Admiral Nelsen

Not difficult to see how Barnsley are beating plenty of teams this year. Very well drilled team who are making their talent go a long way. All credit to them. We were way off our best today, but we won. Winning tight games is the thing we needed to improve on, so I'm not going to bag our performance now that we've gone and won one. Big credit to the keeper and both centre backs, who were under a lot of pressure. Today shows how important Nyambe is to our season too.

Elliott in for Gally. Otherwise same team

Was thinking the same earlier, genuinely don't know what we do if Nyambe gets injured whilst JRC/Bennett are out. Pike from the Ressies? On Arma, suspect that there might be 2 + 2 = 5 going on after they've looked in the Championship recently for Bowen and Benrahma. Having said that, if we take those two as a yardstick, we have to be looking at £20million plus to even start he conversation, and even then only if he's desperate to go and won't sign a new deal.

Two games against Wycombe and Cov coming up for them next. Far too early to be saying that they'll decide their season, but lose them both and they'll be in panic stations.

Sure it has already been mentioned on here, but having Douglas at left back should really help get the most out of him in that role. In fact our change in approach generally has made the team a bit more 'Gallagher friendly' this year, even if he hasn't played enough to really show it. Think we need to be reconciled to him never fixing his heavy first touch, but a fit and confident Gallagher can be a real asset if we use him properly.

Think that's right - I'd expect him to play some point tomorrow but probably from the bench. On Gallagher, there's a very good chance that we'll never see value for money for him, but if we are then we have to be playing him when he's on form. He's played a very big part in the points we've picked up over the last week, so keeping him there makes perfect sense for now.

The one change I'd be tempted to make would be Johnson for Trybull, just because of his influence in the earlier games of the season. On the fence with that one, but Gally, Wharton should keep their places. Going off Barsnley's most recent games, looking like we'll have most of the ball once again. Whether it will turn out to be another dominant display or a stodgy draw/ loss by the odd goal remains to be seen.

Wonderful

I've always been an optimist when it came to Rovers. Only wanted Ince potted after the third went in at Wigan. Even expected Murphy to show his ability once he got used to the Championship. Even so, I never in a million years thought it was possible for Ben to improve so much so quickly. A full season like this and nobody will be mentioning his price tag, which is amazing where we were at the start of the season.

Dolan getting the third! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *breathes* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

MoM alongside Rothwell for me.

They haven't got a striker in the starting 11! Watch it rain goals now

On the Rovers home page you should see a stopclock counting down to kick off and button underneath saying Live Match Centre. Click on that from around an hour before kick off & you should see the live stream on there.

Feeling reasonably confident about this one. Whilst our performances have been feast and famine this season, we've got the better individuals and we should be fresh after a week off. 1-3 Rovers

Entirely possible that I've just not picked up a shift during the pandemic. It's true that I've seen the odd post on social media which have used words like welcome & forgiveness, but then again these platforms are well known for amplifying minority voices. I'll take some convincing that the large majority of match-going fans aren't Venkys-sceptics in some form or another, albeit with a large an increasing number with a bit of a pragmatic response. As you say though, I could be wrong.

I can't speak for others, but I don't think there's much in the way of a significant number of 'pro-Venkys' Rovers fans. The divide as far as I see it is the group who believe (rightly or wrongly) that Venkys are necessary/inevitable/manageable in the short term and those who see getting rid of them as the main priority for the football club. I agree that many more fans would now fit in the first category rather than the second compared to when Coyle was in charge, but I don't think it's fair to characterise this as a sea change in how they are perceived in any meaningful way. Take a straw poll of Rovers fans of all persuasions and I'm certain the vast majority will say that Venkys have been a disaster - how could they not? We almost all agree that the decisions that were made under their stewardship have wrecked the club. Where lots of us differ is how we can best move forward from where are now, but I don't think you'll find too many fans in the more pragmatic camp using words like 'welcome' or 'forgiveness'. Completely misses the point, and arguing about that sort of language serves to exaggerate the percentage of fans who are actively pro-Venkys, of whom I'm convinced there are a pretty derisory number.

Great signings for the Magpies. Won't pretend to know too much about Tomlinson but I always felt a bit sorry for Henley. Got a bit too much too soon after a couple of stellar performances as a 17 year old. Maybe had he come through at a different period in our history things could have been better for him here.

Really hope this isn't a permanent change, but there's little doubt that this should benefit a side with our depth for this season. We're at our best too when we're playing and pressing at a high tempo, so hopefully this will help us maintain that with having just a few days between games.

Number 9 on his back - almost certainly reading too much into it, but a clue to his eventual position?

Probably right, but looking at the playing squad it doesn't look like a great fit. Rhodes/Marriot/Windass aren't the sort of battering rams that Pulis would want, and the likes of Bannan and Brown will get a shock to the system!

Good post - I agree with most of it but I'm not as concerned about him joining an exodus of players. If we can use his wages to top up offers to a couple of our OOC players, it'll be money well spent. On his form, I think he's very rarely been asked to play in a system that suits his game - a ball winner & recycler who leaves getting over the halfway line to more talented players. He never had the legs to play in a 442, and yet that's mainly where he played until Mowbray came along. Our win % when he played with Travis was very good indeed, so there's a player in there when fit and in the right system. Unfortunately for him, our new style is not that system, as his pretty poor performances this season demonstrate. That, along with his age and dreadful injury record means that we should be looking to phase him out and ultimately, let him go, but in doing so we should see him as unlucky rather than someone looking to dodge games in my opinion.

I think this is spot on. You mention Lingard, but as a player his style (although obviously not his level of ability) reminds me so much of Paul Scholes, who everyone forgets only developed into the player he became well into his 20s. Gary Neville was on the Quickly Kevin podcast for 90s football, and he basically was saying that a young Paul Scholes couldn't even get in the youth team for plenty of games because he was about 3 stone wet through and had asthma. Compared to the likes of Nicky Butt who at 18 could play a bit but was an absolute monster. Even when Scholes was in his early 20s he was only being drip fed into the first team, often as a number 10, and we're talking about one of the most gifted English players in the last 30 years, maybe ever! Obviously John Buckley won't be Paul Scholes and Blackburn Rovers in 2020 isn't the same as Man United in 1996, but he is absolutely a player worth being patient with.

I don't think there's any need to get overly precious about his comments. It would be weird if he didn't see qualifying for a major international tournament as a very big deal, and the prospect of playing in it a carrot for him getting back to form and fitness. As for his injury record - Occam's Razor suggests that the boy is simply injury prone, and misses games for both club and country. He's outlived his usefulness, and should be on his way after this season (or in January if there is any interest) but I don't think his interview is out of order at all, personally.

Given that we'll be looking to take the game to them, and that Nyambe will have had about fifteen flights and two (?) games over the international break, I'd definitely look to this as a JRC game. If Ryan comes back unscathed and covid free, bring him in for PNE. Other than that, I agree the centre back question is the trickiest one. I think Lenihan has come in for some justified stick for being a bit erratic this season, but after being easily our most important defender for a couple of years now I'd be inclined to be a bit more patient with him and play him alongside Williams to begin with.

True enough, but equally you could argue that it's only injuries and/or a bad attitude which prevented those two from being global stars. Certainly Wilshere had all the ability. I think it's fair to say that he is showing the sort of ability you would associate with a top future international aged 17. Probably even beyond that.