den

He frustrated Michael Holding as well OJ.

Good to catch up on how the club was leased out to Anderson. It’s hard to believe those things happened. It’s also hard to believe our owners are now football savvy enough not to be mislead again.

They are an appalling organisation Matty. Easy street they’re living on. They take responsibility for what exactly?

It was frustrating watching yesterday. On, off, on off and the thing that frustrated me the most was Archer. At Lords we saw him bowling regularly at 90+ mph. Yesterday until the last session we were watching him bowling at 83/85 mph. I don’t think he got up and around 90 until that last session. It was particularly frustrating seeing that,because at that time the Aussies were steaming along at 130/2 and going at four an over. I know that nobody can bowl at 90/95 all the time, but it was either the game plan or he still hadn’t recovered from Lords. Now that’s a strange observation considering he finished with 6 wickets ?. The ball swung and moved off the wicket all day long. I expect there’ll still be movement today even in drier conditions so England won’t find it at all easy. Good bowling side the Aussies. Today is massive in the destiny of the ashes. If England get skittles out cheaply - 30 or 40 short of the Aussies score, the ashes are almost gone. England really need to get past the 300 mark.

Possibly, but if Walton had made as little effort to get past Armstrong as their keeper did I would be up in arms about him. He was as soft as s***

Go on then, I’ll start with a negative. Why oh why did he start making his substitutions so early? Things were going well, just leave it alone for a bit longer Mowbray. It might have cost us. However, that was a good performance. The stand out player for me was Downing. Play him wide left and leave him there. He’s just what rovers need - experienced, still fit and with a bit of pace and he will be a threat in most games with that left foot. Good signing. Other stand out performances came from the much maligned - but much deserved on past performances - Williams. Thought he was dominant at the back. Very good in the air, put in some vital tackles, but does have a tendency to get caught out with the ball over his head. Johnson, a bit like Downing gives us the experience and extra bite/class in midfield, he played very well. Dack couldn’t quite find that final ball but always has to start - another player with a touch of quality and class. so still some concerns, but tonight is a good night. So it’s goodnight from me and goodnight from him.

Any chance it might rain again soon?

Roy quite clueless at this level. Doesn’t know when to play, when to leave. so frustrating watching him.

No, it wasn’t right, something late on in the day happened. For me, Mulgrew must have asked for the move to Wigan and Mowbray was happy to lose his captain and first team regular. someone, somewhere was very angry about something and that’s not good. It’s not unique of course, but it does at the least suggest there might be bigger problems in the club.

Quite right Tom. He knows what the games about, he knows what’s expected of a front man, he keeps it simple and he makes it look easy. When someone else comes close to being able to do that, then we can look at easing them into the side, but no one is doing. He’s our best front man and should still be first choice when he’s fit. It’s not his fault that no one can prise him out.

That 2nd rovers goal was put on a plate Oldham goal I meant

Not even sure he’s a finisher of any note Tyrone.

To be honest Philip, I don’t see anything in Armstrong that tells me he is a talent. Never have done and doubt I ever will.

It’s only a few days ago Mowbray was castigating fans for being unhappy with mid table. In trying to cover their failures, they’re saying whatever needs saying on that day.

Australia better all round. I wasn’t expecting that before the game. Several players just weren’t good enough. Moeen will lose his place and he’ll know that. For me, Denley is no more than a good county player. Roy doesn’t look anything like a test player at this point. Burns will no doubt keep his place but I’m not convinced by him. Bairstow has struggled but I don’t think England will ditch him. He’s a quality player on his day. Plenty to think about and the Aussies will know they have damaged England and posed the selectors a lot of questions over this England squad. They have done more damage than just win the first test. this wicket didn’t suit England at all though. Prepare wickets with a touch of green in them. That’s a must.

Good man Rev, that’s the attitude. The manager is an expert at dumbing down expectations. Makes it a lot easier for him if nobody expects that Blackburn Rovers (with multi millionaire/billionaire owners, superb stadium, costly strike force, great academy) can do any better than match the mediocre mid table championship teams.

We’ll find that Lyon will be everything Moeen hasn’t been.

The scan showed no damage.

Total collapse.

Moeen you duck egg.

“If you don’t win leagues you don’t really last because to finish mid-table won’t be enough for some people.” why should mid table be enough? Personally I expect clubs to be the best they can be. Settling for mid table before the season starts doesn’t fit in with my ambitions for sure. Fair enough, if that’s where you finish, then it is what it is. This idea of building slowly doesn’t work because if you do manage to find a couple of gems, they won’t hang around while the club “builds”.

Friends of ours have tickets for Joe Longthorne in a couple of weeks time in Blackpool. They won’t be seeing him now, he died this morning. I didn’t know he was gay, https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-joe-longthorne-dead-64-18820967

Statement from a very unhappy Bury chairman..... The Chairman has issued the following statement after the Accrington Stanley game was postponed by the EFL: BURY FOOTBALL CLUB HAVE BEEN TONIGHT DEALT A GRAVE INJUSTICE. I today have seen the biggest injustice I have ever seen from this alleged body there to help clubs “the EFL.” Again after submitting all that was asked from the EFL from our Lawyer, we got a call late tonight saying they are postponing our fixture with Accrington Stanley. Grounds given to our Lawyer from Nick Craig “we want to substantiate some figures that may or may not be correct” we requested what these were as we could answer them there and then, the reply “we will get them to you as soon as we can but we are all at matches this weekend” and so would Bury fans if the EFL played with a straight bat. Why did they not wait till Monday to again postpone our fixture if something was missing, we have the weekend to get any information to them, but no once again they prove they are clearly “The Destroyer of Clubs” where malice and vindictive actions take precedence over the whole premise of the EFL TO HELP CLUBS. Let me list below the requirements sent from there Solicitor which we had to comply with, facts in bold, I do this to prevent ambiguity. 1.) Confirmation and evidence that all outstanding sums due to players will (or have been) paid in full to the satisfaction of the EFL and the PFA; THE PFA CONFIRMED TO THE EFL THAT THIS HAD BEEN AGREED TO THE SATISFACTION OF BOTH PARTIES. 2.) Receipt of written evidence of a bank account with £1.5m in it or a guaranteed line of credit for this amount freely available to the Club (and not any third party) which will allow the Club to operate in the 2019/2020 season; A LETTER OF CREDIT WAS GIVEN TODAY FOR £1.65M. 3.) A certificate/email confirming that the SAG has approved that the Stadium is fit for purpose and that all the necessary plans are in place for the 2019/2020 season; THEY WERE DONE BEFORE THEIR LAST STATEMENT. ALL THE ABOVE I CAN PROVE AND BACK UP 100%. I could've gone into the ill truths last time, that tried to discredit me and can disprove any allegations about me, but this beats them all, the deal was struck with our Lawyer and we were just waiting for them to say all is good so we can sign our players who 100% want to play for Bury and have waited patiently, the EFL are aware these players will have to sign elsewhere and seem to be dragging this out till we lose them as nobody expected us to save Bury never mind get players signing of the calibre we have so clearly there is an agenda here, I was told tonight by Debbie Jevans when I said just let us sign our team please before we lose them, the reply “you can play with your youth”, I REST MY CASE. Regards, Steven D Dale

Difficult to criticise Burns during such a vital innings, but from what I saw of him yesterday he has a very dodgy technique. As Matt says he had an awful lot of luck yesterday. The ball across him had him playing and missing possibly dozens of times while he got so lucky as well continually edging through the slips. Vital innings - absolutely. Superb application and concentration. Showed Roy what’s needed at test level. However, personally I’m not convinced about him. one batsman that showed more control and composure than all the others was Ben Stokes. He made it look easy. still, according to old Darwen Blue, positivity from the fans will cover the flaws ?

It’s made a huge difference too.