sympatheticclaret

Many thanks for your kinds words, sir ! My heart breaks for your wife, my Dad never quite got to that point ... but I shall carry to my grave the look on my son's face, when we visited Dad during his last hospital stay, about 3 weeks before his passing. He looked around the 6 Bay ward, " I think we're in the wrong bay, Dad " ... I gently took my son's arm, " He's here, love " ... he'd been working away for 5 weeks, and didn't recognise him ... You lose them twice with Vascular Dementia, firstly the person, character etc that you knew, and then their eventual physical passing ... Sending love and best wishes to you and yours .. SC XX

Some 15 months ago, I wrote a tribute to my beloved Dad who had passed away due to complications from, " vascular dementia, old age and fragility ", which proved cathartic in my grieving process . Sadly, I can now complete the story ... On Sunday 24th August, neither my two sisters or I were able to contact our Mother at her home in Clitheroe. All of us had rung her in the morning, but as it was usually the time she would be dressing, we were not too concerned. However, I'd been unable to speak to her by 12.30am, and with my sister's being away on long arranged engagements, I drove over to find Mum unresponsive, aged 89 in her home. The " 999 " operator requested me to start CPR, but after a moment's thought, I declined, having witnessed her sign a " DNR " form some years previously. The Emergency services team arrived a few minutes later and were wonderfully supportive. They confirmed that Mum had passed peacefully some time previously, as she would have wished, in her own home, without lengthy & debilitating hospital stays, or ending her time in a Residential facility ... Mum had met my Dad at an " Inter-School " 6th Form Dance in 1953, in Nottingham ... They dated until he left in 1954 to do his National Service ( Royal Signals, Egypt & Cyprus ), and she to start her Nursing training at Westminster Hospital, London . Dad then took up a Choral Scholarship at Cambridge University whilst reading Engineering, ( Think the BBC's " Carols at King's " broadcast each Christmas Eve ), whilst she continued her Nursing, treating Clement Attlee, amongst others ... They married on the 5th September 1959, one of 5 marriages conducted at Dad's Parish Church that day, & honeymooned in Devon for a whole week ! Dad had lost his Father at 7, killed trying to rescue people out of the Rolls Royce Engine factory in Derby during a German bombing raid in 1943, and having seen his mother work two jobs to support her family, was determined that his wife should not have to work, after having children. He worked 3 jobs, including overnight weekend shifts at a petrol station, to save a deposit for their first home .. I came along in 1963, my sister in January 1966, and later, January 1973, my baby sister, her " Autumn Leaf " ... Mum was caring, thoughtful, generous and a fabulous Cook ... above all, she was a font of good advice and common sense ... my wife of 36 years adored her as did her two sons-in-law ... When our son married 6 years ago, my wife said she would treat Mum as the ideal Mother-in-Law template " Helpful, thoughtful, generous .. but never one to interfere ! " .. In writing this , I'm acutely aware that we were all so fortunate to have both parents with us for so long, and so many of our friends and contempories were not so blessed ... God bless, Mum !!

In 1913, the main stand at Ewood Park was subject to an arson attack by extremist Suffragettes, targeting it as a symbol of male influence and power etc .... I wonder if we might see history repeat itself ?

The most sensible comment posted on this thread ...

Claret in peace, as ever ... Football administrators get pelters sometimes, but looking at the Championship table, let's give credit to whoever dreamt up both " 3 points for a win, not 2 " ( 1981 ) and the " Play-Off system " ( 1986-87 ) ... I'm old enough to remember the years prior, and the amount of " nothing " games, between Clubs who were safe, but couldn't get promoted was huge. Be assured we will be on it next Saturday, all sorts of clean sheet records, unbeaten runs to continue. Also, Millwall were the last team to beat us in the League, on the 3rd November, we can't have them do the double over us, after the season we've had. The only issue we have is that I'm 90% sure Flemming will be unavailable for us, as technically he's still on loan until his move is made permanent in the Summer ... Let's hope your season is extended a bit longer ! Finally, and I fully expect this gives me more pleasure than Rover's fans, with our away record of P23 W14 D7 L2 and a goal difference of +26, we'd still be above Preston in the League, if we hadn't played any home games .... 😂

Definite case of small man syndrome here, I fancy .... just checked, ah yes, a 5'6" Scouser ... Mind you, check out Bradford City's Aden Baldwin sending off at Doncaster at half time ... yellow and then red, both for dissent, as they're walking off for half-time, absolute numb-nuts .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rQ28d5sRJY

In peace, as ever .. Yes, we've got our fair share of " muppets " .. as all Clubs have, Rovers not excluded !!

But of course ... 😁

The fact is that Burnley fans can easily " multi-task ", and we also know the meaning of the word " schadenfreude ", even though, in a recent survey, only 29% of us can spell it ...

1-1 .... I've been following the Clarets too long to get over excited with a 1-0 lead ...

In peace as ever ... Left it my usual 24 hours or so to let things die down. Certainly not a game for the ages, we converted our one good chance and that's " all she wrote " ! The referee started well, but was inconsistent for both sides. I think Rovers have the basis of a decent team, but need additional reinforcements, as so many of you have said. We need to increase our goal threat sharpish ... if Ashley Barnes is the answer, then we're asking the wrong question ! I watched the game on TV, despite receiving the offer of a " spare " from a Rovers mate at 5.30pm on Friday. " Where is it, pal ? ", I asked, " Centre of the lower tier, Blackburn End ! " ... " Mmm, call me Mr Ungrateful, but I'll pass if you don't mind ! " .. Now that's over, best wishes to all for 2025, and enjoy the rest of the season !

I'd be delighted to chauffeur you all " door to door ", should you wish, no problem at all ! 😉

Claret in peace as always .... Just a brief post to wish one and all a great Christmas and a happy, healthy New year. I think both Clarets and Rovers supporters will not be displeased at their respective League positions as we enter the Christmas fixtures. Looking forward with a little trepidation to the small matter of the " Derby " on 4th January, whatever happens let's hope the rivalry is kept in it's proper perspective ... Finally, reflecting back on a year in which I lost my wonderful Dad at the fine age of 88, thank you to the many posters on here who took a minute or two out of their lives to send their condolences and best wishes to our family, there were some lovely words, and they have not been forgotten .. Again, best wishes to all, and to paraphrase Dave Allen, may your God ( if any ) go with you ! 😉

Claret in peace as ever ... Not posted in a while but a great win for you today, Leeds defeat won't be mourned by too many at this end of the M65 either, nor in Sheffield I suspect .............

That's 90+ minutes of my life I'm not getting back ... very poor, playing like a team who first met each other half an hour before kick off ...

Just seen this Chaddy ... 1. Happy enough ... if players don't want to be here, then go. We seem to have got good money for most of them, so a " firesale " it wasn't ..the squad was massively bloated. 2. Agree with your idea of another striker, as a minimum. 3. Play-offs .. much will depend on injuries, Beyer's return ( February '25 ) can't come soon enough for me. 4. The players were sold the dream, and Kompany's presence & reputation as a player will have been a draw factor. You can't blame them for being unhappy at his departure. There are also mumblings about a certain agencies involvement, and also that a considerable number of these players were living in a luxury apartment block, in which VK had a financial interest .. 5. I think Alan Pace is a decent man, who is genuine in his desire to see Burnley succeed. He's relocated, his daughter is married to a local lad, and I believe his father spent a period of time in East Lancashire as a Mormon missionary in the late 60's. I write this after our 0-1 win away at Leeds, which is a great result, despite a less than stellar performance. This week, we have tied down Josh Cullen, Maxime Esteve and Luca Koleosho with improved 5 year contracts and signed John Egan, the Irish International centre-back on a one year deal. All good stuff, although these new 5 year deals may only be a means to maximise a Transfer fee when the time comes ..

Yes, a shocker from Mr Harrington and his officials ..... haven't seen such a bad decision since, now let me see, oh yes, 17th March 2013 ! 😁

Claret in peace as ever ... Firstly, outstanding team display from your lads especially after the sending off, light years away from two years ago. Beck the left back had a brilliant game ! The goal was a " worldie ", if that was in the EPL, it'd be being beamed around the world for the next 48 hours. Unlucky with the disallowed goal, I thought .. 11 yellows, 4 for us and 6 + the 2nd Yellow for you, not Mr Harrington's finest hour with the whistle, I agree .. We played some reasonable stuff, but far too many instances of us looking exactly what we were, a collection of good players, who've never played together before. Hopefully things will improve, in the 20 minutes he was on, Egan-Riley played more like Egon Ronay ... We were also lucky with Trafford's early howler ... Honour is satisfied, I suppose ... onwards to January !!

All press might have been done, but have the save and send buttons been pressed ? You wouldn't expect anything else, would you ? 😉

Rumours abound that there will be angry chants of " Who the f******g hell are you ? ", as kick-off time approaches tomorrow .... probably in the home dressing room !

Our last game before relegation was confirmed, was away at Spurs, on 11th May. We lined up ... Muric ( now Ipswich ) Assignon ( back to Rennes ) O'Shea ( now Ipswich ) Esteve ( still here ) Taylor ( now Southampton ) Brun-Larsen ( back at Hoffenheim ) Cullen ( missed last 2 games, injured ? ) Berge ( now Fulham ) Vitinho ( missed last 2 games, under offer from Botafogo ) Okobert ( now Spurs ) Foster ( still here ) Of the 9 players on the bench that day, Rodrigues is definitely staying. Tresor & Ekdal are injured and the club are looking to offload Benson & Trafford. The Club have turned down a £3.7m offer for Brownhill. Amdouni's in Portugal now having his Benfica medical, Berg Gudmundsson has taken the Saudi League " schilling and Fofana's back at Chelsea ... Not expecting any sympathy on here, I should add .... I expect this to be the reaction !

Although I sort of see what you mean, it's a fabulous piece of " punditry yoga " to get to the point that the fact that Scott Parker, his coaching staff and the players haven't got a "scooby " who might or might not be available , is a disadvantage for t'Rovers !!

Just adding Vitinho to the possible exit list, rumoured to be going to Botafogo, in his home country of Brazil, for between £7-£8m. No Benson, Trafford, Weghorst or Luca Koleosho in the squad against Wolves tonight ... Koleosho reportedly refusing to train to try to force a move ...

So, with 10 minutes to go, they've had 15 shots and we've had 2, 4 corners to them, 0 to us, and their keeper hasn't had a shot to save ... I follow Burnley reasonably closely and we've brought on a T.McDermott & a W.Hugill, totally unknown names to me ..

Coaches will leave the Darwen End at Ewood Park at 10am prompt. As the Roverstore only opens at 10am on Saturday morning, supporters will not be able to collect their Burnley tickets on the day of the game. So here's an idea, why not open the " Roverstore " an hour early .... how much better would this read ? Coaches will leave the Darwen End at Ewood Park at 10am prompt. The Club appreciates that some fans will have travelled from afar for this eagerly awaited game. To that end, the Roverstore will open early, at 8.45am, to enable supporters to collect their Burnley tickets on the day of the game