speeeeeeedie

If/when Sky etc. show games in empty stadiums will they pipe in crowd noise for viewers?

If the club had any semblancy of normal he'd have gone after that Bolton loss just before Christmas. It was an atrocious performance against a local rival who also happened to be fighting relegation. The atmosphere was nasty too.

Add in that 1995 title winners Le Saux, Berg, Ripley, Hendry, and Pearce all left under his watch as well as the talented Bohinen. That's a lot of experience gone. Hodgson was, and still is, a talented manager - I'll forgive his England mess. Maybe the Rovers job came a year or two too early for him.

I'll argue that the rot started the day Dalglish went upstairs. Harford was a great coach but never a number 1. I was surprised that he lasted so long. Rovers should have gone all out in the summer of 1995 by buying 3 or 4 quality internationals and securing a top manager. Jack Walker's loyalty got the better of him. Having said that I agree with you that Hodgson did contribute. Here are all his signings; 17 June 1997 DF Stéphane Henchoz 24 June 1997 DF Patrick Valéry 8 July 1997 FW Martin Dahlin 8 July 1997 FW Anders Andersson 1 August 1997 GK John Filan 8 September 1997 DF Tore Pedersen 10 September 1997 GK Alan Fettis 10 February 1998 DF Callum Davidson 21 May 1998 MF Jimmy Corbett 9 July 1998 FW Kevin Davies 21 August 1998 DF Christian Dailly 26 October 1998 MF Oumar Kondé 30 October 1998 FW Nathan Blake

I'll not get this messageboard in trouble posting unproven allegations but if you look at the way Hendry's life has unfolded since it explains a lot of the rumours. As renrag said; Hendry had signed a new contract then left shortly thereafter for a hefty fee - which would have included a nice signing bonus, and his Rovers contract being paid up. That's lots of cash in a short period of time. Some people need money quickly, others don't. He signed some dross, but I also wonder what else caused his demise. Rovers were flying when he first started but it didn't last long. He only lost 2 of his first 20 league games, one of which as at Old Trafford. His 1998 was awful. 31 games in charge, 19 losses, 7 wins. I'll guess that players weren't used to his methods. Back then he was ahead of his time. I'll wager that what he learned in Europe around concentrating on fitness and diet as well as tactical discipline caused a mutiny.

I'm still derailing this topic but the more I read the more I remember. Sherwood was sold too. Was this the year he fell out with Hodgson, or was it the year before? Having the club captain leave half way through the season wouldn't have helped. Nathan Blake and Ashely Ward weren't Premier league calibre. Davies never got going but he was an odd signing as he wasn't a Hodgson type player. I had a mate get Davies on the back of his brand new Rovers shirt almost as soon as he signed. He'd binned it by Christmas. Hendry left for Scotland. There were plenty of rumours as to why he left too. Was Rovers Kidd's only ever managerial job? Ferguson said in one of his books that he wasn't up to being a manager. He was right.

I still don't remember much. I was at university in the USA and it was a bit of a mad year. Also back then there was no NBC Sports showing game after game on easy to get to US TV. There was a game or two a week max on Fox Sports World. I had a look on Wikipedia to get a refresher; Rovers 1998-99 Looking at the squad it's easy to see why relegation happened. Excluding Henchoz defenders who played that season included Darren Peacock, Christian Dailly, Gary Croft, Marlon Broomes, and Callum Davidson. Did Flowers get injured too? Another result I'd like changed is the 2-2 v. PNE at Ewood in the 2016-17 relegation season. Conceding that late equaliser knocked the stuffing out of the team, and fans too. They lost the next 3 after that which really put the screws on.

Maybe it was because I was a kid but I don't have strong feelings toward the 3-0 result at Selhurst Park. I remember listening to it on the radio but shrugged and went outside as soon as the game was over. It never really bothered me, but to this day I don't get emotional over a football match. The 0-0 Man U game at Ewood in May 1999 that sealed relegation is one I wish that could have been changed. It may not have mattered in the end but Rovers had them that night. Ashley Ward missed an absolute sitter late on that could have been a lifeline. As a side what happened to Gallacher and Sutton during the campaign? Neither of them played much. My memory of the 1998-99 season is a bit fuzzy. I'm pretty sure that if they'd have played every week Rovers would have stayed up.

That Villa home game was a good one. At the time Rovers were in the same position as they are now but there was something about that time that felt like more was to come. Maybe it was my youthful enthusiasm.

The best I've seen have already been mentioned. Shearer's lob in the 7-1 v. Norwich Shearer's volley v. Southampton - although Le Tissier's finish later on was even better. Reid's blockbuster at Wigan on NYE. Anyone for George Donis's solo special?

It was. Unlike almost any other TV series it didn't wrap it all up in a bow at the end. There was plenty left on the table that will always leave the viewer thinking. I really enjoyed Sex and the City (yep, I know), but the writers made a complete mess of it. Those 4 vacuous, shallow women should have never found happiness. My only quibble was with Tony's coma episodes. I would rather have seen a lot less of that and more of how the different crews were dealing with it.

Beyoncé is next to royalty over here. I don't get it either. Her songs aren't very good. However, I'm a male in my 40's, hardly her target market. As to TV Breaking Bad was good. Game of Thrones was better although it stunk up the joint at the end. For me neither can hold a candle to the Sopranos. I do like Line of Duty too. There's one on Amazon called Bosch. I don't know if it's available in the UK but it's a good detective series based in LA.

I remember watching the 2018 bid ceremony live and being very annoyed. It looked like a fit up then, and so has been proven. This New York Times article also covers it as well as naming 3 FIFA execs charged with accepting bribes. 2 are dead, and one is safe in Brazil as they have no extradition treaty with the USA (do they have one with anybody?). FIFA execs charged too It also says that Jack Warner is still fighting his extradition to the USA from T&T. I'm pretty sure that if the US government wanted to they could put the screws to the T&T authorities and get Warner. I hope that they get him as he rode roughshod over a lot of people. It was amazing that a person from such a small place had so much power. Did the 1 country 1 vote system at FIFA ever get changed? I know that it evokes lots of emotion, and shades of colonialism from the bigger world economies but it is one way to make the system fairer.

OK. I can't say that I was impressed with it. A lot of hype with little substance. They are all crooks if you ask me.

Has Tiger King on Netflix made it to the UK? I finished watching it last night.

Wilcox missed the run in too as he did his knee. Without him the team didn't function the same. Le Saux had to play left wing with Kenna behind him. David Thompson is a good shout. He played his way into the England. He was superb for a while.

Absolutely. First time around he was unplayable at times. City paid big money for him for a reason. There was also a reason why European super power Bayern Munich let him go.

There is a disproportionate amount of players from the Hodgson and Kean era's, quite rightly too. I have another; Santa Cruz when he came back.

As far as pure dross goes those players who were signed during the Kean/Anderson/Singh era are the bottom of the barrel. They contributed to a relegation to the 3rd tier, virtually unheard of for most Rovers fans. Players who I can think of at the mo who deserve special mention from my Rovers supporting life are; Chris Brown, Herold Goulon, Vince Grella, Gary Talon, Barry Ferguson, Kevin Davies, Egil Ostenstad, Christian Dailly.

Man U said the same about Ben Thornley. Nicky Marker crocked him in a reserve game at Ewood. Thornley sued and won for damages. Misty eyed people had him being the left sided savior that England needed during the 1998-2008 "golden generation".

Dwight Yorke too. He was on his way down when he signed. He was in his prime at Man U, and showed it. Dahlin knackered his back about a week into his stint. Grabbi?

He really was. He had 16 league goals by December of his first season with Rovers then did his knee. Luckily that one didn't slow him down, probably because he was still young. When he did come back in 1993 he went straight back to banging them in. I reckon that injury cost England a place at the 1994 World Cup. Without him England had to rely on a bunch of nearly men up front.

Maybe age? Anyone under 35 won't remember him the same - which is frightening to me as I remember him as clear as day. Someone born in 1988 would have only been 8 when Shearer left.

It would. As I said earlier, potentially Dunn in for Tugay, but I'd have the rest.

To point 1 - hypothetically this works but in practice it would not for the reasons you stated. I'd have David Batty in there, probably for Tugay as Dunn has more goals in him. Batty is overlooked by many Rovers fans. He won player of the year ahead of 30 goal Shearer in his first season. He was class. He got injured and hardly played in 94-95 then left for Newcastle shortly thereafter. Another nostalgic what if pick is Paul Warhust. Without 2 broken legs he'd have been in the starting 11 either at central defence or central midfield. To point 2 - Rovers were never blessed with world class centre halves, but had plenty that were strong and organised. Hendry was no footballer, but he had guts galore. Samba was a physical presence. Nelsen was cool and collected. Henchoz was good too. My off the wall pick - Patrik Andersson. Signed at the same time as Henning Berg (the first time). He couldn't get a game at Ewood but won a Champs League with Bayern Munich a few years later.