I'll put this here as it seems to fit. The sexual abuse in football report came out yesterday; Sheldon report into sexual abuse details the horror in the 'beautiful game' | Football | The Guardian Primarily looking into the Barry Bennell fiasco it detailed that lots of it could have been stopped early if not for inaction from those at the top. Although not implicated as a suspect Dario Gradi gets a special mention due to his mismanagement and ignorance of it at 2 clubs. I know the world was a different place in the 70's and 80's but it should have been stopped a lot earlier than it did.

Southgate's latest squad is out; Keepers: Henderson (Manchester United), Johnstone (West Brom), Pope (Burnley) Defenders: Chilwell (Chelsea), Coady (Wolves), Dier (Tottenham), James (Chelsea), Maguire (Manchester United), Mings (Aston Villa), Shaw (Manchester United), Stones (Manchester City), Trippier (Atlético Madrid), Walker (Manchester City). Midfielders: Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Foden (Manchester City), Lingard (West Ham), Mount (Chelsea), Phillips (Leeds), Rice (West Ham), Ward-Prowse (Southampton). Strikers: Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Kane (Tottenham), Rashford (Manchester United), Saka (Arsenal), Sterling (Manchester City), Watkins (Aston Villa). No Pickford, TAA, Tarkowski, Keane, Justin (injured?) Sancho, Grealish (injured?), Maddison (injured?), Oxlade-Chamberlain. Greenwood, Hudson-Odoi, Jones (Liverpool), and McNeil were all called up to the u21 squad that is also having it's tournament this summer.

This week saw City and Real Madrid through on Tuesday, Bayern Munich and Chelsea yesterday. City's progression was a formality, they were too good for Monchengladbach. Real outclassed Atalanta who aren't the same side without Gomez. Bayern were far too good for Lazio. Chelsea moving on was a small surprise, although they are unbeaten under Tuchel. Atletico were not good at all last night. They didn't seem to be as organised as usual. On their day they are exceptional. I can't stand their antics but enjoy watching them. The last 8 are; Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Porto, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Dortmund, PSG. The draw is tomorrow. It is setup such that quarter final and semi final ties are done at the same time.

That would seem to be the case. 4 years is a long time in football. Ferguson was an exception but he changed his back room staff regularly. Mowbray sticks with Venus. It's Rovers 3rd season back in the Championship and if Mowbray's "progression" is points based (which is the only metric that counts, right?) Rovers need to finish on 64 points to eclipse last season's total. 19 from 9 games. Norwich on Saturday will be a loss so it will be 19 from 8 games, which works out to needing 6 wins and a draw from those 8. That's Barnsley form. Rovers will fall short.

Before academies clubs couldn't touch players until they were 12/13. The big clubs reengineered the system to benefit them. Satellite centres, parents driving kids all over the place. I read today that Man U are advertising for a job scouting 6 year olds. Has it helped the English game? Anyway, back on topic. I read the Telegraph article. t seems like Brockhall village is getting an action group together. The comments as always are the best read.

Rabiot is a favourite on the BBC gossip page. Every transfer window his name pops up. He spent time at PSG, and now Juventus both good clubs. But I agree with you that he's missing the quality that top players have. Liverpool won 2-0. Same ground, same result as the first leg. They looked like a different team than their Prem one. I think RoverDom said in the Prem topic that Fabinho needs to be in midfield. He was last night and was outstanding. Thiago was also very good. PSG-Barcelona finished 1-1. Messi missed a penalty late in the first half. If that went in it would have put them 2-1 up and made the second half interesting. Alas not and PSG eased through.

Warnock is one of those who if he's not on your team you hate him, but if he is he's a hero. Robbie Savage was the same. He is a very passionate, committed bloke who loves football. He's in his 70's and still trying to get teams up. However, it rubs the wrong way now and again. He was hard done by last week. My view is that their goal shouldn't have been disallowed, nor was it a penalty for Swansea.

Porto and Dortmund are into the last 8. Haaland was too much for Seville although they weren't far away at the end. 10 man Porto beat Juventus on away goals after losing 3-2 in Turin. They played more than an hour (including extra time) with 10 men. Ronaldo did absolutely nothing. Pirlo may not last long. Inter are top of Serie A, a good few points ahead of Juventus. Liverpool play Leipzig in Hungary today. Probably a blessing for them as they've lost every game at Anfield in 2021. Barcelona fanboys will be hoping for a repeat of their comeback against PSG from a few years ago. It won't happen though. PSG to move on as a formality.

Me too. Their ability to get answers comes from them having played the game (although not the other Chris), therefore the interviewee can relate to them very easily. This allows for a relaxed atmosphere and leads to candid discussions. Where all 3 of them fell way short with Marshall is that what happened to him is serious and relevant outside of football. A more astute line of questioning or focused follow up could have really made some inroads. I'd have to listen again but I think that Brown (ex "striker" one) kept repeating some throwaway line rather than delving in. The Kilgallon one was really good.

I do enjoy these podcasts. Once you get over the identikit personality traits and the football specific diction of whatever player is being interviewed they offer a decent insight into the game. I finally listened to the Ben Marshall one. I think that if someone with a bit more skill than Chris Brown(s) and Jon Parkin (not that they are bad, but they aren't Jeremy Paxman) was asking questions Marshall could have opened up a lot more. It's no shame that he decided to give it all up, but I wonder if he'd have sought out help earlier if he would still be playing. Whether you play professional or amateur sports it's often stated that not being in and a round team mates is a heavier loss than not playing any more. It was for me. It sounds like he really values that camaraderie.

Winning 5 in a row could very well happen. History says that his death spirals end. When they do Rovers turn into the league's best for a few weeks.

I watched an Oasis documentary last night. I have no idea if it was UK or USA produced but I liked it. It chartered their beginnings and ended with their Knebworth concerts in August 1996. Noel and Liam both said that Knebworth should have been their last gig.

This alone points to the latest death spiral getting back on track. 2 or 3 more bad results to go before the tide turns and Mowbray's Rovers start showing promotion type form for a few weeks before fading once relegation is mathematically avoided and summer holidays can be booked.

I don't know why I did that. I knew that he'd gone. His old assistant Butler has the job until the end of the season. He's a local lad, ex-captain.

I had a look at the League 1 table earlier. It looks all to play for at both ends of the table. League One Table - Football - BBC Sport Stanley's playoff hopes are still alive. They sit in 7th but their games in hand advantage has been lost. Doncaster are one place ahead of them. Peterborough are top. 6 games ago Doncaster had 2 more points than them, now Posh has 12 more. I wonder if Darren Moore can get Donny firing again.

Mowbray does seems to have lost something. Don Said's old posts yesterday were eye opening. Mowbray isn't a Prem manager because of his flaws. These flaws are being exaggerated at present. Why does he keep changing formation? Pick one and go with it. Personnel may change but their roles once playing shouldn't change. I got a text of a Boro supporting mate last night. He asked how Rovers did. I told him we lost and are sitting in Championship purgatory. His reply; "Ah, mid-table Mowbray. That's what he does.".

The Telegraph article is a very good summary of this messageboard. Plenty have been saying for a long time what the journalist has now articulated. What I don't understand is that if Mowbray is doing a slow build to promotion why has he signed so many Premier league teenage loanees? They all have talent but I think that more than too puts too much on their shoulders. I have also commented previously that if Mowbray is secure he should get new coaching staff in as the group he currently has isn't good enough. Yet that apparent security allows him to keep his mate Venus around. I still blame Venkys for all of this. 10+ years of utter mismanagement.

Last night's game wasn't much of a nail biter. It was over as a contest hat half time which was surprising. Brady was superb. Mahomes spent most of the game avoiding a hammering. as darrenrover said, the superbowl is more of an event than a game. I like American football so watch every year. I too would like the Panthers to do well, as for college teams I don't care.

I think that the worry is that in future players will be able to drive 400 yard holes, eliminating mid range clubs. The argument is that it will turn into a longer version of chip and putt. The game is changing though. DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka are all built like NFL linebackers. Jon Rahm aside, the European lads aren't. Property of Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

A mate of mine got a new set for Christmas. He gave me his old set. A right hodge podge of brands, but I'm no good so I'm happy with what I've got. Golf never stopped over here. It probably got busier. Due to the aforesaid clubs I've played 4 times over the past month. I'm signed up for the next few weekends too. I do enjoy it. I read on the BBC that the R&A are thinking about limiting drivers to 46 inches, limiting driving distances. They can deny it all they want but this is their opportunity to stifle Bryson DeChambeau. Both the USGA and R&A have been working on ways to limit his tee shots for a while, now they may have found it. He's got a bit of star power over here but the authorities aren't fans.

I watched the highlights. It should have been a penalty and a booking as it was clumsy from Branthwaite. It didn't warrant a sending off though. As to Warnock's reaction, having a go at Branthwaite is poor form. Mowbray should have stepped in and mediated it. However, you can see why Warnock is a good manager. He's past 70 and still has a lot of passion.

If this is true (and I don't doubt that it isn't) it beggars belief. Embarrassment. Shambles. Disgrace. All are appropriate. It is a bit colder out at Brockhall so pitches there will freeze more often, yet are used daily. How did Mowbray let this happen? He is the manager. Surely he wants the team to be as well prepared as possible. What about the academy? Indoor training? Looking at Tom's pictures they should go back to Pleasy rather than the pitch at Ewood. I've never seen so much grass. It used to be like Blackpool when I played out there.

I have both a lack of skill and a lack of desire to do any sort of DIY. It drives me mad. If I had it my way I'd never do a thing. One thing that does strike me about Americans is that a lot of them do all sorts around the house. New kitchen floor; done. New bathroom; why not. I have a mate who is a schoolteacher with no trade training at all. He spent the last few years completely renovating his house. He did it all by himself top to bottom, including a new roof and fitting out his basement. I'd never dream of attempting anything like that.

Both were around when I was a kid yet were gone by the time I was old enough to drink so never had any of it. I also remember those massive cans of Foster's. I assume that they are long gone too. Harp has a following over here. "Irish" bars countrywide sell it.

Me too. My mind has it at the other end of the ground. Riverside-Darwen end corner. You sound like you remember better than I though. That surprised me too. There was hardly a blade of grass in sight. It was really bumpy too.