My entire memories of Lucas Joao's Rovers career are his run and shot against Preston, in the ill fated ''Sam Gallagher'' game. A mazy run that left four PNE players on their backsides, if memory serves correct, the nadir of his Rovers career. 3 goals in 3 starts and 10 substitute appearances, all away from Ewood (Norwich away x2, Fulham away) Consistently inconsistent, but on his day, one of the best in the division. Lets hope its a quiet evening in Berkshire. Talking of Joao's time at Rovers and the current debate/discussion on how far we've come in the last four years under Tony Mowbray. Reading 3-1 Rovers - 4th April 2017, so nearly 4 years on. Rovers that day, four years ago. Rovers 4-4-1-1 Steele - Nyambe, Lenihan (Emnes), Mulgrew (Hoban), Williams - Feeney, Lowe, Akpan, Conway (Lucas Joao) - Bennett - Gallagher Goal: Bennett Assist: Lucas Joao

Next 10 games look daunting Home - Coventry (20th) Away - Reading (5th) Away - Millwall (11th) Home - Swansea (4th) Home - Brentford (2nd) Home - Bristol City (12th) Away - Norwich (1st) Away - Wycombe (24th) Home - Bournemouth (7th) Away - Cardiff (6th) Average league position of those 10 teams - 9th (9.2) Dare I say it may come down to a nervy last 5 games? Home - Derby (18th) Away - Sheffield Wed (23rd) Home - Huddersfield (19th) Away - Rotherham (22nd) Home - Birmingham (21st) Average league position of the last 5 teams - 21st (20.6)

This match will be Tony Mowbray's 138th Championship game in charge of the Rovers. Which effectively means 3 full seasons as Blackburn Rovers manager. (46 games per season, 46 x 3 = 138) Going into this game, his record stands at P137 W47 D36 L50 Pts183 League win percentage of 34.3% An average of 1.34 points per game ----------------------------------------------------------- For comparison, Gary Bowyer was in charge of Rovers for 120 Championship games P120 W43 D44 L33 Pts173 League win percentage of 35.8% An average of 1.44 points per game

Probably 😂 24th February 2002 wasn't too bad though, a nice 15th Birthday for sure!! March for comparison 16/17 - P5 W1 D4 L0 F8 A7 Pts7 GD+1 18/19 - P5 W1 D0 L4 F6 A10 Pts3 GD-4 19/20 - P1 W0 D0 L1 F0 A3 Pts0 GD-3 Overall - P11 W2 D4 L5 F14 A20 Pts10 GD-6 **And if you include the matches that should have been in March 2020 (Postponed due to the pandemic) 19/20 - P4 W1 D0 L3 F3 A8 Pts3 GD-5 Overall - P14 W3 D4 L8 F17 A28 Pts13 GD-11

My birthday is later this week, and like most I'm sure, have a particularly good memory when it comes to games on or around my birthday, therefore I decided to do a bit of research on TM's record in February throughout his tenure at Blackburn Rovers, the results as follows..... Championship February's under Mowbray 16/17 - P2 W1 D1 L0 F2 A1 Pts4 GD+1 18/19 - P5 W0 D1 L4 F5 A11 Pts1 GD-6 19/20 - P7 W2 D4 L1 F10 A6 Pts10 GD+4 20/21 - P4 W0 D0 L4 F2 A6 Pts0 GD-4 Overall P18 W3 D6 L9 F19 A24 Pts15 GD-5

Contracted til June 2021. If its a bad one, then I guees its auf weidersehen Herr Holtby. 16 starts 11 sub appearances - 4 assists, 3 goals in 2019/20 16 starts 4 sub appearances - 0 assists, 1 goal (vs. Doncaster in the Carabao Cup) in 2020/21 32 starts 15 sub appearances - 4 assists, 4 goals in total I wouldn't say he's been a huge disappointment, or a disastrous signing, but like so many before him, I'd hoped for so much more. With a young child and wife alone in Germany (particularly tough during COVID times) I'd anticipate that his Rovers career is over. Looking for a Rovers comparison? (albeit a higher level) El Hadji Diouf - (obviously ignoring off field issues) 42 starts 2 sub appearances - 6 assists, 3 goals in total

Boxing Day 2015 vs Middlesbrough at home. The last home game to be called off due to a waterlogged pitch. I'm not suprised to be honest, forecast looks awful! Later on/tomorrow when peoples houses start flooding, thats the real upset! As for a football fixture, there'll be another one in 4 days.

I just went off the list of managers mentioned for the Sheffield Wednesday job. Plus, I'd argue appointing Joey Barton would be less of a surprise than when we appointed C0yle

My two-penneth is such I think Mowbray has perhaps taken this team as far as he can, his poor body language in recent weeks has become slightly alarming, slumped in his seat (or in the stand) his post match press conferences are becoming a bit of a parody, whilst results on the park have been ''more of the same.'' That all said, I do think he should be given until the end of the season. And why? Well for the reasons why Blackburn Rovers is a club still on the mend and rebuild after the awful leadership and decisions made in the 2010s. The fragility of the hierarchy at the club, the rebuild still needed in various departments (scouting, coaching etc) and the civil unrest that still fractures the fanbase. Given til the end of the season Mowbray will have had more than a fair crack at the whip, three full seasons back in the Championship, with his own players at his disposal, a fully fledged four and a half season run in charge from February 2018 - May 2021 is a lifetime in football, and ultimately I do believe at that stage the time will be right to move our separate ways, with the integrity of TM and the club very much intact. TM will leave a club in a much better scenario than the one he inherited, with foundations in place for a new face and fresh ideas to build on this. The mood and the data is trending very much against Mowbray being the man to lead us to the Premier League. His current record with Rovers in the Championship stands at P 130 W 46 D 35 L 46 for a record of 176 points off 130 games or 1.35 league points per game. Over a full season this averages out to 62 points (1.35 x 46) which during his full seasons at the helm would be good enough (at Championship level) for 18/19 - 14th (we finished 15th with 60 points) 19/20 - 13th (we finished 11th with 63 points) In 20/21 we are on course for a small improvement, currently we're on a pace of 1.39 points a game, which would put us on 64 points after 46 games. 60, 63, 64 a pattern indeed. With Mowbray we're going to finish midtable, the data and the mood dictates that. Would a new manager be able to inspire the players to a playoff push over the final 23 games? Maybe, but you're asking a new manager to perform wonders straight away, and for what benefit? The candidates? Paul Cook? Chris Coleman? Tony Pullis? Joey Barton? Damien Johnson? Give Mowbray til the summer, shake his hand, thank him for his efforts. His role as manager during the 18/19 League One campaign will cement his Rovers legacy for a generation to come, plus he does seem a genuinely nice guy, which has been missing from Rovers for some time.

We can go a little off book and still put out a very competitive team. I expect a first start for Dack and probably more minutes for Travis also. Something along the lines of? Pears Pike - Lenihan - Carter - Bell Davenport - Travis - Buckley Gallagher - Dack - Dolan

1 against Bournemouth away 2 at home to Reading 3/14 league goals Interestingly, we’ve played 10/11 teams above us, only missing Stoke, who we play away on Saturday.

Not being able to see this young man play and grow in the flesh is one of the biggest frustrations of not attending games at Ewood Park! My seat in the Riverside would have had a brilliant view of his goal on Saturday! What a talent he is! I remember when Duff broke into the first team, the last game of the season 1996/97 aged 18, and he looked a real talent, albeit very raw for a couple of seasons, before starting his careers upward trajectory in the second tier in 2000/01 aged 22. This kid looks as polished as Duffer was, and is 5 years younger! In my opinion, legacies can be made in one year.......I'm sure there are others, but players like, Craig Bellamy was only a Rovers player for one season. Yet the Bellamy season was a pleasure to watch

One for the kit geeks amongst us. Looking forward to seeing us return to blue shorts, when away and facing teams with white shorts, as seen in the recent youth match against Manchester United. Also likely to wear the blue shorts away at Stoke on 19th December. If memory serves correct, the first time we will have worn blue shorts since Charlton away in the 2017/18 season. Where you may remember we wore navy shorts on several occassions But this will be the first time we've worn a matching shade of blue shorts since Rotherham away on 30th April 2016. My apologies for the picture of Shane Duffy!

Luton 0-4 Rovers in the FA Cup in 2007? Unless you’re 13 of course....

Ugly game, but could be a big point come the end of the season. As said previously, in full agreement of the players returning making us a completely different proposition going forward with the season. Kaminski, Ayala, Douglas, Travis, Rothwell (only half fit), Dack, and Armstrong all get into the strongest XI available......that's not even mentioning Johnson, Bell and Bennett. 7 of your best 11 out? And to still get a point? Shows good character

A few things I picked up on: The team in general has undergone a huge transformation. Once Douglas comes in for Bell and assuming JRC reclaims his right back slot from Nyambe, very few of our League One team reamain. Of course we have Dack to come back in, and Armstrong who was on loan, but the squad has certainly developed in a short period of time. No Gallagher in the squad? Dropped or left at home? Dolan looks 18, he's got bags and bags of talent, but I'm glad some of the expectations on him are being checked. Elliott on the other hand at 17, looks like a future star. Faded yes, but looking forward to seeing him in the blue n white halves for the next 40 or so games. Wharton looked poor when he came on, gave the ball away so many times! Douglas on penalties in the future? Or at least having a crack at goal from free kicks near the box would be nice. Travis and Dack missing, if we can get them both back in the next month or so, will be huge additions. Kaminski redeemed himself in the second half with the stop from Sarr, much happier with him back there compared to Walton. Defeats like these are likely to come playing this system, but glad we stuck to our formula. Ben Foster (former England international) proved what a good keeper he is, even before the penalty save. Top bloke too. Watford and Bournemouth, two of the three teams we've lost against, will be in the top 6 at the end of the season. The kit still looks fantastic, glad to see us wearing blue n white away from home. Give the new players time to gel, but I'd expect to see Trybull and Douglas start either Saturday, or next Tuesday. Pears obviously second choice ahead of the Greek fella.

Had a brief chat with a good mate of mine who is a die hard Leeds fan. His assessment.... Douglas - Wand of a left foot, good passer, great on set pieces....not athletic enough to play in a Bielsa team, slow and is sometimes beaten for pace, but good at Championship level. Sounds like a minor upgrade on Cunningham and almost a Mulgrew type of player at left back? Two promotions on the CV with Wolves and Leeds can't be too bad though!

As much as I understand the reasons for renewing, I also think it will be a huge own goal by the club if people who dont renew this season, then lose their seats next season without a clear deadline. I think you risk alienating an already weak supporter base by being so strict on seats. If people do ever get in this season, then you're very unlikely to be sat in your normal seat, but to hold that as a blackmailing tactic seems equally unfair. I'd imagine Jo Public who has sat in the Blackburn End for 25+ years, then loses his/her seat because they don't renew this season, would more than likely decide not to renew completely, rather than move somewhere else! People, myself included, are very loyal to our specific seats!!!

Lets face it, Bennett's best performances for Rovers have come when he's played in the middle of the park as an enforcer, I remember him playing well against Preston (h) during the relegation season and also towards the end of the League One promotion campaign. Wycombe at home will be as close to League One level as we'll play all season, so wouldn't have a problem with him slotting into the middle for this match. If, after all these injuries, Davenport doesn't get a start, you do wonder what future he has at the club. Big chance for someone to lay down a claim to a starting spot for the next few months. Also agree with what's been suggested, that Rothwell on Tuesday looked far better when playing from deep (the new Holtby role) could maybe see him slotting back to play in a three alongside Holtby and Johnson.

That Newcastle XI would be pushing for automatic in the Championship over a full season. I think whilst there were frustrating moments, at least you can see a change in style and philosophy, its going to take some time, and also some bumps along the way, but I hope they stick to this formula for a few months and then see where we are. We can always resort back to our more direct style once Dack comes back in. But for now, I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and look for the positives.

I suppose in some ways, it is what it is. The fundamental issue here for me is the reason its 'fun' going to the Rovers these days for me, isn't particularly the product on the pitch, which lets face it, has been poor for almost a decade now, even the foray into League One and the promotion that followed was more ironically fun than a real sense of pride in the club and the town! Its the things that come with a matchday experience........the expectancy, time with my dad and uncle, and cousins when they can make it. The chats with the guys in and around me, who I don't really know, but say hello to as if they're lifelong friends, because in some way they are! Its the drive down, the walk to the ground ''if we win this....." or "I wonder how the new lads will get on''. For others its a pint in the various Working Mens Clubs or Blues Bar, a pie from the bakery on Bolton Road, a pre match McDonalds with mates or relatives, or burger from the van behind the club shop.... Not all, but most of these simple pleasures, that make going to Ewood the experience and homage we love to put ourselves through....have, or will be, denied on a matchday in 2020/21. No singing? No hugging or excessive celebrations at an injury time winner? Arriving well in advance to enter the ground? These are the times we live in, and I admit the rules are what we've come to expect.... But £400 for supporters? Who are having to sacrifice all these experiences on a matchday? Not to mention an inferior product on the pitch, with little to no investment in the playing squad. Its a viscous circle, but in business, the customers hold the power. This isn't a statement of me not wanting to renew for next season, I may do, I may not do. It is a statement of how I can fully understand why plenty of supporters won't be doing so.

but that's not important right now....... ?

Would like it to be Cameron Carter-Vickers, a permanent signing at CB has been long overdue!

Pity the hoped Hummel deal isn't in effect this year... Coventry City away is a beaut....

The detective work Gumbi! Love it From Instagram of Sam Burns, no sponsor, but the third kit option could be correct (though personally I hope not, as I dislike the kit) If correct, would most likely mean a dark away kit. Black/Red/Navy as it would be the lighter contrasting option. If so.....Another season of this kit away at Barnsley, Middlesbrough, Bristol City