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 ?

Wishing all our readers & contributors the happiest Christmas…have a great holiday & stay match-fit for Tuesday ! 😉 🎄🎅🤶🎁🥳

4 wins in the last 15 league games at Ewood. 1 point gained from losing positions at Ewood since March 2022. How do we turn it around?

The game is soft these days, but who wouldn't you like getting on the wrong side of? JRC loves a challenge and Travis is always getting involved, but both seem fairly lightweight and the latter can be quite cowardly at times though that's part of his bantz. Hyam seems too nice, we thinking between Carter or Tronstad?

So, we are now half way through what can only be described as a curates egg of a season so far. Perceived improvement in on field performances have not yielded the points the team have probably deserved for various reasons, mainly due to a lack of strength in depth, coupled with a crippling injury list. To date, only the top 4 have won more games than Rovers, whilst only the bottom 3 have lost more, a statistic that perfectly sums up where we are as a team. Of the 7 summer signings , only Sondre Tronstad of the permanent signings has really added to the team, to me he just pips Szmodics to player of the season so far, just down to his consistency of performance, he was excellent again yesterday. Sigurdsson has shown flashes of what he can do and I am pleased we have signed him permanently, Ennis I feel will prove to be a decent signing if he can stay injury free and get a good pre season behind him in the Summer. Leo to me seems to have the makings of a good keeper, but needs to cut out the odd mistake that has cost us. Telalovic we just don't know, could probably do with a loan away to get some game time and have a proper look at him. Of the 2 loans, Hill has been a quality signing, albeit looking in need of a rest recently, while Moran, has ability but seems lightweight to me. So there we are, a mixed bag as ever with this team. Better than last season though n my opinion without the results to prove it. Last season there really were some horror performances, notably Preston at home and Burnley away along with s few more where we just didn't turn up. This season. I can only think of Southampton last week where we were really poor and deserved what we got Overall marks out of 10 6.5

After all the disgruntled fans complaining about the high prices and that of neighbours being substantially lower, I'd be interested to hear what fans think we'll be seeing next season.

Looks like the sacking season has started in the Championship. Sunderland have sacked Mogga and Swansea ditched Duff last night

Hope this is ok with the Mods..... I just think the closure of the Blackburn End against Cardiff next week is such a red line being crossed that it merits its own thread. This week's home game against Sunderland is the last only real opportunity to make it clear to Waggott that it is totally not acceptable. What a kick in the teeth to JDT and the players this is aswell as all supporters. Whilst I don't sit in the Blackburn End, surely this cannot be accepted without a fight and I hope they verbally give him both barrels before, during and after the game. How on earth he can have even come up with the idea, let alone have the nerve to implement it is beyond belief. It shows the utter contempt he has for those supporters in the Blackburn End and how sure he is that they do not have it in them to even object. I sincerely this isn't accepted by anyone.......I do not know of the Home End being shut ever before in a competitive fixture and hope to god this is made crystal clear to him on Wednesday evening.

Considering the fact that Gregg Broughton has been very active since his arrival in tying important players down to longer contracts, does anyone else find it revealing that Sam Gallaghers contract is up in the Summer (albeit with a 12 month club option), and that nothing has been heard about talks being ongoing ? Think it only spells one thing tbh, Rovers will be looking to move him on whilst they can get a reasonable fee for him,and considering the season he's having at the moment it's hard to blame them

an overview of Blackburn Rovers’ victory over Stoke City https://gloucestergroundho.wixsite.com/gloucester-groundhop/post/bet-365-stadium-stoke-city

I think the best keeper we've ever had deserves a thread of his own. Absolutely won us the League Cup with his superhuman abilities as well as many more games. Undisputable that he was the best around for a good couple of years.

Starting this thread because there is A LOT of chat about him in the forum's before during and after every game. Can we post some strengths? He gets to play a lot of games so JDT sees something in him ?

Remembering James Crabtree. Rovers Goal Keeper,decorated Soldier and Rudolph Hess Personel Jailer...what a story tinged with sadness. https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2023-11-10/blackburn-goalkeeper-who-went-on-to-to-serve-in-both-world-wars

Another year out on loan, perhaps the most successful, 4 goals in his last 5 from centre-back! He's had loan spells at Cambridge, Lincoln, Bury and Northampton since the age of 19. Funny stat is that he got a League Winners medal with Bury for League Two in 2018/19, but also a runners up medal with Lincoln for the same league in the same season! Having played 15 and 11 games for each club respectively. Just what do we do with a lad like Scott Wharton? He's due back at the end of the season, he'll be 22. Do we think he's good enough to be a squad player for us? Or is it simply too little too late?

Should he stay or should he go? There are rumours today that Bradley Dack has fallen out with JDT and could be sold in January. Bad news or good business?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fc23012e-afa8-4d9c-8f64-fcdc68dc7194?shareToken=0b991d8aa520050ff0051c4018d656c0

Given our lack of ‘cutting edge’ would anyone try having a second central striker? Maybe something along the lines of… Leo Hill. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Tronstad JRC. Wharton A Sammie Ennis. Leonard.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/ranking-blackburn-rovers-last-7-managers-including-tomasson-from-worst-to-best-gary-bowyer-3rd/#gary-bowyer Interesting article. Still deciding my rankings but thought it might instigate a lively debate.

So what rating would people give the summer window out of 10, of course allowing for the limited exposure to the 4 foreign signings? I think in net, that makes sense in regards to the model, albeit Pears shouldnt be first choice. Player sold, player with decent credentials brought in. Defensively, I think we are short. We only have 3 full backs so not only are we light, but we reduce/remove any scope to move Rankin Costello. At centre back, we needed experience, we signed a highly rated loanee, hopefully he will do well but he isnt what we need. So not good there. In midfield, Tronstad gives us experience albeit a slow start. Buckley leaving means we have 3 main options and Garrett pushing. We have gone from being strong there to looking thin again, needlessly. In attacking midfield, Sigurdsson and Moran are exciting additions. We have lost our top scorer from this area though, a blow people underestimate. We also lack a quick winger and behind them 2, Szmodics and Hedges, minimal quality. Up top, we have made a couple of gambles, needs must. The lad today is hopefully an uncut gem although will need to adapt having been playing in the German 4th league. Ennis I like the look of but no use sat on a physio bed. I think the calls were for experience, Tomasson kept mentioning it, and Broughton kept mentioning it, he said we have to maintain the average age and that we cant bring in 21 year olds to replace the likes of Ayala and Dack. Well, we did, so thats a failing that is out of Broughton's control 3 or 4 out of 10 for me.

I just wondered what everyone's thoughts on the Saudi Pro League are? In a time when we're suffering from a cost of living crisis and ordinary people are struggling to put food on the table - we have veterans of the 'working man's game' earning absolute obscene amounts of money. Jordan Henderson will be earning £69 for every minute of every day whether he's awake or asleep. Cristiano Ronaldo will be earning £326 per minute (£3.3m per week). Presumably this is completely unsustainable and just the mega rich (most likely rich through questionable means) throwing money around like it's going out of fashion. Players like Jordan Henderson are comfortable abandoning his beliefs when offered £700k a week. Who can blame him? I've said for years that one day a big name player will retire at a very young age as it's like they've won the lottery. You only need a certain personality that isn't really interested in football to earn a lot of money at a young age for this to happen. Most of these players going to Saudi are players past their best getting one last pay day. But it won't be long before a big name youngster makes the move, pockets a huge amount of cash and then retires in his mid-20s. David Bentley retired at the age of 29 - you wonder if he'd have made the money early in his career in the Saudi League whether he'd have quit earlier. I'm not a particular fan of the Premier League and how money has completely taken over it (and made it uncompetitive for most) - but I just think the Saudi League is further ruining football. I for one won't be paying any attention to it. Player wages are killing the game and until clubs start to control them (Rovers last accounts showed we paid 147% of our turnover on wages - this wouldn't happen in the real world) it'll just get worse. I also watch Rugby League and the salary cap has at least made it more competitive in general - but you've still only had 3 grand final winners in 17 years - so I'm not even sure that is the answer. FFP hasn't helped at all in football either. The days of a Jack Walker coming in and taking his local club to glory are also long gone. No actual supporter can afford the sums of money these Saudi owners can put on. All the extra money is just going towards making the players richer and richer. I certainly don't love the game as much as I did when my dad first took me as a kid in the 90s. It's also hard when taking my son to a 2/3 empty stadium watching a team that struggles to compete. He'd have loved going during the peak days of the 90s/00's. I started writing this topic at 9:05am and I've made £8.40 in that time. Ronaldo has earned more than £6,500. Top 10 earners in Saudi Pro League: https://www.givemesport.com/the-10-highest-paid-players-in-the-saudi-league-next-season-ft-ronaldo-benzema-firmino/#jordan-henderson---al-ettifaq

Hope this isn't behind the paywall https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b3e01fac-69e6-11ee-853b-c0bf92ce36b1?shareToken=f48356a420b77baf9b27bb98a196c7a8

Wahls, Still Wearing away kit Hilly, Still not updated Aaaaand Telalo. Still not updated aswell It's not because they didn't take their profile photo yet. They've got their one, already! as you can see in this... also this is off topic but why aren't they selling third keeper kit i cant even search of it

Scunthorpe https://www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk/news/2023/september/club-update/ Sheffield Wednesday Dejphon Chansiri: Sheffield Wednesday owner says he will stop funding club after 'insults' - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66958019

I was watching some highlights of yesterday's Carabao Cup matches and this particular bit stuck out at me. One or two mentioned Aasgaard earlier in the transfer window, but I assume it wasn't based on his penalty-taking!

It’s that time again where we polish the crystal ball, look into the tea leaves and read our palms in an attempt to predict what is about to unfold. Please just post your predictions…I will collate them & post some analysis on here in due course…posts that don’t comply with this will be hidden, simply to make my job of collating easier 😉 PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IN REPLIES BELOW:- 1. Who will win this year’s Championship ? 2. Who will claim runners-up spot ? 3. Who will finish rock bottom in the Championship ? 4. Where will Rovers finish this season in the league ? 5. How many league goals will Rovers score this season ? 6. Who will win the BRFCS POTY ? (using the ratings provided in the match centre after each game. Our first winner in 2022 was Scott Wharton and last season’s winner was Joe Rankin-Costello FYI) Good luck…the thread will be locked when the transfer window closes 👍🏻⚪️🔵