Silas

Not to be petty, but I could screenshot the comments about Gallagher's debut at Stoke. Prime Duncan Ferguson. But we knew the truth. Happy to be proved wrong. I'm rooting for him, honest. But I find this love-in a bit odd. Can totally get it with Adam W and others. But Dolan. Hmmm, suspicious that some are desperate to be proved 'right'.

Not being funny, but there's all high praise on here, but google has him lowest ranked of the 6 attacking players. He's actually joint second lowest from the entire Espanyol team at 3.7. Haven't watched a minute since he's been gone. But there's either some misty eyed confirmation bias going on from his longstanding supporters. Or google is way off the mark. To quantify, google is pretty close to the mark on Rovers games etc I do watch. Certainly ballpark. So something doesn't add up here. I'll make an effort to view with my own eyes though, just to head off the cheerleader backlash. 😉

That format makes sense for the NFL. There can be something 'big' happening in a game every 5 mins or so. Be that a touchdown/field goal or a massive play that takes a team 50/60 metres down the field. The highlights, jumping from game to game structure works. Different in football. It's all about being engrossed in the ebb and flow of the game from end to end. See the match yesterday, after Arsenal's goal how many highlights were there. The odd Cunha run, penalty shout, and a good save from. Raya from a header. Slim pickings for a Red Zone format. I still enjoyed the match tho.

August 2011, after Everton beat us 1-0, I had that feeling of relegation. Even so early in the season: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/14600659 It was crazy that we didn't get even a point from that match. Dominated it from start to finish, hit the woodwork 3 times, including 2 missed penalties. Then an outrageous penalty decision against Chris Samba gifted them all 3pts in the 92nd minute. We deserved so much more from the performance and it felt like a mugging. Resulted in being our 3rd league loss on the bounce to start the season, and the rest is history. I have the exact same feeling after the Birmingham game, and the similarities are terrifying.

For all our whinging at the ref, it's criminal that they're on 2 bookings and we have zero. I'd be fuming other way round. Altho I hav no doubt the next soft foul we do will result in a yellow.

Both your points have merit, but the shitness of our team is the big difference. If you're dying of thirst in a desert, a cup of warm piss suddenly looks very appetising.

This ratings website has Xhaka as 2nd overall last season for Leverkeusen, after Wirtz (he was 5th season they won title): Same website for last 2 full seasons Walker played for Man City (including the treble season) he's 13th, both years. And that was back when he was good. 😂 P.S. Same website Xhaka's in Top 4 for Arsenal on four separate years, including 2nd place 2018/19 behind Aubameyang. Think it was more Arsenal as a club that failed in PL during that period.

Surely going to be one of the worst signings of the summer. Not even rivalry bias, just the way I see it. He was starting to look fairly woeful in top level teams. Where his attacking strength should still shine. He's always been suspect defensively. So, in a team that is more likely to be on the back foot than attacking the final 3rd, can't fathom this one at all. Mix in his waning pace, the distraction of his off field antics, and it looks a recipe for disaster imo. Feel free to come back at me in 6 months if he becomes a Michel Salgado. I'm quietly confident.

Wouldn't even mind a dodgy decision or two going our way. The crying online from other nations about the length of injury time and the penalty were great fun other night. Particularly odd as I thought 7 mins was fairly conservative considering what had gone before.

Virgin media Sky Sports app goes down this morning with major outage. Me, and countless others trying log on and watch at work left frustrated. People going mental on social media demanding refunds, saying they're cancelling subscription. 😂 What a day for it to happen with such a thrilling end. Radio 5X it is then.

Dunno if this has been posted elsewhere, but here is an article from yesterday drawing comparisons with us and SW. Grim: https://eflanalysis.com/news/expert-offers-messy-blackburn-rovers-owners-verdict-that-fans-will-fear-amid-dejphon-chansiri-comparison/

Lorenzo Amoruso....I think:

Looks like B. Emerton bottom left to me. Is it from that era? Edit: Which would maybe make No. 20 top right David Thompson. And No. 2 in that team (bottom right) was Lucas Neill. Googled his signature and it matches:

At least he refused to play for the team whilst off the pitch, rather than Brereton Diaz who refused to play for 6 months whilst on the pitch.

Seen a post on social media saying 'Lewis Hall, Livramento, Branthwaite and Wharton are way better than those that played for England in last 2 games.' I agree. And even if they're not substantially better now, they're young, should be the future, and need involved in the setup asap. For progression. Instead of wasting gametime on 30+ year olds on the decline. That's how Spain and Germany rebranded and made themselves successful to win a trophy. We're too dumb to even follow tried and tested formats that have gone before.

Yeah, I was too lazy to scroll up. 🤦‍♂️ Pre-season football predictions can make mugs of us all. I suppose Luton did play a nice brand of football last time in the League, that was very effective at this level. Is strange how badly they've capitulated.

Probs for Prem thread, but I'm not convinced they will. Despite the fact they'll probably get the cheque book out. It's such a big rebuild. KDB to replace, Silva showing his age. Haaland was really struggling regardless of the injuries. Rodri returning isn't going to be the magic wand to solve everything. And I think the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal can get stronger....easier, if that makes sense.

Bumping this with @Oldgregg86's Luton shout 2 posts above. That's a rough move. 😃

Thought he held on to it too much, and ruined a couple possible breakaways in last few minutes. Was almost like a brainfreeze that he couldn’t decide what to do. Get he was going to be rusty after the layoff, but he shouldn't look so confused by having possession of a football. Either pass it, dribble it, try knock it past a man. But don't just stand there doing nothing! Was infuriating.

Seeing those 3 January signings lollop round the pitch for the last 10/15mins just summed up the failure. Had a look and the 3 'Championship' teams in the top 6, Coventry, Sunderland & Bristol City - Transfer Markt has them spending 17M, 12M & 10M this season. It has us spending 5M. That's the difference. You simply can't compete for the Top 6 in this league without spending some money. And that won't change, it will get worse.

I've moaned in previous relegation and playoff battles about our rivals being up against soft opponents, with nothing to play for and rotated teams. And more often than not, those rivals got the result. We're now in the position I whined and moaned about. If we don't deliver, no-one to blame but ourselves. The odds are in our favour for once. Please capitalise lads.

If you hold him at such low regard as a manager, should have been hoping he stayed on at West Brom. We could be competing with them next season in top half of table. Or, if in a relegation battle, 4/6 pts against a crap managed team could be vital. Either way, celebrating him being sacked doesn't make sense as I see no benefit to us. Bring happy it had happened when our manager I could understand.

Compared to some of the challenges the ref has let go unpunished, that's a free kick and a stern final warning at worst.

Seems fair. Was just difficult to swallow with the 2 pullbacks being 60 seconds apart. 5/10 mins later would have been easier to take.