garnersfags

Whichever side of the JDT fence we sit on, we need to stay calm, there's a hell of a long way to go and West Ham are likely to win, but we now have hope. I'm so happy that whatever happens, those brilliant fans are having the night of their lives, they deserve it.

That deafening rendition of 'No Nay Never....' sent tingles down my spine... Could hear it from Lancashire. Brilliant support!

In terms of the game, I genuinely think it will negatively impact on the build up to Sunday, and the confidence of one or 2 of the players, if we lose by 4 or more goals tomorrow. Scott W probably needs game time ahead of the weekend, but I agree we need both Wharton's involved on Sunday. It's a difficult decision to decide which 3 first-teamers to play tomorrow. Brittain, Hedges, and Kaminski? It's a lottery, but still think its important to be competitive, to build some momentum that midweek away games usually sabotage. Brilliant effort by anyone travelling down from the North. Good luck and enjoy. COYB!!!!

Not sure I get the joke, but please could you pin it back. Can't see how the members, mods, or visitors benefit from it being unpinned. I'm too nervous about Sunday to see the funny side of anything, but I'm looking forward to following the match comments on here on Wed night.

Unfortunately, I missed this brilliant offer. I've been looking for this exact shirt since my last one finally bit the dust around 10 years ago. Please order another run, and I will order a long sleeve and a short sleeved one, or 2 long sleeved ones. Can't believe I missed this threads thread. Would've loved it for Xmas. Anyone selling them on, I'll pay £40 for a large! Again, brilliant idea, guys.

Did it look like 2nd place playing 23rd place? Our midweek away performances are consistently poor, do you think JDT needs to accept a different approach is needed in these games?

That would be working on the assumption that winning the game or even scoring was important to the manager. He is more concerned with the experiment than the win.

Please don't let the red card deflect from the fact that the manager has gone with an experimental midweek hunch again. I now genuinely believe that the result is of secondary importance to his misguided insistence in playing a certain formation and personnel regardless of whether the players are suited to it. And then repeating this as often as is necessary, until we scrape the odd midweek away win. The sad thing is that every one of those brilliant fans that were there tonight, and endured the other midweek away capitulations, know it as well. This is hard to admit and accept, but this means he will do the same at Turf Moor. The result really doesn't matter to JDT, and tonight was the ultimate proof: Vale? Hirst? Travis? Pickering? The squad has consciously or otherwise, decided not to buy into this clueless, head-in-sand, logic-free stubbornness, and it is showing more in every midweek away game. Blackpool was the exception that proves the rule. He learned nothing from the drubbings at Sheff Utd and Reading, and will refuse to accept that he needs to do anything differently between now and May. The poor sods paying good money to travel to West Ham midweek also know this. I salute them and sympathise with them. As crazy as last season, who would have thought it....

Total admission of total failure to understand what is needed away from home in the Championship. Yet JDT will express surprise and disappointment that we didn't play well. Again. He must have decided that he needed Pickering for Saturday, but if he wasn't going to bring him on, why have him on the bench? Just bizarre....

I agree we need a decent back-up striker, but that isn't the reason we play so badly away. JDT has repeatedly made unfathomable decisions during our pitiful midweek away run, and that has been our downfall. The players just don't buy into the experiment when they are away from Ewood. Pickering instead of Vale tonight would have provided some solidity which we would have built from, and at least prevented wave after wave of penetrative attacks from a team that lost at home on Saturday. There is no way that JDT would ever look at how lowly Blackpool came away from Coventry with 3 points, only 3 days ago. We may win this, against all odds, but that doesn't change the fact that our starting selection was bloody clueless!!!!!!! I'm devastated.

Some of us apparently think Dack is on the bench, or out of the squad, for footballing reasons. JDT naively wants Dack out of the club in January, to use his wages to buy 2 quality Hedges-type players, and he knows that the only way to achieve this is to directly disrespect and frustrate Dack to the point that he asks for a transfer. As I say, it's naive, as Dack will hang on at least til the end of the season. It's pitiful to watch, but there is no way Dack will play more than a few minutes at the end of every game, Saturday's 20 minutes was the exception...

Ahhh.....it was Vale's fault that they should be 3 nil behind. Genius! We should have realised. Thanks for your insight and leadership, Jon.

Anyone, cheerleaders obviously excepted, who has watched Rovers live this season, predicted this. He was sooooo sure Vale was the answer that he left Wharton and Morton totally exposed which makes the defence nervous, and takes our front two totally out of the game. Bravo! Whatever you think of JDT, he can be so bloody clueless. I don't know what he bases his midweek away selections on but it certainly isn't how the players have performed in previous 1st team games. It seems to be based on a hunch, or maybe how they play in training. Clueless. Please explain and justify, someone......as he is now replacing Vale with Hirst. Ha ha ha. Clueless....

Who do you think JDT expects to break up or prevent the waves of Coventry attacks? Wharton? BBD? Bizarre......

Need Trav or Garrett alongside our midfield boys, and 99% of fans would agree with that. Doesn't mean we won't win, but the selection gives Cov hope, then momentum.....

So, is Pickering unfit? If so, he wouldn't be on the bench? If Pickering had played tonight, I'd be confident that we would keep a clean sheet. Without him, I'm nowhere near as confident. Trav is in to allow JDT to play another forward, which I would usually applaud, but this selection will invite Coventry onto us. More nervous than I should be. Last coupla Coventry attacks prove my point....

Just hope JDT doesn't expect Trav to do what Hedges does when he is RWB. That would be fun 🤣 Circumstance and selection, has given Coventry a chance, but we should be confident, take the game to them, and win. Game on!!!

The Vale selection is, for me, identical to the Hirst selection when he started. 'Here is your chance, take it or lose it'. I had seen nothing to justify Hirst's selection, and I have seen little from Vale to justify this selection. In fact, when Vale plays, he has lost the ball a number of times resulting in swift attacks for the opposition. When everyone except Chaddy predicted the outcome of the Hirst experiment, based on all available evidence, we were all proved right. I think the Vale selection will split opinion, although the available evidence suggests that Vale will struggle, and be replaced after 65 min. I hope he proves us wrong, or at least understands that he needs to hold and keep the ball and bring into play his senior colleagues. Dolan would do a lot of running to protect the exhausted BBD, and Vale will need to do the same. My worry is that Diaz will have to run more to protect Vale. This a big risk for Saturday. COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!

JDT said he needed a rest post-match Saturday, so every possibility he'll get the last 30 min, rather than the 1st, and only if we are not winning. That will allow Szmodics to retain his place. Who knows...😃?

I'm happy with this, should exorcise the ghosts of Wigan, Cardiff, Reading etc... Know its the wrong thread but still think the club should be doing more to advertise Saturday's brilliant pricing, which includes under 18's for £3....

So, thoughts on yesterday. I agree Gally had one of his better games, although feel like he was able to move up a gear as it was his former club, which might answer why he often drops below that level. Looking back at the 1st half comments, Travis received some criticism, but after saying earlier that I was worried about his passing ability unless he plays alongside Wharton and Morton, I was happy that he was back to breaking up attacks and passing it simple, which in the main he did well. We have not been solid at the back all season, which includes our midfield defensive contribution. When teams like Sunderland and Brum take control, Morton and Wharton can go missing, and our defence isn't able to calmly and clinically mop us, as we were doing at this time last season, although van Hecke was a big reason for that defensive stability. If we can score twice, it seems to be enough to win, however much we are overrun in the 2nd half. If we can add defensive stability I predict we will be promoted, but as I always say, that's a very big 'if'. We are getting away with playing our academy starlets more than other teams do, and this will only improve the squad strength. Kaminsky's performance reminds us that we need to sign a decent back-up keeper in Jan. Finally, I hope The club starts to do a better job of advertising the much reduced ticket prices for the next home game. I couldn't find details anywhere. If everyone knows about this by this week, we could have close to 20000 on. A good initiative.

I really think Brittain must start more or less every game. Trust me, when he has a run of games, we will see just how creative and effective he is. You can't drop Hedges after his MoM performance on Tuesday, so Pickering must warm the bench. I'm worried about Travis interrupting our generally positive forward-thinking flow, with his crass inability to think quickly and select an accurate forward pass. I know you will say that's not his game, but it needs to improve if he wants to play every game. I still think the future is Travis, Wharton & Morton in midfield, with Gally and BBD up front.This allows Travis the easier job of breaking up attacks, and making simple 15 yard passes to our 2 starlets. Who knows what JDT will surprise us with today, but I fear Pickering will return at the expense of our best full-back/wing-back. Glorious day for a wander down to Ewood. COYB!!!

Brilliant effort. As others have said, the Fox & Hounds on the McDonald's roundabout, has loads of screens, even outside on this beautiful day, and although busy, you will be served quickly. Only 1 minute walk to the ground. Enjoy!

Increasingly this season we have grown slowly into games at Ewood, gradually asserting ourselves, and often overpowering teams in the 2nd half. Interestingly on Tuesday we almost scored the second too early, which allowed Sunderland to throw caution to the wind, which we struggled to contain for 15 min. We seem to learn game on game from these experiences, at home at least, and JDTs experiments have more chance of working with the 12th man/woman behind us. I really enjoyed Tuesday, I think we were all inspired by the work-rate (and now a bit of quality) of Hedges and Szmodics, so if they can add consistency to the mix, and we can re-inforce in January, we could have a good season. A hell of a lot of big 'ifs' there, especially for anyone who witnessed the preceding 4 or 5 genuinely impotent away debacles. The expression roller-coaster season is over used, but it exactly sums up our last few months. Interesting that the Mowbray return was over-shadowed by our pure interest in the latest edition of the 'project', although I enjoyed watching his increasingly resigned body language. Hedges, Travis, Morton, and Co. could now step up with the odd goal, and I am sooo keen for us to retain BB & Gally as a front 2, although this needs the wing-backs to provide constant width. I really can't wait.....

So, I think we should win on Saturday, esp with hopefully 500 more on the gate to back the team. My only concern is that Birmingham are the opposite to the last few teams that have visited Ewood. They have at least 2 forwards who will gleefully snap up the kind of chances created by Rotherham, and other teams who create good chances but luckily can't hit a barn door. What they are not as good at is defending and creating those chances for Hogan & Deeney. So, will be interesting. These are the games that the teams that are promoted consistently win, so we'll see. I really hope we get a few more through the turnstiles, it makes such a difference. COYB.