I do agree with you - it's not all on the players, for a start we didn't seem to have a plan B again, we had 30mins as a group to get back into the game. It's all well and good keeping it tight, but when you go behind you need to be able to change it or see what is in front of you. To be fair we don't have a bench at all to change it, and JE clearly doesn't trust any of our other attacking options apart from Markanday. That's on the owners, the board, and lack of investment again - the failed project rearing it's ugly head. I think Eustace has tried to calm a very disparate group lacking in confidence and it's backfired. Sheff Wednesday were right up for that, it was a must win for them and they went for it, I get that he's tried an approach to not lose and eventually when they tire to possibly draw them out and pick them off - but we don't have enough on the pitch to change it when the going gets tough, where's the leadership? I think our lads are the victim of the last three failed regimes, each trying to do different styles, and the modern player is more robotic than we think. We've seen a few approaches and "game plans" and they've struggled each time, the same shit happens and it's due to it being a squad devoid of a clear goal in mind - we are not a team greater than the sum of it's parts, we occasionally surprise but it feels in spite of the manager's plans or tactics. It's no surprise to anyone watching us, the club is in turmoil and it's reflected on the pitch. Some of the group aren't expected to be here (Gallagher, Dolan), rumours of Hyam being shopped around in January, it's not a happy squad. Look what happened after January window under Mowbray when we completely folded, it's no coincidence. We're shopping in the bargain bin too, Barnsley fans told us Callum wasn't up for a fight, maybe that's why he ended up here...

Exactly, TK was an international keeper. The goalkeeping issue alone at Rovers is like a condensed version of our plight over the last few years, a metaphor for the club's struggles overall.

But there's the issue - those players were at the top of their game, internationals - apples and oranges (or plums in our case) compared to what we have now. This is the problem for most of us I think, myself included, can't compare our current squads to years gone by as it's just not the same scenario. Also, no matter how hostile the away fans, there was some level of grudging respect aimed back at players like Friedel and Flowers, they could take the piss but deep down any fan knew they were dealing with a proper pro keeper - unlike at Champ/League One level where they're just another player making up the numbers, lambs to the slaughter...

I was right behind that one - it was a total freak. It was in a game that didn't matter that much either. The Pears one is on another level for what it means. I would have thought the club would have maybe waited slightly on this too, come on Admin, the comments are, well, as you can imagine... Anyway, Happy Birthday Aynsley Pears. Hope you manage to enjoy your day. However bad we feel as fans, blimey, imagine what it's been like for him. Poor bloke.

Great post - but I just worry, and sorry to be so pessimistic and potentially piss on any optimism you may have, that I feel this is a step too far for most. It's all about hope, and lack of it. When we went down under Mowbray, there was a core of players you could get behind, and Mowbray seemed a steady hand and offered a glimmer of normality, both on and off the pitch. We signed Dack, and the team regained an identity. The League One season was fantastic for many people under 30 who missed the glory days in the 90s - and it did what most relegations do, the cliche of galvanising a club. There were still issues but it felt like a small reset and things could start to improve, especially the relationship between board and fans, not just the usual case of success sweeping issues under the carpet, but a real chance to rebuild. When we went down under Brian Kidd there was trust in the board and the owners that they'd guide us through it and make sensible footballing decisions, which they did. I actual miss the days, when for example, we were losing at home to Stockport in the league cup in 1996, stood in the BBE chanting "we want Harford out" that the board would go away and listen to the fans and do the right thing, that fans and board were on the same level. This is what is getting to supporters at the minute - that whatever they do, it doesn't matter, there's not that connection any more. The only way to move onwards, and to be honest a total pipe dream, is for the Venkys to leave, magically write the debt off, and we get new, sensible owners who are sympathetic to the area, and who can put a pro-active board in place, whatever division we are in. It pains me that the Wanderers are doing an amazing job, and getting 15,000 season tickets, it's madness. Of course I don't want administration, I don't want job losses, and the more we struggle the harder and harder it will get, but even in League Two with a small fanbase, with the right owners and some clear messaging and direction, you'd get that siege mentality that would make matchdays a passionate affair again. I get we need to reduce expenditure, and I get we need to become a selling club to survive in the current climate - but it seems whatever new model or scenario we set ourselves up for, there's issues, and it just wears away at us fans, wherever we turn we just can't seem to make anything work: - we try and be proactive, hire a DoF, sign an ambitious coach and start to develop a model (JDT, Lambert) - but the owners turn the taps off and there's a clear divide behind the scenes. Fans see an identity and a plan and get behind it, but there's that nagging feeling it'll be short-lived, so what's the point? - we, as supporters, get our heads round that our youth is our "identity", and except that the team might struggle but we'll be watching our "own" play week in and week out, and we can get behind that and support them, but we then sell them off before we have a chance to actually watch them grow in our side, the money goes into general admin, we don't see it reinvested. I get it - but it's still sad to see, it's something else you can't get excited about. - we hire a steady hand in Mowbray, but let a number of transfer windows come to nothing even when the team are riding high, and let a bad situation drag on and fester for too long causing the club to stagnate. - we go from a "solid" if old-fashioned recruitment setup under TM, a network of mates basically, but it worked, seemingly using his connections to sign great loans and gems from the lower leagues, giving the fans trust and excitement in any new signings, to now seemingly scraping the barrel of Europe. And if we do get the basics done, the i's dotted, and get the forms sent off in time, if we do actually sign players, they are literally the bottom of the list - whilst other teams seem to steadily strengthen and sign lads who can out-fight us and who are better at a rough and tumble scrap in the Championship. So now the fans immediately doubt any new signings. When was the last time we got excited about a sub coming on and changing the game? When was the last time you saw a new signing on the bench and couldn't wait to see him get a run out, that roar from the BBE when he comes on the pitch? I've totally forgotten that feeling. The way the ground fell silent and emptied after the Pears calamity on Sunday, that's the feeling I get - it's total apathy, because we just can't see a way out, or a way to turn. There was time in the game to lift the team and a "normal" scenario would see team and fans as one trying to claw back some respect, but because of this gradual dumbing down of the squad, you know what's coming - we don't have the players to perform under pressure. Couple with everything off the pitch, it's like we've been neutered as a fan base. We never come from behind, we never score late goals, this stuff is so telling, it really means something - there's a reason why Utd in the 90s kept scoring late goals, the whole "Fergie time" aspect, the whole place had belief. As someone else put it better than I could, we've got billionaire owners yet need to sell the crown jewels to keep the lights on. We're at a point of complete stagnation. So what's the model under Eustace, I presume treading water from one season to the next? Bringing on youth and selling for a profit I presume, while the mysterious 20m leaves each year. Normally I would give him the benefit of the doubt, based on a normal scenario of him being allowed to sign his own players, just to see if he can pick a player and build a team - but who knows what our transfer policy is now, it's all up in the air. Apologies for the long winded rant.

Tronstadt

I think he didn't want to catch it with his knee and put it in, trying to not bundle if over, but in the end just froze, coupled with the back pass rule in his head. He let one go across the box in the first half too that nearly cost us.

Exactly - no recency bias for me neither. No one mentioning the Ipswich goal he let under him too, almost as bad as the first mistake against SW. The Leeds game was an odd one, he didn't have that much to do - wasn't put under pressure, and the saves were fairly routine. Only got MoM as they couldn't pick a Leeds player, and he was the obvious choice to "explain" the type of game we'd just seen. I hate throwing players under the bus, but no, sorry, it's inexcusable.

I was furious on Sunday. One of the worst days for a long while, I wanted the ground to swallow me up in that 2nd half, and the feeling of deflation across the entire ground was heartbreaking. But it may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm directing all my ire toward the players and the club hierarchy, not the manager. Forget the manager, whoever we have in charge, it won't make a difference. The one common factor over the time of TM, JDT and now JE is: 1) the board, lack of ambition from the top down, cost cutting in all areas 2) the slow dumbing down of the playing squad, death by 1000 cuts, poor recruitment (1 player from the last 2 transfer windows in the starting XI) I'm not sure even Warnock or Allardyce would get a tune out of this lot. I totally get the frustration of playing 5 at the back at home, just because it worked at Leeds doesn't mean we should have carried it into a must-win home game, totally different scenarios. The Millwall and Plymouth games were tedious dross too. But I'd love to hear what people would do to get this lot taking the initiative at Ewood, to put teams who are sitting back to the sword - what could we do differently with this set of players? The only thing I can think of is getting the squad to get back to basics when under pressure, get Gallagher running the channels, spread their back 4 wide, stop trying fancy flicks, keep the ball, play it simple for periods just to regain control - I just don't know what the game plan was. Against Stoke at home, they were poor, and trying to attack, leaving space, plus we never went behind. As someone said: 1) we're neither a technical, pacey free flowing side built to play JDT's football, City on the cheap doesn't work - fed up of club's trying to emulate it 2) we're not physical or have the nous to play long ball and have a striker who can hold the ball up - imagine if we had a Kiefer Moore, or prime Danny Graham? We're stuck in between two schools, with League One players, no subs to change it either. It's an impossible job - the Sheff Wed players harried and closed down, they weren't easy on the eye or technically any better but they were physical - where do you get lads like this? Why is our recruitment limited to players like Clinton Mola? That for me is the real issue. It was probably a "sensible" approach (don't shoot me down for saying that) to keep it tight against Wednesday, don't over-commit, remain calm, and pick them off as they get desperate, trying to bring them onto us. We went out all guns blazing against Sunderland and we still lost 3-1 - but both approaches have the same issue: no plan B, and players who can't handle the pressure as it slowly ramps up when we go behind. Is that on the manager or the lack of options from a poor squad? Whatever is it, I'm sure when JE is falling asleep at night, he's thinking to himself "why is someone who's built like Gallagher no able to become a decent striker at this level" just like we all are, he just can't say it. If JE was at another club, and allowed to spend and build a side, do you think he'd be able to pick a player? So many unknowns.

For the first time in 30 years of watching Rovers with my 76 year old Dad, he's suggested not going on Saturday and just going for a walk instead and turning his phone off, it's that bad. He's usually pretty pragmatic and optimistic even at the worst time, always siding with the players, but I think that second half finally did for him. After the match we both just stared into space over our pints. Not felt this low for a very long time, it's a different kind of feeling - think it's the lack of hope or trust in anyone at the club from players to board level, feels like a truly lost cause.

I just can't believe we didn't offer any incentive for the home fans for this game to counterbalance offering the whole Darwen End to one of our biggest relegation rivals - kids for a quid etc - just proof no one in charge at Ewood prioritises the support. For all those saying "the crowd doesn't matter" - where you there at Ewood on Saturday? When you have L1 level players like ours who crack at the merest hint of pressure, at home, trying to force the issue in a game against a team fighting for their lives. They literally sucked the ball in to make it 3-1 FFS! 🤣 (sorry trying to see the light side, it's hard) Comparing 7k away fans to 37k home fans at Leeds away isn't the same thing - it was a magnificent performance but it was a free hit, almost no pressure, no expectation and we grew into the game from a confidence point of view, a backs-against-the-wall performance when no one expects anything is a different kind of approach mentally and tactically compared to trying to force the impetus against a stubborn, determined opponent at home who are willing to scrap. I don't want to go over old ground, but who's decision was it to limit the Dingles for 2000? Did it come from JDT? I can't remember. If it was, and although it didn't effect the result in our favour (although it was a "better" performance), it just shows what happens when someone with a competitive and ambitious spirit is calling the shots.

There's a few that aren't - remember Barnsley fans telling us about Brittain when we signed him? "Not up for a relegation scrap". His tracking back for their 2nd yesterday proves it. Can't do it under pressure.

Nerves are already cranking up for Sunday Are capable of producing two good displays in a row?

Yes there's been a lot made of poor Leeds not getting the penalties they deserved and how our time-wasting sorry superior gamesmanship got in their way of them physically being able to put the ball in the net. I thought Bamford threw himself forward when he realised he'd been outmuscled by Fadz for one of them, bit pathetic if you ask me. Edit: just watched that Bamford attempt to handle the ball in, that's an absolute joke, totally missed it at the time (busy jumping around celebrating). People complaining about our "dark arts" - that's another level. On timewasting, it's strange how no one mentions the fact that, in the first half especially, the amount of rolling over on the floor by their lads was beyond a joke, must have wasted 2 minutes alone - any contact was being milked to death. There was also even a moment in the 2nd half where we won a free kick and the Leeds player who was penalised just ran off with the ball and threw it away. 🤷‍♂️ Also watch any fan clips from the game in the home ends and you can see Leeds fans have an odd sense of how long a second lasts - can barely get to "Mississ-" before the next number comes along 🤣 I've been sick to death of teams doing it to us, and watching Rovers teams of recent years plain refusing to take part in any dark arts as the clock ticks down, hence why we're one of the worst sides for conceding and scoring late goals. I actually thought Ipswich at Ewood were the one of the worst teams to do it in recent memory, no one will mention that due to their status as media darlings.

We almost don't deserve to stay up after a performance like that - they (and I use the term "they" intentionally) are so lucky that other results went our way last night, let off the hook big time, but only for last night. I agree with other posters that arguing over managers and tactics is pointless when the one common denominator over the years is the dumbing down of every aspect of the club from off-field to on. Attitude bleeds down from the top (see Man U for a high profile example), and the resulting failure of the Bowyer side to gain promotion, our relegation to League One, the constant post-January bottle-job act, and now this current shit-show: they all bear the same mark, the same common thread. I'm in envy of clubs like Luton, Stockport etc where every employee is pulling in the same direction.

I've always defended JE as I thought one of his sides would rarely have a performance like that in them - but that was up there with the likes of Reading, Sheff Utd, away under JDT. I just think this squad is weak as sh*t whoever is at the helm, and we know where the blame for that lies.

Looking back on JDT I'm totally torn 50/50. He gave the club some much needed ambition (that ultimately was his downfall), made Rovers into media darlings with the Cup runs, he gave good "interview", his charisma lifted the club above its station for a short while. I think everyone felt a buzz during his tenure, a rare thing, something you can't just buy in. I notice how Rovers content online doesn't seem to be so forthcoming after games as it did under JDT, I definitely felt a desire to constantly scroll for news and comment about us in between matches, not just for dirt on the owners this time but actual football talk. Rovers have never been so much in my waking thoughts for the right reasons as they were in his short spell, not since the days of Hughes etc. You just felt part of something finally, and a relief to not have to just think about our illustrious owners for a short while. Football is all about hope, and he gave us bags of it. But I don't think anyone can call JDT a fantastic coach, sorry. I've never seen a Rovers team crumble under pressure so easily using such suicidal tactics. Does anyone think him and his team studied the opposition? That feeling going a goal down knowing you weren't coming back into the game, no thanks. His ambition and charisma went someway to papering over the cracks. The first 20mins against Sunderland this season was some of the best football I've seen us play in decades, yet it was unsustainable and that for me, is bad management. You can't play how you want with the squad you have, and it shows a lack of care in the role, possibly arrogance, to let the shit behind the scenes get in the way of results, no matter how bad it was for him, you can't just "phone it in" at this level and down tools, the players will always follow suit, the perfect storm. He seemed to be able to get away with the Turf Moor disaster, PNE at home, Rotherham, Sheff Utd away - I doubt any other manager will get that much of a free pass. I know some fans who took those games and performances very very badly, fans who only see what is on the pitch and don't care about his media image and what was said after games. If you want a good exercise on a quiet night in and you've got nowt better to do, do what Roverschat did a few months ago and go through all of JDT's games and note down which ones were "good", there's not as many as you think. I think JE has been hard done to by certain comments, maybe the "selected by Waggott" tag hasn't helped - he's inherited a total rag-tag bunch of players full of different approaches, the squad lacks so much depth and experience - I think it explains the lack of new manager bounce - turning this ship around is a tough ask. His approach is pragmatic, how it should be done given the circumstances, a "normal" approach. I just want to see us compete, be hard to beat, and they're showing glimpses of playing better football than under JDT in my opinion, or using what they learnt under him and mixing it up. JDT’s last 11 games: GF: 11 GA: 27 Points: 6 JE’s last 11 games: GF: 14 GA: 11 Points: 12 That's enough for me. Millwall and Plymouth were frustrating, but it's a transition.

Lovely dummied "assist" for England's third for the 21s. Typical Adam. From about 8 mins in:

Unfortunately, we are the dross of the championship - it feels like every other team has the ability to pick up points except us.

The Fleck signing was totally desperate, a massive gamble, I consider myself a positive fan at the best of times but even I can't sugar coat that one. As soon as you read he'd broke his leg twice you knew what was coming. I feel for the lad and I'd obviously love a fully fit Fleck in the team. Only way it made sense if he was a regular unused sub and just in and around the dressing room to give out some experience to the younger lads, but now that's not even on the cards. Doubt his experience could do anything about players not tracking back though...

Whatever we think of Burnley now, they'll still probably beat us home and away next season, IF we stay up. Such is the state of our predicament. I had a weird Rovers related dream again last night, I was presented with two choices: a1) relegation, Venky's sell up but we stay in League One for years suffering administration and job losses or b) stay up, Venky's remain as owners, we get beaten by Burnley every year they yo-yo back to the Championship, and we just drift along in this turgid limbo state for eternity. Sigh. Have a lovely day everyone.

I totally get why Eustace played Moran on Saturday, I would have done the same, he looked good on Tuesday night. But, Newcastle didn't harry and press like Swansea, he had time in that game. To be fair to JE he hooked him at half time, I doubt he'll start again. If this is another Morton situation, supposedly, that he has to be played, then that's another poor indictment of the state we're in - add it to the list.

Please, please get them to bin the Chilli Poopers! Horrible band. We should also have I Am The Resurrection in it's entirety too, and players and officials should be made to wait on the pitch to kick off for the full duration of the guitar solo 😂 Great work on the playlist @Miller11 - are you responsible for the trad version of No Nay Never too? Nice touch that.

Ewood looked great last night, even better when I got back to see the TV highlights, there's something about the BBE and the Darwen End glowing at night that looks "proper". Why the club can't be more creative/competitive with it's pricing, I don't know it really frustrates fans.

The Birmingham performance is really confusing, I can't get that out of my head. How it's the same team is beyond me. It's fine margins though, Telalovic puts that header away and it's a well grafted point. All I can think is that Newcastle weren't that much of a physical threat, and they allowed Moran and Dolan time and space.