This may be a naïve question, and is only peripheral to today's game; but can anyone closer to being in the know than me - not difficult! - tell me the answer to the following question. (And apologies to anyone who thinks I'm too cynical!)

When we borrow a Premier League club's youngster for a season, do we have to take whichever player they're prepared to lend; or do we know enough about their youngsters to ask about borrowing a specific player?

I ask because, with the exception of the first Liverpool player we borrowed, it's felt like we've had to take whichever player they feel they can manage without for a season.

And that, for me, is a danger sign. If they feel they can manage without him, what are the chances that, more often than not, we could as well?

1 hour ago, Ghost7 said:

If we had decent owners my message to them would be sack the CEO immediately, bring in a team that can work together with the fans, restore some pride and with that generate some revenue for this football club.

And, if you'll excuse me being vulgar, "If me aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle."

We don't have decent owners; and we won't have while we're owned by chicken-sellers from Pune. If we didn't know that before they sacked the Manager who would have kept us in the Premier League for ever and a day - and I know all the arguments about the way we played under his management - we surely do now.

9 hours ago, R0verb0y said:

Oh; and my stand on Match of the Day is that I won't watch if Danny Murphy's one of the ex-players (he might as well have been one of them when we used to pay him!) pontificating!

And, fwiw, when the pundits are Danny Murphy and Paul Ince, then it's time to go into the kitchen and do the washing-up!!😉

14 hours ago, SuperBrfc said:

I think my lack of interest can be summed up by the fact that, despite having followed every game of ours over the last 10 years, either in person, via stream or by radio, around 90 percent of those games have been erased from my mind. It's not an age thing, as if you were to ask me what happened against Derby in 1996 I'll tell you in detail off the top of my head. Random game, West Brom away 2002? Same. I'll even tell you what night it was on. Huddersfield away in 2018? Nope. Swansea at home in 2019? Nope. I couldn't tell you from memory. It has mostly been forgettable shite for well over 10 years.

I'll be honest, the only thing that keeps me interested are the memories of old and the faint hope (at present) that one day we might get back to something like what we were. The true Rovers, before these bastards took over. There isn't much about the last 12 years or the present day Rovers that has had me excited or positive about the future of the club.

The hope I retain is that we will start the road to recovery once this lot sell up. The day they sell up, it will feel like a huge weight has been lifted from the club. That day can't come soon enough.

The thought of that is keeping me watching, wishing, that somebody might fluke something for us until that point and have us in the Prem before the bastards decide they want out. I don't for one second expect them to shell out Premier League level transfer fees and wages, so hopefully that's the point they will clear off. I believe there will be interest in us as a Premier League club, a lot more than there is at present, IMO. We just need to get there, somehow.

To the neutral and the bitter rival it seems as though we are complaining because Uncle Jack is no longer around. I know, as I have had such remarks from them. They have no idea. They say "but you are third" and "but they've spent over £200m", "but they are still paying the bills". What we have lost over the past 12 years and the damage that has been done can't be put into words and goes beyond money. It will never be understood by outsiders. 1995 has nothing to do with the anger that has been felt since this lot turned up and ruined the club.

The very heart of the club, everything that made me proud about it has been thrown away in such a disgusting manner by people who have no interest in football and who, IMO, have no right being anywhere near the club. Desperado after desperado appointed in the dugout and in the boardroom, the club reduced to an unrecognisable, hollow shell.

Then we have insulting marketing from total losers lucky to be at the club. "We're committed, are you?" Committed to what? Brown nosing the idiots in Pune and telling us how difficult it is to compete? F.O!! Then you have that bastard in Marketing saying "there's nothing special about Blackburn Rovers". He's lucky this isn't Italy. It's making my blood boil just thinking about all of this.

The biggest problem for me is the lack of care. Nobody at the club, in a senior position, gives a shit. Excuses are made for mediocrity, excuses are made as to why we can't compete. A winning mentality seems to be frowned upon and expectations are played down in public. How do I then get excited, about what? Selling kids to the big clubs in 3 years time? Again, F.O!!

We're constantly being fed bullshit about a project. A journey leading precisely nowhere. Mowbray had five years and wasted them. This lot want three more, and think we can get there with Academy kids. It's a farce. A total farce. I'm sorry, I can't get behind any of it. Nothing against any fellow fan who is being optimistic and positive. That's fair enough, we're all trying to make the best of it, but I personally can't do it, even though I have tried. Not when I perceive the tossers at the top to be taking the piss out of us.

I still watch the Premier League, MOTD and all the rest of it, and it hurts to see the likes of Brighton, Brentford etc taking it to the big boys, as that's exactly what we used to do and more. We had it, but it was thrown away by idiots. We can all accept a natural decline, but not this bullshit.

What hurts even more, is realising that we aren't a normal club with any real aspirations of getting back there. We're just existing without genuine hope, whilst a new character is wheeled out telling us the owners want promotion. It's only us, the fans, who are truly fiercely ambitious and want the club to get back up. There's a huge void where there should be care, ambition and a board worthy of the name at the club, and that is what has killed and is killing the interest of many.

Well, you've certainly struck a chord there @SuperBrfc! Your final paragraph is simply magnificent.

My equivalent of the games you refer to from the "good old days" is the game we played at home to Plymouth Argyle on 15th February 1975. A Division 3 game - a bit like Ipswich Town v. Plymouth Argyle last weekend. Only ours was 2nd (us) v. 1st (Plymouth) and with only a quarter of the game gone, we were 0-2 down. But we ended up 5-2 winners and, to quote Max Boyce, "I know; I was there!!"

And that game will be etched in my memory till the day I die.  Although the Match of the Day contract of that era committed the BBC to showing a very limited number of Division 3 and 4 games a season, that game wasn't shown because it clashed with the 5th Round of the Cup.

Compare and contrast: can anyone imagine the present day Rovers management/squad being able to effect a turnaround like that?! I don't have Sky, so was listening to the Manchester Derby on Radio 5 last Saturday when they suddenly went over to their reporter at Ewood for a "shock scoreline" 32 seconds into the game! None of you on here will be surprised to know I'd worked out "the shock" before their reporter confirmed it for me.

Oh; and my stand on Match of the Day is that I won't watch if Danny Murphy's one of the ex-players (he might as well have been one of them when we used to pay him!) pontificating!

2 hours ago, TheRoversReturn said:

Not sure what we can say about JDT...if, in the summer, anybody had suggested we'd be in the play-offs into the second half of the season then we'd have bitten their hands off. Nobody was predicting that beforehand. Poster after poster state how crappy our squad is, yet JDT has them challenging near the top. 

Objectively, he's done a great job so far. It's such a shame we also have to see us being trounced by three goals by our two local rivals and then embarrassed 4-0 by Rotherham of all teams. Life as a Rovers fan, eh? This season and last season are the best we've had under the Venky's. Doesn't feel great like it should though, eh?

Feels like we lost part of our soul when the Walker Trust sold us.

No; @TheRoversReturn, it certainly doesn't feel as great as it ought to feel having spent as much of this season as consistently high in the table as we have.

Part of that's probably down to how well our 6-fingered neighbours are doing and the way they had us sussed in the last game before the World Cup break, though.

As regards your final paragraph, I can't help wondering how much "due diligence" the Walker Trust did before selling us? So much water's flowed under the bridge since the I can't recall if it was ever revealed to us - the poor bloody footsoldiers who turn up week after week - whether Venky's were the only bidders for us; or whether theirs was the largest bid.

9 hours ago, den said:

I hope the manager and players read this thread.

And Waggott, for all the good it'll do.

It's taken a lot shorter time for the scales to drop from my eyes regarding JDT than it did regarding Mogadon Man.

After yesterday, I now see JDT's talk of a "Project" as bullshit, designed to get him - and by extension, his mate, Gregg - a minimum of 2 - 3 years' undemanding, presumably well-paid, employment from Owners who blatantly don't give a toss about the once-proud club they own.

Masochist that I am, I'll keep my season ticket for the rest of this season but it will take a miracle for me to renew it.

I'll be like one of Al Reid's characters - for all but a few on here, he was a northern comedian "on the wireless" in the 1950s & early '60s - one of whose routines featured an irate football fan who, when asked if he was going to the match at the weekend, replied, "No. Why should I? They never came to see me when I were bad!!"

Uncle Jack must be turning in his grave at the way his legacy's been trashed.

25 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

No worries, they only just scraped through today.

NZ ..... a Dingle .... say no more ..... But the sheep are scared.

☝️😉😂

That'll be my opening line, AllRoverAsia; thanks very much!

1 hour ago, Gav said:

.... .... .... ....

If only Carlsberg did football owners….

... they wouldn't make any out of people whose expertise is in rearing chickens.

3 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Preston losing at home 0-2

There is still hope of some pleasure today.

You haven't got a Burnleh-supporting friend in New Zealand who's already let me know what is top of the agenda for our regular Sunday morning (here; evening there) WhatsApp chat!!

4 hours ago, BigBar said:

I don't take that away from his comments or interviews...say that then. I think he thinks he can bring these same players to a higher level due to his brilliance that you or I couldn't begin to understand.

I think that, too. And for evidence, I'd offer Bradley Dack, who, despite being regularly omitted from the first eleven names on teamsheets (despite many of us on here wondering why) before the World Cup break, has been much more in favour since the resumption of League football.

Perhaps JDT feels that Dack's - at last? - "got the message"??

1 hour ago, lraC said:

Being a Blackburn Rovers supporter became a chore when Venky’s turned up. I bother, as they are a habit of a lifetime, but it’s no longer enjoyable or good for me. Venky’s have torn the heart and soul from the club and done the same to a large number of supporters too. 

For me, it's a History thing. My parents were Blackburners who moved to live in Blackpool after World War 2. Dad inculcated a love of the Rovers into his son - the only pupil at his Primary School in 1953 who knew for a fact that Rovers (half-way up the old Division 2) were better than the Blackpool team which won the "Matthews Cup Final" in 1953.

I knew that because my Dad told me so.

Goodness knows how he'd have reacted to a walloping like the one it sounds Rotherham have given us today.

22 minutes ago, rigger said:

It is boring just listening on the radio. The only thing I have taken in, is that Gallaghers commentary for radio Lancs is as bad as Gallaghers performance on the pitch. 

I'm listening to Radio 5 and they interrupted chatting about the Manchester Derby to go over to Rotherham "where there's a surprise."

"Not to Rovers' fans.", I thought before hearing the grimly predictable score.

On 11/01/2023 at 09:15, RoversTilliDie said:

Third, but the chasing pack are getting closer. We need to go on an unbeaten run and cement our place in the top 6.

Will it help us that there are 2 other teams in the play-off zone (Middlesbrough & Millwall); and 2 just below the play-off zone (Luton & WBA) playing 6-pointer games later today?

It's crucial that we go for smashing Rotherham today and the teams to come in future weeks so that other teams' results are irrelevant.

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

That's a really nice draw in the 4th round ..... a  home game against beatable opposition

Let's hope Tomasson takes it seriously unlike against Forest in the league cup

We're not getting promoted automatically and a good cup run would be great for the club and the fans

Slight amendment for you to consider, @jim mk2.

It'd be sweet, imo, if we re-joined the Premier League the way we became founder members of the Premiership. If I remember correctly, we finished 6th in the last season before the inaugural Premiership season.

31 minutes ago, Crozzy said:

Forest Green or Birmingham coming to Ewood next round 

That sounds like a winnable tie. Prefer F.G.R., obvs.

8 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

Elsewhere in the cup, Leeds conceding some embarrassingly poor goals against Cardiff.

'Marsching' on together; out of the Cup?!

14 hours ago, Mercer said:

Cardiff are sh1te.

Let's be honest, I'd even expect Coyle to be capable of putting out a team to beat them.

If we can't beat this shower then JDT should be sacked on the spot.

Rovers by 2 goals to nil.

Steady on, @Mercer!! 😉

36 minutes ago, Cherry Blue said:

The fact that it was his head made it had to be a no brainer for FA. With the rules on head injuries, heading the ball worries, plus protecting refs decisions they would need a quick decision and move on.

A little bit more for JDT will be to install professional approach in training. If this has happened in a game what's the atmosphere like in training??   

I don't want to use up my quota of ☝️ 'likes' 😉, but I totally agree with this first paragraph. Additionally, there was what seemed to be a fairly close precedent from a Cardiff game earlier this season which the FA would doubtless have taken into account.

Ideally, @Cherry Blueyour second comment is something that clubs should be able to expect from mature adults, imo. And if I'm being over-optimistic about the maturity of footballers, you'd hope - I would, anyway - that it's something that would be addressed by the Under-18s coaches into their charges.

And finally, now that the club’s appeal has been rejected, I hope Buckley's been hit with a club fine, as a way of making him see what is and what isn't acceptable behaviour.

23 hours ago, Mercer said:

Think we first need to build a squad capable of getting there!

Six signings so far and only Hyam looks sound.  Brittain looks half decent but my God, looks one who'll make sure the treatment room is always occupied.

We don't want any more feckin 'journey' nonsense or 'I need 3 windows' stalling bullsh1t.

Said it time and time again, we need a manager who unequivocally says 'our objective is simple, to get us to the PL in the shortest space of time - no caveats - full stop'.

... and owners who accept that, with the privilege of owning Lancashire's Most Historic Football Club - and God knows what it must have cost them - surely goes the responsibility of providing the funds to get us back to where we were when they bought us. Otherwise, why did they buy us?

Apologies if others have already made the following points, but I'm doing my usual post-match trawl through a thread from start to finish.

The last 24 hours have been really strange for me. I'm a 76-year-old season ticket-holder who's been a diehard Rovers' fan since the first match I can remember my Dad bringing me to in November 1953.

So I've seen: the good, our times in Division 1/Premier League; the bad, a couple of relegation to Division 3/League 1; and the ugly, a team which doesn't seem full able to implement a Head Coach's strategy on the pitch.

Over the years, I've become mobility-impaired and don't drive any more so tend not to come to evening games. So, yesterday lunchtime, I confirmed to the pal I generally meet up with in the Riverside that I wouldn't be going to last night's game but that I'd see him on Sunday at the Cardiff game. I then carried about the usual jobs around the house for the rest of the day and, to my shame but not surprise, I completely forgot about the game until the - grimly predictable - result appeared on the television news.

It's the first time I ever remember that happening and I  remember thinking, "Typical bloody Rovers."

I've posted on here previously that I've bought into the concept of "the Project" which will take three or four transfer windows to come to fruition. But I’m afraid that the coaching and preparation for where we are now is beginning to seem inadequate.

As is, and I write this reluctantly, the quality of the current squad of players. For me the coming transfer window will be crucial. We HAVE to recruit some players capable of implementing what the Head Coach expects of them because the majority of the current squad seem uncomfortable with his expectations.

Our freakish sequence of results has had us in an unrealistic position in the table but I fear that a drastic slide to - excuse the cliché! - mid-table mediocrity is on the cards if we don't see next month recruitment of some players capable of implementing the Head Coach's strategy and the departure of some who never will be.

1 hour ago, nathan_rovers1 said:

Kidding, right? Top 4 in first season in charge. Are we genuinely upset if we finish 8 and above? 

Well, I for one, would be quite hacked off - which, I think, equates to being "genuinely upset", if we finished 7th or 8th. To have spent so much of the season in the automatic promotion places and end up with not a shot at promotion would feel like an avoidable failure.

And I know that I'm one of the posters on here who's been most in favour of JDT's "Project", which he tells us will take three or four transfer windows before it will come to fruition.

But to have spent so much of his first season with promotion apparently within our grasp, yet in what seems to be a bang average Championship table - witness how few points there are between 7th/8th and 19th/20th ‐ to miss out on even the opportunity to compete for a place in the Premier League would be extremely disappointing, to put it mildly.

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Gallagher and Hirst must be as poor a pair of strikers as we've ever had at the Club at the same time.

I'm not sure - I desperately hope I'm wrong! - but when we signed Hirst on loan, didn’t I read somewhere that the terms of the deal included an obligation to pay the asking price; a bit like the deal in which Wolves have lately signed Matheus Cunha from one of the Spanish clubs?!

1 hour ago, davulsukur said:

Between now and the end of the season, he really needs to sort out this concede first and lose curse that hangs over us.

Be terrible to go into the plays off with that still hanging over us.

I gave this a thumbs-up, not just for the sentiment of the first paragraph, but also for the "plays off", which gladdened the heart of this old pedant!!👋

Incidentally, I also feel, fwiw, that, while yesterday was a "bad day at the office" for some of the more peripheral members of our squad, it was, and by a country mile, the best game Pears has had in a first team sweater.

7 hours ago, TruRover said:

Completely disagree. 
 

Ask any of the 2000/3000 fans who went down to West Ham on a cold Wednesday night. A night that will live long in the memory. 

As one of those fans, I'll bet two contributory factors were: i) seeing Rovers on a ground where they've never played before; ii) the price of the tickets (£10 for adults; £1 for youngsters, if memory serves). Even if £9.00 - nine quid!! 😦 -for admittedly the largest hot dog I've ever seen was a brutal reminder of "London prices"!

A couple of other points on yesterday:

1) An old acquaintance who lives in Hull texted me last night and made the point that there are only 8 points between QPR in 6th and Hull in 21st. Admittedly, we're 5 points ahead of QPR but we can't rest on our laurels.

2) Look who, and where, we're playing in the 3rd Round in the F.A. Cup?! My bet is that we'll have a more positive attitude to this competition than in the Mowbray era.

9 hours ago, DE. said:

About to start heading up to Norwich, hoping at the very least we can achieve our first draw of the season. Praying we don't get hammered as I'm having to sit with the home supporters.

But isn't it sweet when you get a result like that, @DE.?

I remember sitting in the South Stand at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool's only Premier League season, alongside an old schoolmate, whose daughter's season ticket I'd borrowed (she was a bridesmaid at a friend's wedding that day). If you'd seen us as Brett Emerton's goal went in in the dying minutes of that game, you'd never have known that one of us was a season-ticket holder at Ewood!