speeeeeeedie

England for me. I've never been the most passionate Rovers fan, even when I lived in East Lancs and had a season ticket. Before the development of Ewood I stood on the Enclosure as I wanted to watch. My pals were singing it up in the Blackburn End. I went to watch the game and enjoy myself. When the game was over I went back to whatever I was up to. A loss never ruined my evening. A win never sent me giddy either.

You forgot the Liverpool-Barcelona semi final. They were 2 tremendous games. Liverpool bossed the first but came out 3-0 losers thanks to Messi's brilliance. The return leg was one of the best games I've ever seen. The analogy of the group stages being like the WC/Euro qualifiers is apt. It's rare that the top teams don't make it through, but they have to turn up. Watching the best players perform against each other is what is worth watching.

England were never going to get beat. Kosovo's goals were all from England mistakes. Rather make them now so that the coaching staff can deal with it.

I watch. However, I live in the USA where there's constant coverage so it's very easy to do. I don't have an affiliation to any team. Until Tom Brady and his coach are no longer together I can't look past the Patriots to win it all.

2019-2020 group stage draw; Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Club Bruges, Galatasaray Group B: Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Olympiakos, Red Star Belgrade Group C: Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta Group D: Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lokomotiv Moscow Group E: Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg, Genk Group F: Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Slavia Prague Group G: Zenit St. Petersburg, Benfica, Lyon, Leipzig Group H: Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia, Lille

Forum gold from you two yesterday. I'm reading through the topic now. Brilliant.

Fair enough. You bring up a good point. How many clubs are wholly beholden to their owners? A lot of Prem clubs should be OK if the owner walks. Certainly Burnley, they are swimming in cash. I'm sure that the lower down the leagues you go the worse it gets.

"I'm lucky. My boyfriend only hits me. I've not been murdered like those other 2 girls." I see where you are coming from, it's the old "it could be worse" thought. However it's still not good. At any moment Venkys can turn the tap off and it's curtains for Rovers.

My match predications are based solely on what I read on this board. Tonight has loss written all over it.

I've wondered what the Neville brothers' take on Bury is. Both are locals who's dad worked there for years. I think you provided the answer though; why sink money into a losing proposition when they can get plaudit after plaudit for their Salford interest?

Ignorant? No. I’m realistic. I think that you need to take your rose tinted glasses off. You will never convince me that Sunday league football is full of running. Lads playing park football are a million miles away from the professional game. It’s the lowest level of competition there is; amateur football for people that want a game. I grew up in the 80’s across the road from corporation pitches. I watched game after game every weekend when I was a kid. I saw a lot of beer bellied lads enjoying themselves. I didn’t see finely tuned athletes honing their craft. The “lower leagues” as you stated are 10 pillars or more above Sunday league football. It doesn’t warrant comparison.

Nonsense? No chance. I'm not the one saying that getting booted every game by lads playing Blackburn Sunday league in the 70's is akin to the physical stress put on a League 1 footballer today. Getting kicked from pillar to post by a hungover thug is not at all comparable to the rigours of professional football. I'm in my early 40's and witnessed the inception of the sports science era. Football has moved on. Training methods, nutrition, targeted weight training, mental focus activities and the like is now standard across all 4 English pro leagues and down. The game is so much faster - and I'm not saying that pro's from back then weren't good, or wouldn't be today - players are better trained and in better shape. This enables a game to be played with more intensity, which for a young player if not managed well will do them harm. Just look at today's players. They are built like Olympians. Here's 30+ James Milner; For comparison here is Graeme Souness (one of the best midfielders to have played the game) and Trevor Steven. Both fit but with nowhere near as much muscle mass;

Cue Hovis music. I'm with you on this. Professional football is a world away from oldjamfan's examples. Sunday league? There's not much running going on there. Bodies are still maturing at 18. 3 to 4 games per week for a continued period will result in plenty of injuries. There are exceptions, as with all things in life but there are reasons why managers get annoyed at fixture congestion.

The Super Cup final was a surprisingly good game. Kante needs to play every game for Chelsea. He is as important to the as van Dijk is to Liverpool. I agree that it wasn't a penalty. I'd also say that if Abraham gets enough games he will turn into a good striker, which is good for England.

Beckham didn't learn much Spanish either when he was in Madrid. Woodgate became fluent, yet he was always injured and spent all day watching Spanish TV. How many British exports did learn the language of the country they were playing in? Lineker. Michael Robinson. Bobby Robson didn't, he had Mourinho. I'm sure that this is one reason why British players never leave (yes, money is probably the overriding factor), although it would help their national teams if they did. I've played football overseas. It's really easy to pick up the local football lingo and communicate on the pitch. Off it is much harder. I do wish that I knew a second language. I was pretty good at French and German at school but they aren't needed living in the USA.

Managers' don't half talk some rubbish. Fans should ignore it all. Walton's signing is good because Rovers now have a first choice keeper. Is he better than the last one? Nobody knows yet - but he is taller. LeBron James has a few months off. He's 6'8" and can jump to the moon. Maybe we can use him as a central defender until the LA Lakers need him back.

Gareth Bale's current situation is ongoing; https://www.espn.co.uk/football/soccer-transfers/story/3904830/zidane-blames-suspect-spanish-in-bale-saga It is probably a straight contract dispute but has been blown up into a saga. It reads to me that Real want rid to finance a deal for either Pogba or Neymar yet Bale and his team are holding out to receive the full value of his contract before he leaves. I have no issues with Bale wanting his money. Real is playing it like most clubs do pitting the player as the villain to get the fans onside. Bale and Real have always had a strange relationship. He has helped win them trophies but has never been embraced. If the stories of him not learning Spanish are true that's a shame.

Coyle was that and more. He failed miserably with the players you listed. Mowbray may not be Klopp or Guardiola but he's a far cry from Coyle - a man who should never get another job in football.

I've had Burnley fans tell me the same thing. I doubt it though. Hart played top level football for years. Being quiet isn't an attribute of a keeper. Aside from Hart's obvious fall from grace, his undoing was Burnley's early start due to their Europa League exploits. They didn't get a proper pre season in, and had to adjust accordingly. It was only after an international break that Dyche got them back to their working order.

Dann failed to live up to expectations during his first season for Rovers. I remember him being iffy in possession, and getting caught out of position a lot. How much of that was down to Kean's abject management is worthy of discussion. He did knuckle down in the Championship and got his move back to the Prem where he was a regular and at times was talked about for an England call up. He is a good header of a ball and is better than average on attacking set pieces. An old head centre half is usually good for a Championship team. I'd take Joe Hart too.

Or, he's perfect as they can see and learn from his experiences on what not to do. He can explain how hard they have to work if they want to reach the top.

Tennis isn't a big draw on this site but did anyone watch Federer v. Nadal in today's Wimbledon semi final? Federer won in 4 sets and put on a masterclass. He will be missed when he hangs his racquet up. I can't see him beat Djokovic on Sunday.

Warren Joyce, once linked with Rovers, has been appointed as Salford City's development squad coach; Salford appoint Joyce. 3 years ago he was performing a similar role at Man U. He tried his hand at management. Failed, and now ends up at a League 2 team. Although said team is flush with cash. I also found it interesting that Chris Casper (Frank's lad for those older posters) is Salford's sporting director. Another member of the "class of 92™" involved at the club.

Interesting article. On one side he is bemoaning the lack of character in todays game. On the other he comes across as a "it was better in my day" type. Most on here like Souness so will give him a pass. As a side, does anyone else find the Mirror website annoying? I rarely read any articles on there as it takes weeks to load. I'm on a PC too.

Yep, VAR needs some refining. The pen was given after loads of slow mo repeats. White was never offside. The same happened to Lingard against the Dutch the other week. I thought that there had to be daylight to give a decision. Not last night. The USA were trying all sorts of tricks. I don't think that the sending off was deserved. USA will walk the final. I'll not be watching. Unlike the last World Cup there isn't unanimous support for the women's team over here. Rapinoe angered Trump fans. Others got mad at them tonking Thailand, and more simply have a hatred for football so won't watch.