speeeeeeedie

I am in the games should not be called off camp. I am also in the Queen dying needs a proper send off camp. Shops, pubs, work, airports, schools aren't shut. Why only sport? I understand a shutdown for the funeral, but not for the whole mourning period. I would imagine that a minute's silence followed by a rendition of the national anthem before kick off at every game would have been a fitting tribute and give plenty of people across the country the chance to show their respect together with others, rather than sat at home watching BBC reruns and pundits lamenting the loss. If there is no game will the players train? I expect so as it gives JDT and his staff more time to prepare.

@J*B,@K-Hod, @Silas can we remove the dates from the topic title? As to the week's games. City cruised. Spurs won, Chelsea were bad, and sacked their manager as a result. To describe Liverpool as awful is kind. Klopp has work to do.

Like it or not VAR is here to stay. The Premier League and the PGMOL are to blame for the current fiasco. The Champions League shows that it can work effectively with little fuss. Prem referee's go from mistake to mistake seemingly without any ability to fix it. @arbitrohas insight into the game that not many of us do. His take that the refereeing establishment is a closed shop leads me to believe that if the VAR official does make a referral, due to the nature of the relationships between them they have to act and change the decision. Which also should be a marker that having an independent voice in the VAR room would help. This BBC article is a decent read; BBC- weekend VAR review It looks like the PGMOL are going to review their procedures. I hope that they do, yet it won't help any of the aggrieved teams recoup any points lost. Michael Oliver gets a mention for sticking to his guns. Maybe he is immune to the politics due to his family history. He is also a very good referee.

Let's see. You agree with my premise that they have a bit about them. In a lot of ways they are the opposite of Rovers; big, settled, well drilled, with a proven manager. In a league where any one can beat anyone what Bristol City have is enviable.

Today was a rough day in the Premier for the VAR room. The BBC offer a decent summary; BBC - VAR round up It will never be perfect but as I have said before on here; if the VAR room has an ex-player (or two) alongside the 4th official I'd wager that controversy will be reduced. Mendy made an absolute meal of Bowen's contact. Willock did not foul Guaita. I think that the Premier League needs to adhere to its statement, borrowed from the NFL, that VAR officials adjudicate "clear and obvious errors". If the VAR room referee takes minutes to review what the on pitch decided in real time it is neither clear or obvious so the original decision should stand. Managers don't help either. If they benefit not one of them will acknowledge that it could have been wrong. See Tuchel and Vieira in the BBC article.

I agree. They were strong, well organised, and had a bit of nous. They look like playoff material. Rovers looked disjointed. Expecting Morton and Wharton to run the midfield is a tough one. It may have all been different if Hedges ball to the face went in. I should stop watching games. It's now 1 win in about 10 for me.

Yes, it was pitiful. Rovers are on again this Saturday too. 2 games in a week. Not bad.

It may have been. Irish lad. Left footed. I'll have a look back through.

Is this your only contribution to this thread so far? 90's Rovers is your specialist subject. Surely you can do better than Nicky Marker? How about Gary Talon.

I spent the latter half of the 2021-2022 season watching Rovers on ESPN+ lose every week so it was nice to see a win. I echo everybody else regarding Wharton Jr. He played extremely well. Pickering is getting lots of praise for his performance but I see why he gets a lot of grief. Brereton and Dack are key to any success. As a fan Brereton needs to stay, score a hatful this season, and evaluate his options next summer. If he goes to a Prem team as a deadline day signing he'll get his pieces of silver but won't play or score much. For me a fit Dack is second on the team sheet after Kaminski. He can score and create. I hope Rovers are on TV again soon.

I'm curious, what did you end up doing?

I'll be watching this one. Is it time for a few draws to keep in line with Rovers last few years of 1W1D1L average?

I agree with you. Why did Bournemouth bring in half a team to get promoted, then do nothing when it happened? He was going to get the boot at some point anyway, the surprise is that it happened so early. He lasted fewer games than de Boer at Palace a few years back. He'll get another job soon enough.

You do have a soft spot for Everton. They'll struggle. They need Calvert-Lewin but he's turned into glass. Although swapping Gordon for Broja and Gallagher will help. Barmy that Chelsea would think about letting Gallagher go. Chelsea have Ziyech, Pulisic, Sterling, Hudson-Odoi, Mount, and even Havertz who all play like Gordon. They need a central striker.

My take has always been that Rovers bought Duncan Shearer to supper Swindon. He was flying for them. Came to us, scored one (maybe two) then didn't play much after that. I have a memory of him in a suit at Wembley, not even a sub.

Here is the full draw; Group A Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers Group B: FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Bruges Group C Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen Group D Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille Group E AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb Group F Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic Group G Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen Group H Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa Mods; can we amend the thread title to "Champions League" with no dates?

Liverpool came into it toward the end of the half. van Dijk has been bad, a sentence not uttered often. He was too slow to react to Rashford's initial run for the goal, then stood there whilst Sancho shot. TAA conforming to the criticisms he receives too. He fits into Liverpool's system but isn't a full back. Man U have played well. Can they keep it up?

I didn't see much of Saturday's Prem games but yesterday's were superb. Leeds blew away Chelsea. Tuchel needs a striker quickly. I also don't understand why he spent oodles on a left back when he has a perfectly good one in Chilwell already there. Newcastle-City was a cracker. Newcastle could have had 5 but were hanging on by a thread at the end. Howe has done a good job, and bought some decent players, however, they are a bit thin and will struggle if they get a few injuries. Hopefully today's game keeps up the momentum.

Modric and Kroos to McFred. I guess that we'll find out how good he is.

It reads like April 2022 on here. Rovers won't win them all.

It reminded me of their 2020. Injuries, loads of pressure yet no clear chances, concede on the break, Nat Phillips playing. They were miles better after Nunez got sent off. Joe Gomez looked very good when he came on. I've always rated him. He would have played for England in World Cup 2018 but got injured. He has a chance to play for the next few weeks, I hope that he grabs it. I agree. It's not outlandish to say that Liverpool may have to beat City twice if they want to win the league.

I finished the Orr podcast yesterday. I don't know what to make of it. It would have been much better for Rovers fans if Brown and Parkin asked a few decent questions. The other lad (Chris?) is from Bolton, he would have known more too about Rovers situation back then and could have been a bit more probing but didn't either. I read the last few pages to see if any of my questions could be answered; games he played in etc.. I thought the last part was the best and probably the most truthful regarding football being full of self serving unethical chancers. His point on clubs and youth players is absolutely spot on. There needs to be a complete overhaul on how players who don't make it are treated. There is another ex-footballer trying to change it too. I can't remember who though.

Nice one Gav. I've never heard Blackburn and Georgetown comparisons before. Georgetown is very nice, worth a trip. The Smithsonian offers loads of free museums, but they close around 5pm, which if you are working is a bit of a pain. eScooters are everywhere too. They aren't cheap to rent but you can really see everything quickly on them.

Liverpool were woeful yesterday, yet still should have won. Chelsea were pondering against a very iffy looking Everton. Spurs tore Southampton apart, although doing that is hardly a barometer for success. Adam Armstrong was worse than bad and got hooked at half time. Man U were terrible. Lallana and Welbeck tore them apart. Maguire spent all day getting flustered. His new partner is 5'9". The McFred midfield partnership wouldn't look out of place in the Championship. Fred can't pass wind, and McTominay is a dirty so and so who also has little creative ability. Sancho, Rashford, Fernandes, Ronaldo (when he came on) didn't do much. Then Ten Hag made some odd substitutions. Long may the chaos continue.

Pretty much any bar you go into will put games on if you ask. Games will be on early though; 9am and 11.30am. Chelsea v. Spurs is the big Sunday game next week. This place will be busy; Ireland's Four Courts (irelandsfourcourts.com. It's across the river in Arlington. The White House and surrounding areas are very much business first and won't be as busy during the weekend. I was there in April and watched a game in a place called the Queen Vic. It was full of Liverpool fans. It had good food, good booze, and a good atmosphere.