DE.

I watched AEW's Revolution PPV last night. Fantastic show, as usual, only let down by running a little long. They could definitely have trimmed some matches from this one. If you include the Buy In (which I didn't watch) it was roughly 5 hours which is a bit much. Still, the overall event was very good. You can't help but notice how over almost every wrestler is with the audience. Compare to WWE where a lot of the wrestlers come out to a mild reaction at best, all of AEW's performers have a strong connection with the audience who react to them exactly as you'd hope. It really adds to the overall presentation when the audience is fully on board with the wrestlers and their storylines. Spoilers ahoy, for anyone yet to watch... Chris Jericho Vs Eddie Kingston - I wasn't sure what to expect from this one going in, but it was arguably the match of the night. Such a simple story, with one wrestler not having respect for the other, but that's all you really need. Triple H's NXT did this kind of simple storyline very well, and AEW often does this basic stories very well too. Jericho is in the best shape he's been in for years, certainly since AEW started, and looks great. Kingston will never have a modern day wrestler's body but makes up for that with sheer charisma and talent. He's ridiculously over with the crowd and connects with them in the same kind of way the likes of Stone Cold did. Not that Kingston is on that level or even close, but it's the same vibe. The match itself was very, very hard-hitting. Even at this stage Jericho is not phoning anything in, he's putting his all into his matches and put Kingston over in a big way here. I really, really enjoyed this match. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus vs. reDragon vs. The Young Bucks - One of those matches where rules are thrown out the window. A fast paced spotfest but one that I was engaged with throughout. I thought these three teams put on a great match, but I can see traditionalists being frustrated with the lack of rules being applied at various points. It can get difficult at times to work out who is legal and who isn't in matches like this. Personally I was entertained throughout. Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Wardlow vs. Ricky Starks vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Christian Cage - This one was a bit of a mixed bag. Some crazy spots as always in these kinds of matches. There was some sloppy stuff and some really good stuff. It was another match I was very much entertained by and it should have been either Wardlow or Keith Lee going over, so Wardlow was a good choice. This guy is potentially the next face of the company, he's over absolutely huge at the moment. Jade Cargill vs. Tay Conti - Cargill is green but an absolute star, it's written all over her. She has the look and the swagger to make up for the fact she's still learning on the job. I also love her theme song, it reminds me of an old school WCW track like the Horsemen's theme or Brad Armstrong. Tay Conti was rising fast but seems to have plateaued a bit. I'm not sure this match did her many favours, and honestly I find her current presentation a little bland. Much like her boyfriend Sammy Guevara she doesn't really have much of a personality beyond 'plucky babyface'. They reference her martial arts background but it still doesn't provide much depth. I actually think her and Sammy would benefit switching to a heel duo. I could see that working well, although I don't think it's in AEW's plans. I don't think they've mentioned Sammy and Tay's relationship on screen at all. CM Punk vs. MJF - I've never watched ROH, so Punk coming out to his ROH theme with throwback gear didn't really do anything for me, but it was still a cool idea and the crowd seemed to appreciate it. The match itself was really good, as expected, and told a solid story. Wardlow's soft-turn at the end went over big, and should make for interesting storylines going forward. I assume this was the end of Punk and MJF's feud, which for me has been excellent and a consistent highlight in AEW. Anyone who thought Punk was coming in to smile, cut a few promos and present his best hits has to accept that this isn't the case at all. Much like Jericho, Punk is giving as much now as he did at his peak. I hope he goes onto something equally intense going forward, and it's highly likely anything MJF does next will be great. Britt Baker Vs Thunder Rosa - This couldn't really live up to their 'lights out' match last year, and it was tough to follow the Punk/MJF match. This was still good, but the outside interference and Britt retaining is getting old now. JR stated flat out on commentary "is all this outside interference really needed?" and I think that was some legit frustration from him. I agree. Chances are they will switch the title to Thunder Rosa in her hometown on Dynamite in a couple of weeks, but it begs the question of whether this match was necessary if that's the plan anyway. Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson - Funny to think that when these guys were in WWE Smackdown was ending with Moxley calling Danielson a "turd" as WWE tried to get that trending. What a difference a change in company makes. I think the crowd was getting burned out at this point, as they weren't as hot for the match as you'd expect. It was an excellent, brutal brawl with a slightly anticlimactic ending. Regal's surprise appearance was fun, and what a huge pop! He should be a huge asset to AEW, and it'll be interesting to see how he fits into the Moxley/Danielson story. Darby Allin, Sting, and Sammy Guevara vs. Andrade El Idolo, Matt Hardy, and Isiah Kassidy - A Dynamite/Rampage match that shouldn't have been on the PPV, considering how long the event went. With that said all of these guys worked hard, and Sting's balcony dive onto the tables... just wow. 62 years old and still putting his body on the line. Nobody in AEW phones it in. Adam Page vs. Adam Cole - I felt bad for these guys, because they were following so many great preceding matches. Very difficult to produce anything new or exciting by this point in the evening. They had a good match, but as a viewer I was getting fatigued by this point. The match probably didn't feel as big as it should have, and maybe shouldn't have been the main event, but at the same time the world title should really always be the main event, so... I dunno. It was a nice way to end the show, I was just burned out by this point.

In general I'm the same, but not when it comes to things like inciting fans to confront each other in the stands. Personally that crosses a line for me, and I can't just ignore those kinds of comments. Other stuff is generally just a roll of the eyes. I have to say I'm also uneasy regarding the whole Brockhall sale saga, particularly as we know the same thing was tried at Coventry with the same protagonists in place. I don't know how much or how little Mowbray himself had to do with that whole thing, but I can't shake my discomfort there. The rest of your post I agree with. Results are results and we have to give credit where it is due. It may be a freak season in terms of BBD's form and the division being arguably at its worst quality-wise since we returned to it in 2013, but you still have to get the results and there are plenty of other teams who haven't. Still, I can see why Mowbray rubs people the wrong way and assuming we don't get promoted I'm really hoping he departs at the end of the season. Even if we finish in the top six, I truly believe this is just a one-off season and it'll be very much back to the norm next season if Tony remains at the helm. Possibly worse considering how many players will be out the door.

We caught lightning in a bottle with Diaz in the first half of the season. With that gone our form has disappeared along with it. We're now seeing what many were predicting at the start of the season after the Armstrong sale - a team who barely look able to score a single goal in any given match. As far as Mowbray is concerned, he is what he is. An average manager having a better-than-average season so far thanks to an in-form striker and a desperately poor quality of league. Even Coyle got a team promoted, so the stars can align every so often for things like this to happen. As far as Mowbray being benign... when the fans aren't on his back, sure. Different side of him comes out at the slightest hint of criticism from the stands though. He's pretty thin-skinned in that regard and has made some truly abysmal comments, such as inciting fans to argue with each other and accusing the fans of thinking it's still 1995. Also just ridiculous, troll-like comments such as "I don't look at the league table". Nobody can take away where we are in the table right now, and relative to our budget we're doing well this season. Won't count for much if we end up out of the playoffs when all is said and done though, particularly from the position we were in at the start of the year.

Anybody who thought Howe would relegate them with financial backing was being silly. He kept Bournemouth in the Prem for a number of seasons on much less and that was through engendering an excellent team spirit. Exactly what Newcastle needed. He was a pretty astute appointment all things considered.

The £120m spent in January probably helped a bit as well to be fair.

Seems inevitable at this point. It's hard for me to recall a Rovers team this devoid of goalscoring ability. Even when Coyle was here we could score, we just couldn't keep the ball out of our own net. Just shows how incredibly reliant we were on BBD. Unhealthily so.

I'm relieved we only lost 2-0, which probably says enough when we're 4th in the league. Luckily Fulham seemed content to see the game out at 2-0 and spent the second half in first gear for the most part. We still couldn't score and maybe we just won't score from open play again this season. We certainly haven't looked capable since 2022 began. Not the kind of match our manager has the nous to get anything out of I'm afraid. Now back to hoping we can scrape a goal and keep a clean sheet against teams more on our level. Looking like a painful and tedious end to what had been an enjoyable season. Well done to the supporters who got down to Craven Cottage today. Credit to the club.

You need a solid, clever gameplan to get something from Fulham away. Whatever we're doing, it isn't solid or clever. Fulham certanly know their way around the dark arts, but should probably consider whether it's a good idea to make that so obvious on national TV against a team like us. Anyway, we just need to keep the score respectable and move on. This was always a 'bonus' match and we rarely get anything from those kinds of matches.

Agreed, men vs boys stuff here. In a way it makes all the silly diving they're doing even worse, because they really don't have to. They've got our number as far as quality and organisation is concerned, there's zero need to dive for an advantage.

Well we just conceded our second in less than 35 minutes so I think they're doing OK. As I said, need to try and keep the score down here and not end up getting destroyed again.

Wow, if that's a booking for Dolan then Mitrovic should have been sent off at least twice already.

They've been completely dominant and our defence is all over the shop every time they come forward. Was a matter of time until either they got a chance or we gifted them something. If Mitrovic hadn't tried to dive earlier instead of pushing forward he would have had a clear and open shot. We just need to keep the score down here.

Been coming tbh. We look very much a division below Fulham as far as quality is concerned. Really poor from Kaminski there though.

Gallagher has some good points. He's just not a particularly good pure footballer or striker, which is a shame as we are desperate for the latter especially at the moment.

Defence continues to be our anchor. Kaminski stepped up when called upon today, back three solid as always. Zeefuik also gave his best performance in a Rovers shirt so far after replacing Nyambe.

Could have been 3 or 4 with a striker on the pitch, but considering I was convinced this would end in a 0-1 sucker punch I'll take a 1-0 to us all day long. Still gravely concerned about our inability to take chances, but a win was vital today and we got what we needed. QPR were absolutely terrible and on that evidence will struggle to finish in the playoffs. We looked better without Rothwell and Buckley. It's surely Dolan's spot to lose now. Johnson however I expect will drop for Rothwell as and when the latter is fit again.

Still looking like we'll never score from open play. We really, really need to work on our set pieces in training over the next couple of months, because without BBD that is what will get us over the line.

Get them in for who though? Gallagher who struggles to anticipate at the best of times and is usually somewhere on the right wing? Dolan who is 5 foot nothing? Trav and Johnson who score once in a blue moon? All three centre-backs also struggle to head the ball on target, so I don't think the crossing game is one that'll bear much fruit for us.

Looking like another game where we'll get hit by a sucker punch and lose 1-0. It's truly incredible how abysmal the current side without BBD is at scoring goals. We've probably never had a collection of players on the field who are this incapable of putting the ball in the net. It's impressive in some respects but intensely frustrating to watch. 495 minutes without a goal. 495 minutes! And it'd actually be over 500 if you take injury time and such into account. What's sad is that we're actually doing well at most other aspects of the game (other than set pieces, which have been pathetic as usual). We look good in many respects, but if you can't score it really doesn't mean anything. Dolan has brought some real energy to our front line and shown just how little Buckley was contributing in terms of effort lately (playing poorly out of position I can accept, lack of effort not so much). Something needs to go in off an arse or an elbow.

I give up. I can only conclude we are doing this on purpose, and we actually don't want to score goals. How else do you make sense of such incredible ineptitude in front of goal?

Hook Khadra and half time and send him back to Brighton. This is ridiculous.

Khadra, lol. Two awful corners and then can't even control the ball. Lad is having a stinker. And yet still 475 minutes + since we last scored a goal. This domination counts for nothing if we can't put the ball in the net.

Fuck me. We are never going to score again. After missing a penalty in the last match and then missing that one, Khadra is proving costly.

We might as well not even bother taking corners. Just give the oppo a goal kick. Do we practice set pieces at all in training?

Dolan doing more in that false 9 position in the first five minutes than Buckley did in the last 5 matches.