All things are possible...

Yes. It goes to help cover hosting fees etc.

Old Blackburnian is on holiday this week - normal (?) service resumes next week but here is a preview of the upcoming QPR game written for the lovely people @LoftForWords Last season looked par for the course as a newly promoted team, what did you make of it? Well initially we over-delivered, turning in some pretty good performances “early doors” as Big Ron would say and that inevitably raised expectations. A period of looking at the league table “above the fold” meant that calculations of how many more wins were needed to reach the play offs reached their apotheosis after 10 minutes away at Brentford in early February when we had raced into a two-goal lead and frankly, besting the Championship at that precise point looked a mere formality. However, eighty-odd minutes later, Brentford’s five goals without reply had given both the team and the fans a chastening dose of harsh reality and forced an urgent reappraisal. Those cancellable bookings for the play-off final hotels looked a tad optimistic. Our season then collapsed like the post-referendum pound and soon we were very much “below the fold” and wondering if the sting in the tale was to be a relegation, whence we came A late-season recovery, aided and abetted by three points at Loftus Road (thanks once again...) ended with a fifteenth place finish, which I would have happily signed up to back in August 2018. All in all, “Tony ultimately came through, but at times his concentration wandered and his performance dipped. B+, could do better”. What business was done over the summer and was the squad stronger or weaker by the end? We lost keeper David Raya to the aforementioned Brentford fairly early on in the window, defender Paul Downing had been effectively released in January, flat-track bully Jack Rodwell fell down a crack in the space/time continuum, from which he is yet to emerge, much-loved, stalwart winger and part-time barber Craig Conway was freed and Ben Gladwin...yes him...also departed Ewood; his most memorable contribution being missing a sitter at home to Plymouth in the promotion season and never being seen again. Inbound moves saw Christian Walton come in on loan from Brighton to replace Raya, Stewart Downing came in to maintain the Rovers “Downing quota” at a solid one and ensure Mowbray was surrounded by a Teesside burr as often as possible. Bradley Johnson joined from Derby on a free to increase our “Bradley” quota to two, but the big money signing of the summer brought back Sam Gallagher; a previous loanee, to add options to our attack and reduce our dependency on the ageing or is that “ageless” Danny Graham. Overall, you would have to say stronger but perhaps not in the areas most needed (the defence Tony...the bloody defence...) and not by a sufficient margin to really excite the fans. How would you assess your start to the season, results are all over the map really? Rovers are absolutely determined to be consistent in their inconsistency. We must be an archetypal Cup team as on our day, we are capable of beating anyone or being beaten by anyone. We are currently mid-table, I expect us to finish mid-table, but the route we choose to arrive at that destination will be circuitous I suspect and not without its moments of triumph and disaster, which will not be treated both the same. Tony Mowbray presumably has credit in the bank from the promotion still, but how’s he doing? In my eyes, yes. He’s a decent man doing a decent job with what he has available to him. I struggle to see him ever taking us back to the Premier League in all honesty, but equally, we are a lot more organised and competitive than under all of his predecessors back to Allardyce. Solid, unspectacular, faithful, generally likeable; much like a Teesside Labrador really. Stand out players and weak links in the side? It used to be all about Bradley Dack but he’s found it to be tougher going in recent months as opponents have latched onto his threat and largely nullified it. It used to be Danny Graham but having spent £5m on Gallagher, Mowbray has to try and find a niche for his new signing and Graham has often been sacrificed. The recent addition of Lewis Holtby is an intriguing one, he could just turn out to be a master stroke. Another Lewis, namely Travis of this parish is probably the next player to leave for a pastures new for a large fee. Liverpool let him go, they may just regret that. He oozes potential. Weak links ? The defence, especially after a couple of clean sheets when they think they’ve cracked it. Is Ben Brereton being written off despite the outlay? Precious little return so far… He’s injured. When he’s not injured he’s played out of position. When he plays out of position he looks lost. Frankly, when he plays in a Rovers shirt at all he looks lost. I feel sorry for the kid, the fee isn’t his fault but the sooner we all recognise that it’s £7m that simply needs to be written off “for tax purposes”, the better we will all feel about it and as such, we can then all move on. He seems highly unlikely to ever be a regular first teamer at Rovers let alone goal scorer and Mowbray’s use of the cheque book with Brereton and Gallagher especially may well ultimately define his reign. These two signings are presently under-performing luxuries we simply cannot afford. The ghosts of Kevin Davies and Ciccio Grabbi appear to haunt Ewood to this very day. Another big money signing this summer in Sam Gallagher, who you’ve had before of course, how’s that gone? Well as per Brereton above, when Mowbray has been given the password for the club internet banking account, it doesn’t seem to end well. Gallagher did a job for us originally, when on loan, albeit without ever ripping up any trees and frankly, doesn’t seem to have progressed all that much since we last had him. We can’t afford to splash the cash very often these days and on the two recent occasions where we have, we appear to have been scammed by the Championship equivalents of those “Nigerian princes” offering untold wealth for “a small administration fee” and access to your current account. Mowbray henceforth should only be allowed to sign players costing £750k or less based on the Dack precedent! What are the ambitions for this season and have they changed since the summer? The more realistic/pragmatic/pessimistic* delete as appropriate, Rovers supporter would say consolidate, improve a few places on last season, have a cup run perhaps...all good. The more ardent Rovers supporter, of which we have a few, proclaimed the signings of Gallagher, Downing and Johnson to be the combination to unlock promotion...not really feasible IMHO. Progress is the watchword. Finishing at least say, three places higher than last season would be a solid (if unspectacular) season. Anything more than that would be a handy bonus. Finishing lower than last season would be hugely disappointing. This squad has potential but no matter how many we sign, we always seem to be two short. Was it ever thus ?

Harsh ?

I get Phillip Seymour Hoffman more often TBH...

Matt was amazing last night....AND he’s recorded a special bit with us for our very own BRFCS podcast....coming next weekend all being well....

He also confirmed that BRFCS will have an exclusive Matt Jansen Special podcast dropping next weekend ?

A slightly longer version of this week's Accrington Observer column The Ballad of Reading Goals Just before football once again became fashionable, post-Italia 90, Channel 4 dipped its toes into the niche market that was and in fairness probably still is; “football-related drama”, with its series “The Manageress”. Starring Cherie Lunghi as “Gabriella Benson” it charted the trials and tribulations of a woman in a man’s world as “Gabriella” becomes manager of a struggling second division side, charged with turning round their fortunes. Interestingly, if you look for this gem on Amazon, the DVD, quite wrongly, is described like this; “...the 1980s football-based TV drama starring Cherie Lunghi as the embattled first female manager of struggling Blackburn Rovers...”; ...it’s as if Don Mackay never existed! There are clips of the series available on YouTube and the sharp-eyed (& perhaps more mature) reader will notice it was filmed at Reading’s old Elm Park ground. Much has changed in the footballing world since 1990, although with one notable exception in France, a female manager of a 2nd tier side is not yet one of the regular features of the modern game. Reading left Elm Park and moved into the majestic Madejski Stadium in 1998; built apparently on the site of a former refuse dump, so yes indeed, obvious punchline fans; it is used to seeing a load of old rubbish served up on a regular basis. However, any rubbish dumped on Saturday came almost exclusively from the home side. The Royals used to be known as “The Biscuitmen” as a homage to the presence of Huntley & Palmer’s in the town, well that, or based upon the evidence presented on Saturday, perhaps a tendency to crumble in their own box? Much pre-match chatter surrounded the addition of Lewis Holtby to the Rovers ranks during the week and despite the proclamations that he had kept himself fit during the summer, most of his activity this week seemed to be courtesy of North Sea ferries and the M62 if social media were to be believed. An early appearance therefore seemed unlikely, but Tony Mowbray nevertheless named him as a substitute. Pre-match injuries and illness had robbed the team of the services of Adarabioyo and Rothwell and Mowbray confirmed that the switch to a back four had been enforced. The absence of Rothwell certainly made it a little easier to name Holtby on the bench. This also possibly meant a reprieve for Adam Armstrong and he was to prove influential in the first half scoring a lovely goal when set up by Stewart Downing, the two wide men combining neatly. At the start of the second half, Armstrong also contributed to the breakaway that resulted in a Rovers second. Gallagher broke down the left, looking up and seemingly struggling to choose between Armstrong and Dack appeared to pick out neither but some shoddy Reading defending allowed Dack time to stretch, control, turn, shoot and via a deflection, score his 40th Rovers goal on the occasion of his 100th appearance. He truly is Tony Mowbray’s best signing for Rovers and pound for pound, quite possibly of his managerial career. It’s on record that early in his Rovers career, in particular when being played wide left away at Shrewsbury and refusing to track back when Rovers lost possession, I questioned the wisdom of the signing. I couldn’t be happier to be proved wrong...yet again! The elegant solution to a problem I didn’t recognise that we had..! Rovers turned in a hugely encouraging team performance here, marred only by a momentary lapse of concentration as the former England junior international John Swift brought Reading back into the game in the 57th minute, not long after hitting the post from an almost identical position. Rovers hadn’t recognised the danger and their sloppiness in allowing a repeat attempt brought quite literally, Swift retribution. Not all that long ago, given the scenario of a goal pulled back by the home side, half an hour to play, I would have been fearful of a capitulation costing at least one if not three points. One of the really pleasing aspects of this game was the use of substitutes to impact on the conduct of that last 30 minutes and the quality that was available to Mowbray from which to select. First Holtby, then Johnson, followed by Graham, in a seven-minute spell with about 15-20 minutes to go, established that if Reading were to take anything, they needed to up their game considerably. Rovers and especially Holtby, started to treat possession with the due care and attention it deserves and when five minutes of added time was indicated, Rovers responded with a training ground passing/possession exercise that kept the ball for over three minutes, killing off any momentum that the home side tried to create. Last week I said that Reading away was exactly the sort of game that an aspiring promotion-chasing team should be looking to win. If there was any disappointment at all at full-time, it’s that Rovers only scored two, when comprehensively on top for large parts of the game. If Rovers can nail this deficiency and maintain the defensive solidity of the last few weeks (West Brom away apart) then hopes and expectations can be re-calibrated accordingly. Back to back home games in store next week will provide an opportunity for further assessment. Luton are enduring the sort of reality-check that might be expected of a side that has enjoyed two promotions in two seasons but any complacency displayed by Rovers could be punished so easily. Nottingham Forest at home, on paper at least, provides a much sterner test. They have enjoyed a revolving door of managerial appointments and player recruitment and as we know all too well, that is far from a guaranteed route to success but they are among the early front-runners in the Championship. Forest’s only defeat so far was on the opening day of the season, but since then they have collected some impressive scalps along the way including Fulham and Swansea away, so Rovers will find this to be a stern test of their credentials. The Championship currently has the top thirteen sides separated by just five points. Any team in this group taking six out of six from their next two fixtures can expect a loftier perch from which to view proceedings come early October. Can Rovers make it four on the bounce ? We shall see. Old Blackburnian

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Liked what I saw today. Simple passing, respect for possession, read play well...should have scored though ?

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Matt on Sky earlier today... 73B07EB3-0B88-4393-A3A7-1B597247D167.MOV

A slightly longer version of this week's Accrington Observer column Transitional Rovers Strive To Remain Part Of The Conversation As the old gag has it, “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be...” and for various reasons this last week, my mind has wandered to times gone by, evoking many different emotions and memories, let me explain... Over a weekend that saw the final test cricket of an epic summer being unfurled, it was cricket, albeit of a somewhat lower standard, that prevented me from attending Ewood in person last weekend. I found myself “doing my bit for the (cricket) club” by standing as an umpire in a match that was part of the centenary celebrations of the bank’s sports ground in Beckenham, at which I had first played in my halcyon days shall we say. The afternoon of sport was opened by a former bank clerk and World Cup winning captain in yet another sport, 2003 hero Martin Johnson, still looking outrageously fit and healthy, whose entertaining and eloquent reflections on his career in and out of rugby set the tone nicely. “Sport is about bringing people together....” was Johnson’s main message, whether that is as teammates, opponents, spectators or even match officials. That said, his second main point appeared to be that if you worked for a bank in the 1980’s, playing international rugby was a cracking way to obtain extra holidays and don't worry too much if your till didn't balance at close of business. I could have used such a concession myself as staff and customers of Midland Bank Accrington will no doubt testify..! Whilst travelling, I had been passing time on the train by browsing through my digital photos, recalling my cricket from ten years previously and that set me off on one of those Google rabbit holes, as my mind inevitably drifted to events at Ewood ten years previously. Who were we playing? What team was selected? How did we fare? How were we feeling? Well, full marks to anyone who can answer without reference to Google, but I shall reveal all. It was of course the last full season before the infamous sale of the club to Venky’s and the ninth consecutive top-flight one being enjoyed at Ewood. Rovers had started relatively poorly under Sam Allardyce, taking one point from the first three games and scoring just one goal. Wolves were due up next and were despatched 3-1 with goals from Diouf, Roberts and Dunn. How much has changed since then? Well clearly, quite a lot; Rovers are in a different division, the attendance that day against Wolves was a healthy 24,845 in the days before the Waggott Tax and the squad that season included Champions League winning Michel Salgado (making his debut as a late substitute that day against Wolves), a midfielder who in 2018 would go on to win a World Cup for France, namely Stephen Nzonzi and a promising young English defender, discovered and nurtured by Steve Kean (!), one Phil Jones...whatever happened to him and all those add-on bonuses we were sure to earn from his transfer? Fast forward to September 2019 and it’s now Millwall that are the visitors in front of 11,873 spectators. Tony Mowbray elected to shuffle his pack, employing a new formation and giving John Buckley his first League start. Mowbray has tinkered with three centre backs before but chose to combine it here with Armstrong up front. The cost was that Graham, Gallagher and Travis all started on the bench. It surprised many Rovers fans and seemed to have a similar impact on Millwall boss Neil Harris. I’m not sure why this match was chosen for such an experiment and whilst in recent weeks I have queried the seeming lack of chemistry in central midfield between Travis & Johnson, it was quite a surprise to learn that Travis was the sacrificial lamb to accommodate Buckley, especially as it was Johnson who was hooked at half time against WBA. Buckley would be the half time change this time and Travis wouldn't feature until the death, replacing the impressive Stuart Downing. I suspect that Derek Williams is not the player that many would have identified pre-season as being the prime candidate to take over the Charlie Mulgrew mantle of “key goal-scoring defender”, but hot on the heels of his winner at Hull he opened the scoring here with what could rightfully be described as a scorcher. If I were Williams I would consider practising free kicks and penalties and affecting a Scottish accent. Last season, Sheffield United’s overlapping centre backs were the wonder of the age but the second Rovers goal could have been straight out of the Chris Wilder playbook; Lenihan crosses, Williams desperate to add to his tally slides in at the back post but narrowly fails to connect, leaving the lively Dack to slot home. It’s perhaps just as well that the goals are being shared around, as Gallagher and Armstrong are still to open their league accounts, Danny Graham is seemingly being courted by Western Sydney Wanderers and Brereton is recovering from knee surgery. Dack is currently carrying the lion’s share of the scoring burden and must be grateful for any assistance from whatever source. Four clean sheets in five, (the WBA aberration apart) is definitely welcome news whether it will prove to be three or four at the back that endures. Ten years on, Rovers find themselves still seemingly in transition. The plan for a Premier return still undergoing recalibration. Rather than being right at the heart of the promotion conversation, Rovers remain in earshot, but no matter what the transfer activity in the previous window, we seem to be perennially consigned to being a couple of players short of a genuine promotion push. What are the chances that the next two inbound transfers will be a former Real Madrid favourite and a future World Cup winner? Well at the time of writing, the next player in is set to be free agent and German international (with an English father), Lewis Holtby. This potential move for the former Spurs and Fulham man seems to confirm that a significant factor in signing for Rovers now, is having the same first name as an existing squad member. Bradley, Sam, Joe and now Lewis adds credence to the emerging hypothesis. If there's a 13 year old "Kylian" or "Lionel" in the academy I might just get giddy with the potential... Midfield is possibly well stocked in terms of numbers and by possibly, I mean definitely. One can only imagine that if this move is finalised, then the likes of Smallwood, Davenport and Rankin-Costello may well be candidates to exit in January, on loan at the very least; albeit for different reasons. Reading away next up and that falls into the category of one of those fixtures that a serious promotion candidate will look to win. They have lost their last two, at home to Charlton and away at Middlesbrough, but looked very impressive as they dismantled Cardiff City earlier in August. They do however, boast “Pele” and “Puscas” in their ranks so perhaps deserve some respect. Now if they had two Peles and two Puscases, well that would really be something.

150 sold so far - fear not ?

Yup ??

Our special guest is stand up comedian, author, blogger, podcaster and now, hotelier, Ian Moore (yes, he's THAT bloke off Fighting Talk!) who tells us about his Blackburn childhood, moving south in increments, "that" accent, living in France, becoming a French citizen and what to do when an audience member pulls out a gun, plus so much more. See also https://ianmoore.info https://www.lapausevaldeloire.com/chambresdhotesgitevotre-hotes Contributions also from Bryan Light who discusses Venky's, FFP & the fans, from last month's "4000 Holes" all hosted as usual by Ian Herbert. View full record

A slightly longer version of this week's Accrington Observer column Five Talking Points From The Season So Far Writing a weekly column about your club brings certain challenges, not least of which, is during one of those pesky international breaks when they don't actually play. Faced with this dilemma, I have therefore decided to employ the tired and timeworn cliché of the “listicle”. #LazyJournalism indeed. Step aside Buzzfeed, there’s a new kid in town... 1. Rovers Ladies Hit The Mainstream In the early 70s, the nearest the club had at that time to a “marketing guru” was the commercial manager, one Keith Cafferty, who was credited with creating the slogan “Rally Round The Rovers” as part of a campaign to persuade more fans to come down to Ewood, fill the ground and swell the coffers (the more the things change, the more they stay the same as they say...). Car stickers, programme adverts and raffle tickets all bore the slogan. Recently, a fan-led Crowdfunding campaign to sponsor one of the Rovers Ladies team truly went viral and the net result was over 300 Rovers fans eventually contributing over £4k; which was enough to sponsor the whole team. Lindsay Lewis’s initiative has truly captured the imagination and the extent of the rallying round these particular Rovers really warmed the heart. For so many fans to feel sufficiently engaged to contribute to another arm of the club was tremendously uplifting. Rovers Ladies of course finally were granted the promotion they so richly deserved at the end of last season and this weekend their Championship game against Aston Villa at Villa Park even featured as a live game on the new FA Player application. Sadly, the result was a 2-1 defeat (*see below) but Rovers Ladies are clearly now viewed as an integral part of the club, just like the academy and the youth teams. Some sharp marketing using the opportunity of an international break weekend saw record crowds at the Etihad for the ladies Manchester derby and another, albeit free ticket incentivized, at Stamford Bridge for the match against Spurs Ladies. A watershed moment in the development of the ladies game ? 2. Goalkeepers & Goalkeeping Rovers have enjoyed a long lineage of very capable goalkeepers, in my lifetime stretching back to Blacklaw, via the likes of Jones, Bradshaw, Arnold, Gennoe, Mimms, Filan, Friedel and Robinson. However, in recent years, the goalkeeping position has proven to be one of the most troublesome ones for various managers to resolve. David Raya has moved on of course and been replaced by the on-loan Christian Walton, who clearly has potential, but on current form, appears not yet to be the finished article. Walton’s physique lends itself to commanding high crosses but as yet his understanding with his defence is still very much embryonic and his play with the ball at his feet seems at best a marginal improvement on Raya. Is he the upgrade on Raya that Mowbray wanted, that the team needed ? The jury, I suspect, is still out on this one. 3. Goals From Open Play Do they matter in modern football ? During the last World Cup much press chatter was based around England’s ability from set pieces and by way of contrast, their inability to create from open play. The same charge can be levelled at Rovers so far this season, but probably could also have been levelled at Allardyce-era Rovers. “So what?” I hear you cry. A goal is a goal however it is scored and that’s absolutely correct of course. However, from my perspective, football is very much in the entertainment business and watching a tricky winger dribble past opponents or to see intricate passing movements unlock a defence gets me out of my seat and adds to the overall enjoyment of the match. Rovers so far seem to lack a creative, cutting edge, someone who can do something wholly unpredictable but effective. The prime maverick, Bradley Dack, has so far struggled to deliver consistently, presumably not helped by the rotating cast and various permutations of central and wide men being played around him. A lot rests on the shoulders of the likes of Armstrong, Downing and perhaps even at some point, the long awaited Harry Chapman to get us all out of our seats. 4. Change Kits...or Away Kits *That* grey kit. I’ve tried to keep an open mind, but having seen it in the flesh at West Bromwich Albion...it’s awful. I’m sure the marketing team at Umbro will be devastated to hear of my verdict and resignations are being handed in right now. Surely one of the fundamental requirements of a change kit is that it clashes less with your opponents than would the first choice ? In the sunshine at the Hawthorns, when play was at the far end of the ground, it wasn’t easy to differentiate. Watching TV highlights later, it was even worse. Conveniently, from a commercial perspective at least, it also doesn’t differentiate with white kits and so naturally, a third kit is required...in another shade of blue. The club shop does a roaring trade and the bean counters are happy. Red & black halves. That is all. 5. Matt Jansen This week, the long-awaited autobiography from Matt Jansen was published and it is a terrific read. It provides insight into the life of a footballer rising through the ranks, having a major accolade snatched cruelly from his grasp at the eleventh hour, the physical and emotional fall out of a tragic accident and the road to some kind of redemption via coaching and management. If you need an excuse to trawl YouTube to remind yourself of his talent, reading this book is sufficient incentive. This project has taken something like four years from original idea through to publication, it’s well worth the wait. There are some intriguing anecdotes regarding Michael Knighton and plenty of reasons to understand why the likes of Graeme Souness and Mark Hughes were so highly regarded at the time. I still choke up at the memory of Matt doing a lap of honour at Ewood in a Bolton shirt and being resoundingly cheered and applauded on all four sides of Ewood. Hopefully Matt’s career has another chapter or two left in whatever capacity he desires. Finally, Saturday sees a return to League action at Ewood with the visit of Millwall. Since the ignominious FA Cup quarter final defeat in 2013, Rovers record against Millwall is pretty good with four wins and three draws. An extension of that record would be the perfect tonic after the Baggies setback. *More on that Rovers Ladies match courtesy of Rovers fan Matt Moon :- “From my perspective, I thought the new signings are helping. Stenson in goal was amazing, I feel a lot better about our defence with her in the side. Neither goal was her fault. We brought Whitham in at the weekend and she played right wing & was busy & making a difference until I think she got concussed just before half time. Lord-Mears played up front & looks like she will do well against most of the Championship (pacy, first game of the season, was suffering cramp towards the end). Put all of those together with Flint coming back from an ankle injury (probably out for a few more weeks as per the match commentary) then I think we'll be ok. One other point of note, despite wearing a rare Blackburn shirt in amongst Villa fans. I didn't feel any threat at any time, no-one said anything & there were families sat around me but I felt like a few sat either side of me weren't used to dealing with having an opposition fan in their midst. I celebrated our goal by standing and clapping but nothing more, which I thought was about right. If the NFL & women's football can have unsegregated fans, it makes men's football look very much like the exception. I prefer watching football without that edge although some will clearly disagree. I don't think that women's football should look to just copy the men's game, it should look to retain what makes it better in some ways than the men's game.”

I can confirm that this is a terrific read. Offers great insight into the life of a professional, some astonishing stories from all stages of his career, a view of management styles & of course the trauma of having an innate natural talent taken away from you at the peak of your powers. Well worth a purchase...book signing at Ewood being planned, but I have a horrible feeling it will be made an 1875 member event to sell more memberships just you watch... ?

A few questions if I may... Who’s commissioned the documentary ? Is it your project ? Who controls the editorial line ? What’s the overall objective ? Who is the intended audience ? Why now ?

Too early...waaaay too early...?

A slightly longer version of this week's Accrington Observer column The Hawthorns is of course the highest ground in the Football League, it’s a pub quiz staple over the years; but can you name the second highest ? (Answer at the foot of the column). Notwithstanding the apparently 551 feet separating it from sea level, there was a point between midday and 2pm on Saturday when there seemed to be a distinct probability that we would all soon be under water. Monsoon like conditions for a couple of hours served to dampen the mood, flood the streets, wash away the cricket matches playing on nearby grounds and generate grey skies to match Rovers miserable new away kit. Once inside the stadium, the weather relented, the sun briefly shone and astonishingly the groundsman decided this was the precise moment to turn on the sprinklers to water the pitch. If the pitch drains that well, cricket clubs should get in touch to learn his mystery soil maintenance secrets forthwith! Rovers benefitted from some very early charity from a West Brom defence seemingly in a generous mood. Some eager pressing right from the off by Travis forcing an error which gave Dack the opportunity to open the scoring and all this from open play. Barely a minute in and a goal ahead – the question asked on social media was, “Is it possible to score TOO early ?”; Rovers fans really are the masters of dark humour, though the fears were soon proven not to be entirely without foundation. Conceding so early seemed to spark some life into an Albion team without a home win in their three league and cup games to this point and both flanks were soon being exploited in the hope of some return. Nimble, tricky wide midfielders supported by rampaging full backs in a 4-3-2-1, very much a Mowbray template, but here, it was being executed by the team in the stripes and Rovers couldn’t cope. Former Blackpool man Philips and on-loan Hammer Diangana in particular made hay. Greg Cunningham wasn’t having the easiest of days. It started badly when he tried to hold off a challenge from Philips encouraging Walton to come and collect. The only problem being that Walton clearly hadn’t got the text and he resolutely stayed put. Philips nipped in, outmuscled Cunningham and with the ball nestling in Rovers’ net, an unseemly row then erupted between left back and keeper, each seeking to apportion blame. In truth, neither was entirely innocent, but if ever a “heave it into Row Z” solution was required, this was probably it. Philips was also instrumental in the second; following some balsa strength defending from the disappointing Armstrong, a pass to Philips allowed him to produce a lovely, deft chip which came back off the post to Pereira, who with plenty of time, set up Livermore to pick his spot. It wasn’t quite the Tom Cairney-esque levels of space we saw against Fulham but Rovers do rather seem to have fallen into the habit of allowing opposition midfielders a lot of space to measure their shots. The third Albion goal was delightful, the aforementioned Diangana scoring with a delicious chip following a simply horrible mistake by Darragh Lenihan, a peaky blunder you might say. Caught in possession and out sprinted, at least Darragh had a great vantage point to watch the ball float elegantly over Walton. A miserable twenty-minute spell had left Rovers bereft of ideas and the main aspiration seemed to be to get to half time with no further damage. The next goal was scored at the other end, thankfully, still in the first half. A stoppage-time Cunningham free-kick which seemed to be fairly innocuous was met by the head of Lenihan; a keeper fumble, a couple of pinball type attempts and the erstwhile disappointing Johnson, had somehow scrambled to put Rovers back in it just before the interval. There’s no bad time to score but this was a particularly good one, as it served to deflate the home crowd and introduce an element of doubt where, once past the twenty-second minute at least, there had been very little. Mowbray rang the changes and Dack became the lone “false nine” striker, the ineffectual Gallagher and Johnson sacrificed for Rothwell and Buckley. I expressed doubts over the efficacy of the Travis/Johnson midfield partnership last week and nothing in the first half here alleviated those concerns. These substitutions seemed to suggest that packing the midfield with nimble, young tyros was to be the favoured approach. Against all odds, it seemed to do the trick, albeit Rovers best chances came from a series of crosses with defenders facing their own goal and then panicking, rather than from Dack & Graham interplay. Following one such incident Rovers thought they had an equaliser but in fairness to the officials and with the benefit of reviewing a few times on TV, it definitely falls into the category of “one you wouldn't like to be given against you”. Buckley in particular was eye-catching. Not everything he tried worked but he stuck at it and he seems to have the ability to glide effortlessly, treating the turf as if it were ice, with him on skates, nicking the ball away just before a defender can clean him out, pirouetting to leave an opponent facing entirely the wrong direction. The trusty Mowbray Plan A (now turned Plan B), Danny Graham; was thrown on with a quarter of an hour remaining but Albion’s Semi Ajayi, a player who had impressed against Rovers when playing for Rotherham last season, snuffed out the danger. The best legitimate chance came from a neat, low free kick which Downing turned against the outside of the post but that was a close as Rovers managed, there was to be no repeat of the drama of last season’s encounter. One footnote worthy of comment were the early and sustained chants berating the EFL for their role in the demise of Bury FC as a Football League member. As Mrs Doyle might have said, “the bad F word...worse than ‘feck’...” but it was heartfelt and authentic. Such solidarity was encouraging to hear as the all-pervading sense of “who’s next?” is hard to escape. Bolton seemed to have survived for now but Macclesfield, Oldham...who can say? Next week is an international break and I for one welcome a chance to return to Ashes mode for a while. A reminder, if it were needed, that in sport anything and everything is possible…even something as remarkable as a goal from open play. *It’s Port Vale’s Vale Park which stands at 525 feet above sea level – 100 lines for all of you suggesting Boundary Park!

Up to Noel Brotherston added now...

Putting halves in the background is a daft idea...oh hang on...

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