Well said, " Longers " ... I don't know your age, but I was around in 1975 when we were 6th in the top flight and Jimmy Adamson remarked that our home draw to Southern League Wimbledon was " an opportunity to progress " ! Dickie Guy anyone ? I believe we are still the only top-flight team to lose twice at home to non-league opposition ! ( Lincoln 2017 ) ... I think we can be forgiven for our modesty and caution on this occasion ..

Crikey, we've won one game in the Cup this year and you've got us in the quarter-finals ? I hope you're right, but frankly I don't think the Club will see it as a priority .....

I remember that .... I believe Wycombe asked him which game he'd be available to do the draw, and he just gave them the date of the Burnley game. They didn't realise the rivalry, and said " fine " ... 😁

FA Cup permitting, kick off is now noon on 19th March, Mothering Sunday .... After the way the last game panned out, I take it the " Dictators " will not be inviting either " Longsiders " or myself to kick off the matchday thread this time ? 😉

More surprising, you can get 50/1 on Owen Coyle as the next permanent Manager of Everton !! 🤔

I initially typed " counting any of your owner's finest products " .... 🤣

How about this for an " interesting " scenario .... On paper, both our Club's FA Cup 4th round ties look to be winnable, then it's one more round before the Quarter finals, due to be played over the weekend of 18th March, when the reverse " Derby " is due. If one or both of Blackburn and Burnley get that far, this will mean the fixture will have to be rearranged. I'm certainly not counting our chickens, but it's not inconceivable that a date later in the season may be " the game " where Burnley get promoted or less likely, are confirmed as Champions. Worst of all from your standpoint, we could have clinched the title the game previously, so tradition would dictate the Rovers team form a " guard of honour " at Ewood Park, and applaud the Burnley team on to the pitch !! Can't see that going down well .... 🙄

Just to further cement " Longsiders " and my apparent reputations for being fair minded, here's a familiar Rovers figure for you ... To set the scene, it's 6th March 1993, a certain Ewood " Hall of famer " is playing for West Brom in the 3rd Tier and the Clarets come to the Hawthorns. He warmed up in front of the travelling Clarets, and received a " predictable " reception, upon which I turned to my friend and said " No good can come of this " .... 3 minutes in, bang !! Then made the 2nd for Bob Taylor .... 30 years ago in a few short weeks ... how time flies !! 🙄

This quote should appear in a Blackburn Rovers version of one of those " WW2 in 5 minutes " type of You-tube videos ... it rather sums up your past decade, sadly ...

I think the usual outcome is a hefty fine from the Football League, and we get awarded a 0-3 away win ! 😎

Now that's a free kick for you .... Twine scores STUNNING LATE free-kick winner! 🤯 | Burnley 2-1 West Brom | Championship Highlights - YouTube

The Smith side of the Presley's ( Elvis's mothers ) had a number of genetic traits that predisposed them to a likely early death, sadly. The details are gone into in Sally Hoegel's book, " Elvis - Destined to die young " ... all of Mrs Presley's brothers died in their 40's or early 50's, all from unexplained ( then ) heart and liver problems .. That is not to say that, like her father, drug mis-use and unhealthy eating did not play it's part .... RIP Lisa !

Us Clarets shouldn't get tired of cheque signing, not with our six fingers to help propel the pen along ...

I've got a funny feeling he might be a great success at United .... Wout and Ten Haag were born within 10 miles of each other, just outside Enschede, near the German border, Ten Haag may get the best out of him ... Now don't get me wrong, I'm not in " Chaddy Rovers " league as a soothsayer, but something tells me he might suit them ..

Wout Weghorst update .... " Mirror online " now reporting it as a done deal, with Weghorst en-route to Manchester after having cleared his locker, and said his goodbyes at Besiktas .... Seeing as we have no " skin " in the Premier League game this season, I hope he averages a goal a game, his shirt becomes a best-seller, the fans cheer him to the echo as he scores the winner in the FA Cup final. On the last day, he's carried shoulder high from the field with supporters chanting " For he's jolly good fellow ", as a final game hat-trick propels United into, at the very least, a Champions League spot ... Richard Arnold ( Utd's Chief Exec ) - " Hello Alan, your chap did great for us, we'd like to sign him permanently .. " Alan Pace ( Burnley CEO ) - " So glad you're pleased, now about the fee ... " 😉

Press now reporting Besiktas have agreed a £2.5m fee for agreeing to end the loan deal early .....

We signed him in January 2022, for £12m ... he's 6'6" and had a scoring record of 1 in 2 in both the Dutch " Eridivisie " and the German " Bundesliga ", so obviously he seen as the " man " to keep us up. In the end he ended up being played as a target man in Dyche's rather predictable system, scored 2 goals in 20 games, and down we went ... He's actually better with ball into feet, has a good touch, and brings others into play well ... as his goal drought went on, he started snatching at chances and trying to take too many on as the crowd increasingly got on his back. With the World Cup coming up, the Dutch Coach announced that he would only consider players playing regular " top flight " football, which would have irked him. He'd also acquired a reputation as " difficult " in leaks coming from the training ground. On 5th July, he went on a season's long loan to Besiktas, apparently with no recall option, and Besiktas having a " purchase option " at the end of the loan. He's scored 1 in 2 again in Turkey, and then obviously came to prominence with his two goals after coming on as a substitute in the World Cup Quarter final, with 7 minutes to go, and the Dutch 0-2 down against the Argentinians ... he also netted in the penalty shoot-out. It looks like we've agreed the fees with United but Besiktas are playing hardball over a fee to release them from their loan agreement, which, naturally, we would be looking to United to cover as well. Even by the end of this season, he's still contracted to us for another 2 years. Hopefully for us, he goes to United, scores a goal a game, the United faithful start chanting " sign him on ", and we can name our price in June .... 😎

Having played the oval ball game for many years, I'm fully in agreement with the first paragraph, up to a point. However, this is fans of two professional Football Clubs having a little gentle banter, part of the fabric of life. I suspect you enjoyed a little moment of " schadenfreude " when you witnessed our 5-0 defeat on April Fool's Day 2001, or heard of our 0-1 defeat at home to non-league Lincoln a few years back .... 😉

Talking of banter, I've been a member at Blackburn Rugby Club for over 40 years, and there is a small " cell " of Clarets there. Over the past few years, we would be watching the 1st XV but occasionally huddle together to check someone's phone for the Burnley score. At least 3 times a season, sure as eggs are eggs, someone would tap us on the shoulder and ask " How are t'Rovers doing ? " " Sorry mate, I don't follow lower League football, what division are they in ? " For obvious reasons, it's fallen into disuse recently, but we're hoping to brush it off for use next season ! 😁

It's not just me with Clinton Morrison, then ! In one of the " Under the Coash " podcasts, John Parkin, the ex-Preston forward said that Clinton Morrison once threatened to have him shot when he was playing against him. Lovely ! As for Sky and women's football, they are amateurs compared to the BBC ... In their " Fixtures and Results " webpage, they list fixtures in the order " Premier League, Scottish Premier League, Women's Super League, Championship, League 1, League 2 etc ", nobody dare explain that the standard is that of a Championship teams U15's ...

And you started so well ...... In terms of the comments of " Dreams of 1995 " , his soubriquet is certainly well chosen. You can't expect " Longsiders " or myself, welcome though we have been made, not to come back occasionally with one or two jibes defending our colours.

Correct ... I suspect the Football Gods chose to punish both of them with a spell in non-league football ...

I for one, can have little sympathy for Luton, as they were one of the original signatories to the formation of the Premier League, and have yet to kick a ball in said division, as they were relegated at the end of the 1991-92 season, and have never returned to the top flight .... Your starter for 10 - Who is the other Club for whom this is also the case ?

Going back again to the original topic .... and both our club's decent first half of the season With the sole exception of Sunderland in 1997-98 ( they got 90 points and finished 3rd, losing out to Charlton in the play-offs ), 89 points has always been enough to clinch automatic promotion since the formation of the Premier League. The average 3rd place finish has been achieved on 84 points or so in that time, although this year may be an outlier. There are 10 points that separate Blackburn in 3rd place ( 42 ) and Birmingham in 17th ( 32 ). This indicates that these teams are fairly even and on any given day, could beat each other. If our form was to drop off, and finish with say 7 wins, 6 draws and 7 losses, we'd finish on 83 points .... the form teams, Middlesborough would then need 44 points from 20 games to tie with us eg: 13 wins, 4 draws & 3 losses and West Brom would need 45. A record of W9, D6, L5 would get your lot to 74 points, which, given the " dog eat dog " nature of the Championship, could well be enough for a play-off place. Any thoughts ?

I'm always one to keep my feet on the ground when it comes to Burnley, but I think we're safe from the drop now ....