den

Never has an away team done so little and score so many.

Get up again!

Hope that pitch is holding up. It’s not stopped raining for about a month.

If you watch their first goal, when the cross came in we had two defenders marking nobody and the unmarked Watford player had all the freedom he needed to score. That’s ball watching meaning they had no idea what was happening behind them. Basic footballing discipline. Mowbrays problem is that we are sometimes too hung ho, but if we approach the game with a little more caution we can’t keep the opposition out. You would think as a defender he could sort that out. Big Sam could.

I agree with a lot of those comments, but what we did display last night was not having a clue how to win the game. Within 17 mins of kick off we had basically lost the three points. All the above is great. It’s the way top sides play from the KO. - moving the ball quickly, good player movement, accurate passing, ball retention etc. Great to watch. The top sides though usually have world class defenders at the back and can still retain their discipline. Their players don’t tend to get dragged out of position. Rovers though don’t have that. The back four as a unit are just - IMO - slow to assess the dangers of the breakaway get caught ball watching when crosses come in and to be fair to them don’t always get the cover from the midfielders who have wandered upfield without looking behind them. Decent sides will see all this, sit back and hit us on the break knowing they can cause us problems. For me, while we play good football at times, we are very naive with the game plan. Oh and the back four are so fragile defensively.

Watford’s strikers wouldn’t mind playing against us every game. That tells you the problem. That back four is fragile.

So frustrating. Played excellent football for most of the game, but bottom line is Watford didn’t have to do anything to score three goals. You have to be a super team to overcome that.

Some of our general play is good. It’s just on the break we’re always vulnerable

Anyone with sky sports

Fair enough. Thing is though, if we can’t go to places like Watford with confidence and be able to match them yard for yard, what was the point of bringing in all these transfer window signings at what would be a considerable cost? It’s Watford, not Liverpool or City. Mowbray has been backed and he should expect a bit of pressure, as a manager, to field a team that can push for top 6.

For me, that would be not at all then, because he doesn’t have the necessary strength or skills of a front runner.

After all the comings and goings over the last few days, it’s pretty deflating to see Brereton and Gallagher up front again. Until Mowbray can do something about that ( like leave them out) we have no chance of challenging anybody.

Didn’t know where to put this, but seeing that Tony appears in one or two photos I put it here. Don’t really know what’s happening ( apart from his dementia) mods, if it’s not right here, please move it.

? don’t know to be honest. I doubt there’s much Cod around nowadays. Certainly not the 30 pounders that used to get caught from the boats off Clevelys. (sorry for being off topic).

Cold at Football? You want to try beach casting from Rosall when the snows blowing into your face. Thats cold.

A personal, potted history.... walking through centre turnstile on riverside to a packed Ewood for the first time. Awestruck at the scarves, rattles. marching band. seeing Ronnie Clayton leading rovers out of the tunnel. First sight of Bryan Douglas. Orange ball. Rattle .... my dad made mine. He was a joiner. It was effin huge - embarrassing. Seeing Brian Clough the player. Check out his goal scoring record, it’s absolutely phenomenal . watching the likes of Pele in the World Cup. Charlton best Law. Bobby Moore. Gordon Banks while still at Leicester. My mate played with Banks at the end of Banks’s career. My mate played right back in front of Gordon but Banks only had his left eye so never saw my mate ( he said). 16 year old Trevor Francis. Fantastic. Tony Green at Blackpool, one of the most skilful players I ever saw. Garrincha. Lineker, Keegan, Tommy Smith. Dalglish the player. Thierry Henry. Howard Kendall at PNE making his debut in 64 against forest in cup and going on to FA cup final. Alex Dawson. Ernie Hannigan. Bobby Lawton. Jimmy Greaves. Alan Gilzean. Best rovers forward line ever... Ferguson McEvoy Pickering Douglas Harrison. Fred Else. Keith Newton - the most stylish of all full backs. Played for England in 70 World Cup. Woods. England - first saw him playing at right half. Could play anywhere. Mick McGrath. Tony Field. Dumper Endean. Beamo. Don Martin. Eamonn Rogers. Hird, Bailey and Wagstaffe in same team. The two best results we ever had IMO. 8-2 away at West Ham and 7-2 thrashing of Spurs at Ewood both in same season. Duggie passing the ball from a penalty. queing outside Old Trafford when turnstile doors slammed shut. Ground full. promotion from division three. Rovers 5 Plymouth 2. League cup score line ... first division rovers 0 Workington 5. Kit Napier playing for Workington. Crowd 5000. buying platform ticket at Leyland then getting on train. Jumping off train at Mill Hill before it stopped in station because we had no ticket. Jumped over fence. Shearer. Venkys. Steve Kean. Killed it for me but they will NEVER take away fantastic memories. Hopefully all you guys will have the same great memories when you get older.

The Darwen end was the home fans end when I started going renrag - around 61/62. Pretty sure about that.

Just seen this photo of Ewood.... wow!

A change in society Stuart. A move to an era where respect to others simply doesn’t matter. I went down to Norwich to a cup tie that ended 2-2 in 1966. Rovers had developed a hooligan minority even then. Rovers fans caused quite a bit of city centre damage before the game. It was widely reported at the time. Not good.

Yes, I was there too. I was at OT in the early sixties when Rovers right back Keith Newton was up against a lively, very young outside left. George Best I believe his name was. He did okay for himself I guess? I’ve a feeling that might have been in Bests debut season of 1963. Remember seeing Best in that game - he really was something else. He could do the lot even at 17 years of age.

Yeah @Tyrone Shoelaces I went on Ewood obviously, but PNE with a mate very regularly. Also went to watch Burnley a few times in the days of Leighton James, Paul Fletcher, etc. A question for anyone. When I mentioned fans changing ends, did it happen anywhere else because I can’t recall it happening on any other ground?

In those days home fans and away fans used to change ends either at kick off or at half time to stand behind the goals their teams were attacking, never any trouble. What would happen if rovers were at home tomorrow against Burnley and the fans crossed on the riverside? Wouldn’t be pretty would it ?.

Yeah, saw both games as well Tyrone. Fabulous.

The torture of Danny Blanchflower by Bryan Douglas continued after 1960 Tyrone. Druggies ran him absolutely ragged again in rovers 7-2 home game hammering in 1963. Lets not forget, Blanchflower was seen as a Spurs great and that Spurs team of 1960 was also seen as a great team. In 1960/61 they won the double.