They probably waited for me to go to the loo!!😏

Google Harry Arter. For a couple of seasons now - IIRC - Nottingham Forest have been paying him £40K + per week to do a bit of training! 😦 The Manager who signed him has moved on but no subsequent Manager has rated him enough to pick him.

I had thought it would be next weekend; but having seen the BBC News & weather forecast, I'm up to speed, thanks @wilsdenrover As I'll need to be in the morning for my weekly verbal joust with my Burnleh-supporting old schoolmate in NZ!! (It'll be strange with no weekend games to discuss; but I'm sure we'll find some points of disagreement!

Mea culpa, @wilsdenrover , so do I!😏 In mitigation, it's been a lo-o-ng day today.

Certainly was! 😦 I remember coming over from Blackpool with a colleague who was a Man City fan; but can't now recall why it was a Monday night match - lo-o-ong before the era of rearranged fixtures for the convenience of Sky TV. Said colleague was severely erm, "hacked" off with me reminding him for the rest of City's successful Cup run that Jim Fryatt's goal in our 4-1 defeat was the only one they conceded in that run! Incidentally, perhaps it was a bit too much of a "niche" statistic; but I was a bit surprised not to have heard any of the commentators last weekend mention that both of the grandfathers of Tommy Booth played for City in that 5th Round game.

Dead right @roversfan99. That's how Dyche did it for the 6‐fingered ones, and quite a few others have followed a similar route to Premier League stability. Who knows, Kompany may have to do it as well next season?

Yes, the part I've copied in bold is where longstanding - you know what I mean! - fans will get penalised. Over the years, I've stood/sat in most parts of the ground; and like most of us, I guess, I want the club to strike a balance between loyalty and fairness. (= "I must have some of those 'Yaarkshire frugal genes' in my DNA!!") As I get - much! - closer to 80 than 70, I'm thinking I want a bit more comfort watching a game at Ewood than I've been used to in recent seasons. So I'm toying with the idea of an upgrade and moving from not very high up in the Riverside to a seat in the Jack Walker Upper. But, because I'm not renewing my old season ticket, I guess I won't be entitled to any discount, but will have to pay the post-discount price for my new seat. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I can't afford a seat in the Jack Walker; I can. What I'm saying is that there doesn't seem to be any incentive for a loyal season-ticket holder who wants to upgrade! Additionally, there's the timing of matches to be taken into account, as per @Oldgregg86 . I'm not sure if I can be bothered turning up to Ewood even in the Jack Walker Upper to watch a Premier League game next season if it's versus, say, Brentford or Fulham when it kicks-off at 7.45 pm one midweek evening.

Thanks for reminding me of that game, @oneandycrawford. It was a bit special, all right.

Yes, I know - and get - what you're saying @Shirley Crabtree Wrestlerand , if we were to go up this season, I think we'd do extremely well not to come straight back down. However, and fwiw, I don't think it would be a total disaster to come back down after a season, so long as we spent wisely - a bit like that club the far side of Accrington, which was founded in the year we competed in our first FA Cup Final. It took Dyche at least three seasons from their promotion to the Premier League to establish a presence therein. If Gregg and JDT can attract players of sufficient quality in the years to come, who's to say that Lancashire's Most Historic Football Club couldn't return to our rightful home on the basis of their work augmenting the Brockhall production line?

In a way, it's a shame that the Mitrovič incident later on Sunday - rightly, I guess - drew attention away from our grievances. Presumably, the clubs send in reports on the Officials' performances. Presumably, we can at least let the the FA - ?and PGMOL - know our feelings. (Viz. We wuz robbed!)

As did I. I even had a conciliatory WhatsApp call before I went to bed from my Burnleh-supporting old schoolmate in NZ! But, come on, Lennie; how long have you followed BRFC? These aren't the days of John Williams, tha knows!😏

With respect to the 7th paragraph of the following report - the one beginning, "That was how it stayed until the hour ..." - it interests and intrigues me how a - presumably - neutral reporter sees things differently from those (of us😉) who invest: financially; emotionally; and every other conceivable way; in one of the combatants. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/19/sheffield-united-blackburn-fa-cup-quarter-final-match-report?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Quite a lot further in both Cup competitions, in fact, than his predecessor would have wanted to.

Yeah; I get that, @broadsword . That second leg defeat in Sahf London was really painful at the time and the journey home heartbreaking. And nearly 25 years on, I've still haven't forgiven George Courtney - the Referee of the Second Leg game - for his "controversial decisions", to quote Mike Jackman. He (Courtney) may be 82 nowadays; but he was always one of those Referees who, for me, made the game all about them. But who could have foreseen what would have happened within three seasons, with Uncle Jack's largesse? And that’s why I cut JDT some slack on here. For me, he laid the ground out clearly from almost his first statement that it would be three to four 'Windows' before he had a squad capable of holding their own in the Premier League. If they do that nearly as well as our squads of the 1990s did, it will go a lo-o-ong way towards easing the pain of this lunchtime. But that'll call for more input from our Owners than we've seen over the years.

Don't forget they beat us for the right to go to Wembley, @Mike E. All four teams will be playing "Away". (If it helps, when I first saw the draw, I wondered about posting an - understandably - snarky comment referring to the cricket history of Bramall Lane and wondering if they still had a scoreboard from those days.)

To mis-quote from "The Sound of Music", "I am 76, going on 77!", @SIMON GARNERS 194And would love to see Rovers at the New Wembley while I still can. (And yes, I know; it neither scans, nor rhymes!)

Oh, with respect, @BigBar, I think we can. Even if the Referee hadn't shown the Sheffield United defender a Red card before BBD took the penalty, he could - and, arguably - should have shown him a second yellow about halfway through the first half. Which would have left Sheff U with 10 v. 11 for at least 65+ minutes of the game. Obviously, I can't prove that that would have seen us through; but it would have made our job much easier.

Why on earth do you say that @Bbrovers2288? Isn’t that where the Play-off Finals will be held this year? Wouldn't it be sweet if we got the lot we've just played in that competition? Wouldn't mind a different Ref than today's, mind!

Not just any loss, though, @DanielMB. Victory was SO-O-O close. We will get over it - eventually ‐ but right now, it hurts. So many "ifs": if the Ref had sent off the one of theirs who contended the penalty early on; if JDT had made some different substitutions; if we had a bigger squad to choose from; if our multi-millionnaire owners would put a bit of money into recruitment of better-quality players. Repeat that last one, in particular, ad nauseam.

When my Mrs. was weary, she used to say, "I'm like a wrung-out rag!" The last couple of hours have left me knowing exactly that feeling. Only two consolations: if we'd won, I was going to "invest" a couple of quid with itv.com & see if I couldn't win best seats at Wembley for the final. Well, they can forget that! And: Hopefully, we can now properly "concentrate on the League."

Nor show him a - merited - 2nd yellow.

Kinnell. 😦

😦

Kinnell!😦😦😦