Home game with us 4 points from the play offs with a decent goal difference in February. Why is it a dead rubber?

To be fair it’s only been open a day. I remember not that long ago when a match thread wouldn’t hit page 2 before the team was announced...

Go on then guru, what position is Gallagher usually playing?

Him and Waggott still bang on about the slight bit of grumbling in the stands against Barnsley. The only bit of grief he’s had in three years. Very tame in comparison to what he’d have got elsewhere for some of these horrendous runs we’ve been on from time to time. I suppose when you run a club between you with no pressure from owners, you’ll be completely oblivious to the normal pressures of getting results and won’t take kindly to the oiks in the stands pricking their bubble.

He can write what he likes, when he likes. His job isn’t to be a club cheerleader.

Only the Old Firm could afford his wages and you can’t imagine him going back to Celtic and he certainly wouldn’t go to Rangers! A move abroad would be my bet.

Another textbook case study of the crackpot world of social media. All nuance has gone. You either get folk saying: ‘he’s fucking shit’ ‘hope he dies’ or: ’I stand with Sam’, ‘disgraceful SO CALLED journalism’ #cancelsharpe A majority of either side won’t even have read it, just seen a headline and an intervention from DG. Really is the curse of our times (but I bet the LT click rate has gone through the roof and they’re delighted*, and isn’t that what all media is now all about?). *Until Sharpe’s banned from the club, of course!

The fact young Carter has been our only defensive cover in recent games, with a fully fit Mulgrew in the wings, tells you he’s finished at Rovers.

@The HypnoticI noticed the other night that The Wellington on Livesey Branch Road has re-opened, you may want to start your crawl there as it is just up from the Raglan (it will make up for the White Bull further down that’s closed).

‘Standing up for him’ Was Sharpe wrong to write the article, Chaddy?

Thin skinned buggers, aren’t they! Very tame piece from what I read Bloody hell, somebody send DG a link to here! We’ll storm into the top 6 after a scan of this place . #siegementality

I’m not that down about it because I knew we wouldn’t be getting 6 out of 6 from these two games. I currently have more confidence in us as an away side, trying to break down struggling sides at Ewood is something we are piss poor at. Lets see where we are going into the late March international break, these are the games running into it: Swansea H, Derby A, Bristol City H, Wigan A, Barnsley A That’s a run of fixtures that says we could be in the mix by Easter. If we aren’t then that’s that and we obviously just weren’t good enough, but there’s no point chucking in the towel with a 4 point gap in February.

If you’d have said when we went down with Forest in 1999 and then when Sheff Wed followed in 2000 that they wouldn’t be back up to the top flight for at least 20 years, you’d never have believed it. They were two big, traditional clubs that had been right up there for a lot of the previous decades. It’s been 16 years for Leeds now too. That’s why I was so angry to what we inflicted on ourselves in the 2010-2012 era, it’s bloody hard to get there, so don’t throw it away!

Ah, you’ve changed your parameters now. Similar impact to the side? Fine. As anyone with eyes can see as footballers they are nothing like each other.

But it doesn’t make them ‘VERY similar players’, just similar stats. Their dribbles would be different, even if successful. Their ‘key passes’ would be different in style, Buckley’s more intricate etc. Having the same amount of assists (Goal Contribs) doesn’t make them similar players either! ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics’

Red button and freezing temperatures? It will be no different than any other midweek game. Swansea may see a bit of a spike in interest if we win tomorrow...

5 minute drive, not exactly in the sticks. Fernhurst has run a 30 room hotel for years...

The Stats have spoken. End of discussion.

‘VERY similar’ is pushing it. Unless you mean wearing blue and white halves and football boots...

I don’t think there’d be any negative reaction at all. Tony Parkes dedicated his life to the club and it would be a universally popular move. As much as many on here light not like to here it, the regime is nowhere near as unpopular and motives aren’t questioned in anywhere near the same way as they were at the time of the Ronnie Clayton re-naming etc. As an example, last day of the season becomes ‘Tony Parkes Day’ and there is an official re-naming of the Riverside pre-match, I don’t think we’d be hearing much in the way of dissent.

Yeah don’t think there’s even a spade in the ground yet...

Where next? Isle of Man? Orkneys?

More sweeping (and false) statements from Mani. In reality what was often said on here was that £1.7million for a goal scorer who’s played at every England youth level was a good deal and low risk as there was always every chance we’d make our money back, in comparison to some of the other deals we’ve entered into. £1.7million for a young forward with ‘pedigree’, England youth caps, and 50+ Championship appearances = good deal. £7million for another young lad with the the same stats = not so much.

Mani tells us it’s only FFP stopping them from heavily investing in players, indeed ‘they are desperate to’.. no FFP for infrastructure. So...

But there’s always the chance he never fulfils the potential he showed at U18 level. Many don’t, the game is littered with examples of ‘whatever happened to...’, Let’s hope he isn’t another for all parties concerned... but that’s why £7million was a hell of a punt for a club like us.