Thanks for that. It certainly does look like Rovers fare poorly compared to others. It has to be structural as it isn't specific to 1 manager.

It can't be random happenstance that Rovers have lost so many midweek games. Looking at overall away wins in the Championship Rovers have averaged between 6 and 7 a season since 2012. I had a quick look at Bristol City and PNE, two other teams with relatively long current Championship streaks, and they average about 1 more away win a season than Rovers. Maybe their midweek results are equivalent and it's how life is. If so the bookies will be aware and will price games accordingly. As to last night; Rovers were going to lose eventually but it sounds like it was a pretty limp performance with the usual suspects Pears, Hyam, and Dolan, being particularly bad.

Under ten Hag Man U have spent over £500 million on players. None of them are any good, nor is ten Hag making them better. He is on year 3 and he still hasn't figured out how he wants to play. Postecoglu got Spurs playing his way in about 5 minutes. Emery transformed Villa. It's looking like Slot has already improved Liverpool's defending. Yet ten Hag still dithers between counter attacking and a full on press. Once he gets fired, which will happen soon enough, Man U's top brass will start the deckchair rearranging again. They won't have enough time to do a "proper" search so will be scratching around for a quick fix. Tuchel and Southgate are 2 high profile names who aren't in work. Yet both have baggage. One constant is the owners. Ratcliffe and INEOS can bring in whoever they want but until the Glazer's sell up Man U will continue to operate as they are doing now. Having said all that, I'd give ten Hag a 10-year extension tomorrow.

This game is live on Sky but not on US TV which is a bit annoying as the other early kickoffs at Sheff Wed and Derby games are on.

Some well reasoned points there, with probably none ever making it to serious discussion stages. My annoyance comes from those who are viewing it through the single prism of footballers get paid well so they should keep quiet. I agree that there are too many games. International football has pointless breaks. The Champions League is now longer, and now FIFA have decided to add teams to the daft club world cup. Guardiola gave Rodri extra leave after the Euros but Guardiola knows that Rodri is indispensable, (I think more so than Haaland and De Bruyne), and for that he will always play. Rodri won't criticize Guardiola so makes general complaints about strikes instead.

For those proving the point that @K-Hod and I are making, would you apportion any culpability to clubs, governing bodies, sponsors, and broadcasters who want to extract all the extra revenue they can? Or is it just greedy footballers being soft?

You and I are singing from the same hymn sheet here. The argument against the complaints seems to be solely that footballers get paid well so screw them. It reminds me of this scene from There's Something about Mary; YouTube: There's Something about Mary - furniture moving Plenty of us can kick a ball but we can't/couldn't play to the requisite standard required to be a Premier League footballer, hence the ones that can get well rewarded for it. There is a scarcity of resources at the top end of any industry, never mind football. Those people who can perform at the highest level get the rewards that come with it. The same argument comes around yearly in the NFL too. Those lads really do put their body on the line, yet when a player pipes up that the game is dangerous the usual mob descends upon them telling them to shut up and play.

They aren't moaning about being millionaire footballers, they are moaning that the physical demands being placed upon them are burdensome and unlikely to let up. Being a millionaire and worrying about getting injured aren't mutually exclusive.

Millionaire footballers are an easy target precisely because they are millionaires who play football for a living. Rather than wholly blame the players whose physical capabilities have limits why not look at leagues, broadcasters, and sponsors who are trying to eek out as much cash as possible from playing more matches.

I have said over and over that club football and international management require slightly different skills. Why not give it to a coach rather than someone used to the daily work? Guardiola and Klopp are brilliant but would they be able to translate their club success to international level? More than likely but it's not a sure bet. Here are lists from Wikipedia of all World Cup and Euro winning managers. Since 1988 (before that my football knowledge is fleeting) only Lippi and maybe Del Bosque had sustained club success. Wikipedia: World Cup winning managers Wikipedia: Euro winning managers

I think that the FA will give the job to Carsley. If the FA are anything they are lazy. Promoting the last u21 manager to the job worked out well so why would it not again? Also, add in the fact that Spain won the Euro's with their former u21 boss at the helm and World Cup holders Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni was appointed under similar circumstances too gives them an easy comparison.

I agree with your sentiment that playing a settled side now will help for 2026. Yet, that usually proves to be difficult due to injuries and dips in form. I think Walker has run his race. As good as he has been he'll be 36 in 2026. He's already thought about quitting twice, now may be the time for him. England has plenty of decent right backs too. Maguire was a strange recall. He's another over 30. If Carsley wants experience he still has Stones who is a better player than Maguire. Colwill could be a natural replacement on the left side partnering Guehi (who seems to have played his way into the starting 11) but he plays for Chelsea so who knows how settled he will be. Left back is a puzzle. It should be Luke Shaw's to lose but he may only have 1 tournament left. Rico Lewis perhaps? As for Kane, he's a match winner who was off the pace at the Euro's yet scored 3. Could Bellingham play as a number 9?

I go through phases of listening to Undr the Cosh. I've not listened to one in ages but did again the other day. I started with Karl Colley, a lad who had potential but never made it; Undr the Cosh; Karl Colley "the non-league Cantona" Has anyone else listened? There is a lot going on in this episode. I don't know whether to give him credit or dismiss him as a complete thicko. I will say that he does tell a story of him trying to commit suicide.

I find this article a little bewildering; The Guardian: Man U hierarchy want Ten Hag to improve. Apparently, Jim Ratcliffe and ex-Rover Jason Wilcox think Man U have been crap so far this season but are giving Ten Hag the benefit of the doubt due to injuries. What a load of guff. Ten Hag is starting his 3rd season in charge. Under him they've always been erratic, capable of one-off excellent performances, but overall not good enough. When he has a full squad available it will be more of the same. The players, and Ten Hag, aren't of the required standard to challenge for a league title. It's great to see.

They do but it looks like England will still be a top seed; ESPN: England in pot 1 Some creative accounting lets England back into the top group despite being relegated to group B of the Nations League.

Who's biography had a chapter titled "what chairmen know about football" and left it blank? Plymouth fans are in for another rough season. How the Plymouth top brass, with plenty or resources at their disposal, came to the conclusion that Wayne Rooney would be good enough to be a Championship manager is laughable. He was a wonderful footballer but his managerial career thus far has been one failure after another. I guess he is still living off his reputation for crisis management when he was at Derby.

When I was a teenager (mid 90's) I remember talking to a Premier League ref - can't remember his name. He was really nice though and interesting too. He said that he was a Sheff Wednesday fan so would never get their or Sheff Utd games, but all others, Leeds included, were on. Back to the thread. Rovers would have made the playoffs in 2022-23. Some decisions that went against Rovers in the last few games were ridiculous.

Great players would be great players in any era. Today's players would be good in the 60's, and 60's players would be good in today's game. If defenders in years of yore had the ability to stifle players why did strikers routinely score 25+ league goals per season? If Haaland played in the 70's he'd knock 7 bells out of defenders, then out run them, scoring plenty. As to him v. Shearer I'm a biased Rovers fan who would take Shearer every time. Graeme Le Saux was co-commentating on NBC yesterday. He stated that he's only seen 1 player who he trusted to score like Haaland; Alan Shearer when he played with him at Rovers.

Not really. I agree with @Exiled_Rover. In isolation Dolan worked hard, but overall he's not good enough. He had glorious opportunities today to set up teammates and he fluffed his lines each time. Pears did OK today yet I'd wager that 99.99% of this board wants him on the bench for the next game. As to the game I echo what most have said; a point away playing 30 minutes with 10 men is a good result. However, Rovers should have won it. Burnley came out flying and it was no surprise when they went ahead. After Weimann equalised Rovers were the better team. The ref had a stinker. There were so many baffling decisions outside of the "offside". Why did he give a free kick in minute 99 for a shirt pull before the ball was kicked? A barmy decision. Then as soon as Brownhill's effort cleared the cross bar he blew up for full time. On that performance Burnley fans shouldn't expect a quick return to the Prem.

It's good to see ten Hag's Man U carrying on where they left off last season. A lucky home win against Bournemouth followed up by a loss away at Brighton. What makes it funnier is that they did go 2-1 up only for the goal to be correctly disallowed for offside when the ball hit their new striker's knee on the goal line. It's Liverpool at home for them next. Chelsea bagged 6 against a Wolves team that looks great going forward, but iffy at the back. Szmodics scored for Ipswich but were brought back down to earth quickly with City scoring 3 in 15 minutes. The first was a harshly given penalty (the defender made it easier though by stupidly lunging in), then the Ipswich keeper gifted City a second and third with some ill-advised dribbling followed by a rush out of his box to a ball he was never going to get. Although the result wasn't in question after that Ipswich did a decent job of keeping City at bay until late on. I'm sure that McKenna was fuming with both the full back and keeper as you won't get many opportunities to try and defend a lead at the Etihad.

I've read a couple of articles this week that don't paint a rosy picture of Chelsea's current state. They had to sell Gallagher to comply with FFP which hasn't gone down well with fans especially as Joao Felix, who had a rather uninspiring loan term with them last season, signed on a permanent deal. Maresca has acknowledged that he does have 40+ players deemed first team members, but he said that he is only working with about 20 of them. Therefore leaving another full squad of players training on their own. All those players will be on big money, so far only Raheem Sterling has come out and said that he wants to leave. Not one of them would come to Rovers, but they'd all be an upgrade on what Eustace has available.

I like this topic. I have a mate over here who was born in England to an Irish family, and like your mate had an Irish passport. He moved to the USA in his late teens and became a US citizen some years later. He once told me that growing up he was always known as the Irish kid, even without a hint of an Irish accent, and now that he lives in the USA people call him English even though he's a US citizen.

City's trial finally has a date; ESPN: Man City hearing 16 September They dodged a UEFA ban, will the Prem let them off too?

I'm with you on this. Carsley was born in Brum and, I'm speculating here, as a young pro who wasn't good enough to play for England he explored his options. He had a grandparent from Ireland so decided to take the plunge to give him an opportunity to play international football. Then Ireland being Ireland they welcomed him with open arms. But let's call him Irish as it gives people something else to moan about. Anyone want to comment on Declan Rice?

Spain beat France to win Olympic gold. 2 nations that England need to beat to win tournaments. Does not having an Olympic team hurt the full side? Of course I'll hope for the best with Carsley, if he does well give him the job.