oneandycrawford

Great points made here. We have several chances to view an incident and there is still disagreement whereas the ref has one look, from one angle, at real time speed and has to make an instant decision. Are they going to get things wrong? Of course they are. We all would in the same circumstances. I know we all give them grief during a game, including me, but that's the instant emotional reaction. After the game maybe we should give them a bit of a break, particularly if they are prepared to say when they called something wrong. With the scrutiny they are now under, plus the outrageous abuse they suffer at the lower levels of football when they are learning, I'm frankly amazed anyone still wants to be a referee.

Depends whether it's Cheadle in Staffs or Gtr Mcr. Although tbh even if it's the one in Staffs that still barely worth calling a town!

To be fair I don't know enough about his early career and why he doesn't seem to have been on the radar as the talent he obviously was by the time he played for Rovers.

I know we all loved Tugay but surely he was not in the same class as Modric and Scholes as an all round player. If he had been he would have played for bigger teams than Rangers and Rovers

He died in February - it was on this message board IIRC.

Mid you the two of you look like someone had mischievously just told you that Venky's were selling up!!

Caught the end of an item on 5Live this morning where Rooney was talking about Birmingham. He claimed the club was in a complete mess when he joined them! Wasn't challenged in the interview but when the presenter (Rick Edwards) came back on he queried that and said something like "I thought they had been doing v well under the previous manager and it was controversial when they brought Rooney in" Love how people can spin their own story on national radio!

Clearly they were nervous about the upcoming final. Or just finally realising that they come form Bolton and can no longer escape that fact!!

And, considering the injury records of our other centre-halves, the fact he stays fit is a big plus. I'm not saying he is the greatest player in the world (!) but reliability is a big factor when you have shallow squad like we currently have.

No disgrace guys - the Bolton lads were brilliant tbf.

Shows what happens when you have to rely on local talent instead of buying it in! Great performance Herbie and Scott.

And then have the sheer nerve to reinvest some of that in new players. Anybody would think there is a model to follow there. Unfortunately our illustrious owners seem to only understand the first part.

Agree. I'm generally a believer in the 'if they're good enough they're old enough' theory but I think centre-halves are an exception. It is the position that is most about reading the game compared with technical ability. That's why players like Batth, Ayala and McFadzean can look so effective at the end of their careers - as long as they have some pace around them. Even if a very young centre-half looks good at a lower level, a step up in divisions can be really tough. Anyone remember the reaction to Gary Pallister when he first when to Man U from Middlesbrough? Or Tony Adams when he first played for Arsenal (although always being at Arsenal was only 17 when first came into the team)?

Bet he isn't one to duck out of a challenge

And to be fair he wasn't a good right-back. Remember him taking a lot of stick from the Riverside (no surprise there!) Moving him into midfield was inspired though. Was that Tony P or Don Mackay who did that?

So 6 midfielders (only Dunny and Flitcroft with a tackle in them) and 2 forwards. 2 spaces left for defenders - now that would be entertaining and make the JDT era look very cautious!!

At least as a full back it is only for 45mins!

Let’s have your predictions in the following categories: 1. Winners of the Championship Leicester 2. Automatic promotion (runners-up) in the Championship Ipswich 3. Four Play off semi-finalists in the Championship Southampton, Sheff Utd, Middlesbrough, Birmingham 4. Three relegated sides from the Championship Sheff Wed, Oxford, Charlton 5. Where will Rovers finish in the Championship? 16th 6. First Championship club to change manager (after the season starts) Wrexham 7. Winners of the Premier League Arsenal 8. A notable wild card prediction of something that will happen in the Rovers universe during the season (e.g. Donald Trump visits Ewood Park) The scales fall from Chaddy's eyes, he launches a coup, and replaces Glenn as leader of the opposition to Venky's. Next he launches an official boycott of the club and sets up a picket line in front of the gates on match days.

That sounds pretty reasonable. Not sure about West Ham though - suspect they may get dragged into the relegation scrap.

To be honest we got battered - deserved to lose. Going there for a night match was the Div 2 equivalent of when Arsenal had to go to Stoke year-after-year. Luckily we only had to go once!!

They didn't away at Cambridge that season. I was at that game and we really struggled- although we missed a chance late on to get a draw IIRC.

Out Wimbledon'd Wimbledon in the wind up the opposition stakes. I seem to remember things like the away dressing room only having cold showers.

How is that Eustace 'fucking us over'? Baath - we didn't offer him a worthwhile deal (as far as we know), and Derby did. Beck - not our player. Presumably Liverpool happy with how Eustace used and developed him so makes sense for them to continue that. Whereas they don't know VI and he has form for playing back 3 - even though seems to be playing with back 4 for now. Liverpool mainly play trad back 4, as does Eustace, so again makes sense for them to send Beck somewhere that means he can slot into Liverpool's team if for some reason they need him. I get the frustration that Derby are taking 'our' players but Eustace is merely taking advantage of the situation in the same way anyone else would. Kendall did more damage to us when he went to Everton IIRC.

Perfect response! And but for Szmodics we would have been relegated. And he's not here anymore. IMO the squad is lower in overall quality than either 1 or 2 years ago (assuming Brittain and Trav leave). Will depend on any new signings as to whether squad has more depth. E.g. Are two ok RB's better than 1 good RB with a U21's player as cover,?

And Bobby Mimms?