Happy game day, all ...

We'll be no doubt giving Palace's new manager a dream start in his first full game in charge, whilst I'm sure you're all looking forward to welcoming Ashley Barnes back to the area, with a traditionally warm East Lancashire welcome !!

26 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Sadly the parachute payments mean that you can waste £110m in one season and still be ok in the Championship.

Realistically Burnley should be stuffed - they'll just bounce back up next year. 

I'm glad you're so certain ... I'm not !! 

1 hour ago, harryhealless1928 said:

Steady on,sympathetic clar !

Whilst the Dingles outclassed us last season with more money spent and a better squad Vincent looks this season to have the motivational skills of a sleepy sloth! 

No passion and not too much interest. Like a latter day JDT.

No, I think VK and the Directors are following the plan ... instead of buying maybe 3 " oven ready " EPL players for c.£70m, we've gone for 10 or so £3-6m younger players keen to develop and learn under Kompany. It was always meant to be a 4-5 year project, and we exceeded expectation last season. It's one of the reasons that VK's position is secure, most of these players would not have come to Turf Moor without his presence ... if he was sacked, any new manager would have a major issue on his hands, simply by not being Vincent Kompany ...

We're definitely improved, but it won't be enough to stay up. I'm still not sure he knows his best team yet, and the major criticism I'm hearing is persevering with Trafford in goal, rather than recalling Muric ... 

15 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

I've never been the same since, and it was 54 years ago

Horrible

Yes, how different might history have been if Bobby Charlton had jogged over to the touch line and said ...     " Nah, I'm fine Alf, fresh as a daisy ! " 

Really pleased for you lot, by the way .. a great way to end a week during which the owners and managers of  your great Club have done their best to make it the laughing stock of English Football ... 🙄 

3 hours ago, Ianrally said:

I have heard that a lady office worker/secretary has been binned and carried the can for the McGuire charade. These tossers must not know that only the CEO or the club secretary can deal with the EFL regarding transfers. It seems they have found a sacrificial lamb. 

Need to see full evidence, but if true I trust she was well paid off !! Only two are authorised to deal with the EFL regarding transfers with the necessary codes, and if either of the senior staff " delegated " these roles, it is they who should resign ...

I give you the example of Peter Carrington, ( 1919-2018 ), 1st Tank Commander across Nijmegen Bridge in 1945, ( Military Cross ), various political offices until becoming Foreign Secretary, under Thatcher in 1979. Negotiated the Rhodesia settlement in 1979, but after the Falklands Invasion on 2nd April 1982, he resigned 3 days later, because " It was my responsibility, my team failed to see the problem, I didn't ask the right questions, and I am ultimately responsible " .. A man of honour, and decency ..

He's chucked an admin Clerk " Under the Bus " whilst failing to take responsibility ... In days of old, he'd have been asked to take a bottle of Malt Whisky and a service revolver into the woods, and do the decent thing !!

7 minutes ago, RoverDom said:

I hope the efl appeals board say something like "same time next year Gregg?"

I have resisted any comment on this matter, but that made me laugh .. 

If " yer man " really wants to leave, he needs to be a little more robust about matters ... He could simply pack up his things and resign, at which point the owners could try and sue him for not fulfilling his contract.

His response should then be " OK, see you in Court ", at which point he would then be obliged to reveal the promises made to him about the support he was promised, in terms of transfer funds, retaining players etc. The other Rovers staff and owners would be called as witnesses under oath, at which point the Venkys would quickly settle " out of court ", or drop any case, to avoid having to reveal financial details or details of their Indian Court issues. The alternative would be for him to resign, and then bring a " Constructive Dismissal " case against the Club, again citing mental stress, family issues, loss of reputation etc that were caused by the false promises given by the owners and/or Senior members of the BRFC management .. 

Claret in peace, as ever ... 

Just occurred to me this morning, that whilst Orlando City will receive a loan fee of around £500,000, Rovers will be paying all of McGuire's wages. Last year, he was reported to have earnt around $75,000. Even if Rovers are paying for a 6 month house rental and a lease car for him, it's still going to be a Championship player for less than £3k a week ... 

Now I'm sure his agent would have pressed for more money, but Rover's reply would surely have been, " No, we pay what he's been earning. Duncan now has a great opportunity to get himself a future in English Football, and obviously we'll look at it again when/if the deal is made permanent in the Summer " .. 

18 hours ago, Silas said:

Brave coming on here on the day you play City.

Can I humbly request you stick around till about 9.30ish.

Reckon you might find some willing watchalong partners. 😀

3-1 was progress ... it's traditionally 5-0 !

As others have said, their bench was frightening ...

On 28/01/2024 at 12:01, philipl said:

I had forgotten PNE and Wolves were in the old 4th Division.

Preston, Wolves, Burnley, Sheffield United & Portsmouth are the 5 Clubs to have won all 4 Divisions, or top four tiers ....

Just to save you all the trouble, I understand the traditional response to this statement as a " Rovers " supporter is ... " Yeah, the only reason we're not on that list is that we've never been shite enough to be in the 4th Division to win it, unlike you Dingles ! "

14 minutes ago, Silas said:

See my posts above.

Don't get me wrong, I laughed....hard.

But trying to look neutrally, still don't think it's a wrong/bad decision. 

Var looked at replay about 10 times, and I think the theatrical way Trafford went down worked against you. Var/viewers aren't stupid. You can tell when a player has been 'taken out' and when one has just flung themselves to the floor to try and buy one.

I'm actually very surprised how many people/pundits have a completely opposite opinion to me. Suppose we all see things differently. 

Or maybe it's just my unconscious bias. 🤷🏻‍♂️

No, the other factor was that Trafford had got on the wrong side of the Referee already by some rather cynical time-wasting tactics for which he'd already been booked, he was in no mood to give him a soft free kick ... 

2 minutes ago, Silas said:

Ah, SC, please don't pop in the board without giving us your opinion on the goal/potential foul in the Burnley thread. 

What's your non-tinted glasses view?

I think that would usually have been given as a foul in the modern game, 95 times out of 100 .... however, once the Referee didn't give it, it's not a " clear and obvious " error, and the VAR officials couldn't intervene. If the Referee had given it on the field of play, then VAR wouldn't even have reviewed it ... What do you think, again with a non-tinted glasses view ? 😉

20 hours ago, Ianrally said:

On the “Let’s Compare” video at the head of this thread it’s 1888. 

Yes I think the official " Head to Head " only includes Football League, FA and League Cups and two Anglo-Scottish Cup games. If you include those two, Burnley lead 44-41-19, without them, it's 43-41-18 ...

We've obviously met many other times, with fixtures before the League started, Lancashire Cup ties, Manx trophy etc ... We're all lucky to follow two great Clubs with fantastic histories ... 

7 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

And you can bet that comic the LET will be wetting themselves tomorrow 

8 page souvenir pull-out on the Friday before the game I believe ...

On the subject of the draw, is it just me or has Gary Mabbutt morphed into the late Bob Monkhouse !! 

16 hours ago, tomphil said:

How many did the biggest small fanbase in the world have down there tonight anyone know ?

Didn't look many in that lower bit and never heard them once all night.

Roughly 900, for a Friday night game in London, 10 days after Christmas and live on ITV ....

9 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

I’m surprised you left Craig Bellamy of your list…

We're just happy to be part of his rehabilitation .... 😉

16 hours ago, Polky said:

 

An unfortunate oversight following a house move, I believe, the debt has been cleared and an application to annul the Bankruptcy order is proceeding ... With all due respect, I'm surprised you raised this given the track record of Brad Friedel, Colin Hendry, Mark Paterson, Barry Ferguson, Lucas Neal and Danny Guthrie amongst others ...

1 hour ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

I was hoping for a visit from our Dingle friends so I could wish them all the best for 2024.

I suppose that won't be happening now. 

That was a shocking dive to win the penalty, and don't get me started on the deliberate handball when Foster was through on goal ...

Happy new year to you, I suspect the " Derby " will be resuming next year .... 😊

3 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Fancy escaping Burnley just to end up in Reading 😁

Actually lived in Clitheroe from 1975 having moved there from Tunbridge Wells due to my Dad's work ... someone once wrote about Reading, " No town more successfully hides it's attractions from visitors than Reading ", and I would concur ...

I met a Burnley girl in 1988, married the following July and have lived there ever since. Blackburn & Burnley, like virtually every town in Britain, has areas you'd love to live in, ( Pleasington / Worsthorne etc ) and sadly, areas that you'd be scared to let your children play out in ....

32 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

You should be a politician with that sort of non-answer 😁

Graduate of University of Reading ( 1986 ), a 2:1 in ... Politics and International Relations !! 🤣 

44 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

The first has definitely changed a lot, the question is whether the second has too??

I think it fair to say that the years have been kinder to Herbie 6590 than myself ... 😁

1 minute ago, lraC said:

I bet you know the late Ted Cooper mate.

Yes, very well .... lovely man, he was my first Coach at u16's at Blackburn, together with John Whitney, who went on to work for Rovers for years, after retiring from the police. John passed away in July of last year ...