speeeeeeedie

I said the other week that there is something wrong at Sheffield Utd. Last night was another example. 5 down before halftime is disgraceful. Neither the manager or players are performing. Selling their 2 best players and losing a couple of good loan players hasn't helped, but from the outside it looks like the whole lot of them have given up. Is their owner trying to sell up? Both Sheff Utd and Burnley utilised the loan market in the Championship and deployed completely different strategies once promoted. Luton had no loans and only brought in a couple of new players and are in trouble but faring better than the other two.

Someone posted a topic like this around the same time last season when there was genuine hope of a playoff spot. Fast forward 12 months and Rovers have 11 games left to pick up enough points to stay up. Here are my predictions; Millwall (H) - draw Plymouth (H) - win Boro (A) - loss Ipswich (H) - draw Sunderland (A) - loss Southampton (H) - loss Bristol City (A) - loss Leeds (A) - loss Sheff Wed (H) - draw Coventry (H) - win Leicester (A) - loss I have 9 more points. Will that be enough?

The whole team was. Ten Hag set them up to play on the counter and they couldn't even muster that bar a few early forays. I know City are streets ahead but Man U weren't trying to play. They'd get the ball to the halfway line then concede possession. Their subs were pitiful. Amrabat, Antony, and two youngsters. Amrabat cost them a goal. Antony did nothing but pass it backwards twice. He has to be up there as one of the worst Premier League signings. £80m+ for no output. Ratcliffe's PR team keep pumping out grandiose statements about getting back to the top. It will cost an inordinate amount of time and money to do that. His first action should be to bin Ten Hag, but that would be cruel to those like me who enjoy watching Man U's ineptitude.

You cannot compare the physical demands on professional footballers to any uni or Clitheroe level players. There is a reason why football clubs now have teams of performance analysts. Clubs need to eek out as much from players as possible. Anyway, all signs point to a loss today. I hope not though.

Watching from afar it reminded me of the Villa and Liverpool cup ties from the late 80's early 90's. Underdogs v. big boys. It was good as a one off but Rovers should not be in that position - thank you Venkys. It was a shame Rovers lost, but as soon as Hyam stepped up I knew he'd miss.

Read the book Dirty Northern Bastards by Tim Marshall. It's been around for a few years so some of it is outdated now, but it is available in the USA. It gives a decent insight into some of the songs/rivalries/atmosphere at football stadiums in the UK. The USA has none of what is written about. Rovers do get a mention as well.

This game will be the first I can watch since the JDT to Eustace change. I'd have rather had a league game as I would be able to compare apples to apples but the potential of a cup upset is always appealing. On paper they are too good. Anthony Gordon could run Rovers ragged.

Sheffield Utd are in a bad spot. In the last few weeks Wilder has been charged by the FA for spitting his dummy out after a defeat and slagging a ref for apparently eating a sandwich in front of him. Holgate got sent off after 10 minutes last week for a knee-high scissor kick, and now this. Something isn't right at the club. There does not seem to be discipline within the camp to mount a fight to give themselves a chance.

I'm sure that Kean told someone along the way that if it wasn't for injuries he'd have won one too.

It's looking like a 3 horse race for the title. Fresh off easily beating Liverpool Arsenal hammered the Hammers yesterday 6-0. Liverpool were unconvincing but still put 3 past Burnley. City were labouring against Everton but De Bruyne came on and the tide turned. 2 goals from Haaland won it. Arsenal puzzle me. They don't strike me as having many good players but are up there.

JDT is the best manger Rovers have had in a long time. He had Rovers a whisker away from a playoff spot last year, cruelly denied by any number of cock ups late in the season (PNE own goal etc.). Instead of him getting reinforcements over the summer Venkys cut him off at the knees. It was only going to end one way after that. However, 1 win in 11 isn't good. His style of play isn't suited to grinding out points. On current form Rovers need 3 goals to win each game. A bit of pragmatic football over the next 2 months should hopefully keep Rovers safe, then onto the next melodrama over the summer. I wish him well. He was a known name who surprised me when he arrived and then tried to put his imprint on BRFC.

Am I right in saying that JDT has gone but no official statement from the club has been issued confirming it. Am I also right in saying that John Eustace is coming in but no official statement from the club has been issued confirming it.

Loads of snow. A pitch looking like the surface of Mars. David Mail's attempted headed clearance (start at 0.20). Brilliant.

I was going to post then saw yours. Surely the EFL have pdf pro or docusign capabilities. Edit: I saw KentExile's link. It is digital.

I could well be proven wrong. It's Kansas City v. San Francisco in the Superbowl. Both teams benefitted from opposition errors to win their games, rather than their own good play. The Superbowl is always a good day out, I'm looking forward to it as usual.

I too am happy to have them back. Jon Champion and Stuart Robson were commentating for ESPN. They were both raving about Gallagher. Dolan looked bright - but he could spend the next game running down blind alleys such is his inconsistency. It turned into a very easy win. You can only beat what's in front of you and Rovers did exactly that. I'd have taken Szmodics off as soon as the 4th went in.

That was the biggest highlight of his career. He wasn't expensive, only £1.5m, but still an odd signing. His Wikipedia shows an unremarkable career; Graham Fenton - Wikipedia I had forgotten that David Batty scored for them that day.

PED's? I've not heard that one. Any sources?

Graham Fenton was another who came in and didn't do anything.

Sickening? I think that you need to lighten up a bit. One of the world's biggest football club's manager decides to leave without any notice. It's a big story. If JDT leaves we'll get nary a shrug in the national media, but it's not bias, it's reality. Rovers aren't international news. I think Klopp is great. The Premier League will miss him. There are lots of unhappy Scousers around today, and lots of Man U fans hoping for a Moyes style descent into mediocrity. I'll echo others that Alonso ticks the replacement boxes; ex player (helps apparently), seemingly very impressive. Would he go to Liverpool then Real?

You can go further with that one; Kenny Dogleash. Paul Sheepstone. Peter Thorne-bird Lark Hughes Ally-gator Dawson Simon Barker Owl Brotherston Mark Batkins or Catkins Jon Steed Hake Garrett I'll stop now.

Guardiola is a superb manager. is he good because he's only had the best jobs, or did he get the best jobs because he's that good? Mancini and Pelligrini won titles at City but didn't have the sustained success. I used to say it about Mourinho; if he was that good he should take the Stanely job and get them into the Prem. Could Guardiola do it? I think Mourinho's style would have been better suited to it. Anyway, it's hypothetical and Mourinho has certainly fallen off his early 2000's perch. He started at Barcelona after an internal promotion and hit the jackpot. His home grown players dwarfed the "class of 92". Valdes, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro, I'll include Pique and Messi too. This allowed him to play his way from the off as they all knew what to do. It also allowed him to buy good players to complement them. As mentioned he also benefitted from some under the table antics from the club. His stint at Bayern was successful but the playing field was at least level. He's been great for City but they are knee deep in shiftiness. UEFA let them off the hook when they were caught bang to rights. I think their owner told UEFA something along the lines of - do it, and we'll sue because we have enough money to pay for the best lawyers forever. Will the FA buckle too?

48 hours later and I am still smarting over watching the worst half of football I've seen in a long time. It was awful. I said it in September and I'll say it again now; this Rovers team is too small, has no pace, and no old heads to teach the young lads the ropes. It's a recipe for disaster. It's sad to say but the 10 or so points needed to stay up need to come quickly.

They won't win it this year. The temperature for their game tomorrow is going to be absolutely freezing. -15oC at kickoff.

ESPN+ streams all FA Cup games so I'll be watching no matter what time it's on.