Looking at the last 10 or so pages, the excitement of last week has well and truly worn off! It's a poor position to be in no doubt, but I refuse to be too down about it as what's done is done. We still have many decent players at this level and none of those who have left are irreplaceable. I want the club to look forward & learn lessons from the past; the appointments of GB & JDT look to be evidence of the start of that process. At least they have almost a blank canvas to develop exactly how they want. It's a real opportunity to reset the playing staff under a new & invigorated management team & develop a new identity that everyone can buy into. I'm still excited about that next chapter, bring it on!!

I'm really quite stoked by these appointments, howsoever the club arrived at them. The proof will be in the pudding of course, but I think combined they show a real statement of intent. They all come with good experience, recent success, wider experience of Europe, and specifically of a resurgent Scandinavian market. As the head coach, JDT is easily the highest profile appointment we've had since Hughes, and will make any prospective acquisition sit up and take notice of an approach from us (in the way that Mike Newell blanked us under Mackay, but u-turned when we returned with Dalglish at the helm). I can't imagine even Venkys making such wholesale changes to the footballing structure of the club, only to then not provide the means or wherewithal for that management team to put their ideas and plans into action. That would just be nonsensical (I know, I know!!) On a more tribal front, I THINK I'm happier with JDT & co than I would've been with Kompany. There seems to me to be more substance & thought gone into our move than Burnley's, which seems to be just appointing a big-name crowd pleaser who has the profile, but not necessarily proven that he has specific managerial nouse. I could be proven wrong & to large extent it's a minor subplot, but will be interesting to see how both imaginative & ambitious appointments, in different ways, play out... Bring on 30th July!!

Forest had Hughton first, that failed badly. Many forest fans had doubts about Cooper but that worked spectacularly. Boro had Pulis; that failed & Wilder hasn't worked yet either. I like the ambition & imagination of a Broughton / JDT combo. It seems to indicate some joined up thinking at last. It might not work (it might not even happen!) but if it does happen I'll be right behind it.

They must have some ability about them though, surely? Like you and I, I doubt anyone on here has any direct knowledge of their abilities, their relationship with the players, the respect (or lack thereof) afforded to them by the players, to for them to be pilloried so much by folk on here when they're such small cogs in a bigger dysfunctional machine seems unfair to me. I'm not saying there's no-one better out there, I'm sure there is. But I doubt their presence (insisted upon or not) would be a deal breaker for any new manager & DoF worth their salt... Just my opinion as a passionate outside observer!

Such a weird thing to impose. If Lowe and Benson were highly rated I'd get it but neither seem to be? Genuine question; I know they're not rated by pretty much everyone on here, but I don't see any noises from inside or outside the club within the game saying they're unsuited? What makes everyone think they're so poor?

Since when was it evil to be single? Sounds a bit harsh to me.

Can't disagree with that, but it illustrates two things: - the inconsistency of all teams in this division across the season; and - we should fear no-one IF we reach the playoffs.

Duplicate post; reception in Blackburn hospital is rubbish (just visiting)!!

Let's also not forget that in this recent disappointing run, we've still beaten both Boro & QPR & ought to have beaten Sheff Utd. I'd rather we win those games, than lose them but win at Cardiff, Swansea etc.

"Football fans in spouting hyperbole" shock!! I've learnt that on a match thread there's always massive overreaction to the good, the bad and the ugly. It seems more prevalent in respect of the bad & ugly, but nevertheless is there on both sides. Like garnersfags said, I see both sides. Our recent results & performances have been, in the main underwhelming, no argument, & the lack of goals scored is worrying. But in context: - we all knew our run of fixtures in early 2022 was tough; quelle surprise, it has been - we all knew our squad depth would be tested come this point in the season; quelle surprise it has been - we all thought 2nd place would be beyond us; quelle surprise it looks like that's the case. None of the above is a shock or unexpected, so let's not get too het up at it coming to fruition. Despite everything, we're still 4th. That proves 2 things: 1. Our season prior to New Year was outstanding; and 2. Our rivals have, in the main, been inconsistent & have not capitalised on their games in hand as they would have hoped. If we'd have been offered this scenario back in August, all of us would have taken it. We now treat this situation as a mini league; there will be so many thrills & disappointments in the next 2 months, starting on Tuesday (which i expect will be tough as Millwall are after a 6th consecutive victory). We've done enough so far, even during this poor run, to prove ourselves to be as worthy of promotion from this division as anyone else bar Fulham; we now seem to be approaching a favourable set of fixtures on paper compared to our rivals, so let's focus on the positives of that is my overall feeling.

Some would say you ought to change your name to "Back to Front"!

Free hit?? Absolutely not, esp given some of the other fixtures. This is the chance for the team to put things right. THAT defeat will forever be an embarrassment for us as fans, but also for the players as professionals. It will be mostly the same personnel that play, and this is where they can show what they've learnt since in terms of intelligent, counter attacking football & game management. Didn't Leicester beat Southampton 9-0 at St Mary's a few seasons back, only for Saints to win the return fixture? That's what we should be looking to emulate.

A man after my own heart!!

Good point really, a fair result too. Becomes a great point if we follow it up with a win on Saturday. Hope BBD is OK. Who was the ref? Was by far the best I've seen all season.

Poor Giles, not even named in a 10-man 11!!

Frustrating, but let's not be too down. On another day that's at least a point, one poor bit of defending lost us that. Plenty of time to go yet.

9 clean sheets in 11 don't forget. If we don't concede 1 goal wins the game fir us. I think you're being overly pessimistic. Perhaps understandable but still...

No it's not it's in ours, we play them both at Ewood soon & have points in the bag!

The BBC are reporting that it's turning into a memorable season for Boro since Wilder took over, that they're unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions. Erm, hello?!! They're as bad as sky sometimes...

It's a fine stat fir sure, but as much if not more so than talented & confident, they're brave & committed. It's great to see!

Vale now has his hatrick, & Brennan hss scored too. 6-0, 25 mins left

4-0 now, Vale with his 2nd just before HT.

U23s 3 up after 30 mins; Vale, Phillips & ....... ................. Dack the scorers!

This says it all about the job TM & the team have done so far. Amazing. It's gonna be a tense 3 months now but what a season it will have been, however it ends.

I agree with all that apart from the last para. Whilst I like to watch as many games as possible and can't get to away games due to family commitments, our record on Sky is rubbish & I'm sure all the random KO times mess with travel & pre match prep routines for the squad, and the fans. And the club loses matchday revenue on the home games; dunno how that stacks up against the match fee sky pays, but still... I'd prefer bums on seat at Ewood & a more buoyant atmosphere to being watched on TV, I'm sure the players would to. All that said, it's a good dilemma to have!