0-0 was about right. Their subs made a difference. In the last 15 Swift and Johnston got on the ball with regularity and pegged Rovers back. I'll not change my tune that Pears is a liability. Nobody has any idea what he will do. Someone posted yesterday that not 1 of Rovers starting 11 is nailed on. I think Owen Beck is. He is very good, and a massive upgrade on Pickering. Cantwell would be too is Eustace moved him inside. Rovers are a lot harder to breakdown but aside from that it's same old Rovers. No pace and will never score off a corner.

There was one before Salah scored that should have been a pen as well. I agree that the Jones somersault over Sanchez was not a pen. Liverpool look decent. Cheslea are getting better, and although Jackson scored they'll only go so far without a real goalscorer. Colwill was booked for the same foul that Saliba was sent off for on Saturday.

Not much enthusiasm for this game by the looks of it. Only 2 pages in with 24 hours to kick off. I'll be watching. Rovers are back on US TV after a few weeks off. Hopefully Eustace has arrested the brief downturn in performances and Rovers get back on the winning trail.

I'm a strong no on Lampard. The FA's youth programme should be the envy of the world with the amount of money they bring in. It's criminal that it isn't. Progress has bene made, but it needs to keep going and start lower down the pyramid.

No way. On form Dolan is a solid Championship level player. Unfortunately for him on form is about 10/15 minutes once every 8 games. The rest of the time he blunders around, makes bad decisions, and seems not to have the necessary stamina to last a full 90 minutes.

It is and it will continue. Me too. He has pedigree, has won trophies, managed star players, and understands the English football media. He also has time to get acquainted with the role before the World Cup qualifiers start. His first task is to beat Greece next month. Carsley had no appetite for the job. He wants to be out of the spotlight.

It really is awful. As I said earlier it's a byproduct of the Premier League being a global brand. Only a third of the players in it are English so why would clubs predominantly owned by non-Brits take their time to develop English managers? Especially when the threat of relegation is hanging overhead. Until coaching levels catch up with Spain and Germany English managers will be second rate. The best 2 mangers around at the moment are Guardiola and Ancelotti. Both were excellent players, and both started their foray into management away from the spotlight. Ex England players tend to get fast tracked into top jobs without the qualifications or experience to handle the role.

It does not bother me at all where the England manager comes from. I just want them to win a Euros or World Cup. I don't like the fact that English candidates are thin on the ground which points to a larger problem within the game that will be hard to solve as long as the Premier League continues to be a global brand. The last English manager of a top division winning team was Howard Wilkinson in 1991-92 with Leeds. The first non-British manager to win it was Arsene Wenger in 1997-98. Spain has something like 5x as many UEFA qualified coaches than England.

I think that is something the entire message board would agree on. Until it happens all we can do is comment on what is seen on the pitch.

Good posts, with both pointing the reality at BRFC. I'd say that only JRC from @DE. 's list should be playing with any regularity. The rest can put in a good performance now and again but cannot sustain the requisite quality over any length of time. Replacing 9 players who can contribute to a first team is hard work. Rovers lack of pace, lack of quality both defending and attacking crosses is not new and will curtail any hope of a top 6 finish. Not coincidently they are intrinsically linked to the personnel available and who have been for the last few seasons.

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.