Dreams of 1995

I have always found it amazing how much weight you have given towards players for Burnley, throughout this and other threads on the board. Who would have defined Cullen as "canny"? Based on what? The fact he was part of a poor Anderlecht side or based on his single season for Charlton in which they finished 22nd? Or Josh Brownhill, who has spent his career in the Championship, save for 2 seasons at a dying Burnley squad in which they only just survived and then relegated. Can he play higher? History suggests not very well The only player better would be Jack Cork, but he's 33 now, and found himself dropped, either through injury or form, in Burnley's last 2 seasons at a higher level. For all of their canny play they find themselves neck and neck with our young lads. If appearances are the benchmark for 'better' players then Jason Lowe has over 200 appearances at Championship level - is he canny or would you rather Morton? I don't think we have to fear this Burnley squad at all. We can beat them. I also thought Adam Wharton absolutely dominated Blackpool's midfield, whereas Burnley's succumbed to 3 goals conceeded. Football is a funny old game

Fantastic news about Batty. You know, it’s so refreshing to hear of all these young lads getting their contracts signed and chances in the first team. To a man they must be brimming with confidence right now. I’m over the moon we have a coach like JDT who is willing to throw them right in at the deep end and let them display their character. And here we speak about short and long term plans. Whilst in the present we have JDT to thank for his trust and confidence in them we must surely look back at the past for who to really thank. It once again comes back to Uncle Jack. For without his investment and his foresight the academy may not exist. When we speak long term planning we should use this as the barometer - yes investment made with the love at the club, but also with a sensible mind that the future of the game was changing, and to compete we would need to develop our own. We haven’t had too many successes but right now without that investment our squad and our standing in the league could be well and truly diminished. The likes of Lenihan and Nyambe stepped up to get us out of L1 and now the rest may be standing up to get us out the Championship, although not counting my chickens (sorry) yet. These current owners have not and will never show that level of commitment to the club. To put in place good investments that see the club in good fortune 20+ years after they are made. This is the true definition of long term planning. We have a lot to thank Jack for, and whilst the hard work was continued by the fantastic academy staff, the foundations he put in place have given us boys like the Wharton’s - home grown lads who are playing out of their skins for the club they support. Will we in 20, 30 years time have the same thanks for the Venkys? I don’t think so. Under their watch Jacks investments are crumbling and we would all be wise to remember their plans to effectively dismantle the academy in favour of a housing scheme. So when we think long term we judge on what we are accustomed to. I am excited for the short term, I think we have a good bunch in the football side right now, but still live in dread of what will be left the day we finally rid ourselves of the careless Venkys. Jack’s investments will not last forever but right now they are still coming to our rescue as we could surely not afford to buy a squad that has the talent we have produced.

When Dack is on the pitch you feel like he can score. He has an ability to be in the right place at the right time. The one thing we have done poorly this season is chase a game. If we concede first we tend to lose. Sometimes stealing a goal can be the difference between 0 and 1 point. Could Dack have converted a few losses into draws or wins? We are playing well and he probably doesn’t deserve to start, I get that, but I’d rather Dack coming on than Vale at the moment. Even after injuries I think he’s better. And if we are talking about adding value to the squad then allowing Dack to show he can still score will 100% be worth more in value than playing Vale - someone will sign him if they can see he still has it. He can’t show that from the stands though.

Carrick had a good football brain. It will be interesting to see how he makes it as a manager Compare with Lampard and Gerrard, two ultra talented players, who seem to be missing that managerial spark. Roy Keane another example of that Carrick was intelligent and knew how the game should be played. I kind of hope he makes a good head coach, he was one of my favourite non-Rovers play growing up.

Chad you have to agree that bringing Bradley Dack on with 25 to go would inspire much more confidence than Hirst or Vale Dack has always shown us he knows how to score. That instinct doesn’t disappear. I also believe Dack to be a good passer of the ball, and more than once during his time at Rovers, when playing on the counter attack, has he turned and made a good ball through the defence to put someone through on goal. It is a shame what is happening to Dack but head coaches often fall out with players. No man is bigger than the club and if our future lies beyond Dack we will survive, obviously, but right now he’s one of the best goal scorers we have and so his presence is missed, even if the results are still positive

I can't see Vale's deal having improved massively and having a player tied down to 3 years is okay for me. He has a lot to learn and whether he will make it as a regular first team player is another thing but if I have learnt anything from Brereton it is not to write players off so early on.

One thing I am enjoying is seeing our academy lads step in and play well Some may call them limited, I call them integral to a team now sat in 2nd in the Championship You can’t win with kids is the famous phrase, but JDT is showing why that is nonsense Carter, the Wharton’s, Dolan, Morton and now Garrett and in parts Phillips are all showing that if you are good enough you are old enough Yes they have improvements they can all make, as can any young man, but football is a game where people only get better - to a point - and the future is bright for our bunch of “kids” Vale needs to start contributing more in his cameos or we need to try another. It’s being proven that if you give them a shot they will take it or not

There’s an exceptionally good angle of the cross in from Hedges where you can see the exact moment Hedges kicks it and the positioning of the wall / Wharton You will see he is onside. It wasn’t a mistake from the official It was actually very cute play from Scott, standing in a position where the defender made no attempt to get between him and the goal, and at the last moment got himself onside by using the wall. A lapse in concentration from a Mowbray drilled team at a set piece - imagine that If it had been Rovers defending that free kick in a similar way to Sunderland I’d be fuming. Very poor from them but in no way an officials mistake. He was onside

Absolutely. It was just in response to the posters who feel like it was a nailed on offside. It wasn't. The wall plays him on. Use the 6 yard box lines as a guide. I'm quite happy the referee gave those decisions our way. Plenty go against you over the course of a season. That's football, and why the Championship is easily more watchable and exciting than the stale Premier League As a note I would be wary to say the penalty was a nailed on spot kick too but that's just me

I personally believe the player closest to the byline and in the wall played Scott Wharton onside

I think Bradley Dack is one of the best "ballers" (to steal a cringey footballism) I have seen at Ewood since this lot came. Yet you can't help but feel this was inevitable. I have to admit that when I read Mowbray's comments after the game my initial thoughts were that Dack had spoke out of place to him. And why did Mowbray say that in public? It was a bit of a low blow from Mowbray, to publicly out Dack for speaking to him about a matter that is clearly contentious. I think Mowbray is a wily figure and he knew exactly what he was doing. This is not me blaming Mowbray at all but the comments now make a lot more sense. Dack busts up with JDT, his old coach comes in, and conversations are had. It is a tentative link but maybe there is something in it. I would be gutted to see Dack go as he has gave us many happy memories but this is football. A new coach inevitably brings new ideas and if Dack doesn't fit into them then his wage is a waste. We need to get a good deal for him and move on if this is the case. He's had two terrible injuries and I hope he comes back the player he was, yet I don't want that hope to disrupt a squad that is doing well. In an ideal world we could bring Dack in to score another 15 goals this year and shoot us to promotion but I haven't believed this will be the case for the last few weeks now. He isn't in the frame at all when you have Vale and Dolan trusted to come on over him. If Dack goes I'd miss him terribly, always felt we can score when he's on the pitch. Been a t'riffic player for us and whoever does sign him is getting a fantastic goal scoring number 10 - not an easy feat in this league if you ask me.

Dunno why you care what they think Rev You are replying to a guy who puts “seemingly” in front of everything he posts. Presumably (😃) to give himself plausible deniability when it doesn’t happen or isn’t true Keep posting, the more rumours the better, it’s not like the press bother much with us!

Lewis Grabban is still available on a free. Think we could do a lot worse up front.

The results yesterday were a madness This is definitely a banana skin You have to think bringing in the likes of Morton and Dack as a second string team means we have enough quality, despite the talk of lack of depth Pears will be the big downfall here. He can drop clangers that just suck the morale out of the team I would go with Kaminski JRC Phillips Wharton Edun Morton Wharton (say that again) Markanday Dack Dolan Vale That should have enough quality to see off this team

LOL 🤫

Vale should have started over Gallagher The rest is ok

I never got this horse thing either. Where did that come from?

Bloody awful game Fancy myself a bit of a pro at Warzone though. Used to be anyway, before I had to get a life again after Covid ended, now when I fancy playing I get shit on from great heights by younger lads who can play 6 hours a night Really does ruin my Sunday mornings

Getting the business done Let’s get Van Hecke in now. We need a centre half given Phillips head seems to be at Spurs Someone needs to tell him just how many careers they’ve ruined 😂

Morten Gamst Pedersen tralalalalala

JDT is right - you don’t get chosen by managers like Klopp unless there’s something about you Looking forward to seeing Morton to be honest, he’s highly rated Teams in the Championship have always relied on loans. It’s a sad fact of life here. Let’s not get worked up

It was daft to say no, but tbh he did sign Markanday who was bagging in goals at the same level Delap had played at It wasn’t Mowbrays fault his hamstring went

Cute 🥰

That’s not common sense, no In managerial terms it is a constant on the sporting side. Head coaches come and go, the sporting director tends to remain over large periods of time A constant in any senior management role is not a complexity or a potential conflict It is the job of the sporting director to implement the club vision and sign head coaches that are best suited for it. Otherwise you end up in a situation where the next gaffer decides he wants a total change and you are back at the beginning of a journey Our experience over the past 10 years operating without a constant sporting director shows you that. In comparison to clubs like Brentford, who have seen the rise of the club progress even as head coaches have changed If what you are saying was common sense then it would suggest that almost every elite club in the world is operating with ‘an added layer of complexity’, usually accompanied by a very high salary, for a nonsensical reason

Oh of course. This hyper successful model of operating, that has now been adopted by almost every top level club in the world, has no real reason to be doubted And it goes to show that a Director of Football being added to the mix may, seemingly, could (or whatever) cause potential conflict and delays is a nonsense