Well done lads. Excellent shift, particularly as we only made one (enforced) sub. Deserved point. Pity we just didn’t have the quality at times to convert the turnovers into something. Must have had 20 or so but couldn’t make it count. In the end we had more chances. Sammie’s chip was delightful. Thought they were poor and looked a little jaded (5 subs). No plan B (why didn’t they just use their 2 big lads from the back up front for the last 5 because plan A got them nowhere really) but just kept doing the same thing over and over and we looked reasonably comfortable apart from a glaring miss early doors (Armstrong?) and a cute pass that left them on the wrong side of Wharton only for Pears to make a good save. Thought the ref was excellent.

I guess also in those days there was little else to do except kick a ball against a wall in a backstreet somewhere. Now, far too many other distractions often involving a phone or computer. (edit to self -stop it or you'll be talking about jumpers for goalposts next....) edit -and as for getting a ref -why on earth would any sane person do it?

Yes that is sad. Those types of industries were more than just work -often supported a whole community on a variety of levels. Social clubs, football teams, cricket teams, table tennis teams etc. Not to mention the socialisation of young men in the company of older men who would show them (usually) how to behave.

Same as before if not better due to more players available eg best front 4. But not really interested anymore in comparisons. The shitshow is behind the scenes.

Brighton’s £122.8m profit is record for an English club Only Barcelona have posted higher profits in a season, recording about £300 million for 2022-23 campaign Brighton & Hove Albion have set a record for the largest profit made by an English football club. The profit of £122.8 million last season was thanks in large part to the sale of players such as Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool and Marc Cucurella to Chelsea but even without income from transfers Brighton were still in the black in a year when many of their Premier League rivals made heavy losses. Brighton beat the previous mark of £113 million set by Tottenham Hotspur in 2017-18. Globally, only Barcelona have posted higher profits, though their figure of €351 million (about £300 million) for 2022-23 involved the club selling their “economic levers” — being paid up front for future income. Paul Barber, Brighton’s chief executive and deputy chairman, has signed an extension to his contract until 2030, the club have announced. Their chairman, Tony Bloom, said in the annual report: “The accounts show an exceptional profit for the period, and what is incredible once again is that while we have achieved our best ever season on the field we have also delivered our best ever results off it.” The income for the year included £22 million paid by Chelsea in compensation for Graham Potter and his coaching team moving to Stamford Bridge. The figures do not include any transfer income from the £115 million sale of Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea or £25 million for the goalkeeper Robert Sánchez to the same club. The accounts say that after the end of the last financial year Brighton have net transfer income of £51.1 million. Barber said: “It’s a challenge to be sustainable and less reliant on your owner, in our case Tony, and at the same time put a competitive squad together and compete on the field. “Last season showed we are capable of doing that. This season, even having sold Moisés and Alexis, we have still been very competitive. We have stepped up a level, we have had to play in Europe as well, and we have maintained our position in the top ten of the Premier League all season. “The challenge is to keep repeating the trick, unearthing young talent in different parts of the world and fishing in ponds that other clubs don’t tend to look in, and then using our coaches to develop those players into Premier League quality and beyond.” For the first time since Bloom made his first loan to the club in 2007, Brighton have made a repayment to him, reducing the interest-free loans balance from £406.5 million to £373.3 million. Brighton’s manager, Roberto De Zerbi, 44, has been linked to jobs at top European clubs, including Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool, but he played down talk about his future. “I am still proud to be coach at Brighton,” De Zerbi said. “It [the future] is not a problem. At the moment I want to be focused and to keep my eyes on the target we have. I have the contract at the moment. The focus is on the pitch. “I’m very relaxed. The problems are the injured players and the preparations for the next game. These are the problems, not the contract or my future.” Barber said “De Zerbi had done “an incredible job” especially given the club’s injury problems. He also said Brighton were keen for a “new deal” to be done to provide more funding for EFL clubs — the Premier League clubs have so far blocked any agreement on a proposed extra £125 million a year. “We are aware a deal needs to be done and we want the whole of the football pyramid to be sustainable — 26 years ago we were bottom of that pyramid and we could so easily have not been here today,” he added. “We have to find a fair and equitable way of creating that new deal, and we are aware that giving money to clubs below us is effectively assisting them in their efforts to replace us — and some of those clubs have wealthier benefactors than ours.” Meanwhile, Leicester City have announced that they lost £89.7 million last season, following on from a £92.5 million loss the previous year. The club have been charged with breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules but are challenging its jurisdiction as they are now in the Championship. Kieran Maguire, a football finance author, said: “There are terrible numbers for Leicester and they could have been even worse if they had not extended their financial year by a month which allowed them to include the income from the sale of James Maddison.”

Arsenal v Luton -a chance to see our 2 ex goalies in action.

Fascinating piece in the Times on set piece experts. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d6380a7b-0c6c-4ba1-94c9-3f586760423b?shareToken=7a5009f192b6f2ff15fc5af3ee4d5dfb Wondering if artbitro might like to be our referee expert for the club? 😃

No particular axe to grind with JE. His remit is simple, keep us up, keep his head down with regards off-field stuff, toe the official narrative. Just like Mowbray. No heat on owners, we limp on, zombie club, SWAG happy, fans happy just to watch a game. It's already happening in the fanbase and media. Nothing to see here. Admin errors, what admin errors? Others may prefer a manager who is more ambitious and calls out the loons. More chance that way of spotlight on the dysfunction and possible change. Can't see SWAG/Suhail making that mistake again.

Yes thanks Jim -was trying to remember the name of the good player who Mowbray insisted on playing on the wing when it was clear he was better and wanted to play in the centre. You could see it in his body language. (EDIT ah just seen your post too Tyrone.) Reid

Increased maturity and great coaching by JDT 😃 edit and perhaps playing in the shop window to get away from the present nightmare?

Van Hecke. Think i've raised it before -the issue of the quality of loans which has declined. Never liked Mowbray as a manager but he did seem to get some good loans. Tosin, Elliot etc Is that: down to cash down to Mowbray's network -agents/personal contacts being better than present incumbents the dysfuntion at Rovers is so well known that we are a last resort

Precisely. Plus JRC and Tronstad. Plus Pears instead of Walhstedt. How many of the 4 will be here next season? Are we due a Mowbray splurge in the cycle?

Sammy's movement and Dolan's perfectly weighted pass make it.

Because he is a foreigner, speaks English better than them, called out the nonsense at the club and had a good line in wry humour? 🙂

Surely they could send Rovers staff for some in-service training somewhere-how to press send on a computer.

JDT = 33 points out of 29 games = 1.14ppg = 52.44 ppg of 46 games JE = 6 points out of 9 games = 0.66 ppg = 30.36 ppg out of 46 games With a more favourable situation the present incumbent’s record is worse. Think we will survive due to poorer teams than us. But it won’t make a great deal of difference to SWAG or the owners. They have the narrative worked out either way (which will be peddled in local media and elsewhere). We go down –it was JDTs fault for leaving us in a mess, we acted decisively, have a new manager, let’s kick on, get behind the team, let’s rebuild, we are fully committed ….. We stay up –we acted promptly despite a difficult situation, our new manager kept us up, let’s kick on, get behind the team, let’s rebuild, we are fully committed …..

Of course, JDT then had a depleted squad and one that supposedly didn’t want to work for him/found it too hard under him. Eustace has a better squad (obviously all relative) and supposedly one that is happier and is raring to go. Result –dropped down the league table.

Fleck on £20 per week? A tenner would be too much 😉

You can see inside his mind now? 🙂 I would suggest he possibly does because he has a family member here and has interest still in the area. He left us higher up the league than present despite the background inadequacies of this club. The present manager has taken us down the league. I think we will stay up by virtue of points gained earlier in the season and the fact that there are worse teams than us. I do hope, that in the event of us going down, you will not be part of the inevitable chorus of "It's on JDT, Eustace just did his best in the circumstances."

Yep. SWAG must have wondered what on earth he had done by appointing an intelligent bloke who recognised incompetence and bullshit and wouldn't turn a blind eye.

I’m not blaming him alone, but nobody can exonerate him from blame when he oversaw such a bad run after being in such a good position. He was the one who got us into such a good position. And yes you can blame him for the points tally in a subsequent poor run. (although we know that this was initially having players injured and and players leaving, then subsequently an entitled ‘group’ downing tools and JDT losing the will giving the dysfunction around him.) …how big a mess he inherited… Nothing has changed other than Wharton leaving. In fact, Eustace has several plusses that JDT didn’t have. All he has done is scrape some draws. Of course, he has exactly the same mess as JDT had in terms of the dysfunction of the owners and SWAG. Another difference is that he is SWAG’s lapdog unlike his predecessor. The idea that the club pulled off some great move in sacking JDT is most amusing (and the sort of logic of a club PR dept.) He did his best to get out of the barmy kitchen a long time ago but the numpties in charge wouldn’t let him go. When he then has to pay to escape, the PR machine kicks into action and blames him for possibly taking us down. I’m sure JDT would not have taken us down. He and the players would managed to grin and bear each other and scrape the same points that is currently being delivered. He would of course then left –SWAG and the Raos/Suhail couldn’t possibly have let him interfere for another season by speaking sensibly and calling out their lunacy. Having said all this, sacking Eustace would probably achieve little. Obviously, we know it won’t happen anyway-too costly and too much on SWAGs string. And if we did, SWAG/Suhail would make sure that the next one would be a sure fire loser and yes-man.

How did he leave us in a mess? Yes obviously, the points tally. But Eustace has everything else. Players available that weren’t available to JDT, players supposedly happier and willing to play for a new manager because they didn’t like the old one, players who are capable of a passing game because JDT coached them well. So all should be set fair and yet he can’t muster a single win. The blame it on JDT narrative is weak and smacks of club PR to divert attention from appalling management for the Raos, SWAG anda Suhail.

? Jim Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth, lived in a council house, his dad was a joiner and mum worked in an accounts office.

Simply cannot believe that. 3 times? Was that the same inexperienced person each time? Those sorts of decisions come from higher up.

So all this court case stuff is nothing to do with Rovers? Other than an excuse not to provide adequate funds to improve.