DE.

As mentioned before, the bookies will be paying out the BBD bet by Christmas at this rate.

Let's be honest, we all knew as soon as we picked up a couple of injuries or suspensions we'd be fucked. Left with a bunch of kids managed by a moron. The points we picked up at the beginning of the season are banked for fighting to stay clear of a relegation battle. That's how I've viewed it regardless of our position in the table or the claims of certain people that this time, this time Mowbray has finally got it right. He'll never get it right. I can't wait until he's gone.

All aboard the Mowbray death spiral?

I would be really concerned if Travis was relocated to right back. He'd do a job there, but we would be taking the engine out of our midfield which is a massive gamble to take. Particularly as I don't think there is anybody of similar calibre able to step into that role. We are pretty limited in terms of options, though, thanks to our pathetic summer transfer window.

I have no idea what their budget is tbh. They need to work out how to stop losing pretty quickly though, or they will be in serious trouble.

To be fair, yes, Lenihan hasn't done too badly over the past couple of seasons. Averaged about 10 games missing which isn't horrendous. With that said it still really concerns me how much worse we look defensively without him - especially as we don't look that good to begin with. We can't just afford to write off the games he doesn't play. Carter looks OK but I need to see more of Wharton before I'm happy to call him an able backup. He did look decent last season before he got injured, but it was only for a handful of games. Nyambe and the right back position in general is a much bigger concern for me. I'd expect to see Bucko or Travis back there covering before Pike gets a chance, which would really weaken our midfield. If Pickering gets injured we're pretty stuffed on the left hand side as well.

6 losses out of 7 and 9 goals shipped in their last two games certainly indicates a huge issue. The immediate thought is that the players have downed tools but Mick doesn't have a reputation for losing dressing rooms so I'd be surprised if that was the case.

Real Madrid 1-2 Sheriff Tiraspol 😂 not a bad goal to win the game with!

We'll find out soon enough if anything has truly changed this season. Lose to Blackpool and I think we're on our way to yet another Mowbray death spiral. Relying on Nyambe/Lenihan/Ayala to stay fit was always going to be a huge, huge gamble and as they begin dropping in and out through injuries and suspension I think we'll really struggle.

Tbf those two are known for being injury prone so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, especially the manager. We should be well prepared for the absence of Lenihan, Nyambe and eventually Ayala as well. Instead we're chucking on kids and hoping for the best as we have nothing else in reserve. We've got a first 11 to challenge anyone in this division, but beyond that we are painfully thin. Add in a manager who is frequently shown to be clueless and you're looking at a rough time.

1000/1 if I recall correctly.

Diaz is going to make 20 before Christmas. Looking good for anyone who lumped on the early season odds!

That hasn't been much positive to happen to the club in the past decade so you surely can't be surprised at that? People who have posted 'positive' news (including yourself regarding Derek Shaw sorting the club out a few years ago) have ultimately been shown to be wide of the mark. We had numerous people on here declare in the summer that Venky's had seen the light and Mowbray would 100% be gone. Yet here he remains. Now, that isn't to say that this time you aren't right - the law of averages dictates eventually something positive will happen at the club structurally - but to act like it's unreasonable for people to be wary of positive news after the past ten years of Venky rule is nonsense. What you've given most of us here is bones with absolutely no meat. Considering how often people who claim to have an 'inside track' to the club are wrong I can't blame you for being vague, but to pretend what you're saying isn't divisive and speculative is disingenous to say the least. With all of that said I really hope this time you, Rev and everyone else who still believes in Venky's ability to do anything useful for this club are finally proven correct. Ten years and counting.

Honestly I wouldn't bother watching Extreme Rules unless you want something on in the background whilst you're doing something else. It is not worth investing any time into. In a lot of ways the results of the PPV were pointless due to the upcoming draft anyway. Speaking of the draft, remember when it actually used to be fun and interesting? How WWE now manage to get something as simple as a draft wrong and make that confusing and boring is beyond me. It really isn't that difficult. I can remember last time they had 'action rooms' with fake Fox and USA execs and it was just awful. I liked when they just used to announce draft picks on stage. I feel like Reigns is becoming increasingly overexposed at this point. The 'head of the Table' gimmick was great when it first started, but now it's on repeat every episode. It's the same thing over and over again. They've added a bit of a wrinkle with the Reigns/Heyman/Lesnar triangle but by and large Roman's character is already starting to feel a bit stale. It's a shame because it isn't Roman's fault. He's doing a solid job, he just isn't being given anything fresh to sink his teeth into. I don't really know what to say about Bron Breakker. What exactly was wrong with Rex Steiner? I'm guessing that for Vince the Steiner name has too strong of a link with WCW so it had to go. Even though WWE won the war it feels like WCW has been living in Vince's head rent-free ever since 2001. He just can't let it go. I haven't watched NXT in a really long time - it might be over a year at this point. I can't imagine NXT 2.0 is an improvement so I'll just stick to Dynamite, Rampage and Smackdown.

Extreme Rules... a PPV billed for 'extreme' stipulations, that this year had no stipulations and nothing 'extreme' until the main event. Next year if this is the direction they're going with the PPV they may as well just call it 'Normal Rules'. That aside I'm finding it increasingly hard to watch WWE nowadays - even the PPVs. Their wrestling style is just so boring to me compared to AEW. But anyway... The Usos Vs the Street Profits was a good match. The outcome was obvious but still a fun encounter. Have to say overall I find the Profits promos more cringe than funny, but entirely possible that's caused by WWE creative. It was nice that Bliss dropped the supernatural bullshit for the match with Charlotte, and it was a pretty good contest. Not sure what that white tablet in Bliss' mouth was at the end? I think it was supposed to make her froth/drool but didn't seem to work as intended. Jeff Hardy was mega over despite WWE largely burying him for whatever reason over the past year or so. The match itself didn't do anything for me but there was technically nothing wrong with it. Lynch and Belair was OK, although the decision to turn Lynch heel is still a strange one for me. I know it was her choice so not blaming WWE for that one, but I would have waited a few months before pulling that trigger. Reigns/Balor... you know, it was a solid match until the ending, which was just embarrassing in my view. The 'resurrection' was just so stupid, and then for the ropes to break for no reason and the fearsome demon to suddenly become powerless due to a leg injury? Stupidity on a scale only WWE can reach. If they had shown the Usos or Heyman fiddling with the ropes beforehand I'd say at least there was some thought put into the ending, as dumb as it was, but are we supposed to believe the ropes broke due to Finn's weight? The guy is half the size of most of the roster ffs. The ending was creative and could have been OK with some major tweaks. As it is though it just reminded me of a less-idiotic-but-still-brainless version of the HIAC Fiend/Rollins finish. It was obvious Roman was going over as he's due to face Lesnar in Saudi Arabia, and they did protect Balor's Demon persona to some degree... but this idea needed more time to marinate. It was put out half-baked and came across as ridiculous to me.

I'd take a point here. A win would really make a statement though.

No, I was mainly trying to understand your thought process. My view is that Mowbray is more the culprit for our poor runs of form than our squad dynamic, but maybe you're right and the change in our team will mark a change in the manager's behaviour too. Time will tell.

Are you suggesting that the situation Mowbray currently finds himself in is similar to the situation he was in with WBA back in 2007/2008? An interesting take if so, but I can't imagine there are that many similarities as WBA had a pretty expensive squad for that era. I can't imagine they were having to take too many chances on youngsters stepping up, but I could be wrong as I will admit I don't know a great deal about WBA from that era. If you weren't making a comparison between their situation then and ours now then I'm not sure how relevant the comparison is as it was well over 10 years ago! Coyle was successful around that time too, after all. As for there being no evidence for his teams having death spirals - I mean if you ignore his Championship tenure with us then sure, but it seems like a crucial piece of information to discard. For me his record with us over the past few years holds far more weight than his record with WBA over a decade ago, or any other teams he managed prior to us. Regardless of that I genuinely hope you are right and that this season things change for the better. I'd much rather your optimistic prediction proves correct and my pessimistic prediction proves completely wrong.

I know what you mean. Even towards the end of his WWE run there were bumps Danielson took that made me cringe. Knowing his history with head and neck injuries it's hard not to. At this point it seems clear that Danielson doesn't want to tame that beast inside him. Regardless of everything that's happened he still wants to be the American Dragon. I loved the match against Omega on Dynamite but some of those spots did concern me. The V-Trigger always looks rough to take to be honest, but that running one near the end... that looked really rough to take. The current generation of AEW/NJPW stars won't die early from drink/drugs like many of the old WWE/WCW legends, but I do wonder how mobile they'll be by the time they get to their 50s and 60s. These guys are taking a lot of punishment, very often, and there are far too many spots focused on the head/neck for my liking. They are the most visually impressive and look the most devastating, but still... taking those bumps repeatedly can't be good long-term.

Not sure how you've read this as me not giving him credit when I literally say in the quoted post it would be silly not to give him praise for the start of the season. As for why, again, reasons are stated as past history. If people want to consign his past record to the bin and pretend it hasn't happened that's fine, but fool me once, etc.

I don't expect this form to continue, as there is too much historical evidence to suggest Mowbray will ultimately screw it up, but it seems silly to fail to give him praise for the way we've started the season. You end up in territory where if we win the manager is 'lucky' and if we lose it's all his fault. Not exactly a balanced opinion to have.

Out of curiosity I took a look at average attendences during this period: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/blackburn-rovers/besucherzahlenentwicklung/verein/164 Not sure on the veracity of these stats, but if true then the 09/10 season actually saw the highest average attendence at Ewood since the 02/03 campaign, suggesting Sam's football wasn't bad enough to stop people coming to watch. The drop off after 11/12 is absolutely brutal.

I've just read that Farke was apparently very recently handed a 4 year contract extension, so he probably won't be going anywhere any time soon!

I wonder if Farke will last the season at Norwich? As it stands they're looking at a second PL season in three years where they are the whipping boys of the division. Other promoted sides have proven it doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes you need to be ruthless to progress, and if I was a Norwich supporter I'd be wondering at this point if Farke's ceiling is the Championship.

I think he should focus more on his own team failing to score from open play and skying a penalty than a 50/50 decision tbh. It came across as desperate, similar to his rant about Klopp earlier on the week.