I genuinely don’t know what you’re on about here. He was player of the season last year, scored the best goal of the season, and has 5 goals in 3 games this season playing as a striker, the same position he is playing today. Can you see why people might be confused with what you’ve been posting?

You said he was a L1 wide player. I’m countering that nonsense with the suggestion that 5 goals in 3 games makes him a capable championship striker.

He’s scored 5 league goals already this season. Can’t ask for much more than that from a striker surely?

I estimate that 99% of transfer stories in the media and on the internet are bullshit. The only people that have lost it are those who follow the likes of Nixon.

Well that quote was from a different post? And in any case it’s not engaging in hyperbole to suggest that the early signs of an upturn in form are being shown by BB. I guess the huge fee distorts matters somewhat but young English players with potential cost £££. I hope it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that BB has displayed some excellent movement and running with the ball recently. If he can add 10 goals this season I think we’d be looking at a player worth a considerable amount of money. I think our squad will be much stronger this season. Like you say a couple of defensive additions to a young squad will be a huge boon. Our young players will all be better with another year of experience and development behind them which will make a big difference. The ball is in TM and the Venkys court now, we need those defensive reinforcements and I just hope that kaminski is an improvement on Walton. I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree here as we’re just restating our own opinions. Come the end of the season one of us will have the gloating rights at least, how about that? ?

I don’t understand where you’re getting hyperbole from the quoted section? BB scored a couple of good goals pre-season and looked very lively without scoring when I saw him in a couple of matches towards the end of last season, so I think it’s fair to say that there’s encouraging signs of a player beginning to show the form that would justify his transfer fee. Don’t forget he’s still very young, and I’d rather edge towards encouragement and optimism when it comes to our young players. I’m certainly not “overly excited” which I think is reflected in the tone of my post. I agree that we’re always looking for an extra 10-20% from TM, but isn’t that life as a supporter of a big town club? If we had Pep, Mourinho or even Bielsa (or had resources to match) I’d be looking for much more impact from our team. As it is we’ve got tinpot owners and a budget manager who does his best. We “wee with the willy we’ve got”. Every season we get better (granted our defence seems to stagnate) and at this stage that’s good enough for me. We weren’t too far away from the playoffs last season, and while I’d never suggest that we’re in the mix for automatic promotion, I feel that with some defensive additions we’ll be in the top 6 by May. I agree that we’ll be looking at transfer requests if we don’t go up this season (and possibly before) but in my opinion TM has earned the chance at another year to keep on with the excellent work he’s put in so far.

If is a big word tbf. I still think we’ve got no cause to sack TM so far but IF we don’t continue to improve (ie a higher league position and sustained playoff push) then I’d be asking questions at the end of the season. It is imperative that we get some defenders in, and IF we fail to strengthen defensively then I think we’ll struggle and look back on this season as a real wasted opportunity.

Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of playing a relegated team. We know from bitter experience that relegation can mess badly with team morale and lead to below par performances so this might be a closer game than expected. I like your team selection as well. We desperately need an accomplished LB to complete our squad, but in the absence of any signing this week I’d have bell in there. Could see TM going for JRC perhaps and playing Gallagher (please no) or Rothwell up front. This season I think Bennett’s best place in our squad is on the bench as his versatility could prove useful if we get an injury. He’s been a great servant but his first team days are behind him. I think we could just get a sneaky draw in this game but I won’t be bereft if we get a creditable defeat. In fairness it’s the perfect time for this game so?

I normally hate it when people do this but... corrected it for you ?. How can you sack a coach who has taken the basket case that we were post-Coyle and improved every single season? Yes our defence is bad now but is it even bad compared to teams at our current level? Brereton and Gallagher have a lot to do this season to justify the outlay on them, but if Brereton continues with his excellent post-lockdown and pre-season form then we might just have a very good player on our books. Young players are coming through and Dack, Armstrong and Nyambe are playing at a very high level under TM. If we can get a good LB in and some quality for CB then we’ll have a successful season I think. I’ll be judging TM if we don’t improve on last season and make a good attempt to place in the top 6. i think the future is looking good ?⚪️

So does that leave a 9% chance of a £50m war chest? ?

My bad that’s market value....

Leeds spent £55m on players this season. How is that not a huge amount?

Another way of looking at it is that signing a player is a form of capital investment for a football club. I’m sure plenty of companies that have furloughed staff will keep investing in an effort to stay competitive with their rivals. Are football clubs any different?

Thanks for the last link. Chrono trigger is a very good game, I never played it when it came out but I’ve recently discovered it through my raspberry pi. I’d forgotten how charming and fun the old JRPGs are. Just got FFVII working so I might finally be able to complete it! Are any of the other FFs from the pre-ps2 days any good?

My favourite computer game music is the “Jurassic rhythm” bit at the start of chrono trigger. Just a very cool wee jingle. Streets of rage gets a special mention also.

We loved the tiger king as well, such an exceptional collection of characters. Couldn’t get into the jinx at all and gave up on it. Subsequently a friend told me about the twist and I wish I’d stayed with it! Loved the sopranos as well but I think the wire is the greatest tv ever made, it’s just wonderful and it’s well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.

I do want to know about those things...

At the time I was underwhelmed with the signing, not having known much about him before he came to us. I just remember being totally won over by some of his performances. A few amazing goals as well but I can’t get them on YouTube ?

Nobody has mentioned Craig hignett yet, I remember him having a touch of class and scoring some great goals for us.

Shearer keane le tissier My top 3. Don’t think anyone can argue with shearer’s right to a place (especially on a rovers forum) and for me le tissier has been one of the most technically-gifted players to grace the English league, and as a one-club man I’d love to see him honoured. Keane was just a machine, drove his club onto achievement after achievement and had technical ability, a winners mentality and the ultimate in leadership skills. Hateful person outside of football all the same.

Best part of the day was seeing all the despondent Swansea players collapsed onto the ground after our goal. Loved it.

First league game watching my beloved rovers and while I’d have preferred a win I can’t complain with a hard fought draw at the end. Graham was poor altogether, Gallagher seemed to miss as many headers as he connected with (but scored a lovely goal) and Armstrong was hardly involved. On the other hand, Brereton was excellent and he had a lovely bit of footwork near the end, also did well to get a chance in the dying minutes, so so close to breaking his duck this season. For me he has to start the next game as he has been improving with every appearance. Travis excellent again, delighted for Johnson with the goal as well. I was there with two neutrals and the consensus was that we won the first half but were lucky to get the draw in the second. I have to agree, Swansea certainly came into the match after half time and we did well to get a point. I called this as a must-win but results elsewhere have been very kind to us. Here’s hoping that we can turn some of our battling performances into wins rather than draws and end the season in a strong position. The playoff dream is not (quite) over. Also, The atmosphere in the walker upper was far better than I’d been led to expect and the veg slice pie and chips was bloody delicious ? I only wish I lived closer to Blackburn as I thoroughly enjoyed today and I would love to have the option of attending more games. Safe to say I will be back soon and dragging Mrs and junior hypnotic along with me ?

Thanks for the info ?

If we can’t beat Stoke at home then I think that’s the playoff dream over. Frustrating but who knows what might have been without our injury crisis. Hopefully we’ll have a platform to build on for next season. We’ll need to keep hold of the Crown Jewels (Armstrong, lenihan, Dack, Travis) and Id like us to secure Tosin and Walton for another season as well as invest in a top left back (been crying out for that position for as long as I can remember - when was the last time we had a decent left back? Olsson?)

I haven’t been able to watch the match tonight but it sounds like a frustrating and dispiriting 0-0. It’s the sort of game we needed to win at this stage of the season so it can’t go down as anything other than a disappointing result.