Expectations for the season rest almost entirely on whether the new forwards are up to scratch or not. I suppose you'd throw in whether we keep/replace Kaminski too. If the new recruits can turn us into a more threatening side, then top six should definitely be our target. If there's not much improvement on last year, then mid table.

The way I see it is that having gone through a tough transition, our squad is now pretty well drilled in how JDT wants us to play, and that we are a match for most teams in most areas of the pitch. Ironically our results tailed off the most last year when we actually started looking like a better team. We didn't pick up enough points in the last few months, but unlike the death spiral of the previous year, our performances were probably better than they had been all year and it was only our blunt attack that stopped good performances being good results. I'd only put the Norwich home game as one I remember from about February as one that we deserved to lose on the balance of play. 

What this means is that our 'floor' is pretty high. I can't see us being dragged into anything too concerning towards the bottom of the league, lower mid-table at worst. But realistically the top 6 as an expectation can only come with Ennis, Siggy and whoever else being a decent upgrade on Hedges and Gally. 

6 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Good bloke, totally wrong appointment. Still had parachutes, plenty of good players. Our last, best chance to get out the division, so they give the gig to a fella that had only coached in youth football.

I was disappointed when he was sacked because Kean and some of our more toxic signings were still a recent memory, and he was a good bloke as you say. 

Looking back in hindsight though, the underachievement seemed worse and worse as every season went by. 

22 minutes ago, Mike E said:

He was a bang average manager. Not great, not bad. Bang average.

However, the moment he turned on fans, he should’ve been off. ‘They need to understand that Shearer and Sutton aren’t here anymore’.

Fuck off you twat, there are at least two generations of fans that don’t even remember them playing for us (starting with mine).

Agree with your first point. He wasn't the total disaster that some point out, but you only need to look at the the likes of JDT (who himself isn't perfect) to see that the game has passed him by in some respects. 

It might just be me, but I never was all that bothered about the odd thing that he said in the media. Football fans dish it out in spades, so we shouldn't be too thin skinned about the odd perceived slight that comes our way in the heat of the moment when someone shoves a microphone in front of a manager's face. Especially when it's pretty tame as Mowbray's comments were in my view, although I remember from the time that plenty disagreed!

14 hours ago, roverandout said:

Bowyer was nearly as bad. Gestede and Rhodes up front.  Carney In midfield.  His excuse was he was inexperienced.  Mowbray had been around for years. At least bowyer was doing his best to make us play off challengers.  Mowbray was filling his pension 

As much as he should get credit for some good things that he did for the club, Bowyer was far worse for me. It's not just the goals we got from the front two. We had two centre backs that have gone on to be prem players in Duffy and Hanley, King starred in the top flight. Cairney was Fulham's best player when they secured automatic promotion. You can even look to players like Alan Judge as an example of a player who was excellent but completely misused. Dunny too in that last season. Playing 442 was a great way to get bags of goals out of Rhodes and Gestede but completely the wrong way to get the most out of a squad that should've walked the top 6.

Boring tie, but that's probably a good outcome at this stage. We avoid another Championship team, and a good option to give Phillips and other players on the periphery a game in the first week of the season. 

10 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I'm on the fence. 

I thought Kompany was a poor appointment, but it's all about recruitment at this level.

I'd they spend wisely, Martin will have them at the top of the league.

Yeah - probably the sort of manager who looks the business when he has more resources than everyone else, but struggles to get the most out of a middling team.

I think recent history shows that trying to predict how relegated teams will go is a mugs game. Even badly assembled prem teams who get relegated with a whimper will have players who on paper should be a step above this level. You just never know whether the upheaval and bad feeling around a place might mean that they're not up for the challenge of the Championship, but you only really get a sense of that well into the season. 

Tugay and Brad rightly getting the mentions they deserve.

I've been wracking my brains for some less obvious ones, and a few have come to mind. Bellamy at home vs Middlesbrough in a 3-2 win was something else, and summed up the difference he made to us that season. Scored two brilliant goals, the second of which came after Sav got himself sent off following a dodgy handball decision. 

For all of his inconsistencies, Josh King had some absolute blinders for us too. The FA cup games obviously, but there was a match at St Andrews when we were 4-0 up in no time at all, and at least three came from King having their full back on toast. You take the standard of opposition into account, but he caused absolute havoc that day. 

But the main one which comes to mind wasn't even in a Rovers shirt. I remember seeing New Zealand somehow manage a 1-1 draw with reigning champions Italy at the 2010 World Cup. The Sky Sports website used to give player ratings at that time, along with a short caption describing the performance. I only ever remember them giving out a 10/10 once, which was Ryan Nelsen in that game just with the word "heroic" next to him. 

1 minute ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

As players Pirlo and Tugay are very similar in terms of style. And its precisely the role Wharton should look to play imo. Most teams play the ball out from the back and he can be the key pivot. 

Essentially when you have a player who is that good on the ball, you want to get them on the ball as often as possible. Do you sacrifice Wharton not touching the ball as much to get him closer to the goal? Not for me.

Exactly how I see it.

I agree too that Pirlo & Tugay were very similar, especially later on. I just got thinking about Pirlo because he was a number 10 until his early 20s before someone had the brainwave to move him deeper. I can see the temptation to get Wharton closer to the opposition goal, but I think you're right that he is likely to be more influential further back.

18 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I used to think that about Tugay but we had him in a role were he rarely got into the last third of the pitch.

18 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

fair point but tugay was never in the best of shape fitness wise and he was 31 when he landed here,souness and hughes understood he did`nt need to do any hard work just sit in space and direct the passes,wharton on the front end of midfield would be dynamite,defences will  quake with fear when his left foot disects their line🙂

I remember Souness talking a few years ago about how one of the problems with Dunny was that he always wanted to be Gazza, whereas Graeme was of the view that the very best midfielders have the most impact by sitting a bit deeper and dictating play. 

I'm not sure that works for everyone, but I think for Wharton I'd be looking more at Andrea Pirlo's career rather than Tugay. Both have the ability to play further up the pitch and offer a real goal threat, but they're still at their most influential when orchestrating play from deep. 

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

The Norwich centre half, Gibson was a guest on Sky last night and is still injured although he said he hopes to be fit for their last match. Hanley is out for the season too which leaves them really short, as demonstrated by shipping five last night. They have to win three of their last four realistically but for me Nobbers are more of a threat to us. They have hit form and don't concede many. One game at a time though and it will be a nervy afternoon today watching the scores come through.

They have, but equally they've not really beaten anyone decent in their recent spell. Which isn't to say that they won't go on to beat a few good teams and finish above Rovers, but I'm not sure they're quite making the charge on the top 6 that their results suggest.

And they have a load of injuries now. Having said that, if they get a result at Millwall today then I'll sit up and take notice. 

Before the Birmingham game I thought we'd do it. Now, I think it's a toss of a coin.

One thing going for us is that we're not the only team which is faltering. Norwich were good at Ewood, but generally have struggled to pick up wins. Millwall too. PNE have obviously been churning out the wins, but they have almost exclusively come by beating teams right at the bottom. 

We have tough games, but equally only Burnley stands out as one where you think we're really up against it. Luton could easily have nothing to play for by the time we play them. Coventry are a decent side, but nothing to fear there in a home midweek game. Hull is a very winnable game.

The feeling I have is that we'll just about sneak into the top 6, but then not get to Wembley. 

13 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

If he suddenly decides he's Billy big bollox after having about 15 good games for us over the last 4 seasons and countless long lay offs, I'll be fuming.

Equally, not long ago he would probably be thinking that his only options for next season would be at L1 level, probably on no more than what he has been on since signing his first proper contract with us. 

I'm sure we'll arrive at a sensible outcome, but I don't blame him for not signing the first thing which is put to him when he has suddenly started proving that he can play well at this level. 

I think now is the time to bring Kaminski in if we have designs on doing it this season rather than next. A little harsh on Pears who hasn't exactly been gaffe prone, but you can't say that he has been perfect over recent games either, and Huddersfield's first goal was a mistake that Kaminski probably wouldn't have made, as Joe says.

Doing so would send a signal to Pears that he is still being judged as a no. 2 keeper though, and so I wouldn't blame him for taking that as a cue for looking for another club in the summer. Ideally I'd like to keep him as good quality back up, but I can't see him being happy to accept that now that he's shown that he can play regularly at this level. 

On the game itself, I'd back us to pick up the three points. Their win against Millwall was a bit smash and grab judging by reports, and they don't have any fit strikers. Going for our luck to turn in a 3-0 win. 

Still pretty relaxed about this. Six months ago it was questionable whether JRC would be able to stay fit enough to have a career as a professional footballer. His turnaround has been brilliant to see - but potential suiters will not have forgotten about his injury record. Pretty sure that he is young enough for us to receive a compensation fee if he was to leave too, so it isn't as though there's no risk for the next club that comes along. 

Expanding the number of qualifiers for the Euros really does take all the jeopardy and excitement out of these games. Being put in the same group as Italy would've previously meant that there was a lot of pressure being put on the game in Naples, and now Italy would've been seriously worried about their chances of going through. 

Easy to say from an English perspective though I suppose. I probably wouldn't be saying the same if I was Welsh or Irish. 

10 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I think it will have an impact, and I think it is progress as I’m not sure what planet they’ve been on with the ridiculous pricing since Covid.

But we need to be realistic with ‘what good looks like’ when it comes to sales, as it’s twenty quid off at the end of the day, so still a hefty price for second tier football in a town like Blackburn.

 

Completely agree. Dramatic changes in attendances will only come about through dramatic changes in what's on offer. Either through top flight football or a heavily reduced ST price. Sadly the latter only really becomes an option once we get the tv money from being in the prem.

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

I’m just happy to see an end to yearly rises, as it was starting to get silly in an area like this.

However, £379-£474 (and then up to £429 - £529 in May) are not exactly prices to see us pull in a load of new folk (in this league). But perhaps we could see the heady days of having ST holders numbering in five figures again.

Not in and of itself. But making STs available earlier and during a spell when fans are still optimistic about the team and its future - and for a cheaper price - should have an impact.

It's obviously only progress from the very low bar that we've set ourselves, but it's still progress.

5 hours ago, philipl said:

Had Ryan stayed at Rovers, ir is more than possible JDT would have ironed out the failings in his game and turned him into the devastating right wing back he could have become.

R9vers wouldn't have needed to buy Brittain and could probably have afforded Ahmedhodzic so that stupid useless agent screwed us as well.

But then would JRC have got his chance? Perhaps a player with even more potential than Nyambe.

More than possible is a bit strong for me. As good as he was defensively, there's a lot that needed ironing out if he wanted to contribute the way that Pickering and JRC have this season - or Brittain earlier on.

I think it's more likely than he would've been given an handful of opportunities, but probably would've been frozen out like Edun has been. 

Positive direction of travel. I can't quite bring myself to say that £380 is a good deal for second division football when the country is skint, but it's better than expected.

Probably the most pleasing thing is that they're announced at a proper time this year. Hopefully the team can carry on creating some more optimism for the club to capitalise on. 

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

How is Southgate the problem when we problem when we produce our best tournament results under him since 1966? 

Several things can be true at the same time. For instance it can be true that i) Southgate has been brilliant in sorting out the off the field problems that have typically followed England, ii) managed to get to the latter stages of tournaments and iii) but has still been a hinderance when it comes to winning the big games towards the back end. 

2018 - Despite getting to the semis we actually failed to win more games than we won after 90 mins. Lost to Belgium, twice. Lost to Croatia despite them having been twice previously taken to extra time. We were a hairs breadth from being knocked out by Colombia on pens. We struggled against every decent team, bar Sweden, and had an unbelievably kind run to the last four. 

2021 - We obviously managed to reach the final, which is no mean feat, but he had some real advantages here too. The squad of players at his disposal was stronger on paper than any of the teams we were coming up against - including Italy - and it was for all intents and purposes a home tournament. Huge credit for a deserved win vs Germany, but the final is a massive missed opportunity.

2022 - Happy to admit that we were a bit unlucky in the France game. It still remains true though that we were knocked out as soon as we played anyone good. 

There are plenty of good things you can say about him too, but his record doesn't absolve him from criticism. Quite the opposite, actually. 

Just now, jim mk2 said:

England lucky to survive that onslaught. Southgate gets so many things right, but then gets alot wrong too. First win in Italy in 60 years though, so a reason to celebrate

Yes and no. The difference between the two halves was unreal, but it's not as though they created much with all that possession. 

Excellent half. Just a shame that Grealish didn't add the third.

11 hours ago, roverandout said:

Regarding the celtic game. Flitcroft opening his mouth with the boys against men baloney only inspired celtic in the second leg

Stupid thing to say in retrospect - the amount that it still comes up from Celtic fans and former players shows that it really hit a nerve. 

To be fair to him though, it was a pretty accurate description. They made it much tougher at Ewood, but we should have absolutely smashed them at Parkhead. 

9 minutes ago, Groundhog said:

I was at this game but this incident totally escapes me, what happened again?

Thinking about players that single handedly affected games: that **** David Goodwillie coming on in injury time against Brighton at home in 2013, and immediately giving a stupid penalty away so we drew 1-1, that one hurt. Not an important game but it just summed up the shitshow at the time.

Rather summed up his time with us. I've no time for Goodwillie for obvious reasons - but the abuse he got online after giving away the pen was a real eye opener for me. Pages and pages of really nasty stuff direct to him straight after the final whistle. Why any footballer would have public social media is completely beyond me if that happens to a second division player. 

2 hours ago, philipl said:

Picking up 3 threads on here.

Dack - no place for a player averaging better than a goal every 2 games when starting? Not arguing Szmodics isn't in the only place you could fit Dack and that Szmodics hasn't dramatically upped his game but Dack brings something we don't have a lot of- goals

The games coming thick and fast means that all first teamers will be called upon, and if he's available Dack will a hundred percent get his chance to contribute in April.

Szmodics keeps the jersey for now, but there's not a chance that he'll manage 8 games in 20 odd days, especially at the intensity that he usually brings.