To be fair, Shearer had already scored for England, so it wasn’t exactly ‘who’s he’? English record fee for an average scoring ratio and getting rid of Speedie were more the issues.

Interesting that Birtles says in the article that he doesn’t suit the wide role...

Think he means Ali Syed. Like your thinking though Tyrone, let’s move this on to our own personal confessional!

£30 cap, but alas that wasn’t put in place until we’d left.

No arguments there, yet surely the club would rather the truth be told on how Ewood feels a much better place Or is the term we are after ‘clickbait’?

It’s a good point Tyrone, all depends on where you reside/who you know. I know Blues from Bamber Bridge, who absolutely can’t abide Preston and their fans, more so than Burnley - for an obvious reason.

Is it just me or does Simon Smith have veiled digs at the fans every week? Even when there’s a real positivity. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/16606486.trust-mowbray-to-get-rovers-signings-right-simon-smith/ The support at the grounds (home and away) has been right behind the team - even at 2-0 down against Reading, they were cheered on. We are ‘supporting the lads’, most folk seem happy Bell’s in the side. Why not point out the Ewood good vibes for once? It just continues a false narrative that Ewood is a uniquely negative place, especially as for many fans the LT is still the main place they get their Rovers news.

We take around a 1,000 minimum pretty much to every weekend game these days, wherever the game is. With plenty more for local games obviously. We didn’t take that to Man Utd/City/Liverpool by the end of our time in the PL - just shows the difference when we aren’t being charged £40 - as Leeds will show...

Why? It’s bang on. But hopefully Reed will prove we’ve got the recruitment right.

That’s not what I imagine most fans would suggest or something Mowbray would do, so a non issue really.

So you agree he’ll be out the side? So what was all this about ‘agendas’ about then?

Bennett alongside Evans, he was excellent in there when tried last season. Perhaps it will be Reed, I’d have to see him in action. No agenda, not sure why there would be one, but you need to improve your side year on year, and for me the extra pace and guile of Championship midfields is already exposing him. No shame in that and he is still someone to have around the squad, but that’s football.

Obsessed? Running down? Why would I be any of those things?! You feel free to go where you want! Is this not a place for debate and throwing around ideas? We have to be realistic, with current numbers in the ground, the JW lower won’t get going, so yes the Blackburn End is the current only solution. Now we’d all love to see the ground like it was in 2009 with two full ends, but it won’t be any time soon, so as an interim why not pack out the End which is fairly full already and is the only part of the ground with an ok-ish atmosphere (yes just ok, nobody thinks it’s the BBEnd of yore). I’ve no idea why you find this a remotely controversial suggestion.

Market forces I’m afraid, those London fixtures rake in more revenue than the rest of the summer Tests combined.

Miles away from his stretch target too, maybe missing out on his bonus will bring home how he misread the fan base this summer...

But we don’t know if he’s a bargain or not off YouTube clips though, do we! Time will prove it one way or the other.

I always remember it being said that Jack was supposedly the racist, not Kenny. Even though we signed black players throughout his time as owner.

He’ll be too sozzled with all the fine reds he’ll have been supping toasting this fine start.

He’s better than Dack! He said so himself!

Catholic Church, I presume?

Pubs in Darwen run buses to Ewood, same for Rishton. Not sure of any other areas?

Just what I thought pk was insinuating...

Safe standing on the Darwen End? Interesting development, but it doesn’t change the fact that it won’t happen overnight and even if it did we won’t have different stands with singers in decent numbers until we get numbers significantly higher than 11,000, the ground is just too big.

Local rag’s take on it: https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/something-ben-breretons-nottingham-forest-1947752 ’Premier League now firmly in Forest’s sights’ 1 win in 5 and is their squad noticeably better than when they struggled last season?

End of the day, Gladwin, Whitts, Caddis, Hart will be out of contract at the end of the season, so it’s not like the days of old in which clowns like Leon Best were given 5 year deals on 40k a week or whatever it was...