But JDT isn't telling Thomas to hit a clearance on the Riverside touchline first time on the volley, miss-hitting it, skimming off the bottom of his studs and going out for a Cov throw-in, which they then move 15 yards forward to put us under more pressure... They were no other options to shore it up. On paper, putting Dolan up front makes total sense, nick the ball and take it into the corner, get them turned around - he didn't make one decent touch. The short of it is: no one marked the keeper, Diaz turns his back on the ball coming in. Pears didn't come out. That's it for me. Edit: If every player put in that extra 10% that Szmodics put in last night, we'd have been fine - he clearly wants it, wants the club to do well for himself and the fans. There's that slight extra percentage of determination when it matters that separates the best from the rest. I wanted someone to put their foot through it last night, hold the ball up, win a foul, chase every last cause.

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I have something similar But 3 points isn't pessimistic, it's optimistic! 😂

He's playing like he has a knock or doesn't want to get a knock, simple as. Must be so easy to defend against, he has that one move cutting in onto his right, watch a few games in the week and you've got him sussed. He's stopped using his strength to take people on and even just win a foul. The one thing he did to get himself into form after his shaky start was work his fucking bollocks off, harry, run at people, get stuck in, take that out and he's half the player. I still have nightmares about that shot against Hull that went out for a throw in. He's performing a role in the team at best, getting back, covering etc but not getting forward enough, as he knows he won't be able to track back. He's currently only getting the ball on the wing with his back to goal on the half way line.

I agree that things can get better in this regard, but how does he change it with what he has? We could all see that Brittain was getting overrun but what could he do, Brittain being on the pitch still gives us the occasional chance of working it forward which is the best form of defence. We can't pack the midfield with the players we have. Even Mowbray had the "luxury" of bringing on experienced midfielder extraordinaire Bradley Johnson. I'd bloody kill for a player like that sat on the bench for situations like last night, and I thought he was total bobbins 😂

I agree - there's, as always, been some pretty horrendous reactionary comments online - but that's online for you - someone called him the "danish steve kean" FFS. Check your head. I need to stop checking social media after games, never ends well and just makes your blood boil. We're basically a bundled last minute goal away from 3 points against a playoff rival. He's working with so little. It's not JDT's fault that Dolan and Diaz did nothing to alleviate pressure in the final 5 minutes. Two injuries so he had to go to a back 5, that's a normal thing to do, fair enough it hasn't worked well in recent games but it's such fine margins, it's also won us points. People calling it "suicide football", I agree it's hard to watch, but what's the alternative, go for broke with an exhausted side and push forward? It's not always so black and white. We've barely got a squad. We're missing a leader, some experience and a striker.

Wharton is the player we need to take the pressure off, he can take the ball under pressure so he provides some relief and gives us a reliable option playing the ball out from defence. He can tackle and get stuck in too, so he has a presence. I think the Coventry players were told to target him in the second half as they got a lot more physical with him, he's not got much upper body strength currently but once he does he'll be even better. Was saying to my old man on the way home, in recent games there feels like there's never been a midfield battle, no 2nd balls dropping and loose balls there to be won, just waves of attacks that break down, we had that last night and were able to mix it in the middle of the park. I'd forgotten what that felt like.

Any Carrots in the home end might get away with causing a stink in sections of the Riverside or JW upper, but it won't last long. It plays right into our hands if they invade the pitch, kick off outside etc, justifies the decision to keep the ticket allocation down, regardless of the what the police say. No one mentions one of the main reasons for the low allocation: they'll smash the facilities up and with the Luton game coming up there'll be no time to repair them. So keep one half of the Darwen Dingle free and we can still cater for the away fans on Monday night. Thick cnuts are their own problem. Heard a few mutterings of "it was handball" last night walking out the ground, so tried to look for some video footage on twitter - but couldn't find anything due to the cesspit of a platform being clogged full of Dingles revelling in their Wednesday night entertainment, they're obsessed, I'd thought their successful season would be enough to keep them occupied? One thing that made me laugh though: lots of comments from Cov fans slagging off our ground (least we've got one), usual Burnley fans wading in - one Burnley fan described t'Turd as a "cauldron" 😂😂😂 Delusions of grandeur that lot, too much success can go to your head.

We've never done it all season, it's insane. What's Dolan going to do in our own box? Leave him on the half way line. We seem to do everything we can to invite pressure. Was thinking on the way home that it's the total polar opposite of the Allardyce "money ball" concept. All the percentages are against us!

Gallagher usually marks the front post, made a few clearances when he was on, Pears rarely comes. Who's taking Gally's place at that corner? It was a good corner, Pears doesn't come out or is blocked off, and we were disorganised, Brereton makes a poor attempt to meet the ball. Soon as Gallagher goes off we lose height at set pieces, you knew it was coming. I blame bad leadership and no one commanding our own 6 yard box. Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson was adamant Wilson bundled the ball in with his hand but when that was put to Robins, he quipped: “Well he is a goalie!" What a twat Robins, presume he thinks he's been clever.

100%. Imagine if we could sign some proper battlers, just 2, I want one of those players like Chris Martin who you'd hated against you but came away thinking I wish we had him. Unfortunately every team wants them. I'm just fed up of watching teams getting one over us by getting the basics right and using sheer graft and nouse.

My head has accepted it, but at full time against Hull it really hurt that we didn't take the 3 points, same as Yeovil at home years ago, I've always had that feeling deep down that "we're better than this" and it won't go away, then it switches, my head takes over, and I think we are where we are, football goes in cycles and we're just having our lull, but could be worse, we're in dreamland compared to fans of Bolton, Derby, Portsmouth, what happened to Bury etc. I'd like to think we're still due success in the future, might take administration and new owners but this historic, famous old club must remain an attractive prospect for people.

Fair enough, can't hear it from where I'm sat. Talking shite as usual haha.

Yeah I want changes and three in midfield tonight. Massive massive game, one of the biggest in recent years. I hope JDT playing it down in the media is a smokescreen and he's getting them riled up behind the scenes. I want to see some passion and belief from the management down bleeding into the players. All well and good taking the pressure off, but maybe that's why they're playing like there's no pressure, get 'em fired up. Said on another thread - Souness in our 2001 promotion season, words to the effect of: "we're going to try and win every game and we don't care what others are doing" etc etc - let's have a bit of that!

I get the frustration, but booing at half time is poor, it's not like we weren't creating chances and anyone who's been to more than 1 game will know that in the second half attacking the Blackburn End we have a chance. One lad behind me during the Hull game needed a word - spouting drivel about every player, analysing their poor technique and tactics like an arm chair Pep. Fans like that drive me nuts. It's not just us, all fans are like this, especially clubs that have success in recent years and have a fanbase with higher or distorted expectations. I think there's a few defined groups of fans at Rovers now: people in their twenties seem to get behind the team regardless, they've never seen the "glory" years and not experienced the teams of Souness or Hughes, so this season is as good it gets in their recent memories. I've been impressed with the passion and dedication. Then there's miserable gits like me, born in the 80s, accepting our 90s and early 2000s success as the default standard and judging every team to that standard, but trying to remain calm, pragmatic and realistic. Obviously there's a flipside: FIFA playing kids expecting every player to become a world beater, and older fans comparing every player to Bryan Douglas etc. We're a mixed up bunch.

Yeah we're definitely not young, our average age against Norwich was similar apparently, it's just we're a rag tag mix of experience, not many do or die games under our belts in this squad, we're not experienced in games where it's mattered, it's been a few years of zero expectations and the lack of pressure is showing, we never turn it on and we don't seem to have a 6th gear to pull a win out of the bag when it's on the line. Take Sargent for example, has played in the Prem and I thought he struggled, but that experience showed and he looked a different player against us.

It's not being intimidated it's just getting the jitters - and not having battle-hardened experience around you. The team that went up under Souness had a mix of youth and a spine of experience, Craig Short, Bjornebye, Gillespie, Hughes, allowing players like Dunn and Jansen to flourish. Speaking on Souness, listening to old interviews for Rovers and he says things like "we're going to try and win every game" "we don't care about others around us" the usual stuff but I'd love to hear that now.

I think JDT has managed Wharton pretty well, as a manager should. He's 18, I think some forget this. He's also coming into the side in an era of information overload, where every move is scrutinised, and rumours are rife - I'm sure young lads coming into the team over the last 30 years have had all sorts of little foibles and issues, we've just never heard about it. I want him to play every minute as I love watching him and I can see what he brings to the team - but can you imagine if we'd used him every game for 70mins a piece and totally run him into the ground? In an ideal world JDT would have O'Brien and Buckley alongside Travis and he could phase him in. Imagine if he'd misplaced a backpass against Preston or maybe made to look like a lost kid against Burnley, or done a Morton against Wigan. That's why JDT is holding back slightly. He also knows he gets an easy ride from the fans as he's a local, a fan and academy product, its a rare position for a player to be in. Swap Morton for Wharton, would he get the same stick? He'd get a free ride and sympathy. I heard on one of the many Rovers podcasts after Hull (they keep me sane during the working week), can't remember which, that imagine in the late 90s when Duff arrived on the scene, that we had some United or Liverpool loanee keeping him out of the team a la Morton now, and every time Duff came in with 10mins to go, he'd light the place up and create chances, but we went back to benching him for the next game, playing the loan ahead of him. It's not quite the same but I get the comparison. I think JDT plays Morton as he can last a game (or there's a clause in his contract). In reference to that my only real complaint, definitely shared by others, is the time in which he's been subbed on recently, why give him 15 mins against Norwich, 10 against Hull? Our subs have been dire this season. I think next season we'll see him get more game time.

I was just listening to the Kidder Street Noise podcast today and they mentioned that Hyam was telling the Blackburn End to calm down during the Hull game, was this true? What was going on? Didn't see it from where I was sat. He didn't have the best game but I admire him as a player, and he seems like a true pro. I'm going to get pelted for saying this but I do think the pressure and frustration from the crowd got into the players heads a bit - they're an inexperienced bunch at the most, not many players used to grinding games out in a top of the table run in, when it matters. For me it's one of the main reasons, along with the squad size and depth, that we drop off every year. The system doesn't help, although I can see why it works. It requires them to play a perfect ball out of defence and have a player control under it under pressure, if you're second guessing yourself and your own ability you're less likely to pull the trigger, accept the ball on the turn and going for it - too scared to mess up. Not blaming us as fans, as it works both ways, but I could feel it ramping up. It just showed when they brought someone on with natural ability like Wharton who can take the ball under pressure, play on instinct and naturally make room for himself with feints, dropping of the shoulder etc it comes natural to him and he could take the pressure off the team and move us forward. We need a target man who can do the same up front. I hope the players see that when in the first half JRC played a long ambitious diagonal ball straight out of play, he got a round of applause appreciating the effort. We don't mind the odd misplaced pass forward, as 2 out of 5 times it might stick.

Looks like it's just some Sky Bet feature on Rovers, not an emergency "we're fucking shit in front of goal Andy (Andrew) help us" session

No way, wonder if this was JDT's idea? Or Gregg's got him on a 5 game loan 'til the end of the season?

I'm amazed by that statement released by the club and their chairman Alan Pace. Either they genuinely feely aggrieved and something has broken down in the process, or they're completely irresponsible. What a way to rile up both sets of fans.

I agree - I meant as a combination of that plus lack of management. Our matchday "product" is poor and doesn't compete.

Pre Waggott, pre cost of living crisis. Pre Ewood turning into a dump due to lack of maintenance.

Don't want to get into an argument about attendances as it's boring as fook but I'll bite: Under Hughes we averaged in the low 20s. They were "good" seasons with exciting football and a European challenge. If we got promoted, in the current climate, do you really think that fans are going to come back, with the current prices, to watch a small underfunded squad getting smashed every week? I'd love the opposite but need to be realistic.