possibly even never wear. They ship globally and shipping times are pretty quick (Fourth Wall handles all of that directly). Here's a link to the store and I will let you know when more products are up: https://the-big-chill-podcast-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur/?source=dashboard This really isn't meant for self-promotion, just because I'd like some gear that I can wear that is actually of a quality and design that I'll enjoy and be proud of wearing. I think it adds to the movement to not be throwing on cheap crap that makes it look like we thought the idea up 5 minutes before kick-off. Please feel free to make suggestions as to types of products that you'd like to see added (hoodies, stickers, mugs, etc.) and any help would be much appreciated.

Maybe because it’s a Sunday night but with rovers it’s not very good at the minute with results frustration etc but are we not proud to be rovers no matter what we will always be at Ewood. I won’t stop following this club and getting there as much as possible. Few well quite a few pints and a day at Ewood and away matches all day long. RTID.

Thought this warranted its own thread whilst I appreciate being discussed in fans forum/ rovers tore felt too important to be tucked away. I wonder as Cambridge are happy to have tickets sent in the post whether it will also be possible to pay on the day for the away end whereas for home support this would appear not to be available.

Interesting video showing the history between us and the dingles, going back through history with attendance's etc..

He's signed and is finally announced. Welcome Leopold, may you be as great as big Brad was. Now for the debate, Leo or Pears?

Sticking my neck out here, perhaps naively, but I’m just so beyond fed up: It is time. We need to wake up. We need a supporter uprising. The past 13 yrs have been a mess, obviously, but this year represents the mother of all missed opportunities for the club (and the owners). The owners (and the club’s CEO) have no plan but to tread water forever, and do not care to invest the little extra needed for a serious promotion push (although they’re ok wasting 10-20 m a yr). There is no rationality, there is no communication from the owners (and hasn’t been for years…), the communication from the club to the outside world is in part dishonest and in part self-contradictory. The list of bad stuff goes on and on… The level of the performances on the pitch are starting to dip. The squad is getting thinner each transfer window. And our excellent coach (the one without wheels) will likely leave by the end of the season. The club will not be able to recruit a new manager with anything close to the same quality. SO - can we please apply some pressure to the Venky gang? How? a letter? Protests in the stands? Empty stadium? Other suggestions? Does one start with Pasha? Or Waggott? Do we know any potential buyers of the club? Or have we all accepted Rovers’ faith and decided there’s nothing the fans can do about it; we are doomed to watch mediocre (at best) second level (at best) football under faceless chicken farmers/gangsters for the rest of our lives?

Hi all, With a heavy heart I have decided to sell most of my Rovers items I have accumulated across the years. I have put a thread in the for sale and wanted forum, but wanted to draw attention to it here as I know it is not that used anymore, and wanted to offer you fine supporters the chance to take a look before it goes on any auction site. the listing I started following the Rovers as a football mad ten year old back in 1994. Hailing from Stafford, Wolves were originally my team, but they didn't quite do it for me, and having flirted with being a Norwich fan (due to their UEFA cup run in 93), I found the Rovers. You might think, how can you just choose a team like that? I'm sure it helped that we were well on the way to success in the Premier League, but it was Tim Flowers and a certain 90s goalkeeper shirt that made me fall in love with all things Rovers. The 90s were all about the shirts for me - I lived in them. What fantastically garish designs, particularly the goalkeeper shirts. I loved that shirt, and was gutted when I couldn't get it. Thanks to the internet, I now have it as one of my prized possessions all these years later (and is certainly not for sale!) https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lancs.live%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Ffootball-news%2Ftim-flowers-blackburn-premier-league-18140251&psig=AOvVaw3AerLGukHJUmoNQSBguXCg&ust=1704115306165000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBIQjRxqFwoTCPDF_a_iuYMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD My dad, an old Gunner hailing from Woolwich, supported me in this developing passion for Rovers, and took me to my first game against Arsenal at Ewood in 1996/97. Sadly Ian Wright was too hot that day, but my love affair was well and truly in place by now, and we journeyed up the M6 many more times over the years, spending great time together at a great club. Dad also grew to become a fan, loving how much of a family club Rovers was. He always commented on how friendly everyone was who worked there or who answered the phones. As I was going through my collection, I had great nostalgia for all of the players and teams I have seen over the years. What players who have graced this famous shirt, and some great teams. Whilst I just missed out on the Title winning team, the 2000/01 team and the 06/07 and 07/08 Hughes teams made me proud to be a Rover. Although I was an outsider, not from Blackburn, I felt like one of you everytime I set foot in Ewood, and it was an absolute pleasure for both of us every time we came to Ewood - thank you. And then 2010 happened. Venky's and Kean literally ruined my passion for football. If we lost, it used to ruin my weekends. I hurt with you all, feeling helpless from afar. And then I became apathetic, and I've never got it back. They killed the club I fell in love with, the one my dad also adopted as his own, and I've just learned to not care, to do something else at weekends. I've also grown up and have 3 children of my own now, so finding something else to do at weekends is easy. I see the results, smile if we win, and shrug if we lose, before moving on. It's been great to see the club get back to some sort of standing since those dark days, but it still hurts to know that the club I chose no longer really exists in my eyes. It's a shell of its former self. I always wondered how my dad could choose to support another team (I felt that I could never do that), but then I realised that he did it for me and for the time together, knowing that he couldn't get to Arsenal that easily, living where we did anyway. Sadly, I can't make it to Ewood easily now anyway, and that time together is not there anymore, having lost dad to Motor Neurone Disease in 2019. I now consider myself a bit of a football Nomad. I rarely watch it, and the 2 minute Rovers highlights don't really give me enough to create any passion. I have a bit of a void in me there. I will always support Rovers, they will always be my team, but I shall be letting my children pick their own team, and I hope that, like my dad, I can find some passion in football again through their chosen path, whatever that may be. So that is why my collection is for sale. I hope to raise some funds for a family holiday as well as continue to support the MNDa charity, and hopefully, give something back to Rovers supporters as well. I truly hope that Rovers, this once great club that I adopted as my own, can move on in the future, and become what it was before. Keep flying the blue flag - you deserve it for still being here. Thank you for making me and dad feel so welcome over the years. Great memories that I cherish. Happy New Year to you all. COYB

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB8Lff Majority of my collection over the years for sale - decided that it is no use sat in a box not seeing the light of day. All are now on eBay, but I am open to reasonable offers if it means I don't have to pay the eBay fees. Likewise, if you are after multiple items, a deal is there to be struck. Beyond the shirts/clothing, I have different bits of memorabilia acquired over the years as well through various means, including all of my programmes - not sure if there is a market for these - but again, no point them being sat in a box. All items listed below. All shirts in VGC or excellent condition for age except those with added detail in listing. All in age order. Send me a message and we can discuss. 93/94 Asics away, size XL with #8 Gallacher. Some clicks but in VGC given age and material type 00/01 Kappa away with #9 Hughes, Size L. This shirt is immaculate, with Nationwide patches and correct nameset print. 01/02 Kappa away with #11 Duff, size L. 02/03 Kappa Goalkeeper with #1 Friedel, size L. This is brand new with tags, unworn in original bag. 02/03 Kappa home with #9 Cole, size M. Has two signatures on - one I think is Grabbi, not sure of the other. 03/04 Kappa away, size L with #21 Baggio. Sponsor is a bit sticky on this one due to age. 03/04 Kappa prototype away shirt, size L. Picked up from when fans could vote from a selection for the next shirts. 04/05 Lonsdale away, size XL with #4 Amoruso. Nameset is vinyl but number is flock replacement (can see a bit of the old number on the right of the replacement) 06/07 Lonsdale home, size L with #10 McCarthy. Fake adidas two stripes have stuck together a bit (see photos) and nameset is a replica, not an official EPL one. Lonsdale really did make crap shirts! 07/08 or 08/09 Umbro away, red and black. no sponsor, size M. Don't really know the history of this one, but has the european numberset on it. 07/08 Umbro away, red and black, size L with #4 Samba. Nameset had two applied by mistake, so first one is peeling off to leave the 2nd underneath. 07/08 Umbro home, size XL, with #5 Tugay. European nameset and UEFA cup sleeve patch. Signed by someone - looks like number 14, which would have been Steven Reid. 08/09 Umbro away with #8 Dunn, size M. (seems smaller than the Tugay one) 09/10 Umbro away, long sleeve, size L, with #19 Villanueva Various bits of memorabilia including Rovers Die-cast vehicles, Parker pen and pencil, Artey mascot, Army Swing CD(!), notepad holder and bottlestop/corkscrew in presentation box. Also, former players association league winners commemorative medal from 2015 Programmes from 1996/97 season through to 2015.

Have to say that I think the standard of goalkeeping presently is the worst I have seen in my time watching football. We at Rovers have been blessed over the years/decades with some terrific keepers whose only job was to keep the ball out of the net. The likes of Jones, Bradshaw, Gennoe, Arnold, Flowers , Robinson, and of course Friedel. Kaminski also deserves a mention.. Now you are likely to see a keeper make a mistake or two in every game which ends up costing a goal. What do people think, has the last 20 years or so seen standards drop ?