Old Codger

Nobbers beating the Dingles 2-0 at half time 😉

Well, it isn't like he didn't have ages to find out before being unveiled... We need to get ahead somehow in this game. I think if we can, we will run out comfortable winners. If not, it might not be our day, because Norwich have created some good chances.

We look out of sorts. I think Forshaw is the wrong selection and Dolan is having one of his poor games Cantwell is rapidly becoming a busted flush for me - he simply doesn't do enough for the team., but neither is he showing individual quality and outstanding flashes.

This is the kind of post that makes reading this forum a pleasure, and a welcome change from the usual foul-mouthed keyboard warrior nonsense that I spout far too often. Fair play to you RoverInverness for your reminder of the values that make BRFCS a great place to get your Rovers fix! Thank You! ALLEZ LES BLEU!!

No need for Forshaw to be involved once Tronstadt is back, and likewise our attacking options are enhanced massively once Yuki becomes fully available again. Remember the impact that key players had on our long winning streak, and how the team spirit shines through when we score, when we win and when we get results 'against the odds'. ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ LES BLEU BLEU BLEU!!!

Wahlsted was genuinely out of his depth at Rovers - the poor lad was as thin as a rake, got precious little time to build his confidence, and didn't get enough time in the side (thankfully) to establish himself. What I guess we all need to factor in is that for a long time Blackburn Rovers has been synonymous with excellent (or at least very high) goalkeeping standards. Starting with the great 'Sir' Roger Jones, through Terry Gennoe, Jim Arnold, Bobby Simms, Tim Flowers, Brad Friedel, Alan Kelly, John Filan, Paul Robinson, David Raya are all stand-outs who would walk into today's side no questions asked. (Mind you, they'd probably leave in disgust at the decline in quality in front of them though!). And of course we have suffered some duds.. no names mentioned...but you know who I mean. So, in many respects we have been spoiled and encouraged to hold high expectations and standards over the years...In the end, Ainsley Pears is generally competent, and has a good number of clean sheets to his gloves this season. He has the glass jaw that all journeymen players suffer from though too, although you only need to look at the national headlines to see that goalkeeping afflictions are not the sole preserve of the Ewood faithful! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c1lppd1p9mzo Once Tronstadt is back in the line-up, I think we will see a return to more miserly performances in front of our goal, so with any luck the number of opportunities for teflon to strike may be reduced to a minimum. It is an exciting prospect that our 'best 11' is coming back into contention just in time for the run in. It should certainly be a concern to the clubs around us that we may be able to deploy a strong line up, with cover and with a very strong together ethos running through the side. We could do with a lift, this side of Lancashire, to send a clear two fingered salute to those who would hold us down, and to bring some joy back to the mouldering crumbling facilities down at Ewood. Maybe the French Connection will do the trick! I really do hope so! ALLEZ LES BLEU!!

Hmm.. the new guy has come in with positive statements and an air of the big man in town about him.. Will there be enough of an impact on the team to make a decent run in possible? As has been pointed out, key players on whose effort and team spirit and contribution our earlier form was built are now coming back into contention. The coach won't have enough time to make selection decisions based on potential, and will need to lean heavily on the (depleted) back-room team to put a suitable blend of players out, with a back of of strong options on the bench. Norwich are more settled perhaps, and although not much better in terms of recent form are still very much in the mix, only 4 points behind us, so they will want to win. Question in my mind is, will our players want it more? We shall see come 12.30 on Saturday. A partisan crowd to roar us on in French?? Hoping for a Valerian valedictorum Rovers 3 (Kargbo, Gueye, Ohashi) Canaries 0 Canaries lost in a coalmine Rovers 4 (Brittain, Gueye 2, Ohashi) Yellers 0 Rovers no richer - Les Bleu 1 Les Jaunes 2 Allez les Bleu! Allez les Bleu! Un jeu, un jour à la fois ALLEZ LES BLEU!

No announcement yet from the club. Means all this noise is pure speculation, and hot air. Boring as fuck. But hardly surprising, given the track record (dreadful), capability (i.e. none) and respect for the fan base (you having a laugh?) evident in the actual behaviour of the so-called management layer at our club. Morons. Disingenuous, cretinous morons. The legacy of Jack Walker, and ALL who worked their hearts and souls for the benefit of Blackburn Rovers before him deserve better. No smoke over the Vatican, and when there is, it won't be to announce the installation of a plausible candidate, but another sodding deluded patsy. You might as well give the job to Chaddy. At least we'd have someone with a modicum of interest in the club doing well, for a change. And no, Chris, I am not having a go at you, gawd bless your blue and white heart. I'm simply pointing out that we are holding our breath for news, when we all know that what will be floated out by the bloaty bloke and Mr Hides in the Shitting Shadows will be less than impressive. Come on, you downtrodden blues. Let's be avin ye..smoke over the vatican.

Desperate / Deluded / Hoodwinked / Chancer / Fool - because whoever comes through the door will be revolving out of it in fairly short order due to there being no fundamental change of approach by those holding the purse strings and driving the operations of Blackburn Rovers Football Club Ltd into the ground. If there had been some kind of signal to indicate a change to the approach adopted by the club for each of the past 5 incumbents in the role, then fair enough. But doh...did I miss something? Let's be honest. A basket case of a club, with a teflon seat in the dugout, Scrooge at the helm and Lord Lucan whispering darkly in the shadows - it is hardly a glowing prospect, is it? I suppose you could argue that we know where the bodies are buried, since they fell on their own swords to get out, but the reality is that the plague persists. It's a bit too BSE, (Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy) for my liking, almost as if there is poison in the very fabric of the club. I put 'Fool' last in my little list of names for the incoming, simply because anyone who enters a plague-ridden rat-infested cess pit with their eyes open, and their hands tied firmly behind their back when the job is to make the place look and feel like the Ritz, well, there has to be some question marks over their sanity, integrity and motivation. And let's face it - this is NOT the most attractive job in football, even if we are still (miraculously) in the top 6. So, welcome, whoever you will be. I hope 'Alchemy' was high up on your CV, cos you are going to need it.

Go on, I'll bite - what on earth are you trying to say? I'm dumbfounded... Sorry if I'm being obtuse, it is just I'm unable to unravel your linguistic calisthenics in that, er, sentence?

Cretinously slow, even for a bunch of amateur cretins. Feyenoord got Robin van Persie in just a few days, even though he was already successfully achieving in his role with Heerenveen. And if they are only just conducting face to face contact, what the feck was all that hamshankery in London last week? Informal see you at the coffee shop for a chat? Bring your ID for verification? Get your jabs for working in the rat infested shithole formerly known as Ewood Park? They think we are mugs. I'm not - I'm the finest bone china tea-set I tell you 😉

Only when the DRINK is in the mix. 20 years ago, maybe, since I gave up the refereeing ten years ago, things have got somewhat sloooooowwwwweeeeerrrr.... Drink! Feck! Arse! Girls! Next Rovers Manager - Quick Video preview It's his EXIT INTERVIEW once the Board and Pasha shaft him next December..

Which says it all - Nicko has about as much a clue as my arse. And moving fast eh? FFS if they move any slower, it will be next flaming season. Arse!

Oh my word! Give this man a literary prize for perfect prose! This is as succinct and accurate an assessment of the 'context' into which our next appointee will sink their faith, and let's be honest, whatever faith they start with will very quickly be baggered out of them by the relentlessly fuckwitted dumb and dumber charade that passes for 'management' in our sorry club. JC Rover for next coach, I say!!

To put it into perspective, £600K is 17 x the local average salary (£35,043) or two weeks wages for a decent Premier League player. The economics are baffling, as of course after all, Head Coach of a small Championship side is still 'just a job' and that kind of money is beyond comprehension for most of us ordinary mortals. It has to be said, however, that it is still 'big money' and with that comes an expectation of performance, results and capability that the majority of us 'ordinary mortals' would just not be able to lay claim to. Whoever is appointed will ultimately carry those expectations. As long as it isn't another 'outstanding candidate' debacle, we will just have to wait and see what the capability is, once it is in place. FWIW I don't think anyone with any serious credentials is likely to take a punt at Rovers, for the reasons we are all too familiar with. It is more likely to be someone either a little bit desperate, someone who has no direct knowledge of the English leagues, or someone slightly unhinged who talks the talk and has all the badges, but who is Marmite (which means it is 50-50 whether it works). Sad days when the once coveted role as Blackburn Rovers 'manager' is a lottery / game of pin the tail on the donkey.

Oh dear! Wheels coming off this afternoon. Poor refereeing that for the second. But amateur defending from Rovers too. Not our day, today, on current showing.

But of course he does! Anyone who actually has any interest in the Rovers would naturally gravitate to this source of balanced, passionate, informed (by experience) and pointed observation on the club. I know I don't bother with any other 'source' for my fix (including the junk pushed out by the club on the rovers.co.uk webbie). If you know, you want to know!

Lol - I am a Rovers fan of some 50 plus years, and I know more than many how it feels to adopt a position of blind optimism in the face of reality - very often it leads to disappointment. However, on reading my post back, I think it is a bit disingenuous to colour it as 'negative', given the measured and balanced content that I included - it could (literally) go either way!. Players are human too, and will be aware of the weird uncertainty surrounding the club on the managerial / coaching front, and this uncertainty cannot be underestimated as a force to potentially undermine confidence. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Feck it - I hope they win! I'll be happy if they take an away point. I'm really enjoying the team spirit, sense of adventure and achievement against the odds, and the connection to us fans. Long, and I really mean LONG may that continue! COYB!

Let's hope the players and Benson just decide to go for it amongst themselves rather than waiting for WaggottPashaGestede to stop fannying around 😉 One game at a time, Rovers. Just play to beat what is in front of you, and feck all the fannyng. COYB!

There is, of course, always the possibility that whoever comes in, inadvertently derails the playoff push by trying too hard to exert influence on players who are clearly already very motivated, well drilled, moving in the right direction and getting good results. Maybe that might be something that the shadowy one(s) behind the management curtains would want to happen. Maybe not. We will see in short order, in any case... Hopefully the momentum will be maintained, and the behind the scenes shit show will be shown to be just the incompetence of the buffoons who are nominally in charge. A good old fashioned dollop of player power would be a grand thing at this point! COYB!!

The wheels are bound to come off at some point, and a trip to Swansea isn't something to take lightly. I don't think the players can do the 'Dougie Sandpit*' poker face thing this weekend, to lull our opponents into a false sense of security, entering the changing rooms with glum faces as if the world was coming to an end.. So, we will have to go with the full-scale let's do this plan based on what we are actually capable of, building upon our relatively miserly defence, and our new-found confidence in front of goal. It has been said that we have key players coming back into contention, which I suppose does increase our strength in depth, but I think we need to be careful to maintain the momentum with the players that have delivered so wonderfully in the two post-JE contests so far. The only rider to place on that would be that normally there would be a 'head coach' through whom selection decisions would be made, and as many have pointed out, we are down several in number in the coaching department, and have only a temporary figure head in place to marshal the troops. It is possible, of course, that a more democratic 'player-led' movement has sprung up, and that the team is self-selecting based upon the professionalism, commitment and desire to win of the current group. So, on to Saturday's fixture. What might we expect? Swanning into town like we own it? Swansea 0 Rovers 2 Swansong for the backroom boys? Swans 2 Rovers reversed 0 'Swan more notch on the bedpost as we charge towards playoff glory? Dead birds 1 Wilderbeasts from the North 4 I'm going for a conservative draw - either a mutual lock out, or both sides landing punches. Whatever happens, I hope the players continue to give it all for the Rovers cause - it is a long time since we had a feeling of such togetherness from the team, and long may it continue! COYB!!

Huzzah!

Suffering a little bit of attention deficit are we? Or just a wum? No one has come up with any reasonable 'theory ' to explain the bizarre way the club has been run by the Loons since they got snowballed took on the club, but if you are so lacking in awareness of what is going on at the Rovers based on the behaviour of those 'in charge' it is probably for the best if you remain ignorant in your cosy little world of bliss. Now, move along there, and don't stop your happy clapping as you go 😞

If the agenda is to ensure that Rovers don't ''over achieve' and make the play-offs, then of course the odious Waggott and personality-defict Pasha will snap the hand off the first dolloper who expresses an interest. Let all hell break loose if they do take that option.

Ok, so it is inevitable that we will suffer some slip ups and defeats during the run in (although how wonderful it would be to go on an unbeaten run!) but with the way we are functioning as a team at the moment, I think everyone who loves what Blackburn Rovers really stands for will be happy with the application and endeavour, if not also the craft, that seems to be the hallmark of this group of players. Arte et Labore indeed! So, with 13 games to go, what would represent a reasonable return, based on current and recent form? For me, taking 20 out of 39 would be a creditable achievement. That would be five wins and five draws, with three games going against us. If we can do better, then brilliant! The players know what they need to do - sod the undertone of a management who appear dead set against the prospects of achieving a top 6 finish - let's just go out, enjoy the games, and if that means we end up with a few extra games at the end of the season and the prospect of a trip to Wemberlee, then LET IT BE!! COYB! ARTE ET LABORE TILL WE DIE!!