Speaking of expiring contracts, is Annesley's up this June? Remember when he signed in Jan 2019 it was a two-and-a-half year deal, don't know if there were any options to extend or if he was offered a new deal or not.

Proved their worth against the likes of Reiss Nelson and Eddit Nketiah, Mowbray must surely start thinking of trying some of the youth soon. It's another mid-table season in the Championship, start planning for next season now.

Anyway 1-1 draw with Spuds yesterday

Reached the ISL final at Chennaiyin (top 4 in the league all go into championship playoffs like in Australia and North America) but struggling in mid-table with Jamshedpur.

Luke's now joined Lincoln Red Imps, staying in Gibraltar.

How come Annesley was left out of the game? Back from suspension isn't he?

Yeah Intercity are Tercera División, which is Spain's 4th tier. It's mostly amateur there. You only really start to see a semi-decent standard in the top sides of the Segunda Divisón B (third tier). That's where you get sides who are chasing La Liga 2, as well as the B teams of Barcelona and Real Madrid etc.

I know Louie has been training with the first team lately, have to wonder if maybe that's playing on his mind so he's trying to over-do things and making mistakes in the process? If so he needs to sort out that mentality cos he definitely has the ability to make it as long as he keeps his head on straight.

Yeah he'll be on FM. I know the guy who does the research for the game. He reckons Borge is set for big things so might be rated quite well in the game.

Just give Annesley a go, can't hurt. He's played against tougher opponents than your average Championship striker. Speaking of Gibraltar though I've been really thinking this 17 year old striker from over there should be getting looked at by pro teams. Dylan Borge (born October 2003) already has 8 goals in as many games for Europa FC. Pretty tall and nimble for his age, scored a decent mix of goals including a fair few tap-ins from good positioning in the box. Made his Gib U21 debut at 16 years and 30 days and is probably going to be in the March senior squad for the WC qualis as semi-pros in England probably won't be match fit and Lee Casciaro is very injury prone at 39 years old. If he gets a callup, Blackburn could do with sending some scouts over (probably will anyway as they'll be keeping an eye on Louie).

I'd let some of the kids have the FA Cup game vs Doncaster, at the very least as subs. A cup run would be good but staying in the playoff race should be priority so resting a few starters and letting some of the U23s prove their worth wouldn't be too bad of an idea.

New rankings are out next week aren't they?

England in Pot 1 for the December 7 draw for WC22. Wales in Pot 2, with both Irelands and Scotland in Pot 3. Ideal draw for me: England Wales Northern Ireland Georgia Andorra Gibraltar Gibraltar have nearly beaten Georgia before, are in the same tier as NI in the next Nations League. Playing England at Wembley is a dream for every Llanito, especially players wanting to put themselves in the shop window.

You always know things are going well if Louie jumps up on your back, he does that whenever Gibraltar do well. Don't think he's ever done it to Tjay De Barr though as the striker's only little (hell of a player though)

Well Louie played the full 90 as Gibraltar drew 1-1 with Liechtenstein to secure promotion to League C. Looked pretty assured during the game and made a few dangerous headers when in attacking positions which just didn't come off as teammates were in the wrong positions. Should really have had an assist for a Kian Ronan goal but it was ruled out for a narrow offside. He'll get much better experience next season in League C where he'll potentially end up facing the likes of Northern Ireland, if they can't escape relegation. Hopefully by then he'll be in the Blackburn first team.

Yeah UEFA's score centre initially gave it to Louie but changed it. EDIT: It's changed again, now Brändle OG.

Louie Annesley has scored his first international goal, against Liechtenstein. EDIT: Oh wait no, UEFA got it wrong. Credited as an OG by Frommelt instead.

Dayle Coleing the other pro in the starting XI, having joined the now fully pro Glentoran during the summer. Youngsters Jayce Olivero (over 30 caps at 22 years old and vice captain of the national team), Graeme Torrilla (combative centre mid) and Tjay De Barr (speedy forward, spent last season at Oviedo before injury and Covid meant he returned home) other names to watch. De Barr is very good at speeding past defenders and winning free kicks, which is a useful asset to have when you have a set piece taker like Liam Walker in the team.

Former Rovers academy graduate, but never played a senior game before going to Accrington Stanley, where he played once in an EFL Trophy tie. Then became something of a non-league journeyman aside from a season in Wales with Bangor City, and signed for Boca Gibraltar in the Gibraltar National League in summer (the club are currently managed by Stephen Vaughan Jr who's a pretty shady character but apparently has no involvement with the ownership). Though he's never scored more than 5 goals at any club he's been at, a first career hat-trick a couple of weeks ago means he's already on 4 goals from 3 games this season, presumably as he's being used in a more offensive role rather than out on the wing, and he's got a budding partnership with Dylan Peacock in attack. Be good for him if he has a strong season and settles down there. Especially as 2 years residency would make him eligible for the national team, and at 23 that could be a tempting option for him.

Louie's on the pitch right now, second half sub against Bulgaria. They're 3-0 down but those goals conceded were in the first half and he's held his own in midfield next to former Ipswich academy captain Kian Ronan.

Yeah personally I would have allowed Louie to play against Portugal as well but maybe Blackburn wanted him back as soon as the seniors beat Liechtenstein. It would've been a great test for him as Portugal U21 have players playing first team foorball in Europe's top leagues and a good chance for Blackburn's coaches to see how he copes against elite players.

Wonder if he could be in contention for a cup game if Rovers get a favourable tie in the FA Cup? There's a lot of talent coming from the Rock at the moment though, especially in the goalkeeping department. One of them made 17 saves against Portugal's U21s in a 3-0 defeat with a makeshift defence (cos Annesley was with the seniors so they had to call up a midfielder/defender from the Wessex League who, in fairness to him, did alright against the likes of Jota and Diogo Dalot).

How's Annesley looking for you guys? I'm a big follower of Gibraltar football and he's always been a key player for the national team, even if he's been used as a holding mid for them recently (their manager seems to prefer using older players like Roy Chipolina and Aymen Mouelhi at CB). With the national team looking likely to go up to League C next year it's gonna mean he'll be facing a higher standard more regularly and I'm wondering if that'll help his chances at Blackburn or if maybe he should seek out a loan to a League One or Two team to prove he can cope with the physicality of English football.