If Mowbray's latest death spiral is over (a big if I know), and with the 4 games left against teams who also have nothing to play for or are relegation fodder, it isn't inconceivable that Rovers could end up with 60 points. That equates to Mowbray's 1W 1D 1L Championship form average. He'll be happy with that but it completely glosses over the abjectness of 2021. What would have happened if Rovers had 8 points from the first 16 games? Would Venkys have potted Mowbray and staff? What would the prevailing mood be if the season was reversed? A terrible start, Mowbray staying, then playoff form for the second half of the season? I don't have social media accounts, so only see what gets shared on here but I'd wager that there would be lots of talk of promotion next season and give Mowbray a contract extension to build on the strong finish.

A win and safety assured. 4 dead rubbers ahead. Rooney isn't manager material.

He has it backwards. First and foremost a football club is in the business of getting results. Player development is a secondary function. Develop good players, get good results. If his goal is development he should start an independent academy a la Glenn Hoddle.

Above are 3 of the first 4 posts in this thread from August 2019. No change in 18 months.

Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid. Dortmund 1-2 City. The semi finals are Chelsea v. Real and PSG v. City. I thought that Liverpool played well but they couldn't score, which has been the story of their season. As the game wore on they ran out of ideas and Real used their brains to snuff out any danger. City were too good for Dortmund. As has been said on here add Bellingham to the list of potential world beaters for England. A central defender of the same class coming through would be nice.

PSG 0-1 Bayern. 3-3 on aggregate. PSG through on away goals. Bayern may have won the game but PSG were the better team. Neymar can be an absolute plonker at times with his antics but last night he showed how good a footballer he is. He was mesmerising at times. Bayern couldn't get the ball off him. Bayern will point to not having Lewandowski but his replacement Choupo-Moting (ex Stoke) scored in both legs. Chelsea also got beat 1-0 at home but progressed 2-1. Porto scored a cracker with virtually the last kick of the game.

I think that it is. As Rev said; Rovers grab a point edging closer to safety, yet the 1 win in xx record keeps getting bigger. 5 games to play; Derby(h), Sheff Wed(a), Huddersfield(h), Rotherham(a), Brum(h). All teams in the bottom third. Rovers to limp to the finish line and stay up.

I watched Real v Liverpool and Bayern v PSG. Liverpool were terrible. Too many misplaced passes, and inaction going forward. TAA showed why Southgate dropped him. His positioning and one on one defending wasn't good enough. They could still go through though as they do have goals in them. It will be very hard though. Bayern v PSG was a cracking game. Mbappe was class. Bayern aren't out of it despite getting beat. They had loads of chances. City got lucky against Dortmund. No surprise that Chelsea beat Porto. I think that lazy commentary has gotten worse over the pandemic. Maybe the lack of fans is causing it but there's a lot of it about. Plenty of talking up narratives that don't exist to completely and missing important bits of play.

Off topic I know but years ago Garner was the presenter at my junior football club's awards evening. The compere had finished a round of trophy giving and was letting everybody know that it was time for a break. On hearing this, Garner, who was on stage, said something like "good, I need a pint and a fag." As he said it close to the mic everybody heard. Cue apologies and a "don't smoke lads, it's bad for you" line. 7 points from 42 is desperately bad. Awful football is worse. I really feel for those who actually pay to watch the games online. Being at the stadium is a whole different experience than sat at home with no atmosphere at all to rally around. I think that Rovers will stay up. Mowbray will rag a win. Facts do point to him losing it though. His time is up. He's gone as far as he can. He shouldn't feel shame in that as he put some of the pride back. Certainly on here he is rapidly becoming hated, leave now and he may save some of his reputation. To the penalty taking debate, I remember Ray Stewart when I was little. He was brilliant. This article has a few; 10 Best Penalty Takers of all Time - Pundit Feed No surprises that van Basten and Le Tissier are up there. I did read that Yaya Toure scored all 11 of his whilst in the Prem.

I get annoyed at being asked for ID. I don't know why but I do. Puritanical America has some weird quirks asking for ID id one of them. Some shops have a "we ID everyone" policy when buying booze. My dad was with me once and they asked him. He's in his 70's. He started laughing. The American payments system is also years behind. The self styled most advanced nation on earth is not at all. I regularly get stuck behind someone paying with a cheque at the supermarket. It takes twice as long. It drives me bananas. Chip and pin was rolled out a few years ago, but banks decided that Americans aren't clever enough to use the pin part. Tap and pay is available in a few places but not enough, as is Apple/Google pay on a phone. It should be everywhere. Americanisms in Britain also annoy me. I live in America, you'd think that I'd appreciate it, but no.

I think that last night's England team was close to Southgate's starting 11. Potentially Pickford for Pope. Henderson (if fit) for Phillips. I like Grealish for Mount, but Mount has been playing very well. The game should have been out of sight at half time. England were far too good for Poland. Rice was very good. Sterling was purposeful yet wasteful. Having Kane up front is a real asset. He does it all very well. I also reckon that Stones's cock up was a blessing in disguise. It forced England to pick up the place as there was something on the line and were actually challenged. Stones takes the blame for the mistake but Pope didn't help him with an iffy pass. No matter who starts in June there will be some excellent attacking options. Kane up top and any of Rashford, Sancho, Sterling, Saka, Grealish, Foden, Mount, Calvert-Lewin, and even TAA and Maddison if they make the squad.

That is what is good about them, it gives a glimpse of what's behind the curtain. Then it all goes a bit iffy with tales like - "we were out on a Tuesday, all of us hammered, then player X took his kecks off and starting dancing on tables before barfing in some girl's handbag". As I said yesterday maybe I'm getting old.

I finally finished this one. It took me a while to get through both episodes. There were some very good bits about Di Canio and Thomas Gravesen. I've listened to a few of these podcasts now and what is starting to stick out is the immaturity of footballers. Lots of stories about boozing, acting up, pranking, and getting in bother. I've listened to a few this month and the lads on tour stories are starting to get a bit annoying. I like to footballing insights and their take on people in the game but the laddish exploits aren't worth much. Maybe I'm getting old.

I do. I never know how it is spelled.

It would seem that way. Croatia, Belgium twice, Holland all beat England recently. With opposition goals coming from out of nowhere. Naiivete perhaps.

France should have won it last time and didn't. If they have a weakness it's at goalkeeper. England have talent, can Southgate best out of them?

I had a look at the Ireland squad. It is not up to much. They must be struggling if Duffy still gets a look in. I'd like to know what our Irish members think of the FAI. They have been blamed for the majority of the ills the national team is suffering through. Wales need to get Giggs's situation sorted out. I have no idea when his court date is but it looks like the Wales bosses won't make a decision until after that.

I only saw the highlights for last night's game. As a marker to see where England are it is pointless. I'm glad that Southgate played 4 at the back though. Hopefully he sticks to it. Here's my guess for his game 1 Euro's starting 11; Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Chilwell Rice Henderson Grealish Rashford Sterling Kane Of that 11 maybe Grealish could lose out to Foden or Mount. I think he'll stick with Pickford barring any disasters and Walker will keep his right back spot for one last tournament. Hungary 3-3 Poland was a good result for England too.

I agree. Boothroyd has a squad filled with Premier league regulars and they hardly got a shot off. For a brief moment the England youth sides were doing well. I hope that they pick it up quickly against Portugal.

I can see both sides of this. He can play what he thinks will be his Euro's 11 to get them used to playing with each other. Or he can use it to see what he has available. England consistently get cake walk qualifying groups. Starting against San Marino is akin to a friendly. It gives Southgate the opportunity to see what he has. I do agree that he needs to set out his system and work it out quickly. For the first time in a long time England have options all over the park. He needs to suss out what he wants.

68 is a 60 isn't Brand's Hatch type driving but to get to 14 points prior to that is a feat. His insurance premium must have been exorbitant. Dack is missing something upstairs. I'm sure that he narrowly missed out on prison a few years back because he kept missing court dates for a previous infraction. Mowbray was his star witness when he finally did turn up. Is it the trappings of privilege or is he just thick? It's a debate as old as professional sport; should players be role models. I say no, but they are on a pedestal and are treated as such.

First legs are April 6th and 7th. Return legs are the week after, 13th and 14th. Where is a guess at the moment. Budapest may be busy again.

The draw is out; QUARTERFINALS Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund FC Porto vs. Chelsea Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain Real Madrid vs. Liverpool SEMIFINALS Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid or Liverpool vs. FC Porto or Chelsea

I don't follow much La Liga but read a match report which said that unlike previous Atletico sides they've been banging goals in this season. I had a look and they've already scored almost as many as the last 2 seasons totals with 10 games to go. Maybe Simeone went to his tried and tested route but the players weren't used to it? Or Giroud's goal knocked the stuffing out of them. I knew last year that when they scored against Liverpool early in the first leg that they'd progress. Granted they did it scoring 3 at Anfield but they had the confidence to do it. I'm with you on the nostalgia for Serie A. Roma is the only Italian team left in Europe, and they are in the Europa League. I watched 5 minutes of Milan-Man U. The quality on offer from Milan was light years away from the sides of the past. Old man Zlatan was their best player. From far away one lad in midfield (Kessie, I think) had the look of Clarence Seedorf. Unfortunately his ability wasn't anywhere near.

Ward-Prowse is a new name. He's not been mentioned on here before now. He is a solid yet unspectacular player. However he is exceptional in dead ball situations which is something that Southgate is very fond of. Him whipping in free kicks and corners would cause no end of havoc.