Thanks for this. There are a lot of spurious claims in that statement. It's a tricky spot to be in. Stanley are mad that a large revenue stream has at least temporarily dried up and the council being an easy target gets the blame, but asking them provide the funding to retrofit the venue that the club built without correct planning permission in the name of regeneration and rejuvenation comes up short for me. What community benefit is there for a private function room? it's no different than any other venue that hires itself out for functions. Stanely are using the fact that they are a football club to seek to gain favour for a non-football revenue stream within the overall club. Would the council give money to a cricket or golf club under the same circumstances? I doubt it. There is a different discussion to be had if the club cannot survive without it.

Here's a summary of the situation; LT (formerly LET): Stanley to close function room @chaddyrovers Stanley voluntarily closed it as they didn't like the conditions of operation offered to them by the council. Homeowners in the vicinity, who more than likely lived there before the facility was built (as it's not like the ground sits next to a new estate) probably got fed up with having to listen Sweet Caroline blaring out past midnight every weekend. I assume that Stanely could fix this by refitting the building to accommodate adequate soundproofing so I don't know what Holt will gain by going public complaining about it. I doubt that the council will reconsider.

The Accrington Stanely owner is kicking off again. This time at the local council. They've ordered that Stanley's bar and function room at the ground close immediately due to neighbour complaints of loud noise late night, and they said that it didn't get planning permission initially. It brings in a lot of money for the club so understand why Holt is going mad, but what I don't know is the back and forth that got them to this place. Not good for either party though.

Don't forget his iffy distribution too. I've lost count of the number of times he's had the ball at his feet with no pressure on him at all and he boots it straight out of play.

I'm sure plenty are saying that now. Rovers are only 4 points behind 5th. The fact that Rovers were 5th with a 4 point gap to 7th a few weeks ago will be lost on those who are saying it though. This game isn't on US TV but I doubt I'd be watching even if it was. There is no excitement to it at the moment.

It's being talked about in the Adam Wharton thread but here is the full England Squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers; Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley) Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan, loan from Manchester City) Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Aston Villa, loan from Manchester United), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur) As always there will be debates.

Last night's game was utterly bemusing from start to finish. I am still trying to work it all out. Why did Ismael change formation? How is adding a central defender going to create more goals? Rovers have to be the worst team in the division when it comes to crossing the ball. It's utterly woeful to watch crosses and corners go nowhere each and every time. Rovers fans have been here too many times before. Ismael looks more like Coyle, Appleton, Berg than JDT or Eustace. Allegedly one of Eustace's reasons for leaving was that they wouldn't extend his contract an extra year, yet they give the new bloke a 3+ year deal. Madness.

I agree with you. Since returning to the Championship from League 1 (and probably before, I'm not going back that far) Rovers have always fallen short when the stakes are higher which speaks to a flaw in the overall mentality irrespective of players or the manager. Mowbray's teams constantly got beat off those above them in the league. JDT's lot had a near 100% loss record if they went 1-0 down. Eustace took over a team in 17th yet scraped a 19th placed finish thanks to a win against a hungover Leicester team on the last day of the season. Look what Ismael has done; gifted 2 terrible teams in Swansea and Derby extremely comfortable wins. Very few expect anything other than defeat tonight. Does Venkys abysmal ownership bleed all the way down to shying away from opportunity when it presents itself?

I went down a small rabbit hole on this and I'd love to hear an explanation as to why Rovers perform poorly post-Christmas. 2020-21 Rovers were 8th on Christmas day and finished 15th. 2012-22 Rovers were 4th on Christmas day and finished 8th. 2022-23 Rovers were 3rd on Christmas day and finished 7th. 2023-24 Rovers were 9th on Christmas day and finished 19th. 2024-25 Rovers were 8th on Christmas day, and finished ???

On Christmas Day 2024 Rovers sat in 5th spot on 37 points (1.75ppg). 11 points behind Sheff Utd who were top. Today Rovers sit in 8th on 52 points having earned 15 points over the last 15 games and are now 24 points behind first placed Leeds who along with Burnley and Coventry have all gained 30 points (2ppg) or more over the time period. Only the current bottom 3; Derby (8), Luton (6), and Plymouth (12), along with Stoke (14) have accrued less points than Rovers since the day before Rovers drew with Sunderland at Ewood.

I was watching Man U-Arsenal yesterday and the commentator said that Liverpool have only 3 more points now than they did at this stage last season. Arsenal's gap is now a whopping 15 points with a game in hand. The title will be sewn up before Easter if the status quo is maintained. The game itself was underwhelming. Man U spent over £100m on two number 9's in Hojlund and Zirkzee who managed to make toothless Arsenal look better equipped. Zirkzee plays scared and Hojlund has the first touch of a trampoline. Slot has done remarkably well but he could be in for a rude awakening next season if any or all of the 3 out of contract players opt to leave. Bradley looks like he can replace TAA, but it's nigh on impossible to replicate Salah and van Dijk's contributions. Relegation is all but sorted too. All 3 promoted teams were odds on for the drop before a ball was kicked. Southampton were saddled with Russell Martin. Leicester lost their manager and best player to Chelsea. 2 promotions in 2 years was a bridge too far for a hardworking yet limited Ipswich side. The 2023-24 season was very similar with all 3 promoted teams ill-equipped to avoid relegation. Burnley decided to try to make money by buying project players with a sellable upside rather than trying to stay up. Sheff Utd sold or had to return the good players who got them promoted, and Luton tried their hardest but, like Ipswich, it was too soon for them to build any foundations.

Slim to no chance of a result here. Gallagher scoring for Stoke too. Mods; the game is on Wednesday the 12th.

Rovers aren't scoring 3 goals away from home so going 2-0 before the 10 minute mark cemented the result. Would it have been different if Ohashi had not missed that sitter when Travis put him through? I doubt it, but we'll never know. Pears has been letting in clangers since his appalling performance at Wigan in the FA cup a few seasons ago. Surely those on the coaching staff who have been at Ewood long enough have logged his catalogue of errors. Today effectively ended Rovers playoff hopes. It looked plausible a few weeks ago but not anymore. Eustace leaving hasn't helped, but he's not to blame. Plenty on here sound like broken records but as long as Venkys are in charge Rovers are going nowhere. January 2025 was another opportunity to bring in 2 or 3 quality players who could help a promotion push. Instead the local powers that be sanctioned has beens, projects, and never will be's. It was a disgraceful window and because of that Rovers will limp along to a 10th place finish.

In any normal business your stance would be quite normal. However, football clubs aren't normal which makes the axing of free meals for staff a lightning rod for criticism. I've read articles talking about the football tax that employees of clubs pay. Many day-to-day staff will take less money to work for the club they support. Giving them a free lunch is a small gesture of goodwill. Likewise with Ferguson's stipend. It's a complete loser financially so getting rid of it is prudent financial move but creates more animosity between the club and its fans. The bigger picture is that as long as Ratcliffe and the Glazers are paying Champions League level wages to substandard players who can't get them there they'll have to cut cut and cut elsewhere to offset the lack of that European lucre they so crave. This plus the second round of redundancies has Man U fan groups are telling match goers to wear black tomorrow to signify that the club is "dying". Thousands of empty seats would probably send a bigger message but they are doing something.

That game had a draw written all over it. 85 minutes of toil followed by 10 minutes of madness yet the result was the same. No final ball at all today. I thought that the manager did well. Decent subs for what he has available and they looked lively.

I still don't get the "found out" comments? What has he been found out for? He's won everything there is to win many times over. He's not suddenly turned crap, nor have other managers twigged on how to beat him. It's pretty simple to me as I said earlier; his core players are all on the decline, and some of them have gone downhill quickly. Add in the fact that the player who makes them tick has been out all season and you end up with the current state. He'll be back, and yes he will spend boatloads getting players in to do it, but a calling him a cheque book manager sells him short. If it was solely transfer spend Man U would be up there. Speaking of Man U Ratcliffe is at it again; Guardian: Man U to close staff canteen Top brass at the club are nixing free meals for staff to save £1million per year. What a horrible man he is. How this will get them winning the league again is beyond me.

Found out? In what way? He is a genius manager. His City team is now too old and slow. Liverpool ran them ragged. I will say that his pass pass pass football is coming to its end. Long balls are now back in fashion.

Utterly shambolic defending for Swansea’s goals. Plenty of others have already said what I would about the individuals involved. I will add that Travis gave away yet another stupid free kick Gueye’s magic dust looks to have worn off. He can’t trap a bag of sand today. What does Forshaw bring to the party? 3 subs are on. 3 down as I’m writing this. Game certainly over now.

😀 I understand where you are coming from. I think that there has to be a decent manager somewhere inside Gerrard. He led Rangers to a title and an unbeaten season. That's not easy, even discounting that it was in Scotland. However, since then he's not been good. Boring at Villa, then an inexplicable move to a Saudi team without the might of PIF money that ended with a shrug. He needs to resurrect himself and what better chance to do that than getting Rovers promoted. My choices; Jurgen Klopp then Alan Shearer. Based on this list I'd take Gary O'Neil. Lee Carsley - 7/4 Gary O'Neil - 6/1 Rob Edwards - 7/1 David Lowe - 10/1 Ryan Lowe - 10/1 Richie Wellens - 12/1 Aitor Karanka - 15/1 Valerien Ismael - 22/1 Carlos Carvalhal - 25/1 Steve Cooper - 25/1

I'm glad too based on you offering up Gerrard.

He owns 25% or thereabouts. My theory is that the Glazers are having him do all this in public as he's technically local so they don't feel the wrath. The club is worth north of £5bn. Ratcliffe is a businessman who made his big money flipping companies, he will get a nice windfall if they sell. I'm sure that is hard for him to pass up. If this is not the case Ratcliffe is doing a shambolic job of running the club. I didn't see the game yesterday but not scoring against Spurs is an indictment in itself, never mind the plethora of teenagers on the subs bench.

I think that you are right. Rovers are averaging 1.5 points per game. Carrying that on will have Rovers ending on 69 points. The same as JDT's 7th place finish. On paper Rovers have a decent run in. Games against 6 of the current bottom 8. Have already played 1st and 3rd twice. Play 2nd the last day of the season when they are hopefully in party mode. Plus Sheff Wed, Boro, and Norwich at home. I will caveat this with the fact that this is Blackburn Rovers who are managerless, run by fools, and don't score many goals.

Leaving Rovers current debacle aside for a minute it seems that Ratcliffe is wielding the axe again at Man U; BBC: more redundancies at Man U Having laid over 250 staff last year Man U may now lay off another 200 to save money. I'm no fortune teller but in the world of Premier League football running a slash and burn cost cutting operation seldom leads to on field success. My cynical take is that he's doing it on purpose again to make the club look favourable to potential buyers. Although I'm sure that there are many oil rich middle eastern princes would buy it tomorrow as is. Either way, the way it looks to me is that Man U won't be winning the league any time soon.

What a surreal game. It's been a trying week to be a Rovers fan. I wasn't expecting much from a midweek away game to a team higher in the table, but I am happily proven wrong. The first half was boring with Rovers offering little, but what else from a team reeling from losing their manager? Gueye steps up in the second, bangs 2 in, and was unlucky not to get a third. All whilst West Brom did virtually nothing again. Pears did well in the last 10. 5th. What a strange spot to be in.

It would be very annoying not having US commentators.